The Wrestling Observer Yearbook '97: The Last Time WWF Was Number Two

by Dave Meltzer

  (April 21) In the WWF vs. WCW lawsuit, a Pittsburgh judge ruled that Mark Madden was a journalist and thus isn’t required to reveal his sources, however the judge also ruled that if Madden was told by his higher-ups in the company information to report that he knew was false, that his sources for that information can’t be protected. Madden was also suspended by Nick Lambros from the WCW hotline for one week for using the phrase “Say hello to the Bad Guy” which resulted in another nasty letter from Jerry McDevitt to WCW.

  Yokozuna

  (March 3) Yokozuna hasn’t had liposuction yet but has already lost more than 200 pounds through an amazing loss of fluid retention, which amounted to an immediate 100 pound drop. They are hopeful after lipo that he can return at a manageable weight in the fall.

  (May 5) Yokozuna was contacted about coming back with all the injuries but he’s on blood thinning medication so if he were to suffer an accidental cut, the blood wouldn’t clot and it could be really disastrous. No word on when he’ll get clearance to return.

  (August 25) Yokozuna is still under contract but they want him to get down to 400 pounds and it just isn’t happening. He had a recent heart scare but his heart recovered after changing his medication.

  (October 20) Yokozuna, who is said to be down to 500 pounds, starts back on the road in November. The preliminary plan is for him to be a heel and he may work a program with Vader.

  (November 3) Yokozuna won’t be returning after all. He was scheduled to start back originally this past weekend, but underwent tests to get a license in New York and failed the physical due to obesity and an irregular heartbeat. He was said to still weigh in excess of 600 pounds. Because commissions honor other commission suspensions in the United States, because his license was pulled in New York, that means he’d be unable to wrestle in about 20-22 states that are left still regulating pro wrestling and coming on the heels of the Pillman situation, it’s doubtful if even that wasn’t the case, that WWF would want to risk putting someone in the ring with any kind of heart problems.

  (December 8) Hogan is trying to get Yokozuna into WCW. Remember, he still has a win he needs to get back. Problem is with New York revoking his license, he wouldn’t be able to wrestle in about 20 states.

  Dan Severn

  (March 3) Dan Severn had a meeting with Titan on 2/20. Titan liked him but both sides pretty much agreed not to do a full-time exclusive deal. It’s expected Severn will work some shows for Titan around his schedule but how much or when hasn’t been decided.

  (April 21) Dan Severn was backstage at the ECW PPV show. He talked with Paul Heyman who was enthusiastic about bringing him in, likely to work a program with Taz. You can imagine the fireworks that would cause regarding the NWA title. Severn was asked to drop the title to Dory Funk on 4/12 at basically the last minute and refused, with the two doing a double count out, claiming he wasn’t given notice in advance and that since he didn’t have a deal with anyone else he didn’t want to drop it. Rumors of any kind of a done deal with he and WWF are premature at this point. Sabu was the intermediary in this deal. Severn hasn’t done a job in a pro wrestling ring since hitting it big in UFC in late 1994.

  (November 17) Dan Severn had a weird altercation with Dory Funk after a show on 11/8 in Gainesville, FL. Believe it or not, it was in no way a work and I can say that 100% even though I’m sure most won’t believe it. Marti Funk threw a drink on Severn, who got upset, and Dory was having to defend his wife. They ended up in the ring with about 50-75 onlookers and didn’t fight, but did wrestle each other with reports being that Severn was too quick and technical but they mainly tried to stretch each other before a furious Severn walked out of the ring and went to his hotel room. The local police hearing about the disturbance came to arrest people just as it was breaking up.

  (November 24) More on the Dan Severn-Dory Funk incident after the show on 11/7 in Gainesville, FL. The two had been booked together a few times on indie shows and worked well together in the past. The problem initially seems to stem from a match scheduled a few months back. On the day of the show, Severn was asked by NWA President Dennis Coraluzzo to drop the NWA title to Funk, and refused to do so. Severn, among other things, felt it wasn’t right that he was asked at the last minute. Coraluzzo asked because he was afraid that Severn was going to work a program in ECW with Taz, which was being talked about, and Coraluzzo wanted to get the belt off Severn before he left. Since Severn never left for ECW, the issue for the most part was dropped.

