|
|
|
|
|
| xx | xx |
Z-Man vs Dick Slater |
Dick Slater, The Barbarian and Danny Spivey debut end June as heels. Barbarian and Slater are immediately put to work putting Dustin over. Plenty of interview given to Dustin in an apparently renewed effort to get him over. |
| 07/04/92 | TV (taped 6/29 Center Stage, Atlanta) |
|
WCW trying to push Omni as the MSG of Wrestling. A Omni house show 7/5/92 see Brad Armstrong win Lightheavyweight from Scotty Flamingo and Williams and Gordy take the WCW tag team titles from the Steiners. WON questions the wisdom of promoting house shows over PPVs. |
| 07/06/92 | TV taping Center Stage for WCW Pro |
Tom Zenk and Brian Pillman d. Slater and Valentine |
via DQ when the Barbarian interfered and (yes) Rhodes made the save! "Two and a half stars." |
| 07/06/92 | TV taping Center Stage for WCW Pro |
d. by Slater and Valentine and Barbarian |
Zenk does the job to Slater - "Two stars." |
| 07/10/92 | Dorton Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina |
|
Williams pinned Bagwell |
| 07/11/92 | TV (taped 6/26 Topeka - 3,500 crowd) |
d. by Slater and Valentine |
Slater pinned Zenk
with a piledriver.
DDP is being pushed against Sting. |
| xx | Sunday Main Event |
d. Freebirds |
They were having problems implementing Watts new rule of no off-the-top rope maneuvers. On the same match Pillman was DQ's for coming off the top rope, while Bagwell did three or four top rope jumps with impunity (WON 7/6/92). |
| xxxx | xxxxxx |
 |
June 91 to June 92 figures show an average gate increase of 12% following the slashing of ticket prices, This is an improvement on a very low 1991 base. Nonetheless, total revenue from house shows declined an estimated $125,000 from June 1991. "This is more a case of a company that has learned to lose less money by running its business smarter rather than any actual increase in interest over the period" (WON 07/13/92). |
| xx | xx |
|
Meltzer notes that under the Watts regime
"the big losers now that Watts is in charge are Brian Pillman, Jushin Liger
(who did a job for Flamingo in hardcore Baltimore on 7/4) Tom Zenk, Marcus
Bagwell, and The Freebirds - and the big winners are Terry Gordy,
Steve Williams, Mr. Hughes [who is a face now] Ron Simmons, Greg Valentine,
Dick Slater, The Barbarian and Dan Spivey. Richard Morton is gone for six
months although there is talk he'll be brought back perhaps with Robert
Gibson after they feel fans have forgotten how buried he was "Dave Meltzer,
Wrestling
Observer Newsletter, 07/13/1992
In addition to being buried by Watts, Zenk. Pillman, Liger et al., whole ring persona and performance was actively undermined by Watts no off-the-top rope rule. Meltzer argues that Watts in banning off- the-top rope moves has hurt the babyfaces... "Moonsaults, drop-kicks off the top rope, Alabama Jams, Superfly splashes and cross bodies... are considered babyface moves anyway and most of which, when used at the right dramatic time, are generally considered by the fans as potential finishing moves, and thus, still considered special" (WON 07/13/92). Having downgraded Liger and inhibited high flying moves, Watts later brings in Benoit after seeing his high flying match against Liger 12/8 at Sumo Palace. Watts other rules included a ban on faces and heels traveling on the same aircraft - the reason given being not to keep kayfabe but for insurance against the possibility of the company losing all its workers if the plane crashed! WON (07/13/1992) observed -"So now, the billion- -to-one odds of that happening have been doubled." More practically, it meant half the company having to catch early morning flights after wrestling the previous night. |
| xxxx | xx |
 |
WON reports Ole Anderson as special referee is interfering with the rhythm of matches by being slow getting down for counts. Zbyszko is finally being maneuvered out of wrestling into commentary. |
| xxxx | xxxx |
 |
Zenk not used in Great American Bash - Bagwell appears against Terry Taylor, Rhodes appears against Valentine, Johnny B Badd against Cactus Jack, etc. The Bash turns out to be one of the worst of all time (WON 09/01/92). |
| xxxx | xxxx |
|
