GSR

Jerry Lawler has fallen asleep at the commentary desk, bored by the Dustin Rhodes and Gary Young footage that they've just aired ('watching Dustin Rhodes is about exciting as watching grass grow'!). Dustin appears to have developed a lisp and is doing a full on Dusty impression including telling Young that they're going to see how 'funky' he can get in Memphis on Monday night. This battle has gone on long enough and he's going to finish it! Back in the studio, and Lawler says if they had an Olympic sport for stupidity Dustin would win all the gold medals! He also thinks that Young will in the bout in about 15 seconds! Young's hair is bright red and he tells Dustin that he's 'an abortion that made a mistake and lived'! Decent little promo from Young by I can't take my eyes off that hair!

Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, Sensational Sherri, Slick and Mr Fuji are all guests on this episode of the Brother Love show. Love claims that he's joined by the greatest minds in the WWF and each of these great minds will be representing someone at the Royal Rumble. The heels can't agree and each think that their charge(s) are best equipped to win the Rumble itself. Heenan is the star of this and I like his line he said to Sherri of 'sweetheart, go and get some new make up!'. It's always nice to see all the managers together in a segment, but this was basic filler just reinforcing that it's every man for himself and there are no friends in the Royal Rumble.

Beefcake is cutting the hair of George South when Rick Martel comes out and makes his way up on to the interview podium. He's sporting a rather natty hat and raincoat combination, and tells 'the Barber' that he looks like a bum whilst this is what a man with class and style looks like! Beefcake exits the ring and makes his way over to wear the Model is running his mouth from. Martel has started to disrobe at this point, but seeing the shears that old Bruti is brandishing quickly jumps down off the interview podium. Unfortunately for him he's left his coat and hat on the podium, and Beefcake takes his shears to them, does a bit of tailoring and makes them more 'suitable' for him.

I'm sure a lot of what I post will already have been said but I spotted Col. Brody, Dave Taylor, Giant Haystacks, Fit Finlay, Tony St. Clair, Otto Wanz, Owen Hart, Cannonball Grizzly and Rambo (Luc Poirier). This is surprisingly catchy and a lot of the wrestlers are clearly enjoying themselves (especially Taylor). Amazingly it would appear there is a suit large enough for Haystacks!

Just seen this on Twitter. RIP Adam

I take it Bix isn't a football fan by his butchering of the names Johan Cruyff and Gerd Muller! If anyone is interested in the North American Soccer League, I'd highly recommend both the book and documentary 'Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos'. Nice to hear a bit of talk on the Wedding Present too. Add me as another who never knew Slugger was Harry Boatswain. I was actually pretty disappointed in Fray as a guest. I am aware of him through twitter as he quite regularly gets re-tweeted onto my timeline, and was expecting lots of insight, interesting points, things I never knew etc. As it was he didn't add much and I lost count of the amount of times Kris would ask him about something (especially during the Philadelphia discussion) and he never knew about it, or he would ask Kris to explain something as he didn't know. Kris talks about the copious amounts of notes that he makes for these shows and I would've thought a guest would at least to a bit of research on the week, or some re-watching? Whilst some guests obviously do, it's a shame that some clearly don't. He clearly knows plenty about the present day scene (as evidenced by talking about it wherever possible) so maybe get him back when you do a BTS on 2016.

The itvwrestling.co.uk website will help with the matches you need dates for. It's the site I used when sorting and getting dates for the matches that aired on TWC over here.

Confrontation w/ Jim Cornette & The Gangstas - Jim Cornette has an offer to make to The Gangstas, but he knows they have a lot on their mind with the ‘ghetto street fight’ against the Rock & Roll Express this weekend. New Jack says that the Rock & Rolls were finally man enough to sign for a street fight against he and Mustafa, their kind of match. They’ve proved that they might not be the best when it comes to wrestling, but fighting, they’re the masters at that. Ricky and Robert are off crying somewhere calling the Commissioner saying that they cheated, well if they did, so what? He doesn’t need the Rock & Roll Express, he doesn’t need no-one cheering for him and he doesn’t need Jim Cornette. Cornette says that they do need him though, and that’s why he’s here to make them this offer. As much as it pains him to say, The Gangstas have come closer to putting the Rock & Roll Express out of wrestling than any team he’s managed so far, and it pains him to say because he wanted to be the one to take credit for it. He tells The Gangstas that they have the ability to be the greatest tag team on the planet, they’re almost finished with the Rock & Roll Express and he sees unlimited potential in their future. They can do anything in that ring but where they have a few shortcomings, he can help out; they’re not diplomatic, they’re not very tactful and he can teach them to be more deviant and to not pull a blackjack out right infront of the referee’s eyes. He’s got the inside track on signing contracts and he’s been dealing with promoters, pen pushers and doing all that sneaky stuff for years! In the past ten years he’s managed two tag teams, the Midnight Express and the Heavenly Bodies, they’ve both been the best in the world at their time and he has the offer of a lifetime for The Gangstas. He’s prepared to sign them to an exclusive contract for him to manage them and to take them straight to the top. He’ll get the contracts signed the right way, he’ll do the right kind of negotiations and he’ll teach them the little subtleties about being sneaky and deviant that they haven’t picked up on so far. With his guidance and their natural ability they will be unstoppable! Cornette offer New Jack his hand, but New Jack tells him for 400 years white folk have gotten ships, gone to Africa, stolen his ancestors, and bought them back here chained in the boughs of slave ships. This is 1994 not 1974, and he doesn’t need no white boy telling him what he can do for him. He’s got a college education and a criminal record so he knows how to make decisions. He tells Cornette that The Gangstas are black owned, black operated and he doesn’t need to white boy telling him jack! A great little segment and New Jack’s response to Cornette's offer to manage them is superb.

