dexstar

Figured I'd get this up in case anyone is planning out that far Andre the Giant 1. 2. Mid-South 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. MACW 23. 24. 25. 26. MACW 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. MACW Bruiser Brody 1. Japan 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. USWA 13. USWA 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. USWA 19. 20. 21. 22. MACW 23. 24. 25. 26. MACW 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. MACW Abdullah the Butcher 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. MACW 23. 24. 25. 26. MACW 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. MACW Mil Mascaras 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. Stan Hansen 1. 2. Mid-South 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. USWA 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. USWA 19. 20. 21. 22. MACW 23. 24. 25. 26. MACW 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. MACW The Minis 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. The Women 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

It does exist!! BTW Presents … 1984 December 31st, 1983 @ Cobo Arena Lord Layton and Jesse Ventura welcome the closed circuit audience in various theaters around Michigan, and hype the action for tonight. Is Rick Martel healthly enough to take down Greg Valentine, even with his injured knee? Who will put themselves in line for the next Cobo title shot - Chicky Starr or Bob Backlund? Who is going to walk out the tag team champions? And someone is going to be $10,000 richer! At the entranceway, Lord Layton interviews Rick Martel regarding the upcoming title match. Martel has a wrap around his knee and a slight limp but assures the crowd that he will emerge victorious and get the title away from Jesse Ventura and his corrupt Union. Jesse stops Backlund for an interview. What if Martel wins tonight? Will he be willing to fight his ally? Bob starts to answer but Jesse cuts him off because Martel winning is an impossibility anyway. The Tag Team Title Belts are displayed in center ring by BTW Suit Dummy before the bout. Jesse is confident on the mic. This is gonna be a war. Jesse is apoplectic at ringside! He throws down the headset and rushes to talk to Adonis and Murdoch, who are exhausted and battered. When Ventura returns, Layton wonders aloud to Jesse if the condition of his prized tag team is going to impact the strategy for the title match. Ventura brushes him aside, agitated, but confident in the Hammer. Jesse is pleased with the victory, and the Hammer is downright exhausted. Martel is helped to the back by medical officials and Bob Backlund, who gives Valentine a good long stare on his way into and out of the ring.

The Dungeon is pretty bad but at the same time I don't want to be a fan of pro wrestling in a world where stuff like it doesn't exist

- Despite the massive blizzard, power outages, and resulting chaos in the Metro Detroit area, we've gotten calls from sources in the area who have assured us the New Year's Eve show did take place and that tapes should be making their way into trader hands as we speak.

Whenever I read that story I picture HHH laughing about how he was fucking with the new guy mark writer as soon as he left the room.

Good idea, especially with AWA/NWA split areas like Chicago. Could we change Southern States to Southeastern... Oh yeah my bad I saw that "Southern States" thread and spaced when I was throwing it together.

I'll toss some cross hatching on the map in the "dual" areas later when I get a chance

You weren't the only one who thought that, haha! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr1kxUpdm_U

Now that the holidays are over I hope to do these a bit more regularly so that everyone gets some love. Running out of room

LIVE on Channel 7 12/29 - Airing in other Markets 12/31 prior to Cobo Arena Show We’re LIVE on Channel 7 in the Southeastern Michigan area. BTW Presents… 1984! at the Cobo Arena is just two days away - join us for all the action on New Year’s Eve. We’ll find out who is doing battle in the Tag Team Tournament Final Four right here tonight at the State Fair Coliseum as 8 great teams square off for the right to fight for the title in venerable Cobo Arena. We’re also going to sitdown with Greg “Hammer” Valentine for a chat before his huge title matchup with Rick Martel at the Cobo. Also, the announcement of the rest of the card! Chicky and Fidel stop by to chat before the matchup with Slater and Orton. Chicky isn’t “Anti-American”, you see, but he’s Anti-Hillbilly and Anti-Ruffians. Slater and Orton are the worst of not just this country, but any country - uneducated, uncouth and disrespectful. Chicky also isn’t happy about his recent lack of singles action - he’s got a great record! Lord Layton takes the opportunity to inform him that he’s scooped Jesse on front office news for once, and that Chicky is in the running for a Title Shot Eliminator matchup at 1984 - but the final decision won’t be revealed until the end of the program. Orton and Slater stop by the table to put the Minnesota Wrecking Crew on notice - it’s nothing personal, just business. They came to Big Time to win the straps and that’s exactly what they are gonna do. Stephen Petitpas and Leo Burke talk about their past success in Canada as a team, and deny having any fear of Animal Steele or his maniac handler Christy. When they are told Masa Fuchi, Christy’s latest acquisition, will be at ringside in the upcoming bout, they just chuckle. Of course they expected that! And they’ve brought a friend to make sure everything stays square out there - it’s Soul Man Rocky Johnson! Rocky Johnson is excited to have gotten a measure of revenge, but he promises this isn’t over. He knows it’s been a tough road in BTW so far, but his performance at the recent Starrcade Battle Royal has him excited. Jesse then informs him that he can put that battle-tested Battle Royal experience to use again soon, as there will be a $10k , 18 Man Battle Royal at the Cobo! And guess what - Fuchi, Christy, and Animal are also entered! Rocky is pleased as punch, and he leaves happily with Petitpas and Burke, who await the winner of our main event in a semi-final bout at Cobo. Greg Valentine comes out for an interview. He knows what people say about him - he’s protected by Jesse Ventura, he’s protected by the Union, all that. He doesn’t care. He’s the champ because he ran through a tournament of some of the best competition the wrestling world has to offer. He didn’t cheat and he doesn’t need anyone to protect him. He works with the Union because he likes people who think like him and he’s in this business to make money - Jesse Ventura helps him do that. Rick Martel doesn’t scare him. He’s limping around on one leg, and he’s still got at least one match before New Year’s Eve. He guarantees victory at Cobo. Greg Valentine, with his title, saunters to the ring as the match ends. Backlund is being restrained by Adonis and Murdoch, and Valentine stomps on Martel’s leg several times before once again applying the figure four. This is the disgusting scene on which the episode ends - can Rick Martel overcome this at Cobo Arena? Find out 12/31/1983! A graphic shows the full card for Cobo, revealing the other battle royal participants as well as the Title Eliminator match - Chicky Starr vs. Bob Backlund!

