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Tim Cooke

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In sticking to my wrestling New Year's Resolution I decided to youtube some Babe Face matches, thinking he was one of the lucha guys I liked but didn't expect to find more than an hour or two of footage on youtube, and thus I could essentially check that name off my list. Watched two trios matches one of which was Babe Face, Negro Casas & Rambo vs. Villano I, IV & V. It was a pretty fun trios, nothing great but it had some fun rudo miscommunication spots and some cool double team moves by the Villanos so it was worth the 15 minutes.

 

The second match was just the first fall of a trios match between Babe Face, ERIC EMBRY & Dan Green vs. Fishman, El Faraon, & Tamba. Tamba is an Abdullah clone who actually looked like he might have been pretty good in the ring. This isn't anything too great but the Eric Embry/Tamba stuff was good.

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Still sticking with my (re)watch of the entire Championship Wrestling From Hollywood series, going all the way back to the start. Thoroughly enjoying what I've seen (again) thus far, as almost everything feels fresh & new to me again. It's been so long since I've seen a lot of this stuff, so it's truly a treat to look back on it now. The quality holds up quite well. And - I've said this before - but the presentation & format really feels like a precursor to a lot of the stuff we later got with the NXT relaunch. It's just a streamlined show, with very little filler or throwaway air time. Everything feels progressive & meaningful, which seems to be a staple in most of the NXT and even Lucha Underground programming we're seeing these days.

 

Specifically? Guys like Willie Mack, Peter Avalon (yes), and especially Scorpio Sky are bringing the heat. These guys just go out there and consistently tear it up in their matches, no matter WHO they're facing on a weekly basis. It's great.

 

The Austin Aries vs. Scorpio Sky "Best of Five" series was phenomenal. Simply put, I think it belongs among the more mainstream series that anybody has put out. Bell to bell, the action is intense and fierce. The matches are strung together seamlessly to tell ONE big story, yet each can be absorbed & enjoyed on their own in absolute isolation. Aries is relentless and vicious in his assaults, busting out badass submissions and just behaving like a predator through & through. Meanwhile, Sky plays the part of the baby in peril PERFECTLY. He's no Rey Mysterio or even Sean Waltman for me, but he's still pretty darn spectacular in the role. Garners sympathy like a champ, sells the hell out of a concussion angle, and has you rooting for him straight up to the finish.

 

Speaking of finishes, I love the little angle they ran at the end of the series. A fun sort of swerve, without taking ANYTHING away from the efforts or substance of the story they told. There's also this really cool image of Austin Aries ripping apart a fan's sign that proclaims, "Austin Aries Cheats!" Aries looks directly at the camera and says, "No way. Cheaters never win. And I won! I wonnnn!" Just awesome stuff.

 

Among other things, Willie Mack and Joey Kaos (who I'm admittedly not a big fan of) actually delivered a damn fine Lumberjack Match one week in my recent viewing. The stipulation made sense, fit the tempo, and was used about as well as I've ever seen. The match actually felt like a proper payoff & conclusion at that time, although they DO revisit the rivalry just a month or so later. Still? It's treated as a substantial gimmick for a change.

 

I'm that guy that'll stand up for Matt Striker on commentary, so I don't mind Todd Keneley's geeky references or phrases at the announce booth. I actually think it's fairly impressive how many he'll bust out during - for instance - a RockNES Monsters match. Goes a little overboard at times, like Striker. But hey. Like it or not, we live in a Geek Squad world these days. Nerdist culture IS today's pop culture. So it fits.

 

Stu Stone, in full villain mode by now, was a hoot on commentary recently also. During a Nick Madrid match, there's a full flock of fans at ringside, all sporting these bright yellow Madrid T-shirts. Keneley mentions 'em, and Stone runs with it - talking about how they're all related to Nick, living together & crammed in a single bedroom apartment up the road. Loved it. Other comments that had me cracking up? "I hate to give him credit, Todd... ... ... so I won't." And when Todd makes the cliche comment of, "What's it gonna take to keep Nick Madrid down?!" Stu calmly comes back with, "Well... it's gonna take the referee counting to three." Tremendous.

