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Post by Cross Recoba on Mar 28, 2024 8:29:09 GMT -5
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM FEBURARY 1983 WEEK ONE - WEDNESDAY
Gary Hart was waiting for me outside the building when I arrived. Heading to the office, I noticed he looked glum, not sad, just glum.
"Gary, you may as well tell me what you're going to tell me." I didn't think small talk would help.
"Jumbo got hurt last night, dislocated his shoulder real bad."
"How bad?"
"Bad enough that he won't be back until May."
I didn't have him in any storylines but he was someone I was monitoring to see how they could be used down the line.
"That leaves us short on Babyfaces."
"I could make some calls."
The problem with Uncle Gary's Big Black Book is that it was 80% Natural heels, 15% pot dealers and the remaining 5% was split between Babyfaces and, so people said, the Mob.
"It's alright. We'll see how short it leaves us with the show this week but I have some ideas for who to approach."
"One other thing. Vince has been trying to get his own in-house Production team together, one of our crew was approached but he doesn't want to move out East."
"It looks like television is going to decide who survives the next year or two. We're a way off needing our own department for Production..."
"Just wanted to let you know, Kev. I'll see you tomorrow."
ODESSA ECTOR COLISEUM FEBURARY 1983 WEEK ONE - THURSDAY
I heard a knock on the door as I was putting the finishing touches to the show.
"Come in..." I didn't even look up as I said it.
What followed was a period of silence that could have been thirty seconds or it might only have been five. I waited for whoever it was to speak before I took a break from the show and when it didn't follow...well.
"What is it?" If this was Chris pitching his Teenage Sensation Babyface, I'd put him in the Claw....
"Hey there! I'm Tracey!"
I looked up and there stood the Rookie I'd hired, all nervous energy and green as anything.
"Nice to meet you, Tracey. Booking sheet'll be up in about half an hour. You've got Kabuki tonight, you can have that much out of me as it's your first show."
I went back to writing out the plan for the Main Event and still felt like I wasn't alone. Looking up again, he was still stood there.
"But, sir - I ain't never played a Babyface before..."
Inside, I let out a sigh but we'd all been there I suppose.
"Let Kabuki lead and, if I were you, I'd suggest that if you want to get some of your offense in - keep it short and let his manager, Armand Hussein, cut you off. Kabuki can guide you through the match, you just need to make him look vicious. We need to build towards his TV title shot at our big show in four weeks. Think you can do that?"
"Yessir!"
"Good, great to have you aboard."
As he opened the door, I heard Tim Brooks being put on trial by a Wrestler's Court over being a slob backstage. Somehow, Bill Mercer found himself with whatever the hell the boys decided was the Gavel.
EL PASO CONVENTION CENTER FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK TWO - THURSDAY
Nothing much happened during the week. Verne Gagne continues to promote with only one course set. This has meant drastic increases in the costs of his TV and Live shows, which seems to happen everywhere, but also forcing Hogan to work through his injury and delivering flat main events each time.
I made the decision, with something of a recommendation from Uncle Gary, to give Al Perez a shot in the Smothers role and see how he did while we were local to him. I'd debated bringing in a Funk a couple of weeks ago for this date but I wasn't sure we needed to use one of them without a good reason.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK TWO - FRIDAY
For TV, we broke our attendance and TV Rating records which hopefully continues. Al Tomko's All Star Wrestling up in British Colombia just lost their programming slot and they had Flair and the title in already this year to try and pop a rating.
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mosler
Special GUNS Acess
Mosler's not here man.
Posts: 2,335
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Post by mosler on Mar 28, 2024 9:02:38 GMT -5
In fairness, everyone should YouTube an Al Tomko match. Might be the single saddest territory.
