Retro Reading Vol. 3: Inside Wrestling – February 1984

RETRO READING
Vol. 3: INSIDE WRESTLING – February 1984

SINCERELY YOURS: Thomas from Lehigh Valley, PA is happy that the previous issue of Inside Wrestling featured a story on the Road Warriors, who he feels will dominate wrestling in the 1980’s, and an editor’s note adds that the March 1984 edition of PWI will feature the Road Warriors as the cover story. Bobby from Hackensack, NJ enjoyed the story from the last issue about David Von Erich costing Kevin the NWA Title, and he thinks that Kevin should forgive his brother. Bill from Des Moines, IA thinks that the only word to describe Roddy Piper is “Psycho.”Kevin from Englewood, NJ thinks that Andre the Giant is wasting his time by getting involved in feuds with John Studd and Kamala, and that he should concentrate on trying to win the NWA, AWA, or WWF Titles. Beth from Bronx, NY is horrified by the Masked Superstar injuring Eddie Gilbert, and hopes that all the WWF fan favorites gang up on him, and give him what he deserves. Rich from West Palm Beach, FL thinks Abdullah the Butcher is disgusting, that he can’t even wrestle, and is happy that Dusty Rhodes is going to drive him out of town.

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: Editor-in-chief Peter King asks if a man be glorious in losing, and if he can win while he loses. Jimmy Snuka showed in MSG on 10/23 that the answer to both questions is yes. Snuka lost a steel cage match to Magnificent Muraco, and even Muraco admits that he was so worn out that he was worried that his life was in danger. After losing, Snuka dragged him into the ring and gave him the Superfly Splash off the top of the cage, which crushed several of Muraco’s ribs. Snuka may not have won, but he sure didn’t lose.

BEHIND THE DRESSING ROOM DOOR: This is basically a continuation of the Bruno Sammartino article from Wrestling Superstars, only from the point of view of boxer Larry Holmes.

ON THE ROAD: Craig Peters is exhausted coming off a three-day road trip. He left NY Friday morning and met Bill Apter in St. Louis, where Bill twisted his ankle, but still photographed the entire card. The card was highlighted by Hulk Hogan vs. Crusher Blackwell in a steel cage, as well as David Von Erich defending the Missouri Title against Super Destroyer. Saturday, he changes to an earlier flight, and flies to Atlanta, GA, and then drives to Chattanooga, TN to see some of the starts of World Championship Wrestling, including Ronnie Garvin and Mr. Wrestling II vs. The Road Warriors, and Pez Whatley vs. Paul Ellering in a lumberjack strap match. Whatley also subbed for Tommy Rich and wrestled Buzz Sawyer in a dog collar match. Sunday, he goes to the Omni in Atlanta, GA. The main event is Tommy Rich vs. Buzz Sawyer in a steel cage. Also, Mr. Wrestling II vs. Bob Roop (subbing for Mr. Wrestling) in a mask vs. mask match. II wins, but after Mr. Wrestling unmasks, he covers his face. The card ends at 11:30, and Peters has to rush to airport to make his 12:08 flight.

NAMES MAKIN’ NEWS: The Grand Wizard passed away on 10/12 at age 54, he managed bot Stan Stasiak and Superstar Graham to the WWF Title, he managed Pat Patterson and Ken Patera to the Intercontinental Title, and Fuji and Tanaka to the tag titles. Terry Allen defeated Butch Reed for the Mid-South North American Title, and Reed isn’t so much upset that he lost, as he is the way he lost, because Junkyard Dog was the special referee and got into an argument with Reed and decked him, allowing Allen to give him a suplex and pin him. Gary Hart is managing Kevin Sullivan and Purple Haze, Hart isn’t concerned about their Satanist beliefs, if they win matches, he makes money. That’s all he cares about. Dory Funk Jr. is no longer being managed by Paul Jones, and is looking for a tag team partner. Roddy Piper and Jay Youngblood have both turned him down, possibly because they don’t trust him. Nick Bockwinkel is headed to Montreal to defend the AWA Title against Billy Robinson. Chris Adams is teaming up with Eric Embry. Ivan Koloff recently hit interviewer Pat Patterson, and they may settle their issue in the ring. Sergeant Slaughter has been wrestling in WWF Main Events, but his former partner Don Kernodle is wrestling in preliminary matches. Kernodle thinks that Slaughter blames him for losing the NWA Tag Titles, and that this is his way of punishing him. He’ll take it stride, like a good Private. Jesse Ventura is the Mid-Southern Champion, and has beaten Jerry Lawler twice. Ventura says he’ll beat anyone, and that nobody in the area is as good a wrestler as him. Bob Sweetan broke Pedro Morales’ neck in Puerto Rico. Billy Jack has won the Pacific Northwest Title from Dynamite Kid, and Curt Hennig is negotiating with the WWF. “Street Man” Booker T is a newcomer in the Midwest who shows promise, and Buddy Rogers is fuming at the outcome of the Snuka/Muraco cage match.

