A look at the May 1989 Inside Wrestling magazine!
SINCERELY YOURS
Arthur from Michigan is siding with Paul E. Dangerously and the original Midnight Express in their battle against Jim Cornette and his phony team. The truth always destroy the lie and that’s what’s going on with the Express.
Mark from Maryland responds to another fans letter about the Rougeau Brothers not having a home and he wants them to return to Canada. Canada has dealt with Wayne Gretzky going to America to play hockey and Ben Johnson embarrassing them.
Greg from New Brunswick thinks the NWA needs to get their stuff together since four out of the five championships are held by a rulebreaker. Plus, managers are getting involved all the time and if that’s the case, then they should be in a cage. Also, the disqualification rule should be lifted.
Diane from Oklahoma thinks that all federations should adopt the disqualification rule in World Class. The wrestlers there are the toughest and the other companies could say the same if they had the same regulations in place.
Robb from Pittsburgh has an issue with the article from February where JJ Dillon said that Anderson and Blanchard wouldn’t be successful with Bobby Heenan. They are smart wrestlers and they need title shots, which Heenan can provide.
Kay from Michigan thinks that Sting is dead meat as the Road Warriors want to cripple him. Sting is also wanting to take the titles from Barry Windham and Ric Flair. She finds it funny since Sting has not won the titles. Sting might be in for a rough 1989 if he continues to take on more than he can handle.
Shelby from Oklahoma thinks that Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden would make a perfect fit for the Horsemen to replace Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson. They are no nonsense kind of people and they dominated Continental for over a year.
Pattie from Arkansas insults Dusty Rhodes saying that his body is the male answer to the circus fat lady. The layers of fat make him look like a hog for slaughter instead of a professional wrestler. She is a fan of Dusty in the ring, but wants him to lose some weight. She recently saw Dustin Rhodes and thought he was a nice looking guy, and reminded her of Dusty from years ago. However, now the fat has ruined that potential. Dusty was the best looking athlete in all of sports. She suggests that Dusty get some muscle as it would be easier to maintain. If he lost some weight, Dusty could have the sexiest tag team with his son.
Andy from Nebraska wants NWA to expand and come to areas more often so they aren’t stuck with the WWF. He credits World Class, AWA and CWA for putting together SuperClash III and hopes this could mean we get an actual unification between the top champions from the major federations. The big federations should partner with HBO to get more access to their pay per views. Also, the WWF needs more championships like a Intercontinental Tag Team Championship and a junior heavyweight championship. The NWA needs to lose the Florida and Western States Heritage championship.
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: written by: Stu Saks
Saks thinks that Lawler is the most complex, inconsistent and paradoxical person in the sport. Lawler isn’t a fool and knows that it’s tough being the World Class and AWA champion. However, unification matches are done to put people in the seats. Lawler skipped out on seven AWA title defenses since he couldn’t be in two places at once. Now, he’s left with just World Class championship and doesn’t know how long that will even last.
BEHIND THE DRESSING ROOM DOOR: written by: David Rosenbaum
Hogan’s performance at the Royal Rumble was quite impressive as he tossed eight guys out in under seven minutes. Hogan had ten overall in just over eleven minutes. However, Akeem and Big Bossman ended up eliminating Hogan, but Hogan wasn’t done for the evening. Hogan caused Bossman to be eliminated, but Hogan never had a chance to win since there were thirty guys this time around and it’s all about luck. David notes three notable performances of Curt Hennig, Akeem and Butch Miller. Akeem showed great stamina, and Hennig lasted the longest in the match for twenty-eight minutes. Butch lasted eighteen minutes. David suggests that Hogan shut up, learn a few moves and he could become a worthwhile champion in the future.
ON THE ROAD: written by: Craig Peters
A lot can change in one year. Peters runs down several things that have changed.
Curt Hennig was the AWA World Champion, but is now wrestling in the WWF.
Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson were the NWA World Tag Team Champions, but now they are in the WWF.
The Midnight Rockers were the AWA World Tag Team Champions, but now they are in the WWF known as the Rockers.
Sheepherders were in NWA as the third ranked team, but now they are the Bushwhackers in WWF.
Warlord and Barbarian were ranked fourth in NWA, and now they are in the WWF.
