Superstar Sleeze

WCW World Champion Hollywood Hogan vs Ric Flair - Clash of the Champions August 96 Fresh off beating The Giant less than a week ago and dumping the Booty Man, we get a big time marquee match up on the Clash. I’m glad they snuck this in before Flair’s injury. The Savage match was always going to what they really built to. I think the Booty Man AngleS and the Backlot were the perfect build to this. I wish Hogan waylaid both Savage and Flair on Nitro instead of doing the whole I don’t want Flair to have any excuses shit. Also the Stupid Little Man stuff sucked. The match itself was something I wanted to like more than I could. Hogan was trying to figure out how to work heel. Flair needed to de-program himself from a two year run of being an extra cheating coward heel. The headlock stuff was good, Hogan still got the shoulder tackle and placed Flair on the top turnbuckle but Flair did get the slap so he ended up In the babyface position even though it was a non-conventional way to get there. That was a microcosm of the match Flair ended up in babyface position unconventionally. The rest of strength at first Flair stooges but bit the fingers for the face pop. On the second Flair Flip, he decks Hogan but the first one is classic Flair stooging. The Hulk Up I’m 50/50 on. It is such an obvious babyface spot but if he doesn’t do it, it’s dumb because why stop now? Instead I think he tries to Hulk Up but fails earlier because he’s older, not as physically or as mentally strong and doesn’t have the fans. I think him turning could’ve been him presented as action of self-doubt, a crisis of confidence and that would severely undercut his Hulk-Up. They let him get too much Hulk-Up. He misses the Leg. Figure-4. Outsiders. Sting, Luger, Horsemen save. Horsemen and Sting/Luger can’t get on the same page. This is such an interesting match because these two had such a formula and due to the Hollywood Hogan turn it was a total paradigm shift. That’s what’s going to be interesting about these Hogan matches. How is it different? There was some really interesting decisions that ultimately worked and some that were too much like the old stuff. Very interesting regardless.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Giant vs Hollywood Hogan - WCW Hog Wild 1996 Another match that had no chance of living up to the hype. The Giant was on a roll on Nitro building this match up wicked hot. The promo after the Valentine match was red hot. I enjoyed the Pittman match mostly for Pittman's headlong flying battering ram headbutts to the Giant. Those Nitros were the hottest and biggest The Giant ever felt in his career. This was clearly a lot worse than Luger/Sting vs Outsiders. Hollywood was clearly trying to figure out how to work heel. He powdered after every big Giant spot which was fine. I liked the beginning where Hogan threw a bunch of punches and Giant No-Sold It. More No-Selling Please! You gotta admire Hollywood leaning as hard as he could into the heel character. I liked the Greco-Roman Knucklelock and how Hogan had to use kicks to get Giant down. I liked how Hogan celebrated his cheap win. They lingered too long. Giant should have popped right back off to pay off that Hogan was a chump now. The top wristlock stuff was pointless and very boring. Liked Giant's headbutts. Hogan powder was fine. The outside the ring stuff was fine. Giant needed more fire and energy. We finally get it at the end when Giant does the Hulk Up on Hogan which POPPED ME HUGE! I agree with Charles this would have been way better in front of a paid wrestling crowd. Giant doesnt punch, but chops...booo! Big Boot, Chokeslam, no here comes the Calvary. They should have ref bumped. This looked bad with the ref still active. Giant gets the Chokeslam on each Outsider but succumbs to the World Title. Hogan does not drop the leg and wins. Give credit where credit is due Hogan wrestled this match 100% Rudo. Giant just wasnt the face to give him a great match. This was a pretty bad match. Now Booty Man angle was absolute gold! In the Disney Backlot attack, the Outsider injured Arn Anderson's arm and sent him to the hospital. Woman was so good with her howls. Somber Flair especially in 1996 is very jarring. Then we get a fucking molten hot, ***** angle where Flair and Horsemen beat the shit out of the Booty Man because he is Hogan's friend. AA says they are the original gang, you said one of ours to the hospital, we send one of yours to the morgue. Flair is a psychopath saying he injured Hogan's best friend in retaliation and he is coming for him. Flair's sitdown interview preceding this is so good because of one line, I thought we could co-exist. He thought this was another heel faction. They would just get along and fight the babyfaces. Then he realized this is a totally different beast. This is an all-out assault on WCW. He was going to defend WCW Horsemen-style. It all leads to Beefcake coming out in an NWO shirt with a birthday cake since Hogan's birthday tomorrow. He plays kiss ass. Hogan says he does not mix business with pleasure/friendship. Flair showed his down card. He has a soft spot for Double A. Hogan has no soft spots. This is brilliant. He punks out the Booty Man. The only thing is I wish it just a bit more violent or he at least dropped the Leg on the Beefer. That would have put this over the top. The obvious line, but great line here is if I would do this to my best friend what will I do to you? There's nothing better in my opinion to establish a super mega heel than have him beat up his loyal crony. That is just ultimate heel shit. This fucking ruled! They spraypaint the Big Goldy NWO! NWO 4 LIFE! THIS SHIT IS JUST 2 SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

Sting & Lex Luger vs The Outsiders - WCW Hog Wild 1996 I dont think there was any way this could live up to the expectations after the Disney Backlot angle. I love three out of these four and the Stinger is growing on me. I knew it would be better than people would give it credit for, but it still wasnt an excellent match. Let me get this out the way, Heenan had been slowly deteriorating on commentary all night and this was the pits. Interesting structure, they started with a Clash of Titans opening rather than a hot babyface shine. I dont mind The Outsiders forcing Sting & Luger to earn their shine, but they milked every spot for everything. It felt big, but it was missing a little zip. Hall got one over on Luger twice. He really showed him up. Eventually Luger got the hiptoss out the corner and the kneelift to hit the signature flex. Hall tags in the Big Guy after being substantially embarrassed, now youre gonna get it, is the psychology. Luger cant stop titty bouncing. Big Sexy calls for the Stinger and spits at him. Sting spits back. Again Nash clobbers Sting. Making Sting look silly. Sting eventually revs up, tees off and hits the bodyslam/flex for the big pop. It is a great pop. They are milking every spot which I like. Nash did something, I cant remember and Hall slugs from the outside. They go to the heat segment. Hall hits a WICKED Discus Right. Great cutoff as Sting revs up, but Hall catches him in the Sack of Shit. Hall gets one more great clothesline, really decks him. Nash uses his usually effective corner offense. Except mistimed a big boot in the corner and went with his Left and just totally whiffed. They had some good cutoffs of the hot tag. Sting did that great spot he only busts out for big matches where, they knock heads and he collapses so that he headbutts Nash's balls. They take too long on the Razor's Edge and Sting backdrops out. Sting tags in Luger. Luger hits a vaulting dropkick in! He did that against the Nasties! It looks so cool! Stinger Splash on Nash! Luger is a House Afire! Scorpion Deathlock on the Outside on Nash. Luger tries to Rack Hall, hits Nick Patrick. Luger has a hard time Racking Hall, Luger has racked bigger men dont know what happened, Nick Patrick "accidentally" chop blocks Luger and fast counts Luger for three. Didnt love the finish, but an Evil Ref hits the NWO angle like a glove. I think there's a more compelling way to get there, then a ref chop blocking Luger and forcing Luger to have sell that. Didnt love the finish. The match itself was alright, decent Clash of Titans to start and a solid heat segment. ***

