The Wrestler November 1978

Ric Flair is a Killer, Cowboy Bob Orton is brianwashed and Superstar Billy Graham is pleading with fans to tell him if he made a mistake or not. Things were pretty twisted and strange in the November 1978 issue of "The Wrestler".

Cowboy Bob Orton was a fan favorite early in his carrer. Fans all over the AWA thought he was as great as Vern Gagne. However, one man had other ideas for this young talent and wanted to control this man's thoughts, his life and his wrestling career, Bobby The Brain Heenan! A far cry from the arrigant bodygard we saw with Roddy Piper in the 80's, Orton would just stare at the ground and nod his head as he stumbled through his words. One could compare him to George The Animal Steel. Jumping Jim Brunzell made it his mission to stop Heenan from brianwashing Orton and help Bob get his life back on the right track.

The Big Cat Ernie Ladd was hot on the heels of the American Dream Dusty Rhoads. Ernie and Dusty were the most popular tag team in Championship Wrestling From Florida. They were destined to be the next greatest thing in tag team wrestling. Then one day, The Big Cat decided he did not want to play second fiddle to the Dream! In a televised match in CWF Wrestling, Ernie Ladd refused to tag Dusty out of a match and instead tunred his back on him! It was then this fued exploded and spilled out of the sunshine state and into Georgia and Texas. Their matches were bloody and a great example of how to tell a good story and keep the fans wanting more!

Top Ten Rankings in the National Wrestling Alliance: Champion Harley Race, 1. Dusty Rhoads, 2. Ric Flair, 3. Jack Brisco, 4. Ken Patera, 5. Rick Steamboat, 6. Bruiser, 7. Dick Murdoch, 8. Dick Slater, 9. The Spoiler, 10. Jimmy Snuka.

Top Ten Rankings in the American Wrestling Association: Champion Nick Bockwinkle, 1. Verne Gagne, 2. Crusher, 3. Ray Stevens, 4. Billy Robinson, 5. Larry Henning, 6. Cowboy Bob Orton, 7. Jim Brunzell, 8. Greg Gagne, 9. Rufus R. Jones, 10. Super Destroyer II

The July 1983 issue of Inside wrestling has a special place in my heart as an "old school" wrestling fan. The match between Butch Reed and Ivan Kollof featured on in the front cover took place at Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. That's special to me because my favorite memory as a kid was going to the Hara Arena every other Friday night for NWA Georgia Championship Wrestling. Butch Reed was over big with the fans at Hara Arena every show.

Butch was in the middle of a huge mess one evening at Hara when Buzz Sawyer came out the ring and hung Butch Reed from the top rope with a chain. Hara Arena is in the middle of Trotwood, Ohio and is mostly an African American community so hanging Butch in front of the already drunk and rowdy crowd was a bad idea. A full blown riot broke out and Buzz was lucky to get out of Hara Arena alive that night.

The other cover story in the July 1993 issue showcased some incredible photos of the most violent cage match of the early 1980's. The match was between Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle facing Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood. The Greensboro Coliseum was sold out for weeks and the theater next door was sold out with fans who packed in to watch it on "live" closed circuit television. The match had a great build-up for several months. The stipulation to the match was that if Steamboat and Youngblood lost the match, they most split up and never wrestle as a team ever again. Don Kernodle appeared to have bladed too deep. His head looked horrible and blood was pouring from his forehead.

The "Capsule Profile" featured Tully Blanchard. Tully was the star heel in his fathers company "Southwest Championship Wrestling in Texas. The "Hotseat" interview was with Dusty Rhodes and his claims about "The Truth About The Midnight Rider". Dusty was in a feud with Kevin Sullivan at the time. "One On One" had a war of words between father and son with Bob and Brad Armstrong.

"Inside Wrestlings" Offical Rankings for the month of July 1993: "Most Hated" 1. Kevin Sullivan, 2. Greg Valentine, 3. Ric Flair, 4. Ted Debiase, 5. Kamala, 6. Dick Slater, 7. Buzz Sawyer, 8. The Great Kabuki, 9. Bob Armstrong, 10. Tully Blanchard.

The May 1984 issue of Pro Wrestling Illistrated covered the shocking title change that saw Bob Backlund loose his World Wrestling Federation title to the Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden. Coverage of the title change was spread thru three different articles by Bill Apter, Peter King and Stu Saks. It's my opinion The Iron Shiek didn't get enough credit for what he did for professional wrestling. Sheik helped Vince Jr. take the leap into making wrestling become more of a national passtime instead of something to be laughed at. Shiek did what he thought was best for the company and for the business.

The cover is graced by Hulk Hogan. The story focused on Hulk Hogans past and provided insight into Hulks dark past in the World Wrestling Federation and asked the question if the "fans could ever forgive him". By the time this issue it the shelves in the local stores, Hulk had appeared on WWF television as Bob's partner in a tag team match and a couple of weeks later defeated the Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden for the WWF title.

On page 39 of the May 1984 issue is an article covering the match between the Road Warriors and the surprise tag team of Tommy "Wildfire" Rich and "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer. The photos taken by PWI photog Floyd See show a match that was dominated by the Road Warriors. Buzz Sawyer's career never regained momentum after his fued with Rich. It was impossible to take Buzz and Tommy as a team serious after they beat each other to death for years. Without "Wildfire" as an opponent, Buzz had a hard time getting main event status no matter what match he was in.

The PWI Press Conference featured then Florida Southeren Champion Mike Rotundo. Mike had just finished a program with Ron Bass and was involved in a fued with Sir Oliver Humperdinks army. Mike was also in a line for a push to wrestle then NWA World Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

The "Fabulous Ones" Steve Kirn and Stan Lane are the target of "The Mouth Of The South" Jimmy Hart in an article Jimmy wrote called "I'll Make The Fabulous Ones Hate Each Other" and Matt Brock takes an up close look at "Mad Dog Vachon.

The PWI Top Ten for the Month of May 1984 are: 1. Ric Flair, 2. Andre The GIant, 3. David Von Erich, 4. Dusty Rhodes, 5. Nick Bockwinkle, 6. Hulk Hogan, 7. Pedro Morales, 8. Harley Race, 9. Dino Bravo, 10. Roddy Piper.