Almost caught up... Taped 12/22/83 - Airing in local syndication 12/24/1983 (“Free for All” by Ted Nugent plays as shots of Detroit are mixed with shots of Greg Valentine, Rick Martel, Dick Murdoch, Jesse Ventura, Chicky Starr, Ivan Koloff and others … ending with footage of Valentine holding the Heavyweight Championship high in Cobo Arena) It’s Christmas Eve for our viewers, and the Michigan State Fair Coliseum is decked out for the holidays. Your best present is right here - the first round of the BTW Tag Team Title Tournament! Jesse and Layton welcome the viewers. They run down the matches coming up tonight, with Jesse feeling supremely confident about his team of Barr and Beefcake against a team many peg as the favorites in the entire tournament, Rick Martel and Bob Backlund. Lord Layton is especially excited for the debut of Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater - and both men are ready for the Andersons - who they have heard much about - to take on the legendary Blackjacks in a big time first round matchup. In singles action, we’ll also meet the debuting Bad News Allen - an accomplished wrestler and former Olympian in Judo. Before we hit the ring, Lord Layton runs down the schedule in the next two weeks for Big Time Wrestling. The first round of the tag team tournament will take place tonight. The second round takes place on the normal television taping date of 12/29, with the final four squaring off at Cobo Arena on 12/31. Since that’s the normal air-date for BTW, they’ve worked out a deal with Channel 7 WXYZ in Detroit to air the 12/29 bouts LIVE. The show will also air on other stations, as usual, the 31st. But this will give fans in the Channel 7 area a chance to see the tag team tournament setup before the Cobo show. Interview: Somers/Bass introduce Don Carson Doug Somers and Bobby Bass are out to talk about the tag team tournament a bit. They introduce the Best Dressed Man in Detroit, Don Carson, as their new manager. The smooth talking trio is confident they’ll walk out of this tournament with the straps. First Round Tag Team Tournament Bout Rocky Johnson is furious at this apparent out-smarting by the Magic Man. Koko is stuck in the ring with both Christy and Animal, and Animal locks in the hammerlock. Johnson pulls himself up and goes in to chase them off, but Masa Fuchi! appears and joins Christy and Animal. Christy seems to be assembling himself quite the little group. First Round Tag Team Tournament Bout Now here comes Greg Valentine, with Murdoch and Adonis, to surround the ring. Things don’t look good for Martel and Backlund, but the Union doesn’t attack. Greg simply smiles at a limping Martel and makes the Figure Four motion - Rick has to go through Adonis and Murdoch next week, and then he’s got Valentine at Cobo. If Martel and Backlund lose, it’ll be his only match. If they win next week, Martel faces the possibility of two tag team bouts and a championship match. Valentine (and Jesse on commentary) seem to believe they have Martel right where they want him. We’ll see you next week LIVE on Channel 7!

Unlikely it would have been big money, and maybe not even good, but I can't find any evidence of a Shawn Michaels-Bam Bam match from that mid-90s era either. They missed each other like ships in the night with the similarly timed turns it seems. Edit: Didn't want to spam another post Is this the only WWF Piper vs Macho Man match available? http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x30ygpl Seems like they would have ended up in a PPV match at some point during those 8 or so years but I know they didn't.

