Georgia Championship Wrestling House Show – July 3, 1983: Feel The Heat (Includes Full Show)
Georgia Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: July 3, 1983
Location: Omni, Atlanta, Georgia
This seems to be the big finale of the WWE Vault presenting shows from GCW in this era, as we get a full house show. That should be more than enough to blow off everything going on and I could go with seeing these matches go for more than a few minutes each, at least most of the time. Let’s get to it.
No opening of course, which makes sense.
Brett Wayne vs. Bill Irwin
Irwin is new around here and not interested in a handshake. Wayne slips away on the mat to start and Irwin is already looking frustrated. Irwin takes him down by the wrist and gets kicked away to give us another standoff. This time Wayne takes him down in a headlock but misses the elbow, meaning they get to stare at each other some more. A slam puts Wayne down but he kicks off again and that’s enough before we need to reset again.
Wayne takes him down by the arm to some more success and we keep the slow pace. Back up and Irwin powers him away again, setting up a big backbreaker to actually do some damage. Some choking on the ropes has Wayne in more trouble and a suplex gives Irwin two, with the fans liking that kickout.
A gutwrench suplex gives Irwin two more and the running knee connects but Wayne’s foot is on the rope. That just ticks Irwin off so he knees Wayne in the head and throws him outside. A running boot knocks Wayne off the apron and Irwin gets the chance to strut a bit, as all evil cowboys are known to do. Wayne can’t beat the count at 8:59.
Rating: C. The crowd was way into Wayne here and it’s easy to understand as he had quite the smaller good guy look. Irwin on the other hand was a big bully looking monster (who happened to strut) so the basic dynamic was there. I’m not sure about the countout but at least Irwin got a win over an opponent who was fighting back.
Post match Irwin is ticked off and Buzz Sawyer has to come out and calm him down. When BUZZ SAWYER is the voice of reason, you must be nuts.
Tim Brooks vs. Bob Sweetan
The bigger Sweetan backs him into the corner to start before working on the arm. That’s broken up so Sweetan does it again, with Brooks going to the ropes for a cheap shot. Sweetan knows all about cheap shots (and various other horrible things) so he grabs a headlock, with Brooks grabbing the hair. That just lets Sweetan get in a cheap shot of his own as we’re firmly in “get the crowd to cheer while the good guy does bad things 201”.
A big right hand sends Brooks flying and Sweetan grabs another headlock, this time on the mat. Back up and Sweetan hiptosses him into the corner, with the referee having to jump out of the way. Sweetan grabs the headlock again and we do the hair pull/cheap shot sequence again. A slam gives Sweetan two and, you guessed it, it’s another headlock. Sweetan finally gets accused of pulling the hair (despite Brooks being limited in that area) and they’re stood up.
This time Brooks grabs a headlock, which I guess counts for variety. Brooks hammers away but Sweetan is back with right hands of his own. Back up and Brooks gets in some more effective shots in the corner but Sweetan gets fired up. The big whip into the corner has Brooks in trouble and they slug it out until it’s a time limit draw at 10:15 (close enough).
Rating: C-. This got going a bit near the end but they never got out of first gear. They were mainly just doing basic punches without much to stand out, along with the variety of headlocks. It did help that they weren’t just standing/laying around with the headlocks, but there is only so much to get out of a match where they only got going in the last few minutes.
Tully Blanchard vs. Pez Whatley
I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Whatley around here. Blanchard is introduced as the Southwest Heavyweight Champion but this is non-title. We get the handshake, with Blanchard getting in the slap and then bailing out to the floor. Back in and Whatley wins a battle of the wristlocks, which has Blanchard bailing back outside. Whatley pulls him down by the arm again and Blanchard claims a hair pull, which he thinks should make him the winner. Instead Whatley spits at him, which the fans seem to like.
Blanchard gets in a cheap shot to take over in the corner and we go into the slower beatdown. Naturally this includes the chinlock until Whatley fights up for a slam and a rare forward dropkick. Blanchard knocks him right back down and drops an elbow for two before sending Whatley crashing out to the floor. Whatley eventually gets back in and Blanchard jumps him in the ropes, with a bunch of knees drawing the DQ at 6:03.
Rating: C+. This was better, as Blanchard had such a smug arrogance to him that it’s easy to dislike him. He was still getting experience at this point but you could see the talent in there. On the other hand you have Whatley, who could make a nice fired up comeback and had the underdog nature that made him great for this kind of a spot. Nice match here.
Post match the brawl stays on and we’re likely going to do this again.
TV Title: Ron Garvin vs. Iron Sheik
Sheik, with Paul Ellering, is defending in Garvin’s final shot at the title and, as usual, the title can only change hands in the first ten minutes. Before the match, Garvin promises to give America a 4th of July present by taking the title from Sheik. The brawl is on before the bell with Garvin hitting him with the flag pole. Ellering tries to come in and gets knocked down, allowing Garvin to use the flag to tie Sheik to the ropes.
We pause for Garvin to chase Ellering as the referee unties Sheik, who gets slammed and choked with the flag some more. The match seems to have started somewhere in there as they slug it out and Garvin punches him down. Garvin chokes away but Ellering comes in for the DQ at…call it 2:00 I guess? This was barely a match anyway but the crowd was on fire for the whole thing. Garvin would win the title two weeks later.
Post match the brawl stays on and Sheik tries to bail, only for Garvin to atomic drop Ellering into him. Ellering has to hold Sheik back from getting inside again and they finally leave but Sheik comes back and throws a chair at Garvin.
We get an intermission, which is cut out as you might have guessed.
Road Warriors/Paul Ellering vs. Ole Anderson/Tommy Rich/Stan Hansen
Well that’s a good guy team. Hansen takes over on Animal to start and Rich comes in with a knee, meaning it’s quickly off to Hawk. The good guys start working on Hawk’s arm, with Anderson coming in for a wristlock. Animal comes back in and gets dropped with a double elbow, followed by Anderson dropping the elbow for two. Hawk is quickly cut off as well but manages to take over on Anderson, with Animal grinding away on a headlock.
