Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling
Date: February 10, 2001
Location: Garfield Heights, Ohio

Sure why not. I have absolutely no idea what to expect from an independent show near Cleveland from this date as I certainly wasn’t watching the show (as I was taking the ACT the day of this show). This is going to be a completely blind watch and that can make for quite the random set of results. Let’s get to it.

The ring announcer welcomes us to the show and runs down the card. It’s also going to be a TV taping, though this appears to be a fan cam shoot.

I apologize if I don’t get some of these names right as the audio isn’t exactly great.

Judge Krush vs. G-Force

G-Force takes him down with an armdrag to start and G-Force isn’t happy. A headlock takeover lets G-Force grind away a bit, followed by a running shoulder. G-Force’s DDT gets two and Krush is already needing a breather on the floor. This works a bit better as Krush gets to send him back first into the post, followed by some rather clubbing forearms back inside.

There’s a suplex into a legdrop for two but Krush misses a charge into the corner. That doesn’t seem to slow him down very much though as he’s back up with a clothesline and elbow for tow more. G-Force is back up with a dropkick to the ribs and he counters a powerbomb into an X-Factor for the pin (despite Krush raising his shoulder) at 7:03.

Rating: C. I wasn’t exactly feeling this one, as it never quite got to a level beyond mediocre. They were going for something with power vs. speed and that worked well enough, though G-Force, who at least had a good look, never really did much high flying. It’s a nice match on paper, but nothing exactly thrilling in practice.

Post match Krush jumps him again before leaving.

Blade/Rod Destiny vs. Amish Assassin/Matt Wroth

This is billed as an Australian Rules match, which is an old way of saying “tag match”. Destiny (of the evil teal) backs Assassin into the corner to start and it’s already a clean break. A headlock works a bit better for Destiny and he hiptosses the Assassin to the floor for a meeting with Wroth. It’s off to Wroth, who gets chopped by Destiny and suplexed by Blade.

A back elbow gives Blade two but Wroth is right back with one of his own. Something like a pumphandle powerbomb gives Wroth two more and it’s back to the Assassin for a double backdrop. Assassin covers but the referee won’t count, seemingly saying the shoulders aren’t down. That’s a nice touch as you don’t always see that on the top level shows. It’s back to Blade to take over on Assassin, with Wroth being knocked off the apron as well. Something like an Unprettier flipped into a faceplant finishes Assassin at 7:05.

Rating: C. I liked the finish, though the match itself felt kind of random. Maybe these people have a history together, but without commentary it came off as “here are four random guys having a match together”. No one exactly stood out here, though maybe that picks up a bit as the show keeps going.

Canadian Bad Boy vs. Tracy Smothers

The Canadian is a rather good sized guy who dances a lot and has a blonde woman with him. The bell rings and the Canadian heads outside to grab the mic, though he is booed so much that it’s almost impossible to hear a word he’s saying. It seems he doesn’t think much of the women in this town, though the fans seem to think she has an affinity for certain drugs.

Smothers gets the mic and says it’s great to be alive on a Saturday night in Garfield Heights (how familiar). He also threatens to knock the woman out if she gets in his face again. They take turns backing each other into the corner, with the bigger Canadian taking him down and posing a bit.

Back up and Smothers knocks him to the floor without much trouble but Canadian comes back in with a shoulder. More posing and strutting ensue but Smothers knocks him down and grabs an Oklahoma roll for two. A middle rope crossbody gets the same, only for the Canadian to knock him out to the floor. The woman gets up for a distraction so Smothers’ backslide doesn’t get a count from the referee (who has a Carlito level afro and leather pants).

Canadian knocks him down again and we hit the chinlock to keep things slow. Smothers gets up and hits his crescent kick but the woman offers a distraction. She does it again, but this time Smothers avoids a cheap shot and the Canadian knocks her down, setting up a Downward Spiral to give Smothers the pin at 11:53.

Rating: B-. The thing I’ve learned watching Smothers over the years is he’s someone who just “got it”. He knew what kind of style he was going to wrestle and he did just that, bringing the less experienced Canadian right along with him. The match worked well and they kept things entertaining. Nice stuff here, as you can see that Smothers is a step above everyone else on the show thus far.

North American Junior Heavyweight Title: DBA vs. 8-Pac

8-Pac is defending. They run the ropes to start with Pac taking over and sending DBA outside. That means an Asai moonsault to drop DBA and they head inside, where DBA knocks him down for a change. Pac is knocked outside, with DBA having the referee (the leather pants Carlito cosplayer again) drop down as a launchpad ala ECW.

