Bix

It was revealed weeks later that Piper was speaking in ancient Gaelic. Really. They did segments with an old couple who were linguistics expert wrestling fans and everything. Between that and "I'm Your Man," they were not to do the most random possible angles in this feud.

I have a few more USWA handheld matches where the Lawler-Embry match came from. Off the top of my head there's a good Bar Room Brawlers-Jarrett/Fuller (I think) street fight too and more I'm forgetting. All of the Cornette/Fabs stuff should go on, as should anything with Sabu, RVD, or Nishimura as Dong Cha Mang. There's a fun Rob Zakowski (RVD)/Danny Davis vs Nishimura/Chris Candino (Candido) tag.

It's around via Bob, dunno if Lynch have it. http://www.luchawiki.com/index.php?title=Trio_Fantasia http://www.luchawiki.com/index.php?title=Thundercats

Yup.

OJ, thanks for the reminder on Trio Fantasia vs Thundercats. I had forgotten what year it was. That is as big a must-have as possible. How much of the other available early '90s Monterrey is from '91 and should it go on the Yearbook? I don't remember much about it.

Not to be a dick but to make sure they find it, R&R-PG13 (which I still haven't watched for some reason) is from A Night To Remember in Louisville. Monday Night Memories was a year earlier in Memphis

Except if it involves gays or Marxists.

IIRC: This was during a period where they ran a bunch of really good brawling style matches with guys who hadn't been feuding for some reason. This was scheduled as the first weeks earlier but Vader was injured, so they ran Austin-Mankind, then Owen-Mankind, and then Austin-Vader finally. The order may be wrong and there may have been more matches (where are they? ) but...yeah.

For starters... Off the top of my head from WCW: Pre-Nitro: - All of the infamously bad stuff has to go on, like Vader splitting his pants while Hogan no-sells the powerbomb, the worst stuff from uncensored, every single Dungeon of Doom skit ESPECIALLY "AAAAH! IT'S NOT HOT," the DDP-Dave Sullivan feud, etc. - I like all of the Pillman-Wright and Flair-Savage stuff. - As mentioned, Sting-Austin and Vader/Arn vs Stars & Stripes are both awesome. Nitro era: - Eddy's debut vs Wright on Main Event is fun and should be included. - Eddy-Liger from Main Event is really good. - Everything Sabu should go on, including the music video of dark match footage. - I'd argue for all 3 matches from that one taped Nitro: Benoit-Sasaki, Badd-Eddy, and Sting-Malenko. Non-WCW: I must stress is that there is a lot of NJPW Classics with previously unaired, unpimped footage. '96 was similar but I think you covered the bases as more people were following classics at that point. This stuff really needs to be carefully looked at. WWF is mostly obvious stuff with some outliers. Basically anything that looks intriguing on paper, like one of the Heavenly Bodies in a singles match or a Buddy Landel match, is worth including. Also, Bam Bam Bigelow vs 1-2-3 Kid in January might get overlooked because it was on Challenge during a really uneventful period for the show.

Cornette had the Fabs run in the USWA, did commentary on LPWA TV, various indies with Lane, briefly GWF with Lane...I know I'm forgetting stuff but there's more.

