Inside The Magazine Volume #35: WrestleAmerica December 1993

What’s going on in this magazine? Lets find out!

MAILBAG

Matt from Yonkers has a letter responding to another fans letter from the October magazine where the fan was upset that Bob Backlund had not gotten any big matches since his return. Matt believes it’s simply because Backlund isn’t capable of winning them. He notes that Backlund won’t even throw a punch and his lack of success would happen in WCW, too. Karl from Maine thinks that Jimmy Del Ray of the Heavenly Bodies is a great wrestler and thinks Del Ray has the extra ingredient to make himself a superstar. Karl is confident that the Heavenly Bodies are a better tag team than the Steiner Brothers and they will prove that and it’s because of Del Ray.

Ed from Connecticut thinks it is great that Paul Roma joined the Four Horsemen. Ed puts over Roma’s career in the WWF and notes of a great match he had against Shane Douglas there. He’s looking forward to seeing Roma get in the ring with Brian Pillman, too. Harry from Las Vegas thinks that Doink is a metaphor of what the WWF is trying to do. He notes that WWF is rather cartoonish and have done some ridiculous things, but under that there is some good wrestling. Harry mentions the Hart vs. Perfect match at KOTR and the title matches between the Steiner Brothers and Money Inc. He also considers Doink to be a good wrestler underneath the Doink character.

Phil from New York talks about a recent match between Jerry Lawler and Randy Savage at Madison Square Garden as being the real main event for the show. The match brought back memories for Phil when Lawler and Savage battled it out in a blood feud all over the Mid South. He would look forward to more matches between them. Nate from Missouri wonders where Barry Windham has been since he hasn’t been seen since Beach Blast. He may not like Barry’s attitude, but he can recognize talent when he sees it. He’s hopeful that Windham can return and have more battles with Flair. Linda from California doesn’t think that Lord Steven Regal has any chance in hell of beating Ricky Steamboat for the WCW Television Championship. She finds it ridiculous to even think about, really.

LOCKER ROOM REPORT: written by: Bill Apter

Apter talks about knowing Vince McMahon Jr. for a long time and how he grew into his role of owner of the WWF after being just a backstage interviewer turned announcer. Apter feels that McMahon has gone beyond the acceptable conduct of federation head/owner and there isn’t much they can do about it. Thus, McMahon can attack Lawler during his match with Paul Neighbors and insult fans of the South. There isn’t much they can do about his behavior because boycotting the WWF would be counter productive. Apter thinks that Lawler has made a mistake challenging McMahon because he’s likely falling into a trap. Apter wonders what 1973 Vince McMahon Jr. thinks of himself in 1993, better yet, he wonders what Vince’s father would think.

Apter notes that nobody twenty years ago would ever think that wrestling would reach the popularity it has in 1993. Sure, it’s not the same level it was at seven years ago, but it’s nowhere near the low it was at in 1973. Apter credits McMahon for knowing what to do with Hulk Hogan to make him a big star. Apter thinks that McMahon deserves the proper credit for what he created, and not anybody else.

STRAIGHT TALK: written by: Eddie Ellner

Eddie wonders if Brutus Beefcake could return to his level of ability that he had prior to his parasailing accident. Beefcake’s recent victory over Terry Taylor wasn’t exactly impressive to him. Since the accident, Brutus has become the protected stepchild and assured main events as long as Hogan was around. Eddie suggests that the few hundred broken bones were a small price for infamy and ridicule. Ellner wants someone to save Savage from being stuck on commentary.

Ellner says that if Ric Flair pins Vader for the WCW World Championship then he will present Flair with a 500 gold-stamped business card that reads “Ric Flair: Eternal World Champion” but until that happens, Flair needs to stop misrepresenting the facts. Eddie makes a joke about SMW and their rankings since Killer Kyle recently lost to Wahoo McDaniel. He also suggests that Kyle change his name ASAP considering the loss.

He doesn’t have much faith in the Kid’s career lasting all that long. Ellner thinks that Kid will last as along as Middle East peace talks. Ellner also talks about the Dangerous Alliance in ECW that consists of Jimmy Snuka, Don Muraco, Dark Patriot, Eddie Gilbert and Shane Douglas. He considers Snuka and Muraco to be grandpas who might fall asleep and the Gilbert’s could chafe under Paul E. Dangerously’s talking. Having Douglas involved has messed with chemistry, but Dangerously couldn’t resist preying on a young talent like Douglas.