WCW US Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero - WCW Hog Wild 1996 Two big names like this on paper, but never any talk about it, is not a very good sign. I would say this match is definitely good albeit disappointing. I have seen their Nitro match at least twice but I cant really remember much about it. Flair is coming off the piping hot Booty Man angle where the Horsemen get revenge for the backlot attack on Double A by taking out Hogan's bestie, Brutus Beefcake. One of the all-time best angles ever! I saw it for the first time last night and it was so fucking compelling. I forgot how amazing pro wrestling could be. That was terrific. Not too much build to this one. Eddie had two very good matches with Psychosis in the run-up and a stinker against Big Bubba (but that was kinda on purpose it was after NWO backlot attack and they were selling that they were distraught and distracted). Flair wrestled a very fresh Chavito on Saturday Night and wouldnt release the Figure-4. Flair gave a great sit-down interview saying he thought the NWO could co-exist with the Horsemen but after what they did to Arn, he is coming for Hogan. Flair is definitely about to go babyface, but in this match this is 100% heel Flair. This is a Flair broomstick match through and through. I am an unabashed Flair mark. Ill enjoy this pretty much no matter what but how good they are really depends on the opponent. Eddie is great normally but '96 Eddie doesnt have the charisma that Eddie would develop in 97 through the rest of his career. He has some good spots he can fill in like dropkicking Flair on the Flair Flip, a Sprinboard Hurricanarana and eyepoking Flair back after Flair had eye poked him earlier. The Sunset Flip moon spot was wicked over. The Eddie does the Figure-4 spot would have been over in Asheville but Sturgis didnt get it and of course the Press Slam. The beginning was fun with all the slaps and Flair bumping around and shining Eddie up. The other thing that determines how great a Flair match will be is how hard he tries on the heat segment. In the 80s, he almost always rules. In the 90s, it is hit or miss. I recently watched him vs Lizmark on Worldwide. I was like Ooooo what cool shit will he allow Lizmark to try. Flair fucking squashes him. You know how the internet wants Flair to wrestle that's what he did against Lizmark. He just wrestlefucked him and won. I was pissed. So 90s Flair can be offense-heavy and guzzle opponents, but here he just had no desire to do anything but cheat and chop. The eyepoke led to a decent heat segment. They lost major points when Flair kicked a field goal on Eddie's balls and less than a minute later Eddie was on offense. We all know that's Flair's fault. The finish was fine. Eddie hit the Frogsplash but jammed his knee. Flair was thinking Figure-4 with trademark Back Suplex as the prelude, Eddie skinned the cat out, but still favoring the knee, Flair blasted him with a clothesline. You dont see too many Flair clotheslines. Figure-4 and Eddie is pinned in the hold while Woman holds onto Flair for extra leverage. Like I said there's enough good that this is firmly good, but Flair just wanted to bump and sell. Eddie didnt have the fire or charisma at this point to take this above good. Benoit/Malenko wins Match of the Night unless something crazy happens in the last two matches. ***1/4

WWF Championship Wrestling 1985 As most people know, WWF Championship Wrestling is not on Peacock. I think watching WWF syndicated TV would be an interesting comparison to Southern Syndicated TV wrestling, which is far more celebrated. There seems to be like more from the beginning of the year, 1985 on various video outlets. We will see what I can dig up. 3/16/85 It is the hard sell for Wrestlemania! Vince is all in and it comes great! Main Angle: Everything is all about Hogan & Mr. T vs Piper & Wonderful. All four men are all over this show. I am pretty sure I was watching the Boston market version as there were promos for the Boston Garden and for watching Wrestlemania at 1pm at various locations in New England. They were selling the Closed Circuit hard! Special Guest Timekeeper Liberace?!?! with this hilarious incredulous upward inflection popped me huge every time I heard it. Hogan/T's promo to close was so good. Mr. T was awesome and I think I liked him a little more than Hogan. "None of this rule stuff, they dont play by rules, we dont play by the rules" and then taking it to the streets, South Side! The build from the heels was more racist than I expected. I guess this is before the 1980s National SNME, colorful presentation where they would scrub most that stuff out. Mean Gene goes to visit the training of Piper/Wonderful/Orton. Piper & Wonderful are mediating and they no sell Mean Gene. Cowboy explains what they are doing. I thought this was a smart heel way to train in the 80s. You dont see Mean Gene get physical too often, I thought he had a medical condition (bad neck?) maybe I am confusing him with Heenan. Orndorff shoves Mean Gene. Then they manhandle Mean Gene as they throw him out. They beat up a street urchin that was trying to help Mean Gene. In addition to all this, we got a Piper's Pit with Beefcake & Johnny V. We find out the Beefer broke Hillbilly's leg and now they got their eyes set on the Sammartino's Beefcake is a terrible promo. Amazing, he mad it as far he did in WWF. Definitely some cronyism there. It all started with Mean Gene announcing Hogan vs Muraco at the Boston Garden a week prior to Mania. This was a big albeit forgotten Hogan program. Hogan does a great job selling everyone is talking WrestleMania, but he has other commitments as World Champion! I dug it! Hogan hiring Mr. T as his bodyguard for a year with a one year option if T can get the job done. Hogan big timing Mr. T popped me. Muraco talked a bunch of gibberish but I like his accent and his delivery which is 75% of what makes a great promo. Arena Angle: Vince tells at the beginning of the show, Andre was supposed to be there but Big John Studd will substitute. Bruno says Andre was too angry, too furious that no one wanted to wrestle him. Given his state of mind, he should stay home. Once Studd comes out, all makes sense, as not only does Studd have the $15,000, but he has Andre's hair. Ahhhhhhh they did the hair cut angle! Big John Studd is one of those wrestlers who looks cool in theory, but kinda sucks in execution. Watched this one not knowing what would happen. Studd keeps picking him up. Andre comes out to a massive pop! They tussle, good giant fight with Andre winning with a chop and Studd powders. Midcard Mania: US Express won a squash with a bulldog. I skipped the Steamboat, Bundy (w/Cape & Jimmy Hart) and Wendi Richter squashes. I think in hardcore circles it is well-known, but it can be easily overlooked how important the Women (Richter/Moolah/Cyndi Lauper) were to WrestleMania. A lot of that is of course getting Lauper involved and thrusting her into this angle. We got Lord Alfred Hayes running down the backstory to the big WrestleMania match. Alfred much better in commentary than here where he blandly stumbles & bumbles his way through narrating this segment. All The Mean Gene stuff was great and the Andre/Studd angle was hot with the live crowd. I like how there are more promos in this show ala Crockett as opposed to Watts or World Class which has almost no promos. Good stuff. I wish they put this on Peacock.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Diesel vs Razor Ramon - WWF Summerslam 1994 I thought the title change in April on Superstars was better. That match has a lot more fire and energy. This match felt like the Shawn show and there was a wrestling match taking place in the backdrop. Razor opts for the Randy Savage babyface formula. Very quick shine punctuated by a discus punch and a great bump & sell by Diesel. This made me excited. After a short conference with Shawn and scaling the top rope, they had right to heat with a shot to the ribs. Razor skips registers and goes right to Ricky Morton selling like he has been in there 15-20 minutes. There’s levels to this. I will give them credit that at least most of Diesel’s offense was set up as cutoffs to Hall’s hope spots. Shawn did a lot of great work on the outside. Awesome leaping lariat on the outside to Razor. Nash has a great five moves of doom. HBK exposed the turnbuckle which is a callback to April. Nash works this stretch well and when the ref first blocks the use there is some distraction and Nash uses it but only gets two. Genius! They work through some more Diesel offense before Hall shoved him in the exposed buckle. Great heat on that. Great heat on Hall’s Second Rope Steiner Bulldog that he used a shit ton as Razor. Diesel blocks the Super Back Suplex the usual prelude to the Razor’s Edge. That was a nice touch. They built really nice heat down the stretch. HBK gets into with Walter Payton and it is a Sweet Chin Music to Diesel as it is clear they already know what their WrestleMania main event will be. Hall just pins him after Sweet Chin Music. Basically Michaels won the IC title as the Kliq buddies continue to get the Sweet Chin Music over as a killer. They went to heat way too soon. Shawn kept entertaining until they were able to build on heat on their own which came after the first hit into the exposed buckle. If watched JIP, I could see people really liking this. The whole thing it was alright but I preferred the Superstars match. ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Razor Ramon - WWF Royal Rumble 1993 I am surprised no one had made a thread for this. Unique match. Razor was so strongly pushed out the gate but it was the Kid angle that got him over forever. It is weird what gets people over and doesn’t. Bret’s first reign feels so random and Shawn & Razor are interesting challengers. Textbook Bret Hart match which I probably underrate. My issue with textbook Bret Hart is that there is not much struggle within a segment. They have very logical matches and they are very easy to remember. Slugfest to start which looked great both men have great punches. Razor knees the top turnbuckle. Bret works the leg pugnaciously. Bret is an all-time great grinder. He is one of the few that can make heel in peril work on top. Bret takes his sick sick sliding abdomen steel post shot. Hall works the back with laser focus. Great use of the sack of shit. Bret uses a back drop over the top and suicide dive to turn the tide. Bret has a top five suicide dive! Five moves of Doom. There is a little struggle with Hall shoving Bret off on the ten count punches, tip of the cap. Sharpshooter attempt but Razor yanks the ref into it. The finish run is a little clunky. I liked Bret’s reversal of the Super Back Suplex into his own. That should have led to the Sharpshooter finish. Bret overthought it with a backslide, an overly complicated roll up into the Sharpshooter. This was my very long way to say because Bret matches are so logical they are easy to follow and remember. That was a super easy match to recap. It feels logically good to watch them BUT textbook Bret doesn’t move me. High end Bret doesn’t. It feels sterile, mechanical and safe. I like organic, guttural and wild. Textbook Bret is in the very good camp but not great. Hall was very good in this but this was definitely a Bret match. I would have liked to see Hall try to do heat segments more like this. ***1/2

If you watch the match against Bubba Rogers, he was getting a monster hometown babyface pop. Double J chants at the beginning and he was getting big reactions during the finish for the Figure-4 tease, finally punching Jimmy Hart and beating Rogers by dropkicking the megaphone in the face. The promo with the weird "Ho oh Ho" laughs was weird. Jarrett's problem I think he wrestles like a babyface and is a really compelling babyface, but he is unlikeable outside the ring (character/promo). They could have hid him in a tag team to avoid that.