If only Brian Last and Jim Cornette hadn't just done this on the 6:05podcast about six weeks ago... Who?Ho ho ho! You so funny! If this is the kind of wit and humour you would expect on a Titans podcast maybe I should change my Jerry stance, check you comedic geniuses out and give you a listen?

Absolutely. But the fact you say some 'completely forgotten wrestler' makes it seem like Mighty Joe Thunder is some almighty discovery that you made who know one else knew or has heard of.

If only Brian Last and Jim Cornette hadn't just done this on the 6:05podcast about six weeks ago...

Confrontation w/ Jim Cornette & Bob Armstrong and Cornette says that as of next week after Thanksgiving Thunder, Bob Armstrong is going to be out of his life and out of his hair. He sees that Armstrong is out here all on his decrepit, lonesome self, which means that, as he suspected, Armstrong has been the Commissioner all along and he’s going to sue him and have him in so many courtrooms for this con job he’s pulled on him, the people and all of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Armstrong says that he knew Cornette would be in touch with his lawyers so he came prepared. He had to look over a long list to find a man who thought like him, who has the same values as he does and would give everyone a fair shake. He was struggling to find someone who fit the bill and then a light bulb went off and the man who should replace him as Commissioner was right under his nose. He then introduces the new Commissioner and it’s Scott Armstong. Needless to say Cornette isn’t happy. Bob Armstrong has perpetrated another one on him and while he may be smiling and laughing now, come Thanksgiving Thunder, Abdullah the Butcher is going to make him and hors d’oeuvre in an Armstrong pie! Armstrong reiterates why he chose the stipulations for this match (including clips from his match against Terry Funk in February) and that no amount of money would buy that satisfaction. He wants all the fans that Jim Cornette has insulted to be there because when Cornette kisses his feet he wants them to feel like he is kissing theirs too. I’d never heard the talk about Bill Watts being the mystery Commissioner before but it certainly makes sense. Scott Armstrong comes across as a substitute or a last minute replacement as surely they wouldn’t have built this angle for so long and have him as the pay off?

