GSR

This is from the same NWA Wildside spot show as the Styles & Onyx tag. A raffle has determined which members of the audience get to be lumberjacks and I like how the ring announcer runs down the rules to them, rules which must be adhered to otherwise they’ll be escorted from the building. Oh, and “please, no groin shots!” You’ve got a rough idea of how this is going to go with all the layers of clothing that the heel team are wearing. Yup, within the first couple of minutes Michaels ends up on the outside four times. Before he tosses him out for the fifth time Wrenn removes his top so the audience can get some licks in on his bare torso. Dazz with a double Japanese armdrag on Bad Attitude and this time both get thrown to the floor. They’re quickly back inside and pleading for a bit of mercy from their opponents. Michaels offers a hand and as Scotty looks at it, he boots him in the mid-section and then hurls him outside. As he tells the lumberjacks to “whip him”, they just stand there. J.C. from behind gives Michaels a shove and the lumberjack don’t need to think twice, on him like flies on shit. Wrenn pulls his bottoms down prior to the next time he throws him out, that elicits a “he’s got skidmarks” chant which made me laugh. Young counters the quesadora with a ‘Blue Thunder Bomb’ as the heels go to work on J.C. Sunset flip by Dazz. Michaels grabs the ropes to prevent him being himself from being taken down, so J.C. yanks his pants down and Michael is out there with his bare ass on display for one and all. The official fails to see the tag which allows Bad Attitude to double team Dazz while he tries to get Wrenn out of there. When he misses it for a second time Scotty throws him to the floor and the fans start whipping the referee. Dazz with a Frankensteiner but immediately then runs into a spinebuster. He counters the attempted Samoan Drop with the ‘Rings of Saturn’ forcing Young to break up the submission. The officious referee, who couldn’t wait to get Wrenn out of there, is happy to let this go. At the fourth time of asking J.C. makes a tag which is seen and Big Scotty runs wild. The ref gets accidentally bumped courtesy of a clothesline, as Young ducks out the way, and when the Boogaloo Crew hit their ‘Boogaloo Bounce’ it looks like there is no-one to count the fall. Dazz with a bit of clever thinking drags the unconscious referee over and slams his hand to the mat three times. The Crew are initially announced as the new NWA Wildside tag team champions, but when the official comes around he takes the belts off them and hands them back to Bad Attitude, the Boogaloos winning the match via disqualification but not the title belts. He should’ve got out of there sharpish as the Crew get hold of him and Scotty holds a chair in place which J.C dropkicks it into his face. The first ten minutes of this is all shtick before settling down into a Southern tag match, with sprinklings of more shtick thrown in there. It was highly entertaining, especially the opening portion and you could tell that the fans were really enjoying it. The lone criticisms would be the groanworthy ‘Dusty finish’, which I had a feeling was coming the moment the Boogaloo Crew were announced as the new tag team champions, and the weak disqualification. Why didn’t the ref disqualify the Boogaloo Crew when Scotty Wrenn threw him outside to be whipped by the fans? That was far more worthy of a disqualification than an accidental clothesline. If it was me booking things I would’ve just made this a non-title match, that way the fans would’ve gone home happy and the match wouldn’t have finished on a downer.

It doesn’t take long before these two are on the floor helping themselves to some of the weapons that the fans have bought along. Tony grabs a pair of plastic baseball bats covered in drawing pins and by the time he’s done swinging them it looks like Fear’s wearing a metallic gold wig, a ton of tacks embedded into his skull. Allister even does the Ric Flair face first bump on the concrete after having a pumpkin broken over his head. An eye rake briefly stops Tony in his tracks, but as Fear goes to powerbomb him onto the cactus, he blocks and backdrops him onto it instead. Providing that was a legit cactus, and knowing how Ian is about these things I expect it is, there is no way that didn’t hurt to high heaven. 2 Tuff rests a batch of light tubes between a couple of chairs but before he can finish what he started, Fear fights back. He sits Tony on the top turnbuckle and hits a brainbuster onto the light tubes. I don’t know if that was meant to be a superplex and he didn’t get him all the way over, but it looked brutal. Low bow by Tony who then rolls to the outside, setting up some chairs before covering them with all manner of items (light tubes, barbed wire, cactus etc.), even managing to dent a chair over Allister’s head while he’s doing it. He drapes Fear across the top rope and then balances a handful of light tubes on his back. Somersault legdrop from the top! That gets an incredible reaction, incredible in the sense that there can be no more than 200 people in the building, just the noise that they make after it. He looks to follow up but is caught and Fear suplexes him out of the ring and into all that debris. Tony picks up a huge metal sign which he wallops Fear with, drags him inside and as he staggers around, hits him over the back of the head with another object. “Tony, Tony, Tony” the crowd are loving this. Another low blow by Fear followed by an ‘Ace Crusher’ onto whatever that object was that Tony hit him with. That surprisingly puts 2 Tuff away as Fear moves on in the tournament. We get a close up of Tony’s elbow which is all cut up and bleeding something rotten from when he took that suplex to the floor. I agree with the other commentators, a real good Death match with some nasty ass bumps in there. I don’t know how heralded he is compared to the likes of Ian Rotten, Corporal Robinson, J.C. Bailey etc. but 2 Tuff Tony is someone who impresses me the more I see of him.

