Post by CW .org .info .net on May 16, 2014 22:17:06 GMT -6
GAGNE, NICK, AND THE BELT
What to do when a territorial mainstay retires as champ.
By “Big J” John English
First column - here ya go.
With my first column I figured I’d jump right into the fire with a hotly debated topic. But first, a brief intro. I’ve been a fan of professional wrestling since late 1983. As a six year old, I was introduced to the wacky, exciting and, yes, wonderful sport by my mother. Regaled by tales of names like Stevens, Shibuya and Pepper Gomez from her youth, I quickly clung to names that would become staples of mine, like Martel, Bockwinkel and yes, Hogan.
My time as a fan has leaned primarily toward the proud history of the AWA, and that’s what my contributions to OSW will most frequently reflect. A big thanks to Bob Moniz for allowing me to share my memories, opinions and reflections here.
Now, onto the topic at hand. It’s May 1981, and longtime AWA champion, mainstay and promoter Verne Gagne has just won his “final” match against hated rival Nick Bockwinkel before a turnaway crowd in St. Paul, Minnesota. Gagne had stated before the card that, win, lose or draw, this would be his last go-round.
Much debate would now and forever settle around one question: what to do with the AWA World Title.
Now, we all know what eventually did happen. The following week, AWA President Stanley Blackburn went on TV and stated in an interview with Gene Okerlund that an AWA Title tourney would take far too long and involve far too many men from “around the globe” for it to be a feasible proposition. His claim that a tourney would take “nine months” was cited, and he insisted that the AWA could not go without a champion for that long. Before the segment was over, the title had been awarded without a match to the number-one contender, and the last champion previous to Verne, Nick Bockwinkel.
Bockwinkel was no slouch, and not undeserving in the slightest, as we all know. But the method in which he received this title is, a quarter-century later, the subject of much debate.
The options here, seemingly, were simple:
1. Hold a tournament featuring the top stars of the area. The tourney could spread out over a few weeks or be held in its entirety in one night. There were more than enough top names who could have been included in such a tourney. Jerry Blackwell, Bockwinkel, Greg Gagne, Jim Brunzell, Adnan Al-Kaissie, Baron Von Raschke – the list goes on. This should have been a viable and reasonable possibility.
2. Hold a single match involving the top two named contenders for the crown. At this point I imagine that might have been Bockwinkel and either Blackwell or Von Raschke. Reasonable choices all, and even if you’d thrown Greg Gagne in as the man to face Bockwinkel, the fans would have gotten behind the decision.
3. Hold a battle royale to crown a new champion. Honestly, I’ve never understood the negative feelings about battle royals to determine champions. The AWA of course would do this in later years, much to the chagrin of many ‘smarts.’ Personally, I feel battle royals are exciting, the fans love them, and if more is on the line that’s all the better. It adds to the intrigue of who could possibly come out on top. All of a sudden the number of potential winners jumps from 2 or 3 to 15. Unpredictability is never a bad thing in pro wrestling.
Ultimately, the answer chosen was “none of the above.” Why? The answer in my opinion is multi-fold.
First, I think there may have been some assumption that a card featuring a tournament would be poorly received and poorly attended at the gate because Bockwinkel would appear to be the obvious winner. This holds true not only for a tournament but also for a #1 vs. #2 contenders match. If Bockwinkel is seen by many as the sure-thing winner, maybe this isn’t seen as a moneymaker attendance-wise. I’m not saying Bockwinkel wasn’t a draw, but nobody wants to see the heel win. And if they know they’re going to, maybe they’ll stay home.
Second, a battle royale certainly doesn’t fit into Verne Gagne’s purist view of wrestling and how to determine a championship. Battle royals were special attractions – freak shows in which anything could happen. Not only that, but with Jerry Blackwell surely booked in any battle royale the AWA might have at this time, once again we’ve got a scenario where the favorite to win in almost everyone’s eyes is a hated heel. Fans packed the gates to see the heels get beat, not to see the heels win in a walk.
Lastly, the method of giving Nick the title in this way could have been seen as a positive by Verne. Can you think of a cheaper, more undeserving way for a man to receive a world title than by having it given to him on a silver platter? Folks will line up for weeks to see this silver spoon paper champion get his butt handed to him in cities across the Midwest. There is actually a chance here that Verne saw this method of getting the title to Bockwinkel as a goldmine. The idea that people would flock to see Bockwinkel get what he had coming to him, and to see someone who deserves the belt get their hands on him and ultimately the belt.
Whatever the reason, the decision remains up to much debate, but in the short run, it certainly didn’t hurt the AWA in the least. Fans would flock to the arena to see Bockwinkel take on the likes of Otto Wanz, Hulk Hogan, Adnan Al-Kaissie and many others over the next calendar year.
Say what you will about Bockwinkel being handed the title in ’81. Say it should have been a tournament, say Verne’s ego got in the way, or whatever else…the fact remains, the AWA, after a few down years in the late 70’s, was flying high again in 1981
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SIX WEEKS OF HELL
The Tumultuous Reign of Otto Wanz
By “Big J” John English
August 29, 1982…a day that will live in infamy for many AWA fans.
8/29 was the day that a round mound from Graz, Austria did the unthinkable, capturing, out of nowhere, the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Nick Bockwinkel.
He did it clean, in the middle of the ring, in the St. Paul Civic Center against a man whom fans had so come to hate over the years that they jumped for joy at this unthinkable occurrence. Unthinkable then, yes. Unspeakable as time went on.
Otto Wanz was an accomplished wrestler, if an unimpressive looking athlete. His history was deep; the man practically owned wrestling in Europe at the time, with his very successful Catch promotion. Video footage of him in his homeland shows a man who can mat wrestle with the best of them, can overpower men as large as Andre the Giant, and with enough agility to flying head scissor giants like Don Leo Johnathan.
Video footage of him in the States shows a man who could rip phone books in half, look ridiculous in traditional Austrian garb, and do what he did on 8/29 – fall backwards on top of Nick Bockwinkel with his mighty girth for a fluke victory.
And as history went on, and insider information became public, the Wanz legacy would be further tarnished by information that he’d been sold his AWA title reign, in exchange for $50,000 and according to some sources, a paid vacation for the Gagne family in Austria.
Never mind the facts. Never mind that every title change in history has been a business deal, and that some before this even included money as a selling point. No. This man and his title reign ruined the legacy of the AWA title forever.
That is, if you ask some people.
Others, like myself, would lay blame in the direction of a poorly crafted storyline and a poorly executed fluke-style victory. Otto Wanz was no buffoon. This man, with the ample build of Chris Taylor and the skills of even greater names, could have been a boon to the AWA during this time. Bockwinkel had recently fought off challenges by Hulk Hogan, Adnan Al-Kaissie and many others during an around the horn trip through Canada and the Southern US. And now, this man, built as a buffoon by the Gagne machine, beat Bockwinkel. It was unthinkable.
The buildup of Otto Wanz serves as a crash course in how not to build a wrestling champion. When he won the title on 8/29, he’d barely been in the promotion a month. During that time, he’d been built up not as the tremendous wrestling star from across the Atlantic that he was, but more so as a novelty strongman. His antics of tearing phonebooks in half on television and being booked repeatedly at house shows with and against power based wrestlers like Ken Patera and Hulk Hogan didn’t help to build the man as a credible challenger to Bockwinkel; even though those intentions were obvious from the moment the Heenan Family jumped him on All Star Wrestling in late July.
Wanz didn’t wrestle once against Bockwinkel before the title change. He wrestled nobody but Bockwinkel (save for one match against Jerry Blackwell) as champion.
I’ve heard reports of fans cheering the decision when Bockwinkel ultimately upended Wanz in Chicago on 10/9. You can’t blame them, as unpopular as Bockwinkel was. They had just been through six weeks of hell. The worst booking of a major title change and reign in history was evident here.
When in fact Gagne should have taken the very capable Wanz and immediately established him as a top contender upon his arrival in July, he didn’t. Oh sure, Wanz’s accomplishments were mentioned. But this was a guy dressed like it’s Oktoberfest, ripping phone books in half. He wasn’t taken seriously.
If he’d been booked as a believable challenger, phone book gimmicks wouldn’t have been needed. A credible, 350+ pound athlete from Austria is here to take the belt. Have him beat Patera handily. Have him beat Duncum. Go through with the Hogan/Wanz over Patera/Duncum tag matches as happened. Have him challenge Bockwinkel one, two, three times, only to be deprived of the title by the cunning Heenan and his antics. And then, and ONLY then, give him the title.
Otto Wanz should have been built up the way Hulk Hogan was, but in this case, pulling the trigger on a title win. That would have established him as the credible challenger he in fact was, but no one knew about. Instead, pile up the phone books.
After losing the belt to Bockwinkel in Chicago, Wanz finished up a few dates before leaving the US and heading back to Austria. The business deal most certainly achieved what he’d wanted it to; he was a national sporting hero at home, and his business improved as a result of his two month American vacation.