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Post by Cross Recoba on Mar 28, 2024 13:37:07 GMT -5
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK THREE - MONDAY
Nothing much to report but Mad Dog Vachon has announced his retirement in three months. I'd be interested in seeing him come in as a Road Agent, I remember his 1975 run in Texas well. I can also see Madril, Gran Markus and Lothario wanting to see his last match so I'm hoping it falls on a day we don't have a show...actually, by that point they might all be past their usefulness as featured performers...and Gran Markus. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK THREE - TUESDAYI went to do a little scouting last night at the SWCW show and it was depressing to say the least. Slater and Adonis were the stand-out performers on the night but only Adrian is local and on the upside of his career. I caught up with Barbarian after the show and he was glad he was paid in cash because the locker-room are convinced if they got a cheque from Joe, it'd bounce. Looking to future events, I looked into bringing in Race or Flair, in that order. Harley wouldn't be able to come into the territory for a match in good shape until the end of March. Flair is more available but it'd be a hard sell to get Crockett and the NWA Board to move the belt from him. The smart move would be to pick the person who has the best chance of performing well so that we can argue for the title. The downside of that plan is that whoever is Champion will be doing some huge mileage to defend around the territories, especially with Inoki's company now in the fold. In a similar vein, and with Inoki's company on my mind, I looked at their roster and the only name that jumped out was Stan Hansen and on loan, that could work. The dream would be a Hansen/Funks trio to match against myself and my brothers. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK THREE - WEDNESDAYI fully expect a lecture when this becomes public knowledge but I set-up talent trading deals with every non-Canadian member of the NWA except Mid-Atlantic. It'll help get David, Kerry and others names out there in other territories and if we get a bigger National deal, it'll pay off in spades for us. I didn't approach Canada because their whole scene is ripe for upheaval. Atlantic Grand Prix, All Star Wrestling, and Stampede aren't in good financial health and that'll make it a two-horse battle between the NWA-backed Maple Leaf territory of the Tunneys against Gino Brito's IWA. BEAUMONT CIVIC CENTER FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK THREE - THURSDAY DALLAS SPORTATORIUM FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK THREE - FRIDAYThe Networks let us know that we hit our highest viewership level in the last few weeks, we've picked up over 35 thousand viewers since the second week of February and now each TV show brings in 250,000 fans. That made us the second most viewed show in the country behind Georgia who averaged nearly three times that but they have TBS and are set to be down around 500k since New Years Day and heavily in debt. All Japan and New Japan are behind us and then it's a huge drop off to WWF who get just over a 1/3 of our audience...or that's what the Network guy said, maths was never my topic. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK FOUR - TUESDAYSome sobering news reached us via the old wrestler grapevine. Kazuo Yamazaki broke his neck when wrestling Masanobu Kurisu. It's a harsh reality that what we do is dangerous but his career could over eight months into his first year. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
FEBRUARY 1983
WEEK FOUR - THURSDAY DALLAS SPORTATORIUM FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK FOUR - FRIDAYAs expected, we didn't match or beat our TV rating from last week but we only dropped .01 of a rating point for ten thousand less fans. Even more bizarrely the early reports are that it got great reviews and we did sell out our home turf. Perhaps I'm being overly critical, after all - Verne Gagne is trying to get out of the red with a new storyline pitting Hulk Hogan versus Mad Dog Vachon....who retires in May. Who'll come out on top there? DALLAS REUNION ARENA FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK FOUR - SUNDAY
Time for the month's big show and I'd settled early on a running order for the card, although Butch Reed has got on my bad side as he's wrestling for GCW tonight:
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Kira Izumi
J-ROK Staff
XHF's Resident Weeb
Posts: 5,914
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Post by Kira Izumi on Mar 28, 2024 14:28:27 GMT -5
I'd say go with 2. Bring in race and have him face Kerry or Kevin.
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Post by Cross Recoba on Mar 29, 2024 11:19:54 GMT -5
DALLAS REUNION CENTER FEBRUARY 1983 WEEK FOUR - SATURDAY
Backstage, I thanked Hayes, Gordy and David for their work in lifting the show to the level it hit. When I got to my office, I knew that the TV rating wasn't important, the only Networks interested right now were smaller than those for our regular TV. That was a priority for the year, increase our exposure on TV across the board. I wanted the TBS ratings and knew we had the quality to get them, we just didn't have access to the kind of Network that would get us them. I counted the gate money, three times and then called the roster in to pick up their cut. "Great job, Jimmy, how does a shot at David's title in our TV main event sound? Put in a performance like the one in the Battle Royal tonight and we might have to find a way to keep you there...and of course, you'd get a bigger cut of the gate." Garvin beamed as he held his cut of the money and walked out the door. I added his name to the list of names to face Harley Race at the end of March. He had three events to compete with myself and Kerry to face the former NWA Champion. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MARCH 1983 WEEK ONE - MONDAY "Crockett's risking a lot with his crazy idea." Dad was almost holding himself back with his words. "If Starrcade flops, he could be on the chopping block come Christmas.""About that, with all the companies pumping too much money into TV, we could purchase them. I've got a list based on rumors and some on fact.""What do we do if we buy them out? They could just start up a new promotion and keep their contacts.""I was talking to Michael and Chris about this..""The brothers who aren't wrestlers...""We buy the TV slots from them."That seemed to grab his attention. He grabbed the list from me. "Then that takes out Central States and Atlantic Grand Prix. I'm not giving Blanchard money when he set-up against me rather than work with me and besides, don't we have better TV than him for Texas?...Stampede, Canadians only want Canadian stuff so even if we went to their old station, they won't deal with us. Europe isn't much use to us right now, I only see one answer.""Georgia?""Georgia. But, it'd really hit us in the wallet. What if we don't draw past the Summer?""I could always call the station up?""You can try, Kevin, but if it doesn't work out - that's them looking after their own. You can bet Barnett and Ole have been in their ear poisoning the well."It dawned on me that he'd said something I hadn't picked up on. "What do you mean, if we don't draw past the Summer?" "Crockett's considering offering exclusive contracts to talent, iron clad. Vince has been threatening to tie down his talent so they can't work anywhere else for the last year, Crockett might do that just to protect himself from the WWF."This was not good news. "Butch, Bundy, Garvin...they'd all go if their head was turned by either company."And that'd mean another rebuild. "Can we focus on the positives, Dad? I've put half a million in the bank for us, I've got a plan to keep a conveyor belt of people coming to face us and to fill out the midcard...have a look at this."I loaded a VHS up and pressed play. When the highlight reel finished, I looked to Dad. He'd made some appreciative grunts. "Why doesn't Stu Hart want him if he trained him?""I can only assume because he's in so much debt.""He's not exactly going to sell out the Sportatorium...""No, but he'll be cheap. He'll move down here...AND if he finds some form of chemistry with Bond, Yatsu or Smothers then we have an opening match tag-team that might be able to deliver in the ring if nowhere else.""Lowball him. If he wants to succeed in this business, he's going to have see that what he offers to us isn't much and what we can offer to him if FAR more valuable."Dad made his exit and I picked up the phone and dialled the number that was scrawled on the front of the VHS box. One thing we didn't touch on, we won the regional battle but that's only a talking point for Fritz von Erich when we lose it. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MARCH 1983 WEEK ONE - WEDNESDAYPhil LaFon turned up to sign his deal and start his career off in earnest. If anything, I felt bad for lowballing him so much but he was stopping in digs with Superfans who would charge neither him nor us anything beyond front-row seats for the duration they hosted him. TULSA FAIRGROUNDS PAVILLION MARCH 1983 WEEK ONE - THURSDAYI needed a good laugh this morning, ever since Dad mentioned the threat of losing some talent when we couldn't justify matching the offer, I expect to see one of my stars waiting to tell me how Crockeet or McMahon made them an offer they couldn't refuse. The laugh came from ICW in Kentucky, mudshow that it is. Angelo Poffo, the owner, has given himself the US title. At least he didn't beat his son for their top belt but still. We didn't quite achieve a sell-out but $45k to the good would mean that we'd get $135k in the coffers before our big show if all things stayed the same. If we continued to become more popular and keep turning a profit, we could benefit from every other company sacrificing their money to TV. I got told that MSW are already worried about Crockett and Vince and improved Junkyard Dog's contract. I considered this information as I looked back over my notes from the last two months or so. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MARCH 1983 WEEK TWO - MONDAYAll seems not to be well in Japan this week. A Japanese midcarder walked out on All Japan, then Tenryu who wrestles both there and Mid-Atlantic moved his base to the US and now even their women are getting in on the act. Lioness Asuka, the second highest ranking woman on the PWI 500, walked out on All Japn Women last night over a booking decision. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MARCH 1983 WEEK TWO - TUESDAYDon Owen in Portland is the latest to have gone for broke on TV and live events. The only winners here are Roddy Piper and Curt Hennig, both men have stated they'd never sign a written deal for anyone but Don or Verne respectively but if Piper's upset or Verne goes to the wall, he'll have lost his two most bankable stars. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MARCH 1983 WEEK TWO - WEDNESDAYMichael Hayes was waiting for me in my office. "Morning, boss man. Time to talk about money..." Hayes was a great talker but he didn't beat around the bush about cash. "What about it?" "We know the territory's doing well, all of us boys do but I heard the crowds at the Reunion Center and in Tulsa, I have them in the palm of my hand. You could put me anywhere in Texas or the territory and I'd steal the show on the microphone. I know and you know that I'm underpaid."He wasn't lying. At $500 a show, he was beneath Ron Garvin (who was the highest paid in the company), all us Von Erichs too but he'd understand that. Marc Lowrance on commentary, The Spoiler and Lothario though? He might have a point. "What were you thinking?""$700 or so sounds about right. Maybe a little over..."Anything to put himself above Lothario it seemed. I'd bet good money it was Jose who started this by telling him how much he made. "Sure, Michael, if it keeps you delivering like you have." I extended a hand and he met it. If anything, I was relieved it wasn't Ron who'd spilled. I could eat an extra thousand a month going to Hayes right now, it could have been two. FORT WORTH - COWTOWN COLISEUM MARCH 1983 WEEK TWO - THURSDAYI caught the WWF's All-Star Wrestling show on the way out of the door to the show. Buddy Rose and Ray Stevens were being sold as a permanent team and if that's what they do with a talent like Rose, it gives me some ammo for when I might be against the WWF in talent negotiations. It's clear that show was saved by the promos rather than the matches. I was also concerned about the lack of main eventers outside of the Von Erichs, Gordy, Hayes and Reed. That was a list that would only get us so far down the line but there were no obvious choices to be found. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MARCH 1983 WEEK THREE - TUESDAYI got a phone call late in the morning from The Barbarian. "What's up?""I was talking to some of the guys and I think I've earned myself a payrise..." The words were deliberate and measured but there wasn't much malice in them. This was less a threat and more someone worried he was being taken advantage of. "Joe pays me $200 a shot..."In his defense, The Barbarian was capable of doing what was asked of him in the place he was currently at. What he was asking for was an extra hundred a show effectively. That was fine for now but if he was going to come back for more anytime soon, he'd need to become the standout in Tropic Thunder and being asked more than to give the fans a wild brawl that they always clamored for. "Stop by the office, I'll backdate the raise from the last big show." He knows the area, I know that Joe Blanchard is about six weeks from closing. I expected more people to be interested in him down the line, this would get him onside and behind what I was trying to do.