A smooth as reversal of the wristlock by Reckless who then takes Andrews down whilst keeping the hold applied. Scoot escapes, Reckless then escapes his side headlock and he’s back at that wrist. Just nice clean wrestling going on here. Inverted atomic drop by Youth. Scoot reverses a whip to the corner, but Reckless sidesteps his charge and sits him on the middle turnbuckle. He joins him up there and hits a middle rope jawbreaker. Hat Guy is in attendance, again, he’s not even facing the camera and you can see him! Reckless counters the attempted side slam with a headscissors and then backdrops him over the top rope to the outside. Tope suicida! Back inside Scoot catches Reckless with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, dropping him across his own knee. A real slack cover after the dropkick though, choosing to put just one hand on Youth’s chest. Butterfly suplex and the cover is slightly better this time. Scoot tosses him to the floor where he rams his back into the apron. Reckless blocks the suicideplex, countering with a face first superplex, before coming off the top with a flying knee to the side of the head. As he leaps to the middle rope, Scoot is right behind him, grabbing him by the vest and yanking him backwards to the mat. Scoot misses the top rope legdrop as Reckless then starts to fire back. Asai moonsault. What I would call a spinning ‘Sicilian slice’, but Scoot gets a foot over the ropes to break the count. Andrews keeps hold of the arm on the Irish whip and lands a powerslam. At the second time of trying he lands the suicideplex, although that takes it out of both men. Exploder suplex for a near fall. Scoot sits his opponent up top, however Reckless fires away with some shots to the mid-section and lands a super inverted atomic drop. Brainbuster followed by a frog splash for a great near fall. Andrews ducks a right hand and again goes for the ‘Pumphandle Driver’, this time though Reckless flips over and ties him up in an awesome rolling cradle for the win. Good match with both working hard. Some innovative stuff in there as well as plenty of real nice wrestling which was right up my street. Of all the people who went through their system and got runs in the WWF, or shot after shot, it’s criminal that Reckless Youth never got a chance on the main roster. Yeah, back then there is every likelihood he would’ve been relegated to working with Essa Rios and Crash Holly on Metal but he deserved that chance at least.

Slightly different rules than usual for this cage match as you can win either by pinfall, or if both team members escape out over the top of the cage. No Lita with the Hardyz, Michael Cole understanding that she is still suffering after having her head slammed into the concrete Thursday night on Smackdown. The Hardyz powerbomb Christian into the side of the cage and Jeff then crashes into his helpless opponent with a ‘Poetry in Motion’. He climbs all the way to the top of the cage for a ‘Swanton bomb’, but Edge, who is now back to his feet, gives him a shove and Jeff loses his balance, and then grip, as he drops to the arena floor. Matt is doing okay at first against the tag team champions, getting a near fall on Christian after a ‘Twist of Fate’, however from the moment Edge breaks up the pin he’s in trouble in what is effectively now a handicap match. The commentators have differing views on the rules, Cole completely confused, initially thinking Jeff was out of the match when he exited the cage, although he has now changed his tune (probably after getting word from the back!). Christian starts climbing the cage, and it probably would’ve been smarter for Matt to let him escape, but he catapults Edge into him instead. He himself looks to escape, getting just over the top of it when he is caught by E&C who superplex him back inside. Matt is busted open and Jeff is wanting back in to help his brother, although every effort is thwarted by E&C. He ends up assaulting referee Jimmy Korderas and swiping the key to the padlock on the cage door. After getting the door open he slides a chair into the ring, but before he can get in himself Christian cuts him off, smashing the cage door into his face. Christian grabs a second chair from ringside and then re-locks that door. E&C with a ‘Poetry in Motion’ on Matt! He ducks the ‘Conchairto’ and floors them both with a double clothesline. As he once more tries to escape he is followed by E&C. Edge grabs him, but Jeff throws a ladder at Christian who subsequently falls to the floor meaning the next man out will determine the winners. With both stood on the top turnbuckle, Edge with a bulldog on Matt. Jeff climbs the cage, but as Edge prevents him from getting back in Matt snatches him with a belly to back suplex. ‘Whisper in the Wind’ from the top of the cage by Jeff! A groggy Christian climbs the ladder on the floor, he too now wanting to get back inside, when out runs Lita who low blows him. Huracanrana off the ladder by Lita. Edge launches a ladder into the face of Jeff and starts a slow climb up the cage wall. He’s not quick enough though and the Hardyz, carrying chairs, trail right behind him. They catch him on the top of the cage where they dish out a ‘Conchairto’ of their own, Edge taking a flat back bump from the cage into the ring. The Hardyz escape and we have new WWF tag team champions.

There’s a giant casket in the centre of the ring which is going to make wrestling in there pretty difficult. Corp, covered in dry blood from the previous rounds, looks absolutely shattered as he bumps fists with the fans at ringside. As I thought, that casket has reduced the amount of space they’ve got to wrestle in by about two-thirds so they’re limited to just punching each other and hitting each other with weapons that the fans pass to them. Rollin throws Corp to the outside, moves the casket out the way and then launches himself at him with a suicide dive between the barbed wire. I doubt many light heavies would try something like that, let alone a wrestler the size of Hard. More hitting each other with weapons. Corp collects something that he pours over Rollin and which gets an “I-W-A” chant. Hot wax maybe? They return to the ring where Hard ducks under a Corp kick and catches him with a Samoan drop. He tries to pin him but is reminded by the referee that to win this he needs to put his opponent in the casket and set it on fire. Both tease taking a bump into the casket before Rollin shuts it back up and gives Corp a release Death Valley Driver whilst stood on top of it. The lid gets re-opened, he clotheslines Corp into the casket, shuts it and sets it on fire as we have ourselves the 2000 King of Death Match champion. Ian Rotten is in with the fire extinguisher to put out the flames, while Corp is quickly dowsed with water. The expected post-match speech follows as he tells the fans to help “keep the dream alive” and to come out and support them every week so they can give you wrestling to be proud of. Axl invites “the boys in the back” to all come out and join them, with a special note for “the little guys up in the stand” who showed everyone what midget wrestling is supposed to be. A disappointing finish to the tournament due to the ‘Flaming Casket’ gimmick and the constraints of trying to work a match around that almighty coffin.