BODY SLAMS & PINFALLS: Dan Shocket is appalled at a recent match in Florida, between Ron Bass and Blackjack Mulligan. Referee Bill Alphonso was thrown to the floor, and, Barry Windham, Blackjack’s son, ran to the ring and put on a referee shirt and counted the pin to give Mulligan the win, and it was even recorded in the record book as Mulligan beat Bass. It’s not just happening in Florida either, “Larry, Moe, and Curly Von Erich” get away with the same sort of thing all the time. It’s a disgrace to the sport that relatives are allowed to help each other like this, and they all should be punished harshly and swiftly. If the same thing happened with someone labeled as a “rulebreaker” then there would fines and suspensions thrown out.

THE INSIDER: A profile on King Kong Bundy, he’s always been an aggressive man, he was a bouncer before becoming a wrestler, and his practice of asking for a five count, instead of three, is another example of his way of intimidating others. Bundy views it as generosity, allowing an extra two counts for someone to kick out. He never really listened to authority, even when bouncing, if a guy looked at him funny, then Bundy threw him out, without waiting for the boss to tell him to do so. But, Bundy knows how smart Gary Hart is, so he’d be a fool to not listen to him. Bundy and Hart split amicably in Texas, and Bundy joined up with Skandor Akbar’s Devastation Inc, but, unlike Kamala or the Missing Link, he’s not a puppet. He’ s now wrestling in Georgia, because with all that exposure, comes a lot of money. Bundy’s hopes are that he’ll be the World Champion, and have a fleet of lawyers an accountants working for him.

NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING CAPITALS: Tony Atlas defeated John Studd by count out in Queens, NY. Stan Hansen beat Austin Idol by count out in Memphis, TN. Brett Wayne beat Larry Zybyszko in Atlanta, GA to win the National Title. David Von Erich beat Terry Gordy in Kerville, TX. Mr. Saito was disqualified against Hulk Hogan in San Francisco, CA, but not before he and David Schultz opened up a cut over his eye. Bob Backlund beat Sergeant Slaughter in a steel cage match in Scranton, PA.

MATT BROCK’S PLAINLY SPEAKING: Matt praises Brett Wayne for acknowledging that his brother is Buzz Sawyer, despite Buzz’s notoriety. He compares the saying that ‘You don’t know when you’ve had enough, until you’ve had too much.’ to Gary Hart managing Great Kabuki in Mid-Atlantic. He pays respects to the recently deceased Grand Wizard of wrestling. He admits that he didn’t used to think much of Jesse Ventura as a wrestler, but, having seen the brutality he’s shown since winning the Mid Southern Heavyweight Title, he sees how good Ventura is, and hopes the rest of the area takes him seriously as well. He witnessed Hulk Hogan bodyslam Jerry Blackwell in St. Louis, and understands the bond that exists between Hogan and his fans.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Miguel Perez is currently wrestling in Puerto Rico, where he still looks just as fit as he did back in the days of teaming with Argentina Rocca. Jos LeDuc has left Florida and is currently negotiating with promoters. Dick Murdoch recently returned from a tour of Japan, and has started wrestling in St. Louis, and is targeting Bruiser Brody. Larry Zybyszko has left Georgia and tells Inside Wrestling that he doesn’t want anyone to know where he is.

INSIDE WRESTLING CAPSULE PROFILE: A short biography of Jesse Ventura, talking about his joining the Navy, playing football in San Diego, and then getting into wrestling. He’s since wrestled for the AWA, WWF, and is now the Mid Southern Heavyweight Champion.

THE FRUSTRATIONS OF KEVIN VON ERICH: “IS JIM GARVIN REALLY BETTER T HAN ME?” Kevin Von Erich has lost the World Class American Title to Jimmy Garvin, and hasn’t been able to win it back. Kevin sat down with his brothers Kerry and David for advice, and after discussing things, he realized that he is a better wrestler than Jimmy Garvin, and that he’s always known it, and this will make Kevin better prepared for the next time he challenges Garvin.

