Ricky Jackson

Let's look at Randy in a tag team setting... Savage/Honky Tonk Man vs Hulk Hogan/Ricky Steamboat, 1/5/87, Meadowlands, NJ This was taped for International Wrestling Challenge, so I'm guessing this wasn't broadcast in North America at the time. Vince and Bruno on commentary. Steamboat and Hogan teaming just seems wrong for some reason. Savage and Honky together is pretty weird too. Savage tosses a chair into the ring that hits the ref and knocks him down before the match even starts, which establishes the mood for this match, which I would call "un-WWF like" for lack of a better term. The crowd is super hot for this one. Early on, Hogan forces Honky to tag in Savage, but Savage just runs outside, stalls, and then tags Honky back in without ever doing anything in the ring. The Savage/Steamboat feud is only incidentally referred to during this match and the big injury angle isn't mentioned at all. The crowd is just rabid for Hogan and anything he does. Savage is great throughout working on the apron, engaging the crowd and doing stuff to get heat, while Honky does all the in-ring work. Finally, more than halfway through the match, Savage officially gets involved, but only briefly before tagging back out. At one point Vince states "Savage is everywhere", and it's true, as Savage is running around outside, interfering, cheating, being a shit disturber. Hot tag to Hogan and he cleans house. He tags Steamboat back in and we finally get a one-on-one confrontation between him and Savage as the crowd goes crazy. Things break down--as Hogan and Honky brawl outside, Savage gets the bell from ringside, but Steamboat gains possession of it, leading to Savage and Liz bailing on the match. Hogan and Steamboat beat up Honky and Jimmy Hart in the ring, and the match just ends with no bell because there was no bell to ring anymore. Ref rules Hogan and Steamboat winners by DQ. This was a fun little match, marred by your typical 80s WWF shitty non-finish. Savage played the chickenshit heel pretty well and the crowd ate it up. The match had a bit of a chaotic, Memphis/Southern feel to it, which I think Savage often tended to bring to his early WWF work.

Fun show guys. Thanks for reminding me about this:

Thanks a lot, Chad.

I really liked the video for Rock-Cena. The Booker T HoF video was good. I'm looking forward to Team Hell No vs Ziggy and Biggie. I was only half watching as usual, but I would say the show was more mediocre than outright bad.

God, I heard the Andre movie was bad, but holy shit that trailer... I'm going to watch that SNME Andre/Hogan vs Studd/Bundy match Dave mentioned right now.

Episode 2 is now up on the wordpress site. WARNING: NON-WRESTLING EPISODE http://fringescholars.wordpress.com/ In this episode the Fringe Scholars enter some hardcore nerd territory, as my colleague Moss raps about his love for fantasy role-playing games, like Dungeons & Dragons. I mostly mumble and giggle my way through the episode, but I think Moss provides a fairly interesting look at the history, concept and appeal of role-playing games. Next time, around April 15th or thereabouts, wrestling-talk returns to the Fringe Scholars, as my planned ongoing exploration of alternatives to WWE/mainstream wrestling begins with a look at (mostly historical) Japanese wrestling.

The WWF didn't draw very well in the South as a whole in the 80s, so the NO numbers shouldn't be looked at necessarily as proof of the oil glut hurting business.

WWF in New Orleans, 1986 WWF @ New Orleans, LA - Superdome - March 7, 1986 (12,600) Debut in New Orleans Hillbilly Jim pinned Iron Mike Sharpe King Kong Bundy pinned Lanny Pofffo Uncle Elmer pinned Jesse Ventura WWF Tag Team Champions Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake defeated Davey Boy Smith & the Dynamite Kid The Junkyard Dog pinned Terry Funk WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned the Iron Sheik WWF @ New Orleans, LA - Superdome - May 11, 1986 (3,500) Jake Roberts pinned Scott McGhee WWF Women's Champion the Fabulous Moolah defeated Velvet McIntyre Pedro Morales defeated Bob Orton Jr. Dory Funk Jr. defeated Tony Atlas WWF Tag Team Champions Davey Boy Smith & the Dynamite Kid defeated Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan & the Junkyard Dog defeated Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy via disqualification when Bobby Heenan interfered WWF @ New Orleans, LA - Superdome - July 5, 1986 (1,800) David Sammartino vs. Les Thornton B. Brian Blair vs. Iron Mike Sharpe Mike Rotundo & Danny Spivey vs. the Moondogs King Tonga vs. the Iron Sheik Paul Orndorff vs. Don Muraco Tito Santana vs. WWF IC Champion Randy Savage The Junkyard Dog vs. Adrian Adonis WWF @ New Orleans, LA - September 1986 (2,700) WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff Not good.

Also, I think II didn't come close to making even the faintest contact with the knee lift, and JYD sold it anyway, which was for a lot of fans either business exposing or proof JYD took a dive.

