From: spr@prism.gatech.EDU (Stefan Roth)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling
Subject: FAQ
Keywords: faq
Date: 26 Aug 92 22:01:47 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology



Here is a repost of the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions list) from a post by
Chris Bertholf, the author/editor. Due to size considerations, I have excluded
the list of:
        wrestling relations
        wrestlers personas, real names, ages, and years in pro-wrestling
Also, these were out of date and their original authors can post them.

No corrections since the last post have been made, so if you sent corrections
to Chris since then, he probably still has them.


  |\   _		Stefan Roth
  `O.x'/  ACK!		Internet: spr@prism.gatech.edu
 =(___)=
    U	 PFTTH!




------------------------- Begin Included Message -------------------------

From: a0cb@odin.cc.pdx.edu (Chris Bertholf)
Subject: Wrestling FAQ (Last FAQ 'til Nov.) 68Kbytes
Date: 22 Jun 92 19:18:53 GMT

Note: The MiniFAQ is now the FAQ. It is 68K in length. After much
deliberation, and many suggestions begging for additional information
to be included, I have included the following two lists in the FAQ:

        wrestling relations
        wrestlers personas, real names, ages, and years in pro-wrestling

Neither of which was compiled by me, although I have added and/or modified
a few of the entries in the wrestling relations list. I hope this will keep
everyone happy and contented until my return from Europe on October 5th.
------------------------begin included text--------------------------------


        Rec.Sport.Pro-wrestling: Frequently Asked Questions
               Monday, June 22, 12:00:00 PDT, 1992
                         Compiled by:
                  Christopher Forrest Bertholf
                   Portland State University
                       Portland, Oregon

Q. "What are the beginnings of professional wrestling?"
   "Who was the first professional wrestling 'Worlds Champion'?"
William Muldoon, during the decade 1870-80, waas considered the world's 
  first professional wrestling champion.  After 1900, he was followed by 
  Frank Gotch, considered the peer of all time because of the science he 
  imparted to the sport.  He defended hist title against all challengers and 
  retired undefeated. Ben F.  Roller of Seattle won the U.S.  championship 
  in 1912 and the world's title in 1913 by defating Americus.  Ed (Strangler)
  Lewis defeated Roller in New York city in 1915, and Earl Caddock in 1921.
  Wayne Munn beat Lewis in Kansas City in 1925.  Stanislaus Zbyszko defeated 
  Munn in Philadelphia in 1924; Jospeh Stecher beat Zbyszko in 1925; Lewis
  defeated Stecher in 1928; Gus Sonnenberg defeated Lewis in Boston in 1929, 
  winning the world's championship.  Thereafter there were numerous claimants
  to the title, but no undisputed champion.

Q. "Who is the Ultimate Warrior?"
   "What is the Ultimate Warrior's background?"
   "Did the Ultimate Warrior die, and who is his replacement?"
The Ultimate warrior is JIM HELLWIG -- Always has been. He did NOT die.
  He is not Steve DiSalvo (see below).

Hellwig received his first major exposure in Memphis in November of 1985.
  He wrestled under his real name, with Steve Borden (Sting), as The 
  Freedom Fighters (originally a face team).  They turned heel after 
  about 3 weeks, stuck around Memphis for about a month, and then moved 
  to Mid-South and started Power Team USA (with Garland "Glory" Donoho
  and Mark "Commando" Miller) as James "Justice" Hellwig and Steve "Flash"
  Borden. After this stint, James "Rock" Hellwig and Steve "Sting" Borden 
  formed a team called the "Blade Runners". After this, Hellwig had a stint
  "The Dingo Warrior" down in Texas working for the Von Erichs.

  Warrior came into the WWF in July, 1987, after leaving Von Erich country. 
  He was alternately billed as The Warrior and The Dingo Warrior during that 
  first month at house shows, much like Papa Shango came in as "Sir Charles" 
  in December 1991. When Vinnie decided to give him a push, he became the 
  Ultimate Warrior, began his TV stint with one or two squashes on a syndie 
  in October, a BIG win over Frenchy Martin (replacing Bob Orton, who had 
  left the organization) at a televised MSG card, and THEN went on to get 
  tossed in the ten-man battle royal. He competed in the Nassau Coliseum 
  Bunkhouse Brawl in January, 1988, and began his first significant feud 
  (I don't qualify Steve Lombardi complaining about losing to him in an 
  issue of WWF Magazine a legitimate feud) with Hercules, culminating in 
  the only non-title singles match in Mania Four.

  During the last half of '91, up to WMVII, Jim Hellwig was under suspension 
  from the WWF. He had a money dispute with Vince, and Vince suspended him 
  indefinitely. Because he had a contract with Vince, he couldn't work for 
  anyone else until the contract expired. It was rumored that he would be 
  back in the WWF for WrestleMania VIII. He did in fact return, quite a few
  pounds lighter than when he left. He appears to have given up the juicing
  and is receiving a mega push towards becoming the number one face in the
  WWF.

Q. "Who is the Diamond Studd?"
The Diamond Studd is Scott Hall (He is NOT Steve DiSalvo!)
  Scott Hall began wrestling in 1984(?) as Starship Coyote, part of the
  tag team American Starship, with Starship Eagle (Dan Spivey) in the Central
  States area.  He moved from there to the AWA, where he received a major
  push, receiving title shots against Stan Hansen, and winning the tag
  team belts with Curt Hennig from Steve Regal and Jim Garvin.  They lost
  the belts as a result of a "screw job" ending when Doug Somers and Buddy
  Rose defeated them via a countout, with the help of Col. DeBeers.  This
  set up a feud between Hall and DeBeers, which lasted until Hall left the
  federation.  Hall toured the minor promotions after this with stops in
  Florida and Puerto Rico, unitl he finally resurfaced in WCW as the Diamond
  Studd.

Q. "Who is Steve DiSalvo?"
Steve DiSalvo used to be the local joke. His name will still pop up as the 
  answer to almost all stupid/uninformed questions asked on this newsgroup. 
  Steve has wrestled mainly out of Calgary.

