Wrestling MarketWatch: Back To The ‘80s!

I remember my early days of going to toy shows. You know, that great time before every single event labeled itself a “con.” When you could pull a loose “black card” LJN from a 75 cent box. The good old days, as it were. Anyway, I’d often see the same guy in those peaceful morning shopping moments. Physically he wasn’t always the same person, though sometimes he was. It was more of his style, if you can call it that. It was men in their 60s or 70s. Always hunting items from old sci-fi entities like “Forbidden Planet” and discussing the nuances of “Robbie the Robot.” Loudly, for everyone to hear. Always slicked back silver hair, drenched in a half bottle of Aqua Velva and, sadly, just the picture of loneliness from top to bottom. I didn’t pity these men. I guess, in my mind, I sort of applauded them for putting themselves out there and thinking nothing of it. Those types don’t show up much anymore. They’re either, sadly, gone, or are just no longer interested. Have us fans of ‘80s entertainment and pop culture replaced them? In a sense, I guess. But I’m not lonely, I don’t use Aqua Velva and I cannot stand hair product. I guess I have those three things going for me.

In any case, this blog is certainly a place where we celebrate those who love the past, so this time in MarketWatch we’re goin’ “Back to the ‘80s!” It’s been a year since we last tackled the topic in MarketWatch and we’ll even check in on an item that we looked at back then, too. Did the price go up? Did the price go down? My lips are sealed. Well, until we look at that item, that is. As always, prices listed are for non-autographed examples unless noted.

*You might say that the ‘80s were beyond the heyday of Bob Roop, but he was still tearing up rings in Florida and Kentucky among other places. Long known for his legitimate wrestling skills (find the film of him “stretching” wrestling hopefuls under the watch of Eddie Graham), Roop is an excellent story teller as well if you engage him on social media or have the chance to meet him at an event. He’s particularly proud of his tours of Japan and has quite the memory of his career. He was included in one of the coveted Wrestling All-Stars trading card sets that have gotten a lot of attention over the past decade. His card has been recently selling at auction for an average of $40.

*One man who definitely had his best moments in the 1980s, despite starting the decade prior, was Don Muraco. The Magnificent One was a headliner virtually everywhere he went and owes his immortality to being a memorable face during the early WWF “expansion” years. While he ended his WWF career as a babyface in late 1988, Muraco was a pure heel. His antics with Mr. Fuji are the stuff of legend but I still think that eating a sandwich while demolishing a hapless enhancement talent sums up Magnificent Muraco just perfectly. He didn’t have too many magazine covers, oddly enough, but the May 1983 issue of Sports Review Wrestling, featuring Muraco with the classic WWF Intercontinental Belt, has long been considered a favorite by many. The issue recently sold for the very attractive price of just $12.

*Back in the ‘80s you had VHS, BETA and Laserdisc to preserve wrestling viewing for the future. Amazingly, the lesser of the three as far as quality, VHS, ultimately won out and would reign supreme until the late ‘90s. In the past nearly fifteen years of this blog we’ve talked about the Coliseum Video WWF Laserdisc collection a few times. There are only four titles and it’s a really fun set to have. The large covers/sleeves offer that same feel that records do. It’s why digital media will never truly replace physical for a lot of people. It’s sort of interesting that, when the autograph business (and if you don’t think it’s a business, check out the prices) is at a record high, some of the best items to be signed are on the downturn as far as being produced – that, again, being physical media. You can’t get the movie star to sign a digital copy of their latest film. Regardless, we have all the classic stuff and that’s what we’re celebrating here. The Laserdisc of the first WrestleMania recently sold for $75.

*One man who was a star in the ‘80s, but also the ‘70s and every decade since is Jerry “The King” Lawler. Whether it be as the absolute King of Memphis Wrestling, the cowardly heel wrestling/announcer in the WWF or as one of the most recognizable true legends of wrestling, The King reigns supreme no matter what he does. He even released music as you’ve no doubt seen on this very blog before. He likes to joke that his albums weren’t released, they escaped, but we know that The King has the talent for anything that he does. Though there was some sort of reprinting of his albums in recent years, nothing beats the originals. A copy of Jerry Lawler & The Nunnery Brothers Band recently sold for $40. Memphis music never sounded better. Well…

*Ah yes, the item we looked at one year ago! Who was bigger than The Hulk and The Hillbilly? Hillbilly Jim gets a lot of meaningless criticism from those who don’t realize that wrestling is a show. There’s a reason why he’s so remembered. He’s a mountain of a man, had a great character and a load of charisma. Don’t tell me “oh, but Jim Crockett wouldn’t have had him.” No, they had Hepatitis-plagued Boogie Woogie Man and crowds of 1,000 while Hillbilly Jim was “stinking up the joint” to electric audiences of 20,000. You know I’m kidding. You all know that I love JCP as much as anyone else. I’m just pointing out how silly it is to say one was better than the other. Anyway, I’m feeling as if the prices that surged in 2020 on most collectibles are finally coming down. They have to…who has any money? One year ago the LJN WWF Wrestling Superstars Hulk and Hillbilly tag set sold for $600. It’s now averaging half of that at $300.