Lex Luger vs Greg Valentine - WCW Nitro 10/14/96 A surprising amount of wrestling kick off Nitro with Malenko/Armstrong, Duggan/Rotundo, and Hugh Morrus/Jim Powers, a surprising about of midcard talent too. I was working through all that but I picked my head up for Luger vs Valentine. This rocked! Two of my favorites and they crushed it. DiBiase & Vincent appeared in the crowd and I was pissed at first, they couldnt have interrupted Morrus/Powers, BUT thankfully they stayed in the crowd and let this match play out. Luger has injured ribs and Valentine was laser-focused. Luger back gives out on an early suplex and Valentine just rocks the back. Great old school Valentine heat segment. Kick ass. Luger's selling was so fucking good. Great faces and verbal selling. Liked the abridged comeback and the way Luger did it. Luger was selling his back so much you didnt think he would use the Torture Rack and Tony/Larry Z put that over so the Flying Burrito had extra heat with me. Then they did a quick feet on ropes pin for Valentine but as Valentine is arguing, Luger fights through the pain and RACKS HIM! Excellent facial expression! LOVED THIS! ***1/2

To PeteF's point, I know the Yearbook was not structured this way, but if you watch Nitro, the first hour was one hour straight of wrestling (four matches in a row). So this was a 5 minute segment, yes without a Tron, this would suck for the live audience, but it was not like they didnt have an hour straight of wrestling. This angle fucking ruled! This is why there needs to be more romance in pro wrestling. Love/Romance/Lust are such powerful emotions and they should be included. This was such a powerful segment from Liz's work and especially Savage's who showed a lot of range and vulnerability here. Great WCW touch, Mike Enos already came out and the reason Savage was coming out was to wrestle. Savage was red hot. Savage just abandoned the match. Savage had a reason to come out is such a missed motivation in wrestling that started soon after this and continues to this day.

Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty vs Sid & The Kid - WWF In Your House V Sid & The Kid has a good ring to it. I think if both stuck around long enough there could have been something there even moreso than just a cool name. Sid got mostly booed, but that smart Northeast crowd couldnt help but cheer for the big lug. I cant understand either. I just love me some Sid too. My brain knows he sucks, but my heart says he is my hero. Vince & Lawler seemed to be putting over Sid & The Kid as big time new tag team, but they got jobbed here. I dont know if they already knew Sid was leaving or not? Who knows with Sid? I know Kid hangs around long enough that wouldnt be him. This is a really funny dynamic. As you get Marty and Kid there working this really flashy workrate style and then Hall & Sid work traditional heavyweight wrestling. The main feud is Kid vs Razor, but the Kid obviously doesnt want to face Razor. I looked it up. Apparently the Kid threw a temper tantrum after Razor/Kid lost to the Smoking Gunns and then fucked Razor over in a match with Sid and joined the Million Dollar Corporation. Once Marty has gotten the best of Kid, he tags in Razor. Just when you think the Kid is going to get it, he does a blind tag to Sid and Sid mows Razor down. Sid just has this weird goofy charm. Short heat on Razor before Kid & Marty go at it. They slow it down with Marty on top so that Goldust could do a mid-match insert promo. Goldust is probably my pick for the greatest Vince gimmick. Just genius. Riveting promo about how damn sexy Razor is. During the promo, Sid yank Marry and this led to Kid spin wheel kick on Marty for the heat segment. We get back to it and finally the hot tag. Razor mows everyone down. Surprising the match ends rather anticlimatically with Razor doing his Steiner Bulldog for the win on Sid?!? They must have known Sid was leaving. This was definitely the least of the Razor matches I have seen thus far.

Been watch a lot of Scott Hall today, just watched him drop the IC Title to Double J. Ice cold reaction. Was Jarrett the first act Vince pushed that was not over, but said fuck it and kept pushing him anyways?

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett - WWF Royal Rumble 1995 I thought this was good again, but it could have been great. I thought all the spots were fine, but this could have used an editor to arrange them all in a different order to make them better. I have always had a soft spot for Jarrett, what can I say I am a sucker for blonds, but I really havent watched much of his work so this match jumped out to me. I really enjoyed the red hot start, which until the end was my favorite of the match. Double J bumped and fed for Hall so well. Hall had a great working punch, Sack of shit and the Chokeslam. I didnt know he was doing the Chokeslam before The Giant feud. I thought that was added to his arsenal when he was mocking Giant. I popped for that. Double J powdered. They reset. I felt like they lost a lot of steam. Jarrett gets a simple armdrag. He does the Fargo Strut. This happens three times of course with him mussing up the hair of Hall. Razor just walloped him again and sent him hard over the ropes. I just wanted more out of the climax. I loved the set up. Heel celebrating very miniscule victories only to be shown up is great. Climax was not there. Razor did get his receipt with mussing up Jarrett's golden lock. Jarrett went to the dropkick well three times in a row with a mistimed crossbody for the climax. It felt too babyface-ish. There was a lot of 90s slow down holds. Refuse to call them rest holds. Jarrett has a lot of babyface offense. Finally he works some feet on the ropes. Hall is thinking Second Rope Bulldog but Jarrett turns around so it is a Baba style clothesline. Hall goes really hard over the top rope and Roadie chop blocks. Countout finish. Double J with some pretty second-rate trash talk says Razor is not a chico but a chicken. Razor of course has to defend his machismo and restarts the match. This salvaged the match for me. This is just classic pro wrestling. Before the injury angle, they were kind of lost in terms of structure, the knee injury gave them something to focus on. Jarrett's knee work was great, the figure-4 worked well and Razor's attempts to comeback rule. The babyface's knee giving out on the finish leading to the loss is always over with me. With the Razor's Edge it was perfect. That finish was ice cold. Double J is definitely not over. Was he the first really pushed wrestler that was clearly not over that still went with anyways? Enjoyed the beginning, they lost me, but the angle/finish at the end salvaged it. ***

WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 2/21/94 Fun fact, if I had to pick the best WWF match that did not involve Shawn or Bret between 1993-1997, I would pick the Kid & Jannetty vs Quebecers match that was a couple weeks prior to this one. Quebecers are a great old school Southern tag team. They feed, bump and stooge with the best of them and they have sick Midnight Express-like offense during the heat segments. This was supposed to be Kid & Jannetty, but Jannetty was either suspended or injured. Real-life best friend Scott Hall jumps in. I mean this in the nicest way, Hall might have been the King of *** match. Nothing of his ever sucks, it is just plain fun wrestling. He is working some great opponents in these matches. Quebecers try to double team the injured Kid, but he wriggles free and shows them up. The babyface shine comes off great. Quebecers are total stooges. Razor & Kid eat them up. Loved the Razor's Edge on Polo on the floor to take him out after the he tripped Razor. Great highspot early to get the crowd going. Heel in peril WWF in 1994 wow, amazing it lasted that long. Quebecers were great. Double FIP with Razor going first. The Kid was predictably better because he is just smaller and more maneuverable. Some great double teams by the Quebecers. Loved the hot tag. Jacquer sold exasperation so well. Loved how Pierre charged into the bodyslam. Super Back Suplex prelude to Razors Edge. Can he hoist the big man up? He does! Razor's Edge! Forgot to mention that Diesel had been looming and his mere presence led to the initial heat segment. It looks like there will be new Tag Champs, BUT Shawn Michaels comes flying out of the stands for the last minute DQ to put some heat on the Mania Ladder Match. Another fun Razor match and the Quebecers were really good so much better than the Rougeaus! ***1/4

