Ricky Jackson

That line has become the Titans equivalent of "Play it again Sam"

That one guy isn't the ring announcer, it's legendary San Fran manager Dr. Ken Ramey. Cool stuff Parv. May I suggest random music paying in the background though for future matches

The Legend of Java Ruuk, Part 1 So far I have examined the persona the man born Johnny Rodriguez is most remembered for, that of long-time NYC enhancement talent, Johnny Rodz. However, Rodriguez crafted another persona during his time as a professional wrestler (well, two of them, but one story at a time), one that existed almost in an alternate reality, observed by the Watcher and known as "What If Johnny Rodz Wasn't a Jobber?". Yes, in this other world, the man known for curtain jerking and staring at the lights won matches regularly, triumphed in a major battle royal that included Andre the Giant, and was a champion. His name still featured the initials "JR" (why waste money on new wrestling gear after all?), but this man was a beast. This man would've popped that fucking basketball and bent that rod in an instant. This man was....."The Arabian Wildman" Java Ruuk! It seems the Java Ruuk story begins in Pittsburgh in 1971. At the time, Pittsburgh was an independent wrestling city with its own TV show known as Studio Wrestling. Hometown boy Bruno Sammartino owned and booked the promotion between 1966-1970, at which time he sold to Geeto Mongol (Newton Tattrie) of the Mongol tag team (w. Bepo Mongol, aka Nikolai Volkoff, and the top tag team in the WWWF at the time). Because of the men involved and geographic proximity, Pittsburgh used a lot of WWWF talent over the years. I don't know the exact circumstances, but in 1971 Rodz began wrestling in Pittsburgh as Java Ruuk, basically a rip-off of the highly successful gimmick of The Sheik. The earliest result I have of Ruuk in Pittsburgh is 5/29/71 for a TV match where he triumphed over Terry Yorkston. Soon he was working against local star Johnny DeFazio, arguably the number two man in the city after Bruno. Ruuk would work several matches against some of Pittsburgh's top stars throughout the summer of 71. The last match I have in Ruuk's 1971 Pittsburgh run is 8/13 at the Civic Arena, teaming with the amazing Tony Altimore in a losing effort against the babyface superteam of DeFazio and Dominic DeNucci (Dom was a Pittsburgh mainstay). Ruuk also wrestled for the old Cleveland-Buffalo NWF promotion in 1971 (which by 1972 would also include Pittsburgh, after Geeto sold to promoter Pedro Martinez. Pittsburgh would finally join the WWWF in 1974 when the NWF closed down), but then vanishes from the records. This is where my limited resources hurt, as there is obviously more to the story here. Between 5/71 (when he started as Ruuk) and 11/73 I cannot find any results for Rodz in the WWWF or elsewhere, and after the 8/13/71 match, none for Ruuk either. So there is basically a two year plus gap between 71-73 with no results for Rodz or Ruuk. Surely he kept wrestling somewhere as somebody. If anyone knows more please let me know. I'm assuming he may have wrestled as Ruuk in the NWF in 1972 and 73, but who knows. No footage of Ruuk in Pittsburgh or the NWF exists that I'm aware of, but that is not to say there isn't some available somewhere. Next time: Ruuk goes to LA, attains a major victory, and plays a significant role in the development of a legendary star

As long as the Rumble is good, don't really care about the undercard. Watching with friends, which will help make the experience seem much better for even the worst show

Magazines are always dated months ahead so retailers can keep them on the shelves longer The news in the mags was always almost two months behind

Are you sure?

Well, doesn't everyone hate Mil Mascaras?

