Just gonna take a few shots and start this shit

[Chris]

Event: Clash of the Champions XII: Mountain Madness/Fall Brawl ‘90
Date: September 5, 1990
Venue: Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina
Attendance: ~4,000
Commentators: Bob Caudle & Jim Ross

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Sting
NWA United States Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger
NWA World Tag Team Champions: Doom (Butch Reed & Ron Simmons)
NWA World Television Champion: Arn Anderson
NWA United States Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner)

Jim Ross and Bob Caudle welcome us and hype up Flair/Luger and Sting/Scorpion. Call 1-900-909-9900 to talk to Sting, but make sure your parents know you’re calling little Stingers. “Badstreet” music video plays The Fabulous Freebirds come out with confederate flag outfits and their face painted with it too LOL The Southern Boys are out next also in racist attire. They announce this as a 6-man tag team match, but Buddy Roberts has a sling on so it’s rescheduled to a regular tag.

The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes) (w/ Buddy Roberts) vs The Wild-eyed Southern Boys (Steve Armstrong & Tracy Smothers) (w/ Bob Armstrong)
This is alright, definitely a good match to open the show with. Southern Boys look really good on offense and the Freebirds are great at playing heels. A lot of double team by the Southern Boys early on until Hayes is able to slow it down with a sick rock hand that kills Smothers. BOB CAUDLE JUST SAID IF ROBERT E LEE HAD THE SOUTHERN BOYS FIGHTING FOR HIM THEN ATLANTA WOULD BE THE CURRENT CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES BRUH! Freebirds offense is super basic, but the crowd is really hot so they get a good heat segment on Smothers. Armstrong gets a nice hot tag and it all breaks down with both managers getting involved with Roberts revealing his arm isn’t actually hurt. He tries to throw in a weapon, but the Southern Boys win with stereo sunset flip pins. Decent stuff.

The Freebirds take out the Southern Boys after the match.

Tony Schiavone is backstage with the new NWA United States Tag Team Champions, The Steiner Brothers. Scott stumbles through a promo but says Doom better be ready for them. Rick says he’s never heard of “Maximum Overdrive” with is the team they’re against tonight, but they’re just gonna do whatever comes natural to them and also warns Doom.

FAT Naitch Buddy Landell is already in the ring as Mike Rotunda gets walked down to the ring by some fan that wrote a poem to Burger King and her prize was walking out Mike fuckin’ Rotunda LOL

Buddy Landell vs Mike Rotunda
MEH! This is just a Rotunda amateur wrestling showcase basically. Rotunda is alright, but Landell is fucking ass, he’s just going through motions. Rotunda wins after like 6 minutes with a backslide lol They put over how great Rotunda is at counter wrestling.

Tony Schiavone interviews the Freebirds and Garvin says everyone will respect them now. Roberts says General Robert E. Lee is looking down on them telling them to get the Southern Boys out of here. Hayes calls out Bullet Bob Armstrong for interfering and says they’re the greatest rock band and leads into a clip of them in Hollywood. They show fans swarming the Freebirds’ limo for autographs, this shit was so obviously staged. They just show the Freebirds dancing in various places in Cali with fans, I’m not even sure they were actually in Cali.

Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner vs The Master Blasters (Iron & Steel)
“Candyman” Brad Armstrong and “White Lightning” Tim Horner LOL also Steel is fuckin’ KEVIN NASH WITH A RED MOHAWK LMAO This is the Master Blasters’ debut and it’s fucking terrible. Steel is alright, but this Iron guy is terrible, he keeps missing all his strikes completely UGH! Armstrong bumps around for this shitty offense alright. This might be Iron’s first actual match tbh, like ever. Steel gets the pin on Horner after a double shoulder block.

Tony Schiavone interviews Brian Pillman and he says he’s curious who The Black Scorpion is. They put over this “Running the Gauntlet” thing where you have to win on “Power Hour” “World Championship Wrestling” and “Main Event” and if you do you get ike $15,000. I bet this lasted a couple months tops.

Missy Hyatt interviews the “greatest world champion of ever” (her words), Ric Flair. Flair does his usual promo for his match against Luger, the crowd loves cheering or him. Missy obviously wants to bang.

Jackie Fulton & Terry Taylor vs The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags)
The Nasty Boys literally just get outwrestled for like the first half of this match, they don’t get any offense in whatsoever this is hilarious. Like they’ll do one move, tag in the other and then just get caught in an arm drag instantly. They finally start working over Taylor, but their sloppy brawling isn’t as good as it becomes in the future, but you can see flashes of it. Fulton gets a decent hot tag and even hits a nice bridging German Suplex on Knobbs. Fulton gets caught with a powerslam by Knobbs and then a diving elbow drop from Sags for the Nasty Boys win.

Taylor takes out the Nasty Boys after to “save his partner” really just a sore loser though.

Schiavone interviews Sid Vicious of the Four Horsemen and he says he doesn’t care about anyone but him and the NWA title around his waist. SID VICIOUS RULES!

Bill Irwin vs Tommy Rich
Not good, but easily could have been worse. This goes like 4 minutes, Rich looks decent and Irwin does his job. Rich gets the win with a Thesz Press bc he’s stuck in the past.

This week’s WCW TOP 10 LISTS!
Champion: Sting

1. Lex Luger (US Heavyweight Champion)
2. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair
3. Arn Anderson (Television Champion)
4. Barry Windham
5. Sid Vicious
6. Stan “The Lariat” Hansen
7. Flyin’ Brian
8. Junkyard Dog
9. “Wildfire” Tommy Rich
10. “Nature Boy” Buddy Landell

Champions: Doom

1. Steiner Brothers (US Champions)
2. Rock and Roll Express
3. The Horsemen
4. Midnight Express
5. Southern Boys
6. Fabulous Freebirds
7. Samoan Swat Team
8. Flyin’ Brian & Z Man
9. Junkyard Dog & El Gigante
10. Mike Rotunda & Tim Horner

Schiavone interviews Hansen and he’s literally covered in tobacco juice and it’s flying out of his mouth with every word, Schiavone looks disgusted lol He’s pissed he’s ranked 6th and says he’s coming after everyone.

LPWA Championship: Susan Sexton (c) vs Bambi
Borderline sexist commentary from Caudle during this, but the match wasn’t anything to talk about. Just basic holds and transitions until Sexton reverses an small package into her own pin for the win.

Maximum Overdrive (The Hunter & The Silencer) vs The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner)
I can’t tell which member of Overdrive is who, but it’s just a Steiner showcase anyway. They get like two moves of offense in, but the Steiners do look really good here and the crowd loves them. Steiners win after like 6 minutes with the Steiner DDT. Decent for what it was.

Stan Hansen vs The Z-Man
Hansen instantly throws Z-Man outside, uses a chair but I guess the ref doesn’t care. Solid Hansen squash, Schiavone interviews Luger during it and he says his focus is on Flair but if Hansen wants a shot then he’ll get it. Hansen wins in 3 minutes with a brutal lariat.

Highlights of the AMAZING Luger/Flair match at WrestleWar earlier in the year. Schiavone interviews Luger again and he gives a generic promo saying he’s ready to go for Flair.

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship: Lex Luger (c) vs Ric Flair
Oh wow the first actually good wrestling match on the card Yeah this is really good, Luger uses his power to take advantage early, Flair has to wrestle really smart to get any offense in as Luger is on fire. Flair hits Luger with some sick chops, but Luger just no-sells them. The crowd is hot af thankfully this shitty show didn’t kill them. Flair sells his shoulder being hurt, but sucker punches Luger and then starts picking him apart outside the ring Flair’s offense is really fucking good, the crowd has been on fire the whole time, really good shit. Luger finally starts fighting back, but Flair catches him with a thumb to the eye. Luger starts eating more chops and has a really great comeback. It’s only been 10 minutes, but they’ve been killing each other this whole time, really fast paced match. Luger taunts way too much after his big power moves lol Luger ends up hitting a big superplex and think he won it, but Flair grabbed the ropes Both guys end up going over the top rope and keep brawling outside the ring, but then STAN HANSEN comes out of nowhere and starts attacking Luger so Luger gets the DQ win. Lol really good match, but of course that’s how it needs to end.

Hansen keeps attacking Luger, choking him with a bull rope and spitting tobacco on him.

Silhouetted and disguised voice Black Scorpion promo where he says if Sting beats him he’ll tell everyone who he is. Back with Schiavone, Sting says he’s ready.

Wait Scorpion gets a title shot but he’s not even in the top 10 :hm: Scorpion does a slow Undertaker walk to the ring wearing a cheap looking robe. Sting gets a huge pop, he’s crazy over as usual

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Sting (c) vs The Black Scorpion
Meh brawling for the most part, Scorpion just does the most basic strikes and stuff so nothing of note happens for a while until Sting is able to slam Scorpion onto the barricade, but Scorpion is right back in control with his shitty brawling. Sting can’t get any offense in bc he goes for the mask every time he has a chance so Scorpion is able to keep control, decent story being told, the action just sucks. Scorpion slams Sting onto the ramp at one point, and somehow Sting takes control like 15 seconds later. He’s unable to get the mask again so that doesn’t last long. Sting makes a comeback and wins the match with just a STINGER SPLASH LOL!

After the mask Sting tries to unmask Scorpion, but he’s wearing ANOTHER MASK and another Black Scorpion makes his way down the ramp and Sting just has this staredown with him as he realizes he wasn’t fighting the real Black Scorpion.

JR interviews Sting after a break and Sting says he didn’t accomplish anything because he still doesn’t know who The Black Scorpion is, but Sid Vicious comes down and yells that he’s the real problem bc he wants the belt. Sting says basically he doesn’t care and to talk to the championship committee lol Vicious attacks Sting on the ramp with the title belt and then yells into the camera that he’s gonna be the next world champion bc SID VICIOUS RULES THE WORLD!

 

[Chris]

Event: WrestleWar 1991: WarGames - We Want You!
Date: February 24, 1991
Venue: Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: ~6,800
Commentators: Dusty Rhodes & Jim Ross

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Doom (Butch Reed & Ron Simmons)
WCW World Television Champion: Arn Anderson
WCW United States Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner)
WCW World Six-Man Champions: Junkyard Dog, Ricky Morton, & Tommy Rich

Two rings are set up for WarGames later, Tony Schiavone hypes up the card before sending us to Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes.

WCW World Six-Man Championship: Junkyard Dog, Ricky Morton, & Tommy Rich (c) vs Big Cat & The State Patrol (Lt. James Earl Wright & Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker)
Alright opener for the most part, I expected it to be worse, but it’s still nothing special. Rich and Morton look pretty good here, JYD and Big Cat are ass and the State Patrol play decent heels, they barely get any offense that isn’t dirty, but they bump around decently. Cat/JYD have a better power exchange than I would have expected, and then they get the other men in pretty quick, damn whoever booked this knew everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. The heels isolate Morton for a bit before JYD gets a got tag and does some meh offense. Cat breaks up a pin attempt after a THUMP, but Morton comes in and makes the pin instead and the ref counts it even though he’s definitely not legal WTF Forget that I complimented the booking earlier.

Schiavone interviews The York Foundation and Alexandra York (the future Mrs. Terri Runnels) and she says she’s calculated that Terrance Taylor will beat Tom Zenk in less than 15:28.

Bobby Eaton vs Brad Armstrong
JR mentions that Armstrong has a brother fighting in Iraq and i’m like 99% sure that’s Road Dogg. Eaton is billed from “The Dark Side” cool. Eaton takes a cheap shot early, but we start off really fast-paced and Armstrong is able to take control and this ends up being a lot of fun. There’s no heat or anything really, but this is a good match for sure, they have a lot of chemistry and they get a decent amount of time. Eaton brawls really well, Armstrong counters it with quickness and technical work. Eaton’s heel work is really good since he’s been perfecting it as a tag team wrestler for the last 6 years or so. I thought Eaton fucked up a slingshot suplex for a second at one point, but it turned out to just be a great reversal by Armstrong. They show Jason Hervey from The Wonder Years in the crowd. They also show The Great Muta watching and plug him vs Sting at the Japan Supershow coming up soon. Referee Randy Anderson crawls through Armstrong’s legs at one point to catch Eaton using the ropes for leverage in an Abdominal Stretch Eaton ends up winning with a nice diving leg drop. Solid match that could have been filler but didn’t really feel like it.

Itsuki Yamazaki & Mami Kitamura vs Miki Handa & Miss A
Short Japanese women showcase they’re using to advertise the NJPW Supershow next month and probably fill time. Dusty and JR really struggle with the names, but this match is a lot of fun. Japanese women’s wrestling probably peaked in the next 2-3 years so this was a good example of how solid most of it was at the time. I thought I had the names straight, but Dusty keeps confusing them so now I’m confused too, but this was really fun for 6 minutes or so, lots of fast-paced action. The crowd is also a lot more into this than I would have expected them to be. Itsuki ends up rolling up Miss A with a nice pinning combination for the win. Another match that felt like it should have been filler, but ended up being really fun.

Schiavone interviews Missy Hyatt and she says she’s going to be the first woman to get an interview in the male locker room bc of “equality” I’m pretty sure this is a reference to that Patriots reporter who got flashed a lot of dicks when she would do interviews in the locker room and then got death threats for complaining about it.

Buddy Landel vs Dustin Rhodes
Fat Naitch vs green Dustin with Dusty on commentary UGH! This is alright, the brawling is fun but everything else they do is kinda meh. Dustin shows flashes of the potential he’ll never reach, but he’s still really green. Landel’s offense gets a little boring, and then Rhodes’s comeback falls kinda flat before he finishes it with a bulldog. This was alright, it was kept short, but I wouldn’t have complained if it was even shorter.

Schiavone says we’re ready to go for Missy’s interview in the dressing room. She’s super excited, but she walks right into Stan Hansen and he says “WHAT’S THIS HEFFER DOING IN HERE” She runs out upset so I guess that’s that.

The Royal Family (Jack Victory & Rip Morgan) vs The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong & Tracy Smothers)
Royal Family come out wearing these AWFUL looking British Royalty robes or some shit. The Pistols are fine here, same stuff they’ve been doing for a little while now, but The Royal Family is ass. There’s no chemistry at all, they just do a lot of basic shit for most of the match. The lights go out early on and they have to shine a spotlight on the ring This is boring af, the only moments where anything interesting happens are the few times the Pistols do some double teams moves, but 90% of the match is rest holds and punches. The ending comes where The Royal Family goes for their double suplex on Smothers, but Armstrong dropkicks them causing them to drop Smothers right on his fucking head but Smothers is alive so he ends up able to make the cover on Morgan.