The Gangstas & D-Lo Brown are in the streets and D-Lo is collection objects and weapons (pallets, fire extinguishers, metal bins etc) for the ghetto street fight. New Jack says that the ‘ghetto street fight’ is their kind of match and the Rock & Roll Express actually had the nerve to sign to face them in this? They’re going to use anything they can get their hands on to beat them with, and Ricky and Robert’s days are numbered. First they took their belts and now they are going to take their pride, at Thanksgiving Thunder, Rock & Roll is over! Tammy Fytch says that Chris Candido will be back on TV next week and he’ll help her control this idiot, this fool, this bumbling, stupid goof! Until then if he wants his little kitten to be healthy and happy, he better do exactly what she says because he wouldn’t want anything to happen to her. Tammy is a proper bitch here, excellent in the role and you have real sympathy for Boo. Confrontation w/ Jim Cornette & Bob Armstrong - Cornette has Bruiser Bedlam with him, whilst Ron West from the Smoky Mountain Board of Director is also with them. Cornette requested this meeting as he wanted assurances, before Thanksgiving Thunder, that he’s not going to get hornswoggled again as last time Bob Armstrong lost a ‘loser leaves Smoky Mountain Wrestling match’, all of a sudden a guy with the same body, the same old fossilized teeth, the same way of talking, a man named The Bullet came to SMW. He doesn’t like cheaters and wants confirmation from Ron West that if Bob Armstrong is defeated by his man, Abdullah the Butcher at Thanksgiving Thunder, then he will be gone from Smoky Mountain Wrestling for good and will not be coming back under a mask? West confirms that everything is in place and should Bob Armstrong lose, then he will be gone. Jim Ross wants some clarity on what would happen if Armstrong wins, and West confirms that Jim Cornette will have to get on his hands and knees and crawl across the ring and kiss Armstrong’s feet. Cornette says that it will be a cold day in hell before that happens as Abdullah the Butcher has Bob Armstrong’s number and he’s going to carve him up like a Thanksgiving turkey. The Bullet says that words are cheap, but now they’ve heard from the Board of Directors that all stipulations will be followed, all he’s got to do is find some way to get round the Butcher and he can watch Cornette crawl across the ring and kiss his feet. Cornette doesn’t care is Abdullah gets locked up for the rest of his life, just as long as he does Bob Armstrong in first! Jim Cornette training video and he’s on location training for this upcoming tag team match as he knows he’s got to get in shape to face Ron Wright. He is joined by Bruiser Bedlam but we sadly don’t see any training, it’s just Cornette telling a bunch of jokes about how old Wright is (I think we’ve heard them all before about Bob Armstrong!). He tells the Dirty White Boy that if he cares anything about his so called ‘father figure’, he’ll send him to the Sunnydale rest home at Thanksgiving instead of sticking him in the ring with him as there’s nothing he likes more than tearing down a legend and humiliating someone in front of their home fans, crowd and family. Ron Wright was a big deal a long time ago, but now he’s just another sad, stinking old man that’s going to get hurt and going to get hurt bad!

Morton attacks New Jack with a chain even before he’s been introduced and blasts D-Lo too, before getting another shot in on New Jack busting him open. As the two continue to fight Mustafa sneaks in the ring and jumps Ricky from behind for the DQ and they start double teaming him until Robert Gibson evens things up. D-Lo gets in on the action to help out The Gangstas and even though Brian Logan, Sean Casey, Steve Skyfire, Chad Austin, Scott Studd, The Infernos, Lance Storm, Brian Lee and Tracey Smothers all come out to try and keep them apart it’s no good as the show goes off the air with the fight still in progress.

If you send a pm to Goodhelmet he will be able to advise you.

It's several years since I watched and read about the fight, but I think Vitor Belfort and Joe Charles had the same coach or were possibly even training partners. Whilst not a work there was absolutely an agreement in place that they wouldn't trade punches and it would be basically a grappling match. You only have to watch any other Belfort fight from this era and then this one to realise that there was something going on.

From what I remember it seemed to polarise opinions, but I'd add the Dirty White Boy match from SMW to this. I thought it was a psychologically excellent (especially when you consider the physical state Jake was in at this point) and Jake was the master at getting so much out of so little in this match.

I really enjoyed the talk on Kevin Randleman, and mark me down as someone who thought the Bas Rutten fight was an absolute robbery. Interesting you mentioned the Ultimate New Year's Eve specials as it was the 1997 one that got me heavily into MMA. I had bought a VHS copy of UFC III and it didn't really do much for me (I later become aware of the historical nature of the event, but as an actual show it's not good), but then when placing an order with a trader decided to pick that up on a whim. This was more like it. Patrick Smith's brutal knock out on Scott Morris, Tank killing John Matua, Gary Goodridge's elbows of hell on Paul Herrara, the awesome Don Frye vs Amaury Bitteti fight, Brian Johnson, the rise of Mark Coleman, Vitor Belfort looking like the most frightening man on the planet, Mark Kerr, early Randy and Tito and the classic Maurice Smith vs Mark Coleman fight. I was hooked from that point onwards.

Something I forgot to mention when I wrote that bit about Sims; Ryan Reeves was actually cut at one point from his developmental deal before being later resigned. I can't remember when exactly he was cut, but he wasn't under contract for the full duration of when he first signed until when he left earlier this year.

Walton worse than Ed Whalen? I really have heard it all now! Not counting the fact that I've seen plenty of both to vehemently disagree with that opinion, but Walton is also one of the few commentators to be voted in to the Observer Hall of Fame (as opposed to being put in by Dave in the original class).

Mike Kyle was the guy who bit Wes Sims during their fight. Not the only time Kyle has been involved in controversy in the cage.

Wasn't Brian Adams in HWA some way to try and get him to quit? I'm sure Meltzer later reports that after the disastrous Kronik return they wanted rid of both Adams and Clark, and sending them to developmental was their way of getting them to quit without having to fire them. Clark did quit but Adams stuck around for a bit.