Mid-South Championship Wrestling
Date: January 20, 1984
Location: Irish McNeil Boys Club, Shreveport, Louisiana
Commentators: Boyd Pierce, Bill Watts

No Mercy is downloading so it’s back to Louisiana. I really liked this one last time so hopefully it’ll still be good again here. Last time we saw Duggan and JYD feuding with the Russians while Magnum TA got tarred and feathered. The Midnight Express is running around and being all Midnight Express kinds of evil which is always fun. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence opens us up in a sequential way.

Jim Cornetee is with Watts. Watts says that there have been a lot of managers but Cornette is the first mama’s boy. Cornette asks why he should have to work for anything when he can call his mama (on Planet Funk?) and have her buy it for him. We get a clip of Mr. Wrestling II and Magnum saying they’re awesome. Cornette interrupted them and wanted to know when the Midnight Express would get a title shot. The champs call Cornette a chicken and he leaves.

Back to the live video and Cornette says I told you so, and we get a clip of the tarring and feathering by the Express last week and the champs’ promo after it. Mr. Wrestling II promises some plucking. You know for an hour long show, spending the first ten minutes plus on a recap is probably not the best use of TV time. Cornette: “Why don’t you pluck your partner?” Jim promises more violence if the Express doesn’t get the title match. Mid-South has fined Cornette $5000 but Cornette says that’s just a phone call home to mother.

Krusher Darsow vs. Terry Taylor

This is supposed to be Volkoff but he’s injured. Darsow jumps him to start but Taylor comes back with elbows. He slams Darsow and hooks an abdominal stretch and Volkoff runs in for the quick DQ.

Taylor dropkicks Darsow to the floor but Volkoff puts a rope around Taylor’s throat. He tries to hang Taylor over his back but Taylor flips out of it. Darsow comes back in and they hang him over the top rope. Some wrestlers make the save.

Roger Bond/Mike Jackson vs. Midnight Express

The tag champions are on commentary. Cornette has a bag of feathers which he’s blowing in the direction of Magnum. Cornette runs his mouth a lot to start. Condrey and Jackson start things off. Jackson hits a cross body for two and a dropkick puts Condrey down. It’s off to Eaton who has some better luck. Back to Condrey who beats on Bond for awhile. Eaton slams Bond down and hits a middle rope knee. The Express tags in and out very fast. Wrestling II is giving Eaton pointers which is cool to hear. Condrey hits a powerslam off the middle rope which sets up their double team elbow/drop for the pin. Squash.

The Express destroys both guys post match and set to tar and feather Bond but Magnum runs in for the save. Apparently that costs them $2500.

Buddy Landell vs. Mike Starbuck

Landell is basically famous for looking exactly like Ric Flair and copying everything he did. Landell controls with ease and puts a full nelson on him as Mike’s face is on the mat. A backbreaker and elbow drop gets the pin.

Brian Adidas vs. Mickey Henry

There’s going to be a TV Title tournament coming up. Adidas control to start as we hear about a new team coming called the Rock N Roll Express. Henry grabs a headlock and hits Brian in the ribs. Adidas comes back with a dropkick and botches a leap frog, a victory roll and most of a small package but the last one gets the pin. That was a horrible ending sequence.

Masao Ito vs. Rick Rood

Rood offers a handshake but is turned down. He towers over Ito here. Ito stomps him down and chops a lot. He hooks a choke of some kind which gets Rood a DQ win.

Rood is bleeding from the mouth as Ito won’t let it go.

Here’s a video on the Rock N Roll Express set to I Love Rock And Roll by Joan Jett. It’s a music video which is more 80s than Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and the Karate Kid going Back to the Future to bust ghosts to hair metal.

Watts and Boyd wrap up the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I still really like this show. They’re efficient with their stories and you get a nice mix of squashes to keep the show moving. Cornette is at his best here with being a mama’s boy that you want to punch in the face. Fun show and this is something I’d definitely watch if it aired today.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Triple Mania XX
Date: August 5, 2012
Location: Arena Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Attendance: 21,000
Commentators: Andres Maronas, Arturo Rivera, Jesus Zuniga, Leo Riano

This is another request as I’m actually building up a bit of a history with AAA. I did their famous When Worlds Collide show (not sure why it’s famous but it kind of is) and Triplemania 18, which is their biggest show of the year. At that show, a group called Los Perros Del Mal debuted and started an invasion storyline. Since then, the group has merged with like five other groups to form La Sociedad, which has about 25-30 members. The main event tonight is a member of one of those stables, Mascara Ano 2000 vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. in a mask vs. mask match. I speak enough Spanish to get the gist of this show so let’s get to it.

This show is also an annual memorial to Antonio Pena, the founder of the company who died in I think 1994. The opening video is a partial tribute to him and also a rundown of the card, which has two tag teams representing Joaquin Roldan and Dorian Roldan (father and son who hate each other) with the losing team’s boss getting his head shaved. Dorian’s team is Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle so you’ll at least know some people.

We open with house show dates. That’s not exactly the best way to fire up an audience for a super show.

The opening video in the arena is about the Roldans and their drama. Basically one heads AAA and one heads La Sociedad, which is the invading group I mentioned earlier. This is treated as the main event of the show even though there’s another lucha de apuesta match (betting match, usually mask vs. mask or hair vs. hair or something like that) and a world title match after it.

The set is basically a Titantron sat on the stage which is similar to what late WCW had, meaning it’s not bad at all.

A bunch of girls in barely there dresses bring out banners and flags to open things up in the arena. This is set to the instrumental montage music from Rocky IV. That’s totally awesome.

Faby Apache/Fenix/Octagoncito/Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Dark Dragon/Mini Charly Manson/Sexy Star/Yuriko

From what I can tell, this is a Relevos Atomicos de locura match, which means there’s a male wrestler (Fenix/Dark Dragon), a female wrestler (Faby Apache/Sexy Star, who is women’s champion), a mini (Octagoncito/Mini Charly Manson) and an exotico (Pimpinela Escarlata/Yuriko), which is literally a transvestite wrestler. Now there’s a cultural difference for you. As best as I can gather, the rules are your usual eight person tag rules. I think Sexy Star is on the heel team.

I have almost no idea who these people are so I’ll do my best to keep track of this. The referee gets an ovation too for some reason. The exoticos start things off and Escarlata is the one with short hair. Got it. The ring is HUGE and six sided ala old school TNA. Escarlata runs the ropes a lot and takes Yuriko over with a sloppy headscissors before strutting a bit.

Off to Apache vs. Star which I believe is a big rivalry. This is lucha rules (duh) which means sending someone to the floor is the same as them tagging out. Star is sent to the outside and I think Dark Dragon comes in to mess with Faby’s hair. An armdrag puts Dragon down and it’s off to Octagoncito. Yeah that was Dragon because Octagon (yes I’m well aware that Octagon is a totally different guy but I’m calling Octagoncito Octagon in this match for the sake of it’s easier to type) gets to face Mini Charly Manson for a bit now. I apologize for explaining so much but I have almost no idea what’s going on and I’m watching the stuff.

Octagon flies around a lot and uses a lot of spins and dives to annoy Manson before it’s off to Dragon who kicks Octagon’s head off. Now Dragon is headscissored to the floor and Octagon takes him out with a dive. The rest of the heels work on Fenix who is sent to the floor and into the apron by Dragon. Now it’s Escarlata getting worked over by the heels. This is REALLY fast paced stuff. Dragon comes off the top with a double stomp I think to the groin, and now it’s Faby’s turn to get beaten up.

Everything stays broken down and Octagon takes a gutbuster from Star. The heels are in total control at the moment and everyone is beating up everyone. Escarlata is quadruple teamed in the corner but Fenix and Octagon come back in off the top for the save. Now the face team is alone in the ring until we get down to Star vs. Fenix. Star wears a mask and has long blonde hair for you visual people out there. Fenix hits an awkward looking kick to the head in the corner before it’s back to Dragon. Dragon tries to throw Fenix into the air but gets caught in an INSANE midair flip into a rana. That looked AWESOME.

A top rope knee drop to Dragon’s head looks to finish but Yuriko makes the save. Octagon comes in with a HARD kick to the back and hits what we would call Wasteland to set up a corkscrew plancha off the top for two. Off to Escarlata vs. Star with the exotico hooking an over the back backbreaker. Manson comes in and takes Escarlata down with a northern lights suplex, only for Faby to take him down with a sitout Pedigree for two.

Dragon makes the save and pulls Apache’s hair before hitting a freaky kind of spinning driver for two. Escarlata jumps into Dragon’s arms and kisses him, sending Dragon to the floor. A big dive takes the Dragon out so Star dives on both of them (looked awesome too), followed by a dive from Octagon. Fenix hits a 360 moonsault to take out all four, as Yuriko slams Faby down. Apache pops up and grabs a rolling armbar on Yuriko for the submission out of nowhere.

Rating: C+. I have no idea who most of these people are or what in the world was going on with the exoticos, but this was a very fun opener. The crowd was into it the whole time and the big dives were awesome. This Fenix guy seems like someone who could do very well as a high flier ala Sin Cara or an old school WCW cruiserweight. Star is good looking and can dive, but she seems content to be the top chick in AAA and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Tribute video to Antonio Pena.

La Hermanadad 187 vs. Chessman/Juventud Guerrera vs. La Familia de Tijuana vs. Hart Foundation 2.0

La Hermanadad is Joe Lider and Psychosis, La Familia is Extreme Tiger and Halloween and the Hart Foundation is Jack Evans and Teddy Hart. This is a Parejas Suicidas cage match, which means it’s escape rules. The only team left in the ring has to face each other later in the night in a lucha de apuesta match. Apparently Lider and Psychosis are back together for one night only after Psychosis (who is wearing his mask again) was burned by an errant fireball.

Chessman is a tag champion with Abyss here but is teaming with Juvy for some reason. Speaking of Juvy, he’s Cruiserweight Champion, back in his mask, and comes out to Enter Sandman of all songs. As the announcer is doing the intros, La Hermanadad destroys everyone with chairs. Tiger gets up too and works over Lider, hitting a big double stomp off the top onto his chest.

Halloween climbs to the top of the cage for a huge dive, thinks better of it, and climbs down to escape. Smart man that painted freak. There are weapons in the cage too. That’s about the extent of the commentary I can give you here as everyone is fighting everyone and there’s no structure to the match at all, which is fine. Halloween is sitting in the aisle with a soda cheering Extreme Tiger on.

Someone ranas Tiger onto a trashcan and Lider hits a knee to the face of Evans. Tiger dropkicks a trashcan into Psychosis’ face as Guerrera escapes. Tiger gets on one of the beams across the top of the cage as Psychosis does the Terry Funk spinning ladder spot. Tiger hits a HUGE dive onto Halloween and Juvy, officially taking La Familia out of the match. In your twist of the match, Psychosis and Lider are fighting on top of the beam with Psychosis firing staples into Lider’s head. They’re partners but they entered the match for a chance to fight each other later. Psychosis gets to the floor.

To recap we have Lider, Evans, Hart and Chessman in the ring still. Evans does one of his WAY overdone flips to Lider before climbing the cage and moonsaulting off the beam. Evans escapes, leaving us with three people inside the cage. Halloween now has some popcorn to go with that soda. Hart hits some backbreakers on both guys followed by a moonsault off the cage.

Hart easily escapes and we’re down to Chessman vs. Lider. Lider crushes Chessman against a ladder and goes up, accepting help from Psychosis despite wanting to fight him. Chessman kicks Lider down though and escapes to send La Hermanadad to a match later tonight.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t so much of a match as much as it was a trainwreck with the focus entirely being on Lider and Psychosis. They were a long running feud so the blowoff being here tonight is a good thing and makes the most sense. The other teams were just kind of there but we got dives off the cage and the fans were into it which is a good thing.

Vampiro pops up post match and sends Chessman off the cage and through some tables. Chessman does a stretcher job.

Perry Aguayo is announced as the next inductee into the AAA Hall of Fame. Aguayo comes out and receives a plaque after giving a speech. As Perro celebrates, Mascara Ano 2000 and someone else from El Consejo come out and Mascara talks about losing his mask to Perro years ago. A challenge is thrown out for a hair vs. hair match, but since Perro is in his mid 60s he turns it down. For clarification’s sake, this is Mascara Ano 2000 senior. It’s his son that’s in the main event tonight.

Dorian Roldan, the Jarretts and Angle say they’ll win.

We recap the Psycho Circus vs. Consejo match. Best I can tell, they don’t like each other.