And there you have another trip back to the ‘80s and maybe even a little social and wrestling commentary thrown in. Are us ‘80s fans REALLY replacing the previous nostalgia hunters? Eh. I think that some of us know how to keep it on a better level. Even still, maybe it’s not such a bad idea to be like them after all. What were they doing? Being themselves. If we had more people who weren’t afraid to be themselves perhaps the world would look a bit less clownish that it currently does. There you go. Some food for thought and reflection, as well.

Who says that you don’t get it all in the wrestling memorabilia blog?

My Favorite Events--WWF WrestleMania IV

 “So sit back and relax, or if you’re like me get on the edge of your seat, because WrestleMania IV is next!”

– Craig DeGeorge, Coliseum Video

It's been thirty-five years since the WWF invaded Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall which at the time was somewhat enveloped as part of the Trump Plaza complex. A polarizing event since the day it occurred, WrestleMania IV has always been one of my favorite editions of Mania. For this "coral" anniversary let's go back to "Atlantic City's Centerpiece" and see why I'm not the only fan with endless love and memories for the fourth installment of WrestleMania.

WrestleMania IV did huge business and it's easy to understand why. The company was riding high on its success at the Pontiac Silverdome with WrestleMania III one year earlier. Hulk Hogan was as recognizable as any sports star in the world and, while I feel the true "Rock 'n Wrestling era" saw its end at WrestleMania III, the mainstream inclusion was still there and thriving. It's part of why I'll never agree that Stone Cold Steve Austin eclipsed The Hulkster as the biggest star in wrestling history. Did Austin sell a few more shirts? It's possible. They were also a helluva lot easier to purchase. In the mid to late '80s almost anyone of any age knew who Hogan was. At the peak of Austin a decade later there were many people who still thought "Steve Austin" was "The Six Million Dollar Man." Trust me when I say that Austin was not the household name that Hogan was. There will never be anyone bigger in professional wrestling in the United States than Hulk Hogan.

Up front I will admit that I did not watch the event live. The first WrestleMania that I remember seeing from start to finish was WrestleMania III on VHS on my birthday in 1987. I do recall seeing highlights of IV on "The WWF Television Network." Despite being a child, I have more memories of wrestling in prime time than the traditional weekend morning slots. Therefore I likely saw highlights on Prime Time Wrestling. Another interesting memory is that, despite never being much of a boxing fan, for whatever reason my mind associated the look of WrestleMania IV with boxing. It makes sense, I'm just not sure how I picked up on it at the time. Personal memories for me also revolve around the build and the aftermath. My dad and I watched both the January 2nd, 1988 Saturday Nights Main Event (Andre's attack on Hogan) and The Main Event on February 4th as they happened. After WrestleMania, like legions and legions of other kids, I was fascinated by the VHS release. A pop-up box featuring The Hulkster? A double tape set? WWF marketing magic at its best.

Speaking of that VHS, this is one of the few Coliseum Video WrestleMania releases that completely trumps the original pay-per-view version. Very little is edited out (I do believe a bit is missing from the Rick Rude-Jake Roberts match which, as you know, is not a big loss) and a bunch of extra content is included. An extended intro, a brief rundown of "WrestleMania Weekend," and special backstage promos. It's a surprise to some that the legendary sequence of Bobby Heenan receiving his "special package" was a Coliseum Video exclusive. It's so memorable, and important to the event, that many figure it was part of the pay-per-view. Speaking of the "WrestleMania Weekend" footage, what you're seeing is actually what turned into what became known as WrestleMania Axxess years later. Look for Brian "Blue Meanie" Heffron in the sequence showing Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat signing autographs!

I know that I'm not a product of my own era and my tastes skew very differently from others around my age, but I never got the need for modern rock music in virtually any event from any wrestling promotion in the past twenty-five years. Other sports don't always go with it, yet wrestling inexplicably feels the need to be "edgy," or something, and shoves "modern rock" down our collective throats. That being said, I love the simple sax intros for Mania 2 and III and the extension of the classic "What The World Is Watching" music intro for IV. Remember, less is more. I recently uncovered info about what seems to be a last minute change in the opening minutes of WrestleMania IV. If you're a follower of the blog on Instagram, you already know what it is! If you don't have a clue, all that I can advise is to stay tuned for the next blog entry.