Rich gets headlocked as well, followed by the general assortment of forearming. That’s eventually escaped so Anderson can come back in, only to get beaten down in the corner as well. Unfortunately that means another chinlock, as Animal keeps him in trouble for a good while. Anderson finally slips away and brings in Hansen as everything breaks down. Hawk throws Rich over the top and that’s enough for the referee to call the DQ at 15:30.
Rating: C. This got some time and that’s nice to see, as the Warriors could use some experience at this point. If nothing else, it might let them figure out how to do something other than chinlocks. That being said, they’re certainly going out of their way with some less than satisfactory finishes this week. You would think that one of them could take a quick rollup, but then again it was a very different style and time here so it’s hardly out of the ordinary.
Post match the brawl is on with someone (perhaps Man Mountain Darsow) running in to help the good guys clear the ring.
Scott Casey vs. Buzz Sawyer
Casey armdrags him down to start and they circle for a bit, with Sawyer taking it into the corner. That’s broken up and Sawyer takes a heck of a bump off a backdrop, followed by a nice dropkick to give Casey two. Back up and they trade leapfrogs until Casey hits a heck of a forearm to put him on the floor (with another good bump from Sawyer). Back in and Casey grabs a headlock takeover and grinds away before grabbing a keylock.
Sawyer slips out of that and hammers away, setting up a front facelock to slow Casey down. A suplex drops Casey again but Sawyer misses his really good looking top rope splash. Casey tries an O’Connor roll but Sawyer grabs the rope and the trunks for the pin at 9:28. Hang on though as Tommy Rich and referee Scrappy McGowan come in to say what happened and that’s a reversed decision.
Rating: C+. The more I see from Sawyer, the more impressed I am with him. The guy was just weird and out there but a crazy good athlete and bumper. It’s a shame that he was such a nutjob/bully behind the scenes because otherwise he could have been a bigger deal. Casey was a fine good guy, but it was hard to take your eyes off of Sawyer here.
Post match Sawyer jumps Rich and they brawl into the crowd, with Rich (shockingly) being busted open. They get back in the ring with Rich getting the better of things but they go back into the crowd, with Rich’s big running ax handle looking like he’s in a movie fight scene. The cops finally break them apart.
National Title: Mr. Wrestling II vs. Larry Zbyszko
Zbyszko is defending and Mr. Wrestling I and Killer Tim Brooks are the guest referees. The guest referees both get in their arguing before the match, with I rubbing the top of II’s mask for a weapons check. Or luck maybe? The bell rings and Zbyszko says he wants to keep this scientific, which is of course fine with a man named MR. WRESTLING. The bell rings a second time as Zbyszko’s stalling has managed to shift the space time continuum.
II backs him into the corner to start and seems to dance a bit as Zbyszko is already getting frustrated. An armdrag makes it even worse for Zbyszko and they keep things slow with a test of strength. II grabs a headlock takeover and it’s so strange to see both referees checking on it. Well Brooks is doing it more from a distance but it still counts. Zbyszko fights up but gets taken right back down as II keeps grinding away.
This time Zbyszko makes the rope and takes him down by the arm, which is broken up by a headscissors. That has Zbyszko bailing to the apron and even Brooks counts him for a bit. Back in and Zbyszko’s headlock doesn’t get him very far as II knocks him out to the apron again. This time Zbyszko comes back in to work on the leg and of course we spend some time laying on the mat. II kicks him in the head to break it up and chases Zbyszko out to the floor again without much trouble. A rather fast eight count brings Zbyszko back inside and we go into the test of strength.
That’s broken up and Zbyszko backs off again, with II grabbing the mic and telling him to wrestle. A slap to the mask seems to make II angry so he takes Zbyszko down by the leg and cranks away. Zbyszko ties up II’s arm while II works on his leg, as they’re certainly not just laying there. They roll over to the ropes and it’s broken up, with the fans applauding as they have to get up again.
Zbyszko backs him up against the ropes for a forearm and both referees seem displeased. II easily takes him down and hits a knee lift out to the floor and yes, yes we are stalling some more. Back in and Zbyszko gets two off a sunset flip but has to bail outside at the threat of another running knee. Zbyszko actually takes him into the corner this time and gets one off of a slam.
II slams him right back and they go into the corner, with Brooks ordering a break (the referees haven’t been anything close to a major factor yet). That earns II a snapmare into a chinlock as we somehow slow down again. That’s broken up so Zbyszko changes the pace with a full nelson. II powers out with a backbreaker and grabs a front facelock. Zbyszko knocks him outside though and Brooks gives him a much more regular count than I gave earlier.
Back in and Zbyszko grabs another headlock and snaps down on it, which has II rather shaken up. Some big right hands have II staggered even worse and he gets snapmared into a chinlock. That works so well that they do it again, with II getting up one more time. II starts dodging some right hands, almost dancing in the process. II’s snapmare gets two and we’re clipped to Zbyszko getting punched out of the air.
A belly to back suplex drops Zbyszko again and the knee gets two, with Zbyszko in the ropes. The referees get into it over the rope, with Brooks throwing I over the top. Cue Rick Rood to chase Brooks off as II hits another running knee, with I counting a kind of slow two. Back up and Zbyszko misses a kick to the face but manages a suplex to leave them both down again.
II gets two more off a piledriver and the running knee sends Zbyszko right back into the ropes. We’re clipped again to both of them down until II gets two off a double leg. II grabs a sleeper and Zbyszko is in trouble as time expires at 45:18 shown. The official time is sixty minutes, making me wonder if A, I missed more cuts, B, how much was cut and C, how much they faked the time because that’s a heck of a lot to miss.
Rating: B-. This is a weird one as the match is very long, but it didn’t really feel like it was stretching. It felt like a contest between two men fighting for a championship until one of them couldn’t get up any longer. You could see the two of them getting worn down and they kept me interested, but dang that clipping was rough as I wonder just how much I missed. Good match though, even if it never got to some all time level.
Post match I officially names II as the winner, but that doesn’t mean a title change. The referees were barely a factor for the most part and I kept forgetting that was a thing until the brawl at the end, which wasn’t even that much.
