Crockett Cup 2019
Date: April 27, 2019
Location: Cabarrus Arena, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Jim Cornette, Joe Galli

This is something that actually caught my attention with the card alone and the promotion was secondary. The NWA has been trying to fight back over the last year or two and they’re getting close to making something of quality. In this case we have a tag team tournament to crown the new NWA Tag Team Champions, plus a few bonus matches in what could be quite the tradition. Let’s get to it.

The opening video features NWA World Champion Nick Aldis talking about his mission to return the NWA to prominence. He’s facing his best friend Marty Scurll for the title, because that’s what a villain like Marty does.

The announcers welcome us to the show and Cornette is VERY pleased to be here.

The arena looks AWESOME as it’s designed like an old school NWA ring, complete with the big NWA lettering on the mat, plus old school graphics.

Tag Team Battle Royal

The Dawgs, The Boys, Dawson Brothers, Jocephus/Jay Bradley, Royce Isaacs/Thom Latimer, Kevin Blue/Billy Buck, Cam Carter/LaBron Kozone

This is for the eighth spot, both members have to be eliminated, and Latimer is better known as Bram. Titus poses to start and gets clotheslined out by the Boys in less than a minute. With the titles and cup in a great position in the middle of the stage overlooking the ring (that looks great) and the announcers explaining the concept in a rather natural way, everyone brawls to start because it’s a battle royal and that’s how they always start. Blue is knocked out, followed by Buck and Kozone as the ring starts to empty out a bit.

The Dawsons get together and toss Carter but Zane Dawson eliminates his brother Dave by mistake. The Boys take care of Zane a few seconds later and we’re down to four teams left. Will Ferrara is out to get rid of the Dawgs, leaving us with Isaacs/Latimer vs. Jocephus/Jay Bradley vs. the Boys. Latimer and Isaacs get sent through the ropes and I think you know where this is going. The Boys low bridge Jocephus and Jay out but get dumped by Latimer and Isaacs for the win at 6:39.

Rating: D+. The key here was the speed as they were in and out quickly and didn’t waste time. There’s no need to go with a lot of drama for a team that isn’t likely to win the whole thing so getting in and out in less than seven minutes was the right move. It’s an energized start to the show and that’s a good idea on something that needs to hit on all cylinders.

That gives us our first look at the full brackets:

Rock N Roll Express

Briscoes

Satoshi Kojima/Yuji Nagata

Villain Enterprises

Flip Gordon/Bandido

Stuka Jr./Guerrero Maya Jr.

Jax Dane/Crimson

Thom Latimer/Royce Isaacs

Of note: Latimer/Isaacs and Gordon/Bandido have never teamed before until tonight. That’s probably not a good sign.

Correspondent Caprice Coleman….doesn’t talk to Isaacs and Latimer, who walk by him. Instead he shows us the bracket to keep it from being a total loss.

Video on Flip Gordon, who ruined his knee in this very building and wants to show the people what he can do when he’s healthy.

Crockett Cup First Round: Bandido/Flip Gordon vs. Stuka Jr./Guerrero Maya Jr.

Flip is wearing a sombrero to fit in with his partner. The fans are behind Bandido, who starts with Stuka. The flipping and spinning begin early on with neither being able to get anywhere. Gordon and Maya come in for a handshake of their own and some fast armdrags from Maya. Bandido’s attempted assistance fails early on and it’s a pair of backbreakers to send Gordon and Bandido outside.

After Maya….I guess the term is dances, it’s Stuka coming back in to take over on Gordon. A double submission attempt is quickly broken up by Bandido, who gets taken down just as quickly. Bandido gets caught in a double surfboard as they don’t seem to be following standard rules here. Gordon makes the save and gets armdragged to the floor, setting up a suicide flip dive to take him out again. Back in and Gordon hits a springboard missile dropkick on Maya before monkey flipping Bandido into a hurricanrana on Stuka.

Bandido hits his big running flip dive and the fans are rather pleased. Back in and Bandido’s frog splash gets two on Maya but the required Tower of Doom brings Gordon down. Stuka’s frog splash connects for two more and it’s a Canadian Destroyer for another two. Gordon comes back in with the springboard spear for two on Maya, who is right back with the Mayan Sacrifice (a suplex shoulder breaker). Bandido takes Maya out though, leaving Gordon to hit a TKO for the pin on Stuka at 12:32.

Rating: B. Fun match with Gordon being more than able to hang in the lucha libre style. They didn’t bother with anything more than an insane match here as the regular wrestling can come later on in the show. Gordon getting the pin is a smart idea as he’s going to be going after the ROH World Title soon enough so this worked on almost all levels.

Marty Scurll talks about having to work for his opportunities while Nick Aldis had a lot of his handed to him. They’ve been friends for years and now Marty wants his chance.

Crockett Cup First Round: Royce Isaacs/Thom Latimer vs. Jax Dane/Crimson

Crimson and Dane take over on Latimer in the corner to start. It’s quickly off to Royce, who walks into a t-bone suplex. Dane’s running clothesline sets up a top rope elbow from Crimson. We hear about Dane’s extensive resume, including reigns as NWA World and Tag Team Champions. The referee gets Dane out of the ring and it’s Crimson getting double choked in the corner.

Stomping and chopping wakes Crimson up a bit so Royce dropkicks his knee out to cut him off. Dane gets drawn in and the double teaming continues as Latimer and Royce are keeping it strong with the heel formula. In keeping with that formula, Crimson sends them together and makes the hot tag off to Dane for the house cleaning. Dane Samoan drops both of them at once but Ground Zero (a fireman’s carry flapjack into a cutter) is broken up. Crimson’s knee gets wrapped around the post, allowing Royce to grab a rollup with feet on the ropes for the pin at 7:49.

Rating: C-. Crimson and Dane weren’t great but they were better than the rather generic Isaacs and Latimer. I’m not sure why they’re getting this kind of a push in the tournament, but if you want to give them some credibility, putting them over some former Tag Team Champions isn’t the worst idea in the world. Just be a little more interesting next time.

We recap the Briscoes vs. the Rock N Roll Express. The Briscoes talk about the tournament initially taking place when they were babies and the Express going out in the first time. This year, they’ll be having the same fate. Jay says his goal in life right now is to put the Express out to pasture.

Jim Cornette is in the ring to introduce the Express to the ring and this just feels wrong on so many levels. Cornette praises the team but points out the one problem: they might die in this match. Ricky Morton is ready to wrestle one more time and all it’s going to take is a cup of soup and a good night’s sleep and they’ll be fine. The Briscoes come out and threaten Cornette away before offering the Express the chance to forfeit because it’s 2019 and this is going to hurt. Ricky kicks Jay low and we’re off and running.

Crockett Cup First Round: Rock N Roll Express vs. Briscoes

They start fast and it’s a running knee into a hurricanrana to send Mark outside and it’s a suicide dive to take the Briscoes again. This time doesn’t work as well though as Mark posts Morton to take over. Morton is already busted open and the beating is on in a hurry. The reverse chinlock goes on and Cornette is in his element going over the history of the Express, spouting off attendance records and gate figures because that’s why they brought him in for this.

Morton’s superkick has no effect as Jay kicks him in the face. A charge allows the hot tag but the referee doesn’t see it (you knew that was coming in here somehow) so the hot tag goes through a few seconds later (still annoying even though they’re legends). The Rocket Launcher of all things gets two on Mark but Gibson gets pulled to the floor. That leaves Morton to take the Death Valley Driver into the Froggy Bow for the pin at 6:55.

Rating: C. This is much more of a curiosity than anything else and Morton took a beating as only he could. The Express are both in their 60s so this was only going to be so good, but they can still hang in there and certainly didn’t embarrass themselves. Not a bad match at all, but this was rather impressive in its own right.

We look at Villain Enterprises winning Tag Wars 2019.

Crockett Cup First Round: Villain Enterprises vs. Satoshi Kojima/Yuji Nagata

That would be PCO/Brody King for you non-ROH fans. Nagata and King start things off and Nagata’s running shoulders have no effect. Some leg kicks work a bit better so it’s the Nagata Lock to some more avail. PCO and Kojima come in with Kojima’s shoulders actually taking the big man down. That just earns Kojima a discus lariat to the floor, followed by a suicide dive because the 51 year old PCO can do suicide dives.

Brody comes in to chop Kojima into the corner before slamming PCO onto him for two. A DDT out of the corner gets two and a double suplex is good for the same. Kojima is right back with a DDT of his own and it’s back to Nagata for some kicks to King’s chest. They trade forearms to the face and big boots with Nagata pulling him down into a Disarm-Her to do some damage to the arm.

PCO makes the save so King uses the good arm for a clothesline. PCO comes back in and gets taken into the corner, allowing Kojima to come back in for some crazy fast chops. This time it’s PCO popping back up (not human and all that) and his own chops have Kojima in trouble. A Michinoku Driver gives Kojima two and it’s King’s backsplash getting two. Kojima gets in a brainbuster for two of his own but the lariat is countered with a hard clothesline. King grabs a Samoan driver for the pin on Kojima at 11:49.

Rating: B. This was a lot better than I was expecting with the three old guys holding up their end and King being able to hang in there more than well enough. I had a good time with this and Villain Enterprises gets better and better every single time they’re out there. Good match, and Kojima/Nagata are rather entertaining as well.

