More from my big assortment of leftovers from the WWE Network.

We go to an unspecified TV show from February 22, 1994 with Vince McMahon interviewing Jim Cornette on the platform. Cornette has the WWF Title with him and wants everyone to know that Lex Luger is never going to hold this because he can’t beat Yokozuna. Vince doesn’t know about that and here’s Luger, sending Cornette into terror. Luger takes the belt from him and puts it on, which Vince thinks looks pretty good. Not good enough to make Luger the champion mind you.

Vince wants the ring announcer to announce Luger as champion, with Luger doing a full on entrance with the title and getting in the ring to pose with the title. Luger walks around the ring and then takes the belt back to the platform to throw it at Cornette. This was actually a thing they did to make the fans think that Luger won the belt, as well as filming a special scene in advance in case they went with Luger at Wrestlemania. That obviously didn’t happen, but the fans needed a reason to see them filming this so the “what would happen if” deal was thrown together. Another cool little feature here.

From January 12, 1976 in Championship Wrestling From Florida.

Andre the Giant bends a bar around his neck (and breaks it), lifts 2000lbs and wins a tug of war (as in he’s in the middle with five wrestlers on each side) by pulling everyone into each other. This wasn’t even two minutes long.

Todd Hansen vs. Brian Black
Date: May 2, 2005
Location: Fleet Center, Boston, Massachusetts

Raw dark match with Lilian Garcia welcoming us to the night. Hanen is better known as Ivar (minus the long hair and/or beard) and Black is better known as the guy who is about to lose to Hansen in a dark match. Hansen grabs a headlock to start but gets elbowed in the stomach for his efforts.

A headlock takeover works a bit better for Hansen but Black whips him hard into the corner and puts on a double arm crank. That’s broken up as well and Hansen hits an ugly crossbody for two. Hansen makes the clothesline comeback and gets two off a spinning kick to the face. Black hits a pumphandle faceplant for the same but Hansen small packages him for the pin at 4:40.

Rating: D+. This was just a pair of local guys getting to have a quick match to warm up the crowd. There was nothing to indicate that Hansen would become a star in the future and it took a very long time for his career to take off. You have to start somewhere though and that’s what we were seeing here, in one of probably several similar matches he had during this part of his career.

From August 25, 1973 in the AWA.

Billy Graham loses to the Great Scott (with his 8 inch bicep) in an arm wrestling match. The clip runs 43 seconds and I have no idea what the joke was supposed to be here.

From the AWA on January 15, 1977.

Gene Okerlund brings in the Iron Sheik (who looks TINY compared to what he would become), who refuses to speak English. Sheik rants a lot, drops to his knees and prays and shows off the Persian clubs, as was his tradition. After a break, Sheik lifts a 300lb chain above his head and then rants a lot more. Gene says come and see Sheik when you have a chance. Of note: Sheik was billed from Lebanon here rather than Iran.

Kenny Omega vs. Cru Jones
Date: September 3, 2006
Location: Deep South Arena, McDonough, Georgia
Commentators: Bill DeMott, Nigel Sherrod

This is from Deep South Wrestling, where Omega was in the WWE developmental system for a bit before realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere in this company. Before the match, Omega mocks Jones for being a former football player who yells a lot and promises to pin him. Yeah Omega wasn’t great with the talking at this point. Jones takes him into the corner to start so Omega tries a waistlock.

Omega picks up the pace and armdrags him into an armbar, with one fan calling it boring. Another armdrag into an armbar keeps Jones down but he throws Omega into the corner. The chinlock goes on until Omega fights up and drop toeholds him into the middle rope. A running dropkick to the side of the head gets two on Jones but Jones is back with a Michinoku Driver for the same. Omega is right back up with Sliced Bread for the pin at 5:06.

Rating: C-. Another historical curiosity more than anything else here as Omega was nowhere near what he would become. He was just a guy in trunks here without any kind of character or gimmick to speak of. I can see why he would want out, as doing something like this isn’t going to give him any kind of a change to shine. Jones never did anything of note in wrestling and retired in 2012.

From Championship Wrestling From Florida on September 8, 1988.

Dusty Rhodes introduces us to his son Dustin, who he says is green behind the ears and needs to fill out a bit. Dusty knows everyone is going to be watching and he wants the people to love his son like they love him. Dustin is ready to get funky like a monkey, but he looks rather stoic here and doesn’t say a word.

Rico Constantino vs. Brock Lesnar
Date: January 3, 2002
Location: MCI Center, Washington DC
Attendance: 13,978

Raw dark match and the arena might be 15% full. Lesnar is in white boots for a really weird look. Rico strikes away out of the corner and runs Lesnar over with a shoulder. The cross armbreaker goes on but Lesnar powerbombs out of it without much trouble. Lesnar stomps away in the corner and hits some shoulders to the back for two. The powerslam into the corner lets Lesnar stomp away some more but Rico comes back with a kick to the head. The spinning kick to the face is countered into a powerslam to finish Rico at 4:20.

Rating: C. Believe it or not, two of the more polished OVW wrestlers can have a completely passable match against each other. Lesnar was showing off the power here and that’s what you want to see from him. Rico continues to look more polished than you would ever imagine and I would have loved to see what he could do if he hadn’t been saddled with such a stupid gimmick.

Jim Duggan vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Date: February 4, 1981
Location: Fieldhouse, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson

This is from All-Star Wrestling and I absolutely would not have recognized Duggan. He has short blonde hair and a mustache here, to the point where I thought it was a typo until he was introduced. Slaughter has the Grand Wizard with him and gets in an argument with a fan in the front row before the match starts. Then he does it again, with Vince calling the fan “rotund”.

Duggan (an unknown here) forearms Slaughter in the chest and hits another in the corner. Slaughter unloads with shots to the chest against the ropes and whips him into the corner to cut off a comeback attempt. Duggan gets in his own whip but walks into a piledriver (Vince: “That’ll hurt.”) and the Cobra Clutch finishes for Slaughter at 6:31.

Rating: C-. Now this was fun, as Duggan showed the fire that would make him a star in Mid-South when he got the chance. He was a total rookie at this point though and it was amazing to see in a way. If you have never seen the old school Slaughter, make some time to do so, as he really was awesome in his slimmer days.

Great Kabuki vs. Bruiser Brody
Date: June 7, 1981
Location: Reunion Arena, Dallas Texas
Commentator: Stan Hart

From World Class inside a cage with escape rules only and if Brody wins, Fritz Von Erich gets to face Gary Hart (evil manager) inside the cage. They circle each other to start with Brody kicking his way out of the corner. Kabuki chokes him down but gets whipped into the corner for a right hand. Brody misses the knee though and Kabuki gets in a top rope forearm to the back.

The armpit claw goes on and a superkick cuts off Brody’s comeback attempt. Another comeback works a bit better as Brody kicks him down into the corner, only to get kicked up against the cage. Brody fights out of another nerve hold but a chop cuts him down again. There’s a top rope stomp to the head (geez) to bust Brody open (makes sense) but he kicks Kabuki down again. Now the big knee connects and Brody ties him in the Tree of Woe to escape at 9:55.

