What are you watching?

[PhilTLL]

Arn and Pillman have a solid match on Main Event 7/8/90, a Pillman showcase with a skin of the teeth Arn escape. Would have been better/hotter if Arn got more offense in, but there are some really great bits of smooth, smart work there.

 

Power Hour, 7/13/90:

 

Ross and Pillman expound the virtues of the exciting new WCW Top 10, as though I couldn't remember they were heavily touting a Top 10 the previous year, for example as one of the starting points for the hottest feud of the year. Jim mentions that the exciting Great American Bash show at the Omni this weekend is brought to you by Schlitz Malt Liquor. Lex Luger wrestles a giant black guy in prison khaki named Deathrow (oooof). Norman is back as Truckin' Norman, wandering out randomly during a (good) Horsemen squash, and Jim tells us Rotunda told him not to ask too many questions about where he's been. Ooookay. I guess he was out picking up truckstop hookers.

 

Michael Hayes and Tracy Smothers continue the Boys/Birds feud with a watchable if long main event, helped much by the always hot crowd at the Cobb County Civic Center. It feels like half of all WCW TV for 89-90 was taped there, and I can see why. Hayes taunting Smothers in the chinlock: "Come on, Tracy! Tell 'em you're from Green Bay! Tell 'em you've never set foot in the South!" They're two of the best at masking the fact they're going long. Work highlight: Smothers does a sitout splash across Hayes' knee that is so heavy it makes me wince. Finish is of course a schmozz because the teams facing off tomorrow night. As are Tommy Rich and Stan Hansen! Plus more about the exciting new Gauntlet!

 

WCW the next day is clipped to 1 hour and shown in the afternoon due to a Braves doubleheader, and it is...uneven. You can see from the identical crowd and lack of sun through the CCCC's huge windows that this is later in the same taping as Power Hour. The Birds/Boys rematch is decent but pretty unremarkable. The low/highlight is Tim Horner needlessly repackaged (He was just wrestling as himself a week before! He will be again next week!) as "Starblazer" wrestling a terrible match against "Kola Kahn."

 

 

Kahn is introduced from Ulan Bator in Upper Mongolia, which is evidently code for the joint. He is awful and Horner is likewise tonight, and this should be a straight-up Blue Blazer-style squash but isn't, leading to an absolutely full-throttle "BORING!" chant hand-conducted by grandmas in the front row. To be fair, they have taping fatigue. Horner looks like a minor-league hockey mascot. He botches a handspring elbow, landing a full three steps too early and being forced to backpedal into it. And then they replay that from an even worse angle in slo-mo, like they're making fun of him or something. "Starblazer" has a match against Rotunda ("Horner's" sometime tag team partner) at Clash 13 that I'm already skipping in my mind.

[SomethingSavage]

Got caught up on the last 3 episodes of Lucha Underground. It's consistently holding up as my favorite wrestling program at the moment.

 

Plus I've finally found a few consecutive days off, and so I decided to go back and binge (re)watch Championship Wrestling From Hollywood - from the very beginning. Gotta go back to Blip TV for the very start, but it's well worth the look back. I'd forgotten just how awesome the Pearce/Cabana feud was at the time. I remembered enjoying it, but man oh man. It holds up. Everything about that feud felt like something straight out of the territories.

 

It's got everything. Slow burn, patient build-up? Check. Neck brace angle? Check. Fiery babyface comebacks? Check. Fireballs? Check. Heel champion surrounding himself with a human wall of lackeys? Check. Weasel heel manager with a stable of henchmen? Check. Just a great grudge that carried on & on & on for a seriously LONG time, yet it never felt stalled or derailed. And I'm not even up to the 7 Levels of Hate in my viewing yet. But yeah. Absolutely enjoying the stuff from those guys.

 

Toss in tremendous matches from Aries, Willie Mack, Scorpio, and others in the meantime - and it's easy to recall just why I was such a big fan of Hollywood back in the day.

 

There's also all the dynamic personalities and characters. The work they did there felt like a precursor to the stuff we'd later get with the NXT relaunch and (most recently) the type of thing we're seeing with Lucha U. It's not nearly as polished or sleek in its presentation, of course - but the blueprint is there. Purely fun stuff and totally worth taking the time to trek through all over again. Glad I've had the time to do it, as Hollywood & Lucha Underground have really reignited my enthusiasm - at a time when my interest was REALLY starting to drop off.