Overall Rating: C+. The action was kind of a mess here with some rather awful finishes, but you could feel the energy throughout the show. What matters the most here is that the fans were into everything and you could see how easy it was to get into the whole thing. It was interesting to see the build to these shows as you can see how the fans would be brought along for the card. I’d absolutely go for more of this, as it’s an easy watch with some good stuff going on up and down the show. Not a great event, but rather fun.
Results
Wild Bill Irwin b. Brett Wayne via countout
Killer Tim Brooks vs. Bob Sweetan went to a time limit draw
Pez Whatley b. Tully Blanchard via DQ when Blanchard attacked in the ropes
Ronnie Garvin b. Iron Sheik via DQ when Paul Ellering interfered
Stan Hansen/Tommy Rich/Ole Anderson b. Road Warriors/Paul Ellering via DQ when Hawk threw Rich over the top rope
Scott Casey b. Buzz Sawyer via reversed decision
Larry Zbyszko vs. Mr. Wrestling II went to a time limit draw
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GCW World Championship Wrestling – July 2, 1983: A REAL MOUNTAIN MAN! (Includes Full Show)
World Championship Wrestling
Date: July 2, 1983
Location: WTBS Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentator: Gordon Solie
We’re rolling along with these things for the next few weeks and that has me interested. There are only a few big names around here and it’s fun to see how they interact. The big story continues to be Mr. Wrestling II going after Larry Zbyszko and the National Title, along with Tommy Rich doing whatever he has going on. Let’s get to it.
Gordon Solie introduces newcomer (or perhaps returning star) Scott Casey, who loves the competition around here and has his eye on Buzz Sawyer. He’s not happy with Dick Murdoch being sent away so he’ll see what he can do.
Solie previews the show and sends us to last week’s main event, which only got started before we ran out of time.
Road Warriors/Paul Ellering vs. Brett Wayne/Arn Anderson/Joe Lightfoot
Ellering is in street clothes (street unknown) because he knows the Warriors can take care of the three of them on his own. The good guys take turns on the Warriors’ arms to start but Ellering gets in a cheap shot to take over on Anderson. Hawk grabs a chinlock and we’re out of time so we’re cut to Ole Anderson running in to go after Ellering as the match is thrown out. Not enough shown to rate again as we just saw the same stuff from last week and the post match brawl. Apparently Wayne and company won when one of them was thrown over the top.
Ole Anderson talks about the greatness of the United States and not liking Paul Ellering bringing in the Iron Sheik from the evil Iran. Maybe the Road Warriors need to go back to Chicago, or even Iran. Ellering DOES NOT love America so Ole is proud that Arn Anderson has kept the family name.
They have their own young guy of their own and here he is, along with Arn: Man Mountain Darsow! This is of course Barry Darsow (23 at the time and looking even younger as he only debuted earlier in the year) as a lumberjack with an ax, as Ole says the Anderson are back together FOR AMERICA. Well that was insane and about as 80s as you can get.
Larry Zbyszko (once again with the belt) and Tully Blanchard join Solie, with Zbyszko talking about how he got the NWA President to give him the belt back. He’s tired of Mr. Wrestling II and II’s friend Mr. Wrestling I with all of their shenanigans so Zbyszko is putting up $25,000 against II’s mask. It’s going to be an elimination tag match and Zbyszko will be teaming with Blanchard and whomever II can find as his partner.
Larry Zbyszko/Tully Blanchard vs. Mr. Wrestling II/Pez Whatley
I believe this is the match ($25,000 vs. II’s mask), which is under elimination rules and has three rounds lasting six minutes each. Whatley and Zbyszko start things off and of course we hit the stall button, with II coming in to face Blanchard without any contact being made. They lock up and go pretty much nowhere, so it’s back to Whatley for a headlock takeover.
Whatley pulls him down again without much trouble before sunset flipping Zbyszko for two. II comes back in to headlock Blanchard, who backs into the corner to keep things slow. Now Zbyszko comes in for a headlock of his own, only for Whatley to come in for a small and another near fall. Whatley is sent into a knee in the corner though and the round ends (5:55 so close enough this time).
We go to Mr. Wrestling I, who can’t stand Zbyszko. Paul Ellering comes in to say his men will win everything at the Omni.
Buzz Sawyer yells about how he’s going to destroy the cowboy from San Antonio (Scott Casey) but it might be in Cincinnati or Atlanta. Eh dude’s nuts enough that he might do both of them.
We rejoin the tag match for the start of round two, with Zbyszko asking for time but getting whipped into various corners by Whatley. Zbyszko gets a boot up in the corner and Blanchard takes over, allowing Zbyszko to stomp away again. A suplex gets two on Whatley and Blanchard grabs a crossface chickenwing.
Whatley backdrops his way out and dropkicks Blanchard but can’t make the tag. II comes in anyway and everything breaks down, with Whatley throwing Blanchard over the top, drawing the DQ at 3:04 of the round and 12:04 total (counting the stuff between rounds). Zbyszko comes in to slug it out with II and power him into the corner. A rip at the mask has II in more trouble and Zbyszko throws him down to tear some more. II fights him off but gets sent into the corner as the round ends.
Tommy Rich is here and is happy about a fan winning a contest to come to Atlanta and meet him. Solie reads most of the fan’s address, which is quite the weird thing to hear. Buzz Sawyer comes in to scream at Rich, who he doesn’t think much of apparently.
We go back to the third round with II grabbing a front facelock on Zbyszko. Blanchard comes in and gets beaten down just as fast. Zbyszko’s distraction lets Blanchard get in a knee to the back though and the chinlock goes on. Some shots to the ribs have II in more trouble but he manages a suplex on Blanchard. The knee lift hits Zbyszko but the cheap shots cut off the comeback again. Zbyszko goes for the mask again and again it wakes II up. The double teaming is on and Blanchard shoves the referee for the DQ at 3:32 of the round and 21:35 overall (again counting time in between falls).