Big Bossman, Ronnie Garvin, Bad News Brown and Terry Taylor also arrived in the WWF.
Don Muraco left the WWF and went to Stampede Wrestling.
The British Bulldogs left the WWF and went to Stampede Wrestling.
Junkyard Dog left the WWF and went to the NWA.
Ken Patera left the WWF and is working in the Minneapolis area.
Butch Reed left the WWF and is now working in the NWA.
Bam-Bam Bigelow left the WWF to go to the NWA. Michael Hayes left World Class for the NWA. Ricky Steamboat left the WWF and is now back in the NWA.
Some wrestlers were tired of being lost in the shuffle and not getting title shots. There’s a lot of interest in the NWA because a lot more can be accomplished with Ted Turner’s involvement.
Craig notes that he thought the 1989 Royal Rumble match was the best WWF match since the Savage/Steamboat match at WrestleMania III and can’t wait for the 1990 edition of the match.
NAMES MAKIN’ NAMES: written by: Bill Apter
Jerry Lawler was stripped of the AWA World Championship on January 20th. Lawler missed seven title defenses and is now banned from the AWA forever. Lawler maintains that he can’t be at three different places at once. Dutch Mantel had defeated Lawler for the World Class and AWA World Championships ten days prior. However, there was controversy in that match and the belts were returned to Lawler. Rick Morton was the special referee of that match. Lawler is most upset about being banned from the AWA forever since he’ll never get the championship back now.
A new WWC Puerto Rican Championship will be crowned after it was vacated by Hercules Ayalya. Jason The Terrible is going for the WWC Universal Championship.
Ric Flair has fired JJ Dillon and it appears hat Hiro Matsuda is on the verge of buying the contract. Hiro claims to be richer than Ted Turner and plans to bring a group of wrestlers to NWA.
Two matches have been signed for WrestleMania V. WWF Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior defends against Rick Rude. WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition will defend against Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji in a handicap match. There’s a good chance that Andre the Giant will wrestle Big John Studd at WrestleMania V, too.
Al Perez has returned to Florida and is going after Mike Graham. Dusty Rhodes is back in Florida and this could lead to a heated feud between Rhodes and Perez.
Gama Singh is back in Stampede and going after Chris Benoit. Larry Cameron has challenged Don Muraco for the North American belt.
Kerry Von Erich has asked Jeff Jarrett to come into World Class to fight the Samoan Swat Team. Scott Armstrong has struggled to beat Nelson Royal for the Atlantic Coast junior heavyweight championship.
The Grappler and Buddy Rose stole the Pacific Northwest tag belts from the Southern Rockers. Roddy Piper helped returned the belts to the Southern Rockers after being attacked. Piper notes he has no interest in returning to the ring.
THE INSIDER: written by: Eddie Ellner
Eddie is annoyed that the WWF refuses to acknowledge the past when it doesn’t deal with the WWF. For instance, ignoring that Rick Martel’s back hasn’t been the same since 1985 when he wrestled Stan Hansen and lost the AWA World Championship. Not acknowledging Jesse Ventura was the AWA World Tag Team Champions with Adrian Adonis. Ellner was confused as to why Ventura wouldn’t have a witty comeback. Perhaps McMahon is brainwashing people that work for him. People not being able to address their past must be stopped.
Ellner also notes on Ricky Morton’s heel turn saying that he smells worse than milk going bad. Also, Ellner notes that spring break is cancelled since Dusty Rhodes has returned to Florida.
ON ASSIGNMENT: written by: Liz Hunter
Liz was most focus on the WWF Women’s Championship match between Rockin’ Rebel and Judy Martin at the Royal Rumble. Liz continues to want a spotlight on women’s wrestling. She was disappointed to see so many people go get food and use the restrooms during the match, However, that may be because of the lack of women wrestlers actively competing. Wendi Richter thinks that women should stand together and be more supportive. Perhaps then women’s wrestling could get a fair shake in professional wrestling.
Ricky Steamboat was excited to return to the NWA and a little wary. He was glad to team with Eddie Gilbert to take some pressure off. He’s wrestling for the future of his son, Ricky. It’s a breath of fresh air for Steamboat to care about his family over wrestling.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Mil Mascaras: He’s not retired despite reports and is still actively working in Mexico. He’s supposed to be going to Japan and has starred in two movies in Mexico.