"Big" is relative during the era in question here, but Bret-Savage, Undertaker-Savage, and HBK-Savage (notice a theme, ha)? I know that all three have happened at some point, but I'm talking in the 94-95 era as PPV main event level matches.

Agreed I can book them for a month sometime to help spread the workload

Piper vs Hogan in Memphis is an awesome thought. The whole card is really great- totally loaded. I'd pay for it.

Catching up after the hectic holidays ... look for the 12/22 episode either tonight or sometime tomorrow, and then hopefully on schedule with the real timeline after that. I'll be reading all of your wonderful shows as well during a slow work day! Thanks for the patience Taped 12/15/83 - Airing in local syndication 12/17/1983 (“Free for All” by Ted Nugent plays as shots of Detroit are mixed with shots of Greg Valentine, Rick Martel, Dick Murdoch, Jesse Ventura, Chicky Starr, Ivan Koloff and others … ending with footage of Valentine holding the Heavyweight Championship high in Cobo Arena) We’re back in the Michigan State Fair Coliseum with Lord Layton and Jesse Ventura for another week of BTW action. This week, we’re going to reveal the tag team title tournament brackets - Dick Murdoch will return to television - Rocky Johnson is in action - we have the debut of Blackjack Mulligan - Ivan Koloff has a new partner on orders from Moscow - and in the main event, The Mechanic Jesse Barr will look for a measure of Union revenge against Bob Backlund! Jesse stops Rocky Johnson for a quick word after the bout. He knows Rocky is in the tournament for the tag belts - what geek is he gonna team up with? Rocky brings out Koko Ware, who will be in action against George Steele later, as his tournament partner. He’s excited to have the young star by his side as they look for tag team title gold. Rocky wishes Koko good luck against the vicious Animal later. We cut to a videotape promo for a new team debuting - Dick Slater and Bob Orton, Jr. We see clips of them from previous promotions, followed by a promo from the team. The Rebels are bringing some southern toughness to the Motor City and look forward to their debut in the tournament next week. Lord Layton introduces us to Blackjack Mulligan, the new big man on the scene. Mulligan congratulates Cook on his effort and thinks we’ll see some big things from him too in the future. Mulligan brings out his partner in the tournament, the legendary Blackjack Lanza. The two hombres are ready for whatever is headed their way. Speaking of the tag team tournament, it’s time to reveal the brackets. Jesse is cackling as he talks about his good fortune before we see the brackets. He implores us to hold the phone a second - and here comes Dick Murdoch back from Japan! Captain Redneck is back and ready to rumble. He’s had “a successful tour of Japan” we are told. Murdoch is ready to rumble. He thanks Jesse for the great negotiation on his behalf - even after being absent, he’s glad he was able to impress everyone enough to be granted a bye in the tournament. He also wants to send congratulations to Greg on winning on the heavyweight title. Now, here’s his partner in the tournament - Adrian Adonis! Adonis is cocky as ever. The North-South Connection, the Mason Dixon Maulers, the United Republic, whatever you wanna come up with, him and Murdoch are going to dismantle everyone in their way and walk out of the Cobo on New Year’s Eve with a title. Layton shakes his head a bit at the brashness and is ready to unveil the brackets. He mentions some new teams will be involved as a result of the great people at Big Time and their talent relations skills: Now, for the brackets: Layton knew their would be new faces - but who is this Beefcake? Jesse says we’ll meet Brutus “Boulder” Beefcake when the time is right. He’s an associate of the Union, and he’s working as an apprentice under The Mechanic. Isn’t it just shocking how they happen to match up with Martel and Backlund, he laughs. Christy is ecstatic. He’s also ecstatic about the tag team match coming up with Rocky Johnson and Koko - it’s the last time he’s going to have to deal with Johnson, that’s for darn sure. That turkey is gonna get what’s coming to him. And now it’s time for … The Magic Hour. The Magic Hour w/ Paul Christy Welcome, welcome everyone! Mr. Magic Paul Christy is proud to welcome to the stage the Magnificent Muscovite, Ivan Koloff. “Our glorious leaders in Moscow - they tell me Ivan that former Comrade Alexis not strong enough to lead, not strong enough to win in America anymore. Alexis must go - and I send Alexis away! Moscow tell me they have lined up new partner. New alliance, new frontiers in international diplomacy! It is new era in America and Soviet power! Please welcome my new partner - SGT. SLAUGHTER!” Christy is taken aback, the crowd buzzes. Here comes the drill sergeant! “Attttention! Listen to me pukes, and listen to me well. I’ve searched through this country and I’ve found NOBODY worth my time as a partner, as an ally. My loyalty is to my success, and the best option for that success is my new alliance, with the great champion IVAN KOLOFF!” Christy doesn’t know what to say, and neither do The Body or Lord Layton. This powerful new alliance is a threat to every title in Big Time Wrestling. As Martel leaves the ring to get an interview in, Greg Valentine flies out of nowhere and drops him with the title belt. We’re introduced to Boulder Beefcake sooner than expected as well, since he and Barr are right behind to help the beatdown. Jesse is gleeful on the mic. Martel looks to be in serious trouble until Bob Backlund comes out on fire and drives them away with a chair. This segues into our main event for the evening...

