Episode Details

Fire up the Walkman and head back to May 1992 for another time capsule from the days when wrestling news traveled through newsletters, phone calls, tape traders, and cassettes in the mail.

On Cassette Wrestling News #67, Jeff Osborne and Harvey Krantz are back with another packed edition covering a wrestling business that seems to be changing by the hour. Memphis is getting interesting again, Smoky Mountain Wrestling is beginning to establish itself, the WWF is still dealing with the fallout from its steroid controversy, FMW is pushing the boundaries of what anyone thought wrestling could be, and a major shakeup is happening behind the scenes in WCW.

The big story close to home is the return of “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert to Memphis.

Gilbert has resurfaced in the USWA, including an appearance in Memphis involving the Global Championship, and Jeff immediately starts wondering what it could mean for a promotion that he feels has grown stale. With Eric Embry also moving back into the picture, suddenly Memphis has some fresh possibilities.

Could Eddie get involved creatively again?

Could he end up working with Jim Cornette in Smoky Mountain?

Could Tommy Rich eventually come back into the mix?

At this point, nobody knows.

And that’s part of what makes these old CWN tapes so fascinating. You’re not listening to somebody looking back thirty years later with the benefit of Wikipedia and hindsight. You’re hearing the rumors, speculation, and conversations as they were happening.

That is Cassette Wrestling News at its absolute best.

News breaking so late that Jeff literally has to interrupt the ending of the cassette to tell subscribers before he mails the tape.

The issue closes with a vintage Jesse Ventura interview with Jim Ross, recorded shortly after Jesse joined WCW. Ventura talks about the entertainment business, his work outside wrestling, and signing on for at least two more years with WCW.

CWN #67 is exactly why these tapes are worth revisiting.

Some of the information is dead on.

Some of it turns out to be wrong.

Some of it sounds absolutely insane thirty-plus years later.

But all of it gives you something a modern retrospective can’t:

the wrestling business as fans and insiders were experiencing it in the moment.

No Google.

No social media.

No instant news alerts.

Just phone calls, newsletters, VHS tapes, rumors from the dressing room...

…and Jeff Osborne trying to get the damn cassette finished before another major story breaks.

Welcome back to 1992.