The question is, did the Wanz situation help Verne Gagne any? The answer, in my view at least, is yes. In the short run. Though he never took advantage of it, Verne gained a bit of audience in Europe, with fans over there now familiar, if they weren’t before, with the AWA and its world title. Had Verne arranged for a tour of Austria with AWA talent in the years shortly after Wanz’s win, the tour would likely have been a success. Not only that, but Wanz’s shocking victory lent an air of credibility and realism to the AWA. In “real” sports, upsets and shocking occurrences happen all the time. Why not in wrestling too? Wanz over Bockwinkel showed that on any given night, the audience could witness history. And if that brought a few extra people a night to the matches, all the better.
In the long run, however, the Wanz incident cast a shadow on the AWA championship. While this certainly wasn’t the only time in history a major championship was exchanged for monetary gain or otherwise, that stain remained. Perhaps it’s because we know the actual monetary figure, even though that’s rumor. Perhaps it’s because the situation was booked so horribly. Whatever the case, and whatever the short term benefit, in the long run Verne Gagne’s precious AWA championship would be tarnished by the allegations that he’d sold it to Otto Wanz. That, for most, is the lasting memory of the situation. That, and the assumption that Wanz was totally unqualified to carry the belt otherwise. Neither may be entirely true. But more than two decades later, public perception has made them, in essence, truth.
Otto would return to the States and the AWA in 1987 for a very brief run that never really amounted to much. Few remember that. But his status as a footnote in 1982, and the debate surrounding it, remains a hotly debated topic to this day.
Next time: Should Hulk Hogan have been given a run with the AWA title? All the myths, mix-ups and master plans that caused another debacle in the AWA.
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No Armbars, No Chinlocks, Just Hulkamania
By “Big J” John English
On August 1, 1981, a golden-maned heel arrived in the AWA. Casting a larger than life shadow beyond his shimmering robe and beside his manager, John Valiant, Hulk Hogan was entering the territory following a very successful Northeast run, where he faced the likes of Andre the Giant, Bob Backlund and Tony Atlas.
It was clear from the onset that Hogan had a bright future. This menacing, mouthy Californian was one part Andre, two parts Billy Graham, and all parts charisma. There was one key spoke in the wheel missing, scientific wrestling ability.
No matter. On the eve of Hulk Hogan’s destiny, there was little that could get in his way.
That being considered, it is an odd contradiction that his star would begin its big ascent in the scientific-wrestling driven AWA. Verne Gagne, one of the most skilled wrestlers ever to step in the ring, shaped his stars a certain way. Hogan didn’t reflect that method in the slightest.
Sure there were exceptions. Mad Dog Vachon, Crusher, Larry Hennig and the like were all primarily brawlers. But, all had the ability to wrestle when it was time. Hogan was sorely lacking in that department.
The funny thing about Hogan’s popularity rising in the AWA is that it clearly, in hindsight, took Gagne by surprise. When the fans turned Hogan face within weeks of his arrival in Minneapolis, they were in turn sending a message to Gagne about what they wanted to see. Gagne of course was resistant to this notion, but eventually was forced to cave in and book Hogan toward the top of the card. He was also forced to turn Hogan babyface, which he did in earnest by the end of August, when Hogan ran in to make the save for Brad Rheingans, who was being beaten down by Jerry Blackwell and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie. This spot was done numerous times around the horn, to get the word out to fans everywhere that Hogan was now a man to be cheered. As if they hadn’t already came to that conclusion themselves, largely.
The remainder of 1981 and the first months of 1982 would see Hogan cemented as a babyface. His rise up the ladder of popularity was quick, although he was still primarily featured in midcard bouts or as a tag partner to the High Flyers in six-man matches. In April, the trigger was finally pulled, and Hogan received title shots in key AWA markets, Minneapolis and Chicago. He appeared to win the title on 4/18, but the result would later be overturned and the match would be ruled a DQ. With the shows well received, Verne Gagne’s hand was forced, and Hogan would continue in the upper card picture until mid-year, when he left the AWA for a month to promote the release of Rocky III. It was during this time that Hogan’s place in the title picture was taken by Otto Wanz.
Upon Hogan’s return he received the largest push yet. He would remain Bockwinkel’s top challenger building to the big 4/24/83 Super Sunday show. It was believed at the time that the show was to be Hogan’s coronation, silencing the critical fans who were beginning to sour on the promotion as Hogan apparently wasn’t getting a fair shake. When the show finally went down though, the result was a repeat of the previous year. Hogan apparently won the title. But once again, the match would be ruled a DQ and the title would be returned to Bockwinkel. With that, much to the dismay of many fans at the time, Hogan was shifted out of the title picture, and his appearances would become infrequent over the next several months, while Bockwinkel was programmed against Wahoo McDaniel.
Hogan returned full time to the AWA in August for a program with Masa Saito and David Shults, which lasted through the end of his run in the promotion in mid-December of 1983. Of course, we all know what happened when he left. While Hogan was conquering new world in the WWF, his final dates were filled with appearances by the Crusher, who despite his popularity was now well into his 50’s and had no business substituting for Hogan.
The real question here is, why did this happen? Why was Hogan not given a significant run with the AWA title? Surely it would have been a major boost to attendance and a big moneymaker.
The reasons are multifold.
· By 1982-83, the WWF under Vince McMahon (Jr.) was already making strides across territorial boundaries. This, combined with Hogan’s drawing power and obvious appeal not only to fans, but to other promoters, sparked fears that Hogan may bolt the AWA for greener pastures, with the belt in tow. In the days of Kayfabe, a wrestler appearing on a promotion’s television, having hijacked another promotion’s belt would have caused chaos and major loss of face on the part of Gagne. Verne could have been convinced that Hogan would appear on WWF TV with the AWA belt. Paranoia among wrestling promoters had set in.
· Verne Gagne ran a wrestling promotion. No, he REALLY ran a wrestling promotion. There’s a neat piece of footage out there of the AWA and its stars on a 1981 episode of Donahue, the popular afternoon talk show based in Chicago. They had a ring set up in the studio and everything. At one point, Verne Gagne stands in the ring next to Hulk Hogan, who had just arrived in the promotion, and gushes about how “this man is the future of the AWA.” The only problem is, he’s not referring to Hogan. He’s referring to Brad Rheingans, amateur wrestler extraordinaire from the would-be 1980 US Olympic Team, who had just turned pro and joined the AWA. Rheingans was a fine mat technician…one of the purest in ring technical wrestlers of the 1980’s. Blander than plain white toast, however, his wrestling skill was what mattered to Gagne over his complete lack of charisma. Hogan on the other hand was abysmal when it came to technical wrestling, and a mountain of charisma in both look and on interviews. Verne couldn’t get past the fact that he couldn’t wrestle.
· Money. Hogan at this point in his career made a few trips to Japan. At one point, Hogan and Verne Gagne apparently had a physical confrontation surrounding the notion that Gagne felt he should receive a percentage of what Hogan made in Japan in return for allowing him to go. Hogan refused. It’s been said that this was a large factor in Hogan’s decision to leave the AWA ultimately. All of the controversy over Hogan’s near-miss title reigns and all of the money the AWA lost as a result could have been caused by Verne insisting on taking a little off the top of Hogan’s Japan payday.
Whatever the cause, the result was clear. Hogan’s explosion of popularity in the WWF could have taken place in the AWA. Being a regional promotion rather than in the center of the world in New York, Hogan’s star certainly wouldn’t have shined as bright, and he probably would have left the AWA for New York eventually anyway.
But poor decision making, a lack of foresight and insecurity all contributed to what would be the biggest blow to the AWA in its history.
Looking back 23 years, the result is clear. Hogan’s departure is what started the AWA toward its decline. More than two decades of a great promotion ultimately were undone by two years of bad business deals, bad handling of talent, and bad booking. The decline would take seven years from Hogan’s trip east, but it was certainly the fatal blow.
Honestly there’s no telling if things could have been different. McMahon’s plans for expansion were clear and well executed. But Hogan was the major spoke in Vince’s wheel. An AWA with Hulk Hogan in 1985 versus a WWF with someone else on top makes for an entirely different battle than what we ultimately saw. The outcome could have been different.
Next time: A look at the greatest champion of the 80’s that you forgot to mention.
A note from my last column: Thanks go to my pal Kevin Cerutti for pointing out an error. I stated that Otto Wanz faced nobody but Bockwinkel in singles matches during his title reign except for one match against Jerry Blackwell. He also faced Ken Patera once, on 9/12/82 in Green Bay, WI. Good eye, and thanks for the note.
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Steven Rossi
(Originally published 2/2/03)
“Sports entertainment” was unofficially born on January 23, 1984 when a bleached blond bodybuilder used an unconvincing legdrop to defeat an Iranian amateur wrestling star in just over five minutes. The idiom was officially coined five years later when Vince McMahon needed to differentiate professional wrestling from legitimate sports in order to circumvent the New Jersey State Athletic Commission’s hefty licensing fees on genuine contests. The words “sports entertainment” are ridiculously redundant and superfluous. All sports endeavor to be entertaining to its fans and, despite denials to the contrary, rules changes have clearly been made in virtually every sport to further appeal to the masses, sometimes at the expense of the integrity of the games. Besides, wrestling had most certainly stressed entertainment for many years before McMahon came along. But McMahon needed to come up with a catchy phrase and “sports entertainment” works as well as any other. The real problem lies not in the name, but in the interpretation.
“Sports entertainment” was gradually bastardized until it came to mean the antithesis of professional wrestling. While McMahon himself must shoulder a great deal of the responsibility for this, inferior replicas such as Kodo Fuyuki and Vince Russo are the biggest culprits.
