PhilTLL

WCW house show at State Fair Arena in August 1993 that I still can't find the whole card to. But pretty sure it included Steamboat/Regal.

Funny how well the simple old formula of beatdowns, saves, and common enemies can get guys and feuds over. My favorite thing about Windham's promos is their slight imperfection, like a guitar player holding on to the ragged edge of a solo. He's always delivering a great metaphor just a bit strangely, or pausing just barely enough to notice for the right words. The only knock on Lex getting over with his gang is that it doesn't really get him over per se, but then again they were promoting the tag match in plenty of markets before Havoc, and I would actually buy a ticket for that. (Unlike a lot of people in 1991. Hey oh! I guess maybe that means it wasn't really over, but it's over with me.)

I adore this match, especially the backstage portion which is one of the best of its kind ever, I watch it at least once every few months, and if we had the Mid-South balloting over again, I might vote it #1. (I think I went with Windham/Murdoch.) Like Sammy Sosa said, ees so reeeeal! For once in the history of wrestling, "you can feel the hate" is not at all hyperbolic. Another Hacksaw bon mot is telling the ref "You leave me the fuck alone!" Okay then!

Fun stuff, though I would have preferred a bit more downright heeling from two teams who, as Ross says, "sing out of the same hymnal." Totally worth a watch to me just to see this:

I don't know about gospel, and far be it from me to proclaim the conventional wisdom, but I think your good points are the other coin side of two pretty common raps against them: They're often painfully boring, especially when they're eating guys up, which is unfortunately the name of their game. And they're nowhere near the sum of their parts. Of course I haven't actually watched a lot of MVC in a few years, and I think they do deserve to be nominated and mulled over.

Another VHS/YouTube snippet sighting on the Network! Just the intro and the stadium footage. I still don't think it takes as long to produce the stuff as they take to release it, but clearly someone is putting in some TLC on what does get out. Neat little segment and a classic coach speech by Bowden. Son, you just look out in that crowd and know that Coach is right there with ya...etc. For being a fairly mediocre show so far, segments like this and the Sting/Cactus stuff plus a very hot Georgia crowd somehow make WCW seem more alive than they have since well before the Bash. Oh fuck, here comes Van Hammer... Poor old Terrence Taylor, who I'm not even particularly fond of but who has been quite heavily pushed with a gimmick change for 3+ months, just did the bit in 90 seconds for Van Hammer's debut. So never mind. According to Meltzer, he had two or three pro matches at the time. Jesus Christ on a cracker.

I never realized how much Diamond Studd was Razor Ramon version 0.9: the thumb pointing, the paintbrushing, the signal for the Diamond Death Drop and the "wiping my hands" afterwards, even the catchphrases, including "I'm the bad guy" and "everybody listen to me". On Pro (I think, the shows run together when I'm FFing so much crap) 8/31/91, we finally hear from Badstreet, who is quite obviously Brad Armstrong but uses a hilarious Freebirdish voice anyway. Cappetta introduces him as "a member of the Fabulous Freebird Family," which I guess makes him a regional airline. Movez~ note: In a Gibson/Rhodes-Austin/Studd match from Main Event 9/1/91, Gibson puts an amazing reverse figure four cradle on Studd for the purpose of leaving his throat exposed to a top-rope strike from an interfering Richard Morton. NICE.

Schiavone and Zbyszko, the early days (Pro 8/31/1991): "Now look at Bill Kazmeier, would you not call that a defecation (sic) of the American flag?" "Well Larry, it's just on the man's tights!" "It IS the man's tights!" "Let me tell you another old Polish proverb: Ability will never catch up to the demand for it. I don't believe much in computers, because I think this whole generation of robotized sheep has sold their souls to a little green TV monitor." ... "So you don't think the computer has done all that much for Terrence Taylor." "I don't think the computer has done that much for mankind. But in Terrence Taylor's case it may actually have helped. ... I think they should all be blown up. But then what would this generation of wimps do? They'd have to learn." "Well, I'm not here to debate the validity of computers."

I haven't seen him in any territories, but in his limited WWF run and then in WCW, he's no less than "very good" from the beginning, especially in tags. Great execution, timing, and charisma. I heard/expected it took him a few months to earn the nickname but that's not the case to my eye.

Among many talents, I always thought Buddy was a preeminent squash wrestler. Pure dissection work crossed with world-class trash talking and preening.