Here are the updated brackets:

Briscoes

Villain Enterprises

Flip Gordon/Bandido

Royce Isaacs/Thom Latimer

Here’s Madusa to present the vacant Women’s Title to the winner of the next match. She seems to get rather lost in her promo and stalls a few times while talking about how important the title is to wrestling history.

NWA Women’s Title: Allysin Kay vs. Santana Garrett

The title is vacant coming in (the former champion Jazz (yes that Jazz) got hurt) and Garrett is a former champion. Kay takes her into the corner and gets in a quick shot to the face for some mild annoyance. That earns her a kick to the face to give Garrett two but Kay gets in an elbow to the face to take over. A shoulder runs Garrett over and it’s off to a quickly broken chinlock. Kay plants her with a facebuster for two and it’s off to a neck crank.

Eat Defeat is broken up and stereo big boots to the face put them both down. Some big forearms rock Kay and the running versions put her down. The Muta Lock goes on (without the leg lock) keeps Kay in trouble but Garrett has to let go due to reasons of that hold is hard to maintain. Cornette seems to get the women backwards but gets them right as Garrett anklescissors Kay off the top. A handspring moonsault misses though and Kay hits a discus lariat for the pin and the title at 8:57.

Rating: C+. These two hit each other rather hard and that’s the kind of match this needed to be. Both of them could be stars in the future on the bigger stage (and they both already kind of had) and I could go with seeing more of them in the future. Kay winning makes sense as she has the better overall resume, but Garrett was far from slacking here.

We get another video on Aldis vs. Scurll, featuring footage from the Madison Square Garden show with Aldis saying he’s the senior and Marty comes to him for advice. In the ring, Aldis is the senior.

The Midnight Express (Sweet Stan Lane, Loverboy Dennis Condrey and Beautiful Bobby Eaton) is here and Eaton has very little to say (shocking). Lane is a North Carolina boy and puts over the fans. Condrey is very happy to have recently beaten cancer and can still talk without a voicebox or vocal chords. Cornette is very pleased with this one, as you would expect.

We recap the first round.

Crockett Cup Semifinals: Thom Latimer/Royce Isaacs vs. Flip Gordon/Bandido

Latimer shoves Gordon down to start, who is right back with a dropkick and anklescissors. Bandido comes in to work on Isaacs’ arm and adds a snazzy nipup into a dead lift suplex. Everything breaks down and the villains are superkicked out to the floor. For some reason Madusa is still here and starts coaching Latimer and Isaacs, who get taken out by suicide dives anyway.

Back in and something like a reverse Unprettier plants Isaacs, setting up a 450 from Gordon. That’s a problem though as Gordon comes up holding his knee. The villains start in on the knee but since they’re not very good at this stuff, that means a bunch of stomping. Gordon dives over for the tag attempt but Isaacs pulls Bandido off the apron. The distraction is enough for the rollup with tights to pin Gordon at 7:17.

Rating: D. Latimer and Isaacs are as generic of a set of villains as you can have and I have no idea why they’re going to the finals already. This wasn’t a good match with Latimer and Isaacs managed to pull down one of the more entertaining teams in the tournament. Bad stuff here, and I really don’t get the thinking here, other than a big layup of a final.

Crockett Cup Semifinals: Briscoes vs. Villain Enterprises

Brody and Jay slug it out to start with Jay being knocked out to the floor. The Briscoes head outside and grab some chairs before it’s back to Mark vs. PCO for some chopping. Everything breaks down again and Mark moonsaults down onto King to take over. Back in and PCO gets choked on the ropes as things settle down but a missed charge allows the tag to King. A Cannonball in the corner crushes Mark and a sitout slam gives PCO two.

Mark flips out of a backdrop though and makes the hot tag to Jay as everything breaks down again. Jay gets chokeslammed onto the apron and PCO adds a suicide flip dive onto Mark. The flip dive onto the apron misses though and PCO bangs his back again, this time allowing Mark to hit the Bang Bang elbow off the apron. All four grab chairs and Jay blasts King in the back for the DQ at 9:46.

Rating: B. This was the wild brawl that it needed to be and there’s nothing wrong with that. These four have had some awesome matches over the last few months it makes sense to go with what works. It’s a heck of a fight and while they were hampered by time, it was a nice addition to the show.

Post match the Briscoes wreck Villain Enterprises with chairs and Pillmanize his arm with a top rope flip dive onto the apron. The Briscoes rant about the tournament and finally leave.

So the finals are:

Villain Enterprises

Thom Latimer/Royce Isaacs

There isn’t a recap video for the National Title match, even though we go to one.

National Title: Colt Cabana vs. Willie Mack

Mack is defending and that title is hideous. Cabana spins out of a wristlock to start as Cornette is trying as hard as he can not to rip into Cabana for being a comedy guy. Another standoff gives us a handshake and it’s Mack running him down to take over. The big legdrop looks to set up a running dropkick in the corner but Mack crashes HARD out to the floor.

Cabana follows up with a chinlock but Mack fights up and it’s a double knockdown. Mack’s Samoan drop into a standing moonsault gets two, setting up the reverse Cannonball in the corner. Some elbows to the head rock Mack though and a standing Lionsault gets two. Cabana shoves him off the top and hits his lame splash but misses a moonsault. Mack charges into a boot in the corner and the diving cradle (Cabana uses his feet to pin down Mack’s legs) gives Cabana the pin and the title at 8:57.

Rating: C. They played this one completely straight and that’s the right move for someone like Cabana, who can wrestle a clean match very well when he’s willing to try. Cabana winning the title is fine as he can drop it to a more traditional star later on. This could have been far, far worse so a straight match was a big relief.

Post match James Storm comes out to say he’s not what the NWA wants to see as a champion. Therefore, he’s going to win the National Title anyway. Storm is still a great talker and TNA managing to not make him a megastar continues to astound me.

ROH COO Joe Koff, NWA President Billy Corgan and members of the Crockett Family are here.

Here’s Nikita Koloff, who won the tournament in 1987, to present the cup to the winners. Koloff talks about how great it is to be back and praises the Crockett Family for giving him a chance. Coleman: “What happened to your accent?” Koloff: “It’s been thirty five years dude. My English got better.” Koloff talks about his ministry and brings in Magnum TA, who doesn’t quite look great but it’s cool to see him here. Magnum, still with that great voice, talks about how important the Cup and the Crocketts are both to wrestling and his life.

We recap the first two rounds.

Crockett Cup Finals/Tag Team Titles: Villain Enterprises vs. Thom Latimer/Royce Isaacs

The titles are vacant coming in and Madusa is now here with Latimer and Isaacs. PCO and King are banged up, just in case you didn’t know the ending already. King and Isaacs start things off as the announcers aren’t sure how to handle PCO looking hurt. The double stomping has King down on the floor as this isn’t exactly inspiring stuff so far.

Isaacs grabs the chinlock but gets suplexed into the corner, allowing the hot tag off to PCO. Hang on though as PCO tells King to FIX HIS ARM, meaning snapping it across the top rope, which seems to fix everything. The fired up PCO cleans house and a Samoan driver from King plants Isaacs. The moonsault finishes Latimer at 6:39.

Rating: D. This felt like a main event match in a movie about wrestling where the filmmakers don’t know anything about wrestling. Latimer and Isaacs are guys who might as well have had the word VILLAIN tattooed on their chests. There was nothing to see here and thankfully PCO didn’t bother selling anything as soon as he got the hot tag. Keeping it short was smart, but better opponents would have made this worthwhile.

Post match Koloff presents the cup.

We recap Nick Aldis vs. Marty Scurll. They’re old friends but Marty wants the chance that Aldis got. Fair enough, and it feels like a feud instead of a tacked on title match.

NWA World Title: Marty Scurll vs. Nick Aldis

Aldis is defending and has Kamille Kane in his corner. We get one more cameo with Tommy Young giving us the in-ring instructions and a weapons check. They bump fists instead of shaking hands and Aldis towers over Marty. Nick goes with the wristlock to start so Marty spins out and takes the champ down for an arm crank of his own. A similar sequence has Aldis a little frustrated so he grabs the hair to escape and sends Marty into the ropes.

Marty falls down and claims a trip from Kamille, who is about four feet from the apron. That’s enough for an ejection and Marty chops away on the floor. Back in and Aldis scores with a fall away slam and a clothesline. A super fall away slam sends Marty outside and Aldis chokeslams him through a table, which seems rather out of place here. Back in and a knee to the ribs keeps Scurll in trouble, setting up the double arm pull. Marty gets up and staggers over the to corner, where a slap to the face ticks Aldis off. That’s enough for Scurll to grab a tornado DDT for a knockdown.

They slug it out with Scurll getting the better of it and stomping him down in the corner. Cornette tries to figure out the difference between a Villain and a National Treasure as Scurll kicks him down to the floor. Right hands against the barricade keeps Aldis in trouble and it’s a 619 back inside. Marty goes old school with a Figure Four as Aldis has been busted open somewhere in there.

The rope is grabbed and Aldis hits a very quick Tombstone. The top rope elbow gets two and a Michinoku Driver gives the champ the same. Scurll catches him going up again and this time it’s a top rope superplex to give Marty his own near fall. Aldis gets in a powerbomb and tries the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf but Marty snaps the fingers for the block. Er, break. Er, block and break.

The chickenwing is broken up so Scurll goes with Cross Rhodes but the referee gets bumped. Cue Kamille, who Aldis tells to leave so he can do this himself. The distraction is enough for Scurll to get in a low blow and Graduation for a VERY close two. Now it’s the chickenwing but Aldis flips back for two and the break. The package piledriver is countered into the Cloverleaf though and Scurll taps at 23:41.