McMahon has never made a secret of the fact that his objective is to make money, period. Whether it’s Chris Benoit or Doink the Clown who is drawing money is of little consequence to him. During the mid-80s, McMahon marketed real life cartoon characters like Hulk Hogan to children who ate it up every Saturday morning. When these children grew up and moved away from wrestling, McMahon, after several unsuccessful attempts to win them back, eventually turned to the pure athleticism of men like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels to retain the hardcore fans and salvage what was left of his company. When Steve Austin captured the imagination of an older crowd (many of whom were the same fans that had outgrown the Hogan era), “WWF Attitude” was born and McMahon made his money by marketing a more adult-oriented product. If McMahon can maximize profits 5 years from now by bringing back G.L.O.W., then he’ll do it. Where he runs into problems is during transitional periods like this current one, where McMahon attempts a “please look at me” approach which comes across as a desperate cry for attention. Of course, if you need to beg for attention from fans and the mainstream media, then you’re not deserving of it in the first place.
And speaking of desperate cries for attention, that brings us to Fuyuki and Russo. Whereas most other wrestling promoters have ignored “sports entertainment” and have been content with letting McMahon sustain own creation, these two men have attempted to make it their own and in the process have destroyed every wrestling promotion left in their care. The main problem is that Fuyuki and Russo think that “sports entertainment” actually means something. Their definition involves celebrities wrestling, half-naked women getting involved in every match, tons of profanity, championships as mere “props”, bizarre or outrageous angles that don’t necessarily have to make sense, and, most importantly, lots of airtime for themselves. McMahon’s definition of “sports entertainment” can be summed up in one word: MONEY. And that’s why Vince usually makes it and the impersonators don’t.
Whether gimmick or reality, Fuyuki and Russo have always tried to sell wrestling by showing a complete disdain for it. Regardless of success or failure, they have pressed on and have tried to force-feed their ideas down the throats of fans with unparalleled arrogance and condescension. After committing to a certain philosophy on how to run a wrestling company, any modifications to that philosophy would be seen as an admission of flawed logic. Instead of changing, they insist that the consumer change.
In 1995, Atsushi Onita sold his piece of FMW to Shoichi Arai, giving Arai full control of the company. After approximately 3 years of continuing to run the company in Onita’s image, Arai took on Fuyuki as a business partner. Fuyuki quickly gained the political edge over Onita, Arai sided with Fuyuki because he needed his partner’s money, and Onita severed all ties with FMW. Fuyuki and Arai then took FMW in a dramatically different direction and transformed the promotion from the most hardcore in the world to a sideshow featuring porn stars, transsexuals, and cross-dressers. Business immediately plummeted. Fuyuki booked himself in all the main events and Arai and his niece in major angles. He eliminated exploding barbed wire death matches in favor of “dog food ladder matches”. Fuyuki drove five of the company’s top stars (Masato Tanaka, Gedo, Jado, Kaori Nakayama, and Hideki Hosaka) away. He booked himself (as FMW Heavyweight champion, of course) against singer Captain Jack. FMW went from having a solid niche audience in Japan (and America) to becoming a laughingstock. FMW went out of business in February 2002. When Arai declared personal bankruptcy for himself and de-facto bankruptcy for FMW, Fuyuki feigned shock and claimed that he had no idea that FMW was in severe financial trouble. He completely hung Arai out to dry. Later, Fuyuki was accused (although never charged) of embezzling funds from FMW. Arai, broke and owing money to the Yakuza, committed suicide on 5/16/02.
After heavily relying on the internal checks and balances within the WWF to create the facade of competence, Russo made a name for himself and was offered control of the troubled WCW in April 2000. After a pitiful reign which only lasted several months and saw him erode what little credibility WCW had left, he left the second largest wrestling company in America on its death bed before being fired and replaced by a rag-tag booking committee headed by Kevin Sullivan. He gave the WCW World title to B movie actor David Arquette as well as to himself while failing to create any new stars. He had no idea what to do with WCW’s biggest star, Bill Goldberg, but never seemed to run out of ideas for David Flair and the Harris Brothers. He brought back the long-past-its-prime NWO because his original ideas (mainly consisting of Viagra-on-a-pole matches) flopped. He repeatedly humiliated WCW’s greatest legend, Ric Flair, and publicly told another, Hulk Hogan, that he couldn’t draw anymore only 1 year before he was part of the most memorable Wrestlemania main event ever.
Undeterred, Russo is now in the process of murdering the once-promising NWA TNA by using those same ideas, most notably bring back yet another watered-down NWO and appropriately enough naming them “Sports Entertainment Xtreme” (because if there’s two terms in wrestling that aren’t hackneyed, it’s certainly “sports entertainment” and “extreme”).
Meanwhile, Vince McMahon will continue to weather the tough times and make money in the prosperous times and his family will continue to rule wrestling long after men like Fuyuki and Russo are nothing but depressing footnotes in “sports entertainment” history.
From under my Yankees cap, this has been Steven Rossi.
“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.” – Mark Twain
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Steven Rossi
(Originally published May 2003)
In this column, we take a look at one of the most legendary wrestlers of all-time and one of the originators of the hardcore style, Abdullah the Butcher. Information for this piece was culled from numerous sources, including my own recollections and video tape collection, but special mention must go to Masanori Horie’s excellent website, “View From the Rising Sun”, for filling in many of the details of Abby’s exploits in Japan. Visit him at www.geocities.com/masanorihorie2000/index2.htm.
Abdullah the Butcher was born Larry Shreve on 1/11/41 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He was the fourth of 8 children and had to work odd jobs as a child to help support his family, including shining shoes, selling newspapers, cleaning houses, and working at a used clothing store. From a very young age he was interested in combat and he was a member of the Sea Cades (a youth military group), Essex Scottish (another military-style organization), and Civil Defense (a civilian group dedicated to keeping Windsor safe from crime). While in these organizations, he was trained in judo and karate and he eventually became a 7th degree black belt in judo.
He was also a wrestling fan and he decided to try to break into the business so he could make a better living. He was trained by Jack Britney and Gino Brito for 3 months and made his debut at the age of 17 in 1958, wrestling under the name Zelis Amara. A promoter in Vancouver soon changed it to Abdullah the Butcher due to his tendency to use forks as weapons, a name that would soon become renown around the world. The backstory story behind the character is that he was born into the Eleventh Tribe of Sudan where it was required that youngsters kill desert cows with their bare hands and drink their blood in order to prove their manhood. However, Abby’s bloodlust soon grew and the tribe could no longer control him so he was put on a slow ship to the Caribbean.
In the early years, Abby worked primarily for NWA Detroit (which would later be run by The Sheik) and AWA Montreal (which would later be run by Johnny Rougeau (uncle of Jacques, Jr. and Raymond)). He didn’t have much success in the ring and, desperate for a push that would result in more money, he decided he needed to get himself over by doing things that would get him noticed. He began eating raw chickens and glass on TV and occasionally picked flies out of the air and ate them. Abdullah’s antics did get him noticed, and convinced fans and even other wrestlers and promoters that he really was an out-of-control madman. Adding to the gimmick was the fact that Abby very quickly put on a lot of weight, ballooning to more than 400 pounds within his first couple of years in the business. Despite his legitimate martial arts training, this limited what he could do in the ring and he became a pure brawler who turned most of his matches into bloodbaths. For the next 40 years, Abby made a career out of basically doing two moves, karate thrusts to the throat and a running elbow drop. The rest of his offense consisted of using foreign objects to bust open his opponents, his favorite weapon being the fork.
From a young age he realized that he was a niche wrestler who best served in small doses and he jumped from territory to territory, acting as a heel mercenary and randomly attacking babyfaces or brawling with other heel mercenaries. Abby soon became a top draw because fans were shocked by the brutality of his matches. Over the course of his career he was usually just brought into a territory temporarily to boost attendance. After a few months, he would move on to a new territory because he realized that prolonged exposure to his style would eventually become boring and lose its shock value.
He was often managed by Eddie Creatchman, especially in Montreal. His most violent feud in the ‘60s was against The Sheik, a bloody war that would rage for more than 20 years. He also wrestled legends such as Lou Thesz, Gene Kiniski, and Don Leo Jonathan. He began wrestling in Puerto Rico for the first time in the mid-‘60’s, a country that prove to be the location for some of his greatest moments. In an interesting sidebar, on a flight from Miami to Puerto Rico, his plane was hijacked by terrorists but everyone escaped without injury. Abby finally won his first title in his ninth year in the sport when he and Dr. Jerry Graham captured the NWA Canadian Tag titles from John and Chris Tolos on 10/2/67. They held the straps for 2 months before dropping them to the legendary Assassins. Abby briefly regained the titles a year later with Armand Hussein. In 1969, he beat Ivan Koloff for the IWA Heavyweight title, his biggest victory to date. He dropped the belt to Jacques Rougeau, Sr., regained it, and quickly lost it again to Rougeau in early ’70. He left Montreal and moved on Stu Hart’s Stampede promotion in Calgary for the first time later that year. There, he won 4 Stampede North American titles over the next year and began a feud with the legendary Billy Robinson over the title that would rage around the world for years to come.
