dawho5

I like it.

The Hayes push begins! Both matches leading up to it look pretty swank as well.

August 30th, 1983, Palais des Sports, Sherbrooke, QC (3,500) Dave Kochen defeated Frederic Tremblay with an abdominal stretch Goldie Rogers defeated Etienne Bergeron Louis Laurence & Tony Ricco deefated the Kay Brothers with a wishbone snap/half crab combo on Rudy Kay Armand Rougeau & Rene Goulet defeated the Gerrard Brothers with a flying fist drop/scorpion claw hold combo on Tim Gerrard The Tongan Terrors & Mad Dog Lefebvre defeated the Can Am Express & Invader 1 with a savate kick/flying headbutt combo on a bloody Lafon, Poisson and Invader 3 ran in sparking a post-match brawl between the four teams Gino Brito & Tony Parisi defeated Quebec Heavyweight Champion Richard Charland & Dan Johnson with a side suplex/flying senton combo on Johnson Canadian International Tag Team Champions The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers & Invader 3 defeated the Midnight Express & Gilles Poisson with a crab/flying knee drop combo on Poisson

Kelly = wrestling kung fu master?

I hope Ladd finally gets the respect that he is due around here. What that guy has to put up with! I fully expect Landell to get his revenge in a particularly nasty way. And there is no way Humperdink doesn't have a plan. Frazier is gonna have to fight off the House to get any kind of a real win.

Greg Valentine is Russian?!? Damn that Smirnoff anyway, I knew he was setting Wahoo up. Great payoff that I expect Wahoo to avenge down the line. Main was really good with Martel overcoming the odds to get Saito after all the cheating. I don't know if the tag match overshadows the main or not though. edit: Thinking about it, it's the only way to send the crowd home happy. The two big matches beforehand were heel victories to advance the feud in the long run and build up the Russians I assume for future Martel fodder. It would have been hard to get big pops out of the crowd during the main, but when Martel went over I imagine the reaction would make up for it.

Mainly because Johnny Ace was willing to give the Japanese wrestlers a little offense and let heat build up. And he didn't just lay around in rest holds until it was time for the big finish. Probably helps that Doc had progressed at that point as well.

I am making all of this up as I go. I watched what Montreal footage I could find to get a handle on what the wrestlers with available footage could do. I have no idea what kind of announcer Jacques, Sr. would have been IRL, so I made him into my ideal wrestling announcer. Just so happens that Lance Russell is pretty damn close to my ideal wrestling announcer. Gino Brito, Gilles Poisson, Louis Laurence, Mad Dog Lefebvre, Armand Rougeau & Rene Goulet all have a small amount of available footage that I kind of got keynotes off of for how I want them portrayed. Tony Parisi, Tony Ricco, Dave Kochen (worked AWA as Buddy Lane and in canada as himself as a lower card guy), Dan Johnson (not a Montreal guy, just a filler spot) and Richard Charland are complete and total fabrications on my part. Charland I felt like I needed a chickenshit heel on the roster and he would be a good foil for Laurence as the undercard guys who are moving up to the midcard. One thing I really tried to do is make sure all of my heels felt different. Midnights - badass guys who will cut corners if they have to and are complete assholes, but do not need to cheat to win Tongans - monster heels Mad Dog Lefebvre & Gilles Poisson - wildman brawler & veteran heel who cheats despite his size advantage Charland & Johnson - complete chickenshit heel with his partner to take falls when they are on the losing end/distract/etc. Rogers - arrogant heel One thing I didn't want to do was have a bunch of guys who constantly break the rules and are all the same bad guy. There had to be different characters and motivations going on for all of them so every feud isn't just "this guy cheats and attacks the face and the face has to overcome the odds". That's a great story when done right, but there needs to be variation on it. That is something that really made Buddy Rose stand out to me in the AWA I watched. So many AWA heels were the exact same heel as either the last guy to challenge the face or the guy down the card. Larry Z is a great heel, but it's somewhat less effective when every heel stalls a lot, cheats at every opportunity, etc.

I'm a huge fan of Martel on the whole. The slingshot splash is a thing of beauty for sure. Great show as always, I enjoy the dynamic you two have. It's fitting that the two of you do a tag team-focused podcast where you both bring different stuff to the table and play off of each other so well. It's almost lie it was by design or something.