[PhilTLL]

So it turns out the reason Rotunda told Ross not to ask too many questions, as Rotunda tells us on WCW 7/21/90, is that...Truckin' Norman is a tribute to his recently-deceased trucker dad. Jesus, that is one weird, sad twist. I think I liked my story better.

 

Worldwide 7/21/90:

 

More Tales of Steiner Squashes. Today's victims are tubby schlubs Crusher Knoff and Mike Thor. Scott helpfully intones "Boy, I'd hate to be those guys," and he is correct, as Knoff eats a release German from Scott to start and a ridiculously involuntary second rope belly to belly from Rick that Dutch Mantell calls a "crazy spot" on commentary. Thor gets the even worse end of the stick with a butterfly bomb from Scott that he doesn't get his head high enough for, making me think he is gravely injured, and at the end, a top rope DDT from off Rick's shoulders that is so absurdly vicious-looking that Nick Patrick scrapes him out of the ring like garbage, nWo-style.

 

In the next match, Dutch hints at the Zeb Colter gimmick with a snide mention of H.W. Bush's "no new taxes" line.

 

Edit: Jesus, they keep doing that top-rope/shoulders DDT, hitting it on 7/28 Pro on poor Joe Cazana. Wonder how long that continues. I have to say that pairing it with the Frankensteiner on the other guy is impressive as hell. You hit a guy you're not even pinning with a death move!

[PeteF3]

Another Yearbook come and gone. I give general thoughts on 1995, including my Observer Awards for the year.

[SomethingSavage]

Still rewatching the entirety of Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, and I'm absolutely loving it. There's an abundance of colorful characters, even if some of 'em are incredibly cheesy. It's good stuff. "Pretty" Peter Avalon is the type of gimmick that I'd legitimately LOVE to see ripped off on the big stage.

 

The Cutler Brothers, working the fitness tag team gimmick, being billed from "your local GNC" is tremendous.

 

Colt Cabana's celebration of his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship victory was simply phenomenal. Similar to the recent Sami Zayn win, it was just built & built to a HUGE payoff, and it meant so much more as a result. The personal stamp of having Colt treat the crowd to chocolate milk puts it over the top for me. That's pure pro wrestling right there, people.

 

Call me crazy, but going back and reviewing these shows... Shaun Ricker strikes me as a "Can't Miss" prospect. Not sure what happened with his NXT tenure to get him released - especially after appearing on Rocky's Hero reality show, but he seemed on track to make it big. The guy's got a surefire look & money promo. Rarely seen him look like anything other than a star in waiting.

 

I've always enjoyed Excalibur's commentary in PWG and for the Wrestle Reunion events, but I didn't even remember him appearing so often on the earlier Hollywood shows. He does a solid enough job, especially when it comes to putting the simpler things into perspective. For instance, I like how he logically breaks down the ludicrous idea of letting a match happen after a pre-match assault on the outside - comparing it to a Nascar driver having their tires slit before a big race, only then to be told, "Well it happened BEFORE the race started, so now ya have to go out & run the race this way." Nice.

 

I'm at that point in my rewatching where Stu Stone is JUST beginning to turn heel. He eventually grows into a great little slimeball sleazebag manager, but he was a little too retro and contrived with getting it off the ground at first. I still think this approach could have worked for everyone's benefit back when Michael Cole was working the angle with Lawler. If they'd just put faith into someone else to become the lead announcer, then Cole probably could've made the transition into a worthwhile heel manager for awhile. Maybe I'm in the minority there, but I don't know.

 

As far as the action goes, Hollywood delivers AT LEAST one solid match per episode. There's inconsistency among the undercard, of course. But that's totally forgivable. The angles are fun. The personalities are dynamic. And, at this particular point in my rewatch, the Scorpio Sky vs. Austin Aries "Best of 5" series has been fantastic. The matches function flawlessly enough in a vacuum, since they're each designed to tell a self-contained story on their own. But the beauty is in the way they are painting a bigger picture along the way. Each match's outcome and action holds value & meaning, directly & distinctly playing into the next bout of the series every time.