Schiavone interviews the new manager of the Fabulous Freebirds DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE He talks about how he outsmarted Teddy Long to get the Freebirds a title shot against Doom tonight. Long runs out and says he’s had enough of Page and that Page is responsible for the rumor that Doom is splitting up bc it’s not happening and HOMIE DON’T PLAY THAT! Page says that D-D-DOOM is gonna drop like a bad habit tonight.

No-Disqualification Match: Terry Taylor (w/ Alexandra York) vs The Z-Man
Really solid stuff to start, Z-Man gets the better of Taylor for the most part until Alexandra calculates some shit on her computer for a better strategy, but that still doesn’t work and Taylor starts getting more and more frustrated. Z-Man keeps it up and his offense is really fun, but it feels kinda weird that he’s in control almost the entire match so far, and the no DQ stipulation has been useless other than the ref not warning about closed fists. Taylor uses a headbutt and the announcer say the computer must have told him that bc he normally doesn’t use them LOL Nikita Koloff is in the crowd. Taylor finally takes control using a TV cord to choke Z-Man and the ref tries to stop him but Taylor says “What are you gonna do disqualify me” Taylor does a nice slow wearing down sequence now, using dirty tactics anytime Z-Man tries to get any offense. They keep showing Alexandra’s computer, but there’s never anything on it Z-Man ends up making a nice comeback, but Alexandra distracts the ref after a crossbody that would have won the match and Taylor wins after a roll-up. Good shit for the most part, No DQ stipulation seemed unnecessary though, but Taylor did win in under 15:28.

Taylor tries to attack Z-Man after the match, but Z-Man sends him over the top rope.

Paul E. Dangerously comes out wearing a huge sombrero and a bullfighter costume for his Danger Zone interview with El Gigante. He says he works undercover for immigration and all the illegal aliens here are under arrest tonight BRUH! Gigante comes out and Dangerously makes more racist comments about Latin people always lying and stealing before Gigante hears enough and slams him. Gigante then puts on the sombrero and leaves matador Dangerously lying in the ring.

Schiavone interviews Hiro Matsuda and The Great Muta about the WCW/NJPW Supershow next month. All Matsuda says is that Muta will beat Sting that night and then Muta sprays some mist.

Big Van Vader vs Stan Hansen
Hansen meets Vader on the ramp and we start with the brawl I wanted There’s tobacco all in the ring so that’s gross, but this is a solid brawl still, nothing like some of their Japan stuff though. They end up outside the ring and Hansen starts swinging chairs at Vader almost killing the commentators bc they weren’t even folding chairs Vader is able to slam Hansen onto the rail and they continue just brawling outside, but not doing as much as I want them to. Hansen ends up throwing referee Randy Anderson out of the ring and he just dq’s both of them

They keep going though and the crowd finally gets into this as Vader hits a diving clothesline, then Hansen counters with a football tackle and starts choking Vader with his bull rope. They continue brawling up the ramp, most of the stuff after the match was better than the actual match.

WCW United States Championship: Lex Luger (c) vs Dan Spivey
Really good power-vs-power match-up, honestly a lot better than I expected it to be. They keep a decent pace throughout so nothing is boring. Luger ends up flying over the ropes after Spivey ducked a crossbody and goes straight over to the second ring. Spivey focuses on Luger’s neck with a piledriver and some neckbreakers, good shit for the most part. Spivey pulls out a lot of bigger moves all focusing on the neck, but Luger keeps fighting back, and the crowd is all in with him. Luger counters and hits a suplex but can’t capitalize bc he’s selling the effects of the match so Spivey stays in control, even hitting a decent diving back elbow and going right back to the neck. Luger keeps trying to make comebacks and the crowd is hot af for him, but Spivey keeps stuffing them different ways every time. Luger finally ends up slamming Spivey onto the top rope and has this fun comeback with a super hot crowd. Both men end up clotheslining each other and trade punches as they get back to their feet. Luger goes up to the top rope, but Spivey tries to slam him down only LUGER REVERSES INTO A SMALL PACKAGE FOR THE WIN That finish was nice af and that match had no business being as good as it was, really good shit. Dusty goes way too far and calls it one of the greatest matches he’s ever witnessed though

Schiavone is here with the president of WCW and former US champion Nikita Koloff to present Luger with the new US title (the one they use until ‘01). Koloff says he takes a lot of pride in giving this to him and then HITS HIM IN THE FACE WITH IT! Koloff says he’s talked to the championship committee and they said he needed to prove to them he deserved a world title match so he’s going to prove it by taking out Luger.

DDP and the Freebirds are out next and DDP GOOD GOD’S his way through a promo introducing the “road boss” Big Daddy Dink who’s going to take care of the Freebirds when they’re on the road or something. Doom comes out and DDP leaves bc I guess Dink manages them now.

WCW World Tag Team Championship: Doom (Butch Reed & Ron Simmons) (w/ Theodore R. Long) vs The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes) (w/ Big Daddy Dink)
This is alright, The Freebirds have just been super played out by this point so it’s old. Also, they’re both heels so that’s kinda awkward. Simmons uses his power nicely, you can tell they’re building him up here for sure and Hayes is still great at drawing heat. Garvin calls Reed “boy” at one point, so Reed comes in and they have an alright exchange until the Freebirds take control on Reed after some double team work. Reed recovers on his own though and tags back in Simmons. Simmons distracts the ref as Reed works over Garvin on the floor. This is starting to drag and it’s only been like 5 minutes, but then Garvin catches Reed with a DDT out of nowhere. He can’t make the tag though and ends up getting hit with a NICE Spinebuster. All four men end up in the ring and Reed accidentally hits Simmons with some brass knuckles that Long threw to him so The Freebirds capitalize and get the win after Dink basically throws an unconscious Garvin onto Simmons.. FUN FACT: They actually lost them 11 days before this to a very confused crowd but it won’t air until after this PPV does.

After the match DOOM IMPLODES! It’s not as cool as you think, but Reed and Long turn on Simmons and beat him down. Smh they were champs for over a year and don’t even last 2 minutes after losing the belts.

JR interviews some kid from Philly that won a sweepstakes and asks him who his favorite team is and he says Doom so JR is like “I don’t think they’re gonna be a team much longer are they” They replay the Horsemen taking out Brian Pillman prior, but he’ll be in the WarGames. Arn Anderson has some fake injury though so he won’t be in it and they got Larry Zybszko to be his replacement. Schiavone talks about the WarGames rules, same as before so it’s 1-on-1 for the first 5 minutes, then every two minutes a team sends a guy in. When all 8 guys are in, the only way to win is by having someone surrender or submit.

WarGames Match: Brian Pillman, The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner), & Sting vs The Four Horsemen (Barry Windham, Ric Flair, & Sid Vicious) & Larry Zybszko (w/ Arn Anderson)
Windham starts for the Horsemen and as the faces are trying to decide who starts, Pillman runs in with his injured shoulder and all Awesome opening to start, Pillman is on fire and looks great, using the cage in fun ways and even hitting a low bow on Windham to get more revenge for the attack the Horsemen did to him. Windham gets busted opened literally two minutes in lol Windham just gets beat down for five straight minutes and it’s so awesome, but the Horsemen win the coin toss so Flair comes in and Pillman and Flair have this AWESOME chop battle and starts taking it to Flair too until Windham comes in and they target the shoulder to finally stop Pillman’s crazy momentum. Sting comes flying in for his team next to even up the odds and this really follows the generic WarGames formula for the rest of the match but just with crazy good brawling throughout. The Sting/Flair exchanges are so much fun, Flair is bumping around like crazy. Zybsko is in next and Sting comes flying at him from the opposite ring JR is just screaming trying to keep up with all the action and the crowd is loud af. Rick is the first Steiner in, and the crowd just explodes every time a new face comes in. Vicious is in last for the Horsemen team and everyone has really taken a beating at this point. Scott is in last and THE MATCH BEYOND HAS BEGUN! The Steiners have some great double team moments, Flair and Windham are bleeding like crazy, just another awesome mess of a match. All the heels do a great job targeting Pillman’s injured shoulder. All four faces end up locking in stereo figure-4’s at one point and the crowd is just going nuts. Flair gets pressed by Sting into the roof of the cage as Vicious murders Rick with a clothesline. Vicious starts destroying Pillman now and goes for a powerbomb, but the roof fucks it up and he slams Pillman right on his fucking neck HARD AS FUCK! He picks him up and hits another where Pillman actually lands on his back, but Pillman is fucking unconscious so El Gigante runs out and rips open the door to check on Pillman and they refs call it bc Pillman is out and probably has a broken neck after that powerbomb.

The crowd is still pretty loud as all the wrestlers leave. JR interviews Nick Patrick who called the match and he said he made the call because he’s not going to be responsible for anyone’s career ending and he doesn’t regret his decision at all. They also try to replay Koloff attacking Luger earlier, but they can’t get the footage to work lol what a way to end a really good PPV. Tune in to SuperBrawl on May 19 everyone.

 

[Deezy]

Thar Pillman bump is why I'm glad nxt didn't use a roof.

That being said....Wargames rules are still dumb.

 

[Chris]

Those 6 man tag team elimination chamber matches on the video games were always a better modern interpretation I thought

 

[Chris]

Event: The Great American Bash - Legend vs Legacy
Date: July 14, 1991
Venue: Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 9,320
Commentators: Jim Ross & Tony Schiavone

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Vacant
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner)
WCW World Television Champion: Steve Austin
WCW United States Tag Team Champions: The Fabulous Freebirds (JImmy Garvin & Michael Hayes)
WCW World Six-Man Champions: The Fabulous Freebirds (Badstreet, Jimmy Garvin, & Michael Hayes)

They do this hilarious intro of a cameraman buying tickets and fans acting fake af before Gary Michael Capetta welcomes us to the show and we start off with THIS GODDAMN SHITTY SCAFFOLD MATCH I REVIEWED BC IT WAS A WMOTY NO!

Capture the Flag Scaffold Match: Bobby Eaton & PN News vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor (w/ Lady Blossom)
Fuck this they don’t do shit the entire match and the flag stipulation was added last minute bc no one wanted to take a bump off a scaffold, which I don’t blame them bc there’s no reason for it to have this stipulation anyway. It’s fitting that this mess of a PPV starts with this shitty match. 90% of the match is these guys on all fours bc the scaffold is like 2 feet wide. News is easily close enough to get their flag at one point but doesn’t for some reason. Eaton just takes the flag nonchalantly to end this god awful match

After the match, Blossom throws some hairspray or something to Austin and he blinds them and then they just climb down lol Taylor and Eaton brawl a little on the way down and they the faces take out the heels in the ring, but this was such a waste of time.

Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone officially welcome us to the show and they update everyone on the WCW World Title controversy with Flair leaving with the belt so it’s currently vacant and we’ll have a cage match tonight to decide the new champion between Lex Luger & Barry Windham.

We go to ringside for some reason where Eric Bischoff interviews Paul E. Dangerously and Arn Anderson who have a cage match tonight with Missy fuckin’ Hyatt and RIck Steiner. Dangerously says he made a phone call that guarantees Missy is through with WCW tonight and Steiner won’t be a problem bc his partner is Arn Anderson. Anderson cuts a promo saying if he’s locked in a cage like a criminal then he’s going to commit a criminal act and if Missy gets involved then he’ll make a real woman out of here lol WHAT

Back to JR and Schiavone who continue hyping up this last minute world title match tonight, along with Sting/Nikita Koloff in a Russian Chain Match and El Gigante/One Man Gang UGH! They even hype up Richard Morton/Robert Gibson that’s how you know this show is trash.

DDP is wearing a DDP fanny pack and Scott Hall AKA The Diamond Studd is wearing a one strap pair of overalls DDP says they just pulled a girl out of the crowd and they let some thot in a super tight dress rip off his pants. DDP says SEE YA and she leaves. Z-Man comes out with like four thots with him WHAT

The Diamond Studd (w/ Diamond Dallas Page) vs The Z-Man
Z-Man dives over the ropes to take out Studd and DDP, but DDP pulls the top rope down causing him to fall out to the floor before he can get any real momentum going. This isn’t very good, the only offense either guy really does are punches and kicks, but Studd doesn’t sell anything. Studd hits a weak chokeslam and taunts for like 30 seconds after before trying an arrogant pin that gets like a one count. Z-Man finally gets some offense outside of the ring using the rail and then hitting a missile dropkick back inside the ring. DDP gets involved and somehow slaps Z-Man without the ref seeing, so he gets thrown into the ring and as Z-Man is occupied with him Studd hits a bridging back suplex for the win. Schiavone coins the term “Throat Slam” on the replay of the chokeslam Studd did earlier.

JR and Schiavone hype up Oz/Ron Simmons next LOL Hall and Nash might have bonded after their opening matches tonight. Oz makes his entrance and this shit is so hilarious

Oz (w/ The Great Wizard) vs Ron Simmons
It starts with Simmons trying to use power stuff but Oz just uses his strength to slow it down with rest holds. They run into each other a few times off the ropes so they third time Oz does a big boot instead Oz can’t sell shit, not even a fucking drop toe hold, hell he can barely run the ropes still. It takes Simmons three tries to get Oz over the top rope with a clothesline not sure how many were planned. The wizard hitting a weak af kick on Simmons outside the ring is one of the funniest things I’ve seen all day. Simmons wins after a couple shoulder blocks to the knee and then a regular one, his first offense in like 4 minutes. RIP Oz

This week’s WCW TOP 10!

