GSR

I’ve always wondered why Cheerleader Melissa was called that. Was she actually a cheerleader? Turns out she was. She is in the Ballard Brother’s corner here doing a cheerleading gimmick complete with outfit and pom poms. Ice Box is in the West Side Playaz’s corner, the commentators noting how Melissa has been readily interfering in the Ballard’s matches recently and the 400lb Ice Box isn’t going to be beaten up by anybody, there to counteract her. They also point out that Shane has the number ‘1’ on his hockey jersey, while Shannon has number ‘23’. That helps a ton because I was fearing I’d have no idea how I was going to be able to identify who is who. The Playaz start out demonstrating their double team offense before focusing their attack on Shane’s left arm. Flying double axe handle by LeGrande, but Shane goes to his eyes and is able to tag out to his brother. Shannon immediately runs into a sit down powerbomb and fairs equally as bad. Nice suplex by Thompson. Vertical suplex/flying crossbody combo and Shane is in to break up the cover. Thompson misses seeing the blind tag and gets caught by a shoddy one footed dropkick. Cool little double underhook swinging neckbreaker. Shane plays to the crowd though before making the cover and the added few seconds allows Thompson to kick out. Referee Jimmy Ripp then makes a right balls up of things as he stands there and watches Melissa get in the ring for the next spot. He doesn’t even attempt to go over and usher her out of there, just stands on by. LeGrande is in, at which point Shannon pushes Ripp towards him and ‘behind the official’s’ back’ (although not really) Shannon assists Melissa with a quesadora legdrop onto Thompson. That looked great, but would have looked better if Ripp was doing his job better. Thompson gets a series of flash near falls only for Shane to knee him in the back as he hits the ropes. Baseball slide dropkick to the groin, out of the view of the official who is again over in the champion’s corner dealing with LeGrande. The Ballard’s telegraph the double backdrop, up kick on Shane and a big powerbomb on Shannon. That took plenty out of Thompson and he can’t muster the energy to make the tag. Shane goes over and knocks LeGrande off the apron, Thompson who has now recovered heads to his corner but there’s no-one there. Smart thinking from the Brothers. Thompson ducks a double clothesline and comes back with one of his own, the Ballard’s taking great flip bumps. Hot tag to LeGrande who runs wild with clotheslines, suplexes and finally a ‘Swanton bomb’. The champs hit a stacked up superplex or a ‘super-duper-plex’ as they call it with Boyce sat on Thompson’s shoulders. Shannon breaks up the pinfall as the match starts to break down with all four men in the ring. The Ballard’s go for a double superplex of their own, but Thompson comes up from behind and picks the brothers up, one sat on each shoulder. LeGrande sets himself, presumably for a double blockbuster, when he’s crotched by Melissa. Double Russian legsweep from the Ballard’s who then look to imitate that ‘Super-duper-plex’. Boyce blocks, hits a blockbuster and from the opposite corner comes Thompson with a frog splash. The WSP toss the Ballard’s to the outside and Thompson then backdrops LeGrande over the top rope and onto both. Cannonball by Thompson from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Back inside he loses Shane, practically spiking him on his head. Combination powerbomb/blockbuster, known as ‘the Drive By’ and the West Side Playaz retain. I can’t see what caused Chad to go the four stars on this as I found it pretty scrappy in places. Lots of double team moves, like in most WSP matches, and while the Ballard’s are fine foils with decent psychology, it jumped around. There was some structure to proceedings but I’m not a fan of when things like the arm work of the early portion is just blown off or forgotten about. Melissa looked good and I would’ve liked to have seen more from her, her counterpart on the other hand was non-existent. The ref was bad, totally ruining that one spot and was a bit all over the place. There was also a reliance on returning to certain things. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t bad, it just never stood out as anything special to me.