Back then everyone knew who the celebrity guest were, too. The world recognized Vanna White, Bob Uecker, Robin Leach and Gladys Knight. It isn't like today where people are actually labeled "racist" for not knowing certain WrestleMania celebrity guests. Yes, folks, it's happened. In watching the hype and at the event itself, it's interesting to note that Vanna is rarely mentioned without the full "Wheel of Fortune's Vanna White" title. It had to be something in her contract. There's even a match on a pre-Mania edition of Wrestling Challenge where Gorilla Monsoon corrects Heenan into saying "Wheel of Fortune's Vanna White." It continues many times throughout IV until Uecker suddenly decides that she's "some guy named Vance White."

Speaking of Gorilla, I've made it no secret over the years that I prefer his broadcast booth partnership with Jesse "The Body" Ventura. They tended to be brought together only for special events and to this day I find their commentary somewhat comforting. It felt real, unrehearsed and natural unlike anything you'd hear on WrestleMania today. I'm not putting down the modern product, I'm just pointing out things that even the staunchest of modern day supporters are forced to agree with.

The show itself is long and the crowd is admittedly not as responsive as a WrestleMania audience should be. The reasons for this have been discussed ad nauseam, but I will say that if this same exact show, tournament matches and all, had been held at the Pontiac Silverdome with that size crowd consisting of true wrestling fans, WrestleMania IV would be remembered far differently. I'm not saying that it was the most perfectly booked show ever put out by the World Wrestling Federation, but it definitely holds a reputation in some circles that it simply does not deserve.

I'll go as far as to say that WrestleMania IV frankly wasn't the place for the "five star matches" that many of the shows detractors wish would've happened. Yes, you occasionally did get your "mat classics" like Steamboat-Savage and British Bulldogs-Dream Team at the early WrestleMania shows, but that's not what the name nor the company were built on at the time. It was glitz and glamour, stars and spectacle. What I call the "What The World Was Watching" era began at WrestleMania IV and it was never more true of a motto than at this time.

As far as storytelling in wrestling, it's never been better than right here. One of the single most memorable storylines arguably took off at this very event and culminated one year later in the same arena. That, of course, is The Mega Powers exploding. In addition you had a cast of dozens who nearly all qualify for "legend" status all these years later. I find it very hard to believe that the same will be able to be said about many stars of the modern product. I word it that way as I don't believe it to be the fault of the current talent as much as it is the presentation that they're forced to deal with. Eh, the scripted promos could go, too.

Thankfully we're left with more than just memories three and a half decades later. The WrestleMania marketing machine seemed to really take off with IV, again building off of the success in 1987. Posters, apparel, press materials and other souvenirs are aplenty. The aforementioned VHS tape is arguably the most beloved and remembered release in the entire Coliseum Video WWF library. Back then and even now I also most associate the WrestleMania VCR game with WrestleMania IV, especially since it was released the same year and featured footage from the event.

Lost media has become a big deal in recent years. The definition of such being film, photographic or print content that was known to exist at one time but is no longer readily accessible. There are two forms of "lost media" pertaining to WrestleMania IV that seem to have disappeared. The first was an amazing photo gallery of fan-taken shots during the weekends of WrestleMania IV and V. Most of the pictures were of the wrestlers in and around Trump Plaza. They were truly fascinating photographs and I lament not saving them. The other was a video which was available on YouTube just a year or two ago. It was a press conference, held seemingly the day after IV, in a room likely somewhere in the Trump Plaza hotel. Mean Gene Okerlund interviewed The Macho Man, Elizabeth and The Hulkster in front of dozens of press members. 

As for additional content that is still out there to view, it's actually fairly plentiful. YouTube has collections of 1988 episodes of Wrestling Challenge surrounding Mania IV. The post-event shows feature promos in front of the "glittery globe" interview backdrop with not only the celebrities but also the wrestlers themselves highlighting upcoming feuds-some of which happened and others that didn't. Also on YouTube is a nearly nine minute radio segment off of New York's WFAN featuring early "smart mark" speculation and a call-in from someone in Atlantic Coty the night before. For those without a VCR, DailyMotion has the Coliseum Video extras currently uploaded in amazing quality. As I alluded above, I feel that those extras are essential for full WrestleMania IV enjoyment. Also readily available via Peacock/WWE Network is the last episode of Prime Time Wrestling before the show. Gorilla and Bobby bring the laughs from all areas of the Trump Plaza hotel and casino complete with great glimpses of some amazing Mania advertising.

Although there are a few gems hidden inside of it, I don't highly recommend Bruce Prichard's podcast review of the event. Despite the show being his first WrestleMania he doesn't have much good to say about it. He DOES offer a good reason as to why Savage-Steamboat II didn't happen at the show and it's reasoning that this fan agrees with. Lance Storm, who attended the show, offers a few fascinating photos that he took (including a GREAT WrestleMania IV billboard shot) however his written commentary and review of the show impress me about as much as Prichard's reflections. 

