Inside The Magazine Volume #45: PWI April ’94

BETWEEN FALLS

Noel from Bedford, Texas wrote about a recent episode of WCW Worldwide where Steve Austin turned on Brian Pillman effectively ending the Hollywood Blonds. Noel thought they worked well together and that Pillman made Austin into a successful wrestler. Noel predicts that Austin will not win the WCW United States Championship and that Pillman will whip Austin when they eventually square off.

John from PA is annoyed with the statements made in the PWI 500 suggesting that Ted DiBiase is part of the cowardly tag team Money Inc. John notes that the team defeated every major threat in the tag division and says not every team could pin the Legion of Doom or make Earthquake fall asleep.

Brad from PA believes that Sabu has a lot of potential after seeing him compete on several ECW cards in Philadelphia. He’s impressed by Sabu’s aerial skills and sees a combination of Jimmy Snuka, Bruiser Brody and Kevin Sullivan in his style of wrestling.

Tony DeVito, yes the ECW wrestler, wrote in and he’s pissed about not being included in the PWI 500. Tony is undefeated on the independents and has given several WWF wrestlers tough matches, even if he loses them. He wants to be in the top 100 next year and he’ll show them personally that he belongs if he’s not there.

Nathan from Indiana believes that WWF RAW would be the best program if there was a category. He liked 1-2-3 Kid upset win, Crush destroying Randy Savage and Razor Ramon winning the WWF Intercontinental Championship.

Vincent from Texas is really insulted at the suggestion that Missy Hyatt is a manager of the Nasty Boys. Hyatt has no talent and is only in the business for money, in his opinion. He also doesn’t believe that Hyatt has beauty or brains.

Jake from Illinois was really upset with the poor officiating by Randy Anderson during the title match between Vader and Ric Flair at the recent WCW Clash of the Champions. Anderson shouldn’t be involved in the next match and thinks that it’s just a matter of time until Flair wins the title from Vader.

Ted from Kentucky is not a fan of the constant attitude changes in the USWA involving Jeff Jarrett and Brian Christopher. Christopher is now beloved after being a whiny heel and Jarrett is now a heel after being a clean cut babyface for many years. He also doesn’t like that Jarrett associates with Christopher’s former valet, Toni Adams. Ted just wants some consistent heels and faces in the USWA.

RINGSIDE with Bill Apter

There’s some controversy in the WWF as fans don’t know who the real WWF Intercontinental Champion is between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. Michaels has claimed to be the champion since being reinstated and has a dominating win over Randy Savage in Great Britain. Fans have been praising the decision by the WWF to bring back the Women’s Championship, which has been defunct since 1990. Madusa is seen as the favorite to win the tournament and Apter looks forward to match between Madusa and Luna Vachon.

Luna and Bam-Bam have a little more to deal with when it comes to Doink the Clown. Dink recently made his debut and has been with Doink at ringside during his matches.

Vince McMahon was indicted on federal grand jury charges of distributing anabolic steroids, which McMahon denies. Titan Towers could be seized if he’s convicted. The trial is set for May.

Harley Race returned to the ring to compete against Ric Flair due to Vader suffering an injury. Flair won the matches in Florida, but Race earned even more respect. Race believes he’s figured out what Vader needs to do, but Flair has no idea what it will take to beat Vader.

Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce were on different teams at Battlebowl, but they made up to beat up Marcus Alexander Bagwell. Vader ended up winning Battlebowl. Missy Hyatt must be doing something right as the Nasty Boys have been dominating the tag division for the past several months.

Jim Cornette might be bald by the time the magazine is on newsstands as he didn’t realize his hair was on the line against the Bullet’s mask. Dick Murdoch was recruited to unmask Bullet, who Cornette believes is Bob Armstrong.

Prince Kharis, a mummy from Egypt, has recently fought Tim Horner and is managed by Daryl Van Horne.

In the USWA, Brian Christopher is turning into a fan favorite and has ditched Toni Adams. Meanwhile, Jeff Jarrett is turning into a bad guy after spending more time in the WWF and focusing on his country singing career.

FROM THE DESK OF… Stuart M. Saks

Stu talking about reporting the bad news stories in recent months simply because it is his job and it leaves a poor taste in his mouth. Saks felt that the recent controversies would impact wrestling in a negative fashion, but it ended up being wrong. After attending a Poughkeepsie RAW taping, Saks was taken aback by the buzz of the action that the fans were waiting for. Saks enjoyed matches between Razor/Diesel, Tatanka/Borga and was thrilled to watch Bret Hart against Yokozuna. Saks disagrees with what Chris Bernucca stated in his article and thinks that professional wrestling is thriving and suggests that fans listen to the roar to believe that wrestling will be fine. Saks uses MLB as an example of where fans were hooked on the Braves and Giants battling for a playoff spot and the World Series drama between the Blue Jays and Phillies. Fans ignored the criticism and enjoyed the sport.