Fucking hell, the Backseat Boyz haven’t even made it through the curtain and there are already “faggot, faggot” chants just because their entrance music has started. A ladder match with the EWF tag belts suspended from the ceiling and the first team to retrieve them will be declared the winners. Trent is a bit too pleased with himself after cartwheeling out the way of colliding with Johnny and gets clotheslined over the top rope, falling hard on a ladder at ringside. What the fuck is up with this commentary? When one of them says how, away from Donnie B, the Backseat Boyz aren’t that bad, the other wonders whether he gives them rectal exams! Suicide dive by one of the Crew. Trent with a great counter for the hip toss, blocking it and immediately locking in an abdominal stretch. With the Crew wide open and helpless, Johnny dropkicks a chair into his face. Apparently if you take away the Backseat Boyz sexual preferences they’re pretty good workers. I’m going to mute these bozos in a minute. Trent collects a ladder and places it on the ring apron, however one of the Crew reverses the Irish whip and Johnny inadvertently sends it crashing into his own partner. The Bad Crew rest the ladder upright against the turnbuckles and then powerbomb Johnny into it, although as they show it off to the fans they’re caught by a Trent missile dropkick. Johnny buries one of the Crew under the ladder and comes off the top with a tumbleweed. The Backseats collect a second ladder and get a couple of rungs from the top when the Crew are up and shove them off, the champions taking a pretty nasty spill all the way down to the wooden floor. As it looks like the Bad Crew are about to retrieve the titles Donnie B grabs another ladder and jabs it at them causing them both to lose their balance. Plancha from the ladder to the outside by Kashmere and for once these commentators make a valid point about how he was only inches away from the belts but instead chose to fly onto the Bad Crew instead. Orihara moonsault from Trent. The BSB sandwich one of the Crew inbetween the ladder and Johnny assists Trent with the splash from the top. ‘Acid Bomb’ into the ladder on the other. The double clothesline is ducked and as the Crew comes back with one of his own, Trent sees it coming and pulls referee Brian Logan in front of him so he ends up getting wiped out by it. Bad Crew hit their finisher ‘Badlands’ (a combination chokebomb/neckbreaker) on Trent and retrieve the title belts when they’re jumped by Lovebug and Martial Law. Referee Logan is still knocked out and unaware of what’s going on. Donnie B grabs the title belts which Bad Crew dropped when they were ambushed and throws them to Johnny who climbs up the ladder and holds them above his head, making out that he’s collecting them while waiting for Logan to come through. It’s not long before he does, sees Kashmere with the title and awards the match to the Backseat Boyz. Purely off the back of the work and effort of the Backseats I liked this one a lot. A real cool finish too, someone needs to steal that next time they’re in a Ladder match. Commentary was the pits which is a constant theme with the EWF.

No introductions or anything as we join the footage with the action already under way Noble clotheslines Cross over the top out to the hard wooden floor, however when he grabs him by the hair to pull him back up to the apron, Cross rakes him across the eyes and then snaps his neck across the top rope. Standing shooting star press by Cross. The commentators say how they have never seen that before and, although commonplace now, you forget how rare a move like that was back in 2000. A beautiful huracanrana from Cross but Noble avoids the corkscrew legdrop. They blow a wheelbarrow spot and in the end Cross just grabs a side headlock. That was ugly. A Noble kneelift draws an Ed Leslie comparison, this time the move being done by a talented wrestler though! The action plays second fiddle for a moment as the commentary team go off on a tangent and take heavy pot shots at ECW. Apparently no ECW fans will be watching this Wildside show because they’re all out looting or stocking up on the latest date rape drug so they can score with their best friend’s 14 year old sister! Ouch! Cross continues to show his athleticism with a double backflip followed by a leg lariat to Noble who is in the corner, Cross sailing out over the top rope to the floor. Noble rolls out the way of the Phoenix Splash and hits ‘Rigor Mortis’, a floatover DDT. Despite that being his finisher Cross kicks out, so Noble gives him a full nelson slam. As he makes the cover he’s jumped by Air Paris and John Phoenix for the DQ. Paris is compared to David Koresh, as an almost cult like leader who draw these young wrestler’s into his web. The American Males make the save and prevent Noble from taken too much of a beating from the trio. I’m sure Jason Cross ends up in early ROH at some point. He’s real green here but his athleticism is off the charts; the standing shooting star, backflips, the height he gets on the Phoenix splash etc. Noble didn’t show me much and even back in 2000 I’m amazed that the commentator’s were able to get away with some of the stuff they were saying here.

We get a recap of the Shannon Moore vs Shane Helms match from Nitro and Chavo’s ill-advised post-match attack where he came a cropper. Chavo grabs the mic and says how ‘Sugar’ Shane has been on quite the roll recently. He’s struggling over his words here and it’s not that clear what he’s even talking about. I think he’s implying that he’ll lie down for Jamie Noble because should he lose this match then Noble will be the Cruiserweight champion, he will be the number one contender and Helms will be left out in the cold. A bit of backwards thinking, but as I said this promo was tough to decipher. Noble’s wrestling is so smooth and a headscissors sends Chavo through the ropes to the outside. Mike Tenay is putting over the Ladder match from Starrcade and just how good of a wrestler Jamie Noble is. Double leg takedown by Chavo which he follows by dropping a knee to the groin of his opponent as he looks to take over. Noble ducks a shot and lands a reverse neckbreaker. After a big backdrop Chavo is on his knees begging for mercy but Noble is not in a forgiving mood. He sits the champion on the top turnbuckle when out runs Shane Helms who grabs Chavo’s leg to prevent him from being superplexed. A right hand sends Jamie careering backwards to the mat and Chavo connects on the frog splash. Brainbuster and this one is over. Helms looks on telling Chavo that he’s “the number one contender”, while Guerrero motions that he hooked him in. Aah, so what he was trying to say from that badly worded promo was that if he loses Helms won’t get the title shot, so if you want it, you better make sure I win. Not as athletic or innovative as the Helms/Moore match but the work was tighter and crisper and Noble continues to look tremendous.