Joel Gertner is undergoing a strict training regime in preparation for his match, eating a box of Lucky Charms! While Roadkill wouldn’t train him, he says that he did receive training from someone and that will show in the style of his wrestling. Cyrus is out and he tells Gertner that for the first time in his life he’s got the opportunity of being a “man” rather than a “fat bitch”. Gertner removes his head set and makes his way down to the ring, Joey Styles cheering him on until he’s out of ear shot, at which point he changes his tune thinking he’s got no shot as Cyrus is a ringer. After he steps into the ring Cyrus informs him that it’s not going to be that easy, he still has some ‘stroke’ and if he want this match he’s got to get through his man, E.Z. Money. Hot Commodity are followed out by Commissioner Spike Dudley, who has got his leg all braced up as he’s suffering from a knee injury. Spike tells Cyrus that while he may have a little stroke, he’s got a lot of stroke. E.Z. Money will have to face an opponent of his choosing, if E.Z. wins then Cyrus can go on his way, however if his man wins, then immediately following the match it will be Joel Gertner vs Cyrus, one on one. As for his opponent “his name is Kash”... Kash sends E.Z. hurtling over the top rope to the floor and when Hamrick and Dinero get up on the apron he nails slugs them both too. Elektra is next to involve herself, distracting referee John Finnegan so that E.Z. can attack Kash from behind. Money accidentally takes out his own partners when he goes flying through the ropes after Kash had side stepped his charge and Kid then with this awesome double jump springboard somersault plancha. He throws him back inside and picks up a two count following a springboard clothesline. Kash telegraphs the back drop, Money with the up kick, but when E.Z. charges Kash backdrops him over the top rope. E.Z. lands on the apron though and takes Kash’s head off with the ‘Money Clip’. A lovely set up for the ‘Pendulum of Pain’ submission, although he gives up on that to drop an elbow to the back of Kash’s neck. Money blocks the ‘O’Connor roll’ and as he swivels his hips to the crowd,Kash with a springboard sunset flip. Double jump springboard huracanrana. He’s hitting his aerial offense immaculately tonight. Kash picks up a near fall after a tornado DDT, Gertner looking on, chomping at the bit to get his hands on Cyrus. Hamrick trips Kash as he hits the ropes and Money with ‘Electric Dreams’. E.Z. runs into a big boot before we get more perfect Kash offense in the form of a twisting senton. ‘Money Maker’. Elektra is up on the apron again distracting Finnegan and Dinero is in from behind with a ‘Krussian Legsweep’. Double wheelbarrow suplex before Hamrick drops a sky high legdrop, standing on E.Z.’s shoulder’s who is in turn sat on the top turnbuckle. All of this behind the back of John Finnegan I may add! Kash somehow kicks out of the cover and Money goes up top only for Kash to fall into the ropes and crotch him up there. E.Z. with a low blow to block the suicideplex but Kash then counters the superbomb attempt with a Super Frankensteiner as Gertner gets that match he wanted. Some post-match shenanigans with Hot Commodity sees Spike Dudley and subsequently the Sandman out for the save, Sandman breaking his cane over HC’s head with Hamrick even taking a trademark flip bump off the apron and onto the concrete. Elektra backs off before trying to seduce the Sandman, amazingly he has some taste and isn’t falling for it, preferring to pour beer down her ample chest and then rubbing Gertner’s face into it. He slingshots Cyrus into the ring and the match is on.