  The Steve DiSalvo thing was started by Sean P. Ryan, when he mentioned
  that the Studd resembled Steve. Some other posters immediately took
  this to be the explanation for the different looks of Scott Hall, and
  began posting "The Diamond Studd is not Scott Hall... It's Steve DiSalvo"
  type posts. This was the beginning of a massive joke campaign by regulars
  to r.s.p-w of answering all uninformed questions about the identity of any 
  wrestler with "It's Steve DiSalvo!".

  The Steve DiSalvo joke has really died down lately. Every once in a while
  people still post a reference to Steve, which is intended to invoke the
  humorous thoughts we all shared in the summer of '91 at Steve's expense.

  The basic joke usually plays out like:

      Uninformed poster: "Who is <Wrestler X>?"
      Jokester:          "Steve DiSalvo :^)"

      Uninformed poster: "Did the first Ultimate Warrior really die?"
      Jokester:          "Yes. He was replaced by Steve DiSalvo :-)"

Q. "What are all of the references to Amanda Ultimate Warrior about?"
   "Who is Amanda Ultimate Warrior?"
   [From Sean P. Ryan]
In June of 1990, they had an interview with then-champ UW on the syndies.  
  I think it was Brother Love.  At any rate, they brought out a girl, who 
  identified herself as Amanda Ultimate Warrior, Slim Jim's niece.

  It started a running gag here on the newsgroup (I believe originated by 
  Charlie Gavinelli) which probably ranks behind Steve DiSalvo and ahead
  of myself and beer and marriage for bandwidth expended.

Q. "Who are the Von Erichs?"
   "Whats the deal with Kerry Von Erich's leg?"
   "Whats the deal with all of the deaths in the Von Erich family?"
   "Is Lance Von Erich really a Von Erich?"
To begin with, there are no "REAL" Von Erichs. The Adkisson family has used
  the last name "Von Erich" for their wrestling personas for years.

  The first of the Von Erichs was Fritz, who wrestled in the 50's and 60's
  with a German gimmick, complete with goosestep and claw hold.  Fritz 
  enjoyed quite a bit of success, holding the AWA title in the early
  60's, and challenging for the WWWF title in the later 60's.  He held
  the US tag team title with Waldo Von Erich in 1967.

  Waldo Von Erich (sorry, don't know his real name) is not an Adkisson.  He
  wrestled around the same time as Fritz, forming a tag team with him.
  
  Jack Adkisson (Fritz V E) had six sons, five of whom were involved with
  wrestling. The eldest son, Jackie died of electrocution at age 6 in 1959.

  Kevin Von Erich began wrestling in the early 70's.  He enjoyed great
  success, but rarely competed outside of Texas.  In Texas, he held the
  WCCW North American title, the Texas title, the tag team title (with
  Kerry), the Texas Tag Team title (with David), and the six man belts
  on many occasions throughout the mid-80's.  He also held the Missouri
  Heavyweight title in the early 80's.  Kevin is currently wrestling
  for independent promotions.
  
  David Von Erich began wrestling in the late 70's, enjoying great success
  in Texas and the NWA.  He held many belts in the WCCW, plus held
  the Missouri Heavyweight title.  In 1982, he traveled to Florida where
  he wrestled as a heel and held the Southern Heavyweight championship.
  (This is the only case I have come across of one of the Von Erich sons
  wrestling as a heel.)   According to resident historian Gary Will,
  he was probably scheduled to beat Harley Race for the NWA title in
  November 1983, but then Crockett came up with the idea for Starrcade
  and Jack Adkisson/Fritz Von Erich (who was on the NWA board) agreed to
  postpone David's title reign until 1984.  David was given the Missouri 
  title instead (he beat Flair for the belt in 1983).  David was being 
  prepared to be a major star in the NWA.  After Flair beat Kerry for the 
  title, he held it, uninterrupted for over two years.  Had David won the 
  title, he probably would have traded the belt with Flair during that time.
  Sadly, David died of an intestinal infection while working in Japan (2/10/84).
  It has been rumored that he actually died of a barbituate/booze combination 
  overdose (reported by Irv Munchnick in Penthouse magazine).
  
  Kerry Von Erich began wrestling in 1980.  He also has enjoyed great
  success in Texas, plus major success in the two big federations.  
  On May 6, 1984, Kerry defeated Ric Flair for the NWA title at Texas
  Stadium, at a memorial card for David.  This made Kerry and Fritz the
  only father/son duo to hold world championships.  He lost the title back 
  to Flair on May 24 in Japan.  In 1986, Kerry Von Erich's leg was screwed 
  up  in a motorcycle accident. It is now fused solid at the ankle. It is 
  his right leg. There is controversy WRT whether or not he actually has a 
  foot on his right leg, due in part to a match in Las Vegas where Col. 
  DeBeers removed his boot, and it was reported there was no foot in the 
  boot, only a stump. This rumor is unsubstantiated to date.  Kerry became 
  involved in a feud with Jerry Lawler for the AWA title in 1988.  This 
  feud resulted in the creation of the Unified title, which was supposed 
  to join the WCCW Heavyweight and AWA Heavyweight.  Kerry lost the 
  unification match to Lawler in December 1988 at the AWA's one and only 
  PPV event.  In 1990, Kerry joined the WWF and almost immediately was 
  granted a shot at Curt Hennig's Intercontinental belt.  He defeated 
  Hennig for the belt at SummerSlam in just over five minutes.  He lost 
  the title back to Hennig a few months later.  Recently, Kerry disappeared
  from the WWF.  This was because he had been arrested for forging a
  prescription to obtain drugs in Texas.  He recently returned to the ring,
  I don't know the outcome of his arrest, or what drugs he was attempting
  to obtain.
  
  Mike Von Erich began wrestling in 1984.  He enjoyed moderate success in
  WCCW, but never wrestled elsewhere.  Mike died of a Placidyl (depressant/
  muscle relaxant) overdose (4/13/87). Mike had a serious bout with Toxic 
  Shock Syndrome, and when he returned to wrestling, he was "only a shadow
  of his former self" (If I may borrow a Monsoonism); Mike realized that
  that he could not be the star he was expected to be (by the fans, and by
  Fritz); This is the most often cited reason for why he may have taken
  the Placidyl overdose which caused his death in 1987.

  Chris Von Erich began wrestling in the late 80's, and, to my knowledge,
  never held any titles.  Chris died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound 
  to the head at age 21 9/12/91. Rumor has it that Chris also felt he
  could not "live up" to the Von Erich name, to which his death is 
  directly attributable (very similar to the story about Mike).