Eddie finds the feud between Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler to be an example of co-dependence. Lawler needs Hart to boost his sagging talents and Hart needs Lawler to boost his lack of confidence. It’s a waste of time.

NEWSLINE: WCW: written by: Andy Rodriguez

Cactus Jack is back in WCW and made his return at the Clash of the Champions to save Davey Boy Smith from Vader and Harley Race from a beating. Cactus has made it clear that Vader is going to have to pay for nearly ending his career. Despite his return, Race doesn’t find Cactus to be a threat to them.

Arn Anderson and Paul Roma are the WCW Tag Team Champions after they defeated Steve Austin and Lord Steven Regal (who replaced an injured Brian Pillman). Anderson was quoted as saying that the match may be tainted, but WCW allowed the match to happen and they took advantage of it.

Charlie Norris is confident that he’ll have the same success he had on the independents in WCW. Norris felt it was time to step foot in the toughest league, and that league is WCW. Norris isn’t proud of his recent victory over Maxx Payne in a lumberjack match, but if people want to get involved in his matches, there’s nothing he can do about that. Shanghai Pierce accidentally hit Payne with his bull rope leading to the finish.

WCW Television Champion Ricky Steamboat continues to have issues with Paul Orndorff. Steamboat was attacked by Orndorff and Lord Steven Regal after Steamboat got involved in Orndorff’s match on the August 30th TV taping in Atlanta. Steamboat believes that Orndorff can’t accept that he lost the belt and Steamboat isn’t going to allow Regal to win the gold for the Queen of England, which Regal believes he’ll accomplish.

Orndorff has also been chasing after the NWA World Championship held by Ric Flair, and recently lost to him in Fort Pierce, Florida. Lastly, the Cole Twins aren’t impressed with Harlem Heat and have said that just because they are in the main event at Fall Brawl doesn’t mean they can run through everyone. Harlem Heat simply responded that the Cole Twins are on their list since they had recently lost a match by reverse decision.

RICK RUDE: “THE HELL WITH DUSTIN… I HAVE BIGGER PLANS!” written by: Andy Rodriguez

In a recent match against Dustin Rhodes, Rude had a pair of tights that depicted the NWA World Champion, Ric Flair. For months prior, Rude said that his focus was the WCW United States Championship and everything else was secondary. However, when Rude appeared on “A Flair For The Gold” he proceeded to hit on Fifi. Ric Flair told Rude that she wasn’t interested and Rude responded with a Rude Awakening on the set. Thus, when he wrestled Rhodes his tights depicted having Rude play the role of executioner and Flair having a gravestone. Rude was still focused on winning the US Championship and then dealing with Flair.

Rude ended up losing the match to Rhodes, but now he could focus on Flair and the NWA World Championship. Flair played a role in Rude losing when he prevented Rude from hitting Rhodes with a steel chair. This has given Rude more reason to go after Flair. Rude looks forward to taking the NWA World Championship from Flair, a title that means more. Paul Orndorff is quoted as saying that the NWA World Championship means more to Rude than anything else. Rude wants to be champion badly.

Rude says that the WCW United States Championship is second rate and it’s now wonder why Dustin Rhodes would want it. He credits himself for making the championship mean something. He is going to make the NWA World Championship more important, too. Flair says he’s better than Rude in every way and that Rude is entering a league he knows nothing about.

Dustin Rhodes credits Rude for being a crafty wrestler and says that Rude should be taken a serious threat to Flair. Rude doesn’t care about what other people say about him. He’s going to win the NWA World Championship by motivating himself from within, like he always does.

THE EXPERTS AGREE: CACTUS JACK’S COMEBACK WILL CRIPPLE HIM FOR LIFE!: written by: Kostya Kennedy

Success kills is a phrase that is often used among high risk occupations such as being a race car driver or cliff diving. The same thing goes for boxers. Cactus Jack has routinely done some outrageous risks, so what he’s doing in WCW isn’t all that uncommon. Cactus has returned from injury and is back doing his same reckless behavior. Cactus is risking his life to get revenge on Vader and Harley Race. Cactus was lucky to avoid being paralyzed after being power bombed by Vader on the concrete floor. He suffered major injuries anyway, but it could have been much worse.