So we’re down to II vs. Zbyszko with the former in a lot of trouble and Zbyszko going for the mask again. Again that brings him up but Zbyszko sweeps the legs and grabs the rope for the pin at 4:42 of the round (22:35 overall)….and here is Mr. Wrestling I to tell the referee what happened. Somehow THIS IS FINE and the match continues so II rolls Zbyszko up for the final pin at 5:02 of the round and 22:55 overall.
Rating: B. This was a heck of a long match for TV back then and it wound up being kind of awesome, with Wrestling II overcoming the odds and pinning the champion, even if it might not have been fair. Zbyszko is going to get to rant about the stupid official (yep that’s deserved) and odds are it all sets up a big showdown at the Omni. Fun stuff here, and solid wrestling angles all around.
Post match Zbyszko rants about how this isn’t standing so he wants II one more time tomorrow night at the Omni, with I and Tim Brooks there too. And of course II doesn’t get the money!
Wrestling II says this ends at the Omni and he wants the money and the belt, which he won fairly (the money is a stretch but saying he won the belt fairly is nuts even by wrestling good guy standards).
Bill Irwin, another cowboy, says he’s here to be the top dog. Wouldn’t that be the Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer? Might not want to go there with the gimmick infringement.
Bill Irwin vs. ???
Irwin jumps him to start and stomps away without even taking his coat off. More stomping sets up the chinlock, followed by the middle rope elbow to finish for Irwin at 2:09. Total destruction.
Solie announces the winner of the contest, but this time gives his FULL address. Geez privacy means nothing these days. Anyway Irwin comes in to say that he doesn’t want to hear about Tommy Rich being Wrestler Of 1982 because it’s 1983. Irwin wants Rich out here and fires off his whip, but Rich is in the ring.
Tommy Rich vs. Bob Brown
Well hang on as Irwin charges in instead.
Tommy Rich vs. Bill Irwin
Irwin pump kicks him down to start but gets cut off with some right hands as this does seem to be a match. Irwin knocks him down again so Rich elbows him in the head, setting up the abdominal stretch. Cue Buzz Sawyer to jump Rich for the DQ at 2:18, apparently fine with the top dog thing.
Post match Scott Casey runs in for the save.
Casey and Rich go to the podium, with Casey saying he’ll watch Rich’s back and vice versa. Ole Anderson comes in to say they have their own group and they’re chasing the bad guys out of here.
Roll credits.
Overall Rating: B. Dang this show is a blast, as it feels like it’s flying by and taking place in a tiny venue, which makes it all the more impressive. This show saw new people showing up, big matches being set up for the major Omni show, and one heck of a long TV match with some stakes. What more could you want, and remember that this is about six months before Hulk Hogan even came back to the WWF from the AWA. Not bad, as these studio shows can be awesome.
Results
Mr. Wrestling II/Pez Whatley b. Larry Zbyszko/Tully Blanchard – Rollup to Zbyszko
Bill Irwin b. ??? – Middle rope elbow
Tommy Rich b. Bill Irwin via DQ when Buzz Sawyer interfered
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Today is a guy who had some very different gimmicks: Barry Darsow.
Darsow got his start in 1983 after attending Robinsdale High School with Rick Rude, Curt Hennig, Tom Zenk, John Nord and Nikita Koloff. That’s quite the class. We’ll start things off with Darsow as Crusher Khrushchev, a Russian sympathizer, at AWA Superclash 1985.
NWA Six Man Titles: Krusher Khruschev/Ivan Koloff/Nikita Koloff vs. Crusher/Dick the Bruiser/Baron Von Raschke
This is Crockett vs. AWA and the Russians are the champions of course. Big brawl to start and we eventually get down to Crusher vs. Krusher. Crusher bolo punches his way to prosperity and brings in the Baron. Nikita comes in and runs from the Claw. Nikita was a killing machine and he’s running from an old bald guy holding his hand in the air. Ivan comes in and gets beaten up by the old man as well.
Here’s Dick The Bruiser who is a scary man. He and the Crusher are identical. Dick and Ivan have a test of strength with the evil Russian cheating to escape. Back to Crusher vs. Krusher with Crusher taking over and bringing Baron back in. Ivan comes back in and takes Crusher down. He hits a legdrop which Nelson calls illegal. I’m not even touching that one. Crusher makes his comeback and it’s off to the Bruiser. Baron comes in and drops a leg which isn’t mentioned by Nelson. There’s the Claw and everything breaks down. We cut to a wide shot then go back to see Ivan pinning Baron.
Rating: D+. The ending is as quick as it sounds and since Larry didn’t see it either, we have no idea what knocked Baron out. I think you could see both other Russians but things were moving too fast. Nikita should have been in there running over people though as it’s what he was best at. This is the AWA though so it doesn’t think things through at times.
Off to the NWA with the same character at Starrcade 1985.
Mid-Atlantic Title: Krusher Khrushchev vs. Sam Houston
Speaking of crowning new champions, this is a tournament final because former champion Buzz Tyler had left the territory. Krusher is more famous as Smash from Demolition and this is his power vs. Houston’s speed. Houston is a cowboy character and the half brother of Jake Roberts. There’s something wrong with Tony’s mic as you can only hear whispers of what he’s saying.
Houston slips down and sends Krusher to the floor before holding his own in a slugout back inside. Krusher will have none of that and grabs Sam by the throat to slam him down. An elbow drop misses though and we’re back to a standoff. Houston grabs a headlock and a headscissors to take Krusher down. Khrushchev tries everything he can to get out of it before just picking Houston up and placing him on the top rope. Houston comes right back with an armdrag into an armbar and Krusher is down again.
Back up again and Krusher just throws him into the air and lets Sam crash down onto his face. Why over complicate things when you can do them that simply I guess. Krusher does the same thing off a gorilla press before punching Houston right in the jaw. Off to a bearhug but Houston fights out of it pretty quickly. The Russian goes up but gets crotched down, allowing Sam to pound away in the corner. The bulldog (Sam’s finisher) hits but Krusher gets his foot on the ropes. Sam celebrates too much and Krusher hits the Russian Sickle for the pin and the title.
