floyd

About the Steve Austin thing, if anyone interested in it, on the extra DVD for WM 20 they had a small documentary about WM 19. They interviewed Austin before the match and he was talking about how anxious he was about the match and how worried he was about letting the Rock down. Then they show an ambulance racing to the hospital while JR saying "too much coffee and energy drinks". So I'm guessing a panic attack along with all that caffeine. After highlights of the Rock/Austin match it showed Austin going to the back and him saying "It was a great weight off my back" getting that last match done. It also showed Brock yelling and physically pushing everyone away who wanted to take him to the hospital and Kurt Angle having a seizure. Quite the backstage at WM 19. As for Misawa I dunno what else to say except it still hasn't sunk in that he's gone. I just feel bad for his family, I knew he was married but didn't know he had two kids. Extremely tragic. Wonder if anything will change in Japan (doubt if it'll affect anything in the States). Sadly can't see the style changing too much, but hopefully something will change, like mandatory health checks/time off for healing or something.

From Jim Ross's blog:

sad sad news, one of the greatest of all time and the reason I returned to wrestling. RIP.

Never been good at explaining why I like/dislike a match but here goes: Cool tag team match. I'm glad goodhelmet added in the brief intro with Bishoff and Schivone talking about Windham looking for revenge against the Dangerous Alliance. The start was great and fast with the Alliance getting beat-up until cheating to get the advantage. I thought Zbysko was really good with his mannerisms and jawing to the ref/fans, everyone looked great in it. ***3/4

Awesome, I'd love to participate too. paypal sent! I've seen all these matches at one time of another, but it'll be great to have them all on one disk and discuss each other's thoughts. Thanks Loss and Goodhelmet! :-)

