Ricky Jackson

I know, obscure ass topic, but this has been bugging me lately. Anyway, I've been reading the great Andre the Giant bio by Hèrbert and Laprade and stumbled upon a bit of info that answered something I've wondered about for years: exactly which Andre the Giant vs Killer Khan match won PWI match of the year in 1981? Official online PWI records of past winners frustratingly only list the participants involved in match of the year winners, with no info on the date or place. Wikipedia for years gave the date May 2 and the location Rochester, NY for the Andre vs Khan match. However, and I've known this for years, that was a fictitious match, I believe originally invented on WWF TV as the match where Khan broke Andre's ankle, starting a legendary feud. In reality, May 2 was the morning Andre woke up and broke his ankle getting out of bed, perhaps the result of an injury suffered the night before during a battle royal in Florida. Andre and Khan had wrestled each other in Rochester, but it was on April 13 not May 2, so I think over the years the date of the match was confused with the date Andre actually broke his ankle. Nevertheless, according to Hèbert and Laprade, the Andre vs Khan encounter that was voted match of the year in 1981 was actually from August 24, a Texas Death match from MSG, NOT a match from Rochester. This makes much more sense, because big MSG matches often won match of the year in those days when footage wasn't available and the most publicized, not the most seen, matches would get the most votes. I think a lot of Wikipedia editors, when having to rely only on the participants involved and not having access to a true source, just use their best guess as to which exact match won in a given year. I was so excited about having this mystery solved that I actually made the correction on Wikipedia myself! But this has just led me down a rabbit hole of doubting the dates given to other match of the year winners on Wikipedia, specifically those from the 1970s. PWI wasn't published until the summer of 1979. Wikipedia lists award winners back to 1972. What gives? Well, for those who dont know, and Wikipedia doesn't explain this, another Apter mag (or more accurately, another Stanley Weston publication),The Wrestler, gave out awards prior to 1980. Like with Andre vs Khan, specific winners throw up a red flag. What I want to know, and hope somebody out there may be able to shed a light on, is which matches actually won match of the year. There are three in particular I question the accuracy of Wikipedia regarding date and place: -1974: Funk Jr vs Brisco (1/27, Osaka, Japan) Would a match from Japan that presumably nobody in North America would've seen at the time (this match is out there today, thanks to All Japan Classics) really have been voted match of the year? I actually dont know the pre-1980s voting process, so not sure if there was anything other than a fiat decision by one of the editors, but still, this seems suspicious and perhaps a retcon based on this match actually being available for viewing in North America in the present day -1975: Samnartino vs Arion (3/17, NYC) I question this simply because there were three Sammartino vs Arion matches from MSG in 1975, this one being the second one, a Texas Death match with an inconclusive finish. The next month they ran the blow off, the first ever Greek Death match (submission match). That match Bruno won decisively, and seems to me to be a more likely winner because it was the climax of a bitter feud. Did the person who provided the info on Wikipedia have a source for the date, or were they just guessing? 1976: Sammatino vs Hansen (4/26, NYC) Similar to the previous winner, I question the accuracy here. While this match is legendary as the night Hansen broke Bruno's neck, they had a match at Shea Stadium a few months later before 32,000 with Bruno out for revenge that may actually be the correct winner. This one could go either way, since both matches were huge in 1976, but I have a hunch the Shea match may actually be correct. The other 70s winners seem to be accurate, at least as far as what would've been highly publicized in the mags at the time. I guess I need someone with access to the actual issues of the The Wrestler to help settle this? @KrisZ are you still around?

Also just watched the Stampede. First AEW I've seen since Revolution. It was super fun. Loved the setting. This is probably the best way to present wrestling with no crowds allowed. I just can't watch every week, but that's mostly because I'm pretty burnt out on wrestling these days

I just remember Taker vs Reigns having multiple obvious botches and basically falling flat. It felt like watching broken down Andre, but unlike with Andre, the match wasn't able to rise above Taker's limitations. Didn't help coming at the end of a 7 hour death march Mania

@Bix Thanks for listening, man! Glad you've been enjoying the shows through the years

Man, if the point of podcasting is to make money I guess I've wasted 7 years of my life

I'm nearly done with the Conrad shows. Dropped Prichard long ago and never listened to either Schiavone or Bischoff. Dropped Arn the other day, which is a shame because I really liked it at first, but going with AAA every second week and a string of 2010s WWE shows I couldn't care less about killed my interest. The last one left is JR, which usually covers a subject I'm interested in, so I'll keep it in the rotation for now. But yeah, hearing Conrad's voice is becoming less and less appealing by the week

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing TTK

Episode 90 https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/world-cast-90-ft-worth-star-wars-1301984 January 30, 1984 With WCCW perhaps as red hot as it would ever be, the boys have yet another megacard to break down, this time from the Tarrant County Convention Center in Ft. Worth! Stacked card, featuring… -Junkyard Dog vs Kamala -Iceman Parsons/Adias vs THE DESTROYERS (don’t call ‘em Super D’s) -Iceman vs Skandor Akbar, 5 minute time limit -Kerry/David/Mike Von Erich vs The Freebirds, Six Man tag titles -Mike vs Ric Flair, 10 minute time limit -Chris Adams vs Jimmy Garvin, for the held-up American title in a steel cage This was one of the most entertaining and interesting WCCW cards the boys have ever discussed (and it’s not on the Network – check it out here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0B1U0WSnjb7Wqy4C9lQGpdl&feature=share ) , with airtight booking up and down the card. They also provide in-depth analysis of Mike Von Erich’s controversial, career-making evening. And, in many ways, this show was the peak of the territory before things began to slowly unravel.