On 8/21/70, Abby wrestled his first match in Japan (for the JWA) and went on to become an even bigger star there than in Canada or the U.S. In his first Japanese title match, he lost to JWA Heavyweight champion Giant Baba in 3 falls on 9/17/70. Over the next 30 years, he would have legendary brawls in Japan against the likes of Baba, Antonio Inoki, Jumbo Tsuruta, Stan Hansen, Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Jr., The Sheik, The Destroyer (Dick Beyer), and Bruiser Brody. He also had several matches there against legends like Harley Race and Mil Mascaras. However, the large majority of those matches ended in DQ’s or countouts. On 5/19/71, he lost to Baba in the finals of the 13th annual JWA World League Tournament. Back in Montreal, Abby captured his third and final IWA Heavyweight title in late ’71 from Tarzan Zorra, losing it 3 months later to Carlos Rocha. He won the NWF Heavyweight title in September ’72 from Victor Rivera, dropping it a month later to Johnny Valentine.
In December ’72, the JWA split due to personal and professional differences between Baba and Inoki. Baba started All-Japan Pro Wrestling and Inoki founded New Japan Pro Wrestling. Abdullah sided with Baba, who was a personal friend of his, and would only tour with All-Japan for the next 8 years (27 tours total). He immediately headed to Japan upon hearing of the split and lost to PWF Heavyweight champion Baba in 3 falls in one of the first All-Japan title matches ever. Back in the U.S., he began competing more in the Florida territory, where he had some of the bloodiest matches of all-time against Dusty Rhodes in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, including many barbed wire matches. In what would have been his biggest victory ever, Abby apparently defeated Jack Brisco for the NWA World title in 1973. However, the decision was quickly reversed and Abby was DQ’ed when the ref realized that Abdullah won thanks to his trusty fork. Abdullah would never come that close to winning a World title again.
He returned to Stampede in ’73, beating Geoff Portz for his fifth and final Stampede North American title. He lost the belt to Archie Gouldie (Mongolian Stomper). It was in Stampede that Abby first wrestled the man who would become his greatest rival: Carlos Belafonte, who would later be known as Carlos Colon. Around this time Abby also began competing in Australia, Singapore, and Israel, among other countries. He had to escape Beirut in the middle of the night during an air raid. He lost to Baba by DQ in a 2 out of 3 falls PWF Heavyweight title match on 6/14/73 after pinning Baba in the first fall. A month later, he lost to Baba in another 2 out of 3 falls title match, winning the second fall by pinfall but getting pinned in the first and final falls. He exchanged the British Empire Heavyweight title with John DaSilva during a tour of New Zealand. Back in Japan, he began feuding with NWA United National champion The Destroyer (Dick Beyer). He lost to The Destroyer by DQ on 5/13/74 in their first title match against each other. Three days later, Abby once again failed to beat Baba for the PWF Heavyweight title.
Abby briefly held the NWA Detroit Tag titles with Killer Brooks, exchanging the straps with Bobo Brazil and Tony Marino. His bloody feud with Brazil would rage in Detroit for several more years. He battled to a double-DQ against Baba on 9/25/74. A month later, the two had a particularly brutal 2 out of 3 falls match. Abby won the first fall but was gushing blood in the second and a doctor stopped the match. He also continued to lose to The Destroyer by DQ in most of their matches. He exchanged the NWA Detroit U.S. title with Brazil in ’75. Abby held the NWA Georgia Heavyweight title for 6 months, beating Rocky Johnson and losing the title to Toru Tanaka. While in Georgia, he also won the Columbus Heavyweight title.
He finally won his first Japanese belt when he beat The Destroyer for the NWA United National title on 10/12/75. He successfully defended it against Jumbo Tsuruta in 3 falls in his only defense before dropping the strap back to The Destroyer in 3 falls on 12/3/75. On 5/8/76, he beat Baba by DQ to win the Champion Carnival tournament in one of his biggest victories ever. On 10/10/76, the NWA United National title was held-up after a no-contest between Abby and The Destroyer, but The Destroyer won the rematch by DQ to recapture the title. Back in the States, he beat Tony Atlas for the NWA Georgia TV title. He began teaming with former rival The Sheik more often and the two were managed by J.J. Dillon. On 12/15/77, the duo lost to Terry and Dory Funk, Jr. by DQ in the finals of the Real World Tag Tournament in one of the most famous matches in Japanese wrestling history. In that bout, Dory kicked out of 3 of Abby’s elbowdrops, which was unheard of. Abby lost to Baba in the ’78 Champion Carnival tourney. He wrestled a young Ric Flair in their one and only meeting in Amarillo, Texas in a match for Flair’s NWA U.S. title. On 10/18/78, he finally won the PWF Heavyweight title, beating British legend Billy Robinson in 3 falls when the ref stopped the match due to excessive bleeding on Robinson’s part. A week later, he teamed up with long-time rival Brazil and fought to a double-CO against Baba and Tsuruta in an NWA International Tag title match.
He successfully defended the PWF Heavyweight title by battling to many double-DQ’s and double-CO’s against Baba and Tsuruta. Exactly a month after winning that belt, he picked up his first Caribbean title when he defeated Carlos Colon for the WWC Puerto Rican championship. This would kick off a 20 year bloodfest between the two and might be the greatest feud of all-time. On 2/10/79, he dropped the PWF Heavyweight title to Baba. However, 2 months later he beat Tsuruta to win his second Champion Carnival tourney. He lost the WWC Puerto Rican title to fellow heel Pampero Firpo after an 8 month reign. Soon after, he fought to a double-CO against Mexican legend Mil Mascaras in a dream match.
One of the biggest shows in history took place on 8/26/79 as Baba and Inoki put their personal differences aside to promote an All-Japan/New Japan interpromotional card. In the main event, Baba and Inoki teamed to defeat Abdullah and Tiger Jeet Singh when Inoki pinned Singh. This was the first Japanese card that ever drew a million dollar gate. Abby returned to the U.S. and went to a double-CO against NWA World champion Harley Race. On 10/12/79, he teamed with Ray Candy to win the NWA International Tag titles from Baba and Tsuruta. They dropped the straps back to them a week later. He teamed with The Sheik to finish third in the ’79 Real World Tag tournament. Abby beat Colon for his second WWC Puerto Rican title. From the end of ’78 to the end of ’79, Abdullah had one of the most spectacular runs of any international star ever and became a legitimate threat to any title in the world instead of being just a hardcore attraction.
He competed more in WWC than AJPW in ’80 and continued his intense rivalry with Colon for the entire year. However, he did wrestle former partner The Sheik to a double-DQ on an AJPW in May ’80. He returned to AJPW on a more regular basis late in the year and beat Tsuruta for the NWA United National title, which he successfully defended against Tsuruta, Terry Funk, and The Sheik in double-DQ’s and double-CO’s before losing the title back to Tsuruta. He teamed with Tor Kamata and finished third in the ’80 Real World Tag Tournament. Abby also got his own Japanese comic book in ‘80.
He fought to a double-CO against Bruiser Brody in the ’81 Champion Carnival tourney. Abby would not wrestle again in AJPW for more than 6 years. The relationship between Abby and Baba began to sour and Baba told Abby to call the AJPW office to receive his next booking. Abby’s extremely large ego was bruised because in the past he had always been informally booked through conversations with Baba and he felt that he shouldn’t have to through the same channels as other gaijins to get booked. Abby did call for a booking, but he called the New Japan office instead. In the meantime, Abby and Colon continued to spill each other’s blood in Puerto Rico and exchanged the WWC North American and Puerto Rican titles. On 1/28/82, Abby made his long-awaited NJPW debut by losing to Antonio Inoki by DQ. On 5/26/82, he wrestled Hulk Hogan for the first time and the two battled to a wild no-contest. Abby and Hogan would wrestle each other 9 more times in Japan, but no one ever scored a pinfall over the other. However, in only 10 matches, Abby might have spilt more of Hogan’s blood than other wrestler.
In June ’82, Abby lost to Colon in a loser-leaves-town barbed wire match. However, a month later, he returned to WWC and was billed as the first-ever WWC Universal champion, which soon became WWC's top title. He quickly dropped that strap to Colon. A month later, he beat Charlie Cook for the WWC Caribbean title and would hold it for an astounding 5 years. On 11/24/83, Abby and Colon finally brought their legendary feud to America when Colon beat him by DQ at Starrcade (WWC and the NWA had a strong relationship at the time).
Abby briefly competed in the AWA when he and Bruiser Brody were brought in by Adnan Al-Kaissey, who wanted revenge against Da Crusher and Baron von Raschke for winning the AWA Tag titles from his men, Ken Patera and Jerry Blackwell. Abby and Brody had bloody battles with Crusher and von Raschke as well as other babyfaces such as Tommy Rich and Blackjack Mulligan. However, Al-Kaissey suddenly instructed Abby and Brody to attack Blackwell and they bloodied him and put him out of the business for two months. Upon his return, Abby and Blackwell had many bloody matches before Abby left the AWA. He returned to the NWA in ’85, teaming with the legendary “Superstar” Billy Graham and Konga the Barbarian (The Barbarian) in an upset loss to Manny Fernandez, Terry Taylor, and Buzz Tyler at the Great American Bash. His feud with Fernandez continued and he lost to him at Starrcade Abby was not allowed to be the same madman in the NWA that he was in Puerto Rico and Japan and he soon left.