Source: wrestlingobserver

Floyd’s Rant for Wrestlemania XXV Hell yeah WM back in Texas! Houston's less than an hour away but I'm such a poor bastard I didn't go. Should've at least gone to ROH. All well I'm a dumbass. :-( Poor Tazz got the ax right before this show. Released or fired? I doubt he'd choose losing a Wrestlemania paycheck. So were stuck with the JR/Lawler/Cole trifecta. 1. Money-In-The-Bank Ladder Match V: (Kane Vs. Mark Henry Vs. Shelton Benjamin Vs. C.M. Punk Vs. MVP Vs. Kofi Kingston Vs. Fit Finlay Vs. Christian) - Should be a hot opener. Once again the winner gets a shot at a World title whenever he wants. Uh-oh Spanish announcers are here, I’d hate to be sitting at that table tonight. They talk about MVP’s 20 match losing streak, didn’t Kobashi lose like 80 straight? So I wouldn't worry. JR compares Finlay to the Quiet Man, I’d love to see John Wayne in a 50's ladder match. After tossing everyone around like garbage luchadores Kane and Henry square off early. Only 20 seconds in and Cole gets his stupid "Controlled Frenzy" line in. Everyone does dives including a dive bomb by Shelton who nearly kills himself: Due to peer pressure, even fatty Mark Henry tries a dive too but gets caught by Finlay. Hornswoggle brings in a step ladder and uses Henry as a platform for the tadpole splash!. Camera misses a kick-ass rolling senton onto the ladder by Finlay on Punk. Lotsa cool moves by Kofi. Christian hits an unprettier off the ladder. Shelton powerbomb/throws MVP to the outside! Wow his neck barely missed the guardrail. Christian and Shelton battle on the top, with Benjamin taking a nasty fall to the outside. Now Punk and Christian fight at the top. Crowd’s for Christian. Christian just about wins it all, but Kane chokeslams him off. Punk quickly recovers and gets the briefcase! Cool opener. Kingston was the man for the first half, Benjamin the second. Punk wins for the 2nd time in a row. ***1/2 Kid Rock plays. Someone on the WWE payroll must have a hard-on for Kid Rock the last few years. Linda McMahon? On one hand he's pretty good here. On the other he plays on and on and on for about 10 minutes which is pretty much an average match length. 2. 25 Women's Battle Royal - No entrance so Fuck trying to figure out the 25 participants. Apparently Sunny was hidden somewhere in there. I did see Molly Holly and I *think* Gail Kim. Pretty much a blur of diva bimbos except for one cutie who wins it all. It's Santina, Santino's twin sister! She cries with emotion upon winning Ms. Wrestlemania, then gives the coolest dance for the crowd. And the crowd loves it! Great start for that young talent. JR: "She must've competed in the Olympics for Eastern Europe in the 60's". DUD 3. Chris Jericho Vs. Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka & Roddy Piper - Whoa is that Frank Shamrock next to Mickey Rourke? Flair comes out with the legends. For some reason Steamboat half baldness reminds me of Verne Gagne. Looks like it's an elimination match, meaning Jericho needs to defeat all three superstars. Piper demands to start the match. Holy crap Piper is a house of fire! He tries a bodypress then a sunset flip for 2! Kudos to Piper and his two artificial hips (as well as all his recent health problems) going all out. 55 year Steamboat with a chop off the top rope! JR gets to mark out with the Armdragon!!!! Snuka’s the first to go, submitting to the Walls of Jericho. Shining Wizard gets rid of Piper. Steamboat's the last man left and Flair's rooting for him from ringside. Steamboat with a crossbody off the top for a nearfall! With only a few minutes to work with, somehow Steamboat gets the fans behind him to break out of a headlock. Steamboat skins the cat (But the camera missed it!) Steamboat's with a slingshot plancha to the outside! Steamboat hits another chop off he top. Can he win it all? Jericho hits the bulldog but misses the Lionsault. Powerslam gets another close win for Steamboat. Steamboat with an awesome counter to the walls gets a 2.9, crowd thought that was it. Jericho hits the code breaker and gets the win. Steamboat was great. Flair's pissed and rushes the ring. He gets some chops in but ultimately becomes victim #4 to the legend killer. Nasty codebreaker to Flair’s face. Jericho kicks Flair out like garbage and stands tall in his ring. He calls out Mickey Rourke (who looks like a 60 year old Jeff Hardy). Jump those rails Shamrock! Finally after a half an hour of stalling Rourke comes in and knocks Jericho out with one punch. Flair and Rourke celebrate and embrace like the life-long friends they are. After defeating four legends Jericho jobs to the power of the punch. They should've gotten Sean Penn. Jericho/Steamboat ruled though. **1/2 4. Matt Hardy Vs. Jeff Hardy – Problem here is I just don’t see Matt as strong a heel to pull this off. Plus this feud needed a few more months to simmer. This is a no-DQ match. It’s insinuated that Matt started the fire that burned Jeff’s house and dog. Classy. JR says how the Hardys grew up in Charlotte watching WWF religiously. If memory serve I believe that indy Crockett promotion had small present there too. Jeff breaks the ice by hitting Matt with a WM poster, who put that under the ring? Matt counters Jeff’s whisper-in-the-wind mid-air with a chairshot! Matt goes hunting and finds a vacuum cleaner under the ring to waffle Jeff with. My vendetta match would go about the same as this, except my brother would make snide remarks after every beatdown. Matt hits a side effect on a chair! Matt bends Jeff like he was Manami Toyota on the ringpost. Crowd murmurs as Matt gets a table out and sets it up. Matt goes for suplex but Jeff hits a twisting flying clothesline off the apron! Ouch for Jeff. Next up is crutches, then a trashcan. It’s the WWE Hardcore Division 1999. Swanton misses. Man the crowd isn’t into this. Matt signals for his own Swanton to show how's it done but Jeff catches him with a superplex! Jeff hits a chairshot and the crowd goes lukewarm!!!! Jeff puts Matt onto the table outside, then sets up another table on top of that. He hits a top rope splash through both tables and Matt! Damn Jeff nearly sailed right over that. They roll in and Jeff gets a 2 count. Jeff pulls out a huge-ass ladder from under the ring, how do they fit so much stuff down there? Jeff tries his trademark leapfrog off a tall ass ladder legdrop but misses! Matt jams Jeff’s head through a chair and hits a Twist of Fate! Matt beats his brother clean! *** Video game commercial. They show HHH bodyslamming Andre of course. 5. INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP: JBL Vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. - Champ JBL cuts a kickass promo saying your about to see the most dominate victory in WM history and how he's our idol. Rey comes out like the Joker. Why does Rey ALWAYS have to fight bigger dudes? Couldn’t they have given us a 10 minutes Rey/Psychosis match? JBL kicks Rey right in da face before the bell. Match officially starts and before you can say Mamajuana, Rey pins JBL with a splash off he top. New I-C Champ! I expect him to lost to Mark Henry with a month. JBL ‘s shocked and embarrassed. JBL gets the mic and for the first time in his life is at a loss for words. He finally says. “I….I……. … I-Quit!!!” and leaves the ring! DUD 6. Shawn Michaels Vs. The Undertaker – HBK descends from a mini-elevator, Undertaker ascends from the floor. This is gonna be great. HBK avoids punches, feints moves and fires back chops when he can. Finally Undertaker catches HBK in the corner with punches. HBK cleverly fakes an injury to get back on top. Taker comes back with a press slam, then goes old school. Taker goes for a corner knee in the face, but HBK moves and Taker’s leg is hurt! HBK goes for a sharpshoorter (ala Bret), can’t get it, so he clamps on a Figure Four (ala Flair!). Taker gets out and goes back on the deadman offense with corner clotheslines then a snake eyes/big boot. Legdrop gets a 