Autistic Dragon

Ron Wright & Dutch have really bonded over their mutual pastime, complaining about Jerry Jerrett. The tag title tournament goes international with a Japanese duo coming for the gold. Gordy has his eyes locked firmly on Landel. Rich misses his deadline and Slater puts the word out, the hunt is on. I think Street & Dutch sniping at each other was the best part of the show. Whatley gets a dirty win on Scorpio. Not only does Dutch get his team disqualified losing their spot in the tournament, Dundee up & swipes Shoo baby!

We had some happy fans in Pine Bluff as the good guys (and Dark Journey) sweep the night. Bill Ash does put a somewhat bittersweet twist to it however as The Headliner holds on to his gold.

I'm sure putting the ladies out first got the men in the audience all warmed up. Cowboy Tony rangles himself a win in his debut. The Renesto Brothers get their first win as a team. I love that it's DJ's interference backfiring that leads to her team winning. What a fun way to spend Memorial Day.

Some solid dark matches ensure everybody gets a paycheck. Only in WCW can you see a Japanese man challenge a Canadian for the European title. Tom Zenk with the biggest win of his career becomes the new TV champion. Tiger Mask 2 gets a chance to shine. Spivey is on a roll. Vega winning the Mexican title was the biggest surprise of the night, for me anyway. Thanks to Herc, the Twin Towers are double champions. The Slickster is covered in gold. Roberts is off to a hot start as he sends Sabu running. Muta slays a dragon to retain the Japanese title. Does anyone else think maybe Bockwinkel & Brisco don't want Savage to be World Champion? *Thinks it over* nah, an authority figure in wrestling playing favorites? That's silly. Team Rhodes give the crowd something to go home happy about by winning The Match Beyond. Good use of pictures. Really brought the main event to life.

AWA medics certainly earned their money having to tend to Canek, Fujinami, Colon, Los Guerreros & I'm guessing Bruiser. His man may not have won the tournament but Gagne's Gang certainly left a mark. Warrior & Kokina both get chances to flex. Bad News gets major cred taking out the legend. Nikita endures three tough opponents to earn himself a world title shot. Nikita vs Brown is gonna tear the house down.

Victoria. Fuchi reasserts himself with a dominant win. Taker takes down Perez but Hall may prove to tough to crack. Miller has found a new home in the exchange. Bret & Neidhart have a feelgood moment. Cactus may have just exorcised the Demon. Stormfront regroup and get their first win. Brookside finally abandons the British Invasion and joins the crusade. Vancouver. Footloose move up the ranks after a win over the Holly Cousins. Candido keeps the Knights momentum going. Death Sentence keep their streak of no contests alive. Christopher proves he's not dependent on Cornette to win his matches. Hart grounds Barr. PCO may not have won but everyone will be talking about how he kicked out of Diamond's Piledriver. Kelowna. Fuchi stays on the winning track. The Force took over Muscle Beach. Payne's punishment continues. Tenryu puts the Blood Syndicate at 2-0 for the night. Owen gets some payback on Crash. Cheetah Kid out-counters Eddie to retain.

Jamie & Bruno have a busy week ahead. Let's see if DJ behaves. The Renesto Brothers finally come together. Kind of. Tojo with a solid win before promising to take the rest of the best of 7 series.

Between the roll the Twin Towers are on and now the arrival of Hercules, Slick has got plenty of reasons to be confident. But the Rockers don't seem phased by the massive challenge ahead. Roberts is really setting the tone with these promo. Both Rhodes and Race have their teams ready for the Match Beyond. Tiger Mask 2 has arrived and is immediately in hot water with Gary Hart's trio. I think the luchadors may be a bit ahead of their time. Bockwinkel ups the stakes for the world title match by making it 2/3 falls and Savage smells a conspiracy. Steamboat better be careful because when Randy feels cornered bad things can happen. Z-Man gets the pin on Hayes making the TV title match look a lot more interesting.

