topropepodcast

Juice Robinson has really good punches.

I don't think there's a truckload of money in women's indy wrestling. If ROH had a legit woman's division and there was a stronger Joshi scene, maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised if she focused on modeling.

I liked the idea a lot but in reality I thought they looked like the cast of the Dinosaurs sitcom from the 90s.

Sting's original entrance theme I didn't like very much at all. "Rattlesnake Whip". His second, though, "Turbo Charged", which I think is the one you mean (he used it immediately before "Man Called Sting"), I always dug. I also liked the Steiners early 90 WCW theme.

The way I've always heard it is that WCW wanted to get around the Marvel licensing by calling him Hollywood but a litigation threat stopped that real quick.

I really hope it's not Roode vs Strong. I definitely don't want two months of Roddy promos. Even when short, they're not exactly sweet.

That was just terrible. The year before when Austin Aries cashed in the X title for a shot at the heavyweight championship, it was a great story. Sabin doing it was meh at best. My feeling as someone who watched at the time was they were trying for Bully vs. Hogan, so they took the title off so they could do the AJ BFG win. Then when Hogan couldn't get cleared, they had to quickly put the belt back on Ray.

I think you could do non-musclehead, so long as he was someone who was big enough naturally that it didn't matter. My thought was maybe throwing a bucket of money at Barry Windham to come back and try to push him as the pretty boy ace.

Word is Ciampa may have seriously hurt himself tonight. Might need a last minute audible for Takeover. Ohno or Lorcan filling in seem the most likely, but a Johnny Gargano and Scott Dawson super team is the best fantasy booking I've heard.

Is he being a carny about it? Sure. But the whiny response has at least shown that it struck a nerve. I can't see Terry Funk bitching and moaning that someone didn't like his style.

I feel like this is a step way too far. Barrett on any given night was usually the worst guy in the ring. I don't see any way he was "way better" than Edge and I'm not an Edge fan. Barrett sucked.

Per PWInsider the deal has been finalized and now includes the rights to the footage and the On Demand site.