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What to do when a territorial mainstay retires as champ.
By “Big J” John English
First column - here ya go.
With my first column I figured I’d jump right into the fire with a hotly debated topic. But first, a brief intro. I’ve been a fan of professional wrestling since late 1983. As a six year old, I was introduced to the wacky, exciting and, yes, wonderful sport by my mother. Regaled by tales of names like Stevens, Shibuya and Pepper Gomez from her youth, I quickly clung to names that would become staples of mine, like Martel, Bockwinkel and yes, Hogan.
My time as a fan has leaned primarily toward the proud history of the AWA, and that’s what my contributions to OSW will most frequently reflect. A big thanks to Bob Moniz for allowing me to share my memories, opinions and reflections here.
Now, onto the topic at hand. It’s May 1981, and longtime AWA champion, mainstay and promoter Verne Gagne has just won his “final” match against hated rival Nick Bockwinkel before a turnaway crowd in St. Paul, Minnesota. Gagne had stated before the card that, win, lose or draw, this would be his last go-round.
Much debate would now and forever settle around one question: what to do with the AWA World Title.
Now, we all know what eventually did happen. The following week, AWA President Stanley Blackburn went on TV and stated in an interview with Gene Okerlund that an AWA Title tourney would take far too long and involve far too many men from “around the globe” for it to be a feasible proposition. His claim that a tourney would take “nine months” was cited, and he insisted that the AWA could not go without a champion for that long. Before the segment was over, the title had been awarded without a match to the number-one contender, and the last champion previous to Verne, Nick Bockwinkel.
Bockwinkel was no slouch, and not undeserving in the slightest, as we all know. But the method in which he received this title is, a quarter-century later, the subject of much debate.
The options here, seemingly, were simple:
1. Hold a tournament featuring the top stars of the area. The tourney could spread out over a few weeks or be held in its entirety in one night. There were more than enough top names who could have been included in such a tourney. Jerry Blackwell, Bockwinkel, Greg Gagne, Jim Brunzell, Adnan Al-Kaissie, Baron Von Raschke – the list goes on. This should have been a viable and reasonable possibility.
2. Hold a single match involving the top two named contenders for the crown. At this point I imagine that might have been Bockwinkel and either Blackwell or Von Raschke. Reasonable choices all, and even if you’d thrown Greg Gagne in as the man to face Bockwinkel, the fans would have gotten behind the decision.
3. Hold a battle royale to crown a new champion. Honestly, I’ve never understood the negative feelings about battle royals to determine champions. The AWA of course would do this in later years, much to the chagrin of many ‘smarts.’ Personally, I feel battle royals are exciting, the fans love them, and if more is on the line that’s all the better. It adds to the intrigue of who could possibly come out on top. All of a sudden the number of potential winners jumps from 2 or 3 to 15. Unpredictability is never a bad thing in pro wrestling.
Ultimately, the answer chosen was “none of the above.” Why? The answer in my opinion is multi-fold.
First, I think there may have been some assumption that a card featuring a tournament would be poorly received and poorly attended at the gate because Bockwinkel would appear to be the obvious winner. This holds true not only for a tournament but also for a #1 vs. #2 contenders match. If Bockwinkel is seen by many as the sure-thing winner, maybe this isn’t seen as a moneymaker attendance-wise. I’m not saying Bockwinkel wasn’t a draw, but nobody wants to see the heel win. And if they know they’re going to, maybe they’ll stay home.
Second, a battle royale certainly doesn’t fit into Verne Gagne’s purist view of wrestling and how to determine a championship. Battle royals were special attractions – freak shows in which anything could happen. Not only that, but with Jerry Blackwell surely booked in any battle royale the AWA might have at this time, once again we’ve got a scenario where the favorite to win in almost everyone’s eyes is a hated heel. Fans packed the gates to see the heels get beat, not to see the heels win in a walk.
Lastly, the method of giving Nick the title in this way could have been seen as a positive by Verne. Can you think of a cheaper, more undeserving way for a man to receive a world title than by having it given to him on a silver platter? Folks will line up for weeks to see this silver spoon paper champion get his butt handed to him in cities across the Midwest. There is actually a chance here that Verne saw this method of getting the title to Bockwinkel as a goldmine. The idea that people would flock to see Bockwinkel get what he had coming to him, and to see someone who deserves the belt get their hands on him and ultimately the belt.
Whatever the reason, the decision remains up to much debate, but in the short run, it certainly didn’t hurt the AWA in the least. Fans would flock to the arena to see Bockwinkel take on the likes of Otto Wanz, Hulk Hogan, Adnan Al-Kaissie and many others over the next calendar year.
Say what you will about Bockwinkel being handed the title in ’81. Say it should have been a tournament, say Verne’s ego got in the way, or whatever else…the fact remains, the AWA, after a few down years in the late 70’s, was flying high again in 1981
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SIX WEEKS OF HELL
The Tumultuous Reign of Otto Wanz
By “Big J” John English
August 29, 1982…a day that will live in infamy for many AWA fans.
8/29 was the day that a round mound from Graz, Austria did the unthinkable, capturing, out of nowhere, the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Nick Bockwinkel.
He did it clean, in the middle of the ring, in the St. Paul Civic Center against a man whom fans had so come to hate over the years that they jumped for joy at this unthinkable occurrence. Unthinkable then, yes. Unspeakable as time went on.
Otto Wanz was an accomplished wrestler, if an unimpressive looking athlete. His history was deep; the man practically owned wrestling in Europe at the time, with his very successful Catch promotion. Video footage of him in his homeland shows a man who can mat wrestle with the best of them, can overpower men as large as Andre the Giant, and with enough agility to flying head scissor giants like Don Leo Johnathan.
Video footage of him in the States shows a man who could rip phone books in half, look ridiculous in traditional Austrian garb, and do what he did on 8/29 – fall backwards on top of Nick Bockwinkel with his mighty girth for a fluke victory.
And as history went on, and insider information became public, the Wanz legacy would be further tarnished by information that he’d been sold his AWA title reign, in exchange for $50,000 and according to some sources, a paid vacation for the Gagne family in Austria.
Never mind the facts. Never mind that every title change in history has been a business deal, and that some before this even included money as a selling point. No. This man and his title reign ruined the legacy of the AWA title forever.
That is, if you ask some people.
Others, like myself, would lay blame in the direction of a poorly crafted storyline and a poorly executed fluke-style victory. Otto Wanz was no buffoon. This man, with the ample build of Chris Taylor and the skills of even greater names, could have been a boon to the AWA during this time. Bockwinkel had recently fought off challenges by Hulk Hogan, Adnan Al-Kaissie and many others during an around the horn trip through Canada and the Southern US. And now, this man, built as a buffoon by the Gagne machine, beat Bockwinkel. It was unthinkable.
The buildup of Otto Wanz serves as a crash course in how not to build a wrestling champion. When he won the title on 8/29, he’d barely been in the promotion a month. During that time, he’d been built up not as the tremendous wrestling star from across the Atlantic that he was, but more so as a novelty strongman. His antics of tearing phonebooks in half on television and being booked repeatedly at house shows with and against power based wrestlers like Ken Patera and Hulk Hogan didn’t help to build the man as a credible challenger to Bockwinkel; even though those intentions were obvious from the moment the Heenan Family jumped him on All Star Wrestling in late July.
Wanz didn’t wrestle once against Bockwinkel before the title change. He wrestled nobody but Bockwinkel (save for one match against Jerry Blackwell) as champion.
I’ve heard reports of fans cheering the decision when Bockwinkel ultimately upended Wanz in Chicago on 10/9. You can’t blame them, as unpopular as Bockwinkel was. They had just been through six weeks of hell. The worst booking of a major title change and reign in history was evident here.
When in fact Gagne should have taken the very capable Wanz and immediately established him as a top contender upon his arrival in July, he didn’t. Oh sure, Wanz’s accomplishments were mentioned. But this was a guy dressed like it’s Oktoberfest, ripping phone books in half. He wasn’t taken seriously.
If he’d been booked as a believable challenger, phone book gimmicks wouldn’t have been needed. A credible, 350+ pound athlete from Austria is here to take the belt. Have him beat Patera handily. Have him beat Duncum. Go through with the Hogan/Wanz over Patera/Duncum tag matches as happened. Have him challenge Bockwinkel one, two, three times, only to be deprived of the title by the cunning Heenan and his antics. And then, and ONLY then, give him the title.
Otto Wanz should have been built up the way Hulk Hogan was, but in this case, pulling the trigger on a title win. That would have established him as the credible challenger he in fact was, but no one knew about. Instead, pile up the phone books.
After losing the belt to Bockwinkel in Chicago, Wanz finished up a few dates before leaving the US and heading back to Austria. The business deal most certainly achieved what he’d wanted it to; he was a national sporting hero at home, and his business improved as a result of his two month American vacation.
The question is, did the Wanz situation help Verne Gagne any? The answer, in my view at least, is yes. In the short run. Though he never took advantage of it, Verne gained a bit of audience in Europe, with fans over there now familiar, if they weren’t before, with the AWA and its world title. Had Verne arranged for a tour of Austria with AWA talent in the years shortly after Wanz’s win, the tour would likely have been a success. Not only that, but Wanz’s shocking victory lent an air of credibility and realism to the AWA. In “real” sports, upsets and shocking occurrences happen all the time. Why not in wrestling too? Wanz over Bockwinkel showed that on any given night, the audience could witness history. And if that brought a few extra people a night to the matches, all the better.