Rich gets straight to the point, he's not done with Dream Machine. The monster Haystacks is back and gunning for the Warrior. Austin gives his boys a hand in route to trios victory. Venomous is on point. Tanaka doesn't get the TV title but it looks like he & Diamond win the Baby Doll tag team search. Successful night for Gagne, his Fortune Ones get a win and his new muscle Atlas lays out his ex Duker. The Unhinged Outlaws are out to prove to everyone they're the TRUE cowboys of the AWA. Idol gets his hands on Poffo and the Lucious one is left in a bad way.

NWA signs Doug Gilbert.

Taped at the Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium before Main Event. Originally airing on 5/14/88 on the USA Network. On Commentary: Bob Caudle David Crockett Brett "Hack" Sawyer defeats Stoney Burke with a German suplex. The South Pacific Connection (Siva Afi & Cocoa Samoa) defeat The Brooklyn Brawler & Scorpion with a double headbutt on Brawler. "World's Strongest Man" Bill Kazmaier defeats The Mongolian Mauler with a running powerslam. Main event. "The Ugandan Giant Kamala w/"Number One" Paul Jones & Friday defeats "Super Rookie Hiroshi Hase with "Air Africa" after interference from Jones. In other news... We see a video of a playing guitar in what depends to be a dive bar for a crowd of screaming women. One member of the crowd asks her friend "isn't he great" but before the friend can respond the man cuts in "baby, I'm the greatest!"

From the Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium in Fayetteville NC. Previously recorded & airing on 5/13/88 on the USA Network. On Commentary: Gordon Solie Ring announcer/Interviews: Sean Moony Match #1 Ranger Ross vs "Dandy" Don Bass w/"The Mastermind" Ron Fuller Bass did a good job leveraging his size and power against Ross who had to really dig deep to hang in the match. Just as Ross begins to seriously make headway, Fuller gets onto the apron. Before he could do anything however, Ross' fellow Buffalo Soldier Brickhouse Brown runs down and yanks The Mastermind back down. Fuller, 6'9 and a wrestler with almost two decades of experience, doesn't back down and a heated argument breaks out. All the commotion gets Bass' attention for a moment which causes him to turn around into a Combat Kick giving the win to Ross. Fuller was incensed when he realized what happened and he was seen conversing with Bass as they left ringside. (Ron Garvin joins Moony at ringside. They discuss how Jimmy interfered in Ron's match for the World title in Roanoke. Ron says he isn't actually surprised as Jimmy has never been able to watch anyone else succeed without getting upset. Says Jimmy did what he did because he knows in his heart he (Jimmy) doesn't have what it takes to be World Champion. He promises that as soon as he's done with this family drama he's going for the World Championship and there's nothing Jimmy or anyone else can do about it) Match #2 The Nightmares (1&2) defeat Clearance Alonzo Tate & Wat Lance Bullock with a double DDT on Bullock. (Travis, Jaggers & Coolly come out and reveal they've gotten to know each other rather well traveling the roads. They point out that it pays to have someone watching your back in the NWA and they all trust each other to be there for them. They end the interview by proudly introducing the NWA audience to The Lawmen!) Match #3 "Wildcat" Wendell Cooley w/Travis & Jaggers defeats Jaye Moses Cropper with a Running Bulldog. Match #4 The Patriots (Firebreaker Chip & Todd Champion) vs The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Arn & Ole Anderson) w/JJ Dillon The Patriots put up a spirited fight but the experience & technical ability of the Andersons prove too much. We get an impressive visual in the finish with Arn getting the 6'6 Champion up for a Spinebuster. (Before his next match, we get a video featuring highlights from Kerry Brown's recent tour of Japan) Match #5 "Pitbull" Kerry Brown defeats Denzel Tyler Munson with a Powerbomb. (Paul Jones joins Moony and introduces his newest client, The Super Destroyer. He hypes SD as the most in demand mercenary in wrestling who will eliminate anyone & everyone in the Army's way) Match #6 The Super Destroyer w/"Number One" Paul Jones defeats Cole Lyric Tathim with the Super-plex. Main Event. "Chief Wahoo McDaniel vs "Chief" Joe Lightfoot The two Chiefs waste no time laying into each other with stiff shots including several fierce chop exchanges. The end came suddenly when Lightfoot went for a slam but the veteran McDaniel kept the momentum going turning it into an inside cradle of the win! Lightfoot threw a fit as McDaniel celebrated with the fans to close the show.

