Checkout the latest installment of Inside The Magazine with the August 1992 publication of Inside Wrestling!
SINCERELY YOURS
Richard from Mississippi agrees with Matt Brock recently saying that the WWF has slowly been turning itself into the old NWA by having the likes of Sid, Ric Flair, Legion of Doom, Mark Callous, Mike Rotundo and soon to be Lex Luger. For the first time in a long time, the WWF has more technically skilled wrestlers than WCW.
Mindy from Missouri talks about Ric Flair being the best to backup whatever he says he’s going to do. He proved that when he won the WWF World Championship at the Royal Rumble. She also wants to know why Paul E. Dangerously doesn’t use as more effective beeper than having a cellphone.
Anthony from New York is heartbroken that Greg Valentine decided to leave the WWF. Anthony doesn’t think the WWF will be the same without someone like Valentine. Sure, it’s cool to have Sid, Undertaker and Berzerker, but none of them will be a guy like Greg Valentine.
Robert from Indiana doesn’t understand the constant praise for guys like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair while Randy Savage doesn’t get the same attention and he should. Savage won the WWF World Championship and he’s still being bypassed for someone like Ultimate Warrior. Savage always plays second fiddle, and that’s not right.
Ronnie from Arkansas is impressed with the Moondogs and how dominate they have been since they entered the USWA. It took Jerry Lawler to get Austin Idol, JYD, Kamala, Koko B. Ware and Jimmy Valiant to help take out the Moondogs. Leatherface entered the area and knocked Spike out of action for months. However, Cujo has replaced Spike and it looks like the Moondogs are a tough group to truly get rid of.
Jim from Massachusetts thinks that Repo Man shouldn’t be discredited as being someone who won’t win a championship in the WWF.
David from Florida was quite impressed with WrestleMania VIII. While Lex Luger has left wrestling, at least the Ultimate Warrior has returned. The WWF always keeps fans guessing.
Joe from South Carolina mentions Harley Race creating his enormous group to produce his own Dangerous Alliance. The only man in the group that is a contender is Vader. Joe doesn’t buy into Mr. Hughes or Vinnie Vegas as they are oversized goons to him.
Nancy from Ohio doesn’t like that Eddie Ellner suggested that Kerry Von Erich work in a smaller Texas federation instead of going to a rehab center for his drug addiction. Nancy thinks that Ellner is the kind of guy to sweep wrongdoing under the rug, which happens a lot in professional wrestling.
Suzanne from New Jersey doesn’t like that ESPN has taken Global Wrestling Federation off their programming and replaced it with yacht racing.
SAKS’ NOTEBOOK: written by: Stu Saks
Saks dedicates the article to Jimmy Lennon, a famous announcer who had recently passed away. The Olympic was reopening for boxing, a sport that Lennon announced for and provided many memories for fans. Lennon also did work in professional wrestling and treated it with similar respect that he had for boxing.
NAMES MAKIN’ NAMES: written by: Bill Apter
Ultimate Warrior returned to the WWF at WrestleMania VIII after leaving the company after SummerSlam 1991. Warrior saved Hogan from an attack by Papa Shango and Sid Justice. Warrior has already pinned Shango and recently defeated Justice by disqualification in Boston. Sid was livid with the result seemingly having taken Warrior too lightly upon his return. Justice was also unable to defeat Undertaker on a European tour.
Dusty Rhodes returned to WCW on April 17th to accompany Nikita Koloff for a match against Vader. Rhodes ended up brawling with Harley Race and declared that he would continue to do so if Race continues to get involved.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling had their first TV taping, which featured Buddy Landell and Tim Horner wrestling over $5,000. Heavenly Bodies, Stan Lane & Tom Prichard, won the tag titles over the Fantastics. Robert Gibson was also in action defeated Barry Horowitz.
La Tigresa won the WWC Women’s Championship from Sasha and Dirty White Girl won the USWA Women’s Championship from Lauren Davenport. The Natural Disasters lost the SWA Tag Team Championships to King Haku and Yoshiaki Yatsu in Tokyo on April 18th. CW Bergstrom may largely be known as a referee in the Pacific Northwest, but he won the PNW Heavyweight Championship from Ron Harris on April 21st.