 

Aries is vicious, sawing & gnawing away at Sky's legs like a piranha. Scorpio is the quintessential babyface, battling against injury & all odds - even in the face of permanent damage. Scorpio throws one of the SICKEST knee strikes I've ever seen, and I've never seen it look off target. He snaps that bad boy off with pinpoint precision, and it makes me wish more guys on the main scene would try this out, instead of everyone & their third cousin using the Superkick as their go-to "impulse" spot.

But yeah. Good stuff with those two in their series so far. Haven't reached the finish of their encounters just yet, but I'm legitimately excited all over again - ESPECIALLY since I don't even recall who wins the darn thing. Meantime? Aries is busting out badass submissions left & right. Sky is dishing out knee strikes that are slicker than owl shit. And it's making for truly fun TV.

[iamthedoctor]

Currently watching Putski on Pipers Pit.

 

Kinda wondered if anything signifficant happened in 84 apart from Hogan winning the belt as up to April and nothing noticable stands out.

 

Will be happy when the main bulk of Mania 1 make their appearance ie Hart, Heenan, Studd, Volkoff, Beefcake, JYD, etc.

[Ricky Jackson]

Man, Slaughter's babyface turn happened around March 84, and his subsequent feud with the Iron Sheik is fucking awesome.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/1991-starrcade-battle-bowl/#.VJVrYP8w4A

A bizarre night of action as 40 men are forced to team up with random partners to try and qualify for the "Battle Bowl". This leads to strange pairings such as Sting teaming with Abby the Butcher, The Freebirds colliding, Justin Liger trying to make rookie DDP look good and other such oddities. A fun card, but why ruin the Starrcade brand with the gimmick?

[Sean Liska]

Tearing through Southwest Championship Wrestling TV. I love how there are so many random guys who are mixing the lucha style with southern style wrestling. Obviously Tully is amazing. I'm also getting obsessed with Alabama and seeing everything that ever came out of there. The USA Championship Wrestling stuff in this thread sounds amazing. And my other recent obsession is watching every Negro Casas match ever put to tape and stating to really consider him for the GOAT.

[iamthedoctor]

Man, Slaughter's babyface turn happened around March 84, and his subsequent feud with the Iron Sheik is fucking awesome.

 

Did Studd winning the battle royal air on TV? As they mentioned it throughout the show and even showed footage after the match so guessing it happened at a televised show.

 

Just watched the Sheik/Slaughter match from MSG in April 84 and it was absolutely amazing! Even McMahon got caught in the middle of it in the dressing room.

[rzombie1988]

I reviewed FMW's 5th Anniversary show in two parts here:
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/fmw-5th-anniversary-show-551994.html
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/fmw-5th-anniversary-show-551994_22.html

Overall thoughts: This show had a little bit of everything and was good overall. The M-Pro tag was the first highlight with all the M-Pro crew looking great. The women then stepped up and had a good match. Later on, Terry Funk stole the show with his selling and we got to see Mike Awesome murder junior heavyweights. The semi-main was violent but too long. The main event was easily the best thing on the show though and was a classic match. It had theatrics, cool gimmicks, a hot crowd and good wrestling. I do recommend this show and I think it has something for every fan.

Some shots from the show:

[PhilTLL]

 

 

Man, Slaughter's babyface turn happened around March 84, and his subsequent feud with the Iron Sheik is fucking awesome.

Just watched the Sheik/Slaughter match from MSG in April 84 and it was absolutely amazing! Even McMahon got caught in the middle of it in the dressing room.

Oh man, if you think that one is good--which it definitely is!--just wait. 5/21/84 and the Boot Camp are two of my (and many people's) favorite matches ever.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/in-your-house-good-friends-better-enemies/#.VJhbG_8JDhs

Shawn Michaels makes his first PPV title defense against his former best friend Diesel, The Ultimate Warrior participates in a debacle with Goldust, Razor Ramon makes his final WWF TV appearance colliding with Big Van Vader, plus a pair of lackluster tag bouts fill out the card.

[iamthedoctor]

Just watching a fantastic MSG show from May 84 and yet another match between Sheik/Slaughter turned into a real bloodbath man this stuff is golden.