Many doctors agree that Cactus hasn’t allowed his injuries to fully recover and it’s likely that Cactus could suffer a career ending injury. While Cactus is wrestling cautiously now, there is a fear that Cactus will be inclined to become more reckless as he approaches his rematch with Vader at Halloween Havoc. Harley Race believes that Cactus is facing his own doom and destruction. Cactus doesn’t think of his obstacles in a clear way and instead just figures to attempt and run through them full steam ahead.

Some believe that Race putting Yoshi Kwan in the way before Vader is a way to set Cactus up to fail. The doctor who took care of Cactus suggests that Cactus can’t possibly recover from another power bomb. It looks like Cactus is speeding towards the end of his career.

NEWSLINE: WWF: written by: Chris Bernucca

Lex Luger was recently attacked and injured by Ludvig Borga after SummerSlam ’93. Borga attacked Luger backstage at SummerSlam and caused a back injury to be aggravated as a result. Despite the injury, Luger fought WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels the following night at a TV taping which saw Luger win by count-out. However, Luger was noticeably hurt during the match. When Luger returns he’ll be coming for Yokozuna and Borga.

With Luger out of action, Bret Hart and the Undertaker have stepping in and challenged Yokozuna for the WWF World Championship recently. Taker may be a big wrestler, but he’s still giving away considerable size to Yokozuna in the neighborhood of 200lbs. Taker should have some momentum on his side following the return of his manager Paul Bearer and the possession of the urn.

Harvey Wippleman and Giant Gonzalez have split as Gonzalez has attacked his former manager in recent matches. Wippleman has failed to lead guys like Gonzalez, Kamala and Sid Justice to any significant victory in the less year and a half. Wippleman has succeeded Mr. Fuji in being the least successful manager in the WWF.

Doink the Clown may have changed his ways when he recently tossed confetti into the face of Bam-Bam Bigelow and water into Luna Vachon enraging both superstars. Doink did the same to Jerry Lawler with water just one night after SummerSlam where he battled Bret Hart in place of Lawler.

A new tag team may have been developed at the same TV taping that Doink turned good. Marty Jannetty wrestled 1-2-3 Kid on the show and it saw Kid hit the guard railing a dive. Jannetty won by count-out and after the match helped Kid backstage. Lastly, Gene Okerlund has departed the WWF after ten years.

NO MORE JOINT RETURNS: CAN IRWIN R. SCHYSTER MAKE IT ON HIS OWN? written by: Andy Rodriguez

Andy starts off saying that Mike Rotundo was an excellent singles wrestler, Michael Wallstreet was a fine singles wrestler and that Irwin R. Schyster is a singles wrestler. IRS is having more trouble than his other identities. Despite having beaten The Kid at SummerSlam ’93, many people have suggested that IRS isn’t a good singles wrestler and should find a new tag team partner. Now that IRS is on his own, every loss means more and he doesn’t have a luxury to lose a few matches. When he was Rotundo he had the Varsity Club and when he was Wallstreet he had Alexandra York. Some people suggest that IRS just has ring rust from singles competition and it will take a while before he finds a good mix of brawling and technical ability.

Schyster is a different personality compared to Rotundo and they wrestle differently. DiBiase believes that his former partner will find success on his own. Schyster has had success with other partners other than DiBiase, so he may decide to seek another partner to fight alongside. Schyster is determined to succeed on his own without a tag partner. One source suggests that the success of Money Inc. has been a burden on IRS causing a taxing situation to occur.

A STAR-SPANGLED SMASH: LEX LUGER SHOWS AMERICA HE’S CHANGED – FOR GOOD!: written by: Dave Lenker

Luger may have won the main event at SummerSlam ’93 against WWF World Champion Yokozuna, but he did so by count-out and thus didn’t win the championship. Thus, Luger left the event in defeat. However, Luger causing humiliation for Yokozuna is what counted most for Luger. Even though he didn’t win the title, he didn’t sit around and sulk in self pity. With such a reaction, Bill Apter believes that we’ve witnessed a new Lex Luger before our eyes.

