SirEdger

You gotta think that Hennig is the favorite to win the TV title tournament. I mean, when you've got the Horsemen to back you up....

Just watched this match this afternoon and I must say I wasn't used to see Sami Callihan in his pre-NXT run so that definitely felt weird for me at first. They seemed to play the underdog card with Callihan, hyping how much he worked hard to get the invite for the Ted Petty Invitational this year and building him to be a hungry young up-and-comer looking to build his stock. Kingston is well-known for his striking abilities and early in the match, he connects solidly with a backfist after Callihan slaps him, sending Callihan tumbling outside. That was a nasty tumble outside and I legit thought Callihan had knocked himself out during that bump. I'm not familiar with Callihan's early work but he definitely was able to hang with Kingston all match long, which is pretty telling to me. As far as I can remember, Kingston was doing some of his best work around that time and I was stunned to see Callihan get the win with the Lariat but in hindsight, I thought that the story conveyed by the commentary team (I believe Chuck Taylor was one of them, just not 100% sure) helped build Callihan as much as the match itself with Eddie Kingston. Very enjoyable match for me and I'd go with a 7/10 grade for this one.

Damascus & Kenny Omega chasing Sammy Guevara in that golf cart was the highlight of the show for me. Yes, even though we saw a surprise appearance from Damian's offspring earlier in the show.

That motherfucker called Chris Cruise must be ecstatic right now.

I assume they could also cover the Patera/Saito incident in season 3 as well

I'm kinda rooting for Matt Borne to win the Florida Heavyweight title tournament. I think you can do a lot with him as your top heel to start. Great first show to get you set up and with Classy Freddie Blassie stirring the pot, we're in for a blast!

I like that you've took it up a notch with the King Harley Race gimmick as I think it's gonna suit him very well, whatever you do next with Harley. Also, I feel like Bam Bam being paired with Paul E can make a lot of damage in your AWA. Can't wait to see what happens next!

No worries! Can't wait!

With Florida opening the possibility for the return of fans to attend events in a 25% capacity, which of the two you think will see fans at their events first?

I will go on a very local scale here - and it's gonna be something strictly related to indy wrestling - but for us in Quebec, one of the matches that changed things was Kevin Steen vs Christopher Daniels in April 2004 for the defunct EWR promotion. Before that, it was extremely rare for promotions to import major stars to work events. While the match was fantastic as we fans in attendance expected it, this changed the game afterwards as our local promotions continued to take more gambles and bring in more guests; EWR continued that trend for the remainder of their existence (a short 2-year existence) including appearances by Samoa Joe and Steve Corino - Steen credited his match with Corino in Quebec City as the match that opened him the doors internationally as Corino was able to book him in Japan for ZERO-ONE in 2005 afterwards and IWS followed suit as well. Nowadays, it's now a common trend in Quebec - and Eastern Canada - to bring in big stars like Cody or the Young Bucks as NSPW in Quebec City has done a lot of it, becoming the top promotion in Eastern Canada and the Maritimes. But more importantly than that, I feel like if EWR (Elite Wrestling Revolution was the name of the promotion) didn't take that chance in 2004 by bringing in Daniels, who was gaining a lot of attention for his work in TNA at that time, the chances that guys like Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn being in WWE now would be almost inexistent. Because then, CZW wouldn't have invited them to work on their shows and then, ROH and you know the rest. So, it might not seem a big deal in general compared to the rest of the world, but for us in Quebec, that moment was a big deal for the growth of Quebec indy wrestling.

Been quite interesting to be honest to see the evolution of Vince's mind in the past few weeks. Now, word is that he's pissed at Roman for pulling out of Mania. Hell, Roman is not even in the Make-a-Wish ads anymore and he was front and center before that.

Imagine if we had the Rockers vs the Midnight Express in real-life. Perhaps the Rockers would've finally had that World Tag Team title run they never really had.

Is this the match included in Ric Flair's first WWE DVD in the chapter about his feud with Barry Windham? Sure seems to coincide with the timeframe on the DVD.

Props to Rebel...or should I say Reba for her part in that great skit!

Sami lives in Montreal. Owens moved to Florida when he started in NXT; then moved back to Montreal for a while until he relocated again to Florida shortly after.

Speaking of Kevin Owens, he's been MIA since Mania. Has he chosen to stay home?

Gerald tweeted that he's not been released but furloughed, just like most agents.

