MikeCampbell

Or "The Midnight Express"

The 1/13/97 Nitro, probably most famous for DDP's full babyface turn, has a nice little bonus feature. They show the entire Hogan/Giant main event, which "aired" during the commercial breaks the premier of TNT's new Robin Hood TV series.

That's makes three of us. I watched it as a little tyke, because my father, grandfather, and uncles were all big wrestling fans. They all eventually moved away from it, but, I never did, and, and here I am at almost thirty three years old, and i'm still watching it.

I just commented in my review of EVOLVE 47, that I wished someone could coax Zangiev out of retirement to challenge Thatcher.

They finally uploaded Nitro #103 from Labor Day '97, with the awesome video package and dedication to the recently retired Arn Anderson.

Buzz Sawyer takes a bump that would make Curt Hennig say "That's a bit much!"

Cesaro - He's proven more than once that he can get himself over if given the chance. But, whenever a chance comes up, they yank the rug from under him. Kevin Owens - if he can stay healthy then he seems like a sure thing. Sami Zayn - The Shawn to KO's Bret. Once again, if he can stay healthy.

I've been hearing Timothy Thatcher get pimped around these parts for ages. I think I'll drop the $15 and check out Evolve 47. I haven't seen an Evolve show since Evolve 2 five years ago.

Any idea how long Ryback is out for? I could see them maybe subbing Cesaro into the 3 way tomorrow and putting the IC title on him.

"I don't recall the details" That actually nicely sums up what I've seen of this so far. Eric prefaces nearly every answer with some form of the quoted comment. Granted, it's 21 years ago. And, the questions used aren't really about wrestling and angles all that much.

I wonder if there will be any talk of Missy Hyatt or the lawsuit, wasn't that in '94?

Because I also refused to let the subject die. I asked Jim on the podcast about the existence of such a match. He says he doesn't remember for sure, since it's been almost thirty years. But, he seems to recall him and JR doing commentary on a Ding Dongs match.

The DA debut wasn't bad at all, four matches in a one hour show is nice to see. None of the matches blew me away, although I did enjoy the Whitmer/Moose/Colby angle.

Very sad news. The Fantastics were one of the best teams, and most underrated, of the 1980's.

The Freebirds story was awesome stuff, especially when it came to a head in the six man tag with Doc. I was really impressed with how composed he was, he was far from the Cornette we're all used to, going off on profanity ridden tangents. He only mentions Herd a few times, and while he's far from kind to him, he's much nicer than you'd expect, aside from the funny impersonation.

Instead of harping on the price, and doing promotions where a month is free. They should do more things like the Sheamus/Russev title change and the King of the Ring. More special events or matches that aren't on regular TV and can only be seen on the Network.

I enjoyed Barrett/Neville a lot. Given that they'd already worked once tonight, it was clear that the match wasn't going to be too terribly long. But, they told a nice story with Neville's ribs, and used their limited time wisely, and had quite the nice finish.

An awesome quote from the Jim and Les podcast: "If Ron and Whitey [Cauldwell] are both in heaven, the pearly gates are probably stained with blood by now."

Three new Raws added from 1996 this weekend. The next two in order, the night after Survivor Series and the following week, and then we jump ahead to the night after IYH It's Time. I swear, they're doing this on purpose to troll us OCD smarks.

Jim Cornette had Les Thatcher on his Podcast and they discussed Ron Wright in depth, with plenty of great stories, and Jim's usual favorite talking point of how great it was when the fans weren't smart to the business. Apparently, the youtube clip I posted is the only footage in existence of Ron Wright in his prime.

As far as the breakdown with OVW goes, it seemed to be Johnny not having his shit together. Developmental talent would be released without letting Jim and Danny know it was coming, so they couldn't do anything to finish them up, or take a title belt off them. They were once promised that they could have Randy Orton on one of their big Six Flags shows, and Johnny didn't bother to tell Randy about it.

Not exactly what you're looking for. But, SMW TV aired several segments featuring the history of wrestling in Knoxville, all of which are included on the Wrestling Gold DVD version of the show, and one of them contains a Ron White studio interview. Edit: Here it is!

He was 76, so he was born in 1938 or 39.

06/14/08 GHC Title: Takeshi Morishima © defeats Takashi Sugiura (25:01) This was set up by Sugiura beating Morishima during the NOAH Tag League, IIRC. Not a bad set up for a title shot, but Sugiura wasn't nearly the big name in 2008 that he would be a few years later. 07/18/08 GHC Title: Takeshi Morishima © defeats Takeshi Rikio (13:24) (Budokan) This was actually a Friday, which us Western fans thought seemed like an odd day to run the Budokan, and shitty attendance seemed to confirm that. But, someone on DVDVR said it was a Japanese Holiday, which also might have been a cause for the lousy number. Morishima beats a former champion, and his former partner, who had beaten him the year before in a GHC Tag Titles match (Akiyama/Rikio beat Morishima/Yone). Good idea in theory, but, Rikio hadn't been seen as a top level guy since his failed 2005 run with the strap. 09/06/08 GHC Title: Kensuke Sasaki defeats Takeshi Morishima © (22:02) (Budokan) I'm not saying it was a sure thing, beating Misawa in 9/05 sure didn't help Rikio, but, it seems like this was a wasted chance to really help cement Morishima as an ace. After two lousy challengers, he avenges the draw from July, and beats a former IWGP and AJPW Triple Crown champ. History showed that Sasaki as champion wasn't marginally better at the gate than Morishima had proven to be. So, at least they'd have been trying to accomplish something useful for the company. It's hard to say whether or not titles wins over Ogawa and Taue would have really done much of anything. Sasaki's failed run with the title is proof that the magic was already gone for NOAH at the gate (and this was before the Misawa incident). So, I don't think that Morishima vs. Ogawa or Morishima vs. Taue headlining Budokan was going to bring in huge numbers. Taue's lone successful GHC defense was against Morishima in 2005, so they had history on their side. Beating the former GHC Champions certainly sounds like a step in the right direction to make him into the ace that he really needed to be.

Pro Wrestling legend Les Thatcher posted the following... "Just heard that Ron Wright passed away this morning. One of the greatest heels I ever worked with & an East Tennessee legend. Please keep the family in our prayers. He will be cutting those great promos up stairs. God bless with love & respect!"