(I might be nerding out too much on this. Fair warning.) My two main feelings on this would be that babyface '93 Flair was kind of the drizzling shits. I didn't like A Flair for the Gold, and while he had some good matches, heel Flair is just so much more fun. And while him coming back, there was no way they would boo him right away, I'd want to get to that point fairly quickly. And I want to try to make a real star. To me, the untapped possibility is Dustin Rhodes. I feel like he's someone who's a great babyface worker, has good blue collar charisma, and while his mic skills weren't great, I still think he could be made. So Flair comes back, and is basically working two angles at the same time. He never lost the WCW World Title, so in his eyes, he belongs at the front of the line, and is willing to use his dirtiest player in the game tricks in order to do so. He's also very openly scouting with Arn for the next generation of Horsemen. He wins the World Title fairly quickly, let's just say.. the June Clash. It's not 100% clean, we'll give Vader his next program out of it... maybe Cactus interferes and costs him. So Flair has the title, and he's also very openly recruited Dustin Rhodes. He's given Dustin plenty of time to make up his mind. This infuriates Dusty, who tells his son that he can never trust Flair, to remember everything that Flair did to him in the 80s. As Dusty tries more and more to dissuade his son from joining up with the Horsemen, he even brings out Barry Windham, who agrees that Flair is a snake. Flair swears he is a changed man, and starts using his status with the WCW Matchmakers as Champion to benefit Dustin. Singles title shots, a tag team with Arn. It leads to a tag title match, Dustin and Arn against the Hollywood Blondes, for Beach Blast. Flair at the show has a successful defense against Windham, with the story being that Windham was truly after Flair's title, not any kind of honesty about Dustin. Also, earlier in the card, there's Cactus vs. Vader in a cage. Vader hurts Cactus, writing him off TV and giving him some time to spend with his family (but no Lost in Cleveland this time). He would come back in November, and it would lead to some kind of gimmick match against Vader for Starrcade (I know in 93 WCW I could never get away with like a barbed wire match, but maybe a Falls Count Anywhere?) During the main event, the cage seems to malfunction and starts coming down. With the cage match already over, the door is swinging wide open. The referee attempts to motion to the production team to get the cage up, but it won't. Flair hits the ring, grabs a pair of steel chairs at ringside, He slides in, and holds up the Four Horsemen hand sign. Rhodes, in a big pop, reciprocates, but he slowly realizes that Flair isn't doing it to him, but rather to the three other men in the ring. The Blondes, Arn, and Flair jump Dustin. As Sting, Bulldog, and Dusty try to open the cage, Flair pulls out a chain and locks the door. Telling Dusty that he'll want to see this, in a recreation of the 85 Omni angle, the new Horsemen break Dustin's leg. This sets up War Games, where the Horsemen face Dustin (who still hasn't officially been cleared by doctors), Sting, Bulldog, and Steamboat. The Horsemen declare war on anyone willing to team with a Rhodes, and actually take out Steamboat the night before on WCWSN leaving them down a man. During the show, when the time comes for the final spot in War Games to come up, Dusty Rhodes hits the ring and says he's their partner. The faces go over, with some kind of viciousness to either Pillman or Anderson. Flair would defend against Dusty at the November Clash, under the stipulation that if Dustin interfered at all, he would be fired from WCW. Flair would go over in a violent brawl. On the smaller end, I'd work on making 2 Cold a midcard staple and keep him undefeated for the year, not really beating anybody above the like Maxx Payne level, but definitely showing that he's someone that I have bigger plans with. I'd also diversify Harley Race a little, give him a few more clients. The first one would be the team of Eaton and Benoit, who I would put up as a likely heel challenger to any babyface team that could dethrone the Blondes. I'd also put Vinnie Vegas with him as a bodyguard type role. Kevin Nash as a bodyguard, feels like it might work from somewhere. My TV Title picture wouldn't look incredibly different than the real one, with Regal holding it by the end of the year, maybe using Simmons as the babyface catalyst to get it there. I'd also want to bring in some NJPW guys at certain points, for example, definitely want to run Sting-Muta over the summer. So for Starrcade: Flair vs. Rhodes - Flair keeps the title via some insane chicanery. Rhodes would continue to challenge into '94. Vader vs. Cactus - FCA. Rick Rude vs. 2 Cold Scorpio for the US Title. Blondes vs. Sting and Bulldog - Babyfaces win. Sometime in '94, I'd run the Austin has solo ambitions angle that would give me a few possibilities Anderson vs. Dusty - this would be Dusty's last wrestling appearance. I don't love the idea of putting a part timer in such a big role, but I figure 3 matches isn't horrible. Steven Regal vs. Ricky Steamboat for the TV Title Benoit and Eaton vs. Marc Bagwell and Ron Simmons (with Scorpio getting a push, these two end up stuck together. Simmons would probably turn heel on him sometime not long afterwards) Hell Raisers vs. Nasty Boys Big Bubba vs. Paul Orndorff (I'm an unabashed Traylor mark, and so The Boss as a name goes, but he comes back and gets a push).

I think the Rollins match from MITB last year is Seth's best singles match he's ever had.

Would Jeff be allowed in Japan?

The one that immediately comes to mind for me is Pillman in War Games '91. He's just absolutely fucking incredible in a really great match.

I'm excited for some of the WCW Lucha pilot to be out there

No, Oney Lorcan is the stupidest fucking name in history. And FWIW,I think Ohno is a better name than Chris Hero,which I've always found to be just a wretched name.

I think I read somewhere the infrastructure cost is around 30%,which is still a way better cut than the 50% they previously received.

Where do you work? Is it horrible that I'd consider hanging that poster up? It's so hilarious! Between Ward from Agent of SHIELD's punchable face and HBK, not to mention TV veteran Neill Flynn (The Middle) and movie vet D.B. Sweeney, I'm actually curious about the movie now. I'm a manager at a movie theater in south Texas. We get a lot of Jesus-y movies in for a week or two.