I don't know that anyone has written as much about this show as I have and next time, to celebrate the actual day of the event, we're giving you even more IV! How about an inside look at an actual artifact from the show? You've seen the press kit. Now we're going to go through the actual WrestleMania IV media guide which was only included in the press kit at the show itself. You saw a bit of it on Instagram a few weeks ago, now it's time to see What The World Was Watching just as if you were there covering the show yourself! Stay tuned...

Wrestling MarketWatch: More Of What The World Was Watching!

While not the very first edition of Wrestling MarketWatch, it was well over a decade ago that we looked at items that “The World Was Watching.” These were figures, magazines and other collectibles that emanated from the time period that many consider to be “the golden era” of the World Wrestling Federation. Seeing as that this year is the 35^th anniversary of one of the prime shows of the era, WrestleMania IV, I’m sure that we’ll be discussing this period more in the near future. As for now, let’s look at what classic items of the day recently sold for at auction. As always in Wrestling MarketWatch, prices are for unsigned items even if the photo shows otherwise.

*Seeing as that it is in fact the “coral jade” anniversary of WrestleMania IV, we may as well kick it off with an item from that show. I’ve been pleased to see that more and more people have admitted loving the show in recent years. For a long time, it felt as if I were the only one. I’m sure that I’ll rant more about that in the coming months. None the less, I would say that this show really has the most branded items of the first few WrestleMania events. With both the WWF and the Trump marketing machines behind it, it isn’t hard to understand why. One of the focal points of the show was “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and his somewhat underhanded quest to become WWF Champion. After all, he was the catalyst for the tournament happening to begin with. The WrestleMania IV branded promo photo of DiBiase, along with bodyguard Virgil, recently sold for $30.

*WrestleMania IV had the perfect follow-up with WrestleMania V. While you could throw a few other duos into the argument, I would say that no two WrestleMania events are better connected than these two. Not only does the title story begin and end between the two shows, but the overall look and feel of the shows are forever intertwined with both being held at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. The WrestleMania V program has a wide range of recent selling prices going anywhere from $20 to $75. Even the difference of the newsstand edition against the one sold at the event (the photo included illustrates) has zero effect on price. Condition is usually key, but even that seems to have gone by the wayside. I can recall a time when the early WrestleMania programs sold for little more than common magazine issues of the day. Not so much now.

*One item shown in the first MarketWatch under the “The World Was Watching” theme is the LJN WWF Wrestling Superstars Vince McMahon figure. Here he is again and boy has that price changed. At the time it was rather surprising that the figure was selling for nearly $100 carded. The price has now gone up to between $300-$600. I’m still grateful that, nearly thirty years ago, I picked one up for $25 as part of a “warehouse find.” Even loose examples are skyrocketing. The man who took wrestling to places it had never been, especially in this era, still holds clout. The huge shoulders and cleft chin remain a staple in anyone’s LJN collection.

*In the tag team ranks I’m not sure that any twosome is better remembered from this period than Demolition. Ax and Smash are my own favorite tag team and around these parts we don’t even entertain the notion that they’re some sort of ripoffs of the other guys. May they have started that way? Possibly. But the advantages of Demolition over the Road Warriors can be seen by any knowledgeable fan. Everyone should respect what the L.O.D. did, but Demolition did their own thing and didn’t overstay their welcome. One of their drinking glasses recently sold for an average of $25. The prices of wrestling cups and glasses are definitely on the rise. In this particular one you can fill it with your favorite fruit juice and get your daily act of…nutrition.

*You can’t talk “What The World Was Watching” without mentioning The Hulkster. In fact, one of the many ways that fans could watch him and the rest of the WWF Superstars was by laserdisc. For a short time, anyway. Coliseum Video released four of their titles on the long defunct platform and one of which was the first released titled “Hulkamania.” Many of you will be familiar with it from its VHS release, but the laserdiscs are so much cooler to collect. It’s both a blessing and a curse that only four saw print. The Hulkster recently sold for $50 in this format. This is a nice set of early home media relics that can be quickly completely.

Monday Night Raw may be coming up on its thirtieth anniversary, but that just doesn’t hold the nostalgia for me that the ‘80s stuff does. I know many of you are the same way. It isn’t even our ages. There was just simply a magic in that Hulk Hogan – Randy Savage – Andre the Giant era that could never be duplicated. Even watching the shows back now, it’s evident that perhaps the world had become two cynical for magic like that. The grandeur was replaced by grit, or at least a manufactured version of grit. The company evolved as the tastes of the world changed. I’ll stay back when life was fun, thank you…

Wrestling MarketWatch: WrestleMania Rarities

It's that time of year. WrestleMania season. You can practically hear the classic 'Mania song in your head. Well, maybe not that so much anymore. It doesn't quite have the same excitement for me anyway, but that's no reason not to celebrate the past. Isn't that what we've always done here on this blog? And on MarketWatch, we've always taken a look at a handful of items and their most recent selling prices at auction. This time we're looking at some of the more uncommon items celebrating "The Greatest Sports Entertainment Extravaganza of All-Time!"

