WWF Magazine August 1994

From the Pages of WWF Magazine

August 1994 Edition

Comings and Goings:

With Shane McMahon increasing his role behind the scenes, it would seem that personal moves are slowly accumulating. Various reasons have been given for why the company is moving on, but we can confirm that over the past month the WWF has released or let the contract expire of the following wrestlers, personalities, and backstage officials: 

-Jeff Warner 

-JJ Dillon 

-Jack Lanza 

-Hugo Savinovich 

-Dave Hebner 

-Dan Marsh 

-Madusa Miceli 

-Mike Shaw 

-Cheif Jay Strongbow 

-Duane Gill 

-Jim Powers 

-Lord Alfred Hayes 

-Rich Myers 

-Tony Chimel 

-Barry Hardy 

-Lou Albano 

-Koko B. Ware 

-Ricky Morton 

-Robert Gibson 

-Virgil 

On the other side of the coin, there’s a much smaller list of new workers and officials have joined the company: 

In ring Performers: 

-The Warlord 

-BG James 

-Jinsei Shinzaki 

 Backstage Officials: 

- Kevin Von Erich has agreed to come on as a Road Agent for the foreseeable future. 

-The contract of Jerry Lawler and has been extended and are expected to be part of WWF programming for the foreseeable future. 

WWF Magazine can confirm that WWF is actively scouring the globe for other potential signings. The general feeling is that with the expansion of Raw by an additional 30 minutes, more midcard talent will be needed to maintain quality programming. That being said, bother father and son McMahons are in agreement on a strategy of fiscal responsibility must be taken when hiring new talent. They refuse to bring in a slew of new workers without clearly defined creative plans. 

SummerSlam Preview: 

It’s looking more and more like the SummerSlam Card is rounding out. WWF Magazine can confirm the following matches: 

Already Announced Main Event: WWF Champion, Bret Hart will defend the title against little brother Owen Hart in a 60 Minute, Iron Man Match. WWF Magazine is hearing rumors that “interim president” Gorilla Monsoon has been exploring a number of candidates for the job of “special guest referee!” The rumors are running rampant as more than a few “big names” have been tossed around Titan Towers. 

Additionally, it would appear that Randy Savage will return to in-ring action to face Jeff Jarrett. Look for Diesel will defend the Intercontinental Championship against either Razor Ramon or Shawn Michaels. All three workers are expected to have a big part in this match and the booking committee has been said to be wavering on a few different ways for this angle to be played out. 

It should come as no surprise that The Undertaker will square off against Ted DiBiase’s impostor. The idea of a Casket match has been mentioned, but nothing has been made official as of the writing of this article. With the time constraints of the Iron Man match, it is expected that some adjustment will need to be made to the card to showcase some of the other talent that lack clear programs at this time. 

The higher-ups at Titan Towers are said to have met with pay-per-view executives to discuss the idea of a “Free for All” pre-show to air before event and showcase some other talent and “blow off” some minor feuds.

“The Dirt:”

It can be heard from many pockets of Titan Towers that Shane McMahon has an ever increasing role in the company. Many in both the office and locker room have been relevantly happy with the way Shane has handled his increasing responsibilities. That being said, it is understood that Shane has some "heat" with a few of WWF's top stars. It is said that both Diesel and Lex Luger have been unhappy with new regime. Apparently Shane and Diesel have heat building following multiple instances where Diesel has been caught with illegal drugs at Raw tapings. Meanwhile, it is said that Lex Luger has been unhappy with several key losses he suffered over the last few weeks of programming. While the incidents in both cases are said to be minor, one locker room veteran has been quoted saying "where there's smoke, there's fire..."

The young McMahon's backstage battles may not be limited to the locker room one source is saying. Vince McMahon, while having been predominantly happy with many of son Shane’s creative choices during the lead-up to SummerSlam, major heat is building between the two regarding a controversial angle that Shane is pushing for at the big event. If the details of the angle can be worked out, our sources say that a “major story line” will be in store for the a large part of the main roster and will force booking decisions all the way through Wrestlemania XI! Our sources say that Vince is not in league with Shane’s vision and the two remain far apart on a compromise. 

More on this situation as it develops...