We got that poster at work a couple of days ago. I got a chuckle out of it.

The show kicks off with a review of the last couple of weeks, first touching on Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko shockingly returning to ECW, winning the ECW World Tag Team Titles in a match they weren't even involved in, Bill Alfonso giving up his referee license to manage “The Human Wrecking Ball” Gary Albright, Albright savagely attacking Tod Gordon, putting him on the shelf, and Shane Douglas returning to the ECW Arena to challenge the Sandman for the ECW World Title! We go to Joey Styles, who runs down this week's big show, 3 big matches tonight, but before much else, he has a video featuring... the 1-2-3 Kid? Kid: When you grow up in Minnesota, you have a dream. That dream is to wrestle in front of big crowds, originally, in the AWA, but when I was 12 years old, the WWF came to town, man, and that was (censored) it, man. So you work your ass off, and you finally get a shot. You're in town, doing some job duty, and someone takes a shine to you. So you get a spot, and you take every advantage of it. You make it one of the most memorable moments of all time! Kid: You keep improving, you become the best guy in the damn company night after night. You want to work with Shawn, but “you're a little guy”, you want to really push for a team with Scott or to do something with Kev, but because I'm not 6'5 and juiced to the (censored) gills, I'm not what Vince is looking for. I'm an underneath guy. I'm someone who was told to go out and work with the Japanese guy and count some lights every night from one side of the country to the next! My dream became a (censored) nightmare! Kid: So the “Kid” name? It's gone. Never really fit. I'm a grown man. I might not be the biggest man, but I promise you, now that there's no Vince, no Pat, no political forces at bay, the world will see just how big my talent is. How big my heart is. You will see, next week, just what “Lightning” Sean Waltman can do. TNT vs. Joel Deaton “The Outlaw” is an internationally tested ring veteran, but he was no match for the violent Puerto Rican. Between the painted face and the inherent violence he brought with him, the former Savio Vega was almost unrecognizable. He just sadistically beat up Deaton and finished him off with the Painkiller, a superkick. The Sandman is backstage with thoughts on tonight's match. He says that lately, he's had some (censored) in his ear, manipulating him, because he didn't think he was strong enough to stand on his own. But he's the ECW World Champion, and he's going to send Shane Douglas back crawling to New York, where he belongs. The Can-Am Express vs. the Dudley Brothers Joey laments the loss of Sign Guy and Big Dick, but says that if he knows the Dudleys like he thinks he does, he's sure more of these weirdos will turn up in time. The finely tuned team of Kroffat and Furnas didn't give the rather odd pair of brothers a chance in this match, and finished the extended squash with the Express finishing them off with a Super DDT. The Sandman vs. Shane Douglas The crowd was rabid for this fairly impromptu ECW World Heavyweight Title match. Douglas used every short cut he could in trying to take the title, and that included throwing up the three fingers, which resulted in Benoit and Malenko getting involved! Benoit, for the second time in recent weeks, used a steel chair to have a major impact on a championship match, just bludgeoning Sandman, and drawing a lot of blood. This allowed Shane Douglas to hit the Belly to Belly and win the ECW World Title! The Triple Threat is back in ECW, and look at what they've done in one night!! As the Triple Threat decided to have a little post-match fun with Sandman, none other than Owen Hart rushed the ring with a hammer in hand, to make the save! Joey closed the show with another big announcement. On the 23rd, live from the ECW Arena, at ECW Return of the Violence, there has been a new main event signed. As Shane Douglas will defend against the Sandman in a return match, with Owen Hart serving as the special guest referee! ECW Return of the Violence MAIN EVENT – ECW World Title Match: Shane Douglas vs. The Sandman – Special Guest Referee: Owen Hart! ECW World Tag Team Title Match: Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko vs. Tommy Dreamer and Dustin Rhodes! Lucha Libre Six Man Tag Match: Vampiro, Psicosis, and Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Rey Misterio Jr., Juventud Guerrera, and Tigre Canadiense! Raven and Cactus Jack vs. The Can-Am Express! The debut of “Lightning” Sean Waltman!