I need to find the date but there's a Lawler-Kamala Unified Title match in the studio from USWA TV that's excellent and easily the best match I've ever seen them have with each other. There's a lot of interesting stuff from Memphis throughout the year, like the Texas vs Tennessee feud. In Dallas, the return taping (which was supposed to be a GWF pilot) has a few interesting things, like Lawler-Funk and out of towners like Doc and Gordy in for a squash. I haven't seen much of the other Dallas stuff from '91 before the GWF changover in a while but it has a rep as being pretty lame duck. I think some good stuff fell into '91, though, like Embry's heel turn and feud with Dundee, and the Jarrett-Prichard feud. Not sure if the really awesome Gilbert-Jarrett match is '90 or '91. There's some fun handheld stuff from '91 including a really good Lawler-Embry. There's a lot of interesting indy stuff from WWA and TWA, including Funk-Backlund. Gilbert begging Lawler for a job at a Joel Goodhart luncheon is '91. I THINK the ICW->IWCCW switch is '91 and the stuff covering that (announcments, Kevin Von Erich's one match) should be included. The Rude-Honky Tonk Man angle is from Summer '91 and is a must-have. Not sure if there's anything else from '91 of note as I have very little from then and a lot of it runs together in my head. The video of John Arezzi's 1991 Weekend of Champions convention has Cornette as auctioneer, which is awesome. Flair (between WCW and WWF) does a speech during the auction, too. 1991 EMLL I need to watch more of but that's the year w/ the Guerreros-Brazos match. All of the match footage from the UWA wrestler profile comm. tapes is from '91. I haven't seen them all but both matches from the Santo comm. are a must and the Canek comm. has him vs Blue Blazer. There's a tiny bit of UWA TV from late '91. As far as Universal shows in Japan, there's a great Santo vs Black Terry from...March I think. WWF-wise remember that there are still televised MSG shows at this point. There's a really good Jannetty-Tanaka match from one show and there are two Hogan-Flair matches from MSG. IIRC the really good Hogan-Slaughter "Desert Strorm Match" is from MSG. They were also taping stuff at the Ontario house shows and there's a really good Barbarian-Bossman from around the time of the Rumble match.

He claims that he met his wife in a chance encounter that may have been the result of divine intervention. She was actually a high school student he met while substitute teaching. He claims that after speaking to the investigators, Bret told him that he was sure Vince murdered Owen to get back at Bret for punching him out in Montreal. He says that he met Dynamite and Davey at the same time in a story that I'm pretty sure was proven to be BS when he first told it on WWE Confidential when Davey died. His account of what went down in Montreal is wildly inaccurate and he refuses to believe that Bret had any kind of creative control clause. He says Steve Austin sent a note to Melanie Pillman about being unable to attend Brian's funeral because something else came up.

Bruce's wife left him for Davey.

Joe Babinsack on Bruce Hart's book. Dylan can back me up (and I'll probably try to get my review for Cageside finally done over the weekend), but to see that book as anything other than the ramblings of a pathological liar with a similarly pathological hatred of Bret is pretty out there.

Didn't Naniwa try the same huricanrana spot in their previous match, only for Ultimo to throw him off for some ridiculous bump?

It was extra puzzling because she dropped a noticeable amount of weight.

For what it's worth, Bryan swears up and down that it's only Dave who puts the "columns" up, does the vague headlines, puts random stuff behind the paywall, etc, and gets angry at me if I email him about something stupid on the front page.

