#132 – Dark Journey vs Missy Hyatt, UWF TV, January 17, 1987
Dre and the Black Cat pack up the Lincoln Continental down in Florida and head on up the road to Tulsa for a look back at an episode of UWF TV from January 1987 featuring a main event between Dark Journey and Missy Hyatt in a LUMBERJACK MATCH! This show also features Michael PS Hayes in a red jumpsuit, Jim Ross in a tremendous tuxedo, a sick bass line and all your favorite UWF stars. Please support the Old School Wrestling Podcast by visiting flairchop.com where you can find links to all of our great products. We now offer all of our box sets and bonus episodes from all three seasons on our premium digital download site. We’ll see you…..at the matches!
Savannah jack was one of the long line of wrestler who bill watts tried to take the place of jyd, snowman was another one. butch reed was the best of the bunch
Sadly, Savannah Jack passed away in 2012, but not before giving an interview or two about his brief but eventful wrestling career, which ended only months after he won the UWF Television Title and topping Cowboy Bill’s imaginary Top 10.
Savannah Russell grew up in the Twin Cities, and played college football at the U. of Minnesota. While driving a bus, he met up with his former teammate, Jumpin’ Jim Brunzell, and inspired by him decided to get into the business, receiving training from Verne Gagne and winding up in the UWF.
Unfortunately, steroid use took its toll, to the point where Savannah “coughed up a blood clot so big it would not go down in the sink”, and was told (presumably by Bill Watts) to wrestle or else he wouldn’t get paid. Savannah Jack left, drove from Fort Worth, TX to Minneapolis while still wearing his robe, and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.
He would never wrestle again, working as a cab driver and a casino dealer, suffering a series of strokes in the early 2000’s. Savannah Jack eventually succumbed to heart disease in January 2012, with no regrets about his brief but eventful career.
http://www.citypages.com/2009-09-02/news/Ex-wrestling-champ-Savannah-Jack-living-quiet-life-in-Minneapolis/
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/137982183.html
Excellent episode by the way. I’m currently watching the Christmas 1986 episode of UWF on YouTube, and it is tremendous.
I loved Sting & Steiner (and Hyatt & Hot Stuff International in general). I was bummed Dusty split them and turned Sting before we got to see them against the Road Warriors.
Hey guys another great show,I really enjoyed the UWF review. A couple of things right off the bat. I loved seeing all these soon to be mega stars early in their careers. Guys like Doc,Gordy,Boss Man and Sting have always been personal favorites. I don’t really know what’s worse 80’s Michael Hayes wardrobe or current day Hays wardrobe.
Thanks, Daniel
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for finally bringing The Missing Link to the OSWP. The Link was my second favorite wrestler of the 1980s. He has always been my secret guilty pleasure, and that’s saying a lot considering my favorite wrestler was Lex Luger. Most people I talk to barely even remember him.
The first time I saw him was in the ‘Mat Mania’ edition of Sports illustrated. Like Dre said, he had an awesome look. As a kid, he was the first wrestler that really WOWED me with his presence. I obviously had not seen the Road Warriors yet.
Other than a very brief run in the WWF, I could never understand why he wasn’t a bigger star than he turned out to be. To me, he was just as good as The Ultimate Warrior back in the day. It’s weird with similar guys, how some make it to the big time and others guys never rise above regional recognition.
Unfortunately, The Link passed away in 2007. But he will always have a special place in my childhood memories.
Apparently Link was a bit of a basket case behind the scenes to the point of wanting Bobby Heenan to actually manage him for real (making appointments, airline tickets etc) so he could kayfabe in public and not talk. Bobby basically said, “I manage you to and from the ring. That’s it. The rest ain’t my job.” As far as kayfabing, Bobby said,”Don’t worry, this is New York City, you’ll fit right in.” Gary Hart also claimed Link once attacked him but Hart defended himself w/ a straight razor he always carried causing Link to run off. Stuff like this may have contributed to his not being as successful on a national level.
BTW, according to Missy Hyatt, Dark Journey was Bill Watts’ mistress (for lack of a better term) for awhile.
Somebody beat me to posting the good poop about Savannah Jack. I really thought he’d be around a long time. He could’ve started a business and been an Internet pioneer like Tully Blanchard Enterprises. His website would have been http://www.whoopmichealhayes@$$.com.
Happy 5th Anniversary guys! Typically the 5th anniversary is celebrated with a wood gift… I looked for a shard of the chair Magnum TA used to make Tully Blanchard say I Quit to give to you guys, but I couldn’t find it. Then I looked for the wooden casket from the Dusty Rhodes v. Ivan Koloff casket match and struck out there too. Then I realized, damn, this podcast is the BEST. I loved wrestling as a kid…was indifferent to it for years and have to thank the OSWP for getting me back to loving it once again. I never would have thought of Magnum or Ivan Koloff or lots of these guys again if I wouldn’t have stumbled upon you guys. Here’s to 5 more years at least… Sincere thanks from an OSWP mark.