Prior to SummerSlam, Luger slammed Yokozuna on the USS Intrepid and many people thought the Lex Express was going to be the way the WWF makes Luger into the new Hogan, but Luger has proven that he’s the real deal. In WCW, Luger had gotten the reputation of only caring about himself and nobody else. He’s worked hard to get rid of that stigma. Some people in WCW don’t believe he’s changed, but Andy sure thinks so. Luger has matured and realized it’s better to have people ion your side rather than looking over your shoulder for the next enemy.

Luger proved he was fighting for America when he settled for a defeat of Yokozuna instead of going for the championship, which would have been thinking about himself. Now, Luger has one goal left to achieve, and he will do it. He will take the WWF World Championship from Yokozuna.

INQUIRING REPORTER

QUESTION: Do you think Vince McMahon can succeed as a wrestler?

Most of the fan response is that McMahon wouldnt be successful as an in-ring performer. However, there are a couple of people who think that McMahon could do well for himself if he started off with some lower level competition and worked his way up. They also noted that McMahon is a strong guy and has kept himself in good physical condition. However, the majority of the response is that McMahon being successful in the ring just isn’t likely, or it would look rather strange.

NEWSLINE: INDEPENDENTS

USWA and Smoky Mountain Wrestling have dominated the independent scene with some of the hottest feuds, weirdest happenings and greatest matches. In the USWA, Lawler battled Paul Neighbors in a stretcher match. Vince McMahon was in the corner of Neighbors for the match and got involved by tripping Lawler. That led to Lawler challenging McMahon to a match and now everyone is waiting for McMahon’s response.

Over in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Jim Cornette is focused on preventing Bob Armstrong from returning to his position as commissioner. Cornette believes that he is exactly what the promotion needs instead of Armstrong. Dirty White Boy recently retired as SMW Beat the Champ TV Champion and won an extra $5,000 for his accomplishment.

New Japan is holding a tag team tournament where the winners will win $50,000. 17,000 people crammed into the LA Sports Arena for a AAA event that saw Jake Roberts get involved in a match between Konnan and Cien Caras. Later on in the night, Konnan got revenge defeating Roberts. Despite the loss, Roberts isn’t impressed by Konnan.

Wendi Richter recently competed back to back nights for Wild Women of Wrestling and thinks it would be great to get in the ring with the likes of Madusa, Sherri Martel and Luna Vachon. Madusa has recently signed with the WWC. Speaking of WWC, Greg Valentine won the WWC Universal Championship when he defeated Invader I in the final night of a three night tournament. Valentine considered it to be a great victory since everyone in the building was against him, but he still managed to win the gold.

In American Commonwealth Wrestling, Rick Martel has started to compete there getting in a feud with Rip Sawyer. Sonny Steele has been suspended sixty days when Roib Morton lost to Soultrain Phillips. Romeo Valentino defeated Max Thrasher in a six man tag match to win the ACW Heavyweight Championship.

EXCLUSIVE: WE’VE TRACKED HIM DOWN! HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR: written by: Dave Rosenbaum

Dave says that Warrior sounds different now, and perhaps it’s because he’s more relaxed. Warrior is living the life of a former superstar with the fast cars, big house and the movie contracts. Warrior has been out of wrestling for nearly a year and has been working on films and a motivational video. Warrior believes only yourself can bring happiness into your life. In order to be successful, there are sacrifices made. To be successful you have to turn your back on people you thought were friends.

Warrior claims that he left the WWF because of a dispute over where his career should go. Warrior wanted to work with the International Creative Management group, but the WWF wanted to maintain rights to control Warrior. Warrior is thankful for what the WWF has provided him, but he wanted to make sure he got something out of the image he tried very hard to make successful. Warrior quickly found success with ICM when he landed a role in the Swordsman in a movie named Firepower. The film will be on HBO and video and not enter into theaters. Warrior will talk about all the controversies he’s had in his life in an upcoming book. The book will be written by Warrior, since that’s legally his name now.

Warrior does miss some aspects of wrestling and tried to sign with WCW last year, but they couldn’t agree on a contract. Warrior is living a comfortable life and he’s directing his life. He says that Vince McMahon wants to control you, and he said no to that.

What are your memories of this magazine or what was going on in wrestling at the time?

Thanks for reading.