1. Lex Luger
2. Barry Windham
3. Sting
4. Stunning Steve Austin
5. Beautiful Bobby Eaton
6. Arn Anderson
7. El Gigante
8. Diamond Studd
9. Ron Simmons
10. Johnny B. Badd

Richard Morton (w/ Alexandra York) vs Robert Gibson
They start off brawling on the ramp, both guys are still wearing their Rock and Roll Express gear still lol you’d think after teaming together for like 10 years they’d have more chemistry than this. Morton stalls a lot to look at Alexandra’s computer. OH SHIT I just realized Bill Alfonso was reffing this one. Morton stalls for what feels like 10 minutes. Morton finally starts working on Gibson’s previously injured knee and Gibson sells that pretty well. Morton locks on a shitty Figure-4 that they just sit in FOREVER! This is boring but I will say that Gibson sells the leg really well, but Morton’s offense on it is going on way too long. JR says he thought he’d see an entirely different match ME FUCKING TOO! They end up brawling back on the ramp and both go for dropkicks. That must have been Alexandra’s cue to distract the ref so they go into the finish where Morton wins after hitting Gibson with the computer so JR says “The computer was the difference”

Eric Bischoff is backstage interviewing Dustin Rhodes and the Young Pistols. Dustin is obviously trying to copy his dad’s promo style

6-Man Elimination Tag Team Match: Dustin Rhodes & The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong & Tracy Smothers) vs The Fabulous Freebirds (Badstreet, Jimmy Garvin, & Michael Hayes) (w/ Big Daddy Dink)
I don’t believe the 6-man tag titles are on the line here even though the Freebirds are champs. BRUH Badstreet looks god awful, it’s just Brad Armstrong in a mask and jumpsuit. Freebirds looks like they’re drunk af during their “strategy sessions” before the match lmao Schiavone struggles to say the word “charismatic” as Rhodes takes out all three of the Freebirds but still looks green af while doing it. The Freebirds stall a lot, but the action is okay for the most part, but the Freebirds are just so washed at this point most of the match is them taunting and stalling out of the ring. Some of these spots are super fucin sloppy. They have a solid isolation on Tracy Smothers where the ref keeps getting distracted for like 2 minutes at a time. Garvin keeps talking into the camera and it’s cringy af. Hayes’s best offense by far is his left hand. We’re like 10 minutes in and there’s yet to have been an elimination. Some guys in the crowd start a “Gordy” chant Smothers finally makes a tag to Armstrong and everyone gets involved. Rhodes has a nice brawl with Garvin out of the ring as Hayes and Badstreet hit a double DDT on Armstrong to eliminate him. Steve Armstrong has been eliminated. Randy Anderson then DQ’s Hayes for throwing Smothers over the top rope but all he did was duck under him they never call that shit Michael Hayes has been eliminated. No more left hands Dink distracts the ref, so he doesn’t see Rhodes get tagged in and the Freebirds capitalize with a double DDT on Smothers to eliminate him. Tracy Smothers has been eliminated. Rhodes then comes FLYING AT GARVIN WITH A FUCKING LARIAT TO ELIMINATE HIM Jimmy Garvin has been eliminated. Rhodes ends up hitting Badstreet with a lariat as well, but Dink again distracts the ref. Rhodes then hits a bulldog and hits Dink at the same time so he gets the win lol Badstreet has been eliminated. This was booked really weird.

Bounty Match: Johnny B. Badd (w/ Theodore R. Long) vs The Yellow Dog
Yellow dog comes down with a fuckin’ yellow dog and the announcers say most people suspect he’s Brian Pillman bc he is but if he loses tonight he’ll have to unmask. Badd is wearing this ridiculously extra robe and a fuck ton of makeup. This isn’t very good, they do some decent strikes but not much else. All the spots are super telegraphed as well. They somehow manage a nice diving sunset flip spot by Badd though, really thought that would have been botched. Yellow Dog ends up hitting a diving crossbody, but Long comes in and attacks him so he wins by DQ. Yellow Dog takes out Long, then gets hit with a left hand, but still comes in to celebrate in the ring bc he barely sels it.

Eric Bischoff is backstage and is way too excited to conduct an interview with Missy Hyatt in her locker room. Of course she’s in the shower so Bischoff says he obviously has to go in bc the interview was scheduled and she screams and throws stuff at him until he leaves. Schiavone says “It always seems like Bischoff gets the good assignment”

Lumberjack Match: Big Josh vs Black Blood
Big Josh is an actual lumberjack so I guess that explains the stipulation, he comes out with some thots in daisy duke’s. Black Blood is an executioner gimmick so he has a headsman’s axe and shit. It said “with Kevin Sullivan” on his graphic but Sullivan didn’t come out with him lol Big Josh is Matt Borne AKA OG Doink and Black Blood is Billy Jack Haynes. They do the usual lumberjack stuff of faces being respectful and the heels attacking faces when they’re thrown out. This isn’t that bad though tbh, better than some of the trash I’ve seen so far but maybe my standards are getting lower. It’s just an okay brawl for like 5 minutes or so, they don’t try to do anymore than they should. All 8 of the lumberjacks start brawling outside and the crowd pops decently for that as Josh starts making a comeback. Lumberjacks keep brawling as Blood tries to use his murdering axe but Dustin Rhodes who was a lumberjack hits him in the knee with Josh’s axe handle and Josh wins with a small package.

The next match is billed as a “come as you are” battle of the giants with El Gigante vs One Man Gang. Kevin Sullivan and One Man Gang come out with a lot of makeup on and looking crazy as fuck. Bischoff interviews them on the ramp and Sullivan says some weird shit about a lady with a third eye and death wagons. Gigante is out next with some dwarfs for some reason that have Sullivan’s same makeup on.

El Gigante vs One Man Gang (w/ Kevin Sullivan)
Oh man this is terrible, Gigante just does the late Andre offense and Gang was not a great guy to pair him with so early. Gang starts using a wrench that Sullivan gave him to take control and I don’t think anyone’s taught Gigante how to sell yet. Gang ends up hitting his 747 Splash, but Gigante still strongly kicks out. Gang gets caught on the top rope and Gigante does more shitty giant offense until Sullivan gets involved and gives Gang some powder right in front of the ref but Gigante kicks it into his face and then hits a lariat to the back of the head for the win.

JR and Schiavone hype up the Russian Chain match next which Koloff has never lost supposedly. They then show a replay of the awesome tag team match at SuperBrawl where Koloff got involved and started his feud with Sting, then Koloff attacking Sting during his entrance on a TV episode, then again at a Clash of the Champions right in front of a kid lol

Russian Chain Match: Nikita Koloff vs Sting
They start with a pretty decent brawl, going in and out of the ring with Sting in control mostly. Sting tries to touch the four corners but only gets two and UGH I hate this stipulation so much. The parts outside the ring are definitely the best bc they aren’t fucking with the corners. Referee Randy Anderson keeps counting stuff like there’s disqualifications or something. Back in the ring, it’s all pretty meh try and touch all four corners stuff, Koloff gets three at one point before Sting breaks it up. Both men end up touching two corners before both guys hit a low blow and for some reason the ref is keeping score, probably bc he wants this dumb stipulation to be over quicker. They both touch three and then Koloff takes out Sting and stalls before going to touch the fourth, but Sting comes at him with a Stinger Splash, but the ref says Koloff touched the corner first so he won.

They keep brawling after the match and Sting crotches him with the chain.

They put up the cage for the fucking World Title match bc that’s going on before the Missy Hyatt match WHAT They show an actual video package, not just replays to hype the title match. Decent for being last minute and there not being an actual feud between the two at all. But FUCK ALL THAT bc the crowd starts chanting “WE WANT FLAIR” as they’re lowering the cage They’re really trying to bill this as a possible classic like it wasn’t thrown together last minute lol they even have some shitty makeshift belt.

Steel Cage Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Barry Windham vs Lex Luger
This isn’t bad at all, not great or anything, but easily the best wrestling all night. They wrestle it kinda like a face vs face match for some reason and do a lot of basic exchanges, but I’ll take that at this point. “Nature Boy” chants starts up as they start brawling a little. They do some mat wrestling and it’s all okay, there’s just no heat to anything and the crowd barely cares about it. They literally reset after almost every exchange like no one works anything the entire match. Windham misses an elbow drop off the top rope allowing Luger to really get going and the crowd gets more into the match. Luger gets Windham in the Torture Rack, but he uses the cage to get out of it and hits a back suplex, really good sequence there. Luger goes for a superplex, but Windham counters into a diving lariat. Windham hits a diving dropkick for a super close two count and then Harley Race and Mr. Hughes make their way down the ramp. Race tells Luger “Now’s the time!” and this powers Luger somehow to use the Piledriver to win his first World Championship.

Luger takes his shitty belt and leaves with Race and Hughes with barely any celebration.

Mixed Tag Team Cage Match: Arn Anderson & Paul E. Dangerously vs Missy Hyatt & Rick Steiner
Wow what a main event to finish the PPV left Before the match start The Hardliners run down and literally abduct Missy Hyatt so this is basically a handicap match. Even though it’s a cage match, Dangerously is still in a corner. Steiner and Anderson have an okay exchange but this entire match is only 2 minutes or so. Dangerously tries to get involved but Steiner knocks out Anderson with a Steinerline so Steiner kill Dangerously with one too for the win.

Thank God this show is over

 

[Deezy]

Jesus that looks like a Jim Herd special.

 

[Chris]

Event: Wrestlemarinpiad IV
Date: April 25, 1992
Venue: Yokohama Cultural Gym in Yokohama, Japan

WWWA World Singles Champion: Bull Nakano
IWA World Women’s Champion: Kyoko Inoue
WWWA World Tag Team Champions: Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
All Pacific Women’s Champion: Bison Kimura
AJW Champion: Takako Inoue
AJW Junior Champion: Vacant
AJW Tag Team Champions: Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa
WWWA World Martial Arts Champion: Bat Yoshinaga
WWWA World Midget’s Champion: Little Frankie

The tape I’m watching fucks up a lot at the beginning, but it’s not like I would have understood anything anyway, but I did make out Debbie Malenko saying they’re going to win bc they’re the best. It looks to be fine for the first match.

Kaoru Ito, Miori Kamiya, Tomoko Watanabe vs Mima Shimoda, Suzuka Minami, & Yumiko Hotta
Everyone brawls at the beginning and then they keep up a super fast pace going for lots of pins and making lots of tags, really fun stuff. This ref has a very liberal opinion on what’s a tag, but it lets this keep moving at a fast pace so I guess it’s fine. All the action is really solid, lots of stiff strikes as well and they never really slow down throughout. Suzuki, Mima, & Yumiko end up winning after this really awesome powerbomb/diving elbow combo. Great way to start the show that was fun af even though I had no idea who anyone was.

They interview the winners of the last match damn give them some time to breathe.

Martial Arts Match for the WWWA World Martial Arts Championship: Bat Yoshinaga (c) vs Akema Torisu
So this seems to be a kickboxing match, probably not fixed but who knows. Akema just comes out swinging in round one, but Bat fights really smart even though she’s eating a few shots. Akema just nonstop wildly swings and only lands like a fourth of them, but most are pretty strong. They both come out swinging in round 2 as well, Bat’s leg kicks are starting to do damage and Akema is starting to swing even more wildly. It looks like Akema’s nose is broken from a punch, shit looks terrible. The crowd is starting to get more into it bc it really is just nonstop punching, fun round. IDK how many they do though. Akema’s nose is fucked but they send her back out and she keeps up the quick pace they’ve established and she actually knocks Bat down at one point, but she’s back up quick. Bat gets knocked down again and she’s getting beat down but then she just fucking stands up and they both start swinging again They both survive round three and it doesn’t look like it’s over yet so let’s go onto round 4. They’re pretty much still just swinging wildly, Bat goes for a spinning wheel kick, but misses and gets beatdown a bit but she still recovers. The round ends and I guess that’s it bc they raise Bat’s hand in decision.

They interview Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa before they defend their tag team titles up next. Debbie even speaks Japanese a little but she forgets some words. She’s wearing a letterman jacket

AJW Tag Team Championship: Debbie Malenko & Sakie Hasegawa vs Mariko Yoshida & Takako Inoue
This is just an all out brawl to start with the challengers getting control after some double team moves. They isolate Sakie at first, but everything is still really fast paced, I feel like that’s what I’m going to be saying about this whole card. They turn their attention to Sakie’s leg, really good stuff working it over. Debbie is able to get a nice kinda hot tag and her offense is so much fun, she does all the shit I’d give my CAW on SVR games The champs are in control now working over Takako, Sakie even locks on the Cattle Mutilation for a second. We get a nice counter exchange between Takako and Sakie until Sakie gets caught and isolated again smh Debbie obviously carrying this team. Debbie gets another tag and again owns the challengers, she just shouldn’t tag out. She does a lot of cool shit like a bow and arrow stretch, a cutter variation and an awesome victory roll. Takako gets the hot tag and after a bit of an awkward exchange her and Mariko are able to take control on Debbie. Sakie comes in and does a lot of these weak spinning kicks but then we get a fun counter exchange from all four girls with Debbie hitting a huge top rope superplex on Takako. This really breaks down, Sakie ends up hitting a dive to the outside, there were two super close near falls in the ring. The ending is a big clusterfuck, both teams try to finish with double team moves but they keep breaking them up until Takako and Yoshida kill Sakie with a double DDT from the top rope, and the ref fucks up I think bc that was supposed to be the end but Sakie just takes a German for the win anyway. The flow of this was awkward at times, but the action was really fun.

They interview the new champs backstage and then Kyoko Inoue and my girl Manami Toyota ahead of the next match. Kyoko comes out to “Runnin’ with the Devil” by Van Halen

IWA World Women’s Championship: Kyoko Inoue (c) vs Manami Toyota
I reviewed an hour long draw that these two had for a MOTY earlier in this thread, so I expect this to be pretty good as well. They just go right at each other starting super fast like all the other matches so far, a little sloppy but nothing that really hurts the match. Manami’s offense is really awesome as usual, I’m a firm believer that she’s the best women’s wrestler of all time. She starts working over Kyoko’s arm early on, but they never really stick with body parts in AJW too much sadly. Kyoko fights out and starts working over Manami’s back which makes sense since she has the power advantage. She bends and stretches Manami in like 5 different kinds of holds that all look painful. Manami tries to make a comeback using her speed, but Kyoko catches her with a butt bump to the outside of the ring that fucking kills her. Manami starts getting desperate, having to use the ropes to break up pins instead of kicking out until she finally mounts a comeback and just starts hitting dropkick after dropkick, really fun stuff, but Kyoko catches her into another boston crab and she’s back in control for a bit. They end up brawling outside of the ring where Kyoko stuffs another Manami comeback attempt. Manami finally comes at her in the ring and does the Toyota Roll and starts getting a lot of near falls off pinning combinations and high flying moves until she gets caught in another submission and Kyoko is able to slow it down with a bow and arrow stretch. Kyoko does a giant swing for like 15 straight seconds, just really wearing down Manami, but Manami uses any space she can get for some amazing explosive offense, hitting some big dives to the outside including this sweet springboard moonsault They both pick up the pace and have a nice back and forth with near falls, including Kyoko hitting a nice sit-out powerbomb, but the crowd is fully behind Manami at this point as she keeps fighting back OH MY GOD THE JAPANESE ANNOUNCERS CORRECTLY CALL A CHOKESLAM BUT JUST A FEW MONTHS BACK TONY SCHIAVONE WAS OVER IN THE STATES CALLING IT A FUCKING THROAT SLAM! Okay that completely took me out of the match, but anyway Manami is able to get the win with a Japanese Ocean Bomb to become the new IWA Champ.

