Beast

Thomas and Justice League Of America writer Mike Friedrich each included versions of the other companies' characters at the same time as kind of secret crossover (not to necessarily create lasting characters). So Thomas' Avengers met the Squadron Sinister/Supreme while Friedrich's JLA met the Champions Of Angor which included Thor, Scarlet Witch, Yellowjacket and Quicksilver analogues. The Angor characters didn't have the staying power of the Squadron, but did reappear during the great Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire JLI run with some frequency. Thomas was certainly indulging in fanservice, but that sort of pseudo crossover happened from time to time in the '70s with so many fans/friends becoming writers at Marvel & DC. Another example is the surprisingly large amount of comics set at the Rutland, Vermont Halloween Parade during this period. Englehart, Wein, Conway, Thomas, Friedrich, etc... all loved to find ways to connect to the opposite companies characters.

I'm genuinely curious about Goldberg. So he lost a dark match well before his actual Nitro debut, let alone the streak? I'm not sure how that makes him generous. He wasn't generous enough to work any sort of program with Jericho in WCW, even when the end result would have been to squash Jericho.

I've constantly gone back to that run as it's how I wish Constantine was always portrayed and how Ennis always told stories. It was Ennis' first mainstream run, but in my mind it's his peak. Just enough grotesque wackiness without going overboard. The second issue (42) "A Drop Of The Hard Stuff" is a fantastic piece that sets the tone for what's to come really well.

I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. Watching the TV leading up to this, Taz legitimately felt unstoppable while Bigelow was finally the big monster he should have been in the US post-1986. It's all about two spots, but they're both amazing (and the first is terrifying). Especially compared to Scorpio vs RVD from earlier in this show, this had the same spot-spot-spot type momentum, but because these two bruisers had been built up to be near unbeatable, this felt more like a modern Brock vs. Goldberg-type match than just a punch/kick/spotfest. I still love the fans' reaction to them going through the ring. I'm assuming nothing like that had been done before, at least on a near-national level in the US? Compared to WWE pulling out the ring breaking every 5-10 years, this felt legit amazing.

Been enjoying reading everyone's thoughts on comics. I did my own Starlin and Gerber deep dives the past couple years. Starlin's Cosmic Epic is pretty readable up until Infinity Gauntlet/Warlock & The Infinity Watch, but loses something as he heads back to the Warlock/Thanos well over and over. I've read most of Gerber's Man-Thing and found it interesting, but disappointing. The plots/scripts are hit or miss, and while I was hoping the ideas would at least be out there enough to carry me through, I guess he doesn't really hit upon the style he's known for until Defenders/Howard. I also read Hard Time, which was basically his last major work (early 2000's DC) and it kinda feels like it's from a totally different creator. Not necessarily better or worse, just different. More serialized I guess. I recently finished John Byrne's Alpha Flight. I guess it's one of his least favorite runs, but boy is it pretty fun. It's unlike any other group book I've read in that he purposefully separates the characters most of the time, choosing instead to tell smaller stories featuring solo or small groups, then combining everyone for a big wrap up blockbuster story at the end of every year. It goes a long way in developing these relatively new characters into ones you love spending time with. One of his own criticisms is that the characters had no reason to exist past being quickly put together to give the X-Men "equal Canadian counterparts" to fight and further develop Wolverine's pre-X-Men backstory, but he truly does a fantastic job building them up over his 29 issues. Then it goes quickly downhill when Mantlo takes over, but those first 29 issues are real standouts in an already packed decade for Marvel (and Byrne's career in general). Right now I'm reading both the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire JLI as well as Ostrander's Suicide Squad. I've read the first 20 or so JLI issues before and all of Squad, but not for a decade or so. Post-Crisis DC has some real gems, and the way these two books also play with the supergroup genre as well as reflect upon the time they were written is fascinating. Again, these are books that feel well-planned and almost like high quality modern cable shows. At around the same time, Moore, Gaiman and Morrison were (or had) revamped Swamp Thing, Sandman, and Doom Patrol and Animal Man, but these more mainstream books are just as innovative with their takes on DC characters and mythology, just more "comic booky" maybe...

Very cool, looking forward to listening to this!

Thanks for the recs!

Thank you!

Any comic podcasts that stand out? I've never really found one to join my weekly listening rotation.

Between this and the WrestleWar match, the Midnights must have had one of the all-time US-based tag team years ever. And I've heard the Havoc match vs Rich and Morton is up there too, but I haven't seen it yet. I agree, this match is more about enjoying the Midnights than rooting for the Southern Boys, but it still works and I would have thought Smothers' performance especially would have made them immediate stars. I was surprised that Armstrong barely gets involved comparatively. When he does, he's great, but was he a bit injured? The karate standoff is perfectly placed, and in tone feels reminiscent of the February bout with the RnRs. Eaton, Lane and Cornette are so in tune here; there's no downtime at all and watching them deal with an upstart, more fiery and athletic young pair was really entertaining. Which reminds me, JR had one of my favorite commentary lines ever: "Cornette is beside himself.....what a large pair". This is what great tag team wrestling is all about. It plays with the form, but never feels like anyone is going through the motions. Today, I can appreciate the Revival and their peers, but it always feels like playacting. Never felt that way here and never do when it comes to the Midnights, Brainbusters, Steiners, etc...