Los Psycho Circus/La Parka vs. El Consejo/Octagon

This is different than L.A. Park who we’ll see later. It’s the same gimmick but played by a different guy, which doesn’t sound like much but it was a HUGE ordeal back in the day and actually main evented this show two years ago. Los Psycho Circus is a group of clowns famous for a long winning streak and comprised of Murder Clown, Monster Clown and Psycho Clown.

El Consejo is Semental, El Texano Jr. and Toscano (the leader). La Parka comes out to Thriller and has ZOMBIE DANCERS, thereby making him awesome. This is a Relevos Australianos match, meaning the only way to win is to beat a captain, which would be Parka or Octagon. Usually these matches are 2/3 falls but this is one fall to a finish for no apparent reason.

Octagon jumps Parka in the aisle and the fight is on quickly. They’re old partners who hate each other now. I know I say this a lot, but I have absolutely no idea who most of these people are. One of the Consejo guys gets whipped by a belt to the back. As best as I can tell, Murder Clown is the big guy, and also the one launched through the air into a splash on a member of Consejo against the ropes. It doesn’t help that tagging doesn’t seem to be a rule in this tag match.

I think Psycho Clown gets triple teamed in the corner and triple kicked in the ribs as Octagon beats on Parka in the corner. Now we actually do settle down into a regular tag match with La Parka avoiding some double teaming, resulting in heel miscommunication. La Parka causes Octagon to kick two of his own partners before heading to the floor. Psycho and Monster come in and cause more heel miscommunication, followed by Murder Clown accidentally dropkicking both of his tent mates.

We get a WAY overdone six man tower of doom double superplex out of the corner before Parka dives on a heel on the floor. I believe it was Texano who got in a kick to one of the clowns before being sent to the floor as well. Apparently that was Monster Clown and he follows the guy I believe to be Texano to the floor with a big dive.

Psycho backdrops the other Consejo guy onto the two already outside before diving on both of them. Murder Clown goes up for the HUGE dive to take everyone out. That leaves the captains alone in the ring until Semental (FINALLY I’m sure who one of them is) tries to hold La Parka, only to get kicked low by mistake. In the confusion, Parka rolls up Octagon for the pin.

Rating: C-. Despite the fact that I spent most of the match trying to figure out who in the world I was watching, this was only ok. They basically took two feuds here and put them together into a single match, which is usually ok but when you have eight guys in those two feuds, it can be a little hard to keep track of. Also, Octagon and Parka came off as guys who happened to be opponents rather than people that hate each other, which brought the match down even more. It’s not bad though.

Post match Consejo attacks Octagon until La Parka makes the save. He asks Octagon to leave La Sociedad, but Octagon walks away. Consejo attacks Los Psycho Circus as a consolation prize.

Psychosis vs. Joe Lider

Psychosis hits Lider in the head with a chair before Lider’s name graphic can appear on screen. Lider shrugs it off and smacks Psychosis with a chair of his own before taking Psychosis’ mask. Apparently he’s insisting that this is a hair vs. hair match instead of a mask vs. hair match. That makes sense because, in the words of Chris Rock regarding Psychosis: “WE KNOW WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE!”

Lider, who has his head taped up from the staplegun attack earlier, goes after Psychosis with the same gun and the fans freak out. A neckbreaker puts Lider down because staples into the head doesn’t slow anyone down apparently. Psychosis grabs a pair of chairs (where do these things come from? No one went to the floor to get them and they were in the ring when the match started. Did I wake up in WWF War Zone?) and crushes Lider’s head a few times.

Psychosis goes up but has a trashcan (again, WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?) placed on his head before getting slammed down onto the mat. Lider finds a ladder and smacks Psychosis in the head with it as we head to the apron. Psychosis fights back and slams Lider’s back into the apron before loading up a table against the apron. Back in and Psychosis goes up while holding a chair, only to get crotched on the top.

A top rope rana sends Psychosis into a trashcan for a VERY close two, which seems to be due to a crooked referee. Psychosis is part of Los Perros Del Mal which is part of La Sociedad. A chair shot puts Psychosis down and we’ve got a table. It’s already bent though, so Psychosis piles stuff on top of it. He goes up top and gets crotched again but as Lider loads up a superplex, Psychosis counters into a flip piledriver onto the ladder for the pin and Lider’s hair.

Rating: D. This match comes down to one question: do you like hardcore wrestling? If you do, you’ll like this match. If you don’t like it, you’ll hate this one. I’m not a fan of it and the match didn’t work as a result. Apparently this is a big and long feud so the people watching this would be more impressed with it than I was. I didn’t like the match for the most part but at least it was relatively short.

Psychosis puts Lider onto a pile of tacks before Lider gets a haircut.

Lider and Psychosis brawl even more in the back, meaning this likely isn’t over.

Jeff Jarrett/Kurt Angle vs. Electroshock/L.A. Park

Jeff, ever the super heel, throws tortillas to the fans as he comes to the ring. This is the battle of the Roldans, which is Dorian vs. Joaquin respectively. The losing team’s Roldan gets his head shaved. I always forget how hot Karen Jarrett is. Park has Bad to the Bone as his theme music, making him the coolest luchador I’ve seen so far tonight. Also he’s dropped the skeleton attire and looks like a big monster in blue which is pretty awesome.

Electroshock and Angle start things off and Kurt will have none of this handshake stuff. Instead he easily takes Electroshock to the mat and we start with some technical stuff. Angle snaps off an overhead belly to belly but gets dropkicked in the back when he poses. Off to Jarrett, who I believe holds the record for longest time as AAA World Champion. A spinwheel kick takes Jarrett to the floor as we hear about the members of the Foreign Legion over the years, which is almost every major non-WWE star since 1994 (yes even Sting).

Off to Park who fires off some kicks to Jeff but gets suplexed down by Angle for two. Park avoids a charge in the corner and dances a bit before snapping off a powerslam on Angle.

Jeff jumps Park from behind to take over but Electroshock gets the tag anyway. Park gets knocked to the floor and double teamed before Angle goes back in to beat on Electroshock a bit more. Kurt puts on a chinlock and Dorian comes in for some cheap shots as Jeff has the referee.

Jarrett comes back in and decks Park as Electroshock rolls to the outside. Karen tries to interfere but the referee grabs her by the hair and shakes her around. TAKE THAT HEBNER! Jeff kicks Electroshock low and Dorian gets in again. He gets in some more cheap shots and his papa weakly comes in to chase him off. With Electroshock in trouble, Dorian comes in AGAIN. The fans go nuts for something but the camera is so all over the place that I have no idea what I’m supposed to be happy over. Oh Dorian got ejected. Makes sense now.

As Dorian is leaving, he runs into Abyss of all people. Apparently Abyss is part of La Sociedad and escorts Dorian back to ringside because who is going to tell him not to? Karen kicks Park on the floor as Abyss pounds on Electroshock. Back in and Electroshock gets in a shot to Kurt’s face and we FINALLY get the hot tag to Park. House is cleaned but Abyss comes in and takes Park down. That doesn’t last long as Park knocks Abyss down and out to the floor, followed by a suicide dive for a BIG pop.

Dorian tries to come in again but his dad FINALLY does something about it. I’m not sure what that something was but apparently it was supposed to be a clothesline. The referee gets bumped (like it matters) and can’t count the pin on Jarrett. Abyss chokeslams Park (which is a confusing name given Abyss’ real name/brother character in TNA) but Electroshock comes in out of nowhere and hits a cutter on Angle for the pin to blow the roof off the place.

Rating: C+. It was overbooked but I think that’s more par for the course in Mexico than it is in America which means I can’t criticize it as a result. Good formula tag match here with the ending being exactly what the fans wanted to see. This would be the same as an AMERICAN team beating some foreign invaders which is one of the best and most sure ways to fire up a crowd. Good stuff here.

Dorian tries to run but Joaquin says come get what you earned. Konnan is here too and looks to be in shock. From what I can find/translate, Joaquin offers to let Dorian keep his hair if he’ll disband La Sociedad and rejoin the family. That must be what Konnan (the co-leader) was freaked out by. Dorian actually agrees, sending Jarrett into panic.

Joaquin says it’s done then but Park says no it isn’t and wants the hair gone. I think he tells Joaquin to be a father…..so Joaquin shaves his own hair? The father and son embrace…..BUT IT’S A SWERVE!!! Dorian decks his father and Angle, Jarrett and Abyss hold off Electroshock and Park so Dorian can shave his father’s head.

AAA World Title: Hijo De Perro Aguayo vs. El Mesias

Mesias is defending and Aguayo is the leader of Los Perros Del Mal and basically started the whole invasion. The fans are split here because Mesias (and his second, Cibernetico) are really popular but so are Los Perros. Apparently Aguayo put Mesias out for a few months earlier in the year to set this up. Oh and Aguayo won the King of Kings tournament. It’s a fast start with both guys running the ropes, only to have Aguayo clothesline Mesias down.

They trade some very fast armdrags before the champ hits a Thesz Press and some very slow punches. The fans don’t seem thrilled by Mesias so far. Aguayo misses a charge and falls to the floor where Cibernetico and Hector Garza, Aguayo’s second, talk a lot of trash to each other. Mesias rams Aguayo into the announce table a few times before heading back in for an X Factor for no cover.

A superplex gets two on Aguayo but he comes back with a knee to the ribs to take over. There’s another of those magically appearing chairs but it doesn’t get used yet. Now we’ve got a table in the corner which isn’t going to be used yet apparently. Aguayo puts the chair on Mesias’ chest and hits a top rope double stomp for two as Cibernetico pulls the referee out. Aguayo loads up a tombstone (illegal in Mexico) but Garza comes in and stops him. Hector misses a chair shot, putting Aguayo down and probably cutting his head. Mesias knocks Garza to the floor and gets two off a running powerslam.

Aguayo is busted open. A standing rana gets two for the champion and the fans are starting to get into this. Mesias gets two more off a Codebreaker and Perro is bleeding like crazy. It’s so bad that the doctor comes in to look at him, but Aguayo says keep it going. The doctor isn’t sure, so Perro DROPKICKS THE DOCTOR! A fast small package gets two for Perro but he walks into a jumping Downward Spiral and a bad spear through the table to keep the title on Mesias.

Rating: C. The blade job here was awesome but the moves around it weren’t so great. Mesias doesn’t look so much like a tough guy as he does a brawler with a beer gut. The fans were WAY into this though which makes me think the build to it was very solid stuff. Good enough stuff though for a newcomer and the crowd treated both guys like stars. That works for the world title match at the biggest show of the year.

Cibernetico gets in a shoving match with Aguayo’s father, only to have Mesias pull him away.

In the back, Garza is blamed for the loss. He would be thrown out of the group five days later.

We recap Wagner Jr. vs. Mascara Ano 2000, which is basically a battle of families. Both are from famous Mexican wrestling families and Mascara has beaten Wagner about five times setting up the match. Silver King, Wagner’s real life brother, is here with him. Wagner’s son (El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., literally meaning the son of Dr. Wagner Jr.) is there too, as is Mascara Ano 2000 Sr.

Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Mascara Ano 2000 Jr.

This is also mask vs. mask. They slug it out to start with Wagner chopping Mascara down. A Samoan drop does the same thing as Wagner controls early. Mascara guillotines him down onto the top and we head to the floor. That goes nowhere so we go back in for a powerbomb for two for Mascara. The fans are totally behind Wagner. The beating continues until Wagner is busted open from the eye.

Mascara Sr. gets in and pounds away as well which is all cool apparently. All of that gets two as Silver King and Wagner III are all cool with letting this double team continue. Mascara Sr. has some kind of a spike that he keeps pounding at Wagner’s head with. Mascara Jr. accidentally kicks Mascara St. and the comeback is on. We head to the floor where Wagner hits a flip dive off the apron to put Mascara down again.

Wagner goes after Mascara Sr. and takes the spike from him before heading back in to shove the referee down. A Batista Bomb gets a VERY slow two on Mascara, causing Silver King to finally complain about something. Another powerbomb gets the same result and Wagner is getting ticked off. Mascara Sr. interferes again and his son finds a chair. Silver King FINALLY comes in with a chair….and turns on his brother. Fans throw in trash and Wagner III tries to come in but is beaten down as well.

Even that just gets two on Wagner though as the match continues. With Las Mascaras distracted, Wagner III sneaks a glass bottle to his dad (old plot point from 1993 when Mascara Sr. beat Perry Aguayo with a bottle shot to the head) and dropkicks down by Mascaras. The bottle shot to the head FINALLY puts Mascara down for the pin.

Rating: C-. Too overbooked for my taste again but this was the “send the fans home happy” moment and apparently Wagner is insanely popular so what better way to end the show with? The match was mainly Wagner getting double teamed and then turned on by his brother, but it didn’t do a very good job at building drama or anything, as Wagner hit one shot with the bottle to win and that was it.