Rating: A-. This was a rather strong match and the kind of thing that felt like a main event. Aldis fits this role very well as he looks like a championship wrestler and can have a good match against just about anyone. Scurll is a star in the making though and one day he’s going to win a big match and become a World Champion. It’s ok that he lost here though, as he’s building up a lot of stock value with these matches.

Post match they hug and Marty grabs the mic, saying Aldis was the first person to take him under his wing in this business. They just had an awesome match and the NWA is back. Aldis puts over Marty and the NWA, saying that it seemed crazy when they started this rebirth project but now it’s working. Celebrations end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I had a good feeling about this show coming in and they didn’t disappoint. Other than the weird pushing of Latimer and Isaacs, nothing was bad here with solid action up and down and a very good main event. The talent was there and I had a great time watching these guys. Cornette was awesome on commentary as he was clearly having a blast with the historical stuff and the other two were just fine as well. It might not be worth going out of your way to see, but if you want a three and a half hour show that flies by and has nothing overstay its welcome, this is worth seeing.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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Since everyone has already talked about Goldberg vs. Lesnar (which I’ll get to when I can wrap my head around the thing), here’s something a little lighter this week.

http://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-happy-and-sad-holidays/

I’m talking the TBS show from 1986-1988.  This is the treat that a lot of old school fans have been waiting on as it’s the opposite of what you see today.  These shows were almost entirely built around the promos to make you pay for the house shows later.  The idea of seeing big names fight each other on this show was almost unheard of and it made for some much more entertaining TV.  It’s not for everyone and you might get bored at times, but Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes one upping each other every week is some of the best you’ll ever see.  Check this out if you want to see what made WCW work in the old days.

 

http://network.wwe.com/shows/vault/nwa-world-championship-wrestling

You know what move didn’t really do jack?Ric Flair’s Figure Four.  Take a look at how he won his World Titles (some recognized, some unrecognized.  Don’t start with the “IT’S MORE THAN 16 TIMES” stuff again).

 

WCW – 1 – Pin with feet on the ropes

WCW – 2 – Rollup

WCW – 3 – Rollup

WCW – 4 – Brass knuckles

WCW – 5 – Shoe to the face

WCW – 6 – Pin in the figure four

WCW – 7 – Small package

WCW – 8 – Awarded title

WWF – 1 – Won Royal Rumble

WWF – 2 – Pin in the Figure Four

NWA – 1 – Pin after Dusty Rhodes collapsed

NWA – 2 – Cross body

NWA – 3 – Rollup

NWA – 4 – Pin in the Figure Four

NWA – 5 – Pin after a ram into the cage

NWA – 6 – Small package

NWA – 7 – Rollup

NWA – 8 – Pin in the Figure Four

Yeah Flair won a few with it via pin, but he never won a World Title with the Figure Four via a traditional submission.  However, when you think of Flair, you instantly think of the Figure Four, despite it almost never winning a major match.  It says a lot about the way you can make something big just by talking about it and that you don’t always have to see everything to believe it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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San Francisco TV
Date: July 1, 1978
Location: KXTV Studios, Sacramento, California
Commentator: Hank Renner

I had a good time with the previous show and I’m assuming this is the followup. I’m guessing we won’t be seeing Piper or Race here as it was rare to see the same lineup week after week. It was a nice way to keep things fresh and you never knew who you were going to see on a week to week basis. Let’s get to it.

Just like last time, the show is incomplete and at least the first match is missing. That’s something you have to expect on something like this though.

Jerry Monte vs. Buddy Rose

Rose is a big time heel. After some quick stalling it’s Rose taking Monte down and slapping on a chinlock. That goes nowhere so Rose, in his overly huge trunks, misses an elbow and gets caught in an armbar. Well at least Monte has some psychology to him. They trade slams and it’s right back to that armbar.

Back up and we get some miscommunication as both guys try a drop down at the same time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before. Monte slaps on a third armbar until Buddy fights up with some basic strikes. A rake to the face freaks Buddy out and the fans are getting into this. Buddy whips him hard into the buckle though and drives some knees into the back, setting up a backbreaker (similar to the Irish Curse) for the pin.

Rating: C-. I liked this way more than I was expecting to as Monte was game for a fight here. Rose was obviously going to win, but at least they didn’t go with something really simple and boring. Monte tried out there and did some decent stuff with the arm until we got to the only possible conclusion.

Buddy Rose brags about his robe and says he has the accomplishments at 25 years old that no one else has ever had. He’s been compared to Ray Stevens, but Rose is just that much better. That match might be coming one day, but Stevens will be facing the man with a steel stomach (seriously), Pepper Gomez, on July 15. Rose knows Gomez has a hard stomach but he can pound on everything else.

The younger generation is taking over and it’s no longer Lou Thesz’s world. It’s Buddy Rose’s world because he’s earned this reputation. Last week he was wrestling all over the country and he’s insulted by having to fight in a preliminary match in the Cow Palace. It’s only main events for Rose and only if the money is right. This was an interesting case as the message was good but Rose has an awkward way of speaking and it didn’t work as well as it could have. He needed to cut down a bit and get to the point faster, though he got the points across.

Guy Lambert vs. Roddy Piper

We get some more bagpipes before the match. Piper takes his sweet time in taking off the kilt before we can get going. Lambert scores with a quick slam to send Piper outside and three armdrags into an armbar. Piper fights out of a wristlock (how did he ever manage to do that?) and hammers away in the corner, followed by a clothesline for two of his own. A high backdrop gets the same but Lambert puts on a freaky abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere and Piper punches a lot more before finishing with a pair of swinging neckbreakers.

Rating: D. Boring match here with Piper destroying the guy but with far less energy or entertainment value than last week. The match wasn’t that long and Lambert was fine for a jobber, but you expect more from someone like Piper, especially after the really fun match he had last week.

Post match Piper says the match with Mayne was non-title, which is either a mistake on Wikipedia or a lie to sell the rematch on the 15^th. Roddy won the match, despite Mayne barking a lot. Every time Piper got up and hit him again, the barking got weaker and weaker. The match was stopped and Mayne attacked him post match, busting him open. The cuts on Piper’s face look really awesome. Next up is a title match, as ordered by the NWA. Well at least according to Piper, as the interviewer says it was Mayne’s idea.

The rest of the tape is cut off.

Overall Rating: D+. I didn’t like this one as much as the previous one but that might be due to the lack of Harley Race being all gruff and awesome. Piper picked things way up in his promo where he went insane as only he could, but the rest of the show didn’t do much for me. Then again it would have helped to be able to see the whole thing instead of just under half an hour.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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San Francisco TV
Date: June 24, 1978
Location: KXTV Studios, Sacramento, California
Commentator: Hank Renner

This is an interesting case as it’s pure territory days with Roy Shire’s San Francisco area. The big star here would be a young Roddy Piper, who was tearing up southern California before heading up to Portland and then on to the Carolinas and New York. I’m really not sure what to expect here so let’s get to it.

Roddy Piper vs. Tony Milan

Piper comes out with the bagpipes, wearing the kilt, a matching hat and a yellow Superman shirt. The fans want to hear some bagpipes and Roddy actually obliges, but the referee would like to have a match. Instead Piper heads outside to play some more until we’re FINALLY ready to go. The jobber is maybe 5’5 and Piper pounds him down and nails a knee to the face.

Those trademark punches in the corner and some more forearms to the back of the head continue the squash as Piper is showing some awesome fire out there. A clothesline gets two but Piper pulls him up twice in a row. Piper does the same thing off a swinging neckbreaker before a second is enough to finally end Milan. Total squash and Piper looked like a star.

House show ads tell us of a show on Tuesday, June 27, meaning this is taking place in 1978. The announcer saying that today is June 24 makes it a bit easier. At the house show taking place that night: Harley Race defending the NWA World Title against Dean Ho.

Piper is also on the card so he talks about being ready for Moondog Mayne for the US Title. Naturally this includes a lot of shouting MOONDOG over and over. Mayne isn’t sure if he wants it to be a title match so Piper has agreed to pay $10,000 to change his opinion. The announcer tells Piper that Mayne ate the check. Mayne might put up the title but it depends on how he’s feeling when he gets to the arena. Piper thinks Mayne is crazy and threatens to beat him to a pulp. Roddy would actually win the title but drop it back about a month later. Mayne would be killed in a car accident less than two months later.

Dean Ho shows us a Harley Race match.

Harley Race vs. Mike Stallings

Race’s World Title isn’t on the line and Gordon Solie is on commentary. I’m not sure when and where this took place. Race elbows him down but misses the falling headbutt. That means nothing though as Race snapmares Mike and drops a knee to the head, only to get taken over into a hammerlock. Race headbutts him out to the floor and grabs a piledriver back inside. Instead of covering though he tries a small package for two. That’s a new one but it’s a different time. Race drives some shoulders into the ribs in the corner before a suplex (yes just a suplex) gets the pin.

Rating: D+. The match was just a long squash, but it’s an interesting case study compared to today. Like I said, Race won with a vertical suplex. Yeah it’s a transitional move today, but at this point it was still a big enough move to win matches. It became a big move because Race won matches with it. That’s all you need to do to establish a finisher: win matches with it.

