Mr. Bob Backlund vs. 1-2-3 Kid- Raw 11/14/94

Ever since listening to an extremely phoned in podcast covering 1994 in wrestling a few days back I’ve been going down a 1994 WWF wrestling rabbit hole that even has me contemplating getting back into the podcasting game just do the year justice. We’ll see… Anyway! This match takes place during the height of Backlundmania. Mr. Bob is 9 days away from wresting Bret at Survivor Series and FEELING LIKE GOD~! What a glorious time to be alive. 7/30/94-11/26/94. Never forget.

Kid's educated feet keep Mr. Backlund off balance early. Backlund doesn't really bump. He doesn't have much offense either. And he is SUCH a weirdo. Yet still he rules. In Foley's first book Mick wrote about how most 'crazy' wrestlers suck because they try too hard to be weird and it comes off as cringe whereas it comes naturally to your true whack jobs. I agree! And Mr. Backlund is a natural nutjob! I never get the impression he's playing a character. I genuinely believe this guy is a little off. And that's why he rules. Then. Now. Forever. Kid does the short arm scissors so Mr. Backlund can lift him. That spot is the Mr. Backlund version of 'you can't powerbomb Kidman.' Mr. Backlund then works over Kid's arm. Stalks him like a weirdo for the Chickenwing. And eventually procures it! Kid is toast. Most lethal move in the business, brother. Even the other kids in school knew it.

Post-match sees Mr. Backlund refuse to break the CFCW. Bret answers those "We Want Bret" chants we've been hearing for a while to a big pop. Pull apart. Patterson, Brisco, Garea, and more are seen. Mr. Backlund gets Bret! Chickenwing procured! Hell yeah! But Mr. Backlund lets go because he is a gentleman who has proven his point.

But wait! Aww man. Get this garbage...As Mr. Backlund is triumphantly walking to the back, head held high like the once and future champ he is, Bret, the babyface, JUMPS HIM FROM BEHIND! Boo! BOO! Bret was always a jerk! FACT! As if stealing Owen's move isn't enough for the copycat, now he puts Mr. Backlund in the Sharpshooter only to let go so he can mirror what Mr. Backlund just did to him. Boo! BOO this man! Then. Now. Forever.

Verdict- The 4-5 minute match wasn't much beyond further establishing Mr. Backlund's already strongly established finisher, but the post-match fracas was good fun, making this an overall win. As a match, it was the worst of tonight's trio, but as sports entertainment, it was the best of the bunch. And since I'm a sports entertainment guy...

Dec 17, 2024 3:52:38 GMT Baker said:

Psicosis (c?) vs. Jushin Liger- Nitro 12/6/99- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match

lol It's THIS match. OK, storytime. Juvy beat Liger for the IWGP Jr. Hwt. Title on the previous Nitro with a tequila bottle shot. This was an infamous moment which created major heat between WCW & NJPW due to the latter never authorizing the title change. To make matters worse, Juvy would get busted for a DUI, causing him to miss the rematch. Psicosis is subbing for him. He comes out with the belt, but I can't imagine he's the 'official' champion. The whole thing was a mess. The culprit? Vince Russo. Who else?

Cool vibe with all the signs in the crowd. You love to see it. Some hippy is wandering around said crowd holding a sign of his own. Oh, it's Buzzkill. That was another in a long line of failed Brad Armstrong gimmicks. 

They start out with typical cruiserweight evasiveness. Psicosis' stock continues to rise because I like how he always slips in little things to establish himself as the heel. Despite my growing fandom of the guy, I still have to say masked Psi > unmasked Psi and it's not even close. First major moment comes when Liger goes for a top rope dive only to be caught with a Psi dropkick on the way down. This doesn't go well for either man. Liger took a dropkick while Psi got jammed hard into the ground and I'm pretty sure hurt his shoulder for real. He controls for a while, never forgetting to heel it up, before Liger comes back with that cool rolling kick of his that Low Ki would steal and ultimately wins in about 5 with a La Majistral cradle to regain the title he made famous in the first place.

Verdict- Decent but forgettable little tv match. **1/4

This was all so confusing as a casual fan. I recognised Liger from the inaugural episode of Nitro and presumed he was coming into work a match and promote an exhibition match at Starrcade for his Japanese title. Then Juventud won the title with the bottle of tequila so it seemed like a Russo twist and that was a way to get Juvi on the show. You knew once they booked this match with Psychosis, somebody somewhere had royally screwed up.

Agreed on Psychosis losing the mask. The strange thing is, they retained the kooky 'strange dark and mysterious' music that feels like something out of a 90s tongue-in-cheek conspiracies show. Is Dennis Rodman really an alien? *cue the Psychosis music* They should have at least updated his music as a thank you.

Fun collar and elbow tie-up routine early with Liger drawing first blood with a sluggish head-scissors. Liger attempts a tilt-a-whirl back-breaker but Psychosis lands on his feet, Liger ducks the clothesline, then gets in position to throw Psychosis over the top rope and Psychosis for whatever reason decides to take him up on his offer.

Psychosis sells his tail-bone - this is incredible psychology because it takes the guillotine leg drop out of the equation! In reality, it's just an excuse to keep the camera on Buzzkill for an extended period. Buzzkill was one of those gimmicks I'd completely forgotten about till HoW and I wish it had have remained that way.

Psychosis eventually makes it to his feet and Liger immediately goes for a baseball slide. Psychosis ducks, but Liger catches it and does a handstand to rebound off the ropes before nailing it the second time.

Liger goes up top, Psychosis gets to his feet and Liger wipes him out with a cross-body. However instead of absorbing the impact, it appeared as if Psychosis attempted a reverse Atomic Drop only to be sent tumbling backwards. Psychosis sells the shoulder and he's in a world of pain. The Brain believes Psychosis may have separated his shoulder as Psychosis makes his way to the apron.

Liger attempts to intercept him, but Psychosis catches Liger with his good shoulder and uses the ropes as a guillotine. Psychosis must have driven all the air out of Psychosis because he has enough time to trash talk the camera, scale the top rope and measure Liger with a missile dropkick for a two count.

Psychosis decides at this point to make it a handicap match and tries to shove Lil Naitch but Charles Robinson isn't having any of it and shoves Psychosis on his ass. Psychosis turns his attention to the crowd, thinks better of picking a fight with somebody out there so he helps Liger to his feet before shoving him through the ropes. Psychosis whips Liger into the steel guard-rail along the entrance way. Heenan must have read Psychosis' mind as he reminds the audience that Psychosis can't win the match on the outside, so Psychosis shoves Liger back into the ring.

Psychosis makes his way to the ring and appeals to the crowd to make some noise. Liger tries to cut him off with a weak shot in the mid-section so Psychosis shoves him into the corner and starts putting the boots into him. Psychosis perches Liger onto the top rope, appeals to the crowd again and hits a frakensteiner - this one should be over. Cover 1-2 but Liger kicks out and the frustration is setting in for Psychosis!

Psychosis lifts Liger up with a side-headlock but Liger fights back with a series of elbows into the mid-section. Psychosis attempts another clothesline (or was it a lariat? I'd say lariat) but Liger ducks and hits his trademark rolling kick and I'm standing on my feet! Sadly the crowd is filled with Psychosis fans and it barely earns a murmer.

Psychosis looks like he's knocked out as Liger helps him to his feet, sends him to the ropes and finally hits that tilt-a-whirl backbreaker he was looking for. Since Liger is a genius and he's got unparalleled psychology he follows up with a Surfboard Stretch.

Which reminds me...

In Punk/Red I completely no-sold Punk hitting a Super Dragon style curb-stomp on Red. It was probably the highlight of the match, but I was too hyper-focused on Red looking like a mini version of bloated Axl Rose.

Liger has poor wrist control, so Psychosis easily escapes the hold and quickly turns it into a pin. Liger makes it to his feet, Psychosis attempts an Irish whip, it's countered and Liger kicks the back of Psychosis' leg out and Psychosis goes flying into the ropes. Here comes the La Majistral cradle (or as my racist uncle would say the La Cucaracha cradle) and we have a winner.

Actually better than expected. A little clumsy and slow in the beginning but the rest of the match was well put together. Sometimes you just want a five minute match with a few high spots and that was this to a tee.

I wonder when the Pinata match was? For me that match really summed up that era of Cruiserweight wrestling.

A massive joke.

Dec 17, 2024 12:24:27 GMT Big Pete said:

The strange thing is, they retained the kooky 'strange dark and mysterious' music that feels like something out of a 90s tongue-in-cheek conspiracies show.

This line hit hard. Now I have an overwhelming desire to watch Strange Universe. That was my last show before bed back in 97. Neo Zeed you ever watch this? Host was a guy named Emmitt Miller. Would have been right up your alley. Cheers-Strange Universe was a killer 1-2 punch before bed on weeknights in 97. 

Aww yeah! Found a few episodes on Youtube. Not gonna lie. I had 2 matches on the docket tonight, but I think they're gonna have to wait til I get my Strange Universe fix. Aww yeah! First video I clicked on is from Baltimore's own Fox 45. Sponsored by Mars! The go to grocery store of my youth closed up shop on July 31, 2016. Don't ask how I know this. Major vibes from this commercial. Even bigger vibes from dat intro. Oh yeah. It's gonna be a Strange Universe night...

Alright, now that I got my Strange Universe fix, let's jump back a few days to when ECW was once again all the rage right here in HoW...

Brian Lee & Taz w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Tommy Dreamer & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams w/ Beulah- ECW The Doctor Is In 8/3/96- Dream Partner Tag Match

Seeing The Doctor Is In rated as only the 21st best major ECW show on Cagematch did not sit well with me. Granted, I was too cowardly/forgetful to propose my own Top 10, but TDII felt like it belonged if only because I could rattle off a bunch of matches from it without cheating. I can't do that for every ECW show! Wanted to watch something from The Doctor... and this was an insta-click upon discovery. 3 of my favorites & Brian Lee, who I also liked! for admittedly stupid/weird reasons. Fun fact about the show title: I assumed it was called that because Dr. Death but that thought never even entered my cousin's mind. He thought it was called that because the show was so violent, particularly the main event Stretcher Match classic between RVD & Sabu. I think we were both right....but I was more correct than he.