The big dive connects so they can head back inside, where Pac shrugs it off without much trouble. A Texas Cloverleaf doesn’t work so DBA knocks him down again, setting up the Swan Dive for two. Back up and they go through some standing switches until DBA gets a German suplex, but only Pac lifts his shoulder to retain at 7:05.

Rating: C+. It was fine, but my goodness you could see the early 2000s/late 90s style bleeding through them here. Granted that’s not counting the ending, which was basically straight out of the 80s. It’s not a bad match, but like so many other things on this show thus far, there was absolutely nothing standing out whatsoever.

Post match DBA lays him out and spits on him. DBA would win the title the next day.

The video cuts ahead a bit here, which might be an intermission (which was advertised earlier).

North American TV Title: Brad Vaughn vs. Bobby Blaze

Blaze is defending and Vaughn has the same female manager from the Canadian Bad Boy match. The (appropriately) fired up Blaze backs him into the corner and is falsely accused of a hair pull. They go with some grappling, with Blaze getting the better of things off an armbar. A running shoulder drops sets up a headlock takeover, with Vaughn reversing into a headlock of his own to grind away.

Blaze fights up but the woman offers a distraction, allowing Vaughn to stomp him right back down. The abdominal stretch goes on and of course the woman is right there to cheat. With that broken up, a sunset flip gives Vaughn two and he chokes in the corner while shouting a lot. Blaze is able to catch him on top though and a superkick gets two. A superkick drops Vaughn for the same so the woman comes in, with Blaze throwing her onto Vaughn for the pin to retain at 9:04.

Rating: C. Yeah there’s a reason you don’t hear much from Blaze outside of Smoky Mountain Wrestling and his brief stint in WCW. Much like so many other things here, he was perfectly fine and that’s about all I’ve got for him. He’s a generic good guy wrestler and that’s fine enough, but Vaughn didn’t really add much more.

JT Lightning/Doug Gilbert/The Dog vs. Widowmaker/Brian O/Skull Ganz

Widowmaker and company have a female manager (albeit a different once from earlier) and it’s a brawl to start at the bell. Ligntning gets dropped by Widowmaker, with a backdrop getting two. We settle down to Widowmaker headlocking Lightning and shouldering him to the floor, where Lightning has issues with his nipple ring. Back in and Lightning gets caught in an armbar but gets over to the Dog.

Brian comes in to shoulder Dog down and it’s quickly off to Ganz to slow it back down. Dog messes with the refere’s hair and gets taken down with a belly to belly, drawing in Lightning for the save. Back up and Dog chokes away on the ropes but gets knocked outside rather quickly. They get back in with Gilbert slugging away, only to get dropped by Brian. A moonsault gives Brian two and a double backdrop puts Gilbert down.

Lightning comes back in and Dog cheap shots Widowmaker from the apron to take over again. Dog grabs the neck crank and the villains get to take turns beating on Widowmaker. Lightning mostly drops him on a side slam before grabbing something like a Liontamer from someone who has no idea how to do a Liontamer. Dog comes in and yells/barks, earning a beating from Ganz and Brian.

Unfortunately that leaves Widowmaker to get beaten up on the floor, followed by a Fujiwara armbar back inside. Gilbert comes in for an STF, which goes on long enough that Gilbert should never use an STF again. Everything breaks down, with Lightning hitting a big dive to the floor and Dog is left alone with Widowmaker in the ring. For some reason, Brian and Ganz (who are regular partners) get in an argument with Widowmaker and lay him out with a powerbomb/neckbreaker combination, giving Gilbert the easy pin at 16:21.

Rating: C. Other than having trouble figuring out who the good guys were supposed to be, I’m more astounded that the Dog of all people got another chance after WCW. Maybe he worked cheap or something but…him? The ending was a bit weird and I’m not sure what led to the screwy finish, but at least it felt like something happened for a change.

Extreme World Title: Hido vs. Sabu

Sabu is defending and I think this is his own title rather than something from the promotion. They go tot he mat to start with Sabu working on the leg until Hido realizes he’s three inches from the rope. Sabu works on the arm before grabbing a reverse chinlock. Back up and Hido hits a clothesline and chokes, meaning it’s time to yell at the referee for breaking it up.

A DDT gives Hido two and he slaps on a cobra clutch. With that broken up, Sabu flips him off the top and naturally throws in the first chair. Hido gets knocked throat first into said chair, which the referee throws out before counting two. They fight out into the crowd and a table is set up, with Sabu being laid on top.