Wagner Jr. and Mascara Sr. argue a lot about whose house this is until Mascara Jr.’s daughter does the unmasking. This is a MUCH bigger deal than it sounds like. Wagner Jr. celebrates for a long time before a highlight package ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This is a pretty big culture clash for me, as I’m used to the biggest show of the year feeling more serious than this. However, the fans seemed to love this and I think the good guys won every major match on the card. The show isn’t bad though and if you’ve never seen some lucha libre and can’t track down When Worlds Collide, this isn’t the worst show you could see. It’s available in full on Youtube from AAA themselves, but the matches are out of order as it was aired as three TV specials instead of one show, so the big matches are all at the end of episodes. Not bad, but not my style for the most part.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Wrestling Champions From Chicago
Date: April 5, 1963
Location: Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 3,140
Commentator: Bob Elson

This is about ten days after my father turned ten years old. After holding the record for about two weeks, the Washington DC shows I did have lost their spot as the oldest show I’ve ever reviewed. This is presumably a TV show from the local promotion, which means I have no idea what to expect here. Bobo Brazil is in the main event and that’s all I’ve got. Let’s get to it.

The music sounds like something out of a circus which is fitting for a wrestling show.

Apparently this is the International Wrestling Alliance which I’ve never heard of.

Brute Bernard/Skull Murphy vs. Bavarian Boys

The Boys are Rudi Jacobs and Harry Wenzel. This is 2/3 falls and I have no idea who is who here. Brute and Harry start things off. Brute and Skull look almost identical so I’m in trouble with telling who is who. They double team Wenzel and a double kick to the chest gets two. After some more cheating it’s off to Murphy who is quickly taken to the mat. Jacobs comes in and works on the leg which fires up the crowd. The Boys are tiny by comparison so this is likely power vs. speed.

Jacobs gets Bernard tied up in the ropes and hits a cross body before bringing in Harry for some kicks to the face. Back to Jacobs for some dropkicks to a still tied up Bernard. They’re picking the pace up very quickly. Harry comes in again and they head to the mat for a chinlock/bite from Bernard. The heels (Bernard’s team) double teams Wenzel in the corner and we’re told that they only have until four to break rather than five. That’s interesting.

We get a modern classic as the hot tag is made but the referee doesn’t see it. Some things never change I guess. A double slam on Harry is enough for the first fall for Murphy and Bernard. To start the second fall, things break down for a bit until it’s down to Wenzel vs. Murphy. Harry takes him to the mat and tries a surfboard (called that here) but Bernard makes the save. Rudi comes in with a MISSILE DROPKICK (that was a HUGE spot back then) for only two.

Jacobs gets caught in the corner in the same sequence we had earlier on. Murphy gets thrown across the ring in a surprising power display by the much smaller Bavarians. Back to Bernard as everything breaks down again. Some near falls are broken up until it’s Murphy hiding in the corner from Wenzel. Harry scrapes Murphy’s eye with his boot and cranks away on the arm for a bit.

Back to Jacobs for a lot of whipping into the corner before putting on a leg lock that I can’t see the details of. Murphy blocks a snap mare attempt from Wenzel before Harry goes back to the arm. The idea of selling hadn’t quite been perfected at this point. Johnson comes back in for a bunch of dropkicks and gets a very fast submission off an abdominal stretch. Yep, very different time here.

The third fall begins with Murphy claiming a back injury and not wanting to face Wenzel anymore. The ever nice referee makes him come in anyway and things slow down a bit. We keep stalling for a few more minutes so it’s off to Jacobs instead. The big guys take over with some cheap double teaming until it’s down to Murphy vs. Wenzel again. Bernard comes in and finally gets in some offense with knees to the chest and a lot of stomping. This doesn’t last long as it’s quickly back to Jacobs but it was fun while it lasted.

Rudi pounds away in the corner and sends Brute flying before it’s off to Murphy again. Skull hides in the corner and brings Skull back in immediately. These are really fast paced tags. Murphy and Brute tag about three more times in fifteen seconds before we get down to Brute vs. Jacobs again. The abdominal stretch goes on (called the Cobra Twist here) Bernard again but Skull comes in with a headbutt, giving Bernard the winning pin on Jacobs to end the match.

Rating: B-. I don’t know if it’s the expectations for this to be slow because it’s old or what, but this match was REALLY fun. They played up the power vs. speed formula before the formula had been invented and it came off like a really entertaining match. I’m really surprised by that and it’s worth seeing more from these guys. Good stuff.

The Bavarian Boys complain about getting cheated. They have a right to and talks of a rematch are heard. Some German is also heard.

IWA World Title: Bobo Brazil vs. Moose Cholak

This is 2/3 falls as well and I think Bobo is challenging. Moose is a BIG guy, weighing well over 300lbs. His nickname is Golden and he wears headgear ala Rick Steiner. Moose wins a slugout to start and sends Bobo to the mat. Bobo isn’t a small guy at all either so this is going to be a brawl I’d assume. They slug it out again and Bobo takes him down this time before putting on a quick chinlock.

Moose punches him into the corner but Bobo comes back with chops. He goes after Moose’s headgear but can’t quite get it off. Moose headbutts Bobo (Bobo’s finisher) and they slug it out again. Bobo staggers him with a headbutt of his own so they head to the mat. Moose kicks away at the leg and cannonballs down on it like Flair. Bobo shrugs that off and works on the arm a bit. Moose is whipped into the corner and literally the ring moves. Out of nowhere Cholak hits a knee to the chest and a splash for the first fall.

Bobo chokes him into the corner to start the second fall and goes after the gear again. We hit the chinlock again before Moose bails to the apron. Moose misses a charge in the corner and Bobo backdrops him down to tie us up at a fall apiece. Moose takes him to the mat by the arm to start the third fall. There’s a half nelson by the champ into a bodyscissors as we kill some time. After a few two counts in the bodyscissors by Moose, Bobo escapes and puts on a chinlock of his own.

The champ makes it to a rope as we’re told that the curfew is almost up. They go to a test of strength and I think you know what’s going to happen here. Bobo is in trouble but headbutts his way out of trouble. Instead of power, Brazil tries to take it to the mat but winds up in the ropes instead. Cholak goes after the leg again in a hold that looks like a cover.

Bobo hooks a headscissors but Moose hooks one of his own at the same time. Basically they look like they’re…..never mind. Moose headbutts away a bit more to take over but it seems to tick Bobo off. He chops away in the corner and hits the Coco Butt which is acting way more like a signature move than a finisher. They slug it out until the curfew and the draw.

Rating: C. This would have been WAY better if they cut out about five minutes of the time killing. Bobo was always a crowd favorite because he had a ton of charisma. I’m not familiar with Cholak but he did pretty well out there. He makes for a solid heel champion, even though I can’t find much information on this particular title.

Moose insists on being announced as champion. He wants a rematch with more time, despite saying Bobo is a poor sport.

Overall Rating: B-. I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. They had some very solid matches on here and promos to set up rematches when one ended with cheating and another in a draw. I’d love to see some more from this territory as the show was really entertaining. Good stuff here and worth checking out.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

War to Settle the Score
Date: February 18, 1985
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 22,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Gene Okerlund

This is the sequel to the Brawl to End it All and tonight we get real with it as Hogan defends the title against Piper. This is another one of those shows that was on MTV and helped launch wrestling into the stratosphere. It would have a third part in the trilogy. That was called Wrestlemania which I think you may have seen before. Anyway, this was also a full card which I have as well, so we’ll get to the famous stuff at the end. Let’s get to it.

Rick McGraw vs. Moondog Spot

McGraw was a head case apparently but that’s according to Roddy Piper so I’d be skeptical of it. The Moondogs were completely insane so I’m not sure who’s crazier here. You might remember McGraw’s name from Bret’s book as he was one of the first people in wrestling to die from an overdose. The referee has to hide Spot’s bone before we get started. Crowd is rather dead to start as you would expect them to be.

Gorilla can’t decide if McGraw is young or old for some reason. I think it might be because Gorilla was a bit out there at times. They really need to stop talking about where you hide your bone. It just doesn’t sound right although it’s rather funny. McGraw gets a dropkick and locks in an armbar to take over. According to Gorilla he’s fire hydrantish. If you grab him with a wrench and turn it he’ll spit out water? You can’t park in front of him?

Sunset flip can’t get Moondog over and he continues to control. They slug it out a bit and Spot hits a spin kick to the ribs which is about as random looking as you could imagine. Backdrop by Spot gets two but can’t get it to work again. We hit the chinlock for awhile before we hit the floor for awhile.

Gene thinks this is getting totally out of hand which is what he’d say no matter what was going on. McGraw Hulks Up and Spot gets tied up in the ropes. This match might be setting a record for backdrops. Slam gets two for McGraw. Spot goes up and gets slammed off ala Flair but the time limit runs out on a cover. This managed to get 15 minutes if you can believe that.

Rating: D+. I want to hate this match but for some reason I can’t. It’s not any good but it really didn’t suck. It was way too long and all that jazz, but the match really isn’t as terrible as you would think it is. I have no idea who decided to let them fight for fifteen minutes, but it went by fast which surprised me more than anything else.

Jose Luis Rivera vs. Johnny Rodz

Rodz basically trained half of ECW. This is one of the last vestiges of the old WWWF days where you had a lot of guys like Rivera that were there to give the Puerto Rican fans a guy to cheer for. The most famous example of this is the Italian favorite Bruno Sammartino. Rodz asks for an explanation of what constitutes an illegal strike actually. I got the two guys confused as Rodz looks Puerto Rican and Rivera looks Caucasian. Odd indeed.

They work the mat to start with Rodz grabbing an armbar. Basically a long feeling out process to start us off here. Rodz gets a nice seated dropkick which of course they don’t have a name for yet but this was far before we had anything like that. Rodz puts on a somewhat sloppy striking clinic here as he controls. I think he’s a heel but he’s not being booed at all really.

Granted the crowd isn’t doing much of anything. They pop when Rodz misses a cross body though and here comes Rivera. Rodz might kick more than Kaval does. He sends Rivera to the floor as he finally starts acting heelish. Rivera’s mouth is busted open and Rodz finally starts being all crazy like he’s supposed to be.

How has Rivera not been counted out? He’s been outside for like two minutes straight. Rodz takes a clothesline as we get the comeback. This needs to end soon as it’s getting rather boring. Rodz gets sent into the corner but Rivera misses a middle rope elbow. A running headbutt ends it with a face pop for Rodz.

Rating: D. Not as boring as the previous match but still pretty dull overall. This was about 80% punching and kicking which made it another chore to sit through for the most part. It’s not horrible or anything but it wasn’t interesting at all. That’s part of the problem with house shows back in the old days: it was really like an indy company so it’s hard to just jump in and care about these people.

Hillbilly Jim vs. Rene Goulet

I did this one already on Wrestling’s Country Boys. BIG pop for Jim. Andy Warhol is here as is Danny DeVito. Since this was shown later on the syndicated show, those cameos are awesome. Jim is wearing Hogan’s boots. Good thing they were the same size. Jim chases him away to start as we’re into stalling mode.

Long headlock by Goulet which gets him nowhere. Jim does that chest out pose of his which is always fun. He’s a character that always would work because he wasn’t ever treated seriously. He would probably get over today if he was treated the same. Big old headlock by Jim as Goulet has nothing but that’s his job as a jobber.

Basically this is a long squash as Goulet can’t do much at all but gets in jobber offense to take some control. He bites Jim which just ticks the big old boy off. Very basic offense with the biggest move being a headbutt sets up the bearhug for the easy submission. Post match Goulet goes after some fan at ringside. That fan’s name: Mr. T. Guess how that goes for the jobber.

Rating: D. Like I said this was a very long squash at nearly eight minutes. The fans loved Jim though as he was just big and fun. What more can you ask of him than that really? The match was bad but the fans were way into it and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.

Women’s Title: Lelani Kai vs. Wendi Richter

Moolah is with Kai so I’d expect some shenanigans here. Kai is a Hawaiian stereotype character of course complete with hula skirt. Cyndi Lauper is with Richter here. Everyone brawls to start and Kai beats up Richter to start. Standing on the fingers isn’t nice at all. Lauper’s manager, as in her actual manager, is on commentary here. The two girls collide and that gets them nowhere.

Kai gets a Boston Crab but Richter reverses almost immediately. Richter puts her in position for Shattered Dreams but uses a shoulder to the ribs instead. The outfits are confusing me here as the Hawaiian chick is in blue with white polka dots and Richter is in tan/brown colored stuff that almost looks like leopard print.