 

Another enjoyable discovery for me has been the Tribe. I don't recall liking much AT ALL about these guys before, but I'm seriously digging 'em this time around. They're just a real roughhouse type of team. Hawaiian Lion's stupid name is misleading, because the guy busts out some BRUTAL throws & suplexes left and right. He just destroys dudes with Saito Suplexes, T-Bones, Exploders, and all kinds of other goodness. Even Navajo Warrior brings to the table a stiff Bray Wyatt bodyblock and (my personal favorite) Running Death Valley Driver. Their offense is just SICK at times. If the Ascension were doing THIS kind of stuff, then maybe they'd look like a threat on the big stage.

 

Oh, and the Tribe brings the added advantage of the warpaint. So there's bonus points for that. Plus they pack a freaking scalping hatchet & leather strap to the ring. Those HAVE to rank right up there among my favorite foreign objects of choice.

 

"Pretty" Peter Avalon has been a revelation of sorts, too. I remember liking his work early on, before a lot of the PWG stuff, but man oh man. I didn't recall him showing signs of it THIS soon. But there he is, bringing stellar matches to the forefront from day one. There's a particularly awesome opener with Famous B on one episode that I've already gone back and watched a few more times. Just crisp, swift, and REALLY FUN offense from the guy. He doesn't quite topple Aries, Sky, or Mack for my MVP of the series overall - but he's certainly in the discussion, which is saying something.

 

But I guess perhaps the absolute BEST part of this series rewatch experience has been reliving the SUPERB storytelling of the Colt Cabana & Adam Pearce rivalry. Make no mistake, it's a feud that deserves to go down among the best of the best. And I don't care who disagrees. I might lose a debate on the subject every time, but I don't care. I'd still state the case & at least present an argument for it belonging in the conversation. It's simply THAT great. Recently, I just got past the point where Colt dethrones Pearce for the first time. Adam promptly disappears from TV - something we should see MORE of with former champions - to sell the importance of the situation.

 

Better yet is the idea that Colt immediately inherits all of Pearce's enemies and challengers, RIGHT AWAY. That's exactly how the concept should be carried, with a champ being an island unto himself & a giant target to everyone around him. Even his best of friends...

 

Oh, and I ended my rewatch this week on Pearce making his return... and reluctantly making a split-second decision to actually SAVE Colt from a gang beat down. It's a fantastic little moment that seems SO much more important & dramatic due to Adam's absence from television. I do remember where the story goes from here, but I honestly don't care. My enjoyment of the angle and the story they're telling isn't dampened at all by that fact. I'm just loving reliving the whole thing all over again.

Said it a few times before, but yeah. Between this rewatch & ongoing Lucha Underground, my interest has been revitalized & refreshed again after REALLY taking a dive in the summer and fall months this year.

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-superbrawl-ii/#.VLaat3vic4J

One of WCW's finest PPV efforts sees a war of attrition between Ricky Steamboat and Rick Rude, The Steiners taking to Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton to the limit for over 20 mins, Barry Windham teams with Dustin Rhodes to try and avenge Larry Zybysko's breaking Windham's hand - Larry takes Steve Austin as his partner, Justin Liger takes to the air against Flyin' Bryan and Sting clashes with his former best friend Lex Luger for the right to be called World Champion!

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-wrestle-war-92/#.VMSvli6oBxU

The best War Games ever sees Sting, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham battle Rick Rude, Larry Zybysko, Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson and Steve Austin. The undercard sees an incredible Steiner Bros vs. Fujinami and Iizuka war of attrition and Tom Zenk vs. Brian Pillman nearly steal the show in a battle of friendly fire. The rest with the Freebirds, Mr. Hughes, The Super Invader and others is largely BAD, BAD crap.

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http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-wrestle-war-92/#.VMSvli6oBxU

 

The best War Games ever sees Sting, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham battle Rick Rude, Larry Zybysko, Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson and Steve Austin. The undercard sees an incredible Steiner Bros vs. Fujinami and Iizuka war of attrition and Tom Zenk vs. Brian Pillman nearly steal the show in a battle of friendly fire. The rest with the Freebirds, Mr. Hughes, The Super Invader and others is largely BAD, BAD crap.

 

Totally agree. Amazing how much talent was in that match that not one person looked out of place.

 

Freebirds/Taylor & Valentine wasent bad either I remember the highlights on Worldwide and enjoyed it.

