Supercard of Honor VIII
Date: April 4, 2014
Location: Alario Center, Westwego, Louisiana
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, Steve Corino

I’m not the biggest ROH fan in the world but I was in New Orleans for Wrestlemania weekend and saw ROH was having a pay per view the night I got into town. The general admission ticket was cheap so I grabbed a seat and took in my first Ring of Honor show ever. I didn’t know a lot of the people on the card so it’s going to be interesting to hear the commentary to fill in some details. The main event is Adam Cole defending the World Title against Jay Briscoe in Ladder War V, which is their version of a TLC match. Let’s get to it.

The opening video shows last year’s Supercard of Honor where Jay Briscoe won the title in the first place. He was injured last summer and had to vacate the title, but held onto the belt and said he was never defeated for the title. Therefore, there are two titles but only Adam Cole is champion, setting up the main event tonight. The idea here is Briscoe is nuts but Cole is classy. Adam gives off a Bobby Roode vibe in his promos.

We start with a YES chant as the announcers run down the card.

Cedric Alexander vs. Roderick Strong

Strong is part of the Decade (Strong, Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer with their assistant Adam Page), which represents the old days of ROH and doesn’t like a lot of the disrespectful young punks around anymore. They threw Cedric’s bag out of the locker room to show their displeasure after Cedric used Strong’s backbreaker. The Decade also has their Young Boy Adam Page here to towel them off and hand them water, which isn’t the worst gimmick in the world.

They trade wristlocks to start with Strong getting the better of it until Cedric quickly flips out of it and sends Roderick into the corner. The Decade is quickly on the apron to check on Strong as the match slows down already. A dropkick puts Strong down though and he’s bleeding from the hand. Alexander goes to the corner but gets tripped up, sending the back of his head into the top turnbuckle to give Strong control.

Adam Page runs back down to the ring with a bandage for Strong as he hits a backbreaker for two on Cedric. We stop to get the thumb taped up which I thought was putting on a foreign object live. Some knees to the back are good for two and we hit a rear waistlock. Back up and Roderick misses a dropkick as the announcers talk about RD Evans’ streak. Strong loses the tape off his hand and gets caught with a slingshot DDT for two.

A half nelson facebuster gets the same but he gets caught by a running knee to the ribs and an Angle Slam for two. Some running knees in the corner look to set up a Rock Bottom but Cedric crucifixes him down for two. Strong comes right back with a backbreaker for two more and they chop it out. A running knee to Cedric’s face sets up a fireman’s carry into a double knee gutbuster for a VERY close two and the fans think this is awesome. That’s a stretch at this point.

Alexander comes back with a spinning kick to the face out of the corner (remember that for later) but has to go after Adam Page. A fireman’s carry into another kick to the head drops Strong and another kick knocks Jimmy Jacobs to the floor as well. Cedric dives onto the Decade but springboards into a dropkick which mostly misses. Strong lifts him into the air for a suplex but drops him onto his knees (ankles but whatever) for the pin.

Rating: C+. The match was going well but the camera showing the misses at the end really brought it down for me. You could see that the dropkick missed live but the cameras made the finish look a lot worse. Still though, I liked the idea they were going for here and it was a fast paced opener which got the crowd going.

Post match Jimmy Jacobs agrees that that was wrestling (another stretch) and says you can learn exactly what NOT to do by watching Cedric Alexander. You can learn how to get started in this company by watching Adam Page however. Alexander almost comes back into the ring but Jacobs orders him out of their building. Jacobs advises Adrenaline Rush and Andrew Everett to take a lesson from Alexander in what NOT to do.

Decade vs. Adrenaline Rush/Andrew Everett

This is a scramble match, which I believe means lucha rules, meaning that if you leave the ring, it’s as good as a tag. Adrenaline Rush is ACH and Tadarius Thomas. Steve Corino says ROH popularized this kind of match, which is just flat out wrong as WCW was having these almost weekly back in their heyday. ACH makes sure to get as many handshakes as he can get when the Decade won’t give him one. Jacobs pulls out his spike to go after ACH but the referee won’t let it happen.

ACH wants to start with Jacobs but Jimmy tags in Page after swearing a bit. They start fast with ACH nailing some fast armdrags into a nipup for a standoff. Off to the powerful BJ Whitmer who knocks ACH into the corner. Some dropkicks have little effect on BJ so ACH actually points into the air to distract him before dropkicking the knee out. Whitmer bails to the floor, allowing Jacobs to come in and knocks ACH to the floor.

Thomas comes in for a rollup to Jimmy followed by Richie Steamboat’s Sling Blade. The high flier Everett comes in and speeds things up with a moonsault over Jacobs followed by a big dropkick. Two backflips set up a hurricanrana to Whitmer but BJ pulls Andrew to the floor. Thomas hammers on Jacobs but charges into the corner and moonsaults down onto Whitmer and Page. Jacobs sends ACH to the apron where BJ pulls him onto his shoulders, setting up a Jimmy spear through the ropes to crush ACH. Cool spot. I’m sorry for all the play by play here but we’re in total spot fest mode.

Back in and ACH gets beaten up as Corino says one of the photographers looks like he’s from Jamaican. Kelly: “HE’S FROM ARKANSAS!” The guy they’re talking about was all over ringside and did more than any crew member I’ve ever seen. The Decade triple teams ACH to give Page a two count followed by a chinlock. A nice spinwheel kick gets the same on ACH and it’s back to BJ for some kicks in the face. ACH comes back with a running clothesline to send BJ onto the floor, setting up a HUGE flip dive to take him down again.

That allows Thomas to come in legally and kick Jacobs in the face (that’s at least two tonight) for two before throwing him down with a suplex. Page comes in for a fireman’s carry backbreaker but Everett comes in as Thomas rolls to the floor. Everett charges too fast into the corner and slips onto the ropes, and we get something I really liked: Page is right on him. Instead of waiting around like an idiot for Everett to get back into position, Page goes over and starts pounding on a fallen opponent, like a wrestler should be doing. It MAKES SENSE for him to be doing that but you hardly ever see that in WWE.

Anyway Andrew comes out of the corner with a nice moonsault press and Page rolls to the floor. BJ comes in but gets caught by a springboard kick to the face (you may be noticing a pattern here). Everett hits a gorgeous springboard shooting star to take out Jacobs and Page followed by a springboard shooting star press for two on Whitmer. A big backdrop sends Everett over the top and to the floor, followed by a wicked clothesline to Thomas. The All Seeing Eye (gutwrench mat slam from Whitmer with a sliding neckbreaker from Jacobs. I’ve seen that somewhere before and I think it was in TNA) is good for the pin on Tadarius.

Rating: C. Total spot fest here and there’s nothing wrong with that. ACH looked polished out there and I can see why he was given a WWE tryout a few months back. That being said, the opening two matches should have been combined into one or had the opener cut. The show starts to drag at the end and neither of these matches really did much differently from the other.

Jacobs gets his spike post match and goes after Thomas until an injured ACH makes the save.

We recap Truth Martini vs. Matt Taven. Martini is a heel manager who led Taven to the TV Title, but after losing the belt they parted ways with Taven firing Truth. Tonight Martini is back with a mystery wrestler to take care of Taven.

Martini says he’s alone tonight but that doesn’t bother him. He won’t be alone for long and promises a big surprise.

Matt Taven vs. ???

Martini comes out alone and says Taven is nothing without him. He calls Kevin Kelly into the ring (Corino: “YOU’RE THE MYSTERY GUY???”) as he reads the end of the Book of Truth. Matt says no one wants to see this and opens the book, only to get kicked low by Martini. Truth says surprise and walks out. No match.

Silas Young vs. RD Evans

Time for a comedy match! Evans is back and on a made up win streak but it’s played totally for laughs. He called himself a real man and that’s not cool with Wrestling’s Last Real Man in Silas Young. However, the interesting part here is Evans’ manager Veda Scott, who is absolutely GORGEOUS. I had heard her name before but I had never seen her in person. She’s a redhead with a kind of sexy nerd thing going on here in a short green skirt. Evans’ other dude Ramon comes out with an 82-0 sign which will come into play later.

Evans kicks Young in the face to start but gets driven hard into the corner to give Silas control. We get a Flair Flip in the corner but Scott trips Silas up for two. Young chases her around the ring but she SPRINTS away and loses her shoes in the process. Ramon offers a distraction and Evans takes over. Scott jumps in on commentary as Evans is slammed off the top. Apparently she’s an attorney along with Evans who is a wrestler on the side. I’ve heard worse gimmicks.

Young puts on a bodyscissors as the announcers talk about Evans winning a match in what sounded like Romania. Back up and a dropkick nails Evans but Young runs into a boot in the corner. A top rope shoulder block puts Young down again and a powerslam gets two. Evans misses a top rope splash though and a backbreaker into a lariat is good for a near fall on RD. Fans: “YOU CAN’T BEAT HIM!”

They head to the apron where Young can’t hit a German suplex to the floor but does hit an electric chair drop onto the apron. Evans DIVES back in at 19 (ROH goes to 20, which I forgot until the referee got to 11) and gets a near fall off a small package. Scott gets on the apron for a distraction as Ramon gets on the apron.

Silas takes the belt and claps his hands before grabbing his back. It’s not enough for the DQ so Evans gets a VERY close near fall off a rollup. The referee takes a belt shot to the head and goes down as Evans hits a running neckbreaker. Young gets up and hits a rolling fireman’s carry into a slingshot moonsault for the pin by another referee to break the streak.

BUT WAIT! The original referee says Young hit him in the head so THAT’S A DQ AND THE STREAK LIVES! Ramon sprints to the back and comes back with an 83-0 sign as Scott goes nuts.

Rating: C. This was so over the top and completely goofy but I totally loved it. There’s something awesome about a character that is played totally for laughs like this and Veda Scott made it all the better. The fact that the skirt was barely there helped a lot but she’s also hilarious on commentary. I dug this one a lot and the fans did too.

Mike Bennett and Maria promise to make Mark Briscoe feel pain tonight. He promises a new submission to put Chicken Briscoe down.

Mark Briscoe is all fired up and sounds completely insane, talking about a shark and a female dog being in a jungle before tearing Bennett’s face off like a gorilla.

Mike Bennett vs. Mark Briscoe

No DQ. Maria is with Mike here and somehow blows Veda Scott away by wearing basically a bikini. Briscoe takes him down with a flip dive off the apron to get things going. Maria rants at the commentary table about how she didn’t want Mike to do this in the first place. Back in and a hard clothesline drops Bennett again but he comes back by whipping Mark into the barricade.

They head into the crowd with Briscoe backdropping him onto the stands and landing a big dive off a railing. Back to ringside where Bennett is able to pelt a chair at Mark’s head a few times to take over. Inside again with a low blow with a chair before Bennett wedges the chair in the corner. In a funny bit he sings Edge’s theme song but misses a charge into the chair, knocking him back to the floor. Mark hits a running elbow off the apron for two and they fight up to the entrance.

The fans and announcers say they can’t see anything as Briscoe is knocked off the stags and through a table as the cameraman goes down. They head back to the ring with Maria acting as a shield for Bennett. To his credit he shoves her out of the way to take the kendo stick shots for her. Maria gets in a cheap shot from the floor and a Side Effect onto a chair sets up a series of chair shots to the back. Bennett Pillmanizes the neck (it’s not a Conchairto if it’s wrapped around a body part people) and puts on an Anaconda Vice for the easy win.

Rating: C. This was a wild brawl which made sense given the story they were telling here. That was quite the ending spot with the Pillmanizing and it was nice to see the match again as I spent most of the first viewing staring at Maria. Seriously, she’s just hard to take your eyes off at any time but barely dressed makes it even better. She’s also great at messing with the crowd as she stands there in terror when Bennett is in trouble but then poses and shakes her hips when Mike wins.

Matt Taven is looking for Truth Martini and gets beaten down in the bathroom by Truth’s new guy who we don’t see. This didn’t air for the live crowd.

Intermission, during which Nigel McGuinness was working the merchandise stand. This ran about twenty minutes but they cut it out here for obvious reasons.

Speaking of Nigel, he replaced Corino on commentary for the second half of the show.

A small guy named Cheeseburger is in the ring and asks who wants free t-shirts. He’s interrupted by Matt Hardy who tells Cheeseburger to get out of the ring before something bad happens to him. Matt says he’s back in Ring of Honor and it’s on to its biggest year ever. ROH’s ratings, attendance and merchandising are setting records and it’s all because Matt Hardy is here again. He’s giving ROH the rub and has picked Adam Cole as the Holy Spirit of Wrestling.

Matt says the internet smark fans just don’t get it. Cole and himself are like the Holy Trinity you hear about in church because they’re one in the same. Hardy: “Go ahead and boo. It’s just part of my $15,000 payday.” Matt says he and Cole run this company along with Michael Bennett and Maria Kanellis instead of the fans or announcers. Tonight Cole will cement himself as the greatest ROH World Champion in history, including CM Punk. Cheeseburger gets in the ring like an idiot and takes a Twist of Fate. “You’re not on my menu anymore.” The heat was great, but this didn’t need nine minutes.

Forever Hooligans vs. ReDragon vs. Hanson/Raymond Rowe

The Hooligans are Alex Kozlov (fake Russian but a small guy) and Rocky Romero. ReDragon is Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. Fish is very energetic and tries to fire Kyle up before we get things going. Hanson and Rowe are two big power guys that you don’t often see in ROH. The winner of this gets a Tag Team Title match against the Young Bucks at some point in the future.

Rowe and O’Reilly get things going by circling each other for a bit. Kyle knocks Hanson to the floor but makes the mistake of heading outside for a breather. Hanson plants him with a slam so it’s off to Fish who walks into an overhead belly to belly. Hanson gets the tag and nails a clothesline to the back of the head for two. Bobby heads outside again and we get a chase, resulting in Fish sliding back in and tagging out to Romero.

Two fingers to the eyes slow Hanson down and a hurricanrana puts him on the mat. Off to Kozlov for some double teaming, including a springboard cross body for two. O’Reilly tags Hanson after the big man drops Alex with a clothesline but Romero gets in a cheap shot from the apron to give the Hooligans control. Now we get to the stupid comedy portion of the match with Kozlov putting on one of those Russian hats and hitting some dancing kicks to the head. Thankfully it doesn’t last long.