*March 31, 1985. New York, New York. Madison Square Garden. It's where it all started. Hulk Hogan. Rowdy Roddy Piper. Mr. T. Andre the Giant. Muhammad Ali. Cyndi Lauper. Liberace! The stars were out for WrestleMania and it's no surprise that fans wanted to watch the event again and again. While the classic Coliseum Video clamshell VHS video is well-remembered, seen a bit less is the Laserdisc release. A total of four WWF Laserdisc releases were done by Coliseum Video, with WrestleMania arguably being the most visibly striking of the entries. The classic Hogan-T poster art will never be forgotten. An example recently sold for $45.

*Another star who appeared at the first WrestleMania was Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. The legendary manager and broadcaster actually made an impact at the first nine WrestleMania events not to mention some cameos at later installments. In the build-up to WrestleMania VIII, Heenan began referring to himself as "Indiana's Favorite Bobby" in reference to legendary Indiana Hoosiers coach Bobby Knight. A pinback button was produced and given out to promote Heenan's appearance on radio station "The Fox 103.3" leading up to the 1992 installment of WrestleMania. This rarely seen item recently sold for $25.

*Many collectors love to snap up the WrestleMania programs, but some are a lot easier to find than others. Although it was technically WrestleMania XVI, the event in 2000 was aptly named "WrestleMania 2000." There was "A McMahon In Every Corner" and all four appear on the cover along with The Rock, Triple H, The Big Show, and Mick Foley. Needless to say with it's inclusion here, this is not one of the easier WrestleMania programs to come by. A recent example sold for $169.99 which is down from the $250 that I personally sold one for over a decade ago.

*Speaking of The Rock, his most recent WrestleMania matches have seen him pitted against John Cena. While their second battle is near and dear to me due to the fact that I was there, their first clash has meaning to me as well seeing as my predictions on the bout were included in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated issue previewing the match. That encounter also saw a special "Rumblers" two-pack produced by Mattel. Rumblers were small, cartoonish looking figures that were a big hit with collectors of all ages. The packaging for this particular set was unique, a lot of fun, and was likely a major reason for the item to recently sell at auction for $50.

*If you're looking for an affordable relic from an actual WrestleMania event just look to the skies. Well, it may be too late for that now, but you can still grab some of those great "dollars" that have fallen from the heavens (or at least the ceiling) over the years. Shane McMahon had the falling "money" gimmick as did Floyd "Money" Mayweather, but the first was back at WrestleMania 21. That year it was none other than JBL who "made it rain" during his entrance at the big event. One of those "One-Hundred Dollar" bills recently sold at auction for $25.

If you're going to collect a theme, where better to start than the biggest show of the year? It may pay to wait until after "WrestleMania Season" is over, but you can bet that there will always be classic items available with thirty-five years worth of memories to relive packed into each one.

MultimediaMania

As the world gears up for WrestleMania XXXIV (we still use the Roman numerals around these parts), it feels like time again to look at the memorabilia of the big event. Instead of keepsakes sold to promote the show or at the event itself, these are items from after the fact. These are the vessels in which fans can take the show home themselves and treasure for a lifetime. These are the pieces of  physical media on which WrestleMania can be played over and over again. It's the entire WrestleMania event that you can hold in your hands.

If I had to bet, I would say that WWF WrestleMania hit more VHS tapes in Pittsburgh before anywhere else. Why? After the closed-circuit feed of the inaugural WrestleMania failed at the Pittsbugh Civic Arena (nearly causing a riot in the process), the WWF presented much of the show on the city's ABC affiliate WTAE around a week later. Surely many Steel City fans pushed the record button on their VCRs to capitalize on this momentous event. Vince McMahon's introduction for this broadcast, done from the set of TNT, recently surfaced on YouTube. A few more weeks would pass before Coliseum Video released the official VHS of the event, which also found its way to Laserdisc as one of four WWF offerings in that form of media. The Laserdisc, the size of a vinyl record, presents the famous Hulk Hogan and Mr. T cover art in a way that the smaller VHS couldn't.

Coliseum Video would continue to present the shows, albeit with some edits, on VHS through 1997. One show that saw few edits but featured a lot of added content on the Coliseum Video release was WrestleMania IV. The show was released as a double VHS set, but the box itself was not to be outdone. Housing these two tapes was a package which opened up into a cardboard "pop-up" of The Hulkster himself. Even thirty years later, few fans would be able to resist just how cool this addition was. The Coliseum Video exclusive interviews and features on this set also truly add to the shows and give it an even more epic feel.