  Apparently Funk refused to dress in the same dressing room as Severn in Gainesville over the incident a few months earlier. There was enough concern that promoter Howard Brody switched the order of the matches so that instead of Funk’s match with Steve Keirn coming before Severn’s, that Funk’s match was moved to just before intermission. Funk stuck around for the rest of the show since his wife Marti, a photographer, was shooting the card for the Japanese press.

  After Severn won his main event over Typhoon, subbing for Greg Valentine, he was signing autographs. Marti Funk was packing her equipment and talking with some friends. Marti poured some bottled water on Brody as kind of a joke, but he didn’t take too kindly to it. She then did the same to Severn, who didn’t appear happy about it and she said something about having a sense of humor.

  It wound up with Severn saying something to Marti and Dory getting involved to ask what was wrong and it ended up with words being exchanged. Since there were still 35 to 50 people around and Severn was embarrassed so many were watching, he asked to continue the discussion in private, but people seeing something was amiss followed them. Before long Dory starts saying how Severn thinks he’s above the wrestling business and Marti calls him names, and Dory challenges him to get in the ring. Severn said that he respected Dory, but had nothing to prove to him, and then got mad at Brody feeling it was a set-up like the night Coraluzzo asked him to drop the title to Dory.

  They talked for about 15 minutes before Severn finally agreed to get in the ring. Apparently Severn was trying to avoid it but by that point with so many people watching felt backed against the wall. When they got in the ring, they basically wrestled, it wasn’t like a fight or anything but it definitely wasn’t a worked angle.

  While this was going on, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Department showed up with six or eight officers and were about to go into the ring and break the “fight” up. When the officers asked if the “fight” was real, the promoter, figuring if he said yes they’d be arrested, said no, and instead the police then wanted to arrest Brody for attempting to incite a riot.

  As they wrestled each other with Severn, according to reports, being too fast and too technically advanced, Severn rolled out of the ring saying he had nothing to prove and left the building without showering and being very upset at the entire situation and feeling like he didn’t understand the wrestling business at all.

  Joe Higuchi Retires

  (March 10) One of the most enduring behind-the-scene figures in the history of pro wrestling nearly quietly ended his career over the weekend.

  In a surprise to almost everyone, just prior to the Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams Triple Crown championship main event on the 3/1 show at Tokyo’s Budokan Hall, it was announced that it would be the final match of the career of referee Joe Higuchi. With the possible exception of Johnny “Red Shoes” Dugan, a Los Angeles based referee who worked all over the world including Japan, Higuchi would probably be the most famous pro wrestling traditional referee ever. Although other referees achieved more short-term fame doing either gimmicks or being heel refs such as Danny Davis for a stint in the WWF or Tirantes in Mexico, Higuchi often received some of the biggest pops of the entire show when he’d ref a prelim match in recent years at the All Japan big shows at Budokan.

  Now 68, Higuchi, real name Kanji Higuchi, along with the late Dory Funk Sr. were the prime movers in helping Shohei Baba start the All Japan Pro Wrestling company in 1972 after all left the JWA promotion as it fell into financial difficulties. In addition
, he served a function very similar to what we’d call in the U.S. as a road agent since the beginning of the promotion, as he’d travel with the foreign wrestlers and help them in translations, understanding the culture and getting everyone to the bus on time to make the shows.

  Higuchi, before getting involved with pro wrestling, worked with American servicemen in Japan and spoke fluent English, and in the early days of All Japan was important as a referee in the ring because he understood both English and Japanese, and helped carry Baba’s finishes to the foreign wrestlers in the dressing room. Higuchi also occasionally refereed in St. Louis for NWA title matches, including for a famous Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. match at Kiel Auditorium in the early 70s.