Eh, it's closer to 89%. He hates Killer Kowalski and Dick Whoerle and he's not crazy about the Ascension

http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-42-wwwf-at-madison-square-garden-april-14-1975/ The boys are back for another look at that wild year of 1975, this time focusing on the April 14th card from Madison Square Garden. On the docket: 4-14-75 TONY ALTIMORE vs MIKE PAIDOUSIS 4-14-75 GREG VALENTINE vs EL OLYMPICO 4-14-75 JAY STRONGBOW vs WALDO VON ERICH 4-14-75 BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs SPIROS ARION - GREEK DEATH MATCH 4-14-75 EDOUARD CARPENTIER vs BIG JOE NOVA 4-14-75 BOBBY DUNCUM vs VICTOR RIVERA Also on tonight's show, marvel at... -The new anti-workrate masterpiece of all-time -El Olympico: The Man in the Half-Mask -"Friendly" Bob Freed: The announcer who never met a name he couldn't mispronounce -Bruno Sammartino's attempt at vengeance in the dreaded GREEK DEATH MATCH!!!! -Plus extended discussion on Greg Valentine and his early career, the ideal wrestling champion, a mini Mike Paidousis bio and Nazi's!

Stampede was brutal I imagine. It is about 9hrs or so from Calgary to Saskatoon for example. And then factor in horrible driving conditions in the winter

Tuesday the 20th

Get adblock. I have it and the Network works fine for me on Firefox. It also makes the YouTube and Dailymotion experience much better too

End of an era with Lawler moving to Smackdown and Booker T taking his spot on Raw. PPV team stays the same http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/40670-wwe-announces-change-to-broadcast-teams

http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-41-wwf-may-june-1981/ Join Parv, Pete, Johnny and Kelly as they kick off 2015 with a look at more WWF action from 1981! On the docket: 5-16 DUSTY RHODES vs JOHNNY RODZ WWF TV 5-23 KING KONG MOSCA vs RICK MCGRAW WWF TV 5-30 DON MURACO vs RICK MCGRAW WWF TV 6-8 DON MURACO vs RICK MARTEL MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 6-8 DUSTY RHODES vs KILLER KHAN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 6-8 BOB BACKLUND vs KING KONG MOSCA WWF TITLE MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 6-8 MOONDOGS vs FUJINAMI/YATSU MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 6-8 PEDRO MORALES vs SGT SLAUGHTER IC TITLE MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 6-20 PEDRO MORALES vs DON MURACO IC TITLE PHILADELPHIA SPECTRUM Also on tonight's show: -Parv stars in the smash new English comedy called The Flat -The Titans celebrate the art of officiating, featuring... 1. Dick Kroll: The world's tallest and best bumping referee, and... 2. Pat Patterson: The world's best dressed and most biased referee -The race for most boring WWWF/WWF tag team match heats up, with a new contender entering the field (but at least it has a marriage proposal!) -Johnny's passionate defense of that lazy beach bum, Don Muraco -Plenty of talk on Martel, Andre, Morales, McGraw, and others

I think I am in minority, but I love Ryback's delivery. He is just so matter of fact. There is no arguing. It is honest, earnest and powerful. I thought it was a little weird for Ryback to be giving the underdog who sacrificed everything promo, but hey Ryback bleeds too, brutha. Oh, I had no problem with the content of the promo. Only that he sounded as if he had the script right in front of him and he was reading it word for word like someone from a porn flick. Also, check your facebook messages Sleeze

https://soundcloud.com/jerryvonkramer/titans-xtra-the-legend-of-bruno-sammartino The last bit from A Very Bruno Christmas is here just as you get ready to take down the tree and drink one last glass of Eggnog. Enjoy!

That match is actually a perfect example of how context can shape an opinion and how removed from that context it may seem not as impressive