Kai is sent to the floor and she might have kicked Moolah in the head. Richter gets a surfboard which doesn’t work that well at all and doesn’t get her anywhere as a result. Richter is dominating here. You can tell there are a lot of similarities in the way these two were trained which was a major problem they had in this division in this era due to Moolah training everyone. Moolah chokes out Lauper, prompting Richter to go over for the save. A shot to the face lets Kai get a backslide for the pin and the title.

Rating: D. Pretty bad match here but it set up the fair rematch at Mania which for some reason is more famous than anything else they did even though it meant nothing at all in the grand scheme of things. Not much going on here at all other than again setting up Mania, even though the main part of that would be set up later in the show.

David Sammartino vs. Moondog Rex

David is terrible but is here because of his dad. Sammartino grabs a hammerlock to start which gets him nowhere at all. Gene is way too infatuated with that bone of Rex’s. Rex, who is built like a freaking tank, works the back and neck of Sammartino which is getting him nowhere for the most part.

There’s a bearhug by Rex and David is in trouble. You can tell a match isn’t that interesting when it was a 2 minute bearhug in the middle of it. Not always the case but more often than not it is. Rex gets a chinlock near the ropes which Gorilla says David won’t grab because “that’s not how he was raised.” What the heck? He was raised to sit there and take all kinds of punishment? Was Bruno a sadist?

David’s nose is busted. I bet that gives Bruno a slight erection. STIFF punch from Rex as he goes after the blood. David starts the comeback and they speed things up somewhat as I guess they’re running out of time. Yeah I’m right as David gets a pretty decent powerslam to get the pin to end this rather weak match.

Rating: D+. Again with the weak matches. This is another one that went nowhere at all and never was interesting in the slightest. I’m not sure who is booking this card tonight but they should be forced to watch it. Were they really that light on talent tonight? Granted no one cared except for the main event. Still though it’s another bad match in a pile of them.

Nikolai Volkoff vs. Swede Hanson

We get the FULL Soviet national anthem for a change. Hanson was an interesting character as he was considered such a hard worker that even as a heel he got over as a face because he impressed people. He’s a redneck from the South which is odd given his name which would make you think European or something like that. This should be bad again.

Hanson is a big strong guy that wears the singlet like Andre did. It’s your standard big man vs. big man match without either really having much in the way of the talent department. They fight over a top wristlock and Nikolai takes a bite of Hanson. I’ve never had Swedish food but maybe it’s good. The fans chant USA which actually works here.

The announcers really need to stop calling him the Swede as it’s really confusing. Swede gets in a low blow and we look at some random chick in the front row in a yellow hat. Ok then. These two really like to lock up. You would almost think they’ve gone through their power stuff and are just filling time. Nikolai goes for a backbreaker but can’t get him up at all so Volkoff just falls on him for a REALLY awkward and clearly botched pin.

Rating: D. Can we please see a decent match? It doesn’t even have to be good, just an ok one would be fine. This was a power vs. power match but neither guy was incredibly good. Nikolai would hook up with Iron Sheik very soon to make a big tag team but until then he was stuck doing stuff like this. Another bad match.

Jimmy Snuka vs. Bob Orton

This is a precursor to Heroes of Wrestling. Snuka is roided out of his mind here. This is an offshoot of Piper vs. Snuka. BIG pop for Snuka. Snuka sends him in and almost puts Orton to the floor with the force of it. Amazing how much more into this the crowd is with someone they actually, you know, CARE ABOUT.

We get a headlock from Jimmy as they’re feeling each other out here. Snuka does the double leap frog that he was kind of famous for as the speed is way up here. Back to the headlock but this time on the mat. We get one of my favorite stupid lines ever from Gorilla: “This is a main event in any arena in the world.” You know, except for here where it isn’t the main event.

Orton hits the floor for a bit of air. I guess there wasn’t enough air elsewhere in the ring. Atomic drop takes Jimmy down as I guess his head wasn’t as hard as his balls. Wait scratch those balls and replace it with a head and put balls where head was. Yeah that should do it. Orton misses a top rope splash which he landed on his feet in anyway. Jimmy unleashes the martial arts of grunting and Orton is reeling.

It’s one sided now with Jimmy fully in control as he hits a backbreaker and heads to the corner. A headbutt (no splash???) misses and Orton gets out of the way. Orton charges at Snuka in the corner and hits his arm on the post, hurting his….HOLY CRAP IT’S THE ARM INJURY!!! This is easily the most famous injury in wrestling history, not healing for over two years. According to Orton it was legit hurt for that long and they just made it a gimmick, but I’m not sure I buy that. A sunset flip ends Orton just a few seconds later.

Rating: C+. Much better than anything we’ve seen so far tonight but still nothing classic. Great bit of history here though with that injury which I never realized happened here. These two were joined at the hip forever and luckily the matches were at least pretty good more often than not. Decent match and a breath of air for the most part.

Gorilla runs down the card so far in what sounds like a recap. Fink is running down a big list of names which I’d assume is for a battle royal or a lumberjack or something. Ah yeah it’s a lumberjack match. OH OK this is an ad for next month’s show. Mr. T. will be in Piper’s Pit next month.

Tony Atlas vs. Paul Orndorff

This should be decent. Orndorff is heel here. Atlas is HUGE. Gene says ouch has been called. Atlas beats on Paul with ease and pure power moves. Gorilla press but he just sets Orndorff on the top instead of slamming him. Tony gets his head rammed into the buckle and just smiles because of it. See it’s because he’s stupid.

Atlas dominates for the vast majority of the match including hitting a Piledriver. A second one is blocked though as this already needs to end. The show that is, not the match. Headbutt off the middle rope gets two for Atlas. Atlas yells at the referee about it and gets rolled up by Orndorff for a fast pin.

Rating: D-. Just get to the end of the stupid show!!! There are 11 matches in total counting the main event. That’s more than most PPVs get today. Why are we watching all these nonsense matches? No one cares and they’re all far too long. Just get to the end of this already, I beg of it.

Tag Titles: Mike Rotunda/Barry Windham vs. The Spoiler/The Assassin

Both challengers are in masks. Windham is YOUNG here. Spoiler is a semi-famous guy from the 80s and Assassin is a generic masked dude. Rotunda and Spoiler start us off….and then Windham hits a bulldog to end this in maybe 30 seconds. Well I did say get us to the ending so maybe they’re listening.

Don Muraco vs. Salvatore Bellomo

Muraco was a top heel around this time and Bellomo was an Italian dude. Fuji is with Muraco here. Total squash with Muraco hitting a diving knee drop, kind of a spinebuster and a modified tombstone to end this. At least it’s main event time now.

Edouard Carpentier is here. WOW there’s a name out of the past. He passed away earlier this year too.

WWF World Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper

We’re on MTV now for the next thirty minutes. Piper does the whole pipe and drums intro thing. Piper wears a Hulkamania shirt and brings in a guitar. Orton has a sling for his arm as the injury is very slow healing already. Bob Costas is doing the ring announcing here to show how big this is. Piper breaks the guitar saying this is what I think of rock and roll.

The place EXPLODES for Hogan and Eye of the Tiger. This really should have been the main event of the first Mania, perhaps with Hogan challenging for the belt. They go right at it to start with Hogan DRILLING in right and Piper collapsing from the force of a whip into the corner. Big elbow drop has Piper reeling early on. A ton of celebrities are here. This really was a huge deal.

Clothesline in the corner gets two as the fans are rabid here. Piper gets the sleeper which is actually a choke. We get two arm drops and Hogan shakes his finger no on the third one to a huge reaction. Hogan rams him into the corner to break it up and here’s Orton for the interference that isn’t seen.

His arm goes into the buckle and Hogan fights back with….left hands? Really? It’s on now and here comes Paul Orndorff to replace the hurt Orton. There goes the referee and Orndorff gets a top rope knee and it’s thrown out somewhere in there. The heels beat down Hogan, and then we get to the REAL reason this show happened: Mr. T. jumps the guard rail and gets in, only to be beaten down as well. Hogan comes up for the save, and ladies and gentlemen, I give you Wrestlemania.

Rating: D+. Match sucked and if you think that means anything then stop reading as you have no business here. The match was simply the backdrop to set up the biggest event in wrestling history (yes Starrcade that includes you) and the show that would make WWF mean something. This would lead to Hogan vs. Orndorff which set up Hogan vs. Heenan which set up Hogan vs. Andre and I think you can see where this could get awesome in a hurry. Bad match, EPIC moment as the WWF had arrived.

Post match Orton comes back and it’s 3-2 but everyone and their mother gets in the ring, including the NYPD as they try to break this apart.

In what would more or less be considered DVD extras today we get 12 minutes of interviews with everyone from Cyndi Lauper, Dave Wolfe (her manager), Joe Piscapo, Danny Devito, Mr. T., Hogan, Orndorff, Orton and Piper who all swear it’s not over. The wrestlers say we’re ready any time. How about in 41 days at Madison Square Garden? Anybody?

Overall Rating: D. A few things to consider here. Number one, this was to get people to come back next time which needless to say, IT WORKED. Second, the national audience only saw the last half hour which helps a lot. Other than the main event which was insane, this was boring beyond any and all belief. The main event is required viewing for any historical fan though as its importance simply can’t be understated and without it there’s no Wrestlemania. The two hours leading up to the main event though sucked and sucked hard. Bad show, good ending.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

CWA Championship Wrestling
Date: January 15, 1983
Location: WMC-TV Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Lance Russell, Dave Brown

This is the last episode in this series of CWA shows as I’m sure people are getting tired of this old Memphis stuff. At the end of the day, this is before the idea of supershows as we know them, so it’s hard to have anything to build to other than house shows. Lawler has lost the world title back to Bockwinkel in a rematch which may or may not be mentioned tonight. Let’s get to it.

Sheepherders vs. Ken Raper/Ira Reese

Reese is back for more punishment this week I guess. Reese starts with Luke and the afroed Reese is in trouble quickly. Off to Boyd who snap mares Reese down a few times to keep him in trouble. Back to Luke who holds Reese for some more punishment from Boyd. This is total dominance so far. Reese finally reverses an Irish whip and tags Raper but Luke beats him down almost immediately. The move we would call the Battering Ram puts Raper down for no cover but the double knee drop ends the massacre with Williams getting the pin.

Rating: D. This was barely long enough to rate. Apparently the Sheepherders are tag champions even though you never see them holding belts and this was only called a non-title match at the very end. They were being kept strong here which is the right kind of idea. Russell teases a match with the Fabs soon which would be good.

Speaking of the Fabs, here’s what might be the same video on them from last week.

House show ad, including a mention of SEVEN title matches on the card. These “titles” would never be seen before or mentioned again after these special shows. Jimmy Hart runs his mouth about Koko Ware who has left the First Family. There’s $5000 involved in a tag match at the upcoming show.

Here’s the First Family (with Koko, as we experience the wonders of house show ads being taped in advance and a big production miscue) with the new Mid-America Champion in the form of Bobby Eaton. Hart (the manager of the team) praises Sabu (not that Sabu) for winning his match and says the only cloud over the Family is Sweet Brown Sugar not beating Terry Taylor. Sugar blames Eaton and a brawl is teased. Hart slaps Sugar and we have a face turn. Sugar leaves and we’re told we’ll see how Hart cost Lawler the world title.

We get a clip from the world title rematch starting with Bockwinkel and Lawler both down. A man in a mask who is allegedly Jimmy Hart distracted the referee when Bockwinkel was covered, causing Lawler to go after him. Lawler got rolled up and a handful of tights gave Bockwinkel the title back. Post match the mask is pulled off and it’s…..ANDY KAUFMAN. Back in the arena Hart brags about getting Kaufman back to Memphis to get revenge.

We get ANOTHER clip, this time of Hart and Kaufman, bragging about getting the belt off Lawler. Kaufman offers $5000 to anyone that can put Lawler in the hospital. That would be the five grand mentioned in the house show ad earlier. That’s quite the long segment for 1983 as this ran almost ten minutes in total, not counting the house show ad which could be considered another part of it.

Terry Taylor/Bill Dundee vs. Sweet Brown Sugar/Bobby Eaton

Dundee and Sugar get us going with Dundee hitting a quick hiptoss for one. Taylor comes in and the good guys mess with the referee a bit so they can cheat. That’s a nice touch. Eaton vs. Taylor now as I’m assuming this is 2/3 falls as well. Eaton gets confused again and punched in the face by Taylor. There are some shenanigans going on here from Dundee and Taylor and I kind of like them.