  To recap, the two remaining Von Erich children (of Fritz) are Kevin 
  and Kerry.

  Lance "Von Erich" is really Ricky Vaughn. He is not an Adkisson. Lance
  was brought into the promotion, and Fritz stated at the time that he was
  a "cousin" of his boys. Later, when Lance left to work elsewhere, Fritz
  publicly announced that Lance was not really a relation to the Von Erichs,
  in an attempt (that worked) to ruin the name Lance Von Erich, as far as
  wrestling circles go. In addition, after Lance Von Erich (sic) was forced 
  out of the Von Erich family (sic), he temporarily used the name "The 
  Fabulous Lance" while wrestling in Texas.

  Unfortunately for Fritz, the buildup and ties he had made to Lance
  were not forgettable by the marks, and it really pissed them off.
  Both announcements about Lance's "REAL LINEAGE" were stated by 
  Fritz on WCCW broadcasts. One of the bigger "Von Erich Scandals" 
  to date.

  Last I heard, Ricky Vaughn was still wrestling in the south somewhere,
  and he had a title. Sorry I can't be more specific. The Last time I
  personally saw him, he was the Pacific Northwest Champion, about 5-6
  years ago.

Q. "Where did Vince find Jimmy Hart?"
Hart made his debut in wrestling on the Memphis TV show on August 26,
  1979, as the new manager of Lawler.  This relationship didn't last long,
  and would lead to the years-long feud that kept Memphis strong in the
  early 80s. Basically, Lawler broke his leg and was out for a while. They
  brought in Ken Patera, Hart jumped ship, and when Lawler came back that
  was used as the setup for the feud. During that time, Hart was allegedly 
  still aligned with Lawler, yet he brought in Paul Ellering and
  called him "The King."  When asked for his rationale in committing such
  sacriledge, Hart explained "Well, when a horse breaks his leg, you shoot
  him, right?". At this point, Lawler disowned Jimmy, saying that Hart had
  never been his manager, just his "cheerleader". Hart ended up managing
  Terry "Hulk" Boulder, who feuded with Lawler, in some of Hogan's better
  matches to date. One famous match has Hogan and Lawler in a cage, another
  has Hogan and Lawler in a strap match, Hogan losing by DQ, when Jimmy
  Hart interferes with his cane/walking stick. After that Hulk went to
  the WWF, and not much later, Jimmy Hart followed. The rest is common
  knowledge.

Q. "How long was Buddy Rogers WWF Champion?"
   "What is the story behind the forming of the WWWF?"
Buddy Rogers lost the NWA title to Lou Thesz in Toronto on January 24,
  1963.  The promoters in the Northeast U.S., led by Vince McMahon Sr.,
  formed the WWWF.  The reason given was that they felt that Rogers was
  robbed and they weren't going to recognize Thesz as champion, instead
  recognizing Rogers.  In reality, however, McMahon was the business
  manager of Rogers during his title reign and felt that Rogers had an
  incredible potential as champion well beyond the time frame that the NWA 
  actually gave him to be champion.

  The main misconception associated with this is that Rogers was
  recognized as champion right after losing to Thesz, hence the notion
  that he held the title for 3 months or so.  In reality, Rogers was
  awarded title recognition in mid-April of 1963.  He lost the title to
  Bruno the following month.  Rogers would have likely had a long reign as
  champion, however, he suffered a heart attack shortly before the match
  with Bruno.  This explains both the brevity of the match with Bruno and 
  the subsequent disappearance of Rogers from the ring (he retired after 
  this match, and didn't return until 1967).

Q. "Are Randy 'Macho Man' Savage and Mrs. Elizabeth really married?"
Randy Savage (Randall Poffo) and Elizabeth Poffo are indeed married.
   It did not happen in the wrestling ring the first time. Randy Poffo
   and Elizabeth Hewlett were were officially married November 30, 1984;
   Several years prior to "The Match Made in Heaven," which was just a 
   gimmick by Vincent McMahon used as a draw for SummerSlam '91.

   Elizabeth is rumored (read RUMORED) to be a niece of Vince McMahon's.

Q. Are Randy "Macho Man" Savage and The Genius (Leapin' Lanny) really related?
Yes. Their real names are Randy Poffo and Lanny Poffo; They are Brothers.
   Their father is Angelo Poffo, a pretty good wrestler in his day.

Q. "Are Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake really brothers?"
Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea) and Brutus Beefcake (Ed Leslie) are not brothers.
  They did wrestle together as brothers a long time ago, but that was just an
  angle for the marks. Terry is responsible for getting his buddy Ed into the
  WWF.

Q. "Where is Hulk Hogan?"
Hulk Hogan is on vacation from the WWF so that he can make movies. He will
  probably return in around 6 months to a year (Triumphantly, to his little
  Hulkamaniacs that the Warrior kept safe all those many months :-).

Q. "What ever happened to Brutus Beefcake?"
   "Whats the deal with the accident involving Brutus Beefcake?"
Brutus Beefcake was involved in a boating accident last year that smashed
  his face. He has undergone massive plastic surgery to correct the 
  problem and has several steel reinforcing plates in his head. Several
  months ago, Vince wanted to bring Brutus back. The idea was to bring him 
  back with a head full of steel, but his doctors poo-pooed this idea stating 
  that severe damage could result if he were to receive a blow to the face.  
  Brutus came back dressed in a furry mask for a while (he made some run-ins, 
  lambasting several heels) and then started up the "Barber Shop" on the 
  syndies. Still no definite word on when he will return to wrestling or if 
  he will return to wrestling. He may be relegated to hosting "The Barber 
  Shop" until he retires from wrestling permanently.

Q. "Where is Ric Flair?"
   "Why is Ric Flair in the WWF now?"
Ric Flair is no longer in the WCW, but he left holding the NWA World
  Heavyweight Championship. He came to the WWF, with his belt. He
  OWNED the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt at the time. Ric Flair 
  was still recognized as the legitimate NWA worlds champion by many
  of the independent/NWA affiliated promoters (like Owen promotions
  in the Pacific N.W.) until WCW put pressure on the NWA to get Flair's
  belt back. The ownership of the belt and the right to be called the 
  "NWA Undisputed Heavyweight Champion" was debated in the halls of civil 
  justice, with Flair and WCW coming to a formal out of court settlement,
  the exact details of which I am unaware of. Rumor has it that Ric Flair's 
  settlement with the NWA/WCW to sell his belt back cost WCW somewhere
  in the neighborhood of $50,000.
  
