In the months prior to the Survivor Series, Paul Orndorff became a fan favorite, as did Randy Savage, who entered into a lengthy feud with the Honky Tonk Man over the Intercontinental belt. Heels were aplenty, and Bobby Heenan created an imposing “Family” comprised of Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, Harley Race, Rick Rude, and the Islanders, the perfect foils for WWF heroes. Hulk Hogan remained the top banana, and although his Rock ’n’ Wrestling cartoon was canceled in June 1987, it wasn’t because his standing as the WWF’s central protagonist had diminished. Kids were growing up with Hogan, and the aura of the Hulkster still cast its glow across North America. On August 28, 1987, he was a headline attraction in Houston during promoter Paul Boesch’s retirement show at the Sam Houston Coliseum and defeated One Man Gang. Boesch aligned with the WWF after the sale of the UWF, and his retirement event was attended by luminaries from throughout the grappling world.
Vince McMahon was joined by Lou Thesz, Gene Kiniski, rival Verne Gagne, and 12,000 spectators in paying their respects to Boesch for his exceptional contributions to the sport. The “Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino appeared on the undercard and beat Hercules by count-out in his second-to-last pro match. The next night at the Baltimore Arena, he teamed with Hogan to conquer One Man Gang and King Kong Bundy. Bruno then retired from active wrestling, capping a career that began in 1959 and saw him reign as WWWF champion twice for a combined 11 years. After giving up his job as a commentator in March 1988, Sammartino became a vocal detractor of modern wrestling and condemned the gimmickry antics of McMahon and the WWF. He wasn’t alone. His Pittsburgh neighbor Johnny Valiant, a former WWWF tag champion in the 1970s, told a journalist, “I think Vince McMahon must be inspired by Walt Disney these days. Wrestling was on top of the world for WrestleMania I. Then they started getting in guys who were half-baked entertainers instead of wrestlers.”390 Verne Gagne wholeheartedly agreed. “It makes me sick, makes me want to vomit,” he said. “It’s too far out, tongue in cheek, they look down on the sport. They make a mockery of the whole gol-dang thing.”391
The AWA continued to be raked over the coals by the WWF. Co-holder of the AWA world tag championship Boris Zhukov left the promotion for McMahon’s group, mid-reign, in late September 1987, and Gagne was forced to reteam Zhukov’s partner, Soldat Ustinov, with Doug Somers. A short time later, one of Gagne’s most valuable long-term commodities, Nick Bockwinkel, took a position in the WWF as a part-time TV commentator and occasional referee. On November 16, 1987, at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Bockwinkel participated in an old-timers battle royal with a handful of former AWA stars. Edouard Carpentier, Gene Kiniski, Ray Stevens, and the Crusher were also involved, and in the finals, Lou Thesz tossed Pat O’Connor over the top rope to score a win.
Gagne saw another champion defect to the WWF in 1987, a few months before Zhukov. Sherri Martel, a talented grappler from Alabama, was the current AWA women’s champion when she walked out, leaving Gagne high and dry. On December 27, 1987, a Minneapolis-trained Madusa Miceli beat Candi Devine to capture the vacant AWA women’s belt in Las Vegas. That same night, Greg Gagne beat Adrian Adonis by disqualification in the finals of a tournament to win the initial AWA International TV title, and the returning Midnight Rockers defeated the Original Midnight Express for the AWA world tag crown.
On February 4, 1988, Gagne presented his final offering at the Minneapolis Auditorium, which was scheduled to be demolished, and invited fans to “Celebrate 55 Years of Wrestling” at the venue. Only 1,700 people were in attendance for the special event, but they warmly received Dick the Bruiser, Leo Nomellini, Hard Boiled Haggerty, and the other AWA legends on hand. The real story of the night wasn’t the small crowd, but the fact Gagne was being stripped of his prime facility in the Twin Cities. He couldn’t afford the Met Center in Bloomington and was aced out at the St. Paul Civic Center. So, in addition to stopping his shows in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Denver, Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Chicago, Gagne called a halt to regular action in his primary cities of Minneapolis–St. Paul. Historically, a promoter losing the nucleus of his operation was doomsday, but Gagne was a resourceful man who’d just signed a new contract with ESPN.392 But, essentially, he was a promoter without a territory, and the AWA was confined to TV tapings in Las Vegas and live shows in small cities in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He still carried the important lineage of a Big Three promotion, but in terms of live events and territorial control, the AWA had become a glorified independent.
