Control21

Solid show top to bottom. Kerry Von Erich will be back with a vengeance, I'm sure of that. Fujinami and Tsuruta took each other to the limit and showed once again why they may be years ahead of everyone else. The main event delivered as expected, and Nikita Koloff continued his great title run. Can't wait to see the Wargames match.

I think the 1997 class is solid. You just have to look a bit deeper than usual. CIMA, Dragon Kid, and Magnum Tokyo would be great additions for anyone looking to build a junior division over the long term. Then you have guys like Snitsky, Naoya Ogawa, and Ron Killings who could be fun additions to any roster.

Another fun episode of NWA. Great main event to close the show along with the return of Randy Savage. Curt Hennig joining the Million Dollar Corporation is huge. That stable is poised to run the NWA for years to come. Don Callis gets a lesson in how to be humble. NWA is shaping up to be one of the hottest promotions this year.

This was a solid episode of WWF Superstars. The main event between Sid and Farooq had an unexpected twist at the end. Definitely curious to see if this leads to anything else. Farooq vs Savio Vega sounds like a solid match on paper and is an exciting semi-final.

Kamala takes control of the A block as predicted. Can anyone stop him? He looks set to take the NWA by storm if no one does. Also love to see Bill Kazmaier come away with another victory too. Shane Douglas vs Brooklyn Brawler sounded like one of those matches you would never think of but would be a hidden gem on a tape somewhere.

You came up with another pretty cool idea here. Similar to IPW but with its own unique flavor. I love how you keep things relatively simple (which is never a bad thing) while retaining the feelings of a late 1980s studio-oriented territory. Great ending to the first episode with Frazier/Bruno vs Head Hunter and Tojo Yamamoto with a crazy twist. Can never have too much wrestling in Memphis these days.

Card Announcement: UWF Newborn – “Fighting Network Hakata” September 8th, 1988 Hakata Starlanes Fukuoka, Japan Minoru Suzuki vs Wayne Shamrock Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano Shigeo Miyato vs Yoji Anjo Bart Vale vs Kazuo Yamazaki Satoru Sayama vs Ryuma Go Nobuhiko Takada vs Norman Smiley

Lots of good match-ups in the latest entry to AWA. The Koloff vs Zhukov feud is heating up, I really like the creativity in that angle. Lanny Poffo is a genius, someone give that man the recognition he deserves.

That was an excellent edition of SummerSlam. Great Muta vs Kevin von Erich sounded like a potential showstealer. The Rockers vs The Russians, Tito Santana vs Rick Martel, and Hogan vs Rick Rude were the top-level matches one would expect from a card of this caliber. Felt like I was reading the results from an actual late 1980s Summerslam. Great work.

Interesting start to WCW. Eddie Guerrero vs Booker T was a great opener and Ric Flair vs Rocco Rock is a fun pairing. Also enjoy Lex Luger and Sting as a tag team and it will be interesting to see who else challenges them for the tag titles in the division. The Giant vs Stevie Ray is another match I never knew I needed to see until now. Good stuff!

I'm not too fussed about it but I'm sure Booker T was seen as a guy with huge potential at the time and was being treated like one IIRC so I was just thinking about Duggan's worth at the time in the line of a traditional sports trade. Would a team accept a declining asset for a potential superstar? That's up for debate but most teams wouldn't I think. Anyways, I'm just giving my opinion since I was asked for it. Not trying to be a fly in your ointment. I understand why you would want him.

I'm not arguing with anyone, but there's certainly no way a promotion would have accepted Hakushi for Bam Bam Bigelow in 1996. That's just a simple fact. If you're fine with that trade then I guess there's nothing I can do about it, but I think these types of trades just take away from our original intentions for the untouchables list and it just turns into a "well, it's fair in my view!" type of thing and the list will eventually just end up being a random assortment of names that won't be attractive to anyone. Again, this is just my two cents and not meant to be confrontational.

If everything is in the eyes of the beholder then it might be best to just abolish the untouchable list anyway because it's just kinda of pointless if anyone and everyone can trade whoever they want. Or just go back to the original idea and use a draft system if no one joins by a certain time.

No, I didn't think that was fair either

PWI rankings were kayfabe and not based on anything tangible. Volk Han was never ranked in PWI until 1996 or 1997 and that was his only appearance although he was arguably a top 50 wrestler since at least 1992. I would say that if you really wanted Bigelow, you might need to offer several wrestlers to get a fair deal for Bigelow. I would like Dan Severn but there's no one on my roster that would hold comparable value that I would be willing to let go. These types of decisions are what keep games like this interesting. At least I think so. If I was the Untouchable promotion, I would probably ask for Abdullah the Butcher and Mike Awesome to be included in any deal. But that's just me. Don't take my objection as hostility or anything. I just think we need to stick to the original intentions here otherwise the untouchables list will be pointless and we'll be better off just getting rid of it

Ehh..The Rock and Roll express' star was waning in 1996 and weren't exactly top draws. Bigelow was being used to advertise video games like the Wrestlemania arcade game and was a year removed from his big feud with Lawrence Taylor. Just my thoughts on the matter

Bam Bam was still a pretty big name at this time. I would expect a big trade for him Not to be that guy or anything but if we want to remain faithful to the intentions of the Untouchable list, we should really make sure every trade is 100% realistic and in line with the expectations of the time. Perhaps we could bring in a third party mediator to give their opinion

Some recommendations to help get you started - https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7wg6q8 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4evgna I'm also doing a review of UWF 2.0 in the Microscope section if you want to follow along there and see what other matches you want to seek out yourself. Keep in mind that UWF 2.0 was mostly worked (maybe one or two shoots? Can't remember) and outside of Shooto, MMA wouldn't take off in Japan until the 1990s with Pancrase, Vale Tudo Japan, and eventually RINGS.

A great way to start off WWF in 1996! The IC tournament promises to be quite fun and Savio Vega has already made things interesting by beating Owen Hart. Will he face Sid or Farooq? Either will be a formidable opponent. The Ultimate Warrior has made a statement by beating Goldust and becoming the new #1 contender for the WWF title! Can the Ultimate Warrior redeem himself and become the top guy for WWF once again? Overall, this was very faithful to 1996 WWF and I enjoyed re-visiting all the characters again. Can't wait to see what's next!

The interaction between Dr. Death/Ted DiBiase and Abdullah the Butcher/Tarzan Goto is just what the doctor ordered! Can't wait to see these two tag teams lock horns in a proper match down the line. Should be very fun. Ron Simmons has friends in high places, and perhaps this will help him in the new WCW. He certainly has the pedigree to rise through the ranks quickly. Dan Spivey has made a statement and his presence makes the Horsemen a more formidable faction overall. I also like the team of Mando Guerrero and Ricky Santana. They will pose a danger to anyone who faces them. Another excellent WCW show. As always, the promos are very fun to read.

A flavorful entry in Prime Time Wrestling. The Rockers continue their hot streak in WWF, and Kevin Von Erich and Great Muta come away with some impressive victories leading into Summerslam. Dynamite Kid vs Dino Bravo was an excellent main event to keep the bar raised high for WWF's big summer event. As always, you certainly make this feel like 1980s WWF with all the characters you would expect. Can't wait for Summerslam!

Two very good pieces of television back to back for NWA as the Starrcade Series rolls on. Can Kamala take control of the A block or will Wahoo McDaniel make things interesting? I love all the interesting matchups in NWA, you never know what you will get next. Keeps things interesting and I'm sure the TV audience for NWA appreciates as the diversity, especially with the singles matches.

I plan on doing two shows a month for a while, but then I'll probably do 1 show a month, which is what RINGS usually did.