Rating: C+. Nice little match here with a basic power vs. speed formula. Khrushchev was your typical American Russian (he was from Minnesota) so thankfully he didn’t talk all that much. Houston was way too small to be taken seriously and his career never took off, even in the far less serious WWF in the late 80s.
Another tag match at Starrcade 1986.
US Tag Titles: Krusher Khrushchev/Ivan Koloff vs. Kansas Jayhawks
The Jayhawks are Bobby Jaggers and Dutch Mantell, the latter of which would eventually join the WWE under a variety of names, including Zeb Colter. This is a rematch of a tournament final where the Russians won the belts and there are no disqualifications. Dutch and Ivan start things off but it’s quickly off to Jaggers to pound away on the older Russian. Ivan actually busts out a rollup for two but it’s quickly back to Dutch to work on the arm.
Krusher gets a tag in and it’s time for some stalling. Mantell pounds away on the forehead and the Jayhawks choke away in the corner before it’s off to Jaggers again. That goes nowhere so here’s Dutch again, but those sneaky Russians trick him into some double teaming. The power of AMERICA saves him from the Russians though and Dutch fights both guys off with relative ease. Ivan sends Dutch to the floor though and into the barricade to shift control.
Off to Krusher for some double teaming, but Dutch fights back with a double clothesline and there’s the hot tag to Jaggers. Some AMERICAN right hands have the Russians in trouble and a clothesline gets two on Ivan. Everything breaks down but there’s nothing the referee can do because it’s no disqualification. Ivan goes up top but gets hit by Dutch’s whip to bring him down. Krusher is sent to the floor but sneaks back up onto the apron to hit Jaggers in the back of the head with the chain, allowing Ivan to get the easy pin to retain the titles.
Rating: C. Another basic tag match here but it was at a slightly faster pace, making it a more entertaining match for the most part. The Russians continue to be a perfectly fine midcard heel act as the Cold War was still going on at this point. The Jayhawks never did much of anything as a team and would fade into obscurity pretty soon after the start of the new year.
It was off to the WWF as Smash of Demolition. We’ll start with a battle royal
Battle Royal
André the Giant, Ron Bass, Demolition (Ax and Smash), Billy Jack Haynes, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim, Hulk Hogan, The Honky Tonk Man, The Islanders (Haku and Tama), The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell), Blackjack Mulligan, Paul Orndorff, Lanny Poffo, Butch Reed, Sika, Nikolai Volkoff, and Koko B. Ware.
So in other words, it’s everyone but Savage and Steamboat plus a few tag teams. Smash is the original Smash and not Barry Darsow and Honky is wearing suspenders. Andre won’t let Hogan get in. Orndorff jumps Hogan to prevent the showdown. More or less all of the heels jump Hogan and all of the faces jump Andre. Honky is out thanks to Hogan. Andre puts Sika out.
These are hard to commentate on as it’s just eliminations and fights. Haku, a face at this point, is out. Andre headbutts Lanny Poffo and he’s BUSTED OPEN, and I mean BAD. Totally hard way too. That is a sick cut. They have to get a stretcher to get him out. That’s impressive. Other than that it’s pretty much you punch me and I’ll punch you in the ring. Ron Bass is out as is Mulligan.
The ultimate Hogan jobber, Volkoff, is gone. We’re just killing time to get to Hogan vs. Andre as Blair is out. HERE WE GO! Hogan blocks a punch…and Koko jumps on Andre to be annoying. Hogan throws out Orndoff but gets jumped by Andre who does the headbutts to the back of the head and throws him out easily. WOW.
In a VERY funny moment, Hogan and Andre are doing a staredown and Koko tries to jump Andre. Giant just smacks him in the head without even turning around. That was hilarious. Everyone gets together to throw Andre out.
Ok we’re down to Koko, Reed, Smash, Billy Jack Haynes and Hercules. Koko puts Reed out and we get faces vs. heels. Koko is out thank goodness and then we get rid of Smash too to get us down to the full nelson guys. Haynes goes for Bobby and there he goes for Hercules to win, which is probably the biggest win of his career somehow.
Rating: D. This was about Hogan vs. Andre and while that did happen, it was all of ten seconds long. Before and after that though, no one cared. This just wasn’t that interesting at all and it was about ten seconds out of eleven minutes. That can’t be a good sign. You probably should just go watch Wrestlemania instead.
Demolition would take off around this point so we’ll jump ahead to Summerslam 1989.
Twin Towers/Andre the Giant vs. Demolition/Jim Duggan
Duggan is King of the WWF and has his face painted like Demolition but is rocking an American flag pattern of course. Akeem starts with the King with Duggan absorbing the trash talk and pounding away on the big man before it’s off to Ax for some pounding on the arm. Smash comes in and Demolition pounds Akeem down before bringing Duggan back in to crank on the arm as well.
Akeem finally gets in a shot to Ax’s ribs and it’s off to Boss Man who is immediately pounded down by the fresh Smash. Boss Man rakes the eyes to slow Smash down but Smash rakes the eyes right back in a good bit. Ax comes in again and cranks on the arm but gets sent into the wrong corner so Andre can come in and pound away with big right hands.
Akeem comes back in but misses a slow motion splash, allowing for the hot tag back to Smash who slams Akeem down in an impressive power display. Everything breaks down and Akeem hits a bottom rope splash on Smash, but Duggan hits Akeem in the back with the 2×4 to give Smash the pin.
Rating: C. It wasn’t much of a match but for above seven and a half minutes with these six guys, this was as good as you were going to get. Duggan was about as big as he was going to get in the WWF at this point as the fans were WAY into his Hogan-Lite character. Demolition was fresh off losing the tag titles but but they were still the most popular tag team in the company. Good, fun little match here which was much better than I was expecting.
Smash was part of the greatest Survivor Series team of all time in 1989.
Hulkamaniacs vs. Million Dollar Team
Hulk Hogan, Demolition, Jake Roberts
Ted DiBiase, Zeus, Powers of Pain
My goodness that’s an amazing face team. Ok, so now I get to explain Zeus. A month or two ago, WWE released No Holds Barred, a movie Hogan made in the late 80s, on DVD. The villain in the movie is named Zeus and you may notice he’s here. Zeus is played by an actor (not a wrestler mind you) named Tom Lister and the idea is that he’s living his character and is coming to beat Hogan up “in real life” because he lost in the movie. This would be like the guy who played Goldfinger trying to get revenge on Sean Connery. To make things even better, this was originally going to be the main event of Wrestlemania 6.