I'm going to review Savage matches every now and then, and initially at least they will be matches I haven't seen before/matches that aren't talked about very much. I pretty much threw a dart on a map to come up with this one... Vs. Rick "the Model" Martel, 3/26/91, Las Vegas Well, this is kind of significant as obscure wrestling trivia if nothing else. So, as we all know, after losing to Warrior at Mania VII Savage was forced to retire. When was his next match? Against Jake Roberts at This Tuesday in Texas? Under a mask as "Mr. Madness"? Nope, it was two days later against Martel in Vegas, taped for CHV World Tour 91. The storyline explanation by Mooney is Savage signed for this match prior to losing the retirement match, so he had to "honour the contract". Not explained, however, is why pre-Mania VII heel Savage signed for a match with heel Martel. Anyway, Savage is accompanied to the ring by Elizabeth for the first time in two years. This is a match between two of my all-time faves, and I don't think they worked against each other very often over the years. Martel with the Pearl Harbor job to start. Savage sells for most of the match. Pretty much every move Martel uses is some kind of dirty tactic or another. This was a pretty quick match. Savage takes control, an attempt at a clothesline over the top rope spot is botched, Savage busts out his famous, but rare for the WWF, piledriver on Martel on the arena floor, and the flying elbow ends things at 6:01. Not much of a match. Little heat, and the post-match bit with Randy and Liz doesn't get much of a reaction from the crowd. For completists only. Savage's selling continues to be top notch, though.

It was trollface yesterday. I thought it had something to do with Jerry's recent feud with John or something.

Stumbled upon this tonight: Ric Flair and Dewey Robertson vs Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka, Maple Leaf Wrestling from 1981. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxyjcx_ri...rt#.UT7B2lemXwQ Anybody see this before? You don't see much Toronto footage out there.

I'm not that sophisticated. But thanks for the posting the image.

Am I the only one who had to Google around to figure out John's MLP is Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) and Matt D's MLP is My Little Pony? Oh, and I forgot about El-P's MLP.

You win. Close the thread.

Thanks, man. I'm not sure when I'll get around to using all this info. My original idea was to do a podcast about underreported and overlooked moments from the history of wrestling, inspired by the 30 for 30 ESPN show, with Ali/Inoki being the basis of an episode. Anyway, that podcast idea eventually evolved into the Fringe Scholars show that I posted in the podcast section last week. I still want to do a show about it, but it might not be for a while. Actually, I'm also thinking about doing an all-wrestling podcast independent of the Fringe Scholars based on the 30 for 30 for wrestling idea. Shit, if anybody is interested in this idea, PM me and maybe something cool will come out of it. I'm game for more podcasting.

I sent Hammer an e-mail with the clippings, so don't worry about it.

Savage is my all-time favorite wrestler. I considered starting a thread on him before and never got around to it, but the talk of the ICW cage match with Garvin earlier today finally provided the motivation. I just watched that match, so we may as well start this examination with something from the early years... Vs. Ron ("the One Man Gang") Garvin, Cage Match, 1982 (?) Not sure of the date nor the place. Lexington perhaps? Anyway, this is ICW, Randy's dad's outlaw promotion. Haven't seen much of this at all. Lanny Poffo provides post-production commentary in the most monotone manner possible. Savage, prophetically, comes to the ring to "Fame", and he is wearing a robe with snakes and dragons on it. Garvin is the heel, Savage is the face, which I understand was unusual for these two in ICW. We start with a mat-based stalemate for a few minutes. Equals! See Jerry, I told you. Garvin takes over and things pick up. Savage is busted open and bloody only a few minutes in. Savage gains the advantage and Garvin is immediately bleeding as well. I can see why Matt D favours this match, as the selling is long-term, with both wrestlers getting weaker and slower as the match progresses. The match gets real violent when Garvin takes off the ref's belt and chokes Savage, eventually tying him to the top rope with it. Savage prevails in the end with a sweet piledriver after crotching Garvin on the top rope. Post-match, Pez Whatley enters the cage and delivers a beatdown on Savage. Then in a surreal moment, Lanny Poffo narrates himself making the save. Pretty good match. Real heavy on the selling. You just don't see long-term selling in a match like this anymore and haven't for years. Savage won the match with the only ounce of strength he had left and was barely able to cover Garvin for the pin. Actually, one of my favorite Savage traits was his selling. Savage already looks pretty good here, but this is totally different from his WWF years, as he is very subdued compared to the bouncing-off-the-walls Macho Man we all know and love.

I enjoy your reviews Superstar. Makes me want to mark out for some Bulldogs too.

Vince wanted Stu's Western Canada TV slots and the ability to run shows in the area, basically part of his plan to corner the Canadian market. Problems arose when Bruce began promoting an opposition group and Vince's early WWF shows in the area didn't exactly set the world on fire. Vince was supposed to pay Stu $1M (I think) for everything over a certain amount of time, but I'm not sure Stu received one penny before Vince backed out of the deal and told Stu he could run Stampede again in late-1985. Vince was able to keep the TV slots anyway and now had a foothold in the market, so no big deal for him. Bruce booked and wrestled for post-85 Stampede, but Vince never sold him anything.

This was a really fun experience. Thanks again to Parv and Chad. Keep it up boys.

HHH pissed his pants? Oh, and Lawler's ahead 30-22 over Storm last I checked.

We should ask him his thoughts on Londos as a worker and a draw.

It's part of a fantasy wrestling tournament on Facebook, and based on the early results, Angle v. Brody in the finals is a distinct possibility.

I've wandered into the wild (to paraphrase Matt D) and find myself in a situation where claiming Jerry Lawler is a better wrestler than Lance Storm is the MINORITY opinion.