Romero starts firing off running clotheslines to Kyle in the corner and won’t let Alex hit one of his own. They nearly come to blows but hug it out to a big reaction. Rowe comes in to blame Romero with something resembling a release Rock Bottom but Fish tags himself in to work over Rocky. ReDragon hits a backbreaker/middle rope knee combo for two on Romero before things settle back down.

Kyle works over Rocky’s arm before it’s back to Fish for some shots of his own. Kyle comes in again for a hammerlock slam and a chinlock but Rocky fights back with a spinning kick to the face. Alex gets the tag and hits a springboard cross body on Kyle, despite Rowe clearly touching O’Reilly’s back in plain view of the referee. Kozlov nails a bunch of kicks to the head and takes out most of the people in the match with a big flip dive.

A springboard missile dropkick gets two on Kyle but Hanson comes in and cleans house. Everything breaks down even more and everyone is knocked to the mat or floor. Kozlov and O’Reilly are the only ones left in the ring and they slug it out until Rowe trips Kyle to the floor. Rowe is driven into the barricade by Kyle and hit with a running dropkick off the apron from Fish. Hanson catches a diving Fish in a powerslam but Kozlov sends him to the floor. Alex hits a shooting star for two but Fish makes the save. Forever Hooligans loads up some kind of a double team move on Fish but he slips off Alex’s back and gets a rollup for the pin.

Rating: B-. This was an insane tag match but it went on a bit too long. It was entertaining enough but I would have gone with the title match here instead of the #1 contenders match. Still though, this was another fun spot fest with some power added in to balance things out in a nice addition.

Replays show that Fish had a handful of trunks.

We recap Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jay Lethal which started about two years ago when Ciampa injured his knee in a match against Lethal and was put out for a year. Lethal has had Ciampa beaten twice but various issues has cost him the TV Title. Tonight it’s 2/3 falls again.

TV Title: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jay Lethal

Ciampa is defending and this is 2/3 falls. This is where the fans were getting restless as you could see a lot of them looking at their phones and the chants started to die a bit. Ciampa takes off his knee brace for the first time since his injury in a symbolic move. Feeling out process to start as they trade headlocks and rollups for two each. A hiptoss puts the champion down and Lethal cartwheels over to a standoff.

They chop it out in the corner but Lethal misses a springboard dropkick. Jay kicks him into the barricade and nails a suicide dive followed by a second one for good measure. A third puts Ciampa into the crowd and the fans chant for ROH. Why they don’t chant for Lethal is beyond me, but it’s happened since the ECW days. Lethal is whipped into the barricade and Ciampa hits a running knee so fast that he falls right back into the crowd. The referee restarts the count for no apparent reason before Ciampa throws Jay back inside.

Jay comes back with some kicks to the head and a dropkick in the corner for two until Ciampa bites Jay’s hand to escape. Lethal tries a Tajiri handspring elbow but gets caught in what was supposed to be a Backstabber. They fight over a suplex until they both go over the top in a big crash. Neither guy gets the better of a slugout and they both slide back inside at the 19 count, which didn’t please the fans in my section. Another Tajiri handspring is countered but Lethal grabs a German suplex for the pin and the first fall.

There’s no rest period so gets in a quick shot to the head and they trade near falls. Lethal Combination (backbreaker into a Downward Spiral) sets up a Koji Clutch on the champion but he counters into a Rings of Saturn Crossface. Jay gets his feet into the ropes though and it’s time for another slugout. Again neither guy can get the better of it so Jay tries another Tajiri handspring but gets caught in a Diamond Cutter, which apparently is the finish to the handspring.

Lethal busts out Ciampa’s finisher (powerbomb into double knees to the back) for two but ANOTHER Tajiri handspring hits the referee. Ciampa rolls some Germans and hits a discus lariat to put both guys down. This brings out Truth Martini who throws Jay the knee brace. He nails Ciampa in the face for two before nailing the top rope elbow, only to have Ciampa Hulk Up. Some superkicks have no effect but Lethal FINALLY hits the handspring into the cutter for the pin and the title.

Rating: C-. This was longer than it needed to be as the second fall could have been cut out to the same result. The ending really didn’t work for me either as Lethal knocked Ciampa out but they did another minute or so, making the entire knee brace thing seem completely worthless. Just too long here, but I’ve never been a Jay Lethal fan in the first place.

Post match Lethal says there’s a new house in New Orleans and it’s the House of Truth.

Michael Elgin vs. Kevin Steen

Winner gets an IWGP Title shot at Global Wars in May. Elgin is one of the few ROH guys I really like but Steen is pretty much the top star in ROH. Steen immediately tries the Package Piledriver but Elgin fights out, only to get caught by a Cannonball in the corner for two. You can tell this is going to be a power brawl. They head to the floor with Elgin being thrown into the barricade which is knocked into the crowd.

Michael is sent into the barricade again around the ring as the fans chant OVER HERE. Elgin reverses and “hits” a running big boot to the….chest I think? Steen teases getting back in but would rather load up a piledriver on the floor. Thankfully Elgin backdrops him down to prevent the whole broken neck thing and lands a delayed vertical suplex on the floor. They head back inside but Elgin’s sunset flip attempt is countered by some running knees to the head for two.

A senton backsplash gets two on Michael but he muscles Steen up into a German suplex to put both guys down. The Sharpshooter from Steen is quickly countered into a suplex for two but Steen misses a moonsault into a flip to give Steen a breather. A knee to the back of Elgin’s head gets two but a second Cannonball is countered into a powerbomb. Steen comes right back with the F-Cinc (French for 5) for another two count.

Elgin wins a slugout and Steen almost falls out to the floor. Michael tries the Cesaro superplex but Kevin headbutts him down, only to get enziguried (again with the head kicks!) to the floor. Kevin powerbombs him onto the apron but Elgin gets up and powerbombs him against the post. That’s only good for two as well so Michael tombstones him down for another near fall. They slug it out until Steen throws him into the air for a powerbomb and gets two off the Package Piledriver.

Steen is STUNNED and takes too long going up top, allowing Elgin to block a Cannonball with knees. A sitout powerbomb gets Elgin another near fall so he loads up a superplex. Steen fights back AGAIN and hits a top rope brainbuster. The kickout shocks everyone again but Elgin is able to counter a Package Piledriver into a triple bomb. Another powerbomb and a lariat set up a buckle bomb on Steen, followed by a Package Piledriver to FINALLY pin Steen.

Rating: B+. This is the kind of match the show was needing for awhile now. It’s totally different from the rest of the show and that was the big problem. The show had become repetitive so mixing things up like this made a good match feel like a very good match. Elgin gets a big win as well which can only help him.

Steen takes awhile to get up and receives a THANK YOU BOTH chant.

The main event took awhile to set up so a bit was cut out here.

ROH World Title: Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Cole

Cole is defending. There are two belts above the ring and three ladders at ringside, first person to pull down the belts wins. Corino is on commentary as well. Jay wins a fight to start and nails a quick backdrop to stagger the champion. He heads outside but comes up with a chair to the head to stop a suicide dive. Back inside and the chair bounces off Briscoe’s head before Adam slams him down onto the steel.

An AA breaks the chair and it’s time for the smallest ladder, only to have Jay baseball slide it into Cole’s face. Some more chair shots put Cole down before Jay pelts the chair at his head to even the score. Adam comes back with a suplex onto the ladder and Briscoe’s head is busted open BAD. The first attempt at the belts is easily cut off as the referee brings in a towel to wipe Jay’s face. He refuses the help of course and brings in the medium sized ladder.

Cole is sent up the ramp but Jay goes after him instead of climbing for the titles. There’s another LOUD chair shot to Cole’s head and Jay bridges the small ladder between two chairs. A big splash knocks Cole off the ladder and now it’s time to climb. Scratch that actually as Jay shoves the medium ladder over and gets a table. Cole is able to get off before Jay can dive off the big ladder though and Adam gets in another cheap shot to take over.

The big ladder is laid against the ropes but both guys head back inside. Briscoe is knocked down by a hard clothesline and the small ladder is thrown into the ring again. Jay pops right back up though and powerbombs Adam onto the small ladder in the corner. Adam fights off a superplex through the ladder (fans: “PLEASE DON’T DIE!”) and superkicks Jay onto it instead for a HUGE crash.

Adam climbs the medium ladder but Jay is right back up and throwing Cole through the small ladder in the corner, badly bending it in the process. Briscoe is now bleeding from the back as well but is still able to put the champion down with a neckbreaker. Jay sets up another ladder bridge but the ladder is badly broken so it collapses as soon as Adam lays down on it. That’s fine with Jay as he tries a splash onto the mostly broken ladder but Cole moves, sending Jay crashing down.

The medium ladder is set up in the middle of the ring but Jay pelts another chair off the champion’s head to put him back down. They both climb up to fight on top but Jay knocks him off for a big crash. Cole is able to talk enough trash from the mat though that Jay drops down and hits the Jay Driller piledriver. He still won’t climb though and loads up a Conchairto onto the ladder, only to have Matt Hardy run in and hit a Twist of Fate to Jay on the floor.

Matt helps Cole climb but Mark Briscoe runs out, completely crippling a lot of the momentum this show had going for it. His neck was Pillmanized but here he is an hour and a half later? I don’t care how tough he is. Mark Briscoe shouldn’t be seen for AT LEAST two months after a spot like that. He puts Matt on the table but Mike Bennett comes out to shove the ladder over, sending Mark through the table.

Jay and Cole are alone in the ring and the Jay Driller puts Cole down again. A Jay Driller puts Bennett down as well and there’s a third to take out Matt Hardy. Cole and Jay climb at the same time but the champion wins a slugout and shoves him down. Jay tries one last climb but Cole pulls down the belts to retain.

Rating: B. This was a solid fight but the Mark Briscoe stuff really took me out of things. To be fair though I got to look at Maria a bit more when she came down with Bennett so I can’t complain too much. Jay looked like a soldier out there which is the right idea and Cole holding onto the title is the right choice at the end of the day. Good stuff here.

The heels pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a show where the parts don’t add up to the final total. As mentioned, the show just went on forever and it really started to drag around the TV Title match. It’s certainly entertaining and the last two matches brought things back up, but it didn’t really fire me up and make me want to see more ROH.

At the end of the day, it’s about the same take on ROH that I’ve always had: there’s good stuff here, but it’s not enough to make me want to keep coming back. Thankfully they cut WAY down on the no selling stuff (Mark Briscoe aside) but unfortunately they cranked up on the repetitive moves. From Jay Lethal trying Lethal Injection four times to seemingly EVERYONE using a spin kick to the head, I felt like I saw the same match several times tonight. If ROH was near me again and relatively cheap I’d go, but it’s not something I’m going out of my way to see.

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They show what was generally thought: heart disease with NO alcohol or drugs found in his system.  I’m sure Nancy Grace will have a two hour special screaming about why they’re not looking for needles in Warrior’s home tonight on the “news”.

Today we’re looking at one of the guys that belongs in the Hall of Fame: Michael Hayes.

Michael Hayes is of course most commonly known as part of a trio known as the Fabulous Freebirds. He was the unofficial leader of the team which was also comprised of Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts. Their greatest feud, and one of the best feuds of all time, was against the Von Erichs.

The feud started when David Von Erich was challenging Ric Flair for the NWA World Title and Hayes tried to help David win. David didn’t want it like that and turned the help down, so Hayes slammed the cage door on David’s head, eventually giving Flair the win. The groups feuded for the better part of ten years, including this match at the David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions in 1984.

Six Man Tag Titles: Freebirds vs. Von Erichs

Kevin, Mike and Fritz here. The Birds are the champions and the titles are represented by a big trophy instead of belts. Mike is one of the saddest stories you’ll ever hear: He wasn’t a good wrestler in the first place and then he was injured. The injury resulted in toxic shock syndrome, which resulted in brain damage. His dad, Fritz, made him get back in the ring anyway. He committed suicide later in the 80s.

This is anything goes. Fritz is in a dress shirt and jeans. Everything breaks down quickly and chairs are thrown in. The referee says anything goes but you have to tag. Ok then. Kevin is bleeding from the big brawl. Ok so it’s officially Buddy Roberts vs. Kevin to start. Kevin beats him down and it’s a brawl in less than 10 seconds with everyone coming in. Off to Mike who goes straight for the leg.

Mike is a very small man. Hayes comes in and stomps away as the fans HATE him. A middle rope splash misses and here’s old man Fritz. Everything breaks down again and Fritz whips Hayes’ back with a belt. Kevin vs. the monster known as Terry Gordy. Gordy starts his boxing and the fans are erupting more and more every second now. If the Von Erichs win, Kerry gets Fritz’s title since Fritz is retired. I’m glad they cleared that up.

Kevin tries the Iron Claw but Gordy fights it off at the five minute mark. Hayes comes in and the fans are louder in this match than they’ve been in the whole show so far. Hayes takes off his boot to get in some shots and it’s off to Roberts. In one of the oddest moves you’ll ever seen, Roberts thrusts his hips forward so his belt buckle hits Kevin in the head. Fritz comes in and everything breaks down. Claw to Hayes and to Roberts at the same time. Hayes is busted bad. Various people are rammed into each other until Kevin comes off the top with a cross body to pin Roberts for the title.

Rating: C. This was the first decent match of the entire show. Granted a lot of that was probably due to the crowd finally being interested. This was without a doubt the feud that defines the promotion so you knew they were going to have something going on here. Not a bad match, but the rematch in July won Match of the Year from Meltzer, so check that out instead since it had Kerry so Fritz didn’t look so out of place.

Soon after this the Freebirds would move on to the WWF, where they had ONE match as a team. From August 25, 1984 in MSG.

Fabulous Freebirds vs. Butcher Vachon/Ron Shaw/Pete Doherty

Now here’s a rarity for you. This is 2/3 falls and to the best of my knowledge, this is the ONLY match for the Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy) in the WWF. The Birds are good guys here and it’s Hayes vs. Vachon to start things off. Feeling out process to start with Hayes avoiding a shot in the corner before it’s off to Shaw. Hayes puts on a headlock and kicks Shaw in the face for good measure. Off to Roberts who pounds away on Shaw for a bit as we seem to be in squash territory.