  His contract with WCW was not renewed due to quibbles over money--Ric 
  wanted more than they were willing to give.

  WCW's letting go of Ric was considered by many to be the death knell
  of the organization (WCW), which was already going downhill before the
  ultimate transgression of firing "The Man". This is no longer the
  general sentiment, as Kip Allen Frey took over the "presidency" of the 
  WCW; He made some great changes, in an attempt to bring the organization 
  back to the wrestling that made it famous, and integrating better marketing 
  concepts to help it compete with the WWF. Kip Allen Frey, after a successful
  stint as president, has been replaced by Bill Watts (Cowboy Bill). We will
  have to wait and see if the changes he makes are positive. His first few
  changes sounded OK (Less PPVs, better talent) but then he made a ruling
  that "off the top rope maneuvers" would "result in a dsiqualification".
  The decision is still out on Bill.

  When Ric entered the WWF, he won the World Heavyweight Championship
  Belt at Royal Rumble '92. He held it until he was defeated by Randy
  "Macho Man" Savage at Wrestlemania VIII. Randy and Ric are programmed
  for a long running battle.

Q. "When did Vince Jr. take over the (W)WWF from Vince Sr.?"
Vince Sr. died in May 1984, but he had turned over control of the
   business to his son some months earlier. The positioning of Titan
   Sports as a national promotion was carried out by both McMahons.
   Vince Jr. would do the dirty work (signing wrestlers away from
   Ole Anderson, for example) while his father would assure the other
   promoters that they were not going national.  

   Of course they did go national, and the rest is history.

   According to an article in the March 25, 1991 issue of Sports Illustrated,
   Vincent McMahon Jr. states that his father would have never have allowed 
   him to overrun other promotions and their feifdoms.  I.e., It is question-
   able whether or not Vince Sr. was aware that Vince Jr. really was going 
   to go national with the WWF, and he may not have misrepresented himself 
   to the other promoters, based on what he believed the WWF was headed 
   for. Just some food for thought...

Q. "How many horsemen were there in the NWA?"
Well, they were always called the FOUR horsemen, but the FOUR was
   comprised of different people at different times. By my count,
   there have been 10 men in the FOUR HORSEMEN over time:

   I used to count 8, but I have been convinced with "incontrovertible
   evidence" that the last two on the list were horsemen for 1 week.

   Slick Ric Flair, Double A (Arn Anderson), Tully Blanchard, Lex Lugar,
   Barry Windham, Sid "Vicious" Eudy, The Stinger, Ole Anderson, Kendall 
   Windham, and Butch Reed.

Q: "What are these Dreamcards all about?"
The Dreamcards were cards promoted and booked by Don Becker. Becker usually 
  solicited match ideas from others on the net, posted a complete card, then
  solicited results. All booking decisions, however, were made by Don alone.
  Recently, between cards IV and V, Don turned promotional duties over to the
  Stilt Man.

  So far, there have been six Dreamcards, which he has put out on a monthly 
  basis:

     Dreamcard I (November 11,1991)
          Main event: Sean Ryan vs. Herb Kunze
     Dreamcard II: This Wednesday in Walla Walla (December 7, 1991)
          Main event: Sean Ryan vs. Herb Kunze
     Dreamcard III (January 27, 1992)
          Main event: Sean Ryan vs. Fluffy The Wonder Bunny
     Dreamcard IV: The Price of Pain (February 25, 1992)
          Main event: Sean Ryan vs. John Price
     Dreamcard V: The Great White North 
            Main event: Rematch of Sean Ryan vs. John Price
     Dreamcard VI: ????
            Main event: John Price vs. Herb Kunze

The Dreamcards are cards promoted and booked by Don Becker. Becker usually 
  solicits match ideas from others on the net, posts a complete card, then
  solicits results. All booking decisions, however, are made by Don alone.

Q. "What are the Bandwidth Brawls?"
Brian Wawczak puts on the Bandwidth Brawls to coincide with WCW SuperBrawls,
  and put on a Bandwidth Mania to coincide with WrestleMania.

Q. "What is the FWF?"
The Fictional Wrestling Federation is wholly seperate in its organization from
  Dreamcards, Bandwidth Brawls, and other such things.  It is a federation of 
  fictional characters, angles, and matches written by the Stilt Man, Jason
  Steeves, and Liam Kelly.  The matches are written and posted in fairly 
  random order and in a great amount of detail.  More often than not, they 
  have very little to do with any real-life federations or anything else on 
  the net, although the FWF has been known to emulate wrestlers for spoof 
  value (example: Big Truck Vader or the Sheepwhackers) or serious contention 
  (such as taking WWF gimmicks such as Hulk Hogan or the Undertaker and 
  improving their workrate so that it matches their interviews).

  The FWF has no affiliation with any email wrestling federations, is totally
  open to original suggestions, and is run mostly by Stilt Man (singles) and
  Jason Steeves (tag teams).  Liam Kelly is a co-writer, and Sean Ryan is the
  unofficial "archivist" who keeps track of old matches in his directories.

  The matches are totally fictional, and have little or no relation to the 
  world of professional wrestling. The posts always have FWF in the subject 
  line, so those wishing to mark and save or skip the articles can do so 
  easily.

Q. "What is the real story behind Lex Luger leaving WCW?"
   (From Herb Kunze)
Luger's disappearance from WCW has nothing to do with his health and
   much to do with his lack of love for the business.  WCW's contract with
   Luger runs through until 1993.  The contract guarantees Luger a salary
   per year and gives a maximum number of dates that he'll have to work
   per year.  This second part is not uncommon.  When WCW originally brought
   in Stan Hansen and Big Van Vader, they eventually signed them to a deal
   where the wrestler would work 100 dates out of the year.  That left
   them free enough to work their Japanese shows.  Anyhow, in Luger's
   case, nobody could anticipate Ric Flair jumping ship, and when that
   happened, the company had to choose between Luger and Sting as champion.
   Sting blew his run as a champion in 1990 from a financial point of
   view, so they went with Luger.  Suddenly Luger is working more dates.