Rating: C-. I was expecting more from this but the big story here was more about setting up the next match. It’s a little weird to have what feels like a big showdown inside a cage for the sake of another match later, but that’s a Von Erich story for you. Brody vs. Kabuki would seem to be a bigger match than this, though there is only so much you can do with one guy knocking the other down, then having them swap roles over and over again for about ten minutes.

Bonus match time. Well after we come back from a break and look at the last thirty seconds of the match first.

Fritz Von Erich vs. Gary Hart

Hart, in his suit, is terrified and Fritz stalks him around for a good while. A charge in the corner goes badly for Hart as he gets pounded down, allowing Fritz to start ripping at the suit. Some people are running around at ringside as the pants go flying. The Claw goes on and Hart is left in his underwear. More stripping and more Clawing ensues to give Fritz the win at 4:47.

Rating: D. This was barely a match so there is only so much you’re going to get out of it. I’m sure this would mean a lot more if I know the story (to be fair, Hart vs. Von Erichs went on for years) but this was much more about giving the fans something to cheer. Fritz was a monster in real life but the fans loved him so this worked as well as it could have.

Post match Kabuki gets Hart out of the cage in search of pants.

Minnesota Stretching Crew vs. Mr. Black/Mark Henry
Date: December 16, 2000
Location: Davis Arena, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Kenny Bolin, Dean Hill

That would be a VERY young Brock Lesnar/Shelton Benjamin and Black is a big guy. Black shrugs off Shelton’s dropkick to start and runs him over with a shoulder as commentary actually says this was taped before their big show (which wound up getting knocked out by a blizzard and postponed by a month anyway, so it was WAY before the big show). Shelton crucifixes Black for two and hits a top rope flip dive for the same. Black drives him into the corner and it’s off to Henry to toss Shelton around with ease.

A crossface chickenwing of all things has Benjamin in trouble and there’s a clothesline to drop him again. Henry drops a leg for two and Black blocks a sunset flip with a right hand. A missed charge lets Shelton bring in Brock off the hot tag and even Bolin (the heels’ manager) knows this is trouble. Everything breaks down and Black pulls out a police baton. Cue Rob Conway to take it from him and knock Black silly with it, giving Benjamin the pin at 5:40.

Rating: C. Totally watchable match here as they were just waiting on that hot tag to Lesnar. He was incredibly green at this point but when you can do things like that, does it really matter? I could have gone with the Stretching Crew on the main roster but Charlie Haas was a great choice for Benjamin’s partner and Brock did fine for himself. Black….well he was good for OVW.

Post match Henry and Black beat Conway down.

And now to Championship Wrestling From Florida, June 15, 1972.

We get a training session with Les Thornton, Harley Race, Danny Hodge and more slowly doing moves as commentary talks about what we’re seeing. We’re just seeing individual moves here and there is no crowd or anything. It’s mainly a bunch of suplexes and throws but they’re in slow motion to focus on the athletics and leverage. Believe it or not, Race looks exactly like he always wood as the guy never aged. We wrap it up with some clips of Chavo Guerrero dropkicking a Samoan in a match. This is the kind of thing I can always go for and it was a lot of fun for a short video.

From OVW, May 26, 2001.

Mark Henry is in the ring to talk about how OVW and its fans are on pace to raise $20000 for a children’s charity. Cue Bolin Services (top heel stable) with Kenny Bolin saying he is tired of Henry raising money that could go into his pocket in these towns. They have found something in the contract, with a Randy Savage impersonator (ahuh) saying that the contract states that all money Henry raises goes to Bolin, including the charity money.

Henry says he’ll see Bolin in the hospital and the brawl is on with Henry cleaning house. Cue some guy that commentary doesn’t recognize to beat Henry down with the help of Mr. Black. Jim Cornette wants to know who the guy is hitting a tornado DDT to leave Henry laying. He would know him soon enough: it’s a debuting John Cena.

Fritz Von Erich vs. The Sheik
Date: February 28, 1977
Location: Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas
Commentator: Bill Mercer

Texas Death Match, meaning anything goes. We’re joined in progress with Gary Hart offering a distraction so Sheik can get in a cheap shot. Fritz grabs the stomach claw anyway before switching to the head for a change. Sheik rolls over to the rope for the break (in a death match) but Fritz keeps the hold on. The hold has been on for about two minutes at this point, making it seems like one of the lamest holds in history.

Sheik finally gets in a cheap shot and makes the crazed comeback but Fritz chokes him down again. Some choking gets the bloody Sheik out of trouble and they slug it out as we take a break. Back with Fritz punching his way out of a choke to grab another claw from the mat. A headbutt knocks Sheik out to the floor but they’re both down for the count and the draw at 6:20.

Hang on though as Sheik gets a chance to come back in to answer the ten count (ok then)….and they’re both out again at 7:08. There must be a winner so the first person to his feet wins. Hart and company try to help Sheik up but Fritz is down. Cue Kerry Von Erich to pour water on Fritz and hit Hart with the bucket. Fritz FINALLY gets up for the win at 10:02.

Rating: D-. There was some nice drama with who gets up first but this was a lot of laying around (about 4 minutes out of 10) and the rest was spent on choking and the claw. I know the fans loved Fritz and that’s fair enough, but it would be nice to have them actually do something. Sheik can have his wild brawls, though you would never know it off of this one.

Post match Sheik uses the water on the mat to wash his face because he’s an odd duck.

UPW Heavyweight Title: Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels
Date: March 14, 2001
Location: Galaxy Theater, Santa Ana, California
Attendance: 775

Daniels is defending and this is Loser Leaves UPW (a California independent promotion which trained John Cena). We’re joined in progress with Joe (slim here) missing an enziguri and Daniels (with HAIR) pulling him into an STF. Joe makes the rope and pulls Daniels into a chinlock. That’s broken up as well but the referee gets crushed in the corner. A low blow into Angel’s Wings gets the pin….from a wrestler named Mikey Henderson, meaning it doesn’t seem to count. Joe gets back up and hits an enziguri, setting up the Emerald Driver (Emerald Flosion) for the pin and the title at 2:02 shown.

Daniels gets the Goodbye Song but grabs the mic and thanks the fans for everything over the years.

Samoa Joe, who looks YOUNG, says he’ll face everyone and ran both Daniels and Rob Van Dam out of UPW.

From Florida Championship Wrestling, February 23, 1989.

Oliver Humperdink is sick of Dusty Rhodes so he needs to get rid of Dustin Rhodes. So who should he bring in to take care of Dustin? The only solution is Terry Funk, and we see a video of Funk standing in front of an unpainted white figure with the word DUSTY on the chest. Funk talks about how worthless and fat he is, and how something like this can only be called a “Dusty”. Then he whips out a chainsaw and cuts off the limbs, which represent his words and fat. That leaves you with a Dustin, who is too stupid to speak. I think I’ve done this one before.