Gordy comes in for a one arm slam before it’s off to Doherty. Back to Roberts who chases Doherty into the corner for a tag to Vachon. A slam puts Butcher down and here’s Hayes again, only to have him miss an elbow drop. The unnamed team pounds on Hayes in the corner but Gordy comes in for a save. Michael slides through the legs and tags in Gordy for a cross body to pin Vachon for the first fall.

After a break we start the second fall with Gordy locking up with Vachon. A few slams put Butcher down and it’s off to Shaw again. This goes about as well as you would expect for a jobber against a team the company is trying to get over as Buddy snaps Ron’s neck over the top rope. Doherty comes in and starts some triple teaming on Buddy which goes nowhere so here’s Hayes again to pound away. Doherty misses a legdrop and everything breaks down. Gordy gets all fired up and Doherty is backdropped down. An elbow from Roberts gets the pin.

Rating: D. I’m getting tired of writing that but it’s another uninteresting match which just kept going. The Birds would be back to likely Texas soon after this as the WWF wanted to split them up. To be fair, a three man team was only going to be able to do so much in the WWF, so the Freebirds weren’t the best fit around here.

It was soon off to the AWA for a big feud with the Road Warriors, including the Birds challenging them for the World Tag Team Titles at Superclash 1985.

AWA Tag Titles: Freebirds vs. Road Warriors

The Warriors are defending. This is Hayes/Gordy and they have their faces painted with the Confederate Flag. The champs clear the ring before the bell and are mad over because this is in Chicago. Hawk and Gordy start as Hayes walks around the field with people yelling at him. Hawk pounds on Terry so Terry heads off to bring in Hayes. Off to Animal as the Birds stall. Ok it’s Animal vs. Gordy.

The squashing continues with the Warriors taking their shots at Gordy. Michael comes back in again and gets pounded so much he crawls back to Gordy for a tag. Terry is like uh….not right now. Gordy finally wakes up and goes after the eyes before dodging a charging Hawk to send his shoulder into the post. Hayes comes back in and hits a side suplex for two. Piledriver by Gordy mostly works but Hawk doesn’t feel like selling that much.

Hayes goes up but Hawk slams him off the top but manages to tag before Hawk can. That’s kind of impressive. Gordy and Hawk collide but there’s the hot one to Animal. Hayes stays on the apron as Animal destroys Gordy, getting two off a powerslam. Everything breaks down and even Roberts and Ellering come in. Ellering gets dropped with a chair and Gordy accidentally pops Hayes. Powerslam to Hayes by Animal and a shoulder to Gordy looks to finish but Hayes comes off the middle rope with something around his hand to knock Animal out for the pin and the titles! The place is stunned.

Rating: D+. This one didn’t quite work either. The whole match was a mess and the ending was hard to follow due to everything going all nuts. The Warriors were still in the period where they would do nothing but run people over, which ran for about the next six or eight years. Bad match for the most part, but you know what’s coming.

Verne Gagne comes out and says hold on a minute. He reverses the decision and the Warriors get the titles back.

A rematch from WrestleRock 1986 but with no titles on the line.

Road Warriors vs. Freebirds

 

Thank goodness this is the last match. This actually took place before the other tag two cage matches, but Verne had to go on last on the real card. The tape version makes him seem more humble at least. This is Hayes/Garvin. Hawk and Hayes get things going. Hayes immediately hits a piledriver which is of course no sold. Let the pain begin. Hayes goes into the cage a few times and he’s busted quickly.

 

Gorilla press to Hayes and Hawk drops a right hand. Garvin runs away from a tag so Hayes tries to climb out. Hawk goes up top as well and Michael is knocked to the floor. Garvin finally gets the tag and he’s tentative at best. Why no Animal yet? Oh there he is, for a TEN REP gorilla press. Now Hayes runs from the tag.

 

And never mind as he comes in a few seconds alter. Hayes gets in a few shots but Hawk runs him over quickly. He bites the cut on Hayes’ head because Hawk is a little nuts. Garvin comes in to pound on him and it’s back to Hayes for a figure four. Hawk easily breaks it and it’s back to Garvin, whose offense is shrugged off. Not hot tag to Animal and everything breaks down. Hayes pulls out some brass knuckles but he hits Garvin by mistake so Animal gets the easy pin.

 

Rating: D. According to the announcer that gives the Warriors revenge for something, but again it’s not important enough to tell us about. This was about as dominant of a match as you can see without it being a squash. The Birds never had a chance but they were against the Road Warriors so that shouldn’t be a shock. The Warriors left the AWA after this match.

Around this time it was clear that the WWF was destroying every company in sight, so the rest of the organizations banded together to fight back. This resulted in a lot of super shows, such as SuperClash III, an AWA show with CWA and WCCW talent. Hayes teamed up with a guy named Steve Cox to challenge the Samoan Swat Team for the WCCW World Tag Team Titles.

WCCW Tag Titles: Samoan Swat Team vs. Michael Hayes/Steve Cox

The Samoans are Samu and Fatu with Buddy Roberts as the Freebirds are split up for awhile here. Cox is a no name and this is all WCCW. Cox and Hayes are the only team to beat the Samoans ever and they’ve traded the titles for the last few months. Cox’s nickname is Do It To It. The 80s were a weird time to say the least. The rows of empty seats are kind of funny.

Hayes and Fatu start us off and Marshall can’t tell them apart either. Oh ok he called him Fatu. That helps some. Cox and Hayes work on the arm and it’s so weird to see Hayes as a face. Fatu misses a cross body and it’s back to the arm. Off to Samu as Hayes plays cheerleader. Heel miscommunication sends Fatu to the floor. Cox goes after him and eats table, shifting the momentum.

Big brawl breaks out and Roberts is able to get in a shot to Cox before sending him back inside. Samu slams him face first and the beating continues. Fatu (Rikishi) comes in off the top and Cox plays Ricky Morton for awhile. There’s a hot shot to Cox but a double clothesline puts both guys down. Hot tag to Hayes and everything breaks down. Cox and Fatu go to the floor as Hayes gets the DDT. Roberts comes in and drills Hayes though and Samu steals the pin to retain.

Rating: B-. Pretty good tag match here but it’s the late 80s so did you expect anything else? The SST would never lose the titles but would just leave the company, heading to the NWA again. Cox is a total no name and Hayes would be back in the NWA soon after this also I believe. Not bad here and a nice little surprise.

We’ll actually look at a singles match now with Hayes challenging US Champion Lex Luger at Wrestlewar 1989.

US Title: Lex Luger vs. Michael Hayes

This would be like Cena vs. Miz two years ago. Hayes is the career tag team guy that says he can do it without help. Luger is the hottest thing in the world not named Sting. Both guys in blue here which is kind of a weird look. Hayes stalls a lot to open the match as he tries to frustrate Lex. Hayes was Luger’s partner for no apparent reason and then turned on him because he’s a natural heel.

Teddy Long is here again for no adequately explained reason. Hayes gets slapped and stalls again. He comes back in, gets slammed and hits the floor again. Five minutes gone and Hayes has stalled more than a broken down truck. Hiro Matsuda, a big time heel manager, is here too. Luger works on the arm to take away the DDT which makes sense.

The idea here is Hayes does basic stuff, it doesn’t work, Luger pounds on him for a bit, Hayes stalls and cheats then we start again. Ten minutes in and Hayes has a chinlock. Hayes gets in a nice left hand and a bulldog for two. Matsuda sends Luger into the railing as Luger is in trouble. Bulldog is blocked by Luger and the crowd pops big.

Luger goes nuts again with a bunch of slams and clotheslines. The Rack is reversed though and Hayes gets the DDT to shock the crowd. No cover though so we slug it out. They hit heads and the referee goes down. One of the Freebirds comes down and puts Hayes on Luger and shoves Luger’s foot off the ropes to allow Hayes to win the title as the crowd is SILENT. This was legitimately a shock, up there with Sheamus beating Cena for the title at TLC.

Rating: D+. The match sucked but the ending brings it up a good bit. This was far too long at over 16 minutes but it wasn’t completely worthless. Luger would get the title back in just over two weeks and hold it for about a year and a half so it’s not like this meant anything long term. Pretty weak match but the ending helped it a lot.

It was quickly back to the tag team ranks under the Freebirds name, though this time Hayes teamed up with Jimmy Garvin in the World Tag Team Title tournament. Here are the semi-finals from Clash of the Champions VII.

World Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: Dynamic Dudes vs. Freebirds

 

The Dudes are Johnny (John Laurinitis) and Shane (Shane Douglas), a couple of guys that ride skateboards. The Freebirds are Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin, the latter of whom is a replacement for Terry Gordy (in the corner tonight) who wanted to be a singles wrestler again. Garvin has been affiliated with the team for years but never officially joined them. Johnny and Shane beat Rip Morgan and Jack Victory in the first round while the Freebirds beat the Road Warriors. One more note: it’s roughly 100 degrees in the building as there are about 1000 people there and there was no air conditioning.

 

The Freebirds try to get in a cheap shot to start but walk into a pair of suplexes, sending them outside. Johnny and Michael get things going with Hayes quickly being taken down by an armdrag. Garvin comes in and gets the same treatment before the shorter Dude comes in for a wristlock of his own. A double elbow drop has Garvin in even more trouble Michael and Shane come back in with Hayes getting caught in a sunset flip for two. Back to Johnny who misses a cross body and crashes to the mat, allowing Jimmy to come back in and stomp away.

 

Johnny is sent to the floor and chopped by Hayes as the fans are all over the Freebirds. Back up and the two of them ram heads, allowing for the hot tag to Shane. Hayes breaks up another sunset flip attempt and everything breaks down. A double dropkick puts Hayes on the floor but the referee gets Johnny onto the apron. Shane rolls up Garvin for two but Michael slides back in and lays Shane out for the DDT, giving Jimmy the easy pin. This was the Dudes’ first loss.

 

Rating: C. Basic match here but there’s nothing wrong with that. The new Freebirds needed a win to establish themselves as a threat for later and the Dudes were far too new to be a threat. Surprisingly enough Gordy never interfered, despite being one of the most famous cheaters in wrestling.

And the finals from later in the night.

World Tag Team Titles: Freebirds vs. Midnight Express

 

During the entrances, Dangerously comes out with a tennis racket and knocks Cornette silly. The Midnights take the racket and open the case, exposing a horseshoe and a chain inside. The Dynamic Dudes come out to carry Cornette to the back, leaving the Midnights at a 3-2 disadvantage. Hayes and Lane get things going with Stan scoring with some slams and armdrags, sending Hayes to the corner for a tag off to Garvin. Eaton comes in as well to drop an elbow on Garvin’s neck before bringing Lane back in for an enziguri.

 

A double back elbow gets two on Garvin and Jimmy is furious. The Freebirds have a meeting on the floor until Garvin comes back in for a knee to Eaton’s ribs. Bobby is thrown to the floor and Hayes pops him in the face with a right hand. Stan protects his partner from an even worse beating and get him a breather. Eaton makes it back onto the apron but gets knocked off onto the barricade to make things even worse.

 

Back inside and Garvin hooks a chinlock but Eaton fights up and sends him into the corner. Instead of trying to put up a fight, Eaton is smart enough to head right to the corner and tag in Lane who DDTs Hayes and tags Bobby back in far too soon. Everything breaks down and Lane dropkicks Hayes outside for a moment. Terry Gordy tries to interfere but gets knocked outside before Garvin takes the double flapjack for two. The referee is with Lane, allowing Gordy to come in and powerbomb Eaton, giving Garvin the pin and the titles.

 

Rating: C-. Not a terrible match here and the idea of the Midnights being off their game due to Cornette not being around made sense. This was quite the year for Hayes as he had a brief US Title reign after stealing the title from Lex Luger at WrestleWar. The Midnights weren’t having the best year but they would eventually round back into form.

The Birds wouldn’t do much in 1990 but would be back in the title hunt by Wrestlewar 1991.

World Tag Titles: Doom vs. Fabulous Freebirds

There’s a somewhat famous story to this that I’ll get to after the match is over. Before the match, DDP, the Freebirds’ manager, brings out Big Daddy Dink to be their road manager, whatever that means. Simmons and Hayes get us going and Simmons hits a quick spinebuster for two. Hayes hits a left hand for the same. Both Birds take powerslams for two. Garvin and Reed come in with Reed clotheslining his head off.

Garvin hooks a sunset flip for two and it’s back to Hayes. Reed looks a bit uninterested in the match for some reason. Garvin makes a blind tag but doesn’t jump Reed while he’s busy for some reason. A double elbow takes Garvin down and it’s back to Simmons. Boring match so far. Jimmy gets sent to the floor and hammered out there before it’s back to Reed in the ring. This is heel vs. heel for the most part so the dynamic is a bit off. Powerslam gets two on Garvin but Dink gets on the apron. Reed loads up his fist but hits Simmons by mistake, giving Garvin the pin and the titles.

Rating: F+. This was a horribly boring match. The whole idea here was that Doom is still having issues and would be broken up very soon. The Birds would be the subject of the story that I mentioned earlier which I’ll get to in a minute. The match sucked though as it was basically a squash with a screwy ending.

Post match Reed destroys Simmons with the object. Teddy leaves with Reed.

So as for the story, the Birds had actually lost the titles before they won them. At a TV taping six days prior to this, they were taped losing the titles to the Steiners, as in nearly a week before they won the belts. That was a very different time, as whole PPVs would be spoiled at TV tapings. Can you imagine that happening today?

A year later and the Freebirds had turned face. They would challenge Greg Valentine/Terry Taylor for the US Tag Team Titles at Wrestlewar 1992.

US Tag Titles: Greg Valentine/Terry Taylor vs. Freebirds

It amazes me how far tag wrestling has fallen. There are midcard tag titles here. The Freebirds are faces here and for the life of me I don’t get what was seen in Valentine and Taylor as a team. There are two rings here which is always kind of strange but it’s still cool. The Freebirds both use the DDT here so they’re looking for the quick win. Fonzie from ECW is the referee here.