Nikita Koloff: He’s stayed home to take care of his wife. Koloff is working sometimes in North Carolina.
Teijho Khan: He’s been wrestling mostly in Minnesota. He’s looking to go to Calgary to wrestle for Stampede.
The Crusher: He’s not retired but is living in Milwaukee with his wife.
NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING CAPITALS
Binghamton, NY: Brutus Beefcake managed to get a victory over Rick Rude with a crossbody.
Memphis, TN: Robert Fuller hit Sid Vicious with a foreign object to win a loser leaves town match.
Toronto, Ontario: King Haku pinned Harley Race after an elbow drop.
Milwaukee, WI: Ric Flair stole a win from Rick Steiner managing to use the ropes for leverage on a pin attempt.
New York, NY: Randy Savage ducked the Ghetto Blaster by Bad News Brown and was able to retain the WWF World Championship.
Bassett, VA: Eddie Gilbert managed to pin Kendall Windham with a sunset flip.
MATT BROCK’S PLAIN SPEAKING
Houston, TX: Brock praises the Royal Rumble for being a great event and praises the concept of the Royal Rumble match.
Atlanta, GA: Ricky Steamboat has returned to the NWA and is going after NWA World Champion Ric Flair. Steamboat pinned Flair in a tag match and Flair had a look of fear on his face. Brock thinks the WWF is about to get a run for its money.
Tokyo, Japan: Brock would be interested in a possible series of matches between top Russian stars and top Japan stars. There’s a rumor that discussions have taken place for that to happen.
Miami, FL: Brock had a bad experience in Miami with rocks and bottles being thrown around and he’s never going back to Miami. He had gone down because a friend invited him to the Super Bowl and he regretted that decision.
HE’S HIMSELF AGAIN! TERRY TAYLOR DUMPS THE WEASEL – AND THE ROOSTER: written by: Bob Smith
Taylor came into the WWF as the Red Rooster and was insulted by Bobby Heenan just standing there nodding his head. A drastic difference from his World Class and UWF days. However, it didn’t take long for Taylor to ditch Heenan. Taylor had left World Class and didn’t even take the Texas Championship with him. Taylor couldn’t deal with the fans saying that he was boring. Taylor’s confidence took a hit as he lost to Iron Sheik and Hillbilly Jim.
With lack of confidence, Taylor became desperate and associated himself with Heenan, which led to a few wins. During a match in Tampa on December 7th, Taylor shoved Heenan on the floor to show that he wasn’t backing down from the insults. However, Heenan ended up costing Taylor a match against Tito Santana. Heenan has signed Brooklyn Brawler to attack Taylor, but Taylor comes back after every sneak attack. Taylor has won matches against Koko B. Ware and Blue Blazer recently and appears to be back on the right track for his career.
STING: “I TOOK ALL THE FIGHT OUT OF RIC FLAIR!”: written by: David Rosenbaum
Last year, Sting had a forty-five minute classic with Ric Flair and seemed to be on the verge of the World Championship. However, a year has passed and Sting has not won the title. Flair is now fighting off the challenge of both Sting and Ricky Steamboat. Sting thinks he deserves some credit if Steamboat were to win the title because he took all the fight out of Flair during their battles. Sting would rather see Ricky Steamboat as the champion, anyway. Sting and Luger have had great difficulty trying to take the title off of Flair.
Sting wrestled Flair for an hour and was happy with the result but that makes Flair know that Sting can hang with him and could beat him. Flair considers a tie to be like kissing your sister and it means nothing to him because he’s the champion. Six days after the draw with Sting, Flair pinned him after twenty-five minutes of action. Ricky Steamboat is seen as the best option to dethrone Flair as he’s the most accomplished and well rounded athlete of the group of challengers. Sting is fine with someone else getting the credit because he’s been able to help defeat Flair if not directly doing so.
HULK HOGAN: “I LOVE ELIZABETH… LIKE A SISTER”: written by: Bill Apter
Randy Savage is a paranoid and overprotective champion and when he heard Hulk Hogan say “I love Elizabeth like a sister.” Savage only heard “I love Elizabeth.” Hogan isn’t blameless for hugging, kissing and putting Elizabeth on his shoulders. They could have had the greatest team, but immaturity wrecked them. Elizabeth is the only person who is suffering from this as she’s made it clear that her heart is for Savage and not with Hogan. She has them both look over the other when they are in trouble. Hogan’s love for Elizabeth is innocent since he’s married with a one-year old child. He isn’t going to ruin that with a messy public affair.