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So back in the days of the WWE Network, there was a section called Hidden Gems.  When the Network was being shut down in America, I rapid fire reviewed as many of them as I could, though I couldn’t get all of them.  For one reason or another, I kept putting off posting them and I might as well just start doing it.  This is more than 50 pages of completely random stuff that has probably popped up elsewhere since then but it’s better than having it sit on my laptop.  There is no connection to these matches/segments but that makes it more fun.  Let’s get to it.

NWA World Title: Harley Race vs. Dick Murdoch
Date: April 2, 1977
Location: Springfield, Missouri
Commentators: Boyd Pierce, Bill Watts

From Tri-State, which became Mid-South. Race is defending and we’re joined in progress late in the match. Murdoch’s leg gives out on a suplex attempt and Race cranks back on it as he is smart enough to do. Murdoch kind of collapses into a clothesline for two on Race, who drives him into the corner for two of his own. A shot to the face puts Race back down and Murdoch stomps away for two more. Skandor Akbar gets in the ring for a distraction but Race manages an O’Connor roll to retain at 3:40 shown. No rating due to how much was clipped but these two could have a classic if given the chance.

Post match Murdoch punches Akbar, who seems to be his manager, out but here’s a masked man (Dr. X?) to go after Murdoch. The beatdown is on so we cut to an NWA graphic because the NWA doesn’t think we should see it. A quick shot shows us Murdoch tied in the ropes to wrap it up.

From September 15, 1976 in Championship Wrestling From Florida.

This is a segment instead of a match as Greg Valentine drops some elbows through boards. Think a martial artist breaking through them with kicks, but with elbows instead. He does this over and over for two minutes. End of segment.

Mercedes Martinez vs. Victoria
Date: June 12, 2006
Location: Bryce Jordan Center, Stage College, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 4,500
Commentators: Jonathan Coachman, Todd Grisham

From Sunday Night Heat and Martinez is a jobber. Victoria headlocks her to start and hammers away with some right hands to the head. They go to the mat but Martinez pops up with a headlock of her own, only to get reversed into a headscissors. Back up and Martinez hits a dropkick into a nothern lights suplex for two but Victoria knees her in the face. A hot shot sets up the Widow’s Peak for the pin on Martinez at 3:12.

Rating: D+. Just a step beyond a squash here but it worked out well enough. This is one of the best kinds of Hidden Gems as there is something so cool about seeing a future star still becoming a thing. You could see some of the skill and polish in Martinez though and it is no surprise that she would be around so many years later. Victoria was pretty much nothing in WWE at this point though and that is a shame as the division could have used her.

Bobby Rood vs. Albert
Date: October 19, 2002
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Marc Lloyd

That would of course be Bobby Roode and he actually gets a hometown entrance. Albert drives him into the corner for a shot to the face as the SHAVE YOUR BACK chants start up. Roode slips out of a slam and kicks away at the leg but gets run over with a shoulder. An over the shoulder backbreaker drops Roode again and some forearms to the back make it worse. The catapult sends Roode throat first into the rope and we hit the neck crank. Roode fights up and hits a bulldog as commentary talks about Scorpion King being a big hit in the rental market. Albert has had it with this and hits the bicycle kick for the pin at 3:39.

Rating: C-. This was better than I would have expected as Roode got in a tiny bit of offense rather than running Roode over. You can have a squash but it doesn’t have to be a complete one, especially in a situation like this. Albert won decisively but it wasn’t anything embarrassing for Roode, which is nice to see for a change.

Post match Albert hits the Baldo Bomb to leave Roode laying.

Tazmaniac vs. Skippy Taylor
Date: May 5, 1993
Location: Exposition Building, Portland, Maine
Attendance: 2,700

Dark match from a Wrestling Challenge taping and this is just the hard cam shot, meaning the camera does not move an inch. I’ve seen this one before on the awesome Unreleased DVD set from a few years back and this is Taz vs. Scotty 2 Hotty. It’s so strange seeing Taz as the Tazmaniac caveman gimmick but it’s kind of fascinating.

Taylor cranks on the arm to start and hits a dropkick into a hiptoss. The t-bone suplex cuts him off and we’re already in the Tazmanian chinlock. That’s broken up but Taylor spends WAY too much time loading up a DDT, allowing Tazmaniac to suplex him into another chinlock. Taylor knocks him out of the air (not your typical Taz) but walks into an overhead belly to belly for the pin at 3:55.

Rating: C-. It’s another historical curiosity more than anything else, including trying to wrap my head around the fact that one of the wrestlers was named Skippy. The Tazmaniac was a dead end gimmick too and thank goodness he found the much better Taz deal, which wound up being a heck of a lot better for everyone. Nothing match of course, but it was an interesting pairing.

Big Daddy Ritter vs. Jim Neidhart
Date: May 11, 1979
Location: Victoria Pavilion, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Commentator: Ed Whalen

This is from Stampede Wrestling and that would be Junkyard Dog. The audio is rather choppy here as Neidhart shoves Ritter outside to start. Back in and Neidhart hits the shoulder in the corner but Ritter taunts him into a missed charge into the post. What might be a loaded glove to the head rocks Neidhart as even Whalen can figure out that something is up with the thing. Choking ensues and there’s a headbutt to knock Neidhart down again. A rake to the eyes takes Neidhart down again and back to back powerslams finish for Ritter at 4:26.

Rating: D. Total squash here and it’s bizarre to see Neidhart so young. He was only 24 here and took quite the beating as Ritter liked that loaded glove. It was bizarre to see Ritter as the heel too, as it isn’t something you ever see outside of Stampede. It’s also weird to see a full match from Stampede, as they liked the joined in progress format most of the time.

Post match Ritter gets in another right hand for a bonus.

Ted DiBiase vs. Tom Magee
Date: December 7, 1988
Location: SunDome, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 9,176

Another Wrestling Challenge dark match and Magee is a heck of a specimen. The stands are a good bit empty as this seems to be rather early in the night. Magee shoves him down to start and hits an atomic drop into an armbar. Audio goes out (no commentary anyway though) as Magee flips him over into a better armbar. Back up and DiBiase unloads against the ropes but Magee kicks him to the floor and flips around a bit.

Magee strikes away in the corner and flips over DiBiase, only to be sent outside in a heap. They go outside with DiBiase stomping away, followed by a middle rope ax handle for two. Audio is back as a clothesline gets two more on Magee. The falling middle rope elbow misses though and Magee nails a spinwheel kick. A dropkick gives Magee two but he walks into a powerslam for the pin at 7:35.

Rating: C. I know Magee was Vince’s dream come true but you really could see how completely green he was every time he was in the ring. He doesn’t seem to have the natural timing or instincts to make it work and while that can be learned over time, it never clicked for him. The match was far from bad, though it’s hard to have a bad match against DiBiase.

From Mid-South, September 3, 1983.