Dreamer & Lee were feuding, and they were the two who got to pick their dream partners. Lee picked Taz. A very fine choice. Dreamer's pick remained a mystery up to the very end. Dr. Death comes out with Tommy but his face is largely concealed by having the hood up. We know it's Dr. Death right away due to the camera angle, but the crowd takes a while to recognize him. It's cool to see because they go from curiosity to a smattering of applause from the real ones to an enormous ovation once Doc reaches the ring and unhoods. Massive "DOCTOR DEATH" chant. People legit marking out. Jumping up and down. You love to see it. ECW Arena fans really were the best.

This is shorter than I remembered. Doesn't even go 10. It's a three act tale. First & third acts rule. Second act does not. I've found this to be a common occurrence in my ECW rewatches. They often come so close to nailing it, only to have one really dumb segment that bogs it down. Other examples include Raven & Richards vs. Pitbulls...but not even the one you're thinking of! And some Eliminators/Dudleys match. Anyway...

This match is all about the build to Taz vs. Dr. Death. Yes. God, yes. What a dream match! You better believe I was marking out watching this for the first time in '98. Dr. Death got over with me 4 life way back in 1987 UWF by wrestling with a broken freaking arm as the greatest badass babyface of my childhood. Then Taz came along to be the greatest badass character in wrestling history. So, Taz vs. Doc was very likely the most badass match imaginable to 1998 me. Doc would later famously job to Raven in his first pinfall loss on US soil in a decade- something both ECW & the Apter Mags were constantly hammering home. But sitting here in 2024 I think it should have been Taz getting that rub from Doc. Could you imagine?

Because at least 3/4 of these guys rule, they tease Doc/Taz rather than jump right to it. Real ones know it’s all about build. It starts with Taz/Tommy. Taz is trash talking like a champ. What a legend. Instantly reminded why I love Taz the way Kilgore loves Sabu. They WRESTLE~! Taz lets Tommy hang with him for a minute. Then it's time to go to school with a BEEYOOTIFUL Northern Lights. Tommy knows he can't hang with Taz so he tags Doc. Crowd is HYPE. But Brian Lee jumps Doc from behind (BOO) to build even more anticipation for the inevitable clash of titans.

Now the match temporarily falls apart with some stupid crowd brawling. The camera work is even worse than the wrestling. Camera crew can't make up their mind who to focus on. They eventually focus on Lee & Tommy fighting in the Eagle's Nest. Tommy is about to put Brian through some tables when Taz shows up for the save. T-Bone off the Eagle's Nest into a slew of tables! OH MY GOD! Amazing spot. And a very memorable one as well. Now Tommy is done and everybody saunters back to the ring. The match picked up again with the Suplex Heard 'Round Philly. Then Fonzie & Beulah get into it. Beulah gets the better of Fonz. Crowd loves it. Now we're cooking again. And we cook at an even higher temperature when Doc press slams Fonzie into Team Taz. THIS IS AWESOME! THIS IS AWESOME! But, like, for real. 

Taz & Doc have a mat wrestling exchange. It's so basic, yet so awesome. It rules simply because it's TAZ & DOC and the crowd is HYPE. Pure pro wrestling goodness. Doc hits the Doctor Bomb! 1-2-NO! Brian Lee with the save. My man Tommy, being the purest of the pure babyfaces, is ALL HEART, so he's been so slowly struggling his way back to the ring this entire time. He has a trash can with him. Tommy is in the ring! He looks to DDT Lee on the trashcan. But he's just too hurt! Lee chokeslams a half-dead Dreamer on the can for the 1-2-3 Wait. Why am I frowning? Taz won! But Doc & Tommy lost So conflicted! About a 28 year old match. You have to love it.

Verdict: As I wrote earlier, this was so close to greatness. Beginning and ending stretches ruled. It was only brought down by a lame crowd brawl in the middle. 5* start. 5* finish. DUD middle. So let's go ***1/3. Recommended for fans of these guys and/or this era. Will scratch that ECW itch for sure. Love the vibes here. If only we had gotten Taz vs. Doc at some point. There's an ALL THE DIMES match if ever there was one.

The Million Dollar Team (Bundy/Bigelow/Tatanka/Heavenly Bodies) vs. Guts & Glory (Luger/Smoking Gunns/A. Bomb/Mabel)- Survivor Series 11/23/94

Big story here is the ongoing Luger vs. Million Dollar Corporation feud which really kicked into high gear when Tatanka sold out to Dibiase in maybe the biggest swerve I had experienced up to that point in my fandom. Bundy had just returned, and I was still a Bundy Believer (Bundyliever?). Bigelow & Bomb had just started a little mini feud while the Gunns & Bodies were embroiled in a feud even fewer people cared about. I guess Mabel was brought in to match up size-wise with KKB. Corny & Dibiase are with the baddies and that reminds me of an embarrassing confession I need to make...

Still being a Bundyliever is bad enough, but I'll have you know I was also all in on the Million Dollar Corporation. Yes. One of the worst stables to ever do it. This guy bought into them hook, line, and sinker as this elite unit of mega baddies uniting over the love of money and evil. It wasn't until like Wrestlemania 11 or even later that I realized how much they sucked. To be fair, they really were just the embryonic version of Vince's Corporation. Just a random assortment of dudes uniting over, well, a love of money and evil. Now comes the million dollar question: Better or worse than the Dungeon of Doom? And you guys have to admit that short-lived Sid/Kid/Ringmaster incarnation had all the potential in the world.

This was a tale of two matches. First half was good, classic Survivor Series fun with Mabel of all people (more on him in a minute) being the standout performer while the second half of this 23-24 minute encounter was a slow-paced slog that seemed to drag on and on. Split the difference and go ** range.

But, yeah, Mabel ruled in this. 🤯 was the first to propose Mabel maybe wasn't as bad as his reputation and I've come to agree with him. Well, at least when it comes to early Men on a Mission Mabel. He peaked there imo. Better babyface than heel. I was honestly indifferent to King Mabel in real time and still am for the most part. Which makes me the biggest King Mabel fan out there! But I had no time for Viscera. That scrub was the bane of my existence from 98 through the 2000s. 

Anyway! Mabel did like 5 cool things before being the 2nd man eliminated. First he made Dr. Tom the first elimination of the match with an awesome fat guy 2nd rope crossbody block. Then he killed Gigolo Jimmy with an awesome Bossman Slam. Then he hit Bigelow with a sweet fat guy spinkick and then sat on him during a sunset flip attempt. Then he hit Bigelow with a bonkers fat guy Cactus Clothesline unfortunately injuring himself in the process leading to an awkward countout cuz I think he was hurt for real. Oh, and all this awesomeness came in front of a hot crowd chanting "Whoomp There It Is" as was the style in 93-94. Now I get where Vince was coming from with that 1995 push. The dude did have SOMETHING. It's just that "something" was geared more towards an Andre style babyface rather than a monster heel. 

Bigelow & Bomb had a decent exchange before BBB eliminated Adam with a 3/4 moonsault. It's funny. Bigelow's form is terrible. But it somehow gives the illusion of him hanging in the air longer than your typical moonsault. Luger then takes Gigolo Jimmy out with the Loaded Forearm of Doom before things begin to get boring with a bad Tatanka vs. Gunns segment. Bart is eliminated with an extremely sloppy Samoan Drop. Then Billy is out via Bundy Avalanche-elbow drop combination. Bundy was terrible at this point.

Now it's Flexy Lexy 1 on 3 against the monster trio of Bundy/Bigelow/Tatanka. The San Antonio crowd chants "USA" a few times but it's hardly overwhelming. Feels more rote than true passion. Now watching this for the first time on tape almost exactly one year later in late 95, I, ever the true blue Luger believer, assumed Flexy Lexy would overcome the odds and beat all three baddies to thunderous applause. I didn't like it, but as an understander of wrestling, that's what I assumed would happen. My assumption seemed to be coming true when Luger eliminated Tatanka with a sloppy small package. But then Bundy splashes him for the shock 1-2-3! Whoa! And believe me, it was a SHOCK to late 95 me. And there is definitely something to be said for being shocked by the finish of an already old match. Luger gained a moral victory by eliminating his rival Tatanka, but big boys Bundy & Bam Bam Bigelow were your real victors. That 1 on 3 segment sucked by the way. It was boring with a disappointing lack of heat and dragged on for-ev-er. Tatanka sucked as a heel. Bundy sucked by 94. And "Made In The USA" Lex Luger has to be the worst in ring period of Flexy Lexy's first decade in mainstream wrestling. He had zero good matches in over 2 years.

Oh, and the ref (possibly Mike Chioda?) sucked. His three count cadence was terrible. He quick counted every cover. I mean he counted so fast you'd think he was working as a corrupt heel referee. Nope. He did it for heels and faces alike. He just sucked. And it killed any potential nearfall drama.

Verdict- Fun first half with Mabelmania running wild. Boring and bad second half. Though I did enjoy the rare dominant heel victory, and that initial SHOCK over Luger going down clean is a fun memory. Call it **

Razor Ramon (c) vs. Diesel w/ Shawn Michaels- Superstars 4/30/94- Intercontinental Title Match

Surprised I haven't covered this one on PW yet. It's short. It's memorable. It's relatively famous. In other words, it's right up my alley.

Razor had been IC Champ for over 6 months and had just defeated Michaels at WM 10 in the famous 'first' Ladder Match. Any skepticism I had about Razor's starpower when he first beat The Model to win the title had long been erased thanks to high profile wins over IRS & HBK. Razor was officially a Good IC Champ even if I always did root against the guy. Diesel, on the other hand, was still an unproven commodity. I still viewed him as nothing more than Shawn's heavy. Having not yet watched the '94 Rumble, my main memory of Diesel at this point was of him unceremoniously going down to Savage at Survivor Series 1993. I certainly did not expect unproven bodyguard Diesel to beat Razor for the prestigious IC Title here on humble Superstars. Which is what made it so great! This match right here was the making of Diesel. For me, and I reckon for many.  