I’m sure you can see the problems mounting up already, with the main one being that Zeus doesn’t know how to wrestle. Other than that, there’s the idea that the movie barely broke even so a lot of people didn’t get the idea of the story. A positive twist to this is that a lot of people didn’t get the idea of the story, which probably kept the company from being laughed at more than they already were. Zeus wrestled like four matches ever, most of which were short or tag matches so he wasn’t in the ring long. WCW, the geniuses that they are, brought him back seven years later and put him in the main event of another PPV.
Anyway back to the match. The Million Dollar Team won’t let them get inside until Jake fires in the snake to chase them all away. Hogan and Demolition are the champions that you would expect them to be at this point. Zeus wants to fight Hogan one on one but their respective partners hold them both back. Jake starts with Zeus but the actor wants Hogan. They stare each other down and Hogan bounces off Zeus. Hogan pounds away but nothing hurts Zeus at all.
Instead Hulk finds the one weak spot on Zeus by raking the eyes. He slams Zeus down and amazingly enough, IT DOESN’T REALLY DO MUCH. Barbarian hits Hogan in the back of the head and Zeus twists Hogan’s neck around. He starts choking away and it’s a DQ for Zeus who is only pulled off by DiBiase and the promise of money. Just to clarify, we’re giving the Hulkamaniacs, an 80s dream team, a man advantage. Also why would DiBiase get Zeus off Hogan? Wouldn’t Hogan’s pain and agony make DiBiase happy?
It’s DiBiase vs. Hogan now and Hulk is in big trouble. DiBiase hammers away in the corner but Hulk gets a boot up in the corner and there’s the tag to Jake. A clothesline puts DiBiase on the floor and it’s off to Ax who demolishes DiBiase with ease. Smash comes in and they both pound Ted down. Back to Hogan who triple teams DiBiase along with Demolition. Back to Ax with a clothesline but DiBiase elbows him down out of desperation.
Off to Warlord as these two teams are still feuding even a year later. Come to think of it there wasn’t much else in between for those guys either. Dang did the division fall that fast in just a year? A shoulder breaker puts Ax down but Barbarian misses a middle rope elbow. Off to Warlord again but he gets clotheslined down. Fuji trips Ax up and a basic elbow drop is enough to tie the score.
It’s Smash vs. Warlord now but it’s quickly off to Hogan. Hulk softens him up to bring in Jake, which Jesse calls a mismatch. That’s likely based on power but I’m pretty sure Jake is taller than Warlord. Off to Smash but Warlord pokes him in the eye to take over. Back to Barbarian whose big boot is caught but Smash misses the elbow. DiBiase comes back in with those falling punches of his which get two.
It’s chinlock time with a knee in Smash’s back. DiBiase misses a middle rope back elbow of all things but Smash won’t tag for some reason. Barbarian makes a blind tag so the hot shot Smash hits on DiBiase doesn’t count and Barbarian takes his head off with a top rope clothesline for the pin. Jake comes in next but he can’t DDT Barbarian. Barbie whips Jake into the corner with authority although I’m not sure who’s authority it was.
Back to Warlord as things slow down a lot due to exhaustion. Jake dives for a tag but DiBiase slaps Hogan to draw him in instead. DiBiase piledrives Jake but Roberts gets a foot on the ropes to Jesse’s annoyance. Barbarian misses a headbutt and there’s the hot tag to Barbarian. He cleans house and gets two on Barbarian off a big boot. A suplex gets the same and my goodness how rare is it to see Hogan get a two count? Hogan fights off both Powers of Pain but they catch him in a spike piledriver which is good for a DQ for both of them, making it Hogan/Roberts vs. DiBiase.
Dibiase drops knees on Hogan before slapping on the Million Dollar Dream. That eventually gets two arm drops and Jake makes the save. That’s actually a nice touch as it makes the hold look stronger by needing a save instead of Hogan saving himself. Hogan finally breaks the hold and punches a jumping DiBiase. Hot tag brings in the Snake who cleans house. Jake drives in knees on DiBiase’s head as Hogan is dying in the corner.
Here’s Virgil to interfere and take the DDT. DiBiase drops a fist on Jake and puts his feet on the ropes to steal the pin. Ted pounds on Hogan who is still reeling from the long Million Dollar Dream. I’ll give him credit as that’s some great selling of a hold like that. Off to a chinlock and Hogan taps, which wouldn’t mean a thing for years. Hogan breaks the hold but they clothesline each other. DiBiase belly to back suplexes him and it’s Hulk Up time. You know the rest and there’s the legdrop.
Rating: C. There’s one major problem with this match: the first four minutes of this match give away the ending almost immediately. How can you give Hogan, Roberts and Demolitio a man advantage that fast? I’m not saying Hogan should have lost, but the Zeus stuff could have come later in the match and worked much better. Have Zeus stand on the apron most of the match and it would have worked fine. The fans finally reacted though.
Time for a six man at SNME XXVIII.
Ultimate Warrior/Legion of Doom vs. Demolition
Has there ever been a better collection of theme music in one match? The LOD cost Demolition the tag belts and Warrior is there….uh because. This would be a Survivor Series match in a month with Hennig and Tornado joining them. Piper points this out. We get a shot of Dustin Rhodes in the crowd. Keep that in mind as it’ll come into play later on. Warrior comes in and just destroys people.
The splash misses Axe though and he’s Smash. Demolition was more or less worthless by this point and would get squashed at Mania and be done. Hawk comes in and just wipes them out. You can see the crushing of them beginning. He continues the trend of beating all of Demolition by himself. Everybody comes in and brawls but Smash is more or less dead and gets caught by the splash for the pin. This was domination in every sense of the word.