Johnny Hot Body won the ECW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Jimmy Snuka on April 26th, and that has led to his partner Larry Winters arguing with the new champion over who deserves credit. Winters shoved Snuka off the top to lead to the finish. Snuka had been champion for one day having won a tournament final against Salvatore Bellomo. Apter notes that Bellomo has added 75-pounds of bulk and works with more brute force than ever before.
Tony Rumble has recruited men for a new stable and they are Tony Atlas, Kevin Sullivan, Tasmaniac and The Blaster.
ON THE ROAD: written by: Chris Bernucca
Bernucca recalls growing up with a kid named Johnny who would tell him lies and he’d try to convince his mother of these lies. An example, Godzilla and King Kong caused the cracks in the pavement due to their battles at night. Now, Bernucca is dealing with another liar.
He’d like to believe that Hulk Hogan used steroids three times to recover from injuries, but he doesn’t believe him. He’d like to believe that Vince McMahon wasn’t aware of wrestlers using steroids, sexual harassment cases or the Murray Hodgson claims of being fired for not having sex with executives in the company. However, he can’t.
Since Hogan’s comments on The Arsenio Hall Show, Billy Jack Haynes, Billy Graham and Dave Shultz have come forward to say they injected Hogan with steroids. Both Hogan and McMahon have refused to comment on the allegations to various magazine outlets, which is a bit suspicious if they are telling the truth. Bernucca doesn’t believe in McMahon’s comments and thinks McMahon had known about the variety of issues that plagued his federation.
BEHIND THE DRESSING ROOM DOOR: written by: David Rosenbaum
Rosenbaum feels that the biggest news coming out of WrestleMania VIII is the return of Paul Ellering with the Legion of Doom. But, does it really matter since LOD had won the titles without Ellering by their side? Do managers actually matter at all? Managers are usually the cause for champions to lose their championships. Sting believes that if you want to cheat, then having a manager is the way to go.
THE INSIDER: written by: Eddie Ellner
Ellner doesn’t believe that Liz Hunter should have a voice in the magazine after Hunter said that Piper is charismatic and praised him for hitting Brooklyn Brawler with a ring bell on the return of the Piper’s Pit. However, if a bad guy had done that, Hunter would be up in arms. Thus, Hunter has lost her credibility in Eddie’s eyes.
With government debating on whether to allow narcotics and eliminate crime while increasing profits, Ellner thinks that interference and foreign objects should be allowed in wrestling. Savage and Flair both cheated during WrestleMania VIII. Paul E. Dangerously uses his cellphone. Richard Lee saves the Moondogs by using powder.
Ellner is amazed that the Legion of Doom is even entertaining the challenge issued by the Beverly Brothers. It shows how weak the tag team division is in the World Wrestling Federation.
Ellner asked a model expert if any professional wrestlers had a chance to be a model. The expert, Contessa De Melanique, claimed that wrestlers are too over the top. However, she noted that the Patriot was an incredibly good looking guy and found it weird that he asked her to not reveal what he looked like since he wears a mask.
ON ASSIGNMENT: written by: Liz Hunter
Hunter was given the task to find out about Sting’s recent rib injury and she feared having to do so since they had just developed a friendship. However, Sting wanted to talk about it. The injury was a freak thing when he was slammed by Vader on a failed splash attempt. Sting is trying to break the stigma that he’s injury prone. Sting learned in his match with Vader that he had him right where he wanted him and thinks that Vader is lacking intelligence. Sting could have lost the match, but Vader is too arrogant and it cost him.
She also refutes Ellner’s claim that she is in love with Roddy Piper and notes that Ellner stated in the April 1986 “The Insider” column where Ellner wanted to be with Miss Elizabeth.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Fred Curry: He’s involved with real estate and still works on occasion for local independent companies in Ohio.
Sir Oliver Humperdink: Oliver is currently being a beach bum relaxing and enjoying the money he made in the wrestling business. However, his career isn’t over.
Haku: He’s enjoying a tour in Japan where he recently on tag titles having beaten the Natural Disasters. Haku doesn’t have any plans to return to the WWF despite managers looking to bring him back.
Donna Christantella: She’s retired and helping train new wrestlers at Fabulous Moolah’s school in South Carolina.
NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING CAPITALS
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels: Bret was able to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship by picking up a pin fall in Sussex, England.
Sting vs. Big Van Vader: Vader could have won the title in Atlanta, GA, but opted to shove the referee allowing Sting to retain by disqualification.