It's Mulletmania, baby! Seeing Shawn with THOSE earrings wearing THAT tank top with a heart on it makes it easy to see why my friend Matt The IRS Fan thought HBK was a homosexual. I was oblivious to such things in 1994 btw. Anyway, Razor takes the fight to Diesel right away with great fire, his typically awesome punches, and a sweet dodge of Big D's big boot. Da Bad Guy looks to end it early with the Edge. NO! Diesel back body drops out of it. Now we go to school. Diesel hits his moves of doom solidly and methodically. Commercial. We're back from break with Diesel applying a chinlock. Razor powers out of it with an impressive electric chair drop on the 7 footer. HBK takes a huge bump off the apron from a Razor punch. Then we go to the finish which played out just as I remembered 30 years ago, proving once and for all that this was indeed a memorable match. Shawn is untying the turnbuckle as Diesel gets whipped into him. Shawn's body shields the big man, but not himself as HBK goes flying in another awesome bump. Dude had the potential to be a great manager in addition to being a GOAT in ring candidate. Anyway, the turnbuckle pad goes flying with Shawn. Then Razor gets sent back first into the exposed buckle. Diesel follows up with a Jackknife to further damage Razor's already sore back. 1-2-3! NEEEEEW IC Champion! HUGE upset. Rare Superstars title change. In fact, this would be the last title change on that venerable program I so loved growing up. 

Verdict- Surprisingly good 6 minute tv match with a clear beginning, middle, and end + a strong face/heel dynamic. Say what you will about those Clique boys, and I've said plenty over the years, but they always brought the goods against each other. Crowd was super into it as well. Good stuff!

Erik Watts & Arn Anderson vs. Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce- WCW Worldwide 4/16/94

Ahh, The Texicans. The future Godwinns were the ultimate Boys of 93-94 WCW. Truly the BOBCORE & Billy of their time & place. Tex & Shanghai lost more than they won. Heck, they were only one step above jobbers. The lowest midcarders imaginable. Real Goon or Sal Sincere level dudes. Pains me to say it, but we're talking WCW's equivalent to Well Dunn on the heel team depth chart. Texicans vs. Thunder & Lightning or the Cole Twins? Smart money would be on the babyfaces. The whole cowboy/TEXAS~! gimmick was already dated. They weren't especially good in the ring either. I mean one of them is Mideon fer cryin' out loud! But I LOVED these staples of Worldwide. They were behind only His Lordship, Cactus, Flair, and maybe Maxx Payne on my 93-94 WCW Favorites List. Why? Well, for starters, a good theme went a long way with me in those days. Oh, who am I kidding?  It still does. Plus, I just liked them as heel underdogs and always wanted to see them finally break out with that elusive big win.

This is part of their big(gest) feud with Erik Watts over a Rookie of the Year trophy. And, brother, nobody was more into this undercard feud over a trophy than yours truly. It's SUPER obscure. To the point where, at one time, if you did a Google search for it, the only hits would be posts I made on other forums. For years, I was literally the only person on the entire internet who wrote about this feud! It even got to the point where I began doubting myself. Had I imagined it? Or more likely used it in one of my action figure leagues? NO! The stellar commentary team of Tony & Jesse (who coined the Texicans name btw) mention the Texicans stealing Watts' trophy and Bunkhouse Buck smashing it over Dustin Rhodes' head. Sweet! My beloved RotY trophy feud played into other storylines. Great booking! But also, bad booking! Because why in the hell were my beloved Texicans not right there in that Southern stable alongside Bunkhouse Buck, Terry Funk & Colonel Parker? They'd have been a natural fit. And how cool would that have been? Another WCW fail!

Wanna hear something crazy? 93-94 me thought Erik Watts was a bigger deal than Arn Anderson :$ . Watts was the hyped rookie with a sweet finisher! While Arn was just some boring old dude who peaked teaming with Tully as 1/2 of the Brainbusters 5 years earlier in WWF. And anybody who has been following my posts over the years knows 5 years felt a lot longer in those days.

Crowd wisely doesn't see things my way though as they're still into Double A, flashing the four fingered symbol of excellence, and remaining hot throughout for the 2nd match in a row. This is a relatively rare babyface Arn sighting. He'd actually feuded with Watts in early '93 to the consternation of stuffy smarks back in the day. This is another solid 6 minute tv match. Watts works most of it for his team. At some point he has a Texican set up for the STF, even calling for it like a true pro, only to be foiled by interference from the other Texican. Shanghai (HOG) and even Tex (Mideon/PIG) are fine as brute heels with simple but effective bad guy offense like elbow smashes. The whole time I had the impression it would be over soon after Arn entered. It wasn't! Oh, Arn was a house afire. He even did his patented punch fake out! Only he wasn't yet so advanced as to follow it up with a DDT, opting instead for a simple knee lift. But The Enforcer surprisingly did NOT get the pin. Watts would instead score the 1-2-3 with a top rope sunset flip to, I suppose, finally score the decisive victory in the legendary-to-one-person Great Rookie of the Year Trophy Feud of 1994.

Verdict- Perfectly cromulent meat and potatoes tv wrestling

Next Time: Two more 1994 matches. These will be closer to Razor/Diesel in terms of fame/importance. Once again one from WWF & one from WCW.

ECW One Night Stand 2006
Super Crazy & Tajiri vs. The Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido & Tony Mamaluke) (w/Big Guido)

Tis the season of Tajiri and I was curious if this match held up. This match made me a fan of the FBI in spite of myself and I was all for an FBI push in ECW. One problem was that ECW didn't have any tag titles so they quietly faded into the background. To show you how little the WWE cared, they had the FBI challenge the WWE Tag Champions - Paul London and Brian Kendrick at a Hammerstein taping and they didn't air the match despite it getting rave reviews.

I'm happy to say it holds up well. I was impressed with Mamaluke's mat-work and that feeling out process with Crazy was above average. The opening tag was built up well with Crazy executing a good pop-up X-Factor and the match transitioned seamlessly into Guido/Tajiri. Everytime Tajiri was in the ring, he just made it fun and he milked every spot for everything he could and it just gave the match a chance to breathe and to bring the crowd into it. If Tajiri ever felt like he was losing the crowd, he'd just hit one of his kicks and immediately get a reaction.

It seemed around mid-way through they were just coasting waiting for the referee to give them the cue. Then all of a sudden, Guido applied this sick looking boston crab while Crazy was hanging off the ropes. They then had Guido hit a drop-kick to take him out of the equation. The finish was impressive well, with Tajiri fending both guys off, going up top only to get caught with a super fisherman's buster.

Just all in all an above average match. It didn't blow anyone away, but it left you wanting to see more. My impression held up as well as Tajiri just took a back-seat to let the other guys shine. When he did come in, he only benefitted the match but he didn't try to steal the spotlight.

Post-match the Big Show clears the ring. The crowd is largely mild until Mamaluke takes a big bump off that reverse chin back breaker.

I'm back to watching another episode of Monday Night Raw, and random thoughts on the episode...

Monday Night Raw
January 2nd, 1995

- First off, Monday Night Raw kicks off with Gorilla Monsoon and Shawn Michaels. We see a quick graphic advertising Jeff Jarrett's singing debut, making this the greatest episode of Monday Night Raw in 1995. I'm really not sure if anything else on this episode can top that.

- The opening match is between Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka vs. The Allied Powers (Lex Luger and The British Bulldog). A solid enough tag team match, that I wish went a bit longer, unfortunately though, it ends in a double count out.

- Duke Droese versus Mike Bell, isn't a match I care about watching in 2024, never mind almost 30 years ago. Thank god, this one ended almost as soon as it started.

- Kama coming soon, okay then. The Godfather still remains Charles Wright's best character.

- The King's Court with Owen Hart? Yes please, great little in-ring segment with the two kings, definitely need more of these two in the ring together.

- Forget Jeff Jarrett singing (as great as that'll be), we get him in action, which means everyone in attendance got more than their money's worth. Jeff Jarrett drawing all those dollars. Shawn Michaels saying Quartermaine (Jeff Jarrett's opponent is Buck Quartermaine) sounds like a soap opera name, like wrestling isn't a male soap opera. It goes without saying, but Double J looked absolutely amazing here. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Jeff Jarrett's singing debut, but just as well. Let's be honest though, the not so fine WWF fans of Liberty, New York, wouldn't appreciate such an amazing performance.

- Oh nice we're redoing/continuing the opening match, Jeff Jarrett being denied the main event spot, because these four men couldn't get business done, in the opening contest. With that said though, I really do like the Allied Powers pairing of British Bulldog and Lex Luger, so I'm happy to see them pick up the win.

Final Thoughts: A pretty good episode of Monday Night Raw, some filler with The Dumpster, but otherwise a great show.

Big Pete how long did Tony Mamaluke stick around? Mustn't have been long given I have no memory whatsoever of him having a WWE run.
Never mind. Just checked. Around 7 months and he only appeared on tv about half a dozen times. Easy to see why I forgot about him.
Lony  I've long thought Buck Quartermain was an all time great wrestling name.

Bret Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs. Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart- Raw 11/7/94

WWF was weirdly putting PPV level matches on tv left & right in October-November '94. We got this, Bret/Owen, the famous Clique Action Zone tag, Lex/ Backlund, Mabel/Yoko, and that's just off the top of my head. EDIT: + Lex/Bigelow, Razor/Yoko, Backlund/Kid, and Bulldog/Owen. Very interesting considering the typical tv main event of the day was like IRS/Marty. Was Vince panicking? An early/rare example of WWF hot shotting? Anyway, this Hart Family drama was the lodestar around which 1994 WWF revolved. It started with Bret & Owen (a top 10 feud in wrestling history, if not Top 5) way back at Survivor Series 1993. Then Anvil swerved Bret to side with Owen at KOTR. Then Bulldog saved Bret from a Horsemen-style beatdown by the New Foundation at Summerslam. And it's all led to this star-studded tag match which could easily have main evented an IYH had they been invented yet. 

Well, "star-studded" and Anvil. X-Pac gets a lot of guff for being a tagalong Kid, but let's face it, Anvil is even more X-Pacy than X-Pac. In fact, I'd put Anvil on par with Brutus Beefcake when it comes to wrestlers coasting by on connections. Neidhart brought NOTHING to the table after 1991 beyond his connection to the Harts. Yet that's all it took for him to get shot after shot in the Big Two up to 1998 when WWF & WCW finally came to their senses on this guy. Must be nice.