2 count. Taker signals for the early chokeslam win but HBK counters with the crossface! Taker's in trouble but finally gets out with a sidewalk slam. Lots of counters results in the Undertaker's "Hells Gate" MMA triangle choke. HBK barely makes the rope for the break. Both guys are outside now. Taker goes for the apron legdrop but Shawn rolls out of the way. HBK hits a baseball slide then climbs to the top. He tries a twisting moonsault to the outside but misses and just SPLATS on the floor!!! Christ it was like he was a 20 year Cactus Jack or something. Man Shawn should NOT be taking bumps like that at his age. Speaking of bumps you shouldn’t be taking, Taker soars with his now trademark zombie plancha and SHOULD HAVE DIED: He hits the camera man and how he didn’t end up in a wheelchair I'll never know. Man that was scary. HBK manages to get up and drag the ref back in. He gets the dazed ref to count. Could the streak end in a count out?!!! HBK prays and prays and bites his fingernails. Can HBK avenge his 98 Royal Rumble match? Finally Taker gets back in at the 9.9 count. Now I know they was no way Taker loses in a count out, but his dramatic selling getting back in was freaking awesome. Taker still fucked up though and the streaks in jeopardy. HBK goes for the sweet chin music but gets choked slammed instead! 1…2.… 2.9! Both get back up and this time HBK hits the sweet chin music! Another 2.9 count! More counters but Undertaker finally hits the Last ride for another close win. Looks like All-Japan is making a house call to Wrestlemania this year! After using two of his most devastating moves, Undertaker goes for Shawn’s own top rope elbow but misses! Shawn goes for a clothesline but misses and goes over the ropes. He hangs on and skins the cat, but falls right into he tombstone! Someone get the body bag it’s over! 1…2… 2.9999! That was cool. Taker is in disbelief but he drops the straps and signals it’s over. He goes for tombstone #2 but HBK counters into a DDT. HBK staggers up-top again and hits the elbow! He goes for sweet chin music #2nd and hits it! Taker somehow gets out at 2.999. Exhausted both guys get up and slug it out with everything they have left. Taker runs into a HBK boot. HBK goes for the moonsault but Taker catches him in midair for Tombstone #2!! 1,2,3. And that’s that. 17-0. ****1/2 Great match but I don't see the 5 stars every talking about. But then again, who cares about my opinion? It's what you think that counts! In fact in what's the funniest thing all year over at the F4W boards, Brian Alverez is getting yelled at in 1,000 threads for not giving it a perfect rating. Awesome. 7. SMACKDOWN WORLD TITLE: Edge Vs. John Cena Vs. Big Show - This is for the... Ummmm.. I dunno anymore. The two world title have been switched so many times I've given up. The belt's not important though. What IS important is whoever wins gets Vickie Guerrero's love. OH NO! Vickie's hurt and in a wheelchair. Chavo rolls her down to ringside. Cena pulls an Eminem and has a whole clone army of Cena’s in his entrance. With the emerging cloning technology on the horizon, I imagine this being Stephanie McMahon's vision of the 2020 roster. You know since Howard Finkel got in the Hall of Fame and all, it would’be been cool to have him do the World title matches. Big Show quickly show his dominance with both Edge and Cena bouncing them around like pinballs. Edge tries to make a deal but Show slams him nutts first on the ring ropes! Show boots Edge out of the ring and works over Cena. Edge dropkicks the ringsteps into big shows knees, then Cena hits top rope legdrop thingy to the floor! Ouch. That could've been BAD for Cena. Back in the ring and FU attempt is countered into a downward spiral for 2. Edge gets dumped and Big Show hits a sidewalk slam on Cena for 2. Chavo earns his WM paycheck by getting Fu’ed on the floor! Big show gets tied in the ropes like ala Andre. Cena hits the 5-knuckle shuffle. He goes for the FU but Vickie distracts him. Edge goes for the spear but hits Vickie instead! He's sleeping on the couch tonight. Double clothesline and both guys are down. Big Show finally wiggled his way free. Big Show chokeslams Edge out of the ring. Cena goes for the FU on Show but gets thumped on the head instead. Ha Cena just collapsed out of the ring like a rag doll. This whole match has been nothing but people getting dumped out of the ring. Show goes for a chokeslam outside but Edge counters into a DDT on the floor! Edge maneuvers the ring steps for something evil. Edge Stinger Splashes Big Show through the ringside barrier. Now it's just Cena Vs. Edge which is what this match should’ve have been all along. Edge signals for the spear, but Cena catches him into the STFU! They steal from WM 20 with Big Show preventing Edge from tapping. Show goes for the Vader top rope splash but misses. Edge and Cena suplexes Show then clotheslines him out. Cena picks up both guys for an FU but Edge squirms out. Show does gets FU'ed, then Cena Fu's Edge onto Show! Cena pins the Big show for the title! Edge wasn't pinned but loses the title! Rematch next PPV? *** Hall of Fame time. Austin rides around the ring and gets maybe the biggest pop of the night. Way to make those new stars WWE! TO THE BACK! Vince and Shane-O meet HHH on the way to the ring but don't follow. Looks like this is HHH fight to avenge Stephanie and the McMahon family name. 8. RAW WORLD TITLE: HHH Vs. Randy Orton – Orton comes out in a T-Shirt with “Stack on dimes” written on it. OK not really. HHH smashes a mirror with his sledgehammer to signify he's a different man for this match and that sledgehammers can break things. HHH attacks Orton and the crowd… ummmm, doesn’t care. Uh-oh, it's HHH/Jericho all over again. Seems if HHH gets DQ’ed he loses the title!. Whoa Orton hit the RKO right out of the gate! Orton goes for the punt but HHH hits the pedigree! Outside HHH splashes water on his face to revive. Back in and HHH risks a DQ with punches. Orton throws HHH into the steps outside. Man the crowd is DEAD. Wait looks like a count-out will give HHH the title too. The rules are all new to me. HHH makes it back in so Orton works the ribs. This is like an empty arena match. Crowd’s coming alive for Orton. No wait I think they’re trying to start the wave. Holy shit that AWESOME! They're so bored for a WM MAIN EVENT they're starting a wave. For gods sake someone get Stone Cold back out here. Or Steamboat. Orton senses they’re losing the crowd so he ups the excitement with a long headlock! Cole hasn’t said anything for awhile, think his mic got messed up, so I should be enjoying this more. Back and forth punches. HHH with the knee based offense then hits a stinger splash. Watch those quads, Trips! Orton catches HHH coming of the top with a sweet dropkick. Both guys are down. Orton goes for the 50 yard field goal but HHH catches the leg. HHH almost willingly gives up his title to smash Orton with a TV monitor but decides not too. Orton backdrops HHH onto the announcer table. Orton his the Stephanie McMahon DDT on the floor. HHH is out! Remember if he can’t get back in, Orton's the new champ. HHH gets in at the 11 count. Not a typo. Orton is stunned and starts kicking in HHH's ribs. Ref gets bumped. RKO to HHH! Orton rolls out and gets the sledgehammer the Hardy's left under the ring. Run-in time? HHH’s punts Orton in the noggin coming back in!! Revenge! HHH illegally uses the sledgehammer while he ref is still down. Crowd boos that. Where is Legacy?!?! HHH hits the pedigree and retains the title! Revenge is his and he won it on his own. Match went just under an hour. I await CM Punk’s music but he never comes out. Instead WM ends with JR saying “And the Game plays on….” ** OK Wrestlemania. Taker/HBK was awesome, MITB really good and seeing Steamboat was fun. Everything else was just kinda there. How about you. What did you think of the show? WM 25 Grade: Total star rating: 18.50 Total matches: 8 Show Average: **1/4