Ya know, both Vader and Woman raise good points. Vader's right that Woman sent him after anyone bothering Lex, but Woman's right Vader didn't exactly take'em all out. The former NWA World Tag Team Champions spit fire at each other, though Williams' words have a little extra oomph considering he also beat a 400 pound Samoan monster. A big tag match is signed for June 3rd as Gilbert's three newest stood...er I mean, students take on the Steiner brothers. Snowman is not only on Ladd's last nerve, he seems to be in Reed's head. Hansen wins a hard-hitting main event putting he & Murdoch one up on the Barbarians.

Maybe Dundee & Bruno bringing their unwilling valet to a match with their former clients wasn't the best idea. Frazier gets another crowd pleasing win. Knighton put up a fight but Rose was too much. This time Papa-san is a little smarter with the stick leading to a tied score.

Night 1. Even in defeat Fuchi impresses in his first night as a member of the Blood Syndicate. Candido falls to the musketeer. It's 3-0 for Japanese talent as Footloose score a major win over the Malenko's. A newly sporting Anvil outmuscles the general. Rhodes gets his win back from Vegas while it seems Bearer has cut ties with Maxx. The Holly's pull one out on the Canadians. The Midnights settle the score with the WC in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Regal pushes Flowers to the limit. Wild Things take a trip to Muscle Beach and return with their titles intact. Cheetah Kid was a little too wiley for Christopher. Night 2. Brookside's journey to the dark side looks complete. Hall & Lee power their way to victory over the Wild Things. The Undertaker lays Pillman to rest. St Clair spoils Miller's return. Speaking of spoiling, the Blood Syndicate ruins the debut of Stormfront. The six man tag descends into a pier-six brawl. Lol Rose was literally too fat to slam! Love it! Hennig continues his rise while Mr Backlund is heading downhill. Scotty's quick thinking saves the titles. Perez has come a long way in his submission game... but not far enough to beat the Beast. Windham turns the wrestling match into a brawl letting him get ahead of Hart.

Man I love this magazine ads.

These DJ skits are so funny I actually don't care how poorly they age. The Cuban Assassin vs The American, that'll definitely move some tickets. The White Shadow nearly pulls off an upset but Ash regroups to shut him down. Meanwhile Rose is still on his tail even as he has to deal with Knighton.

Oliver & The Harris Brothers gets dominant showings. Even two men can't stop the Ultimate Warrior. Iaukea ensures Putski falls to the savage Kokina. The Unhinged Outlaws couldn't wait for the match to start to get their hands on The Gunslingers. Atlas & Gagne with tainted win over Rich. A star studded main event allows you to progress several stories at once. Blackwell Gagne screw over Canek to win the first fall. Nikita pins the Mid-America champ to even the odds then things get crazy in the final fall leading to a tie.

Crush will definitely benefit from having Gary Hart in his corner. Speaking of Hart, Benoit is looking to take down both his Japanese clients. Blue Demon walks out on Silver King. Looks like WCW has it's first all Lucha feud. So the PR Trio has beef with Konnan and Los Conquistadors? Interesting. Hayes is turning into one of the best parts of your weekly show. Roma arrives with a win. Spivey's confidence has shot up since winning the United States Title. Ominous words from Roberts. Dragon with a impressive debut. Race has his Alliance ready for War! Savage & Steamboat cut promos with dueling themes. The champion talks of honor while the challenger says he'll do what he must. Preview of the Match Beyond as the two teams collide in a wild brawl to close the show.