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Post by Cross Recoba on Mar 30, 2024 4:24:00 GMT -5
FORT WORTH, WILL ROGERS CENTER MARCH 1983 WEEK THREE - THURSDAYIt was the last TV show before the big one and I had a tonne to work out before the boys arrived. {The Size Problem - Spoilered for lots of images} To compete with the WWF and Mid-Atalantic, I needed to grow more: If I did that, I'd be able to protect my wrestlers being poached, be able to offer my brothers contracts so if their addictions became a problem I could send them to rehab, and I'd be able to get better TV deals and be able to build around a solid core of wrestlers. If I waited to do it organically: I'd literally be here until nearly Christmas and the WWF and MACW are playing with millions to my hundreds of thousands. So why buy? We get there immediately and if you look at what we clear every month now, you'd know we could make up the outlay before Christmas...we'd make it most likely by the end of Summer. The three companies I could buy out to make it happen? GCWThere's no downside to them, except being reckless with spending (IRL: Barnett was deposed from the seat in GCW because he used company money to bribe and entertain powerful men wherever he was) and that makes them ridiculously expensive to purchase because I'd be buying their debt too. CWFDad was right, Eddie Graham has put himself in a hole. Dusty would become available and I'd be interested in Sullivan, Windham, Magnum and maybe Jake Roberts but they're not in hideous amounts of debt yet and Eddie can be stubborn when he's drunk, which is pretty much all the time. CWAThey're not in enough debt yet to be interested but they do have people like Terry Funk, Lawler, and young wrestlers like Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane. Add in managers like Dillon and Cornette and a couple of people suited for road agents and they become a far more attractive outfit than the mudshow they are. Added points if we buy these for settling a grudge that Dad's held for a while about their brand of wrestling. No decision needed yet but we might revisit it come April I got a phone call from the Network who said early indications were that we smashed our previous record rating by around 25%. The Network guy explained that it represents an extra 60,000 fans tuning in. We were cooking. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MARCH 1983 WEEK THREE - FRIDAY"He wants how much?" "It's how much the NWA have decided he's worth and even if I got him for multiple dates, it's $12,700 a shot." "How much was Flair then?" "Less money but I don't want Flair in the territory unless he's actively helping World Class. Else we're just one of his thirty defences and counting." "You sure Race is worth it?" "In quality? Sure. I just hope that the NWA prime him for what we want him to do and play ball." "For that money, you want to see it back twice compared to what we make with out him!" FORT WORTH, WILL ROGERS CENTER MARCH 1983 WEEK THREE - SATURDAYTerry Gordy walked into my office and asked for a payrise. He makes a $100 a show and he's a top 5 in-ring performer. He makes less than Tonga, Adias and Gran Markus. "I think I deserve more." Gordy wasn't the talker of the group for a reason. "Name a figure." "One Eighty....One sixty?" "One Eighty's fine, Terry." I pulled out a couple of hundred dollar bills from my wallet. "Take this too, call it a bonus for your work." The Cowboy smiled as he left the office. When I knew he was out of earshot, I sighed and laughed with relief, if he'd have brought Hayes along with him or even talked about it with him, I'd be a lot poorer now than I was. IRVING TEXAS CENTER MARCH 1983 WEEK FOUR - MONDAYThe calculator worked overtime today. Based on interest and ticket sales we picked this arena as even though we can't fill it, the four-thousand odd fans we can't fit in the Reunion Center would pay for the hire of this one and give us a small increase on what we'd make in Dallas. I had the card set:
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Post by Cross Recoba on Mar 30, 2024 13:59:54 GMT -5
IRVING TEXAS CENTER MARCH 1983 WEEK FOUR - MONDAY "What do you mean 'I'm Harley Fucking Race'?" I was beyond annoyed. "I'm just asking you to lose to Kerry, it can be a DQ finish or a Count-Out, I'm giving you that choice because I respect you.""Is Kerry a former NWA Champion?"I stared through him, we both knew the answer. "Does anyone really know who he is in Canada or Japan? I've come down here and you're trying to pull my pants down and fuck me in the ass!""I'm asking you to do what's right for the business. We both know that Crockett would be open to having Flair come down here to face one of us. What about David?""What do I get out of this?""I'll go out there and make your kid brother look a star. That's what you get for the money. Now, I've got a match to prepare for."