We see a pair of rather large cowboy boots (yes, believe it or not, in Mid-South), one of which is much larger than the other. Cut to Bill Watts in a suit that is much too big for him. Watts says it takes a lot to fill another man’s shoes, much like you just saw there. That large boot and this large coat belong to Andre the Giant, who comes in for a chat.

Andre is proud of losing 15lbs to get down to 485 and talks about some of the travel problems he has to deal with everywhere he goes. He’s also hoping to do more acting work, such as on the Fall Guy. Watts talks about a 400lb college wrestler who would look like a baby next to Andre. Finally, he’s proud of Steve Williams, his former partner and no he does not have 185 teeth. This was a weird bit that felt like it belonged on a talk show where the interviewer didn’t know much about wrestling.

From NWA Western States, February 1, 1971.

Dory Funk Sr. is in the studio and is ready to train with his sons, NWA World Champion Dory Jr. and Terry in an empty arena. Sr. narrates as Terry tries to take Jr. down, saying they are going about ¾ speed. A fireman’s carry takes Jr. down as Sr. keeps critiquing them in the ring. Terry takes Jr. down for the spinning toehold but Sr. calls him off. Sr. takes Terry down with ease and pats him on the head.

A quick head fake lets Sr. take Terry down and Jr. takes Terry down with ease. Sr. explains to Terry that it isn’t fun to be slammed and then tells Terry to calm down. Terry even picks Sr. up for a slam but puts him down with a laugh. Back in the studio, Sr. praises his sons. This was quick but rather cool as you never see this kind of thing, especially with legends like these three.

Barry Hardy vs. Brian Armstrong
Date: August 16, 1994
Location: Lowell Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts
Attendance: 2,000

Dark match from a Wrestling Challenge taping and Armstrong is better known as Road Dogg. Armstrong, who is rather energetic, takes him into the corner and hits a dropkick to the floor. Back in and a gutwrench suplex sets up an armbar on Hardy, who comes back with some shots to the ribs. Armstrong grabs some rollups for two each and a knee lift sets up the jabs. There’s a big boot to drop Hardy again and a missile dropkick gives Armstrong the pin at 4:04.

Rating: C-. It’s so bizarre seeing Armstrong as a pretty run of the mill guy when you know the star he would become. He looked good enough here, though it isn’t like he would have stood out all that much. Going with the Roadie gimmick not too long after this was a good foot in the door, but you could see the talent out there, even in a short match like this one.

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Rather unique pairing this time around.

NWA World Title/WWWF Title: Harley Race vs. Billy Graham
Date: January 25, 1978
Location: Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

Title for title and 2/3 falls. This is from the Super Bowl of Wrestling and Gorilla Monsoon/Don Curtis are guest referees. Before the match, we see a bit of a press conference with the NWA President Eddie Graham (complete with “hello, my name is” name tag) explaining the whole thing. Race and Graham both talk about how great this is going to be and want to prove themselves as the best.

They both sign and we seem to be ready to go. We also get Gordon Solie with both wrestlers, who talk about how they know they can win and become double champion. Race doesn’t seem impressed with Graham, even when he takes his shirt off. We finally go to the match, which is narrated by Solie and Curtis. I say narrated because this is a collection of highlights instead of the actual match.

Graham wins the first fall with the bearhug at about 40 minutes (two and a half shown) and Race ties it up at about 53 minutes (after about three minutes shown). Time ran out with Graham mostly done in a sleeper and both guys rather bloody. It seemed like a great match, but you can only get so much out of less than six minutes show and a lot of clipping. Also, and at least partially due to weather, the stadium was horribly empty.

Papa Shango vs. El Matador
Date: April 4, 1993
Location: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: 16,891
Commentator: Jim Ross

Now this should be interesting as it is the dark match from Wrestlemania IX and Jim Ross’ first ever match in the company. I’ve heard of this match for years but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen the thing. Shango drives him into the corner to start and then chokes on the ropes for a bit. They head outside with Matador getting the better of a slugout and hitting a pretty messy high crossbody back inside. Matador cranks on the wrist but Shango tosses him over the top for a big crash.

Back in and a hard clothesline drops Matador, setting up the shot to the rather low abdomen. A dropkick of all things gives Shango two and a side slam is good for the same. Matador is right back with the flying forearm and a backdrop but another running forearm is knocked out of the way (JR: “And I’m sure Bruce will tell me exactly what it is called because I don’t know.”). Shango misses a top rope elbow though and Matador covers him for the pin at 7:39.

Rating: D. This was FAR sloppier than you would expect out of a Santana match but maybe the atmosphere messed with him a little bit. JR was the most interesting part here though and that line about Bruce made me laugh. I’m not sure what this was for, but maybe it was a practice run or something. Either way, he was doing commentary in a toga and that is all that matters.

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AND

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And they’re both from the same year!

Billy Robinson vs. Rick Martel
Date: October 18, 1984
Location: Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Commentator: Gene Okerlund

This is from the AWA, Lord Alfred Hayes (with big mustache) is with Robinson and we are joined in progress with Robinson getting two off a backbreaker. The narrator tells us that this is a blast from the past and commentary mentions Hulk Hogan currently challenging for the World Title so I’m not sure when this took place. Robinson grabs a chinlock as we hear the ten minute mark call.

They go to the mat with Robinson working on a chinlock but Martel fights up and knocks him over the top. Back in and they circle each other a bit until it’s time for a slugout. Martel grabs a hangman’s neckbreaker to a pretty strong reaction and a second one gets two. We hit the chinlock, followed by a headlock into another chinlock, on Robinson, who can’t bridge up into a top wristlock.

We’re twenty minutes in now as the chinlocking continues. Back up and Martel cuts off the comeback with another chinlock. They get up for good this time with Martel not being able to grab a monkey flip out of the corner. A collision puts both of them down but it’s Martel back up with a dropkick. Martel lifts him up for a slam but Hayes sweeps the leg and Robinson gets the pin at 16:35 shown (24:44 announced).

Rating: C-. I’ve seen great things from Robinson and Martel could go with anyone but having this much time spent in a chinlock didn’t help. What we got worked out well enough and I could see another match between them working well. Martel would become the top star in the company but the place was already on its last legs long before they reached that point.

Post match Martel yells a lot to no avail.

Stagger Lee/Bill Watts vs. Midnight Express
Date: April 7, 1984
Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Attendance: 23,000

Anything goes. This is part of the Last Stampede, which featured Watts coming out of retirement (again) to fight off the new evils of the Express and Jim Cornette. There was a cake involved and Cornette went into it, which Watts found to be hilarious, so Cornette came out and called Watts old and stupid, leading to the Midnights beating him down. It was time to cowboy up and Lee (the masked Junkyard Dog) was Watts’ partner for a series of huge tag matches against the team, including this one, which is the biggest of them all.

Watts punches the Midnights down to start and Lee joins in for some rights and lefts of his own. A big right hand knocks Eaton off the top and the fans are rather pleased. Back in and Watts punches away again as this is one sided so far, by which I mean Watts is doing almost everything (by which I mean he is mostly standing still and punching to crazy reactions).