IN FOCUS with Craig Peters

The focus on the column this month is educating fans on AAA, the Mexico based promotion. AAA is trying its hand at promoting shows in the United States and have had five cards thus far. The shows are drawing an average crowd of 9,000 fans, which is higher than some WWF and WCW shows. AAA plans to run shows in New York and Chicago early in 1994 and that may be a true test at their drawing ability. Peters mentions that each match is basically a Liger vs. Pillman type of contest and goes through the different rules and match styles. If AAA succeeds, he thinks that the major US companies should be taking notes.

WIN, LOSE, OR DRAW: written by: Andy Rodriguez

Andy talks about the Survivor Series where Owen Hart showed some jealously towards his brother Bret and shoved him to the mat after being the only Hart member to be eliminated. It’s likely that they will make up, but the anger Owen showed proves there’s some rivalry between the brothers. Bruce Hart thinks it’s normal for brothers to be competitive against each other but they were still supportive of each other. Owen believes he’s always been overlooked in favor of his other brothers.

Owen is an impatient guy feeling that Bret gets all the chances to be successful. Owen wants to be the WWF World Champion and feels he’s being overlooked. One wrestler believes that Owen wouldn’t wrestle Bret if he were the WWF World Champion. Andy doesn’t agree with that and thinks that Owen would go for the gold no matter what.

THE STEEL CAGE: written by: Chris Bernucca

Whether you like or hate Vince McMahon, he’s the man responsible for the success and decline of professional wrestling. Bernucca mentions the hype train behind Lex Luger and how he hasn’t won the WWF World Championship. He also lists an embarrassing WCW card and how he wouldn’t attend the show if it was free. Whenever there’s an interesting match the finish ruins it and he uses Bret vs. Yoko at Mania IX as an example.

Wrestling has failed to bring in any new stars to prevent the product from being stale. 1-2-3 Kid created a spark, but he’s been wrestling since the late 80s. Whenever a new wrestler debuts it’s a veteran wrestler under a new identity. Vince gets all the blame because he’s the leader and everyone follows his lead, including WCW.

Vince McMahon doesn’t need to be the visionary and leader of wrestling anymore. Wrestling needs championship matches that come to a conclusion and new moves. Chris suggests that if you’re fed up with programming look at where your remote control was made and realize that wrestling is thriving in Japan.

OFF THE TOP ROPE: written by: Eddie Ellner

Bernie from Philadelphia is confused that Apter would consider Lex Luger a good and noble man and then not abide by the stipulations to a match. Ellner thinks that Luger is doing what any athlete would do and that’s act as an spoiled entitled prima donna.

Jerry from New Mexico asks which old timer would be the most successful between Thesz, Kowalski, Sammartino and Gagne. Eddie dismisses Thesz, Gagne and Sammartino as being boring or guys that would get laughs. Kowalski would be someone that fans would support because he would time how long it would take before his opponents would be in the hospital.

Aaron from Kentucky is not a fan of wrestlers testifying against McMahon, but Eddie thinks they should be commended for being brave enough to speak out against the pressures of using drugs in the business.

Wanda from Texas thinks that Jim Cornette should focus on either the WWF or SMW instead of both. Eddie doubts that Cornette cares about that and says Cornette will always make a buzz wherever he goes without being at the top.

SHAWN MICHAEKS: ‘ENOUGH OF THIS KID STUFF, GIVE ME RAMON!”: written by: Dave Rosenbaum

Michaels wrestling guys like Doink, The Kid and the Hart Family seemed a bit out of place when he should be focused on battling Razor Ramon for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Some think that Michaels punishment has extended into wrestling prospects like the Kid instead of wrestling Ramon. Michaels has gone through Kid to get his hands on Ramon. Ramon made an appearance during their match to brawl with Michaels.

When Michaels was suspended, he blamed Ramon for conspiring with Jack Tunney to strip him of the belt. The same thing happened to Rick Rude and the WCW United States Championship with Rude returning to challenge Dustin Rhodes.

The issues between Michaels and Ramon could very well continue into 1995.

PRESS CONFERENCE: KEVIN VON ERICH

Von Erich is writing a screenplay about his family and wants the world to know his brothers were good people. He’s stopped wrestling because the business left him. Von Erich says they lived a reckless lifestyle trying to impress each other and he’s surprised that he survived it. They’d have a thing where it was called chance of the day. They’d risk their lives doing dangerous stunts such as standing on the top of a car speeding down the road and jumping on wild bulls backs.

He says that Kerry had nothing to live for because he was likely going to jail and was afraid he’d never see his daughters again. Kerry talked to Kevin shortly before killing himself and Kevin thought he was able to convince him to not do it during an hour conversation. Kevin didn’t want to be the only brother remaining. Kevin thinks that anybody reading this would never commit suicide if they knew the pain it caused their loved ones.

