The complete set of May 1999 back issues of Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter have now been published for the first time in PDF formats and ONLINE TEXT formats. The following are summaries of all five issues from May 1999...



550: This issue features an in-depth Cover Story on the death of Owen Hart at the WWF's "Over the Edge" PPV on May 23, 1999... Match-by-Match coverage of the PPV during which Owen died and details of how it was handled by the announcers... Torch Roundtable Reviews of the PPV with reaction to Owen's death by Jason Powell and Chris Zavisa... Bruce Mitchell's feature-length column titled "Fluke" looking at how WWE handled the Owen Hart situation and the circumstances that led to it happening... Wade Keller's "End Notes" commentary reacting to Phil Mushnick's exploitative and off-base opportunism in going after the WWF for Owen Hart's death with limited details to work from... WWE Newswire with tons of details on how WWE was handling the funeral, backstage reaction, what went on behind the scenes, and more... WCW Newswire with notes on reaction within WCW to what happened with Owen... WWF Raw review with the detailed look at the Owen Hart Tribute episode... WCW Nitro including acknowledgement of Owen's death... Plus other TV reviews...

549: This issue features a Cover Story titled "ECW features good matches, puzzling booking" along with in-depth coverage of the ECW Hardcore Heaven PPV with Roundtable Reviews from the Torch staff and reader reax and poll results... WCW Newswire covers Goldberg's beef with WCW and Wade Keller's "End Notes" comments on Goldberg's issues... Vince McMahon takes out an ad in USA Today comparing the WWF to the NBA... Jim Brunzell, in the final installment of his Torch Talk, discusses Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Nick Bockwinkel, Ric Flair, and more... Plus in-depth reviews of Raw, Nitro, Heat, ECW TV, and Power Pro TV... WWF Newswire, WCW Newswire, ECW Newswire, and ETC. Newswire featuring the latest behind the scenes news on the Monday Night Wars and ECW's struggles to survive...

548: This issue features a Cover Story detailing ECW's growing financial problems that would eventually lead to its demise... Part seven of the "Torch Talk" with Jim Brunzell who talks about being around Ric Flair in his early years in wrestling and whether he showed potential to be one of the all-time greats... Detailed WCW Slamboree PPV coverage with Sting vs. Goldberg, Piper vs. Flair, Nash vs. Page for the World Title including Keller's detailed match analysis with star ratings, Torch staff Roundtable Reviews, Torch Reader Reax, and Poll Results... WWF Newswire with notes on the Austin-Jeanie divorce, Ed Ferrara giving his notice the first time, and a ton of notebook items... WCW Newswire details Goldberg's injury, Flair being upset after his PPV match, Chris Jericho's departure from WCW, why Goldberg got the cover of Entertainment Weekly instead of Steve Austin, and tons of notebook items... A detailed ECW Arena report with RVD, Lynn, Justin, Storm, Dreamber, Candido, Tajiri, Guido, Corino, Dudleyz, and more... Wade Keller's End Notes with random thoughts on the WWF... And more...

547: This issue featured a cover story with the headline "WCW becomes more of an embarrassment" with a look at the latest signs of WCW's follies, including Thunder setting a record-low rating up against a one-time WWE special on UPN head-to-head. The story includes behind the scenes insight into the disintegrating morale in the front office and locker room... WWF Newswire details growing backstage tension between Steve Austin and The Rock, WWF's interest in Chris Jericho and details on his expiring WCW contract... WCW Newswire details the arrests two wrestlers on DUI charges and the latest in Nitro's plummeting ratings up against Raw... Part six of Jim Brunzell's "Torch Talk" where he talks about drug use in the WWF in 1980s... Plus reviews of Raw, Nitro, Heat, Thunder, Letters to the Editor, Wade Keller's "End Notes" calling out Eric Bischoff to get his act together, and more...

546: This issue covers the death of Rick Rude... WWE Breakdown PPV headlined with Steve Austin vs. Rock and Triple H vs. X-Pac including Keller's match-by-match anlaysis, Torch Roundtable Reviews, and Torch Reader Reax with Poll Results... Part five of the Jim Brunzell "Torch Talk" where gives the inside story on the mass exodus of AWA talent to the WWF in the '80s... Wade Keller's End Notes looks at Nitro's struggle to close the ratings gap with Raw... Plus a triple-length WWF Newswire with insider backstage Monday Night War news, a WCW Newswire packed with insider news, detailed reports on Raw, Nitro, Heat, ECW TV, Thunder, and more...
2004 PRO WRESTLING TORCH BACK ISSUES

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