1998 saw WWF Home Video take over for Coliseum Video, and the first thirteen WrestleMania events were re-released in a box set under the new label. The set featured dubs taken straight from the original pay-per-view broadcasts, often with portions of intermissions and merchandise commercials that had been long eliminated from home video versions. While the picture quality suffered in this release, there are zero music edits. Yes, even "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," "Easy Lover," and other unlicensed numbers are all there. I'm still unsure how they got away with that one, but I've always been proud to own the set.

In 1999, the WWF released its first DVD in the form of WrestleMania XV. A few years later came a DVD anthology that was released several ways. These sets were very disappointing thanks to intense, and often unnecessary, music edits as well as blurred WWF logos and a very bland packaging design. They are not unwatchable, but I largely ignored them for years, instead favoring homemade DVD transfers of the 1998 VHS anthology. A limited edition version with a leather outer box signed by Vince McMahon was just about the only decent variation on this otherwise bleak release.

WWE continues to release its biggest annual event on DVD and Blu-Ray. While physical media was supposed to be dead by this point in the digital age, it continues on. There will always be fans like me who enjoy having a tangible item in their hands. Is it any wonder that vinyl records have made a comeback? How about WrestleMania back on Laserdisc? Stranger things have happened...

Hot Rod's Legacy of Memorabilia

The last time that Rowdy Roddy Piper was profiled at length in this blog was around the time of his passing. It was quite the sad time, as we had just lost Dusty Rhodes as well. Neither man is one who should be mourned long. It doesn't fit into the character of either man. Both brought countless joy to millions of people worldwide. In the case of Hot Rod, my friends and I highly rank him as one of the nicest wrestlers to meet. He may even top that list, and will likely never be replaced. Piper had a way of making any fan feel like an old friend. He was special.

Roddy Piper was at his peak of popularity (both "good" and "bad") just when the WWF marketing machine was taking off. Many remember his likeness showing up on everything from lunch boxes to trading cards, but that wasn't where the "Rowdy" memorabilia began. In addition to magazine and program covers, Piper's mug showed up on the cover of the 1983 Georgia Championship Wrestling calendar. Pictured with his broadcast colleague Gordon Solie. The feisty villain had just recently turned "good" by saving Solie from an attack by Don Muraco.

Just a few years later, Piper was making headlines on the cover of the then-fairly new official World Wrestling Federation Magazine. Though he would share the spotlight a few times in those early years with the likes of Captain Lou Albano, Cyndi Lauper, and even fellow villains Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik, my favorite "cover" moment arrived on the December 1985/January 1986 issue. An artists rendering depicts the "Hot Rod" celebrating Christmas the "Rowdy Way," complete with "Bah Humbug" t-shirt. "Ebenezer Piper," anyone?

And no one deserved their own dedicated Coliseum Video title more than the rowdy Scotsman. "Rowdy Roddy Piper's Greatest Hits" delivered exactly what it advertised. There were highlights from classic Piper's Pit segments, overviews of his biggest feuds, and of course matches. One of the most memorable moments on the video is when Rowdy Roddy Piper interviews...Rowdy Roddy Piper. It's "Hot Rod" at his heelish best. On a personal note, this was the final item that I ever had Roddy autograph.

How about action figures? There have been a load. Everyone remembers the classic LJN Wrestling Superstar figure with the cloth kilt. There are some figures such as the Winston Rock N' Wrestling eraser and the convention exclusive G.I. Joe that are stuff of collecting legend. There's even what is likely the newest figure, a Funko Mystery Mini that truly captures Roddy's spirit in its likeness. But my personal favorite may be the one that I played with the most as a child, his entry into the Hasbro WWF line. Something about it was just fun to play with, even if the figure didn't represent Roddy in his wrestling gear. Maybe it's the maniacal facial expression or the great detail on the clothing that still makes it stand out to me.

This is just a small sampling of "Hot Rod's" lasting legacy of items. You may prefer something related to his movie career or his oft-forgotten venture into music with the "I'm Your Man" release. It's all here for us to cherish forever. There's even a new book written by two of Piper's children. Although I have yet to check it out, I'm sure that it will only add more great tales and stories to the already lengthy Piper legend. And will we see more Rowdy Roddy Piper figures in the future? To quote the man himself, "You damn betcha, man!" As long as the bagpipes play on, Roddy Piper lives...

...and I bet he's still outta bubblegum.

