Ricky Jackson

You would think there has to be more to it than just what happened in the footage

So what's the deal with Titus O'Neil being suspended for 90 days and his possibly hostile interaction with Vince at the last Raw that was caught on tape?

I liked those matches too, but did you watch the 9/21 MSG match between the teams? I felt that was the best one. Really liked the October Philly match between the teams too. Great Martel face in peril in that one

Dumb? Yes. Awesome? Yes.

I think Bret dropping the strap to Austin at Mania, or at least losing to him there, was a rough plan at one point

No, that supposedly happened in a match between the two of them in Philly around the same time

That's a cool find because it's a friggen worked judo match in 1978 MSG, and also because it is from a card that was untelevised in the States. The only matches to make tape were filmed for Japanese TV, with a 6-man between Andre/Mascaras/Dusty vs Patera/Fuji/Tanaka being the other one I've seen

Great moment

Yep, we are so damn polite, don't you know?

As long as Parv and Pete give star ratings to her different sex scenes I'm on board

Totally agree that Backlund-era WWF Andre has a ton of boring as hell matches. He's basically early- 90s Undertaker, working slow against a revolving door of monsters. He was clearly breaking down physically at this time, which makes a difference. His one standout match from the time is a bloody brawl with Hogan from Philly, 3/21/81

Don't discount the Shadows vs Casey and Jones. Best match for all four guys I've ever seen...OK maybe not Colley

Chicago is a major wrestling city. The AWA ran it from the late- 60s to the mid-80s. Prior to that it was run by Fred Kohler, one of the major promoters post-WW2. His TV from the International Amphitheater was perhaps the seminal show of the Golden Age of wrestling. Vince Sr co-promoted with Kohler during the period when Buddy Rogers was NWA champ and they set the attendance record at Comiskey Park in 61

Yeah, Spectrum shows have tons of hidden gems. CHV didn't include many matches, 24/7 and the Network have avoided them for the most part, and good old James also neglected to put a lot of Philly matches on his 79-83 set. Most full cards from the 80s are out there, although the video quality isn't always the best if that is a hang up for you. We are planning on reviewing the September and October 1982 Spectrum cards on Titans as our way of saying goodbye to the commentary of that amazing man Kal Rudman. (His last show as a commentator was Oct 82)

TNT

The fans were just having fun

Davey Boy and Shamrock had a thing going on

What's it about?

Looks like Philly was 1963 and Boston 1967

I want to say Vince Sr had Philly by 1964 and Boston slightly later. Pittsburgh was around 1974 when the NWF (they had started promoting there a few years earlier) folded. Going to check around for better info

Going back to the territory years, I think it could be divided into a few distinct eras. -Early Territory Era (1956-1963) Vince Sr starts promoting in NYC that year, and many of the classic territories TV shows begin their runs (eg. Wrestling at the Chase) and/or start promoting (eg.the AWA). 1963 sees the start of the WWWF and the end of Buddy Rogers mega hot run. -1960s Slump (1964-1969) Business drops off in a lot of areas during this time, and wrestling is generally not as hot than the era before or the one that followed -70s Boom Era (1970-1975) Hot period that featured most territories doing great, often record-setting business. Mileage varied from territory to territory. Some had declined greatly from their peak by 1975, others (WWWF, Carolinas, Florida) would continue to be successful throughout the 70s. -Late Territory Era (1976-1983) Several territories died during this time, including SF, LA, Detroit, and Amarillo. Vince Jr buys the WWF from his father and his partners in 1982. Business in many NWA territories was record-setting in 82-83. Of course several territories continued after 1983, but 84 saw the beginning of Hogan's run as king of wrestling and the WWF's aggressive expansion into other areas.

I saw the 78 draw years ago and wasn't blown away by it at the time. I think I even watched it based on your recommendation jdw.

Would it be safe to say Punk's "Pipebomb" promo clearly marks the start of the Reality Era and end of the previous era?

Why 2008 as the end point?