Pains me to say it, but the stupid Clique outdid the Harts when it came to high profile tv tag matches in the Fall of '94 because this was real disappointing given the names involved, months of build, and surprising amount of time (14-15 minutes) for a 1994 tv match. Owen was the only guy to really bring his A game. He was such a great shit-stirring heel, adding personality to every little thing he did. Like there's this one moment where he goads Bret one time too many and gets this hilarious look of abject horror on his face as Bret starts chasing him around the ring. What a legend. It's only a split-second thing. Easy to miss. But a nice bonus for the astute viewer. Owen was doing stuff like that all the time. He really was the proto-Kurt Angle. Oh, and that chase ended with the New Foundation catching Bulldog with a Hart Attack in one of the biggest spots of the match.

Bulldog has a great look here with the flowing locks, reminding me an awful lot of 1994 cartoon hero Conan the Adventurer. Interesting to see Davey wrestle in trunks. I don't remember him breaking out the trunks until he turned heel to join Camp Cornette in late '95. Faces started out fast & furious. Heels took over when Owen caught Davey with his patented spinkick. Owen would later blast Bulldog with his patented enzi...enzui...back brain kick. Bulk of the match was the New Foundation working over Bulldog. Lots of chinlocks. So. Many. Chinlocks. The tiny-by-WWF standards Pennsylvania country club crowd wasn't as hot as you'd want or expect given the build and high-profile nature of this bout. Know who else wrestled in a PA country club? Mike Quackenbush & Lou Marconi some 5 years later. Bret Hart not drawing many dimes as WWF Champ, brother. Speaking of Bret, he spent most of the match on the apron and was rather rote with his Moves of Doom once he finally did get the lukewarm tag from Davey. Owen definitely got all the personality in that family. Anvil was pretty bad. He can't really bump and did a poor job of catching Owen when Davey press slammed The King of Harts to the floor early. Neidhart did redeem himself somewhat with a nice powerslam and a rare gut wrench suplex later. 

Babyfaces did several uncharacteristic dropkicks and now I know why you didn't see Bret & Davey throw too many dropkicks. They simply weren't very good at them. Heels got one good nearfall off an Owen cheapshot. But, again, this deadbeat crowd wasn't really buying it. Finish comes when Bret makes Anvil submit to the Sharpshooter. Oh, and we had that same awful fast counting ref (Chioda?) from the Suvivor Series 94 match I reviewed a week or two back. 

Verdict: Disappointing. Basic heel vs. face tag match that dragged due to excessive heel chinlockery and didn't even have a hot crowd to give it a boost.

*One more. Then I'll drop it with the 1994 Match Reviews and either move to Phase 2 of this project or get distracted by the next shiny object.

Vader w/ Harley Race vs. Cactus Jack- WCW Worldwide 4/30/94- Texas Tornado Match

Pretty famous match here due to Cactus writing about it in his first book. This match, or more specifically the commentary of Tony & Bobby, is what caused him to quit WCW (for the second time). Though it would take another 4-5 months before he actually left the company. Quick backstory...

Cactus/Vader was the 1993 WCW Feud of the Year. They had some killer matches. It turned Cactus babyface for the first time. The booking was....peculiar at times, but the best parts of the feud were really, really good. On a personal note, this feud is what first made me a Cactus Jack fan. Now they're meeting for the first time in six months and Cactus was not at all pleased with the commentary of Schiavone & Heenan. They made no mention of the history between the two. BUT either Cactus got a major fact wrong in his book, or I've botched a major fact myself, because I "remember" Cactus complaining about an "Excedrin headache #9" line Heenan said. But he never actually says it!

Remember a while back when I made a post putting over WCW for bringing it during Sweeps Month May in 93-94? Probably not! But I did. And this (despite taking place in April lol) is an example of what I meant. This episode of humble Worldwide featured this "Dream Match" (it was the "Month of Dream Matches" in canon) and Flair/Regal in Round 1 of the Marquis of Queensbury series. Whoa! That is one real humdinger of a Worldwide episode. And get this. It took place the same day as the Razor/Diesel match I reviewed yesterday. Fwiw I remembered Razor/Diesel well, but not this one. This one I only knew of through Foley's book. But I was definitely watching that day! And here's more fun with dates....that Texicans tag I reviewed yesterday aired on April 16th. The world famous first ever Super J-Cup also took place on April 16th. So did the famous Kawada/Dr. Death Champions Carnival match. April 1994: What a time to be alive..

Big balls Tony Schiavone for the win. He has officially redeemed himself for his heinous actions against one of the participants in this very match by railing against political correctness. In this case, PC culture causing WCW to change from the traditional Texas Death Match tagline to the Texas Tornado Match we got in 1994. Fwiw younger fans would know this match type as the Last Man Standing Match.

Match itself is fine. Above average for a TV match even. But it's hella overrated on Cagematch. No way this should be rated above Jack's Slamboree '94 tag. This was basically a truncated, Cliff Notes version of their more famous 1993 matches. Cactus surprisingly took much of the match. There were a pair of super stiff chairshots. There was a fall or two with 10 counts being answered. Cactus once kicked out at 2....in a Texas Death Match....but that actually fits in with his 'more guts than brains' character. Vader got most of his turns on offense courtesy of Race interference. That usually makes sense given Vader is the heel, but I dunno man. This is VADER. He should be a different kind of heel....a more dominant one. In our second fishy moment of the match, Cactus repeats the ‘backpack’ bump from Halloween Havoc ‘93 that he initially did, by his own admission, in the hope of ending his own career. Vader ultimately wins again. This time with a Powerbomb on the floor. That's the very move which kicked this feud into overdrive almost exactly one year earlier. Commentary made no mention of that little factoid, which is another thing that drove Cactus crazy.  

Verdict: Fun 7 minute brawl. Hard to go wrong with these two. But I honestly preferred Razor/Diesel from the other day. Could be a case of mild hype backlash! Also worth noting the crowd was pretty sedate. Just as lackluster as the country club crowd in the Hart Family tag I reviewed earlier.

*Had an idea to scrap the Match Review thread for something new in 2025. Still might! But for now...

Kwang w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. 1-2-3 Kid- Wrestling Challenge 5/14/94

It's a Battle of Educated Feet between Razor Ramon friends. The future Savio Vega was still a relative noob. Commentary is provided by the oddball duo of Stan Lane & Ted Dibiase. Y'know, I don't think we were still getting Challenge here in Baltimore. Crowd is pretty hot for Kid and we actually got a pretty cool pre-match hype video considering this is just a random Challenge main event. 

Kid starts off fast and furious, even hitting an early flip dive (called a moonsault on commentary). There were indeed some nice kicks by both men. Although each man hit one of those killer kicks immediately after getting whipped back first into the turnbuckle, which is just stupid. Kwang spits mist as a taunt rather than an offensive move. Interesting. Kwang grinds the proceedings to a halt with nerve hold after nerve hold. He gets a good nearfall after dodging a Kid cannonball. Kwang then surprisingly wins around the 7 minute mark with a Hot Shot after Harvey tripped Kid. That has to be an upset. I thought for sure Kid was taking this since I don't remember Kwang getting any kind of push.

Post-match sees Kid justifiably go after Harv. Kwang intervenes to save his manager. Now it's a two on one beatdown until bobcore, looking like the world's biggest dork, makes the save. I kept waiting for an Adam Bomb run in next to save his manager and stablemate, setting up a future tag match in the process, but it was not to be.

Verdict- Pretty basic ** tv match with some nice kicks from both and Kid bumping hard being the highlights

Ric Flair (c) vs. Barry Windham w/ Colonel Robert Parker- WCW Slamboree 5/22/94- WCW Championship Match

Don't believe I ever saw this particular chapter of this legendary rivalry before. Flair is out first despite being the champ because Windham is a mystery opponent. Slick Ric is looking stylish in a sharp outfit. I believe he's back to tweener status after being a pure babyface for over a year. WCW had been talking up Hogan so even the densest of marks (me) knew he was coming in. And the deal here is Colonel Parker recruited a 6'7 300 pound blond guy to be his mystery man. Obviously, this was a ploy to get the densest of marks (me) to think Hogan would be Parker's mystery man. Though I didn't REALLY think Hogan would be the guy given the Hulkster was a main event good guy for life, brother, and would therefore never align with midcard 4 life baddie Colonel Parker, his WAS the first name that sprang to mind given the clues. And honestly? A part of me, even a large part, WANTED Hogan to be the mystery man. Because that would have shaken everything up. I swear I thought this!

Anyway, Parker & Windham come out to the FOUR HORSEMEN THEME wtf?!? Yep. It's the iconic mid-late 90s Horsemen theme just without the horsey noises in the beginning. Sad to say Barry looks like he ate Kendall as he is sporting quite the prodigious gut. His last match was a loss to Flair back in July. Since then, he's been out due to either injury, marrying a rich sugar mommy, or some combination of both, depending on which story you wish to believe. Tony & Jesse are on commentary while Michael Buffer provides the introductions, botching referee Randy Anderson's name in the process. I had no idea Buffer was in WCW this early on. Tony & Jess talk Hogan a lot and do touch on the Horsemen history of the two combatants. We’re in Philadelphia and sure enough Hat Guy is in his usual front row seat next to that old dude you’d also see at the ECW Arena. Only now am I realizing the old guy resembles the jerk who owned the restaurant I work at from 01-05.

This wasn't great. It certainly pales in comparison to their famed 86-87 matches. But it was still alright. I didn't hate it or anything. It's still two of the all-time great in ring competitors strutting their stuff for 13-14 minutes. They're just a few years older and a few steps slower. Flair took a lot of this to the point where it felt like a glorified squash at times. We got lots of Flair chops and mean punches, two rolling knee drops, two figure fours, a genuinely impressive Davey Boy-style delayed vertical suplex on Barry at his biggest, and get this, Flair even HITS two moves coming off the top, the second actually scoring the win for Slick Ric. Unfortunately, it wasn't a clean aerial attack. Think a very sloppy cross body. Windham hit the Superplex for 2 but didn't even tease the Lariat or Implant DDT, let alone hit either. 