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Diesel - WWF Superstars 4/30/94 Pete brings up the point I was going to say which is Diesel is unlike any IC Champion before him. Given his stature, people like him usually go straight to the top so interesting booking. I am surprised in my Scott Hall research that he lost the title so soon after Wrestlemania X but I guess given that he regained it at Summerslam it made sense to do it now so Diesel could get a bit of a run with it. I watched the full match and if youre going to do six minutes this was pretty damn good. It is a Kliq match so they go balls out at the start. Razor hits the ring jump starts the match. Diesel feeds him like a champ. I love how Nash registers and feeds but never bump. Nice tease on the Razor's Edge and Diesel Big Boot. We get the Nash Five Moves of Doom in the heat segment...Hiplifts in the corner, Sidewalk Slam, Snake Eyes, Stradle. The chinlock out of the break was the only part that dragged, but impressive Hall got him up on his shoulders. I didnt know that the Second Rope Steiner Bulldog was a regular Hall spot. Some good nearfalls to show Razor was on his way to winning until HBK gets involved. Michaels takes a great bump off a Hall Right and then Diesel runs into him as he taking off the turnbuckle pad and sends him flying. Hall is of course then one that eats the exposed buckle or as Vince likes to call it RAW STEEL and Jacknife new Champ. Bodyguards never really won titles. I am sure this was pretty surprising at the time. Besides the chinlock, they went balls out. Fun match. ***

Randy Savage vs Razor Ramon - WWF 10/28/92 Looks like this was a dark match during a Challenge/Prime Time Wrestling taping. Was this released on Coliseum? Anything before the 1-2-3 Kid angle, I really dont know much about Razor. He was pushed really strong in retrospect. Immediately feuding with the Macho Man, who was the top babyface, programed as Flair's buddy and then a World Championship match against Bret in January. That is impressive. Excellent gimmick and presence and a very fresh face. I figured with this not being televised we get the 90s Randy Savage babyface formula, which we did, but there were enough wrinkles here to keep it entertaining. Savage did get a shine, which is nice as I thought we might go straight to heat. Savage rifles back with some of his signature jabs early. I missed Savage, always a joy to watch an unseen match of his. He does some classic "I was once a heel moves, but now I am doing them against a heel" which I love because fighting dirty against a heel is always great. Great eyepoke by Hall to set up the knee attack. I assume this based off the Flair/Savage switch where Savage's knee was injured. It is Randy Savage selling the knee for all its worth, once it is not love. On that we get more hope spots than normal from Savage in this role. Savage hopping around, eating legsweeps and popping right back for more was fucking awesome. The first Savage comeback with the jabs was great. Then Razor cuts off only for Savage to shove him out. Kicks some ass on the outside. Are we going to get the big elbow, no? Double axehandle to the outside! Savage hurt his knee again. Double Countout, methinks? Ahhhh Razor gets back in but not Savage. Razor continues attacking the knee for more heat and legdrop. Oh I forgot to say I think the cutoff was Razor did an excellent drop toehold into a Calf Slicer! Hell Yeah! This was a very fun Savage babyface formula match. ***

This match is a Coliseum Video Exclusive, Available on the VHS WWF Smack Em Whack Em (WF114, 1993) After watching 4.5 hours of Scott Hall shoot interviews to commemorate his death, I am ready to start watching his matches. Rest In Peace, Bad Guy. Pre-1-2-3 Kid angle for Razor is a complete mystery to me. I saw these two had a house show loop and threw it in Google and here we are! An interesting pairing both really pushed guys with strong gimmicks so I was interested to see where this went. One random comment, did Undertaker start wearing lifts in his boots later on, he looked a lot shorter here. I pretty much only watch contemporary wrestling not out of choice but rather necessity. I don't have time to watch and review as much as I used to. Contemporary wrestling is good background noise while work and I can pick my head up when an angle or match sounds hot. The reason I bring this up is I love how this was wrestled. This was so gimmick-based I loved it. Character-based wrestling is a dying art people like Orange Cassidy are few and far between and I love that style (I didn't love OC first but once I realized it is no different than the Undead Undertaker, I dig it). Razor fires off these rounds. They look great. Taker's hair and neck motion make them look pulverizing. Taker never sells. Just absorbs, absorbs, absorbs until he throws him in the corner. If he fired off soupbones like it was 2003 he would have gotten a pop, but he did the choke. That comes with evolution. I like how they established the Undertaker character. The beginning of matches are just as important as the end, HELL, I would say they are more important. You need to establish the hook, story or gimmick. Taker gets his shine. Razor takes a tasteful amount of bumps, not too much, just stand & bang wrestling. I liked Razor dumping him over the top onto the floor and Taker landing on his feet not selling shit! Perfect. Great spot I know I have seen it before. It establishes that hook. How the hell do you wrestle a zombie. Apparently it is a Rick Steiner bulldog, a Japanese style chair shot to the back and a wicked whip to the steps where Taker goes ass over tea kettle. Amazing heat segment. That's Hall's IQ there. How do you get heat on a Giant Zombie? You go balls out. At first I thought Taker was Sitting Up too fast, but that because he was gradually slowing down until Razor beat him down. So when he did the final Zombie Sit-Up it got a pop. Razor's urn shot was a great nearfall. He didn't kill of any of his shit, but it was a credible near fall. Taker does one final Zombie Situp to a pop. Chokeslam. Razor heads for the hills. There needs to be more NO Selling in wrestling. This was very fun Saturday morning wrestling. ***1/4

Hey Yo, "Can I get over?" - Some wrestler while driving to Scott Hall, who responds, "I don't know. Can you?" I became a fan of pro wrestling in the Summer of 1997 and there was no bigger act than NWO. There has never been anyone as cool as the NWO. I still Too Sweet random people. I still flash the 4 Life. I still do that finger point-side stretch gimmick thing that never got name. Macho Man was my favorite. Hollywood Hogan was the star. The epicenter of fucking cool was "Da Bad Guy" Scott Hall. I ripped off "Hey Yo" from him and made it my signature greeting throughout high school and college. The Survey Time gimmick was always over with me. I can say I got to see Scott Hall wrestle because my Dad took me to Boston Brawl in January 1998. I am so lucky. Perhaps the most bizarre thing about Scott Hall and why I think I am so devastating by his passing is I loved listening to his shoot interviews. When Youtube got big in 2006-2007, those things started popping up like wildfire and I must have listened to everyone. He was funny as fuck. Just a wicked biting, razor-sharp sense of humor. I led with one of his funniest exchanges, but another of my favorites is I think this was the Dudleyz. Him and Big Kev were going to do a match with them and in the back he asks what their finish is. They said the 3-D. He replied "Cant wait to kick out of it". That popped me fucking huge. It was not just the humor but how much he loved pro wrestling. On my walk today, I put on a podcast episode from 2019 from X-Pac's/Waltman's show. He was talking about helping some really big dude down in NXT. He was talking about how psyched he was to help him and that when the kid had his first match, he was so jazzed that he couldnt go to bed. He was so excited to see how the kid would turn out. He just loved pro wrestling like the rest of us. The darkest period of my life was my ex broke my heart for the last time in September 2019. Nothing could drown out those thoughts. Not music, not exercise, nothing. I turned to Scott Hall Shoot Interviews. He got me through that week by being one of the funniest, coolest dudes ever who just happened to love pro wrestling. I am going to go listen to some Scott Hall shoot interviews. Rest in Peace Scott Hall.