   The second year of his three year contract runs from March 1991 to 
   March 1992.  By the end of 1991 he's already worked the number of
   dates specified in his contract.  So, he has every legal right to
   sit on his ass and not work any more shows, and WCW still has to pay 
   him his salary through until March 1992.  If he had any love for the
   business or some interest in his future or the future of the company,
   he might be a little more flexible.  As it is, he says he won't work
   any more shows.  That's no TV tapings.  That's no Clashes.  Nothing.
   Furthermore, his love for the business is so small that he tells
   WCW he wouldn't mind leaving the company when the second year of
   his contract runs out.  They negotiate and reach a settlement
   wherein Luger agrees to work one final show (SuperBrawl II) and
   drop the title to Sting and WCW agrees to let him leave the company
   (probably with a cash settlement) with the proviso that he can't work
   as a wrestler for any other North American promotion until March 1993.

   Luger is now in the WBF, Titan Sports' Body Building Federation. Rumors
   abound WRT whether or not he will wrestle in the WWF after March of 1993,
   when his (rumored) contractual obligation to WCW expires.

Q. "What happened to Tully Blanchard?"
Tully has given up professional wrestling and become an evangelist; Preaching
   the way of the Lord, the evils of drugs, and the evils of steroids, on a
   regular basis. Rumor has it that he is happy, and has no plans of ever
   returning to the squared circle.

Q. "Where is J.J. Dillon these days?"
   J.J. Is working in a front office job with the WWF.

Q. "What is the story behind the WWF 'King'?"
A little after the first Wrestlemania, the WWF advertised a "King of the
   Ring" Tournanment.  JYD won by countout over Randy Savage (heel, fairly 
   new to the WWF) in the first tournament.  Ever since then, they have been 
   having the King of the Ring Tournament every summer, though not much (if 
   any) publicity is given to it.

   Race came into the WWF and won the tournament.  He declared himself the 
   King of the WWF.  They never explained that he won the tournament, but 
   the WWF still had a coronation for him.

   When Race left, they announced he was hurt in a match against Hogan 
   (despite wrestling later at the Wrestlemania IV battle royal). Haku 
   became the next king of the WWF (chosen by Bobby Heenan to replace 
   Harley Race).

   At Royal Rumble, Haku battled Harley Race for the title of King.  Haku 
   won with a karate style kick and stayed King.  Haku started "defending" 
   the crown.  He Lost to Jim Duggan, who had a coronation, he defended 
   the crown before losing to Macho Man.  Savage was a heel at that time, 
   and for a while became the "Macho King".  
   
   After using his scepter to cost Ultimate Warrior the title, Macho lost the 
   loser retires match at WM VII.  No further mention of the crown has been
   made to this date.

Q. "What ever happened to Bruiser Brody?"
   "Whats the story behind Brody's death?"
Bruiser Brody was killed in Puerto Rico by Jose Huertes Gonzales (he
  was acquitted, but all but admitted his guilt by taking place in an
  angle with Atsushi Onita that paralleled the incident).  Supposedly, 
  Brody was stabbed for refusing to do a job. He was stabbed three times, 
  including one stab to the liver. The official cause of death was bile 
  poisoning.

Q. "Have any wrestlers held belts in the AWA, NWA/WCW, and WWF in the last
    15 years?"
Yes. Only three wrestlers have done it since 1977.
    The Legion Of Doom (Hawk and Animal -- The Road Warriors)
       (WWF, AWA & NWA TAG)
    Larry Zbyszko (AWA WORLD, WWF & WCW Tag)

Q. "Who is Larry Zbyszko?"
   "What is Larry Zbyszko's real name?"
Larry Zbyszko is really Larry Whistler.  He took his wrestling name from
  Stanislaus Zbyszko (one of the original greats in the sport). Interestingly
  enough, Stanislaus was not even a real Zbyszko; His name was really
  Stanislaus Cyganiewicz.

  There have been several wrestlers who have used the names of former
  stars, e.g. Karl Gotch took his last name from Frank Gotch, Stan Stasiak
  was originally a wrestler in the 1920s, and Paul "Kato" Diamond took his
  name from the similar looking Paul Diamond that wrestled in the 60s and
  70s.

Q. "Who was 'Lord Humongous'?"
The first Lord Humungous was Mike Stark who used the gimmick in
  Memphis in 1984.  Jeff Van Kemp played the role in Alabama starting
  that same year and then went to Mid South in '85.  Van Kemp walked
  out in '86 rather than be jobbed out.  Around the same time frame,
  John Gavin used the Lord Humungous gimmick in Texas.

  Sid Eudy (Sid Viscous/Justice) wrestled as Lord Humungous for 
  Continental in 1987.

Q. "Is it 'Jushin Riger' or 'Jushin Liger'?"
Jushin Riger is also Jushin Liger. The name comes from the concatenation of
  Lion and Tiger, and thus would properly be "Liger". However, the Japanese
  do not make a distinction between the consonant sounds "L" and "R", and
  actually seem to use an intermediate sound for both "L" and "R". When you
  watch Japanese wrestling, it sounds like the people are screaming "Rye-gar"
  and so some prefer to use the "Riger" spelling, while others prefer the
  "Liger" spelling.

  [From Herb Kunze:]
  The name is supposed to mean something like God of Lions and Tigers.
  "Jushin" means god of animals.  I guess "Liger" is supposed to be
  the combination of Lion and Tiger.

  I think those that read his name in sheets or see him on WCW will
  write Liger and pronounce is "Lye-ger", and those that have seen
  a few of his matches will be swayed to say "Rye-gar" and maybe 
  spell it Riger.

Q. "What was the NWF?"
   "What happened to the NWF?"
   "What was the IWA?"
   "What happened to the IWA?"
[From Sean P. Ryan:]
The promotion called the NWF was run out of Cleveland, with Pedro Martinez 
  as promoter (Martinez promoted Buffalo in the 50s and 60s).  Around 1973 or 
  so, Martinez was bought out by Antonio Inoki.

