Brian Christopher sits down for Q&A. Can Tatanka break the curse of Chief Jay Strongbow? Is Ricky Steamboat getting greedy? Is Razor Ramon a bum if he doesn’t win the WWF World Title by April? What’s in and what’s out in pro wrestling? Find out all this information and more in the Wrestler from April 1993!
YOUR LETTERS
Jessica from Maine doesn’t understand why PWI has been praising Terry Taylor in their publications as of late. She notes that Taylor has lost to guys like Razor Ramon and Max Moon recently. She believes that Taylor will go from calling himself terrific to finding himself terminated in a short period of time. Mike from Missouri doesn’t think that Sgt. Slaughter has real authority over the heels in the WWF and is just living off his past accomplishments. He suggests that Slaughter get rid of the S and be known as Sgt. Laughter. Dave from California thinks it is pretty funny that Ric Flair lost the WWF World Championship right after PWI praised Flair. Now, it is time for Bret Hart to rule the WWF.
Leonard gets angry every time he opens a magazine and sees Ric Flair ranked as number one in the top ten wrestlers rankings. All Flair does is cheat and doesn’t believe that Flair should be called a champion. Desiree from New Orleans was upset to hear about Rick Steiner suffering a torn chest muscle but was also upset to find out that Rick was wrestling six weeks before he was supposed to be. The Steiner Brothers may be the best tag team, but they aren’t the smartest. Cheryl from Florida is convinced that the WWF read a recent PWI magazine where fans wanted Curt Hennig to comeback and thus he teamed with Randy Savage at Survivor Series. Richard from Mississippi thinks that Vladimir Koloff should ditch the independents and team with Nikita Koloff in WCW to win the tag titles since the tag team division is a mess with all the top teams leaving or breaking up.
WHAT’S HAPPENING: written by: Bill Apter
The Steiner Brothers have made their debut in WWF defeating enhancement talents. With their departure it raises questions as to what is going to happen to the WCW Television Championship since Scott Steiner was the champion. Apter believes an eight man tournament is in order to crown a new WCW TV Champion. Van Hammer likes the sound of that and would like the championship as he has been one of the hottest wrestlers in WCW. Hammer had recently won an arm wrestling tournament. Dustin Rhodes is also red hot in WCW having wrestled three matches on December 9th.
Jerry Lawler won the USWA Heavyweight Championship for the 12th time defeating Koko B. Ware after Koko had held the title for a week. Meanwhile, Lawler’s role in the WWF has him siding with the rule breakers regularly since he has replaced Curt Hennig on Prime Time Wrestling. Hawk and Kensuke Sasaki have won the IWGP Tag Team Championships from Tony Halme and Scott Norton on December 14th. Hawk also won the Catch Wrestling Association Heavyweight Championship from Rambo in the sixth round of their match. Doink the Clown also made his debut the same night as the Steiner Brothers winning a match against Virgil. Doink also beat up Crush during the TV taping hitting him with a fake arm.
Axl and Ian Rotten have entered the GWF known as the Bad Breed and are feuding with the Ebony Experience. Davey Boy Smith got back in the ring teaming with Tod Gordon in a match against Jimmy Snuka and Hunter Q. Robbins III. Chris Adams retuned to Global saving Kerry Von Erich from a beating by Black Bart and Skandor Akbar.
NO HOLDS BARRED: written by: Dave Rosenbaum
Dave talks about Riddick Bowe defending his boxing championship against Michael Dokes on February 6th at MSG. It’s the first title defense in MSG since December 12th, 1986. In November, the WWF announced that WrestleMania would be held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. It’s interesting to see boxing and wrestling go in two different directions. Dave believes that the WWF is moving away from promoting a sporting event and instead focusing more on the entertainment aspect.
He also talks about Jerry Lawler being a showman who is just doing things to get attention on himself. Dave touches upon the feud between Lawler and Andy Kauffman. Lawler is in the WWF to transition into commentary as he looks to step out of the ring. Dave would like to see Lawler in the ring with Bret Hart to prove he’s a superstar. While Lawler calls the fans peasants, he doesn’t believe Lawler means it.