Eaton is already busted open and it’s off to Lee for a clothesline. Lee pokes him in the eye and brings Watts back in but a Condrey distraction finally lets Eaton get in a knee. Condrey draws Lee in for some cheating stomps from Eaton and the double team stomps make it even worse. We hit the chinlock on Watts as the crowd has not stopped the whole match so far. Eaton breaks up a comeback attempt and it’s off to a reverse chinlock.

Watts starts getting up so Eaton walks him back and drops an elbow, allowing Condrey to take his place. The second reverse chinlock is broken up and a collision allows the hot tag to Lee….which the referee allows even though the referee didn’t seem to see it. Everything breaks down and Cornette sends Eaton the racket to knock Lee silly. Watts kicks the powder into Eaton’s face though and the Oklahoma Stampede is good for the pin at 12:38.

Rating: B. This wasn’t the greatest in-ring match ever but DANG the fans were going nuts for the whole thing and that is what mattered most. This was the big draw of a show that drew 23,000 people and that’s a success in wrestling. Watts might not have done so well in WCW but he was the king in Mid-South and putting him in there with the top star to face the new mega heel team was about as good as you could have gotten. Not a great match, but the fans ate it up and carried it to a much higher level.

Post match it’s time for Cornette’s punishment, which means the diaper. With Lee, Watts and some other guys surrounding him, Cornette has to take his own clothes off and, after being tripped down, gets powdered and diapered.

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Battle Royal
Date: November 16, 1987
Location: Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Baron Mikel Scicluna, Sailor Art Thomas, Pedro Morales, Edouard Carpentier, Al Costello, Gene Kiniski, Gino Brito, Bobo Brazil, Dominic DeNucci, The Crusher, Nick Bockwinkel, Pat O’Connor, Ray Stevens, Rene Goulet, Chief Jay Strongbow, Lou Thesz, Killer Kowalski, Arnold Skaaland

Now THIS is something I have wanted to see for a very long time now as it’s a legends battle royal between a bunch of names you do not often see in WWE. Each legend gets an individual entrance, as they should. We start with the usual brawling but the camera is WAY too zoomed in, meaning we miss the first few eliminations. Thesz puts out someone we can’t see and then brawls with Kowalski as we ignore everyone else.

We settle down to more brawling as I try to figure out who is who and who is still in. Costello catapults Garea out and we get a fight between Bockwinkel and Kiniski. Bockwinkel drives a bunch of shoulders into the ribs and then zoom in on Thesz trying to get rid of Crusher. Costello is tossed by DeNucci and Carpentier gets rid of Goulet. Kowalski goes after Thesz, who knocks him through the ropes.

Back in and Brazil is knocked out and we’re suddenly down to six, with Bockwinkel, Thesz, Crusher, Kowalski, O’Connor and Stevens. Stevens backdrops Crusher out and Thesz punches Kowalski off the top and out to the floor. O’Connor whips Stevens out and then gets rid of Bockwinkel, leaving us with O’Connor vs. Thesz. O’Connor takes him to the mat but gets caught in a hammerlock. They get back up and Thesz backdrops him out for the win at 11:11.

Rating: D. This was like a much more serious version of the Gimmick Battle Royal, as it was all about everyone getting one more entrance. Some of the wrestlers got far stronger reactions than others while a few just received polite applause. It was still great to see though, even if the quality had absolutely no value whatsoever.

Post match, Thesz and O’Connor pose together for old times’ sake.

And now we get THIRTY MINUTES of comments from almost involved, plus Freddie Blassie. I have no idea why this stuff wasn’t released in any kind of mainstream format before because it’s a great thing to see.

My dad wasn’t born yet.

NWA World Title: Lou Thesz vs. Bill Longson
Date: June 17, 1952
Location: Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas

Longson is challenging and this is 2/3 falls. You might not have heard of Longson, but he was one of the first big time heels and is also credited with inventing the piledriver. No handshake from Longson of course because that’s not his thing. They go with the grappling to start and Longson takes him to the mat without too much trouble. Back up and Thesz takes him down for a change into a headscissors.

That’s broken up and catches Longson punching at what seems to be the thigh but might be a bit more of an illegal spot. Longson puts him down with a headlock takeover and then chokes in the corner with a boot. Back up Longson takes him to the mat with a top wristlock as Thesz is getting out technicaled here. Thesz has finally had enough of Longson’s punches so he grabs a headlock for some shots of his own. Longson grabs a standing choke and pulls the hair, which is enough to make Thesz unload. The Thesz press gets the first fall at 7:57 and we take a break before the second.

Back with Longson slowing down a bit and trying for an armbar. Thesz takes him down by the leg so Longson goes to the rope in a hurry. Longson takes him down to pull on the leg and even unties Thesz’s shoe, which has to be against some rule. Back up and Longson goes for the leg again, as commentary corrects himself by saying this is rasslin instead of wrestling. Longston grabs the rope with the leglock on and you can hear the fans freak out with each touch. See? It’s really not that hard.

The referee finally catches him and calls for the break, much to Longson’s annoyance. A headlock takeover lets Longson hammer away so Thesz does the same, sending Longson jumping over the top to safety. Thesz dropkicks him off the apron and then does it again, only to bang himself up on the second. Longson comes back in and hits a piledriver for the second fall at 15:28. The third fall begins with Longson trying another piledriver but getting backdropped down. Thesz hits three straight dropkicks for the pin and the third fall to retain at 16:38.

Rating: B. This was a lot more interesting than you would have bet on as it was a rather simple story (Thesz is the technical master so Longson cheated, which sent Thesz over the edge so he won with better skill) but done so well. Thesz is someone who seems dull on paper but he makes it work so well in the ring that it’s easy to see why he is so revered. Good stuff here, with Longson being a great heel and Thesz looking like the champ who was awakened by the end.

Bunkhouse Battle Royal
Date: January 1, 1987
Location: Convention Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Buddy Roberts, Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, Ken Massey, Leroy Brown, Rick Steiner, Sting, Angel of Death, One Man Gang, Chavo Guerrero, Eddie Gilbert, Iceman Parsons, Jack Victory, Steve Williams, Ted DiBiase, Bill Irwin, Bobby Perez, Eli the Eliminator, Gary Young, Jeff Raitz, Jim Duggan, Terry Taylor

Dark match from a UWF TV taping and everyone is in street clothes. You’re eliminated by being tossed or bleeding here to make things a little more violent. The camera stays a good bit too close to start and you can’t see a lot of the ring. Throw in the lack of commentary and this is likely to wind up being very confusing. The brawling by the ropes begins and some people are sent outside through the ropes, meaning they can come back in.

Williams and Gordy brawl through the ropes and out to the floor as Massey is eliminated. We ignore the match to watch the two of them fight and they are eliminated as well. Makes enough sense. Victory is out but comes back in. Ring announcer: “Jack Victory is eliminated! Pardon me, he’s ok.” The brawling continues and since they are in street clothes, it is even more difficult to keep track of the people involved. Angel, Victory and Parsons are all out in a row to clear the ring out a bit.