Gordy arrives with a win and Bam Bam wastes no time letting Budro know he's coming for the title. That'll be a fun feud. Looks like all Rogers & Powers' bragging had attracted the attention of the real most beautiful pair in wrestling. Ya know, one of these days Dutch is gonna learn to keep his mouth shut. But I hope it isn't anytime soon because this is hilarious. Those Russians will always find something to complain about. I'm shocked Jarrett won't take a sweet old man like Wright at his word. You'd think he has a reputation for hitting guys in the head with a chisel or something. Jeff proves he's all heart (though perhaps no brain) by refusing to give up to Landel's Figure four.

Morrow starts the show with a couple of big title match announcements. The Fortunate Ones get their promised tag title shot and Dick the Bruiser returns for one last shot at the world title. Nice angle having him win it at another show. Was Pro Wrestling America an actual promotion? The first round of the Memorial Day tournament looks stacked. Canek is definitely a favorite. Poffo switched gears real quick when he heard he already had a match with Idol. A TV draw leads to a blow up between Synergy/Putski & Austin's crew. Busick tries to stand up to Gagne for BJS but Kokina isn't done with him yet. Chicky isn't sweating his first round match with Colon. Kelly & Vin Man give a actually pretty intense promo....than Dream Machine runs in at the end to celebrate being in the tournament. Lol. Los Guerrero's are ready for their first defense on Memorial Day. Tanaka gets a TV title shot thanks to the Unhinged Outlaws. The champ clearly isn't taking the legendary Bruiser seriously. Let's see how that works out for him.