This Ryback promo is dreadful

2014 ends with a double dose of Rodz-erific tag team action! Johnny Rodz and "Big" Joe Nova vs The Flying Tigers (Manuel Soto and Pete Sanchez) - 1975, Philadelphia Arena Couldn't nail down an exact date for this one, but almost 100% sure of the year and the place. On first glance this looks like a rare jobber vs jobber match, and a tag one no less. But closer inspection, mainly from (far from perfect but still a pretty good resource) Wrestlingdata.com, reveals that Soto (who we've seen before) and Sanchez (from Titans #6 I believe - and I confuse him with another Pete Sanchez during the bio) were a regular lower-mid card team from 74-77, who routinely challenged the tag champs on smaller shows. So shame on me for chuckling when the ring announcer introduces them as "the popular" Manuel Soto and the "equally as popular" Pete Sanchez. As far as the Flying Tigers name goes, they are never referred to as such during this match, but that is what Wrestlingdata calls them, and I dig it, so the Flying Tigers they shall be. X-Mas themed Fashion Watch here, with JR decked out in full-length red and green tights. Crowd in Philly super hot for the Tigers, Vince is enthusiastic on commentary, and everyone actually works hard and looks good, particularly Sanchez, who has a bit of a Tito Santana vibe to him. As far as Rodz goes, he shows off some pretty good punches and makes the faces look good as always. As a match, while the participants are energetic and the crowd is hot, technically there isn't much to write home about. Sanchez picks up the win for the Flying Tigers with, appropriately, a flying bodypress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NfnlgyOL_Q&list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0CJA6wxD_Y_EpgpVQQEW9Ij&index=12 Johnny Rodz and Frank Rodriguez vs Andre the Giant and Johnny Rivera - 10/18/77, Philadelphia Arena Some classic pre-match stuff here, as GMC announces that Rodz is going to do some "unusual feats of strength". The Unpredictable One is carrying a basketball and his partner, Rodriguez (who regularly jobbed in the territory in the 70s and early 80s, and who is also decked out in some sweet garb, befitting his nickname "Gypsy") is carrying a "steel rod". In another personal career highlight, Rodz comically attempts to burst the basketball by giving it a headlock. When this proves unsuccessful, Rodz moves on to the rod and attempts to bend it over his neck, failing miserably of course At this point, Andre and tiny Rivera (not to be confused with Victor or Mac/Jose Luis, and with a bio also featured on Titans #6) enter the ring and watch in amusement as Rodz struggles. Finally, Andre steps in and easily bends the rod around Rodz's neck like in an old cartoon. And then comes the cherry on top of this sundae and one for the 70s blooper reel, as Andre hilariously attempts to burst the basketball with first a headlock and then by squeezing it with his knee. He fails spectacularly, and the ball rolls out of the ring, unconquered by man. Oh yeah, there was a match. Vince himself flubs, as he starts to refer to Rodriguez as "Jose Estrada" over the course of the match (those job guys all look the same to you, eh Vince). Mishap with the basketball excluded, Andre always looks awesome in these TV settings, towering over everyone and enhanced by the smaller ring they used back then. Rodz bumps around and makes Andre and Rivera look like a million bucks. Andre pins not-Jose Estrada for the win The pre-match feats of strength were gold. With the bloopers and mistakes, coupled with the unglamorous local of the Philadelphia Arena, this is about as far removed from Vince Jr's vision of micro-produced Sports Entertainment as you can find. I love it Next time: The legend of Java Ruuk!

Merry Christmas everyone!

http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-40-a-very-bruno-christmas/ Forget about family and friends, come celebrate Christmas Day with the Titans and the Living Legend! Parv, Pete, Johnny and Kelly gather around the figurative Christmas tree and discuss festive days of Bruno's past. *Due to technical difficulties the last part of the show, a look at Sports Legends: Bruno Sammartino, is unavailable, but it will be released later on Titans Xtra* On the docket: 7/12/86 Bruno and Tito Santana vs Randy "Macho Man" Savage and "Adorable" Adrian Adonis, Cage Match MSG 1/18/71 Bruno vs "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, Rocky Raymond commentary MSG 3/7/67 Bruno vs Shohei "Giant" Baba, JWA Also on tonight's show: - Rocky Raymond narrates the Zapruder film - Thoughts on Adrian Adonis as a performer - Parv doesn't have a chip on his shoulder

Man, Slaughter's babyface turn happened around March 84, and his subsequent feud with the Iron Sheik is fucking awesome.

Yes, come celebrate the holidays with 4 wrestling nerds and a lot o' Bruno Look for it on the 23rd. Consider it a gift in your stocking from the Titans

Don't watch Thesz when you're tired. Tired? Hell, I plan on watching Thesz while I'm actually sleeping, with the TV on in the background. I'll absorb it all through osmosis. Figure I can work through all the known footage in a couple nights

If you're up for a Bruno spotlight I'll make the case. I also think Thesz needs a serious look. I've only seen few matches, but there is a decent amount of footage available to evaluate. I've been planning on exploring it for years now