Savage was even threatened by George Steele. Only someone truly overprotective would think that would be a couple to worry about. All of this is truly unfortunate and could have been avoided but two men with enormous personalities caused the clash between them. Apter believes this is a wrestling tragedy.
RICK STEINER – WRESTLING’S NEW DUSTY RHODES!: written by: Craig Peters
They may look nothing alike nor wrestle the same way, but their careers have gone down the same path. They both started as rulebreakers before their attitudes changed after a few years. Dusty had many people in his life before friends after being enemies and enemies become friends. Rick Steiner is becoming a polarizing force similar to Dusty. Rick Steiner has been feuding with the Varsity Club and has had help from the likes of Sting, Lex Luger and Junkyard Dog. Rick is determined to make sure that Rotunda and Steve Williams do not get the NWA Television Championship from him.
Rick Steiner has a drawing on his name called Alex and a pet dog named Spike. Spike has been nearly abducted several times and it’s rumored that Abdullah the Butcher is the security guard for the dog. Rick has many friends to help fight off his battles and is living the American Dream.
RICK MORTON: “TOO BAD IF THE FANS DON’T UNDERSTAND!”
Rick Morton was the special referee for a Jerry Lawler/Dutch Mantell showdown in the CWA on January 10th. Morton was involved in a collision and ended up screwing Lawler out of the titles after ignoring Lawler’s foot on the bottom rope. Morton denies taking any money from Dutch Mantell despite Lawler seeing money change hands backstage following the contest. Morton had to punch Lawler after accusing him of taking a bribe and thinks the fans shouldn’t be booing him after everything he’s done for the area. Morton has been more aggressive after seeing Mantell ask for a title match for weeks and it took a slap on television for Lawler to grant the match.
Morton isn’t happy that Lawler has been taking credit for the Rock ’n’ Roll Express and thinks that only him and Robert Gibson should have credit for the teams success. Morton doesn’t think it’s a big deal that he’s wrestling alone in the CWA while teaming with Gibson elsewhere. Morton gave Ric Flair tough matches back in 1986 and wants a chance to challenge Lawler. Morton wants to prove that he’s one of the greatest singles wrestlers ever and getting Lawler’s championships would be a good start. Morton doesn’t need fans support and suggests that Gibson could be on his way to the CWA to really take over the company.
WRESTLING’S UNHAPPIEST WORLD CHAMPIONS: BAD DAYS FOR THE BAD COMPANY: written by: Andy Rodriguez
Bad Company has been AWA World Tag Team Champions for eleven months and they are frustrated with lack of top tier challengers and they don’t want their title reigns to be suffered because of the lack of competition. They aren’t happy that they didn’t wrestle for two weeks after SuperClash III. Diamond Dallas Page has made a list of demands for 1989 and if they aren’t met then the champions could leave the promotion. They want to wrestle Brian Pillman and Bruce Hart for the rights to the name Bad Company. They also want to have title vs. title matches with other champions from the top promotions. They are pissed off and they will continue to beat up all the challengers put in their way until they get what they want.
ONE ON ONE
JJ Dillon wonders how long Ric Flair will hold onto the championship now that he’s not there to protect Flair from his losing ways. Flair will do just fine on his own as he’s the champion and doesn’t need anyone’s help. Dillon recalls saving Flair from Luger back in July and thinks Flair needs to look in the mirror and blame himself for his struggles with Steamboat. Flair blames Dillon for the Horsemen losing championships and they don’t need him. Dillon is happy with what he’s accomplished, including two title wins for Flair. Flair thinks that Dillon is trying to take credit for everything. Flair challenges Dillon to get in the ring and see how good he is in the ring first hand. Dillon says that Flair’s job was to win championships, but that ended up being Dillon’s job for Flair. Flair says he doesn’t need Dillon to be the greatest champion. Dillon believes that Steamboat has Flair’s number, but Flair says that Steamboat couldn’t beat him five years ago and that trend will continue today.