After the inconclusive finish to last night’s Ladder match, Commissioner Ric Flair has put the two men who grabbed the contract at the same time in the ring to face each other, the winner going on to meet Chavo Guerrero for the Cruiserweight title at Sin. Mark Madden has taken to calling Shannon ‘HB2K’ which is incredibly lame. Give the commentary team their due on one thing, they’re actually putting over the ladder match pretty big. An abundance of two counts early, Madden pointing out that they are so familiar with each other that they have counters for counters. Shane is the first to lose his cool, grabbing his partner by the hair and throwing him over the top rope to the outside. Shannon botches a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor but recovers to hit a huracanrana off the apron. Apparently the move should now always be called a Frankensteiner as ‘Big Poppa Pump’ has threatened to break the neck of anyone not calling it that. I’ll take my chances. Powerslam off the top by Helms for a two. ‘X-plex’ (cross armed German suplex) for another near fall. Shannon ducks a superkick, drags Shane down by the hair and then comes off the top with a corkscrew for a two count of his own. Rocker dropper. Helms hold onto the ropes on the attempted top rope Frankensteiner (OK, I give!) and comes off with a gorgeous looking sunset flip. After Shannon telegraphs the backdrop, Shane with a Vertebreaker for the win and the title shot. He helps his partner to his feet when he’s jumped by Chavo Jr. 3 Count show that there is no animosity there, teaming up to leave him laying after the ‘Nightmare on Helms Street’.

Corey Maclin has a quick word with Lance Cade and Joey Abs before this one gets started. He’s looking forward to seeing Abs in action because he’s heard he comes here with a great wrestling reputation. Joey says that the last time he was here Slash left him laying in that ring, right now though he’s going to get himself some revenge. Slash may be a big deal around here, but he’s going to find out who the new real deal is! Lance promises to pay Tracey Smothers back for what he did to him last week, while continuing to follow in the steps of his trainer Shawn Michaels who went from the Channel 5 studios in Memphis to the top of the wrestling business. Smothers and Cade immediately get into it, not holding anything back and trading blows with one another. Abs catches Slash on the tip up and powerslams him to the mat. Slash whips Cade towards the ropes, however he puts the breaks on and takes a shot at Tracey on the apron. As he turns back around he’s met with a clothesline though that sends him over the top rope to the outside. The heels take over until Slash misses a legdrop from the top. Both men make a tag but it’s Joey Abs who has got the grit between his teeth. A powerslam for Tracey, a press slam on Slash, he runs through both with a double clothesline before getting the three on Smothers following ‘Absolution’. The Dupps attack Abs post-match and while Cade tries to help his partner they’re outnumbered in there. Help isn’t too far away in the shape of Spellbinder and Bulldog Raines who clear the ring of the heels. Rushed.

The tone is set as the entrances are going on, 2 Tuff, Page and Rollin all casually chatting in the ring and then dancing together to Cash’s theme music (‘Pretty Fly For a White Guy’ by The Offspring). There’s no animosity there at all being displayed. It gets better, stealing a page from Edge & Christian’s playbook and “for the benefit of those with flash photography” they all pose together for five seconds to each side of the building. This comes over as a bunch of friends doing stuff to entertain a crowd. It’s a shame because when it got going there were some nasty bumps (2 Tuff took a flapjack into the Christmas tree and also got double hiptossed over the top rope onto some chairs at ringside) and it was pretty violent (Rollin must’ve had a good hundred tacks embedded in his head courtesy of a drawing pin covered baseball bat and they used a ton of weapons). Only problem was they lost me before they even locked up. For posterity 2 Tuff gets the pin on Rollin after a spinning diving headbutt. Of course they hug it out and raise each others’ arms at the end, they’re all friends after all!

I've never understood why folk do that. It's like those weirdo Mark Rushford's of the world who can't stand Dave Meltzer, yet spend their hours listening to every word he says, pouring over every word he writes and actually SUBSCRIBING to the Observer so they can cherry pick comments out of context to have a go at Dave over. Folk like that have seriously empty lives it's that the way that they spend their days. Oh, and if we're going on about the title of the thread (which didn't need amending imo), the word is "self-destruction"!

William Regal would like to pass on greetings and well wishes to all of his friends in Fort Lauderdale! As Thanksgiving is almost upon them, and with him being an ‘Ambassador of Goodwill’, he is here to tell them that Thanksgiving is everything that is wrong with their country. Regal puts down the festivities, the overweight disgusting families gorging themselves on food that spend all day watching cartoons, when he is interrupted by the Rock. An electric ovation for the ‘Great One’ here in his home state and for any that were unaware he informs them that “finally the Rock has come back...home”. Rock has a slightly different opinion to Regal who doesn’t like him coming out here and besmirching his words. The two go back and forth for a bit until Rock talks about all his fans who would give thanks if he were just to walk down this ramp, get in the ring and proceed to wallop his candy butt all over Fort Lauderdale. When Regal wonders if that is a challenge, Rock tells him to bet his British bum it is! There are some glorious facials from Regal throughout all of this. Regal momentarily averts his gaze out to the crowd and ‘the Brahma Bull’ instantly takes advantage. Rikishi walks out a matter of seconds into the match, standing at the top of the stage. He does provide a distraction to Rock who has his eyes on him now as well as his opponent. Rock side steps a charging Regal and gives him a helping hand through the ropes to the outside. Regal reverses the whip on the floor sending Rock crashing into the ring post and then clotheslines him over the barricade and into the crowd. They fight in amongst the fans before returning to ringside, Rock managing to avoid a swinging chair. Back inside Rock blocks a left and starts to fire back until Regal ducks under a shot and forearms him across the back of the head. Rock with a boot to the gut followed by a DDT. Regal kicks out after a belly to belly suplex and then keeps hold of Rock’s arm on the Irish whip as he catches him with the Hangman’s Noose neckbreaker. He uses the ropes for some additional leverage on the lateral press but this time its Rock doing the kicking out. The end is nigh for our ‘Goodwill Ambassador’ though as Rock catches a kick, dragon screw leg whip and he locks on a ‘Sharpshooter’ for the submission. Post-match Rock climbs the turnbuckles and stares a hole through Rikishi, gesturing at him to “just bring it”, but Rikishi says to save it for another day. As Regal comically tries to explain that he’s still the European champion Rock gives him a ‘Rock Bottom’.