He walked out of my office and if he could make Kerry look on a level with him, it was something but I knew the problem I had to worry about was standing in the corner of the room. "That's what I've been dealing with since Muchnick. Barnett was no different and Crockett? Why would he move the belt off Flair when he gets a cut of his defences as NWA President AND Flair's signed to his own company?"Dad made a lot of sense. "Then is Georgia the number one target?""I don't think you need me to tell you that, son."Backstage, I took Harley, Kabuki and Butch aside and thanked them for a job well done tonight. 26,000 people went home having seen an amazing show and hopefully gearing them up to come back next month where we had to really blow them away. May was the Parade of Champions, June was another Star Wars show and July was the Independence Day Special. Three huge shows where we'd get the chance at one of them to get a win over a national star. Tonga, almost shy, came up to me and asked if he'd done enough for a raise. It was hard to tell him he didn't deserve more than he was getting. I couldn't give him the full amount he wanted on top, but I could give him the same as Cocoa and The Barbarian. Jose got hold of me and told me he had two Mexican wrestlers that would work for cheap. We'll give them a look but unless they get over like gangbusters, they're just going to be working on their experience and craft. BEAUMONT CIVIC CENTER MARCH 1983 WEEK FOUR - THURSDAY
Tracey Smothers took a bold move for a rookie today. I walked into the locker-room and saw him doing impressions of Jose, Hayes, and Gary Hart which is a risky move in itself. The boys loved it! Smothers might be earning himself a longer stay here, or at the very least an invitation to return once his craft had been honed elsewhere. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MARCH 1983 WEEK FOUR - SATURDAYA sad day for Minnesotans as The Crusher announced he'd retire in June of the year. Poor timing for Verne though, The Crusher was one of his major and his broken arm would keep him on the sidelines until a month before his retirement. That would mean the only way for him to pass the torch down would be to be jobbed out to hell and that wouldn't go down with fans of DA CRUSHA! DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MARCH 1983 WEEK FOUR - SUNDAYOle and Barnett in Georgia were trying everything they could to stay afloat. Now filming four shows of TV at a time, they got Flair for a taping and only used him once. They're pretty close to circling the drain and I spent the day putting together an offer for them to walk away and for me to assume their dates and contracts with venues. We'll see how they take it when I deliver it tomorrow. If they refuse, they're going to go deeper into debt and eventually it won't be worth our time to buy them, we've other targets for that very reason.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM APRIL 1983 WEEK ONE - MONDAYMid-Atlantic ran their big show last night and I've come to the conclusion they can't be making more than us each month. The show was good but it was worse received among peers than ours and they ran a 1200 seater building. That's not going to do well to cover the wages of Flair, Race, Slater, Steamboat and The Briscos plus the rest. My morning was taken up looking at the tape of George South who could be added to our list of enhancement talent: On offense, he was about what you expect a rookie to look like but his ability to make his opponent look good was what sold me. Plus he was a babyface to feed to Tropic Thunder. The second part was Inoki calling me up to pitch me two excursions: KAZUO YAMAZAKISHINICHI NAKANOIn principle, I had nothing against taking both but do you remember Yamazaki appearing before? HE HAS A BROKEN FREAKING NECK! He's out for 11 months. "Get him fixed up, then he'll be great.""Why haven't you done that?" "Bad opening months, better this month but not enough to start paying out for surgeries. We watch Texas and know you're doing well."I felt bad for the kid. Perhaps that's why I agreed to take someone who could be out for half of their excursion length. Inoki faxed me the x-rays from the break after I agreed to take the rookie and I passed them to a doctor. "He's not coming back til next Summer."The afternoon was spent getting lectured by Jim Barnett about how pro wrestling works. "We might be having temporary cashflow problems, my boy, but that's wrestling. I turned Australia into the most profitable, best paying and most desirable location to wrestle in the world in the Seventies. Just imagine what I can be doing when I've finished greasing the wheels of Georgian commerce and have a rabid homebase of fans to sell tickets to!"So, in short - that's a no from Georgia but we'll be back. We've over a million sitting in the bank and I felt confident enough that we could squeeze our competition. I made some calls and by the time of our next show, our live event experience and production values would be as good as the WWF and Mid-Atlantic. As long as we kept up our revenues, we'd be fine. Even if we didn't make a profit for three months, we'd be able to weather the storm and benefit from a more attractive show for fans to tune into and tell their friends. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
APRIL 1983
WEEK ONE - TUESDAY
Inoki's company is running amok with recklessness. Yamazaki breaking his neck in an opener is something you chalk down to a rookie error but last night Hogan regained the IWGP Heavyweight title against Black Tiger and gave him a spinal disalignment in the process. That's two months on the shelf for the Brit and it makes me wonder just what state the wrestlers he'll be sending me might be in. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
APRIL 1983
WEEK ONE - WEDNESDAYIt felt like being a Union boss today. King Kong Bunday walked into my office and came out $90 a show better off, he thinks he's done me over and I think at $210 a show I'm still doing well. Dutch wanted to go to $180 a pop and again, happy to do that especially if that locks him in at that rate through the projected TV title feud. It was Butch Reed that made me worry. He was making less than Marc Lowrance etc and was in a position Michael Hayes was a month ago or so. "Boss, I'm worth over 700 a show and here I am on just over half that. You've heard the crowd! You know what I can do." He wasn't wrong but that'd put him level or just above Hayes and he couldn't talk like Michael and he wasn't in the highest drawing storyline like he was. "How's $650? It's over 50% and if you want to keep this up and by the end of year want a cool and even thousand? I'd be strong-pushed to say no." Butch hesitated but shook my hand. If Pam got her way, Butch'd be paid in anything he couldn't put behind the bars of Texas but I wasn't going to give him a down payment. I should have seen this coming with Hayes, the roster knew we were doing well and each person thought they were the one responsible for it. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM
APRIL 1983
WEEK ONE - THURSDAYIn news around the horn: Mil Mascaras was now working for the WWF and moved to Georgia of all places for a base. This was typical for Mil, he was unhappy he was just Enhancement talent to Vince and you could guarantee he'd insisted on travel. The likelihood was Vince told him to move from Japan to be closer and Mascaras did this. Stampede have the opposite issue. Jim Neidhart's one of their top heels but New Japan use him too. Guess which side of the Pacific Ocean he lives in now. That's not going to kill off the territory but it's likely going to be one of the small cuts that puts them under. Larry Hennig and Blue Demon are both hanging their boots up in July and I wonder, if you're a small child from Minnesota: which of those retirements hurts most?