Ric Flair Vs. Jake Roberts (Mid-South - 11/24/85) Match history: Not much that I know about. Ric Flair was the perennial NWA World champ throughout the 80’s and he traveled from territory to defending the belt against all comers. Here he takes on the up and coming Jake the Snake Roberts in Mid-South. The Match: Jake's the clear fan favorite here. Before the match Flair makes fun of Jake’s trailer-park-trash hand-me-down outfit. What is this XPW? This is a NWA World title match goddamit, you gotta dress in style. Flair bends down to mock Jake’s ghetto pants he must’ve picked up from the Salvation Army's Wrestling gear donation box, when suddenly Jake DDT’s him! Ric Flair is out! And I mean OUT. This is all before the bell has sounded! Flair stayed on his back for a super long ass time, about 5 minutes, until he weakly and very gingerly rolls out. The sell job by Flair is just incredible. Flair’s obviously in no shape to wrestle so he says “I’m outta here baby” and makes for the dressing room. What a jype! The crowd is booing unmercifully. DUD Wait! The ref says that Flair MUST defend the NWA World title. He gives him until the 20 count to return or else Jake is declared the winner! Huge pop for that. The ref starts to count and Flair barely makes it back in time. Crowd’s hot now, chanting “DDT”. And with that move’s devastation already shown to the crowd, just one more DDT and Jake’s the new champ. Jake immediately goes for the DDT but Flair takes him down like it’s MMA. Flair scoots to the corner and begs for time. See just a few moments in and Robert’s has been established as a threat to winning the World title tonight. Man, Flair is the master. After a Flair flop, Jake goes for the DDT again but Flairs quickly drops to his belly. Jake works a facelock for a few 2 counts until Flair gets a ball-shot in and stuns him. Now Flair goes on the offense with his usual bag of tricks including a Low-Ki-lite foot stomp. Flairs works him over and hits the sleeper. Jake’s losing consciousness and he hasn’t even hit the bars yet! Jake manages to get out but Flair's not done yet. Flair goes for his patented knee drop but Jake catches Flair’s knee in mid-move and clamps on his own Figure-Four leglock! Flair nearly gives up the World title by losing but then suddenly regaining consciousness right at 2.9 counts. Flair escapes and gets some near wins due to cheating then starts knocking Jake around with punches and chops. “DDT DDT DDT!” chant’s the Mid-South crowd. Flairs with more chops but suddenly Jake feel’s no pain! He even asks Flair to hit him with all he’s got. Now Jake starts in with the punches. It’s Drunken boxing, and Jake’s the Drunken master! Jake gets a sleeper, but Flair belly-to-back suplexes out. Flair goes top rope and of course gets slammed down. Jake hit a hits a running knee lift. He goes for another but Flair moves and Jake's knee hits the turnbuckle. Flair reverses a small package and uses the ropes for leverage to score the pin! Flair is the man. He was the master at coming into a territory and putting the local guy over. Not satisfied by this shaky verdict, after the match Flair and Jake decide to have round 2. Then round 3. Then round 4, And so on until someone passes out from the alcohol. (17:43) ***3/4

