Table of contents for October 2018 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

I’M NOT SURE if Vince McMahon sends out Christmas cards each year. If he does, I’m certainly not on the list, but one person who should be is Anthony J. Wood. Familiar with that name? Didn’t think so. I wasn’t either until a few minutes ago when I Googled the question, “Who invented the DVR?” Why would McMahon be so beholden to this man? There are 2.4 billion reasons. That’s the number of dollars WWE will be paid by NBC Universal and Fox over the course of five years for the respective rights to Raw and Smackdown, beginning in the fall of 2019. And that windfall might not have been possible without one Anthony J. Wood. It was Wood who introduced the digital video recorder on behalf of his company,…

WITH SO MUCH wrestling to watch on TV these days, it can be difficult to find time to, you know, actually have a life. But there’s still some summer left, so get outside and enjoy it. That’s why outdoor projection screens were invented. This summer’s fun-themed edition of “Quick Count” includes some ideas to help you get through the dog days. GET A TAN In the 1980s and early-’90s, a dark tan was essential pro wrestling fashion—right up there with a fanny pack and Zubaz parachute pants. But times have changed. Now somebody just needs to let Big Cass know that. Since returning in April following an extended injury hiatus, Cass has been sporting a skin tone so unnatural that it would make Hulk Hogan circa 1991 jealous. It’s a…

ON A WRESTLEMANIA that included both The Undertaker and Daniel Bryan coming out of retirement, Ronda Rousey looking great in her first pro wrestling match, and a 10-year-old fan being plucked from the crowd and winning a championship, one of the overlooked feel-good moments of the night came on the Kickoff Show. On the second match of the night, and before the main card even began, Cedric Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali in the finals of the tournament to crown a new WWE cruiserweight champion. There wasn’t a rivalry, or even nor much of a storyline building up to the bout. All fans needed to know was that they were watching two young, gifted, and hungry wrestlers competing in the biggest match of their lives. What’s not to like? And,…

BRUNO SAMMARTINO’S PASSING on April 18 was a blow to fans around the world. Legends are supposed to live forever, right? We have news for you: They do. It’s now time to celebrate the “Living Legend” and his fabulous career. But how best to do it? Our magazine covers, of course! These covers present Bruno in all his glory, making headlines and projecting the physical image of a champion. In 2013, the 50th anniversary of his first heavyweight title victory, Sammartino was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden. During his speech, he graciously credited his worldwide popularity to the New York-based wrestling magazines, most of which were created by our founder, Stanley Weston. “When you’re so fortunate, as I was, to headline Madison Square Garden…

LIKE MOST TELEVISION newscasters, Kevin Hunsperger is accustomed to reporting the news rather than being part of the story. But on May 26, the evening anchorman for WSIL-TV in southern Illinois found himself in the midst of a buzzworthy drama unfolding inside of a steel cage. Hunsperger, who moonlights as a ring announcer for Stride Pro Wrestling, had been stalked for months by former heavyweight champ Roger Matheus and was finally goaded into a cage match by the big man when he subjected Hunsperger’s 12-year-old daughter, Brooke, to a powerslam at a Stride Pro show several weeks prior. Fans likely expected the wiry, 6’1”, 197-pound Hunsperger to suffer a drubbing, especially considering the 6’3”, 285-pound “Mad Viking” has punished opponents for a dozen years in the ring. Indeed, in the…

THE COMIC BOOK STORY OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING Not long ago, comic books were widely regarded as something of a lowbrow curiosity, relegated to rusty spin racks and the lowest shelves of gas stations and conveniences stores. But for maturing legions of Gen Xers, comics are now regarded as a credible medium through which even the most complex of subjects are made interesting and accessible to all ages. A genre well-known for action and bombast, comic books have much in common with professional wrestling, and recognizing these commonalities, Aubrey Sitterson and Chris Moreno have effectively married these pop culture institutions through their book, The Comic Book Story Of Professional Wrestling. Where most chronicles of professional wrestling might be content to use the era of Gotch and Hackenschmidt as a jumping off…

IN 1965, WRESTLER and actor Mike Mazurki established The Cauliflower Alley Club as a fraternal organization for professional wrestlers, boxers, and Hollywood “tough guys.” The name came as a reference to the mangled cauliflower ears: Mazurki and many other wrestlers of his era sported, visible testimonies to the punishment they endured in the ring; ears mauled by years of stiff headlocks and blunt force trauma. Mazurki’s left ear was selected as the official logo of the club, which eventually moved away from boxing and acting to focus entirely on pro wrestling. The annual C.A.C. Reunion in Las Vegas is a unique event. Once a closed gathering exclusively for industry insiders (wrestlers, promoters, referees, etc.), the C.A.C. now allows fans to become members, and the reunion has become a hybrid wrestling…