They interview Manami backstage then the two participants in the next match like usual. I really don’t think I’m missing much here, seems to be the typical respectful promos.

Toshiyo Yamada comes out with a fucking sword and starts CUTTING THE STREAMERS FANS ARE THROWING Bison Kimura comes out to an American rock song that I know as well but It didn’t play too long and the sound was kinda shitty so I couldn’t tell what it was.

All-Pacific Women’s Championship: Bison Kimura (c) vs Toshiyo Yamada
Bison starts this one off by slapping the fuck out of Toshiyo, and this one has a lot more heat to it already, maybe there was an actual feud here. Toshiyo does a lot of cool karate kicks, but Bison just kills her with stiff brawling. They go back and forth each working legs, but they’re not gonna sell it so it’s better that they’re going from hold to hold pretty quick. This promotion loves STFs and Surfboard stretches. IDK why Toshiyo let Bison recover bc she just gets killed with elbows, but we get a fun strike exchange from it before Toshiyo has this awesome reversal into an armbar. Toshiyo has been in control for most of the match which kinda sucks bc Bison’s offense is so much fun. The ending sequence is sloppy, but Toshiyo ends up hitting some pretty big suplexes only for Bison to keep kicking out until she’s able to hit some weak looking chops to the throat followed by a weak diving splash for the win. Wasn’t feeling this one as much as most of the other matches but it had its moments.

Bull Nakano has got the full Tekken Paul hair going Aja takes the mic and yells something at Bull before the match starts

WWWA World Singles Championship: Bull Nakano (c) vs Aja Kong
They attack each other before the bells rings and just start stiffing the fuck out of each other. Aja no-sells some headbutts like a Samoan and takes control as they go out of the ring and make their way into the crowd and the ref just follows him so I guess he’s not counting them out It’s pretty dark in the crowd so thankfully they come back to the light quickly, but the crowd is pretty loud for Bull now and it looks like her nose is bleeding a little. Aja’s beatdown offense is just some typical strikes so that gets kinda boring, but Bull starts fighting back and the exchanges are fun. Aja continues the beatdown an just starts killing Bull with three piledrivers in a row but that only gets a two count Bull finally makes a comeback and this picks up bc her offense is way more fun. They go back out to the crowd to an empty section of stairs wow way to show you didn’t sell out the show Bull throws Aja into all the chairs before they make their way back to the ring with no ref counting still. Aja is bleeding now as well, almost didn’t tell from her facepaint. Bull keeps up the beatdown until Aja starts no-selling her kicks, but Bull stays in control with a nice back suplex after a few lariats. But fuck all that Aja fights out and gets some metal container thing and starts hitting BULL RIGHT IN THE FACE WITH IT I’m just gonna assume no disqualifications as well as countouts. Aja gets a few near falls after bigger moves, but Bull keeps kicking out and asking for more so she gets hit with like 5 spinning back elbows until she finally counters and hits this lariat to the back of the head and a leg drop, but that only gets two so she goes for a somersault leg drop, but Aja moves and hits a German that only gets a two as well before Aja dives out of the ring onto Bull and some other guy out there It looks like they botched a move off the top rope, but Bull took the brunt of the impact. She’s able to recover and hit a huge suicide dive, then hits the somersault leg drop but AJA KICKS OUT Bull says fuck this and then goes up and hits a moonsault that looked like her knee may have caught Aja’s face for the win. WOW that ending sequence was so much fun.

They give Bull a huge trophy after the match, damn the other winners barely got half that trophy. They try to interview Bull backstage after the match but she says like 10 words bc she’s dead, these post match interviews seem like a terrible idea.

Great card, I’d say the martial arts match is for sure skippable and maybe the Bison/Toshiyo match and the opener as well but Manami/Kyoko, the tag title match and main event all delivered and then some.

 

[Chris]

Event: Halloween Havoc - Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal
Date: October 25, 1992
Venue: Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: ~7,000
Commentators: Jesse Ventura & Jim Ross

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Ron Simmons
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Masahiro Chono
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Rick Rude
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes
WCW World Television Champion: Scott Steiner
WCW Light Heavyweight Champion: Vacant

Hilarious haunted house intro plays before Tony Schiavone and Bruno Sammartino welcome us to the show and hype up “Spin the wheel, make the deal” between Jake Roberts and Sting later along with Ron Simmons vs The BARBARIAN for the WCW title Terry Gordy isn’t here tonight so Steve Austin is teaming with Dr. Death instead to challenge Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham for the tag titles. They talk about Rick Rude having to wrestle two matches tonight, one for the NWA title against Masahiro Chono, the other for his US title, but I don’t think that match happens lol. They send it to Missy Hyatt dressed super thotty and all she does is send it down to JR and Jesse Ventura who’s dressed as a fucking vampire One good thing about this shitty PPV is Ventura and JR commentating together. They show all the stuff they have ready for the possible 12 matches the wheel could pick later, maybe they really spun this shit randomly bc how else do they end up with a Coal Miner’s Glove match when there’s like 8 better stipulations...oh wait that hasn’t happened yet so spoiler alert

Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, & Michael Hayes vs Johnny Gunn, Shane Douglas, & The Z-Man
This feels super thrown together but it’s not bad, not really good either though. Anderson is really on his game tonight, selling better than most here, same goes for Eaton. Z-Man and Douglas are fine as well, but Gunn is ass and Hayes just does his usual stuff he’s been doing for over 10 years, works better in this 6-man tag. The 100% behind the heels instead of these bland ass faces Ventura: “THE ONE THING I DON’T LIKE ABOUT SHANE DOUGLAS IS HE JUST LOOKS LIKE HE’D BE A RIGHT WING REPUBLICAN!” BRO Bro this crowd is popping HUGE for Anderson and Eaton, shit’s actually got me hype. This the reaction Eaton and Anderson should have been getting their whole careers smh fans always jump on the bandwagons too late. Gunn gets a hot tag and all 6 people get involved until Gunn hits a Thesz Press on Hayes for the win to huge boos This was an alright opener, action was decent and the crowd was hilarious so I fucks with it.

Missy Hyatt is still waiting outside of Rick Rude’s dressing room and asks Harley Race if he’ll get her in but he says no. She says “That’s the first time Missy Hyatt has ever NOT been invited to a locker room.” Sammartino and Schiavone question why Race is with Rude.

Some fan has a sign that says “The return of Watts, the return of wrestling”

Brian Pillman vs Ricky Steamboat
Pillman’s in full heel mode here and this is a lot of fun. Steamboat does all his usual stuff, armdrags and the like, but Pillman has some nice counters. Solid chain wrestling at the beginning. Pillman uses a thumb to the eye to take control and the crowd starts a loud “Brian sucks!” chant so they aren’t just a cheer for the heels crowd, they just really liked Anderson and Eaton You can tell Pillman is unsure about wrestling as a heel bc he’s trying to limit his flying offense since the crowd pops every time he does it so he’ll just do typical heel shit like choking instead. They have this awesome exchange where Pillman goes for a Superplex but Steamboat front suplexes him off, but then Pillman catches him with a dropkick coming down Steamboat gets fired up and Pillman keeps trying to call for a timeout, and then they get to the obvious end sequence bc it’s choreographed as fuck, Pillman ends up winning with a pin counter after a diving sunset flip. Solid match.

Teddy Long is an interviewer now and interviews Masahiro Chono, Kensuke Sasaki, the NWA president whose name I didn’t catch and NJPW’s representative Hiro Matsuda. Matsuda announces that Chono has chosen Sasaki for his ref during the NWA title match tonight. He sends it down to Tony Schiavone with Cowboy Bill Watts who announces that Harley Race is Rick Rude’s ref for this trainwreck that’s yet to come. Bill Watts says Terry Gordy has been suspended indefinitely so that’s why Austin is teaming with Dr. Death later. Bill Watts bitches that there isn’t anything “black and white” in the world anymore and says that Vader is going to defend Rude’s US title match against Koloff next and he’s pissed he couldn’t get Rude to wrestle twice in one night. Real talk Rude is already wrestling hurt so he really was probably gonna wrestle twice tonight but at least we get a Vader match now

Short-haired clean shaven Rude comes out with Vader but Ole Anderson who’s senior referee bans Rude and Race as well lol this PPV seems like a mess already, those first two matches were probably outliers.

No Disqualification Match for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (w/ Madusa banned from ringside): Big Van Vader (Defending for Rick Rude) vs Nikita Koloff
Pretty good brawl to start, Vader is great here and Koloff sells better than I expected. Koloff catches Vader taunting though and the crowd is still really hot for now before the main event matches suck their souls from their bodies. They brawl out of the ring some and Vader takes back control, killing him with a chair. Vader gets hit in the face with a beer from a fan and Ventura goes off at them Vader is just manhandling Koloff now, but Koloff does manage to kick out of a diving splash. Koloff counters a suplex attempt only to barely get Vader up so Vader lands on his head basically. This lets Koloff make a comeback and finally take Vader down and then hits a Russian Sickle over the top rope which is fine since there’s no DQs. He goes for another outside the ring but kills his arm on the ring post instead, and this lets Vader hit a brutal Powerbomb back in the ring to retain Rude’s title. Still pretty solid especially bc it was probably booked last second.

Starrcade ‘92 BattleBowl HYPE! Shitty concept though, don’t watch that show.

Teddy Long interviews Steve Austin and Steve Williams. Williams avoids Long’s question and just says “trick or treat and Austin is the trick” Windham and Rhodes are doing the tag partners who hate each other angle as well as they’re interviewed by Missy. Windham says they have no problems but Williams couldn’t have picked a better partner. Pointless af. Also FYI at the time this match was for both the WCW and NWA tag titles, but the NWA doesn’t recognize any of these reigns anymore and I don’t think WWE does either so fuck it it’s just for the WCW ones in hindsight. They’re calling it the Unified World Tag Team Championship on screen.

WCW World Tag Team Championship: Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes (c) vs Steve Austin & Steve Williams
This is fine but Ventura keeps bringing up Kansas beating Oklahoma in football and JR is trying so hard to hide how upset he is about it Everything about this is solid, they just keep it super basic which might be bc it was booked last minute and Williams/Austin aren’t a regular team. The crowd isn’t feeling it so they start chanting “We want Flair” again. Rhodes has improved a good bit in his short time so far, his exchange with Williams is probably the best part of the match since Austin still hasn’t came into his own yet and Windham is starting get washed. I think it’s kinda funny how different all four of these guys are 6 years later reading Fab’s ‘98 reviews. They’re really just taking turns with one-on-one exchanges, it’s like we never progressed out of the opening 5 minutes, but it’s all still solid stuff, just guys wrestling with no heat, barely even feels like a championship match. JR mentions some match Williams had in Shreveport That town’s a shithole but I’ve watched wrestling there so that’s cool. Ring announcer says there’s 15 minutes go by so 15 more remain, might have to start counting down the time if this doesn’t pick up a little bit. It’s been 20 minutes and they’re still just taking turns wearing people down, hasn’t been a hot tag or a bigger move hit yet. Like I’m enjoying this Austin/Williams beatdown on Rhodes but everything is just dragging on way too long. Austin and Rhodes end up trading punches until Austin KILLS Rhodes with a right hand and he celebrates like he knocked out Muhammad Ali or something Rhodes has the tiniest cut above his eye that I wouldn’t have noticed if the commentators didn’t point it out. I do really like that Austin/WIlliams have gotten better as a team throughout this match since it’s lasting so long, everything is really flowing well I’m just sitting here waiting for the building up to end but there’s only 5 minutes left. Rhodes finally makes a tag but of course the ref didn’t see it so the challengers throw Rhodes over the top rope onto the unprotected concrete bc Bill Watts doesn’t like pads. Nick Patrick comes running in after Randy Anderson takes a bump and counts a pin on Windham for three, but Anderson waves that off as Rhodes was legal and the match continues with a minute and a half with all four men brawling and it finally gets pretty fun until of course the time runs out, there were probably more pin attempts in the last minute than the whole 29 before. Another match with pretty good action but very questionable booking, I feel like that luck has to run out and this show is about to go to shit (mainly bc I’ve seen it before).

Tony Schiavone is with Vader, Paul E. Dangerously, and Harley Race. Dangerously says Vader defending the US title for Rude was all his idea and says he’s the reason for all of Rick Rude’s success. Madusa shows up and Dangerously just goes in on her and says he’s everything bc he’s a man so he’s dominant and superior to her and she’s just a chick that takes orders and the only thing she’s good at is taking care of Rude’s “needs” but the only reason he hired her was because THE OTHER HOOKER HE HAD IN MIND HAD A PREVIOUS OBLIGATION! He fires her and she starts crying and then he pushes her so she fuckin’ karate kicks him in the face and starts attacking him, the crowd goes nuts. LOL The last two shows I’ve watched with Dangerously he’s been attacked for being both racist and sexist. I’m pretty sure he got up and yelled “come on bitch!”

It’s time to SPIN THE WHEEL AND MAKE THE DEAL for the non-sanctioned match tonight between Sting and Jake Roberts. Sting comes out to spin it and I honestly really hope this wasn’t fixed bc out of all the matches it lands on a fuckin’ Coal Miner’s Glove match which was right between First Blood and Texas Death Match, also there’s some match called “Prince of Darkness” But anyway Coal Miner’s Glove just means they’ll have a weighted glove on a pole during the match and the winner is the one that gets it so they can hit their opponent with it FUCK THIS!

They introduce the referees for the NWA title match up next, Kensuke Sasaki and Harley Race. Rude’s out next with Madusa even though she just got fired and man I just can’t take him seriously without the mustache. Chono is out next with Hiro Matsuda. Head referee Ole Anderson then does a coin toss to decide which ref is inside the ring and which is outside and he checks both referees for weapons I guess. Race wins the coin toss so he’s the in-ring official.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship (w/ Harley Race & Kensuke Sasaki as Special Guest Referees): Masahiro Chono (c) (w/ Hiro Matsuda) vs Rick Rude (w/ Madusa)
Loud “we want Flair” chants as this starts and UGH I’m not looking forward to this again as it’s one of my least favorite matches of all time. It’s easy to review though bc they don’t do jack shit for the first 10 minutes but rest holds. Ventura/Ross on commentary still top notch though, easily best part of this whole PPV. Every now and then they’ll do a bigger move and it’s fun bc these two are pretty good, but they’re both wrestling hurt so that’s why we get this 20 minute borefest instead. Chono works attempting to lock on his STF for awhile as Gary Michael Capetta announces 15 minutes have gone by. Rude has been working the neck slowly all match and does end up hitting a pretty big piledriver, but they do nothing with that and they do this weird spot where Rude jumps off the top rope but doesn’t hit anything even though Chono barely moved out of the way and Rude just goes back to his trusty chinlock. The 20 minute mark must have been their cue to end this resthold as Rude goes back to the top and kinda hits a dropkick so both guys sell, then Race takes a bump after a pretty stiff kick from Chono. Rude goes to throw Chono over the top but Chono reverses and sends Rude onto Race and Matsuda outside. Rude ends up hitting the Rude Awakening back inside the ring but there’s no ref so Chono is able to lock in the STF and Sasaki comes in to make the call as Rude taps. BUT WAIT Race was the in-ring ref and he saw Chono throw Rude over the top rope earlier so he DQs Chono instead but guess what the belt doesn’t change hands anyway FUCK THIS GOD DAMN MATCH!