Crazy murder plot involved in family of Nick Hogan's car crash victim By Dave Meltzer Pinellas County Sheriff's detectives arrested Ed Graziano, 53, the estranged husband of Debbie Graziano, and father of John Graziano, and charged him with attempting to pay for a hit on his wife. John Graziano is the victim in the Nick Bollea auto accident that ended with Bollea serving time behind bars. The arrest today was the culmination of a two-and-a-half month long undercover investigation by the Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigative Division. Graziano is alleged to have had multiple meetings with a police informant, and later with an undercover police officer posing as a conduit for a hit man, offering to pay or the murder of his wife, who is 56. Graziano is alleged to have paid $1,100 in cash, $1,000 in a personal check as well as gave a $13.06 gift card to a local pizza place in exchange for a hit man to murder his wife earlier this week. Several meetings were held to allegedly put together the hit, including at shopping malls, at the hosptial and at a gas station. Graziano was arrested at 11:30 a.m. at his home in Palm Harbor, FL. The department had been given information in December that Graziano was attempting to hire someone to murder his wife. They followed up on the tip and determined the belief the tip was legitimate, and immediately met with Debbie Graziano and her lawyer. Deputies claim that Edward Graziano told the officer posing as a conduit that Graziano said he would like his wife killed in an auto accident, and then gave his wife's usual schedule to help in planning, as well as make sure he has an alibi. ***************************** 13.06 gift card? What a cheap ass. I sprang for a $25.00 subway gift certificate when I paid a hitman to kill my wife.