Nikita Koloff vs. Diamond Dallas Page: Koloff dominated the match from the onset and was able to pin DDP in Knoxville, TN.
Tito Santana vs. Irwin R. Schyster: They wrestled to a time limit draw in Montreal, Quebec.
Gary Young vs. Scott Putski: Young got some help from Steven Dane to earn the cheap win in Dallas, TX.
Wahoo McDaniel vs. Ivan Koloff: Koloff threatened to use a chain and it led to the referee to disqualify Koloff in Darlington, SC.
MATT BROCK’S PLAIN SPEAKING
Indianapolis: Brock wants to know where the juicy photos of Elizabeth that Flair had promised to reveal. He credits Savage for his ability to produce great matches when he’s really motivated. He’d consider Savage/Flair to be just behind Savage/Steamboat from Mania III. Hogan’s apparent last match against Sid Justice wasn’t very good and Hogan deserved something better than a disqualification finish.
Atlanta: Brock focuses on the Sting/Vader showdown where Vader cost himself a chance to be WCW World Champion. Brock wonders how many more injuries Sting can suffer before he can’t regroup from them anymore.
Norfolk, VA: Nikita Koloff is bad and he’s looking good. However, he’s not looking too forward as it pertains to his career. He’s happy right now and that’s all that matters. Brock admits that beating Diamond Dallas Page isn’t an incredible feat, but Koloff looks to be in top shape.
PUNK! WHY BRIAN CHRISTOPHER’S BAD ATTITUDE WORKS FOR HIM: written by: Bob Smith
Eddie Marlin was frantic when Brian Christopher neglected to show up to the Memphis studio in a suitable timeframe. Marlin threatened to fine and suspend Christopher, but Christopher doesn’t care and told Marlin to keep his false teeth in his head. Christopher went on to win his match in short order against TD Steele. Following the win, Christopher cut a promo saying that he’s the new breed in the USWA and dismissed challengers Jerry Lawler, Tom Prichard, Jeff Jarrett and Dirty White Boy as being never-was or has-beens.
Christopher has been in the USWA since 1991 and recently turned on his former partner, Tony Williams, after losing a tag match. They had been known as The New Kids. Christopher won the Texas Championship from Tom Prichard on February 10th and the USWA Southern Championship on March 23rd defeating Jimmy Valiant after a chair. Christopher would lose the Southern Championship on April 20th.
Prichard notes that Christopher might be in trouble once Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler are done with the Moondogs. Richard Lee likes what Christopher has been doing and agrees that the USWA needs some new blood. Christopher demanded he be on the cover of the magazine after learning they would have a piece on him. He was not included on the cover.
U.S. TAG CHAMPS TERRENCE TAYLOR & GREG VALENTINE: A CONSTANT BATTLE FOR RESPECT: written by: Eddie Ellner
The WWF is willing to put their talents through anything with the hopes of finding their next Hulk Hogan and as a result a lot of careers had been negatively impacted. Two guys that can relate to that are Greg Valentine and Terrence Taylor, the WCW US Tag Team Champions. Taylor came from the UWF to go to the WWF and became the Red Rooster, which he admits was a mistake. He then went to WCW where he associated himself with the York Foundation. That relationship fizzled and teamed with Greg Valentine and they were two people who needed each other.
Greg Valentine had a similar experience when he dyed his hair black and formed a team with Honkytonk Man known as Rhythm ’n’ Blues. Valentine soon became a second fiddle to Honky. Valentine knew that he needed something new and that’s when he went to WCW.
Since they formed a team, they have dominated the tag ranks. They quickly won titles and have defeated all challengers. They’ve been ranked as high as third, but still don’t get respect for their abilities. They want marquee matches and a shot at the WCW Tag Team Championships. They have fought their way back and it’s just a matter of proving it to the promoters.
THE CLOSER HE GETS…THE MORE SAVAGE “MACHO MAN” BECOMES!: written by: Eddie Ellner
There has been many notable mistakes in sports, and that has happened to Ric Flair in the WWF. Flair’s attempt to bait Savage and Elizabeth leading into WrestleMania VIII has a mistake, even if Flair doesn’t admit to it. Flair has been pinned by Savage three times since Mania and also lost a match to Davey Boy Smith. Flair was getting bored with being the best that he has focused on breaking down his opponents mentally along with physically. Flair had a tendency of whispering details to his opponents to get in their minds and would also sleep with their wives the night prior to their matches.