Taylor and Hayes start us off and the fans more or less hate Taylor. At least they’re smart. It’s just strange seeing the Freebirds as faces. Also Greg Valentine is a champion in 1992. What’s weird about this picture? A backhand chop is a judo chop according to Jim. For those of you unsure, the Freebirds are Jimmy Garvin (no one of note really) and Michael Hayes, who is currently the head writer for Smackdown.

ALL Freebirds so far but this is a long match so there’s plenty of time left. We’re about eight minutes in and the champions haven’t been on offense longer than maybe 20 seconds yet. I could watch Valentine fall on his face every day. It’s just perfectly done. The heels take over for a bit and I emphasize the bit part since Garvin takes over again to get us to even.

Hayes gets a hot tag and cleans house. The crowd is hot tonight which gives me a good feeling about the main event. Hayes gets hit in the back of the head with the Five Arm, Terry’s finisher but it only gets two. Fans are completely behind the Freebirds. Taylor gets a gutwrench powerbomb for two on Hayes which is a move I wish we saw more often. We’re nearly fifteen minutes in and Jesse says it’s too early to go for the figure four.

Valentine works on the arm which is just weird for him but whatever. This has been a good match so I can live with that. Another hot tag to Garvin and he cleans house. Everything goes insane and Garvin gets a DDT on Taylor for the pin and the titles. Solid opener and the crowd is happy so everything worked. The titles would be retired in July so it’s not like it means much.

Rating: B. Great opener here as the crowd was way into it and the title change works well to open a show. Starting a show with a good tag match is pretty much a universally good idea and this was no exception. I’m not a fan of any of these four but this was a very solid match and has me wanting to watch more of the show, which is exactly the point of an opener.

Hayes would soon become a manager and mostly retire. He would eventually become Doc Hendrix in the WWF before managing the Hardy Boys under his own name. Hayes would wrestle a few matches around this time, including a handicap match at Fully Loaded 1999.

Tag Titles: Acolytes vs. Hardys/Michael Hayes

Yep it’s a handicap match. At this point I had zero clue which was Matt and which was Jeff. We start in the aisle where they just leave the belts. Who would have thought two of these four would win world titles? I don’t think this has started yet. According to Ross it has. Ah there’s the bell so Ross was wrong.

We have Farrooq and Jeff in there to start while Bradshaw beats up both guys on the floor. Matt takes out everyone with a top rope moonsault. They really were great fliers back in the day. Hayes is pretty freaking worthless here but what did you really expect? The APA takes over with just power. Matt picks to tag Hayes. Why in the world would you do that? We get a Freebird reference so I’m good for the night. There’s Jeff. Crowd is DEAD for this.

I think Lita helped them a good bit to say the least. The Hardys simply aren’t that good at this point. Bradshaw gets a nice belly to back suplex off the top. Not bad. Jeff clocks him with Hayes’ cane over the head. Poetry in Motion is still very much a work in progress here. Hayes comes in and a double powerbomb gives the APA their titles back. Edge, Christian and a ladder would be coming soon.

Rating: D+. I didn’t like it at all. Hayes was just in the way here as he’s old and most of the people here don’t know what he used to be nor do they care more than likely. The Hardys would dump him maybe the next night. Either way, the APA would lose the belts to Kane and X-Pac two weeks later so this was just to get Hayes out of the Hardy picture.

Michael Hayes is a guy that wasn’t all that great in the ring, but man alive could he talk. I’ve heard of several wrestlers that got into wrestling because of Michael Hayes or were huge Hayes fans, including Raven. The guy is just ridiculously charismatic and can talk with the best of them. He was a much better talker than wrestler, but that’s the key to a lot of stars over the years.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Clash of the Champions at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Today we’re looking at perhaps the greatest #2 of all time: Arn Anderson.

Arn got his start in January of 1982 in the territory system, so here’s a match from his rookie year in December of 1982. I believe this is from Mid-South.

Chavo Guerrero vs. Marty Lunde

That would be Chavo Sr. of course and Marty Lunde is Arn’s real name. Chavo quickly takes him down to the mat to start but Marty just runs him over with a shoulder. An armdrag puts him right back down though as Bill Watts compares Chavo Guerrero to Danny Hodge of all people. Marty knocks him into the ropes for two but misses a middle rope elbow. Guerrero rams into Lunde again to send him outside, setting up a huge plancha. A middle rope dropkick sets up a running flip splash for the pin for Chavo.

Rating: D+. Not a bad match here and it’s bizarre to see Anderson as either a jobber or under his real name. Chavo was a very talented guy in the ring and it’s a shame that most people haven’t seen him other than as Chavo Classic. The match was fine for a TV squash and it’s always interesting to see future stars like this.

On to Memphis for the cup of coffee that was almost required to do anything back in the day. From November 18, 1985, so before the Horsemen officially formed.

Arn Anderson/Ole Anderson/Tully Blanchard vs. Jerry Lawler/Dusty Rhodes/Magnum TA

That’s a HECK of a lineup. This is a Bunkhouse Match, meaning anything goes. It’s a brawl to start with the good guys taking over early on. They all get in the ring with Lawler just unloading on Tully in the corner. Dusty chases Arn to the floor as I can barely keep track of everything here. Magnum dropkicks Ole into the corner and we’ve got belts brought in for some whipping. The Andersons are busted open as Ole knocks Dusty into the corner and the future Horsemen take over. Dusty gets the belt back and starts whipping everyone until Jerry does the same. Rhodes goes up top for a Bionic Elbow to Ole’s head for the pin out of nowhere.

Rating: C. This was WILD and exactly what the match should have been. The people in the match makes this far more interesting than it would have been otherwise as this is an all star match in 1985. You could have easily found another upper midcard face and done an awesome match in Charlotte or Atlanta with this.

Just ten days later, Arn would team up with Ole to defend the National Tag Team Titles at Starrcade 1985.

National Tag Titles: Minnesota Wrecking Crew vs. Wahoo McDaniel/Billy Jack Haynes

 

The Crew is Ole and Arn Anderson and they’re defending. This is again the Georgia title, but at least they’re being defended in Atlanta and not Greensboro. Hayes and McDaniel are the US Tag Champions but aren’t defending here. Cowards. Haynes and Arn start things off with Arn getting shoved around by the (allegedly) much stronger Billy Jack. Off to Ole vs. Wahoo with the Indian cleaning house.

 

Arn wants nothing to do with Wahoo and backs off a tag from his cousin. He finally comes in and gets caught in a fast headlock before putting Wahoo in one of his own. The Andersons get McDaniel in their corner and let the arm work begin. As mentioned last year, if there’s one thing you can count on from an Anderson, it’s working the arm over. They take turns with their armbars and hammerlocks, including the hammerlock slam from Ole.

 

Wahoo FINALLY gets in a chop to Arn and rolls his overly large self to the corner for the tag off to Haynes and house is cleaned. It’s quickly back to Wahoo for the big chop on Arn but Ole breaks up the near fall. Wahoo fires off chops in the corner, only to have Ole trip him up and give Anderson a cheap pin, much like the finish to the Taylor vs. Landel match.

 

Rating: C-. Another not great match here but I could watch the Andersons work on someone’s arm all day. It was a pure science for them and it worked for so many years. They would soon get involved in the greatest stable of all time while Wahoo would soon retire and Haynes would bounce over to the WWF a few years later. Not much to see here but the Andersons were their usual awesome selves.

We’ll skip ahead a year for a World Tag Team Title match with the Anderson challenging the Rock N Roll Express at Starrcade 1986.

World Tag Titles: Arn Anderson/Ole Anderson vs. Rock N Roll Express

 

The Express is defending and this is inside a cage. You win by pinfall here and have to tag in and out so it’s Robert Gibson vs. Ole to start, but everything breaks down in just a few seconds. Arn winds up in there with Robert and Gibson rams his head into the cage a few times to send Arn over for a tag. Off to Ricky vs. Ole but Ole gets kicked in the face, sending it back to Arn.

 

Things slow down a bit with Arn being afraid to go after Ricky again. Morton grabs the arm and it’s off to Robert for some arm work. He misses a running knee in the corner though and Arn goes after the leg. Ole comes in to cannonball down onto the leg before it’s back to Arn. Robert kicks him into the cage to counter a figure four, but Ole breaks up the hot tag to Ricky.

 

Back to Arn again as the leg work continues. It’s odd to see the Andersons working on a leg instead of an arm but it’s a limb nonetheless. Robert FINALLY hits an enziguri for the hot tag off to Morton, but Ole immediately sends him into the cage to stop him cold. Now we get to the arm work and things instantly feel better. Arn comes in to stomp Morton down and it’s back to Ole to whip Ricky shoulder first into the corner.

 

Off to an armbar as Ricky appears to be busted open. There’s the hammerlock slam from Arn but he makes the eternal mistake of going up top. Much like Flair, Arn has almost never been able to hit his shot off the top and it’s the same here. Morton punches him on the way down but Ole breaks up the tag yet again. A shoulder breaker gets two and Arn wraps the bar arm around the top rope. Ricky comes back with a clothesline and both guys are down.

 

Ole gets the tag and kicks Ricky in the arm to keep him down as the torment continues. Off to another armbar but Ricky gets in a shot to the ribs and several the head to come back. Arn takes Morton down yet again to prevent a tag before hitting the yet to be named spinebuster for two. Ole comes off the top for a knee into the arm and cranks on another armbar. Ricky is in big trouble here.

 

Back up and Ole collides with Ricky while running the ropes to put both guys down. Arn breaks up the tag (I’m having deja vu from typing that so many times) but Ricky headbutts him down and…..gets jumped by Ole. Out of nowhere Ricky grabs a small package for two as everything breaks down. Ole picks up Ricky for a slam but Robert dropkicks Ricky’s back and knocks him down onto Ole for the pin to retain out of nowhere.

 

Rating: B+. I really liked the curve ball they threw us in here by not having the hot tag which the standard tag team formula would suggest there would be. This was Playing Ricky Morton as I mentioned in last year’s show and it was done to perfection. He could take a beating like no one else could and the fans totally bought into it every time. Really good old school tag team match here.

The tag team theme continues with Anderson and his new partner Tully Blanchard defending against Lex Luger/Barry Windham at the first Clash of the Champions.

World Tag Team Titles: Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard vs. Lex Luger/Barry Windham

 

Anderson and Blanchard are defending and Windham and Luger are incredibly popular due to the Horsemen (the champions) kicking him out of the team for reasons explained earlier. Luger starts with Tully and pushes him down with ease. The champions try some double teaming but both get clotheslined followed by a powerslam to Blanchard. Lex puts Tully in his Torture Rack finisher but Anderson kicks Luger in the knee for the save. Arn comes in and goes after the knee before it’s back to Tully for more of the same.

 

Lex sends the Horsemen into each other and Tully can’t stop the hot tag to Windham. Barry cleans house and hits the lariat followed by a powerslam for two on Blanchard. Ross is losing his mind on commentary as only he can. A sleeper nearly puts Blanchard out but Barry lets him fall to the floor for a breather. Back in and Tully goes up but gets slammed down and put in an abdominal stretch. Arn makes the save and Horsemen manager JJ Dillon distracts the referee, allowing Anderson to DDT Windham for a very close two.

 

Anderson tries to hold Windham’s shoulder down for two but jumps in the air, allowing Barry to raise his knees and crotch Arn for a breather. Tully breaks up another tag attempt but gets caught by a cross body for two. They run the ropes a few times and collide, knocking both guys down to the mat. A gutwrench suplex puts Tully down again and it’s back to Anderson who misses a knee drop and gets popped with a right hand. Windham is spent though and collapses before making the tag.

 

Tully comes in again and hits his slingshot suplex finisher for a close two on Barry. Anderson comes in off the tag but Barry goes over to the corner and falls into the tag to Luger. Lex cleans house again and sends the champions into each other but Tully gets in a knee to the back to slow him down. Luger shrugs it off and snaps off the powerslam as everything breaks down. Dillon holds up a chair in the corner but Luger reverses a whip to send Arn head first into the steel for the pin and the titles. The crowd reaction for the pin is other worldly as the Horsemen were despised at this point.

 

Rating: B. This was the kind of match the show needed to make it historic as the Horsemen had held the titles for months on end and Luger was the man that needed to take them away. Barry was making the match work here before Luger came in to clean house at the end. That’s a good formula for someone like Luger and the result worked well.

Near the end of 1988, Arn and Tully would jump to the WWF and become a solid team there as well. This included a match against the reunited Strike Force at Wrestlemania V.

Brain Busters vs. Strike Force

This is the return of Strike Force after Martel had a bad injury. Blanchard and Martel start things off and Rick almost immediately has to punch out of the wrong corner. Off to Anderson who gets rammed face first into the mat before being put in his own test of strength on the mat. Arn catches Martel in a body scissors but Rick turns it over into his signature Boston Crab.

Blanchard makes the save but Tito immediately comes in to put him in the Figure Four. Martel puts one on Anderson as well as things break down. We get some near falls by Tito but he accidentally hits the forearm on Martel to take him out. Rick gets ticked off as Tito is basically in a handicap match. The Busters get to take over on Tito but you know Santana can hang with either guy.

Arn goes up but gets slammed down, allowing Tito to set up a hot tag to….no one. Martel drops down to the floor and walks out on his partner, officially making it a handicap match. The yet to be named spinebuster from Anderson plants Tito and it’s back to Blanchard. Tully blocks a monkey flip and the spike piledriver kills Tito dead for the pin.

Rating: B-. Best match of the night so far as all four guys were moving out there. Tito could go with the best of them and he had some of the best of them to do that with in this one. Martel and Santana would feud on and off for about a year until they just stopped fighting out of nowhere.

It was back to WCW in late 1989. Anderson would actually become a singles wrestler and would challenge TV Champion Great Muta on the January 12, 1990 episode of Power Hour.