Gilbert is bleeding for an elimination, even if it is off camera. Sting, Guerrero and Raitz are all out in a row. Hayes beats on Gang with his cowboy boot and Perez is out. Stiner is out and Gang starts hitting people with the boot. A bunch of people fight on the floor Eli, Brown and Irwin are all out, plus Taylor and Duggan. There goes Gang, leaving Hayes and Roberts to beat on DiBiase with a belt. Young is out and DiBiase makes the comeback by eliminating Roberts and then Hayes in a row to win at 10:38.

Rating: D. Aside from it being weird enough to see DiBiase as a face, the problem here was how fast people were being put out. The camera stayed far too zoomed in a lot of the time and I barely saw a lot of the people being eliminated. Just not a well put together match, but it was much more for the live crowd in the first place anyway.

Velocity
Date: December 17, 2005
Location: MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts
Commentators: Steve Romero, Josh Matthews

Now this is a special version as it contains only the matches with the recaps cut out. I’m not sure how that is going to go but Velocity was the low level show which did little more than give the Smackdown crew a little more time. This is likely going to have some interesting and unknown guest stars so that could be interesting. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Scotty 2 Hotty vs. William Regal

Regal has Paul Burchill with him. Scotty isn’t having the wristlock and hits a running shoulder to take Regal down. Regal isn’t sure what to do here so he shoves off a headlock but misses an uppercut, allowing Scotty to grab a rollup for two. Scotty hammers away in the corner and scores with a superkick. The Worm is loaded up but Burchill comes in for a distraction, allowing Regal to hit the running knee for the pin at 4:21.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but Regal is always worth at least a glance. You can also always throw Scotty in there as a guy who can take a loss and not suffer any serious damage. At the end of the day though, all this did was make me want to see more of Burchill, who would soon become a pirate because WWE.

We see a good bit of Batista/Rey Mysterio winning the Tag Team Titles from MNM. So when the description says “MATCHES ONLY” Velocity, I didn’t think they meant old matches as well.

Jamie Noble vs. Tommaso Whitney

That would of course be Tommaso Ciampa under his real name (yes his first name is Tommaso). This is also Noble’s first match in over a year and he’s a lot more serious than the trailer park days. Noble takes him into the corner to start and chops away, setting up a legdrop for two. Some shots to the back set up choking on the ropes and a fireman’s carry gutbuster rocks Whitney again. A dragon sleeper makes Whitney tap at 2:27. Total squash.

Paul London/Brian Kendrick vs. Scotty Charisma/Arch Kincaid

Kendrick hammerlocks Charisma (what a family name) to start and hiptosses him into a slam for two. London comes in for a headlock and it’s already back to Kendrick to work on the arm. Charisma gets headbutted down in the corner and everything breaks down, with London and Kendrick cleaning house again.

A running flip neck snap on the mat keeps charisma in trouble and a running flip splash gives London two. It’s finally off to Kincaid for a hard clothesline and the chinlock goes on. That’s broken up in a hurry and Kendrick comes back in to run Kincaid over. Everything breaks down and a double superkick drops Charisma. An enziguri/Downward Spiral combination finishes Kincaid at 5:27.

Rating: C-. This could have been a lot worse but then again London and Kendrick are one of the better teams of their era. They were as crisp as you could get and everything they did worked well against anyone. This was little more than target practice for them as Kincaid and Charisma were more or less tackling dummies.

Doug Basham vs. Todd Hanson

Hanson is better known as Ivar and Basham is better known as Basham. They fight over a wristlock to start until Hanson is hiptossed down in a hurry. Back up and a shoulder gives Basham one but the bigger Hanson knocks him into the corner. You don’t do that to Basham as he works over Hanson’s arm and snaps off a suplex. We hit the armbar for all of three seconds before Basham just hits him in the shoulder a few times. Hanson’s sunset flip attempt is countered into a cross armbreaker to give Basham the win at 3:19.

Rating: C-. Nothing in the way of a competitive match but it was nice to see someone like Basham getting a chance. His career was destroyed by the S&M nonsense with Danny Basham and Shaniqua, but I’m sure it let someone work out one of their inner thoughts (and I use that term loosely). Who cares if it wasted the amount of time and money they had invested into Basham?

Orlando Jordan vs. Funaki

Jordan has Jillian Hall with him and is still part of JBL’s Cabinet. Funaki gets driven into the corner to start but his headlock (it’s devastating) gets him out of trouble. Then a swinging backbreaker puts him right back in trouble, but it did work for a few seconds. The bearhug (From Jordan?) goes on and after some forearms to the back, it goes on again. Funaki fights out again and manages to start a quick comeback, only to get caught in a swinging neckbreaker. A Backstabber finishes Funaki at 4:59.

Rating: D+. The only thing this did was remind me how completely useless Jordan really is. The guy had nothing that made me want to see him and that never changed no matter how many times he was in the ring. Funaki can only do so much and that was on full display here. Nothing match, and that’s some pretty high praise for a Jordan match.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m not sure how much more the additional ten minutes of recaps would have helped but the wrestling was what you would have expected. This was included because of the guest stars and that worked out well enough, but there is a reason that Velocity is such a nothing show that has almost no important history to it whatsoever.

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Great American Bash 1988 Greensboro
Date: July 16, 1988
Location: War Memorial Stadium, Greensboro, Coliseum
Attendance: 7,500

The Great American Bash wasn’t just a full on pay per view at first, but also a tour of house shows. This is one of them, as we are in one of the bigger Crockett cities. The main event here is WarGames, which had debuted twelve days prior and was done quite a bit during the tour. Let’s get to it.

Bugsy McGraw/Tim Horner vs. Rip Morgan/Larry Zbyszko

It’s always so strange to have A, no commentary, B, two rings, and C, Teddy Long (referee here) with hair. Morgan grabs the mic to shout a lot and jump up and down before Larry takes Bugsy down but misses a bunch of elbows to the fans’ delight. Bugsy drives him into the corner and grabs a headlock before Horner comes in for a few shoulders. The slightly out there Morgan tries his luck and takes Horner down into a quickly broken chinlock.

It’s back to Bugsy to start working on Morgan’s arm (the hair pull helped too) but Morgan takes him into the corner for the tag back to Larry. We get the always classic referee misses the big tag spot and Morgan elbows McGraw down again. Bugsy gets in a shot to the face though and grabs the rope to avoid Larry’s dropkick (yes Larry’s dropkick), allowing the hot tag to Horner. Everything breaks down and Horner hits a quick crossbody to finish Morgan at 8:07.

Rating: C. Totally watchable match here but what matters most is how it was a hot enough opening match. You don’t want to take too much time in a spot like this and they got through things rather well here. Horner wasn’t the best in the world but he was able to come in off a hot tag and clean house, which is almost all he was here for. Not a great match, but an efficient one and that’s a good thing.