Mikey and Tajiri attack the tag team champions at the bell as they’re having a pre-match hug. They whip them into one another however the FBI put on the breaks and go to clothesline the Unholy Alliance, only for them to duck out the way as they end up clotheslining each other. Tajiri with a kick to the head of Guido, Mikey following suit on Mamaluke, showing that he’s been taking lessons from his partner. Tarantula by Tajiri, while over on the other side of the ring Mikey with a guillotine legdrop as the challengers continue to have their way with the champions. Big Sal grabs Mikey as he takes off after Guido, but he manages to free himself from his grasp and send the big man crashing into the ring post before Tajiri kills him with a kick. The Alliance tie Mamaluke in the ‘Tree of Woe’ and, after a Tajiri baseball slide, the Sinister Minister then enters the ring and shoots fire at his crotch. It’s laughable that the official didn’t see any of this, even by ECW standards, as they didn’t even attempt to try and distract him, he was just looking the other way. Guido tries to surprise them with a chair, but a Mikey drop toehold sends him head first into it. That ends up bloodying the Italian’s forehead. Mamaluke with a low blow while Mikey is unloading on him in the corner, and Guido is over to help his partner on a double powerbomb. As the crowd start up with our first “Where’s my pizza?” chant of the night, Cyrus goes on about the blatant stereotyping by this obviously uneducated crowd! ‘Sicilian slice’ for a near fall. Mikey catches Mamaluke on the bodyscissors and pancakes him face first to the mat. He makes the hot tag and Tajiri takes out his anger on Guido. Handspring elbow. Mamaluke lands on his feet from the attempted German and responds with one of his own, Joey Styles quickly correcting Cyrus and calling it an ‘Italian’ suplex. Rib breaker by Mikey and a Guido slingshot legdrop breaks up the cover. As he tries for the ‘Kiss of Death’, Tajiri blinds him with the mist. ‘Double Whippersnapper’ but Big Sal pulls the official from the ring, his team’s titles. The Sinister Minister fruitlessly attacks Sal with his cane, which has no effect and Sal ends up squashing him up against the guard rail. Asai moonsault by Tajiri takes out the big man. Mikey looks for a ‘Super Whippersnapper’ however Guido clocks him with one of the title belts. Some sort of double team move out of the FBI, the referee slides back into the ring and the champions retain their gold. Shorter match than I expected, almost a sprint, as they only go ten minutes. Very good as always with these teams, but refer to my comments in the opener about what I think should’ve happened here.

Flair is wearing a knee length fur jacket and has five models along with Hiro Matsuda accompanying him as he makes his way to the ring to be interviewed by Bob Caudle. ‘The Naitch’ notes that Ricky Steamboat is in the building and invites him out and to take his pick of the women as he must be bored going home to the same lady every night. He goes on to talk about money being no object when you have a manager like Hiro Matsuda and a multi-million dollar company behind you. Steamboat joins them and again Flair offers up the ladies. Like the wholesome family man is going to accept? Flair suggests Steamer do himself a favour and walk away from Monday night. They go back and forth for a bit until Flair tells him to go home and “help the missus do the dishes” as he’s going down town. Steamboat slaps him across the face and the fight is on. As the two go at it Bob Caudle and the models look to be in no hurry to exit the ring. ‘The Dragon’ decks Hiro and then starts tearing Flair’s clothes off his back. They blister each other with chops before Steamer strips Flair completely and he’s out there in just his pants and socks. Steamboat gets a visual pin after a flying crossbody, the crowd counting the three, but Matsuda has recovered, grabs Steamboat, and holds him so that his charge can unload with more knife edge chops that turn ‘The Dragon’s’ chest red. The two end up duking it out in amongst the crowd before Flair scarpers to the back. Steamer then returns to the ring and puts on the remnants of Flair’s tattered clothes. First question, where was security when all this was going on? You’d think with the big title match being only six days away they’d be out there pronto to make sure no-one got hurt or injured. Flair was great in the interview although Steamboat was fairly dry with his comebacks. The brawl was really good though, heated and sets up the PPV perfectly, even if Flair being stripped of his clothes is beyond overdone by this point.

Rip Morgan does the ‘Haka’ and the moment he’s finished Steiner is over and biting at his leg. We get an insert interview from Mike Rotundo who thinks it’ll be like taking candy from a baby when he faces Steiner for the TV title at the Chi Town Rumble. Morgan rams Steiner’s head into the turnbuckles, which he no sells, and then repeatedly rams his own head into it to show that has no effect on him. Scoop powerslam. Steiner runs into a big boot as Ripper takes over. He misses a splash off the middle though and as the action continues Steiner counters his bearhug with a belly to belly for the win. Not much to this and it wouldn’t have looked out of place on the Saturday Night show.

Done. I've long stopped listening to this but had completely forgotten what an appalling guest 'The Fray Movement' was when he was on.