This would sadly be a one and done return for Big Barry as injuries, sugar mommy, or some combination of both would keep him out of the ring for another 2+ years before he would return to WWF for the ill-fated Stalker run. It's too bad because Barry would have fit right in with the Southern veteran Stud Stable thing Colonel Parker had going on, joining the likes of Arn, Funk, Buck, and....Meng. Then again, seeing Barry, even a washed Barry, do jobs for all those olds and turds WCW would be trotting out in 94-95 wouldn't have sat well with this guy. So perhaps it was for the best after all. 

Verdict: Average match probably on par with their Beach Blast 93 encounter. Only I was expecting a classic when I saw Beach Blast for the first time and left super disappointed whereas this time around, I wasn't expecting much given I never saw anyone anywhere put this one over. Therefore, I was sufficiently thralled. 

Never watched a Barry Windham shoot, but has he ever addressed the, I don't know even know what to call it, but his own perception of himself in the ring, and how he went from being one of the best in the world to totally washed up in record time for seemingly no rhyme or reason? Even calling it "lack of passion," or something. I need answers, Barry. What the hell happened, brother?

Jan 2, 2025 2:41:03 GMT Kilgore said:

Never watched a Barry Windham shoot, but has he ever addressed the, I don't know even know what to call it, but his own perception of himself in the ring, and how he went from being one of the best in the world to totally washed up in record time for seemingly no rhyme or reason? Even calling it "lack of passion," or something. I need answers, Barry. What the hell happened, brother?

Barry talks about the Slamboree 1994 comeback with Flair here:


Back to back knee injuries and not being able to workout certainly contributed to his falling off. Never heard about the sugar mommy story.

SmackDown May 26th 2006.

The WWE is finally on Netflix and while they haven't uploaded the full library yet just about every era of the WWE is represented. After going through SmackDown vs. RAW, I was in the mood for some SD 06 and decided to see what they deem an essential episode.

We're going back to the post-Judgement Day edition of SD 06. Rey Mysterio defended the World Title against JBL, Mark Henry injured Kurt Angle in their return bout from the Rumble, London and Kendrick won the tag titles and half of MNM got fired and a bright eyed and bushy tailed Booker T won King of the Ring.

SD opens with JBL standing in the middle of the ring and he challenges Rey on his notion of being a fighting champion and challenges him to a Championship rematch tonight. I always remember Rey struggling on the mic and here he was so wooden it was difficult to understand whether he was finished speaking. The gist was, before Rey could put his title on the line, he needed to see whether JBL could be a good champion in his own right and defend his title against Lashley which happened right away.

Lashley won the match virtually out of nowhere with a spear. After the match JBL protested the decision to Teddy Long and the meeting ended with JBL getting his title match against Rey - career vs. title. Looking at JBL it's no surprise to see him call it a day, he'd really let himself go and was nearing Chris Hero levels of conditioning. I think I was one of those sticklers who hated this TNA esque back to front booking and wish they had have done it on the PPV. I'm not entirely sure why, I wouldn't have been caught dead ordering that show but I guess there was some sort of sanctity that had to be protected. JBL's final match should have been a PPV attraction - not just another Thursday night.

Tatanka def. Simon Dean - this seemed like a re-introduction of Tatanka as Tazz and Cole spent the entire match talking about what tribe Tatanka was apart of, the name of his moves, his two year undefeated streak and what Tatanka means. I thought Tatanka had been on the main roster longer and for whatever reason they were having Matt Hardy team with him? I never really understood that pairing but I wasn't THAT down on Tatanka. If anything I wish he had have done something more memorable and wasn't just that third match on the card guy.

Mark Henry vs. Chris Benoit ended when Henry started ramming Benoit into the post and wouldn't let up. I'm so much more tolerant of Mark Henry now and would really come around to him in 2008 but this was the type of push that hurt my interest in SmackDown. I was still a massive Benoit guy at this time and if anything felt he should have been groomed to have a match against Rey and have that six star match. It's clear looking back that Benoit was being groomed for that elder statesman type role so this was a perfectly fine way to write him off. I just don't remember Henry doing much of anything afterwards - in fact post-Mania match with Taker or whenever he faced Rey I've got little to no recollection.

I think I'm forgetting a match, Paul E is backstage scouting talent and there was a fun easter egg where they had Paul E and Kurt in the background of another segment talking business. I was genuinely hyped for the return of ECW. I knew it was never going to be ECW circa 1996 but even if it was SmackDown circa 2002 with RVD, Angle, Sabu, Punk and other young talent tearing it up I was on board. It wasn't as consistent as I wanted it to be, but there was still enough good stuff during that time.

Paul London and Brian Kendrick def. Nunzio & Vito. This was pre-dress wearing Vito where they just had him completely rip off the Saturn gimmick from '99. The match was just OK, one of my side projects is figuring out how good Paul London actually was. I like the guy and will tune into his interviews but then I watch him wrestle and I don't know if he's being ironic or actually trying to perform. I thought he was kind of sloppy here. There was a spot where Kendrick and London were supposed to hit a double drop-kick on Vito to knock him out of the ring to isolate Nunzio for the finish. Yet only Kendrick managed to go up in time so Paul just stands there awkwardly. He's had these awkward moments and it's a shame because when you're that size you really have to be as smooth as Rey in order to compensate.

Looking back Vince clearly wanted to push Nitro and Melina as their own duo, so he quickly got the tag titles off MNM and just had London and Kendrick in there as the under-dog babyface tag team to hold the belts while they figure something else out. Yet it took them a year to figure out anything and when they did it was just to bring a new act into help freshen up the roster (and create the greatest entrance song in WWE history).

They held a coronation for King Booker who with his first act officially honoured Sharmell as his Queen and together they would rule SmackDown. This segment ruled and everyone played their part well, even Regal at the end leading a seemingly endless chant of Long Live King Booker. Early on you get the sense that the fans are hoping somebody will rock up and put Booker in his place, but then Booker got so into it they couldn't help but engage and boo him as Booker laid down his proclamation. 2006 was the year of over-due reigns so between this and RVD, I wasn't as into it as I would have been years prior but this was so much more palatable than the Eddiesploitation stuff.

Finaly squashed one of my favourite 06 guys Paul Burchill. Hey I didn't mind the pirate gimmick and thought Burchill carried himself well. However that was completely not the case here, this was just an excuse for Tazz to put over Finlay's smash-mouth style. This may have also been the debut of Hornswaggle because Finlay brought him out from underneath the ring and the commentators sold it like it was the craziest thing they'd ever seen.

The main event saw Rey Mysterio retain against JBL. Oh man, 16-year old me would have been pissed with the referee re-starting the match over a planned referee botch. Where's the consistency?! It's terrible writing because it's never consistent but hey they were just trying to make the match as dramatic as possible and this had all sorts of shenanigans. It was actually a pretty good main event, JBL used every dirty trick in the book, mocked Eddie and all that good stuff. They actually did a decent job of selling a JBL title win, until JBL's plan to use a steel chair backfired and Rey was able to pull off the win with thanks to Chavo.

Never thought of this episode, but in the end you'd have to put it down as one of the more memorable episodes if only for the coronation of Booker T and JBL riding off into the sunset. It was a real passing of the torch yet I as so burned out and cynical around this time, I probably read the spoilers and completely ruined my enjoyment of the show.

^You have a knack for picking the rare memorable episodes of Smackdown. JBL's tragic retirement + King Booker's coronation make that one a real doozy.
=========
The other day I came up with a list of 15-20 WWECW matches I enjoyed and last night I decided to watch a few of them...

John Morrison & Miz (c) vs. Tommy Dreamer & Colin Delaney- WWECW 3/11/08- Tag Title Match

Morrison was my one of guys during the late 2000s. So much so that I even grew to grudgingly tolerate the stupid Miz just because was Morrison's pal. Miz getting that 90s Anvil rub. Delaney was WWECW's answer to Mikey Whipwreck. He was a pale, scrawny, long-haired, high school-looking dude wearing what looks to be the ugly ass cheapo tights American Dragon wore in 2001 ECWA. Just the quintessential jobber look. Dreamer took the kid under his wing for....reasons I forget. And the two teams had been feuding for a while. This is the blowoff. Squint and drink enough, and you've basically got Mikey & Tommy vs. Impact Players for you originalists out there. 

Tommy Dreamer wearing a Cubs jersey in Chicago is entirely on brand. Nobody could pander quite like Tommy. Tommy Pander?

Yeah, I can see why I remembered this being a 'good match.' It's a fun 9 minute plunderfest, even generating an "E-C-DUB" chant from the Chicago faithful. Dreamer takes the baddies out with a diving clothesline off the apron. Delaney follows that up with big flip dive of his own. Morrison & Miz eventually come back and pound both guys with trashcan lids.  Morrison's trashcan moonsault off the apron onto Delaney is the highlight. And something I actually remembered. Miz & Morrison send Dreamer through a table corner propped up in the corner with the Backseat Boyz old 'T-Gimmick' finisher for the win. The one big downside was a dodgy Tower of Doom spot.

Verdict- Fun weapon-filled brawl. Still probably one of the best 15-20 matches in WWECW history even before I tack on that extra 1/2* for Morrison's fabulous pants.

Big Show vs. CM Punk vs. John Morrison vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Tommy Dreamer- One Night Stand 6/1/08- #1 Contender Singapore Cane Match

I had forgotten WWE carried on the One Night Stand name beyond 2006 despite watching this very show on a stream. All I really remembered about this match, beyond vaguely enjoying it, was Big Show going ape during the finishing stretch, killing everyone with cane shots. Let's see if it holds up...

Boy, does it! This ruuuuuuled. It was so much more than just the fun finishing stretch I remembered. Around a decade ago I realized Big Show was king of the 2000s multi-man match. Aside from the Backlash 2000 closing stretch vs. Angle, multi-mans are the only time Show ever really gave off those awesome 1996 Giant vibes. He was blah at best in most normal matches, but the guy was a beast in multi-mans. And this might be the best example of all. Opening sees him wreck everybody. The four dwarves then unite to take out the Giant. The 4 dwarves then fight each other. And it's good! Tons of cool stuff here! And the San Diego crowd endorses it with an "ECW" chant. Former Maryland Terrapin football great Shawne Merriman, who was then playing for the San Diego Chargers, even gets involved with Punk & Chavo. Show busted his head open on the steps. He's got a NASTY gash. And seeing his own blood makes him snap. He wrecks everyone again. But, like, even harder this time. Then he pins Dreamer with one foot to become #1 contender to ECW Champion....Kane? Ok, I had forgotten all about Kane having a run with the ECW Title.