Memories of Mat MAYhem

For the past month or so, friends of mine who are also wrestling fans have all heard the same thing out of me: I've been very disinterested in any of the current wrestling product as of late.  Post-WrestleMania burnout?  Possibly.  Some have said that even the WrestleMania build was lacking this year, but being involved in the weekend and at the event live completely nullified that for me.  It just seems that creativity is at an all-time low throughout the industry.  Whereas this time of year is normally full of new characters and feuds, it just feels to me like nothing is on the immediate horizon.

Will it pick up again?  I'm sure of it.  Thinking back to the month of May in years past, several of wrestling's most beloved concepts and events find their anniversaries at this time.  A legendary television program, an innovative pay-per-view, and one of the greatest matches of all-time are all a part of wrestling's "MAYhem."

Take for example the night of May 11, 1985.  It was a Saturday night and NBC was about to change wrestling forever.  The night before, the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island had witnessed the first taping of the WWF's Saturday Night's Main Event.  Four all-star matches featuring both the WWF Champion and the WWF Women's Champion?  Hulk Hogan, Wendi Richter, JYD, Roddy Piper, Mr. T, and Cyndi Lauper all on free tv?  That was Saturday Night's Main Event.  Although the WWF had produced two similarly star-packed specials earlier in the year for MTV, this was on prime time network television.  The current champions may be on television multiple times a week today, but it was always an event when Hogan made a tv appearance in 1985.  As if the first WrestleMania wasn't enough, SNME, as it came to be known, proved to anyone that the WWF was on the pop culture map.

For many fans, WWF concepts like SNME weren't exactly how they enjoyed their wrestling.  This group of fans frowned upon the heavy celebrity involvement and wanted wrestling the way that it had been presented for decades prior: two gladiators in a hard-hitting battle to the finish.  This style was by no means gone and in fact hit new heights just four years later.  On May 7, 1989, the NWA presented WrestleWar 1989, also known as Music City Showdown.  The event was held in Nashville, Tennessee to a crowd of around five-thousand fans.  The WWF, completely in war mode, ran a card in the same building the night before which has often been attributed to the low WrestleWar live gate.  No matter the tactics being played in the business, nothing was going to stop two of the all-time greats from putting on the performance of a lifetime.

The main event of the show (though not the last match) saw Ric Flair defeat Rick Steamboat for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship after over a half an hour of non-stop action.  While the pair had other blockbuster matches in 1989, this is considered by many to be their greatest.  The match is actually, for the record, my personal favorite of all-time.  It should be noted that both Flair and Steamboat have been quoted as saying that their matches in the late '70s and early '80s in the Mid-Atlantic territory were worlds better than their later efforts.  Sadly, the record of those matches are exclusive to memories of those who were there live.

The show also featured a number of other notable matches, including a very underrated encounter between Michael "P.S." Hayes and Lex Luger where the Fabulous Freebird snatched the NWA United States Championship from The Total Package.  The icing on the cake, as it were, for the show is the broadcast team.  One of my favorite teams, Jim Ross and Bob Caudle, call the action just as you would expect two of the all-time greats of the booth would.  If there were ever a broadcast team that perfectly blended the best of two eras, it was J.R. and Caudle.

Another home to classic matches was born just six years later on May 14, 1995.  It was about a month earlier at WrestleMania XI that Vince McMahon announced a new concept in pay-per-view wrestling: In Your House.  In the months where one of the "big five" WWF pay-per-view events was not taking place, a two-hour In Your House event would be available for just $14.95.  The price was about half of the cost of the larger events and only around forty-five minutes shorter.  For the first event, the WWF even gave away a house!  It's actually been said that the winner was only able to live in the house for a year.

Nonetheless, the concept worked as proven by a modern day pay-per-view calendar of around twelve events per year.  The In Your House events slowly began to receive subtitles such as "International Incident" and "Buried Alive."  These subtitles would eventually overcome the "In Your House" title which was finally dropped in 1999.  Though events of today such as "Money In The Bank" and "Over The Limit" are full length and full priced pay-per-views, I still think of them as "In Your House" events.  On April 30, 2013, WWE released a DVD and Blu-Ray compilation of the best In Your House matches hosted by a man often associated with the event, Todd Pettengill.

Will we see any groundbreaking wrestling events take place during this month of May?  With the month half over, I'd venture to say no.  Perhaps it's a better time to take a look back at wrestling's past.  It's always a good time for that.  As I frequently say and convey, you can never go wrong with a little, or a lot, of nostalgia.