Thanks man

Sorry Jetlag... https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-6 Kelly and Steve stock up on beer and bratwurst and take a trip to the wonderful country of (West) Germany! Here they witness a match so powerful and epic they needed a whole show to break it down... Viewed and commented upon... Otto Wanz vs Bob Sgt. Slaughter (Bremen, West Germany, 1982) The match is wrestled in the rounds system, the rules are not very intuitive, Wanz stinks, but Slaughter is awesome as always, so sit back and enjoy this 54 minute + experience! (a few beers will definitely help) Watch along at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC or on World Cast Twitter!

That's totally fair. God knows I hate it when others shit on guys i like based on one match or whatever. Clearly he was a huge star. It wasn't his offense that bothered me. It was that he wrestled in such an unsympathetic manner. He kicked Slaughter's ass for most of the match and never really felt vulnerable. Plus he had his overzealous corner man constantly getting involved (yes, at the end of rounds, but still), while Slaughter had no help. Anyway, I'm clearly biased, as early-80s Slaughter is one of my all-time faves

Watched this today. God, Wanz sucks. Like, the worst ever Bob Backlund. Horrible babyface. Slaughter is great and tries to make something of the match, but it is an impossible task. This is the first full Wanz match I've ever seen, so please, someone point to something worthwhile from the footage available of him. I dont want to be a total dismissive jerk

CARNYLAND...uh Tag main was pretty good, but not much of a show otherwise

Yeah, May Valentine quickly becoming one of my favorite gimmicks. Hilarious

Episode 89 https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/world-cast-89 January 28, 1984 The boys look at an interesting offering from WCCW. Not particularly good, but interesting... -Ron Cheatham: an unknown great worker...who proceeds to drop off the face of the earth after two matches in the territory -Chief Whitecloud: No, not THAT Chief Whitecloud -Let's make the matches more snappy to appeal to the new marks -And a pretty fun main event with a babyface superteam going against Devestation Inc.!

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-5 Kelly and Steve venture Down Under, a relatively obscure place for wrestling, and also visit the Land of the Rising Sun, with both stops connected by the awesomeness of NWA champion Harley f'n Race! Viewed and commented upon... Mario Milano vs Bulldog Brower, Mark Lewin vs Abdullah the Butcher (Australia, circa 1972-74), Harley Race vs Ron Miller (Australia, circa 1977) & Harley Race vs Jumbo Tsuruta (Japan, 1977) The blood streak continues, great promos are plentiful, and Harley shows why he was one of the all-time greats. Watch along at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC or on World Cast Twitter!

Ok, cool. I checked earlier and Cagematch had two matches between them. Good to know this could be new to the scene

Oh probably. I just meant new to YouTube, or this channel at least

For those who can, I suggest a watch-along thread for Super Powerrr this coming Tuesday. I think it's the last bit of footage they have in the can and who knows when they'll tape again. It will be fun to watch something "new" with an actual crowd again

This bad boy just turned up yesterday Has anyone committed the time and know if it's worth a watch?

I used to think so myself until actually getting to know a few people in the last decade who became fans in adulthood. One even trained to be a wrestler and worked for a few years, and the other ended up becoming a pretty massive fan of Japanese wrestling and a lot of non-WWE wrestling in general. A fellow wrestling-loving friend of mine helped convert them through his enthusiasm, but they were both really intigued by realizing wrestling is theatre, with all the possibilities that entails, and disregarding the negative perceptions of wrestling that are often a barrier to people getting into it

Episode 88 https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/world-cast-88 January 21, 1984 The boys review a super fun show this week. Andre the Giant is in town, so it's time to get down and jive! -Rick "Rudd" pops in for a match. Too bad Kamala doesn't have the atomic drop in his arsenal -Has Bill Mercer been hitting the bottle? -Kevin has been hitting "the Shine" too hard and now he's addicted -Plus a wild main event between Andre/Iceman and the Super D's. The snowflakes may want to skip the post-match though!

So, are they actually going to charge full price for an empty arena PPV? I kinda feel like it should be discounted, but I haven't been watching Dynamite, so I dont know if the product they are putting out is drastically less enjoyable without a crowd. Thoughts?

From a pure practicality perspective, yes, there were enough other stadium/arena options in the area. But you would think the cachet of running at Yankee Stadium, a legendary, world famous venue, would've been attractive at some point. The WWF would've gotten a bigger "rub", so to speak, from running a show where Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, etc and great Yankee dynasties called home. It would've made them seem more important than running at Shea

Good question. I guess there are a few reasons. I believe only two wrestling cards were ever held at the old, pre-2009 (or pre-1976 if you consider the result of the massive renovations in the 70s a completely new stadium) Yankee Stadium - one in the 30s and one at the peak of the Rocca era in the early 50s, and both pre-McMahon family promoting. Neither drew well, and as a result the stadium was never looked at as an option for future cards. The big cards of the 70s were all held at Shea Stadium instead, although I think Bruno once pitched the idea of a dream match between him and Andre being held at Yankee Stadium. Some major Ali fights were held at Yankee Stadium in the 70s. So I guess the lack of history is one factor. For years there was the concern of poor weather for a Mania in the New York area, until 2013. One of the reasons they ran MetLife that year was because they wanted to beat the NFL to the punch, (they held a Super Bowl there in 2014), which at times has been a Vince obsession regarding Mania sites. If the mindset regarding running a Mania in colder weather was different around 2010, there may have been a good chance they ran a Mania at Yankee Stadium then, when the new version had recently opened. Lower attendance for Yankee Stadium compared to MetLife and perhaps difficulty scheduling an event there with the MLB season starting around the same time are other factors