Autistic Dragon

WWF signs Hillbilly Jim.

And we're back! Some smart booking on the elimination match (with a twist). Sugar gets revenge for the breakup of Sweet Dreams, Bullet lets his anger at Idol cost him dearly. Idol cheats Iceman out the door while Adias not only loses his job but he's stupid enough to take a swing a Mr T. Disalvo falls to the numbers game. His bad night continues as he gets waylaid by a debuting JW Storm. Jumbo makes quick work of Jim. The bad nech cost Orndorff against Hansen. Muraco doesn't get the title but perhaps he and Graham are more in sync? The World Tag title match doesn't end in the blow-up i was expecting. Thanks to a bit of help from Mr T, Hogan is able to overcome the Russian Nightmare to hold onto the World Title.

A nice recap establishes how things stand in Mid-South heading into the new year. With Kerry on top of the card, you've definitely got a great leading man.

Latin Desire look even better with the National Tag Titles. Huber puts up a fight but Debeers makes him pay for it. Burke causes Jammer to wipeout big time. Canek finally claims Blackblood's mask in route to victory. St Clair finally learns some respect for Colon's wrestling ability, to the ire of Thornton. Neidhart becomes TV champion in a meteoric rise. Cactus Jack is definitely someone Buzz can have "fun" with. David finally puts Larry away in a blood soaked cage match. I can see how the fans could use a breather after that.

WWF sends Ivan Koloff to WCW in exchange for Kevin Kelly. Also LowBlow is still listed as the booker of the WWF and the roster is still mostly as it was when he was in charge.

Happy New Year Rain. Edmonton. There's something strange about reading words like "dazzling" and "flashy" being used to describe Lance Storm. PCO returns to take the fight to Adams. Where can I buy a ticket for the Money Train? Iron & Steel show they haven't lost their edge. Austin looks to distance himself from Page. Cornette doubles his forces but but but their arrival gets upstaged by the reunion of THE Force as well as the debut of Sargent Slaughter. Well Ausin may be splitting but DDP rebounds by, presumably, buying Awesome from the Playboy Club. But as always, the Club regroups by bringing in The Suicide Blondes & Brian Lee. But they to get upstaged, this time by the return of Roddy Piper. Windham gets a major win to hopefully turn the Brigade's fortunes around. Looks like something's cooking between Douglas/Busick and Malenko/Gurerro. SinMin has big plans for his Ministry. Phoenix Rising derails the Can-Am Express. The Diamond Exchange is bringing the Heat. Steamboat closes the marathon night with a successful defense. Victoria. Tina shows she can keep Lee in line. Sarge's presence proves a boost to the Force. Hart throws the gauntlet down and swears to be champions by year's end. Would NOT have expected Eddie and Dean to fall in with SinMin. Austin continues to asset himself. Windham bests the other half of the Syndicate. Vancouver. The Can-Am's troubles in the New year continue. Sarge & co are officially at war with Camp Cornette. Two wins and a draw, not a bad night for the Terror Collective. Steamboat goes 2 for 2 in the 90s. Kelowna. The Thrillseekers spoil the Blondes first outing representing the Playboy Club. Scotty show them how it's done. The Heartbreakers take the lead in proving who's PCW's dominant trio. Severn gives Finlay a few more bruises. The Hexagon break even in title matches to close the loop.

Television. I'm sure Jim Herd giving JJ matchmaking abilities won't backfire in any way whatsoever. Though his first main event was admittedly a doozy. Love the idea of turning the gauntlet into a tournament. The Omni. Owen evens the score with Liger albeit with an asterisk. Garvin snaps and lays out Martel and Brother Love. OMG and Sullivan always were a good team. Brother Love recovers from the beating Ron gave him enough to save the US tag titles. Pillman, Zenk & Smith are proving to be quite the trio. The Roadies tend off the grizzled veterans. Hall shines in his debut. The Rockers capitalize of an injured Blanchard to capture the NWA World Tag Team Titles. Berserker got a little too out of control. A Flair/Muta misfire ends in disaster.