TV Title: Arn Anderson vs. Great Muta

This is the main event and Muta is champion. Anderson takes him to the mat to start but it’s nothing major. Muta hooks on a wristlock and sends him to the floor. Dragonmaster and Buzz Sawyer, Muta’s stablemates, come out and Anderson is in trouble. Muta misses a kick so there’s a suplex to take him down. Arn takes him down with a headlock and works over the arm like a good Anderson.

Muta comes back and hits the power drive elbow as we go out to the floor. The fans are totally behind the Horseman here. Back in and a top rope chop kills Anderson. Muta busts out Cattle Mutilation years before Bryan did but Anderson escapes it and pounds away. Anderson comes back with an atomic drop and the hammerlock slam. He grabs an abdominal stretch but Muta backdrops him over the top to the floor. Apparently he fell though so it’s not a DQ. Why did they wait until 2000 to drop that rule?

Spinebuster hits out of nowhere but with Dragonmaster running interference, Sawyer comes off the top to clock Arn but it only gets two. Muta superkicks Anderson down and calls for the moonsault. Anderson gets the knees up though and DDTs Muta into oblivion to win the title and blow the roof off the place.

Rating: B. The match was really good and the reaction from the crowd was great, but it’s not enough to save the show for me. Anderson would hold the title for about eleven months before he lost it to I believe Z-Man of all people. Muta would head back to Japan after this, returning in 1992 as a MUCH bigger deal.

Anderson and the Horsemen would get into a feud with World Tag Team Champions Doom later in the year. Arn and Ric Flair would team up to face them at Halloween Havoc 1990.

World Tag Titles: Doom vs. Ric Flair/Arn Anderson

Doom has the titles and are recently turned faces. Anderson and Simmons start things off and AA gets shoved around. Simmons suplexes him down and headbutts him to the floor, making the Horsemen take a time out. Back in and Flair hits a knee to the back, but the suplex Anderson hits is no sold. Simmons comes back with right hands and Reed hits a knee of his own the back of Anderson. Powerslam gets two for Big Ron.

Teddy Long slaps Flair and Dangerously freaks out. Naitch comes in to face Reed and it’s time to strut. Flair goes to the eyes and takes over on a power man like only he can. Reed comes back with punches of his own and Doom hits stereo gorilla press slams to take over again. It gets back to Reed vs. Flair in the corner and the chops just don’t work on him Ric.

Reed sends him into the corner and the Flair Flip lands on a cameraman.

Simmons pounds Flair up the ramp and the chops STILL don’t work. Back to ringside and the Horsemen are in trouble. Anderson comes in to face Reed but it’s quickly off to Simmons. The Horsemen finally realize they can’t overpower Doom so they do what they do best: cheat! Flair comes back in and now his chops work. Anderson’s spinebuster gets two on Ron. Back to Flair and it’s time to go after the knee. There’s the Figure Four (on the correct leg and everything) and they even cheat during that.

Simmons finally makes it to the rope but Anderson is right there to keep Ron in the ring. Ron fights back but his right hands only get him so far. A dropkick misses and they get into a test of strength on the mat, letting Arn do his jump in the air and crotch himself spot. Back to Flair and even with Simmons worn down he can’t drop him with a shoulder. To the floor and Flair gets sent into the barricade to give Simmons a chance.

A sunset flip on Arn doesn’t work as Anderson makes the tag to Flair on the way down. Simmons hits a kind of clothesline (looked more like a jumping fist) but AA stops the tag AGAIN. Simmons is finally like screw this and drills Anderson so he can make the tag to Butch. Everything breaks down and Reed kills Anderson with a top rope shoulder for two. DDT kills Reed but Simmons makes the save. They fight to the floor and it’s a double countout which isn’t that popular of a decision.

Rating: B. I was digging this match until the end, but it was really just a setup for the better street fight at Starrcade. Granted that had Windham and Anderson due to Flair having to do something else that night but it was still the Horsemen. Anyway, good match here but the ending was more or less just a setup for a street fight later on.

About eleven months later it was another new partner for Arn Anderson as he and Larry Zbyszko, collectively known as the Enforcers, entered a tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Titles. They easily made the finals and fought for the gold at Clash of the Champions XVI.

World Tag Team Titles: Enforcers vs. Bill Kazmaier/Rick Steiner

 

The titles are vacant coming in and Kazmaier has very injured ribs. Rick jumps the Enforcers before the bell before taking Arn down with a powerslam. Larry Zbyszko breaks up the cover and cranks on an armbar to officially get things going. The Enforcers make fast tags to keep Rick moving and wear him out in a smart strategy. Rick comes back with a suplex on Larry but Arn gets in a cheap shot from the apron to stop him again.

 

Both Enforcers come in as Bill stays on the apron so Rick hits a Steiner Line on Anderson. Larry gets in a cheap shot to Steiner and Arn hits a middle rope clothesline. Kazmaier tags himself in and destroys the Enforcers while wincing. He tries a gorilla press on Larry but Arn hits him in the ribs and Zbyszko falls on top for the pin and the titles.

 

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but the story made sense. I don’t think anyone believed the makeshift team was going to win and the Enforcers were a fine choice to take the titles. They’re just keeping the belts warm for the Steiners anyway so any good heel team would have done fine here.

1992 would bring the Dangerous Alliance but we’ve covered tag wrestling enough for now. Arn would get I believe his only World Title shot ever on PPV at Slamboree 1993 against NWA World Champion Barry Windham.

NWA World Title: Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham

Not something I’m used to typing. Seriously, why did Arn NEVER get title shots against face champions? I know Flair was champion most of the time but it’s not like he didn’t lose it on occasion. Arn is from Minnesota. Just Minnesota. No town or anything. Just Minnesota. Larry doesn’t like Arn due to relatively recent stable issues. I love the emphasis Capetta gives to the word WORLD when he’s saying the name of a title. Always have.

Windham used to be a Horseman but then left the team so there’s something resembling a story here. Barry won the title at I think Superbrawl so this is his first defense. Arn gets a quick belly to belly for two. Windham hammers him back into the corner but walks into a backdrop for two. Arn is covering every chance he can. Barry pops him with a right hand There’s a DDT though and it only gets two.

Barry goes to the apron to hide and gets back in before Arn can. Back in and Anderson tries to jump off the middle rope but jumps into a clothesline. Windham gets a DDT and drops an elbow for two. Out to the floor and Barry is still in control. Arn pulls him out to the floor from the apron so they immediately explain the lack of DQ. How did they wait until 1998 to get rid of that stupid rule?

Arn busts him open with a shot to the railing. Apparently that’s a DQ in WCW but not in the NWA. Seriously just let the old guys be put to rest already to get rid of these stupid explanations. Oh man he’s cut bad. Small package gets two for Arn. Off to the chinlock and there’s a knee to the head. Arn goes up and Barry knocks him to the floor. Suplex on the floor has Anderson in trouble. He may have a bad knee also.

Barry goes up to Arn and apparently gets popped in the head which he sells like he got shot in the chest. A slam results in Barry falling backwards for two. Spinebuster hits and Barry is in trouble. He manages to get to the floor though and tries to walk out with the belt. Back in the ring now and Arn shoves the referee, allowing Barry to pop him with the belt for the pin.

Rating: B. Solid old school style fight here which is something both guys are great at. Again though, how weird is it to see Anderson getting a title shot? Anyway this was solid stuff and Barry was still good here. Flair took the title from him the next month and it would become the Big Gold Belt soon after that.

That’s enough singles wrestling for now so it’s back to tag teaming with another new partner in the new Horsemen. From Clash of the Champions XXIV.

Unified Tag Team Titles: Steve Austin/Steven Regal vs. Arn Anderson/Paul Roma

 

Anderson and Roma are challenging. Austin and Anderson get things going and shove each other to a stand still. Austin takes over with a clothesline and some knees to the back but Arn trips the leg and hammers away with left hands to the head. A catapult sends Austin over the top but Austin skins the cat to get back inside. Instead Anderson backdrops him over the top to the floor which should have been a DQ.

 

Off to Regal vs. Roma with Paul coming in off the top to work on the shoulder. Regal knocks him over with a shoulder but Roma comes right back with a dropkick. Austin rips Paul up from the apron and the champions take over. Pillman gets in some choking from the floor like a good villain should. Back in and Regal breaks up a sunset flip and hits a running forward roll splash for two. Austin gets the tag and Roma hammers away but gets sent into the corner to stop a comeback attempt.

 

Regal drives some knees into the ribs and throws some left hands in the corner. Austin comes in again and hits some forearms to the back of Roma’s head but gets caught in his own Stun Gun. Regal comes in for the save and the referee puts him out, meaning he misses the hot tag to Anderson. Regal catches Roma’s kick but Paul jumps up for a dropkick in a nice looking move. Now the hot tag brings in Anderson to clean house and the butler Sir William accidentally hits Austin with his umbrella, giving the Horsemen the belts.

 

Rating: C-. This was already better than any match on the previous Clash. There wasn’t much to see here though as the match wasn’t really in doubt given the substitute partner. Roma wasn’t exactly great in the ring though and it was Arn doing most of the heavy lifting out there.

1994 saw Arn in a lame group called the Stud Stable so we’ll jump ahead to early 1995. Arn would pick up the TV Title again in 1995 and defend it at Clash of the Champions XXX against a fan picked opponent.

TV Title: Arn Anderson vs. Johnny B. Badd

 

Badd is challenging after winning a fan vote. Anderson had defeated him for the title about two and a half weeks before this. Arn makes the mistake of trying to trade fists to start and is knocked into the corner as a result. Some forearms put Badd down but he sends Arn to the floor and catches both the champion and Colonel Parker with a nice flip dive. Back in and Johnny hooks a pair of armdrags into an armbar. Anderson fights up and sends him throat first into the ropes to take over.

 

Parker gets in a few cheap shots before Anderson nails him in the ribs with a left hand. A chinlock doesn’t last long on Badd and a knee to his ribs gets two. Anderson drops an elbow but Badd fights up and backdrops him with ease. Things speed up a bit as Badd makes a comeback and nails his big left hook to knock Anderson out to the floor. Parker has to pour ice water on Anderson to wake him up so Johnny chases the Colonel, only to run back into the ring to get caught by a DDT to retain Arn’s title.

 

Rating: D. The wrestlers didn’t see to care about the match at all and it wasn’t entertaining as a result. Anderson looked like he was sleepwalking through the match and Badd was only able to do so much. It wasn’t exactly an interesting idea in the first place and there’s a limit to what can be done in that circumstance.

Later that year the Horsemen started to have issues due to Ric Flair putting way too much responsibility on Arn, leading to perhaps the only time this match ever took place, at Fall Brawl 1995.

Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson

Ok, now this is actually cool. Arn always dominated the lower card to midcard while Flair was always world champion. Why did Arn never get a shot? Something interesting to note is a Flair 3:16 sign in the crowd a full 9 months before Austin gave him famous speech. A bunch of wrestlers are here to watch this. For old school fans, this is a very odd match indeed. It’s scary how much darker Anderson is than Flair.

Heenan says Flair has been a jerk. Now that’s not something you’ll hear often. Anderson goes to the arm which is his normal thing. And let’s blame Hogan for this to make sure he’s mentioned in most of if not all of the segments. This is a very slow start but that’s all fine and good I think. This is a huge match that can do what it wants.

They get a lot of counters and technical stuff in there as the announcers ask why Arn never got a shot. Oh and they try to make it sound like WCW was the company that went worldwide first. I’ll let them have that because even they can’t believe that one. They simply can’t. Arn gets a weak sleeper as the fans don’t know who to cheer for here. It never ceases to amaze me how simple things like arm work can do so much for a match.

Ok again Tony says that Flair is Arn’s cousin. This is a common thing to be said and for the maybe 3 people that don’t know otherwise, it’s true. Flair is Anderson’s cousin by way of their aunt Clotilda. Not true but I wanted to work the name Clotilda into a review for various psychotic reasons. Flair was often billed as a cousin to the Andersons back in the old days as a way to validate them being partners. That’s where that comes from.

It really is cool to see two guys that know each other this well FINALLY have a match. Flair goes up and actually gets his shot. That’s amazing to say the least. Heenan gets on too much of a rant and says that if Flair gets the figure four on then the referee will have to stop it and if Arn DDTs Flair….well that’s another story but neither guy will give up. That got a laugh out of me.

The knee drop completely misses but is sold anyway. Arn just goes off on Flair in the corner and it’s awesome. I love how sometimes Bobby gets on a roll and Tony has to just ignore him due to how out of left field some of the stuff is. Flair takes over for awhile with his usual stuff. There’s a feeling to this match that you just don’t get that often. Flair gets stuck in the Tree of Woe and Arn chokes away.

It’s hard to tell if Arn is being evil or if he hates Flair. DDT is blocked. Arn calls a spot to Flair on a two count. Figure Four is almost on but Arn blocks the leg. Never mind it didn’t work. Flair spits at him and Arn is FIRED UP. Crowd is WAY into this.

With Arn holding his knee, Brian Pillman of all people gets up on the apron and they trade punches. Pillman kicks him in the back of the head and Flair staggers into the DDT for the pin. This would be explained in solid detail, especially at Halloween Havoc so I’ll spare you the spoilers.

Rating: A-. Just a great match that felt like a bit match. Did you really expect this match to not rock? It was as great as you would expect it to be as Arn got to show that he could have a great match against a guy like Flair and beat him. That’s something he never really got to do and it needed to happen. Great match.

We’ll wrap it up with two matches people probably forget about on back to back weeks. From February 12, 1996 on Nitro.

Hulk Hogan vs. Arn Anderson

According to Bischoff, Anderson is tough but Hogan is REALLY tough. Let the Hogan worship begin! He still has a bad eye too. Anderson gets a shot to the head but can’t do much other than that as here comes Hogan. Hogan no sells a clothesline and gets a pair of his own. Out to the floor and Arn backpedals. He tries a Piledriver out ther ebut Hogan counters into a slingshot into the post. Hogan takes the eyepatch off and rams Anderson’s arm into the post.