WHY I COULDN’T ADMIT THAT BRETT WAYNE WAS MY BROTHER – BY BUZZ SAWYER: Buzz Sawyer had never been very popular in Georgia, and he makes no apologies. He’d never really talked much with his brother Brett, who’d been wrestling in the Northwest. When Brett came to Georgia, Buzz still kept shut out their relationship, because it could only hurt Brett’s reputation. He watched as his brother made friends, and made enemies, and cheered like crazy when he beat Larry Zybyzsko for the National Title. But, then the Road Warriors attacked him, and Buzz couldn’t just sit by and let it happen. So, now the roles are reversed, instead of Buzz’s reputation hurting Brett’s, Brett’s is helping Buzz. Buzz still doesn’t care if anyone likes him or not. He’s still the Mad Dog. He’s still hell on two feet. But, now he has a brother, and that’s a great feeling.

ABDULLAH PUNCTURES THE AMERICAN DREAM – THE SUNSHINE STATE TURNS RED WITH DUSTY RHODES’ BLOOD: Dusty Rhodes feels honored at his being chosen to wrestle Abdullah the Butcher in Florida, because it takes a certain amount of courage to wrestle Abdullah, and any time he gets the chance to make the sport a better place, he feels honored. Abdullah has been much more vicious and dangerous as of late, which some feel is due to his manager. He is officially managed by Jim Holliday, but it’s rumored that Holliday is only a front for J.J. Dillon, who’s contract with Ron Bass stipulates that Dillon cannot manage anyone else. Abdullah is rumored to be Dillon’s hitman, when he wants someone removed from Florida, he tells Holliday, who tells Abdullah. Before their first match, Abdullah tried intimidate Dusty by making a lot of noise in the dressing room, but Dusty didn’t fall for it, and started the match aggressively, and appeared to be dominating Abdullah, but then Abdullah used a foreign object to cut open Rhodes, and Dusty was a bloody mess. The fans begged for the match to be stopped, and the referee finally agreed. The doctor stitched up Dusty backstage, but he didn’t make a sound, he was thinking about the match that would happen when he’d drive Abdullah out of Florida, and, Dusty plans on making that vision a reality.

HOTSEAT: Joseph Bua is supposed to interview both Jimmy Valiant, as well as his good friend Charlie Brown, from Out Of Town, to put to rest the rumors that Charlie Brown is really Jimmy Valiant under a mask. But, unfortunately, Bua wasn’t able to do so, because he couldn’t get both of them in the room together. He started with Jimmy, asking about Gary Hart’s accusations that they’re one and the same. Valiant pointed out that he can’t be wrestling as Charlie Brown in Mid-Atlantic, while he’s wrestling in the Mid Southern area, even the Boogie Woogie Man can’t be in two places at once. Jimmy stepped out to call Charlie Brown to find out where he was, and then Charlie Brown showed up. Bua interviewed him for a bit, asking what he was doing in the Mid-Atlantic, and he explained that he was helping his friend out, just like the Midnight Rider helped out Dusty Rhodes, but he was starving from being on the road, so he left to go get some lunch. A minute later, Valiant came back, unable to reach Charlie Brown. Bua explained that he went for food, and Jimmy told him the kitchen was closed, but if he’s hungry, then he’ll probably leave the hotel and find a restaurant, so he could be anywhere. Bua left with a suspicion that they’re the same person, but was no closer to proving it than he was before the interview.

RIC FLAIR PREDICTS. . . PEDRO MORALES WILL REGAIN THE WWF TITLE: Ric Flair recently wrestled WWC North American Champion, Pedro Morales, in Puerto Rico, and lost due to unsolicited interference from Bob Sweetan. After the match, Flair gave huge praise for Morales skills and popularity, not out of bitterness, jealousy, or disappointment. Flair says that Bob Backlund has come under lots of criticism lately for not wrestling scientific wrestlers, and that Bob will need to do so, if only to quiet the critics. If that should happen, then Flair believes that Morales should return to the Northeast and challenge him. Having wrestled both of them, Flair believes that Morales is the more skilled of them two of them, and would be riding such a wave of popularity that he would also have a psychological advantage.

ONE ON ONE: This an unedited transcript of a phone conversation between two men who have recently had issues with each other, this month’s is between Blackjack Lanza, and his former manager Bobby Heenan. Heenan would like to put their differences aside, and for Lanza to remember all the help he’s given him over the years. Lanza wants to know what sort of help he’s talking about, since all he’s done recently is hit him, and cause him to lose matches. Heenan wants them to patch things up and put it behind them, but, Lanza isn’t interested in that. He’s woken up to how much of a fraud Heenan is, and that he’s only as good as the men he manages, and he’s lucky that Nick Bockwinkel hasn’t realized what sort of man he is, otherwise Heenan would be nothing without him. Actually, he’s nothing with or without Bockwinkel.