What is it about Al Madril that brings out every writer's comedian? I'm not complaining obviously but I do wonder how he became the game's designated funny man. In any event, Judge Mulligan wasn't buying his legal argument. Lancaster earns himself another shot at Powers. I hope Kendall doesn't do anything hasty. Nice way to introduce the Sandman to Florida. Humperdink prepares to send his Mercenaries back into the Danger Zone.

I was curious with what you were going to do for both the "Judo Jacket" match and the "Mixed Style Fights" and I like the direction you went with them. Adds another dash of personality to UWF cards.

BCW takes a major step forward by joining the USWA. Lock shows that no TV station pencil pusher is gonna tell her and her Tazmaniacs what to do.

A great recap explaining why everybody needs to be hyped for SuperClash!

UWF closing out 89 in style.

The Man of Means does know how to treat his men to a good time. Playboy Club taking it easy. I think Barry and Billy would've benefited from hearing Severn's speech.

Happy Holidays friends! Consider this a Christmas present to you all. Saturday Night's Main Event Full Card. January 4, 1990. William B. Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Airing live on NBC. Main Event. "8th Wonder of the World" Andre the Giant & The Ultimate Warrior vs The Heenan Family (WWF Champion Rick Rude & King of the Ring Haku) w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs Terry Funk Big Bossman vs Mr Saito w/Mr Fuji Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka vs "World's Strongest Man" Dino Bravo w/"Le Commandant" Frenchy Martin "The Boy from New York City" Jimmy Valiant w/"The Guiding Light" Capt Lou Albano vs The Iron Sheik

The Southern Rockers & RPMs get the crowd fired up. Love Rasta finding ways to work his gimmick into his matches. Mando's interference backfires for his hermanos. As predicted, the numbers game was too much for Lancaster. Top Gun & his wingman show the mercenaries they aren't backing down. I know the segment was gonna be gold as soon as I read "Alberto Madril, attorney at law". He may not have gotten the match thrown out but he still came through for his client in the end. Grizz is officially the king of the beach. Thankfully for DJ her other clients hand onto the tag titles. Hate to say it but Humperdink was right. Putting Kendall in the Funk family match wasn't the best move on Mulligan's part.

Welcome back to the game.

R.I.P Eric Embry. The Steiners just knocked the New Breed back to the future. Golden wins the chance to ref the Southern tag title match. The Freebirds must be feeling pretty good right now. Jimmy Jack realizes too late that it might not be the best idea to piss off the world's strongest man. Dutch's dirty tricks finally pay off. Slater has an admirer it seems. Sarge's tour of duty comes to a close. Budro couldn't outrun the claw. Miss Tennessee costs Eddie again. Never let it be said Jimmy Hart won't take a few lumps for the First Family. It seems blood is truly thicker than water as Golden hands the Stud Stable the Southern tag titles. What an arrival for the Macho Man as he prevents the King of claiming the World title.

Not much to say about the TV but at least Sullivan loved his present. Now onto the big show. A fun opener shows off the bright stars WCW has on its roster. Brother Love gets his first taste of gold. Liger wins a instant classic over Owen. Garvin's TV title is saved by the bell. The Roadies score the win but a technicality sees the titles divided and WCW with three sets of tag team champions. Some quick thinking by the Stinger nets him a W. Muta douces the Wildfire. Ventura gives a glowing introduction to the Diamond Stud. Luger will be the man trusted to lead WCW into the future. Curious to see how the Horsemen regroup.

One thing that stands out to me going over the Wrestle Dynasty card is all the matches they could be having for a title but aren't. Both ZSJ and Shota are competing against Ricochet and Castignoli respectively- but there's no talk of the World title being on the line. Same with the Global title, Finlay will be taking on Brody King while Tsuji faces Jack Perry but no talk of either of them getting a shot. I get that Kenny v Kidd doesn't need a title to generate hype but Kidd is still the Strong Openweight champion. If nothing else they could bill it as the "biggest Strong Openweight championship match in history".