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http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-beach-blast-92-2/#.VMeari6oBxU

Bill Watts' tenure in WCW begins with a card full of WRASSLIN' - Rick Rude and Ricky Steamboat battle in a 30 minute Iron Man match, The Steiner Bros engage in a war of attrition with Terry Gordy and Dr. Death, Sting and Cactus Jack collide in a Falls Count Anywhere match that has obtained legendary status, The Dangerous Alliance continue their war against Nikita Koloff, Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham -plus Ron Simmons, Brian Pillman and Greg Valentine are in action on the undercard!!!

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So Im now into watching Championship Wrestling in July 1986 now which I feel is a sad time that in 5 more shows to go and it will be finished. Ive enjoyed the run of it and I was suprised how quick I went through this show. If there was plenty of All Star wrestling about maybe the show could have lasted longer but at least I have Challenge & Superstars to look forward to in a weeks time.

 

The next match im up to is Hogan & Orndorff/Moondogs which we all know is Paul's heel turn which I never understood why. Well yeah I know why because he wanted a title shot but a year later he is teaming with Hogan which is even more strange.

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So Im now into watching Championship Wrestling in July 1986 now which I feel is a sad time that in 5 more shows to go and it will be finished. Ive enjoyed the run of it and I was suprised how quick I went through this show. If there was plenty of All Star wrestling about maybe the show could have lasted longer but at least I have Challenge & Superstars to look forward to in a weeks time.

 

The next match im up to is Hogan & Orndorff/Moondogs which we all know is Paul's heel turn which I never understood why. Well yeah I know why because he wanted a title shot but a year later he is teaming with Hogan which is even more strange.

Hogan explained in the Survivor Series 87 promos that he needed a snake in the grass or somesuch to teach his team the ways of evil, so he used Orndorff as that man. He didn't forgive him.

 

 

culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/clash-of-the-champions-19-the-nwa-tag-team-title-tournament/#.VNDUqi6oBxU

 

WCW hosts the NWA tag title tourney as The Steiners clash with Dr. Death and Terry Gordy, Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes battle Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton, Dean Malenko debuts, Justin Liger teams with rival Brian Pillman and top teams from Mexico and Japan try their luck against some of WCW's best!

 

 

 

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-great-american-bash-92/#.VNb54C6oBxV

 

Sting battles Vader in their first PPV singles encounter with the World title hanging in the balance. Plus the NWA Tag Title Tournament continues as Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes battle Steve Austin and Rick Rude, Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff attempt to clip the wings of Brian Pillman and Jushin Liger, and Shinya Hashimoto and Hiroshi Hase clash with the Freebirds with Terry Gordy and Dr. Death awaiting the survivors for a night of attrition with gold on the line!!

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The Road to Greensboro leading to Final Conflict. Awesome build with some really cool tags (Young versions of Rick Rude, Jake Roberts, Terry Taylor and...oh, Mike Rotundo) and some great heel promos from Slaughter and Kernodle. I'm in the middle of the cage match now, but this has both the lead and the match itself and it's just sensational.

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http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-clash-of-the-champions-20-20-years-on-tbs-anniversary-special/#.VNoFSi6oBxU

A massive 8-man tag bout featuring Sting, The Steiners and Nikita Koloff against Big Van Vader, Rick Rude, Jake the Snake and the Super Invader headlines a night celebrating the past 20 years of Wrasslin' on TBS. The card also features World Champ Ron Simmons vs. Cactus Jack, Ricky Steamboat vs. Steve Austin and other action featuring Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, Dick Slater, Bobby Eaton and more!!

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http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-clash-of-the-champions-20-20-years-on-tbs-anniversary-special/#.VNoFSi6oBxU

 

A massive 8-man tag bout featuring Sting, The Steiners and Nikita Koloff against Big Van Vader, Rick Rude, Jake the Snake and the Super Invader headlines a night celebrating the past 20 years of Wrasslin' on TBS. The card also features World Champ Ron Simmons vs. Cactus Jack, Ricky Steamboat vs. Steve Austin and other action featuring Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, Dick Slater, Bobby Eaton and more!!

 

That was one entertaining show. Really enjoyed that Austin/Steamboat match always felt it should have been on one of the major PPVs and seems odd that Andre's last appearance was on a WCW show.