  One of the few remaining players who can date back to the days of Rikidozan and the infancy of Japanese pro wrestling, Higuchi, a former bodybuilder, started as a pro wrestler for Rikidozan’s JWA promotion in the 50s. After a short career in the ring, he wound up working behind the scenes taking care of the foreign wrestlers while on tour, and became a referee, which he became most famous for, with the old JWA in 1969.

  The simple announcement before the main event saw many fans cry recognizing it as the end of a lengthy tradition of the grandfather-like bald-headed referee who was a fixture on the Baba shows and on network television in an anonymous role going back more than a generation.

  During the last five minutes or so of the main event, where Misawa ended up pinning Williams in 27:52 after three Tiger suplex ‘91s (basically a half nelson taken over into a German suplex), Baba, who was at ringside doing the color commentary, had tears streaming down his face which again caused many in the audience to break down as well.

  It is not known whether or not Higuchi will remain in his long-time road-agent like role with All Japan.

  WWF on the MSG Network

  (March 10) The 3/16 Madison Square Garden card has Sid vs. Bret Hart in a cage match for the title, Undertaker vs. Vader in a casket match, Johnson vs. Savio Vega, Goldust vs. Faarooq, Owen Hart & Smith vs. Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon, Maivia vs. Helmsley for the IC title, Godwinns vs. Blackjacks, Bob Holly vs. Crush and Aldo Montoya & Bart Gunn vs. Head Bangers. That card will air live on the MSG cable network.

  The show actually for the most part goes head-to-head with the Uncensored PPV show, but neither WWF or WCW are seeing it as competition since WWF is starting the show at 7:30 p.m. rather than moving it up to compete with the same starting time, nor is WWF advertising on its own television shows that the card is on free cable, trying to protect the live gate.

  Only about 4,300 tickets had been sold for the show which is way below normal for an MSG show. The belief is that they’d built up the Michaels-Sid cage match for a blow-off at the Garden since the angle started there with Sid winning the title, but with Michaels out, even though Hart has an issue, it’s not registering at this point at the ticket window.

  MSG cable used to broadcast the Garden house shows dating back from the mid-70s until the early 90s when the decision was made to drop it when crowds were falling and the WWF made the decision not to televise its arena shows on local cable. MSG cable and WWF agreed for this as a one-time try-out deal.

  Disco Inferno

  (March 17) Disco Inferno (Glen Gilbertti) was fired on 3/4 when he refused to do a program which would have ended with him putting over Jacquelyn in the singles match at Uncensored. The vast majority of the wrestlers were totally in support of Disco on that one and felt that putting over a woman in a singles match was a career killer.

  (March 31) Supposedly as a parting shot on the way to being fired, Bischoff told Disco Inferno that for the rest of his life he’d never get another job making $80,000 a year. There is a non-compete clause in his contract so he can’t go to Titan for at least three or four months, so my feeling is the rumors of him being Honky Tonk Man’s secret protege won’t be the case.

  (April 28) Disco Inferno (Glen Gilbertti) said that reports here and elsewhere that he wasn’t taking any indie bookings after 7/1 and that he was going to WWF are false. He said that he’s never talked with anyone from WWF about going there nor indicated at anytime to anyone that he was going to WWF.

  (May 12) Since we wrote the deal in the 4/28 issue about Disco Inferno never telling anyone he was WWF bound, we’ve received calls from several different wrestling personalities and two promoters independently who claim he’s told them he’s WWF-bound after his no-compete with WCW runs out so who knows what’s up. My feeling on this is that IF he’s Titan bound, due to the no compete and the fact Titan is constantly hassling WCW about tampering with contracted personnel (Curt Hennig, etc.) that both he and Titan are going out of their way to say they haven’t talked at all until he’s free and clear of his WCW contract. IF he doesn’t wind up there, then they probably haven’t talked and who knows why so many people are saying he’s saying he’s going.

  (August 4) There have been rumors about Disco Inferno returning to WCW, but it appears the only way he can come back right now is to agree to do the job for Jacquelyn.