Earlier in the show Bob Caudle conducted an interview with ‘the Dragon’ and questioned why he was taking this match so close to the Chi Town Rumble. Steamboat replied that he was taking a bunch of ‘tune up’ matches in preparation for Monday night and this was one of them. He also warned Flair not to interfere like he did on TBS. I’m imagining Flair is too busy sorting out his wardrobe to be concerned with that now. Steamboat is accompanied by wife Bonnie and little Richie. Bradley with a hip toss, a scoop slam and an arm drag. ‘The Dragon’ replies with a pair of hip tosses, two slams and two arm drags as Bradley then takes a powder to the floor. I like the psychology behind Steamer one-upping him on those moves even if it is a spot (the Bradley stuff) that I wouldn’t have done. Steamboat slingshot him back inside but Bradley doesn’t take the flip bump, instead soaring over the top rope and landing chest first on the mat. After Bradley takes a second powder Steamer follows him out only to get slammed on the ringside mats and thrown into the guard rail. Jim Ross says how Bradley has nothing to lose here and everything to gain and that Steamboat may have made a mistake in taking this bout so close to Monday. Whip to the corner and ‘the Dragon’ avoids a charging Bradley who goes flying head first into the turnbuckles. Steamer works the left arm, a common theme in matches around this time. Side slam by Bradley but he fails to connect on the splash off the top. Flying crossbody follows shortly after as Steamboat puts Bradley down for the three. The number one contender for the NWA World title should not be having as much trouble with the likes of Bob Bradley as Ricky Steamboat had here; he should’ve beaten him in a few minutes. Where had Bradley been prior to this in ’88? World Class maybe? Later this year when he joins Titan he would become a full on jobber although I don’t think he is just yet. Still, this match was 50/50 and while Bradley bumped real well for Steamer, that’s what he should’ve stayed doing and not looking as dominant as he did at times.

Jack Victory under the hood and working his second match of the night (this won’t be the only time that will be said in 1989). The Blackmailer is managed by Hiro Matsuda, although I doubt he’s his prized asset. Fancy going from Flair to the Blackmailer in consecutive segments? Another match with long drawn out moves, this time Lex working a side headlock. Victory escapes with a great looking belly to back suplex but Luger completely no sells it, being up to his feet before Jacko. Back to the side headlock… and again. Jim Ross points out that he isn’t showing much variety in his offense. And again. It’s not even like he’s cranking it in, just holding the Blackmailer there. Press slam, Lex goes for a clothesline but Victory moves and Luger goes flying out to the floor. Sunset flip back inside for a near fall. Rear chinlock from the Blackmailer. ‘The Package’ fires up and gets the win following a superplex. Matsuda doesn’t even bother to wait for his client, the Mailer one and done in the NWA and presumably out of his stable. The final minute for Luger’s comeback was okay but overall a poor match. Has there been a doctrine to have everything so slow paced? Not as bad as Reed/Casey mind.

Magnum T.A. says Steve Casey is trying to prove himself in the NWA and may have bitten off more than he can chew with ‘Hacksaw’ someone who is “all man”. The camera bizarrely cuts away from the in ring action to focus on a couple eating each other’s faces off! Lengthy armbar/wristlock from Casey. Reed escapes, stalls and then goes after the arm himself. Casey is apparently unbeaten in the NWA and putting that unbeaten record on the line here. It’s been a while since I watched the NWA TV seasons but I can’t ever remember seeing him win a match. Casey escapes the armbar and slaps on… an armbar. Lots of shots of the crowd because of how boring this is. Jim Ross thinks Reed’s match against Sting at the Chi Town Rumble could be the sleeper match of the show. Not on the evidence of this bout. Rear chinlock time. Can this get any worse? Casey misses a dropkick and the audience are cheering. FFS, another rear chinlock. This has been nothing but rest holds. Casey mounts a brief comeback but succumbs to a flying shoulderblock off the top. If you are struggling to sleep give this snorefest a watch. Awful.

The Russian Assassins don’t even get an entrance as they’re already in the ring as we return from a commercial break. ‘Sweet’ Stan switches to his karate to combat the strength advantage of Russian Dave Sheldon. Plenty of quick tags by the Midnights. We get an insert interview from Paul E. Dangerously who thinks it is very generous of Jim Herd to let everyone see Jim Cornette for one last time before he and his Original Midnight Express put them out of the NWA. Oddly, Heyman then joins Jim Ross and Magnum T.A. on commentary for the match. Corny looks to get some practice in for the Chi Town Rumble as he squares up to Paul Jones however Tommy Young gets between them. The Assassins pull a switcheroo and finally start to control things. Their control is dire though with long bearhug spots. Lane is taking a beating from them and Ross thinks this could carry over to Monday night. Stan makes the hot tag after the Assassins crash into each other and Paul E. has seen enough at this point. More miscommunications from the heels as one of the Assassins accidentally headbutts the other. Karate kick by Lane to Victory, ‘Rocket launcher’ and the Midnights pick up the victory going into the biggest match of their careers. The Midnights made this watchable and overrode the ungodly dull Russian Assassin control section. One of those matches where the result was never in doubt as the Midnights have bigger and more important fish to fry.

From one useless manager in Paul Jones to another, as Hiro Matsuda is in Reed's corner. The Stinger has got himself some new threads because 'Hacksaw' has got his interest up! Reed blocks a hip toss and Sting nicely turns it into an armdrag. Jim Ross, just like in the opener, is again great on commentary as he explains the psychology behind what the wrestler's are doing. Another match, another long side headlock. Sting bites Reed's hand whilst he applies a wristlock. Ross says that despite Reed's complaints he can't see anything from his vantage point; they're not watching on a monitor then. Reed gives Sting an assist through the ropes to the outside as the match turns in his direction. Wow, Matsuda actually offers something, choking Sting while 'Hacksaw' distracts referee Teddy Long. Rear chinlock by Reed that lasts several minutes. Sting ducks a clothesline and it appears Reed loses his balance due to his momentum, stumbling over and falling out of the ring. Reed with a neckbreaker for a nearfall before returning to the umpteenth chinlock of the match. Jim Ross starts taking about someone in the front row and I thought he was going to namedrop Big Dave Meltzer, but no, NFL draft pick Brad Muster who is sat next to Meltz. Jawbreaker to escape the chinlock. Sting goes for a sunset flip but Reed grabs the ropes to prevent himself from being taken down. Long swipes his hands away, Reed then falls on top of Sting and again graps the ropes for leverage. Rinse repeat with Long and Sting rolls 'Hacksaw' up for the three. The fight continues after the match until a big Sting right hand sends Reed scurrying. This suffered from the same problems as the Hayes/Assassin opener in that they went too long (20+ minutes) and there was an over reliance on armbars (early) and chinlocks (throughout). It would've benefited greatly from losing about eight minutes and cutting out all the down time.

They should’ve got Michael Hayes to do the pre-show hype based on the interview he cuts before his match with the Russian Assassin. Hayes is over with the Chicago crowd, while ‘Number One’ Paul Jones is still knocking about, seconding a masked Jack Victory. Jim Ross mentions that ‘P.S.’ started as a seventeen year old and has ten years’ experience, yes Michael Hayes is only 27 here! Hayes dictates the pace early with side headlocks and armbars, “good sound strategy” according to JR. The Assassin slaps on a rear chinlock and Ross explains the psychology behind the move as even though it is basic, if applied correctly it is an effective hold. Hayes escapes and gets a one count with a running crossbody before the Assassin returns to the chinlock. Jones cheapshots Hayes from the floor, but he is beyond worthless by 1989. ‘P.S.’ avoids the charge and the Assassin flies through the turnbuckles going shoulder first into the ring post. Eye poke by the Assassin, however he then telegraphs the backdrop and Hayes drills him with a DDT for the win. If you enjoy armbars and rear chinlocks you’ll enjoy this. Hayes was over with the audience and in a sense is a strong act to open the PPV, he just can’t deliver excitement in the ring. The match went an announced 15:48 which was too long for me, even though those in attendance were with Hayes on his comebacks and popped for the finish.

There are some strange Meltzer obsessives on Twitter, MeltzerSaidWhat is the weirdest and most obsessive of the lot.