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The Hardys vs. MVP and Kenny King - TNA Xplosion (February 2015) - Rated **

Just went up today on TNA's YouTube. I can't go higher on my score because there was some horrendous looking shit in here, stuff that made the business look more exposed than those leaked nude pictures of Seth Rollins, but being on Xplosion this got 13+ minutes and as such felt more fleshed out and had real ebbs and flows like a match should unlike what you'll typically see in truncated form on iMPACT! Back to those ugly spots, so Jeff tried to slide under MVP's legs but tripped him up in a great gaffe, then King at one point had Matt by his hair and I guess Hardy thought he was getting hit with a neckbreaker so basically did the move to himself while Kenny stood there with the look of someone who just dropped something in an antique mall on his face. Jeff got carried out early after getting tossed into the steel ring steps (which we didn't even see) and minutes later Willow runs out brandishing an umbrella that looked like some kind of Final Fantasy sword. Willow took off (after hitting a Twist of Fate on King which he instead took like a Stone Cold Stunner never flattening out) to the back which later lead for Jeff to wearily stumble back down to ringside and into the match. This isn't going to make you run out and buy the new PeroxWhy?Gen album but will satiate you desire for flubs and by way of Matt chubs.

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http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-halloween-havoc-92/#.VONmii6oBxU

A look back at Halloween Havoc 92, featuring Ricky Steamboat colliding with Brian Pillman, Dr. Death and Steve Austin against Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham, Big Van Vader bullying Nikita Koloff, a God Awful Masa Chono vs. Rick Rude encounter, Ron Simmons defending the World title against a rejuvenated Barbarian and Sting and Jake the Snake in a bloody finale - plus the story of Jake's near death experience at the hands of a fan is revealed!

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  • 2 weeks later...

As soon as I posted about watching USA Championship, I stopped watching it :(

 

I haven't really watched anything for a few weeks but have watched 2 DVDs I have of Montreal stuff over the past 2 days and I really enjoyed it. The Rougeaus vs. The Garvins was a really good feud that I'm glad I got to see.

 

King Tonga (Haku) looks really good as a babyface and I need to see if the match with him & Bravo vs. The Road Warriors is in full anywhere because the non finish TV version has Tonga looking like a bad ass against the LOD. Speaking of The Road Warriors they are really good in Montreal and their work here is a good argument against "The Road Warriors never sold/just gobbled up their opponents."

 

First time seeing Hercules Ayala and yea, he sucks.

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Ricky Morton vs. Bobby Eaton, Worldwide 1-5-1991:

 

This was really cooking as a 50/50 match before the Freebirds ran in for the shitty finish. Lots of terrific counter sequences and one of the best of their punch/receipt bits I've seen. At least there's an interesting post-match after the run-in, as the Birds hold Morton for Eaton to belt him, but he gets indignant and turns on them. Then after the ol' back-to-back turnaround, they tease the handshake, but Eaton decks him because at the end of the day, fuck Ricky Morton.

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A true mixed bag of a card has a Sting vs. Vader CLASSIC, Barry Windham and Brian Pillman vs. Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas, Barry Windham and The Great Muta vs. Brian Pillman and 2 Cold Scorpio, Masa Chono vs. The Great Muta, Ron Simmons vs. Dr. Death, a battle royal and more!

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Highlights from Meadowlands 1/11/91, as seen on WCW 1/12/91:

 

- Nothing gets a top face and a local hero guest manager over like having them lose cleanly and then lie about it to the unknowing referee. Which is how Luger and Lawrence Taylor beat Big Cat and Paul E. in the over-the-top-rope football match.

 

- I never knew the Flair/Sting title switch finished on a ref bump, a visual fall, and an unseen foot on the rope for Sting. The crowd is thrilled anyway. All the excitement of the Sting title reign is summed in this actual exchange between him and Nick Patrick from the post-match:

 

"My foot was on the rope."

"I didn't see your foot on the rope."

"Aw, man."

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I have been TRYING to get myself back into watching Southeastern, and I really enjoyed the stuff I did watch. But I keep finding myself drifting around my collection at random and so I've been watching some very oddly put together Florida set that jumps all over the place chronologically with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

 

I did see some things in the listings that jumped out at me so I watched an Eric Embry vs. Dory Funk Jr. match that was a pretty good little TV match even if I was disappointed at how short it was. That was probably my fault for expecting too much. The finish was Eric Embry going for a leapfrog but not going high enough and getting his leg clipped by Dory's shoulder leading to the spinning toehold. It was very well executed to the point that I thought Embry had just botched the leapfrog until the spinning toehold. During the match David Von Erich is doing guest commentary with Gordon Solie. This was during his run in Florida where he was learning to work heel, working as the protege of Dory Funk Jr. I thought it was pretty good with Gordon actually.