Rating: D. Just not interesting at all as Demolition was made to look like a bunch of jobbers here. I don’t think anyone ever bought them anymore once the LOD showed up. Not the worst match ever, but a little challenge would have been nice. I still can’t believe we never got the big tag match with Demolition vs. the LOD. It should have written itself.
Off to Prime Time Wrestling on May 14, 1991 for a rare singles match.
Smash vs. Jake Roberts
Jake chases him to the floor but gets caught in a wristlock to slow things down. Roberts fights up with some punches before taking over on the arm as well. There’s the knee lift but Smash bails away from the DDT. Back in and Jake is sent hard into the corner but Smash charges into a knee in the corner. Mr. Fuji uses his cane to break up a DDT attempt and Smash gets two off a side suplex. Not that it matters though as Jake floats over and plants Smash with the DDT for the pin.
Rating: D. Nothing to see here but did anyone consider Smash to be a serious opponent for a guy like Roberts? Demolition was dead in the water at this point and Smash would quickly be repackaged into the Repo Man. Jake on the other hand would turn heel and become one of the best villains in recent memory.
Speaking of Repo Man, here he is in one of the few logical stories he ever had. From This Tuesday In Texas.
Ted DiBiase/Repo Man vs. Virgil/Tito Santana
One thing modern WWE programming is great about is recapping stuff. That helps a ton as to someone that is randomly seeing this, this match makes NO sense. In reality, DiBiase had said that Virgil had stolen the Million Dollar Belt and recruited Repo Man to help him get it back, which worked. Since we need to fill in a match slot here, Tito joined Virgil and we get this match. The faces are already in the ring so what do you expect to happen here?
Virgil’s career is in essence over as far as importance goes here. He just had nothing to do once he left DiBiase and that singles feud went on about as long as it could so the WWF kept it going for another few months after it. Repo here is of course Smash from Demolition if you weren’t aware of that. Santana is more or less worthless here as El Matador.
The problem is that after that, no one remembered the great work he did as Tito Santana, as he was just remembered for the stupid gimmick that he did. As for the match, there’s not a lot to say. It’s your standard filler tag match that could have been on any house show or TV show of the era. I don’t know if it’s good enough for here but we’ll see I guess. Repo Man and DiBiase might be the weirdest combination of all time.
The main problem here is that there’s no point to having Santana in there. He didn’t have any feud with either guy that I can remember other than a few random matches with Repo that would have happened just because they were on the same level of the card. This is just a weird combination to have. The wrestling is fine, but it just comes off as weird all around. The match itself is once again the same kind of match that you would expect to see at a house show or on TV.
It’s actually not bad to be fair. It’s nothing to go out of your way to see, but I don’t have a problem with it being on a low level Tuesday PPV. The problem here is that Virgil is the guy that’s getting the hot tag. How is that appealing? With Sherri making a distraction, Repo hits him in the back with a knee to allow DiBiase to get the pin.
Rating: C. This was ok I guess, but it wasn’t anything great. The faces were just overly matched here and it was really easy to tell that. The formula worked fine here as it ca be expected with guys like DiBiase and Santana out there though, so that balances out I guess. This was pure filler.
We’ll jump ahead to Wrestlemania VIII for an eight man tag.
Jim Duggan/Sgt. Slaughter/Virgil/Big Boss Man vs. Nasty Boys/Moutnie/Repo Man
Just a collection of lower midcard guys getting a Wrestlemania payday here. Neither team gets an entrance. Instead, Ray Combs of Family Feud is guest ring announcer for this and cracks a few jokes about the heels pre-match. The good guys clean house to start and hit a quadruple clothesline to clear the ring. Heenan announces that Shawn Michaels has left the building. Gorilla sums up our responses: “WHO CARES???”
Anyway Duggan and Sags start things off and it’s Jim hitting a few clotheslines to take over. Off to Slaughter who gets poked in the eye, allowing for the tag to Knobs. Slaughter pounds away to take over before it’s off to Boss Man for a boot to the face. Brian avoids a charge into the corner and Boss Man’s splash misses Repo Man as well, giving the heels control for a bit. Repo crotches himself and Boss Man slugs him down for good measure.
Off to Virgil who seems to mess up almost anything where he jumps into the air. Duggan tries to come in to save his partner but it’s back to Sags to beat on Virgil even more. A pumphandle slam gets two on Virgil and it’s back to Mountie. Everything breaks down and in the melee the Nastys are rammed together, allowing Virgil to steal the pin.
Rating: D. As I said, this was nothing more than a way to throw a bunch of guys onto the show at the same time. This was a much better idea than having four matches eat up a few minutes each as it accomplishes the same goal here. They were out there as filler before the world title match and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.
Here’s a quick match from Summerslam 1992.
Repo Man vs. Crush
Repo tries to jump Crush but has no effect and earns himself a gorilla press slam. We head to the floor for a clothesline from Crush before heading back inside for some kicks to Repo’s ribs. Crush pounds on the ribs even more and hits a backbreaker, only to be poked in the eye to break the momentum. Repo hits a belly to back suplex but Crush no sells it and snaps off a belly to belly. A top rope knee drop misses and Repo goes after the knee with some very basic stuff. An elbow drop gets two and Crush easily fights up, catches Repo coming off the top in a powerslam and hooks the Head Vice for the submission.
Rating: D. This was a glorified squash to make Crush look good. They were this close to making Crush the next big thing in 1993 so seeing him look good here isn’t surprising at all. Repo Man is really impressive as he went from Smash to the new gimmick so smoothly that I didn’t realize it was the same guy until years later.
We’ll jump to WCW now with Darsow as the Black Top Bully, an evil truck driver. From SuperBrawl V.
Blacktop Bully vs. Dustin Rhodes
Bully is more commonly known as Smash or Repo Man. This is seriously the best they could put together? Dustin would be fired for the rematch: the King of the Road match, where the idea was they were in the back of a big truck which was driving along the road and the first person to pull a horn got the win. It’s somehow worse than it sounds but we’ll get to that later. Meng is thrown out before the match starts.