Kerry Von Erich Vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (All-Japan – 5/22/84) Match history: Two weeks ago Kerry Von Erich stunned the world by defeating Rc Flair for the NWA World title. One week ago Jumbo Tsuruta lost the AWA World title to Rick Martel. For years Jumbo Tsuruta has been wrestling Ric Flair for the NWA World title, always coming close but never winning. More experienced than Von Erich, now Jumbo gets the chance to get another World title for Japan. Fall #1: Crowds hot right away. Tie up and a clean break from Von Erich. Stalemate to start. They spend the opening minutes testing each other out.. Von Erich tries to be cute with an arm-bar so Jumbo lifts him right over his head into a fireman’s carry and gently places him sitting down on the turnbuckle and walks away. Sign of respect or disrespect? Dory Funk Jr. quantum leaps in Jumbo’s body and brings the pain with the Texas European uppercups. He channels Dory again with a double arm suplex attempt to BIG POP! Kerry’s stunned! Kerry comes back with a Von Erich claw attempt!! Jumbo protects his head for all he’s worth so Kerry instead clamps in on Jumbo’s mid-section. Kerry picks up Jumbo and this time it’s him gently placing Jumbo on the turnbuckle, but he adds a shove to Jumbo’s chest while backing away. Tempers are flaring! Tie-up in the ropes, Kerry gives a clean break, but Jumbo gives a return shove! It’s on now! Jumbo with the big knee and Kerry tumbles like a drunk to the outside. Kerry gets a sunset flip back in for a 2 count. A Tentative tie up but it’s all a sham cause Jumbo stuns Kerry with an enzugiri and gets the 3 count!!!!! Fall #2: Only one more fall and Jumbo’s the champ! Jumbo smells blood and lays in punches. Actually he really does smell blood cause Von Erich’s busted open! The NWA World title’s at stake! If Kerry comes back to the states without the title he may be getting a visit from Harley Race with some pliers and a blow torch. Kerry comes back with punches and kneesdrops but he’s staggering around having trouble standing (nothing new for him). Kerry gets a sleeper on Jumbo! Jumbo nearly goes out but the power of the Puro fans gives him the strength to get out. Jumbo goes all monkey-ape-crazy on Von Erich in the corner, the ref has to pull him back. Jumbo gets a crazy close nearfall and nearly wins the title. Both guys run off the ropes and knock heads. The ref begins the count but they both make it up. Jumbo with the piledriver! Another close 2 count, the crowd senses victory. Kerry with a discus punch. CLAW!!!!!!!!!! IRON CLAW!!!! This time even the fans shouts aren’t enough, Jumbo fights but to no avail. Kerry pins an unconscious Jumbo for the 2nd fall. But Kerry refuses to release the hold! The ref manages to pry him off before a riot breaks out. Fall #3: Jumbo’s posse try to regroup him but Jumbo on dream street. Last fall for the title. Kerry goes for the claw again right away but Jumbo fights it. Jumbo gets a knee and starts working on Kerry’s hand! Jumbo keeps up on the hands for a few minutes including stomps and posting it on the outside. Kerry in incredible pain, he won’t be opening up pickle jars anytime soon. If his iron Claw is nullified, what is Kerry’s plan B? Jumbo with a Fujiwara armbar. Kerry gets out and hits a pile driver but misses a reverse elbow drop off the top rope, injuring his hand further! Jumbo knee #3! Jumbo clamps on a Boston crab. Kerry gets out and they exchange a series of near-falls like their were Lynn vs. RVD or something. Both guys tumble out. They keep each other from reentering the ring. Belly to back suplex onto the concrete floor by Jumbo! Jumbo makes it back in! Jumbo raises his hand up in triumph but no! They both didn’t make it back in, a double count out. Henceforth, still your NWA World champ, Kerry Von Erich! Awesome match. (27:38) ****3/4

Pretty cool reviews, thank for doing it. Hope to hear more in the future! Especially the Flair/Foley I-Quit match, which I always thought was underrated. Speaking of barbed wire matches, have you ever seen the Cactus Jack Vs. Terry Funk barbed matches from IWA Duel if the Wilds? That's probably my fav. barbed wire match ever, unless you could the electrified barbed wire Combat Toyota retirement match from FMW.

Almost finished with Disk #5. I hoping I can still make the deadline! Floyd - Memphis Disk #3: 1. Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (No DQ) (11/8/82) [WINNING-4] - Bockwinkle throws out his scientific AWA wrestling and goes all Memphis on Lawler. 2. Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (10/25/82) [WINNING-3] 3. Bill Dundee vs. Adrian Street, Miss Linda & Jim Cornette (Lumberjack Strap Match) (2/6/83) [WINNING-13] 4. Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel (10/18/82) [WINNING-2] 5. Ronnie Garvin vs. Randy Savage (Cage Match) (ICW 1982/83) [WINNING-11] 6. Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar vs. Jacques Rougeau & Terry Taylor (1/1/83) [WINNING-12] 7. Ronnie Garvin vs. Lanny Poffo (ICW 1982/83) [WINNING-10] 8. Bill Dundee & Bobby Fulton vs. Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar (11/15/82) [WINNING-7] 9. Fabulous Ones vs. The New York Dolls (2/3 Falls) (11/13/82) [WINNING-6] 10. Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Dutch Mantell & Terry Taylor vs. Bobby Eaton, Sweet Brown Sugar, Rick McGraw & Sabu (12/4/82) [WINNING-9] 11. Bill Dundee & Jerry Lawler vs. Adrian Street & Apocalypse (11/27/82) [WINNING-8] - Big thanks to goodhelmet for including the Apocalypse video! 12. Jackie Fargo vs. Jimmy Hart (11/8/82) [WINNING-5] 13. New York Dolls vs. Steve Regal & Spike Huber (10/4/82) [WINNING-1] Floyd - Memphis Disk #4: 1. Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (Loser Leaves Town) (6/6/83) [EWY-6] - It's loser leaves town FOREVER for the Southern title! 2. Fabulous Ones vs. Moondogs (6/13/83) [EWY-7] 3. Fabulous Ones vs. The Moondogs (Stretcher Match) (5/2/83) [EWY-4] 4. Jerry Lawler vs. Randy Savage (Cage Match) (12/12/83) [EWY-16] 5. Austin Idol vs. Stan Hansen (Texas Bullrope Match) (10/3/83) [EWY-11] 6. Koko Ware vs. Tommy Rogers (10/24/83) [EWY-13] 7. Fabulous Ones vs. Bobby Eaton & Duke Myers (Hair vs. Titles) (5/16/83) [EWY-5] 8. Jerry Lawler & Austin Idol vs. Jesse Ventura & Stan Hansen (9/25/83) [EWY-10] 9. Bill Dundee vs. Tommy Rogers (11/7/83) [EWY-14] 10. Austin Idol vs. Stan Hansen (Bunkhouse Match) (10/10/83) [EWY-12] 11. Fabulous Ones vs. The Moondogs (4/4/83) [EWY-3] 12. Jerry Lawler & Cowboy Lang vs. Plowboy Frazier & Little Tokyo (12/24/83) [EWY-17] 13. Bill Dundee vs. Terry Taylor (4/4/83) [EWY-2] 14. Bill Dundee vs. Assassin #1 (9/25/83) [EWY-9] 15. Dutch Mantel, Koko Ware, Bobby Eaton & Jaguar vs. The Grapplers & Bruise Brothers (12/10/83) [EWY-15] 16. Rock N Roll Express & Bobby Eaton vs. The Moondogs & Jimmy Hart (7/25/83) [EWY-8] 17. Dutch Mantell, Steve O & The Fabulous Ones vs. Adrian Street, Jesse Barr & The Sheepherders (Stipulations Match) (3/28/83) [EWY-1]