From the Walter Pyrimad in Long Beach California. (A opening video shows clips from various stages in the history of Ring of Honor. Men like Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, AJ Styles & more display their ability while truinphant music plays. We cut to a sweeping shot of the sell out crowd before going to the booth where Kevin Kelly & Nigel McGuiness welcome us to the show) KK: Ladies and gentlemen, a new era of Honor is upon us. I'm Kevin Kelly alongside former World Champion Nigel McGuiness and Nigel, this is truly set to be an unforgettable night in the history of Ring of Honor. NG: It certainly is Kevin. you know I first wrestled for Ring of Honor all the way back in 2003 and I am as excited as I have ever been for the future of this company. KK: Folks we have eight big matches for you tonight including the first part of a tournament to crown a new Ring of Honor Pure champion. Let's send it to the Voice of Ring of Honor, Bobby Cruise. BC: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Honor Reigns Supreme opening contest. It is a six man tag team match, set for one fall with a 15 minute time limit. Introducing team number 1, from Osaka, Hokkaido and Tokyo Japan respectively... at a combined weight of 528 lbs... they are the team of El Lindeman, T-Hawk and Cima, Strong Hearts! And their opponents, from Dayton Ohio at a combined weight of 538 lbs...they are the team of Tre Miguel, Zachary Wentz & Desmond Xavier...The Rascalz The two teams follow the Code of Honor before a blistering opening match that sees a variety of styles. Technical exchanges, stiff kicks, a number of duplexes courtesy of El Lindeman and plenty of high speed offense. The finish sees a flurry of offense culminating in Cima hitting Wentz with the Meteora. Winners: Strong Hearts. Before the next match, McGuiness gives a break down of Pure rules for the uninitiated... All Pure rules matches have a strict 20 minute time limit. Punches to the face are illegal, punches to other parts of the body are allowed excluding low blows. One punch to the face gets a warning a second leads to a disqualification. Each wrestler gets three rope breaks. After using all three rope breaks are used a wrestler can be submitted while in the ropes. If there is no winner within the 20 minute time limit the result is decided by a panal of three judges. BC: This is a match in the Ring of Honor Pure Title tournament. Introducing first from Bellevue Washington... weighing 195 lbs..."Wild Rhino" Clark Connors. And his opponent... from Los Angeles, California... weighing 176 lbs...TJ Perkins. Perkins is a 24 year veteran and it shows as he controls much of the match against the former New Japan Young Lion. The NJPW Dojo graduate isn't one to be pushed around however and uses his training in strong style to fight back whenever possible. Connor's resilience begins to frustrate Perkins who gets into a argument with the ref allowing Connors to hit the Gore for the win. Winner: Clark Connors. BC: This is a match in the Ring of Honor Pure Title tournament. Introducing first from Reading, Berkshire England... weighing 260 lbs...Doug Williams! And his opponent from Las Vegas Nevada... weighing 205 lbs..."Filthy" Tom Lawler! Lawler follows the Code of Honor albiet after spitting in his hand. It's the classic British wrestling of Williams vs the MMA offense of Lawler. After a impressive display of suplexs and chain wrestling, Williams claims victory with the "Chaos Theory" (O'Connor roll into a bridging German suplex) Winner: Doug Williams BC: This is a Four Corner Survival Tag Team match with the winners challenging for the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Titles at Masters of the Craft. Introducing team number 1...at a combined weight of 456 lbs..."Addicted to love" Rhett Titus & Kenny King...The All Night Express... introducing team number 2...at a combined weight of 475 lbs..."Hysterical Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito... TMDK. Introducing team number 3... representing Team Filthy...at a combined weight of 409 lbs... Danny Limelight Slice Boogie...and finally at a combined weight of 530 lbs..."The Murderhawk Monster Lance Archer & "The Canadian Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith Jr... The Killer Elite Squad! Each team has one team in the ring at a time. A recurring theme of the match is the KES member muscling around the smaller competition. Bad Dude Tito proves particularly difficult to boss around which earns the ire of Lance Archer. Eventually the KES & TMDK start brawling and end up fighting up the ramp. During the chaos, Team Filthy member Fred Yehi comes through the crowd and takes out Titus with a pumpkick allowing Limelight & Boogie to put King away with the "Street Sweeper" (Boogie takes King up on his shoulders while Limelight climbs the ropes before coming off with a double stomp which Boogie follows with a Death Valley Driver) Winners: Team Filthy. BC: This is a first round match in the Ring of Honor Pure Title tournament. Introducing first from Edinburgh Scotland... weighing 230 lbs..."The Prestigious One" Joe Hendry...and his opponent... Queens New York... weighing 270 lbs..."The Innovator of Offense" Chris Kanyon Code of Honor is followed but Kanyon kicks Hendry in the gut as the bell is being rung. While there is certainly a fine display of technical ability from both men, this match has the most personality as the two take turns playing to the crowd. The end sees Kanyon punch Hendry square in the jaw which earns him a warning from the ref and boos from the crowd. Kanyon shrugs before quickly pulling the staggered Hendry into the Flatliner for the win Winner: Chris Kanyon. BC: This is a first round match in the Ring of Honor Pure Title tournament. Introducing first...from Tampa Florida... weighing 212 lbs..."The Iceman" Dean Malenko... and his opponent... from St Louis Missouri... weighing 202 lbs..."The American Wolf" Davey Richards. A 20 minute masterclass of chain wrestling which sees counters on top of counters. Holds are applied only to be reversed only for the reversal to be escaped. Both men use their three rope breaks. Malenko manages to apply his famous Texas Cloverleaf in the closing moments but Richards holds on until the time limit expires. It goes to the judges. Judge #1 gives the bout to... Dean Malenko. Judge #2 gives the bout to... Davey Richards. Judge #3 gives the bout to the winner... Dean Malenko! Richards graciously shakes Malenko's hand and Dean addures him if he wants a rematch all he needs to do is ask. Winner: Dean Malenko. BC: This is your Honor Reigns Supreme main event...it is a 8 man tag team match set for a 60 minute time limit... introducing team number 1... accompanied to to ringside by William Regal... from Blackpool England... weighing 217 lbs... Charlie Dempsey... from Aberdeen Washington... weighing 210 lbs..."The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson... from Cincinnati Ohio... weighing 225 lbs...Jon Moxly... from Lucerne Switzerland... weighing 232 lbs...he is the Ring of Honor World Champion... Claudio Castagnoli... together they are... Blackpool Combat Club! And their opponents... from Atlanta Georgia... weighing 180 lbs..."The Octopus" Jonathan Gresham... from Brooklyn New York... weighing 189 lbs..."Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams... from Philadelphia Pennsylvania... weighing 202 lbs...Drew Gulak... and from Toronto, Ontario Canada weighing 240 lbs..."The Walking Weapon" Josh Alexander... together they are... The Foundation! A massive main event. The announcement of Josh Alexander gets a major pop. Everyone gets a chance to shine. Moxly is the wildcard, almost always the first to bend the rules. Alexander is the main one to step to him leading to some fun brawling. The match is mostly clean however with some crisp exchanges. Things break down towards the end with all 8 men in the ring. Castagnoli goes to hold Gresham while Dempsey goes for a Lariat but Gresham moves out of the way. Dempsey is stunned by his mistake and gets tackled out of the ring by Williams. Mox & Alexander are trading blows on the floor. Danielson & Gulak tied up with each other. During all this madness, Gresham performs a Oklahoma roll into a O'Connor bridge for the 1..2..3! Jonathan Gresham has pinned the World Champion! Winners: The Foundation.