Back to Dundee who dropkicks Eaton into the corner for two. Sugar comes in for a monkey flip and backdrop for one. Taylor comes back in with a sunset flip for two on Sugar which is broken up by Eaton. Bobby comes in and takes over before tagging right back out to Sugar. You know, because he’s done SO well in this match so far. Eaton comes back in almost immediately so a disaster can’t happen. A big powerslam puts Taylor down but the delayed cover only gets two.

A knee drop keeps Taylor down and it’s back to Sugar. Sugar’s chinlock doesn’t last long and Jimmy wants to fight someone. That goes nowhere and Sugar goes up, but his missile dropkick misses Taylor and takes out Eaton, allowing Taylor to get a quick pin to give his team the first fall. Apparently this was just a one fall match. Ok then.

Rating: C+. This was one of the better matches I’ve seen since I’ve been watching this era in Memphis. The only issue is that we knew the split was coming before the match due to the production gaffe from earlier. Sugar would turn soon after this and I’m sure this is the final straw for Jimmy. The match was good and fast paced though and we had an actual story to it. Good stuff.

Eaton and Hart almost get in a fight with Sugar post match. Jimmy goes on a rant and says Sugar has one minute to get out here and apologize or he’s out of the Family. Post break Hart wants Sugar to come out here and shine his shoes. Sugar doesn’t come out so Hart storms off.

Sabu vs. Jerry Lawler

Boy that would mean a much different match today. Before the match Lawler says he’s sick of Hart and all of his cronies and all their bounties and challenges and all that stuff. If Hart wants to, bring all his boys out here right now and let’s do it. Hart and Sabu come out and it’s on fast. Lawler throws Sabu into the ring and the beating begins. They head to the floor and Lawler destroys him with a chair. I don’t think this was anything resembling a match. Actually the referee is letting it keep going. Eaton runs in and gets a right hand from Jerry.

Lawler beats the tar out of Eaton too before heading back in to beat on Sabu some more. Back to Eaton as Jerry has to keep going between the two of them. He doesn’t seem to have many friends here does he? Sabu finally gets in a shot on Lawler with his collar and the beating is on. Some people finally come in to help but get beaten down as well.

Eddie Marlin finally comes out to get the First Family off Jerry. Sabu shoves Marlin and THE PROMOTER PUNCHES HIM BACK! This would be a big deal here as Marlin rarely got involved at all. The Family beats him down and Brown Sugar finally comes in and cements his face turn by beating up the Family. Lawler gets back up and the ring is cleared. Sugar says he isn’t shining anyone’s shoes and he’s out of the Family.

Bobby Fulton/King Cobra vs. Jesse Barr/Adrian Street

This is what they call an expiration of time match, which is basically an iron man match with the time limit of however much time they can give it. Remember all those matches I call 2/3 falls? Forget that because this is what they mean. This is the first time they’ve bothered to explain the rules so it’s a bit confusing. Street and Fulton get us going and Street prances a bit. That gets followed up by jumping on Fulton and kissing him. It was a different time you see.

Street takes him to the mat and works over the leg in a bridging leg lock. Off to Barr who hooks a bearhug, meaning Fulton has gotten hugs and kisses in this match. A headknocker gets Fulton out of it and he pounds on Barr’s head a bit. Off to Cobra who speeds things up a bit before bringing Fulton back in. I guess Cobra got tired after being in there a full fifteen seconds. Cornette trips Fulton and Barr drops a knee for the pin.

After some house show ads featuring Lawler and Sugar saying they’re coming for what’s left of the First Family, we’re told there’s no time for a second fall so the Cornette Dynasty wins.

Rating: C-. Not much here but the time limit thing gets a little annoying after awhile. I get why they do it because they’re saying you don’t know how much wrestling you’ll get so you better stay tuned, but it’s still hard to get used to. Either way, this was decent with Cornette screwing over a future Fantastic feeling just right.

The announcers recap the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was good like last week’s show but in a different way. This time we set up/continued a big angle as Lawler was feuding with Hart and his boys. That feud went on for a LONG time. Also notice how they keep Kaufman’s shadow over Memphis with the bounty being offered without having to have him there. The production gaffe hurt things here as it spoiled the second half of the show, but it was still entertaining which is a good sign.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

USWA Championship Wrestling
Date: March 28, 1991
Location: USWA Television Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Dave Brown, Michael St. John

I haven’t done one of these in about two months now. This is the last episode I have at the moment so it’s hard to say when I’ll get back down to Tennessee. I don’t really remember anything from this company other than Lawler is world champion and Bill Dundee is trying to get his son to love him again. Oh and Steve Austin is here somewhere too, although he’d be in WCW by the summer. Let’s get to it.

Danny Davis is in the opening match but before the match, Eric Embry and Tom Pritchard are here. Pritchard is the new Southern Heavyweight Champion, having won the title about two weeks ago. We get a clip of Jackie Fargo and Jerry Lawler beating some Texas guys in the Mid-South Coliseum but the Texans destroyed the Memphis dudes. Eric is Texas Heavyweight Champion as well and brags about it a lot. Eric and Pritchard run into the ring and beat up Davis and his opponent, the Scorpion.

Back from a break and we talk about the Mid-South show on Monday.

Jackie Fargo tells the Texas guys they’re not going to come in here and run over everyone. Steve Keirn is coming in to help Lawler in the fight.

Sgt. O’Reiley vs. Eddie Gilbert

Eddie jumps him to start and pounds him on the back a lot. A suplex and a DDT both put Sarge down as we’re in pure squash territory here. Here are the Texans again to talk trash about Steve Keirn who has nothing to do with this match. The camera is on them talking at the moment so I have no idea what is going on in the match. The Texans run in for the DQ a few seconds later.

Gilbert gets beaten down for awhile until Steve Keirn makes the save. Keirn says that you have to earn a reputation instead of taking one from someone else. Fargo called him and asked for some help in getting revenge. Keirn owes Fargo everything so he came as soon as he got the call.

Video on Steve Keirn.

We hear about the King’s Hotline which is a real thing.

Here’s Jeff Jarrett to talk about losing the Southern Title to Pritchard in Dallas. We get a clip of the end of the match which saw a ref bump and Tojo Yamamoto, the Texans’ manager, ran in. Jarrett stole a foreign object to hit Pritchard with, but Embry ran in and hit Jarrett with a boot so Pritchard could get the pin and the title.

Back in the arena, Jarrett says he lost the title in Texas. Well yeah we kind of knew that. Apparently he’ll be getting a rematch but Pritchard won’t sign for it. Jarrett will be following Pritchard no matter where he goes until he gets his rematch.

Jeff Jarrett/Billy Joe Travis vs. Keith Roberson/Mickie Jay

Travis starts with the guy that isn’t Roberson. We’ve only been given the name of one of the jobbers and it doesn’t seem like the announcers know the other guy’s name either. Billy works on the arm and it’s off to Jarrett quickly. The announcer says that the guy is named Mickie Jay. That was the name of a WCW referee….and sweet goodness I think it’s the same guy. I really didn’t need to see him in leopard trunks. Off to Roberson who is immediately taken down into an armbar.

Travis comes in and it’s back to the arm. Roberson gets caught in a double backdrop for two and Jeff stays in. Jay comes in again and the big fat tub of goo (Jay) gets his arm cranked on as well. Travis suplexes him a few times and Jarrett gets two off a cross body. They tag in and out very fast here. A Vader Bomb from Travis gets the pin on Jay.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here but it gives us a tag team that could take on the Texans which is the right idea here. This was a squash but that’s what jobbers were for. This was a different era where these kind of matches were perfectly acceptable for the majority of the shows so that’s what we’ve had so far in the first half of this episode.

House show ads. Eddie Marlin, the boss, comes out to say that Keirn will be on the card for tonight. That’s the house show tonight, not this show.

Here’s Jerry Lawler to brag about the 400^th episode of their show. You can hear Vince counting shows from here.

Steve Austin vs. Chris Frazier

Austin is now managed by J.C. Ice. Total squash with Austin hitting what we would call Eye of the Storm and a top rope splash gets the win in about 80 seconds.

Deuce Mason vs. Bill Dundee

Dundee takes him to the mat almost immediately and works on the arm a bit. They go to the mat and it’s off to a spinning toehold. Now it’s a hammerlock followed by a sleeper to end this.

Rating: D. You wouldn’t think that the match I just recapped would have lasted over three and a half minutes would you? It was nothing of note but the idea here was to get Dundee on TV so we could talk about the J.C. Ice feud which is fine. This was a slow and long squash which could have lost a minute or two.

We get a clip of Austin vs. Dundee where J.C. Ice slipped Austin a loaded glove so Austin could get the pin. Back in the arena, Dundee says that Austin can’t beat him on his best day. Next week it’s a loaded glove on a pole match.

T.D. Steele/Curtis Thompson vs. Texas Hangmen

Thompson gets double teamed but comes back with a double clothesline. Thompson looks like a more compact Chris Masters. Steele comes in and I think Psycho beats him down. The Hangmen are Psycho and Killer in case you were wondering. Off to Killer and it’s time for some double teaming. A belly to belly puts Steele down but Killer pulls him up. Curtis breaks up a pin because Steele made him mad I’m guessing. Why else would you keep this going? After about three minutes of beating it’s finally off to Thompson who cleans house. Not that it matters as a side slam/forearm combination called the Texas Whirlwind gets the pin.

Rating: D. This is another match that went on WAY longer than it needed to. I think the idea is that the Hangmen are evil and don’t care about the rules (they were disqualified for shoving the referee so the pin doesn’t count), but you could cover that in about half the time. Nothing to see here and the Hangmen would finally win the titles soon after this.

Billy Joe Travis comes out for the save but gets beaten down too. They hang him with a rope until Jarrett makes the save.

Here are Lawler and Keirn for a chat. Lawler says he has a bad neck now but that’s not the point. He talks about how a lot of the time when you team with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re friends. Lawler references the problems he had a few months ago with the Fabulous Ones (Keirn being half of them) and Cornette. Lawler and Keirn aren’t friends, but they both respect Jackie Fargo. They’ll be able to take care of Embry and Pritchard and run them back to Texas.

Keirn says that they’re not friends but he respects Lawler more than anyone else around here. Keirn is serious about avenging Jackie Fargo and while Pritchard and Embry want to make a name for themselves, they need to find someone else to try it on because they can’t get it done on Lawler and Keirn. Really good promo here but I smell a swerve coming in that match.

The announcers wrap the show up.

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling here wasn’t great but the promos were on fire tonight. I want to see the main events on Monday at the big show which is the idea behind these TV shows. In the true spirit of a territory, both Austin and Keirn would be gone in a few months to the major shows. Not a great show here but it makes me want to keep watching which is more important than anything else.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Super J Cup 1994
Date: April 16, 1994
Location: Sumo Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 11,500

This is another requested show from a long time ago. This is one of those shows that you hear a lot about but most people haven’t seen. It’s a Junior Heavyweight tournament held in New Japan Pro Wrestling and featuring some big names, including Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero before most people had ever heard of either of them. This was named show of the year by Meltzer, but 1994 wasn’t the best year for wrestling so it should be interesting to see what’s going on here. Let’s get to it.

After the opening video, we get all of the competitors introduced to us. Here are the brackets. Wild Pegasus and Great Sasuke have byes to the second round and will face the winners of the first and last matches respectively.

Wild Pegasus

Black Tiger

Taka Michinoku

Gedo

Dean Malenko

Shinjiro Otani

Super Delfin

Ricky Fuji

Negro Casas

Hayabusa

Jushin Thunder Liger

Masayoshi Motegi

El Samurai

Great Sasuke

Super J Cup First Round: Dean Malenko vs. Gedo

Gedo is more famous as half of a tag team with Jado. After a handshake they charge at each other and Dean dropkicks him to the floor. Back in and Gedo grabs the arm but Dean rolls out of it. This is very fast paced as you would expect it to be. Dean takes it to the mat and hooks a leg lock but Gedo counters into a kind of cross armbreaker. They trade arm control for awhile until Dean headscissors him into a standoff.

Gedo takes him down and puts Dean in a leg lock of his own, but Dean counters into the same arm hold that Gedo countered into earlier. Nice. It turns into an amateur mat battle with Dean working on the arm while Gedo tries to sit out. Gedo gets up and comes back with offense that looks like an American stereotype of Japanese wrestling. Dean takes him down into a chinlock which is quickly broken.

Malenko will have none of this being on defense thing so he goes all aggressive and rams Gedo into the corner and busts out a Jackhammer of all things (remember that this is in 1994) for two. Gedo takes him to the mat for a very modified STF. Dean makes the rope so they slug it out and collide. Gedo counters a tombstone into one of his own but misses the swan dive. Malenko rams him into the corner again and hits a top rope cross body for two, but Gedo catches him with a powerslam to advance. Dean’s shoulder looked to be up but it counted anyway.