I didn't catch that interview but heard the WOL one which is quite interesting cause London sounds really high throughout it. There's actually a link to it on sendspace, but I don't know if I'm allowed to post it here.

Floyd - Memphis Disk #2: I'm way late, but hopefully I can manage to catch up before the deadline: Here's my Disk #2 picks: 1. Ricky Morton & Eddie Gilbert vs. Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl) (9/4/81) [bLUESKIES-3] - Awesome brawl that went everywhere. Even today it still holds up. Mustard + Blood + hysterical mark wives! 2. Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantell (Barbed Wire Match) (3/29/82) [bLUESKIES-8] - Exhausting rematch in barbed wire. This time it's Mantell who drops the straps! 3. Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantell (No DQ) (3/22/82) [bLUESKIES-6] - Good match for the Southern title. And a clean finish! 4. Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar vs. Dutch Mantell & King Cobra (7/19/82) [bLUESKIES-10]- Fun Midnight Express type match with a hot crowd. Whoa, check out Koko's insane bump out of the ring at the end! 5. Jerry Lawler vs. Ric Flair (8/14/82) [bLUESKIES-12] - Flair brings a touch of class to Memphis but discovers Lawler's a pool shark. Blending the angle and the match seamlessly is awesome TV. Plus what a great open-ended angle. Even as Flair is off defending the belt, The Flair/Lawler feud could continue because he hired Hart to take him out. Then when Flair finally comes back to Memphis for the big match is already hot. Sad to hear the big Flair/Lawler rematch didn't take place (Did it?). 6. Stan Lane & Koko Ware vs. Eddie Gilbert & Ricky Morton (No DQ, 2/3 Falls) (10/81) [bLUESKIES-5] - Cool old school house match playing up to the crowd. Hey ref, Koko's got a chain! Reminded me of watching wrestling live as a kid. 7. Bill Dundee, Steve Keirn, Rick & Robert Gibson vs. Dream Machine, Nightmare #1 & Heartbreakers (7/25/81) [bLUESKIES-1] - Great short TV match with all action. 8. Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantell (Loser Leaves Town) (3/27/82) [bLUESKIES-7] - Lawler proves the Spaceballs proverb of "Evil will always win because good is dumb". 9. Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee vs. Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (8/1/81) [bLUESKIES-2] - Fuchi/Onita were a fun tag team. 10. BONUS MATCH: Dream Machine & Bill Dundee Vs. Kevin Sullivan & Wayne Ferris - Lawler' bump down the stairs was something else. 11. Masa Fuchi, Atsushi Onita & Tojo Yamamoto vs. Roy Rogers, Rick & Robert Gibson (9/5/81) [bLUESKIES-4] 12. Bill Dundee vs. Bobby Eaton (7/24/82) [bLUESKIES-11] - Jimmy Hart gets kept in check. 13. Bill Dundee vs. Sweet Brown Sugar (2/3 falls, Scaffold Match) (6/21/82) [bLUESKIES-9] - The idea of 2/3 falls is insane. I guess I'm a mark but scaffold matches are still the scariest for me to watch. As far as scaffold matches go this was really good though. ***************** I know my picks are a bit different then some of the others I've seen. Feel free to comment or discuss!