  Very shortly thereafter, Inoki beat Powers for the NWF title, and it
  didn't take long after that for the promotion to go under (I guess the
  fans didn't buy Inoki as the top guy in the promotion).  Inoki took the
  title back to Japan, and used it as sort of a world title for many years.

  Inoki defended it sparingly before retiring it in 1981.  His opponents
  in title defenses included Powers, Tiger Jeet Singh (who won the title
  and lost it back to Inoki in 1975 or 1976) and Stan Hansen.  Inoki also
  had a title vs. title match with WWWF champion Bob Backlund in 1978.  

  Back to the U.S., Martinez set up a new promotion in Cleveland in 1975 
  with much help from Chicago White Sox owner Eddie Einhorn.  This was 
  called the IWA, and lasted for two years before folding (mainly because 
  Einhorn tried to use the promotion to compete with the WWWF).  To today's 
  fans, an item of interest from the promotion has to do with two of their
  jobbers.  One of them was a teenager named Terry Mecca.  Those of you
  with good memories will recall that this person is now Terry Gordy, and
  that he was only 14-years-old back then.  The other jobber of interest
  was Jim Wilson, who was part of the 20/20 expose back in 1985.  Wilson
  worked for the IWA after his blackballing from the NWA.

Q. "In the last 10 years have there been any wrestlers who have held titles
    in any 2 federations (including only NWA/WCW, WWF and AWA)?"
Yes. There have been 22 (from BIG JOMOSH):
        Ric Flair                   Ricky Steamboat
        Greg Valentine              Rick Rude
        Mike Rotundo                Barry Windham
        Larry Zbyszko               Dick Murdoch
        L.O.D. Animal               L.O.D. Hawk
        Curt Hennig                 Rick Martel
        Smash/Krusher Krushchev     Jimmy Garvin
        Kerry Von Erich             Sgt. Slaughter
        Stan Hansen                 Roddy Piper
        Arn Anderson                Tully Blanchard
        Dennis Condrey              Mr. Saito

Q. "What ever happened to Adrian Adonis?"
It took place on July 4th, 1988 in Newfoundland, near Gander and Lewisporte,
   on the Trans Canada Highway.  The accident involved a mini-van which 
   contained Adonis, Dave "Wildman" McKigney and the Kelly Twins. The van 
   came upon a moose in the road and swerved to avoid it, going down a 
   ~10-15' embankment into a pond.  The slippery conditions complicated
   matters, and are probably partially responsible for the accident.
   The fact that they swerved at all should not be put into question. 
   There are more people killed by hitting several tons of moose than are 
   killed by missing them.

   Adonis and McKigney were killed, as well as one of the Twins. The other 
   Twin had his legs crushed in the accident, and obviously hasn't returned 
   to wrestling.

   Adonis had just come off a Japan tour, his first since leaving the WWF,
   and was working for McKigney while waiting to start for Stampede.

   Rural Newfoundland was, is, and forever will be a hotbed of wrestling. 
   The unfortunate thing is that the people seldom, if ever, get to see a 
   live house show.  Adrian was providing "name" entertainment at a time 
   of the year when "No" entertainment is the rule.

Q. "Was Adrian Adonis really a homosexual?"
NO. "Adorable Adrian" was a homophobic character invented by the tasteless
   Vincent J. McMahon, played by the happily married and heterosexual Adrian
   Adonis (Quite well, I might add). This shouldn't matter to anyone 
   elightened above cro-magnon level, but it gets asked enough that it was 
   suggested by several people that it should be in the MiniFAQ.

Q. "Who or what is this Jamison character in the WWF?"
Jamison is a nerdish-type character who regularly attended WWF Prime
  Time Wrestling tapings (on USA cable in the United States).  He was
  kicked and stomped on by most WWF heels, and was saved by many WWF
  faces.

  At the Royal Rumble he had the distinction of kicking the Genius in 
  the shin, and booting him out of the ring with a swift kick to the ass.

  Jamison is supposedly a comedian from the Stamford, CT area... It looks
  like Vincent's latest tasteless/stupid gimick is here for a while.

  Recent syndies have not had any Jamison spots, so maybe (PLEASE!) his
  contract with the WWF was not renewed and we will be spared his inane
  antics.

Q. "What happened to Ravishing Rick Rude?"
Rick Rude was fired over a money dispute with Vince. Rick felt he deserved
  a take of the gate proceeds where his name had been used as the draw,
  but where he did not wrestle. What he ended up with was nothing. Vince
  would not schedule him for matches and would not let him out of his
  contract either. The result was Rick didn't wrestle or make any money
  for quite a while. Rick Rude is currently wrestling with WCW, and has 
  already won a title (U.S. Heavyweight Champion).

  He is currently being worked into a program with Sting, to fight over
  the WCW World Heavyweight Championship Belt. He is also working a
  program with Ricky Steamboat, with Steamboat attempting to take the
  U.S. Heavyweight Championship Title away from Rude.

Q. "What happened to Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat?"
He jumped the WWF ship and was rescued by the WCW. He wrestled against
   Rick Rude for the U.S. Heavyweight Championship at the last WCW PPV
   in February, 1992. He lost via a screw job run in from Paul E.
   Dangerously, dressed in a ninja suit.

   The latest angle has Ricky with a broken nose, from Rick Rude and the 
   Dangerous Alliance, inflicted after he struck Madusa for interfering 
   in his match.

Q. "What happened to Portland Wrestling?"
Portland wrestling is still going strong, they just lost their TV sponsor.
  Portland wrestling is one of the oldest independent promotions in the
  USA. They have been televised for almost 38 years. Recently, the #1
  sponsor of Portland Wrestling, Tom Peterson, had to withdraw his
  sponsorship due to his Corporation's financial difficulties.

  Long before Hulk Hogan was invented, Owen's show made household names
  out of countless hulks.  Among them: Tony Borne, Shag Thomas, Haru Sasaki, 
  Billy White Wolf, Playboy Buddy Rose, Ric Flair, Rip Oliver, Dutch Savage, 
  Wild Bill Savage, Ed Wiskoski, Stan "The Crusher" Stasiak, Jimmy Snuka, 
  Sgt. Slaughter, Lord Jonathon Boyd, Beauregard, Sheik Abdullah, Maurice 
  "Mad Dog" Vachon, Kurt Hennig, Mean Mike Miller, the Von Steigers and 
  the Van Poppenheims, Lonnie Mayne, The Masked Assassin, The Grappler, 
  Larry "The Axe" Hennig, Billy Jack Haines, Maniac Matt Borne, Lou Thesz, 
  Andre The Giant, Dorey Funk, Ernie Ladd, Haystack Calhoun, Luther Lindsay 
  and many other fine wrestlers.