Yeah I realized it was unclear, I edited it to make plain what happened.

NWA Live @ the Civic Center in Roanoke Va 5/11/88 The Nightmares (1&2) defeat Two local talents with a double DDT. "The Polynesian Prince" Siva Afi defeats Barry O with a jumping headbutt. Tonga Kid defeats Chris Youngblood with a top rope splash. "World's Strongest Man Bill Kazmaier defeats Big Daddy Cyrus w/"The Mastermind" Ron Fuller with a running powerslam. After the match Fuller tried to clothesline Kazmaier but the strongman caught him and looked to hit a running powerslam on Fuller but the manager slid out the back and out of the room. "The Monster" Rip Morgan w/Jr Foley defeats Cocoa Samoa with a chokeslam. NWA World Six Man Tag Team Titles. The Celestial Trinity (Zodiac, Jason the Terrible & Angel of Death)(c) defeat Billy Joe Travis, "Hangman" Bobby Jaggers & "Wildcat" Wendell Cooley when Jason hit a diving headbutt on Jaggers. Super Strong Machine defeats "Maniac Matt Borne w/"Number One" Paul Jones by DQ when The Super Destroyer ran down and attacked SSM. A 3-1 beat down followed with SD leaving with Jones and Borne when security arrived. NWA Heritage Title "Tennessee Stud Robert Fuller(c) w/"The Mastermind" Ron Fuller defeats "The British Magician" Steve Wright when Ron passed his younger brother a roll of coins which he hit Wright with. NWA World Heavyweight Title. Tully Blanchard(c) w/JJ Dillon defeats "Rugged" Ron Garvin when Jimmy Garvin distracted Ron allowing Blanchard to roll him up with a handful of tights.

NWA Live @ the Memorial Auditorium in Greenville SC 5/9/88. "Hangman" Bobby Jaggers defeats a local talent with the "Hangman's" neckbreaker. Brett "Hack" Sawyer defeats "The Haitian Sensation" Tyree Pride with a German suplex. "Wildcat" Wendell Cooley defeats Butch Miller w/Jr Foley with a running Bulldog. Angel of Death defeats Billy Joe Travis with the "Death Sentence" NWA United States Tag Team Titles. The New Breed (Chris Champion & Sean Royal)(c) defeat The Patriots (Firebreaker Chip & Todd Champion) with the "Wave of the Future) on Chip. "Rugged" Ron Garvin defeats "Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin w/Precious with a top rope sunsetflip. NWA United States Title. Bruiser Brody(c) vs "The Monster" Rip Morgan w/Jr Foley ends in a double DQ when both men grabbed their chains and started to try and whip the other.