BLINDSIDED: written by: Bob Smith
Bob doesn’t understand why North American promoters are not having top level competitors wrestling in the United States and instead they are competing in Japan or Mexico. Perhaps it’s because they aren’t a sideshow like Doink the Clown is. Recently, Bob has been watching Smoky Mountain Wrestling and really enjoys it. However, he saw Kevin Sullivan attack Brian Lee with a metal spike 44-times and thought it was one of the most barbaric things he has ever seen. He didn’t understand why Bob Armstrong would bring in 126-year old Mongolian Stomper to try and get rid of Kevin Sullivan.
Ultimate Warrior recently competed in Wilmington, MA and isn’t impressed by the possible opponent of Vince Apollo. Perhaps Warrior will compete against Doug Somers, too. Bob is happy to see the WWF promoting something like ICOPRO and notes that some of the finest wrestlers are at the top of the company these days. Bob has a few predictions for 1993 which include Jerry Lawler winning the WWF World Championship, Steve Austin winning the WCW United States Championship, Sting regaining the WCW World Championship and Doink the Clown having his nose explode. Bob finishes the article off praising Lance Russell and wishing him a happy retirement.
THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN
Thumps Up:
Dustin Rhodes: As mentioned earlier, Rhodes competed five times on one card including four victories. His fifth match was against Barry Windham where they battled to a double disqualification. Dustin is proving to people that he isn’t soft and is having the final word in his feud with former friend Barry Windham.
Bret Hart: The Hitman has been proving his victory over Ric Flair for the WWF World Championship was not a fluke. He has been a fighting champion and has defended it far more than anyone else in recent memory. Hart is a fighting champion with plenty of fight!
Bob Backlund: Backlund was driven away from the WWF when fans thought he was too boring and simple in the ring. He has returned to the WWF with victories over the likes of Rick Martel, Nailz, Papa Shango and Kamala. Backlund’s attitude is a welcome change to the WWF.
2 Cold Scorpio: Scorpio has been exciting despite the top rope ban that WCW has had in place. Scorpio should be a title contender for years to come.
Thumbs Down:
Vince McMahon: He’s on the this list because he has an evil clown on his roster. Children are now going to wonder if they can trust clowns. What is next? The Killer Easter Bunny?
Koko B. Ware: Koko has been showing his frustration recently with his inability to reach the top in the WWF by his unusual tactics in USWA. There, he won the USWA Heavyweight Championship from Jerry Lawler by using an illegal piledriver and help from Bert Prentice an Mike Samples.
Jesse Barr: He has distanced himself from his family in Oregon because he sees them as ineffective. This is a similar situation to what Tommy Gilbert dealt with involving Eddie Gilbert and his misdeeds.
Nailz: He talked about getting revenge on Big Bossman and when he came up short, he was forced to run away from the WWF and never show his face again. He is just a coward.
CORRESPONDENTS REPORTS
Wise, VA: Brad Armstrong battled Scotty Flamingo where he was able to win after twenty minutes of action following a side Russian leg sweep.
Boston, MA: WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels battled his former friend and tag partner, Marty Jannetty. Michaels won the match after avoiding Jannetty in the corner and was able to rollup his former friend to retain the title.
Dallas, TX: Kerry Von Erich battled Black Bart in a rematch with their battle taking place inside a steel cage. Bart got the victory after Gen. Skandor Akbar smashed the cage door into Kerry’s head.
Bremen, Germany: Eddie Gilbert traveled to Germany to battle Catch Wrestling Association Middleweight Champion Dave “Fit” Finlay. The match was eventually ruled a no contest and Finlay was stripped the championship.