Q. "What was 'The Crockett Cup'?"

The Crockett Cup was a tag-team tournament held every spring from 1986-1988
  in the NWA, with the winning team getting $1,000,000. It was in tribute to
  Jim Crockett Sr. The three teams that have won the Cup are The Road Warriors
  (1986), Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff (1987), and Sting & Lex Luger (1988).

Q. "Who was the missing link?"
It was squeaky-clean Toronto babyface Dewey Robertson who was able to put 
   some new life into an almost 20-year career by shaving most of his head, 
   putting on makeup and acting crazy.

   Dewey, in his rookie year (1965/early 1966) appeared on "Ringside 
   Wrestling" from Hamilton.  He wrestled as the masked Crusader in the 
   mid-70s -- wearing all-white trunks and mask and declaring he was 
   crusading for the return of "scientific" wrestling.  Back under his 
   real name, he was the top wrestler in Toronto in 1979/early 1980, 
   winning the Canadian title tournament and cleanly defeating AWA champ 
   Nick Bockwinkel and NWA US champion Jimmy Snuka.  He also held the 
   Mid-Atlantic tag team title a few times in this period and went on 
   to be one of the top guys in Bob Geigel's Central States promotion 
   before becoming the Missing Link.

Q. "What is the difference between a copyright and a trademark?"
   "Can wrestlers 'copyright' their names?"
   "Can wrestlers 'trademark' their names?"

First thing: copyrights have nothing to do with anything in this
   discussion.  Nobody's name is (or can be) copyrighted.

   The symbols TM and (R) both stand for trademarks.  The difference between
   the two is that the ones marked with an (R) are REGISTERED trademarks -- 
   a fairly expensive process that really doesn't give you any legal advan-
   tages (which is why very few wrestlers' names are registered).  Usually, 
   the ones marked TM have been FILED (although I don't think you have to 
   file before you can use the TM mark).

   If you feel like spending $8 a pop, you can look up trademarks through
   an on-line database.  The database contains all registered and filed
   trademarks in the US (available through CompuServe).

Q. "Who were the original Midnight Express?"
   "Who were the wrestlers in the Midnight Express?"

   The Original Midnight Express consisted of Randy Rose, Dennis Condrey 
   and Norvell Austin. They worked out of Alabama, originally; Condrey & 
   Rose were the top tag team in 1980-81.  At the end of 1981 Condrey, Rose, 
   and Austin went to Memphis as the Midnight Express and wrestled there until 
   the summer of 1982 when they returned to Alabama.
 
   For a while in 1983 they wrestled in Alabama as "Midnight Express
   Inc." and had several other members: the Midnight Stallion (Mongolian
   Stomper), Ron Starr, Rick Harris (Black Bart) and Wayne Farris
   (Honkytonk Man).  Condrey left Alabama in 1983 and teamed up with
   Eaton in Mid-South, where they were joined by another guy from Memphis: 
   Jim Cornette.

Q. "Who are the bushwhackers and where did they come from?"
   "Who were the sheepherders and what happened to them?"

Once upon a time, there were the evil, manicial, mega-juicing, sheepherders.  
   They consisted of Luke Williams, Butch Miller and Rip Morgan.  They 
   functioned as a unit with Morgan playing the third man for six-man tags 
   or as the evil outside manager type.

   Then one day, there was a US tag title tourney in the NWA.  The
   Sheepheaders looked unstoppable in their quest for the titles.  Then
   came the victory, and immediatly after it, the departure of Williams 
   and Miller for the WWF, where they began the happy and stupid gimmick
   "The Bushwackers".  Rip Morgan was left alone to carry the noble banner 
   of the Sheepherders onward.  (That banner usually being a flag to beat 
   people over the head with).

   There was another man, a man named Jack Victory.  Jack Victory, man of 
   a thousand bad gimmicks...  Jack, of the famous John Tatum-Jack Victory
   tag team.  At that time, Jack had lost his way and had become "secret 
   service" Jack Victory.  Jack went to the ring dressed in green overalls 
   and fought the good fight. Jack and Rip formed the tag team "The New 
   Zealand Militia".  They show up occasionally in various places. Mostly 
   minor league promotions.  I dont know if they are still active or not.

Q. "Why does <X> always say <Y> can't wrestle?"
Many posters believe that people like Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior cannot 
  wrestle. Neither can Sting, Sid Justice, or quite a few other big namers.
  The belief stems from an appreciation of talent and workrate, and a dislike
  of untalented wrestlers being given a push based on "the look" (which can
  only be attained through steroid abuse).  Other posters are not that overly
  concerned with workrate, and appreciate the angles, interviews, and squash
  type matches put on by the WWF. I personally like both workrate, interview
  style, ability to draw heat, and good angles (or well acted bad angles :-) 
  equally, and appreciate any good product that has these elements.

  For an example of what "workrate" is, watch Jushin Riger in WCW. He was
  the Light Heavyweight Champion for a few months, recently losing the title
  to Brian Pillman; Riger is probably one of the most exciting and technically 
  competent wrestlers alive today.

Q. "What ever happened to Terry Taylor?"
   "Was Terry Taylor the 'Red Rooster'?"
Terry Taylor is wrestling in WCW as the Taylor Made Man. He did wrestlin in
  the WWF as the "Red Rooster", but wishes that everyone would just forget
  about that mistake, which was quite injurious to his career.

  Notice the spelling for Taylor in "Taylor Made Man".

  Taylor and Greg Valentine (after being laid off from the WWF and picked
  up by WCW) were programmed together as a tag team, and actually won a set
  of straps (the U.S. Tag Team Titles), as a transition team, so they could 
  drop the straps to a face team (The current incarnation of The Freebirds).

Q. "Has Dusty Rhodes been reincarnated, or what?"
Dusty Rhodes has not been reincarnated. The thing that looks, acts, talks,
  wrestles, and interviews like him is actually his son Dustin Rhodes (Dustin
  Runnels). At least he is not as fat as good ol' dad, yet...