Rating: B-. Good opener here and the crowd was getting into it. Since this is a Jr. Heavyweight tournament there’s going to be a lot of fast paced matches which makes things more interesting. Dean was still young here and full of fire, making this a solid performance from him. I haven’t seen much from Gedo but he doesn’t seem to be anything of note.

Super J Cup First Round: Super Delfin vs. Shinjiro Otani

Delfin has a title which I think is the UWF Super Welterweight Title. Otani rushes him to start and immediately takes Delfin down by the leg. He hooks a modified heel hook/ankle lock but Delfin grabs a rope. Ohtani stays on the leg but shifts to a headlock. Delfin pops up and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker as his knee is suddenly fine. Ohtani is like cool man and spin kicks Delfin’s head off, sending him to the floor.

Back in and Ohtani cannonballs down on the leg Flair style and hooks a half crab. Delfin escapes and finally sells the knee, only to get taken down into a scissors lock. That gets broken via rope as well and a Saito Suplex puts Ohtani down for two, as does a splash. Ohtani dropkicks him to the floor and hits a huge dive, buckling Delfin’s knee in the process. A springboard knee to the head gets two for Ohtani and it’s off to what can best be called a cross kneebreaker. Delfin makes the rope again and they head into the corner for a tornado DDT from Delfin. Delfin ties him up in a complex looking pinning combination for the win.

Rating: C+. The knee stuff drove me crazy here as Ohtani dismantled that knee but Delfin didn’t seem interested in selling it in any way at all. That’s one of the biggest annoyances I have in wrestling, as it’s disrespectful to the guy doing the work as well as looking ridiculous. Fun match for the Ohtani stuff, but he’s a guy I’ve always liked.

Super J Cup First Round: Taka Michinoku vs. Black Tiger

Taka looks very young here and is of course more famous for his WWF run. Black Tiger is Eddie Guerrero under a mask and WAY before he was famous in the US. The winner of this gets Wild Pegasus, more famous as Chris Benoit. Eddie is heel here and takes Taka down fast, hitting the slingshot hilo and a BIG powerbomb for two. Neckbreaker gets two for Eddie and it’s off to an abdominal stretch.

Eddie chops him down and puts on a Sharpshooter, which the announcers call a Scorpion. That’s quickly broken and they collide as this is almost too fast to call. Taka tries a clothesline but it only staggers Eddie, but Eddie’s takes Taka’s head off. Taka headscissors Eddie to the floor and moonsaults off the top back into the ring (Taka is alone in the ring and wasn’t going after Eddie) to pop the crowd.

Back in and Taka moonsaults moonsaults over Eddie so he can suplex him down. Eddie goes to the floor and Taka hits a HUGE dive to take both guys out. Back in again and Michinoku hits a German for two as well as a rana for the same. Another rana attempt is countered into another BIG powerbomb for two. Eddie hits a top rope splash (not the amphibian kind) for two. Taka powerbombs Guerrero down for two and hits a moonsault for the same. Another moonsault hits knees so Eddie hits his brainbuster for two. Eddie is all ticked off now so he KILLS Taka with a tornado DDT for the pin.

Rating: B. This was a very fun and fast paced match. Even though it was just a spotfest, sometimes there’s nothing wrong with that at all and it worked very well here. Eddie was on fire at this point and he would go to AAA soon where he would become a breakout star before heading to ECW and then WCW. Speaking of WCW, the music he left to sounded a lot like what would become the Nitro theme but it was too close to tell.

Super J Cup First Round: El Samurai vs. Masayoshi Motegi

Winner of this gets the Great Sasuke. Motegi has some title with him here as well which I think is the W*ING Junior Heavyweight Title. Motegi dropkicks Samurai down before the bell and knocks him to the floor for a suicide dive. With Samurai on the floor, Motegi loads up a dive but slips coming off the ropes for a laugh from the crowd. Back in and Samurai takes him to the mat and starts going amateur.

A fairly sloppy headscissors gets two for Samurai as does a side slam. Samurai hooks a Boston Crab which is countered into a pinfall reversal sequence for two for each guy. They stay on the mat for a bit until Motegi fights up, only to get tombstoned down immediately for two. Back up again and Samurai hits a kind of reverse suplex for two. Motegi hits a running elbow but gets sent to the floor quickly, with Samurai hitting a suicide dive of his own.

Back in and a missile dropkick gets two for Samurai but Motegi takes him right down again with a modified powerbomb. Samurai gets put in a rolling surfboard followed by a dragon sleeper which doesn’t last long. Motegi tries what I think was supposed to be a headscissors but it landed more like a spinning cross body. That gets two and it’s time for Motegi to roll some Germans. Those get two and they trade German attempts. Samurai finally hits one for two, followed by a powerbomb to get the pin on Motegi and advance.

Rating: D+. This was by far the worst match of the night so far as there were a ton of botches. Samurai started with the mat stuff and then went with the flying offense and the latter didn’t work that well at all. The match was full of botches which really brought things down here. I’ve only heard of Samurai and I wasn’t all that impressed here.

Motegi cuts a promo post match but I have no idea what he’s saying.

Super J Cup First Round: Ricky Fuji vs. Negro Casas

Casas, a Mexican, dropkicks Fuji, a Japanese guy wearing a jacket that says Canada for some reason, down to start. They hit the mat with Fuji grabbing a quick headscissors, before being put in an STF to give Casas control. Casas throws on a headscissors of his own but Fuji comes back with a headlock. Back to their feet and Casas hits some kicks, only to be taken right back down by Fuji.

A quick dragon sleeper by Fuji is broken and a backsplash gets two for Casas. Fuji gets sent outside and taken down by a dive from Casas as things slow down. Back in and Fuji hits a top rope ax handle for two. Casas escapes a suplex and La Majistral gets two, as does a Saito Suplex. The middle rope backsplash from the middle rope misses for Casas and Fuji hits a Tiger Bomb to advance.

Rating: D+. Second pretty bad match in a row here. These two didn’t click at all for the most part and I’m not sure whose fault that was. Fuji is a guy I’ve heard of but I’d like to know what the deal with that Canada jacket was. This wasn’t the worst match I’ve ever seen, but there wasn’t much good to it at all.

Super J Cup First Round: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hayabusa

Liger is basically divine at this point. Hayabusa immediately kicks him in the head and sends him to the floor, followed by a big dive. Back in and Hayabusa hits a missile dropkick to put Liger down. After a quick chinlock from Hayabusa, he hits a slam and legdrop for two. Off to a leg lock on Liger but Hayabusa’s knee drop misses. Liger slaps on a figure four but Hayabusa grabs the rope.

Liger hits his palm strike to the face followed by a powerbomb for two. He stays on the knee of Hayabusa before killing him with a clothesline for two. Back to the knee but Hayabusa somehow hits an enziguri from his back to escape. Liger sends him into the corner and immediately follows in with a Rolling Liger Kick. Superplex gets two on Hayabusa.

Hayabusa coems back with a running dropkick for two as he’s getting fired up now. Another running kick to the face puts Liger down for two. A senton and top rope spinwheel kick get two as does a moonsault. Hayabusa tries a spinning rana off the top but only gets half of it, resulting in a two count.

Liger gets slammed down and Hayabusa COMPLETELY misses a Shooting Star (Liger’s signature move), with only his legs hitting Liger after Hayabusa had stopped moving at all. Thankfully Liger doesn’t sell it and hits the Liger Bomb for two. Liger loads up a superplex but gets knocked off. Hayabusa jumps into a powerbomb and a fisherman’s buster gets the pin to complete the second round with Liger advancing.

Rating: C-. Hayabusa was fun to watch but DANG did he miss some spots. He would eventually snap his neck like a twig and be forced to retire in 2001. Liger on the other hand is probably the most famous Japanese wrestler in America other than maybe Great Muta, so I think we know who the more successful one was. This would have been way better if Hayabusa didn’t botch stuff so badly.

We recap the first round, so here are the updated brackets:

Wild Pegasus

Black Tiger

Gedo

Super Delfin

Ricky Fuji

Jushin Thunder Liger

El Samurai

The Great Sasuke

Super J Cup Quarter-Finals: Super Delfin vs. Gedo

Delfin grabs the leg to start and tries a half crab but Gedo reverses into one of his own. That doesn’t work that well so Gedo chops him down and shouts a lot. Delfin pops up and chops Gedo down before shouting just like Gedo. Delfin speeds things up but Gedo dropkicks him down. Gedo dropkicks Delfin right back down, only to be sent to the floor for his efforts.

Back in and Delfin pounds away in the corner but gets atomic dropped out. Gedo hooks a quick chinlock but gets rammed into the buckle to break the hold. They chop it out and Delfin knocks him to the floor where he takes Gedo out with a big dive off the top. Back in and a victory roll gets a bad looking two for Delfin. By bad I mean the referee stopped counting because Gedo didn’t kick out in time.

Gedo knocks him down and a moonsault gets two. A crucifix gets two for Delfin and the referee did it AGAIN. Delfin hits a German for two followed by a top rope elbow for two. Tornado DDT looks to finish for Delfin, but Gedo rolls him up for the pin. This time the referee counted three even though Delfin’s shoulder looked to be up.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t working for me either. Again it wasn’t that bad, but it just wasn’t that good. The refereeing was horrible here as the guy was missing almost everything the entire time, or at least the second half of the match. Nothing much to see here but we have something up next that might be a bit better.

Super J Cup Quarter-Finals: Wild Pegasus vs. Black Tiger

In other words, Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero. Benoit takes him to the mat by the leg and cranks on it a bit but Eddie takes him down almost immediately as well. They fight over the leg and Eddie takes over before hitting a slingshot hilo for two. He hooks a kind of triangle choke on Benoit for a bit but Chris gets up again. Benoit grabs a reverse suplex and both guys are down again.

Benoit tries to suplex him to the floor but Eddie blocks it. That’s fine by Benoit who snaps off a German and follows it up by a knee to the ribs. Eddie gets draped over the top rope in a move Benoit often used. Bridging German gets two for Benoit and the fans seem pleased. A big powerbomb (popular move tonight) gets two for Chris as does a snap suplex. Benoit hooks on the same kind of choke that Eddie had on earlier to slow things down.

Back up and Benoit tries another knee to the ribs but Eddie hooks a rollup for two. A clothesline and German get two each for Guerrero and it’s camel clutch time. Eddie goes up (these holds don’t last nearly as long as they do in America) but misses a missile dropkick. Benoit grabs a test of strength grip and Eddie is in trouble.

Actually scratch that as Eddie runs the ropes while holding Benoit’s hand, slips, catches himself, and then hits a rana for two. Top rope rana gets two for Eddie as the fans are getting into this. Brainbuster looks to set up a tornado DDT from Eddie but Benoit shoves him off. Benoit loads up something on the top but Eddie shoves him off. Eddie dives at Benoit but gets caught in a powerslam/arm drag to the mat for the pin for Benoit.

Rating: B. Eddie vs. Benoit is a good match. Gee who would have seen that coming? This wasn’t a classic or anything and I remember two distinctly better matches that they’ve had in the past, but still you can’t go wrong with this pairing. Eddie was looking great here but Benoit was on fire and wasn’t going to lose here no matter what Guerrero threw at him.

Super J Cup Quarter-Finals: The Great Sasuke vs. El Samurai

This should be good. Sasuke is a legendary junior heavyweight and can fly with the best of them. After about 30 seconds of circling each other they lock up. Sasuke takes him to the mat and works over the leg but can’t get a half crab. Samurai hooks a hammerlock but gets caught in a leg lock on the mat. Samurai counters that into an attempted cross armbreaker but Sasuke is blocking most of it. Sasuke grabs the leg right back again but Samurai escapes into a standoff.

Now Samurai grabs Sasuke’s leg in a reversal of roles. Samurai takes him to the mat and ties up the legs before adding a butterfly lock on top of it. That looked awesome. Sasuke heads to the floor and is hurting all over. Back into the ring and Samurai hooks a stump puller. Sasuke grabs a rope and heads to the floor again to cool things off. Back in and Samurai takes him right back down in a headscissors with an armbar which appears to be a signature move for him.

Sasuke breaks that and sends Samurai to the floor. In a cool looking visual, all of the photographers run to Samurai so they can see Sasuke hit a cartwheel into a moonsault to the floor. Back in and Sasuke kicks Samurai’s head off for two. Samurai will have none of that though and puts Sasuke on the floor, followed by a huge flip dive to take out the Great one. Back in Samurai hits a German for two. The crowd is losing it more and more on each of these moves.