No Radicalz in Eddy’s corner for this title defense, Commissioner Foley having banned them from ringside. He’s not wasting any time, sliding under the bottom to get his hands on ‘the One’. Gunn gets the better of the exchange and drops Eddy throat first across the barricade. When they finally make their way into the ring the match is officially underway. High backdrop by Gunn. Eddy ducks under a clothesline but, as he rebounds off, the two crash into one another and both go down. The champion comes out of it slightly better and hops out the ring to grab his title belt. Before he gets the chance to use it though Gunn boots him in the stomach, causing him to drop the strap and also stumble into referee Tim White. Eddy with a boot of his own and he DDT’s Mr Ass onto the belt. He makes the cover but White is slow to start his count as he’s busy getting the gold out of the ring. That gives Gunn a vital extra few seconds and he’s able to get a shoulder up. Frog splash. Gunn catches him with a powerslam and soon the two are back exchanging punches, the challenger again getting the better of things. A great tilt-a-whirl slam for a two count. Another near fall after a jackhammer/fame-asser combo, this time Eddy being the one to get his shoulder up in time. Gunn goes for his finisher a second time but Eddy counters, dumping him across the top rope. He tries to shake the cobwebs off, heads upstairs, but as he comes off the top Gunn snatches him and hits the ‘Love Gun’ (Cobra clutch slam) for the win. A great example of how good Eddy Guerrero is.

We get a recap of what led to this match, Rikishi having dragged Rock’s name through the dirt by implicating that he was the one who orchestrated the attack on Steve Austin when in fact it was Triple H who was the one pulling the strings and behind it all. Jim Ross says that the Rock might not be 100% but he doesn’t care because this one is personal. Rock sprints down the aisle like you’ve never seen him move before as we get a super hot opening. He collects a chair from ringside but really should’ve continued his attack as Tim White snatches it away from him and as he then turns around, he turns into a Rikishi superkick. Ross reminds everyone how Rock suffered a bruised sternum as well as internal bleeding and physically can’t get healthy in a week. Rikishi drops a big leg across the chest, he’s not going to be working on knees or arms tonight, everything is aimed at that weakened chest. Side slam for a two count, Rock getting a shoulder up. The Irish whip is reversed and Rock gives Rikishi a helping hand, side stepping out the way and using his momentum to send him through the ropes to the floor. ‘The Great One’s’ not one for catching a breather, almost as if he’s running on adrenaline, as he follows him out. Maybe he should’ve taken some time to regroup as Rikishi blocks having his head slammed into the timekeeper’s table and slams Rock’s into it instead. In something of a rarity, White gets bumped on the outside and with no official Rikishi pulls a sledgehammer out from underneath the ring. He’s not able to take advantage though, Rock getting the first shot in and causing him to drop it. The ‘Rock Bottom’ takes every bit as much out of Rock as it did his opponent, and when he does manage to crawl over to make the cover, that additional time results in Rikishi kicking out. Some hard right hands to the jaw of Rikishi as the Rock sets about ‘laying the smacketh down’ on him. Rikishi blocks a shot and headbutts him in the chest. The hardest part of Rikishi’s body according to the King who is still living in the 1970s. Samoan drop by Rikishi followed by a sit down splash. The Rock kicks out to a loud pop, the crowd are really into his comebacks here. Rikishi ‘backs dat ass up’ however all the stinkface does is fire ‘the Great One’ up, who explodes out the corner with a clothesline that turns Rikishi inside out. He hits a spinebuster but is still clutching his chest and in some pain. The ‘People’s Elbow’ lands and although despite not making the cover immediately, it is enough to put Rikishi away. Post-match Rikishi drops Rock with a thrust kick followed by four Bonzai drops. JR speculates that Rock may never be the same again and even though he won the match, he lost the war. The crowd was red hot for the Rock, not so much for Rikishi, and played a huge part in this. He does get his heat back post-match, but Austin handled him with ease (twice) and now Rock’s put him away too. I’m not a star ratings guy and while I liked this, I wouldn’t go four on it.

Gene Okerlund is with Buff Bagwell and he says how a few weeks ago Buff talked about getting an opportunity in World Championship Wrestling and tonight he has that, a shot at the World Heavyweight title against Scott Steiner. Bagwell claims that he stirred a lot of feathers in that interview, telling the truth about never having a chance here in WCW, always being put down and never having an opportunity. Tonight he has and thinks that that gold will look pretty good around Buff Daddy’s waist! ‘Big Poppa Pump’ reminds Buff about what he did to Booker T, putting him in the hospital, how Sting is in the bed next to him and that he just ended Stevie Ray’s career. Tonight though he’s in a good mood and is giving him the chance to walk away and avoid a similar fate. Buff appreciates that, offers his hand and says he’ll take it, only to boot him in the mid-section as this gets started. Bloody hell, Buff even with a dropkick as it’s like this opportunity has lit a fire under him. Steiner rolls under the bottom rope to the floor but Buff is right on him, throwing him into the guard rail. Scotty reverses the whip to the corner, catches Buff on the tip up and slams him into the turnbuckles, tying him in the ‘tree of woe’. Steinerline/elbow drop/push ups rather than pin, I think he does that routine in every match now. Bagwell kicks out at two after the belly to belly and Steiner is in the face of the referee trying to intimidate him. Buff powers out of the double arm stretch, blocks having his head rammed into the turnbuckles before doing the same to Steiner. He fails to connect on the dropkick but spikes him with a DDT. Inverted atomic drop, double armed DDT and now he’s the one not going for a cover, preferring to dance instead. He telegraphs a backdrop and Steiner dumps him overhead. Sid appears on the big screen, although Steiner is in the zone and paying no attention. ‘BPP’ sits Bagwell on the top turnbuckle however ‘Buff Daddy’ fight backs with Steiner taking a backward bump to the mat. ‘Blockbuster’ for a two. Midajah is perched on the top turnbuckle, which in those heels that’s either impressive or downright daft. Bagwell catches her attempted crossbody (why is Slick Johnson letting this go by the way?) only to turn around into a Steinerline. One ‘recliner’ later and Buff has blown that opportunity he wanted. Steiner puts the hold back on post-match, saying something about Sid Vicious and as Sidney walks down the aisle towards the ring the show goes off the air. A motivated Bagwell made this much better than I expected, especially when he was on the attack. Steiner has got his routine, a formula if you will, and he sticks to it. The flagrant interference in front of the referee was infuriating and why, when Buff goes on about never being given an opportunity is he time wasting and showboating and ultimately blowing it? Doesn’t make him look the smartest of folk.