Almost all Hulk so far here. Steinbrenner seems to like this. Arn gets a back elbow which puts Hogan down. And so much for that as Arn gets crotched on the top rope. Apparently he has balls of steel as he fights back and here are Liz and Flair. Spinebuster gets two as Hogan does the super kickout. Here’s the usual but Hogan struts and puts the Figure Four on. Flair comes in and while Anderson is in the Figure Four Hogan rolls up Flair at the same time. Woman throws powder in Hogan’s face and Flair slips Arn Liz’s high heel which goes into the eye of baldie for the pin.

Rating: C. This was just to give Anderson the fluke win because what happens next is another eye rolling moment regarding Hogan vs. Flair and company. The match itself was just ok as Hogan dominated and then Arn got in like two moves. If Hogan hadn’t been an idiot (I know just go with it) then he would have won in a squash, which says a lot.

From the following week.

Arn Anderson vs. Hulk Hogan

Anderson tries to jump Hogan pre match and gets drilled for his efforts. It doesn’t help that he’s all tied up in his ring jacket. Hogan’s eye is bandaged here but it’s not bad. Clothesline puts Anderson down as Hogan keeps his dominance going. Arn goes to the eye to take over and scratch that as Hogan takes him down with a single shot again. Bischoff plugs the WCW guys on Baywatch and takes a shot at Vader, mentioning the fight with Orndorff in the back.

Hogan continues his dominance which has been almost the same throughout the match. Out to the floor with Hogan hammering away. Back in as we talk about Uncensored. Oh dear we did have to get to that eventually didn’t we? Arn has had maybe 2 punches in almost 5 minutes of the match now. FINALLY Anderson takes him to the mat and never mind again as Hogan grabs the foot to send him to the floor.

Hogan gets a possible low blow outside and we go back into the ring one more time. Arn gets a shot to the rib and that’s his offense for now. DDT attempt and Hogan just doesn’t fall when Arn does. Are you kidding me? Big boot puts Arn down and Hogan puts on a figure four. Kevin Sullivan runs out and does nothing so Savage comes out to beat up Sullivan, which somehow gives Anderson the win via DQ. Uh….sure.

Rating: D. Boring match here with an ending that made no sense. In about seven minutes Anderson literally wasn’t on offense for 30 seconds. I get that Hogan is a far bigger star, but Anderson can’t get in even a minute or so of control just to add some drama? The ending doesn’t help either.

It’s back to back wins over Hulk Hogan. I think we can wrap it up now.

Arn Anderson is a guy that was never the top star but he was a solid B+ player. He dominated the TV Title like no one else, holding it for over two years combined. Couple that with five Tag Team Titles with with four different partners and the guy is just freaking talented. He also performed well in singles matches with a combined record of 4-1 against Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. How many people can say that? No seriously, I can’t think of anyone with those kind of results. We’re not even touching on Arn being probably one of the five best talkers of all time either. The guy was just flat out good all around.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Clash of the Champions at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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World War 3 1998
Date: November 22, 1998
Location: The Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 17,670
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

This is one of those shows that has only been hyped for the last week or so leading up to it. The main events here are Bret Hart vs. DDP for the US Title and the three ring battle royal, which I don’t remember any wrestler actually talking about so far. The winner gets a World Title shot at Starrcade against Goldberg, because Goldberg isn’t even in action tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with a typical video focusing on the two main matches without saying anything. WCW never put a ton of effort into these things.

We see Goldberg arriving “earlier today”, despite it being pitch black outside.

The announcers tell us that Hollywood Hogan isn’t here. This is shocking as Hogan just started the big President angle on Monday.

Gene hypes up the Hotline, saying we can hear Heenan’s recorded message of who he thinks will win tonight.

Wrath vs. Glacier

Unannounced match. Tony does a good job of hyping up Wrath’s hot streak and make him sound like a killer. We even hear a bit about their history as Tony is actually thinking tonight. That gets messed up very quickly though as he names picks the middle ring as Ring #1. Glacier is thrown to the floor with ease and the stalling begins. Back in and Wrath no sells a dropkick before hitting a hard knee to send Glacier to the floor.

Another whip sends Glacier into the crowd and Wrath chops away at the chest. Heenan picks Wrath to win the battle royal tonight to start the running joke. Actually Wrath wouldn’t have been the worst option in the world to make a run in there. Tenay says Hollywood is catching on to Wrath and he’s up for roles in movies. They really are making him out to be a big deal.

Back in and some hard elbows to the chest have Glacier in trouble as Heenan lists off reasons why Wrath’s body is perfect for wrestling. A hard clothesline drops Glacier for two and even throws his feet on the ropes for some extra leverage. Outside again so Wrath can choke Glacier with a cable. Back in one more time and we hit the chinlock on Glacier. Wrath misses a charge into the corner and gets superkicked in the shoulder. Glacier’s Ice Pick hold (thumb into the neck) is easily blocked and the Meltdown ends things.

Rating: D. This would have been a good choice for an opening match if they hadn’t taken so long with it. There’s no reason to have Wrath take nearly ten minutes to beat Glacier. Cut this match down by about five minutes and things are so much better. I’ll give them credit for how much they hyped Wrath though. They were treating him like a huge deal and it sounded really good.

Video on Bret injuring a lot of people. It’s all their fault though. Why this is filmed in front of a hockey goal isn’t exactly clear.

Konnan vs. Stevie Ray

Unannounced match #2. It’s a posedown to start as the announcers rip on Stevie for calling himself the Enforcer. Ray pounds Konnan down in the corner twice in a row but Konnan comes back with a running clothesline. We hit a seated abdominal stretch less than two minutes into the match as Heenan jumps to Konnan for the battle royal. Stevie fights up and hits an awful looking clothesline for two before we head outside.

After some cheap shots from Vincent and a discussion of the slapjack sticking out of his pocket, we head back inside for a chinlock on Konnan. Stevie misses a running elbow and Konnan makes his comeback with the usual. A Vincent distraction works for a bit but he accidentally hits Stevie with the slapjack. Konnan hammers on Stevie until the DQ though in a stupid ending.

Rating: D. We’re half an hour into this show and I’m already longing for a Thunder rerun. I have no idea why we couldn’t get a pin before Konnan went off on Stevie. Also, why did Konnan do that in the first place? It was a normal match up until that point and then he just went nuts.

Booker T. immediately hits the ring for the save but Stevie wants nothing from him.

Sonny Onoo/The Cat vs. Kaz Hayashi/Saturn

Why Saturn was paired with Hayashi and why this match is getting ANY kind of focus was never explained. Heenan makes things a bit more interesting by saying people are talking about World War 3 in correctional facilities around the country. There’s actually a story here as Sonny used to manager Kaz but jumped to the Cat. That’s fine in theory, but Hayashi has never been anything more than a low level guy in WCW so it’s not the most interesting story in the world.

Cat and Hayashi get things going with Miller (Cat) doing the five seconds deal. Hayashi uses the time to tag in Saturn who quickly sends Miller running to the floor. Back in and Cat slams Kaz down a few times before it’s off to Sonny for the first time. The kicks have no effect so Sonny offers money, only to have it knocked out of his hands. Heenan: “BE RIGHT BACK!”

Off to Saturn vs. Miller with the Cat taking him into the corner for some hard stomping. Sonny comes in, kicks Saturn once, and is right back out. Saturn takes Miller down with an STF attempt but it’s quickly back to Kaz who is kicked in the corner by both villains. Cat saves Sonny from an atomic drop with a kick to the back of the head. Kaz rolls away from some Onoo chops and makes the tag off to Saturn for almost no reaction. Saturn chops and suplexes Miller a few times as everything breaks down. Cat nails a big kick to Saturn’s head, allowing Sonny to fall on top for the pin.

Rating: D-. This is a good example of why WCW never made any big stars. Saturn was hot after the Raven feud and should have gone after a title, but instead he’s thrown into a low level feud that had no interest at all and gets to job to a manager. Why? What good comes out of this? A worthless manager gets to brag in the two minutes of TV time he gets every two weeks? But hey, at least the NWO guys get to look good.

Chris Jericho isn’t worried about Bobby Duncum and getting hogtied again tonight. Why is Duncum getting this feud instead of Saturn?

Cruiserweight Title: Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera Jr.

Champion Juvy comes out in an LWO shirt, which ticks Rey off. Apparently this is why he got the title shot last Monday instead of Rey, who won the title shot in the first about ten days ago on Thunder. Eddie tells Rey that they need to go in the back so Eddie can explain the idea of sacrificing the needs of one for the needs of the group. At least the match almost has to be better.

Juvy grabs a headlock to start before they slug it out with forearms and chops. Guerrera comes right back with something resembling a Fameasser but stops to pose on the ropes. Kidman comes back with a suplex and a slingshot legdrop for two of his own but Juvy nails him with an Alabama Slam for two. We hit the chinlock for all of eight seconds on Kidman before he explodes out of the corner with a clothesline.

Guerrera hits a Stunner across the top rope but gets dropkicked out of the air for two. A nice plancha to the floor takes Juvy out again and they both get up slowly. Juvy is up first though and tries a springboard hurricanrana, only to land on the apron instead of the floor in a bad looking botch. Back in and Guerrera nails a brainbuster for two before knocking him to the floor with a springboard missile dropkick. The champion hits a springboard plancha of his own and both guys are down again.

Back in again and a guillotine legdrop gets two on Kidman before they head over into another ring. Juvy lands a double springboard into the other ring into a dropkick (which landed low) for two, which really shouldn’t count when you think about it. Kidman misses a charge into the corner but is able to crotch Juvy to break up a 450 attempt. A bad looking headscissors (the legs wound up under Juvy’s arms) brings them back into the original ring and a springboard cross body gets two for Kidman.

Juvy backdrops him into the only ring they haven’t been in yet and nails a hurricanrana for two. The Juvy Driver connects but Juvy can’t cover. The 450 doesn’t work but Juvy counters the lifting powerbomb into a hurricanrana for two. A wheelbarrow suplex looks to set up the Shooting Star but Juvy crotches Kidman down. Juvy loads up a top rope hurricanrana but Mysterio holds Kidman’s belt to keep him on the top. The Shooting Star is enough to get the title back on Kidman.

Rating: C. The match was watchable but it’s the definition of a spot fest. There’s almost no transition between the moves and the spots took a good amount of time to set up. Still though, it’s FAR better than anything else we’ve seen tonight and the spots woke up the bored crowd a little bit.

Eddie and the LWO come out and yell at Rey. Guerrero says make a decision if you’re in or out and Mysterio rips the shirt off. The chase is on and Rey runs away from about ten guys at once. So let’s recap here for a minute. Ten days ago, Rey won a Cruiserweight Title shot against Kidman which he still hasn’t received and was hated by Eddie for not joining the LWO. Now it’s ten days later and Rey has a Cruiserweight Title shot against Kidman and Eddie hates him for leaving the LWO. I’d so glad WCW used the last ten days so wisely.

We recap Kevin Nash not attacking Scott Hall on Nitro.

Scott Steiner vs. Rick Steiner

I’ll put the over/under for this one at 90 seconds. Buff and the NWO referee are out with Scott. And there’s no Rick. We cut to the back to see the NWO attacking Rick until Giant carries him to the ring. Scott beats on him for a bit until Goldberg runs out for the save and throws the referee from one ring to another.

I’d LOVE the explanation for why these two weren’t allowed to fight, even in their home state of Michigan. There was no bell so the match never even started. This would be three months of teasing this and the longest we’ve gotten so far is about five minutes ending with the fake Bagwell injury. It’s as basic of a story as you can ask for but for some reason they just never did it. That’s something that drove me crazy in WCW and it wasn’t just this match. Page vs. Hogan never had a big singles match, even though it easily could have headlined a PPV.

Scott Hall vs. Kevin Nash

The same NWO guys that attacked Rick are here with Hall. Bischoff comes out and does the survey, saying that Hall is out of the NWO. The beatdown is on and here’s Nash for the save. Heenan: “This reminds me of the Outsiders!” In one of the only emotional moments you’ll ever see in WCW, the fans LOUDLY chant for the Outsiders. Hall holds up the Wolfpack sign but Nash shakes his head and walks away.

To recap, we had time for a Kaz Hayashi match and a Stevie Ray match, but the Steiners and Outsiders exploding couldn’t have real matches. Good to see those priorities being straight WCW.

The announcers talk about what we’ve just seen. So we can have the segments and the recaps, but not the actual matches? Again, I would love an explanation for this.

TV Title: Bobby Duncum Jr. vs. Chris Jericho

This is Duncum’s second match in WCW and I have no idea why he’s getting this spot instead of a ton of the talented guys they have on the roster. Duncum isn’t even that bad but he just doesn’t need to be in this spot yet. As I said, have Hayashi ask him to be the partner (since we NEEDED that Kaz Hayashi match) and give Saturn this spot. Duncum does have an awesome look. He’d get a job in a heartbeat in today’s WWE if he were still around.

Jericho is quickly shoved to the mat and out to the floor for a hug from Ralphus. Back in and Jericho takes him down as the announcers talk about Hogan and something being up with the NWO. Heenan asks if Hall is still a member of the NWO. Tony: “Of course not!” Heenan: “Why not? They put thirteen stitches in Horace’s head and gave him a t-shirt.” Tony: “Uh……”.

Duncum takes Jericho down and puts on a chinlock with a knee in Jericho’s back. Back up and they awkwardly collide before heading outside. Jericho hits a clothesline off the barricade followed by a springboard missile dropkick for two. We hit the chinlock from the champion now but Bobby comes back with a shoulder breaker for two of his own. A hot shot sends Duncum across the top rope and a springboard dropkick knocks him into the barricade.

Jericho whips him into the steps and puts on a front facelock back inside. A running clothesline gets two on the champion and he launches Jericho into the air for a big crash. They trade clotheslines and the Lionsault gets two for the champion but Duncum comes back with a belly to back superplex for another near fall. The Liontamer is countered and Bobby hits a Vader Bomb elbow drop for two more. Ralphus offers a distraction, allowing Jericho to hit Bobby (and clearly the referee as well) with the belt for the pin.

Rating: C. This was getting good until the lame ending. The match wasn’t bad for the most part but like I said, there was just no reason for Duncum to be in there. I’m not entirely sure why Duncum never did anything in WCW, but I’d assume it had something to do with him having a good look, size and skill in the ring.