I wanted to remain as close as possible to the original format of Wrestlemania IV so that's why I went with the 16-men format. I felt like this could help me establish the aftermath of Wrestlemania than if I went with the 8-men format.

Man, hadn't heard of Rocky Dellasera since the days of Lutte Internationale in Montreal when I was a kid.

And it's not like they really tested Sami Callihan as a babyface. Sure, he was one when he first came in to support oVe in their feud with LAX but it didn't take long before the cross turn happened so they can get some legs with a babyface Callihan.

March 27th, 1988 Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, NJ Hosted by: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse "The Body" Ventura After the usual introductions by Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura, Mean Gene Okerlund is standing in the middle of the ring to present WWF President Jack Tunney. As expected, Tunney is greeted to a chorus of boos. Mean Gene asks Jack Tunney about the status of both Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake for the tournament. Tunney announces that both Hogan and Beefcake are out of the tournament due to the recent attacks on them. Tunney then announces that he accepted Wahoo McDaniel's request to take Brutus Beefcake's spot in the tournament. Tunney doesn't have time to say anything else that he's interrupted by Randy "Macho Man" Savage. Savage heard some rumors that Tunney was to replace Hogan by Andre the Giant in the tournament and he asks him not to do that. Savage says he's seeing through Bobby Heenan's plan to stack the deck in favor of Nick Bockwinkel to win the whole tournament and weaseling in Andre would only help accomplish that. Savage is asking Tunney to be Hogan's replacement in the tournament, which brings out Bobby Heenan, telling Tunney to not listen to him and to give Andre a shot in the tournament. Heenan says that only Andre has enough star power to replace Hogan and make Tunney's decision worthwhile as Savage isn't even in Andre's league. Savage is about to lose it on Heenan when Tunney announces that he accepts Savage's request and he will take Hogan's spot in the tournament. The Brain is irate as Savage has been able to at least, partially thwart his plan for now! Match #1 The Islanders (King Tonga & Tonga Kid) vs Karma ("Crippler" Rip Oliver & "Hangman" Bobby Jaggers) Official tag team debut for Rip Oliver and Bobby Jaggers as Karma. Jesse Ventura went at length to explain that their team name represents the beating that their opponents will truly deserve. Despite their best efforts, The Islanders fall prey to a spike piledriver from Karma to Tonga Kid to secure the victory Winners: Karma Match #2 WWF Championship Tournament Round 1 Randy "Macho Man" Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs Jerry Lynn Pretty much a warmup match for the Macho Man as the young rookie proved to be no match with Savage finishing things up with the Macho Elbow to advance to the quarter finals. Winner: Randy Savage Match #2 WWF Championship Tournament Round 1 Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (w/Bobby Heenan) vs "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin (w/Precious) The Brain seemed a bit still distraught from the earlier announcement and it seemed to take Valentine off his game. However, Valentine recovers and is able to make Garvin submit with the figure four leglock to advance. Winner: Greg Valentine Match #3 WWF Championship Tournament Round 1 Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Tito Santana The King comes in with a game plan early and it's to frustrate and stall Tito Santana from the start, which he does but Tito is able to take control in the match. However, The King uses a foreign object hidden in his tights to knockout Tito and advance to the quarterfinals. Winner: Jerry "The King" Lawler Match #4 WWF Championship Tournament Round 1 "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff vs The Ultimate Warrior The Warrior came surprisingly ready for this match, despite the experience edge going to Orndorff in this one. And while the Warrior was close to the win, a run-in from The Crusher hitting him with a steel chair while Bobby Heenan was distracting the referee allowed Orndorff to score the countout victory. Orndorff didn't seem too thrilled about it but The Brain didn't seem to care. Winner: Paul Orndorff by countout Match #5 WWF Championship Tournament Round 1 Sgt. Slaughter vs Baron Von Raschke (w/Gary Hart) Probably the most physical match in the tournament so far as Slaughter and Von Raschke slugged it out throughout the entire match. Slaughter was able to get out of Baron Von Raschke's Claw and eventually apply the Cobra Clutch on Von Raschke to secure the submission win! Winner: Sgt. Slaughter Match #6 WWF Championship Tournament Round 1 Don "The