GSR

I intend to hopefully watch more Japan and Mexico this year as opposed to last and this is the first thing which piqued my interest. Cougar is someone who is new to me, while Fury had that bad match with Weed in ECCW approximately a year ago. Both men are wearing title belts, although I couldn’t tell you what each one represents. It turns out we only get extended clips of this, no full match. Disco ducks under the opening lock up attempts so he can do his best John Travolta impersonation that brings plenty of laughter from the fans in attendance. Springboard corkscrew to the outside by Cougar which not only takes out Fury, but a bunch of the ringside chairs as well. Slingshot leg drop for a two. After a high guillotine leg drop off the top, Disco throws Cougar through the ropes and again comes off the top turnbuckle, this time with a flip dive out onto him. The crazy dives to the outside don’t end there as Cougar covers the prone Fury with chairs, returns to the ring and hits a slingshot senton to the arena floor. Disco kicks out of a brainbuster, so Cougar immediately grapevines the leg, rolls him over and slaps on a straight arm bar from a seated position for the submission.

There’s a graphic on screen stating that this is the final ever meeting between these two in ECW. No hurry from either man to get this one started though as both prefer to chat to Gabe Sapolsky who’s on video duties for RF video. When things do get underway it’s the usual slick exchanges you’ve come to expect from them. Tajiri sends Crazy over the top to the outside and then nails him with a baseball slide. They go on a prolonged ECW style walk around ringside, doing very little bar a couple of whips into the guardrail. Back inside, and Crazy with a springboard moonsault off the middle for a two count. After the ten punch spot in the corner where the crowd counts along in Spanish, Crazy whips Tajiri to the opposite one, however gets caught in the tarantula when he rushes in after him. Tajiri makes a complete hash of applying the hold though, the first time I ever remember seeing him struggle with it. Drop toe hold by Crazy and he slaps on a rolling surfboard, from where he transitions to a Dragon sleeper and then a seated full nelson. The crowd start a “tables, tables” and both exit the ring to look for one. Tajiri is funny here as he checks under the ring and insinuates that there isn’t one there. He does find one under another side of the ring, but leaves it laying on the floor. Handspring elbow and it must be catching as they botch a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker (first time I recall them screwing that one up too). No improvising or covering for it, just an immediate repeat of the spot, getting it right this time. Tajiri with a huracanrana, but Crazy hooks his arms and rolls through turning it into a sunset flip for the three, a finish that caught everyone off guard. And so ECW breaths its last breathe in of all places, Pine Bluff, AR. I know the wrestlers have the big goodbye in the ring at the end of the show so they must have been fully aware (or at least had a strong inkling) that this was the end for the company. Sadly it shows in the match; all that chattering with Gabe Sapolsky at the start, the lack of intensity that was so evident in their encounters last year, the botching of the tarantula and backbreaker, an unexpected finish that took everyone by surprise (I thought we may get the Guerrero/Malenko double pin) and there was not a chance they were taking a bump through a table like the crowd wanted. It was two guys going through the motions giving us a truncated ‘greatest hits’. Knowing what we know now it’s, in a way understandable, but hardly the fitting epitaph for their ECW careers.

Jimmy Rave looks so young here, something that Dave Prazak mentions on commentary, joking that he looks about eleven years old! His ring gear is doing him no favours either, as he reminds me of one of those backyarders who would videotape themselves doing matches and then stick the results on YouTube. Rave reverses the hip toss, catches Coleman with an arm drag and then a dropkick as his opponent takes to the outside to compose himself, although none of this looked the smoothest. When he returns to the ring he levels Rave with a side kick but they’re too close to the ropes as Rave drapes a leg over them to halt the count at two. He counters the tilt-a-whirl with a headscissors and drops Coleman with a flying back elbow. A couple of bad looking punches before a lariat stops him in his tracks. Floatover by Rave and a Northern Lights suplex gets him a near fall on the Jr Heavyweight champ. He backdrops Coleman over the top to the outside and then nails him with a crossbody to the floor. That seems to have taken as much out of Rave as his opponent though. Although he’s back in the ring first, Coleman snaps Rave’s neck across the top rope. High springboard clothesline followed by a slingshot Falcon Arrow. Coleman starts choking Rave and ends up getting into it with the referee, spending an eternity arguing with him and even ‘treating’ us to the Earl Hebner shove spot! He then proceeds to climb the turnbuckles from the inside for no apparent reason other than so Rave can hit a sunset flip powerbomb. Rave misses the corkscrew senton off the top, ‘Thermoshock’ (Diamond Cutter) by Coleman and he retains the Wildside Jr title. I didn’t think much of this. Rave is athletic, knows what to do, but his execution leaves a lot to be desired. He comes over to me as someone who hasn’t been trained; not only does he look like a backyarder, but wrestles like one too. Prazak mentions this is his debut TV appearance, so I wonder if maybe he was a tad nervous. It’ll be interesting to see whether this was a one off or not as we follow his progression for the year. I also absolutely hated the ridiculously unnatural way that they set up the sunset flip powerbomb spot just before the finish as well.

The Kliq 2000 are out and Corey Maclin finds it funny that Spanky no longer has the Light Heavyweight title around his waist. Spanky tells him that it’s no laughing matter and he feels naked without that belt. He plugs a house show in Bogota tonight, confident that “the belt is coming home with Daddy”, before introducing the newest member of the Kliq, Jason Sensation. Sensation comes over as pretty goofy and doesn’t say much of note but does give us his Shawn Michaels impersonation. The Kliq will be taking on the debuting Haas brothers shortly and a once again masked Dragon informs them that first impressions count, and the first impression everyone will get of them is that they’re a pair of losers. The Haas’ get some interview time with Corey, although Charlie is like a rabbit in the headlines at first, transfixed by the TV camera and missing his cue. He’s fine when he gets going but Russ had to motion to him to let him know that it was ‘his turn. Charlie gets an early two count on Dragon after a reverse crossbody. Irish whip, tag, and he slingshots Russ into the ring who wipes out Dragon with a somersault body block. Schultz with the distraction from the apron and that allows Dragon to level Russ with a big kick to the face. Belly to belly by Shooter for a two. He goes for the belly to back, but Russ flips over and catches him with one of his own. Hot tag to Charlie who takes it to the Kliq. Double team slingshot into an overhead belly to belly from the brothers and Schultz is there in time to break up the pin. Spanky leaves his position at the commentary desk to get a closer look at the action, but gets nailed by Russ when he makes the mistake of climbing up onto the apron. That brings out Derrick King who’s not going to sit back and watch him interfere. On seeing the two go at it at ringside, Schultz forgets about the match to go and help Spanky. It leaves Dragon all alone and he falls victim to the Haas’ handspring moonsault/corkscrew leg drop combination as they pick up the win in their debut. The match only last about three and a half minutes, so doesn’t have that long to build and we get a super short heat segment on Russ. Charlie’s punches need some work, but this is a decent debut for the brothers showing some of their flashier offense and getting the win over a couple of established guys. Not sold on Jason Sensation as a member of the Kliq at the moment as I’m not sure what he can add to the group. It reminds me of how they threw various different things at Bobcat hoping they’d find a suitable role for her, and this is something they’re throwing at him.

Montoya takes the mic before the match gets started, but the audio is bad so it’s another one of those times when we can’t make out what is being said. A fatal three way for Reckless’ JCW Heavyweight title that he recently won from Ki. Don charges at Ki and Reckless is quite happy to let him do all the dirty work while he plays cheerleader. Whip to the corner is reversed, handspring kick to the head by Ki and Montoya rolls out of there under the bottom rope. Satellite headscissors by Youth, but after Ki counters the powerbomb with a huracanrana, he too takes refuge on the outside. Ki’s readying himself for a dive to the floor, however as he hits the ropes Montoya pulls down the top one and he goes careering out over it. A couple of stiff forearms to the face of ‘the Don’. Reckless pulls out of a dive seeing Ki isn’t as helpless as he thought, and then get caught with a jumping kick to the head when he sticks it through the ropes. Montoya is back to his feet and slugs Ki from behind as the action returns to the ring. Only briefly mind, as Ki flips over on the attempted belly to back and dropkicks Don in the back sending him tumbling to the floor again. A combination tope/forearm smash is meant for Montoya, but he sidesteps the flying Ki who smashes into Reckless instead. Montoya drives Ki backwards into the apron before rolling him into the ring as it looks like he’s going to target that back of his. Corkscrew leg drop for a two. Ki ducks the clothesline and replies with a flying forearm. Fireman’s carry into a facebuster by Youth, although a Montoya leg lariat cuts off whatever he had planned next. Double belly to back suplex with Don picking up both men at the same time and dumping them on their heads. Ki escapes the ‘Doctor bomb’ and lands a rolling kick to the back. Handspring, but before he can connect with the kick on Reckless, Don catches him mid-air and launches him with an exploder suplex. Reckless counters the chokeslam with an arm drag and a double Mafia kick to ‘the Don’ by Ki and him. German suplex/sunset flip spot involving all three. ‘Ace crusher’ off the top by Reckless and then a ‘Ki Krusher’ puts Montoya down for the three. Inferno comes out to ringside at this point, with the commentator stressing that he can’t be happy after losing the TV title to Afa Jr earlier in the night. Dragon clutch, but Ki let’s go of the hold when he sees Inferno up on the apron. With the official checking Reckless is okay to continue, Inferno clotheslines Ki on the top rope. ‘Ki Krusher’ by Reckless and he puts Ki away with his own move, retaining the Heavyweight title in the process. I feel a bit reluctant to criticise when the wrestlers generally work hard, but this felt a bit too cutesy for my liking with some of the three way spots and the way they were setting them up. Not for me I’m afraid. I was pumped after Montoya’s elimination to see Ki and Reckless go at it, but that was a huge let down, lasting all of about thirty seconds before the finish. Which begs the question, if Montoya and Reckless were going to form an alliance at the end, why didn’t they just work together during the match? Surely Ki trying to overcome the odds, battling two men as he tries to regain the Heavyweight title tells a better story?

A JCW tag title match being contested under Texas tornado rules and with Commissioner C.J. Johnson appointing two referees to officiate the match due to how out of control the previous encounter between these teams was. This version of the Moondogs consists of Mollson and Wenzel, with neither baring any resemblance to the original Moondogs or even the slew of Moondogs that showed up in the USWA in the early to mid-90s. As the Dogs make their entrance the commentator says “(they’re as) maniacal as they appear, this is not a work!” Oh, FFS! Although this starts with all four men in the ring swinging at one another, it quickly becomes two going at it inside while the others take it to the outside. A cannonball off the apron to the floor by big Mollson is completely obscured by what’s happening in the ring due to an out of place cameraman. Monsta Mack with a peach of a German suplex dumping Wenzel right on his head. He grabs a chair and positions it to help him leap over the top rope and nail Mafia and Mollson with a tope. Crossbody off the top turnbuckle by Wenzel out onto all three. A pair of stiff clotheslines don’t drop Mollson, but a shoulderblock from the middle finally takes him off his feet. Meanwhile back on the outside Mafia clocks Wenzel in the head with a drinks can, to which this progressively annoying commentator quips “that was wet”. The camera misses catching a Mollson sidewalk slam, although he doesn’t bother with the lateral press, instead choosing to go and help his partner and the pair of them whip Mafia into the locker room door. LEG LARIAT ON THE FLOOR IS NOW MISSED AS THEY WOULD RATHER SHOW US A SHOT OF A LAID OUT MAFIA!!! This was plain barmy as we see Wenzel whip Mack, but moments prior to impact the camera shot cuts away. Mafia is back to his feet, however can’t get Mollson up for the piledriver and he counters with a backdrop onto the concrete. Inside Wenzel telegraphs his own backdrop and Mack with a scoop powerslam for a two. Apparently Mollson went to hit Mafia with his bone, missed, and crushed it between his own head and the ring post, but like so much of this match, we didn’t see it. DHS use Mollson’s own collar against him, yanking him into a chair that they’d positioned against the ring post. Wenzel with a baseball slide dropkick to a chair that connects with Mafia, but you can add that to the ever growing list of missed stuff as I’m fast losing patience now. Running bulldog onto a couple of upright chairs by Mack, while in the ring Wenzel drills Mafia over the head with a chair. Modified chokeslam and he makes the cover, however at the same time on the floor Mack is covering Mollson. The two officials each count to three as both teams think they’ve won the match. Commissioner Johnson is back out and, due to the double pin, holds the tag belts up pending a rematch. The Dogs and DHS go at it again, fighting all the way to the dressing room as security has no luck in trying to separate the two teams. Despite this being ‘Texas Tornado’ rules, they work it so two fight on the inside while the other two go at it on the floor to prevent the ring from getting too congested. The downside of this is that we miss an awful lot of the action, more than I’ve listed above. It’s crying out for a good editor because on a couple of times that we do miss stuff, it’s clearly been filmed but they cut away to a different shot. Knowing Da Hit Squad I was expecting something akin to the Moondogs/Fabs or Moondogs/Lawler & Jarrett, however it never approached the chaotic, violence level of those matches. All four put their bodies on the line here but your viewing pleasure is hampered greatly by the camera work (you don’t even see what led to Mack getting the pin on Mollson as he kicked out after that bulldog onto the chair and something else happened resulting in him taking the fall). The commentator was also a major negative on the match with his knock off Joey Styles routine complete with two “Oh my God’s”, along with getting Mafia and Mack confused with each other (although I can kinda let that one slide).

Tracey makes his way around ringside giving everyone the middle finger and getting in the face of anyone who gives him one back! He jumps Ian the moment he steps in the ring and they’re not bothering to wait for Sabu to arrive. A gorgeous overhead suplex by Ian before he spears Tracey through the ropes and both take a spill to the floor. Here’s Sabu and he’s right into the mix, launching a chair at Tracey’s head. Springboard leg lariat for a one count. Smothers is getting his fair share of stick from the fans who start a “Tracey sucks dick” chant which he dances along to. He tosses Ian to the outside, but Rotten reverses the Irish whip and Tracey goes flying into the ringside chairs sending them scattering. Triple jump plancha to the floor! Sabu rams Smothers’ head into the ring post and then looks under the ring for a table. While he is doing that Tracey blasts Ian in the head with a drinks can busting him open. Sabu has managed to find himself a table although no-one ends up going through it just yet. Smothers peppers Rotten’s cut with jabs as he looks to open it up even more. He DDT’s Sabu onto a steel chair, but Ian has recovered in time to break up the pin. Tracey breaks a cluster of light tubes over Ian’s head and then squirts mustard at him. The customary Rotten chair shot makes an appearance as someone in the crowd yells out “have you lost your f*cking mind you f*cking idiot!” Triple jump moonsault and Tracey breaks that pin up by clocking Sabu with a baking tray which he then waffles Ian with. Jumping heel kick to the back of the head of Sabu. The ref botches a spot as he was out of position when Ian was supposed to connect with a chair shot to him after Smothers had ducked out the way. They go right to that same spot again and it looks like Ian makes him pay for screwing up as this chair shot was worse than the one he previously gave Tracey. Slingshot leg drop by Sabu puts Ian through that table he’d set up earlier. Smothers with a ‘jawjacker’, but quits on the cover so he can wallop Sabu one more time with the baking tray. A version of the ‘Van Daminator’ to Ian and Tracey picks up the win, although there’s a rather subdued response to the fall as it sounds like the replacement ref doesn’t slap the mat and you only realise the match is over when the bell rings to signify it. Ian takes the mic post-match and tells Smothers that his fat ass is still here and challenges him to a ‘falls count anywhere’ match on Wednesday at the next show. Rotten pushes his buttons calling Tracey the most fired jobber in the history of wrestling, claiming Steve Armstrong carried him for all those years and making lots of gay cracks about him and Cornette, Terry Golden and Kevin Kelly (I have a feeling jibes like that are going to be a staple for 2001). After a bit more back and forth Tracey accepts and the match is set. This carried on right where they left off on the previous Wednesday with all three men going hammer and tong right from the get go. I also liked how this didn’t have the semi-regular trope of one guy standing around doing nothing for portions of the match like so many of these three ways have the tendency too, everyone was always ‘busy’ and doing something. Rows of chairs ended up all over the place and the fans had to be on their guard so they weren’t caught up in the action, as Tracey was even channelling concession stand brawls of the past the way he squirted Ian with that mustard! A night when Sabu was on, however the star of the show was Smothers. Admittedly it’s only one angle and one match, but he’s had a heck of a start to 2001. A couple of gripes regarding the ref being out of position to take the chair shot and the finish, though they don’t take much away from this. No idea what the rest of the card was like, but based on this and the six man tag that preceded it, the fans absolutely got royally entertained tonight.

Real good opening exchanges to the match between Morton and Punk, until a shoulder charge sees both men go down and they tag out to Hero and Cabana. The fast pace continues with Hero twice powering out of a spinning toe hold. Another shoulder charge and again both go down, although this time the tag is made to Wolf and Smooth. They immediately run into one another, clashing heads and the other four participants are in to check on their respective partners. Order is restored after a brief free for all and Morton with a hard knife edge chop to Smooth. Press slam where he very nearly spikes him head first to the mat. Wolf works a simple distraction spot, diverting the referee’s attention allowing Hero and Morton to double team Smooth in the corner. Tilt-a-whirl slam by Hero and Punk is in to break up the pin. Paul E. counters the Morton tilt-a-whirl with a headscissors, but is too slow to the punch and gets booted in the mid-section. Snap suplex as Punk looks to get a “Hero’s a bitch!” chant going from the apron. Wolf with a running lariat in the corner followed by a bulldog. He heads upstairs, however is too busy jawing with the fans and gets caught by Smooth who nails him with a top rope frankensteiner. Bronco buster, Wolf raises a foot though which connects with a flying Smooth’s groin. A belly to back suplex gets him the three, but it’s a double pin as Wolf makes the cardinal error of not raising his own shoulders, so the ref counted him down too and they’re both out of here. Morton takes to the floor after a pair of Cabana clotheslines and clearly frustrated, complains about a non-existent pull of the tights. The official is having none of it mind and tells him to get on with it. Lovely springboard sunset flip by Colt on Hero for a two. That’s topped by an even better looking piledriver on Morton who bounces a good foot off the canvas. The wrestlers almost get in each others way, before Punk hits what amounts to a reverse Thesz press on Hero before repeatedly punching him in the balls. Hero reverses the Irish whip and boots him in the guts. Double team back suplex/neckbreaker and Punk is eliminated leaving Colt all on his own. Cabana counters a Hero submission with a pin and he’s forced to let go of the hold, reverting to a safer rear chinlock. Or so he thought, as Colt with a jawbreaker for the escape. Sit out double underhook suplex on Morton and Hero is in to save his partner. A pair of DDTs to the opposition as Cabana takes it to the both of them until he’s stopped in his tracks by a poke to the eyes. Hero with a belly to back, but Colt flips over, shoves Hero into Morton and then schoolboys him as we’re down to our final two men. Morton pulls Cabana to the outside where he whips him into the ring post. Double axe handle off the apron and he then cracks Colt over the back with a chair. The action returns to the ring where Cabana rolls through on a reverse crossbody to pick up the win for his team. He’s jumped after the match by Hero, Wolf and Morton, but Punk and Smooth are out in double quick time to even things up and run them off. You can bypass the first ten minutes of this as it is just the ring introductions and mic work that goes nowhere with them throwing insults at each other (Hero looks like a monkey, digs on Morton’s height, accusing the Punk team of all being gay etc). When this finally got going it was real good fare and the time flew by while I was watching it. Punk didn’t work as much as his partners in this, but more than contributed, looking great when in there with Morton and being animated on the apron. Cabana is still clearly someway ahead of him and was the MVP of this along with Morton. Hero was a notch below those two, and I also liked what we saw of Paul E. Smooth who, although admittedly a touch green, has charisma and is perfect for the heels to get the heat on. A highly enjoyable match with some innovative stuff and a vast improvement on the IWA-MS tag I watched from a few days earlier.

Kevin was a strange one because when he was this simple, slow, demon basketball savant who played drums on the side I thought he was perfectly fine, the character just got more outlandish and ridiculous as the season's wore on. I think the wig and wearing boxes on his feet for Jim and Pam's wedding, and then screaming into Pam's breasts to try and get them to lactate when she was pregnant were the final straws for me. I never cared for Andy one bit outside of his musical interludes and would have rather either Josh or Karen would have been the character they kept on from Stamford, although with the stories climax being Jim and Pam, I suppose Karen didn't have anywhere to go after she and Jim split. At least the character transferred, which was fully believable, as opposed to what happened with Ryan just hanging around for no plausible reason whatsoever. Enjoy, I've been the Nou Camp before but that was many years ago now.

TV I wouldn't be able to muster a Top 10 but a top four are probably: 1. Freaks and Geeks 2. The Office (US) 3. Blackadder 4. Curb Your Enthusiasm I've never watched any of The Office (US) post-Carell episodes (bar the finale) as I struggled with the handful of episodes at the end of Season 7 after he'd left. I always envisioned Rainn Wilson pretty much having to carry the show in the final two seasons. It also got to the stage where certain characters became unbearable (Andy, Kevin) and as much as I liked Ryan in the early seasons, from a logical point of view, he long outstayed his welcome. I'm a huge fan of the Michael Scott Paper Company arc in Season 5 and thought Erin was a wonderful addition. Loosely linked into the Michael Scott Paper Company, I've had a copy of The Wire for years now but never got past the first episode on several attempts. I probably should've avoided all the talk of it being 'the best show ever' and gone in cold, although likelihood is had I not heard that talk, then I wouldn't have picked up a copy in the first place. I've adored Freaks & Geeks from the moment I finished the pilot and Sam got his dance with Cindy at the homecoming. I polished off the box set in under a fortnight, and that included a few days break between the penultimate and last episodes because I didn't want it to end! The cast are superb and even supporting characters like Harris, Gordon, Millie add so much to the show. The Nick/Lindsay relationship was one thing I didn't care for at first, but come the end of the season was wanting them to get back together. A great soundtrack accompanies it and my favourite episodes along with the pilot would be 'Carded & Discarded' and 'Smooching & Mooching'. I've recently bought season one of the 'ESPN 30 for 30' documentaries (and now have season two on the way) Music My tastes are heavily influenced by the late John Peel, so favourite bands would be Joy Division, The Smiths, The Clash, The Undertones, Stone Roses and Half Man Half Biscuit. Pretty much anything punk, new wave, early Indie then! I've been listening to a lot of Magazine and XTC recently though. In regards to individual artists I like David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Marc Bolan and P.J. Harvey. The 'Britpop' era was when I heavily started to get into music and still enjoy Pulp, Teenage Fanclub, Radiohead (their early albums especially 'the Bends'), Elastica, Kenickie and more. Oh yeah, The Who and The Kinks too! I do dig into other genres and went through a big time Blues binge at one point (Blind Willie McTell, Leadbelly and the like), have got some jazz (primarily Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock) and also enjoy listening to Soul & Funk. A really eclectic mix of stuff all being told. Sports I used to be ridiculously into football (soccer!) but the game has changed dramatically from the one I grew up watching. The World Cup is just around the corner and I couldn't care less. The me of 1990 who was super hyped and watched every match he could wouldn't have thought that possible. Maybe it's because England aren't that good any more and the sheer number of average foreign imports to the Premier League have crippled English players progress? Maybe it's because I think the players are a bunch of overpaid primadonnas? I can't see us every having another Italia '90 or Euro '96 experience in my lifetime but am glad I have those memories. These days I would much rather watch the English Rugby Union team or a day of test match Cricket. I always try to watch the Athletics wherever possible and also enjoy the likes of Snooker and Darts.

Finlay has got the Young David match from '82, although I've no idea what his last 'great' match would be as I don't follow modern Indy stuff that much. OJ would have a better idea regarding Regal, however there's nothing that sticks out in my mind from his UK stuff until he arrived in WCW. There's a few matches from the mid-2000s up on youtube. I remember Rob Brazier used to talk highly of the Steve Quintain bout from WAW, plus there's another on there against Jonny Storm. Whether that reaches the 'great' level... He wrestled as late as 2015, the issue is I doubt whether much of his stuff from the 2000s was taped (although I know PWF at one point put their shows on DVD as I used to have some). A post from Rob in the GWE thread on Grey:

Slight exaggeration, but don't worry I'm taking some time away from here now. I have shodate blocked but that doesn't help when you don't log in and still have to read him. It's far better for me to step away from this place altogether for a bit. Oh, and nice to see that JvK still manages to get in his digs at jdw even after running him off PWO. Take care guys and see you down the line (maybe?)

qhilw on PWO people will say his stuff in Japan is indie Just like bret Owen was heel in Japan The Mainstream Narrative is everything out side of WWE or back than WWE and WCW is indie No it isn't, stop talking rubbish.

I don't understand a word of what you wrote, but good job in continuing the gimmick by linking to something on YouTube that mentions Trump in the title of the video.

Great post, shodate. Let's check The shodate Manifesto and see how you scored... Now please respond the way I know you're going to, so I can check off #6 as well. And for the record...yes I know what I just posted is "deformation." So much for his claims that To no surprise whatsoever didn't even last a week without breaking that one!

Agree fully about Ivory from pretty much the first moment I saw her on WWF TV. Of the current WWE women it's all about Becky and Sonya for me (along with Dakota in NXT). I barely watch MMA these days, but there's something about Rose Namajunas since she shaved her head. I always thought Joanne Calderwood was super cute too.

What promotion do you prefer? What are the positives of the two promotions and what are the negatives? You start all these polls but not once can I ever remember you answering any of the questions you post. It would be nice to hear your opinions to the topics as well!

Glad to hear it. Let's hope you manage to stick to that then!

The Thread Killer and the manifesto is spot on, but this 1000%. This is not the shodate forum, it's not all about you, leave the politics to the appropriate sub-forum and for the upteenth time sort your typing, grammar and spelling out (which you've shown you're perfectly capable of, but clearly have zero respect for the other users of this forum to make the effort to do so).

Are you sure cos I reff remember then releasing Bio vids like Jesse Ventura, Kurt Angle and many others. That was WWF Home Video, not Coliseum, which as Migs says died in 1997.

One of their home grown trainees from NXT. Hasn't made TV yet (I think?) and currently working house shows as Lio Rush's big bodyguard.

Shodate doing his best to derail yet another thread to talk about himself and bring it all back to him. No-one here has called you a racist so why the fuck are you even bringing this up?

This Saitama Pro show is being held in a high school gym and has a larger crowd than the one in December that I’ve already watched. You’d think it was some A-list celebrity entering the building the way the fans sprint from one end of the arena to the other to get photos of Bauxite, as it is it’s a guy dressed up like a giant robot! Not only does he look like a robot, but with the short, staccato steps he moves like one too. It appears Bauxite has no idea what’s going on despite the official trying to point him in the direction of Tobita, seemingly more interested in all the people watching. A fed up Tobita grabs the ring announcer’s chair, takes a seat and sinks a beer. He tosses the can away but that finally catches Bauxite’s attention. Seeing the metal discarded and thrown away like that riles the robot up and he wallops Tobita over the head with one of his metal box hands (something that made me laugh out loud). He only just beats the ref’s ten count in getting back to his feet and Bauxite then proceeds to continually clobber him around the head and body with those boxed hands. The match continues in that vane until Tobita picks up one of the ring mats and uses it to knock off Bauxite’s hands. Fisherman buster! Tobita with the headscissors choke but the robot doesn’t tap, so he covers him in the mats and piles on top for the cover. While I had no idea what was going on in December, I sort of got this. Maybe having watched that previous match I now knew what to expect. A couple of genuine laugh out loud moments and a fun little ten minutes. Roll on Drill Baba, Watermelon Head and the Ghost!

Here's the Mike McGuirkOff one, slightly different spelling so that might be why you struggled to find it on a search. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCipSCJPxlUSR43cA6CfbH6Q

Low Ki vs Mark Reil (JAPW 7/14/00) Billy Reil heads to the ring although he’s not dressed for wrestling. He says how the last time he was in Jersey All Pro Wrestling, Sabu, Low Ki and himself tore the place down, but unfortunately he got injured on another show last Sunday and won’t be able to wrestle tonight. If anybody deserves the JAPW Light Heavyweight title it’s Low Ki, and he invites him to come to the ring so he can hand him the belt. After Ki joins them, some fan in the front row starts heckling Reil and he completely owns him making him look like a right tit. Back to business and Reil has got a replacement for himself (so much for just handing the belt over!); he’s looked all over the world and straight from WCW is Marcus Alexander...Reil. Mark Reil runs out and jumps on the back of Ki, but he treats him as if he’s swatting away a fly; firstly flipping him off, and then when he tries again, giving him a rolling Death Valley Driver. Billy Reil continues to run his mouth from the outside and with nothing having worked so far, Mark low blows Ki. Tornado DDT, but he then slips off the ropes on the springboard leg drop attempt. He gets the expected “You f*cked up!” chants, to which he responds “I know, I know”. Top rope splash followed by a butterfly suplex for a one count. ‘Diamond Dust’ and Ki again kicks out of the cover. Mark hits a ‘Ki Krusher’ as an excited Billy is screaming about him beating him with his own move, although like everything he’s tried to put Ki away with, this didn’t work either. This looks to have taken it out of Mark who is now breathing heavily and beaten back to his feet by, a fresh as a daisy looking, Low Ki. Kick to the head, brainbuster, before Ki pulls Mark’s T-shirt over his head and chops his chest. Mafia kick and one ‘Krush rush’ later and this is all over. Low Ki vs Nick Berk (JAPW 7/14/00) Or is it? After desposing of Mark, Billy tells Low Ki it’s not over yet, and as he’s introducing his next opponent, Ki’s jumped from behind by Nick Berk. A pair of knife edge chops by Berk and you can see a dismissive look on Ki’s face, almost wishing his opponent to lay them in as these are pretty soft strikes. Running uppercut in the corner followed by a clothesline. Ki reverses the Irish whip and then Berk runs into a stiff ‘Mafia kick’. The stiffness continues in the shape of a couple of European uppercuts, chops, forearms and finally a lariat. ‘Krush rush’ but Mark Reil, who has stayed at ringside after his match, puts Berk’s foot over the ropes to break the count. Berk blocks the brainbuster and counters with a suplex. ‘Dragon sleeper’ and Billy is back doing his commentary over the house mic trying to get a “tap, tap, tap” chant started. Ki escapes the ‘Berk driver’ and reverses it into a nasty looking ‘Dragon sleeper’ of his own. Mark is up on the apron so Ki lets go of the submission to deck him before levelling him with a pescado. Dragon screw leg whip and Ki with a variation on the figure four, however Berk is able to grab his head and turn it into a pinning predicament. More stiff Ki offense, until Berk with the tip up over him and he hits the ‘Berk driver’. Billy thinks it’s all over, but not so as Ki kicks out. Mark is back up on the apron and primed to clobber Ki with the title belt, when Ki reverses things and he accidentally nails Berk instead. ‘Ki Krusher’ and its back to back victories for Low Ki. Post-match Billy gives Ki the Light Heavyweight title, but he doesn’t want to win it this way, wants to defeat the champion for it and they agree to a future match when Reil is healthy. Didn’t care at all for the Mark Reil match (who was spotty and super green) and although Ki ended up blowing it all off, he got in way too much offense when Ki should’ve just squashed him in thirty seconds. I was surprised at how stiff he was when working with Berk and in hindsight wish they’d given the five minutes or so wasted on the Mark Reil match to this one instead.