World War 3

Chris Adams, Chris Benoit, Bobby Blaze, Ciclope, Damien, El Dandy, Barry Darsow, The Disciple, Disco Inferno, Bobby Duncum, Jr., Bobby Eaton, Mike Enos, Scott Hall, Héctor Garza, The Giant, Glacier, Juventud Guerrera, Chavo Guerrero, Jr., Eddy Guerrero, Hammer, Kenny Kaos, Kaz Hayashi, Horace Hogan, Barry Horowitz, Prince Iaukea, Chris Jericho, Kanyon

Billy Kidman, Konnan, Lenny Lane, Lex Luger, Scott Hall, Lizmark, Jr., Lodi, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, Ernest Miller, Chip Minton, Rey Mysterio, Jr., Kevin Nash, Scott Norton, La Parka, Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, Psychosis, Scott Putski, Stevie Ray, The Renegade, Scotty Riggs, Perry Saturn, Silver King, Norman Smiley, Scott Steiner, Super Caló, Johnny Swinger, Booker T, Tokyo Magnum, Villano V, Vincent, Kendall Windham, Wrath and Alex Wright

Those names are in alphabetical order and the wrestlers are randomly assorted into the rings. Three rings, twenty men per ring, you can be eliminated by being thrown out of the ring through any ropes, pin or submission. You know, because a BATTLE ROYAL needed to have its rules altered. Once they get down to twenty men they’ll all be moved into one ring for the final showdown. The entrances take a LONG time as you would expect and Heenan changes his pick to Benoit.

There’s a very good chance I’m going to miss some of the eliminations as they’re only showing one ring at a time. There is however a counter on screen to keep things a bit more organized. We almost immediately get confused as WCW calls the far right ring #3 after Tony has called the middle ring #1 all night. Kevin Nash starts firing out people very early, eliminating Norman Smiley, Super Calo, Lizmark Jr., Scott Putski, and some others that the camera miss. Lenny Lane, Tokyo Magnum and Johnny Swinger are all out. Nash dumps El Dandy and we’re already down to 44.

Van Hammer baseball slides Mike Enos out but gets caught by some knees in the ribs from Big Sexy. They’re the only two men left in ring #3 and Hammer is tossed very soon, leaving us with Nash alone in ring #3 and 39 people left. That’s one less ring to have to jump to at least. We miss three more eliminations until we see Hall hit the fall away slam to eliminate Psychosis. Things are already calming down as Kanyon crotches himself on the top, allowing Kidman to throw him out.

Kaz Hayashi is out as well as Harlem Heat shrugs at each other. Giant shoves out Horace and Disciple to get us down to 30. A big group of guys go after Giant but all six of them can’t get him down. He says bring it on and it’s Disco Inferno wanting to run things. Benoit will have none of that and goes after Inferno instead. 27 left now with ring #2 having far more people in there. We miss yet another elimination and we’re somehow at 24. Scott Steiner dumps Juvy before putting Konnan in a leg lock. 21 to go until Rey misses a baseball slide to eliminate himself and get us down to the final twenty.

The final grouping is Nash, Benoit, Saturn, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Eddie Guerrero, Giant, Disco Inferno, Norton, Konnan, Luger, Hall, Booker T., Scott Steiner, Wrath, Malenko, Wright, Kidman, Miller, Ray and McMichael. Miller and Saturn get in a fight before everyone is in the ring and go outside to eliminate both guys and get us down to 18. The NWOs are in different corners while everyone else fight. Chavo hits a running cross body to Wright and both guys are out to drop the number to 16.

Kidman dropkicks Eddie out and Giant throws both Kidman and Disco out to get us to 13. Nash and Giant go at it to a BIG reaction but Scott Steiner picks Nash off to give Giant a break. Giant accidentally chops Norton and Steiner actually puts Mongo in a chinlock. Tony sums up WCW in a nutshell by saying Booker T. and Wrath are the only unaffiliated men in the ring. Apparently WCW doesn’t exist and the Horsemen are a separate entity anymore.

We go to a nice camera shot looking down at the ring (at an angle, not directly overhead) which I hope they stick with for the rest of the match. Naturally it’s gone before I can finish typing that sentence. Nash and Giant go at it again to another big pop and this time Hall helps Nash out to really get the crowd into it. Norton saves Giant from an elimination attempt as Luger dumps Stevie Ray. Mongo backdrops Norton out but Nash dumps him as well to get us down to 10.

The final ten are Giant, Nash, Wrath, Booker T., Benoit, Konnan, Hall, Malenko, Steiner and Luger. The count goes down to 9 without an elimination as Bam Bam Bigelow comes in through the crowd. Everyone goes after him to knock him back to the floor and the fans chant for Goldberg. They get what they want as Goldberg runs out for the fight. The match has completely stopped to watch the fight.

We come back to the ring to see 8 left. Tony thinks Steiner was thrown out but needs to wait for a confirmation. The idea of looking around the ring and not seeing Scott Steiner is too complicated for a guy like Schiavone I guess. We go to the shot looking down on the ring again and see Benoit, Malenko, Booker T., Nash, Giant, Luger, Konnan and Hall remaining. Goldberg and Bigelow are finally pulled apart and Bigelow is handcuffed.

Booker is quickly tossed out as everyone circles Giant. He says bring it on as Tony says Konnan, Nash and Luger are the only two members of the Wolfpack remaining. I get that he says some stupid stuff but he can’t even count? Giant shrugs everyone off as Konnan misses a charge and eliminates himself. Nash tells Luger, Hall, Malenko and Benoit to go after Giant and they’re able to get him out to get us down to five.

The Horsemen go after Hall but he knocks them back, allowing the Wolfpack to dump Malenko and Benoit and get us down to three. Luger and Nash bump fists but go to different corners. Everyone hits everyone and it’s Hall going down in the corner. He comes back with chops to Nash and the forearm puts Kevin down. Luger Racks Hall but Nash dumps both of them to win in the same ending from 1996.

Rating: D. It’s a battle royal so it’s not exactly the easiest thing in the world to rate. That being said, this really wasn’t all that interesting. Nash winning isn’t a huge shock and he’s certainly not the worst choice in the world for the title shot. I’m sure we’ll get more into that at Starrcade and a certain Nitro though. The biggest problem here was the camera work. They kept going for closeups instead of either the usual shot you get watching a wrestling match or that awesome overhead shot where you could see the entire ring easily.

US Title: Bret Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Bret is challenging. The brawl starts on the floor with Bret being whipped into the barricade and steps. Hart is whipped out of the ring again and goes face first into the barricade a second time. He finally comes back by snapping Page’s throat over the top rope and takes over in the ring. A DDT gets two for the Canadian and the match is already going slowly. We hit the chinlock to make things even worse.

Back up and Page grabs a swinging neckbreaker for two before they head back outside. Page is sent into the barricade to put Hart back in control. A Russian legsweep gets two back in the ring but DDP reverses a tombstone into one of his own for the same. Bret escapes a German suplex but walks into a belly to belly for two. The discus lariat drops Bret again and the Pancake is good for another near fall.

A Cactus Clothesline from Hart sends both guys outside and Bret pulls out a foreign object. Not that it matters as Page comes back in with a springboard clothesline to knock it out of his hands. Bret drops the object and the referee puts it in his pocket as Page puts on an AWFUL looking hold. The announcers call it the Sharpshooter but that’s not a Sharpshooter no matter how you look at it.

Hart comes back with a low blow and it’s time to go after the leg. Bret wraps the leg around the post and puts on the Hart Breaker as well. He cannonballs down onto the leg and puts on the regular Figure Four (wrong leg of course) until Page makes the rope. Another cannonball is countered by Page kicking Bret over the top and out to the floor. Now it’s Bret going into the steps and Page puts on a Hart Breaker around the post as well.

Page brings a chair into the ring but the referee takes it away, allowing Bret to knock Page into the referee to put both guys down. Bret takes the foreign object back as the NWO Referee comes in. Page gets decked and is out cold, setting up the Sharpshooter. The NWO Referee calls for the submission and the announcers shout that this isn’t going to stand. Another WCW referee comes in and says not so fast, allowing Page to hit the Diamond Cutter on Bret with the original referee counting the pin.

Rating: D+. This was just long. The overbooked ending works here but it felt tacked on. It easily could have been five minutes shorter and been a much better match as a result. Also that’s not really a good use for Bret (shocking I know) after the weeks of hurting so many people. Then again, it’s not like Bret was ever used properly in WCW at all.

Overall Rating: F+. The TV and Cruiserweight Title matches were acceptable but that’s about it for the night. This was a good example of a show where they clearly weren’t trying and put almost no effort into things. WCW is at a very bad point here as there’s no energy at all in the promotion and there’s nothing to get excited about. Nash vs. Goldberg doesn’t do anything for me at all but it’s Nash’s company to run at this point so what different does my opinion make?

 

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Thunder
Date: November 19, 1998
Location: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko

It’s the go home show for World War 3 and we really don’t know much about the PPV. They haven’t played up the battle royal all that much and the events on Nitro and Thunder have dominated the discussion rather than the show that’s three days from now. Hopefully Thunder can pick things up a bit……yeah we’re in trouble. Let’s get to it.

We open with Larry Zbyszko on commentary instead of Heenan. As always we hear about all of the goings on at the moment, including Nash, Page and Hart.

We see Bret attacking Malenko and Benoit on Nitro.

Booker T. vs. Norman Smiley

We actually get a handshake to start and Booker breaks clean in the corner. Smiley takes him into the corner and pops Booker with some uppercuts before slapping him in the face. A slam sets up a chinlock on Mr. T. but Booker fights up and hits his running forearm and some kicks to the face. Smiley avoids an elbow drop and dances a bit, only to get nailed with the Harlem Side Kick, setting up the 110^th Street Slam for the pin.

Rating: D+. Booker continues to be a good opening act but there’s only so much he can do in three and a half minutes against a guy not taken very seriously by the fans. The match wasn’t terrible and at the end of the day it’s the opening match on a show that means nothing at all.

We see Page challenging Bret on Monday.

Opening sequence.

We see Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell beating up “Mrs. Steiner” from Nitro.

Disco Inferno vs. Scott Hall

Hall throws the toothpick in his face to start and shoves Disco into the corner for a vicious hair rub. It’s actually enough to fire Disco up though as he nails Hall with a clothesline and the swinging neckbreaker for two. Hall comes back with a discus punch though, setting up the fall away slam and Outsider’s Edge for the pin. Not much here.

We look at Scott Steiner beating up Chris Adams for no apparent reason.

World War 3 ad.

Here’s Jericho to make fun of Bobby Duncum Jr. before their rematch for the TV Title on Sunday. He claims that he was going to be called Cowboy Chris Jericho from Casper, Wyoming so now he hates cowboys. This brings out Duncum to hogtie Jericho because that’s what cowboys do.

Kaz Hayashi is looking for a tag partner for Sunday.

More clips of the TV Title match from Nitro.

Kidman vs. Rey Mysterio

Before the match Kidman says he wants a match with the real Rey Mysterio, not the LWO version. Eddie Guerrero comes in and says Rey is LWO by choice but Mysterio wants to know why he didn’t get his title shot after beating Juventud last week. Eddie says he isn’t thinking straight so tonight it’s Guerrero vs. Kidman.

Kidman vs. Eddie Guerrero

Eddie stomps away in the corner to start but Kidman comes back with a quick dropkick for two. Guerrero bails to the floor before dropping to his knees to ask for some mercy back inside. Another dropkick sends Eddie back to the apron and Kidman stomps away instead of buying into the waiting any longer. Eddie uses a jawbreaker to escape a sleeper but the second attempt works a bit better.

This time Eddie suplexes his way to freedom but gets superplexed off the top when he tries the frog splash. Like many a schmuck before him, Eddie gets faceplanted out of a powerbomb. Kidman loads up the Shooting Star but dives on the bodyguard and Rey Mysterio instead. Larry: “WHY DID HE DO THAT???” A powerbomb gets two on Guerrero but the bodyguard distracts Kidman, allowing Eddie to get a rollup pin with his feet on the ropes.

Rating: C. The match was decent enough but at the same time it was almost all about the story instead of the wrestling. The LWO story isn’t the most interesting thing in the world but it’s the only way Eddie and company are going to get anything more than random cruiserweight matches. If nothing else it’s a nice break from all the dull squashes we usually get on this show.

The announcers mention that Kidman has a return clause and will get the shot on Sunday. We see Kidman losing the title to Juvy on Nitro as a bonus.

Clip of a new game coming soon: Ocarina of Time.

Video on Hall vs. Nash.

Scott Norton vs. Scott Putski

Speaking of dull squashes, we have this by the numbers squash. Vincent interferes to start, Norton destroys him with various power moves including clotheslines and headbutts, setting up the powerbomb for the pin in less than two minutes.

We see Hall vs. Nash from Nitro.

We see the Hogan campaign stuff from Nitro.

Kaz Hayashi tries to get Disco Inferno to be his partner on Sunday when Saturn comes in and offers to do it instead.

The Cat vs. Super Sensei

Sonny Onoo says that Sensei is a two time World Karate Champion so this should be an easy workout for Miller. Before the match starts, Kaz Hayashi runs in and gets beaten down until Saturn makes the save. Who decided this feud needed so much TV time?

We get a quick history of World War 3.

Alex Wright vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Before the match we get a rant from Alex demanding respect from the crowd. The bell rings and Wright quickly armdrags Chavo down before hammering away in the corner. The announcers start talking about Bigelow being a career mercenary as Chavo takes over with an armdrag of his own and a dropkick.

Chavo’s bulldog takeover out of the corner is shoved off and Wright stomps on him a bit. We get outside for a slam to Guerrero and some dancing by the German. A slingshot splash gets two for Alex and the match slows way down. Alex goes up top but dives into a boot to the jaw, allowing Chavo to get two off a clothesline. The neckbreaker is countered but Wright grabs a rollup and flips forward for the pin.

Rating: D. This was a long and very boring match which felt like it went on forever. It was really just two guys doing moves to each other for about seven minutes and then one guy got the pin. That really doesn’t make for an interesting match and the thing just kept going. Both guys are usually better than this.