Rock" Muraco vs Larry Zbyszko A bit similar to the tactic Lawler used earlier vs Tito Santana, Larry Zbyszko tries to stall early but Muraco wants none of it and his brute strength proves to pay off. However, Muraco's temper proves to be his downfall after he loses his cool after being slapped in the face by Zbyszko. Muraco backs Zbyszko in a corner and as referee Jimmy Korderas tries to interject himself between the two, Zbyszko sticks a thumb in Muraco's eyes and trips him, using the ropes for leverage to score the win and move on. Winner: Larry Zbyszko Match #7 WWF Championship Tournament Round 1 The Crusher vs Nick Bockwinkel (w/Bobby Heenan) This match really isn't one as immediately, Heenan orders The Crusher to lay down for Bockwinkel. The Crusher doesn't seem happy about it and they argue back and forth. Heenan then slaps The Crusher as he refuses to cooperate and The Crusher grabs Heenan by the throat. Bockwinkel doesn't waste any time and clips The Crusher behind the knee, proceeding to destroy it. Referee Earl Hebner then immediately stops the match, claiming that The Crusher can't continue. Gorilla Monsoon questions if Heenan also doesn't have Hebner in his back pocket! Winner: Nick Bockwinkel by referee stoppage Match #8 WWF Championship Tournament Round 1 Wahoo McDaniel vs Bad News Brown Another hard-hitting affair to close the first round of the tournament as both men don't hesitate to throw their best shots to their opponents. Bad News Brown's bad attitude gets the best of it as he refuses to listen to referee Joey Marella's instructions and shoves him down on the mat, forcing Marella to disqualify him. However, Bad News isn't done as he hits not one but 2 Ghetto Blasters on Wahoo, leaving him a bit shaken up but still moving on. Winner: Wahoo McDaniel Match #9 The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs Bunkhouse Buck & Nord the Barbarian (w/Gary Hart) In a pre-match interview, the Rougeaus say that this one is to avenge Gary Hart's men's attack on Brutus Beefcake in the past week. Despite the physical advantage from Buck & Nord, the Rougeaus are able to put them away when they hit La Bombe Rougeau on Bunkhouse Buck to score the win. Winners: The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers Match #10 WWF Championship Tournament Quarter-Finals Randy "Macho Man" Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs Greg Valentine (w/Bobby Heenan) A match that could've easily been the finals of the tournament but certainly lived up to the hype with multiple near falls. Savage escaped certain defeat as he gets the victory with an inside cradle on Valentine while Valentine was trying to lock him into the Figure Four! Winner: Randy Savage Match #11 WWF Championship Tournament Quarter-Finals Jerry "The King" Lawler vs "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff Jerry Lawler had to once again dig deep in his bag of tricks but Orndorff seemingly saw him coming at every turn. The end came though as Lawler capitalized on a mistake from Orndorff; setting Lawler up for a piledriver, Lawler tripped Orndorff and slingshot him on the top rope. Lawler then hit the 2nd rope fist drop to score the victory. Winner: Jerry "the King" Lawler Match #12 WWF Championship Tournament Quarter-Finals Sgt. Slaughter vs Nick Bockwinkel (w/Bobby Heenan) No chance this time for The Brain to ask Sarge to lay down for Bockwinkel. Sarge is dominating most of the match when The Brain finally pulls off his trump (no pun intended) card; Andre the Giant slowly makes his way to the ring, stopping Sarge dead in his tracks. Everyone is momentarily distracted enough so that Bockwinkel can deliver a low blow to Sarge, followed by a cover to score the pinfall. Bockwinkel moves on to the semis! Winner: Nick Bockwinkel Match #13 WWF Championship Tournament Quarter-Finals Larry Zbyszko vs Wahoo McDaniel Still reeling from the first round attack from Bad News Brown, Wahoo McDaniel has a hard time getting out of the starting block, giving Larry all the time in the world to make the damage. Eventually, Zbyzsko's ego gets the best of him as he releases the Sleeper Hold too early, thinking that Wahoo went to sleep. A few minutes later, Wahoo finishes up Zbyszko with the top rope tomahawk chop and scores the victory! Winner: Wahoo McDaniel Match #14 WWF Tag Team Championship Demolition (c) vs The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy & Buddy Jack Roberts) Another physical match between both teams and the crowd is solidly behind the Freebirds. Demolition is able to isolate Buddy for the most part and they even thought they got the victory after hitting the Demolition Decapitation on Buddy but Terry Gordy made the save. Eventually, Gordy gets the hot tag and all hell breaks loose. Smash makes a capital mistake by sneaking in the tag team title belt and accidentally hitting Ax with it. Buddy puts Smash out