From: hekunze@water.waterloo.edu (Herb Kunze)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling
Subject: Wrestling TidBits   -   09/07
Message-ID: <1990Sep7.232908.29807@water.waterloo.edu>
Date: 7 Sep 90 23:29:08 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: University of Waterloo
Lines: 130
Posted: Sat Sep  8 00:29:08 1990


 {Well, I'm finally back after a beautiful month of R&R.  No, not Ricky and
  Robert, not Rock'N'Roll, but Rest and Relaxation.  This tidbits post is
  a day off my regular Thursday schedule, which I'll resume next week.
  As you all know, I'm starting my Masters, so I'll be around for a good
  year.                                                                    }

 - Word has it that both Bad News Brown and Haku are on their way out
   of the WWF.

 - Davey Boy Smith should be back in the WWF shortly (this month).

 - Tony Atlas will come into the WWF as a face (already working prelims),
   working a native angle.  His name will be Simba, Swahili for lion.
   They had previously planned to have him work as Olympiad, but that's
   probably not racist enough.

 - It seems that the WWF actually went to the trouble of re-working
   it's house show schedule so there would be a show in Chicago on
   October 27 to compete with the NWA's Halloween Havoc PPV show (also
   from Chicago).  This seems silly since the past has shown that there
   is little damage done to either company when the other happens to
   have a show on opposite it.

 - Now that Sapphire has been purchased by Ted DiBiase, she'll be removed
   from the house shows.  The main purpose of this was to phase her out and
   set up the DiBiase-Rhodes feud.  If things work out, Dustin Rhodes may be
   worked into the program later, with the Runnels men taking on DiBiase and
   Virgil.

 - Comments on Summer Slam title changes:
   It's good to see the Hart Foundation take the straps.  I didn't really
   expect it, but I guess the Demolition/Warriors feud doesn't need a title
   on the line to draw.  I tend to agree that the Harts will probably turn
   heel - perhaps during the Survivor Series? - to set up the feud with
   the LOD.  This was another case of Vince McMahon ignoring history once
   again: the last time I saw a two-out-of-three falls title match with a
   fall won by DQ, the title didn't change hands.
     I'm also surprised - but a little less - that Kerry von Erich won the
   IC belt from Curt Hennig.  Oh well.  There are signs that Hennig is not
   pleased with Heenan's management - perhaps there's something in the
   offing.  By the way, have you noticed that von Erich wears tassles on
   his boots to hide the fact that one is prosthetic?  I don't really care
   for his matches, because it is obvious that he can't put equal pressure
   on both feet.  I doubt that he can withstand a serious schedule.

 - This weekend past on NWA Pro Wrestling, the Samoan Swat Team went against
   two jobbers.  One of the SST did the Samoan Backdrop on Pat Rose and Pat
   didn't land too well.  It looked pretty bad.  He barely lay still long
   enough for a splash off the top and the three count.  The referee actually
   had to reach over and push his shoulders onto the mat to remind an
   obviously injured Rose to keep them down for the pin.
     And on one of the WWF syndies, Barry O was featured as a jobber for
   someone - I forget who since Barry left a far greater impression.  Barry
   did some great bumps off the ring apron and on the mats outside the ring.
   It made me wish I could I see Cactus Jack on a regular basis again.

 - Someone asked about Gorilla Monsoon's absence.  As I recall, Gorilla had
   some foot surgery done a short while back and is currently on the mend.

 - It looks like "Tag Team" starring Jesse Ventura & Roddy Piper, which has
   already been moved from the new season list to the mid-season replacement
   list, has been pulled completely by ABC.  We'll probably see whatever
   filming is already in the can at some time down the road, but the project
   is no more.  This opens the possibility of Piper returning to the ring,
   since that was the only reason he left (ABC didn't like the chance
   of an injury).  And this leaves Jesse with only one job.

 - Hogan will be taking a break for a few months to begin filming on "Urban
   Commando," the first of three flicks in his movie deal.  He plays an
   intergalactic superhero space mercenary who winds up on Earth.  Ugh.
   Well, at least he isn't an intergalactic superhero ex-wrester space
   mercenary. Interestingly enough, the second flick is called "Ugh".  No,
   it's not a movie about Hogan's choreographed hulk-out, finger-wag,
   three-fist, foot-to-the-face, legdrop finish, although it too is a comedy.

 - Speaking of films, Jesse Ventura just finished "Abraxas," a sci-fi flick
   that may actually see theatrical release.  There are a couple of other
   movies with Jesse that went straight to video release.

 - For the moment, it looks like the Hart Foundation are going to feud with
   Greg Valentine & the Honky Tonk Man, until the LOD feud comes about.
   It also looks like Kerry von Erich and Curt Hennig will feud straight
   through to WrestleMania.  Once the six-men matches between all the Demos
   and the Ultimate Warrior & the LOD are over, Warrior will feud with
   Savage.  I suspect that this angle may be set up this weekend when Sherri
   guests on Brother Love - expect a Savage sneak-attack.  They tried a
   Savage-Warrior match at a recent taping and ended it with Warrior ripping
   off Sherri's dress - this is either good or bad news depending on your
   view of Sherri.

 - Coming into the NWA: Beetlejuice, Ricky Rice, Ivan Koloff.
   Leaving: Paul Orndorff, Mean Mark, Hector Guerrero, and maybe Sid
            Vicious(!).

 - Interesting to see Rick Martel challenging the Ultimate Warrior in an
   interview spot on the weekend.

 - Equally interesting to see everybody challenging Sting in their interview
   spots.

 - The NWA will be in Toronto, Ontario, again in late November.  Hopefully,
   I'll be able to attend the card this time.

 - The Black Scorpion seen in the interview segments on the NWA syndies was
   actually Ole Anderson.  No idea who the real Black Scorpion is.

 - Pat O'Conner died last week at 66 in St. Louis from liver cancer.  Pat
   won the NWA world title in 1959 from Dick Hutton and was still making
   appearances wuite recently as a special referee and, more notably, as a
   special judge for Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk at Ney York Knock-Out.

 - Finally, after catching up on the last three weeks or so of posts, I just
   had to comment on the implication that I'm anti-WWF.  I don't think that
   this is true.  I am *against* silliness and *for* wrestling action, and it
   just seems that the WWF provides a lot of one and not a lot of the other.
   I'm not really against the WWF product, though.  The last SNME is a good
   example of high quality product from the WWF, although I didn't care for
   the safari skits.  I'll equally critize the NWA for stupid things like
   Norman the Lunatic, the Candyman, pushing El Gigante before he's ready,
   etc.
     I think the fairer statement is that I'm anti-Vince.  This guy has done
   everything in his power to change the sport for the worse, in my opinion.
   His territorial greed and talent raiding practices that kill a lot of the
   smaller organizations, and his pushing of talentless, steroid-drowned
   buffoons as *wrestlers* are just two examples of why he is pond-scum.
     I am a *wrestling* fan; I don't really like *sports entertainment*,
   but I'll take whatever wrestling content it has and try to be happy.

                                                          Herb...