Prince Iaukea vs. Kanyon

After Kanyon does his usual schtick, Iaukea jumps him on the floor to get things going. They head inside with Kanyon nailing something resembling a reverse powerbomb before stomping away. The middle rope suplex back inside gets two for Kanyon and a bulldog is good for the same. Prince comes back with a sunset flip but Kanyon just plants him with a double leg Fameasser for two. Iaukea grabs a quick Samoan drop but has a suplex countered into the Flatliner for a fast pin.

Rating: C-. It’s not great but at least it had some cool looking offense from Kanyon. Iaukea continues to be one of the least interesting wrestlers I can remember in a long time. It’s not even that he’s bad in the ring or anything like that. He just isn’t interesting in the slightest and it’s a chore to sit through his matches.

Saturn vs. Wrath

This could be interesting. Saturn grabs an armdrag into an armbar to start followed by a nice springboard kick to the face. Wrath heads to the floor for a bit but Saturn is right on top of him with a nice dive. Back in and Wrath just pounds on him before nailing a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Some hard right hands and stomps have Saturn down in the corner and a belly to back suplex gets two.

A flying forearm sends Saturn flying into the ropes and Wrath chokes away. Back up and Wrath misses a charge into the corner and walks into a t-bone suplex. Cue Sonny Onoo and Ernest Miller as Saturn nails the frog splash for a close two. Sonny offers a distraction and Miller kicks Saturn down, setting up the Meltdown for the pin.

Rating: C+. Better match here with Wrath getting arguably the biggest win of his career. That being said, WHY IS SATURN IN A FEUD WITH SONNY ONOO AND KAZ HAYASHI??? He just came off the good feud against Raven to free the Flock and now he’s in a story involving the lowest of the low on the totem pole. Such is WCW.

We look at Bam Bam Bigelow debuting on Nitro.

Bret Hart vs. Konnan

After Konnan hits all of his catchphrases, they slug it out in the corner with Konnan taking over. They quickly head outside with Hart being rammed into the steps and barricade. Back in and Konnan gets beaten down, only to have Stevie Ray get in a shot with the slapjack. A low blow headbutt has Konnan in even more trouble and the Sharpshooter is good for the win for Bret.

Rating: D. Whatever man. Just end this awful show already.

Post match Bret goes to Pillmanize Konnan’s leg but DDP makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. They hyped up some of the stuff for Sunday, but other than that there was NOTHING to talk about here. At the end of the day, I need more than just clips of matches on Monday to get me wanting to see a PPV and that’s about all we got here. This is one of those shows that is absolutely terrible and it’s clear that they didn’t try at all.

One more note: there’s no show on November 26 so the next episode will be December 3.

 

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Speaking of incredible video packages.It’s early 2002 and Ric Flair has taken over half of the WWF.  Vince refused to accept this and one night on Smackdown announced that he was going to poison his own company by bringing in the NWO.  Flair knew what this meant and made one last Hail Mary attempt to stop Vince from doing this.  Here’s what he did.  THis is as good a video package as I’ve ever seen, even better than My Way.

 

I’d LOVE an up to date one of these.

This is one of those things that WWE is just flat out better at than anyone else.Ever since last week, I can’t get that Monster song from the Daniel Bryan vs. HHH video out of my head.  I threw the video package for Bryan vs. HHH up on Youtube and my goodness is it amazing.  The same can be said of the Cena vs. Wyatt video and Lesnar vs. Undertaker.  WWE has an incredible production team that puts together the best recap videos I’ve ever seen.  Ten years from now, new fans are going to be able to watch those videos and hear everything they need to know about these feuds.

It’s something very important when it comes to the future.  Looking back at old WCW, TNA and even a lot of old WWF shows, there is almost zero explanation for why a lot of matches are taking place.  It’s just assumed that the fans have watched most of the shows and know the backstory.  That’s not very bright and makes it hard for new fans to jump in.  I know not every company can afford that kind of production, but I’ve seen good recap videos made for an e-fed with a budget of $0, oddly enough done by the same band that plays Monsters.  It can be done and it can be done well, and when it is, it’s something very valuable.

Smackdown
Date: April 11, 2014
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole

WWE is on a roll right now and the main story is Shield/Bryan facing off against Evolution with Kane taking Flair’s place. Other than that we’re likely to get more from the newest Paul Heyman Guy Cesaro, which was one of the most interesting things to come out of Raw. Also WWE seems to be bringing up new people from NXT so maybe we’ll get another debut tonight. Let’s get to it.

 

 

We open with the In Memory graphic for Warrior. Cole does a voiceover offering condolences to his fans and announces that Raw will be a tribute show. I’m so glad he got that one moment last week so this can actually feel genuine. Warrior passed away after this was taped so there won’t be any references to his passing during the show.

 

 

Opening sequence.

 

 

Here’s John Cena to get things going. Cena says the fans sound tired but he asks if they’re ready to go. Wrestlemania XXX started with the most iconic moment John Cena has ever seen with Hogan, Rock and Austin standing together in the middle of the ring. Cena lists off some other highlights from the show before getting to Bray Wyatt. Bray tried to turn a man into a monster but he still can’t see Cena.

 

 

We also saw the Streak broken, but then we saw the Game get played and a NEW WWE Champion. That was just Wrestlemania, because everything really went down on Raw. We turned Silver into Super, believed in the Shield, found out that Brock Lesnar was the one and heard the WWE Universe change his theme music. On top of that, on Monday John Cena was taught to Bo-Lieve, found out what you need to have a party, saw a big man named Alexander Rusev and the Divas division finally turned the Paige.

 

 

Cena lists off various nicknames and says he’s none of those things. He’s the standard bearer and measuring stick. If someone wants to stand on top of the WWE mountain, they have to go through him to get there. Cue the Wyatts with Harper saying time heals all wounds. Unfortunately, Cena has just given them more time to hurt him. Bray wishes he could feel pain sometimes but he’s different.

 

 

We all should embrace our differences and now he can’t stop smiling after losing at Wrestlemania. He feels so good because he saw that Cena isn’t hollow inside. Bray sees a lot of things inside himself and is thrilled because Cena is just one push away from becoming a monster. Wyatt will have to go to further extremes to make Cena because that monster, so hang on because this ride is just starting. He’s got the whole world in his hands.

 

 

We get some headlines about the Streak ending.

 

 

Big Show vs. Cesaro

 

 

Heyman does Cesaro’s intro and the King of Swing comes out without music. Paul brags about guiding Lesnar to a victory over Undertaker and says how it allowed him to pick the next big thing in Cesaro. They shake hands to start as Heyman joins commentary. Cesaro bounces off Big Show and falls to the floor. A loud chop knocks Cesaro off the apron but he gets back inside and tries to suplex Big Show from the apron.

 

 

That goes as well as you would expect and Big Show suplexes him to the floor, only to have Cesaro land on his feet. He tries a sunset bomb but Show sits on his chest to crush Cesaro against the apron for two. Cesaro bails from the KO Punch and has a meeting with Heyman. Paul’s advice: take his air. Back from a break with Show charging into a boot in the corner and getting caught in a sleeper.

 

 

Show drives him into the corner to break but misses a charge and gets put in the sleeper again. The giant shakes him off again and runs Cesaro over, only to have the chokeslam countered into a third sleeper. Heyman actually gives us some backstory by saying he had given Cesaro the advice that won him the battle royal. Big Show misses a middle rope splash and Cesaro loads up the Swing, only to have Jack Swagger run in for the DQ at 8:35.

 

 

Rating: C-. Cesaro not winning by pin is fine here as he held his own against a big name and even got the win. The match with Swagger will close the Real Americans chapter and give us a good moment when he swings Jack. Heyman is just so perfect as the guy bragging about his clients and makes you want to watch Cesaro even more.

 

 

Show cleans house but gets caught by some uppercuts from Cesaro, setting up the Neutralizer to a gasp from the crowd.

 

 

Los Matadores vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel

 

 

The announcers talk about being Bo-Lievers despite no vignette airing. Ryback throws Diego around to start but gets caught by a dropkick. Not that it has much effect though as Ryback powerslams Diego down for two before tagging Axel in for the first time. A clothesline to the back of the head gets two and it’s back to Ryback who gets two off a clothesline of his own. We hit the chinlock for a bit before a charge in the corner gets two on Diego.

 

 

Back to the chinlock from Ryback as this has been one sided so far. Diego fights up and makes the tag to Fernando for almost no reaction at all. Fernando cleans house and gets two on Axel with a leg trip DDT. Torito dives onto Ryback but gets caught in midair, only for Fernando to make the save. The distraction lets Axel hit his neckbreaker into a cutter for the pin at 5:00.

 

 

Rating: D-. What a dull match. Neither team means anything at all and they’re getting less and less interesting every time they’re out there. Los Matadores aren’t even that good in the ring anymore as they just do basic stuff and shout OLE a lot. Ryback could work well if given the chance on his own, but Axel just has nothing right now.

 

 

Van Dam says stuff is changing but it’s cool when you’re RVD.

 

 

Damien Sandow vs. Rob Van Dam

 

 

Sandow elbows him in the jaw to start but gets his head kicked off for his efforts. Rob poses but gets rolled up for two, only to get caught by Rolling Thunder. Another kick to the face sends him into the barricade but he comes back with some shots to the knee. Wind-Up Elbow gets two on Rob but he comes back with a rollup and another kick. Sandow breaks up the Five Star but gets shoved off when trying a superplex, setting up the Five Star for the pin at 4:22.

 

 

Rating: D+. Just a match to more firmly establish that Van Dam is back. There’s only so much you can get back out of beating Sandown though. The only good thing for Sandow is that he’s getting to the point where they’re going to repackage him after losing so much. It’s a bad way to go but it’s modern WWE.

 

 

Adam Rose vignette.

 

 

It’s Hogan time. Hulk praises Daniel Bryan’s performance at Wrestlemania and says he turned it into Yes-tlemania. The sight of Bryan holding both titles up gave him chills, so here’s Bryan in person. Daniel wants to tell the Hulkster something: this has been the best week of his life. He’s getting married soon and he just won the title in the main event of Wrestlemania.

 

 

Daniel talks about growing up watching wrestling and seeing Hogan as the biggest star in the world. He prayed every night to be able to main event Wrestlemania and took his vitamins to get 24 inch pythons. Bryan has been a Hulkamaniac since before he can remember but there’s one thing that would make it even better. He asks for Hogan’s music to be played and the posing begins. This is another of those things that never stops making me smile.

 

 

The second hour begins with another In Memory graphic for Warrior.

 

 

Bad News Barrett vs. Kofi Kingston

 

 

Barrett does the catchphrase to start but gets kicked down for his efforts. Some more kicks have the same effect and the Boom Drop connects for good measure. Bad News bails from Trouble in Paradise before laying out Kofi with the Bull Hammer for the pin at 2:10. That was Barrett’s only big move of the match.

 

 

We get the Thank You video from Raw which is a nice touch.

 

 

Santino Marella vs. Fandango

 

 

Apparently Fandango has dumped Summer Rae and replaced her with Layla. Not a horrible trade. Santino hammers away to start as the announcers talk about the dictionary. The hiptoss looks to set up the Cobra but Layla steals the sock, allowing Fandango to grab a rollup for the pin at 1:30.

 

 

Video on Paige about how she’s the anti-Diva. If nothing else we get to see what the Paige Turner is supposed to look like. This transitions into a video from Monday of the title change.

 

 

Adam Rose is still coming.

 

 

We recap the end of Raw with Shield officially turning face by attacking HHH and pals.

 

 

On Main Event, Shield said they were prepared for war with the Authority’s injustice.

 

 

Back live with Kane telling Batista and Orton that they need to put their differences aside and fight their common enemies. He wants Bryan for himself but Orton and Batista both want him for themselves. Kane says that’s what’s wrong with them because they all need each other.

 

 

Usos/Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton/Batista/Kane

 

 

Batista shoves Jimmy into the corner to start as we hear about HHH battling with Shield over Twitter. Off to the injured Jey who takes a shot to his bad ribs as the heels take over. Orton comes in and stomps away before ripping off the tape. We take a break and come back with Kane knocking Jey out of the air with an uppercut for two. Back to Orton for a catapult into the bottom rope and another two count.

 

 

Randy shrugs off a chop and dropkicks Jey down before tagging Kane back in again. That goes nowhere so here’s Orton again for a chinlock with a body vice followed by the powerslam for two. Daniel offers a distraction though and Jey nails a Samoan drop. Kane can’t break up the hot tag and it’s hot tag to the World Champion. Bryan kicks Kane to the floor for the FLYING GOAT before the Usos dive on the other heels as well. The brawl continues on the floor and it’s a double countout at 9:00 shown of 12:00.

 

 

Rating: C-. Basica formula stuff here though I’m not sure why we couldn’t have Bryan hit a knee on one of the guys for the pin or at least slide back in to beat the count. Either way, at least he didn’t get destroyed and the Usos didn’t get pinned either. I’ll take the draw over a champion getting beaten any day.

 

 

Orton and Batista lay out the Usos post match but the Shield runs in to stop Kane from chokeslamming Bryan through the table. Shield chases off the other guys as well and Kane takes the running knee followed by the Triple Bomb to end the show.

 

 

Overall Rating: C. This show wasn’t bad but they were clearly out of steam at this point. This was really just a supplement to everything else that had happened in the last few days and a sequel to Raw minus the interesting stuff. It’s certainly not a bad show or anything like that but there’s nothing worth seeing here.

 

 

Results

 

Cesaro b. Big Show via DQ when Jack Swagger interfered

 

Ryback/Curtis Axel b. Los Matadores – Neckbreaker into a cutter to Fernando

 

Rob Van Dam b. Damien Sandow – Five Star Frog Splash

 

Bad News Barrett b. Kofi Kingston – Bull Hammer

 

Fandango b. Santino Marella – Rollup

 

Usos/Daniel Bryan vs. Kane/Batista/Randy Orton went to a double countout

 

 

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My goodness he’s set the bar high for most meaningless World Title reign.