Race talks about going around the world to defend the title and how he’ll wrestle any man on the face of God’s green earth for this belt. People said he won the World Title in a freak accident, but then he won it again and people were saying maybe. He’s going to carry these ten pounds of gold until he’s ready to retire. There will be a big tournament for the title, but no one can be at his level and everyone knows it. He actually praises Solie for being a great commentator but everyone knows the champ is here to stay. Race is right too, as he would hold the belt for the next three years, save for about three months of short reigns.

In another interview, Race says Dean Ho isn’t the man that is going to take his belt away. Ho eliminated him in a big battle royal last year so Race is coming to the Cow Palace for revenge. He doesn’t actually say Ho’s name as he talks about how important it is to be the champion. Race isn’t coming to the Cow Palace to wrestle, because he wants to hurt Ho.

Dean Ho says he’s coming to fight and win the World Title. Notice that he keeps saying the arena and the date over and over so no one is going to forget.

There’s a tag match main event but the video is cut off before we can hear the participants.

Overall Rating: C+. Now this was some old school goodness. Notice how the main idea here was to hype up the house shows instead of some major TV match. It’s such a different idea compared to what we get today but it still works. On top of that you have Piper and a great example of why Harley Race was one of the most intimidating and awesome guys around. This was a lot of fun and when it only runs about 25 minutes, it’s hard to go wrong. Check these things out if you haven’t seen a run of the mill territory before.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011T13PV4

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Some might call this a mixed bag.  Others might call it an overly long title that isn’t as funny as I was hoping.

http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-old-school-reality-star-climbs-ladder-fight-mutant-japanese-barbershop-quintet-kofi-kingston/36204/

http://411mania.com/wrestling/tommy-rogers-of-the-fantastics-passes-away/

At age 54 due to unknown causes.  The Fantastics were my favorite NWA tag team (aside from the Road Warriors of course) and Tommy is the first person I’ve ever heard of using the move that would become the Killswitch/Unprettier (Tomikaze).

Today we’re looking at a guy who was small but tough: Kevin Sullivan.

Sullivan got started all the way back in 1970s. We’ll pick him up as a jobber in the WWF on August 7, 1976 in MSG.

Kevin Sullivan vs. Bruiser Brody

This is Brody’s MSG debut. It’s so strange to see anyone but the Fink doing the announcing. In a sign of the times, Brody’s manager the Grand Wizard heads to the back as managers weren’t allowed at ringside back then. Brody doesn’t seem to mind as he pounds Sullivan up against the ropes. Some choking ensues but Sullivan avoids a charge in the corner. That’s the extent of the good part of the match for Sullivan though as Brody torture racks him for the win.

We’ll jump ahead to the first Starrcade in 1983.

Kevin Sullivan/Mark Lewin vs. Scott McGhee/Johnny Weaver

McGhee and Sullivan get things going meaning we don’t have a tall man in the ring at all. Off to Lewin to slap McGhee in the back and tag out to Sullivan again. Weaver gets the tag and we get a crisscross resulting in Sullivan holding onto the ropes to avoid a right hand. Lewin comes back in but Weaver starts cranking on his arm to gain control. Off to Scott again as Lewin isn’t sure what to do.

Mark and Kevin start tagging in and out very quickly to work on Scott’s arm with knees and chops to the shoulder. Lewin comes in to crank on both arms at once but Scott manages to make a tag while still in the hold. That would be very impressive but the tag doesn’t count as the referee didn’t see it. Lewin and Sullivan stay on the arm before it’s a nerve hold by Mark. Sullivan comes back in but lets McGhee go long enough for the hot tag to Weaver. Johnny cleans house but has his bulldog broken up by Sullivan. Now it’s Weaver getting pounded down and Lewin comes in off the top rope with a knee to the arm….for the pin? Seriously?

Rating: C-. It was better than the opener but not by much. The arm stuff was fine although the ending was out of nowhere. Sullivan just held the arm while Lewin jumped onto it for the pin. The match wasn’t bad but we’re now a fourth of the way through the show and no good guy has won yet. That’s some questionable booking.

Another big jump forward to Clash of the Champions V as Sullivan is part of the Varsity Club.

US Tag Team Titles: Varsity Club vs. Fantastics

Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams had taken the titles from the Fantastics at Starrcade but tonight it’s Williams and Rotunda defending. Ross puts over the idea that the Varsity Club is going to try for a submission because the Fantastics have never given up before. Rotunda and Rogers get things going with some high quality stalling. A fireman’s carry puts Tommy down and the stalling continues. Rogers finally gets things going with a cross body for two but it’s quickly off to Williams for some raw power. Rotunda helps Williams for a double clothesline from the apron and the champions take control.

Fulton comes in a few seconds later for a double dropkick and some dancing to very little amusement from the crowd. The stalling continues and we get an inset promo from Rick Steiner, saying he’ll take care of Rotunda in Chicago. Williams runs Fulton over and brings Rotunda back in, only to have him get caught in a sunset flip for two. Bobby cross bodies Steve for two more and it’s back to Rogers for a dropkick followed by more standing around.

Steve runs him over again and Rotunda gets the tag to slow the pace even more. Fulton gets sent to the floor where Williams runs him over with a clothesline before dropping him face first on the apron. A top rope ax handle gets two for Williams and a clothesline gets the same for Rotunda. No real sign of the attempted submissions yet. Fulton avoids a knee drop but Williams breaks up a hot tag attempt.

A big shoulder tackle puts Fulton down again but he grabs the ropes to block the Oklahoma Stampede. Now the hot tag brings in Rogers as everything breaks down. Tommy hits what was supposed to be a top rope cross body to Williams but hits him more in the back, only to have Rotunda get in a cheap shot to give Williams the pin.

Rating: C-. This is a good example of the difference between slow paced and boring. They weren’t going fast here, but they were doing stuff throughout the match. This was very different, and much more entertaining, than the previous two matches which were often move, move, three minute chinlock. It wasn’t a great match or anything, but there’s a huge difference between the two styles and it made this match much easier to sit through. The Fantastics were done as a team in the NWA soon after this.

Here are some more good opponents at Great American Bash 1989.

Varsity Club vs. Steiner Brothers

This is under Texas Tornado rules and is Scott’s debut on PPV. Sullivan and Rotunda here as they’re all that’s left. The Steiners bring actual dogs with them. Kevin and Rick fight on the floor as this is of course just a massive brawl. Apparently this is no DQ also as Kevin rams Rick into a table and it’s all fine. Rick busts out a belly to belly in the ring though as Scott just destroys Mike.

Scott gets double teamed as they are flying through this. The evildoers get stereo twos as I’m liking this brawl style here. Rick brings in a chair or something like it and gets blasted in the head with it in a painful looking spot. Kevin picks up Rick for a slam but Scott comes off the top onto Rick’s back for a double splash more or less and the pin on Kevin. Total nonstop action here to coin a phrase.

Rating: B. This was incredibly fun. It was about four and a half minutes long, but this was very similar to the Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack/random partner matches in 94 as they just beat the fire out of each other from bell to bell. What more can you really ask for other than it being longer? This was the end of the Varsity Club as Rotunda left before coming back next year as a sailor while Sullivan hooked up with a bunch of crazy characters, one of which was a newcomer named Cactus Jack. You may have heard of him.

Time to torture some skateboarders at Wrestlewar 1990.

Kevin Sullivan/Buzz Sawyer vs. Dynamic Dudes

Sawyer is insane and that’s about all you need to know about him. He starts with Ace and these people are a bit more receptive than the Philly crowd was in our last show. Speaking of last shows, this is the final major show that Sawyer was on for WCW if that means anything for you. Ace sends him to the floor and a brawl breaks out on the outside. Shane and Sullivan come in and the Dudes keep control with the arm work.

Ace comes in to work on the arm more but Sullivan gets a tag. He also gets in a fight with Sawyer, much to the Dudes’ amusement. That’s smart: why break up a fight when you can get a breather? Sawyer’s arm goes into the post so Shane cranks on it. Out to the floor with Sawyer taking over. Sunset flip gets two for Ace and there’s the tag to Shane. Buzz immediately takes him down and hooks a bearhug to take Shane to the mat.

Sullivan comes in and pops Ace, which draws him in so that Sullivan can throw Shane to the floor. Everything breaks down and Johnny botches a flying headscissors. Sawyer goes up and hits a big old flying splash for the pin. That’s the interim Raw GM and the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations for you. Funk called it the Jam Sandwich, which is something Brodus should use.

Rating: C-. Not much here as none of these guys was much to watch at this point. I’ve never been a big fan of Shane and Ace is just ok. He never was all that good as his size became an issue for him but he was too slim to be a power guy. Not a very good match with a total contrast in styles that didn’t work at all.

Sullivan would head to the indies for a bit after this, including this match at ECW Ultraclash 1993.

Abdullah the Butcher/Kevin Sullivan vs. Terry Funk/Stan Hansen

This is more or less anything goes. Terry goes up the scaffold. It’s a Bunkhouse Match, which was Dusty’s idea of anything goes. No story here it appears but rather just four crazy guys that can fight. Chairs are brought in and it’s Sullivan vs. Funk and the other two fight also. Ok never mind no they don’t. Abdullah throws photographers out of the way to get to Funk. Joey is LOVING this.

They trade off we actually get to the ring. Sullivan and Funk go up the scaffold as I realize how weird it is to see Hansen in America. It’s just not something you see that often. Funk is busted open. Naturally there’s no flow or anything like that and it’s just a wild brawl. Funk gets a chair and blasts everyone with it. Abdullah can barely move but that’s typical for him and not meant as a knock to him.