- The following are the top 10 purchased PPVs in North America for 2008: 1. Boxing: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, Dec. 6, (1,250,000) 2. UFC: Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture, Nov. 15, (1,010,000) 3. WWE WrestleMania : Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Paul "Big Show" Wight, March 30, (670,000) 4. UFC: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch/Lesnar vs. Heath Herring, Aug. 9, (625,000) 5. UFC: Lesnar vs. Frank Mir, Feb. 2, (600,000) 6. UFC: Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin, July 5, (540,000) 7. UFC: St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra, April 19, (530,000) 8. Boxing: Felix Trinidad vs. Roy Jones Jr., Jan. 19, (500,000) 9. UFC: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans, Sept. 6, (480,000) 10. UFC: B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk/Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida, May 24, (475,000) Credit: PWInsider.com

I've had the Memphis disks since day one but have been busy. Luckily I have time now! Just finished Disk #1. Looking at you guys picks mine or a bit different: Floyd - Memphis Disk #1: 1. Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (Empty Arena) (4/6/81) [bADNEWS-11] - Funk gets Lawler one-on-one in an empty arena! No ref, no rules, no way for Lawler to weasel out. 2. Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (No DQ) (3/23/81) [bADNEWS-9] - Great main event match with Funk doing his usual scthick to a hot Memphis crowd. 3. Jerry Lawler vs. Dory Funk Jr. (3/30/81) [bADNEWS-10] - A week after and Terry's big brother comes to Memphis. A completely opposite match but a good one. Dory keeps it on but the fans give Lawler the strength for the comeback. 4. Bill Dundee vs. Wayne Farris & Tojo Yamamoto (3/7/81) [bADNEWS-6] - Was scheduled to be Dundee & Tommy Rich defending the titles but Rich didn't make it. So now Dundee's defending the belt in a handicap match. Can he make it to the time limit for a draw? 5. Ricky Morton vs. Sonny King (4/26/80) [bADNEWS-2] - I can see people thinking this is a boring load o' crap but I actually dug it. it reminded me of my wrestling high school days. Wrestling exhibition between two fan favorites, not a brawl but aggressive. 6. Bill Dundee & Tony Boyles vs. Wayne Farris & Larry Latham (6/7/80) [bADNEWS-4] 7. Bill Dundee vs. Tommy Rich (8/23/80) [bADNEWS-5] 8. Bill Dundee & Tommy Rich vs. Dutch Mantell & Austin Idol (3/12/81) [bADNEWS-7] 9. Bill Dundee vs. Larry Latham (4/19/80) [bADNEWS-1] 10. Jerry Lawler vs. Crusher Blackwell (5/4/81) [bADNEWS-13] 11. Dutch Mantell vs. Kevin Sullivan (5/9/81) [bADNEWS-14] 12. Bill Dundee & Dream Machine vs. Dutch Mantell & Wayne Farris (3/14/81) [bADNEWS-8] 13. Bill Dundee & Dream Machine vs. Kevin Sullivan & Wayne Farris (5/2/81) [bADNEWS-12] 14. Bill Dundee vs. Paul Ellering (5/24/80) [bADNEWS-3] ******************************************************** I'll probably be one of the higher ranks of Morton/King, Dory/Lawler and B. Bombers/Dundee & Boyles, but they seem to be in the right place for me. On to Disk #2!

Wow What a fantastic guy to interview. I'd also echo Tim Cooke's question about Race' thoughts on Japan and wrestling Baba, Jumbo, etc..

Well I always thought the Lawler/Kaufman feud was legit until I saw "Man on the Moon" in 1999.

Wow that's is out of left field.

If this isn't allowed I apologize: Just noticed PWT (Pro Wrestling Torrents) have raised their allowed user base by 1,000 slots. I don't know how long this will last but the sign-up page seems like it's working. Anyway if you want to check out PWT here it is: http://special.pwtorrents.net/signup.php There's also running a Top 100 matches poll over there if you want to check some matches out...

in that Sun article, Sith Lord McDivitt says that the IRS has audited WWE many times and found nothing wrong. Anyone know how they could get away with it? Could it be that IRS didn't dig deep enough or needed some kind of lawsuit from somebody to get the ball rolling? Or could there be some kind of fine line/loop hole the WWE can get away with? I realize everyone here not a lawyer. :-) But maybe someone has some experience or heard something about that argument. *********************** Here's an interesting article on the lawsuit: http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/columns/84093