We go back in time a week because this is one of the issues I just got from Kurt. - Cover story: “El Pirata Morgan Wins Scalp From Masakre Again,” referring to a match on 2/28 at Arena Mexico. This was the second time that Masakre (of Los Intocables del Ring and formerly of Los Infernales) worked a hair match against a member of Los Nuevos Infernales (Morgan, MS-1, and Satanico) since he was kicked out of the group on October 16th, as he had won MS-1’s hair on December 15th. Morgan had previously won his hair on April 10, 1988. Anyway, the match was described as a ridiculously bloody brawl with the crimson flowing onto referee Javier “El Gato” Montini, the wrestlers’ seconds (Pierroth Jr. for Masakre and and Bestia Salvaje for Morgan), and the ringside fans. Morgan even did the spot where he bites and then spits the blood out. “So much for worrying about AIDS, I guess.” Morgan got the deciding submission in the third fall with a Scorpion Deathlock. “It was a great third fall and a good match, made even better by Pierroth Jr.’s facials (if you can believe that since he wears a mask) and by Montini’s histrionics[…]All in all, I give the match ***1/4.” - Sims then reviews the TV show this aired on in reverse order: 4. Konnan el Barbaro, Rayo de Jalisco Jr., & Perro Aguayo defeated Sangre Chicana, Cien Caras, & Máscara Año 2000 in two straight falls. Rayo pinned Chucho with a German Suplex to win the first fall in 2:09 and Rudos lost the deciding fall for excessive rudoness in 17:19, the longest fall Steve can remember seeing on Galavision. Rudos laid out the technicos to set up the next week’s rematch. No real insight into the match but Steve gave it ***1/2. 3. Octagon, Mascara Sagrada, & Lizmark defeated Jerry Estrada, Emilio Charles Jr., & Pierroth Jr. in three falls. Steve thought this was the best match on the show Lots of heat for Lizmark (NWA World Light Heavyweight Champion) and Estrada (CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion) facing off. Estrada and Pierroth bled after being posted, the latter possibly being hardway. “Overall, a super match.” ***3/4 2. Kato Kung Lee I, Angel Azteca, & Blue Demon Jr. vs Bestia Salvaje, Blue Panther, & Javier Cruz didn’t air on TV. 1. Espectrito & Pequeño Pierroth defeated Mascarita Sagrada and Octagoncito in three falls. “It was well-worked, and nothing was wrong with it, but my grade reflects the heavy amount of rudo offense in this match and the light amount of technico offense. Still, there is no doubting that Mascarita Sagrada and Octagoncito are two magnificent workers.” **3/4 EMLL News - Re: the debut of Los Ku Klux Klan: “They defeated Talisman Jr., Guerrero Samurai II, & Joe Mercado in two straight no-selling falls that had the rudos portray the embodiment of pure evil (with that gimmick they should.)” - Other new names in the company are Ciclon Azul, Remolino Negro, Manos de Oro II, Rams, MS-2, and MS-3 “(who may or may not be related to Pablo Fuentes Reyna, MS-1). By the way, the ‘MS’ gimmick refers to the anti-terrorist unit of the national armed forces.” - For some reason, Aaron Grundy (Mike Shaw) did an interview with Super Luchas where he made a point to say he was heavier than Salomon Grundy even though it was blatantly not true. - Ultimo Dragoncito is debuting soon. - A lucha libre museum (Antonio Peña’s brainchild) will be opening in the Mexico City suburb of Coyoacan. - Octagon and Atlantis’s movie just finished shooting and it will come out in the spring. - Boxer Mantecus Luna applied for a license in Mexico city but the commission turned him down because he never won a match and was a boring fighter. They suggested he go into lucha libre and fight with Los Brazo and Pierroth Jr. - The first annual CMLL board meeting will be on 3/15 in Monterrey, “one of the most valuable ‘open territories’ in Mexico. No doubt CMLL head Antonio Peña will be ‘winning friends and influencing people in Monterrey that weekend. Considering the huge number of wrestlers (now over 165) in Peña’s employ, a satellite circuit sounds like a real smart idea. And with the TV exposure his guys get, it shouldn’t be too hard to get them over and start drawing crowds and making money, if Peña is so inclined…” UWA News - On 1/31, there was a show celebrating the 40th anniversary of the opening of Arena Aficion in Pachuca headlined by El Signo retaining the UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship over Solar I. - After being “humiliated” by being pinned twice by Tamba el Elefante Volador in a trios match on 2/21, Mike Lozansky el Tiger Canadiense challenged him to a hair match the following week. Tamba accepted and added that he’d retire if he lost. Lozansky won a bloody match in three falls and Tamba said he would retire at the end of the current tour. Both matches aired on TV. - Speaking of which, the UWA is renegotiating its TV contract with Imevision. They started with a trial period from 11/24/91 to 2/29/92 (about 13 weeks). Both sides want to keep going but the issues being negotiated are which arena to tape at and how long the deal should be for. The UWA wants to stop taping at El Toreo, instead shooting at Arena Netzahualcoyotl, which Steve thinks has its advantages, like being a smaller, more intimate building where the heat comes across better. - The “Canadian” trio of Buffalo (Bad News) Allen, “DNS Funas” (Doug Furnas) and “Phil Liason” (Phil LaFleur/Phil LaFon/Danny Kroffat) debut on 3/8 in the Toreo main event against Las Panteras Rosas (Villanos I/IV/V). Furnas and LaFon had their names spelled a variety of ways. - 3/8 at Arena Naucalpan saw a hair match between Bello Greco and Tarasco III “(who seems to be always on top is this arena” as the climax to their feud. No result yet. - 3/7 at Arena Isabel in Cuernavaca had Mil Mascaras, Villano III, & El Colosso vs The American Eagles I & II (“Nightmare”/”Nitro” Danny Davis and “Dirty White Boy” Tony Anthony of all people) and a partner to be announced. - On 3/5 La Pista Arena Revolucion The American Eagles main evented against Mascaras & Enrique Vera. On the same day at Arena Toluca, the main was Rambo & El Engendro vs Solar I & Villano III. - The promotion was lacking many of its top stars that week thanks to a Universal tour in Japan. Overseas were Dos Caras, Los Nuevos Misioneros de la Muerte, El Signo, El Hijo del Santo, Silver King, El Texano, La Ola Lila, Transformer (Kendo), Dr. Wagner Jr., “and others.” - Lozansky will be back on 3/15 and probably turn face because he’s catching on in a Vampiro-esque way (the reasoning, not as a draw). - Mil Mascaras is sticking around to help draw until the Universal crew comes back from Japan. Even with the shortage, Negro Casas and all four Villanos (I, III, IV, & V) will be doing a tour of Monterrey. - Mexico’s most prolific trainer Diablo Velasco did a two part interview with Super Luchas. Among other things, he talked about how proud he was of Alfonso Dantes (his first student) and Ringo Mendoza, who he mentioned a lot. He never mentioned Perro Aguayo for some reason, though. Velasco noted that while he retired in 1956, he did special matches in Guadalajara every so often, most recently on 11/2, making him one of the few wrestlers to work in seven decades. Late News: - The “Canadians” lost their Toreo debut against the “dream team” of Canek, Mil Mascaras, & Villano III by DQ in the third fall when Allen unmasked Villano III. The spelling of LaFon’s name is “Lasaon” this time. “Said to be a real good match.” Elsewhere on the card, Villano I, Super Raton, and Super Pinochio defeated The American Eagles and Kahos in two straight falls [This might be my new favorite weird trios match] and Monkey Magic Wakita (Super Delfin) worked as Momotaro in the opener. - In the main event of the 3/8 Arena Mexico show, Cien Caras defeated Saloman Grundy in three falls to retain the CMLL World Heavyweight Title using many rudo techniques. “It was said not to be a good match.” Also on the card, Volador and Misterioso defeated Los Destructores (Tony Arce and Vulcano) to win the National Parejas Titles “in what was said to be an excellent match.” [i must get a copy of this show.]