ONCE UPON A time, Tommy Dreamer made a name for himself as one of the most fearless, extreme pro wrestlers the sport has ever seen, wielding the Singapore cane and demolishing tables with reckless abandon. Back in those days, annihilating his opponents and causing as much collateral damage as possible were his two main concerns. But fast-forward two decades—Tommy Dreamer is no longer just a wrestler, but is now his own boss. And with that shift comes responsibilities the old Tommy Dreamer probably never imagined. For instance, now he has to pay for those tables. “I love breaking tables, I do. I made a career out of it,” he explains. “But there’s only one place now where you can still get those kind of tables to break, and they’re anywhere…

KENNY OMEGA FINALLY found a way to wrest the IWGP heavyweight title out of the hands of Kazuchika Okada on June 9, beating “The Rainmaker” two out of three falls at Dominion and ending Okada’s epic reign at the 720-day mark. Okada and Omega delivered yet another mat classic, arguably surpassing their 2017 Match of the Year winner at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Omega had failed in two previous title shots against Okada, but he had an important moral victory under his belt, having beaten Okada in a non-title match during the 2017 G1 Climax tournament. Perhaps seeking to avenge that loss, the champion issued the challenge to Omega for Dominion, with both sides agreeing to a no-time-limit, best-of-three falls title contest. It was clear that both wrestlers had their opponent…

SEND LETTERS TO: BETWEEN FALLS Box 96 Ft. Washington, PA 19034 Or you can e-mail your comments to prowrestlingillustrated@yahoo.com PRO WRESTLING ILLUSTRATED welcomes reader’s comments on any of our stories or columns. RONDAMANIA Did we select the cover photo for the August 2018 issue to embarrass Triple-H? Well, not really. Cowering from the attack of a woman nearly half his size is nothing for Hunter to be ashamed of. The woman is Ronda Rousey, after all. Ronda had an incredible debut at WrestleMania 34, but things will not be so rosy for Rousey in her WWE future, as was noted in our annual “WrestleMania: The Real Winners & Losers” section. “I understand where you guys are coming from,” wrote Barry Harwood. “I think Rousey’s prepared to be a target, and…

THE GREAT BRUNO Sammartino casts a long shadow, even in death. His April 18 passing reverberated throughout the industry and beyond, from the marquee of Madison Square Garden to a 10-bell salute on Monday Night Raw. “Luscious” Johnny Valiant and “Number One” Paul Jones passed away at around the same time, but their deaths didn’t receive quite as much attention. I’d like to acknowledge those two men right here. Johnny Valiant and Paul Jones probably never even met. Yet they did have something—actually, someone—in common: Jimmy Valiant. He is the link between both men, the brother of one and the nemesis of the other. In the 20 years I’ve been writing this column, I have never come across a friendlier, more polite man than Jimmy Valiant. Perhaps I was just…

The billion-dollar deal. In perhaps the most consequential business agreement in the history of pro wrestling, the Fox network has acquired the rights to air WWE Smackdown Live beginning in October 2019. Fox will pay WWE $1-billion over the course of five years, breaking down to about $4-million per episode. This will increase WWE’s bottom line considerably. Let’s put it in perspective: WWE raked in $6.5-million in domestic and international TV rights fees in the first quarter of 2018. As a result of the Fox deal, that figure will rise to approximately $120-million per quarter in domestic rights fees alone. Television rights will now be a much more important aspect of WWE’s business model, with the WWE Network earning $45-million and live events garnering $30-million per quarter. Essentially, Fox passed…

Top 10 and Tag Team ratings are based on won-lost records for the past month, quality of opposition, and inherent skill of each wrestler or tag team. These ratings are compiled by a committee consisting of Stu Saks, Dan Murphy, Kris Zellner, Harry Burkett, Louie Dee, and STRIGGA (cagematch.net, purolove.com). The numbers in parentheses indicate a wrestler’s position in that category last issue. Agate-sized ratings are supplied to PWI by promoters and can be e-mailed to us at pwiresults@yahoo.com (please put the word “ratings” in the subject line). TOP 10 1 KENNY OMEGA 228, Winnipeg, MB (–) IWGP heavyweight champion 2 AJ STYLES 218, Gainesville, GA (2)WWE heavyweight champion 3 SETH ROLLINS 217, Davenport, IA (4) WWE Intercontinental champion 4 BRAUN STROWMAN 385, Sherrills Ford, NC (5) No. 1 contender WWE Universal title 5 JEFF…