The ESPN coverage kept him in the ballgame. As far as his TV situation went, Gagne was doing pretty well, all things considered. His original syndicator, the New York–based Syndicast Services, severed ties in early 1987, and Gagne hired a veteran radio guy from Minneapolis, Gary Rawn, to help run his television setup. But ultimately, he landed with RJS Marketing Worldwide, which also oversaw the syndication of Pro Wrestling This Week by Joe Pedicino.393 The All Star Wrestling Network was commonly in the top 15 in national syndication ratings, lagging behind the WWF and JCP. With his circuit practically devoid of major markets, Gagne placed an even greater emphasis on booking his heavyweight and tag team champions in friendly territories. Over the first six months of 1988, his grapplers appeared in Memphis 18 times with additional showings in Louisville, Nashville, and Evansville. And to mark Gagne’s alliance with Jerry Jarrett, Jerry Lawler beat Curt Hennig on May 9 to capture the AWA world heavyweight title.
The Memphis region was fueled by the influx of AWA workers and a reliable world champion in the area was a boon to ticket sales. Jarrett received a few JCP castoffs as well, Terry Taylor and the Rock and Roll Express among them. But Eddie Gilbert’s return was the big news. He attacked Lawler with a fireball on February 22, and their subsequent matches drew intense heat. A week before Lawler won the AWA belt, Memphis was besieged by wrestlers from Dallas as part of another talent-sharing deal struck by Jarrett. Michael Hayes, Chris Adams, and Buddy Roberts were on the bill with WCCW champion Iceman King Parsons battling Kerry Von Erich in the main event. (Parsons won by DQ.) Linking the CWA and AWA with World Class was a tactical move, and all three promotions had something to gain. Notably, though, because of the weakened state of Gagne’s company, he was a lot more willing to share power in 1988 than he had been in 1985 or 1986, as demonstrated by putting the AWA belt on Lawler.
Jarrett’s CWA might have been in the best position of the three organizations. His main city, Memphis, was drawing houses two to five times larger than Dallas and, unlike World Class and the AWA, Jarrett had retained some semblance of a legitimate territory, including several population centers of over 50,000. His top wrestler was the AWA world champion and, in March 1988, he gained a national cable outlet on the Financial News Network. Young talent was in abundance in Memphis as at various times, Shawn Michaels, Scott Steiner, and Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) were in the region. Steiner, the younger brother of JCP upstart Rick Steiner, won the Renegade Rampage tournament in Memphis in June, and teamed with Billy Joe Travis to capture the CWA tag title. Cactus Jack, a protégé of Dominic DeNucci in Pennsylvania, held the CWA tag championship with partner Gary Young before dropping a loser-leaves-town bout in November. Jeff Jarrett was also making headway as a professional and was exceedingly popular.
From a Dallas perspective, the working agreement with the CWA and AWA was a home run made simpler by Ken Mantell’s positioning as co-owner. The problems between Gagne and Jack Adkisson were well recorded, and the two had nearly run opposition against each other a few years earlier. But Mantell was mending fences and strengthening bonds with associates across the country. He sent out missives to groups of all shapes and sizes, and extended his willingness to book World Class wrestlers on independent shows, regardless of their location.394 In the ring, Mantell was also trying to turn things around. He reinitiated the old Freebirds–Von Erich feud on December 25, 1987, and did an injury angle with Fritz Von Erich, which meant Kerry and Kevin wanted revenge on Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, and their new partner,
“Blackbird” King Parsons. Michael Hayes joined the Von Erichs in their quest, and matches were set up for months.