I’m pretty sure everyone is bleeding now and Sullivan blasts Funk in the head with a hammer. Ok that was insane. That’s beyond FREAKING OW MAN. Abdullah accidently hits Sullivan and Funk goes for a Figure Four on him of all things. Someone with a chair comes in and we actually get a DQ. It’s Eddie Gilbert. Dang I thought he was gone. Funk and Hansen win.

Rating: B+. Totally wild brawl but the DQ ending killed it. This was exactly what it was supposed to be: totally violent with no semblance of order or anything like it. This is the life’s blood of ECW and something tells me this is a Heyman thing. The bunch of run ins after the match ended are practically a trademark of his.

Off to SMW at some point in 1993.

Brian Lee vs. Kevin Sullivan

This is part of along feud where Sullivan has sent a series of men to try and take Lee out before finally just doing the job himself. This is a Singapore Spike match where there is a box on each corner and only one holds a spike to use as a weapon. Brian’s partner Tim Horner and Sullivan’s minion the Nightstalker are handcuffed to posts. Lee hammers away to start and the fight is quickly on the floor. Sullivan sends him face first into a table and nails him with a chair but can’t get into a box.

Lee is thrown to the floor but comes back in with a chair to the back. Two boxes are checked and empty so they head back outside to brawl some more. Sullivan hits him in the ribs with a hammer to almost no effect. Back in and Sullivan stabs him with pliers before checking the other two boxes. There’s no spike so Lee makes his comeback with right hands and a cross body which takes out the referee. Nightstalker gets on the apron with the spike in his hand but hits Sullivan by mistake, allowing Brian to roll him up for the pin.

Rating: C-. This was a decent brawl and the story helped things a bit. It’s always a plus when you give me a reason to care why the face is in trouble but wants to fight anyway as it makes him seem like a hero and the villain look like a coward for resorting to cheating. Lee is getting better as he’s starting to find himself in the ring.

Back to WCW for a fairly memorable run, starting at Slamboree 1994.

WCW Tag Titles: Cactus Jack/Kevin Sullivan vs. Nasty Boys

It’s a Broadstreet Bully match, meaning hardcore. Nasty Boys are the heel champions here. Naturally this is just a big brawl which is what the Nastys were good at. Now THEY would have been good for ECW. It’s good that Foley is here as he’s the only one with a good deal of wrestling talent. In a very funny and smart spot, Cactus comes at Knobbs with a trash can and Knobbs gets his hands up. Jack’s solution: throw it at his feet.

That’s thinking as you go which is what made Foley great. They’re trying to top Spring Stampede I think but Sullivan’s suckiness is preventing that. Sags gets a table to a HUGE pop. To keep things NASTY, he gets tired carrying it. This is nowhere near as intense though and there’s a lot more walking around doing very little. In a nice finish, Schultz does his standard thing of pulling the shirt over the other guy’s head and punches him as Cactus hits him with a hockey stick for the pin and new champions. Maxx Payne hits Sags with a guitar for general purposes.

Rating: B-. This was a good fight, but it’s the sequel to a great fight. This felt like it was trying to be a great fight. That being said, it was still very fun. Jack vs. the Nasty Boys was fun as Jack was just as insane as they were but he could think. This was fun and again, since this is the only match like this all night, it stands out far more and looks better than it would if there had been this almost in every match, ala ECW.

Here’s the showdown at Fall Brawl 1994.

Kevin Sullivan vs. Cactus Jack

The announcer says it’s Loser Leaves WCW and then explains that the stipulation is that the loser leaves WCW. WOW. Yeah this Foley guy has no future here so he needs to move on. That’s Hogan’s idea at least. Again, another young guy with talent that’s over has no place at all in Hogan’s company, no sir. We can’t have young talent here that could show up Hogan. Give me a break.

We don’t actually go to the ring first but rather out into the crowd. This is really just a fight instead of a match which is what makes sense. Foley had recently lost his ear in a match with Vader in Germany which was never turned into a story like Foley wanted to. According to Foley in his book, WCW didn’t want to push a hot feud that the fans were into and good matches were being produced from. That just can’t happen.

Jack throws in a chair but nothing comes of it. This is all Jack selling and Sullivan trying desperately to convince a single person that he has talent. Dave, Kevin’s brother, keeps Cactus from using a chair. Kevin tries to use one also and Dave stops him.

Cactus rams into him on the apron which for some reason knocks him down long enough for a pin. Off to ECW and credibility Jack, even though you were very over in WCW and getting more and more respect every day and having good matches. We have no need to that pesky talent thing.

Rating: D+. This was all Cactus here as he made Sullivan look good, thereby proving that he was awesome. Again, let me make this clear: Mick Foley, 4 time world champion and surefire Hall of Fame wrestler, was thrown out in favor of the Taskmaster. Let that sink in for a minute and tell me Hogan isn’t hurting this company in the long run.

And a totally different kind of match at Starrcade 1994.

Mr. T. vs. Kevin Sullivan

Mr. T. was with Mr. T. at the first Wrestlemania and has been associated with him on and off ever since. He’s in a referee shirt and hat here for no apparent reason. T sidesteps Sullivan to start and hiptosses him down….as Santa comes out. Some headbutts put Sullivan in the corner and T pounds away, only to be sent out to the floor.

Sullivan rips his shirt over T’s head and pounds away as a cameraman goes down. They stay on the floor with Sullivan continuing to pound away until Jimmy Hart, Hogan’s manager, comes out. The distraction lets him slip his megaphone to Santa (Kevin’s brother) who blasts Kevin in the head, giving T the pin.

Rating: F. Was there a point to this that I was missing? It wasn’t even four minutes long and T was on offense for all of thirty seconds. The rest of this was Sullivan slowly beating on T outside before the finish. Other than that, not much to see here at all but I guess T brought in some extra buys for the show.

Sullivan would transition into a managerial role around this point but still wrestled occasionally, including this match on Nitro, September 25, 1995.

Taskmaster vs. Randy Savage

How did a guy like Sullivan get Woman? That makes no sense. Taskmaster jumps him early and Zodiac is on the floor. That’s gimmick number 8 million for Beefcake that didn’t work out. A barber is the best he can do. That’s very amusing. Did Sullivan ever do anything of note? I can’t think of anything. Savage gets crotched over the barricade and he’s in trouble.

This match is on fast forward it seems. And there’s Zodiac for the DQ. Actually never mind. Blatant interference is fine but shoving the referee to fight for your life isn’t. Giant comes out and beats the tar out of Savage as jobbers come out to try to beat up Giant for some reason. Alex Wright comes out and gets beaten up too.

Luger comes out and we have some intrigue here. Luger of all people was one of the most interesting people in the company around this time. He goes after Giant too and takes a chokeslam. He actually had everyone guessing as to which side he was on, which was a fun angle. Then the NWO ended that.

Rating: N/A. This was a fight rather than a match but was designed to add more to the Hogan/Giant and Luger/Savage feuds. Yeah I’m shocked too.

Here’s Sullivan’s best match ever as part of his blood feud with Chris Benoit. I’m sure you’ve heard the story a dozen times, but in short, Sullivan was booking and came up with a story where Benoit stole Sullivan’s real life wife Woman, but that’s exactly what happened in real life. Here’s their first showdown at Great American Bash 1996.

Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan

This is falls count anywhere. Now this was a very interesting story to say the least. The idea is that the Dungeon and the Horsemen want to team up to fight Hogan, but these two hate each other too much. As for the real life story, these two HATED each other. There was a storyline where Benoit stole Sullivan’s storyline wife. To play up the storyline, they traveled together.

However, it soon became real life as Nancy Woman Sullivan left Kevin for Benoit. The feuds you would see on TV would often be shoots instead of works, with these two really beating the heck out of each other. It’s this match where Benoit allegedly became a big deal, and if I remember it right, that’s a very fair assessment to make.

They’re beating the living tar out of each other very early on and if these shots aren’t legit, they’re the best fakes I’ve ever seen. Almost immediately they’re out in the crowd. They go up into the stands and go into the men’s room. Benoit gets his head slammed in a stall door which has to hurt horribly. For some reason there’s like 25 people in there, which shows how interested the people were in this show.

They fight over shoving the other’s head into the commode. Dusty loses his mind over a woman being in the men’s room. Sullivan lands a great shot with some toilet paper as this is just a wild fight. You really can see the mega star in Benoit just begging to be unleashed, but alas it wouldn’t happen for several years. In a very painful spot, Benoit is thrown down the stairs in the arena.

Jimmy has been standing in the ring the whole time. They say why would people want to come in and declare war? That would make a lot more sense if guys like Benoit got to fight them. Benoit vs. Nash when Nash was worth something. How’s that sound? Tony for some reason can’t get the difference between a chair and a table.

We have a D-Von Special as we get one of the old school tables, as in the oens that don’t break. They sit the table on the top rope and Benoit wins with a snap suplex off the top, which looks painful as all goodness. Dusty says you don’t want to get caught in the bathroom with Benoit. Anderson runs out to save Sullivan from Benoit but beats up Sullivan with him, officially reforming the Horsemen to a MASSIVE pop. The Dungeon runs out for the save as the Horsemen leave together.

Rating: A. DANG this was a wild fight. Benoit looked like a star out there and he and Sullivan just beat the tar out of each other. Benoit had everything you could want, and he didn’t even use the Crossface yet. How WCW screwed this up is truly beyond me. This match was just pure brutality, making it a very fun match all around. Not great from a technical perspective, but it wasn’t supposed to be at all. Very fun and a pure breath of fresh air given how bad this show has been so far.