Royal & Starr step up to fight off the Cuban invasion. Jason makes a Sterling debut. Lock brings in a second Taz to double the chaos. Like the touch of connecting her to Sullivan.

David is ready to finally be ready of Zbyszko. Jammer seems to have gotten over the surprise answer from Burke. Neidhart with a strange message for Brandi. Fun idea with the tug of war. The Olympians are predictably poor sportsmen but it bites them. Colon looks to leave no doubt about his wrestling ability. Dream Machine finds out what goes around come around. Graham clearly has no control over Muraco. The Fantastic & the Express finally blow their tops. Nikita drops the champ and ends the show on an ominous note.

Rasta makes a fun debut. Texas Death Match! Fuck yeah! The Armstrongs get the chance to shut up Los Guerreros. Lancaster really could have thought that line through better. The Son of the Beach isn't looking too chill brah. From the second I read it was Mando's lawyer who sent in the contract I just knew something was up. Top Gun found someone to watch his six. The PWF is giving one hell of a Christmas present to the people of Miami.

Fun update showing the variety of attractions Bert's bringing to BCW.

Sherri sure got over Sting quick. Though if she's looking for a man to take to the top, Spivey is a great choice. The Rockers earn some serious respect by not backing down from the Road Warriors. Wildfire has a chance to go International when he takes on Muta.

WWF Magazine December 1989 edition. Keeping it in the Family. As the World Wrestling Federation heads into the new decade Bobby Heenan has every reason to believe it will belong to his family. The Barbarian and The Warlord -collectively known as the Powers of Pain- stand atop the tag team division. The powerhouse duo were already an imposing force but ever since capturing the gold they've been all but unstoppable, tearing through whatever duo has been put in their path. Haku reigns as King of the Ring, lording over the WWF with an iron fist. Any challenge to his rule is met with a ferocity befitting a wild beast. And last but certainly not least, the jewel in the Heenan Family crown, "Ravishing " Rick Rude has a iron clad grip on the WWF title. A title he has controlled -with only a brief interruption- since June. That the Heenan Family is in a position of dominance cannot be denied but it would be a mistake to say there were threats to their positions. Demolition -former Tag Team champions themselves- have reasserted themselves in the title hunt and have made clear they are not afraid of the Powers of Pain.The Ultimate Warrior and Andre the Giant have both positioned themselves as opponents of the Family, the latter in particular being the sole man to disrupt Rude's grip on the WWF title. Whether or not his Family can weather this myriad of challenges remains to be seen but as 1990 dawns across the world I can't be argues that Bobby Heenan is poised to shape the entirety of the World Wrestling Federation in his image. Oh, Canada. After the sudden departure of their manager Jimmy Hart it seemed the Canadian quartet of Dino Bravo, Earthquake and the Rougeau Brothers (Jacques & Raymond) had lost their sense of direction. So it took some observers by surprise when the group were able to rally and claim victory at Survivor Series. The real shock however came n Nov 30th at the Meadowlands when Jacques and Earthquake (Raymond had travel issues) defeated the Steiner Brothers to capture the US Tag Team Titles. The reason for this sudden resurgence was revealed on a recent episode of Raw in the form of a new manager. Frenchy Martin, or as he prefers to be called "Le Commandant", has proven to be an effective leader of what he's dubbed "The Northern Invasion". Invoking what he calls "Canadian rules" he's convinced President Jack Tunny to allow any two members of the Invasion can defend the US Tag Titles ,which he and his men have taken to calling the Canadian Tag Team Titles. This means that potential challengers could be facing the Rougeau Brothers one night then Bravo & Earthquake the next. While many have naturally questioned the validity of this rule -and President Tunney's decision to honor it- it must be said the Canadian contingent has used it effectively and whomever seeks to take the United States/Canadian Tag Team Titles from them will have to be ready for anything.