A flying headbutt gets two for Samurai and he’s getting frustrated. Sasuke snaps off a rana for two and goes up, but Samurai stops him. Samurai can’t slam him down though and gets caught in a sunset flip off the top for two. Back in the ring and Sasuke misses a spinwheel kick. Samurai powerbombs Sasuke down but it only gets two. Sasuke is getting fired up now and he rolls through a rana from Samurai for the pin.

Rating: B+. This was a very solid match all around with at least two distinct parts. They had the back and forth submission stuff to start and then they busted out the big spots and near falls, all of which were getting better and better each time. I can see why Sasuke is considered so great. Good stuff here and Samurai looked WAY better here than he did in the first match.

Sasuke says something that I can’t understand.

Super J Cup Quarter-Finals: Jushin Liger vs. Ricky Fuji

They fight for control to start and Fuji grabs a wristlock. Liger hits a monkey flip to escape and it’s a standoff. A test of strength goes badly for Fuji and it’s another standoff. Liger gets sent to the floor where Fuji hits a pescado and powerbomb to take over. Liger comes back with a kick to the chest and another to the head to take over. They head back to the floor and Liger drops a double stomp to the chest/stomach. FREAKING OW MAN!

Back inside and a rolling Liger Kick followed by a slam gets two. A release German puts Fuji down and Liger tries a superplex, only to have Fuji kind of fall on him for a cross body. Liger gets sent to the floor and Fuji hits a baseball slide. Back in and a release German gets two on Liger. Fuji goes up but gets shoved down and Liger hits a top rope rana for the pin to make the final four.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but Fuji was kind of a mess. At the end of the day though, it’s Jushin Thunder Liger in 1994 and it’s going to take someone awesome to beat him. Not a horrible match or anything here but Liger was in need of some better competition out there. That would come in the next match.

Remaining participants:

Wild Pegasus

Gedo

Jushin Liger

Great Sasuke

Fuji says something.

Super J Cup Semi-Finals: Gedo vs. Wild Pegasus

Neither guy can connect with anything flashy to start so they slap it out a bit. Benoit hits a neckbreaker for two followed by a middle rope legdrop for the same. Gedo hits a shoulder block and slaps on a double arm trap submission hold. Something like a piledriver gets two for Gedo and it’s chinlock time. That’s followed by another chinlock to mix things up. They get up and chop it out and you know Benoit is winning that.

Gedo dropkicks him to the floor and mostly misses a moonsault press to the outside. Powerslam and northern lights get two for Gedo but a falling headbutt (literally, he fell) misses Benoit. They both try Germans but Benoit settles for a bad powerbomb for two. A better version sets up a good falling headbutt from Benoit for the pin to send him to the finals.

Rating: C+. Not bad here but dang some of Gedo’s stuff wasn’t clicking at all. Benoit was never in any real trouble, which brought things down a bit. Still though, the match was pretty fast paced and entertaining which is the right idea. Gedo was just a stop on the road for Benoit and the match was too short to mean anything. Decent though.

Gedo talks.

Super J Cup Semi-Finals: The Great Sasuke vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

This is going to be awesome by definition. They fight for control to start and Sasuke gets him down by the leg. Liger rolls out and it’s a standoff. Jushin throws on a reverse surfboard but Sasuke grabs the arm to escape. He can’t get the armbreaker so they trade submissions for awhile until Liger hooks a kind of surfboard followed by the full on version. I still love that move. Liger cranks that up even more by keeping their legs up and hooking a dragon sleeper on top of it. FREAKING OW MAN!

Liger puts on a camel clutch and cranks on that sucker. The rolling Liger Kick hits and Sasuke is in big trouble. Liger kills him with a tombstone and throws on a crossface chickenwing to further punish Sasuke. Sasuke kind of falls out of that so Liger CRANKS on the arm with whatever evil ideas he can come up with. Yeah Liger is heel here. There’s the cross armbreaker to Sasuke whose arm looks like jelly. This is total dominance so far.

Liger suplexes him down again and Sasuke is barely moving. Jushin goes up but Sasuke dropkicks him out of the air, sending him out to the floor. Sasuke hits a SWEET Asai Moonsault to take Liger out. Liger gets sent into the post from the apron so Sasuke hits a GREAT Swanton Dive to a standing Liger to take him down again. Back in and Sasuke drops some knees, followed by a spinwheel kick for two.

Sasuke hits a piledriver to put Liger down for two and a big old powerbomb gets the same. Now it’s Liger that can barely move. Sasuke tombstones him down but the Swanton Bomb misses. Liger hits the running palm strike for two and he’s getting frustrated. LigerBomb gets two as does a top rope rana, but Liger poses too much and gets rolled up for two. A release German gets two for Liger as does his fisherman’s buster finisher.

Liger suplexes him over the top and out to the floor and hits a BIG dive. Back in and Liger is spent from trying so hard. Sasuke gets up to the apron behind Liger and tries a Hail Mary springboard….but he slips and falls flat on his face. Instead Sasuke hits a standing rana out of nowhere for the pin and a spot in the finals.

Rating: A. If that finish had hit, this would be a masterpiece. These guys were WORKING out there with Sasuke taking one of the worst beatings I’ve seen in years. Sasuke is a total freak with these high spots, flying all over the place and taking out everyone in sight. The botches hurt him a lot but this was awesome all the way through. Great stuff.

Super J Cup Finals: Wild Pegasus vs. Great Sasuke

They fight over arm control to start again and Sasuke spins and flips his way out of everything. The fans cheer for Sasuke which they’ve done all night so far. Benoit chops away in the corner but what might have been a Boston Crab is countered. Sasuke kicks him to the floor and Benoit takes a breather. Back in and Benoit takes him down with a triangle choke but Sasuke counters into a modified surfboard. Benoit pops up to a standoff and things reset.

Things speed up and Sasuke starts flying around, but Benoit takes his head off with a clothesline. The Canadian hits a German on the Japanese for two. Sasuke comes back with a spinwheel kick and a legdrop for two. They fight for arm control on the mat as all of the tournament participants are watching at ringside. Sasuke gets up and tries to jump around some more but Benoit runs him over with another clothesline.

Benoit drapes him over the top rope and hits a springboard elbow of all things to put Sasuke on the floor. Back in and Benoit can’t hit his dragon suplex. Ok scratch that as it gets two. Swan Dive gets two for Benoit as does a big powerbomb. Sasuke is amazing at selling this stuff too. Benoit channels his inner Hart and slaps on a Sharpshooter (remember this is 1994 and Bret is WWF Champion so it’s a big move at this time).

The hold gets released for no apparent reason so Benoit hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Benoit misses a dropkick and gets clotheslined down. He’ll have none of that though and snaps off a great German suplex for two. Dragon suplex is countered into a rollup for two and Sasuke kicks him to the floor. In a SWEET move, Sasuke cartwheels towards the ropes and hits a spinning backflip over the top to the floor to take Benoit out.

They head back inside and Sasuke hits a German of his own for two. A fisherman’s suplex gets two for Sasuke as well but his missile dropkick misses. Sasuke goes to the apron but he suplexes Benoit over the top in a near 360 to the floor. Benoit slides back in but then right back out for some reason. Sasuke is annoyed by Benoit not making a commitment so he hits a missile dropkick to the floor. Back in and Sasuke is limping. Gee I wonder why. Top rope moonsault gets two on Benoit and a BIG reaction from the crowd. Sasuke goes up again but Benoit stops him and hits a gutwrench suplex off the top for the pin and the championship.

Rating: A+. This got five stars from Meltzer and I can’t say I can argue. They beat the TAR out of each other and there weren’t any major mistakes or botches at all in this. Benoit would go on to bigger and better things, but DANG Sasuke looked great. He kept flying higher and higher but Benoit was finally able to take him down and a wrestling move beat him. Great story to a great match.

A big ceremony ends the show. Benoit won a championship in this which may or may not be the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship. Liger, Sasuke and Gedo get trophies too.

Overall Rating: A. 1994 wasn’t the best year for the big companies so I have no argument against this being show of the year. It runs just under three hours and after about the first hour, the worst match is good. The first hour has nothing bad at all in it and the rest is pure gold. The last two matches are EXCELLENT and are both well seeing. This was a great surprise and it’s available in full on YouTube. Definitely check this one out if you like Cruiserweight wrestling as it’s great stuff.

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USWA Championship Wrestling
Date: March 16, 1991
Location: USWA Television Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Dave Brown, Michael St. John

Back to Memphis here after that 9 straight PPV marathon I did. Lawler is the world champion again, having beaten Funk in the Mid-South Coliseum on Monday. That being said, he’s taking some time off due to injuries. The world title wasn’t as important in the USWA as it was something you would only see defended once in awhile. Lawler being gone though is a problem as he’s the center of the program by far. Let’s get to it.

After the opening sequence we’re ready to go.

Before we go to the opening match, here are Eric Embry and Tom Pritchard. Pritchard yells about injustice in the world title match. The refereeing cost Funk the title because Jackie Fargo wouldn’t pay attention. Pritchard insists that we see a clip from the match. This looks to be a pretty wild match with Funk throwing any weapon he can find at Lawler. Fargo is indeed pretty biased in his refereeing. It was a fast count at the end if nothing else. Fargo and Lawler cleared the ring of Funk, Embry and Pritchard.

Back in the arena and Tojo Yamamoto (old heel tag wrestler) is here too. Lawler comes out with his new title and says what you see is what you get, so I’m the champ. The Texas guys jump him until Eddie Gilbert makes the save. They get in the ring but the Texas Hangmen come in and beat down the Tennessee guys. Jarrett comes out with a stepladder for the real save.

Danny Davis/Brian Collins vs. Texas Hangmen

One of the Hangmen is named Killer and the other is Psycho, but their names are only on their ring jackets so during the match I have no idea who is who. Let’s say Psycho jumps Collins to start and it’s off to Killer quickly for some pounding. Powerslam kills Collins and it’s back to Psycho. The Hangmen double team Collins and hit a DDT followed by a neckbreker. A double ax/neckbreaker combo gets no cover and the beating continues. Killer hits a belly to belly but pulls Collins up at one. A double powerbomb results in the same. A double headbutt finally ends this.

Rating: D. The only thing I can say here is that of all the squashes I’ve ever seen, this was one of them. What else do you want me to say here at all?

The Hangmen say they’re taking over.

We hear about the show on Monday which has to be moved because of the NIT Basketball Tournament. The announcers explain the details of the show and we run down the card. The main event is a big eight man tag with the main event heels vs. the main event faces. Fargo and Funk are in it and I think you can figure out the other three on each team.

Funk says Lawler and Fargo ripped him off and he was robbed of his world title. He goes on a great rant about how Lawler and Fargo were in on it together and how this brings wrestling down into the sewer but he’s going into the sewer to battle for Texas. To really make it great, he forgets the name of one of his partners. The eight man tag is in a cage it seems. He wants the fans in the Coliseum (where the show won’t be held) to oink like the pigs they are.

Scorpion/Steve Austin vs. Eddie Gilbert/Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett and Austin get us going and Jeff speeds away to frustrate Austin. Austin complaining about a hair pull is amusing. Jeff controls with some armdrags and it’s off to Gilbert for a wristlock. Scorpion, a big fat guy with a black mask, comes in and things slow down. Gilbert takes him down as well as this is a very slow match so far. He chokes away a bit but the fans are ok with it. Off to Jarrett sans tag but the fans are ok with the cheating here.

Gilbert goes for the mask to mess with Scorpion’s mind. After a trip to the floor to get it fixed it’s off to Jarrett again. The “good” guys keep cheating and the fans keep being totally ok with it. With the referee not looking, Gilbert hits the illegal piledriver and Jarrett’s missile dropkick gives them the pin. Austin and manager JC Ice left in the middle of the match it seems.

Rating: D. This was more about character development than a match which is ok, but it’s still pretty boring at the same time. This arm work stuff is really getting old and it makes the matches a lot less interesting than the storyline stuff. Jarrett would get better and a lot more entertaining, but it was long after he left Memphis.

Here are Lawler, Jarrett and Gilbert for a chat. Lawler talks about three appearances he’s doing today, one at a bowling alley for charity and two at hardware stores. He talks about how Eric Embry’s wife is so ugly that Embry took his wife to the dog races in West Memphis and 15 people tried to beg on her. Lawler talks about all the gold he and Jarrett have, which is almost every title in the company. Jarrett doesn’t say much and Gilbert blames the Texas guys for him not having a title.

Jackie Fargo says he’s done more in the Mid-South Coliseum than anyone and he’s coming back to prove that Tennessee is a lot tougher than Texas.