ROH World Champion Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles - ROH 11/29/03 They did a really good job building AJ Styles up right before this match with big wins in marquee matches against CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. These two would go on to have classics and some of the best matches of all time against each other. One of the coolest things, I can say I saw them wrestling live under a tent in Cape Cod. This is one of my favorite pairings. That being said this is not one of their best matches. Very good but for their level, this is disappointing. There is a lot of pressure in the 21st Century for big men to both be very giving and to prove they can "work". Even though using their size and protecting themselves is actually better work, we get Samoa Joe taking mid-match Powerbombs for no reason. Joe is not actually that big if you take into account WWE size wrestlers, but for ROH he was and he has a tendency not to wrestle like one see the aforementioned powerbomb and a really bad hurricanarana at the outset of the match. Vader was very giving and while did agree with all of Vader's choices, I think he picked his spots well and made up for with brutal offense. Joe was being picked up and thrown down repeatedly. It was ridiculous. I know Joe can work like a killer see his match against Sabin July 2005 in TNA, but he didnt here. The 2005 series with AJ is a lot better. With the negative out of the way, lets get to positive, some brutal, stiff fucking action. These two stiffed the hell out of each other. The less said about that rana shit at the beginning the better. Once they go to grappling, it was much better. Usual AJ start with the dropkick and knee. Punk in a veiled way brings up my point that AJ should not be able to pick up Joe so early in the match. AJ telegraphs a discus punch and Joe rocks his shit. Best bump of the match and probably spot of the match was when Joe kicked AJ through the ropes. I have seen AJ do this bump before and maybe some others, but it always gnarly. Wicked suicide dive by Joe wipes him out. AJ does his spot where he hops over the railing and sprinboards using the railing to wipe out Joe. Loved that transition. Here comes that powerbomb I hated. JOE FUCKING THROWS HIS ASS DOWN ON THE URNAGE! I have always loved that spot from Joe. Facewash. Powerbomb receipt as called by Punk. STF into crossface, but AJ makes the ropes. I loved the use of the Pele here by AJ to turn the tide. He needed a head rocking move. AJ loves that back flip into the Slop Drop. AJ Backbreaker, AJ sells the leg because Joe is heavy but doesnt stop him from manhandling the Champion. Heavy sigh. There were some lulls down the stretch at a time when you really dont want lulls late. AJ gets Joe in the Styles Clash with ease. Honestly maybe Joe is not as heavy as we think and AJ is wicked strong. Joe kicking out of the Style Clash made a lot of sense. That was a great use of kicking out of a finisher because Joe was being put over as this killer champion. Island Driver by catching the second Quebrada to set up Muscle Buster and Koquina Clutch was an efficient finish. At like 16-17 minutes, I loved how breezy early ROH is. I think this did not have the plot progression, narrative building I prefer and also there was some disrespect to size difference. But they laid their shit in and there was a lot of great moments so still very good. ***1/2

AJ Styles vs CM Punk - ROH 10/16/03 On paper, this looks like it could be a styles clash (pun fully intended), but I think people dont give early CM Punk enough credit. I have enjoyed what I see and I am of course a big AJ mark. I think working with Punk helped slow AJ done. Dont get me wrong, the match with Danielson & Low-Ki bang, but sometimes they bang too hard. It is just so much action that it becomes supersaturated. This match was really hard-fought, very organic, but also very simple. I really like the commitment of the First Generation of the Indy Boom to wrestling especially scrapping on the mat. AJ & Punk did a great job doing the old Tasmanian Devil Dust Cloud beginning. I liked how that led them to an organic hold which was Punk butterflying AJ's groin and AJ fighting through it. AJ worked his usual dropkick and knee at the beginning. I thought Punk's Saito Suplex throw was a little early, but he covered for it by selling AJ's kick to his leg. The reason I think this match is great and not just good is because of their commitment to AJ's aerial tactics backfiring on him and the more grounded Punk taking advantage. It began with AJ trying his backflip into the Slop Drop (aka Quebrada into an Inverted DDT) off the apron. Punk moved. AJ Landed on his feet, but Punk TACKLES AJ into hard into the guardrail. Thats the hook. Punk has laser focus on the back with backbreakers and suplex and strikes to the back. AJ lands the Pele kick, but it is just a hope spot as Punk cuts off using the back. Brilliant. AJ goes for the Backflip->Slop Drop, but Punk catches him into a gnarly backbreaker! This is a moment when I knew I loved the match. The big counter into the finish run is Punk leaves his feet for a Split-Legged Moonsault and eats knees. That should have been the transition, they fucked around for a little bit and AJ did his kip up rana into the finish run. Nobody is perfect. They both hit complicated intricate moves down the stretch, but I didnt think it was overly cooperative and thought it came off as organic. They did a good job teasing the Pepsi Plunge and the Styles Clash down the stretch. The Shining Wizard into the Styles Clash was a nifty finish. I should expect more out of the GOAT, AJ and always very game CM Punk. Great simple, but effective pro wrestling match. ****

