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That is weird to me as for Mania IV that is understandable as the whole tournament thing seemed lackluster but I would have figured V had a hot enough angle to bring a crowd to sell it out. Does that mean that WWF handled the tickets then and sold off a bunch to Trump?

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Not sure how it worked, I just remember PWI saying (and Meltzer confirming later) that a lot of the tickets were reserved for the "high rollers."  So I would guess a certain allotment were set aside for them ahead of time. 

 

FWIW, they actually added more seats for WMV expecting a sellout and according to Meltzer's numbers they were still 600 seats shy of that.  So technically, WMV might have sold out otherwise.

 

I do know that WrestleMania V was the most-watched WWF PPV until the Attitude era, so the real crowd was there watching it at home.

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As to the question of "why did Crockett run big stadiums that they had no shot at selling out?" remember that these guys were pretty fucking crazy as far as overspending and acting way too big for their means went.  This was just before Crockett bought out Watts for no real benefit (and paid too much in the bargain), moved their offices to a much more expensive location in Dallas just for appearance purposes, and took private jets everywhere.  Crockett was ballin' out of control before ballin' out of control was cool.

 

This is kind of what I imagine Crockett's accountant said after reviewing the books:

 

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Was it agreed that WM V would take place at Trump plaza before WM IV even took place? I think they could have got a stadium crowd for Hogan vs Savage.

 

That was what lead me into thinking about these questions. I feel like Hogan/Savage could've drawn in a stadium atmosphere, especially the buyrate that it got showing that could've been the case in a better environment.

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I recall that WM4 and WM5 (or at least WM5) had some pretty crazy gates comparatively due to those high-roller seats going for high-roller prices.

 

I don't have the numbers in front of me but I know WWF made more off the 18,000 people at WMV than the 78,000-93,000 in attendance at WMIII.

 

EDIT:  WrestleMania V did $1.63 million on 18,946.  WMIII did $1.6 million with at least 4x the crowds.

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It's also worth remembering at the time that thanks to Mike Tyson being such a presence there, that the ACCC had a genuine big-fight atmosphere.

But I get why they went back. It was really too good an offer to say no to if Trump could get them a $1M gate with minimal effort on WWF's part.

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It's also worth remembering at the time that thanks to Mike Tyson being such a presence there, that the ACCC had a genuine big-fight atmosphere.

But I get why they went back. It was really too good an offer to say no to if Trump could get them a $1M gate with minimal effort on WWF's part.

 

Location wise it made a lot of sense to since Philly is only a hour drive and NYC, Baltimore and D.C. were all drives under or around 3 hours.

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Was there a reason Bob Holly and the Kid won the tag title tournament after replacing the Smoking Gunns in 95 only to lose the titles the next night...to the Smoking Gunns?

Bob Holly mentioned it in his book. And no, there was no given reason. When he asked why they were dropping the belts they had no real answer. I would guess the Gunns were originally scheduled to win the tourney and Billy's injury made them unable to compete, so the Gunns winning the next night just returned to the status quo.

 

Isn;t the old school theory/rule that if you sub a babyface into a title match they have to win.  Send the fans home happy even if they didn't see what was advertised.  

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Was there a reason Bob Holly and the Kid won the tag title tournament after replacing the Smoking Gunns in 95 only to lose the titles the next night...to the Smoking Gunns?

Bob Holly mentioned it in his book. And no, there was no given reason. When he asked why they were dropping the belts they had no real answer. I would guess the Gunns were originally scheduled to win the tourney and Billy's injury made them unable to compete, so the Gunns winning the next night just returned to the status quo.

Isn;t the old school theory/rule that if you sub a babyface into a title match they have to win. Send the fans home happy even if they didn't see what was advertised.

There is some truth to this, but it's not as if Holly/Kid just stepped in to the finals of the tournament. They replaced the Gunns before the first round started, so it's a bit of a stretch in that respect.

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How much Windy City (Pro) Wrestling from the 90s/early 00's exists on tape? I know it aired on Sportschannel for a time, but have no idea on dates or availability.

I found a random episode on Dailymotion and it was a fun watch. Always like watching the Texas Hangmen and some team called the Dream Warriors had a truly abysmal promo. Would love to see more if it's out there.

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How much Windy City (Pro) Wrestling from the 90s/early 00's exists on tape? I know it aired on Sportschannel for a time, but have no idea on dates or availability.

I found a random episode on Dailymotion and it was a fun watch. Always like watching the Texas Hangmen and some team called the Dream Warriors had a truly abysmal promo. Would love to see more if it's out there.

I feel like we used to get that show in NYC for a while.  I remember Chris Daniels from that show.  We were lucky enough to get JAPW and a local indy that used guys like Low Ki and the like in the late 90s.  I have a bunch of those on VHS.  Really need to back up the tape collection.  

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So, was looking at old Observer awards listings (at this very helpful site put together by Chris Harrington: https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharrington/mookieghana-prowrestlingstatistics/wo_awards_history#TOC-1992

 

I was shocked at how poor WCW did across the board. I mean, I watched the NWA tag tournament at COTC and GAB recently and enjoyed it, that year was the rise and fall of the Dangerous Alliance, and Vader was wrecking people. As a an 11 year old, 1992 is one of my fave years in wrestling for WCW. I recall there just being great wrestling across the board. 

 

I understand business sucked and Watts was divisive but a few results really stand out, though I'm looking back from 23 years: 

 

Vader not being in Top 5 for Wrestler of the Year

War Games with Stinger's Squadron against the DA being 7th in MOTY (It might be one of the most North American matches of the decade)

WCW finishing second in Worst Promotion

 

I know business was rough and Observer awards can be finicky but that just strikes me as odd. 

 

I'm in the same boat. The Dangerous Alliance/Vader/tag team stuff was really what hooked me on wrestling.

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Right.  That's what I figured.  But how did Ernie Ladd headline in IWA (which I assume was non NWA, right?) and then move to other places without issue?  Mil Mascaras was another IWA guy.

 

Also, is it true that Mil Mascaras has been holding on to and defending (?) the IWA title for the last 40 years????

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