Ricky Jackson

MSG Alley Fight with Patterson, 5/4/81

Titans of Wrestling #46 drops next week! The Fabulous Four return to 1981 with a vengeance. Sgt. Slaughter vs the World! Vince Jr! Fuji and Saito! Blood! New tag champs! Super 8! Allentown! Dick and Kal! And new jobbers! Bonus hype video! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2m34k9_1981_sport

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm actually really looking forward to getting to 87-89 and all the great teams and match-ups. 85-86 has some good stuff but it's kinda the appetizer before the main course for me.

WM 27 was essentially built around Cena and Rock with Miz as Chris Jericho in WM 18

Episode 3 http://placetobenation.com/tag-teams-back-again-episode-3/ Curl up in your most comfortable pair of Zubaz and join Kelly and Marty Sleeze for more tag team action from 1985-86 WWF! Also, history geeks rejoice as the early careers of the Bulldogs, Harts, and Bees are explored. Today, we examine: British Bulldogs vs Hart Foundation 4/27/85, Spectrum (first ever meeting) Dream Team vs British Bulldogs 10/13/85, MLG Dream Team vs Killer Bees 12/7/85, Boston Garden British Bulldogs vs Hart Foundation, 1/18/86, Cap Center British Bulldogs vs Dream Team, 5/19/86, MSG *Apologies for some audio issues again. I swear, we've finally fixed the problem and everything will be smooth as silk from now on* Playlist: http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x3pl32_kelly1977x_ttba-3/1#video=x3wvdr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNXBq_ryD1o&index=1&list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0BV2D-3XXPg6YPmk1p3lPeq

I meant "booked" in the manager sense of scheduling his bookings/appearances in NYC and around North America, not "booked" in the sense of coming up with angles and match ups for him

Backlund has great matches against Patterson, Koloff, Rhodes, Hogan, Khan, Patera, Rose, Hansen, Larry Z, Arab (Iron Sheik), Valentine, Muraco, Adonis (haven't seen, but that's the consensus), some would say Inoki, not to mention later vs Bret Hart...I would say that's a wide variety.

I recommend the Dick Murdoch vs Afa 20 minute draw from 10/22/84 MSG. That may sound crazy, but if you ever want to see the ultimate example of a master performer wrestling a broomstick, this is for you. It's on the Network

https://soundcloud.com/jerryvonkramer/random-musings-on-southern-wrestling-and-life

Prior to finally getting TBS in early 1994, I was such a desperate wrestling geek I "watched" scrambled WCW shows for about two years. When the Shockmaster debut happened, since I could only hear what was going on, I had no clue one of the great wrestlecrap moments was taking place and didn't know until years later.

Episode 3 will be dropping in about a weeks time. Marty and I will be examining the Bulldogs, Harts, Killer Bees and more Dream Team as we move from 85 to 86 in the WWF. I would be remiss if I didn't give major props to Word Hoard for coming up with this sweet poster for our show. He is also responsible for the latest Brainbuster! and Exile on Badstreet art, which is also very, very awesome. Take a bow Word Hoard!

New York, 1977. Smoke-filled MSG. Superstar Graham vs Dusty Rhodes. Texas Death Match. Dusty cuts a sweet pre-match jive promo. Red Hot crowd. Blood.

I agree with Cross Face Chicken Wing and the WWE folder idea

Yeah, Mondt booked Rocca, going back to 1949 I believe. Vince Sr became involved in New York in 1956 when DuMont decided to air McMahon's DC TV in the area, which became a big hit and revitalized the Garden when Vince Sr and Mondt eventually teamed up to run shows.

As mentioned before, Tim Hornbaker's Capitol Revolution is a history of the pre - Vince Jr New York wrestling scene. His take on Rocca and Crockett is that Crockett initially supplied Rocca with talent for his New York promotion but backed off when " pressure from backstage channels cooled his intetest"

Reading Tim Hornbaker's new book, Capitol Revolution, and according to him Vince Sr formed a partnership with Kohler in 1959 in which Vince Sr would supply talent and TV for Kohler in return for a cut of the profits, much like the arrangement Crockett had with Toronto in the late 70s/early 80s. Also, Vince Sr's original plan in 1963 was an organization called the WWWA (World Wide Wrestling Association) that was to stretch from New York to Chicago with stops in Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. However, Kohler pulled out and formed an independent group, so Vince Sr decided to just focus on the New York area and the name became WWWF

Hahaha...sweet! It's good to be king

Nice! I think I have that one on my viewing pile and thought it had a chance to be the one.

Haha

Johnny Rodz vs The "Incredible" Hulk Hogan - 12/17/84, Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, NY (aired 1/19/85) Alright, it's April Fools Day, so you would think I would look at a match where the Unpredictable One actually emerged victorious, right? Well, I can't find one. Anyone out there know of one available online, let me know, it needs to be celebrated like the rare jewel it is. Instead, we will look at Rodz in one of the more high profile matches of his WWWF/WWF tenure, vs the champ himself, Hulk Hogan. Now, fans of the era know that this Hulk Hogan, say prior to 1986, is slightly different than the Hulk Hogan most know, the "classic" version of yellow and red, "Real American" and a formulaic, but still fun, match structure. The Hulk Hogan that Rodz faces in this match is what I call "Earth 2" Hulk Hogan. Fans of comics know that Earth 2 is where Superman began fighting crime in the late-30s, worked for the Daily Star instead of the Daily Planet, the "S" on his costume was slightly different looking, and his Kryptonian name was "Kal-L" not "Kal-El". Earth 2 Hogan wears blue tights (sometimes white, sometimes red, and black in Japan), comes to the ring to the always awesome "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, wears a WWF belt that resembles the old NWA TV title, and wrestles in a much less predictable manner than his Earth 1 counterpart. Earth 2 Hogan is awesome. Oh, and he also bleeds a lot too. Prior to the match, Rodz is sporting a sweater with what almost looks like the New Japan logo on the back, but it is hard to tell for sure. Looking at his records online, I can only find All-Japan results for Rodz, but who knows, he may have wrestled for them and it isn't documented, or maybe he was given the sweater as a gift by another wrestler. Anyway, Hogan storms to the ring to "Eye of the Tiger" and an orgasmic explosion from the Poughkeepsie faithful. Rodz bumps around like a champ for the Hulkster early. Brutus Beefcake and Johnny V come down to ringside to apparently taunt Hogan, but nothing actually comes of it. Weird. At one point, Hogan works an arm-bar spot, something Earth 1 Hogan would never do. Rodz actually gets in a bit of offense and takes Hogan down. This is short-lived though, as Hogan hits a clothesline-elbow-drop-legdrop combo for the pin. This was quick and fun. Hogan at the time is an unstoppable force of nature, full of youthful enthusiasm and vigor. Rodz was in the twilight of his career here, but still able to make his opponent look like a million bucks. Next time: The Thrilling Conclusion of the Java Ruuk Saga!

I was skeptical at first, but the pro-arguments make sense. Change and evolution are good

Yes, on paper...