The refs brawl after the match and Sasaki takes out Race and Rude.

More Starrcade ‘92 BATTLEBOWL HYPE, this shit airs on a Monday

They show this hilarious video of Cactus Jack training Barbarian for his title match including him breaking concrete blocks with a sledgehammer over Barbarian’s back I hope that was a breakaway block bc that shit hit Barbarian right in the fuckin’ head. Simmons comes out with a shit ton of guys along with Teddy Long who I guess he’s forgiven for the Doom IMPLOSION but Teddy is just part of the entrance posse I guess.

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Ron Simmons (c) vs The Barbarian (w/ Cactus Jack)
Neither of these two deserve to be wrestling more than 10 minutes and this gets almost 13. This isn’t good, it’s not even decent, it’s just both guys doing power stuff which Simmons is better at than Barbarian, but he’s the face so Barbarian has to have the strength advantage and he literally knows like 4 moves. Jack distracts the ref while they’re outside the ring and they act like Barbarian sending Simmons into the steel post should have been a disqualification WHAT must be some fuckin’ Bill Watts rule then smh. Ross calls this basic hold the Barbarian has on the “shinamunake” or something and Ventura is like WHAT so Ross says “You were wrestling for the other guys, they didn’t do that over there” Babarian goes for a shitty diving elbow even though he usually finishes matches with a diving headbutt so Simmons moves and makes his comeback until Jack gets involved and Barbarian takes back control just to only get a two count for the diving headbutt. Barbarian keeps on him until Simmons literally counters with one powerslam for the win

They send it back to Schavone and Sammartino where Sammartino puts over ERIK FUCKING WATTS so they bring him out and the crowd boos He says next to nothing until Simmons comes out and he says he expects more matches with The Barbarian coming up please god NO!

Ross and Ventura put over that this next match is non-sanctioned so WCW isn’t responsible or injuries OR WORSE! Roberts is out first WITHOUT Damian even though Ross is talking about how they have anti-venom ready So to win this match you just need to pin or submit your opponent, the glove doesn’t even have to be involved

Coal Miner’s Glove Match: Jake Roberts vs Sting
This doesn’t feel like any sort of non-sanctioned match at all. They’re doing chain wrestling and the ref is counting for breaks and in between the slowly go for the glove on the pole so fuck this. Decent brawl starts on the outside for like 10 seconds before it’s ruined by a pole spot. Sting works the shoulder pretty well, but I’m sure a better strategy would be legs to prevent climbing, but I guess I should just be happy there’s something. They do the slowest corner crotching spot of all time on Roberts, the crowd didn’t even react to it bc there was no impact. They do some slow back and forth, missing bigger moves until Roberts hits the Short-Arm Clothesline and hits a DDT. Roberts goes for the glove, but Sting meets him there and rams him into the pole. Cactus Jack comes running out and gives Roberts a snake and this thing is FUCKIN’ TINY SMH! WCW snake budget not even close to WWE’s Anyway Sting gets the glove at the same time and he hits Roberts in the side with it as the snake bites Roberts so Sting gets the win.

The snake is latched onto Roberts for awhile after until Jack saves him and his cheek is bleeding now GET HIM THE ANTIVENOM YOU GUYS SAID YOU HAD COME THE FUCK ON! Both Schiavone/Sammartino and Ross/Ventura give some final thoughts and Ventura takes shots at the Atlanta Braves losing the world series and says The Falcons sure as hell aren’t winning a Super Bowl anytime soon

 

[Deezy]

what a shit show and people wonder why they went with some 3rd string announcer whose biggest business venture was selling throwing stars in Minneapolis.

"Ventura: “THE ONE THING I DON’T LIKE ABOUT SHANE DOUGLAS IS HE JUST LOOKS LIKE HE’D BE A RIGHT WING REPUBLICAN!” BRO" how right he was.

 

[Chris]

Event: Dream Slam I
Date: April 2, 1993 (Happy birthday unborn Chris)
Venue: Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan
Attendance: ~16,500

WWWA World Singles Champion: Aja Kong
IWA World Women’s Champion: Manami Toyota
WWWA World Tag Team Champion: Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
All Pacific Women’s Champion: Akira Hokuto
AJW Champion: Debbie Malenko
AJW Junior Champion: Kumiko Maekawa
AJW Tag Team Champions: Bat Yoshinaga & Tomoko Watanabe
WWWA World Martial Arts Champion: Bat Yoshinaga
WWWA World Midget’s Champion: Little Frankie

Another AJW show, but this is the only other one that gets best major show of the year. Card looks stacked, a shit ton of tag team matches bc they were probably trying to get everyone in. They bring like the whole roster down to the ring start the show. I don’t speak Japanese so I’m gonna skip to the matches.

Hikari Fukuoka & Plum Mariko vs Kaoru Ito & Sakie Hasegawa
Really fun fast-paced back and forth action to start out with everyone getting a chance to show off early on. Plum and Hikari start some nice leg work on Kaoru but that doesn’t every go anywhere in these AJW matches. They make up for it by not really having any slow points in their matches and they switch up holds really quick so you can say they didn’t ever do lasting damage. Interference is much more liberal like in most Japanese matches so holds will also get broken up randomly and we never really get any hot tags. Sakie is really fun especially here, she does like 7 rolling butterfly suplexes at one point This really picks up around the 10 minute mark with everyone using their quickness and hitting the typical Japanese bigger moves like German Suplexes and such. Plum and Hikari are definitely better at working as a team and they start landing some nice double team moves, getting a lot of close near falls on Sakie who’s bleeding under her eye a little now. All four girls end up brawling outside of the ring for a bit, this match is really getting good. More near falls, this time for Kaoru on Hikari, then Hikari gets a couple on Kaoru everything just going back and forth really well. Kaoru is able to hit this brutal powerbomb on Plum, but can’t get the finish so Sakie comes in and tries to finish with a Uranage but Hikari breaks it up. Hikari ends up taking out Kaoru outside the ring and Plum wins with a super hurricanrana. GREAT way to open the show!

They’re still doing the thing where they interview the winners of the match backstage right after and they also show the loser going backstage and getting Sakie’s eye checked out, pretty solid cut on it. They then interview Terri Powers (Tori that later joins DX) and her partner. Terri says it’ll be hard wrestling with one arm but she has a great partner, so I guess she has some kind of arm injury. They’re opponents are from FMW have studded leather jackets and facepaint so they must be HARD AS FUCK

Eriko Tsuchiya & Yoshika Maedomari vs Sakechi Nobue & Terri Powers
Terri’s arm is wrapped up heavily but she starts anyway so of course they go right for it. Kinda typical power heel team vs speedy faces except Terri is also a power wrestler, she just isn’t very good at it plus her arm is injured. Sakechi bumps around alright for them and has some really fun offense for a couple minutes but she’s pretty sloppy. She tags back in Terri so they instantly lose the advantage bc she’s fuckin’ injured and Eriko and Yoshika go right for her arm. Eriko and Yoshika just throwing Sakechi around is the best part of the match, they get a couple near falls on her that Terri has to break up until Sakechi botches a comeback and they hit a diving Hart Attack double team move but that only gets two so Eriko kills her with a Powerbomb to win. MEH this is skippable.

Esther Moreno & KAORU vs Mima Shimoda & Tomoko Watanabe
Esther and KAORU came over from CMLL and Tomoko is also wearing a mask so we’ll see how lucha they try and make this one. All four start brawling as per usual in AJW and yeah the lucha work is really sloppy so far, but the crowd is pretty into it. This is still pretty solid for the most part, just sloppy at times throughout and some questionable teammate logic at times. The constant interfering during submissions is getting annoying but Mima and KAORU do have a nice brawl outside the ring and their partners join them. Turning this into a trainwreck was a good idea instead of doing more random lucha stuff. They almost fucked up bc it looked like KAORU didn’t interfere in time but Moreno managed to kick out at the last second still. Moreno has this AWESOME counter to a double suplex and then both luchadoras hit moonsaults to the floor, but then they have this ridiculoysly terrible ending exchange with KAORU rolling up Tomoko for the win but she was obviously under the ropes. Really hit and miss match, some parts were great others were really bad.

Time for our fourth tag team match in a row

Etsuko Mita & Suzuka Minami vs Miki Handa & Rumi Kazama
This one actually starts one-on-one and it’s pretty cool, more traditional wrestling instead of the super fast-paced stuff we’ve had so far, they’re working body parts more but they’re still not really being sold. This is really fun actually, everyone’s offense looks really good even though it feels like they’re still just taking turns doing stuff. The crowd is also super into this one, the crowd jumps up for every two count even early on like they think it could be over when there was no way. They brawl out into the crowd for a second, felt a bit forced but they get back in the ring and start picking up the pace with a lot of counters Miki and Etsuko work a Figure-4 spot complete with Etsuko rolling over the reverse the pressure and everything. Suzuka and Etsuko really start working over Miki who’s ACTUALLY SELLING HER LEG until she makes a pretty fun comeback and both teams trade SUPER close near falls. They all end up brawling out of the ring again, and the crowd is super hot now but I gotta say some of these look like they should be three counts, the ref just stops counting waiting for the interference. Miki and Rumi have a miscommunication that ends with Miki getting powerbombed by Etsuko and getting hit with stereo missile dropkicks but she still kicks out! We then get a fast-paced ending sequence with everyone getting involved, it’s sloppy but nothing like the last match. Rumi ends up getting the pin on Etsuko after a bridging high angle german suplex.

WWWA World Martial Arts Championship: Bat Yoshinaga (c) vs Susan Howard
Another kickboxing match on a wrestling show, but it’s still solid. Bat pushes the pace but Susan mixes in some kicks pretty well. Susan has some nice strikes, but she was against the ropes most of the round so gotta give that one to Bat. Second round is basically more of the same, probably easier to give this one to Bat. Bat owns the third round, Susan looks tired af. I don’t even know if she’s looking towards a finish but she does get a knockdown at one point. Fourth round is just brutal, Bat’s going for the finish for sure here and Susan doesn’t land anything of note. Round 5 starts and Susan’s corner really should have just thrown in the towel at this point, but she is being really aggressive here as she needs a finish. This was probably the most entertaining round, but no one is able to get a finish. Easy decision win for Bat to retain.

They interview both afterwards as usual and Susan said she didn’t think Bat hit that hard but she just couldn’t get the KO bc Bat has a very hard head she sounds salty af that she lost.

They bring out a lot of women to the ring, I think they might be honoring wrestlers or something, some of them are older but not all. They let a few of them talk, honestly no clue what’s going on here but it’s a good smoke/drink break and breaks up this pretty long show with basically an intermission so no complaints.

Chigusa Nagayo vs Devil Masami
This is pretty fun to start with, Devil is way more over and they go with some chain wrestling at the beginning. Devil just starts beating down Chigusa and the crowd is loving it. Chigusa tries to make a comeback but Devil just no-sells all her clotheslines until they clothesline each other Chigusa’s only real offense is these kicks that connect like half the time but look pretty sick when they do, but then she progresses to some submissions. Thankfully Devil gets back on offense soon bc her’s is so much better. They go back and forth for a bit until they end up outside and Devil hits this sick powerbomb on the outside. Back in the ring, Chigusa gets a few CLOSE near falls on German Suplexes but Devil comes back with THREE fucking powerbombs that only get two counts so she goes up top and hits a SUPER NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX She taunts before the cover for some reason but still gets the three count. This one could have done with less time, didn’t need 17 minutes at all, maybe 10-12.

They interview the last two wrestlers at the same time instead of winner first then loser

Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue
This shit RULES! Not even 2 minutes in Kyoko does a giant swing on Cutie for 40 FUCKING SECONDS and the crowd counted along for at least the first 30 Kyoko mostly uses her power to throw around Cutie and Mayumi like ragdolls, the other three use their speed and have some great fast-paced exchanges. There’s a lot of quick tags, no one stays in for too long and they’re hitting a lot of bigger moves early. I’m getting more used to the pacing of not really having any isolations or hot tags mostly bc this is like the 27th tag match of the night so maybe that’s why I’m enjoying this one so much more but this action is way more smooth compared to some of the sloppiness earlier. It breaks down about 10 minutes in or so and they brawl outside the ring and pair off with Kyoko/Cutie and Takako/Mayumi just killing each other. Cutie & Mayumi get a few REALLY close near falls on Kyoko after a superkick/Dragon Suplex combo and like 4 diving stomps in a row. Kyoko barely manages to kick out until she catches Mayumi going for a hurricanrana and KILLS HER WITH A POWERBOMB After a few more close near falls by both teams Mayumi gets caught with a springboard dropkick and sit-out powerbomb by Kyoko but Cutie MAKES THE SAVE BARELY FInally Kyoko & Takako hit this double team powerbomb/diving elbow combo for the win GREAT FUCKING MATCH

Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs Eagle Sawai & Harley Saito
Fuck yeah Aja and Bull on the same team This is great too, Aja and Bull use their power to take advantage early but Eagle is pretty strong as well so she has some fun power exchanges with them while Harley has to use her strikes and quickness. Eagle’s kicks are mostly fun except she keeps doing these super weak enzuguris that are trash. Bull brings in some fucking nunchucks and her and Harley have a fucking NINJA NUNCHUCK FIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH the ref isn’t calling disqualifications I guess, bc they keep hitting each other with these metal containers and Aja is just eating shots to the face This feels like one of those great Attitude Era or ECW clusterfuck brawls that have been attempted at repeating way too many times. We get suicide dives by both Aja and Bull and the crowd is going nuts They hit a Doomsday Device on Harley but she’s able to kick out as Eagle comes in to take out Aja. Harley and Eagle then have this great double team sequence on Bull, but can’t put her away and each team has a lot of fast tags with near falls including this AWESOME hot shot powerbomb by Aja. They try and finish Harley but Eagle makes the save until Aja takes her out allowing Bull to hit a somersault leg drop for the win

The winners get a mic after the match and I think show respect to the opponents from how everyone is reacting.