[stomperspc]

Virus © vs. Dragon Lee for the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship (12/09 – CMLL)

 

Virus title matches are one of the few things in 2014 wrestling that I go out my way to see as soon as possible, which meant watching this two Saturdays ago C3’s internet feed. The match didn’t disappoint. I have this match with Dragon Lee below the Titan match from January but comfortably above both the Fuego June title match (which I liked) and the Stigma match from July (which I didn’t think was very good overall) in terms of 2014 Virus title matches. Also thought this was a better match than the lightning match these two had back in September.

 

In a lot of ways, this was fashioned similarly to the Titan match. The first fall was Virus leading Dragon Lee through the mat work portion. Virus mat work is always good – always something different and always incredibly smooth. Dragon Lee appeared a bit tentative at points but was still effective in taking advantage of the openings Virus left him. Dragon Lee took the first fall despite Virus being in control a decent portion of the fall. Virus takes right over again to start the 2^nd fall. One of the great things about Virus title matches is the way he paces them. He does the traditional mat work in the first fall and into the 2^nd fall. At the same time, he brings the match up at points in the first fall escalating in the finish. He then usually goes back to mat or limb work to the start the second fall but it is more focused and intense. By the end of the 2^nd fall, he has dialed this match up a level where they are ready for a dramatic third fall with near falls.

The third fall here was great and another example of Virus’ smart pacing of title matches. While many CMLL title matches these days have long, near-fall heavy third falls (after two short falls), the third fall in this match is less wild. It also builds off the first two falls better than other CMLL title matches tend to. There are cool reversals and enough near falls during the third fall, but the match never falls into the big move-near fall-big move-near fall formula of other modern CMLL matches. They really struck out a nice balance. There are some really cool, smooth counters and believable near falls here.

 

The reason I have this below the Titan match is that I thought Titan brought more to this match than Dragon Lee did to his. As far as individual Virus performances go, they are both about the same. Really good match nonetheless and a legit MOTYC.

[SomethingSavage]

Finally got around to watching this year's Tribute To The Troops event. Call me crazy, but I definitely dug it as a throwaway "special" kind of show. Genuinely just a real feel good theme throughout the whole thing.

 

Kicking the thing off with Hulk's "Real American" was great. Maybe it's the holidays, or maybe it's me just being a sucker for nostalgia... I don't know. But I got goosebumps when I saw the Hulkster, the flag waving, and THAT entrance.

 

Matches were mostly meh, but it's whatever. The Boot Camp battle delivered some decent action on that front. Sarge doing the intro for it was a nice freaking touch, and hey. It was solid enough for what it was - a bit tame for my tastes, but the crowd seemed into it.

 

I normally don't care for musical acts and performances in the middle of a show, but it felt totally appropriate for this one. The entire scene was certainly enhanced by the fact that the crowd looked to be actively enjoying it all. Gave things a boost by looking like an actual concert atmosphere.

 

I was surprised that NOBODY even commented on Daniel Bryan's actual health or status during that segment with Rusev. That was strange. If you'd been away from awhile as a regular viewer, then you could've EASILY bought into the notion that Bryan was back & cleared for competition. Bizarre.

 

Ryback delaying Harper in that vertical suplex was a pretty sweet spot. The finishing stretch was fun, too. We've seen it several dozen times, but that's alright. And at least they STILL seem intent on protecting Dolph & presenting him in a positive light.

All in all, not a bad show at all.

[rzombie1988]

I reviewed RINGS Mega Battle Tournament '95 1st Round 10/21/1995 here:
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/rings-mega-battle-tournament-95-1st.html

Overall thoughts: This was a pretty good show. There were some really good matches like Zouev/ Ilioukhine, Petkov/Tariel and Kopilov/Zaza that made the show. Nothing was terrible. They also kept things moving with most of the matches being under 7 minutes, which really helped things out when you have some workers who don't really get wrestling. I think this would be a good introduction to RINGS and since it's on youtube, you can check it out if you'd like. Zouev/Ili was definitely the match of the night and Zaza/Kopilov would be close behind.