I finally have some time to watch pro wrestling and World Class is just alright so lets go to North Carolina and see whats up! Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling September 1985 9/7/85 Background: So World Championship Wrestling and Worldwide exist so this definitively the C-Show if two Sam Houston promo segments were not enough to clue you in. Match of the Night: Rock N Roll Express (World Tag Team Champions) vs The Not Rock N Roll RPMs of Tommy Lane & Mike Davis. As soon as you hear the fans chant Rock N Roll thunderously you are like thats a smart move. Not an evil corporate move, but a very wise and practical move. Just a really fun Chicken Soup for the Pro Wrestling Fan's soul type match. Shine, heat segment, Double Dropkick, see ya later, thanks for putting a smile on my face, a have a nice day type of match. RNR Express are feuding with the Russians namely Uncle Ivan & Khrushchev. Morton said the USSR stood for something lame which got me thinking how many Americans during the Cold War actually knew what the USSR stood for? Uncle Ivan is hollering about winning the titles and that Nikita will beat Flair. Flair still has not turned. Krushchev had a squash, couple good power moves. Andersons are pissed they are the National Tag Champs and the RNRs are World Tag Champs. If Ole though Tassles would make him wrestle better, he'd be covered in him, got a pop outta me. Flubs Abound: You expect Danny Spivey aka American Starship Eagle (maybe the worst name in the history of wrestling) to get tongue-tied and needing Caudle to bail him out but surprisingly JJ gets tongue tied trying to tell an elaborate joke and just blows the punchline. Spivey won a squash. I dont get the gimmick. I think Dusty was high as fuck when he came up with that name. He pledges his allegiance to Sam Houston in his fight against the Andersons & Tully. Dusty & Mags are not here tonight. C-Show, Baybay! JJ is still managing Buddy Landell. It is so weird hearing JJ talk shit about Flair. Nobody got fucked harder by the Four Horsemen than Buddy. I know a lot of people like Buddy. I think he is fine. He does Dimestore Flair well. His squashes are always way too long. Squash of the Night: The Andersons rule at squashes. So damn good. They gave Sam Houston 26 stitches and a broken arm. No Tully tonight, but it sounds like they are aligned. They piss on the RNRs too. Manny Being Manny: I just like that phrase lol. Manny Fernandez had a great squash very fun. Loved it. Him and Bass were out yelling about Abby and Paul Jones. 9/14/85 We get two Sam Houston promo segments again but this time we at least get two Dusty and one Flair baby! Main Event: I do not know what's weirder Dusty praising Flair or Flair shitting on Tully. @Loss was bringing this up on Twitter recently, the way Flair was booked and presented in the summer of 85 is so interesting. He is feuding with Nikita, he is taking a dump on Tully, "you say it is Diamond Time, not Rolex Time, I will make it Double Diamond Time", but at the say time, he is calling Magnum TA a dumb jock. Really cool stuff. Nikita is definitely still has main feud. Nikita won a quick squash. Dusty & Magnum are more aligned against Tully & Andersons. At first, I thought they were positioning America's Team against the Andersons, but from the promo this week, it is clear they are going all in on Magnum vs Tully. Enjoyed Tully's promo with Baby Doll and the Diamond Time. I gotta admit that was a helluva watch. With Magnum/Tully paired and Flair/Nikita, what's Big Dust to do well enter Paul Jones & Barbarian. I will be interested to see if they get any matches together. Tag Teams: Midnight Express and Andersons Squashes on the same show. Yes Please! I think I liked the Anderson one a little bit. There were no competitive matches on this episode so those were the Matches of the Night. Looks like they are positioning MX vs RNR at some point with the fans chanting Rock & Roll during the MX match and the commentators bringing up Express vs Express, this is of course natural given the Mid-South feud. I really like how they are presenting the RNRs with The Russians, Andersons and MX all gunning for them. Makes them feel big time. They get two promo segment. We see The Russians beat up RNRs and hang Morton with the Chain. He has the Russian Chain to remind him of this savage beating and the RNRs are going to get their licks in too. I really need to see that Starrcade match. RNRs also did commentary on the Andersons' match. Again really good matrix booking that Dusty did better than anyone else. The RNR Squash was good too, very fun. Midcard Mania: Buddy Landell is being positioned high end still as the Flair end looks imminent but with 2022 eyes we know he is about to be fucked royally by the formation of the Four Horsemen. He got a good Flair-style squash here, but still too much armbar and long. Ron Bass has turned face, but Black Bart is still aligned with Landell & JJ. Terry Taylor won his squash. Watts invested so much in him. I am surprised he left. Sam Houston with not one but two promo segments. If Dusty and Magnum are tied up, the Andersons do need dance partners. Houston gets a little lost so he goes to tried and true strategy of just yelling really loud. More people should do that. The second promo segment, Houston comes off great. He introduces Danny Spivey aka American Starship Eagle ok I will just ask it...is he supposed to be an American Indian? Spivey fucking sucks on the mic. Houston tries to get the crowd riled up. When Spivey finishes, both Caudle and Houston pause because they both dont think that could possible be his closer, but yep he is that anti-climatic. I liked this show more than the previous one because we got Flair, Dusty and Tully on it with good Anderson and MX squashes. 9/21/85 Main Angle: Midnight Express win a squash over Rocky King and someone else with a Rocket Launcher. MX attack King after bell and the announcers say that it is because Valiant had to rely on help in the Paul Jones feud so he is paying it forward. Valiant cuts his typical promo. Cornette's promo before the squash is all about the RNRs. He cuts a racist promo against Rocky King and Valiant. He does commentary on the Abby match (Abby looked fine). Abby was being managed by Paul Jones and it is unclear how he will be used. As Barbarian is being positioned against Dusty. This was the kick off angle that led to MX vs Valiant & Miss Atlanta Lively. Angle #2: Wow! Two angles! Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling has felt like the Sam Houston show has gets a ton of air time. It finally all paid off as he has beaten Arn Anderson in the middle of the ring! Mags help distract! Houston is ecstatic! Arn is beside himself and hems and haws. He ends up using astronomical wrong like Flair would the next year. The chances of a person like Houston beating Arn are infinitesimal or astronomically low. I wonder who taught it to who wrong. There's an alternate reality where Houston and Shawn Michaels switch careers. Houston victory got a huge pop. He had to fall in love with Baby Doll. Main Event Promo Mania: Lots of heavy hitters tonight: Flair, Tully, Dusty, and Superstar Graham. Flair is a little more complimentary than normal to everyone, but it is a typical fun time listening to Flair. Tully worked Flair's comments into his saying if he beat Mags for the US Title he must be even closer to Flair and thats why Flair doesnt talk about him. Tully is deep in the Mags feud. Dusty was great talking about the luxury arms race between him and Flair over who has the nicest shit. He is the TV Champ and is programmed with Barbarian. Superstar kept his squash short & sweet. I loved the Superstar promo. He might be washed up in the ring but he's still a hoot on the mic. Squash with a side of Squash: No match of the night, nothing but squashes. RNR, MX, Mags, Buddy, Superstar, six-man featuring Ron Bass winning with Sam Houston and Pistol Pez Whatley and Abby the Butcher. Bass is feuding with Landell & JJ now that he is a babyface. MX had the best squash. 9/28/85 Sam Houston Megastar: Man alive, based on September 1985 Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling footage only, you'd think Sam Houston was going to be the biggest star in pro wrestling in the late 80s. Multiple promos every show. He sucks at promos, but it is not due to lack of effort. Sammy is trying his little heart out. The end to that second promo was especially rough when he said he was not strong enough to lift the bigger guys, I dont need my strength said with a whimper. Major angle to open and the show and it is a doozy. Tully & Andersons mauled Houston in the parking lot. Houston was really parading how elated he was to have defeated AA on TV. Arn being embarrassed lashed out and jumped the poor kid. I am a mark for these type of wrestling stories. A heel is embarrassed or ashamed and just lashes out and takes it too far. That is perfect heeling. Really added a ton of fuel to the Dusty/Mags/Houston vs Tully/Andersons fire. Tully and the Andersons of course deny either saying Houston was stepping out on his girl or alternatively satisfy his woman and either scenario it is the girlfriend that laid the beating on him. Baby Doll looks she would fuck up his day. It is funny listening to Dusty rant & rave about how he would protect Houston when he is the one of sabotaged his career by sending him to Central States all because he had the hots for Baby Doll. Notwithstanding that, Dusty's promo was absolute fire and the killer clincher, Ole you know my red card, I will be walking alone with my bags along, lets see how bad you are. It was bitchin'. I was disappointed they had Houston wrestle on this show. It seemed too soon after such a hot angle. He wins. The jobber tries to get his heat back and BELLY 2 BELLY! Crowd popped big. Those Houston promos sucked. Dude gets two promos every episode and besides Spivey is the worst promo in the territory but bless his heart he is trying. I loved the angle, great use of young boy Houston. Caudle asks about Tully's budding alliance with the Andersons...it is happening! Main Angle #2: A ten minute video package on Magnum TA, ok maybe it wasnt 10 minutes but it felt forever. They show his soft side on the beach and with his mom. He is also a MAN who like Harleys and Barbells. Hell Yeah! The Road to Moscow is no longer paved to Gold because it is the Ride For Gold culminating in his hometown of Norfolk. I love how Flair is feuding with Nikita and Magnum simultaneously. Tully wants Magnum to win so he can take the Ten Pounds of Gold from him to win. Double Russian Chain: Big gimmick match for around the horn as it looks like the house show loop is going to get the RnRs vs the Russians in a Double Chain match. Sounds great to me. They won their squash. Squash With A Side of Squash: No match of the night again as they kept it squash-heavy. Abby/Barb won a JIP squash. Superstar Graham looking strangely like 2002 Hulk Hogan won his squash, he was in his Autumn Colors, which popped me. I loved his outfit. Bitchin' as fuck. Valiant is still paling around with Rocky King and he calls Jim Cornette a wide load. He popped me a couple times in this one. Terry Taylor won his squash. He is feuding with Black Bart over the National Title. Man, Mid-South is looking pretty good. Landell refreshingly wins his squash quickly. JJ, who manages Bart, scuffles with Terry Taylor who drops a shit on air. Probably the best episode of the month because of how hot the Sam Houston angle was.