Fantastic match, especially at this point in the show, following three unspectacular random singles matches. The decade-old backstory is mentioned, with Race/Rich so in tune with each other that it feels like they've been waiting for this moment ever since. Makes me sad this was a one-off for Race as he is so on point here. Crisp, dangerous looking moves, with Rich doing everything he can to make them look amazing. And then not to be outdone, Race takes a tumble out of the ring where he sells like he's hit his head on the apron. Of course, this is immediately followed by MX/Southern Boys (and therefore erased from everyone's minds), but I thought this was an awesome short sprint.

The epitome of what everyone's talking about when they call Jake the "master of psychology". Two outstanding storytellers using what came before in their feud to hit an absolute home run. Loved the first act of Jake being ready for Steamboat's chops and how they didn't burn through it too quickly. Jake blocked them over and over, taking breathers outside the ring whenever Steamboat started to gain some momentum by sneaking a hit in. The payoff worked wonderfully, leading to Steamboat unleashing all of his frustration on Jake, sending him outside, leading to the second portion of him accidentally smashing his left hand into the steel post. Loved this transition coming from Steamboat being too aggressive, leaving his gameplan to go crazy on the outside, only for Jake to bide his time and take advantage of Steamboat's frenzy. Jake's hand/arm work was tremendous, smashing it whenever possible, like when Steamboat left his hand open while putting on a hold. This also allowed Steamboat to be creative and specific in his always top notch selling. The final portion began with the ref stopping Jake from using wrist tape, leading to Steamboat hitting his trademark offense, only for Jake to knock the ref out and take advantage of the disruption to his own specialties (minus the DDT). He gets a visual pin, goes to wake the ref up, but Steamboat rolls him up from behind for the wind. Jake sneak attacks with a DDT after the match, and is just about to lay Damien on top of Steamboat when Ted Arcidi and Dick Slater make the perfectly timed save. Loved the ending, specifically because of where it fits into the context of this feud. This is the last match they had in Boston, but later this month they had their blowoff at The Big Event (snake pit match). Steamboat gets a clean win. It's a roll up from behind, but Jake pushed him into the ref earlier just as Steamboat was on the verge of victory. Steamboat got the win in the Boston blowoff and was clearly going to win even if Jake didn't cause a ref bump. Jake gets visual pinfalls and a post-match attack to keep him strong and the feud alive for Toronto. Boston fans would have been able to see that match on VHS a few months later, almost like saving the actual blowoff for a PPV in years to come. Unfortunately this is peak Jake in terms of WWF workrate feuds, but I'll be curious to see more of his thoughtful match layouts as I continue watching this era. And Steamboat soon transitions to Savage which should showcase even more variety as he uses the throat as his selling focal point.

Is Trump really quick witted? I don't think he's known for his one liners. Does have a lot of word salad though.

Sure hope it's not just a distraction for brother Bruce to sneak attack and hang Tom from the top rope...

I haven't listened to a Conrad show in close to a year, whereas a few years ago I was a weekly Bruce listener. Now I will be sorely disappointed if Foley isn't one of the new ones...

Not only is this is a draw, but a good portion of this is Butch Reed stalling. First with the invisible object in his hand and then never-ending chin locks and the like. And with the ending having Reed on top at the bell, why not either give him an actual win or at least have a high energy competitive match that deserves a rematch. This has it's moments (particularly at the beginning and end), but also all the traits that keep me wary of ever committing the time to watch a draw. I was impressed with how wild the fans were for Tito. No wonder he was slotted in with Martel for a title run once Zenk left. And yet since at this point no one knew that was on the horizon, why not give Reed a win (even cheaply) at this point in the feud?

This and Bret/Perfect (SummerSlam) were the two VHS matches that felt on a different level than any others when I was a kid. Most of what I dig is mentioned above (including that "Come on Owen" moment) but I'll add that I love how the brothers are basically doppelgängers, with Owen using some of Bret's trademark moves, including providing the front-first turnbuckle bump for this match. They go back and forth with dueling sharpshooter attempts (successful and unsuccessful) and even with wear-down holds, there's a clear distinction between what each brother chooses to use on the other. As a viewer, you know the match has reached a higher level when Bret gets his second comeback and having already used his setup moves, goes bigger with a brutal-looking bulldog, piledriver, and superplex. It's like by that point he not only wanted to really defeat Owen, but knew that if he didn't use more powerful moves, Owen could easily pull off the win. Both Bret and Owen give fantastic "acting" performances too, which adds so much to this overall. Their reactions to the pinfall are just as memorable as any moment in the match itself.

Really weird match order choices with this as the palette cleaner between Austin/Hart and the main event. As stated above, this is totally ECW-lite so I can see how it could have worked at the time for fans who had only read about hardcore wrestling in PWI. But yes, it compares very poorly to stuff like the Nasties vs Cactus/partner from 3 years earlier. There aren't really any peak spots, everything just blended together other than the "piledriver" by Animal on/off the announce table, multiple fire extinguisher sprays and lots of African-Americans being hung (which really, really didn't age well). It works as a blood feud blowup between NoD and Ahmed & friends, but lacks creativity, flow and momentum-building moments. The ending is strangely flat, with the Doomsday Device acting as a setup to Crush being hit by a weak 2x4 clothesline. D'Lo and PG-13 took the best bumps during and after the match, which is what they were there for I guess. Also, I thought this match was where the Pearl River Plunge on the car moment happened, but that was months earlier...