The Enforcers vs. The Young Pistols, WCWSN 8/3/1991 The Enforcers vs. Robert Gibson & Tom Zenk, Worldwide 8/10/1991 A pair of matches to really get the Enforcers over as limb maniacs with the same finish, destroying a leg to the point of referee stoppage. Smothers and Gibson get the privilege. The Pistols match is longer and better, with some great back and forth until the inevitable, but the second has the direct tie-in with Gibson's injury, making it very predatory. Lots of ringpost wrapping, and each gets a different hold before the stoppage (half crab vs. figure four), which is a nice touch. Zenk and Schiavone score points on Worldwide, by breaking up the first FF with a nice fiery legdrop, and by noting on the mic that Zenk "gets one save." The first is just swimming in the B- range, and the second is too short for anything but the Full Worldwide Point, but they are full of excellent, highly concentrated limb work, legal and otherwise. In other tag team news, I'm still not a fan of the full (little hat wearing) Hardliners Collection Agency gimmick, as it makes them look like garbage men, or cabbies, or...something out of sync with what they're going for. Not that scuzzy loan collector is a very good thing to go for. Anyway, they work 5 unremarkable minutes with Rick Steiner and Sting on the Worldwide episode. Rick is working legit hurt and very limited, but takes the heat anyway, then ends it with a chair DQ when the Hardliners double team Sting. No reason not to reverse the roles in that booking.

The FF button is your friend with PTW, and it has pretty comprehensive listings available too. If something seems like crap, it probably is, and you don't have to slog through to guarantee it. With that being said, and mindful of the "name vs. name" principle outlined above, in the latest batch there's a decent Tito/Jake match and a very good Valentine/Slater match.

For the record, I just watched El Gigante perform a very competent vertical suplex on Black Blood on WCWSN 8/10/91. His striking was still embarrassing and the match (OMG/Blood vs Josh/Gigante) was a special kind of atrocious. But it cannot be said that he never performed any technique ever, ha. I agree that 3.5-3.75 or what I also think of as "B+/A-" pops in my head a lot. Slash letter grading helps me differentiate between "almost-but-not-quite" and "great" when I'm doing purposed watching. A-/A is different than A/A- or just an unqualified A.

This was mechanically fantastic, as you might expect, but a bit ambling structurally and of course it has a completely half ass non-finish. Really liked Ross selling Morton's miss from the top as him going for the Alabama Jam. Long term taping and short term booking changes rear their head again, as this match shows Hughes with the Foundation 3 full weeks after GAB, requiring yet another tiresome commentary explanation.

I've seen him sunset flip guys as Leon White in the AWA. Well, yeah, he was capable of all sorts of stuff. I should have worded that better, ha.

Top-rope bell ringer was a favorite of his. Also, it wasn't well-established in WCW, but if I recall from NJPW, Vader was capable of a crossbody.

Decent little match from the "Did You Know?" files. Saved by the bell finishes are so often botched that it's always a treat to see a passable one.

Ahh, Dave, you got a chuckle out of me.

Whoa, baby! I don't know anyone with a heart who didn't love DaMericanDream. One of the most endearingly egotistical people anywhere, not just wrestling--I always loved his line during the Flair/Windham WWW match about how "only a commentator the stature of DaMericanDreamDustyRhodes can call this caliber of match." If I can cheesily paraphrase from his most famous promo--now, this time, all the love you've given us, we will repay you. Let's reach out and gather for it. Love ya, Big Dust.

"[The plywood surface as opposed to steel] is worse for traction, but certainly much better for the skin." - Schiavone What a crap pile, complete with a long, boring, and pointless post match.

Just watched my local NBC affiliate, KFOR, interview Jeff "Giant Warrior" Bearden about his anti-bullying work and tips, talk about how heeling taught him about bullying, and show extended YouTube clips of him in WWC. Apparently he was inducted into something called the "Southern Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame." What.

"You know, watching this young, uh, I should say watching Mike Jackson..." - Gordon Solie, Worldwide 6/29/1991

Well, there was Ernie Ladd, but I doubt he was on a comeback then. :-) Big Cat (Curtis Hughes) and Motor City Madman were two guys Paul E. Dangerously was sending after Lex Luger at the time. MCM was terrible even on the sliding scale of WCW 1990-91.

Didn't he make the face turn because WCW was doing the Hansen vs Vader re-match and Hansen was booked as being a heel overall? Definitely.