 

That match was followed by David Von Erich vs. Tim Horner which I thought was legitimately good, and not just "good for an early 80s TV match" I really liked watching David as a heel and I think he might have been more natural in that role than as a babyface.

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I've been watching the 1999 Memphis TV wars between Power Pro wrestling and Kick Ass wrestling. Most of the footage is god awful but some gems are there which is featured in the yearbook for the year. In Power pro, the main feuds were Randy Hales vs Brandon Baxter and Shawn Stasiak vs Jerry Lawler. Hales is pretty much a C level Vince Mcmahon and Baxter is a good promo. Baxter brings in Michael Hayes to help battle Hales's Syndicate(Baldo aka Albert, Vic Grimes, Mick Tierney and Glenn Kulka). Hayes had a great first half the year between his awesome promos and ok matches. I'm up to May 1999 and by that time, Hales turned babyface and was off tv for the most part. Hayes loses to title to JR Smooth(Rikishi right before he joined Too Cool doing a heel samoan mafia gimmick). Kurt Angle had his first few matches in this promotion and you can tell from his first match he's head and shoulders above everyone else.

 

Stasiak/Lawler was a good story and some ok matches. Stasiak and Brian Christopher terrorize Stacy and Lawler and even try to break in to Lawler's house. Then Stasiak's mother comes in to feud with Stacy. His mother is Mae Young by the way and was awesome.Shortly after that, Stasiak is gone and Stacy turns on Lawler. Stacy brings in the Fabulous ones for a short feud with Lawler and Dundee. It reminds me of the 1991 feud they had where it didn't get over very good or last long. By May, Lawler would be gone as he was running for mayor.

 

Kick Ass wrestling is like if ECW moved down south and got hooked on meth. It's perversely entertaining. The shows are taped in a nightclub and they ran house shows at the same building Power Pro did. The main guys in the group were PG-13 with Midget D, Brickhouse Brown, Bull Pain, Terry Golden, Danny B, The Littles and Johnny Sorrow's favorite tag team of W.E.E.D(Dr. Bud Ganja and Motley Garcia with manager Shroom). Sid shows up in February and has a weird scene where he's accompanied by some skinhead bikers and takes two jobbers hostage and then powerbombs them. All the matches involve weapons and they play music over the matches. Really weird promotion to run Saturday mornings at 10 am but they moved to midnight on Saturdays so I guess that was ok.

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Sting and Dustin Rhodes collide with Vader, Paul Orndorff and Barry Windham in a Thundercage!, The Hollywood Blonds try and outshine Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas, Brad Armstrong grapples with Chris Benoit, 2 Cold Scorpio flies high against Scotty Flamingo, Johnny B. Badd battles Cactus Jack and more!

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Total Package vs. Buff Bagwell - WCW Thunder 10/21/99

I figured the masochist in me needed to spend my Sunday morning watching a match between two of the guys I've always considered two of the least talented in-ring performers of their era. This is when Luger was simply going by "The Total Package". He should have got a spokesperson gig for USPS. Lex surprisingly leans into a back elbow then takes a powder outside allowing for Elizabeth to akwardly take a cheapshot at Bagwell. Wonder if any of these three ever attended any of Bischoff's swinger parties. Outside the ring Luger shows his interpretation of a vicious streak with some torpid stomps and such. I always assumed Bagwell was protogynous. Buff fights his way out of a headlock, rebounds off the ropes, and marvels with a flying crossbody that Lex forgot to sell. Wonder if I can find the GPS coordinates of the pawn shop where that gold necklace Buff was wearing sits today. Really didn't like Package's powerslam where he does like a half-turn then takes a knee like a varsity lacrosse player in lieu of another pep talk by coach. Luger locks in the Torture Rack and Buff taps faster than Elizabeth when she forgot Luger's safeword that night at the Marriot. Spoiler alert: it was "USS Intrepid".

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