Another part of the feud at Bash at the Beach 1996.

Chris Benoit/Arn Anderson vs. Taskmaster/The Giant

Ok so there are two things to keep in mind here. If the Horsemen win, a Horseman gets a shot at the Giant the following night for the title. The second thing is that no one can beat the Giant so they’re going to focus on Sullivan. They brawl in the aisle and Mongo runs out with the briefcase he had to nail Giant who chases Mongo to the back, making it a handicap match for a bit.

It means nothing as Giant is back in like 8 seconds. Ok then. Now Benoit and Sullivan were having a GREAT feud where most of it was shoot stuff as Benoit had (kayfabe) stolen Woman, who was in real life married to Sullivan. In real life, Benoit and Woman had an affair and in real life Woman left Sullivan for Benoit. So in other words, they legit hated each other and were in brutal fights with each other.

Sullivan gets to get beaten on forever as we realize that the match is over once Giant comes in. So he gets a tag (to a freaking POP) and the Horsemen run. Benoit and Sullivan fight up to the announce area as Giant beats Anderson up like a jobber and the chokeslam ends it in like a minute. Benoit dives off of the announcers’ stage to plow into Sullivan.

That could have been a top five ever feud if Sullivan hadn’t sucked so much. Benoit is just destroying him at this point until Woman comes out and yells at Chris to stop it. This never went anywhere because of the NWO. Benoit was just awesome back then, even moreso than he would become. Giant carries Sullivan off like a 6 pack which is kind of funny.

Rating: D+. This did its job and that’s it. There was nothing to the match but somehow it went eight minutes. This was just a filler to set up the next chapter in Benoit vs. Sullivan and to be fair it did that, but we’ll never know where it went after that. Giant being an unstoppable force was perfect for him here.

Here’s a bit match from Nitr, December 16, 1996.

Arn Anderson vs. Kevin Sullivan

Sullivan blames Schiavone for showing the videos (of Benoit and Woman) on the way to the ring. The brawl stats in the aisle and Sullivan throws a chair at his head. Anderson misses a swing with the chair and hits the post by mistake. They go into the ring for what must have been a good 4 seconds before heading into the crowd.

They go into the ring for the first time that you can actually keep track of and the referee gets a DDT. Sullivan double stomps him and ties Anderson into the Tree of Woe but Anderson manages to kick him low. Here’s Hugh Morrus who gets a DDT. Konnan gets a left hand and Sullivan manages to hit Anderson with a wooden chair for the pin.

Rating: N/A. I can’t really grade this as a match because it was a brawl instead of an actual match. It was entertaining which is really all you can ask for here. Benoit would get back soon enough, namely due to being in the US Title tournament. This was a fun brawl but there isn’t much of a reason to watch it from a storyline perspective as the heat was on Benoit.

Another showdown at SuperBrawl 1997.

Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan

This is a death match which means street fight. Jackie is with Sullivan and Woman is with Benoit. The chicks will be strapped together for no apparent reason. These two feuded FOREVER and it never particularly went anywhere other than giving us one or two great matches and then the guys trying to redo the matches over and over again which never worked. This would be (I think/hope) the final one.

Both pairs start brawling and it’s a nice pop for that surprisingly. The women are the focus here of course as Benoit and Sullivan have the most basic match you can have that is still classified as pro wrestling. They’re suplexing each other, as in butterfly/regular varieties, in a DEATH match. Woman crotches Sullivan with the strap and the girls get unattached. Benoit gets hung, which I guess you could call foreshadowing?

Dusty freaks out because a woman is doing something so this is turned into a total joke. The girls beat on the guys as I want this to end very badly. The guys watch the girls then wake up and beat on each other. The girls get left in the ring as the guys fight up the aisle. It’s split screen time because WCW enjoys doing that for some reason.

The guys fight into the back and we’re on one screen now. They throw stuff at each other and it’s time to go back into the arena after about a minute or so. The referee, ever the genius, stayed with the girls instead of going to the back where a pin could have happened. Back in the ring and Benoit gets caught in the Tree of Woe, which is one of Sullivan’s finishers.

Woman saves and Benoit pops up to piledrive Sullivan. Jackie doesn’t hit Woman but she falls down anyway. It’s table time which wasn’t a well known wrestling thing yet so it was still a fairly big deal. Sullivan goes on the table, Jackie gets on top of him for the sake of protection, Benoit is like screw it and dives on both of them, the table doesn’t break, Sullivan is pinned under the table.

Rating: D. Terribly boring stuff here as this was a DEATH match and it was a comedy match. No idea what they thought the appeal to this would be but it didn’t work in the slightest. This feud was straight up played already so they kept going with it for months and months on end. Weak match, feud sucked, wasn’t funny.

And now a retirement match at Bash at the Beach 1997 to finally end this feud.

Kevin Sullivan vs. Chris Benoit

This is a career match and Jackie is out with Sullivan. No Woman though. Sullivan hasn’t wrestled in three months and Benoit is a Horseman. You figure the ending out. This is the final match of a feud that has gone on for a year now and it’s another slugfest which was done best the first time and has gone downhill ever since. Sullivan suplexes him to the floor and it’s a brawl already.

They tear apart a piece of the guardrail and Benoit suplexes Jackie. She of course no sells it because she’s Jackie and can take moves from men so she’s tough and should be on TV for the next 10 years right? Benoit is finally like screw this and tosses her at Sullivan then pounds on him for awhile. She interferes again because she can I guess. Jackie needs to get hit by a bus. Seriously.

They fight up to the set and Benoit goes through a surfboard house. I don’t think this is No DQ but who cares I guess. Benoit has sand all over him. They destroy most of the set and Sullivan is thrown into a tree. Sullivan takes a beach chair to the head and Jackie hits Benoit again. Seriously, go away. They fight to the other side of the set and keep punching each other.

Sullivan hits a Piledriver in the aisle and since it’s been 18 seconds since Jackie did something, she drops some elbows. Kevin gets a garbage can lid shot to Benoit’s lid but it just fires Chris up. And never mind as he gets sent to the floor so Jimmy can get some shots in. Benoit gets hung upside down with his back to the apron and Sullivan chops away even more.

Back in and Benoit pounds away on him even more. Sullivan bites his stomach so Benoit bites Sullivan’s ear. Crossface goes on but only gets two arm drops. Heenan says this show has the largest audience in the history of PPV. I won’t even start on that one. Benoit pulls him back to the middle and puts it right back on but can’t get it full.

The hold is broken so Chris kicks him a lot. Now he chops him a lot and Sullivan is a face somehow. He Hulks Up for lack of a better term and puts Benoit in the Tree of Woe. Three running knees hit him as Jackie gets a wooden chair. Jackie pops Sullivan with the chair for no apparent reason other than to give herself a reason to yell some more. Swan Dive ends Sullivan’s career.

Rating: C-. The problem for this comes down to one thing: they had the same match for a year straight. Why in the world would I want to watch another big brawl between these two so many times over and over again? It’s not horrible but we’ve seen it such a ridiculous amount of times that no one cares. Also, WAY too much Jackie time here.

Sullivan would come back for a one off match at Starrcade 1999.

Jim Duggan/???/???/??? vs. Revolution

Oh and if Duggan loses, the Revolution has to do his janitor job for thirty days, but if Duggan loses he has to renounce his citizenship on Nitro. Duggan’s partners are…..the Varsity Club. Yes, the same three guys (Rick Steiner, Kevin Sullivan and Mike Rotundo) from 1988 are back again for absolutely no apparent reason. Instead of Shane in the match, it’s WCW’s version of WWF bodybuilding chick Chyna, named Asya. Get the joke? Also Benoit isn’t here because of the US Title match later tonight.

Duggan wants to start the match himself so he sticks his tongue out at the Varsity Club. Saturn starts for the Revolution and gets pounded down by Duggan so it’s Malenko’s turn. Jim beats him down as well with the Three Point Clothesline but he doesn’t seem interested in tagging. The Varsity Club yells at him and you can feel the heel turn coming from here. Saturn comes in again with a springboard missile dropkick to take Duggan down.

The Revolution takes turns beating on Duggan in the corner as this is rapidly going nowhere. Dean hits him with the Revolution flag and even Asya gets in some shots of her own. The Varsity Club finally gets bored of standing on the apron and everything breaks down. To the shock of no one paying attention, the former heel stable turns on Duggan and lays him out, allowing Douglas to come in and steal the pin.

Rating: D. As predicted, no one knew who the Varsity Club was so no one cared when they turned on him. Why Duggan would pick them as partners is beyond me, but as mentioned he wasn’t that bright. This was a waste of Malenko and Saturn, which is a big part of why the bailed to the WWF along with Guerrero and Benoit in about a month.

Sullivan never was the best wrestler but he could have a decent brawl. His feud with Benoit, while WAY too long, produced some very solid fights, including the classic at Great American Bash 1996. There are a lot of others who could have better matches than he could, but he made the most of his career, which lasted nearly thirty years. That puts him on a very short list with some great company.

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Today we’re looking at the man who might have been the inspiration for Heath Slater: Dick Slater. That might not be inaccurate actually as they were both from the south/country, both guys were known for their punching (Slater was a Golden Gloves Champion) and….well they’re both named Slater.