It seems like things are slowing down and I feel like maybe a little more acknowledgement of what has been going right so far might help get things moving a little better. I thought it might be interesting to see what people were thinking about the different promotions, faces, heels, etc. so far. Here's a few of my lists. Promotions: 5. Memphis - I just stared watching a certain well-known Memphis collection and I can't believe how well TravJ has nailed the announcing and general feel of the promotion. 4. Mid-Atlantic - You've got a loaded roster, top-to-bottom good shows and Flair chasing the gold. I'm a big fan of a lot of what you've got going on there. 3. Southeast - Funny that a great tag division PLUS Bob vs. Dutch would show up on my list. 2. Southwest - Great TV and HemisFair shows with what seems like Memphis-style booking. Lots of twists and turns week to week makes it a good read. 1. Georgia - I am loving the tag division and the setup at the top. The 3-way rivalry has so many different things that can happen in addition to the instability of the jake/Adonis faction and it makes for interesting stories. 1 and 2 are neck and neck with Southeast just behind, on a different day I could probably have Georgia at 2 and SW at 1. Honorable mentions would be Stampede, AWA and ICW in no particular order. Heels: 5. Alfred Hayes - This is more because I always chuckle at how he is written as if Parv were playing him in a movie about wrestling. 4. Terry Funk - He'd be higher if I felt like I could get attached to him in any way. 3. Ernie Ladd - I hope that Lawler gets what's coming to him! 2. Tully Blanchard - I'm a big Tully fan to begin with an the way he's being used seems avsolutely perfect. 1. Jake Roberts - Technically a tweener now, but I think he still counts. Loving everything about him so far. 1 and 2 again are up in the air. Honorable mentions to Heenan, Bock and DiBiase. Also Lanny Poffo and Jim Holliday Faces: 5. Rick Martel - He's gonna be something big in the capable hands of Jack Tunney. After he deals with the Japanese and the Russians of course. 4. Ric Flair - Flair for the gold is just as great in this universe. 3. Hulk Hogan - Hogan as the ass-kicking brawler is pretty awesome. Japan mode forever. 2. Bob Armstrong - Wild brawls with Dutch all over the territory have got to be making some money. 1. Butch Reed - Part of one of my favorite feuds so far and a big part of Georgia's success. Honorable mentions are Kevin & Kerry von Erich, Lawler, the Freebirds, and the RnR Express. Feuds: 5. Tokyo Hurricanes vs. the British Bulldogs - It's got to be a huge shock that I would love a workrate tag team feud. 4. Road Warriors vs. the AWA locker room - Great idea for an angle and again, tag team, shocking. 3. Bob Armstrong vs. Dutch Mantell - As referenced above, awesome stuff here. 2. Killer Khan vs. the holdover babyfaces from Southwest - Great feud that led to incredible main event matches. 1. GCW three way feud - I am loving this booking to death and I hope it goes on for a good long while. Honorable mentions are big badass dudes vs. Buck Zumhofe, Lanny vs. Savage, The Russians vs. Freebirds, Martel vs. the world, Backlund vs. Heenan and crew, and Dick the Bruiser vs. King King Bundy. Matches: 5. Martel vs. Slaughter, Canada Cup final 4. Flair vs. Funk, Summertime Blues 3. Buzz Sawyer vs. Tommy Rich LLT Cage Match 2. Killer Khan vs. Bob Sweetan 1. Killer Khan vs. Scott Casey Honorable mentions would get way too long here. I'm sure we all have things we like to rate and try to rank, so don't feel like anything I posted is the limit of what categories could be used.

It would be easier if I knew who half of the active wrestlers in 83 were, but I'm slowly catching up on things. Seems like most are running short of time or just got a bit burnt out. I imagine it helps more than a little when other people read and comment to keep things moving. When you feel like you're just writing for yourself it is hard to keep it up.

Stan needs to keep his head on straight instead of going after the manager. I like how you progressed the Mansfield/Welch feud with all the Fuller stuff still going on and transitioned right back to it. Duggan overcoming Kaissie's cheating right after dispatching Khan is a nice way to set him up as a big deal off the bat.

Bob is going to start feeling the effects of all those piledrivers soon.

That main looks like it would be a great tag.

Martel has his work cut out for him in Maple Leaf Gardens. Hopefully whoever is reffing that one tosses Ventura early. Somebody is gonna use Deaton's boot against him soon and it's gonna be a nice payoff.

Good TV, moves a few things forward with an Andre match to boot.

Taue was great in big matches during his NOAH run. I think I am in the same boat as jdw on Kobashi. At a certain point he needed to not be the overly emotional underdog who had to kill his opponent with everything he had in order to get the win. In 1993 it was an incredible thing to watch but it got old.

I can do Bob & Joe Marcus for Bobby & Rudy Kay after October 1st.

No, when I run in New Brunswick and Halifax my gateway town comes up on the way in and the way out. The second one is a TV taping and I figure I could have a really hot crowd if I set it up right on the first show through. I also have an optional week I tack on at the end for five week months that has me running Montreal fairly close together. I'm looking at those as opportunities.

Yeah I have been thinking about how to do my setup shows in the towns I run in two successive weeks right and I'm going to have to experiment with it before I get it down.

But none of those guys you listed are stars yet. Reigns is the closest thing to it and will likely be the only one out of the four you can really call a star. The WWE won't get behind any of the other three anytime soon in order for them to get there.

Great TV! The house show looks like a lot of fun too, but the TV was great top to bottom.

I really enjoyed the Dibiase and JYD promos. Putting over the Fantastics and the new tag champs is a good call too. I like the show as a build towards the return to New Orleans.

I like the Maple Leaf tag a lot and the battle of the Polish guys should be fun.

August 27th, 1983, Paul Sauvé Arena, Montreal, QC (4,000, sellout) The Gerrard Brothers defeated Etienne Bergeron & Frederic Tremblay with a Tim Gerrard O’Connor roll on Bergeron Dave Kochen defeated Bobby Kay with an abdominal stretch Quebec Heavyweight Champion Richard Charland & Dan Johnson defeated Louis Laurence & Tony Ricco with a spike piledriver on Ricco The Tongan Terrors & Mad Dog Lefebvre defeated the Can Am Express & Invader 3 with a savate kick/flying headbutt combo on Lafon Gino Brito & Tony Parisi defeated Armand Rougeau & Rene Goulet with a side suplex/flying senton combo on Goulet, the teams shook hands post-match The Midnight Express & Gilles Poisson defeated Canadian International Tag Team Champions the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers & Invader 1 with a second rope powerslam/leg drop combo on Invader 1