YOU ASKED US
Rita from Chicago notes that Madusa sure does complain a lot about the lack of women’s wrestling but he settles for being the lapdog for Rick Rude. Why doesn’t she do something about the lack of challengers? Madusa suggests she shut Rita up and says her management of Rick Rude has given her respect amongst her peers. Ron Powers is asked if he has his sights set for WCW after success in NWF. Powers says he is taking his time and once he wins a title in Global, he’ll go to WCW if Bill Watts has him. Marc from New Jersey asks Ron Simmons who his favorite football player was. Simmons notes that he and Lex Luger were on the same football team. His favorite football person was John Bassett, who was the owner of the Bandits. His favorite football player had to be Deion Sanders, who was also his favorite baseball player.
Keith from PA asks Larry Hennig what he thinks of is son getting dumped by Bobby Heenan, Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. Keith thinks that Hennig will mop the floor with them. Larry puts over his son saying he has great judgment and says that the statement should be that Curt dumped those guys. Superstar Billy Graham is asked his favorite arena which is the Baltimore Civic Center where he defeated Bruno Sammartino to end his title reign. He’ll never forget that moment. Davey Boy Smith is asked about his back and says he feels fine but isn’t going to be regaining the WWF Intercontinental Championship anytime soon since he has left the WWF and is competing in Japan where he plans on winning more titles.
INTRODUCING: JOHN HAWK
John Hawk is proud of the Sportatorium in Dallas because he grew up wanting to compete in the famous arena and he is proud to be a wrestler. He won the GWF Tag Team Championships with Bobby Duncum Jr. in November 1992. That was a moment where he felt like he had made it in the business. He was briefly a football player spending a year with the LA Raiders and a two year stint with the San Antonio Raiders. It took only three months of training for Hawk to be ready for action against the pros. John Hawk has had less than thirty matches and he’ll be a World Champion when he is ready to be one. He isn’t going to Japan until he is ready, either.
Q&A: BRIAN CHRISTOPHER
Bob Smith caught up with Brian Christopher at a Toys R Us in East Memphis. Christopher was there to pick up gifts for his nieces and nephews. Christopher believes people dislike him because he backs up everything he says. He notes that he said he was going to be Tom Prichard and he did. He also said he was going to beat Reno Riggins and he did that too. Christopher flips out on a sales associate who told him a stuffed animal was $35. Christopher is annoyed that Dundee and Davis would return wearing masks as the American Eagles. Christopher knows that they were originally under the masks despite being proven to not be the Eagles.
Christopher is persistent that his partnership with Jeff Gaylord is going well and that Gaylord knows his role in the partnership. Gaylord isn’t going to complain because his bank account has drastically changed. Christopher says that if the referee doesn’t see it then it didn’t happen and that’s how he approaches his in-ring activities. He’s confident that he and Gaylord will take care of the Moondogs in less than thirty-seconds because the Moondogs are big dopes. Christopher doesn’t care that the fans like the Moondogs. He doesn’t need the fans and doesn’t care about them. He’s his own man and only partnered with Tony Williams to keep him happy but then turned on him as soon as he could.
X-RAY: “DIRTY WHITE BOY” TONY ANTHONY
Capt. Lou Albano: Lou thinks Tony Anthony is a fruitcake who was once popular in the USWA with a beautiful woman Kimberly. Now, Anthony is ripping people off in SMW with a wheelchair bound Ron Wright. Why would Anthony give up the good stuff for the bad stuff?
Killer Kowalski: He thinks that Albano is an idiot and thinks that Anthony should be proud of what he has accomplished in SMW. Kowalski considers Anthony to be his kind of man.
Dory Funk Jr.: Funk doesn’t care about the good or the bad but rather that Anthony has been wrestling since 1977 and wrestled his way to the top the right way. He’s been a top pro since the late 1980s.
Nick Bockwinkel: White Boy is a smart wrestler who doesn’t get fooled and has quick hands to show that he has boxed before. While he may not be the smoothest or prettiest, he manages to still get the job done when he hits the mat.
Lou Thesz: He doesn’t think that White Boy will make the leap to greatness because Anthony always needs support. He thinks that they should throw them all out of the sport.
Jim Ross: JR believes that Anthony could be a champion contender if he were to join WCW or WWF within a matter of weeks. He could even be a world champion at some point. He’s big, strong and has desire to win that is rare to find in any federation.