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Post by Mongo the Destroyer on Mar 30, 2024 19:00:54 GMT -5
"Banditos Casas"? "The Black Cats"?
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Post by Cross Recoba on Mar 31, 2024 4:52:45 GMT -5
LUBBOCK MUNICIPAL COLISEUM APRIL 1983 WEEK ONE - THURSDAYThe Barbarian left Samu waiting an hour to pick him up for the journey. Bill Mercer was the judge in Wrestler/Kangaroo Court and now The Barbarian is using that extra money I pay him to buy Samu's meals for the next three shows.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM APRIL 1983 WEEK TWO - MONDAYVerne has seen sense and lowered his TV quality. That'll save him some money and might be enough to keep him afloat but that news is purely to offset how busy my office was today. Buddy Roberts wanted a raise and I knew that if I caved entirely, Gordy would be back in here wanting more because, quite frankly, he deserved it. Roberts was a good hand but Hayes was the guy on the mic and Gordy was the best of them in the ring. The raise put him above Tropic Thunder but also meant if Gordy wanted more money off the back of it, he could double his money but not look to try and break my pay structure. After that, I received a phone call from Salvador Lutteroth down in Mexico. He had a trio of talents he wanted me to take a look at and if I were in the debt he's in - I'd want them off my payroll too. media.discordapp.net/attachments/1220723179832737834/1223931613973446706/image.png?ex=661ba624&is=66093124&hm=e05634428a6727dd10299a203e5227ed6cb873ff1cc181b3fe5267c9ebb13347&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=973&height=901Three heels, two of which I could use and third...well, who am I to doubt El Dandy but his tapes didn't give me an easy hook like the other two. I needed a name for them but first, I'd see how they did in the ring. With Jose looking like he's inching out the door to retirement each match, these three might benefit from wins over him and give the Hispanic parts of Texas more of a reason to attend. It was bad news for Bugsy McGraw and Frank Dusek though, both of them have been through it in their careers but they also couldn't give me more than five minutes in the ring unless I put them in tags or multi-man matches. They would be the first cuts of my regime.
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Post by Cross Recoba on Mar 31, 2024 7:19:07 GMT -5
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM APRIL 1983 WEEK TWO - THURSDAY
A letter arrived from Ox Baker telling us he was retiring in three months, July was going to be a changing of the guard so to speak. His 1981 run here helped legitimise Kerry and his last match here saw David and I beat him and The Spoiler. I let Dad know but he already had plans in place for the day. "We're heading to Baylor Hospital. David and Kerry are already on their way there.""What's the plan?" "They're going to sign some autographs and visit some kids, good press. We're meeting a camera crew there."It didn't take a genius to work out that Dad had pulled strings with his friends at the Church. Another show at our homebase where it was good but it should have been great. DALLAS SPORTATORIUM APRIL 1983 WEEK THREE - WEDNESDAYFrom what I'm hearing, Ric Flair and Inoki had an amazing match in Japan last week. Flair retained but both men put in a performance of the year, it tells me that David is the only one on our roster right now who'd be able to match or beat Inoki and win over the NWA board. Verne continues to economies but he might find that his product'll end up looking cheap compared to the last few months. Bruce Hart discloated his jaw last night. I heard Dad quip that if it didn't happen in the ring, it was bound to happen when he spends so much time telling you he could have beaten Farmer Burns and 'Strangler' Ed Lewis with one arm behind his back. Eddie Graham is feeling brave, or drunk according to Dad. He's in debt according to Jimmy Garvin but he's going to be spending nearly six figures more a month on TV? I might start putting together a deal for a lot less money and pitching it to Florida. Before I left the office, I remembered to remind Dad to call The Sheik. He'd moved from the ring to being a manager. For someone who won't speak English on the phone unless he knows who you are, this could be entertaining.
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Post by Cross Recoba on Mar 31, 2024 12:19:55 GMT -5
NEW ORLEANS LAKEFRONT ARENA APRIL 1983 WEEK THREE - THURSDAY
Apologies for the short update: fitting this in around Easter stuff.
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Post by Cross Recoba on Mar 31, 2024 18:49:15 GMT -5
STEPHENS ARENA APRIL 1983 WEEK FOUR - THURSDAY
Backstage, I called up the Network to get an early indication of our ratings. I had the show as our best quality one yet, the main event perhaps edging David & Kerry beating Jimmy Garvin & Terry Gordy so I had a good feeling. The Network guy had the estimate at 0.44 which was over 325k for viewers and nearly a hundred thousand more people than at the start of the year.