There's nothing quite like Saturday Morning Wrestling! World Class Championship Wrestling September 1985 So when we last were watching World Class they were showing footage from the David Von Eric Memorial. Lets see what has changed. Main Angle: We are building to the Cotton Bowl card on October 6th. The main event will be Kerry & Kevin vs the Dynamic Duo in a Hair vs Hair match. From Bill Mercer, we learn that Adams & Hernandez had been going around cutting people's hair. If memory serves me, this whole feud began the year prior at the Cotton Bowl when Kevin Von Erich faced Chris Adams in what was supposed to be a babyface vs babyface friendly but ignited this feud. Very cool they were able to get a whole year out of this feud and it went full circle. I remember really enjoying the Cotton Bowl Hair vs Hair Match, I am pretty sure I had it Top Ten for World Class and ****1/2. Mike Von Erich is recovering from his legitimate Toxic Shock Syndrome from a should injury suffered overseas in Israel. Sounds like it was dicey. Kerry just says one sentence about Mike before saying We love the people of the Middle East. It is all about business baby. Fritz comes in and is very Fritz. I believe Mercer said the Dynamic Duo "attacked" Mike in the hospital great heat-seeking. The main event was Dynamic Duo vs Kerry & Adidas. Solid main event tag. Kerry worked the first FIP. Adidas the second. Kerry is so much better than Adidas. The contrast really helps put over how much a marvel Kerry was. The Adams Superkick out of nowhere was a killer spot. I liked the Discus Punch to get the hot tag to Adidas. Both heat segments were a little too chinlock heavy. Adidas dropkicks out of trouble. Kerry goes bezerk so the heels get the match thrown out by cheating. They go for the GOLDEN scissors, they cant just be scissors, they are GOLDEN scissors, I fucking love pro wrestling. They are going to cut Adidas' hair, but Kerry stops it and almost gets Gino's hair after a Discus Punch ties him up in the ropes. *** This is exactly what you want on TV to hype the hair vs hair tag at the Cotton Bowl. Midcard Mania: World Class has a positively tiny roster. Iceman is holding down the midcard. He is actually the top singles champ, the American Champion. I had to look that up. I wonder why he was not being promoted as such. He is feuding with Gary Hart and his cadre led by One Man Gang and also includes Mark Lewin & Tim Brooks. Iceman has Kabuki on his side. Iceman wrecks Jacko Victory's shit with the Rear View. Naomi take notes. It was a midcard 80s match. The opener was a women's match: Misty Blue vs Linda Dallas. Never heard of either of these ladies. Blue was billed as the World Champ. In what promotion? People get on women's wrestling for all the hair-pulling and nonsense, but fuck give me that over chinlocks. Dallas pulling hair and biting fingers and cheating like a muthafucka was pretty entertaining. Misty had some good leg holds. I liked it more than Iceman vs Victory for what it is worth. 9/14/85 This was shaping up to be the absolute worst episode of 80s TV Wrestling I have watched, but they salvaged it with a strong last half. Main Angle: They show clips from the Labor Day show. Gino defeated Adidas to win the Texas Title using a foreign object. It was alright. However, they did show the kickass Kevin Von Erich vs Chris Adams, which I have seen and I went **** Awesome heated singles blowoff, with Gino suspended in a cage above the crowd. Gino tries to throw Adams something, but it ends up with Kevin who knock him out. The real money is in the hot and I mean double hot post-match angle which leads to the double hair vs hair match between The Von Erichs and the Dynamic Duo. This is the last gasp of World Class. Match of the Night: I am not really a Iceman Parsons or a One Man Gang fan, but this was pretty damn good. Iceman is the American Champion but again is not billed as such, which just smacks me as peculiar. Iceman tags OMG with some great boxing combinations that sends OMG to the floor. Gary Hart says this is only due to the taped fists. He forces the ref to remove the tape. Great David vs Goliath match ensues. OMG looks strong on top. Iceman peppers in some hope spots. The finish takes this to the next level with some terrific Butt Butts that are executed well and sold well. Parsons finishes with a boxing combination that sends OMG to the floor. Gary Hart calls it. Iceman wins by Countout. Good booking. They put Kerry over OMG. They will squeeze the last bit out of OMG before he leaves. Shit with a Side of Shit: First we opened with some Southern Jobber who Bill Mercer says looks he like escaped from a Shakespearean Production. I didnt know Hamlet had a mullet. He was taking on some dude from Tahiti they didnt know how to spell his name sounded like Ragini to me. This was the most boring shitty match I have seen in quite some time. The Tahitian didnt even win with a highspot, it was a fucking small package. This somehow gets topped for being shitty by Bruiser Brody vs Hollywood John Tatum. This is my first chance getting to see Tatum, a BIG reason why I am watching wrestling this way is to see wrestlers like Tatum who I have heard about, but because they dont have classics I have not gotten to see before. Mercer calls him a dandy which popped me. I liked Tatum a lot. Good bumper, great heel seller and just seems like he would get tremendous heat. I actually would prefer him to Gino Hernandez just based on this small sample size. But Bruiser fucking Brody cmon man. I was just starting to come around on him, but he laid an egg. Every bad Brody stereotype, zero gusto on offense, no passion, just going through the motions, no bumping, weird selling, odd timing. Brody can have great matches but he sucked in this one. Tatum tried, but this was the shits. 9/21/85 Main Angle: The best episode of World Class of 1985, probably and it is all thanks to Main Event! Kerry & Kevin took on the Dynamic Duo in a *** bout but it was all about the post-match angle. 1985 has been littered with matches between these four. There was a really good one on TV back in March. They are building to the big Cotton Bowl Hair vs Hair blowoff which was fucking great. This was good not great. Kevin worked a tight headscissors early but ended up in the heel corner. He took the FIP first until a missed splash. Kerry heavily relied on the discus punch but it looks so good. He traded sleepers with Gino in a lukewarm FIP. Double Claw but Gino breaks free and helps Adams. Kevin gets a hot tag and hits a Top Rope Reverse Crossbody for what should be the win and the American Tag Team Titles, BUT Adams breaks it up with a belt shot. To trigger the DQ. I like this call from David Manning here and I think if I ever become a booker I would use a three strikes and youre out rule too. He says they have done this bullshit three times so he is holding the titles up as vacant, which is great. Gino somehow has a bloody nose. They braw. The Dynamic Duo try to cut their hair, but the Von Erichs get a hold of the scissors and cut a tuff of Chris' hair to a massive pop. Great angle! September had been a brutal month for World Class, but this was killer. Brian Von Erich: Brian Adidas was the honorary third Von Erich. We see him beat jabroni, Jim Powell here with a deadlift press slam which was impressive because how much struggle there was. Adidas does nothing for me. He is about as milquetoast as they come. There were also clips of him and the Von Erichs defeating Gary Hart's Team of One Man Gang, Lewin and Jacko Victory for the Six-Man Tag Belts. Kevin got a top rope sunset flip for the win in what looked like an ok match. Midcard Mania: Usually there's only three matches, but in addition to the main event, Adidas and the clips of the Six-Man Tag Title Change we got two more squashes. The great Rangi experiment is over as Lewin put the Tahitian combatant out with a sleeper. Hart & Lewin had the audacity of not reviving him after. Hollywood John Tatum got a win with a front suplex over a jobber. Not as good of a performance as last year. Very basic bleach blond heel work from Tatum nothing even close to rivalling a Flair, Tully or Michael Hayes. The episode looked like it was going to be trash city, but they gave the main event 10-12 minutes or so and it was a strong match with a hot angle! Thumbs up! 9/28/85 Main Angle: The main angle is actually a midcard angle as a lovely, well-built blonde (Mark Lowrance's words not mine) has debuted in the Dallas area, none other than Missy Hyatt! She has been paired with Hollywood John Tatum, whose look I love. He was taking on Scott Casey who was managed by Sunshine. Missy attacked Sunshine after Sunshine slapped Tatum. Sunshine had a censored wardrobe malfunction that gave the front row an eyeful. Definitely a hot start to this angle. Tatum is pitted against resident midcard anchor Brian Adias in a long match. This could have been a major showcase for Tatum but he leaves a lot to be desired. He is no Gino or Chris Adams. In fact this seemed like the most average 80s match possible pitting a very definitively average babyface against a definitively average heel. I love 80s wrestling so there was nothing wrong with this per se but it could have been so much more. Tatum is working an injured hand gimmick that he has taped up. This is of course tantamount to a taped fist. This taped fist is what he uses to start his heat segment after a pedestrian shine. Mercer gets in a good line that hand only seems to hurt when Manning is inspecting it. Adidas' comeback is the best part of the match, but then he goes back to the chinlock which was weird. Missy distracts him, in fairness, who would not be distracted by Missy. Tatum gets a roll-up without the tights for the win. Missy looked great so it was worth it for that, but the wrestling the epitome of milquetoast. I hopefully Tatum gets better. Bizarre Von Erich Angle of the Week: Mike Von Erich has clearly been rocked by his really high fever. He does not look well at all. Everyone is pressuring him to be ready by the Cotton Bowl show in a week for the big double hair vs hair match. It is really fucked up shit. The doctors must have been this family is looney tunes. I did like the recap of the Von Erichs vs Dynamic Duo feud, which had been a year in the making as Chris Adams turned at last year's Cotton Bowl State Fair show. I had seen that, but I had not seen prior to that how Jake the Snake and Stella Mae French (who I have never seen but just read about) was involved. I should check that out. Main event was Kerry & Iceman vs Gary Hart's boys of Mark Lewin and Jacko Victory, the heartthrob of New Jersey. The people of Texas must have thought people in New Jersey were ugly as sin. This is a weak stable Gary has got. Lewin/Hart do the lamest hide the foreign object shit. Eventually Lewin wrecks Iceman's shit with it. It is a blunt object that he attacks the throat. Kerry decks Lewin when he has Iceman in a sleep hold and Iceman rolls up Victory for the win. Below average match that is forgettable. Midcard Mania: Replacing the Tahitian newcomer Rangi, is LA debutant, Tommy Montana who is wrestling the Southern jobber Ragni wrestled that apparently looks like he is from Hamlet with Mullets. Opening 80s match shit between two vanilla dudes. If it was not for Missy looking scorching hot and debuting this would definitely be one of the worst episodes of this I have watched.

