dawho5

Has anyone else gotten a promotion they knew almost nothing about and found that it was way more up their alley than I imagined? I did some looking into Montreal and it seems like they have a very AWA vibe as far as babyfaces go. Once the heels go past a certain point and the blood feud is on, the babyface is okay to turn heel tactics around on them. It seems like the house style was a pretty fast-paced brawl with some cool spots and technical wrestling thrown in to keep it interesting. They also seem to like their heated brawls in feuds, see the Rougeaus vs. the Garvins. In speaking to others about this, they have seen French language footage of the match I saw with no X-ing out of the bloody face of Ronnie Garvin. So basically I am not making big leaps by building feuds into hate-filled brawls where the faces will take the law into their own hands if it comes down to that. My plan is to use blood sparingly on TV to make it a big deal, but house shows I am thinking there ought to be a bloody, hate-filled brawl in Montreal once every few weeks. What a great way to keep 3000 fans showing up at the Paul Suave Arena every Saturday evening and get as close to 18,000 as possible into the Forum on my big shows. I see Abby making some appearances in 1984, no way the idea of a Hansen vs. Abby bloodbath doesn't sell tickets.

That's been my intention all along.

Discussing them is less painful than watching them though, so there's that.

I haven't been able to find a Montreal territory loop either. A lot of stuff about that whole promotion seems really obscure besides a few people's youtube feeds.

Jun Akiyama has to be considered. He immediately started tagging with Misawa, Kawada, Taue, Jumbo and crew and didn't look out of place at all.

I don't particularly see the need for it. Once I get my two project teams firmly established they will be abroad for six months (Tongans) and three months (Can Ams) at the least while I bring in people to run fresh programs with the Rougeaus and Midnights. I can't see the Tongans having hugely long runs in Montreal after that, coming back for maybe six months at a time to terrorize the general public before getting run off again. Albano is going to be a big part of the act, so he's part and parcel of any trades. I think my timeline on the Midnights has them leaving in early 1985 or mid 1985 with a caveat that I want one borrowed-in three month run a year down the road or so. Beyond that most of my guys are Montreal-based wrestlers. I could see borrowing Lefebvre out to Dylan for a three or four month run in late 84 at this point. I want to let him get something done with Lefebvre before Christmas 85 and I think he'll be necessary with the Tongans (partially) and Midnights gone in 85. So redraft or not, by 1986 the only consistent part of my roster in the main event will be the Rougeaus.

I love this as the first six man between Kawada and Misawa as enemies. This and the tag two days earlier are really incredible matches from guys who have never had to carry a main event in these configuratons. If you're Baba after these two shows you have to be happy with the results given the knowledge that Jumbo isn't going to be able to carry things any more and you know Hansen won't be around forever.

The International Wrestling Association is proud to announce some of it's lineup for the now confirmed October 30th Montreal Forum show. The exciting tag team from Stampede Wrestling, the British Bulldogs will be making another appearance, wrestling young Armand Rougeau and his mentor, Rene Goulet. The bruising Greg "the Hammer" Valentine from Maple Leaf wrestling will be wrestling on the card. Andre the Giant will be facing the wild brawler from Texas, Stan "the Lariat" Hansen. Hansen will also be appearing at the July 20th TV taping in Paul Suave Arena, taking on International icon Gino Brito. The winner of the tournament to crown new tag champions will be defending their titles. Their challengers will be determined in the weeks between shows. There are rumors circulating that Sgt. Slaughter will be back from Puerto Rico to wrestle on this show as well, but they have not been confirmed. Get your tickets now!

As a Canadian promoter I have very little interest in my talent being really over in the States. I would like to know what the three candidates positions are on Canada and a possible Canadian subdivision where the Canadian title and possibly a Canadian tag team title of some kind tour around. This is not to say that talent out of Quebec is unavailable to promoters in the U.S., just that there is little interest in how said talent is viewed by the fans there. That being said, we want our talent to enjoy success wherever they may go after they are done working for the International Wrestling Association. We understand the same is true of other promoters and can promise that all talent we host will be treated as if the International Wrestling Association were their home promotion. We expect that any talent we send abroad will be treated the same.

It seems like we should give Fred Ward the benefit of the doubt on the Battle of Atlanta.

From the desk of Frank Valois, sent to every other promoter:

From the desk of Frank Valois: The International Wrestling Association would gladly host Rocky Hata and Nobuyoshi Sugawara for four months and feature them as a midcard tag team. Young Armand Rougeau, the youngest and least experienced of the famous Rougeau family, would benefit from being in the ring with a pair of technically proficient wrestlers. Hata and Sugawara would also be working with one of our most experienced veterans, the Frenchman Rene Goulet. Goulet was Ric Flair's opponent in his second match as a pro wrestler and is known for his consistency. Hata and Sugawara would be used as heels and given reign to work a more aggressive, violent style. We hope this is acceptable to Mr. Baba and that International and All Japan will enjoy a good working relationship going forward.

Ambrose as an extremely disturbing Doink ripoff would be all kinds of fun. There would have to be random "misses" on how the make-up was applied each time also. Different spots where there was supposed to be make-up, big enough to notice on camera but no more. Enzo as the stupidest possible Million Dollar Man sounds good too. Constantly buying stuff for a yawning Carmella, who still pays more attention to Cass. It would be far easier for me to watch than their obnoxious face bullshit.

I don't think so.

I'm sorry, it was the Guys Eligible in August 1983 thread. Should we maybe have a focused thread for that discussion and figure out what we want to do?

I thought it had been stated that we wouldn't have the draft at 6 months in the August Freelancers thread? I'm okay with either, but I'd prefer we picked one and stuck with it.

I thought Dana looked better in-ring than she has up until now. She seems to have found a way to hide her many flaws as a worker behind basic matwork and heel posturing. It'll serve her well in squash matches and tags for sure. Enzo's bullet crossbody is an interesting move. I still want a Jason Jordan push more than an Enzo/Cass push. The Hype Bros are actually a pretty good fit. I don't see it as a main event act, but as a fun 5 minute midcard match weekly it works. Rhyno did pretty well with his time on offense in that match. Balor made everything he did look good too. Owens being a complete and total dick to the announce team was great. Graves sucking up to Owens was the worst part about that match, which is surprising given what the match was. next week is going to be a tag match. Owens/Rhyno vs. Balor/Joe leading into the 4th show.

I went with random, but in the booker's hands is fine by me also.

Watching it in sequence Kobashi is still #4, which is what makes this work. 1,4 vs. 2,3 is the only way this matchup gets 9 iterations that are as good as they are. Misawa can beat Kawada or Taue on his own, but it's close. Both can take out Kobashi, but he's got the big heart that makes it tough with Misawa around. So it becomes a question of which gives first, Misawa's ability to save Kobashi or Kawada and Taue's ability to isolate the weaker Kobashi long enough to put the match away.

I do think we should bring Johnny in and have him be our Bill Apter. He could come up with crazy headlines and news stories monthly or something.

Wow, Vince, Sr. is starting to get unhappy with the smart fan newsletter types the same way Vince Jr. did. I think I see a world champion ripping up a "Matt D's Wrestling Report" as he walks to the ring in the near future.

I have gone with a *ahem* far more dignified and true to my vision of Montreal avatar. Long live the Rougeaus!

I thought KrisZ was going to be president.

Put the wrestling bear in there instead.

Would also like Hansen for a 12/28 show.