From Cawthon's listings, in chronological order... March-April 1984: AWA draws three near-sellouts in eight weeks with Japanese guests (including Baba & Tenryu) and matches like Bockwinkel/Hansen vs. Bruiser/Crusher, Patera/Blackwell vs. Lawler/Mulligan, Tsuruta/Lanza, Saito/Ventura vs. Crusher/Baron (2x), Bockwinkel/Robinson, Bockwinkel/Tsuruta, Robinson/Zbyszko, and Crusher/Bruiser/Baron vs. Blackwell/Saito/Ventura in a cage. August 31, 1985: The first WWF card at the Horizon is a sellout headlined by Hogan/Volkoff, and WWF runs every 4-8 weeks until 1992, with shows from all running tours. November 7, 1985: The first widely available WWF pay-per-view, the Wrestling Classic, features a 16-man tournament for $50,000 and a Rolls Royce won by Junkyard Dog, and Hogan/Piper. April 7, 1986: One-third of WrestleMania 2, highlighted by Bulldogs/Dream Team and Andre winning the WWF/NFL battle royal, draws a half-full 9,000. December 14, 1986: The first and last JCP card at the Horizon draws a healthy 12,500 for a $50,000 (cage-free) Bunkhouse Stampede won by Animal, Flair/Tully vs. Dusty/Nikita, and Road Warriors/MX. JCP shows move to UIC Pavilion. May 2, 1987: WWF headlines a B-show with Steamboat/Savage in a cage, nailing a spot on my mental list of wish-tapes. February 18, 1989: Hogan/Bossman in a cage draws the first listed sellout since the WWF debut. November 24, 1989: Survivor Series "features" several no-shows and firings, topped by Bobby Heenan subbing for Tully Blanchard and stooging his ass off for Ultimate Warrior. November 29 and January 3, 1992-93: Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair in a pair of title matches that are probably good but draw dreadfully, continuing a 1992 trend of 2-3,000 crowds, perhaps aided by the fact that the rematch was shuffled from Flair/Razor vs. Bret/Perfect the day of the show. April 17, 1994: WCW makes a push into Rosemont with the inaugural Spring Stampede, which is of course one of the best PPVs of the era--Flair/Steamboat, Boss/Vader, Buck/Dustin, Nasties/Cactus & Payne, Rude/Sting, Pillman/Regal. July 23, 1994: AAA runs the Horizon, drawing 4,425 paid to see Los Gringos Locos defeat Octagon and Hijo for the tag team titles. October 9, 1995: WCW runs one of the first Nitro episodes from the Horizon, with a TV main event of Arn/Flair in a cage. June 9, 1996: WWF draws a strong 13,650, its biggest in 5 years, for a house show topped by Michaels/Goldust and Taker/Mankind. March 23, 1997: WrestleMania 13 sells out, topped by the legendary Austin/Bret submission match (my personal Venue MOAT) and Sid/Taker for the title. December 26, 1997: A WWF house show headlined by Taker/HBK sells out, beginning a streak of eight that lasts until May 1999 (and resumes shortly after), including Judgment Day 1998. All sorts of crap-in-retrospect draws insanely. August 9, 1999: Chyna wins the #1 contendership for the WWF Title from HHH in a no-DQ FCA match that also includes Taker. April 29, 2001: Backlash, featuring Austin/HHH over Taker/Kane in titles vs. titles vs. titles, Show/Shane LMS, and Benoit/Angle "Ultimate Submission." Around this point, every show hereafter is at least announced as a sellout. June 25, 2002: SmackDown! with Cena's TV debut and no-respect loss to Angle, and Jericho beating Hogan with a chair. September 29, 2003: Raw leads with RVD over Christian in an IC ladder match, as seen on RVD's DVD and Ladder Match 2. April 12, 2004: Raw features (what I recall as) another fun main event as Benoit/Foley/HBK/Benjamin vs. Evolution gets over 20 minutes. April 12, 2005: SmackDown's main event is a strong 25-minute Angle/Eddie match, available on the Eddie DVD Viva La Raza. April 2, 2006: WrestleMania 22, featuring Cena/HHH, Shawn/Vince no-DQ, Rey/Angle/Orton, and the pretty wild Edge/Foley no-DQ, is a fun but oddly forgettable show compared to 20, 21, and 23. October 23, 2006: 700th Raw episode. October 7, 2007: No Mercy, with the Orton/HHH "double" switch in response to a Cena injury, and Batista/Khali in the PUNJABI PRISON. May 17, 2009: Judgment Day, featuring Edge/Hardy, Cena/Show, Orton/Batista, and Mysterio/Jericho. September 19, 2010: Night of Champions, with Orton/Sheamus/Cena/Jericho/Edge/Barrett in an elimination match and Kane/Taker part 26. July 17, 2011: Money in the Bank, easily the moment of the decade so far and one of the biggest in Horizon history, as the famous Cena/Punk main event wins near-universal acclaim--and WON MOTY. April 29, 2012: Extreme Rules comes near to matching MITB, at least in match quality, with Cena/Lesnar. September 3, 2012: Raw leads with Del Rio/Cena FCA. June 16, 2013: Payback, featuring Cena/Ryback 3 Stages of Hell, Punk/Jericho, and The Shield vs. Orton/Bryan. September 23, 2013: The Shield vs. Bryan/RVD/Usos/PTP/Ziggler/Gabriel/Ryder in a 3-on-9 elimination match on Raw. June 1, 2014: Payback, featuring The Shield vs. Evolution in a NHB elimination match. April 29, 2015: Was a mere six weeks ago and, as you probably remember, Extreme Rules highlighted by Rollins/Orton, Show/Reigns, and Cena/Rusev.