On May 8, 1988, at Texas Stadium, Kerry beat Parsons to capture the World Class world championship, and Kevin teamed with Bruiser Brody to beat Buddy Roberts and Solomon Grundy. Attendance was upwards of 7,000, the largest Parade of Champions crowd in two years, and regular crowds at the Sportatorium were way up from their terrific lows in 1987. Mantell’s gains were noteworthy, but the Dallas office had limited financial resources and could only do so much. Additionally, the arrangement Adkisson made with Bum Bright ended without the promised success. The October 1988 edition of Penthouse described the hypocrisies, tragedies, and the overall downfall of the Von Erich family. It was a revealing portrait of pro wrestling’s first family that traced the timeline of events between David’s death in 1984 and Mike’s suicide three years later. Included were all the dark details about the various arrests, the drug abuse, and the injuries suffered by the brothers, and it was an article the senior Adkisson hoped would never see the light of day. “We’re better known now because we die,” Adkisson told D Magazine.395
Unfortunately, there was much sadness yet to come. Tragedy was being felt throughout the wrestling world in 1988. On July 4, 33-year-old Adrian Adonis was killed in a car accident in eastern Canada. A former AWA and WWF tag champion, Adonis was generally underappreciated as a wrestler, and although his weight held him back at times, he was a solid performer on the mat. Pat Kelly and “Wildman” Dave McKigney also lost their lives in the wreck, and Pat Kelly’s twin brother, Mike, was the sole survivor. Twelve days later in Puerto Rico, 42-year-old future Hall of Famer Bruiser Brody was stabbed in the locker room of Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon by Jose Gonzales, a wrestler known as Invader I, and died the next morning, leaving his wife and young son behind.396
An international superstar, Brody was pro wrestling’s number-one nonconformist, and after 15 years in the industry, he’d pretty much seen it all. He had brawled with the biggest names in the business, exchanged fisticuffs with fellow wrestlers behind the scenes, and walked away from promotions at the drop of a hat when he felt slighted by promoters. Insiders knew his stormy disposition all too well, just as his friends knew the depths of his heart and loyalty. Brody was a force of nature and a man some people figured was immortal. Without a doubt, he was one of the most important performers of wrestling’s territorial era.
Chapter Twenty
The End of an Era
Professional wrestling’s territorial system was in shambles by 1988, and the industry was being redefined by freewheeling capitalism. Jim Crockett and Vince McMahon were second- and third-generation promoters, respectively, and knew the hardships of wrestling. They had seen their fathers struggle with the complexities of running a territory, but their problems in 1988 were on a much grander scale — now it was all about television distribution, advertising, and pay-per-view. While “Big” Jim Crockett Sr. managed his Mid-Atlantic empire with impressive skill, his son was trying to gain footing all over the North American continent.
As these two powerhouses fought for placement in the national picture, the rest of pro wrestling dealt with the fallout of wrestling’s swift evolution. Bob Geigel, Don Owen, and Verne Gagne, three venerable promoters, were barely hanging on. Though Gagne had made headway a few years earlier, the AWA of 1988 was dangerously close to bankruptcy. Geigel and Owen were hanging tight but were in a different league from JCP and the WWF. In fact, there was no organization in the United States even a close third, and the distance between McMahon and Crockett was substantial as well. The pecking order in pro wrestling had been established, and everyone was chasing the World Wrestling Federation.
The territorial system was a casualty of the wrestling boom. Initially created after World War II, synched up with the explosive growth of TV, the territories were embraced by fans wherever the sport was presented. At its height, wrestling had self-governing offices in 30 individual cities in the contiguous United States, with at least five others in Canada, one in Hawaii, and another in Mexico. For more than three decades, the system thrived, and enthusiasts enjoyed regionalized wrestling organized by a local promoter with original TV content taped in the same geographic area. Fans saw quality matches featuring talented wrestlers, and when one grappler had worn out his welcome, he left for another territory and was replaced by someone new. Touring NWA, AWA, and WWWF champions were a welcomed sight, and the connection to a much wider organization made the territory system even more special.
Just as kids were growing up with Hulk Hogan, millions of fans came of age during the halcyon days of the territories and mourned their loss. In the wake of an aggressive organization with national aspirations, promoters also hurt themselves in many cases by pushing over-the-hill local favorites and worn-out acts, while failing to protect valuable young talent. That’s where McMahon did take advantage of his ill-equipped rivals, and the WWF scored top wrestlers from all over the map, starting with Hulk Hogan and continuing with Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, and Ted DiBiase. Without the stars he took in from outside regions, the WWF would have struggled to achieve a fraction of what it did.