Spike Dudley is a man with a plan, not bothering to hang around and immediately launching himself at Rhino. That looks like it’s caught his opponent off guard but as he goes for an early Acid Drop Rhino just powers him off. A gore from Spike followed by a drop toe hold. He stomps away at Rhino’s knee, trying to take one of those tree trunk legs away from him, the strategy being that if he can’t stand he can’t gore. The pace is relentless and every chance Spike gets he attacks that leg. Rhino manages to kick him off with his other leg and Spike takes a tumble through the ropes. The champion whips him into the guard rail, drives him head first into the announcer’s table and finally busts him open with a couple of chair shots. Back inside, and after slamming him face first into the chair, he climbs the ropes to yell at some fans in the front row. That gives Spike the time he needs to recuperate and when Rhino turns back around he’s met by a chair that his opponent had flung full force at him. The action returns to the floor and, this time, over the barricades and into the crowd. Crossbody off the balcony by Spike! The ‘runt of the litter’ whips Rhino into the corner but the ‘Manbeast’ gets some payback for earlier, a drop toe hold of his own sending Spike crashing into the turnbuckles. He presses him overhead, however Spike with a go-behind and as he looks for an Acid Drop Rhino carries him across the ring and dumps him over the top rope and through a table on the floor. After a gore, which saw the crowd start chanting “Goldberg”, Spike does the smart thing and rolls to the outside. Rhino goes to grab him but is met with repeated chair shots. Spike pulls out some tape which he uses to tie Rhino to the bottom rope, Cyrus thinking that it’s not the smartest move as he won’t be able to pin him that way, while Joey Styles speculates that maybe he doesn’t want to pin him, maybe he is looking to break his leg? Styles may very well be right as time after time Spike brings the chair down hard on Rhino’s leg. In doing so, the tape snaps though, freeing Rhino. He snatches Spike, pulls him to the mat and locks in a rear chinlock, using some of the tape to choke Spike with at the same time. The referee lifts up Spike’s arm which drops once, twice and finally for a third time to bring the match to a close. Yuk, fortunately we were watching a different camera angle but it looks like Spike puked at some point there. The action isn’t over, Rhino ending up goring referee Mike Kehner through a table after he and some other officials had come out to try and persuade Rhino to leave. I really liked this and thought that it was incredibly smartly booked. Not once was I ever looking at these two, seeing the size difference and thinking that it was ridiculous Spike was getting the better of things. Huge testament to Spike, especially the quick pace he was working at at the start of the match which set the tone for what was to come. He came across as courageous, gutsy whilst Rhino retained that air of psychotic bad ass’ery. Pretty violent in places too with those chair shots and completely caught off guard with the finish. Props for doing something different there rather than the predictable, and expected, gore. Real good stuff.

Joey Styles mentions that Danny Doring & Roadkill have promised to split up as a team if they don’t win the tag titles at the upcoming PPV. At least they’re finally giving them the straps (I think, I can’t see Doring especially doing much as a singles) even if that ship may well have sailed. We return from a commercial break, the match already in progress, just in time to see Rhino catch Kash on an attempted springboard and then planting him to the mat. Styles is in full on hype mode for the Massacre on 34th Street show. Rhino telegraphs a backdrop and Kash with an awesome double jump huracanrana. A swinging DDT doesn’t put the champion away as Kash looks to try and regain the TV title. Rhino turns the tide, launching Kash, rather ugly, into the air. In an odd move on his part he climbs to the top turnbuckle only for Kash to dropkick a leg out from under him as he struggles to get his bearings up there. Kash follows him up, but as the two hammer away at each other, Rhino gets the better of things and hits a dangerous as hell middle rope piledriver for the win. He’s not done just yet, collecting a table from under the ring. As he’s about to drive Kash through it, out marches Spike Dudley not wanting to wait until the PPV. He leap frogs out the way of the gore as Rhino crashes through the table himself. Spike with an Acid Drop and he then puts one foot on his fallen opponent while he beats his own chest. Rhino is such a great base for Kash’s offense although the match wasn’t really much, just something prior to the PPV. I liked the post-match and thought they did a good job in getting Spike over as having a legitimate shot against Rhino, something which when you just look at the two would be a hard sell. Looking forward to seeing how they work that now.