Dynamite Kansai vs Yumiko Hotta
This is cool at first, they do like a pseudo-MMA opening with kicks and stuff before moving onto regular wrestling, nice slow build with hard hitting strikes and painful looking moves. They go back to the striking and Yumiko has some nice kicks but her punches are lacking, thankfully it’s mostly kicks and she’s owning Dynamite at this. Dynamite comes back with kicks of her own and Yumiko looks knocked out so the ref starts counting to 10, I guess they’re doing that now? Dynamite goes at her with even more kicks, but they both keep giving the other a lot of time to recover for some reason smh. Finally some more wrestling as Dynamite hits a piledriver for two and starts working over Yumiko’s head/neck. Yumiko makes a comeback with more kicks to the face and gets a long two count after a Tiger Driver. Dynamite gets draped over the ropes at one point and Yumiko just murders her with kicks Dynamite kicks out of another Tiger Driver, but eats more kicks to the face so the ref check on her and start counting. She looks like she just woke up from a FAT nap when she starts getting up Dynamite still won’t stay down though as she kicks out from a powerbomb this time, but she ducks what I’m assuming is the 1000th kick thrown by Yumiko this match and hits a sit-out Crucifix Bomb for the win. Weird match, it was great at times but I got so tired of all the kicks mostly.

Dynamite shows respect to Yumiko after the match as well.

Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori
Akira starts the match with an elbow that KNOCKS SHINOBU THE FUCK OUT She gets on the mic and I assume talks shit before Shinobu comes at her with some sick lariats and goes for the arm early. Akira sells like her arm is super hurt and rolls out of the ring to get checked on, a lot of stalling as early with Akira playing to the crowd before having this awesome brawl back inside the ring, these girls are fucking killing each other with these strikes. Shinobu keeps working the arm and Akira is actually selling it They end up outside the ring and Shinobu HITS A TOMBSTONE ON A REAL ASS TABLE AND PUTS A HOLE IN IT WITH AKIRA’S HEAD Akira’s face is covered in blood holy shit. After like 10 seconds in the ring they go back outside into the crowd and Shinobu is bleeding now too but not even close to as much as Akira, shit is all in her hair she looks like 80s Naitch. They finally go back in the ring and Akira is in full control now targeting mostly the head/face. Shinobu fights back and I thought she was gonna go for a suplex but instead she just throws Akira out of the ring Shinobu starts going for the arm again, trying to lock on a Fujiwara Armbar, but Akira is able to scramble out, she looks desperate af though. These two are going all out for this match, I bet they’ve both got concussions already and FUCK Akira face is still COVERED! They each start to get some near falls after bigger moves now, I feel like there was barely any pin attempts like the entire first 15 minutes lol. Shinobu locks on a rear naked choke really late into the match and the crowd is hot af and there’s just fuckin’ blood everywhere. Akira fights back and either the blood loss or the concussions almost make her botch a dive but somehow she corrects herself and hits this sweet springboard senton outside the ring. Back in the ring, Akira signals for the win, but Shinobu goes right back to the arm and Akira’s desperation scramble trying to get out of the armbar is AMAZING Shinobu says fuck this bc she can’t lock it on and hits a Tiger Driver instead for two. Akira has a desperation counter with this sick back suplex for two and the crowd starts cheering for her like crazy as she hits the Exploder Driver but that also only gets two She tries for another but Shinobu reverses into her own for two WOW! They each trade some brutal elbows until finally Akira hits one and crawls onto Shinobu for the pin

Akira gets the mic and cuts a promo sitting in the ring as they’re trying to wipe all the blood off of her smh gonna need more than just two towels.

Combat Toyoda & Megumi Kudo vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
A lot of these girls really like the one-legged Zack Ryder tights. It’s gonna be hard to top that last match but this one starts out really fun as well. Combat takes control early using her power as Manami tries to fight back with her speed. Manami/Megumi is kinda sloppy, nothing that isn’t recovered but a bit did look awkward. Toshiyo is wearing this god awful flame ring attire, but she looks pretty good her, going at Megumi with strikes and submission holds. Combat and Megumi are in control most of the early moments, mostly due to Combat’s power. They isolate Manami for awhile and her selling is top notch, especially in submissions bc they’ll bend her body up like a pretzel. Manami finally make a comeback after forever and all four start brawling out of the ring. Toshiyo just gets her ass beat so Manami comes back in to take control after like 2 minutes of rest. They end up just isolating Manami again but hit some really cool double team moves for a two counts. They hit like 3 different assisted piledrivers, it feels like they’re filling time to stretch this match longer than it needs to be. This picks back up when Manami makes a comeback and tags in Toshiyo. Both teams start hitting the end-game bigger moves now, making quick tags and breaking up pins a lot. They all do dives out of the ring, even Combat, and Manami finishes the sequence with an awesome springboard moonsault. Back in the ring, Combat nails Manami with a huge Doomsday Device and they try and put her away with a few different double team moves, but Manami keeps kicking out. She’s finally able to tag in Toshiyo who botches a kick but then her and Manami hit stereo german suplexes and go for the finish on Megumi, but Combat is there to break it up. They keep it up with some more near falls, realy fun sequence until Manami ends up hitting the Japanese Ocean Bomb after a few miscommunications between Megumi and Combat for the win. Solid for the most part, doesn’t compare to the match before it though and probably got 10 minutes or so more time than was needed.

 

[Deezy]

Megumi Kudo is still the greatest women's wrestler of all time.

 

[Chris]

Event: Fall Brawl 1993: WarGames - One Will Rise, One Will Fall
Date: September 19, 1993
Venue: Astro Arena in Houston, Texas
Attendance: ~6,000
Commentators: Jesse Ventura & Tony Schiavone

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Big Van Vader
WCW International World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Dustin Rhodes
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Arn Anderson & Paul Roma
WCW World Television Champion: Ricky Steamboat

I had to get drunk before I started this show instead of just drinking during it like usual after how bad these WCW shows have been so far so we’ll see how this goes. WCW has INVADED Houston and there’s three title matches plus a WarGames match. Schiavone has taken over for JR as the voice of WCW At least Ventura is still here. They send to to Eric Bischoff who just sends it over to the ring announcer MICHAEL BUFFER Two rings again tonight for WarGames later.

WCW World Television Championship: Ricky Steamboat (c) vs Lord Steven Regal (w/ Sir William)
Steamboat has taped ribs bc Regal attacked him with an umbrella on Saturday Night last night, so Steamboat goes at Regal with some heat but Regal just goes right for the ribs. This is more of a brawl instead of technical stuff which these two are way better at, but it’s fine early on. It makes sense with how the feud has been but I’m actually really disappointed there’s no mat work or anything, but vicious brawling Steamboat is more fun than I thought. Quick note Schiavone is FUCKING TERRIBLE on commentary like I’ve always hated him but he’s really bad here, Ventura is still fine. Steambot does slow it down and works over Regal on the mat but they don’t do any back and forth or anything A couple guys try and fail to start a “Steamboat sucks” chant. IDK if Steamboat is selling it really well or if his ribs are actually hurt bc he sells them after literally everything he does. They do some decent mat work finally with Steamboat still working the arm. Regal comes back and works over the ribs, it’s alright just everything’s going pretty slow like they’re stretching this match a little too long. Regal tries to do a surfboard stretch but it doesn’t work right it still looks painful though, he tries again and it works a little better but it’s still not a great surfboard. This is just dragging along, like everything is alright bc they’re great wrestlers but they’re just sluggishly going about everything. The crowd pops huge for a Tombstone spot but Steamboat hits the weakest Tombstone ever but he sells the ribs so you can say that’s why. The finish finally comes when Steamboat goes to skin the cat but SIR WILLIAM MURDERS HIM IN THE FACE WITH AN UMBRELLA and Regal hits a bridging German Suplex to win the TV title. That was fine, I expected better though and it lasted too long, finish was fun at least.

We go to Eric Bischoff interviewing The Nasty Boys. Jerry Sags says they have a big secret for the Four Horsemen tonight during their match later. Brian Knobbs says they’re gonna finish with a bulldog off the top rope later to win the tag titles.

Gary Michael Capetta is doing the ring announcing now, maybe Michael Buffer only does title matches and main events or something.

Big Sky vs Charlie Norris
WHY THE FUCK IS THIS ON PPV!? Big Sky is the dude that plays Sabretooth in the first X-Men movie. Charlie Norris is a Native American guy, doesn’t look like he’s anyone you’d know. They’re being very experimental with the camera angles tonight, most of them are okay though, it’s like they’re just now discovering closeups. Crowd starts a “We Want Flair” chants c’mon guys he’s back he’s just in a later match tonight. Nothing happens for 4 minutes until Norris hits Bicycle Kick for the win. Waste of time.

They go to Scott Dunlap who’s interviewing Davey-Boy Smith, he says his opponents in WarGames tonight are all good but his team is better, he puts over The Shockmaster being their partner

2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Bagwell vs The Equalizer & Paul Orndorff
The Equalizer is Dave Sullivan UGH! Bagwell and Scorpio dancing before the match is so bad and Ventura says “white men can’t dance” about Bagwell This is ass, Scorpio looks coked out and he’s alright just a little sloppy, Bagwell has never been a good wrestler and he’s not any better early on, Equalizer is absolutely ass and Orndorff is alright. Scorpio and Bagwell work well as a team at least and the crowd really likes them so that helps some. Scorpio/Orndorff have a couple nice exchanges, just doesn’t last long enough. Equalizer pulls the top rope down so Bagwell goes over and the crowd tries to snitch on him, but the ref didn’t see anything. They isolate Bagwell for what feels like forever until Scorpio gets a hot tag and all four men end up in the ring, but that goes nowhere. Orndorff accidentally hits Equalizer with a knee and Scorpio is able to get a nice 450 Splash in and neither announcer knows what to call it

Orndorff and Equalizer instantly attack them after the match and they leave Scorpio and Bagwell laying in the ring.

We go to Bischoff with new TV champion Lord Steven Regal and Sir William and they say they’re going to get congratulated by the Queen tomorrow and Regal says if you can’t trust him then who can you trust.

Ice Train vs Shanghai Pierce (w/ Tex Slazenger)
Pierce is a redneck (Henry Godwinn) but has a mask on for some reason. All these racist fans are cheering for him against Ice Train bc Train is black This only gets 3 minutes thankfully but it’s fucking terrible. Train gets distracted by Slazenger (Mideon) who literally did nothing but Train makes a comeback and hits a powerslam for the win after Slazenger tries to get involved with a bullrope.

Halloween Havoc Sunday October 24th!

The Nasty Boys’ big surprise is that Missy Hyatt is their new manager she’s wearing this ugly ass leopard jumpsuit. Ventura makes a lot of jokes about her tits. Michael Buffer does the ring introductions.

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson & Paul Roma) (c) vs The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags)
God I can’t believe Roma was ever a Horseman. Some fan threw a $1 bill at Missy and start a “crackwhore” chant This is boring af though, they barely do anything for the first few minutes with Roma, then thankfully Anderson comes in and has an okay brawl with Sags for a bit. The Horsemen work Sags’s knee, it’s super boring when Roma tries to do it though. Knobbs gets the tag and literally has no offense until they start working over his knee too. Roma even gets chants from the crowd LOL! The Nasties finally get some offense in and isolate Roma with just some basic holds. Anderson finally gets the tag and man if he would have had more ring time this match would have been a lot better. Missy distracts referee Randy Anderson so Knobbs clotheslines Anderson over the top rope without getting DQ’d. The ref gets distracted again this time by Roma allowing Sags to nail Anderson with Ventura’s chair, and this drags along a little while longer until Anderson gets a tag to Roma, but the ref didn’t see it. Crowd starts a “show your tits” chant to Missy. Anderson finally makes a tag to Roma after being isolated for like 8 minutes straight. Roma has a pretty fun hot tag until the numbers game catches up and the Nasties go for their top-rope bulldog, but Anderson breaks it up. The Horsemen hit a Spinebuster/Diving Splash combination, but the ref is too distracted by Anderson getting out of the ring so Sags hits Roma with an elbow drop to the back of the head allowing Knobbs to pin him for the win. NEW TAG CHAMPS after 24 fucking minutes

Ventura interviews the new champs and Missy at ringside right after and Missy says she told Flair she’d get the Horsemen back and she did. Nasties didn’t win with the move they said they would but they’re acting like they did

A video package of the current Cactus Jack angle airs showing Vader powerbombing him on the concrete and losing his precious bag. WCW then sends some girl to find Jack and finds he’s homeless and suffering from amnesia Jack doesn’t even recognize his wife and kids. Race then starts taunting him with his bag on TV and finally Jack returns and attacks Vader. Race then puts a price on Jack’s head and employ Yoshi Kwan to collect it. Jack reveals that he didn’t really lose his memory and everything was a ruse, even his wife and kid and it was just to get to Race and Vader LOL what a shit storyline. This is basically a Jack/Vader video package but that match won’t happen until next PPV and we’re getting filler instead for this one. Jack has a great promo at least.

Bounty Match: Cactus Jack vs Yoshi Kwan (w/ Harley Race)
The crowd is super hot for Jack’s first match in a few months and this is really just a squash. Jack hits a nice Cactus Clothesline early on and it’s so obvious Kwan’s eyebrows are painted on to make this white guy look Asian Kwan does some ninja-ish offense, but Jack catches him and Kwan’s selling is hilarious Race gets involved, but Kwana accidentally hits him and Jack wins with a Double Arm DDT in like 3 minutes or so.

Jack takes out Race with a suplex into the ring and gets his bag back and he says Vader is next at Halloween Havoc.

They show Rude forcing a kiss on Flair’s maid Fifi on A Flair for the Gold and then her slapping him, so Rude attacks Flair with the Big Gold Belt.

Buffer does the introductions and we get a “LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!” Rude takes the mic before the match starts and says that tonight when he leaves he’s gonna have Flair’s reputation, title belt, and his woman and then reveals Fifi’s face on his tights.