As I went to find Dad, Gary Hart pulled me aside to tell me Buck Zumhofe is trash in the ring. If he was any good, I'd give him a win but at least it told me my judging of talent was near the mark. He also told me that David vs Ric would do absolute box office, the question then became - when and where? I had an idea for Parade of Champions but it'd need us to be able to make a profit like we did the last few months even with the extra production costs.
If Saturday was profitable like the other big shows were: I'd spring for Flair for as long as I could get him on loan in May.
AUSTIN MYERS STADIUM APRIL 1983 WEEK FOUR - SATURDAY
I started the day with the news that Ole and Barnett had reduced their TV quality and saw it as a sign. If I made a profit for the month that was healthy, I'd have a bid for them ready on Monday. I had a feeling today would be a good day.
No Zumhofe or Butch as they went to work for Verne and Barnett. One was an issue I could potentially solve within 48 hours, the other might not have a job in that time. Jumbo Tsuruta was due back then too but Kazuo Yamazaki remained a man I doubted we'd seen in a WCCW ring. Dad had suggested that he shadow me so that he had a backup if he had to retire, he didn't tell him that, we didn't even tell Tola Yatsu that who acted as his translator.
We'd sold out the arena with 30,000 fans and I knew what I had to do on Monday. If nothing else, we needed better TV coverage for our events than what we could ask for in January.
I ran the numbers three times before we left the building. We'd cleared 600k in ticket sales alone and made a killing in merchandise sales. I was working on getting our own worker specific merchandise done but for now, we just took a small cut from the wrestler - I figured we were two and a half months away from changing that model in our favor. The end result was half a million or more this month before tax.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MAY 1983 WEEK ONE - MONDAY
I had 'Beat It' stuck in my head, partly because it was #1 on the Billboard chart but also because of the Fax I was about to send. It would take nearl 2/3 of our cash to do so but it was the only way to compete with the WWF and Mid-Atlantic, waiting to get there without this wasn't an option - we'd lose too much ground.
The rough details of the fax:
To: Barnett, Jim
GCW OFFER Cash - $870, 347
Purchase of: The brand GCW The use of the NWA National Heavyweight title as we see fit Your existing contracts with local venues and promoters
Transfer of contracts of: Gordon Solie (announcer) Brad Armstrong Brian Blair JJ Dillon Larry Zbysko Stan Hansen Tito Santana
Our offer is good for 24 hours.
We could have taken their entire roster but I wanted to focus on what we needed. Brian Blair, Brad Armstrong and Tito bolstered my midcard Babyfaces. Hansen and Larry though would most likely come in to replace the likes of The Spoiler and Checkmate in our mid and upper-card. Hansen was Texan through and through, I had a long-term plan to plug him into a feud with us Von Erichs but we'd see what we could shake up.
Who I didn't take was a huge list but some short reasons for some - The Road Warriors would dilute Tonga and The Barbarian. Brett and Buzz Sawyer are worth the headache but I have no Babyface teams for them to work with right now. Dick Murdoch is Texas royalty but he was Hansen with half the upside and twice the bad habits. Paul Orndorff was great on the microphone but he was always the weakest link in any good match he was in. Tommy Rich was a talent but he had a reptuation for the hard stuff and I didn't need Kerry or David to have someone like that in the locker room. Lastly, Rick Rude and Tom Prichard will be great workers some day but I've only so much spotlight to shine on people.
I didn't have to wait longer than four hours. I expect they called Jim Crockett and Vince Mcmahon and found they didn't want or need to offer for the company and it was this or bankruptcy. Ole and Jim Barnett don't have no-competes in the deal but I'd be surprised to see either of them hired soon.
This was it, I'd put GCW out of business!
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MAY 1983 WEEK ONE - TUESDAY
With the ink dry on the deal, the public or at least the wrestling public started to pay attention to us. I knew that our deal with KXTX had two more months to run but we didn't agree a set amount of dates or shows. I managed to dispense of the need for them with deals with WPCQ (who are big in both the Mid Atlantic and South East regions) as well as the biggest Mid South exclusive broadcaster, this being helped that they already featured our TV show.
Then it was looking at how to present our new talent. Stan Hansen wanted to be a Babyface and that wasn't something that had legs long-term. Kazuo Yamazaki, through Yatsu and Kabuki, told me he should be an American Badass but when he described tobacco chewin', no nonsense patriot I corrected him and told him he meant a Texan heel. It'll be a hard sell but I've let Stan know that us Von Erich boys throw hard so he'll fit right in. I also gave him JJ to manage him, he can talk but Dillon will help make his home state fans despise him.
Larry Zbyszko is insistent he wants to try being a Babyface once more and I know that Texans didn't really tune in or buy the Bruno/Larry feud so he might not get dinged too much for trying to change his act. If he did, I knew he could be the chickenshit heel that could give Buddy Roberts a run for his money on that front.