Some shots from the show:

[Stiva]

I'm watching Vengeance 2001 and there's a Regal/Edge match that is a great showcase for Regal as a worker. He has a ton of subtle heel mannerisms that he uses as he cuts off Edge's comebacks and you can hear the crowd reacting more and more with each one. That's before you mention Regal's punches and knees looking great, as you'd expect. Edge wasn't really ready for the IC push (remember when that meant something??) that they were giving him but man, Regal was the perfect opponent to make him look good. Everything in Edge's comeback looked great and got him over while Regal still came out of it looking good. He tried to cheat but the babyface was too wily. Man, William Regal should be top 25 in the Greatest Wrestler Ever poll.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-clash-of-the-champions-18-the-dangerous-alliance-rises/#.VJ4wTv8JDhu

A mixed bag of a card features such great matches like Sting and Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude and Steve Austin, Six-man action with Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham, and Ron Simmons vs. Larry Zybysko, Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton, The Steiners vs. VADER and Mr, Hughes, and an entertaining Van Hammer/Cactus Jack Falls count anywhere brawl. A liberal dose of Wrestlecrap sees PN News and Vinnie Vegas in action and the Freebirds participate in a ridiculous song and dance routine. All in all an entertaining two hour broadcast!

[iamthedoctor]

Currently up ot the end of August 84 on my rewatch project and really loving it so far. Just seen Snuka/Piper from the garden that confused the heck out of me, Piper gets busted open and just when Jimmy is about to win Piper clotheslines him and Snuka somehow flies over the top rope and is unconscious and needs to be stretchered out backstage so he can have air on his mouth because he needs oxygen.

 

Did he legimately hurt himself as seems a odd angle to do from just a clothesline.

 

Final match was Valentine/Santana which im guessing was the first time they battled over the IC title with Tito going over and sneeky Valentine jumps Santana and Figure Four's him. Was expecting Hogan on the card but guess he was busy that month even so Bellomo/McGraw did impress me those two having a decent match that went to a 20 minute draw. Some good wrestling there.

[Memphis Mark]

I am watching Jerry Lawler . It is 1983 and Jerry is battling Bill Dundee , Andy Kaufman , Ken Patera and Jimmy Hart's First Family , . I watch it all as it happen , but it is still great to relive Memphis wrestling. Also I am going to look at some Southeastern footage from 80 - 81. A lot of Armstrongs and Fullers matches, some of my all time favorites . Southeastern/ Continental is really underrated.

[PhilTLL]

Final match was Valentine/Santana which im guessing was the first time they battled over the IC title with Tito going over and sneeky Valentine jumps Santana and Figure Four's him.

I was actually looking for this answer myself recently--the first match in the '84-85 Santana/Valentine feud was 3/31/84 in Philly. First MSG was 6/16.

[iamthedoctor]

Championship wrestling just aired the title change on the second week of October 84 as suprised they didnt do it for MSG. My mind must be playing tricks as I could have sworn they had more than 2 cage matches. I didnt even realise Bret & Dynamite debuted as early as oct back then considering the earliest Id seen them wrestle was each other in 85 thanks to that Bulldogs tape I had back in the day. Bret looks odd in his TV debut wearing horrible grey pants.

[Blazer]

Championship wrestling just aired the title change on the second week of October 84 as suprised they didnt do it for MSG. My mind must be playing tricks as I could have sworn they had more than 2 cage matches. I didnt even realise Bret & Dynamite debuted as early as oct back then considering the earliest Id seen them wrestle was each other in 85 thanks to that Bulldogs tape I had back in the day. Bret looks odd in his TV debut wearing horrible grey pants.

 

Are you just watching the MSG shows from '84 or Spectrum stuff too? Mixing any tv in? Sounds fun.

[iamthedoctor]

 

Championship wrestling just aired the title change on the second week of October 84 as suprised they didnt do it for MSG. My mind must be playing tricks as I could have sworn they had more than 2 cage matches. I didnt even realise Bret & Dynamite debuted as early as oct back then considering the earliest Id seen them wrestle was each other in 85 thanks to that Bulldogs tape I had back in the day. Bret looks odd in his TV debut wearing horrible grey pants.

 

Are you just watching the MSG shows from '84 or Spectrum stuff too? Mixing any tv in? Sounds fun.

 

 

At the moment its watching WWF Championship wrestling and if a MSG is taking place within the weeks ill watch that as in a way to me its a PPV style show with the big title defenses. If the WWF belt isnt defended on MSG ill just pull up a House Show card where the belt was defended so that way im making sure I see Hogan wrestle in a months shows.

 

I think October time was when the big names came in as Bruno is now commentator & Beefcake is in there and you got Kamala, and a few others and Heenan. Will be interesting to see just who debuts around Nov/Dec.