Verdict- Forget one of the best 15-20 matches in WWECW history. That's underselling it. This might just be one of the 15-20 best matches in ECW history. No 'WW' disclaimer needed. Yeah, I went there. It was just 8-9 minutes of constant cool stuff. A veritable gif goldmine. I'm not even sure my beloved 1996 WCW Giant ever reached this level of beast mode. ****+! Recommended! About the only flaw I can think of is Show not pinning Dreamer after the first mauling.

Sheamus vs. Goldust- WWECW 7/28/09

Sheamus had just debuted and Goldust was his first feud. I was 95% checked out of wrestling at the time, and it wouldn't be long before I was 100% checked out. Believe it or not, WWECW was the brand I cherry picked the most from on Youtube because I was into Christian's title reign, Dreamer's last ride, and Goldust having recently returned revitalized. Beyond that, I dug Morrison & Knox, but I think they were on different brands by this point. Anyway...

Sweet! They're in Baltimore. I can tell because of the "SMILEZ" sign in the front row. Smilez was a regular caller to the Saturday night wrestling radio show I listened to regularly from Summer 96 to late 97-early 98 who always seemed to score front row tickets. Remember at least one show where he'd hold up his stupid "SMILEZ" sign in between the matches and the crowd responded with boos and anti-Smilez chants lol. We were a tough crowd!

Both guys have cool themes. But that's where the goodness ends. Yeah, this wasn't much. It was mostly Sheamus trapping Goldust in a lengthy hold. Credit to the locals because the B-More crowd was firmly behind the Goldust with chants for him throughout the match, but this just never got out of first gear. There's one awkward moment where they traded gut kicks, clearly unsure of where to go next. Goldie did hit his patented drop-down uppercut and snap powerslam. That was cool.  But Sheamus whiffed on a pump kick that Goldust sold anyway and then won around the five minute mark with a Catatonic into a Backbreaker. Reminded me of the Catatonic being the It Move of the mid 2000s just as the Superkick and Spinebuster had been a few years earlier.

Verdict: Definitely NOT one of the 20 best matches in WWECW history. They did have a bunch of other matches, so maybe one of them was good. But this wasn't it. Under **

*I was watching some 1987 wrestling before that weird little WWECW diversion came along. Let's go back...

Hart Foundation (c) w/ Jimmy Hart & Danny Davis vs. Killer Bees- Superstars 6/20/87

Wasn't going to write about this one because I know I've covered it before. However, a search came up empty, so it must have been on the old PW. This match is memorable for 2 things- the Bees winning and my grandmother trolling me. But I'll get to that at the end.

Match itself wasn't much. One of the Bees did a cool arm grab monkey flip and then transitioned into an armbar. Not sure I've seen that one before. Danny Davis got booted to the back after interfering by actual police officers! Crowd popped huge for this. Davis was $$$ and not pushing him even harder was a rare 1987 ball drop by Vince. Then the Bees pulled the ol' masked switcheroo and the illegal man pins Bret with a sunset flip just over the 4 minute mark to a massive pop. Here's where the storytime comes in...

The Hart Foundation became my first wrestling heroes when they beat the Bulldogs for the tag titles back in February. Seeing a title change was monumental to kiddie me. Becoming champions put the Foundation right up there with the World Series champion Mets and Super Bowl winning Giants in terms of prestige in my youthful eyes. So, the Foundation was my favorite act in wrestling until, well, the previous week when HTM upset Steamboat in yet another historic title change. But they're still a very strong #2! So, I was DEVASTATED when the Bees beat my boys. You have to understand I took this stuff VERY seriously. Wrestling was a matter of life and death to kiddie me. Ok, and teen me as well. Maybe even early 20s me from time to time. So, I no doubt threw a little hissy fit when my heroes lost. It gets worse... 

I watched this show at my grandmother's house, a rare occurrence, for reasons I forget. My grandmother, a nice old lady already in her late 70s, was not a wrestling fan. I doubt she ever watched wrestling before or since in her entire life. And even this once she spent most of her time doing her thing in the kitchen. But this nice old lady who allegedly considered me her favorite of many, many grandchildren blew a raspberry in my face and may very well have let out a "HA HA" when I threw a hissy fit over my beloved Hart Foundation losing! My own grandmother turned against me! Tragic!

But I did get the last laugh because it was a non-title match! Hah! See, I didn't know what that actually meant prior to this match despite hearing the term multiple times every week. See also: "this match is scheduled for one fall." Whew! My heroes had dodged a bullet. Now I can't help wondering how the Hart Foundation would fare against the New Killer Bees duo of "Bad Butt" Billy Gunn & "Brainiac" Bean Malenko. Book it, Gabe!

Verdict- Match isn't much but the memory of watching this at my grandmother's all those years ago is priceless

Sam Houston vs. Michael P.S. Hayes w/ Sunshine- UWF Power Pro Wrestling 3/7/87

Spent a few days cherry picking my way through 1987 UWF tv and since this was the last match I watched...

This is the most Southern thing imaginable even before Michael Hayes comes prancing out in his Confederate flag robe, as we're in the 'historic' Cowtown Coliseum right next to Billy Bob's in Fort Worth, Texas. JR informs us Tanya Tucker will be playing Billy Bob's later that very night! Like Two Sparrows In A Hurricane  Ya gotta love it.

Sam Houston then enters to Thin Lizzy's Cowboy Song. Always get a kick out of discovering which musical acts promoters were into. Heyman was clearly an AC/DC & Metallica guy. Jim Cornette liked that old time rock & roll. And Watts must have been a Thin Lizzy fan what with this and the Freebirds using The Boys Are Back In Town for most of '86. Kiddie me had a weird soft spot for undercard babyface Sam Houston and his little Texas two-step, while early 2000s me came around big time on Michael Hayes after thinking he sucked hard back in the 80s & 90s. I think Hayes and the 'Birds were tweeners by this point, but he works this one as a pure heel. Houston weirdly has a bird, possibly a phoenix, on the back of his trunks.

Match is basic as can be and not very exciting. Houston wrestles like the 80s babyface he is with lots of hip tosses, armdrags, and armbars, while Hayes wrestles like the 80s heel he is by complaining about fictitious hair pulls. Watts & JR spend an inordinate amount of time on commentary pushing this big 'penalty box' concept which I still don't get lol. I think managers/valets will start to be put in penalty boxes if they interfere? They do the old crisscross spot ending when Hayes scores with a sunset flip for two. That was all backwards since it's usually the babyface who wins crisscrosses and hits sunset flips. Hayes would later score even bigger with a bulldog for the 1-2-NO! Houston gets his foot on the ropes. Hayes complains. Now I assume this is leading to Houston hitting a bulldog of his own, as it was his finisher, and Hayes getting his foot on the rope as well, only for the ref to miss it, giving Houston a pinfall win while still giving Hayes an out. Nope. Doesn't happen. Though Houston does score with a nice Jaw Jacker before Dark Journey, who had beef with Hayes and Freebird valet Sunshine, comes out. Her charge the Missing Link soon follows. Their presence causes Hayes & Sunshine to simply leave the ring entirely and retreat to the back, giving Houston the ultra-cheap countout win around the 8 minute mark. JR & Watts bash Hayes for cowardly running away to fight another day since the odds are no longer in his favor, while Sam Houston dances a jig in the ring. 

Verdict- Pretty mediocre match that accomplished less than Bees/Harts while being boring as Sheamus/Goldust. Under **

Alex Shelley vs. Shocker- TNA Sacrifice 8/14/05

I was a big Shelley fan around this time. He was one of my favorite wrestlers outside of WWE from 04-06. Shocker was a Luchador whose sole claim to fame with me was once being #1 in a DVDVR 500. It was very much the DVDVR version of Malenko topping the PWI 500 in 1997. Both Dean & Shocker stood out like sore thumbs. Weird anomalies surrounded by legends. Fwiw DVDVR #1's were Benoit, Eddie, Kawada, Liger, and....Shocker.

Shocker doesn't have a great look. He reminds me of somebody I can't quite place. Closest comparison I can think of is late ECW Chris Chetti. Very 2000s!

This was a pretty fun submission exhibition with both guys tying each other in knots. But therein lies the problem. It was an exhibition. Just two guys doing cool stuff without any sort of story. Not even a simple face/heel structure. Shelley threw one good punch while Shocker hit one nice flurry of strikes. Shocker showed surprising athleticism by landing on his feet when Shelley dodged his flip dive. Shelley had an early Tornado DDT countered only to hit one later on. Then he'd steal the win around the 9 minute mark by grabbing the bottom rope to block Shocker's fancy pin attempt before hanging on to said rope for the cheap pinfall victory. OK, so they finally decided on the face/heel thing at the very end. Surely this will set up another match with Shocker out for revenge. Wrong! According to commentary, they were already tied 1-1 with this being the rubber match. Meaning the booking was all backwards! Shocker was screwed!

Verdict- Perfectly cromulent meat and potatoes wrestling for the sake of wrestling- recommended for submission/mat wrestling fans- but this sports entertainment enthusiast wanted something more that I could sink my teeth into. Edit: Upon further review, there WAS a story. These two were mirror images of each other. That’s it. That’s the story.

Jerry Lynn vs. Super Crazy w/ Konnan- TNA 3/5/03

My friend Bryan and I were really into TNA around this time, so I remember this storyline well. I finally cared about Jerry Lynn. He was the hard-working journeyman who got a raw deal in WWF and was now booked as this X Division pioneer/elder statesman. Konnan took offense to the entire X Division concept, claiming it was ripping off the Lucha Libre stylo (Bryan & I eventually got a kick out of Konnan's insistent terminology after initially being driven up a wall by it), and targeted Jerry Lynn in particular. Konnan trotted out a bunch of different luchadors in an attempt to end Jerry Lynn. Juvy was last week. We get highlights. This week it's Crazy. 

Surprised Crazy didn't do much (at least here in the States) in the years following ECW's demise. Took him 4 years to really catch on in the US again, and it's not like that WWE run set the world on fire. It must be said he looks pretty bush league here what with wrestling in a t-shirt, but the dude could still go.