CAN TATANKA BREAK THE CURSE OF CHIEF JAY STRONGBOW?: written by: Chris Bernucca
1992 saw Tatanka have the best win/loss record of any WWF wrestler but get the fewest title matches. This is similar to what Chief Jay Strongbow dealt with 20-years ago. Razor Ramon has been challenging for the WWF World Championship against Bret Hart. Meanwhile, Tatanka has been in the WWF for a year and hasn’t gotten the same opportunity. Tatanka is undefeated and defeated Rick Martel and the Berzerker on pay per view. When Strongbow was at the top of his game the World Championship was held by fan favorites proving that Chief had bad luck going for himself. Jay’s brother Jules believes it was mostly poor timing than anything when it came to Jay never getting a title shot. There’s no way that heritage has prevented Tatanka from title shots considering Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, Davey Boy Smith and Papa Shango getting title shots and titles in the company. Tatanka needs to figure out a way to overcome the curse that Chief Strongbow dealt with during his career.
RICK STEAMBOAT GETS GREEDY: WILL HIS QUEST TO WEAR BELTS WEAR HIM DOWN?: written by: Andy Rodriguez
Shane Douglas really enjoyed meetings with his tag partner, Ricky Steamboat. Each time he would learn something new. However, that’s all in the past as Steamboat has found a new focus. Apparently, Steamboat is ready for another run at singles gold in WCW. Douglas couldn’t possibly prevent Steamboat from his desire to win a singles title. He just hopes the team doesn’t suffer as a result. Ricky says that he told Douglas his thoughts and wasn’t told to not go after the singles titles. However, if Douglas told him to not do so, then he’d consider not doing it. Steamboat is determined to not ruin their teams success. Some of Ricky’s friends believe that he is overextending himself and is getting greedy with what he wants to accomplish.
Brad Armstrong shares his thoughts thinking that Steamboat is doing too much even wanting the WCW World Championship. Apparently, Ricky doesn’t care that Ron Simmons has that belt. Sting believes that if he were to win the US Championship that he’d lose the tag titles. Steamboat is willing to risk the tag titles for singles gold, and knows that Douglas has accepted that. Shane believes everything that Steamboat says, but notes that the tag titles are the most important thing in his career and hope that if they were to lose them it’s when they are at their absolute best.
RAZOR RAMON: A WORLD TITLE BY MARCH – OR A BUM BY APRIL: written by: Dave Rosenbaum
Dave is sarcastic at the start saying that Razor Ramon was the guy that put fear in all the fan favorites and helped Ric Flair win the WWF World Championship for a second time. In December, Ramon was losing to Undertaker in every city across the US. He took the WWF by storm in August but could be seen as a bum by April. One fan favorite said that Ramon isn’t all that tough when you meet him one on one. Ramon has the skills but they have never been world title caliber skills. Ramon had a chance to overthrow Undertaker as the most feared man but failed miserably. One WWE rule breaker noted that Ramon always helps Ric Flair, but Flair doesn’t do anything for Ramon. Flair even took the spotlight away from Ramon leading into the Royal Rumble. Ramon needs to win sooner rather than later.
WHAT’S IN? WHAT’S OUT? THE WRESTLER’S OFFICIAL LIST TELLS YOU!
FROM THE INSPIRATIONAL TO INVISIBLE: THE PATRIOT – AMERICA’S HERO GOES AWOL: written by: Andy Rodriguez
A few people shared their opinions on The Patriot about him being a great pro and wrestles the right way every time he competes. Patriot continues to fight to get rid of evil influences in professional wrestling. Patriot is currently wrestling in Japan where he teamed with The Eagle to defeat the unbeatable team of Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas in Japan. Patriot gets a lot of satisfaction when he beats up rule breakers. He insists that he isn’t running himself thin in his attempt to get rid of evil. Patriot would like to wrestle in WCW or WWF but he’s needed on the independents for right now. He is there to lookout for the little man since there’s nobody else around to do so.
What are your memories on this magazine or what was going on in wrestling at the time?
Thanks for reading.