From The Musty Yellowed Pages--WWF Magazine August/September 1985

This month we've explored the era of the "Rock 'n Wrestling Connection" quite a bit.  From the 1985 Topps WWF cards to the Rock 'n Wrestling cartoon, I think that we've covered the fun and "mania" that surrounded this time period in professional wrestling.  Although the mid-'80s "boom" period for wrestling seems to be universally accepted as stretching from Hulk Hogan's title win to just about early 1988, the Rock 'n Wrestling Connection itself was only about a year long.  The time when Cyndi Lauper seemed to disappear from the WWF, Wendi Richter herself vanished for obvious reasons, and WWF programming stopped appearing on MTV seems to be the cutoff point.  The WWF Magazine cover dated August/September 1985 is probably a good cutoff merchandise-wise, and that is what we're exploring today to top off the month of '80s glory.

Probably due to their own licensing deals, Lauper and Mr. T didn't appear on all that much WWF merchandise.  The cover of WWF Magazine is an exception for both.  Lauper appears here in a picture from the shoot for her "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" music video along with Rowdy Roddy Piper, Nikolai Volkoff, and The Iron Sheik.  With a bright orange background inserted behind the "fearsome" foursome, you can't miss the cover.  The first actual page (the inside cover is the letters page) starts right off with the WWF marketing machine.  Coliseum Video Presents WWF WrestleMania--The Greatest Wrestling Event Of All Time!  $39.95!  $39.95?  Yes, kids.  Videos were not usually "priced to own" until a few years later, but forty bucks was actually affordable compared to the normal price of WWF videos of the era, a fact that we will revisit in a bit.

Feature articles cover such stars as Hillbilly Jim, wrestlers such as Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat who hail from "The Islands" as well as Jesse "The Body" Ventura.  Ventura had just begun his transition from wrestler to commentator and the article does a good job of putting it over.  You notice in this and other articles that the photos used are much less polished than ones used in the future of the publication.  The photos are good, but ones such as a photo taken of Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon commentating ringside at the first WrestleMania are almost candid and not the "slick" style of photo used as the company got bigger and bigger.  Two WrestleMania programs sitting on the table probably make the picture even more appealing to me.

In his nearly decade long WWF-stint, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan was always a large part of WWF Magazine.  From having his own column to many articles about the Heenan family and his other devious antics, Heenan was as much a heat machine on the newsstand as he was at ringside.  Although he would get his own cover two years later, Heenan shines in an article examining his connection to his fan-given nickname of "Weasel" as well as the animal itself.

Keeping with the trend of profiling managers, another article focuses on one who had been with the company for quite awhile--Captain Lou Albano.  The Captain was appearing in the feature film "Wise Guys" with Danny DeVito and Joe Piscopo and the article includes behind-the-scenes photos.  A one-page article about WWF and Coliseum Video, a fluff piece discussing the latest releases, follows the Albano feature.

The cover article is next, with the photo-packed feature on Lauper's "Goonies" video that featured a plethora of WWF stars.  In addition to noting how massive the pirate ship set used in the video was, a particular photo of Freddie Blassie always stuck out to me.  This absolutely had to be one of the reference photos used by LJN when they created his figure.  The pose is identical down to the placement of the rings on his fingers.  The "Hollywood Fashion Plate" never looked better!

The marketing machine is back again with a page full of items that would command a high dollar today--early posters.  These would be even scarcer than the ones shown in the later merchandise catalogs which themselves are in high demand these days.  Posters of Hogan in three of his color combinations (blue and white, all white, and red and yellow) and Richter from her bikini shoot are particularly memorable.  The following pages feature early WWF logoed apparel.

$59.95!  There's the Coliseum Video price that most of us remember.  The "Andre the Giant," "Most Unusual Matches," and "Best of the WWF Vol. 2" tapes are showcased in a full page ad urging fans to order.  Although there were even some budget WWF videos released at the time, until WWF Home Video took over in late 1997, this was the price for most tapes.  Of course there were ways around this for fans to "bring home the action," but that's another story for another time.  The opposing page is the beginning of an article chronicling the feud between Freddie Blassie and The Sheik.  The Sheik, not the Iron Sheik.  This is a fact that the article points out.  Many of the early WWF Magazines not only feature stories on wrestling history, but also stars who were not in the organization of the time.  Jeff Walton, a name familiar to many wrestling fans, is the author of this article which is accompanied by several classic photos.

While the back cover is an advertisement for Tuesday Night Titans, it's the inside back cover that is memorable to so many fans.  "How Do You Get A Wrestler In A Mailbox?"  This is the ad to order the first five LJN WWF figures directly from the WWF Merchandise Department.  At only $10 each, how could anyone pass it up? 

This was the 1985 WWF.  These pages lavishly illustrate just how far this company was coming in both the fields of professional wrestling and entertainment.  An all-color, all-slick magazine was just the kind of publication that the progress of the rest of the company demanded.  I think the voice of the WWF at the time, Gorilla Monsoon, would've summed it up something like this...

"This magazine would be a best seller at any newsstand anywhere in the world!"

As usual where Gorilla is concerned, I would have to agree.