10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 1991
1. The Dave Meltzer Vs. WWF Blow-Up
In 1991, the year of war in the WWF, a battle broke out between the promotion and Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
A letter was written to Dave's then editor, Frank Deford of The National, concerning a story Meltzer had written.
Meltzer reported that Hulk Hogan was sent by the WWF to visit troops in Saudi Arabia in a bid to strengthen his public image, before the tour was throttled by the US Defense Department. The WWF vehemently denied that, claiming it was all at the behest of the USO. In response, Meltzer noted that somebody within the WWF had told him, prior to the letter being sent, that WrestleMania VII was set to be the biggest ever. Sgt. Slaughter was set to burn the flag, which would position Hogan as the ultimate babyface patriot. As part of the push to to build interest in the event, Meltzer was told, Hogan was going to Saudi.
This sparked something of an existential crisis within Meltzer, who dedicated the entire February 4 WON to a treatise on journalistic ethics. In this issue, Dave revealed that he once worked for the WWF as a consultant on the Japanese scene - tour dates, bookings, the way things played out in general. So, if you believe that Dave shouldn't report on something he's never been involved in, you'd be wrong.
The WWF made further accusations that Dave specialised in "inaccurate, bias (sic) writing", the irony of which is that you can comb through virtually any edition of the Observer from 1991 and notice that Meltzer was on the money. So prescient and knowledgeable as to be an oracle, Meltzer obviously didn't have the benefit of hindsight.
And yet, in the September 30 issue, he correctly reported that "the latest speculation is that they'll be asking Ultimate Warrior back", and he indeed returned months later. It was a bold one, given the events of SummerSlam '91, at which Warrior extorted Vince McMahon for Hulk Hogan money. The relationship was deemed dead.
In the same issue, Meltzer reported that the Rockers had handed in their notice but were unlikely to join WCW since the promotion was not strong enough at the negotiating table.
Dave was correct on both counts.