Hennig didn’t think that Flair should focus on Elizabeth, but was ignored by Flair. Flair lost the championship and then proceeded to kiss Elizabeth. That kiss has motivated Savage to destroy Flair at any cost. Flair is at a point where he has to find out how much of a man he really is when he’s in the ring with Savage.
CACTUS JACK’S FRUSTRATION: “WHY DOESN’T JOHNNY B. BADD FEAR ME?”: written by: Andy Rodriguez
Johnny sees the ring as his time to have fun and doesn’t worry about getting hurt. Cactus Jack likes to have fun, as well. However, his fun is issuing pain to his opponents. Jack likes to make his opponents fear him because they will be less effective. They had a match in New Jersey recently and Jack was left wondering why Badd doesn’t fear him. Cactus won the match by count-out, but needed to know why Badd wasn’t afraid of him. He went around asking anyone that he could find to find the answer.
Cactus has been so baffled by this that during a match with Ron Simmons, Cactus asked if Simmons was friends with Badd and it threw Simmons off as being weird. Sting recalls the same thing happening during his matches with Cactus. Johnny has gotten into Jack’s head. Johnny wouldn’t be afraid of Cactus or Abdullah the Butcher. Johnny is a champion boxer and fears no man. Cactus is determined to make Johnny fear him at any cost.
HOT SEAT: DUSTY WOLFE: “I’VE BEEN BEATEN BY THE BEST!”
Bob Smith sat down with Dusty Wolfe, a man who loses 80% of his matches, to find out why Wolfe loves to lose. Dusty feels like he’s a man that any company can rely on and it’s proven by all the companies he has worked for. Wolfe has been in the ring with the very best and while he’s lost every match against the top names, he’s been competitive. Wolfe sometimes wishes he was a champion and making a lot of money. However, he’s found his niche and he’s happy about it. His biggest win was in a tag match where he teamed with Mike George to beat Scott Hall and Dan Spivey in Kansas City. Wolfe continues to put himself through pain and injuries because he’s a working athlete and he prides himself on that. Dusty considers all the federations to be the same in terms of competition with WWF having the biggest roster of them all. Wolfe has been keeping an eye on Barry Horowitz since he recently won a title in GWF. Horowitz had a similar beginning as Wolfe by losing the majority of his matches. Dusty is hopeful to get his big break soon and he thinks its on the way.
CAN PAUL ELLERING MAKE THE ROAD WARRIORS OUT OF THE LEGION OF DOOM?: written by: Andy Rodriguez
In 1990, the Road Warriors jumped to the WWF without Paul Ellering. Ellering decided to chase his dream of being a sled dog racer. Without Ellering, LOD managed to win the WWF World Tag Team Championships at SummerSlam 1991 defeating the Nasty Boys. They were expected to be champions for a long time, but they were defeated by IRS and Ted DiBiase in a shocking upset. Now, they didn’t know if they could go after the gold and that’s where Ellering comes back into the picture. Many people think that Ellering is trying to get the Legion of Doom to wrestle like they did in the mid 1980s. Ellering has two goals. One, to lead them to the titles. Second, make them feared, again. He wants to make the Legion of Doom the Road Warriors again.
ONE ON ONE – MADUSA & MISTY HYATT
Madusa thinks that Hyatt hates the fact that Madusa gets more attention than her. Madusa doesn’t see Hyatt as being a journalist, but rather a bimbo with a microphone. Hyatt says at least she’s not a tomboy and puts Madusa down for being one of the guys. Madusa has respect of the men while Hyatt had a man of the month, but Hyatt refutes that saying she at least has a boyfriend. Hyatt wonders how Madusa could think she would win in a bikini contest. Hyatt has proven her worth in the ring when she defeated Paul E. Dangerously in arm wrestling matches. Madusa doesn’t like that Hyatt encourages the mindset that women are weak. Hyatt suggests that Madusa try being a woman because it’s actually fun. Hyatt doesn’t think Madusa has a good body and says her car, a 1973 Volkswagen, has a better body. Madusa thinks that if Hyatt won the bikini contest that women’s lib would be sent back 100 years.
What are your memories of what was going on in wrestling at this time, or your memories of thid magazine?