In the long run, however, the Wanz incident cast a shadow on the AWA championship. While this certainly wasn’t the only time in history a major championship was exchanged for monetary gain or otherwise, that stain remained. Perhaps it’s because we know the actual monetary figure, even though that’s rumor. Perhaps it’s because the situation was booked so horribly. Whatever the case, and whatever the short term benefit, in the long run Verne Gagne’s precious AWA championship would be tarnished by the allegations that he’d sold it to Otto Wanz. That, for most, is the lasting memory of the situation. That, and the assumption that Wanz was totally unqualified to carry the belt otherwise. Neither may be entirely true. But more than two decades later, public perception has made them, in essence, truth.
Otto would return to the States and the AWA in 1987 for a very brief run that never really amounted to much. Few remember that. But his status as a footnote in 1982, and the debate surrounding it, remains a hotly debated topic to this day.
Next time: Should Hulk Hogan have been given a run with the AWA title? All the myths, mix-ups and master plans that caused another debacle in the AWA.
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No Armbars, No Chinlocks, Just Hulkamania
By “Big J” John English
On August 1, 1981, a golden-maned heel arrived in the AWA. Casting a larger than life shadow beyond his shimmering robe and beside his manager, John Valiant, Hulk Hogan was entering the territory following a very successful Northeast run, where he faced the likes of Andre the Giant, Bob Backlund and Tony Atlas.
It was clear from the onset that Hogan had a bright future. This menacing, mouthy Californian was one part Andre, two parts Billy Graham, and all parts charisma. There was one key spoke in the wheel missing, scientific wrestling ability.
No matter. On the eve of Hulk Hogan’s destiny, there was little that could get in his way.
That being considered, it is an odd contradiction that his star would begin its big ascent in the scientific-wrestling driven AWA. Verne Gagne, one of the most skilled wrestlers ever to step in the ring, shaped his stars a certain way. Hogan didn’t reflect that method in the slightest.
Sure there were exceptions. Mad Dog Vachon, Crusher, Larry Hennig and the like were all primarily brawlers. But, all had the ability to wrestle when it was time. Hogan was sorely lacking in that department.
The funny thing about Hogan’s popularity rising in the AWA is that it clearly, in hindsight, took Gagne by surprise. When the fans turned Hogan face within weeks of his arrival in Minneapolis, they were in turn sending a message to Gagne about what they wanted to see. Gagne of course was resistant to this notion, but eventually was forced to cave in and book Hogan toward the top of the card. He was also forced to turn Hogan babyface, which he did in earnest by the end of August, when Hogan ran in to make the save for Brad Rheingans, who was being beaten down by Jerry Blackwell and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie. This spot was done numerous times around the horn, to get the word out to fans everywhere that Hogan was now a man to be cheered. As if they hadn’t already came to that conclusion themselves, largely.
The remainder of 1981 and the first months of 1982 would see Hogan cemented as a babyface. His rise up the ladder of popularity was quick, although he was still primarily featured in midcard bouts or as a tag partner to the High Flyers in six-man matches. In April, the trigger was finally pulled, and Hogan received title shots in key AWA markets, Minneapolis and Chicago. He appeared to win the title on 4/18, but the result would later be overturned and the match would be ruled a DQ. With the shows well received, Verne Gagne’s hand was forced, and Hogan would continue in the upper card picture until mid-year, when he left the AWA for a month to promote the release of Rocky III. It was during this time that Hogan’s place in the title picture was taken by Otto Wanz.
Upon Hogan’s return he received the largest push yet. He would remain Bockwinkel’s top challenger building to the big 4/24/83 Super Sunday show. It was believed at the time that the show was to be Hogan’s coronation, silencing the critical fans who were beginning to sour on the promotion as Hogan apparently wasn’t getting a fair shake. When the show finally went down though, the result was a repeat of the previous year. Hogan apparently won the title. But once again, the match would be ruled a DQ and the title would be returned to Bockwinkel. With that, much to the dismay of many fans at the time, Hogan was shifted out of the title picture, and his appearances would become infrequent over the next several months, while Bockwinkel was programmed against Wahoo McDaniel.
Hogan returned full time to the AWA in August for a program with Masa Saito and David Shults, which lasted through the end of his run in the promotion in mid-December of 1983. Of course, we all know what happened when he left. While Hogan was conquering new world in the WWF, his final dates were filled with appearances by the Crusher, who despite his popularity was now well into his 50’s and had no business substituting for Hogan.
The real question here is, why did this happen? Why was Hogan not given a significant run with the AWA title? Surely it would have been a major boost to attendance and a big moneymaker.
The reasons are multifold.
· By 1982-83, the WWF under Vince McMahon (Jr.) was already making strides across territorial boundaries. This, combined with Hogan’s drawing power and obvious appeal not only to fans, but to other promoters, sparked fears that Hogan may bolt the AWA for greener pastures, with the belt in tow. In the days of Kayfabe, a wrestler appearing on a promotion’s television, having hijacked another promotion’s belt would have caused chaos and major loss of face on the part of Gagne. Verne could have been convinced that Hogan would appear on WWF TV with the AWA belt. Paranoia among wrestling promoters had set in.
· Verne Gagne ran a wrestling promotion. No, he REALLY ran a wrestling promotion. There’s a neat piece of footage out there of the AWA and its stars on a 1981 episode of Donahue, the popular afternoon talk show based in Chicago. They had a ring set up in the studio and everything. At one point, Verne Gagne stands in the ring next to Hulk Hogan, who had just arrived in the promotion, and gushes about how “this man is the future of the AWA.” The only problem is, he’s not referring to Hogan. He’s referring to Brad Rheingans, amateur wrestler extraordinaire from the would-be 1980 US Olympic Team, who had just turned pro and joined the AWA. Rheingans was a fine mat technician…one of the purest in ring technical wrestlers of the 1980’s. Blander than plain white toast, however, his wrestling skill was what mattered to Gagne over his complete lack of charisma. Hogan on the other hand was abysmal when it came to technical wrestling, and a mountain of charisma in both look and on interviews. Verne couldn’t get past the fact that he couldn’t wrestle.
· Money. Hogan at this point in his career made a few trips to Japan. At one point, Hogan and Verne Gagne apparently had a physical confrontation surrounding the notion that Gagne felt he should receive a percentage of what Hogan made in Japan in return for allowing him to go. Hogan refused. It’s been said that this was a large factor in Hogan’s decision to leave the AWA ultimately. All of the controversy over Hogan’s near-miss title reigns and all of the money the AWA lost as a result could have been caused by Verne insisting on taking a little off the top of Hogan’s Japan payday.
Whatever the cause, the result was clear. Hogan’s explosion of popularity in the WWF could have taken place in the AWA. Being a regional promotion rather than in the center of the world in New York, Hogan’s star certainly wouldn’t have shined as bright, and he probably would have left the AWA for New York eventually anyway.
But poor decision making, a lack of foresight and insecurity all contributed to what would be the biggest blow to the AWA in its history.
Looking back 23 years, the result is clear. Hogan’s departure is what started the AWA toward its decline. More than two decades of a great promotion ultimately were undone by two years of bad business deals, bad handling of talent, and bad booking. The decline would take seven years from Hogan’s trip east, but it was certainly the fatal blow.
Honestly there’s no telling if things could have been different. McMahon’s plans for expansion were clear and well executed. But Hogan was the major spoke in Vince’s wheel. An AWA with Hulk Hogan in 1985 versus a WWF with someone else on top makes for an entirely different battle than what we ultimately saw. The outcome could have been different.
Next time: A look at the greatest champion of the 80’s that you forgot to mention.
A note from my last column: Thanks go to my pal Kevin Cerutti for pointing out an error. I stated that Otto Wanz faced nobody but Bockwinkel in singles matches during his title reign except for one match against Jerry Blackwell. He also faced Ken Patera once, on 9/12/82 in Green Bay, WI. Good eye, and thanks for the note.
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Steven Rossi
(Originally published 2/2/03)
“Sports entertainment” was unofficially born on January 23, 1984 when a bleached blond bodybuilder used an unconvincing legdrop to defeat an Iranian amateur wrestling star in just over five minutes. The idiom was officially coined five years later when Vince McMahon needed to differentiate professional wrestling from legitimate sports in order to circumvent the New Jersey State Athletic Commission’s hefty licensing fees on genuine contests. The words “sports entertainment” are ridiculously redundant and superfluous. All sports endeavor to be entertaining to its fans and, despite denials to the contrary, rules changes have clearly been made in virtually every sport to further appeal to the masses, sometimes at the expense of the integrity of the games. Besides, wrestling had most certainly stressed entertainment for many years before McMahon came along. But McMahon needed to come up with a catchy phrase and “sports entertainment” works as well as any other. The real problem lies not in the name, but in the interpretation.
“Sports entertainment” was gradually bastardized until it came to mean the antithesis of professional wrestling. While McMahon himself must shoulder a great deal of the responsibility for this, inferior replicas such as Kodo Fuyuki and Vince Russo are the biggest culprits.