of commission and Gordy hits the Backdrop on Ax to score the victory! The Freebirds celebrate as they're the new champs! Winners and new champions: The Fabulous Freebirds Match #15 WWF Championship Tournament Semi-Finals Randy "Macho Man" Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs Jerry "the King" Lawler To no one's surprise, Jerry Lawler is once again trying to use every dirty trick he can to get away with the victory. However, Lawler gets caught red-handed as he's trying to use the same brass knuckles he used against Tito Santana in the first round. Lawler and referee Joey Marella argue a bit as Marella try to wrest the knuckles away from Lawler, allowing Savage to hit Lawler in the back with a high knee. Lawler crashes face first in the corner, allowing Savage to hit the Macho Elbow and score the win. Savage is going to the finals! Winner: Randy Savage Match #16 WWF Championship Tournament Semi-Finals Nick Bockwinkel (w/Bobby Heenan) vs Wahoo McDaniel Wahoo is definitely feeling the effects of the two previous matches but he's still able to dish out the big hits on Bockwinkel. Heenan is worrying so much that once again, he resorts to bring in Andre the Giant in the pictures. After Wahoo hits a Tomahawk Chop on Bockwinkel. Heenan once again grabs the referee's attention, allowing Andre to interfere. This time, Andre literally chokes the life out of Wahoo, rendering him unconscious. Bockwinkel slaps in a figure four on Wahoo and not knowing what happened, referee Earl Hebner counts the pinfall. Bockwinkel is moving to the finals! Winner: Nick Bockwinkel Match #17 WWF Intercontinental Championship Michael P.S. Hayes (c) vs Honky Tonk Man (w/Johnny V) Having invoked his rematch clause after losing the title a few weeks ago, it's a more serious side that the Honky Tonk Man shows in this match. Just like for his brothers earlier in the night, the crowd is solidly behind Michael Hayes for this match. Honky Tonk uses a few questionable tactics but Michael Hayes always seems to find a way to resist. Honky Tonk hits Shake Rattle and Roll on Hayes but only gets a two! Honky decides to go for it one more time but this time, Hayes counters with a back slide and scores the pinfall to retain. The Freebirds come to celebrate as all 3 members of the group are currently holding gold! Winner and still champion: Michael P.S. Hayes MAIN EVENT Match #18 WWF Championship Tournament Finals Randy "Macho Man" Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs Nick Bockwinkel (w/Bobby Heenan) It wasn't necessarily what the fans first expected to see prior to Wrestlemania but here we are; Savage vs Bockwinkel for the WWF Championship in the finals. Exuding confidence, Bobby Heenan decides for a 3rd time to bring in Andre the Giant as an intimidation factor to start the match. It doesn't take really long for Andre to get involved early as he trips Savage in the ropes. Savage gets up and shrugs it off but only a few minutes later, Andre retaliates one more time. Miss Elizabeth can't hide her concern and is on the verge of panic when Savage motions for her to go to the back. Liz obliges and rushes to the back, with Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura wondering if Savage isn't concerned for Elizabeth's safety with Andre the Giant around. In the meantime, Bockwinkel & Andre are taking liberties on Savage throughout the match as Bobby Heenan distracts referee Earl Hebner. Bockwinkel is seemingly ready to put Savage out of his misery when...when.. MISS ELIZABETH RETURNS WITH HULK HOGAN! The crowd explodes as Hogan, with taped ribs, walks to the ring with a purpose. Hogan makes a beeline straight towards Andre the Giant and pummels him with right hands. And while Hogan and Andre are going it.... BRUTUS BEEFCAKE IS BACK AS WELL, SNEAKING FROM THE CROWD! As the referee is busy trying to separate Hogan and Andre, Beefcake comes in and puts the Sleeperhold on Bockwinkel! The crowd goes nuts as then Beefcake nails Heenan with a right hand! With Bockwinkel gone to sleep, Savage climbs on the top rope: Macho Elbow! Referee Earl Hebner slides back in the ring and makes the count...1...2....THREE! IT'S OVER! Randy Savage has done the impossible; going from an outsider to WWF Champion in one night! The show ends with fireworks and pyros as Savage, Elizabeth, Hogan & Beefcake all celebrate together while Heenan and Bockwinkel curse Hogan and friends! Winner and new WWF Champion: "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Is AAA still going? I thought they had shut down during the pandemic

Didn't they tease that The North would defend the titles against Canadian teams in empty settings while the borders are still closed or did I completely imagine that?

Billy Corgan said they were going to wait and not run empty studio shows.

Why does every time something like this comes up, the first excuse is "I WAS HACKED"?