07/27/92 reports Dallas Page working with Kevin Nash (Vinnie Vegas) as "The Vegas Connection". Dan Spivey is using Diamond Studd/Razor Ramon's Diamond Death Drop finisher. Both Diamond and Vegas angles attributable to Page's mercenary streak. Future roles of Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton are in limbo - Flair is in WWF at this time and unable to protect Anderson. WON 09/01/92 reports "an awful lot of talk that Arn Andersonand Bobby Eaton will both be fired in January when their contracts ($260,000 and 170,000 respectively) expire. "Steve Austin getting a singles push in a program with Steamboat. Terry Taylor will be brought back with a new character. Rumors of Jake Roberts leaving WWF for WCW. Nick Bockwinkel has joined WCW as a promoter in the Minneapolis and St. Paul region. |
| 07/23/92 | Myriad Arena,
Oklahoma City Oklahoma |
d. Freebirds |
Bagwell pinned Hayes |
| 07/24/92 | St. Joseph (1,100 crowd) |
d. Freebirds |
xx |
| 07/25/92 | Municipal Auditorium,
Kansas City, Missouri (1,500 crowd) |
d. Freebirds |
"one and a quarter stars"
Ominous news as it's reported "Erik Watts, son of Bill, has been training at Jody Hamilton's gym in Lovejoy, GA". (WON. 08/03/92). |
| 07/27/92 |
|
d. Scotty Flamingo and Terry Taylor |
"a decent match. Bagwell pins Taylor"
(WON 8
/3) "Latest word on Taylor is he's history and they won't be doing the previously talked about gimmick, at least for now. Talk is now that some of the wrestlers who had been badly abused on television like Taylor and Morton [have been asked] to leave for a while and maybe in six to nine months they'll be brought back when the hope is that fans have forgotten about all the jobs that they've done" Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 08/03/92 |
| xx |
|
d. Scotty Flamingo and Terry Taylor |
"In what is probably Taylor's last television
match that aired on Saturday, he and Scotty Flamingo lost a ***1/4 match
to Zenk to Zenk and Bagwell. This was actually more exciting and action-packed
than the Steamboat-Austin match which followed (which was a solid match
as well). Steamboat
-Austin went 18.00" (WON, 08/03/92). |
| xx | xx |
|
Jake Roberts arrives into WCW where his father Grizzly Smith is a booker. |
| xx | xx | xx | WON reports that Paul Roma is another WWF wrestler claiming to have been sexually harassed by WWF executives, specifying Pat Patterson by name (WON 08/10/92). |
| 08/02/92 | Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, MA (4,000 crowd) |
|
Since Smothers is on the way out, you can figure how they're misusing Zenk. Terry Taylor is gone and is trying for work with WWF and indies. "He was offered a spot to come back under a hood as Mr. Wrestling III, a protégé of Mr. Wrestling II but it isn't going to materialize." |
| 08/08/92 | UIC Pavilion,
Chicago, Illinois |
d. by Slater and Barbarian |
Slater pinned Zenk |
| 08/22/92 | Civic Center, Monroe, Louisiana |
|
xx |
| 08/28/92 | Civic Auditorium.
Knoxville, Tennessee |
|
Badd pinned Invader |
| 08/29/92 | Municipal Auditorium,
Kansas City, Missouri |
|
xx |
| 08/30/92 | Bramlage
Coliseum, Manhattan, Kansas |
|
xx |
| xx |
|
|
WON 9/1/92 announces impending return of Pat Patterson (Pierre Clermont) to WWF six months after the sex harassment scandals first broke. |
| xx | xx |
|
Zenk not listed in lineup for Clash, 9/2/92 although Van Hammer has returned and is being used against Dallas Page. |
| xx | xx |
|
WON 9/01/92 reports Mike Mooneyham in the 8/2 Charleston SC Post Courier detailing the morale problems with Bill Watts - "Morale is the worst ever seen," said one high profile WCW personality. "Nobody is being paranoid, but everyone knows this guy (Watts) is not going to pay. We've come to this after so many years of on-air talent and wrestling personalities considered nothing more than a wrestler - with that 'great' mystique of having a broken down body living in a trailer talking about the 'good old days.' We finally progressed without unions, without representation, without holdouts, but through professionalism. Finally Turner Broadcasting has brought respect to its on-air personalities. And we've progressed from being wrestlers to being on-air personalities: in essence performers, sports entertainers." Despite having reached this level of regard, Watts was taking them back to the old days. "Watts has made it clear that the big-buck guaranteed contracts that have been doled out in recent years will be replaced by unguaranteed, incentive based contracts." (WON 09/01/92). The source gave Terry Taylor as an example " Terry Taylor has a family. He was making $3,000 a week. He's spending 30% of that on taxes and out of the rest, he's spending $75,000 a year on the road. He's not staying in suites with jacuzzies. That's $75,000 in business expenses to live on the road. And Watts takes him off contract. In the meantime he can't take independent dates either because he's afraid he'll have a WCW booking and have to cancel at the last minute, or he'll get fired for accepting independent dates (editors note - Since this article was printed, Taylor was let go and not offered the $300 per night to work an unspecified schedule. Watts is going to have to hope that the Slaters, Barbarians, Williams and Gordys will do the jobs because the Stings, Steiners, Terry Taylors, Rudes and Austins will not stay around under these conditions." (WON 09/01/92). Meltzer 09/01/92 notes that Taylor is turned down by WWF and is going to New Japan for the tag team tournament. |
| xx | xx | xx | Randy Smith writing to WON 09/01/92 asks "Is it just me or does anyone else think that Terry Taylor was some kind of a serial killer in a previous life? No man with that much talent and ability could ever deserve the kind of treatment he's gotten over the past five years." |
| xx | xx | xx | Clash of Champions XX Anniversary Special (before 500 people at center Stage, Atlanta - "They had a poll on the top rope rule and ** per cent voted it down (don't know if that figure was a shoot or not) which means they'll obviously be repealing the rule if they haven't already. Brian Pillman did a heel turn in his interview with Brad Armstrong... [which] made absolutely no sense within the current story line." Pillman, suffering under Watts regime was struggling for survival. (WON 09/07/92). WCW announce Tom Zenk and Terry Taylor will be teaming for a New Japan tag tournament from 10/8 to 10/21. |
| 09/03/92 | Convention
Center, San Angelo, TX (2,200 crowd) |
|
xx |
| 09/04/92 | Abrams
Fitness Center, Fort Hood, TX (1,400 crowd) |
Tom Zenk d. Scotty Flamingo |
Erik Watts is now on the card as is Dustin Rhodes, both working further up the card than Zenk. As Rhodes notes "What did Zenk's daddy ever do for the business?" Watts is also winning all of his matches in his program with Mark Canterbury. Canterbury gets all the credit for carrying Watts. "Unfortunately Watts is in the worst position possible, because he's had little training, is in with a crew of mainly veterans and mostly experienced and talented wrestlers, most of whom resent the current conditions, are afraid for their own job, and perceive Watts as making guaranteed money while never having worked a small territory and going over every night" [thanks to Canterbury carrying him] (WON 09/07/92). |
| 09/05/92 | Dallas Sportatorium, (2,350 crowd) |
|
Plus another Watts win |
| 09/06/92 | The Myriad,
Oklahoma City Oklahoma (1,000 crowd) |
|
Plus another Watts win. During this show a man who had been a regular fan at the Sportatorium for 30 years took out a gun and fired it - the shot hit the ground and ricocheted into the ceiling. Sting and Koloff vs Roberts and Invader were in action and the wrestlers and Harley Race bailed out of the ring.... |
| 09/10/92 | Hulman
Center, Terre Haute, Indiana |
|
xx |
| 09/13/92 | Charleston Civic Center
Charleston, West Virginia |
|
xx |
| 09/17/92 | Norfolk, Virginia (The Scope). |
|
xx |
| 09/25/92 | Bayfront Center,
St. Petersburg, Florida |
d. by Dick Slater and Greg Valentine |
Valentine pinned
Bagwell |
| 09/27/92 | Charleston, South Carolina
(McAllister Field House). |
|
Jack Petrik is retired from TBS, his failure at WCW having damaged his career. Smothers is gone. Shane Douglas started on tv 9/8 with a good push. Erik Watts was introduced on TV by Dustin Rhodes. |
| xx | xx | xx | Mid September the WON reports tensions at WCW at unheard of levels. Cuts to staffing and salaries are 'compounded by rumors that he is receiving a percentage as a bonus of everything he cuts ...The timing of hiring of his son [while talent like Terry Taylor is let go] wasn't the greatest, either." (WON 09/27/92). |
| xx | xx | xx | Pillman is called in by Watts and told that the salary (including incentives) negotiated with Kip Frey before his departure is too high - and that if Pillman doesn't agree to forgo the incentives, he will be buried. Pillman is under peer pressure from others facing the same deal and refuses. The same evening the finish is changed in his match against Brad Armstrong. "Brian is now Jimmy Jam Garvin only a nearly ten years younger version. The first. The example. And that, in a nutshell, is why everyone is so unhappy." (WON 09/21/92). |