This is seriously Dustin Rhodes against the battling truck driver. Dustin is wearing gold by the way. That’s rather amusing. Naturally this is mainly a fight. I can’t get over the fact that this feud was already in FREAKING WARGAMES and we’re still having it here, 5 months later. Seriously, what in the world could there be left to fight about? The scary thing is that the feud ended because Dustin got fired, not because the feud itself ended.
Bully’s finisher is called the Breaker 1 9. Oh dear indeed. They’re having Smash work a ten minute plus technical match. Honestly, who thought this was smart? You have Sting and Savage in the next match and this is going to get more time than that. You could serious watch this match in fast forward and you wouldn’t miss anything. I mean it’s the same stuff over and over again with nothing new added in at all.
Unless you like hearing truck driving jokes from Tony and hearing him worship Dusty Rhodes which could take all day then there’s no reason to watch this. Rhodes is in trouble and Heenan says come on Bully, give him that parking ticket. In other words, Heenan is so gone that for one thing, he thinks that sounds good and number two, he thinks truck drivers have the authority to give parking tickets.
We spend three minutes talking about that Rhodes fire. And don’t let me get started about how many Rhodes and driving a truck on said Rhodes jokes they used. Dustin suplexes Parker in and that’s apparently a big deal. Never mind the whole double cage match where Dustin got to beat the living tar out of him. In one of the most clichéd endings there is, Dustin goes for a suplex and Parker hooks his foot so that Bully is able to get the pin. Heenan must have had a shot as he’s slurring again.
Rating: G. This is beyond failing. Let me make this clear: Goldust and Repo Man had an 18 minute match where we had non-stop truck driver jokes. We kept hearing about that stupid top wristlock (yes, that’s what Darsow’s finisher was. Smash’s real name is Barry Darsow in case you didn’t know) and we never even see it. This is now I believe the standard method of torture in 9 states.
And it somehow got worse. From Uncensored 1995.
Blacktop Bully vs. Dustin Rhodes
For some reason WCW thought this was a good idea. See if you can figure this out: they’re in the back of a truck driving around Atlanta. The winner is the first person to get to the end of the truck and pull a horn. Both guys bladed which was illegal at the time and were fired for it. There are bales of hay in the back of it also. Yep, WCW isn’t a hick company AT ALL. Oh hey let’s get a police escort and a helicopter too.
This must have been SO fun for the people in the arena. I mean my goodness: SOMEONE GOT PAID FOR THIS!!! The problem here is that no one can actually stand up at all as they’re IN A MOVING TRUCK! Two idiots have to actually sit in the cab and watch this. Seriously, WHO CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA??? Yep there goes the sunlight. Oh I forgot to mention: this has been edited to Zimbabwe and back so the light changes about every 5 seconds.
Hey, let’s run a stop sign on film and show a shot of the truck driver for no apparent reason. They aren’t even really fighting. It’s them wandering from one end of the truck to another and hitting the other guy with a bale of hay. And all of a sudden Dustin is 8 feet away from where he was a second ago. Not to mention they had to rent the truck. The camera work here is crap as we can’t let anyone see blood. Nothing dumb about this AT ALL.
They actually call this a match. I’m stunned. Hey something good happens for once: the camera in the helicopter breaks up. Someone up there likes me. Oh hey, let’s sit on the side of a moving truck and hang off the side while a guy punches me. Nothing bad can happen from this. This has been going on over 8 minutes and they might have interacted for 50 seconds total. Other than that it’s stumbling around and trying to grab the horn.
It’s also gotten lighter so apparently this has gone on all night. It certainly feels like it. They’re up on the beam together and Dustin gets knocked off, allowing the Bully to pull the horn and win I guess. In the arena fireworks go off. This is a BAD idea already isn’t it?
Rating: H. As in HOLY GOODNESS WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE THEY SMOKING TO COME UP WITH THIS????? Do I even need to make fun of this? Dustin took off and put on his shirt twice, yet you never saw him do it once. See what I’m working with here? The blading in the match would get Dustin fired and get him a job in WWF as Goldust, making it the best thing he ever could have done.
Darsow would be brought back in to WCW for a few shots on Nitro, including this one on March 9, 1998.
Goldberg vs. Barry Darsow
Darsow is more famous as Smash from Demolition or Repo Man. He’s just Barry Darsow, guy in trunks here though. Goldberg immediately takes him down by the leg before running Barry over with a shoulder block. A lariat sends Darsow to the floor and Goldberg rams him into the barricade and post. Goldberg misses a shoulder into the post though and Darsow goes after the arm. The arm is sent into the buckle but Goldberg snaps awake and hits the spear and Jackhammer for the quick pin.
And again on Nitro, September 21, 1998.
Finlay vs. Barry Darsow
They circle each other until Darsow hammers him into the corner but Finlay uppercuts him back. We hit an early nerve hold on Barry followed by a simple pull of the face but Darsow comes back with choking and a chinlock. Finlay counters a piledriver attempt and the tombstone is enough to pin Barry.
Rating: D. Pretty boring brawl for the most part here with Darsow not being interesting at all. Finlay was a decent enough midcarder but he needed more to work with out there. I’ve never understood the mentality behind booking these meaningless matches in the first hour. You have an uncontested hour with no Raw and this is how you use it?
One more time with Darsow as a golfer named Mr. Hole In One Barry Darsow on Saturday Night, December 19, 1998.
Barry Darsow vs. Kaz Hayashi
Darsow comes out with a bag of clubs and unrolls a mini putting green. He says he got two holes in one in a single round last week. Kaz says he’s played golf before but there may be some communication issues as he can only say yes. Hayashi has to sink a put in order to get a match with Darsow but he doesn’t seem to understand. Kaz puts the clubs in the bag and shoves it over, only to get nailed from behind. Darsow ties him in the Tree of Woe and hammers away but has his golf club taken away. A slam onto the putting green is enough for a DQ.
Much like Barbarian, Darsow is a guy that managed to stick around for a long time but in a different way. Unlike Barbarian, Darsow would take on whatever stupid character he was given and actually seemed to try, which is more than you can say for a lot of people. No he didn’t do much outside of being part of Demolition, but you can’t say he did the same thing over and over again for years.
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