McMahon has never made a secret of the fact that his objective is to make money, period. Whether it’s Chris Benoit or Doink the Clown who is drawing money is of little consequence to him. During the mid-80s, McMahon marketed real life cartoon characters like Hulk Hogan to children who ate it up every Saturday morning. When these children grew up and moved away from wrestling, McMahon, after several unsuccessful attempts to win them back, eventually turned to the pure athleticism of men like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels to retain the hardcore fans and salvage what was left of his company. When Steve Austin captured the imagination of an older crowd (many of whom were the same fans that had outgrown the Hogan era), “WWF Attitude” was born and McMahon made his money by marketing a more adult-oriented product. If McMahon can maximize profits 5 years from now by bringing back G.L.O.W., then he’ll do it. Where he runs into problems is during transitional periods like this current one, where McMahon attempts a “please look at me” approach which comes across as a desperate cry for attention. Of course, if you need to beg for attention from fans and the mainstream media, then you’re not deserving of it in the first place.
And speaking of desperate cries for attention, that brings us to Fuyuki and Russo. Whereas most other wrestling promoters have ignored “sports entertainment” and have been content with letting McMahon sustain own creation, these two men have attempted to make it their own and in the process have destroyed every wrestling promotion left in their care. The main problem is that Fuyuki and Russo think that “sports entertainment” actually means something. Their definition involves celebrities wrestling, half-naked women getting involved in every match, tons of profanity, championships as mere “props”, bizarre or outrageous angles that don’t necessarily have to make sense, and, most importantly, lots of airtime for themselves. McMahon’s definition of “sports entertainment” can be summed up in one word: MONEY. And that’s why Vince usually makes it and the impersonators don’t.
Whether gimmick or reality, Fuyuki and Russo have always tried to sell wrestling by showing a complete disdain for it. Regardless of success or failure, they have pressed on and have tried to force-feed their ideas down the throats of fans with unparalleled arrogance and condescension. After committing to a certain philosophy on how to run a wrestling company, any modifications to that philosophy would be seen as an admission of flawed logic. Instead of changing, they insist that the consumer change.
In 1995, Atsushi Onita sold his piece of FMW to Shoichi Arai, giving Arai full control of the company. After approximately 3 years of continuing to run the company in Onita’s image, Arai took on Fuyuki as a business partner. Fuyuki quickly gained the political edge over Onita, Arai sided with Fuyuki because he needed his partner’s money, and Onita severed all ties with FMW. Fuyuki and Arai then took FMW in a dramatically different direction and transformed the promotion from the most hardcore in the world to a sideshow featuring porn stars, transsexuals, and cross-dressers. Business immediately plummeted. Fuyuki booked himself in all the main events and Arai and his niece in major angles. He eliminated exploding barbed wire death matches in favor of “dog food ladder matches”. Fuyuki drove five of the company’s top stars (Masato Tanaka, Gedo, Jado, Kaori Nakayama, and Hideki Hosaka) away. He booked himself (as FMW Heavyweight champion, of course) against singer Captain Jack. FMW went from having a solid niche audience in Japan (and America) to becoming a laughingstock. FMW went out of business in February 2002. When Arai declared personal bankruptcy for himself and de-facto bankruptcy for FMW, Fuyuki feigned shock and claimed that he had no idea that FMW was in severe financial trouble. He completely hung Arai out to dry. Later, Fuyuki was accused (although never charged) of embezzling funds from FMW. Arai, broke and owing money to the Yakuza, committed suicide on 5/16/02.
After heavily relying on the internal checks and balances within the WWF to create the facade of competence, Russo made a name for himself and was offered control of the troubled WCW in April 2000. After a pitiful reign which only lasted several months and saw him erode what little credibility WCW had left, he left the second largest wrestling company in America on its death bed before being fired and replaced by a rag-tag booking committee headed by Kevin Sullivan. He gave the WCW World title to B movie actor David Arquette as well as to himself while failing to create any new stars. He had no idea what to do with WCW’s biggest star, Bill Goldberg, but never seemed to run out of ideas for David Flair and the Harris Brothers. He brought back the long-past-its-prime NWO because his original ideas (mainly consisting of Viagra-on-a-pole matches) flopped. He repeatedly humiliated WCW’s greatest legend, Ric Flair, and publicly told another, Hulk Hogan, that he couldn’t draw anymore only 1 year before he was part of the most memorable Wrestlemania main event ever.
Undeterred, Russo is now in the process of murdering the once-promising NWA TNA by using those same ideas, most notably bring back yet another watered-down NWO and appropriately enough naming them “Sports Entertainment Xtreme” (because if there’s two terms in wrestling that aren’t hackneyed, it’s certainly “sports entertainment” and “extreme”).
Meanwhile, Vince McMahon will continue to weather the tough times and make money in the prosperous times and his family will continue to rule wrestling long after men like Fuyuki and Russo are nothing but depressing footnotes in “sports entertainment” history.
From under my Yankees cap, this has been Steven Rossi.
“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.” – Mark Twain
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Steven Rossi
(Originally published May 2003)
In this column, we take a look at one of the most legendary wrestlers of all-time and one of the originators of the hardcore style, Abdullah the Butcher. Information for this piece was culled from numerous sources, including my own recollections and video tape collection, but special mention must go to Masanori Horie’s excellent website, “View From the Rising Sun”, for filling in many of the details of Abby’s exploits in Japan. Visit him at www.geocities.com/masanorihorie2000/index2.htm.
Abdullah the Butcher was born Larry Shreve on 1/11/41 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He was the fourth of 8 children and had to work odd jobs as a child to help support his family, including shining shoes, selling newspapers, cleaning houses, and working at a used clothing store. From a very young age he was interested in combat and he was a member of the Sea Cades (a youth military group), Essex Scottish (another military-style organization), and Civil Defense (a civilian group dedicated to keeping Windsor safe from crime). While in these organizations, he was trained in judo and karate and he eventually became a 7th degree black belt in judo.
He was also a wrestling fan and he decided to try to break into the business so he could make a better living. He was trained by Jack Britney and Gino Brito for 3 months and made his debut at the age of 17 in 1958, wrestling under the name Zelis Amara. A promoter in Vancouver soon changed it to Abdullah the Butcher due to his tendency to use forks as weapons, a name that would soon become renown around the world. The backstory story behind the character is that he was born into the Eleventh Tribe of Sudan where it was required that youngsters kill desert cows with their bare hands and drink their blood in order to prove their manhood. However, Abby’s bloodlust soon grew and the tribe could no longer control him so he was put on a slow ship to the Caribbean.
In the early years, Abby worked primarily for NWA Detroit (which would later be run by The Sheik) and AWA Montreal (which would later be run by Johnny Rougeau (uncle of Jacques, Jr. and Raymond)). He didn’t have much success in the ring and, desperate for a push that would result in more money, he decided he needed to get himself over by doing things that would get him noticed. He began eating raw chickens and glass on TV and occasionally picked flies out of the air and ate them. Abdullah’s antics did get him noticed, and convinced fans and even other wrestlers and promoters that he really was an out-of-control madman. Adding to the gimmick was the fact that Abby very quickly put on a lot of weight, ballooning to more than 400 pounds within his first couple of years in the business. Despite his legitimate martial arts training, this limited what he could do in the ring and he became a pure brawler who turned most of his matches into bloodbaths. For the next 40 years, Abby made a career out of basically doing two moves, karate thrusts to the throat and a running elbow drop. The rest of his offense consisted of using foreign objects to bust open his opponents, his favorite weapon being the fork.
From a young age he realized that he was a niche wrestler who best served in small doses and he jumped from territory to territory, acting as a heel mercenary and randomly attacking babyfaces or brawling with other heel mercenaries. Abby soon became a top draw because fans were shocked by the brutality of his matches. Over the course of his career he was usually just brought into a territory temporarily to boost attendance. After a few months, he would move on to a new territory because he realized that prolonged exposure to his style would eventually become boring and lose its shock value.
He was often managed by Eddie Creatchman, especially in Montreal. His most violent feud in the ‘60s was against The Sheik, a bloody war that would rage for more than 20 years. He also wrestled legends such as Lou Thesz, Gene Kiniski, and Don Leo Jonathan. He began wrestling in Puerto Rico for the first time in the mid-‘60’s, a country that prove to be the location for some of his greatest moments. In an interesting sidebar, on a flight from Miami to Puerto Rico, his plane was hijacked by terrorists but everyone escaped without injury. Abby finally won his first title in his ninth year in the sport when he and Dr. Jerry Graham captured the NWA Canadian Tag titles from John and Chris Tolos on 10/2/67. They held the straps for 2 months before dropping them to the legendary Assassins. Abby briefly regained the titles a year later with Armand Hussein. In 1969, he beat Ivan Koloff for the IWA Heavyweight title, his biggest victory to date. He dropped the belt to Jacques Rougeau, Sr., regained it, and quickly lost it again to Rougeau in early ’70. He left Montreal and moved on Stu Hart’s Stampede promotion in Calgary for the first time later that year. There, he won 4 Stampede North American titles over the next year and began a feud with the legendary Billy Robinson over the title that would rage around the world for years to come.