Ronnie Garvin vs. Italian Stallion

Garvin is freshly heel and now managed by Gary Hart. Stallion knocks him down to start and Garvin grabs his ankle. That’s enough to have the referee slow things down a bit, but Garvin comes up with the Hands of Stone for the pin at 1:13. Just a way to establish that Garvin is a changed man.

Dick Murdoch vs. Gary Royal

Royal hits him in the face to start so Murdoch takes it into the corner. A headlock manages to get Murdoch down onto the mat and Gary cranks away for a bit. Murdoch gets out using some cheating so it’s time to yell at referee Teddy Long, which could be quite the interesting argument.

Royal gets driven into the corner for some shots to the face but a dropkick puts Murdoch on the floor. That’s enough of this being in trouble thing for Murdoch as he knocks Royal around without much trouble and takes him outside for a whip into the scaffolding (yeah we have a scaffold match coming). Back in and Murdoch stomps away before finishing with the brainbuster at 7:01.

Rating: C-. Murdoch really was good at almost anything he did and it is easy to see why he is as revered as he is by so many people. He knows how to make the fans care about him and is so smooth at everything he does. This was just a squash for the most part but Murdoch managed to make that work, which is quite the impressive feat.

Jimmy Garvin vs. Rick Steiner

Precious is here with Garvin. Steiner mauls him down to start, as Steiner had a tendency to do. Garvin fights up and slugs away but has to stop as Kevin Sullivan goes after Precious (that’s a LONG story) to a crazy reaction. Back in and Garvin rolls him up for the pin at 1:25. That was surprisingly short.

Sheepherders vs. Rock N Roll Express

That would of course be the Bushwhackers with Rip Morgan as their flag bearer. We hit the stall button to start, with the Bushwhackers messing with their flag and then telling the fans to shut up. Pain is promised to the Americans so Ricky Morton grabs the mic and tells the Sheepherders what they can kiss. The Express finally jumps them about two and a half minutes after the bell and the ring is cleared in a hurry.

We settle down into the first lockup almost four minutes in and it’s Butch sending Gibson into the corner for the early tag to Luke. A knee to the ribs cuts Gibson off again but he nails a right hand to take over. Butch hits Luke by mistake and Morgan takes out his friends, meaning the Express can pose early. We settle down to Morton in trouble but sliding through Luke’s legs for a dropkick.

The Sheepherders are sent into each other and it’s time to bail again as things settle a bit. Back in and Gibson hits a crossbody on Luke but Morgan has the referee, allowing Butch to get in a flag shot for the save. They go outside with Gibson being driven into the apron and then it’s back inside for stomping. A chinlock doesn’t last long so it’s a double clothesline to drop Gibson again.

The fans start up their ROCK N ROLL chant as Gibson gets in a few shots, only to be pulled down into a chinlock. Gibson fights up again and gets over to Morton for the hot tag (that feels so wrong). Everything breaks down with Morton getting posted on the floor as Gibson has Butch in a sleeper. The double gutbuster plants Gibson but he manages to send them together, allowing Morton to high crossbody Butch for the pin at 14:06.

Rating: B-. This is a perfect illustration of how to take a rather basic match and get the fans going nuts to set up a hot ending. That’s what they had here, with very little contact for almost the first five minutes and then they got into the meat of the match. The fans were with them the entire way because they cared about the teams and wanted to see the Express make the comeback. Good match, but much more of a lesson in how to do this, as the high spots were a dropkick and a high crossbody. Today, it would be called boring, because less is more is a lost concept.

Al Perez vs. Brad Armstrong

Perez has Gary Hart in his corner. Feeling out process to start with both guys shoving the other around. Armstrong grabs a wristlock and a monkey flip doesn’t even break the grip. Perez can’t armdrag his way out of an armbar so Armstrong armdrags him into another armbar. That works so well that Armstrong stays on it as we hit the five minute mark. Armstrong has to go after Gary Hart though and Perez sends him into the scaffolding to take over.

Back in and Perez hits what would become known as the Eye of the Storm for two and the chinlock goes on. With that not working, Perez goes with knees to the back (Armstrong: “OH S***!”) but the referee calls it off for being in the ropes. Armstrong’s backslide gets two so Perez throws him outside in a heap. Perez follows him out and gets elbows in the face so Armstrong heads back in. A suplex brings Perez back in and Hart sweeps the leg to give Perez the pin at 11:17 (that was the most telegraphed ending I have seen in years).

Rating: C. It wasn’t too bad here as Armstrong is always worth a look and Perez is someone who could have become something but never went beyond the midcard. I’m not entirely sure why, but I could have seen both of these guys going a bit higher than they did. Nice match though, even with the really obvious ending.

Fantastics vs. Midnight Express/Jim Cornette

The Midnight’s US Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line and I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is going to be the best thing all night, or at least so far. This is a Bunkhouse match, meaning anything goes. Cornette looks ridiculous in the body suit of course but you can see the look in his eyes that he is having the time of his life out there. Eaton and Cornette have their hug to start with Cornette kissing him on the cheek, so Rogers thinks Cornette should start for the team. Cornette: “I AIN’T GETTING IN THERE! YOU PEOPLE SHUT UP! I AIN’T GETTING IN THERE!”

The Bobbys start things off instead with Eaton getting in a right hand but stopping to celebrate, allowing Fulton to tag him with some right hands. Eaton hits a knee to the face but gets backdropped down, leaving Cornette to grab a chair on the floor. That earns him a chase from Rogers who clears the ring, setting up the strut. Cornette: “WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO???” Back in and Eaton hits Fulton with one of his great right hands and grabs a chair, only to get atomic dropped down onto it.

Fulton blasts Eaton with the chair and everything breaks down (as it should) with Rogers wearing Eaton out with the chair. Cornette and Stan get the chair and go over to check on Eaton as the panic continues. For some reason Eaton tries to tag Cornette before coming to his senses and bring Lane in instead. That’s fine with Rogers, who dropkicks him down a few times and mocks Cornette’s bravery. Lane tries to toss Rogers, who skins the cat and comes back in with more dropkicks.

Cornette bails from a possible tag again so Lane grabs him by the shirt, sending Cornette into pure panic because he might be about to die. Rogers breaks that up and gets sent outside, where Cornette throws a chair at him to get back in the Midnights’ good graces. Rogers gets dropped again and Cornette hits his own strut, leaving Lane to choke Rogers on the floor. Now Cornette is willing to come in and drop some elbows but Rogers stares him down after the right hands.

Cornette tries a quick handshake but gets driven into the corner where Lane can come back in (not the best aiming from Rogers). An atomic drop into a backbreaker puts Rogers down again and Cornette comes back in for some right hands with a chained fist. Cornette’s slam attempt doesn’t work so Eaton comes in to do it for him, leaving Cornette to pose anyway (that’s great).