I haven’t watched anything for a couple of months now as I don’t have much in the way of motivation and have spent way too long on this project as it is. As a result I’m going to give myself until the end of the year and then I’ll be putting a cap on things. According to my spreadsheet I have 94 matches left to watch and I’ll see how many of those I actually get through; it may only be a handful, it may be all 94 (unlikely) but if I don’t set myself a limit this will never end. Onto War Games~ Mike Quackenbush received a tape in the mail from Don Montoya, he thought it was this week’s episode of Dawson’s Creek that he’d missed, but it was in fact FWA TV and he got to see for himself what these goofs tried to do once again to Colleen. Yup, that’s how these guys started their promos for War Games, with comedy and referencing Dawson’s Creek! Things don’t get much better from there with Daniels calling Montoya a “nappy headed scumbag”, in fact Adam Flash’s simple “blood, blood, blood” line was probably the most effective of the lot. Rules here are similar to the old ‘War Games’ in that one person from each team will start off in the cage, they will have five minutes and then every two minutes after that they’ll flip a coin in the locker room to determine the next competitor with pinfalls and submissions not counting until all six men are in the cage. The commentators kind of imply that there will be a coin toss every two minutes so you may end up getting heel followed by a heel, although that isn’t really clarified. Flash and Divine start out, the latter getting busted open within the opening couple of minutes after being thrown into the cage. R.C. on commentary talks about there being “no give” in that cage, even though give is what you can clearly see! These two are going for pinfalls and rather than advising that they’re not in operation until all six men are in the cage, the official proceeds to count them. The commentators are still saying that the pinfalls won’t count and are at a bit of a loss as to why the wrestlers are making them. This is pretty slow paced and we get another pinfall attempt. Maybe they’ve changed the rules and just not informed the commentary team? Dan Moreland is conspicuous with his absence and it’s speculated that maybe he’s controlling the coin toss in the back. When Danny Rose arrives as the third person in the cage R.C. is convinced that Moreland is fixing things. As the pinfall attempts continue we’re now told that when all six men have entered it will be elimination rules. Talk about making it up as you go along! At least with Moreland’s absence they do have a credible excuse and can put the blame on him. Quack and Daniels are the next two entrants and the heels with a nice double team on Quack into the cage. Colleen tries to rally the fans on the outside but they’re not really responding. Montoya is out last, however he doesn’t even make it inside the cage as Daniels goes out to meet him on the floor. Double powerbomb into the cage on Divine, Flash with a top rope rana and seconds after the Don’s arrival we get out first elimination. As Montoya hadn’t physically entered the cage you could argue that the elimination shouldn’t have counted, although I’m the only one who seems to have picked up on that. Montoya takes out Flash with a cradle piledriver (called the Karl Gotch special), but the Don soon falls victim to a double powerbomb as the eliminations come thick and fast. With Quack now on his own, R.C. thinks this is “horrible” and it’s pretty weird seeing him cheer the faces as every other time we’ve seen him this year he’s been cheerleading for the heels. As Daniels goes for a ‘Pyramid Bomb’ on Quack he’s nailed from behind by the returning Montoya. Rose, who had climbed to the top turnbuckle and was jawing with the fans, was unaware of what’s gone on and Quack yanks his leg pulling him to the mat. Palm strike, alligator clutch and we’re down to two. Of course that wasn’t legal but who cares it seems? After Daniels hits a ‘Pyramid Bomb’, instead of making the cover he exits the cage and grabs the microphone. He tells Quack how he’s always wanted a shot at his title belt, well he can have it tonight. I wonder how this is going to end up. Quack immediately gets a second wind, like that was all he needed to hear, and the two start trading strikes. DDT followed by a crappy looking splash from the top of the cage, but Daniels not only kicks out, he is back to his feet and no sells it. Huh? Three powerbombs by Daniels to Quack and ‘Lightning’ Mike kicks out, despite R.C. screaming “Jesus Christ, somebody stop it he’s killed him”. He hadn’t. Quack blocks a shot, STO, before heading back up to the top of the cage, this time coming off with what looked like a double foot stomp. Alligator clutch pin and Quack wins. Yet again, Daniels is right up, no selling, and in the face of the official berating his count. Divine and Montoya return to the cage celebrating with Quack who has some words for those in attendance. I wasn’t a fan of this at all, from the lame interviews to the rules that no-one seemed to fully understand, to the rules that changes as the match went along, to the quick eliminations, to the ridiculous no selling and to the predictable outcome the moment Daniels put his title belt on the line. Rose and Flash did provide a bit of aggression, but there was no heat to this at all. I was expecting Moreland to show at some point in the match and it was odd that he wasn’t out there accompanying ‘his’ team. Some of Quack’s offense looked especially bad.

A heavy chunk of the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (mid '84 to the end) that they've got up is also incorrectly dated, that's a week out.

I'm still at a loss why WWE didn't sign her when they bought her back for the 2nd Mae Young Classic.

I did a search and the 2014 Hall of Fame thread generated twenty two pages of discussion. I'd be amazed if this one does even a fifth of that. I think part of it is to do with the decline of message boards in general. The handful or so other Wrestling ones that I still visit (Classics, Sports & Wrestling, KayfabeMemories) get so little traffic compared to the early part of the decade, people having moved to social media instead. In addition if you look at previous threads ion the HoF there was always a ton of discussion from voters; outside of Bix and John Lister, is there anyone who still posts here who has a vote? The likes of Zellner, Dylan, Snowden, jdw, pantherwagner, Allan Blackstock and probably others I missed (kjh?) no longer post on the board (although several of them are still very active on Twitter), so there's not going to be cases plead, lists posted from voters trying to convince others.

Yeah, the Observer reported back in 2016 that WWE backed off on signing him due to finding out about a domestic violence allegation in 2009 that led him to being suspended for a game when he was in the NFL.