  Actually, Dustin trys very hard, and is getting better and better every
  day. As he develops his own persona, he will be more exciting to watch.

Q. "Where are Crush, Axe, and Smash, from Demolition?"
Crush is now back wrestling for the WWF as Crush. He had moved to Don Owens
  PNW promotion in Portland, Oregon, where he was the heavyweight champ on
  and off for several months. He also wrestled in Japan during the time he
  disappeared from the WWF. He was wrestling as "Demolition Crush" and
  "Crush of Demolition" during his absence. Crush is Brian Adams. Axe (Bill 
  Eadie) was working for the GWF's production staff until about 4 months ago.
  He was also wrestling as "Axis the Demolisher".  Bill was dropped by the 
  WWF because he supposedly is suffering from a heart condition.  Bill is
  no longer with the GWF, and as far as I know, is not currently wrestling.
  Smash (Barry Darsow) is currently wrestling in the WWF as "The Repo Man." 

Q. "Where can I get more information about <X>"
   "Where can I get archived r.s.p-w posts?"
Lists of wrestlers REAL names can be requested from several people, including
  myself. The same is true of lists of wrestling relations, history of titles,
  and a list of commonly used terminology in r.s.p-w.

  There is also a mail server where you can do searches and get postings.   
  Send mail to 

     scifi!wrestlesearch@uunet.uu.net 

  with a subject line of 'help' for information.

Q. "What happened to the NWA?"
The NWA, now almost defunct, has been rechristened the WCW. Rumor has it that
  WCW may change their name back to NWA, but it has not been substantiated to
  date. YOu can still see the NWA logo on the WCW broadcasts.

Q. "What does CMLL stand for?"
CMLL stands for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (World Wrestling Council).
   CMLL is a wrestling promotion located in Mexico.

Q. "What is an international object?"
An "international object" is the term used to replace "foreign object" which
  was the original term used to describe any object (e.g., some brass knuckles)
  used in a wrestling match (see below).

Q. "What does the term <X> mean in all of these posts?"
The following terms are commonly used in this newsgroup. These are lifted from
a list compiled by Byron C. Howes. The entire list is available to anyone who
wants it, via e-mail from myself, and (I assume) Byron as well.
-----
FACE  noun. & adj.  [Babyface]  A good guy.

HEAT  noun.  Enthusiasm,  a positive response.  The WWF uses a heat machine

HEEL noun. A bad guy.

INTERNATIONAL OBJECT  noun.  Foreign object, something not allowed in the
  ring.  Derived from an order not to use the word "foreign" by the Turner 
  Broadcasting Companies.

JOB  noun.  A staged loss.  A clean job is a staged loss by legal pinfall or
  submission without resort to illegalities.  v.i.  To do a job.  Sometimes
  combined with a descriptive adjective (stretcher job, rope job, tights
  job.)

JOBBER  noun.   An unpushed wrestler who does jobs for pushed wrestlers.
  Barry Horowitz is probably the best known of these. Sometimes known as
  fish, redshirts or PLs (professional losers.)

JUICE  noun.  Blood.  v.i.  to bleed, usually as a result of blading.
JUICE  noun.  Steroids. (Juicer - a steroid user).

MARK  noun.  A member of the viewing audience that believes professional 
  wrestling outcomes are not staged and/or believes the propaganda that
  is constantly pumped at them by the marketing machines of the various
  professional wrestling organizations (NWA, WCW, GWF, WWF, etc.) A 
  generally uninformed fan. The opposite of a "smart fan".

POP  noun.  A big fan reaction to a wrestler.

PUSH  verb.  to give a wrestler a series of matches that will improve
  his standing in the fans' eyes.

SCREW-JOB  noun. adj.  A match or ending which is not clean (definite) due to
  factors outside the "rules" of wrestling.

SHOOT  noun.   The real thing, i.e. a match where one participant is
  really attempting to hurt another.  The opposite of work or fake.
  Ignoring the script and going at it for real.  Sometimes the booker 
  will tell a wrestler to make it a shoot, in order to teach another 
  wrestler a lesson about what it means to work and do an occasional
  job.
 
WORKRATE  noun.  The approximate ratio of good wrestling to rest holds in a
  match or in a wrestler's performance.
-----

Q. "Who is the holder of the r.s.p-w bandwith title?"
   "What criteria are used to determing the bandwidth champion?"
   "Who cares about the bandwidth champ anyway?"

OB DISCLAIMER:  A LOT OF PEOPLE HATE THIS SECTION, THIS TOPIC, AND THE 
FLAMES THAT HAVE RESULTED FROM DISAGREEING OVER IT.  READ IT AT YOUR 
OWN RISK, UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS IS MY SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF THIS
FAQ. (: Being the keeper of the FAQ allows me to do things like this :)

Well, this is debatable depending on who you think is awarding the title. 
   I personally think it is Herb Kunze (Based on the overwhelming ratio of 
   informational posts to bogus noise posts from Herb).

   Sean P. Ryan was the original Bandwidth title holder. The "Bandwidth 
   Title" is awarded informally, and without any real voting, to the poster
   who puts the most information on the r.s.p-w newsgroup. Sean originally 
   won it with a post about why he would never get married... The rules have 
   been modified such that posts like that no longer qualify one for the
   Bandwidth Title.  Only posts having to do with "pro-wrestling" now 
   qualify one for the Bandwidth Title. Posts like the infamous "Marriage 
   and Beer" post only place one in contention for the non-prestigious 
   moniker "Bandwidth Jobber". Fictional posts also fall in the Bandwidth 
   Jobber category.

   Personally, I think the whole thing has gotten out of hand... and I like
   the controversy it generates :^}

   Being the original "awarder" of the titile, I contend that the only 
   WORLD champion is Herb Kunze. Sean P. Ryan, "The Hardcore Alaskan" 
   is a close second. Other contenders this year include Big JOMOSH, 
   Cactus RG, Gary Will, and Dave Fields. 

   Jobbers are bandwidth users that post little of value, as far as
   REAL professional wrestling is concerned. The Jobbers include the 
   Stilt man, Brian W., and Phil Stromer.

Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling