What are you watching?

[KB8]

All of the Horsemen-related stuff at Starrcade was at least decent. Arn/Ole v Wahoo/Billy Jack was a fine enough tag match that lacked a higher gear. It was a couple days ago that I watched it and I don't remember much in specific. And and Ole worked the arm, Wahoo threw chops, Haynes got to do a few impressive power spots, etc. Magnum/Tully is still a grizzly masterpiece of a thing and one of the definitive brawls in US wrestling history. Man Tully was incredible in it. He had to go to depths of himself that he never knew existed just to be rid of Magnum and you fully believed he was willing to stab him in the face with that chair leg. I hadn't watching this in about fifteen years and I forgot how gruesome the actual finish is. That was a fucking horror show and it looked like Magnum was trying to cut Tully's face off. I wrote about it in more detail on my stupid blog but either way it's a tremendous bit of the pro-wrestling. Flair/Dusty main event was actually more enjoyable than I was expecting. I'd seen it before ages ago but it's not really a Flair match-up I ever loved. Still, I thought it was good, probably even really good in points. The stuff with Dusty's bad leg worked well and him going after Flair's leg made sense from a revenge standpoint. They had a few dopey moments where it looked like Flair was trying to set some stuff up, but on the whole I liked it fine and the Dusty Finish was done well. 

Too many awesome promos in the aftermath to go through them all, but Flair's from the 12/7 episode of Mid-Atlantic is a doozy. It's where that "learn to love it, because it's the best thing going today" bit that WWE have put in a million Flair montages comes from. He compares himself to J.R. Ewing from the show Dallas as people thought he was done for as the world champ, but sure enough he's back and still number 1 (Tommy Young's explanation for the Starrcade finish during one of these TV segments is excellent, btw. Imagine Hebnar doing something like this? Fucking hell). On one episode of World Championship Wrestling he comes out with about two grand in bills, gives Tony $300 to take the wife out to dinner, leaves a few hundred at the desk so Magnum can buy himself a new wardrobe, and the rest goes to Dusty so he can buy himself a plane ticket out of Atlanta to anywhere else in the world. Then on a more serious note he's been disrespected by Dusty and now he's coming after that leg for real. At one point someone in the crowd heckles him and he turns to him and says, "You keep your mouth shut, I'm not taking her home no matter whatcha say!" Towards the end of the year he does an interview where he says his private secretaries have received thousands of letters from women all around America asking for Ric Flair in their stocking for Christmas. We get crowd shots of a bunch of young women in the crowd and Flair goes: "Put that camera back on me, buddy, those girls like looking at ME." There's an awesome segment as well where he comes out and congratulates Jim Crockett for being an exceptional wrestling promoter, but questions the seriousness of the Superstation Championship Challenge Series when the World Champ isn't wrestling on TV. Ron Garvin happens to be there and Flair basically says Garvin needs to know his place and book it whenever the champ comes out for his interview time (even though it was Flair who interrupted Garvin's interview in the first place). Garvin then throws down the challenge for next week, if Flair really is interested in wrestling on TV. Flair says he'll pay for the whole damn hour and so the final episode of the year is set for Flair v Garvin. 

The TV title tournament is set to go ahead soon and Arn and Tully are both in it. Arn believes he's the rightful TV champ and guarantees he will be again after the tournament. He wrestles Josh Stroud on TV (12/21 episode of WCW) and basically takes his arm apart for a few minutes before putting him away with the Gordbuster. Stroud is a pretty hulking big dude who's fairly shredded and Arn says before the match that he'll show folks how technique trumps brawn. On that same show Dusty cuts an unbelievable promo where he's way quieter than he's been recently. Ric Flair says he's the baddest, Arn Anderson says he's the baddest, Ole Anderson says he's the baddest...but the real baddest is the cowboy from Austin, Texas and he's coming for Flair's title. He proved that Flair can be pinned and he'll do it again. 

There are a few more matches and interviews from '85 to go, plus there's that December 29th Pro Wrestling USA special on the Network with a Flair/Dusty and Magnum/Tully, and then it'll be onto '86. Crockett was on such a role around this point and the Horsemen haven't even hit their stride yet. They're becoming more of a unit on TV and the likes, including a tag match that's being promoted for a Greensboro show where Flair and Tully are teaming against Dusty and Magnum, but they aren't all the way there yet. I may end up watching more than just the Horsemen stuff from '86 because the Midnights have jumped over and I expect the weekly TV to be strong. If the full year of World Championship Wrestling is on the Network that may be worth diving into...

Either way this set is tremendous and a ridiculously easy watch. I blew through nearly two discs on Saturday (~5 of footage across both discs) and I can't remember the last time I did that. The combination of matches, promos and angles really is great. 

[BruiserBrody]

Pretty neat drop this week with a Leroy McGuirk studio wrasslin' show from 1978.

- McGuirk is dull and needs his announcing partner to feed him names and such as they discuss angles.  Bill Watts comes in a few minutes later to replace McGuirk and covers for his bland and uninspired promoting by saying something like "Men of Leroy's generation were masters of hiding their emotions".  I thought it was a great spin. 

- Paul Orndorff works a rookie Bill Irwin.  Irwin is the exact type of semi-star that gets my juices flowing. The men shake hands to start, but Irwin gets a cheap forearm in on a rope break to establish a heelish persona.

- Ray Candy works next, far less fat than I am accustomed to. He and Orndorff both used takedowns and grappling on the mat, as if this is some sort of sport or something.  I Dotel'd by this point. 

- We get a fine assortment of geeks and freaks as THE MONGOL, The CHALLENGER and The BRUTE eat up TV time.  Plus Jose Lothario!

[joeg]

This year's Champion Carnival has been really good.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Catching up on the past few GCW shows. I am really intrigued by what the indy scene is going to look like once AEW is up and running but GCW is one company I am pretty sure will be fine no matter what because of the way people can get over in front of their crowds.  It reminds me a little bit of PWG in that way, from the time period when TNA and ROH were pulling people from working Reseda and it didn’t matter.

[JerryvonKramer]

I got the Network again and the first match I’ve put on is Baron Scicluna vs. Manual Miranda from All Star 9/13/75

The Baron very much in controlled this bout for most of the running time, with his offence consisting entirely of stomps, clubbing blows, snap mares and chokes. And then he pinned him. An actual win for Scicluna! Zero heat. Ha ha.

[Ricky Jackson]

Here's the All Star thread, Parv 

https://forums.prowrestlingonly.com/topic/41233-all-star-wrestling-on-the-network/

Let's get some 70s talk going again to counter the sad weekly WWE death march 

[JerryvonKramer]

Leroy McGuirk MidSouth from 1978 is something!

[Robert S]

The show that aired on the WWE Network? I don't know, it felt very much like a proto-Mid South, even using the same bumper music and having Watts (and Boyd Pierce) on commentary. I suppose Watts was mostly running the ship at that point.

[Britwresdvds]

I'm currently (and have been for several months now) on a massive re-watch of lots of my British and European wrestling footage, for an ongoing DVD project.

It's proving very interesting. I've already rewatched everything from Steve Grey, Jon Cortez, Zoltan Boscik, Mick McMichael, Brian Maxine, Vic Faulkner and Steve Wright (some of those German handhelds are brutal to get through!).

Just finished going through all my Johnny Saint stuff. Next up, Jim Breaks, Mile Zrno and Pat Roach.

[BruiserBrody]

Sherri Martel vs Madusa from Jan 29/96 Nitro

Madusa was set to go over, but Sherri refused.  Madusa seems legit angry and hits Sherri with some stiff looking kicks.  Sherri takes a couple of bumps on the padded floor.   Sherri wins via fluky cradle.  According to the WON, Madusa then went into business for herself and violently German suplexed Sherri, with Martel gets bent in half since she was not expecting the suplex.   Sherri was legit knocked loopy.  Madusa slaps the downed Martel, then grabs her head and slams it hard to the mat several times.   It all goes barely 3 mins and is worth viewing for the shoot (?)/stiff work.  

[Dav'oh]

350 Days: The Movie is up at https://tubitv.com/movies/493899/350_days?start=true. Looking forward to settling in and watching it, been looking for it for a while.

[BruiserBrody]

This is the first time since November that I have watched anything from my pile of WWF house shows. I am going to continue to watch them in order:

Oct. 1985  Maple Leaf Gardens
Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon are on the call.  Ventura lies and says some of the greatest matches ever have been booked for the evening. (I don't know what's coming up BTW....)   
Vince McMahon makes a rare house show TV appearance as he chats with Billy Red Lyons.
Monsoon and Ventura both say the place is sold out to the rafters as the camera shows tons of empty seats. Maybe late comers?

Scott McGhee vs. Barry O.
Ventura speaks of the "nutrition" that WWF stars follow to look so good.  Dianabol is well known to be common in fruits and tuna fish.  The guys do some arm work, and the crowd starts to boo like this is 2020.  Wait, we don't have crowds now. 
O gets lots of time to wear on McGhee. The ref is getting really really close to the guys when counting pins.  Very odd to see a ref basically touching the guys as he counts.  McGhee gets a little shine, O makes a brief comeback, leading to McGhee snatching him with a power slam for the flash pin. A perfectly acceptable opener.

The way the TV graphic shows, this show may have been dubbed "Hulkamania". I am a bit taken aback that they felt they needed a boost for the card since the previous month had Andre the Giant doing an injury angle with Studd and Bundy that should have easily bolstered ticket sales from the buzz.

Tony Parisi vs. Rene Goulet
Parisi is in his mid 40s and Goulet is 53. Its a little surprising they are not working younger talent to give some of the new guys a win.  They work a much longer match than I would expect, with both men working hard and the crowd responding well to the ebb and flow.  Parisi delivers a "cannonball" butt splash for the exciting finish.

Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff vs. George Steele and Cpl. Kirschner
Volkoff actually sings the whole Russian National Anthem.  Someone in the crowd has taken the time to draw and color the Russian flag on a sign. Commie Canadian? 
The faces clear the ring and the crowd goes bananas. Kirschner waves the Canadian flag instead of his home country's.   Steele is mugged by the heels on the floor, setting up a four way brawl. Steele does his wacky shaking and shouting to scare off the Sheik once things settle down to a standard match.
Kirschner goes back and forth with both villains, eventually settling into the face in peril role. The Corp. makes the comeback and the fans start to chant for blood.  Kirschner blows a clothesline and he and Sheik both go down from it. Sheik locks on the camel clutch, leading to Steele whacking Sheik with a chair and earning the DQ. Steele tries to eat the ref in response and Kirschner is SHOCKED that using a chair has earned his team a DQ. This was harmless fun.

SD Jones vs. "Iron" Mike Sharpe
Jones is wearing his pajamas.  As I type that, Ventura makes the same comment. Monsoon thinks Jones may weigh over 300 pounds, which is ABSURD.  Jones looks thick, but certainly not that big.  These guys trade lots of forearms and punches, with the crowd gladly getting on Sharpe with "Wimp!" chants.   
Sharpe works a series of headlocks and the crowd gets restless. Sharpe rolls through on a cross body for the "upset() win.  Jones attacks him after, despite losing clean.

Vince McMahon interviews Terry Funk.  Funk challenges any fan or Vince himself to fight him after his match tonight.

Steve Gatorwolf vs. Terry Funk
Funk smacks Gatorwolf around right at the bell. The fight goes to the floor, where Funk leaps off the barricade to assault the Native American. Funk takes some comedy bumps around the ring and out onto the announce table.  Funk is then knocked to the ramp and stumbles off of it. They trade sleepers, with both men tumbling over the ropes. Funk hangs himself upside down, because he is determined to entertain, even against a prelim geek.   Funk slaps on a sleeper to end things soon after.

Vince McMahon is with the Dream Team and Johnny V.  Vince cuts off the Hammer's promo. Beefcake gets 1 line since he can't cut a promo yet.

British Bulldogs vs. Beefcake and Valentine
Valentine tries to ground the TNT Kid to start, but the Bulldogs quickly turn the momentum in their favor.  Beefcake comes in and fares no better. It's charming to see the crowd pop huge for an elevated armbar. These teams were probably becoming very familiar with one another, helping to make this a smoothly developing match. The heels of course gain the advantage, with the Hammer working most of the match for the sake of not exposing Beefcake's limited abilities.
Davey Boy makes the hot tag and is a dropkick and suplex machine. The crowd gobbles this up with relish.  A four-way brawl busts out and the heels are shoved together.  The Bulldogs hit their headbutt finisher as the crowd goes bonkers. Valentine cheap shots the Kid and Beefcake steals the win.  I might be seeing this match a bunch coming up as the teams feud at least until April.

Dino Bravo vs. Mr. X
Bravo is still a babyface. His big drawing power in Montreal has yet to spread to Toronto since the WWF took over the Bravo's promotion in August. The crowd chants "boring!" right away.  Yes, Bravo kind of sucks.  I assume after a few hot matches, the crowd was not interested in this cool down before the Hulkster appears. The up close and personal ref is back from earlier. He continues to pause awkwardly as he checks the shoulder blades before his slow count. Bravo largely trashes X, but the crowd does not warm up to the match at all.

Vince McMahon is with "Macho Man". Savage promises Hulkamania dies tonight. Liz is portraying a more heelish persona during the promo.
Billy Red Lyons is with the Hulk.  He says he loves Toronto and he may buy a home here.  Macho Man has the "body of a God, face of a Dragon and mind of a Demon!" He compares this event to be like Wrestlemania.  The crowd can be heard chanting for Hogan out in the arena and it's awesome. Goosebumps!


WWF champ Hulk Hogan vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
Hulk shoves Macho Man and mocks his heel taunts. Hogan dominates the early moments, forcing Macho Man to hide behind Liz on the floor. The ringside security team is wearing sailor caps.  I am amused.
Ventura says he doesn't have a wife, which may have angered a certain lady back in Minnesota if she got wind of it. Hogan gets sick of Macho Man doing the Memphis heel stalling, so he goes to the floor to stall himself.
Savage tries to launch himself on Hogan back in the ring but is caught and driven to the mat. Savage goes back to hiding behind Liz.
Hogan out wrestles Savage, working an arm bar and turning it into a hammerlock. Macho uses some knees to down Hogan, who Hulks up with a massive kick out. Savage got almost no heat segment, so the crowd did not roar for that spot.  Savage cuts off the Hulk up and sends Hogan to the floor.  Hogan fights his way back in the ring, then downs Savage with a big clothesline and suplex.  A big boot sends Macho to the floor. Liz tries to block Hogan, so he moves her aside. Macho downs Hogan in the ring and drops the big elbow for 2 and 3/4ths.  Savage tries a second elbow, but is greeted by Hogan's boot. Hogan covers for the 1-2-3, with Savage kicking out just a second after.  Savage knocks Hogan to the floor afterward, so Hogan grabs his title and chases him off. 
I was fully expecting Hogan to lose via count out or DQ to set up more matches.  Savage did not get much in on Hogan at all. This didn't feel like it lived up to the hype since Savage was not able to ramp up the drama.




 

[BruiserBrody]

WWF @ Puerto Rico 10/19/85

This is the infamous tropical storm card, where a major storm hit midway through the event.  From what I can gather online, Puerto Rico was blasted with major storms in October of 1985, with upwards of 2 feet of rain hitting the island in a 2 day period a few weeks before this event.  120 million dollars worth of damage were caused by the storms.   Perhaps all the chaos can explain why a mere 1200 fans came to this stadium event.  

Gorilla Monsoon is on the call.  I have to wonder where this was taped to be aired on?? Some of it did appear on Prime Time Wrestling.  
Monsoon is also in charge of doing ring announcing before commentating as well.

Tony Atlas vs Steve Lombardi  

Lombardi starts the match by removing his wrestling trunks to reveal gold trunks under them.  Lombardi works the go behind like he's in Pat Patterson's hotel room. They work some basics, with Lombardi going back to a headlock several times.  Atlas fights out and introduces Lombardi to some of the turnbuckle pads.  A press slam finishes things briskly.   Certainly not the worst night Atlas would have with a bearded man in Puerto Rico in the 80s.  

Cpl. Kirschner vs. Tiger Chung Lee 
They work a lock up and the pace moves to a crawl quickly.  Lee takes over with "martial arts" and a front face lock.  More martial arts follow as a light "USA" chant comes from the crowd.  They botch something off an Irish whip as Lee goes for a chop and Kirschner tries a shoulder block.  The Corporal hits a clothesline for the win right after that.  Insomnia curing effort here! 

Ricky Steamboat vs. Moondog Spot 
Spot, the backwoods swamp dweller, matches the Dragon with some technical grappling, using his size advantage to leverage himself into control.  Spot locks on a headlock, which Monsoon mentions is one of his favorite moves. I giggled. 
Steamboat sells and sells as Spot hacks away on him. Steamboat makes a brief rally and wins with an enziguri.  They aren't paying the guys by the hour tonight.  

Wendi Richter vs. The Spider
Moolah is with the Spider.  Cyndi Lauper is making what I believe is her final WWF appearance with Richter. I bet there is an interesting story as to how Lauper got booked on this show.  Off the top of my head, I believe she was last seen the previous May on the first SNME.  
The crowd roars for the babyface's entrance.  The faces do not appear for a good bit after their names were announced.  I wonder if they were rounding up security for the pop star??  Moolah mugs for the camera and harasses the ref to buy time as minutes pass before the faces finally appear. 
Lauper switches out her fashionable hat for a pink hard hat. The wrestlers trade arm drags and hair whips.  Spider takes an awkward bump off of a slingshot.  Richter finds herself trapped in a head scissors. She flips her way out.  Spider claws at Richter's face. 
 Moolah gets involved, and chokes Richter right in front of the ref. Lauper tries to save her charge, but Moolah no sells Lauper's purse shots and chases her around ringside.  Richter takes control back in the ring and scores the duke with a crossbody.  A bit sloppy and rough around the edges, but entertaining. 

WWF champ Hulk Hogan vs. "Big" John Studd
The big men size one another up, shoving each other and both trying slams.  Studd takes a short cut to drop the Hulkster to his knees, where the men work a test of strength.  Studd uses more cheap shots to keep Hogan down.  Hogan eventually wises up and blocks the underhanded moves, then powers up to escape.  Hogan is trapped in a bear hug almost right after. 
The heavens open up as rain pours down on the ring.  The fans use umbrellas and chairs to shield themselves.  Hogan remains in the bear hug for a good bit. Hogan finally punches himself free.  Hogan hits an atomic drop, with Studd slipping on the water instead of taking a controlled bump.  The men fight to the floor.  Hogan introduces Studd to the ring post and rolls in for the count out win.  Monsoon is lost by this apparent audible of the real finish as Studd leaves.  Hogan does a few quick poses in the rain and heads to the back.  AWFUL match, even before Mother Nature made her run in. 

The Killer Bees vs. "Iron" Mike Sharpe and Barry O
It’s still pouring rain.  A lot of fans have wisely headed for cover.  The heels do a miscommunication spot to eat up some time as they argue. The Bees work some arm locks on Sharpe as any high spots have been eliminated by the mat being buried in water.  The ref slips on the water and falls on his behind.  The guys have had enough and Brunzell snags a small package to finish things.   

IC champ Tito Santana vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage 
Monsoon mentioned earlier that Liz was going to be at ringside, but I would guess the rain has vetoed that plan.  The sparse crowd chants "Randy!, Randy!".  Savage stalls a bit, batting trash that the audience tosses his direction. 
The rain has slowed, but the mat is still a broken neck waiting to happen.  The men work some close quarter grappling before Savage teases using a foreign object.  This allows Savage to go to the floor and hide the object. Macho argues with the ref over where the object is, then moves it. The ref and Macho then repeat the shenanigans. 
Tito and Macho finally lock up again, but Savage produces the object and jams it into Santana's guts.  The champ sells for a little offense from Macho, but then snatches a surprise small package to earn the clean win.  The rain ruined any chance for this match to be any good. 

Pedro Morales vs. The Spoiler 
Pedro closes out the show in his native land. The brawlers trade forearms and fists. Almost before that sentence could be typed, Pedro small packages the Spoiler for the win after barely a minute.  

A card that was snake bitten by events outside of the WWF’s control made for some brisk viewing as they piled all these matches into less than an hour and 20 minutes of time.  The matches were rushed as the guys were apparently trying to get the card in before the nasty weather hit, but obviously fate was not on their side. 
 

[Blehschmidt]

2 hours ago, BruiserBrody said:

WWF @ Puerto Rico 10/19/85

This is the infamous tropical storm card, where a major storm hit midway through the event.  From what I can gather online, Puerto Rico was blasted with major storms in October of 1985, with upwards of 2 feet of rain hitting the island in a 2 day period a few weeks before this event.  120 million dollars worth of damage were caused by the storms.   Perhaps all the chaos can explain why a mere 1200 fans came to this stadium event.  

Gorilla Monsoon is on the call.  I have to wonder where this was taped to be aired on?? Some of it did appear on Prime Time Wrestling.  
Monsoon is also in charge of doing ring announcing before commentating as well.

Tony Atlas vs Steve Lombardi  

Lombardi starts the match by removing his wrestling trunks to reveal gold trunks under them.  Lombardi works the go behind like he's in Pat Patterson's hotel room. They work some basics, with Lombardi going back to a headlock several times.  Atlas fights out and introduces Lombardi to some of the turnbuckle pads.  A press slam finishes things briskly.   Certainly not the worst night Atlas would have with a bearded man in Puerto Rico in the 80s.  

Cpl. Kirschner vs. Tiger Chung Lee 
They work a lock up and the pace moves to a crawl quickly.  Lee takes over with "martial arts" and a front face lock.  More martial arts follow as a light "USA" chant comes from the crowd.  They botch something off an Irish whip as Lee goes for a chop and Kirschner tries a shoulder block.  The Corporal hits a clothesline for the win right after that.  Insomnia curing effort here! 

Ricky Steamboat vs. Moondog Spot 
Spot, the backwoods swamp dweller, matches the Dragon with some technical grappling, using his size advantage to leverage himself into control.  Spot locks on a headlock, which Monsoon mentions is one of his favorite moves. I giggled. 
Steamboat sells and sells as Spot hacks away on him. Steamboat makes a brief rally and wins with an enziguri.  They aren't paying the guys by the hour tonight.  

Wendi Richter vs. The Spider
Moolah is with the Spider.  Cyndi Lauper is making what I believe is her final WWF appearance with Richter. I bet there is an interesting story as to how Lauper got booked on this show.  Off the top of my head, I believe she was last seen the previous May on the first SNME.  
The crowd roars for the babyface's entrance.  The faces do not appear for a good bit after their names were announced.  I wonder if they were rounding up security for the pop star??  Moolah mugs for the camera and harasses the ref to buy time as minutes pass before the faces finally appear. 
Lauper switches out her fashionable hat for a pink hard hat. The wrestlers trade arm drags and hair whips.  Spider takes an awkward bump off of a slingshot.  Richter finds herself trapped in a head scissors. She flips her way out.  Spider claws at Richter's face. 
 Moolah gets involved, and chokes Richter right in front of the ref. Lauper tries to save her charge, but Moolah no sells Lauper's purse shots and chases her around ringside.  Richter takes control back in the ring and scores the duke with a crossbody.  A bit sloppy and rough around the edges, but entertaining. 

WWF champ Hulk Hogan vs. "Big" John Studd
The big men size one another up, shoving each other and both trying slams.  Studd takes a short cut to drop the Hulkster to his knees, where the men work a test of strength.  Studd uses more cheap shots to keep Hogan down.  Hogan eventually wises up and blocks the underhanded moves, then powers up to escape.  Hogan is trapped in a bear hug almost right after. 
The heavens open up as rain pours down on the ring.  The fans use umbrellas and chairs to shield themselves.  Hogan remains in the bear hug for a good bit. Hogan finally punches himself free.  Hogan hits an atomic drop, with Studd slipping on the water instead of taking a controlled bump.  The men fight to the floor.  Hogan introduces Studd to the ring post and rolls in for the count out win.  Monsoon is lost by this apparent audible of the real finish as Studd leaves.  Hogan does a few quick poses in the rain and heads to the back.  AWFUL match, even before Mother Nature made her run in. 

The Killer Bees vs. "Iron" Mike Sharpe and Barry O
It’s still pouring rain.  A lot of fans have wisely headed for cover.  The heels do a miscommunication spot to eat up some time as they argue. The Bees work some arm locks on Sharpe as any high spots have been eliminated by the mat being buried in water.  The ref slips on the water and falls on his behind.  The guys have had enough and Brunzell snags a small package to finish things.   

IC champ Tito Santana vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage 
Monsoon mentioned earlier that Liz was going to be at ringside, but I would guess the rain has vetoed that plan.  The sparse crowd chants "Randy!, Randy!".  Savage stalls a bit, batting trash that the audience tosses his direction. 
The rain has slowed, but the mat is still a broken neck waiting to happen.  The men work some close quarter grappling before Savage teases using a foreign object.  This allows Savage to go to the floor and hide the object. Macho argues with the ref over where the object is, then moves it. The ref and Macho then repeat the shenanigans. 
Tito and Macho finally lock up again, but Savage produces the object and jams it into Santana's guts.  The champ sells for a little offense from Macho, but then snatches a surprise small package to earn the clean win.  The rain ruined any chance for this match to be any good. 

Pedro Morales vs. The Spoiler 
Pedro closes out the show in his native land. The brawlers trade forearms and fists. Almost before that sentence could be typed, Pedro small packages the Spoiler for the win after barely a minute.  

A card that was snake bitten by events outside of the WWF’s control made for some brisk viewing as they piled all these matches into less than an hour and 20 minutes of time.  The matches were rushed as the guys were apparently trying to get the card in before the nasty weather hit, but obviously fate was not on their side. 
 

Is this available on YouTube or anything? Sounds like one of those curiosities I'd enjoy.

[hammerva]

IWTV this week put up the first 10 episodes of NWA (or at that time NCW) Wildside TV from 1999.   I used to watch the 2002-2004 version of Wildside and never really saw the earliest versions of the company.  This is some seriously great stuff:

1.  At least on the first 5 episodes actually have the local commercials kept in the show.  Which is a complete trip as you really do get the best of Northern Georgia late night TV in these commercials.  Phone sex ads,  some big ass redneck guy promoting his strip club featuring an all you can eat buffet and "15 beautiful women and 1 fat ugly one",  this over 18 BYOB dance club featuring white girls doing their best trying to twerk and white guys in sweet mullets,  and of course terrible furniture commercials.  Just gold

2.  The music on these shows is just strange but awesome.   Jeff G Bailey group of all black men (including K-KWICK Ron Killings) coming out to We are Family,   Romeo Bliss coming out to Freak Me which is a 10 on the creepy scale.  The best so far is the Colorado Kid Mike Rapada coming out of Pop the Coochie from 2 Live Crew which is so ironic giving all of the rumors and stories about him

3.  A 6 months in the business AJ Styles dressed in almost Dockers just being a complete flippy guy..   Almost like a taller Jack Evans

4.  I knew about the awesomeness of Jeff G Bailey already.  When I saw him he with guys like Iceberg and the Lost Boys and he was all about violence and almost demon worship.  But 19999 Jeff G Bailey is a fucking trip watching in 2020.  He is leading a team all black guys talking about how the blacks are the superior athletes and are being held down by the racist in the NWA and state of Georgia.  Calling all of the black babyfaces like Ruckus (not the CZW version) Uncle Tom and much worse.  Calling the fans closest members of the Klan.   It is like watching New Jack if it was a balding middle age white guy.  Fucking tremendous

5.  My favorite so far is easily Dusty Dotson.  I need to know more about this man.   His gimmick is that he thinks he is Dusty Rhodes.  Not doing the gimmick but actually thinks he is.  He is doing segments cleaning toilets and picking up trash.   He talks exactly like (tries to) and does all his moves.  He apparently was gaining weight in order to like fat 1989 Dusty Rhodes.  He calls his manager Baby Doll even though it is some skinny white guy with a mustache called "the Professor".  Then the best part.  His entrance music is Dusty WWF theme.  But apparently they didn't have the actual theme as in the middle of the damn entrance you can hear Jessie Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon talking about Dusty.  That is some high quality copyright infringement right there

Again really good stuff to put up and binge on.  Hopefully they put a lot more because looking at Youtube there are some big gaps in 1999 and 2000 TV out there.

 

 

[BruiserBrody]

On 6/13/2020 at 12:59 PM, Blehschmidt said:

Is this available on YouTube or anything? Sounds like one of those curiosities I'd enjoy.

The Hogan match is on one of his DVDs and the Bees match made Prime Time.  My DVD is from WWE 24/7.  

[BruiserBrody]

WWF @ MSG November 25th 1985

Gorilla Monsoon seems to be going it alone on commentary.

 

Dan Spivey vs Terry Gibbs

Spivey is wearing Bruiser Brody style fuzzy boots.  Spivey had made his wrestling debut barely a year earlier and now finds himself in the Mecca of Sports Entertainment.   His former partner Scott Hall is being groomed for AWA stardom.  Spivey had been in JCP doing jobs in prelims for midcard heels and even THUNDERFOOT!

Spivey pretty much looks like Terry Bollea would if he had not gassed up.  Long blond hair, yellow tights.  Spivey works the arm for a bit.  Interestingly, although Spivey took Barry Windham's spot with Mike Rotundo almost right away at house shows, Spivey's early TV taping appearances had him partner with Mr. Wonderful and Ricky Steamboat.  

Spivey continues to work the arm and the crowd grows restless. I don't think the crowd wants the big man to try and show off technical grace.  Gibbs works on Spivey for several minutes, getting far more offense than I would have anticipated. Spivey fights back with some poor looking strikes.  Spivey hits the leg drop to go full Hogan cosplay, but that fails to win the match.  Spivey uses Barry Windham's bulldog to earn the duke instead.  Not the best debut for Spivey as a jobber roughed him up for a good bit and Spivey did not offer much interesting offense for the meat of the bout.

 

King Tonga vs Mr. X 

Monsoon jokes Mr. X's hometown of "Parts Unknown" is somewhere in South Texas.  Monsoon questions how Tonga was able to get so strong from "coconuts and bananas".  Tonga smacks X with some stiff chops and crisp looking blows, but goes to a rest hold to assure things don't get too interesting.   X endures two more nerve holds before breaking free.  X attempts to slow Tonga with chokes and a rear chinlock. The fans are bored now, but Monsoon talks over the "boring!" cat calls by talking about how hot business is.  

Tonga fires up and the crowd buzzes over X begging off. Tonga uses a side kick and diving head butt to achieve victory.  The crowd pops at the end dispute making it apparent they found it to be a snoozer.

 

Barry O vs. Jesse "the Body" Ventura

This heel vs. heel match was set up at MSG a month earlier when O called Ventura a "has been".  Ventura uses some cheap heel tactics right off, which the crowd approves of.  Ventura does some of his usual awkward bumping, as he never really made his flat back bumps look natural or realistic.  O gets a share of offense in, including a flying elbow from the top rope. Ventura begins a comeback, but he pauses for no reason and O rakes his face. Monsoon calls Ventura out for the obvious flub.  Ventura fires off some elbows, again pausing as if O was supposed to cut off his comeback. 

Ventura cheats some more as he mounts his comeback for real.

O surprisingly gets another round of heat in, dragging this out further than expected. He and Ventura collide, with Ventura again bumping in a rather fake manner.  O signals for a double axe handle, setting Ventura up to deliver a  gut shot, but Ventura misses O's intention and they move on to an irish whip/missed drop kick spot.  That sets up Ventura earning the submission win with a back breaker.  This was aggressively lousy. 

I am curious why they didn't just put Ventura in a higher profile match, preferably a tag team match that could help hide his shortcomings. 

 

Cousin Junior vs. Hercules

Hercules left Florida in Mid-July after getting into a locker room fight with booker Wahoo McDaniel.  It appears he was pretty much off the grid from then until early November when the WWF came calling.  Junior and the Hillbillies are still being pushed, so this won't be the squash you might expect.

Junior's country toughness proves no match for Hercules' steroid laden biceps as the Hillbilly is pounded to the mat.  Herc cuts Junior's comeback attempt off and dumps him to the cement. Herc continues mauling Junior when both athletes make it back to the ring.  Herc locks on numerous headlocks to test the patience of all the fans who paid to see the best in the business collide.  With no cell phones in sight, the light murmur is perhaps the audience debating if buying one of those fancy new NES systems might be a better use of funds than on a WWF ticket. 

Junior begins a comeback, but dances instead of fighting, so Herc smacks him around some more.

Junior makes another flurry, but the men totally blow the finish as Junior falls down while trying to leap over Herc. He then tries to roll up Herc anyway, but can't flip himself over to complete the cradle.  Herc then grabs Junior and pulls him into a roll up himself, but Junior's leg gets in the way of Herc cradling his arm around Junior's crotch.  Junior is pinned anyway.  They gave this over 11 mins.  The remarkably blown finish saved this from having no redeeming quality.

 

Jesse Ventura joins Monsoon on commentary from here on out.

 

Ladies champ Wendi Richter vs. The Spider

OH NO! Oh no!  This is the infamous screw job match where Moolah took over for whoever had been jobbing to Richter as the Spider around the horn.  The several Richter/Moolah matches I have reviewed in the past were car wrecks, and now here sixty some year old Moolah is going to try and shoot on the vibrant young champion.  Richter is several years younger TODAY in 2020 than Moolah is here in 1985!!!

You can easily read too much into their opening bit, as Richter seems to mouth to the audience that something is amiss with her challenger.  The champ forgoes a standard lock up and tries a shoot style double leg.  I want to believe that is Richter "shooting", but the ladies quickly begin throwing working punches.  Richter tries to unmask Moolah, which again makes me want to believe is a shoot to expose what is happening, but again it's a pretty standard spot when working against a masked heel.   Moolah begs off and the ref ends up motor boating Richter as he tries to seperate the ladies.

The crowd wises up and chants "Moolah!" Richter tosses Moolah to the floor. Moolah no sells Richter's forearm and runs.  Richter no sells Moolah's offense when they go back in the ring.  Moolah is taken down and has her leg worked over. The women fight over knee bars.  Moolah starts to choke Richter, and the champ goes to the mask again. Monsoon surprisingly mentions he wouldn't be surprised if Moolah was under the hood. 

Moolah bumps around for Richter, but can't prep for a fly head scissors and Richter falls to the mat alone. Richter kicks out at one on a pin attempt, and again my brain reads too much into things and a part of me says Richter is protecting herself from a screwy finish. 

No sooner do I type that than Moolah cradles Richter, Wendi obviously kicks out and the ref counts 3 anyway.   The ref stands up and stands there casually.  Moolah stands up and poses. Richter rises up and assumes the ref botched things and begins to work with Moolah again. Wendi rips the mask off, then delivers a dead weight body slam, covering Moolah for an obvious 3+. Richter throws more working punches before the ref steps in and hands Moolah the gold.  Richter half tackles Moolah, who tosses the belt.  Richter gives up on Moolah and screams at the ref.  Richter wrestles the physical belt away from the ref. 

Howard Finkel comes in and gives a bewildered announcement of the new champ is "The Spider??....The Fabulous Moolah???" 

Richter whips Moolah with the title several times.  Moolah tries to wrestle the belt from her, but Wendi is pissed, younger and stronger, so she keeps the belt.  Moolah finally gives up and heads to the locker room.  Richter spends 30 seconds or more in the ring seething on camera.  It's obvious Vince must not have been working the TV aspect here as I can't believe they didn't cut away in case Richter did something more drastic.

On top of all that, I have no idea why WWF didn't do this "shoot" on one of their Bum-fuck, Nowhere shows and not in the most important arena in the territory.  I am curious if Richter called Cyndi Lauper when all this hit the fan? 

The WWF were so proud of this screwjob that it made at least 2 home video releases. 

WWF Tag champs Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine vs. IC champ Tito Santana and Pedro Morales 

I have to question Morales' motives here as he found out the hard way in 1980 at Shea Stadium that the sitting IC champ can't win the WWF tag belts and also keep their singles belt. Maybe Santana just wants to get his hands on the Hammer one more time?

Morales fights off Valentine's attempts at offense, slugging him into a daze.  Santana bursts in and dominates the Hammer as well.  Beefcake tags in and the faces dominate him as well.   The heels bail out to the floor to regroup. Morales runs in on their lovefest and knocks some heads together. 

Beefcake remains the Stripper in peril for several minutes as the faces dominate him.  Morales finally succumbs to the heels and absorbs kicks, elbows, forearms and boots from the champions. Beefcake locks on a sleeper, which Monsoon notes is not a normal part of his repertoire.

The heels work the traditional spot with the face about to make the hot tag, only for the heel on the outside distracting the ref, leading to the tag being missed.  As the ref argues with Santana, the heels double up on Morales.   Morales fights to avoid a figure-four from Valentine and makes the tag.  Santana unleashes his fury on both heels.  Santana blasts Valentine with the flying forearm, but Beefcake interrupts the pin. A four-way breaks out. Santana locks Beefcake in a figure-four, drawing in Johnny V for the DQ.  The formula worked well here, and the crowd was behind the faces and hated the heels, making for a fun watch.  Santana and Morales think they should be handed the titles.  Pedro debuted in 1959. and apparently had yet to read the rulebook.

[BruiserBrody]

Part 2



Monsoon interviews Bobby Heenan. He trolls Heenan and hilarity ensues.



Monsoon quizzes Jimmy Hart and Terry Funk about their upcoming match. Funk is working Mr. Wrestling 2. Monsoon mocks Hart for recently being strippped half naked by the JYD on SNME.



Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat vs. Don Muraco



Steamboat is beloved! The fans crawl over each other to trade high fives with the Dragon as he walks all around the ring. Having seen several heated brawls with these 2 over the past few months, it is a bit surprising to see the men start off slow. Steamboat uses his speed advantage to strike Muraco several times before the Magnificent one can use his power and girth. Steamboat snap mares Muraco, then springs himself over Muraco, whip lashing his neck. The Dragon next cranks Muraco's head on a swivel, perhaps avenging himself for Muraco hanging Steamboat by his neck with the Dragon's own Gi belt. Steamboat locks in a chinlock to continue the neck related torture. The Dragon snags a front facelock and cranks on Muraco's neck. The psychology is strong, but the crowd is a little restless by the snail pace being exhibited.



Muraco drops Steamboat with a pair of beefy clotheslines. Perhaps sensing his own endurance having been drained, Muraco gets desperate quickly and posts Steamboat, drawing blood. Muraco takes Steamboat to the floor and sling shots him into the steel post.



The blood soaked Dragon teases a comeback, but Muraco cuts him off. Fuji runs interference, but loses his cane to Steamboat. The ref is bumped in the melee. Steamboat batters Muraco with the cane until the ref wakes up and declares a DQ. Muraco is sliced open, so Steamboat takes a jagged edge from the broken cane and jams it into Muraco's wound. The wounded warriors wind up wrapped together as they roll from the ring to the floor. They fight back into the ring and Steamboat batters the crimson faced Hawaiian. That ending should set up some sort of final gimmick blow off to this feud in a month or 2 at MSG!



Mr. Wrestling 2 vs. Terry Funk



The recent revelation that 2 was involved in a gang rape as a teenager makes watching his matches a little more cringey. Oh wrestling, are there no heroes who you can't ruin? 2 gets no response for his intro. They may as well have kept him as a southern mid card guy given that his age wasn't going to provide the WWF with the incentive to try and get him over with the Yankee audience.



Jimmy Hart tackles Mel Phillips in the ring. 2 makes the save, leading to Phillips, Hart, Funk and 2 having a race around ringside. I suppose Funk is Dick Dastardly in this scenario? Funk and 2 open with a comedy spot, as 2 takes a breather instead of running the criss cross with Funk. Funk loses an Irish whip competition, gets mad and kicks the turnbuckle, hurting his own foot. If this was on AEW, I'd be whining, but since it's Funk I guess it's "classic". 2 dances to annoy Funk. 2 avoids a lock up to annoy Funk further. Howard Finkel is kicked at ringside and gives off an earnestly annoyed look at Funk.



2 avoids a series of elbows to continue the Funk comedy hour. Hart tries to trip 2, so 2 chases him away. Funk hurts himself trying a headbutt, and almost loses to a small package because of it. Funk gets into a shoving match with the ref, then crawls into the crowd to protest. Once Funk goes back to grappling he tries a piledriver, only to be backdropped to the cement floor. Funk tries to crawl back in the ring, but 2 hits one of his patented knee lifts, sending Funk dangling in the ropes.



Funk is fed up with being the fool and chucks 2 to the floor. He introduces 2 to the steel railing. Funk messes with a New Japan cameraman as 2 sells on the floor. Funk works a sleeper. 2 fights out of it. Hart distracts 2, who chases Hart around the ringside. Funk attacks the distracted 2. Funk blows the opening and winds up tangled in the ropes again. 2 tries charging at Funk, but eats a knee. Funk gets a flash pin. A frustrated 2 grabs a chair and sends Funk and Hart running.



Funk made sure to use every trick in the book to have a fun match with an aging superstar.



Andre the Giant, Hillbilly Jim and Lou Albano vs. King Kong Bundy, "Big" John Studd and Bobby Heenan



Studd and Bundy had recently injured Andre in Toronto. Plus, Heenan was robbed of his "Manager of the Year" award by Jim giving Lou his votes, making Albano the contest winner. Studd and Bundy attacked Jim for his shenanigans.



Studd is dominated by Andre at the bell. Jim tags in, but tries a slam, because he's not too bright. Studd downs him, which sets up Bundy tagging in for some mauling fun. Andre tags back in to save his idiot partner. Andre grabs Bundy by the throat. The ref is impotent to stop him. The Giant takes Bundy's own singlet and chokes him with it. The ref again does nothing. The heels team up on Andre to turn the tide. Bundy locks the Giant in a front facelock. Studd once put Andre in one of those for something like 7 straight minutes in 1983 due to Andre being hungover or something and basically being unwilling to do anything. The match is out there on youtube. Ah hell, here's a link:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB4QOH5vsR4


Jim tags in but his fire cannot overcome 2 stinky, mean ol' heels. Andre tags in, smashes the big nasty heels, and drags Heenan in. Andre forces Heenan into the face corner and tags Albano in. Heenan takes the Ray Stevens/Ric Flair corner bump and both managers tag off. Andre is pissed that Heenan bailed out. Heenan comes back in and tags Bundy. Andre complains again and the ref forces Heenan to make contact with Andre before being able to tag out. Monsoon buries the ref for this, as no such rule exists in one fall tag matches.



Andre grabs both Studd and Bundy and drives their heads together. He tosses all 3 heels in a corner and squashes them with Albano and Jim adding some beef to Andre's backside. Bundy and Studd are tossed together and Heenan is downed by an Andre boot. Andre lays on the Brain for the academic pin. This was a delightful train wreck!

[JustYourAvgBozo]

I cracked up months ago when one of my YouTube suggestions was for Stardom's "No People Gate" from 3/8, right when everything was shutting down.

So I had to watch it. And it was fun! I've made it a habit to watch at least 2 hours a night of this promotion when I can.

Still figuring out who is who as far as the women I'm not too familiar with (last night was the first time I could say "Utemi Hayashishita" without having to look it up), but this is a cool look at something different.

I dig TCS (Jungle Kyoto is my girl, plus I love misfit groups/stables), DDM's Giulia is a star in the making, and I can get behind Tam Nakano.

[KB8]

I've been going through '86 Crockett on and off throughout this year, mostly on Will's Four Horsemen and Midnight Express comps. I've also been going through bits of World Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic TV on the Network, and I picked up every episode of Worldwide recently. I haven't been watching EVERYTHING, only the stuff that interests me, but the year has so much awesome stuff going on that I end up watching about 90% of it anyway. 

Like the back half of '85, the booking is stellar. I'm up to the Crockett Cup (April 19th) and it's been built up extremely well. Basically everybody feels important for one reason or another, the top of the card is stacked, the tag division is stacked, the low-to-high midcard is super fun and even your borderline enhancement talents like Mike Jackson will often stand out and be great (often in tags against the MX or in singles against a Tully or Arn or Black Bart). Some guys will have one or two feuds going at the same time and they'll sometimes intertwine, but the booking never feels confused or haphazard. So Flair is feuding with Dusty, but he now has major beef with Morton and there's the lingering issue with Garvin that hasn't been settled. Dusty is chasing Flair's title, but he's still got the Tully beef. Tully had the Dusty and Magnum feuds running almost simultaneously at the end of '85, then focused more specifically on Dusty, and now he and Arn just broke Garvin's hand so that's about to kick off as well. As of mid-April Morton is at war with Flair, which we know is building towards the Bash, but him and Gibson are still feuding with the Midnights for the tag belts. The Midnights have the RnRs feud but are also feuding with the Road Warriors, while the Road Warriors have the Russians to contend with at the same time. While there'll be some crossover, each individual feud still feels unique and singular in a wholly positive sense. It's sort of astounding how well it's all booked and I can't praise it highly enough. 

The 1/4/86 episode of World Championship Wrestling might be the GOAT episode of TV for wrestling promos. There were like eleven absolute corkers on this. Baby Doll is OUT as Tully's perfect 10 and JJ Dillon is IN as executive director of Tully Blanchard Enterprises. Apparently JJ had given Baby Doll a ticket to go to Acapulco as a Christmas present from Tully, but Tully never knew about it and so Baby Doll had basically skipped without telling him. They recap the official split that happened on Worldwide as Baby Doll tries to explain the situation, JJ denies it and so Tully slaps her across the face for stepping out of line. She's been bought and paid for and she belongs to him. Of course Dusty comes out and saves her and says she doesn't belong to Tully any longer, "SHE'S MINE NOW, DADDY!" This feud is so fucked by modern standards. The first time around, back in mid-'85, Dusty came across as a way bigger prick than Tully despite Dusty being the babyface, now Tully naturally comes off worse as he physically struck her, but Dusty deciding she's now his doesn't play so great through modern eyes (or any eyes, but you know what I mean). Have to love Dusty saying that Tully broke the sacred rule by putting his hands on a woman and it's totally unforgivable when six months ago Dusty was making her shovel literal horse shit, dragging her around arenas by the hair and trying to rip her clothes off on TV. The 80s were wild, y'all. The Four Horsemen is very much a thing now btw, as Tully outright refers to them as that in his interview, then Arn and Flair do the same later.

Ole is out injured as Dusty gets major payback for the broken ankle. Him and the Road Warriors basically do the same thing to Ole as Flair and the Andersons did to Dusty but of course Tully, Arn and Flair say it's totally reprehensible. It's okay though, because JJ and Tully know how to get back at Dusty and they'll take him down using the domino effect, starting with Dusty's long-time confidante Jimmy Valiant. Dusty has a couple promos on this episode that are incredible. He may not look like Ric Flair with all them muscles, but that's because he likes the night life just a little bit more than the gym and as long as he's still making half a million dollars a year he doesn't give a damn. He also took out Ole - "the head of the family" - and he's coming for Arn next. There was a cool bit on an episode of Worldwide where Baby Doll came out and threw a big leg cast at Arn, clearly a PORTENT of what's to come, and Arn about shit himself and refused to touch it like it was cursed. 

Flair is on another planet working THE STICK~ right now. This is easily the highest I've been on Flair in aaaaages. He's so much easier to digest when you're not watching a bunch of lengthy title matches on the spin. With the Horsemen set (or just watching the TV each week, interspersed with the arena footage) you get to see the angles, the interviews, the shorter studio matches where he's either outright squashing Rocky King or working semi-competitive with Sam Houston or having a total potatofest with Ronnie Garvin, the tag matches, and THEN the lengthier title defences. The lengthier matches are still generally my least favourite, but I even enjoyed one of the Dusty title defences from February when I didn't think I ever needed to see another Flair/Dusty match. He cuts three promos on the January 4th episode of WCW and all three are amazing. In the first one he addresses the Ole injury and loud Dusty chants in the crowd has him telling someone to keep their mouth shut or they'll be on the outside looking in. "Can you imagine this? My interview time and I gotta put up with these idiots." His cousin Ole can't compete in the greatest spot in the world, professional wrestling, because of a HEINOUS attack by Dusty Rhodes. He goes off on one about Dusty's earlier interview where he was talking about making half a milly in a year. "I spent more money on spilled booze with Leona Helmsley last Sunday night sitting on my lap than you've made in the last six months. You know why? Because I am legitimately a Big. Deal." He then goes off on Baby Doll who betrayed one of his best friends in the world, and now that she's on the other side of the tracks he doesn't have to worry about hurting Tully's feelings. "I never liked you to begin with! I've seen better on the backside of the worst days of my life!" Flair brings up a night in Philadelphia where she almost got to ride Space Mountain but Flair turned her down even after she repeatedly knocked on his hotel door. "God bless America and god bless Ric Flair. WOO!" Of course later in the show Baby Doll says it was HIM who was chasing HER that and she turned him down because of "a size issue." She then asks, "Why settle for one ride when I can have the whole park?" and I guess Flair has a wee pecker and Dusty doesn't? Either way Flair is fucking apoplectic and does that bit where he's like "next time you ride Space Mountain you'll be like this" and lies on the floor like he's in a sex come or something. Fuck if I know but it's great shit either way.

The January TV title tournament from Greensboro is clipped up a bit by whoever recorded it but Arn/Garvin and Tully/Wahoo looked like fun matches. Tully is a tremendous worker and I guess I forgot that because I haven't paid attention to him in so long. He looks as good as anybody in the world around this period. Fans are chanting "I QUIT" at him all through the match and JJ gets on the mic and says "the next person who says I quit will be ejected." Folk naturally go full on apeshit and chant all the louder. We never got much of the final but hey, Arn came good on his promise and walked out the television champion of the world.

There isn't an exact date on it, but the impromptu Flair/Tully v Dusty/Magnum match from one of the January arena shows looked absolutely great. Insane crowd, double juice from the babyfaces, pretty much all you could want in a heated southern tag. It had some unfortunate clipping but the twelve or minutes we got were awesome. I wish we got more of Flair working tags because he's an excellent tag wrestler. Like in the Flair/Arn v Dusty/Garvin tag from the 2/22 episode of Worldwide. It lasts about four minutes and in the running for best sub-five minute match ever. Flair/Garvin cage match from Greensboro (3/29) was also incredible and up there with anything those two have done together. The Tully/Arn v Dusty/Wahoo double strap match from the same show was a super awesome little brawl as well. 

