411’s UWF on ESPN Classic Report 01.24.08

Welcome back to 411mania’s coverage of the UWF on ESPN Classic. As always, I’m Ryan Byers, and I’m here to guide you through this bizarre manifestation of Herb Abrams’ worst wrestling-related nightmares.

Episode One (Footage originally aired as part of UWF Fury Hour on 7/6/92)

It was bound to happen eventually. For the first time since the UWF began airing on ESPN Classic, we have a RERUN~! This is the same thirty minute episode which aired in the second half of the January 9 block, featuring David Perry vs. Viper II, Nightstalker vs. Johnny Kidd, Helmut Hessler vs. Jeff Husker, and “Baby Stealin’ Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant vs. Viper II. Check out my original recap of the episode here for more information.

Episode Two (Footage originally aired as part of UWF Fury Hour on 10/29/91)

I’ll be damned, it’s another rerun. This episode was the first one aired on ESPN Classic, i.e. the first half of the January 8 block. It featured Billy Jack Haynes vs. Gary Keyes, Ken Patera vs. Rikki Ataki, Paul Orndorff vs. Matt Star, and Nikita Koloff vs. Ivan Koloff. My full rundown is here.

Overall

Well, if nothing else, this was an easy night for yours truly. For the record, I don’t plan on always doing these recaps when confronted with reruns. So, if you see any gaps in my regular UWF schedule, feel free to assume that we’ve seen the featured matches before. In fact, the only reason that I’ve bothered to run tonight’s recap is because we had a significant amount of reader feedback coming off of last night’s shows. Let’s head in to that.

Reader Feedback

Doug has a couple of quick questions:

I am loving the shows, and it is fun to watch them, and then come and read your funny reviews. I did not get to see these shows when they originally aired, so I was wondering if they had house shows or PPVs they were promoting at the time. Some of the squash matches have no purpose, but maybe they were to build towards house shows? Anyone know?

There was only one pay per view event in the history of the UWF. It was named Beach Brawl and took place on June 9, 1991. Two of the matches from Beach Brawl recently aired on ESPN Classic, and you can check out my review of them here. They also had a television special called Blackjack Brawl which took place on September 23, 1994. It featured what would have been pay per view caliber matches by the UWF’s standards. So, for the majority of the company’s existence, they weren’t building towards anything on pay per view.

As far as house shows are concerned, I can find records of five or six different UWF events which were not taped for television. All of them were in 1991. If anybody has information about the company touring in the last three years of their existence, you’re welcome to pass it along.

JLA JRC has a bit of a “Where are they now?” question:

What happened to both members of Wet’n’Wild after the UWF folded? I don’t remember either of them in WCW or the WWE so I’m guessing they did indy stuff before disappearing?

If they actually did shots for the WWF or WCW, it was so brief and/or insignificant that it completely flew under my radar. They did show up in the Global Wrestling Federation for a spell, wrestling together in that company’s 1991 tag team tournament and getting eliminated in the second round. Believe it or not, Beach also had a stint in ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING of all places, where he was involved in the company’s 1991 Real World Tag League. In that tournament, he paired up with AJPW regular and former Dynamic Dude Johnny Ace, who is currently the head of talent relations for WWE. The Ace/Beach duo wound up finishing in a tie for last place in the round robin style tournament.

Rob wants to talk crowds and a “dream match” of sorts:

The crowd at times seems very excited about nothing , and at other times when something is actually happening is silent. Make’s for great comedy. I’d like to see Muraco take on Steve Williams in a match. It would be great to see every masked jobber wrestle in a battle royal.

The crowds for these tapings are usually at least as entertaining as the matches, in part because they’re way too excited given the quality of wrestling they’re seeing and in part because early 1990’s fashion looks so horrid eighteen years after the fact. (Though, if trends keep up, it should be “coming back” within the next two or three years.)

I’ve got some good news and some bad news as it relates to Doctor Death versus Magnificent Muraco. The good news is that it DID happen in the UWF on January 12, 1991 in West Islip, New York. The bad news is that this was on one of the five non-televised shows that I mentioned in response to the prior e-mail.

Eddie Chicago wants to see some people lose:

I love seeing the old rare stuff from Cactus and seeing him and Muraco was an added treat. But I do wonder if Herb told every “name” he hired that they would never job because there is never a finish in the non-jobber matches. You would think someone like Bruno would tell him, “Herb we need to have winners and losers.”

I’d picked up on this as well. Out of curiosity, I went back and complied this list of everybody who did a clean job by either pinfall or submission in the first two weeks of UWF shows aired on ESPN Classic:

Gary Keyes, Rikki Ataki (four times), Matt Starr (twice), Davey Meltzer/The Intern (three times), Michael Allen, Spitball Patterson (three times), Jim Cooper, Viper II (twice), Johnny Kidd (twice), Jeff Husker, Midnight Star, Houdini, Larry Ludden, Terry Cooley, Louie Spicolli (four times), JR James, Big Bobby, David Perry, Mr. V, Steve Ray, Boris Zhukov, Steve DeLeon/The Blue Knight (twice), Robbie Allen (twice), The Grappler, Mike Williams, David or Larry Power, Kevin Benjamin, Sonny Blaze, Chris Michaels, Mike Durham, The Nightmare, Madman Pongo/Pondo, and Colonel DeBeers.

So, yes, the biggest name to lose clean in the middle so far is Colonel DeBeers. The only other guy to lose who had significant national exposure before coming to the UWF was Zhukov, and he wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire when he was in the WWF.

And, finally, Joe K. brings the ratings news:

From your prestigous site:

“The old UWF shows that aired on ESPN Classic from 1/14 to 1/18 did ratings between 0.0 (yes, one did a 0.0) to 0.07.”

0.0? I watched . . . doesn’t that count for something? Anyway, its totally appropriate that these reruns are getting perhaps the same ratings they got when they first aired 15 plus years ago.

That ratings tidbit found its way to the 411 newsboard by way of PWInsider.com. Of course there were some people watching the “0.0” episode, but a.) your viewership doesn’t really count unless you’re part of a Nielsen family and b.) I’m guessing that “0.0” is rounded down from a rating that is less than 0.05. I don’t think that anybody though that these shows would be a ratings smash given their quality and the timeslot, though I would be interested in seeing how they compare to the show that ESPN Classic was previously airing in this timeslot. That, compared with the cost of the programming, might not make these numbers as bad as they seem to somebody who is used to seeing TNA’s 1.1’s or WWE ratings in the 3.4 neighborhood.

Aaaaand now we’re officially beyond the halfway mark for week three of the UWF on ESPN Classic. I’ll see you all tomorrow, and be sure to check out my MySpace, where you can add me as a friend to receive a bulletin notification every time that I add new content to 411.