  Hulk Hogan

  (March 17) The 3/3 St. Paul Pioneer Press ran an update about the situation involving Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit and counter-suit involving an alleged sexual encounter after the first Nitro on September 4, 1995. The woman involved, Kate Kennedy, claims she helped Hogan sell his merchandise at the Nitro at the Mall of America, and when she delivered merchandise to his hotel room, Hogan forced her to have oral sex with him. Hogan claimed the story was false and as a preemptive strike against a lawsuit, sued her for extortion. Kennedy’s attorneys are now filing a counter-suit against Terry Bollea. In the suit, Kennedy says she arrived at Hogan’s room after midnight to deliver merchandise, at which point Hogan lifted her off the floor and carried her to his bed where he forced her to perform oral sex.

  (September 22) Hogan’s contract expires at the end of the year and he’s already sent feelers to Titan Sports about returning for a big run. The general belief is that Hogan has no intention of returning to Titan, but is using it as leverage to get a better deal. Hogan has incredible leverage right now as the execs at Turner probably feel the company turnaround and staying in the position is more due to Hogan, not that he isn’t a strong part of it, than it really is. In addition, his contract is due about the same time as he’s scheduled to drop the title to Sting at Starrcade, so he can use doing that job as even more leverage because if Hogan doesn’t put Sting over at Starrcade, it’ll flatten out Sting big-time and make this entire year of him not being on the road be almost a waste. Hogan is also back attempting to get Ed Leslie back in.

  (December 1) As far as Hogan is concerned, with all the new money coming in with the Thursday show and considering his value with the movie ratings and the buy rate for the Piper match, he’s going to be able to command huge money and so he probably will and should play all avenues out but it’s hard to believe he’ll end up anywhere else. The idea that WWF would cut Hart to “make room” for Hogan’s salary misses the entire point of Hogan and why the big stars are paid so much in the entertainment world. Much as people will hate to admit this because he’s out for himself and he’s so bad in the ring, he is worth every penny he makes and then some because he draws that and more. WWF wouldn’t have to cut people loose to make room for his salary, because Hogan, one would think, would draw in revenue every bit as much and more than he gets paid in the first place. If he couldn’t and they thought he was asking more then he could draw, he’s not worth it to begin with and cutting other people’s contracts wouldn’t make him then worth more.

  As far as the top players in this industry are concerned, whether it be Hogan, Savage, Hart, Austin, or whomever, the idea that there is a finite budget for talent they need to fit into like an NFL salary cap is ridiculous, because the companies are carried by the big names. It’s the mid-card guys that budgeting works with because they are generally replaceable. If, using Savage as an example, WCW loses him and his estimated $1 million per year salary, does that mean there is $1 m
illion extra to pay the other boys. No, it actually may mean there is less to pay the other boys because Savage is worth more than $1 million per year to the company (largely due to the Slim Jim ads and exposure he gives them as much as his drawing power and name recognition to the product) and actually losing him would be a bigger cut in company revenue than the amount saved by not paying his contract.

  New Jack

  (March 24) There was another incident with New Jack backstage at the ECW Arena. New Jack was on the balcony with someone who was apparently either a promoter or booker for Soul City Wrestling, a local indie that uses mainly African-American wrestlers. Next thing anyone knows, it appeared New Jack tried to throw the guy off the balcony. The guy escaped and ran down the stairs and tried to run away. New Jack did another balcony jump (this time one he wasn’t getting paid for) and kind of bulldogged the guy and got two punches in before the guy got away and began running for his life. Apparently Sabu pretty much saved the guy’s life as he helped him escape while about ten other wrestlers, seeing one of the wrestlers in a fight, were about to join in and kill the guy.

  (March 31) New Jack was at the Waltham show but never came out and wasn’t at the Revere show. Paul Heyman said in regard to the incident on the 3/15 ECW Arena show, that it was a wrestler from Soul City Wrestling, an nearly All-Black indie group in Philadelphia, who was talking with New Jack and used the dreaded “N” word. He said New Jack chased him out of the dressing room but never caught him but admitted they were both running pretty fast, although others said New Jack did catch him but the guy got away.