For the rest: Brian and Brad would likely be enhancement talent but I'd try and give them some form of rub and maybe find a use for Adias and Madril, stranger things had happened. Tito though, he could slot in about anywhere and he'd appeal to the Hispanic market.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MAY 1983 WEEK ONE - WEDNESDAY
Jumbo returned and I imagine he might have felt lost when he looked at what he left to what he returned to. I'll see if I can find him a tag-partner and if not, he might find himself entering a very competitive midcard.
Dad got in my ear and told me that it'd be good to offer Kerry and David exclusive deals. Our working agreements wouldn't stop them going elsewhere but it was best to prevent Vince and Jim Crockett from stealing them before we got too far onto their radar. The Freebirds and Butch would follow as soon as the ink dried on my brothers' deals.
Larry Zbyszko entered my office pretty much as soon as I'd got off the phone with Kerry and wanted a payrise. I agreed to the 50% bump he wanted but warned him that if he wasn't pushing for Match of the Night every night, he might find his head on the chopping block sooner than if he just stayed on what he was on. He insisted and so now Larry has to put in a top 5 performance each show to match his top 5 wage.
TEXAS CITY BANK COLISEUM MAY 1983 WEEK ONE - THURSDAY
I'd delayed enough, it was time to sort out my feuds:
EXISTING The Von Erichs vs Freebirds Butch Reed vs King Kong Bundy Brian Adias vs The Spoiler Ron Garvin vs Magic Dragon Jose Lothario vs Checkmate
NEW BUT UNCONFIRMED Stan Hansen vs Tito Santana
UNDECIDED
The Great Kabuki vs Larry Zybyszko or Dutch Mantell Tonga vs Jumbo Tsuruta or Dutch Mantell
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Post by Dave D-Flipz on Mar 31, 2024 20:22:24 GMT -5
Give Kabuki the Living Legend and give Tongo ol' Zeb COlter (Dutch)
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Kira Izumi
J-ROK Staff
XHF's Resident Weeb
Posts: 5,914
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Post by Kira Izumi on Mar 31, 2024 21:54:57 GMT -5
Kabuki vs Larry is money
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Post by Cross Recoba on Apr 1, 2024 13:53:26 GMT -5
TEXAS CITY BANK COLISEUM MAY 1983 WEEK ONE - THURSDAY
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MAY 1983 WEEK ONE - FRIDAY
With just under $600k in the bank, which is 50k more than I had after the deal went through with Georgia, we could pay off the purchase in around six weeks if Parade of Champions was a success.
Brad Armstrong came to see me and he was down about his new gimmick, we've tweaked it so it isn't generic, classi babyface but he needs to be able to show me he can connect with the crowd now.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MAY 1983 WEEK ONE - SATURDAY
Tito Santana was waiting for me outside the building when I turned up this morning.
"Boss, I don't think I'm being paid enough." He was polite and I could tell he didn't really want to have this conversation in public so I motioned for him to come inside as I unlocked the door.
"Ole and Barnett, they told me that no-one was buying tickets to see me. I can wrestle but I can't talk."
They had a point, Santana was a workhorse but he wasn't going to rival Billy Graham or Ric Flair on the microphone.
"Any excuse not to tell me how much money they were losing."
"Tito, how much would make you happy?"
"$560 a shot?"
He made $400 as it was, the bump would make him better paid than Marc Lowrence who was about to be cut and Dad but that was the only two he climbed over.
"If you come back to me in the next few months for more, I'm likely going to say no. So, is this all you're asking for?"
Tito thought about it for a bit before extending his hand.
That was an easy negotiation.
DALLAS SPORTATORIUM MAY 1983 WEEK TWO - MONDAY
Dad, David and Kerry came by the office. Dad wanted to take pictures of the contract signings and send them to Bill Apter to get them seen across the country. The deals would mean that we wouldn't have to worry about family loyalties if Vince or Crockett came after them.
With David and Kerry signed, Dad took me aside to catch me up on some wrestling news. Al Costello had passed away and he'd be attending his funeral later in the month. Dad and Waldo won the titles from The Internationals (Costello and Karl von Brauner) back in 1967 right here in this building.
In lighter news, Wilbur Snyder and Dick the Bruiser hadn't wasted anytime bringing in Ole Anderson. They'd gone through a surge of popularity but Dad doubted if they could sustain it or keep up with the added costs of running bigger shows. We'll see if Ole turns out to be what Dad calls a 'Jonah'.
COLORADO STATE FAIR CENTER MAY 1983 WEEK TWO - THURSDAY
I knew today was going to be a time of change. The new guys I had managed to include in the GCW deal were a lot better than some of the talent I was getting behind. I'd keep the status quo mostly in place until Parade of Champions but that would be their swansong. One person who wouldn't be afforded that courtesy was Marc Lowrence. I took little pleasure in telling him that he'd covered his last event for us. To his credit, he took it well but I was breaking up a fixture in World Class. Bill Mercer wouldn't be calling any other events for us either, Solie far outclassing them both but I kept him around as he was tight with my Father and cheaper than Lowrence. I wondered if I had to pay him for turning up and presiding over Wrestler's Court because that would be the extent of his involvement from now on.
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