Slater got started back in the early 1970s in Georgia. We’ll start things off in All Japan in 1981.

Dick Slater vs. Tiger Jeet Singh

Singh destroys a bunch of seats on the way to the ring so Slater throws a chair at him. He brings a chair inside but Tiger jumps him from behind and chokes with a scarf. Slater is pulled up against the post as the choke continues. The referee can’t break it up and for some reason it’s not a DQ yet. He finally lets go and the brawl is on with Slater in big trouble. Now Slater starts choking him with something as they head inside. Singh starts wrapping the leg around the post before throwing in a small table.

Dick takes it away though and hammers away in the corner before throwing Singh at the table. Back to the floor with Singh hitting him in the jaw with what appeared to be a bottle. They get back in to slug it out with Slater getting the better of it and dropping some elbows to the chest. He cranks on a spinning toe hold but Tiger’s manager Bobby Heenan throws a SWORD in. Singh nails Dick in the head a few times with the heel of the sword to finally throw the match out.

Rating: C-. Quite the wild brawl here with a freaking SWORD being used to end things. Singh is a guy I’ve heard a lot about and the few times I’ve seen him have impressed me well enough. This wasn’t much of a match but it was an entertaining enough brawl to carry things on.

It’s off to the States now with Slater at the first Starrcade.

Wahoo McDaniel/Mark Youngblood vs. Dick Slater/Bob Orton

Slater and Orton put Flair out with a broken neck and McDaniel and Youngblood are Flair’s friends, here for revenge. Youngblood and McDaniel are both Native Americans so they come to the ring in big headdresses. Before the bell Dusty Rhodes is introduced to the live crowd for no apparent reason. Wahoo and Slater start things off with McDaniel quickly throwing him over the top and out onto the apron.

Back in and Wahoo works on the arm before it’s off to Mark for some arm work of his own. We cut to an overhead camera view which is pretty disorienting. Slater is slammed down but comes back with a quick rollup for two. Mark puts on a hammerlock as we go back to the overhead view. Slater is kicked to the apron again but comes back in with a Russian legsweep for two. Orton comes in with a knee to the back and it’s Youngblood in trouble.

A gorilla press backbreaker has Youngblood down again but Bob misses an elbow. After a quick chase on the floor, Orton brings Slater back in after only a brief rest on the apron. Actually scratch that again as the tag doesn’t count for some reason. It’s very clear that the tag team formula hasn’t been invented yet. A crisscross results in a backbreaker to Youngblood and a tag off to Slater. There’s a gutwrench suplex for two on Mark and he falls to the floor for some stomping by Orton.

Youngblood breaks the count by a second but the punishment to the back continues with a reverse chinlock. Orton lets go on the hold and stomps him in the face for good measure. Slater comes in and breaks up a tag before suplexing Mark down for two. Back up and they bang heads, allowing for the hot tag to Wahoo. He cleans house with an atomic drop on Orton and a big chop for good measure.

Everything breaks down and it’s Wahoo getting double teamed for a change. A belly to back suplex gets several two counts for Dick before it’s back to Orton. Bob misses a headbutt and it’s off to Mark who speeds things up almost immediately. Wahoo is sent to the floor and Youngblood has to fight off both villains on his own. After a quick double beating, Orton hits Youngblood with the superplex for the pin.

Rating: C. Not a terrible match here but the majority of it was Slater and Orton toying with Youngblood and McDaniel which doesn’t make for very entertaining action. I’m not sure what sort of revenge this gets for Flair and it makes the Native Americans look pretty lame. Also this is the fourth straight loss for the good guys here.

And again at the second Starrcade in 1984.

Mid-Atlantic Title: Ron Bass vs. Dick Slater

This is the other fallout match from the attack on Steamboat as it was Bass helping and Slater who was tied up in the corner. Bass is defending and is also half of the Mid-Atlantic tag champions with Black Bart. Slater knocks Bass to the floor to start and it’s time to stand around. Slater chases Dillon into the ring and out to the floor as we’re still waiting on any significant contact.

Back in and Slater suckers Bass into the corner before putting on the move of the night with a headlock. Back up and we go right back into the headlock as we wouldn’t want this to get too exciting. Bass bails tot he floor but gets pulled back inside very quickly. Back in and Bass rams Slater into the buckle and caught in the ropes where Bass punches him back and forth like….something that pops right back up when it goes down.

Slater comes back with some right hands and a boot over the face. After Slater is sent to the floor, Bass pounds him down but Slater starts Hulking Up. It’s short lived though as during the comeback, Slater hits the referee. Dillon comes in and gets beaten up as well but after a slam and legdrop to Bass we get the DQ.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t as horrible as some of the other matches, but again this was nine minutes of punching and headlocks. That’s one of the major problems with this show: everything is so basic and low level that it’s almost impossible to get interested in anything. Also great job here of having Slater get revenge: by losing.

Off to the WWF with Slater at The Big Event in 1986.

Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Dick Slater

Oh yeah Slater is the rebel. No one cares. Sharpe is up there with Horowitz and Brawler in the jobbing hall of fame. Mike likes to talk a lot. The announcers talk about how great Sharpe is. Really? From what I’ve read he was completely OCD so having this many people in the audience must have driven him insane. There really isn’t much here as it’s really a glorified squash for Slater who would never mean much in national wrestling, at least not in this company. He was ok in other companies but he’s at his best in ring stuff here, which isn’t saying much at all.

Monsoon wants to know why Sharpe has had his arm in a cast kind of thing for over 8 years and Valiant just starts screaming at him that he should go out to dinner with Sharpe and ask him because Valiant doesn’t know. That came out of nowhere. Anyway, Slater hits an elbow from the top and jackknifes (it’s a king of rollup, not the powerbomb) him for the win.

Rating: D. Did we really need six minutes of these two guys? I certainly wouldn’t think so. This wasn’t interesting or particularly good but a jobber got beat up so there we are.

Slater was on Saturday Night’s Main Event VIII.

Don Muraco vs. Dick Slater

Slater, a southern mainstay, was the Rebel (meaning he wore Confederate attire) for a cup of coffee around this time. Muraco hammers away to start and grabs an airplane spin, only to have Slater slip down the back and hammer away. A top rope elbow to the head gets two with Fuji making the save. Fuji keeps cheating by tripping up Slater, setting up a clothesline from Muraco for the pin (with feet on the ropes). This was about it for Slater and it’s easy to see why.

Back to WCW at Clash VIII where Slater actually got a decent push.

Sting/Ric Flair vs. Great Muta/Dick Slater

Funk is nowhere in sight and Slater has an arm injury of his own coming in. Sting and Muta get us going with Sting avoiding some kicks to the face and taking Muta down with a clothesline. Muta bails to the floor for a meeting with Gary Hart as Ross is looking around for Funk. Back in and Sting armdrags Muta down but the Japanese villain takes him into the corner for some quick kicks to the ribs. Sting grabs the arm again and brings in Flair to a nice reaction.

Slater comes in and gets chopped in the corner before Flair kicks him onto the ropes. Ric runs Muta off the apron and goes up top for an elbow to the top of Slater’s head. Muta comes in without a tag and kicks Flair to the floor, following up with a big plancha. All four guys brawl on the floor until Flair and Sting get back in the ring for a breather. Back in with Flair chopping on Slater’s chest as Gary Hart is seen with the branding iron that hurt Funk’s arm.

Sting gets the tag and goes to work on Slater’s bad arm before it’s back to the Flair for the same. The heroes tag again and Sting gets two off a suplex. Back to Muta who walks into a gorilla press from Sting and a belly to back from Flair. Muta gets in a shot to Flair’s back followed by the handspring elbow to put the Nature Boy in trouble. Slater comes in with right hands and chops before ramming Flair face first into Muta’s feet.

Muta sends Ric to the floor where Slater hammers away before throwing him back in for kicks to the chest. Flair gets caught in a nerve hold but comes back with a suplex, allowing for the hot tag off to Sting. Everything breaks down and Muta takes a quick Stinger Splash to set up the Scorpion Deathlock but Gary Hart comes in with a roll of coins to knock Sting silly behind the referee’s back.

Muta can only get two off that though so he powerbombs Sting for another near fall. Back to Slater who catapults Sting’s throat into the bottom rope and stomps away. Sting gets sent to the floor and into the barricade for good measure. Slater tries a sleeper but Sting quickly jawbreaks his way to freedom. A backdrop is finally enough for the tag to Flair as everything breaks down again. Muta sprays yellow mist in Sting’s face and Slater comes in to hit Flair in the face with his cast, busting the world champion open and finally drawing the DQ.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a tag match with Flair and Sting working together due to a nice combination of power and technical abilities. Slater wasn’t the best replacement for Funk but there had to be a way to keep the tag match for the pay per view. The ending was there to keep the feud alive which is what TV is best used for at times.

We’ll jump ahead again to Worldwide on August 10, 1991.

Dick Slater/Dick Murdoch vs. Sting/Rick Steiner

Slater and Murdoch are the Hardliners and are doing a collectors’ agency gimmick. They’ve recently injured Scott Steiner so Sting is standing in to avenge his buddy. Rick and Slater get things going with Steiner going after the arm, just like the Hardliners did to Scott. It’s off to Sting to work on the arm some more with the good guys in full control.

Murdoch comes in to walk into an armdrag as well but he goes to Rick’s eyes to escape. Now the Hardliners start in on the arm as we’ve got a theme going here. Steiner backdrops Slater and makes the hot tag to Sting as everything breaks down. The Hardliners double team Sting so Rick brings in a chair to clean house for the DQ.