Tensions are already being teased between the ‘Noble & Karagias’ duo (which Mark Madden points out is a good name for a tag team, think about it) based on some contrived tale of Evan cheating on Noble’s sister when they were both at High School (different ones) in North Carolina. The action commences on the floor where 3 Count launch Evan and Jamie into the guard rail before dragging the Jung Dragons into the ring. Stereo inverted atomic drops by the Dragons who then back drop 3 Count over the top rope to the outside, Shannon taking another bonkers flat back bump to the floor. Noble and Karagias have recovered, the latter hitting a floatover into a face jam on Kaz. Nice scoop powerslam for a two. Thesz press on Helms and his punches look notably better this week. Shane with a blind tag and 3 Count hit a combination spinning heel kick/release German suplex on Noble. Shannon goes for the ‘Rocker Dropper’ which Noble counters with a powerbomb. Springboard enzuigiri by Kaz. Moore ducks the lariat and plants Kaz with the ‘Rocker Dropper’ which is called the ‘Bottoms Up’. Helms with an ‘X-plex’ (cross armed Germans suplex) and Noble is in to break up the pin. Sunset flip off the top but Kaz rolls through and blasts him in the head with a kick. Yang runs wild on everyone until stopping to do the crane pose and gets caught with Moore’s ‘sleeper drop’. Kaz, Karagias and Noble all pick up near falls before Yang pulls Helms to the outside. A great dive sequence culminates with Leah Meow coming off the top turnbuckle onto everyone. Yang spikes Shannon with a DDT, heads upstairs but is cut off by Noble. Helms puts a stop to whatever Jamie had planned, shoving him backwards to the mat, before leaping off Yang’s shoulders (who is still sat on the top turnbuckle) with a big splash. Combination Samoan drop/neckbreaker by 3 Count and they pick up the win. Not what you’d expect from these teams in that we got a slow start, but things built well to the hot closing moments with all the big dives. 3 Count winning evens the score (Yang and Noble victorious in previous matches) while I thought Jamie Noble looked tremendous here.

it was reported in this week's Observer that she had a tryout there this past week.

I forget what podcast this was talked about on, but Matt Borne's sister for those who are unaware.

I hope they do something with Mercedes Martinez. After she was back for the second Mae Young Classic I thought that the WWE would sign her and she would be the female equivalent of Hero in NXT; an unofficial trainer and working the Florida house shows as the vet who the young girls work with every night as a way of getting more experience. I know Mia got the reaction from the crowd but I would've taken Mercedes over her in a heartbeat.

Apparently so, he's not saying though so who knows?

DSF showed exclusive Alex Wright matches that didn't air on the US equvalent show and I think they showed Frank Andersson ones too, so very conceivable that Harlem Heat match aired also. I didn't discover DSF until 1994 so that would've been after the Posse in prison garb so can't verify on that one.

Review courtesy of Makai Club #1 (Ditto the Ben-K match, no idea what happened re. these two reviews and why things weren't working)

Review courtesy of Makai Club #1 (some sort of glitch meant that this thread wasn't working)

I don't know how Dave puts up with everything on that platform. The day before the big thing he had to deal with was Kenny Omega's supposed MMA record and how Dave apparently doesn't/won't talk about it because Kenny lost fights. Dave explains that he's spoken to Omega about this in the past and Kenny told him that he's never had any fights, Kenny doesn't know where this 'fight record' of his came from and only did some amateur grappling contests and then decided against it. This leads to folks quoting interviews saying Dave is wrong but which actually back up what Dave said, and then talking about worked 'shootfight' wrestling matches against Dan Severn and claiming they're real. Sherdog's records got mentioned and he explains how they're are an awful lot of worked fights (Rings etc) included and not to be trusted, but again not good enough. I'm sure Twitter is good for business, but I'd have ditched it years ago if I got 0.0001% of the abuse, trolling, insults and idiocy he gets.

Thought Mia would win and then go onto feud with Io. No idea where Shayna goes from here unless she's being bought up and they just have her vacate the title. Bar maybe doing something with Viper or Toni Storm there's no-one credible left for her to face.