Chris Frazier/Billy Joe Travis vs. Eric Embry/Tom Pritchard

Pritchard and Travis get us going. This is strange as Travis was a heel in Texas and Embry was nearly a folk hero. Embry comes in as does Frazier and Texas takes over. Pritchard keeps running over to the commentary table to yell about how great Texas is. Pritchard hits a slingshot suplex and a top rope headbutt from Embry gets the pin. Total and complete squash.

House show ads.

We get a clip from a cage match between Embry and Gilbert where Gilbert was handcuffed to the cage. Eddie’s brother Doug came in but got beaten down as well. Doug took two spike piledrivers on the floor so he’s pretty much dead. The beating continues until Jackie Fargo comes in for the save, allowing Jarrett to get back up.

Embry and Pritchard aren’t worried about the match Monday. I’m not sure if it’s in a cage or not, despite what Funk said.

Monday show ad.

We get a clip from a show in Dallas where Danny Davis lost the Light Heavyweight Title to El Grande Pistolero. Pistolero cheated a lot and we’re told that he won. Ok then.

Sgt. O’Reilly vs. Bill Dundee

The announcers admit that this is going to be one sided. Dundee works on the arm after taking it to the mat with ease. Sleeper ends this quick.

Post match, Austin and JC Ice (Dundee’s son) come out and beat down Bill, with JC yelling about how his dad doesn’t have any friends. After the evil ones leave, a busted open Dundee yells about how he’s going to beat up Austin if that’s what it takes to get his son back, because he’s used to being the little guy fighting the bully.

Overall Rating: C+. This was decent enough but the Texas stuff could get old fast. Still though, it’s cool to have a big story like this. Lawler vs. Funk is fine and transitioning from that over to some other feuds with Lawler should work well. Pritchard and Embry leave a bit to be desired and Texas will need to actually win something if this is going to go long term, but it’s just started so there’s a lot of time. Decent but not great show this week.

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Wrestlicious Takedown
Date: March 10, 2010
Location: Wrestlicious Studios, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentator: Johnny C.

Oh sweet goodness what am I doing to myself? For those of you unfamiliar, go watch the trailer on Youtube right now. It’s basically the spiritual successor to G.L.O.W., which is known for good looking women and completely campy comedy and women that are “wrestlers”. In this case, it was started by a guy that won a Powerball lottery and used his money on this. Jimmy Hart played a big part in this and I think it’s out of business now. This is the second episode. Let’s get to it.

Oh and the girls are mostly all wrestlers, some of which you’ll know. They’re ALL in very stereotypical and overdone gimmicks which I’m sure you’ll catch on to. There are also comedy skits to go along with the wrestling. The word “studios” means warehouse too.

Jimmy Hart pops up and is worried about being the host and stuck with a bimbo or stick in the mud. Leyla Milani, the runner up in one of the Diva Searches, appears and is the co-host. Oh geez there’s a laugh track.

We do the opening video which is most of the girls in character in front of a personalized screen.

Boot Camp Bailey, the trainer, wants to talk about something. She’s a military themed girl with a VERY short skirt. She says attention a lot and says she’s looking for a few good women. Bailey asks who wants to be a trainee and calls a few “fans” into the ring. One of the girls is the floor manager who has to take her headset off before she gets in. Bailey apparently is a model with no wrestling experience. This is getting LOUDLY booed by the way.

We get a clip from last week of a six girl tag with the Country Cousins vs. the Mexican team/Felony, a prison character. I have no idea what the announcer’s name is. Felony tries to escape during the match. Apparently the commentator’s name is Johnny C. and he has no idea what he’s calling. The Mexican team and Felony won with what looked like a Snow Plow.

There’s going to be a battle royal with the final two facing each other for the Wrestlicious Title.

We go to “the farm” (green screen) with Cousin Cassie and Tyler Texas who do a comedy bit called “You Just Might Be A Down Home Wrestler.” I’m sure you get the idea here.

And now, a game show: Are You Smarter Than A Male Wrestler, hosted by Jimmy Hart. Our contestants are Glory (female wrestler Christie Ricci playing a patriot) and Brian Knobbs. The category is American History and the question is what happened in 1776. Knobbs thinks it’s the first beer drinking contest. Glory gets it right (I guess the signing of the Declaration of Independence was all that happened in America that year)…..and that’s it.

We recap the Bailey segment from like 5 minutes ago.

Now three girls are in a bedroom on a bed. Now they go to make drinks but Bailey stops them. Oh ok they’re the trainees. To be continued. Did I mention we’re almost halfway through the show?

Package on Lacey Von Erich which is her on the beach in swimsuits.

Tony the Top (mob character) says that Autumn Frost (an Ice Princess, whatever that is. You may know her as Jennifer Blake who does indy wrestling and is a somewhat big female star in AAA) should be on JV Rich’s (the owner of the company and owner of a big mansion where comedy bits like this one are shot at) arm. He says she should be on a leash, which gets a HUGE reaction from the laugh track.

Paige Webb (Serena from the Straight Edge Society with hair) answers an e-mail from a male admirer. Included in the e-mail is a picture of his pierced genitals I think.

Three girls are arguing over what to call the aforementioned battle royal. Go vote on their website for the NAME OF THE MATCH. This show is cut into three parts on Youtube and we’re about to start part 3 with no matches.

HOKEY SMOKE A WRESTLING MATCH!

Autumn Frost vs. Paige Webb

Frost is from Alaska so we get a snow effect. Webb is a computer geek. Get it? Johnny C. makes a bunch of bad sex jokes and we’re ready to go. Frost jumps her but gets caught in a full nelson. The commentary is nothing but puns. Literally, it’s all puns and the occasional name of a move. Frost hooks a full nelson of her own but Webb arm drags out of it. Webb hooks the armbar as the announcer talks about how Webb’s box is filled every night. With e-mails of course.

A monkey flip puts Frost down and “the ice girl goeth”. Back in and Frost takes over. I can’t handle or give you an accurate description of the amount of the puns being used here. Apparently Webb needs to reboot from a snow boot. Frost beats her down “like a computer virus.” I’m dying listening to how bad this is.

They do a pinfall reversal sequence and Webb gets caught in a chinlock. Webb comes back with some armdrags and sends Frost to the floor for a beating. Back in a top rope cross body gets two for Webb. After a quick run on the floor, Webb tries a monkey flip but Frost falls on her and puts her feet on the ropes for the pin.

Rating: D+. Both girls are pro wrestlers already so the match wasn’t that bad, but the commentary here is going to make or break the match for you. I kid you not, you won’t go ten seconds without a terrible pun, but if you just give up on the show being serious and enjoy it for how HORRIBLE it is, the commentary will grow on you quickly. The wrestling wasn’t half bad.

We get a preview for next week which is a voodoo chick vs. Madison Rayne as a cheerleader.

Overall Rating: B. Now let me explain. This show is TERRIBLE. There’s about four minutes of wrestling (the show is only half an hour including commercials so it’s not a huge stretch), a TON of bad comedy bits that don’t go anywhere and the commentary is nothing but puns.

HOWEVER, this is the kind of show where if you saw more than four seconds of the previews, you knew exactly what you were getting into. This show knows it’s horrible and it doesn’t try to take itself seriously in the slightest. I found it hilarious with how bad it was and if you go into it with that kind of mindset, you’ll have fun with it. Plus the girls look good so that helps.

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USWA Championship Wrestling
Date: March 9, 1991
Location: USWA Television Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Dave Brown, Michael St. John

We had to skip ahead about a month here but it shouldn’t be a big problem. As far as I know there haven’t been any major changes, although at some point before the 15th, Jarrett’s Southern Title was held up after a match with Steve Austin so there’s no champion. Other than that everything seems to be the same. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Night Train Jackson vs. Sgt. O’Reilly

The show is starting a little early so some fans aren’t there yet. Jackson throws him around and dances a bit. He hits something like Old School and no sells a headbutt. See Jackson is black and in wrestling that means he has a hard head. Dropkick and a fisherman’s suplex get the pin. Squash.

The announcers talk about the Open Door Policy, which means if you want a match, talk to the promoter and they’ll try to get you one. That leads us to a video on the Texas Hangmen who are apparently violent. They shout a lot and no one, including the announcers, can understand it.

We talk about last week where Jeff Gaylord surprisingly joined up with JC Ice and we get a clip of Gaylord jumping Superstar Bill Dundee. Gaylord bailed on Downtown Bruno in the process.

Ronnie Leach vs. Jeff Gaylord

Gaylord is a power guy so he picks Leach up in a bearhug position and rams him into two corners. Backbreaker hits and he throws Ronnie to the floor. Apparently Ice has stolen all of Bruno’s talent, which means Bruno is heading to the WWF I believe. A modified powerbomb, the Dehumanizer, kills Leach and eventually a pumphandle slam gets the pin. Squash #2.

Dundee jumps Gaylord before Gaylord can go for an interview. Dundee rams him into the post to get rid of him. He talks about how he’s fighting to get his son Jamie (JC Ice) back. I forgot about that. Dundee says he’ll do whatever it takes to get him back and that includes beating up everyone that Jamie brings in.

Jerry Lawler will be at some hardware stores next week.

House show ads.

We hear about how Terry Funk won’t show up and defend the world title. We get a clip of him winning the title off Lawler in November. Eddie Gilbert tried to interfere and wound up costing Lawler the title. We also hear about the bounties that Funk put out over the last few months.

We finally hear from Funk for the first time in the nearly three months I’ve been watching this show. He’s being forced to come back to face Lawler in a rematch which will be two days after this show. Thinking of Memphis makes him spit and the people are even worse. Lawler is the worst of all of them but isn’t man enough to take the title from Funk. Apparently Jackie Fargo is going to be the referee again and Funk thinks he’s an old pervert. The match should be in Amarillo, Texas where men are men. Funk is only 46 here and he’s as evil as ever. Maybe he’ll stomp Fargo so Fargo’s heart will stop. That could be awesome.

Video on the career of Jerry Lawler. We get clips of him fighting probably 25 legends in a very impressive package. Pretty much every big name from the era (other than Flair, who I’ve seen Lawler face in Memphis when Flair was NWA Champion) is shown with Lawler beating them up, including both Funks, Hogan, Race, Savage, Rude, Hennig, and about twenty others. It’s really cool stuff. We also get a look at his work outside of the ring with kids. We also see clips from the Jerry Lawler Show, which is exactly what it sounds like and was a real talk/variety show that aired in Memphis. The whole thing runs almost nine minutes.

Mid-South show ad, including the Lawler vs. Funk match.

Lawler comes out and talks about the match coming up. It’s taken forever to get here but he’s ready. He’s not really fired up for it but is more calm and cautious. Win, lose or draw it’ll be his last match for awhile to heal from some injuries.

We get highlights from El Gran Pistolero vs. Danny Davis for the Light Heavyweight Title. Are there any matches on this show? The match is thrown out.

Davis says he was expecting a match and got a fight, and that’s not cool. He’ll fight Pistolero anytime.

Curtis Thompson/Brad Collins vs. Eric Embry/Tom Pritchard

Pritchard and Collins get things going. Tom and Eric are Texas guys so they keep explaining how awesome their home state is. It’s off to Embry who gets in some shots and then back to Pritchard. Both heels keep jumping between the apron and commentary. Pritchard tries a slingshot suplex that goes so badly it would make Tully Blanchard shoot himself so he could roll over in his grave. Embry hits a top rope headbutt for the pin. Thompson was never in the match.

The Texans make fun of Lawler and Tennessee.

Southern Heavyweight Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Steve Austin

The title is vacant coming in. Austin takes over quickly and stomps him down into the corner. JC Ice has the referee and Jeff’s small package is missed. Austin hooks a chinlock which only lasts a few seconds. Jeff tries to speed things up but walks into a knee to the stomach. Austin rolls him up in the corner and puts his feet on the ropes for two. A foreign object shot gets the same. Jeff hooks a quick sunset flip and gets the title back.

Rating: D+. Not the worst match ever but it was only a few minutes long and neither guy was all that great yet. This was more about pushing the Monday matches forward because of the post match stuff. Not much to see here and Jeff has the title back that he never really lost in the first place.

Jarrett gets beaten down by Austin and the other Texas guys but Eddie Gilbert makes the save. Jarrett says it ends Monday. Gilbert says bring on the blood.

Overall Rating: C+. This was much more like a go home show rather than a regular show which is an interesting change. The Lawler video is awesome and could easily be a HOF/retirement video all on its own. The matches were short here but it set up Funk vs. Lawler on Monday which is the whole point here. Good stuff but it could have been great with some better wrestling.

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