Rating: D+. This was mainly backstory and angle advancement as Rick was out for revenge for his brother. It’s not a very good match but at least it didn’t last long and had a logical ending that would keep things going in the feud. Believe it or not, the Hardliners never went anywhere.

As usual, Slater would stick to tag team matches, including at Clash of the Champions XX.

Dick Slater/Greg Valentine vs. Bobby Eaton/Arn Anderson

This is an odd match as everyone is a heel. Slater and Valentine have Larry Zbyszko (with a broken arm) in their corner. Arn and Valentine get things going but everything quickly breaks down with Anderson and Eaton being sent to the floor. Back in and Slater gets in a cheap shot from the apron to take Arn down and things start to break down again. Bobby gets caught in a swinging neckbreaker from Slater followed by a Russian legsweep for two.

Back to Anderson for a spinning arm lock on Dick but it’s quickly back to Valentine. Anderson and Eaton take him into the corner but Greg fights out with some chops. Valentine takes him into the corner with Arn being put down on the mat for a stomping. Eaton comes around the ring and jacks Slater’s jaw before breaking up Valentine’s Figure Four. Anderson scores with the spinebuster for two as everything breaks down again. Zbyszko accidentally hits Valentine with the cast, allowing Eaton to drop a middle rope Alabama Jam for the pin.

Rating: D+. The match wasn’t bad but it’s some incredibly strange booking. The fans didn’t have anyone to cheer for in the match and the whole thing was kind of bizarre as a result. It’s not a terrible match but it’s a good explanation for why heels and faces need to be balanced out.

We’ll switch things up a bit at Clash of the Champions XXIII.

Ron Simmons vs. Dick Slater

Slater is a replacement for an injured Paul Orndorff, who was supposed to defend his newly won TV Title against Simmons tonight. Orndorff is at ringside and immediately draws Paula chants from the crowd. Simmons jumps Slater to start and hits a quick atomic drop to send Slater into the corner. A hard slam and shoulder give Ron a two count and Slater bails to the floor.

Slater comes back in for a test of strength and actually holds his own before breaking up a sunset flip. Ron loads up a three point shoulder block but Orndorff trips him up to give Dick control. Slater clotheslines him down and mistakenly thinks he gets the pin, allowing Simmons to get up and powerslam Dick for the pin.

Rating: D+. The match didn’t have time to get going and it was clear that they didn’t have a chance to set up anything important. This was just a placeholder until Simmons could get his hands on Orndorff for his title shot and everyone knew it. Slater wasn’t bad but he could have been any warm body for the match.

A few years later, Slater would hook up with Bunkhouse Buck to win the Tag Team Titles. Here’s one of their few defenses from Fall Brawl 1995.

WCW Tag Titles: Bunkhouse Buck/Dick Slater vs. Harlem Heat

The talented tag team is challenging here. The idea here is more about the managers though as apparently they like each other. The match is going to suck though. Oh and along with this, we only have Arn/Flair and War Games. We’re an hour and five minutes into the show. That simply can’t be a good sign. I also have issues with a guy names Dirty Dick. Also, they gave THESE TWO the tag titles after like 5 months of Heat vs. Nasty Boys?

I don’t like the Nasties, but they’re light years ahead of these morons. Booker and Slater start so at least the one good wrestler in the match is starting us off. Slater is one of those good old southern boys that allegedly was really talented but never shook either the southern stigma or the lack of talent to get over. Crowd is deader than Booker’s career at this point. Again I love how two hicks like this are supposed to be trained wrestlers.

There’s something amusing about that. Yeah the idea here is that Sherri has a bump on the head and isn’t herself. Somehow this was put on national TV as a mainstream wrestling company with angles like that. Wow indeed. Apparently Dick Slater is one of the best wrestlers in the history of the sport. I can barely laugh at how stupid that is.

On the floor the managers are playing this messed up cat and mouse game that is just rather creepy. The fans prove they’re still alive with a short and incomprehensible chant. It’s weird hearing them talk about Booker as a power guy. That’s most odd indeed. Heenan seems like he wants to talk about Buck being undressed. Ok then. The heels are controlling most of the match here.

You can tell the match itself is pretty awful as I’ve barely talked about it. I’m trying very hard to think of anything else to talk about so that I don’t have to actually pay attention. Fact: I used to have this tape and this match cured my insomnia over a summer. I didn’t sleep regularly for a month but this match put me to sleep in five minutes. That’s saying something. We talk about WarGames to kill some time.

This match needs to end BADLY. And trust me, since this is WCW< I’m sure that will mean both possible things. Stevie gets the I guess you could say hot tag to get the crowd to do nothing at all. And here is that finish as Parker and Sherri get into the other ring and kiss. At the same time the Nasty Boys are here and rip Slater’s boot off to smack him in the head with it to give the Heat the titles. While this is happening, Sherri and Parker are still kissing. I hate this show.

Rating: F+. This was just terrible. The ending sucked and the match was worse. Who thought that Buck and Slater were the best options? Seriously, the American Males were on the preshow. They’re not the best in the world by any stretch of the imagination but they’re better than Buck and Slater. It’s stuff like this that is freaking idiotic and gave WCW the bad name it had.

We’ll stick with the tag team theme as Slater entered the Lord of the Ring (Battlebowl) competition at Slamboree 1996.

Battlebowl First Round: Dick Slater/Bobby Eaton vs. Alex Wright/Disco Inferno

Yes they’re future tag champions but that wasn’t until later so that’s excusable. Oh look: people that are complete opposites of each other. WHO WOULD GUESS THAT??? Everyone in theory, as the same idea happened about four times in this show. At least Eaton is a good wrestler so that’s a perk.

You know, Disco Inferno is really impressive. To have a pure comedy gimmick and put together a fairly decent resume (Cruiserweight Champion, TV Champion, Tag Champion) is saying a lot about him. He made a horrible gimmick into something which says a lot about him. We talk about Flair and Savage for the most part here. When Disco Inferno gets the hot tag, you know we have a problem. Disco starts dancing and gets blasted in the head with a boot. Yep that’s it.

Rating: N/A. At least it was fast. Seriously, someone thought this was a good idea? Why? What kind of drugs were they on? I want some of them.

Battlebowl Round Two: Dick Slater/Bobby Eaton vs. VK Wallstreet/Jim Duggan

Duggan and Wallstreet start fighting before the match so of course the others go and break it up. My headache is now even worse. This is like some abortion of a comedy match and it’s just bad. Duggan randomly yells and he and Slater ram into each other and sell it like death. Duggan punches Wallstreet and Eaton rolls him up to make the finals. Thank goodness it’s over. I guess this was just building to the epic Duggan vs. Wallstreet showdown.

Rating: G. This was an insult to my intelligence as a human being. This might be the worst WCW show ever. And it’s not like you can make fun of it like Uncensored. This is just terrible.

Battlebowl

DDP, Barbarian, Dick Slater, Bobby Eaton, Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge, Ice Train, Scott Norton

And yes, one of those guys gets a world title shot next month. Let that sink in for a bit. Just a regular battle royal here with the winner being Lord of the Ring. Almost immediately we see the problem here: there is no feuding at all. Think of any battle royal you’ve seen. You have people with feuds or angles or whatever to pair off and a lot of random fighting. Here it’s just the random fighting with 8 midcard guys.

Scratch that. You have DDP, two tag teams and three jobbers. DDP hits the floor but the referee misses it so he goes back in. We actually go split screen for a one ring battle royal. Wow. Rocco is out. Ice Train yells at the crowd. No one cares. Eaton is out and he punches the tar out of Parker. Nice shot. Slater is out too. I hate this show. Norton is out. DDP, Ice Train, Johnny Grunge and Barbarian are the final four.

Diamond Cutter to Barbarian. And to Ice Train. And to Grunge. Page pins Grunge…because you can do that. And he pins Ice Train. He gets two on Barbarian. Oh I hate this show. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Barbarian is the co-main event of a PPV. Barbarian hits a SICK tombstone on DDP. That looked as bad as the jumping one at Mania this past year. Oh look it’s a sleeper. The flying headbutt misses and a Diamond Cutter ends it. Wow that was uninteresting stuff.

Rating: F. The second biggest star was Barbarian. Let that sink in. I don’t need to say anything else. The title shot was revoked tomorrow night due to one foot hitting the floor, making this whole show entirely pointless. Apparently being gone about 2 months is now being on the shelf for six months. Wow.

We’ll wrap it up on Nitro, August 12, 1996 with Slater as half of Rough and Ready.

Dungeon of Doom vs. High Voltage/Rough & Ready

The Dungeon is Morrus/Sullivan/Faces of Fear. The other team is comprised of four guys that aren’t important enough to list off. Sullivan is in street clothes. Morrus starts vs. Kaos and High Voltage double teams him to take over. The Faces of Fear run over Rage (part of High Voltage) and this breaks down quickly. Very rarely in this are there only two people in the ring at once. Sullivan hits a running knee to Rage while he’s in the Tree of Woe and it breaks down again. Meng kicks Rage’s head off for the pin. This was just a squash.

Slater is a guy that needed the right circumstances to really make things work. He was out of his element at the end of his career and it showed really badly. By the time the 90s rolled around, he was really just a veteran that could work a watchable match. Back in the territory days though, the guy was a beast with one heck of a right hand. As usual, the 80s get it better than the 90s.

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

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