Midnights won the tag titles in February and basically every Midnights/RnRs match is the bomb. Cornette might be the best promo guy in the company in '86 and that is a ridiculously high bar. He gets fined on TV for constantly interfering and he could not give less of a shit because momma can pay that in a second, or he could pay it in cash there and then. "I didn't bring my wallet out here because I figured Bob Caudle would try to get in my pocket." The following week Jim Crockett Jr. gives him another fine, but this time he's no longer allowed to bring the tennis racket to ringside and he goes ballistic. His chemistry with Caudle on Mid-Atlantic is great. One week Caudle brings up the Road Warriors and Cornette throws another rager. "I can get up in your face and get just as red as you, you old alcoholic!" Caudle visibly has to stifle a laugh at that because he's a good sport. He has another AMAZING line where he says, "If brains were gasoline, the Road Warriors couldn't propel a flea's motorcycle around a raindrop. You're STUPID!" He basically rips the Road Warriors and RnRs to bits every single time there's a microphone in front of his face. The match with the Road Warriors from 4/18 in Philly (from Cornette's rarities tape) is incredible. I actually think it's the only MX/Road Warriors match I've seen outside the scaffold match, and even then I remember nothing about that. It was ten minutes long, the crowd was surface of the sun level hot and everyone involved was amazing. Might be the best Road Warriors match ever. 

Speaking of the Road Warriors: they're a hoot every time they're on TV. I remember Legion of Doom promos as a kid where I was just mesmerised by these two maniacs in face paint and spikes shouting about whatever nonsense. "TELL EM', HAWK" was basically my catchphrase as a kid (yes I was a strange child, fuck off). I haven't seen any of the Road Warriors/Russians matches but I really want to see one of those chain matches they're hyping on TV. My favourite Road Warriors promo ever happens on the 2/1 episode of Worldwide. Hawk: "Ever since we were just little punks growing up in Chicago we got pushed around a lot. Then we did somethin' about it and ain't nobody pushin' us around no more, ESPECIALLY not Nikita Koloff, Ivan Koloff, or that stupid lookin' GERMAN. I've HAD IT!" 

The Flair/Morton feud properly kicks into gear at the end of March. Flair had been taking digs at the RnRs on interviews for weeks, calling them teeny boppers, talking about how he's the world champion and all about the REAL women while all the teenagers in their training bras go loopy for the RnRs. He started out with subtle little jibes but they got progressively more obvious each week, and because the RnRs never responded or even acknowledged it it made Flair sound like an insecure prick. Then on the 3/29 episode of World Championship Wrestling the RnRs have a match with a couple of your ham n eggers. Flair had been out hyping the Crockett Cup and decides to stay out to do commentary on the match. All through it he bigs up the Arn/Tully team, says the Midnight Express with his good friend James Cornette are the best tag team in the world because they have the belts, and of course slips in a jab at Morton and Gibson because they DON'T have those belts. So after the match the RnRs are heading to the back, and Flair obviously can't help himself and calls them over. He pulls a bra out his pocket and says a REAL woman told him to pass it on to Ricky Morton, because Flair likes the woman who are this tall (raises his hand about his own height) and Morton like them this tall (drops his hand to like knee height, which sort of intimates that Morton is a nonce but I don't think that was necessarily the intention). He drops the bra on Morton's head and at this point you can tell Morton has no time for Flair and his bullshit. They have some words, Morton says Flair would be nothing without the people, Flair basically calls him a moron because Ric Flair would be Ric Flair wherever the hell he wants to be, so Morton casually takes off Flair's shades and steps on them. Flair is obviously apoplectic at this and it leads to a quick brawl where Morton humiliates him, which kicks off what's probably my favourite Flair feud ever. Their interactions thereafter are molten hot. Morton strips him to the waist on TV the following week - after Flair came out during a Morton singles match and instigated the whole thing - and Flair of course is incenced afterwards. Says that's twice now Ricky Morton has sucker punched him and Dusty has come to Morton's aid, but now the Horsemen have HIS back and things will be different. Arn says, "That punk kid Ricky Morton is overstepping his boundaries. A wise man knows his limitations. I don't know if you qualify as even BEING a man Morton, but my friend, you've got involved with the Four Horsemen." On the 4/12 episode of WCW they have an impromptu match where Morton scores a "pinfall" on Flair before all hell breaks loose, and you know this is leading to Flair and the Horsemen being total bastards and exacting some hellish revenge. 

I'll watch the whole Crockett Cup show on the Network once I've caught up with some more TV from the first third of the year. I'm not really interested in seeing any more Flair v Dusty but with two guys so good on THE STICK~ I feel like I owe them my eyeballs for it. Flair's lead-in promo is obviously great. "I don't do jobs in front of 70, 000 people. I walk down that aisle and take care of business, like only Slick Ric can." 

[Memphis Mark]

I am re-watching Tracy Smother's career . I am at the point where SMW is closing and Tracy is returning to Memphis to team  with Brian Armstrong a.k.a Jesse James Armstrong. Also watching Cactus Jack career. Jack and Gary are in World Class under the guidance of Skandor Arbar. The feud with Eric Embry is going strong. Throw in some Houston classics . I try to watch a nice mix of footage .

[WingedEagle]

I just finished the last disc of the 80s NJPW set and finally polished off the 4H set.  Last month I closed up the '90 and '95 yearbooks as well so after having all of these sets "open" the only project I'm actively watching at the moment is 2000's puro.  Time to crack the seal on another set that'll take years to finish!

[Zoo Enthusiast]

I’ve been re-listening to the Lapsed Fan’s “Lamentable Tragedy of World Class” series and it spurred me to also go back and watch the WCCW set.  I don’t think there’s any wrestling I watching enjoy more than WCCW when it was at its hottest.  I always want to experience my wrestling viscerally and World Class scratches that itch.  Throw in the absolutely *bleak* reality behind the scenes and the promotion checks all of my boxes.  It’s absurd, it’s dark, and the crowd is hot.

[cactus]

After being disillusioned with the product that NJPW has been putting out the last few years, I decided to skip watching Wrestle Kingdom for the first time in a decade. Instead, I watched the big 1/1 NOAH show and I had a blast with it. I've caught a handful of shows since they rebranded in 2019, but I think I will try and catch all their big shows from now on. Kenou/Kiyomiya was my MOTY. Despite my criticisms of it, Go/Nakajima was a fun watch too. KENTA returning and looking like the coolest motherfucker on the planet was another highlight. NOAH is definitely putting out a product that is exactly what I want out of my puro. 

[Brynn]

I’ve been watching completely random stuff recently:

Watched Great American Bash 1991 for the first time in a long time. Still not a good show but, bless them, they tried. Some random thoughts:
* Ron Simmons and Oz was a fun little match and I still get a chuckle anytime I see Oz’s entrance because of how elaborate and ridiculous it is.
* I thought El Gigante and One Man Gang was going to be better than it was. My mind exploded trying to decipher Kevin Sullivan’s pre-match promo about the lady with the third eye, banshees, a death cart and other assorted nonsense. 
* Big Josh vs Blackblood was bizarre. A lumberjack and a supposed executioner wielding a giant AXE competiting in a lumberjack match.
* Still don’t understand why a scaffold match was necessary for the opening match. It could’ve been way better as just a standard tag match.

Aside from that, watched Impact Rebellion from April once it was uploaded to Impact Plus a few weeks ago. I’m glad I didn’t buy it on PPV because it was not that great of a show. I really liked the X-Division three way and JONAH vs. Ishii. Alexander vs Moose was good too.

More recently been going down a YouTube rabbit hole of Stampede Wrestling from the 1980s. I’m not too familiar with Stampede, aside from what I’ve read in Heath McCoy’s “Pain and Passion” book and the few matches WWE included on some of their DVDs over the years so this is all new to me. I’m not really watching it in any particular order, just as I kind of find stuff in good quality on YT. If anyone has any recommendations as to what to check out for Stampede and where to find it, let me know!