This was like the traditional cruiserweight version of the last match. They do a lot of cool stuff! Counters on top of counters. Flips & Frankensteiners galore. Fast-paced, back and forth action, though neither guy throws a good punch. It's basically vintage 90s WCW Cruiserweight action. But, again, there's no real face/heel structure. West & Tenay on commentary even hammer home the point that Crazy is a good guy, and it's Konnan alone who is the bad guy in this story. While Crazy did nothing heelish, and didn't get booed, the Nashville crowd was indifferent to him, while being hot hot hot for Lynn, with multiple "USA" & "Jerry" chants. This has to be the most over Jerry Lynn ever was outside of 99-00 ECW. Down the stretch we see Lynn survive a Crazy moonsault, Crazy kick out of a TKO, and Lynn kick out of a sick powerbomb. After 9 minutes of crowd pleasing 'opening match of a WCW PPV' action, gets the win by rolling through a top rope frankensteiner into a sort of sunset flip position for the win.

Verdict- Recommended for fans of 90s cruiserweight action. Would also be right at home on modern WWE or AEW tv. You may be asking "how can a match be both 90s & modern?" Because 90s cruiserweights gave birth to the current style, you silly goose. 

Chris Jericho vs. Batista w/ Ric Flair- Raw 8/16/04

Remembered these two having a good match around this time which saw Batista level Jericho with likely the hardest non-JBL clothesline WWE had seen since, well, probably the time Deacon Batista nearly decapitated a young Randy Orton on Smackdown in June or July 02. Young Dave: sneaky good at clotheslines. Unfortunately, it turns out this is NOT the clothesline match. It also turns out the match in question was likely me misremembering things and mashing together two separate matches. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. I watched this one, so I might as well write about it.
 
I was a fan of both guys at the time, though they were more like second or even third tier faves. I didn't care about Batista before or after this. Before he was just a bland, injury-prone muscle man, albeit one with a great look. And once the Triple H feud solidified him as a top guy, he was pretty meh outside of the Undertaker feud and that brief HBK feud until I stopped watching. But there was this 8-12 month window in 04-05 where I was a Batista Guy. It all came together for Big Dave. He was like an even cooler version of 1987 Lex Luger. Also worth nothing he appealed to non-fans. My friend Stoner Jon was not a wrestling fan but was weirdly into Batista. That was his guy when he was stuck with me watching Raw. And there was this girl Monica, another non-fan, who had the hots for Big Dave. Though I feel like she downgraded him from a 10/10 to a 9/10 when I told her he wasn't Cuban. Monica REALLY wanted Big Dave to be Cuban. Yeah, I thought it was weird, too. But the point of this is the dude already had mainstream appeal. So it should be no surprise that he would go on to have a successful post-wrestling run in Hollywood.

It's a well-known fact that I couldn't stand Jericho when he came to WWF. It took him about 2 and 2/3 years to finally win me over but win me over he did after losing the Undisputed Championship he never should have held in the first place and feuding with my longtime nemesis, Hulk Hogan. Basically, Jericho as a Best in the World type? Doesn't work for me, brother. Barely better than Shane Douglas. But Jericho as a delusional heel who thinks he's the best Best in the World? That does work for me, brother. Basically, he makes for a really lousy 89 Flair, 00 HHH, or 02 Angle (at least prior to 2008 when he finally did become a legit BITW contender), but a perfectly cromulent Dollar General Larry Zbyszko. Jericho even started called himself the Living Legend! Y2J then solidified himself as one of my guys by feuding with stupid Shawn Michaels in 2003. BUT he had stagnated by 04-05. For a guy who would later become all about the reinventions, Jericho didn't change a whole lot from 99-07. Whether heel or face, he was more or less always the wisecracking Y2J. BUT that 02-03 run generated enough goodwill with me that I still liked him in a 3rd tier fave sort of way in 04-05. Basically, in that early 2000s BOBCORE spot. A year or two back, when I did that Favorite Wrestlers By Year thing, I had Jericho around #24 in both 04 & 05. Fwiw Batista was like #17 in 04 and yesterday's star, Jerry Lynn, like #23 in 03. 

Batista looked so much better with hair. He comes out to a theme that is NOT the Evolution theme. I didn't remember Big Dave having his own theme back then.

This isn't much of a match. Only goes about 4 minutes and is in no way memorable. Jericho really was a clunky plodfoot to quote the late, great 🤯 . Weird thing is the first time I saw Jericho wrestle, the thing that impressed me most was how quick & smooth he was. Had to be the lifts making him look like he was moving around with a load in his pants. Highlights were Jericho hitting a sweet dropkick I didn't remember him having in his repertoire, and Batista really laying in those shoulderblocks to Jericho's gut in the corner. Lame finish comes when Flair punches Jericho as he's about to springboarding for the Lionsault leading to a DQ. 

Post-match was interesting though. Batista & Flair put the boots to Jericho. Edge comes out for the save. Swerve! He chickens out after coming down to ringside and realizing he's outnumbered. Now I thought Benoit would come out next to form a 3-man Canadian Connection taking on Evolution in Canada*. But that's not what happened. Edge just chickened out. What a wimp! JR & King frame it as payback for Jericho not coming to Edge's aid when something similar happened to him a while back. Going to assume this was the beginning stages of Edge's career defining heel turn since I'm pretty sure he turned about 2 months later. With Edge having chickened out, the beatdown continues, ending with a Batista Bomb on poor Y2J.

*And you know they're in Canada because some yahoos in the third row are holding up a "SASKATOON '92 HART DEF. FLAIR WOOO!" banner. I both love and hate those fans.

Verdict- * nothing match but the post-match story/beatdown was pretty cool

Jan 26, 2025 2:43:09 GMT Baker said:

Batista looked so much better with hair. He comes out to a theme that is NOT the Evolution theme. I didn't remember Big Dave having his own theme back then.

That was my favourite aspect of Batista.

Despite being injured for the majority of 2003, they still included Batista in every WWE game that year. They clearly had never seen him wrestle because they gave him moves like a jumping spinning back kick (this is where you tell me that he totally did that move). Still, he had that theme and it was the perfect heel hoss song or at least tied with Brock's XFL song.

I remember when they changed it in 2005. It has the same intro so each time I'm getting ready for that bad-ass guitar to come in only to get met with those vocals.

At least it wasn't as bad as Taker's re-do. If nothing else, I wanted the Deadman comeback to put an end to that 'YOU'RE GONNA PAY' nonsense.

You're Gonna Pay is great!

DEAD MAN WALKING

Fuck yeah!

Honestly I think ABA needs it's own thread because despite only being on top for like a month it was still a great run and one of the highlights of that weird early 2000s period of the brand split. That's when he actually starting turning it up in the workrate, those Bret encounters finally turned a profit.

Nov 14, 2024 20:30:45 GMT Ness said:

You're Gonna Pay is great!

DEAD MAN WALKING

I'm with you there.

Awesome gong sound, Dead-Man Walking...

and then this lame as voice comes in.

YOU'RE GONNA PAY
CHEAP SHOT!

Skip!

The guitar was fine. Sure, it was no Rollin, but after 2001 that song had to be graciously retired. That was the rule. You can only roll so far because in the end it doesn't even matter.

Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair
Chi-Town Rumble '89

As it turns out, the only match I'd seen of this trilogy was the Clash of the Champions and even then all I remember is Funk's commentary. I'm sure most of you know the story but those who don't not only had Steamboat just come out of retirement, but this was his big return to the NWA after nearly four years.

I love how the match starts off with Steamboat nearly stealing the match with a simple shoulder bump. Flair completely underestimates Steamboat, believing him to be a washed-up family man only to realise he's stepped foot into the ring with the Dragon. As the match goes along, Steamboat does this great spot where he dives through the legs of Flair and catches him with a dropkick. It just shows that Steamboat is a cut above the rest and Flair has no answer.

Ordinarily I'd hate the headlock spot that followed. However not only did they work it properly here with Steamboat forcing Flair to make him break the hold, it put over how desperate Steamboat wants to win the match and control the contest. Plus, it breaks out into this great chopping contest where Steamboat nails Flair coming out of the corner with an almighty chop that worked as a believable near-fall.

That was followed up by another chop where Steamboat leapfrogged Flair, Flair rebounds only to catch another chop that he sells like he's in a samurai movie and he crashes through the ropes on the other side.

Eventually Flair wears down Steamboat and catches him with a back elbow that rocks Steamboat and he stumbles around the ring before catching Flair with a chop. However Steamboat isn't as fluid as before and Flair is able to trap Steamboat by baiting him into doing a 10 punch only to catch him with an inverted atomic drop and right into a Figure Four. Steamboat refuses to tap and Flair can't help himself but use the rope for leverage to help win but the official catches him.

However the damage has been done and while Steamboat is fighting with everything he has, he's virtually on one leg and Flair is running circles around him leading to another highlight where Flair hits a crossbody that sends both guys crashing violently over the top rope. When the smoke clears, Steamboat is still trying to keep Flair away with chops but they're all desperate defensive moves and Flair is like a bee to honey.

It's good work here with Flair really slowing the pace and just slamming Steamboat from pillar to post. Flair has been in this position hundreds of times in this past year alone, he knows exactly what he's doing and yet he turns his back and Steamboat is able to hit a roll-up. Steamboat follows up with a series of counters before he eventually grounds Flair and goes for an all or nothing aerial assault. However his do or die cross-body takes out the referee and it appears this is all going the way of Ric Flair.

The finish was great too. Flair is in total control, he attempts to throw Steamboat out of the ring while he revives the official, only for Steamboat to skin the cat and scale the post one last time. Steamboat dives but Flair dodges allowing Flair to lock on that Figure Four and potentially break the leg of Steamboat but Ricky counters with a pinfall and Teddy Long is there to make the three count. Steamboat with an all-time comeback beats an NWA Champion. It took an incredible performance and even then he only did it by the skin of his teeth.

Not too familiar with Steamboat, but always considered this his 1b to the Savage match both victories with a rollup OUTTA NOWHERE. Sometimes it feels like it takes away from the moments as it just feels like they got lucky. Was actually was his finisher anyway, I know it ain't the armdrag.