Shinya hashimoto to new guinea man eater is an awesome switch I love wrestling

BTW is passing... Detroit is no place for the young.

To bring Big Time up to 36 we're going to add Ted and Jerry Oates

Good to go

Yup, Alexis was unprotected- he's all yours.

Taped 12/8/83 - Airing in local syndication 12/10/1983 (“Free for All” by Ted Nugent plays as shots of Detroit are mixed with shots of Greg Valentine, Rick Martel, Dick Murdoch, Jesse Ventura, Chicky Starr, Ivan Koloff and others … ending with footage of Valentine holding the Heavyweight Championship high in Cobo Arena) Lord Layton and Jesse Ventura welcome us to the Michigan State Fair Coliseum with a rundown of the card tonight. Title Eliminator (Winner Gets a Heavyweight Title Match at Cobo Arena 12/31): Rick Martel vs. Fidel Sierra Chicky Starr vs. Buzz Tyler Rocky Johnson vs. Tiger Conway, Jr. Bob Backlund vs. Killer Karl Krupp Stephen Petitpas/Leo Burke vs. Masa Fuchi/Killer Khan Ivan Koloff/Alexis Smirnoff vs. The Valiants Layton: Johnson versus Conway! After Johnson saved Conway last week! Jesse: They’ve got the same record - clearly the board wants to see who can move up in the rankings. Layton: You do seem to have an inside connection on the board. With your other inside connection, who does Greg Valentine want to see win the eliminator? Jesse: Frankly “Lord”, if that’s your real title, we don’t care. The Hammer is the premier wrestler in this entire country. We’re not afraid of any pretenders. We’re off to the ring ... Rocky Johnson gets a quick interview after the match. He’s hopping mad about George Steele and Paul Christy’s ridiculous antics at Cobo and last week. He doesn’t need a magic cane to provide a whoopin’ to anyone and he’ll prove it when he gets another shot at the Animal. He is also gracious to Conway and wishes him luck in his future bouts. Backlund has promo time after the match. He announces that he’ll be heading to NWA Starrcade to participate in the big battle royal. He also understands he has work to do to put himself in the title picture, and he’s going to get there - it’s his promise to the fans. The Magic Hour w/ Paul Christy Paul Christy and his catatonic Animal Steele are out for the Magic Hour. Pick a card, any card! Greg “The Hammer” Valentine is the guest this week. Jesse leaves the booth to join him. Christy is wondering about The Hammer and Dick Murdoch. Is there any lingering resentment from not getting the title shot? Greg and Jesse both re-assure us that the Union is stronger than ever, that Dicky knows all about it, and he’s fine with it. He’s got commitments in Japan, he’s got a tag team partner coming in for the tournament, and they are going to run this city with all the gold. That’s all fine, agrees Christy, but what about his Animal? He’s on a streak, he’s vicious, and he’s got the resume to challenge Valentine. Valentine and Animal stare at each other … The Hammer is unphased. The Animal is drooling. Jesse says that isn’t his decision - Animal Steele will get his title shot when the board determines he deserves one. Christy calls Ventura a turkey, and this sets off a bit of a shouting match. Christy threatens to unleash the Animal - Ventura thinks better of this situation and convinces the champion, who is ready for anything in his way, that they should cut this interview short. After the match, Koloff is staring down Smirnoff. They argue in Russian for a moment, before Smirnoff goes to exit the ring. Koloff lays him out with a clothesline from behind, and puts the boots to Smirnoff. As security breaks up the beating, Ventura gets a quick word with Ivan. He says that he is tired of Smirnoff disappointing Mother Russia, and that Moscow has decided it’s time for a substitute in the team. He promises that he’ll have a new ally in Detroit soon. Now it’s time for the Main Event - the winner gets a shot at Greg Valentine at the Cobo Arena on New Year’s Eve.

Really wanted to go to NXT Detroit. Tickets sold out in like a nanosecond. Anyone going to a show on this upcoming tour?

That's it, in true internet fashion, I'm doubling down on this. I want Brock in first, and at least 10 entrants to refuse to even enter out of fear. And then #30 comes in with a chainsaw but Brock snaps it in half before decapitating him.

Looks or looked? I dig her current look but not the debut one