The Rocket Launcher connects but Cornette wants the pin, which takes too long and includes too much posing, allowing Rogers to toss him hard on the kickout. The hot tag brings in Fulton to clean house and Cornette’s powder hits Eaton by mistake. A double clothesline pins Cornette at 15:09.

Rating: B. This was a lot of fun and so much of that is due to the great chemistry that the Midnights and Cornette had. They were so perfect together and Cornette’s moments of panicking at the idea of being in trouble but then getting so cocky in a hurry was great. Really fun match here and the place was going coconuts over some of the spots and chances for Cornette to get destroyed.

TV Title: Sting vs. Mike Rotunda

Rotunda, with Kevin Sullivan and Rick Steiner, is defending and EGADS the place goes nuts for Sting. Yeah I’m thinking he’ll be fine. Sting starts fast with some dropkicks, including one to Steiner to clean house in a hurry. Rotunda bails out to the floor but gets back in where he has to escape a Scorpion Deathlock attempt. It works so well that he has to do it a second time so Sting settles for a headlock instead. This time Rotunda sends him outside for a beating from Steiner and Sullivan, followed by a clothesline back inside.

We hit the chinlock to keep Sting in trouble and Rotunda makes sure to get a foot on the rope. An elbow to the face sets up the chinlock sequel but Rotunda goes up top for some reason. Since that leaves Rotunda looking like a fish on a bicycle, Sting slams him down and sends him into the other ring. There’s the big dive over the ropes and Sting is all fired up. The right hands in the corner set up the Stinger Splash but the Varsity Club comes in for the DQ at 10:16.

Rating: C. As usual, the action wasn’t the best part here but the fans were going nuts over everything Sting did. You could see that he was a hue star and he would eventually get the title early in 1989. First up though we had to see Rick Steiner taking it from Rotunda in one of the most underrated moments in the history of the NWA/WCW.

Road Warriors vs. Ivan Koloff/Russian Assassin #1

This is a scaffold match and the Warriors have Paul Ellering while the Russians have the eternally useless Paul Jones. The Russians start throwing powder, which is hardly safe. They slug it out in a hurry with Ivan already having to hang on while his legs dangle over the side. The same thing happens to Animal but he gets back up for a dropkick (Ok it was terrible but EGADS MAN!), which has Ivan in more trouble.

A bunch of stomping has Ivan hanging on the bottom of the scaffold and there he goes for the elimination. That leaves Assassin and Hawk fighting on the other end of the scaffold but Ivan comes up to choke Hawk with a chain. Hawk and Assassin start climbing down and Hawk knocks him off to win at 5:34.

Rating: D+. I’m never sure what to think of a match like this as it isn’t exactly a wrestling match, or at least certainly not a traditional one. The guys were doing what they could (and as someone scared of heights, I can’t get over that dropkick) but they had a pretty firm limit and that is ok given how hard it is to do something like this.

Four Horsemen vs. Dusty Rhodes/Paul Ellering/Lex Luger/Nikita Koloff/Steve Williams

And now, WarGames, which only debuted about two weeks ago. In case you don’t know the rules, you have five men per team and each one will send in a man each for a five minute period. After two minutes, the heels will win a coin toss to gain the advantage, meaning they will be able to send in their second man for two minutes. Then the good guys will tie it up for two more minutes. The teams alternate until everyone is in and it is the first submission wins.

Arn Anderson and Dusty Rhodes start things off with Dusty easily winning the early slugout. The big elbow has Anderson freaking out in the corner so let’s try a different ring. Dusty is right there with a running DDT and he sends Arn into the cage for the first time. Arn goes into the cage over and over and the blood is already flowing. Some shots to the leg put Dusty down though and Arn punches him into the other ring. Dusty punches him out of the air though and puts on the Figure Four until the Horsemen win the coin toss.

Barry Windham goes in for the Horsemen but Dusty lets go of the Figure Four want is waiting on him. Anderson gets in a cheap shot from behind though and Dusty gets caught in Windham’s claw. Choking and clawing ensue and it’s Williams coming in to even things up. Football tackles abound and Dusty is back into it (which doesn’t make the claw look like the most devastating hold).

Flair comes in to give the Horsemen the advantage back though and it’s time to send the good guys into the cage. Dusty is busted open and you know the Horsemen know how to go after that. Luger comes in to even things up again and it’s time to clean house but Flair hits him low. The chops in the corner just wake Luger up (as always) though and he cleans house again, including the right hands in the corner to Flair.

It’s Tully Blanchard in to give the Horsemen another advantage and he finds a chair to beat on Luger and Windham. Flair and Anderson start in on Luger’s knee, followed by a DDT to plant him hard. Nikita Koloff (who should not have hair) comes in and it’s Russian Sickles a go-go.

The right hands in the corner rock Flair (he took those so well) and it’s a lot of punching until JJ Dillion is in to complete the Horsemen team. That means a barrage of eye rakes and choking but Nikita gets in in the corner and unloads with mostly reckless abandon. Arn has Luger in some kind of leglock as Ellering comes in to complete everything. Everyone brawls until JJ misses a dropkick and Dusty grabs the Figure Four for the submission at 21:07.

Rating: B. It isn’t as great as the famous one from the 4th of July but this was a house show and they probably had done half a dozen of these by this point. How much of an effort are they going to put into making this one feel special? It is still a brand new match and something that felt like a spectacle, so going with a basic punch/choke/leglock formula here worked out fine.

Overall Rating: B. This was a heck of a fun show with some rather good matches and nothing bad. Above all else, it was great to see a house show with such a hot crowd who was into anything these people were going. The talent was there and it felt like an important show. Good stuff here and I can see why this was such a hot promotion at the moment. Compare this to Wrestlemania II from a few months earlier and the difference is all the more obvious. Check this out if you get the chance.

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I love wacky tag teams.

Honky Tonk Wayne/David Schultz/Davey Boy Smith vs. Kerry Brown/Duke Myers/Mike Miller
Date: February 4, 1983
Location: Victoria Pavilion, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Commentator: Ed Whalen

From Stampede as you might have guessed and joined in progress with Smith getting slammed as the villains (I think?) taking turns beating on him. Kerry whips him hard into the corner and Myers comes in for some shots of his own. Some choking ensues and Schultz is drawn in for a failed save attempt.

Miller hits a backdrop and brings Brown back in, with Smith grabbing a quick sunset flip for two. Smith finally dropkicks his way to freedom and the hot tag brings in Schultz to clean house. Everything breaks down with Wayne getting in a few shots of his own. Smith gets low bridged to the floor and is out cold for the countout at 5:04.

Rating: D+. Nothing much to see here but Smith looking young is always hard to fathom. The match itself just came and went with the three villains being about as interchangeable as you could imagine. Wayne would figure out his character in a few more years, but who in the world thought he would make a good face?

Post match Wayne and Schultz don’t have time to worry about Smith. They’ll team with Bret Hart against the same trio next week. That’s cool with Wayne, who had six eggs for breakfast and has six old ladies so a six man tag works well for him. Yeah he would get better with time.