WCW International World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) (w/ Fifi) vs Rick Rude
This starts out pretty fun, Flair locks on the Figure-4 super early but Rude gets to the ropes quickly. Rude gets caught taunting at Fifi bc he only thinks with his dick and Flair is super on his face game which is just him doing the same things only getting cheered instead so the match gets flipped a bit with him in control early. Ventura has some super sexist commentary and the woman audio coordinator cuts his audio so you can hear him yelling about it from Schiavone’s mic The action in the ring isn’t really anything to talk about, so that’s probably why they’re doing this nonsense and Schiavone is acting like Ventura’s mic being cut off for 2 minutes was so crazy of a thing. Flair stops working the leg and goes to the arm for some reason, it’s okay stuff though. Rude yells “OH SHIT!” while Flair is working the arm at one point. This keeps going for awhile, Rude tries to make comebacks but sells his arm so Flair goes right back to it, the crowd is kinda quiet. now bc it’s not like they’re going to cheer Rude back into it and Flair is just owning him. Flair just takes them both out with a crossbody over the top rope but outside the ring but Rude catches him with a clothesline as Schiavone and Ventura make a joke about Fifi trying to “get Flair up.” Rude’s in control now and it’s still pretty slow paced with mostly rest holds and taunting, nothing bad though. Flair starts to make a comeback and it looks fun but they show Fifi’s reaction instead of what happens but Rude ends up slamming him onto the top rope to stuff it anyway. Rude’s offense is really lacking tbh, if Flair wasn’t selling so well this would be pretty boring and it’s starting to get there anyway. Rude talks more shit to Fifi and then gets caught coming off the top rope 3 times in a row and the crowd is all in on Flair. They go back and forth but still with a pretty slow pace. Rude goes for the Rude Awakening, but Flair bites his fingers to get out of it and hits his own Rude Awakening and Rude gets his foot on the ropes at two Flair then starts going for the leg. He asks the ref what the time is so when the ref turns to ask he knees Rude in the nuts Flair slams Rude into the rail outside the ring then a diving axe handle to the floor and the crowd is hot af now. Flair almost completes his corner spot, but Rude catches him and hits a diving knee drop for a super close two count. Rude taunts at Fifi again so she slaps him so then he force kisses her again and brings her into the ring. Flair comes in from behind and locks in the Figure-4, but the ref gets distracted by Fifi for no reason so Rude hits Flair with brass knuckles from his trunks to win. Definitely best match of the night, but it didn’t need 30 minutes and the ending was meh.

They don’t even have Michael Buffer announce the main event smh I guess he really just does title matches. Gary Michael Capetta takes forever explaining the rules, but they’re the same as usual. Some fireworks go off the top of the cage and I’m pretty sure one shot right into the crowd Also just for reference Kane is Stevie Ray and Kole is Booker T. Animal is the team advisor for the faces for some reason lol and Shockmaster just has a hardhat on and jeans

WarGames Match: Dustin Rhodes, The Shockmaster, & The Super Powers (Davey-Boy Smith & Sting) (w/ Animal) vs Harlem Heat (Kane & Kole) & The Masters of the Powerbomb (Sid Vicious & Vader) (w/ Col. Robert Parker & Harley Race)
Animal says Shockmaster should start, but Rhodes runs in like Pillman did a few years ago even though he’s hurt so he’s gonna start with Vader. Rhodes starts beating down Vader with his boot but Vader takes advantage of Rhodes’s injured ribs. Vader just beats down Rhodes for most of the first five minutes and Vader already takes his mask off Rhodes is able to make a comeback before the coin toss, but the heels win it like always so Kane comes in and Rhodes holds his own for a bit before Vader comes back at him. They just beatdown Rhodes for the two minutes and bust him open before Sting comes in to a nice pop and takes out both heels. Vicious is in next for the heels and the faces have no chance so it’s just more of a beatdown for two minutes, and the brawling just isn’t all there. The crowd pops huge everytime the faces do anything, it’s just a lot of nothing for the most part. Vicious’s strikes are terrible, he keeps missing. Smith is in next and he gets some moves in, taking out Vicious and Vader so the faces finally have some control for a period. There’s a lot of no-selling going on randomly too, this just doesn’t have the heat that a lot of WarGames matches have. Kole is in last for the heels and Ventura starts making jokes about Shockmaster tripping and falling trying to get in the match He doesn’t unfortunately though, but he does come in last for the faces THE MATCH BEYOND HAS BEGUN! Shockmaster takes out everyone and pretty quickly locks in a bearhug on Kole and holds him for awhile until Cole gives up smh c’mon Booker what a shitty finish.

Vader and Vicious yell at them to come back and Kole is saying he never gave up and yells “Im gonna kill somebody” The heels taunt the crowd a few more minutes as the announcers run down this shitty PPV and plug Halloween Havoc where there’s Spin the Wheel Make the Deal with Cactus Jack and Vader.

 

[Deezy]

Charlie Norris was a fake injun

 

[Chris]

Event: Super J-Cup: First Stage
Date: April 16, 1994
Venue: Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: ~11,500
Commentators: Masa Saito, Soichi Shibata, Yoshinari Tsuji, & Yuichi Tabata

IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Tatsumi Fujinami
IWGP Tag Team Champions: The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior & Power Warrior)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion: Jushin Thunder Liger

They bring out all the tournament participants out at the beginning and I assume explain that it’s just a standard single elimination tournament for junior heavyweights. The winner gets the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. The participants come from various companies and consist of Dean Malenko, Gedo, Super Delfin, Shinjiro Otani, Black Tiger II (Eddie motherfuckin’ Guerrero ), TAKA Michinoku, El Samurai, Masayoshi Motegi, Ricky Fuji, Negro Casas, Jushin Thunder Liger, Hayabusa, and then there’s Wild Pegasus (Chris fuckin’ Benoit ) and The Great Sasuke who receive first round byes which kinda blows bc that’s one less match for each of them The participants are from Wrestle Association R, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, Social Progress Wrestling Federation, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Michinoku Pro Wrestling, and the host company, New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Super J-Cup Tournament 1st Round: Dean Malenko (NJPW) vs Gedo (WAR)
Gedo’s hair and ring attire look atrocious This is really good, Gedo is wrestling as the heel and works the crowd really well and Malenko is amazing with his mat work. They have some really fun technical exchanges that Malenko carries Gedo through bc he’s amazing and Gedo has always just been alright. Malenko’s been in control most of the match and he’s getting near falls off some bigger moves now, really solid stuff. Gedo has a fun little comeback until he misses a diving headbutt and Malenko KILLS him with a lariat Malenko keeps getting near falls, but Gedo catches him out of nowhere with a snap powerslam for the win. Great opener, wish Malenko would have won though.

Super J-Cup Tournament 1st Round: Shinjiro Otani (NJPW) vs Super Delfin (MPW)
Otani attacks Delfin from behind to start lol I like how the heels in the first two matches have been Japanese and the faces foreign. This is great, these exchanges are even better than Malenko/Gedo, they’re killing each other with strikes. Otani is in control for most of this working the leg really well until Delfin makes a comeback and starts working the head/neck with some sick suplexes. They go back and forth, Otani hits a dive to the outside then a springboard dropkick but can only get a two count. Otani goes back to the leg but Delfin is able to make a comeback and hits the Delfin DDT and pinning with the Delfin Clutch for the win.

Super J-Cup Tournament 1st Round: Black Tiger II (NJPW) vs TAKA Michinoku (MPW)
This is great too Michinoku tries to use his speed early but Black Tiger takes control with his power and Michinoku bumps around like fucking crazy. Michinoku starts to make a comeback and these exchanges are so awesome They’re so quick and smooth, Michinoku is jumping off the ropes like it’s nothing and Eddi- I mean Black Tiger is selling his ass off as well. Michinoku tries tome bigger moves to finish but Black Tiger ends up hitting this SICK FUCKING POWERBOMB as a hurricanrana reversal He goes up top and hits a regular splash which only gets two bc it wasn’t froggy enough and Michinoku keeps trying to get the finish with a powerbomb/moonsault combo but neither guy will stay down. Black Tiger signals for and hits a brutal Tornado DDT for the win. I really wouldn’t have known that was Eddie if I didn’t know beforehand tbh.

Super J-Cup Tournament 1st Round: El Samurai (NJPW) vs Masayoshi Motegi (SPWF)
Motegi botches a dive to the outside like a minute into the match They slow it down and do some technical work after that so it’s pretty good still. They’re kinda just hitting big moves like they’re meaningless, like Samurai gets a two count off a piledriver early on and it didn’t feel like anything. Most of the exchanges are still really good though, this just feels like more of a regular match compared to how great the first few have been so far, which is a shame bc they’re still going all out. Motegi does lock on this AWESOME rolling surfboard stretch at one point and then turns int into a dragon sleeper before Samurai gets the ropes They have a really good back and forth exchange towards the end where Samurai hits the Samurai Bomb for the win.

They play a post-match interview for Motegi which they haven’t done for anyone else so far.

Super J-Cup Tournament 1st Round: Negro Casas (CMLL) vs Ricky Fuji (FMW)
Fuji comes out wearing a Canadian jacket even though he’s obviously Japanese, I fucks with it. Negro Casas is not black lol. Pretty good match still, just doesn’t have a lot that stands out so same problem as the last one, on a show this good it’s definitely not memorable. Solid back and forth stuff throughout, mostly on the mat but they have a couple dive spots as well. Fuji ends up winning with a Piledriver and his country sounding theme song plays again

Super J-Cup Tournament 1st Round: Hayabusa (FMW) vs Jushin Thunder Liger (NJPW)
Bruh to say Liger is over would be such an understatement, he’s OVER AS FUCK! Hayabusa attacks him during his entrance and hits a dive to the outside early and takes control for the first few minutes. Liger makes a comeback and locks on a Figure-4 super early on bc nothing is sacred anymore. This is slower the the last few matches and last a few minutes longer and it’s pretty fun, a nice change of pace from all the other matches. They take turns working each other over for a few minutes each until Hayabusa misses a Stardust Press and then Liger catches him with a powerbomb coming off the top rope and finishes with a Fisherman Buster for the win. Great stuff.

Liger checks on Hayabusa after the match bc he’s a nerd.

Super J-Cup Tournament Quarter-final: Gedo (WAR) vs Super Delfin (MPW)
Pretty good back and forth stuff early until the ref lets Delfin get away with a blatant low blow Gedo keeps trying to make a comeback but it’s always stuffed after only a couple moves or so. He repeats the powerslam spot that won him the first match but only gets a two count with it and then Delfin goes back on offense. Delfin also repeats the spots that won him his first match with the Delfin DDT, but Gedo reverses the Delfin Clutch into his own pin for the win

Super J-Cup Tournament Quarter-final: Black Tiger II (NJPW) vs Wild Pegasus (NJPW)
Benoit/Eddie in ‘94 : Pegasus comes in and flicks his sweat at Tiger so Tiger flips him off This is really good, way different than stuff they’d do in the future since they’re wrestling more of a junior heavyweight match but it’s still fun af, everything is so fluid and flows really well. Pegasus starts a comeback after this awesome counter into a reverse suplex and his offense is really fun, you see hints of what Vince can’t wait to call RUTHLESS AGGRESSION. Pegasus kills Tiger with some suplex variations and makes the ref ASK HIM during a head scissors Tiger has this cool comeback but misses a missile dropkick but then they have this awesome back and forth where Tiger hits this beautiful rope hurricanrana and gets a couple close near falls. Tiger hits a brainbuster and signals for the Tornado DDT, but Pegasus counters and after a short back and forth catches Tiger coming off the top with an arm drag into a pin for the victory GREAT SHIT!

Super J-Cup Tournament Quarter-final: El Samurai (NJPW) vs The Great Sasuke (MPW)
This is pretty good, they start off slow with some mat wrestling and Samurai focuses on the leg for a while at the beginning with Sasuke selling pretty well so far. Samurai continues the beatdown, hitting bigger moves as the crowd tries to get Sasuke back into it and he makes a comeback hitting this awesome springboard back elbow and then a Sasuke Special This really picks up now with Sasuke on offense, really solid exchanges with Samurai also hitting some dives and sick looking strikes. Samurai gets back in control and hits a diving headbutt and goes for possibly a Samurai Bomb but Sasuke reverses into a hurricanrana and then they have this AWESOME corner spot that ends with Sasuke nailing a sunset flip bomb for a two, but FUCK ALL THAT bc just the next exchange Samurai hits the Samurai Bomb but SASUKE KICKS OUT Samurai goes for the finish again with a hurricanrana but Sasuke rolls through and gets the win WHAT A MATCH

Super J-Cup Tournament Quarter-final: Jushin Thunder Liger (NJPW) vs Ricky Fuji (FMW)
This feels super underwhelming compared to that last match but everything is still solid. They have a brawl outside the ring where Fuji barely manages to save a powerbomb so he doesn’t break Liger’s neck. Liger doesn’t really make a comeback but he ends up in control still until Fuji counters a superplex and ends up on top for a cover. Fuji has some solid offense this time, better than at the beginning but he goes for another superplex and Liger kicks him of and hits a diving hurricanrana that was a little sloppy but still pretty cool for the win.

Super J-Cup Tournament Semi-final: Gedo (WAR) vs Wild Pegasus (NJPW)
This could have been Benoit/Malenko if it wasn’t for Gedo’s bitchass This is still fun though, Pegasus is on offense early and it’s still great, lots of brawling mixed in with technical stuff, obviously not as great as he becomes later but still really good. Gedo’s offense isn’t bad by any means, it’s just a good bit more boring, he does a lot of throat thrusts and wear down holds. This starts picking up with Gedo hitting a moonsault to the outside and hitting some bigger moves in the ring with Pegasus bumping around really well. They have a fun exchange with a few counters with Pegasus hitting a powerbomb and then the DYNAMITE KID DIVING HEADBUTT FOR THE WIN WILD PEGASUS TO THE FINALS!