Kevin’s parents split after Chris committed suicide and they reconnected after Kevin’s death. However, they never got back together. Kevin is hopeful they will because they need each other. Kevin says it is lonely being the only brother and that people are taking bets on him. However, he has a reason to live and that’s for his family. He doesn’t blame wrestling for their deaths but rather their reckless behavior. Kevin also doesn’t want his father to be seen in a brutal manner.

Kevin says that his brothers were killed due to their addiction to painkillers and that Kerry was the only one to get into illegal drugs. He doesn’t recall his father being abusive at all and knows that his parents don’t blame each other for what has happened. Kevin believes he’ll make it because he has a beautiful family and has stuff to live for.

THE MAKING OF A SUPER STABLE? HOGAN & FLAIR’S SECRET MEETING – AND PWI WAS THERE!: written by: Dave Rosenbaum

Flair makes sure that everyone knows that in wrestling it’s never personal and it’s part of the game. So, that’s how he was able to have a meeting with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart. There could be a chance of Hogan, Flair, Sting and Jimmy Hart working together and allowing themselves to call all the shots. Flair and Hogan are towards the end of their careers while Sting is still in his prime. There are rumors they could try to get Lex Luger, Davey Boy Smith or even the Warrior. Flair downplayed all the rumors even saying he doesn’t know if an alliance would even work between them. Nothing has been confirmed and it’s all about waiting to see how it all plays out.

SABU VS. ROB VAN DAM… AIR RAID!: written by: Andy Rodriguez

Rob Van Dam has been in semi-retirement but came out of retirement for the challenge against Sabu, which is the kind of challenge he has been craving to have. Van Dam was able to convince a Michigan promoter to sign the match and it was easy since Sabu wanted the match, too. They both prepared for the match differently. They traded high impact moves from the start with Van Dam hitting a top rope leg drop and Sabu hitting a frankensteiner. They used weapons and Van Dam survived the match, but they are both interested in squaring off against each other again.

ARE THE FANS CHEERS IN HIS FUTURE? THE STORY RICK RUDE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ

Eddie Ellner conducted an interview with Rick Rude. After Rude managed to get a kiss from a good looking blond, they talked about a young boy bringing a gun to school and had not seen his parents in four days. Rude notes that when that happens that role models play a big role in people’s lives. Rude thinks he should be a better influence and write “stay in school” on his tights or something along those lines. Rude spotted another woman and forgot what he was saying and suggested they forgot the conversation. Rude didn’t return to the interview, but Ellner got a scoop from that.

THE WWF STEROID SCANDAL: A CANDID Q&A: written by: Chris Bernucca

Bernucca explains what steroids are all about and how they can impact the body in a positive way, but they also have some awful side effects. Wrestlers would use the drugs so they could become stronger and bigger. However, the drugs can affect them with hormones impacting their moods and physically over time. Prior to 1988, steroids were given out freely and lead to many wrestlers using the drug without a valid prescription. In 1991, Dr. George Zahorian was brought to trial on drug charges.

The government didn’t pick on the WWF as they had evidence against Zahorian. It’s highly unlikely that the WWF would go out of business because of this as they make money through many different avenues. McMahon could continue to plea his innocence of the charges, or take a plea bargain. If McMahon is found to be guilty he’d headed to prison for several years. WCW could be targeted as many former WWF wrestlers compete there now, but don’t expect smaller companies such as SMW or USWA to be impacted.

WRESTLING ENQUIRER

Bobby Heenan has been ousted from the WWF thanks to Gorilla Monsoon, but there’s no telling where Heenan will end up.

SMW Heavyweight Champion Brian Lee recently wrestled Jerry Lawler on a USWA card, and lost the match by disqualification. Tammy Sytch wasn’t involved as Reggie B. Fine and Rex Hargrove attacked Lawler. It’s not known if Lee will compete in USWA again.

Ivan Koloff and Jimmy Valiant are expected to wrestle in stipulation match after an encounter at a Carolina Championship Wrestling Alliance function.

Paul Roma recently became a heel after attacking Erik Watts during a match against Lord Steven Regal and Paul Orndorff. Roma didn’t apologize and believes he’s capable of much more now that he’s not in the background of the Horsemen.

Tatanka is back in action after being out for a few weeks and he defeated Diesel in easy fashion on a European tour.

On a West Coast Championship Wrestling card Michelle Star nearly became paralyzed but instead broke several toes and a severely strained neck.

In Japan, Vader shockingly submitted to Nobuhiko Takada’s arm bar. Vader’s WCW World Championship was not on the line.

Did you have this magazine and what are your thoughts on what was happening in wrestling?

Thanks for reading.