It takes what seems an eternity for this to start as Pearce walks around the ring, Dave Prazak teases he’s going to fight Kid, Pearce take a camera from a photographer which he and Hero then use to take pictures, Hero doesn’t want to be frisked by the referee so gets his valet to frisk him instead, Pearce frisks the referee, Pearce wants the audience member chucked out as they return a bottle to him that he had thrown out at them. The match finally gets going and Hero assumes the role of the referee. Now Pearce is playing as being ref, while the match itself is being played for ‘laughs’. This is garbage. Prazak is up on the apron distracting ‘referee’ Pearce and the actual ref, who is on the outside, uses the distraction to help Hero and choke Kid over the middle rope! The ‘comedy’ continues, real ref taking photos as Hero and Pearce do their best Dusty Rhodes impressions. Kid ducks the double clothesline and lands a double dropkick followed by a pair of clotheslines. Pearce and Hero roll to the floor where they get into a shoving match, oblivious to Kid who takes them out with a cannonball from the top turnbuckle. Hero and Kid return to the ring but Pearce trips Kid from the outside. Pearce hits a great looking move that starts out as a side suplex from where he flips Kid over and he lands face down on the mat. Unfortunately that leads to more nonsense with Hero telling him that he didn’t execute it right and this is how you do it. Soft looking belly to back/neckbreaker combination. Kid kicks out of the cover so the ref, at the insistence of Hero and Pearce, then covers him. Again, this is garbage! Hero takes a seat in the front row with his valet while the referee jumps around like some jack-in-the-box. Shiranui by Kid and Pearce is eliminated. Eliminated, unfortunately not over! Pearce shoves the ref, who shoves him back, which leads to Pearce decking him. He drags him to the top turnbuckle, only to slip! At the second attempt he gives him a ‘Pepsi Plunge’ and then powerbombs an official who comes from the back to check on him. Eventually a cop shows up and he’s cuffed and taken out of there. Hopefully this improves now we’re down to just the two. Hero counters the rana with a spinning powerbomb. He applies a ‘Cobra clutch’ but it’s real loose and he isn’t locking that thing in. Release cradle suplex. This isn’t the most dynamic of matches that we’re watching. Kid unloads with punches to counter the escape the powerbomb before hitting Elix Skipper’s ‘Play of the Day’. A terrible looking reverse DDT due to Hero dropping to the mat a moment earlier than Kid. Well I suppose it fits in with how this match has gone. Kid misses a moonsault but lands a rana. Hero reverses the Irish whip, keeps hold of the arm and hits a pumphandle slam. If this couldn’t get any worse we then get a ref bump, Hero hiptossing Kid into him. ‘Tomokaze’ by Kid, triple jump moonsault, but there’s no-one to count the fall. I just want this to end and I’m not the only one as the crowd are chanting “boring” at them. Eventually Hero clocks Kid with knux and then celebrates like he’s won the WWF World title in the main event at Wrestlemania. Dreadful match that I have no intent on expanding on further bar that Kid looked real indie and low rent, something which I hadn’t thought about him until now.

The commentator who is lusting after Candi (Dylan Knight’s valet) sounds familiar but I can’t place him. Ah, it’s R.C. that jerk who does the commentary for the EWF. It may be a different promotion but he’s as obnoxious as ever, making fun of his co-commentator and saying how he would love to hang out with any girl with a pulse because the only type he does hang out with are the inflatable kind. Allison Danger is seconding Maldonado and dumb ass R.C. thinks that she is his mystery partner. When Knight and Powers see him on his own they think this is going to be two-on-one and not much of a contest. They jump Rapid Fire at which point the lights in the building go off; when they come back on Steve Corino is stood in the middle of the ring with Maldonado. Immediately the four men pair off and they start brawling around the Riverside Arena (to pick up on Tim’s point this really does look like one of those early Chikara venues). Corino puts a garbage bin over Knight’s head, which he punches, while Rapid Fire suplexes J.D. on the floor. R.C. doesn’t appreciate Corino bringing this “ECW crap” here and wants security to throw him out the building. The wrestlers return to the ring and RFM with a big powerslam, although he doesn’t even bother going for the cover. He unloads with kicks and a leg sweep fells Powers. A blind tag was missed by everybody, including me, and the legal Knight nails the unaware Maldonado. Corino tags in and Knight instantly backs off. He cheapshots him on the break and then starts running his mouth yelling “Come on Old School”. The conditioned crowd are already chanting for a catfight. I hope not, but imagine it’s on the cards. Corino catches a leg and kicks Knight in the groin, R.C. calling that an “ECW move”. Yawn. Powers knees RFM in the back when he’s whipped into the ropes and Knight with a swinging neckbreaker which he doesn’t quite get all of. He lures Corino into the ring so they can get some double teaming in behind the official’s back. R.C. points out that the referee is Mike Kehner, from ECW, and that the deck is stacked against Powers and Knight. Maybe not the most opportune time to make that point, at least wait until they’re on the back foot! Tornado DDT gets Powers a two count. Knight runs into a big boot followed by an elbow, but as Rapid Fire charges he’s floored by a clothesline. R.C. claiming that Maldonado ears slowed him down! This guy is the worst and is quickly back to perving over the valet. RFM ducks a right hand and then dumps Knight on his head with a back suplex. Nice little delay from him before he makes the hot tag. All four men are in the ring and we get double ‘ten punch in the corner’ spots. They go to whip Powers and Knight into each other, however Knight reverses and J.D. drills Corino with an elbow to the jaw. Low blow by Candi on RFM and here comes Allison Danger. Ah nice, they tease the catfight but don’t give it them, Knight cutting Danger off with a lariat. Corino drops him with a superkick as he plays to the crowd and then grabs Candi for a piledriver; Powers coming to her rescue in the nick of time. Maldonado with a step up enzuigiri on J.D. and that’s enough to put him away for the three count. Post-match Corino thanks everyone who chose to come out and watch them rather than watch Smackdown on TV and says they’re making it their mission to make the IWA one of the greatest promotions in the United States. It started out like we were going to get a building wide brawl before they settled things down into a traditional tag match. Everyone bar Corino was new to me and he worked harder than I expected on a non-ECW show. I don’t know if this is his promotion or he’s involved in some way behind the scenes, although you get that impression from his interview at the end and it would also explain why he had his working boots on. R.C.’s commentary was atrocious and he’s definitely up there as one of the worst of the year, I genuinely lost track of the number of times he started talking about ECW. I liked the tease of the catfight and then them not giving it and Maldonado is a useful hand. Not bad, not bad at all.