On 8/21/70, Abby wrestled his first match in Japan (for the JWA) and went on to become an even bigger star there than in Canada or the U.S. In his first Japanese title match, he lost to JWA Heavyweight champion Giant Baba in 3 falls on 9/17/70. Over the next 30 years, he would have legendary brawls in Japan against the likes of Baba, Antonio Inoki, Jumbo Tsuruta, Stan Hansen, Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Jr., The Sheik, The Destroyer (Dick Beyer), and Bruiser Brody. He also had several matches there against legends like Harley Race and Mil Mascaras. However, the large majority of those matches ended in DQ’s or countouts. On 5/19/71, he lost to Baba in the finals of the 13th annual JWA World League Tournament. Back in Montreal, Abby captured his third and final IWA Heavyweight title in late ’71 from Tarzan Zorra, losing it 3 months later to Carlos Rocha. He won the NWF Heavyweight title in September ’72 from Victor Rivera, dropping it a month later to Johnny Valentine.
In December ’72, the JWA split due to personal and professional differences between Baba and Inoki. Baba started All-Japan Pro Wrestling and Inoki founded New Japan Pro Wrestling. Abdullah sided with Baba, who was a personal friend of his, and would only tour with All-Japan for the next 8 years (27 tours total). He immediately headed to Japan upon hearing of the split and lost to PWF Heavyweight champion Baba in 3 falls in one of the first All-Japan title matches ever. Back in the U.S., he began competing more in the Florida territory, where he had some of the bloodiest matches of all-time against Dusty Rhodes in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, including many barbed wire matches. In what would have been his biggest victory ever, Abby apparently defeated Jack Brisco for the NWA World title in 1973. However, the decision was quickly reversed and Abby was DQ’ed when the ref realized that Abdullah won thanks to his trusty fork. Abdullah would never come that close to winning a World title again.
He returned to Stampede in ’73, beating Geoff Portz for his fifth and final Stampede North American title. He lost the belt to Archie Gouldie (Mongolian Stomper). It was in Stampede that Abby first wrestled the man who would become his greatest rival: Carlos Belafonte, who would later be known as Carlos Colon. Around this time Abby also began competing in Australia, Singapore, and Israel, among other countries. He had to escape Beirut in the middle of the night during an air raid. He lost to Baba by DQ in a 2 out of 3 falls PWF Heavyweight title match on 6/14/73 after pinning Baba in the first fall. A month later, he lost to Baba in another 2 out of 3 falls title match, winning the second fall by pinfall but getting pinned in the first and final falls. He exchanged the British Empire Heavyweight title with John DaSilva during a tour of New Zealand. Back in Japan, he began feuding with NWA United National champion The Destroyer (Dick Beyer). He lost to The Destroyer by DQ on 5/13/74 in their first title match against each other. Three days later, Abby once again failed to beat Baba for the PWF Heavyweight title.
Abby briefly held the NWA Detroit Tag titles with Killer Brooks, exchanging the straps with Bobo Brazil and Tony Marino. His bloody feud with Brazil would rage in Detroit for several more years. He battled to a double-DQ against Baba on 9/25/74. A month later, the two had a particularly brutal 2 out of 3 falls match. Abby won the first fall but was gushing blood in the second and a doctor stopped the match. He also continued to lose to The Destroyer by DQ in most of their matches. He exchanged the NWA Detroit U.S. title with Brazil in ’75. Abby held the NWA Georgia Heavyweight title for 6 months, beating Rocky Johnson and losing the title to Toru Tanaka. While in Georgia, he also won the Columbus Heavyweight title.
He finally won his first Japanese belt when he beat The Destroyer for the NWA United National title on 10/12/75. He successfully defended it against Jumbo Tsuruta in 3 falls in his only defense before dropping the strap back to The Destroyer in 3 falls on 12/3/75. On 5/8/76, he beat Baba by DQ to win the Champion Carnival tournament in one of his biggest victories ever. On 10/10/76, the NWA United National title was held-up after a no-contest between Abby and The Destroyer, but The Destroyer won the rematch by DQ to recapture the title. Back in the States, he beat Tony Atlas for the NWA Georgia TV title. He began teaming with former rival The Sheik more often and the two were managed by J.J. Dillon. On 12/15/77, the duo lost to Terry and Dory Funk, Jr. by DQ in the finals of the Real World Tag Tournament in one of the most famous matches in Japanese wrestling history. In that bout, Dory kicked out of 3 of Abby’s elbowdrops, which was unheard of. Abby lost to Baba in the ’78 Champion Carnival tourney. He wrestled a young Ric Flair in their one and only meeting in Amarillo, Texas in a match for Flair’s NWA U.S. title. On 10/18/78, he finally won the PWF Heavyweight title, beating British legend Billy Robinson in 3 falls when the ref stopped the match due to excessive bleeding on Robinson’s part. A week later, he teamed up with long-time rival Brazil and fought to a double-CO against Baba and Tsuruta in an NWA International Tag title match.
He successfully defended the PWF Heavyweight title by battling to many double-DQ’s and double-CO’s against Baba and Tsuruta. Exactly a month after winning that belt, he picked up his first Caribbean title when he defeated Carlos Colon for the WWC Puerto Rican championship. This would kick off a 20 year bloodfest between the two and might be the greatest feud of all-time. On 2/10/79, he dropped the PWF Heavyweight title to Baba. However, 2 months later he beat Tsuruta to win his second Champion Carnival tourney. He lost the WWC Puerto Rican title to fellow heel Pampero Firpo after an 8 month reign. Soon after, he fought to a double-CO against Mexican legend Mil Mascaras in a dream match.
One of the biggest shows in history took place on 8/26/79 as Baba and Inoki put their personal differences aside to promote an All-Japan/New Japan interpromotional card. In the main event, Baba and Inoki teamed to defeat Abdullah and Tiger Jeet Singh when Inoki pinned Singh. This was the first Japanese card that ever drew a million dollar gate. Abby returned to the U.S. and went to a double-CO against NWA World champion Harley Race. On 10/12/79, he teamed with Ray Candy to win the NWA International Tag titles from Baba and Tsuruta. They dropped the straps back to them a week later. He teamed with The Sheik to finish third in the ’79 Real World Tag tournament. Abby beat Colon for his second WWC Puerto Rican title. From the end of ’78 to the end of ’79, Abdullah had one of the most spectacular runs of any international star ever and became a legitimate threat to any title in the world instead of being just a hardcore attraction.
He competed more in WWC than AJPW in ’80 and continued his intense rivalry with Colon for the entire year. However, he did wrestle former partner The Sheik to a double-DQ on an AJPW in May ’80. He returned to AJPW on a more regular basis late in the year and beat Tsuruta for the NWA United National title, which he successfully defended against Tsuruta, Terry Funk, and The Sheik in double-DQ’s and double-CO’s before losing the title back to Tsuruta. He teamed with Tor Kamata and finished third in the ’80 Real World Tag Tournament. Abby also got his own Japanese comic book in ‘80.
He fought to a double-CO against Bruiser Brody in the ’81 Champion Carnival tourney. Abby would not wrestle again in AJPW for more than 6 years. The relationship between Abby and Baba began to sour and Baba told Abby to call the AJPW office to receive his next booking. Abby’s extremely large ego was bruised because in the past he had always been informally booked through conversations with Baba and he felt that he shouldn’t have to through the same channels as other gaijins to get booked. Abby did call for a booking, but he called the New Japan office instead. In the meantime, Abby and Colon continued to spill each other’s blood in Puerto Rico and exchanged the WWC North American and Puerto Rican titles. On 1/28/82, Abby made his long-awaited NJPW debut by losing to Antonio Inoki by DQ. On 5/26/82, he wrestled Hulk Hogan for the first time and the two battled to a wild no-contest. Abby and Hogan would wrestle each other 9 more times in Japan, but no one ever scored a pinfall over the other. However, in only 10 matches, Abby might have spilt more of Hogan’s blood than other wrestler.
In June ’82, Abby lost to Colon in a loser-leaves-town barbed wire match. However, a month later, he returned to WWC and was billed as the first-ever WWC Universal champion, which soon became WWC's top title. He quickly dropped that strap to Colon. A month later, he beat Charlie Cook for the WWC Caribbean title and would hold it for an astounding 5 years. On 11/24/83, Abby and Colon finally brought their legendary feud to America when Colon beat him by DQ at Starrcade (WWC and the NWA had a strong relationship at the time).
Abby briefly competed in the AWA when he and Bruiser Brody were brought in by Adnan Al-Kaissey, who wanted revenge against Da Crusher and Baron von Raschke for winning the AWA Tag titles from his men, Ken Patera and Jerry Blackwell. Abby and Brody had bloody battles with Crusher and von Raschke as well as other babyfaces such as Tommy Rich and Blackjack Mulligan. However, Al-Kaissey suddenly instructed Abby and Brody to attack Blackwell and they bloodied him and put him out of the business for two months. Upon his return, Abby and Blackwell had many bloody matches before Abby left the AWA. He returned to the NWA in ’85, teaming with the legendary “Superstar” Billy Graham and Konga the Barbarian (The Barbarian) in an upset loss to Manny Fernandez, Terry Taylor, and Buzz Tyler at the Great American Bash. His feud with Fernandez continued and he lost to him at Starrcade Abby was not allowed to be the same madman in the NWA that he was in Puerto Rico and Japan and he soon left.
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