Shawn Michaels vs Shelton Benjamin - WWE RAW 5/2/05 My brother was over and wanted to watch some nostalgia wrestling from when he was a kid. Shawn Michaels & Shelton Benjamin are his two favorites so this popped to mind and it has been something I have been meaning to watch forever since I had not watched it since it happened. We found out it was in Boston. My Dad really dropped the ball. I would have been almost 16 at the time of this, but I was not going at following along where they were going. I probably was shocked that day to find out they were in Boston. I am bummed now because this match ruled. Classic Shawn here trying to outwrestle the amateur wrestler. Shawn was really good at throwing in wrestling in a lot of different matches. He would have been excellent in New Japan with their opening 5 minutes of chaining in every match. Shelton shows him up and Shawn sells this well. This was a really good babyface shine to let everyone know that Shelton could not just hang but best Shawn and that you should invest in the idea that he could win. I thought Shawn gave Shelton a lot like the Samoan Drop, an excellent Leg Whip Heel Kick and that Insane Jumping Top Rope Reverse Crossbody. Was that a regular highspot for Shelton because that was insane! Shawn did a good Misawa-style comeback. Working the Flying Burrito, Kip Up, Elbow Drop and Sweet Chin Music, but expanding it and letting Shelton fill in the gaps. Each of the highspots landed really big and popped the crowd because they were given time to breathe. The Springboard directly into the Sweet Chin Music is one of the few iconic images that has lasted from this era. The 80s and 90s Vince was so good at drilling those iconic moments in our head. The 21st Century is has been very in one ear out the other. That finish still rocks and is remembered to this day. The whole match rocked. They really should have given Shelton Benjamin a bona-fide shot. ****

AJ Styles vs Bryan Danielson - ROH Main Event Spectacles 11/1/03 Everyone here is raving about this match, but I had never heard this talked up. This ruled so hard! I think early ROH is going to be my next project. ROH is such an interesting promotion. It was marketed as a workrate promotion, but it has very few matches that are canonized as all-time classics in the Pantheon of the Greatest Matches of All Time. I dont think this match quite gets to that level but it is definitely an MOTYC. In a particularly weak year in the USA, I think this would be my pick over HHH vs HBK, XXX vs AMW in a Cage and a shockingly good Brock vs Big Show Stretcher Match at Judgement Day (is it really that shocking since Brock is involved?). That being said I have seen neither of the heralded London matches which will be next on my list. It is getting kind of late here (I dawdled on my review), but I thought this was fantastic. My recollection of the match from a year prior was that it was too competitive to be described as a spotfest, but it was too noisy to be described as something truly classic. This was a clear step up from both. I am a massive AJ Styles fan and sometimes that comes with having an inferiority complex with Danielson. Both people can be great and they truly are. I really do think AJ Styles is the better wrestler, but that doesnt mean I dont think Danielson is Top 50 of all time. These two just work so well together. The opening sprawling and amateur grappling is exactly what I want from pro wrestling, tons of struggle and ferocity. I loved them being dogged even on the outside. Thank God the dweebs leave the commentary booth and we can just watch them wrestle. I think one thing everyone agrees on with regards to ROH is how shitty their commentary is. I have zero context going into this other than Danielson has not been in ROH since April. Can anyone tell me why? Danielson shows heelish tendencies and is clearly the heel by mid-match. He sneaks in a punch on a non-clean break and hits a very nice Saito Suplex. Great Euro Uppercut on the floor. These two know how to lay it in. The AJ spot using the guardrail is very nifty. I love they do some teases before the payoff. Nice use of the dropdown, dropkick by AJ to keep Danielson off balance. I liked how Danielson bumped onto AJ after the dropkick and AJ sold it. Danielson trapped the arm in the ropes and went to town. I liked how they slowed it down, but it never dragged. Danielson worked a really entertaining heat segment on the arm. He did some good jawing with the crowd. Loved the Butterfly Suplex attempt with those kneelifts great reversal by AJ to backdrop into the pinning predicament. AJ dumped Danielson onto the floor with a desperation suplex and Danielson comes up selling his knee. This is when the match kicks into overdrive. Daniels shouts at him to "stay away you dick" and watch how AJ dropkicks the knee. He dropkicks THROUGH the knee it looks so much better that way. The Kneecrusher on the railing was fucking sick! He drew blood from Danielson's knee. Danielson's counter of a leg submission into his own single leg crab while grinding AJ's face was beautiful. This was such a terrific competitive pro wrestling match. It built so organically, but it had much more time to breathe than the ROH matches from the year prior. Danielson lures AJ into the corner and gets the boot up. They do a great job countering each other. AJ counters a super back suplex. Danielson jostles the ropes when AJ goes for a springboard. This leads to Danielson getting the back suplex he just missed but from a more interesting vantage point from the apron back into the ring. I love, love, love when not everything hits. There needs to be more misses, mistakes and counters in wrestling. I love when the moves are earned. Danielson was able to get the Back Suplex from a more organic way. I dont love Cattle Mutilation, but AJ makes it to the ropes quickly. It is one of those submission either submit or tap quickly because it is not an interesting one to work within. Danielson goes back to it after from crisp shots to the arm. He cant hold it. Great use of the Pele from AJ here was a head rocking move to get him back in it. AMAZING PUNCH FROM AJ! WICKED! Massive lariat too that Danielson really made him earn. AJ goes for the Styles Clash, Danielson does enough to have AJ drop him and he goes for a Triangle/Cross Armbreaker, but AJ powers up enough for the Styles Clash! He cant capitalize right away only gets two! STYLES CLASH 1-2-3! Another one for the good guys! Loved the opening. I thought the arm work was crisp and well-executed. I didnt think it lasted long enough or was violent enough that AJ had to carry it through the entire match. I thought AJ stopped Danielson's offensive onslaught early enough. I though AJ's brutal kneecrushers on Danielson's knee was enough that Danielson should have carried through the rest of the match. This has been an issue for me with Danielson for a long time which is blowing off selling. However, I did like this Danielson as opposed to million miles per hour KENTA-esque Danielson. Danielson that takes his time and really build his match is the best Danielson. I thought the last five minutes was really strong work that built nicely into that organic finish. ****1/2

Akira Taue vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 1/15/91 It has been a while since I did one of these; lets see if I can still do it. In the context of watching nothing but 2021-2022 wrestling since Mid-November, this comes off so awesome! Apparently, there was some build to all this hate besides this being a battle of the second bananas in the Misawa vs Jumbo feud. There was a very languid, tepid battle royale going on while Taue and Kawada had a ferocious brawl in the stands. You could tell there was some bad blood. They were out to settle it here. Taue immediately bullrushes Kawada knocks him off the apron hard onto the railing. That spot sets the tone for the rest of match: Total War. I loved how relentless Taue was in this match forcing Kawada to work the entire match from underneath and put on one of his gritty, scrappy performances to best the larger, ferocious Taue. Also, the fact the crowd was right top of the action added to that claustrophobic feel. Taue was suffocating Kawada as he right on top of him never letting up on offense. Great use of Taue to put over this relentless full court press. Kawada comes out hobbled from Taue just ramming a chair into his knee in the crowd. This is nuts! Kawada in desperation was able to grab his leg at one point and ram his head into the railing busting him open. This was such an explosive fury from Kawada! However, Taue catches one of Kawada's kick and in one fluid motion whips that leg into the guardrail. I popped huge for that. Taue zeroes on that knee with fierce tenacity: wicked kneecrusher onto table, wrapping it around the post, chairshots to it. I love that Taue sort of realizes in a leg lace or a toehold Kawada is able to kick him in the head really hard so he tries the figure-4, which will tie up that free leg. Excellent psychology, I also like one time when Kawada was wailing on Taue trying to get out of a hold, so Taue just mounted him and reigned down heavy blows. One of my favorite moments, is when the camera zooms in on Taue trying to pick up Kawada and all of sudden you just see a flash of yellow connect with Taue's head. Kawada is just fucking tremendous from underneath with all these kicks. I love how they work in Taue's size as he is able to reverse a press slam off the top and a powerbomb by just landing on top of Kawada. If you want to see a really good, heated, intense strike exchange watch these two pop and react to each other. None of this silly macho stand around shit. They just lay into each other with elbows, slaps and headbutts and try to knock the other the fuck out. I actually bit on the powerbomb reversal finish as Taue really crashes down on top of him. If Kawada has kicks, Misawa elbows and Kobashi chops, then Taue should have kept the headbutts as they look way better than any of his punches or forearms. He did have some great elbows in this match. Kawada's out of nowhere Axe Bomber for the finish was the perfect end to this war. Taue unleashed his entire arsenal and Kawada had to hit that sudden bomb to secure the victory. I will echo all the other comments; All Japan could have added a lot of variety by sprinkling some short 10-15 minute brawls with the 30+ epics. Kawada and Taue brought the hate in this match and this is one of the all-time best blood feud brawls. I had seen this before, but loved it all over again on rewatch and just wanted to spruce up my original review. Dont sleep on this one! ****1/2