Super J-Cup Tournament Semi-final: The Great Sasuke (MPW) vs Jushin Thunder Liger (NJPW)
Really great technical exchange at the beginning, they stay really grounded at first and this shit is tight. Liger starts killing Sasuke with these shots to the face and the ref checks him after each one to make sure he’s not knocked out so Liger keeps at it and hits a Tombstone and a chokehold but he still can’t finish Sasuke. Liger then focuses on the arm which I’m sure won’t go anywhere but it is definitely fun to watch while it lasts. Liger goes for missile dropkick but Sasuke dropkicks him as well so they both just ruin each others dropkick lol but then Sasuke hits this AWESOME springboard moonsault to the outside and that’s the first high-flying all match so it’s just getting started They do a spot on the apron for a bit but Sasuke just ends up hitting this BEAUTIFUL Senton Atomico to the outside Sasuke is really going all out now trying to put Liger away with bigger moves like a piledriver and basically a Samurai Bomb for a close two count. He goes for another Senton Atomico but Liger dodges it and hits a Liger Bomb for two and the crowd is going absolutely crazy now Another super close two count comes where Liger hits a Hurricanrana but Sasuke rolls through like he won his last match and Liger barely kicks out DAT CALLBACK THO! Liger then LAUNCHES Sasuke with a German Suplex for another, I’m barely even able to keep up with all these near falls but Liger gets another off a Fisherman Buster so he just says fuck pinning him and suplexes Sasuke to the outside Liger almost gets caught taunting bc he didn’t realize Sasuke stayed on the apron but Sasuke fucking slips off the top rope and falls flat on his face So Liger just points and claps at him BRUH You can tell that was meant to be the finish bc Sasuke catches him with a snap hurricanrana for the win right after lol Absolutely amazing match, shame that botch happened at the end but it really didn’t hurt too much, probably still the best match of the night. SASUKE/BENOIT IN THE FINALS

Super J-Cup Tournament Final: The Great Sasuke (MPW) vs Wild Pegasus (NJPW)
They have all the previous competitors at ringside for the finals Really good counter technical wrestling sequence to start with Sasuke using his agility to keep Pegasus from doing too much damage. They pick up the pace and Sasuke does some cool flip stuff but Pegasus says FUCK THAT and KILLS HIM WITH A LARIAT Pegasus’s offense is so great, just stiff brawling and the suplexes we’re all used to from Benoit for the most part, but Sasuke is bumping around great and Pegasus sells well when Sasuke is on offense as well. Pegasus tries to keep the match slow and succeeds for the first half or so until the crowd starts chanting for Sasuke to get him back into it but Pegasus still manages to keep control with this sick Dragon Suplex. He hits a diving headbutt that won him his last match but Sasuke ain’t a scrub like Gedo so he kicks out. Pegasus locks on the Sharpshooter at one point but it doesn’t really go anywhere other than him focusing on the back for a few more moves after. Sasuke finally makes a comeback and they have another great counter exchange that sees Pegasus get a long two on a German It only takes Sasuke having a small opening to the outside before he hits a Sasuke Special (I think 2 according to Wiki) to the outside the crowd goes nuts Sasuke ends up missing a missile dropkick though but he’s able to hit a suplex from the apron to the outside Pegasus tries to stay outside to catch his breath but Sasuke hits a missile dropkick to the outside onto the fucking concrete He may have actually hurt his leg doing that though, or he’s just selling it more than anyone’s sold anything all night. I don’t speak Japanese but I’m pretty sure just judging by Liger’s hand motions he was telling Sasuke to GET THE FUCK BACK IN THE RING and both guys end up making their way in the ring at the same time to a huge pop from the crowd. Sasuke tries to finish with some dives, but gets caught taunting so Pegasus goes up top and hits a GUTWRENCH SUPERPLEX FOR THE WIN! I LOVED THIS HOLY SHIT!

I felt like too many matches had the guy that took control first end up being the loser overall on the show, but they did the opposite in the final so that was cool, also got more time than all the other matches and was match of the night too. Really great one night tournament They present Pegasus with some trophies and the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship after since that’s not part of the J-Crown yet or recognized by the actual WWF. The Great Sasuke, Liger, and Black Tiger also get pretty big trophies and then they give Gedo a tiny ass one All the participants get together for a group photo in the ring bc this is some fuckin’ wholesome shit BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE they then lift Benoit up and start throwing him up and down to celebrate and he doesn’t look amused at all

 

[Chris]

Event: Blackjack Brawl
Date: September 23, 1994
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: ~600
Commentators: Carlo Gianelli & John Tolos

UWF World Heavyweight Champion: Steve Williams
UWF Southern States Champion: Bob Orton, Jr.
UWF World Tag Team Champions: Vacant
UWF MGM Grand Champion: Vacant
UWF Junior Heavyweight Champion: Vacant
UWF SportsChannel Television Champion: Vacant
UWF Americas Champion: Vacant
UWF Women’s World Champion: Vacant
UWF Midget World Champion: Vacant

This is the Herb Abrams UWF’s only PPV and also they’re last show ever. The only two titles that aren’t vacant that I listed were awarded earlier in the day and the reason why is gonna be really obvious when I get to those matches LOL This ring announcer is trash, he’s trying to hype up the crowd by talking during wrestlers entrances it’s fucking terrible.

UWF Americas Championship: Dan Spivey vs Johnny Ace (w/ Missy Hyatt)
This is alright, Ace almost botches a dive early on but then he kicks Spivey out of the ring and he falls onto a table and knocks over some coffee and he’s pissed bc he didn’t know it was there They work a pretty basic match for the rest and it’s not that bad but the announcers are acting like it’s the best wrestling they’ve ever seen. Spivey’s offense is in slow motion ugh Ace was trying at least. Spivey just does more random stuff with Ace kicking out after everything and he keeps locking on an abdominal stretch like 3 times until Missy throws in the towel for Ace

Missy cheers for Spivey and the announcers freak out about the double cross. Herb Abrams goes to give Spivey the belt but Spivey grabs him for some reason so Abrams says he doesn’t deserve the belt and meanwhile Ace says “I just wanna know what’s going on” Ace says he wants a rematch as Spivey leaves with the belt and Hyatt. The dumbass ring announcer then says “how about that Johnny Ace.”

The next match is for the new UWF Junior Heavyweight Championship and Mando Guerrero comes out to “Taco Grande” by Weird Al Some random bald dude in a tux is with Armstrong but they never explain who he is.

UWF Junior Heavyweight Championship: Jack Armstrong (w/ ???) vs Mando Guerrero
These announcer’s make so many questionable remarks about Mexicans and don’t even pronounce Guerrero right Armstrong takes forever fucking with the crowd while Guerrero is just chilling on the turnbuckle. Both these guys are bald on top of their head but have long hair This also feels like it’s in slow motion even though it’s supposed to be a fast-paced junior match. The bald guy tries to get involved but Guerrero punches him and he sells it like 2 seconds too late. Guerrero is able to hit a springboard moonsault and the announcers say they’ve never seen anything like that BRUH I just saw like 25 on the last show I watched Armstrong is barely bleeding now and after some shitty offense by Guerrero he misses a “reverse somersault” as the announcers call the moonsault and Armstrong wins after two regular ass elbow drops

Abrams talks shit to Armstrong too and gives him the belt, ugh gonna have to deal with this after almost every match.

Dr. Feelgood (w/ Missy Hyatt) vs Sunny Beach
MIssy is wearing a doctor’s outfit still looking like a crackwhore. This match blows, this is some shit that doesn’t even belong on WCW Saturday Night. Missy gets involved and Feelgood has some really shitty offense, thankfully Beach takes over again and he’s still bad but not near as bad as Feelgood. These announcers don’t even know what a DDT is I’m pretty sure. Feelgood goes outside and opens his medical box and pours some black liquid onto a rag but Beach shoves it in his face instead and wins the match for what the announcers call another upset.

Missy slaps Beach and he goes after her but Feelgood attempts to kill him with whatever is on that rag. Missy tells Abrams that she wants another belt and the Blackjack with him tells Feelgood and Missy to get the hell out of town.

UWF Southern States Championship: Bob Orton, Jr. (c) vs Finland Hellraiser Thor
Thor is Ludvig Borga and the announcers don’t know who the Norse God Thor is FUCK THIS SHIT! More slow motion wrestling in this since Thor is green as fuck and Orton has no business wrestling into his 40s. Thor just uses his power for most of the match and Orton barely does anything. This is so boring the announcers start discussing Thor’s tattoos instead. Orton makes a comeback using solely right hands and goes for a piledriver, but Thor flips him over the top rope. Orton drags him out of the ring and hits him with the belt and shit and they both trade shots so the ref disqualifies them both.

They keep brawling outside the ring and Orton has a sick cut under his eye. Orton retains the belt he was awarded earlier in the day but they don’t really acknowledge that. Orton says that the American people are losing their heart everyday but if you’ve got it then it doesn’t matter how big you are.

UWF Midget World Championship: The Karate Kid vs Little Tokyo
This gets more time than any other match so far Little Tokyo is in his 50s now and Karate Kid looks young but doesn’t have a wiki so IDK. This isn’t completely terrible, maybe better than anything else so far but it’s still ass. They do a criss-cross spot but Kid hides behind the ref so Tokyo just runs the ropes by himself for a bit and Kid calls him a “silly Jap” Kid has some decent technical stuff and Tokyo sells pretty well and one announcer keeps calling Tokyo “Tokyo Joe” for some reason. Kid gets a few two counts so they basically pause the match so Tokyo can talk shit to the ref about counting fast, he demonstrates a normal count Tokyo starts fighting dirty even though Kid has been playing the heel kinda. Kid locks on a full nelson and Tokyo tries to walk up the ropes to get out of it but Kid just releases the hold so he falls on his back/neck GENIUS Kid hits a few nice hurricanranas but Tokyo reverses one and then catches him with a double throat thrust for the win. BRUH every match so far has had a weak ass finish, but this one was actually alright unless my standards are just getting that low.

Abrams says for the first time ever there’s a women’s champion and him and Tokyo bond over sake bc Abrams use to be married to a Japanese girl

The Irish Assassin vs Sampson
This is billed as a “revenge match” but IDK why bc it’s not explained, but they say Sampson is replacing Hercules so how is there any revenge to be had? This is straight trash, they just do slow clubbing blows before some powerslams and shit but they are legitimately moving the ring it looks like so you know that shit isn’t held down well Sampson wins with a bridging regular suplex, bruh I can’t say that I’ve ever seen one of those, but this shit shouldn’t have even got 4 minutes.

UWF MGM Grand Championship: Steve Ray vs Tyler Mane
When I was looking at the card I thought it was Stevie Ray as in Booker’s partner but it’s some Michael Hayes lite looking motherfucker. At least he comes out to “Wild Thing.” Tyler Mane’s the dude that plays Sabretooth in the first X-Men movie and he comes out wearing this dumb looking lion pelt My standards gotta be getting lower bc this ain’t half bad. Both guys are green as shit but they’re actually trying which I don’t think I could say about both competitors in a match so far. Mane ends up hitting a chokeslam which I’ve still yet to have an English announcer call correctly. Kinda thought he was gonna win after that, disappointed this keeps going. Ray goes back to the leg he’s been working most of the match after a missed knee drop, but Mane fucks up a dragon screw spot. Ray goes for a sunset flip, but Mane drops down using the ropes and the ref never looks so Mane wins.

Mane gets presented with his belt and says that was a heck of a battle but the fat lady sang on Steve.

UWF Women’s World Championship: Candi Devine vs Tina Moretti
Candi’s last name is both misspelled on screen and mispronounced by the ring announcer I’m so done with this Oh shit young Ivory comes out to “You Give Love a Bad Name” Moretti is basically wearing a thong smh her future Right to Censor self would be so disappointed. This is okay mainly bc they’re both trying as well but it’s really short so they don’t build anything, they just do stuff until Candi hits a slam off the turnbuckle in 3:24 according to this ring announcer who’s still mispronouncing “Devine” as “Devien.” Abrams doesn’t interview or present Candi with a belt LOL

Steve Williams cuts a promo saying he couldn’t get Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan on the phone to challenge him for the belt he was awarded earlier in the day but Sid Vicious answered the call

The Killer Bees come out and they’re supposed to be called “Masked Confusion” since WWF owns the name but everyone is still calling them The Killer Bees, only one announcer even mentions Masked Confusion.

UWF World Tag Team Championship: The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell) vs The New Powers of Pain (Power Warrior & The Warlord)
I’m a huge Killer Bees mark but I doubt they can salvage this bc Warlord has always been ass and this Power Warrior guy is actually making me miss The Barbarian Bees have some fun double team on Warrior for a bit and I’ve never been so happy to have Warlord tag in a match in my life. Warlord tags back out only for Warrior to get caught with a leg sweep before Warlord can even get out of the ring The Bee’s work over Warrior’s leg and Blair accidentally goes for the other one and you can barely hear Warrior say “not that leg” nbd, not a loud spot call or something but the FUCKING ANNOUNCERS POINT IT OUT WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK! PoP take control after Warlord attacks Blair out of the ring and they’re double team is ass compared to the Bee’s and the Bee’s aren’t selling like they used to either Brunzell gets a hot tag, no crowd reaction at all though but it’s not bad. The Bee’s hit a nice slingshot clothesline combo but Warlord breaks it up by elbow dropping Power Warrior by accident. The ref takes a bump as the Bee’s take out Warlord and Brunzell wins off screen so I’m not exactly sure how.

“Our next match is for the lumberjack match” BRUH HOW IS THIS RING ANNOUNCER SO BAD!

Lumberjack Match: Cactus Jack vs Jimmy Snuka
They got like 8 lumberjacks max for this The announcers put over Jack losing his ear and the other one makes a John Wayne Bobbit joke for some reason, guess that was at least relevant at the time. This is boring af though, they just do basic stuff like punches and headlocks for the most part, the lumberjacks are basically a non-factor. The lumberjacks all crowd around the announcers but don’t do shit even though the announcers are freaking out about it like everything is being destroyed. Snuka and Jack brawl outside as the lumberjacks try to throw them back in and when they get back in they just go back to headlocks. Snuka keeps flying over the ropes for no reason, that shit looks so forced and unrealistic They brawl out of the ring some more with lumberjacks and we get barely any crowd reaction but more than any other match so far. They brawl into the crowd and the ref calls for the bell so I guess it’s a countout.

They brawl pretty deep into this empty ass arena and Snuka ends up hitting a suplex onto some chairs before the lumberjacks finally break it up.

Sid is billed from Memphis instead of Wherever he Damn Well Please This is the only other match where the belt isn’t vacant beforehand so I wonder how it’ll end

UWF World Heavyweight Championship: Steve Williams (c) vs Sid Vicious
Vicious doesn’t give a fuck and it’s obvious. He works the crowd well at least and just does some basic power stuff. Williams has some pretty fun offense at least, just not much of it. Williams tries to make a comeback but Vicious just stuffs them with shitty strikes. God this just drags on with Vicious doing some rest holds until Williams finally makes a comeback and BREAKS THE GODDAM RING WITH A WEAK ASS POWERSLAM Williams misses a dive but Vicious gets caught on the top rope and basically just flips him off. Williams hits a sit-out powerbomb, but Dan Spivey comes out and attacks Williams even though he was talking shit to Sid earlier.

They hit an assisted powerbomb on Williams onto this fucked up ring until Johnny Ace comes out with a chair to save Williams. Doctors check on Williams as guess what he retains the belt so it was a good thing he was awarded it before the show.

Back from break, Abrams asked if Williams wants Vicious in a cage and he says he’ll sign the contract right now and Ace is watching his back so they can bring it on whenever.