(short show this week. I'm in a transitional period at work where I'm balancing two jobs. In a couple of weeks, we'll be back to normal.) To open the show, Joey Styles, via the help of a voiceover, takes us to last week’s episode, where a tag team match featuring Tommy Dreamer and Dustin Rhodes facing Raven and Cactus Jack ended in Benoit and Malenko returning to ECW and with the help of Fonzie, winning the ECW World Tag Team Titles. We then see the opening video to Hardcore TV, set to “Thunderkiss ‘65” and cut straight to the ring, where, in the aftermath of last week’s main event, Fonzie is still in the ring. Tod Gordon comes rushing down with a mic in his hand. Gordon asks Fonzie what the hell he was doing, and Fonzie responded that he was cleaning up ECW, one lowlife at a time. Gordon says that he’s going to have Alfonso’s referee license for this, that it will be over. Fonzie responded that Gordon was slow on the upkeep. Tonight is the last night he’ll have his referee license, because he’s voluntarily given it up. The crowd pops, until Fonzie continues that it’s because he can’t have a referee license and a managerial one from the same athletic commission. And as soon as he says that, Gary Albright is right behind Gordon, and hits a snap German Suplex on him! Alfonso introduces his new client, the human wrecking ball and the next ECW World Television Champion, Gary Albright! In an ECW World Television Title Tournament match, Bobby Eaton beat Dave Taylor in a scientific match with the Alabama Jam. This was a solid match between two vets who still wanted that big run. Styles put Eaton over as the best tag team wrestler of all time. They shook hands after the match. Joey Styles announced that Tod Gordon has been taken to the hospital, but that there have been a few announcements made about the next time we’re at the ECW Arena, on September 23. Paul E. Dangerously is filling in as matchmaker while Gordon recovers. While ECW is unable to override the referee’s decision, Benoit and Malenko will have to defend the ECW World Tag Team Titles against Tommy Dreamer and Dustin Rhodes! We also have footage we’re excited to show, the night Lucha Libre came to ECW, that will be up next, but it was so awesome we’re announcing a return, as in “trios” action, Rey Misterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera team up with the Canadian Tiger, Mike Lozansky to face Psicosis, Dr. Wagner Jr., and Vampiro Canadiense! There are more announcements to come, but you don’t want to miss the action on the 23rd! Come see it live! Rey Misterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera beat Dr. Wagner Jr. and Psicosis. Styles put over this as something that will define ECW going forward. And it was a tremendous match, that will be on video highlight packages going forward. The finish was as Psicosis went for a Splash Mountain off the top, Rey Jr. countered with a hurricanrana for the win! “Perfect Strangers” by Deep Purple played as the crowd went nuts, and Shane Douglas is back in the ECW Arena! He came down to the ring with a microphone, talked about how good it was to be back. That “the Dean” was dead and buried exactly where he should have been! And he’s here for one reason, and that one reason is the ECW World Heavyweight Title! Sandman, never one to back down from a challenge, hit the ring. He said to name the time and the place, and Shane Douglas responded “How about tonight?” Sandman responded with a strike to the head with his trusty Singapore cane! Styles announced that we’ll see that match next week!

I wasn't as sold on Delete or Decay as the Final Deletion, but it had it's moments for sure. Rosemary comes off really well in these kind of segments. The search for Senor Benjamin has been a lot of fun.

Finally caught Omega vs. Naito. I've never liked Omega, and this match didn't change that. He's just so fucking hammy, even later day HBK would tell him to take it down a notch. And to piggyback off others, yeah, the "oh, my knee hurts so much, so here's a giant fucking springboard" spot really, really didn't work for me.