The Wrestler
May 1984
By Adam Zimmerman
Today, I thought we should take a look at an issue of The Wrestler from May 1984. The cover stories include The Road Warriors vs. The Fabulous Ones feud in the AWA, Barry Windham's Dirty Yellow Dog gimmick (the one in which he wore a mask of shame to hide his face until he was able to redeem himself to the fans), and coverage of the Ric Flair vs. Bruiser Brody World Title match in St. Louis. For you guys who haven't seen it. It's a great and interesting match to check out. They go for damn near an hour! You can currently search it on YouTube and give it a watch.
When we first open this magazine up, there is an ad that tells you that upholstering one piece of furniture a week can possibly equal your week's paycheck at work. Good to know. Vital information for our everyday lives back in '84.
Now, let's take a look at the first article that catches my attention. Here, we have a "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down" article. I remember these well from back in the day. The editors of the magazine would give "good guys" and thumbs up for what they're contributing to the sport and give the "bad guys" a thumbs down for whatever dastardly acts they were doing. Carlos Colon gets a thumbs up here for being a rising star and for wrestling at Starrcade 1983. A very young Jim Cornette gets a thumbs down this month because he had his tag team (the Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey version of The Midnight Express) attack the team of Mr. Wrestling II and Magnum TA on Mid-South Wrestling television. After all, he felt that his team was being denied title shots against the champs.
Next, we have an article that introduces "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to the wrestling world. He had just started out in Mid-South at the time, under the tutelage of Bill Watts. It's a helluva an introduction, and he became a helluva star. It's cool to see the origin stories of legends unfold in these old wrestling mags.
We now come to an article about how Gary Hart led Bob Orton Jr. and Don Kernodle to winning the NWA World Tag Team Titles. This was a point where Ricky Steamboat had briefly retired from wrestling to focus on running the gym he owned at the time, so the titles were held up in a one-night tournament. Jay Youngblood (who was a former champ alongside his partner, Ricky Steamboat) would sadly pass away not too long after this, but he did compete in this tournament with his brother, Mark.
Mid-Atlantic was my home promotion at the time. It's what I watched locally, every week. I don't remember Orton and Kernodle being champions, though, so I assume their reign must've been pretty short-lived.
Finally, we come to what was always one of my favorite parts of the old "Apter mags": the rankings section. I always looked at these rankings far more seriously than I probably should've, but this is where you found out who was in the top 10 of any given territory and who was next in line for a title shot.
Also, toward the back pages, there are ads to order fake police badges, fake ID's, and a program to help you build a more powerful body. I swear, I love these old ads for sketchy things almost as much as the wrestling itself.