Jan 26, 2025 15:27:41 GMT Ness said:

Not too familiar with Steamboat, but always considered this his 1b to the Savage match both victories with a rollup OUTTA NOWHERE. Sometimes it feels like it takes away from the moments as it just feels like they got lucky. Was actually was his finisher anyway, I know it ain't the armdrag.

Flying cross-body off the top.

Flair scouts it everytime, so in the end he has to come up with a Plan B.

I think they did a good job of making Steamboat feel like a deserving winner. Through out the entire match, Steamboat has Flair scouted and is a step ahead so it feels thematic when he pulls the pin off at the death.

Jan 26, 2025 14:06:39 GMT Big Pete said:

they still included Batista in every WWE game that year. They clearly had never seen him wrestle because they gave him moves like a jumping spinning back kick (this is where you tell me that he totally did that move). 

lol you're safe this time. I never saw Batista do a fancy spinkick. 

Jan 26, 2025 14:10:11 GMT Ness said:

You're Gonna Pay is great!

DEAD MAN WALKING

Honestly I think ABA needs it's own thread because despite only being on top for like a month it was still a great run and one of the highlights of that weird early 2000s period of the brand split. That's when he actually starting turning it up in the workrate, those Bret encounters finally turned a profit.

ABA Taker peaked in the theme department with American Badass. Rolling and You're Gonna Pay I could do without.

Yeah, Taker did have a nice little run as Undisputed Champ. Dethroned Hogan~! Making it an automatic win. Had the defining singles match of Jeff Hardy's career. Fun Raw match with RVD. Lost in a 3 Way that I think you and 🤯 once considered the GOAT Triple Threat.  The KOTR match with Triple H match sucked, but that's still a solid 2 months on top.

One thing I liked about the Undisputed Championship was how big of a deal it became just to earn a title shot. Reminded me of the territories building long term programs around getting a crack at the NWA Champion. I found it refreshing after the Attitude Era when any midcard ham & egger, and even non-wrestlers like Vince, could randomly get a title shot on any given Raw. 

Jan 26, 2025 15:19:58 GMT Big Pete said:

Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair
Chi-Town Rumble '89

Pete covering the classics. You love to see it. Another cool thing about that match was the fake Dusty Finish. So many Flair defenses ended with a second ref overturning the babyface victory that it became a cliche. Some even say it contributed to killing the territory. With Dusty finally out as booker, the fake Dusty finish was an FU to him. 80s smarks rejoiced at the dig. 

Jan 26, 2025 15:27:41 GMT Ness said:

Not too familiar with Steamboat, but always considered this his 1b to the Savage match both victories with a rollup OUTTA NOWHERE. Sometimes it feels like it takes away from the moments as it just feels like they got lucky. Was actually was his finisher anyway, I know it ain't the armdrag.

Yeah, it was the crossbody as Pete mentioned. He'd also use an elevated double arm chickenwing later during this Flair feud.

Kilgore once brought up something that I knew but had always taken for granted. A lot of major Flair, Bret, Savage, Steamboat matches ended on small packages. We were never disappointed by this and many of those bouts are in the Great Match canon. Small package finishes were even considered refreshingly clean back in the day when so many major matches ended by DQ or Countout. 

"Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich vs. Buddy Rose- Saturday Night's Main Event 7/28/90

Been hard at work on a new project which is as insane as it is masturbatory. It may or may not ever see the light of day. But even if it doesn't, I'll consider it a win since it reminded me I never covered this very memorable match (albeit for the personal circumstances surrounding it rather than the match itself) and contributed to me finally tracking down the air date (9/25/93) of the occasionally mentioned Tatanka vs. Barry Horowitz "Slop Drop Match," though sadly I have yet to find footage of the match itself.

This is low key an 80s territory fan dream match. Texas vs. Portland. It's also Kerry's WWF debut. I may have been dimly aware of the name Kerry Von Erich prior to this. Can't remember for sure, but there's a good chance I saw him on one of the many bush league alphabet soup promotions which would pop up on grainy DC Channel 50 weeknights at 6. Maybe AWA. Maybe USWA Texas. Maybe even both. There's also a chance I saw his name one of the very few times I looked at a wrestling magazine prior to 1995, but even if I was vaguely aware of Kerry, he meant nothing to me. I certainly wouldn't have seen him as a big deal despite him looking like a million bucks. This is why I was so confused when the noob went on to win the IC Title from the great Mr. Perfect only one month later!

My introduction to Kerry would also be my lasting memory of Buddy Rose for the next 15-20 years. Oh, who am I kidding? This match is STILL my lasting memory of the "legendary" Playboy Buddy Rose lol. He looks like somebody slapped Dusty Rhodes' gut on an even more haggard Buddy Landel. Or a grown up Louie Anderson from Life With Louie. That also works. Just an all-time bad look.

But he plays his role well. Everything he did was done for the purpose of enhancing KVE. The whole match is Buddy looking like a putz to make Kerry look (more like) a God. Buddy, the bigger man, fails to hiptoss Kerry. Kerry then hip tosses him with ease. Buddy, the bigger man, then fails to slam Kerry. Kerry follows it up by easily slamming Buddy. Psychology! Buddy then breaks out a bunch of signature bumps- Flair flip in the corner, Flair press slam off the top, an Andre rope tie up into a Harley Race floor bump. Kerry then finishes him off with a Discus Punch around the 3-minute mark. Vince & Jesse provided the commentary in what I believe was one of Ventura's last appearances. They use both the "Texas Tornado" and Kerry Von Erich names.

Verdict- Effective squash to get the new guy over. They must have done something right if I remembered this match for 35 years. Speaking of that...

*The only reason I really wanted to cover this match was to slip in another storytime. This one pertaining to the real-life events surrounding the match. But something came up, so I'll have to come back with that tomorrow.

Got to shoutout a personal canon: Buddy Rose was in the first match I ever saw live (against Dustin Rhodes at a 1991 house show), which I find funny because it makes me sound 60 years old. Should be telling grandchildren about seeing Playboy Buddy Rose up close. 

Jan 28, 2025 0:33:28 GMT Baker said:

Kilgore once brought up something that I knew but had always taken for granted. A lot of major Flair, Bret, Savage, Steamboat matches ended on small packages. We were never disappointed by this and many of those bouts are in the Great Match canon. Small package finishes were even considered refreshingly clean back in the day when so many major matches ended by DQ or Countout. 

Terry Funk ending ECW's first pay per view with a small package to win the title. The small package, was put into law that night, as being hardcore in an official capacity.

Christian (c) vs. Al Snow- Survivor Series 11/18/01- European Title Match

No memory whatsoever of this one. I was a Christian fan at the time. Though, in all honestly, that 'fandom' was largely due to simply loving his operatic theme. He's in the Alliance because nothing made sense in 2001. He cuts a very generic, Heel 101 promo on the North Carolina crowd. Thankfully, I had come to my senses and turned on Al Snow 2-3 years earlier. Couldn't have cared less about him at this point. This was during his Tough Enough period. First season was the only one I ever watched, and even that was only sporadic. I was pulling for local guy Jason. He was a few years above me in school and a friend of some friends prior to his brush with stardom. Last I heard he was a gym teacher at a nearby elementary school.

This was the quintessential ** match. Lots of back-and-forth action with a clear face/heel dynamic. They tease some things early and pay them off later. Christian has a mix of good and bad punches while all of Al Snow's punches suck. The NC crowd is weirdly hot for this random midcard match. Probably because it's the opener. Crowd wants Head despite Al Snow not even bringing out the one thing that finally got him over. They burn through things a little too quickly down the stretch. Guessing they got the call to go home earlier than expected but it comes off like some lousy same era Quiet Storm vs. Chris Devine match before Christian ultimately retains with the Unprettier. 

Commentary was provided by the no chemistry connection of JR & Heyman. JR miscalled the Unprettier while Heyman was his usual grating self. I can only take him in small doses nowadays. To be fair, I couldn't stomach him on commentary back then either. Next night on Raw the King would return to save my ears from Paul E. That's honestly even better than ending WCW forever. Another point for Lawler in the GOAT argument. Speaking of GOATs, the man Lawler is chasing, Ric Flair, returned on that same memorable edition of Raw.

Verdict- **. Easy to see why I had no memory of this match. I will probably have forgotten it again by the end of this week.

Demolition (c) vs. Young Stallions- Milan, Italy House Show? 4/2/88?- Tag Title Match

Match was televised. Commentary sounded either Spanish or Italian. They weren't using the usual WWF ring. A look at Cagematch has me thinking it was this Milan show.

I had come around big time on Demolition by this point. Pretty sure I was only mildly creeped out by them at first. Then I found them downright terrifying after The Great Halloween Massacre of 1987. They were these unstoppable badass bullies with freaky looks, and I feared for the lives of their poor opponents. But then they turned their attention towards those stupid Hart Foundation beating punks in Strike Force, beat them, and I suddenly become this huge Demolition fan overnight. That career defining Wrestlemania match took place only a few days before this one.

Hated the Young Stallions because they were also stupid punks who once beat the Hart Foundation. This is going to sound crazy considering how young I was, but I actually thought the Stallions would be bigger stars than they ended up being. Whether looking at it from a shoot perspective or kayfabe, they were clearly on the way up. They'd found their mojo and started picking up some big wins. Definitely I team I feared (albeit in a different way than Demolition) once they beat my Hart Foundation heroes. 

Demolition had such a badass look and entrance. The Stallions are jacked. No wonder they got this brief push out of jobberdom. Only in the 80s could they be considered little guys lol. Demolition has several inches on both Stallions though.

This match had a great start and a cool finish sandwiching an extremely boring middle. Begins with those brutes from Demolition isolating a Stallion in the corner and clubbering away. The Stallions then come back with a do-si-do and double dropkick. Beautiful. That first minute establishes what both teams are all about. But then we go into 5 minutes of armbarring from the Stallions. BORING! Finish was cool though. A Demolition dispatches a Stallion to the floor. The other Stallion is 10 punching the other Demolition dude in the corner. This leaves him susceptible to a tide turning super back suplex from the first Demolition guy. Demolition Decapitation ends it a few seconds later. Champs retain.

Verdict- On par with the previous match. Last one had more action, but this one had that 80s WWF purity to it with everyone properly playing their role the way God and Vince (apologies for repeating myself) intended.