Not counting the JCP-affiliated members, the NWA only had one stateside affiliate left in 1988, and that was Don Owen. There were other promotions still in existence with direct lineage to the old territories, including Ron Fuller in Birmingham, Bob Geigel in Kansas City, Jerry Jarrett in Memphis, and Ken Mantell and the Von Erichs in Dallas. These survivors were doing what needed to be done to maintain their operations, but insofar as current business went, there was very little to no correlation between their promotions in 1988 and those of their organizations during the heyday of the territorial system. In Alabama, Ron Fuller was actually looking for a way out and ended up selling the Continental Championship Wrestling promotion to TV magnate David Woods in late 1987, in a deal that took effect in February 1988. Woods was owner and president of WCOV-20 in Montgomery, and he assumed control of CCW’s interests in Alabama and Florida. He changed the name of the promotion to the Continental Wrestling Federation and hired Eddie Gilbert away from Memphis to be his booker. Fuller then launched a Knoxville-based group, USA Championship Wrestling, which ran shows at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, and the two organizations split talent. On April 1, 1988, the Mongolian Stomper (Archie Gouldie) beat the Bullet (Bob Armstrong) to capture the initial USA Championship Wrestling heavyweight crown. Naturally, the Bullet won the belt in a May rematch, and the popular strongman Doug Furnas won the title in a tournament two months later. However, the promotion ran into trouble and closed up in August, with remnants sold to Woods. The CWF, even with Dr. Tom Prichard, Wendell Cooley, Tony Anthony, and the Armstrongs, was unable to sustain business, and it folded in November 1989.
Smartly, though, in the midst of his run, Woods tried to solidify ties to other promoters in an attempt to open talent-sharing lanes. He attended a special meeting at the Dallas airport in June 1988 to discuss the possibilities of a wider cooperative with Jerry Jarrett, Ken Mantell, and others, but the conference didn’t prove fruitful.397
Barry Owen was also at the meeting, representing his father. The Portland promotion had always relied on talent trading, a hallmark of the NWA. But with the limited member structure of the Alliance, there wasn’t much left to share. During the May 7, 1988, edition of World Championship Wrestling on WTBS, commentators took a moment to “say hello” to Don Owen, putting him over as “one of the great, longtime promoters of the NWA.”398 In addition, they hyped a show he had that night at the Portland Sports Arena and wished him “all the best.” The shoutout was timed to help Owen in his regional conflict with wrestler-turned-promoter Billy Jack Haynes, who was now operating in the vicinity under the Oregon Wrestling Federation banner. In further aid, Crockett agreed to stage a joint program with Owen in Seattle on August 3, 1988, and his top stars appeared in seven of the 10 bouts on the card, a rare combination effort by tw
o active NWA members.399 On September 20, Ric Flair returned to Portland by himself to face off with local grappler Top Gun (David Canal) on Owen’s Night of the Champions. Flair was defeated by DQ but retained his NWA belt in front of just more than 1,000 fans. Owen also faced consistent problems with the Oregon Boxing and Wrestling Commission. Since its founding in 1987, the commission had imposed strict drug, health, and code enforcement for pro wrestling in the state, and was paying close attention to ensure the new regulations were being followed. In November 1988, Don Owen was indefinitely suspended by the commission for two infractions.400 For one, he hadn’t fully complied with orders to implement metal barriers along the path between the ring and backstage area for his shows. The other pertained to blood and the act of blading. The commission banned any such activity, and after a grappler “juiced” during the November 12 program, Owen was suspended. He was reinstated the next week, but the scrutiny on his promotion intensified. Another indie group, Pacific Coast Championship Wrestling also tried to jump-start their organization in 1988, and the promoter, Mel Saraceno, made it clear he had no animosity toward Owen. “I’ve been watching Don Owen productions for 30 years,” he told the Portland Oregonian. “I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him. I don’t want to sound goofy about it, but I’ve sort of idolized him.”401
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