Well, yes.

I wouldn't say that. A lot of issues built up with banned moves and whatnot over the course of a few years. Everyone other than The Undertaker and Kane was banned from using any form of a piledriver without special permission (and even then, they limited those two guys to special occasions) after Triple H was injured from a botched piledriver by...The Undertaker, ostensibly rusty after his time off (he also knocked Vince out with a punch). Never really got the logic there. Benoit, Angle, Edge, and Rhyno's neck injuries. The overhead belly to belly was banned and the German suplex changed to a flat bump, plus spears had to be done differently. The Kidman deal was problematic because it penalized other wrestlers for WWEing himself up until he was too heavy to properly do a move he never did especially well and sometimes blew spectacularly. Similar the scale to the Undertaker piledriver issue. Did powerbombs get banned at one point? I can't remember.

It wasn't supposed to make Piper look like an ass. It was suppose to make him look like an charismatic international superstar who successfully branched out into music (and wanted a match with Hogan).

Not having the yearbook yet, not remembering enough about the live show, and having had a recap show version on tape for years: Was there crowd noise from the arena on the original live Nitro during the video? The recap version I had was filled with what sounded like ridiculously canned cheers.

Dave made a typo, it was UFO.

I'd have to re-read the related sections, but I don't recall him saying at any point during the book that Triple H & Stephanie were really together, as it stuck out like a sore thumb during the section about how his plan for the WM18 buildup turned into what we saw. He just says that Triple H said his character was the kind of guy who would know his wife was cheating on him. As far as the quotes that went public in August, the first and third ones in my post are definitely in there. The second I'd have to check for but I'd say it probably is since he tells stories along those lines.