Hido takes way too long going up though and gets super hurricanranaed down, naturally landing on Sabu. That’s good for a very delayed two (on Hido, which has to be specified in Sabu matches) and they go outside again. Sabu sets up a chair inside for the triple jump dive and then puts Hido on the table. There’s the slingshot legdrop and they’re both down again. Back in and the camel clutch retains Sabu’s title at 9:38.

Rating: C+. I guess we’ll call this better than a lot of the other things on the show, if nothing else because it had some different stuff. Sabu knows how to do this kind of match over and over and that was certainly the case here. Hido was a bigger deal in Japan, but it was interesting to see him out here to do something around here for a change.

North American Title: Tommy Rich vs. Ricky Morton

Rich is defending and grabs a mic before the match. He yells about…something I can’t understand but the fans don’t like him. They circle each other for a bit to start and lock up to no avail. Rich takes him down by the arm and Morton isn’t pleased, seemingly accusing him of some cheating. A running shoulder drops Morton again and there’s an armdrag to send make it worse.

Morton comes back with a slam to send Rich outside, only to have come come back in for some choking. Rich takes him to the floor and sends Morton into a table, followed by some stomping and choking back inside. A bearhug keeps Morton in trouble, though him selling is always a good idea. Rich elbows him in the back for two and the referee gets bumped. Morton’s DDT doesn’t get a count so here is…I think Doug Gilbert to give Morton a spike piledriver. The referee wakes up and calls the DQ at 7:22.

Rating: C-. Another dull match to wrap things up, as the two of the might have star power but that doesn’t make them worth watching. Morton is kind of this ageless wonder but Rich….not so much. This felt like two old guys out there getting a payday and while they were trying, there was only so much to get out of a match this boring.

Post match Sabu and Bobby Blaze run in for the save. Morton grabs the mic and doesn’t seem pleased, but does seem to issue a challenge for a six man tag. Rich yells a lot and furniture is thrown as the match is set for tomorrow night to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. It wasn’t that the show was bad, but rather just that it wasn’t interesting. There was pretty much nothing on this show that stood out in any way, as it came off more like a show that could have happened for just about any promotion. While this place would wind up getting a better reputation later (Johnny Gargano was a big deal there), this wasn’t a great time and it made for a pretty dull watch.

 

 

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Wrestling Gold #1: Busted Open
Commentators: Jim Cornette, Dave Meltzer

So this is a set I’ve wanted to do for a VERY long time. The idea here is very simple, as you have a collection of old territory wrestling, but the catch is Jim Cornette and Dave Meltzer are doing insider/expert commentary. The matches seem to be in random order so I have no idea what to expect here but it should be fun. Let’s get to it.

Unless I’m missing it, there are no dates or promotions for the matches so unless we’re told something, it’ll be little more than a guess.

Cornette and Meltzer give us some quick on camera introductions, which seems to be the case for every match.

Sherri Martel vs. Judy Martin

This seems to be from 1981/1982. Feeling out process to start with Martel taking her to the mat to little avail. Commentary isn’t sure if Martel started as one of Playboy Buddy Rose’s Playgirls (Cornette doesn’t think so) as Martin is back with a snapmare. A legdrop misses and Martel hits a headknocker, only for the second attempt to be countered with a backdrop. Back up and Martin tries a double chickenwing, which is reversed into a rollup for the pin at 4:33, with commentary being a bit surprised by such an athletic move.

Rating: C. As you can guess here, the wrestling is not the point as this is ALL about the commentary explaining what is going on. At the same time, this is probably going to be a bunch of public domain/easily accessible wrestling, though the set is from 2004 so YouTube wasn’t a thing yet. Either way, not much to see here, with the ending being the only big spot.

Shawn Michaels vs. Ken Johnson

The only record I can find for these two is in a tag match in July 1985 so we can assume it’s near that time. It’s also clearly the same ring and announcer as the first match, but if the commentary is right, it’s a few years apart. Cornette isn’t sure who Michaels’ first opponent would have been (it was Art Crews) but this has to be close to it. Michaels headlocks him down to start and hits a crossbody, followed by another headlock.

A belly to back suplex drops Michaels as Meltzer talks about Michaels’ history, including the rumors of a comeback after his last match in 1998. Cornette has to praise Michaels, despite their personal issues, which is quite the praise. Johnson misses a charge into the post and Michaels hits a backdrop into some dropkicks. A powerslam finishes Johnson at 4:18.

Rating: C+. Definitely a better match, but as commentary pointed out, that’s kind of Michaels’ thing. He could have a good match against anyone and it was awesome to see him do his thing and make it work so well. You could hear commentary loving what they were seeing here and it’s easy to see that Michaels could do the basic stuff so well so soon but the more complicated stuff was coming really fast too.

From Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas, March 21, 1983.

SWCW Tag Team Titles: Gino Hernandez/Tully Blanchard vs. The Grapplers

The Grapplers are defending and have Don Carson with him. Cornette goes on one heck of a history lesson about Carson, with even Meltzer seemingly having never heard a bunch of it. Grappler #1 and Hernandez start things off until #2 comes in to headlock Blanchard down. Some knees to the back set up a chinlock, followed by a hard whip into the corner. That doesn’t go very far and it’s off to Hernandez for some elbows to the head.

#1 elbows him back into the corner though and it’s back to Blanchard as commentary goes on a long rant about how SWCW was pulled off of the USA Network and replaced by the WWF. Blanchard pulls #2 into a chinlock and manages to cut off a tag as they’re all heels so they know what they’re doing. We take a break (I think) and it’s back to Blanchard, even without a tag.

Blanchard gets elbowed back and caught in the wrong corner so a double elbow can get two. A swinging neckbreaker gives #2 two on Blanchard and the Grapplers trade spots behind the referee’s back. Hernandez comes back in for more elbows and a dropkick as commentary goes on a rant about David Arquette winning the WCW World Title. Hernandez accidentally hits Blanchard and then rams #1 into him, setting up an O’Connor roll for the pin and the titles at 8:59 shown.

Rating: B-. I liked this fairly well as there was something to be said about having two heel teams going for the titles. Blanchard and Hernandez were rather good together and you could see that the Grapplers had chemistry of their own. It’s a nice thing to see, if nothing else for the star power involved.

And then Blanchard turns on Hernandez with a belt shot. Cornette: “That’s a surprise even to me!” Hernandez is busted open and the Grapplers beat him down again. Hernandez manages to fight back in what should be one heck of a face turn.

Gino Hernandez vs. Tully Blanchard

We’re in Houston and possibly on May 21, 1983 and boxer Earnie Shavers is guest referee. Blanchard bails straight to the floor to start and decks a photographer. Back in and Blanchard hides in the ropes, setting up the Terry Funk teeter totter spot. Hernandez sends him outside again and does a bit of a dance as commentary talks about how Paul Boesch and Houston Wrestling was crushing all promotions, like this one, coming into the city.

Hernandez sends him into the corner a few times but misses a charge, allowing Blanchard to tie the arm in the ropes. This leaves commentary to explain the split up of the once massive Texas territory into the territories they are best known for being later on. Hernandez gets whipped hard into the corner for a heck of a Flair Flip out to the floor. Back in and the bleeding Hernandez is gyrating on the mat a bit so Blanchard kicks him out to the floor again.

Commentary points out that Lou Thesz is at ringside as Hernandez backdrops his way out of a piledriver attempt. Hernandez fights back and Blanchard is busted open as well, which gets commentary off of the Thesz stories. Blanchard is knocked out onto the announcers’ table, leaving Hernandez to hit a suplex back inside. A top rope (backwards) elbow misses but Blanchard makes the mistake of going after Shavers. That means a big knockout and Hernandez hits a middle rope splash for the pin at 12:17.

Rating: B. Pretty easily the best match of the set thus far as these guys looked like they wanted to beat the fire out of each other. That’s what you want to see out of a match like this and Hernandez was showing some good fire. You can tell when something like that is working and it certainly was here, with Blanchard getting to be his nature heel self.

From Southwest Championship Wrestling, May 21, 1983 in Houston, Texas.

SWCW World Title: Bob Orton Jr. vs. Adrian Adonis

For the inaugural title and Lou Thesz is here to present the winner with the title, along with a 75 year old World Title. Adonis, with a taped up forehead, works on the arm to start and Orton is back with an armbar. They fight over a top wristlock, which isn’t exactly action packed so commentary talks about Adonis’ time in the AWA. A headscissors takes Orton down as Cornette talks about Bob’s son Randy starting to train.

Adonis stays on the arm and Orton bails out to the floor. Back in and Orton works on the arm as well as commentary talks about Adonis’ weight issues killing his career. Adonis pulls him down into a hammerlock again but Orton gets an armbar as this is as riveting as it sounds. Orton continues the cranking, with Adonis tapping about ten years before that meant anything pretty much anywhere. Adonis fights up and hits an atomic drop to pick up the pace a bit but a middle rope splash hits raised knees.

Orton punches him into the post for two as commentary moves on to the title just kind of vanishing when the promotion lost the USA Network. Back up and Adonis sends him into the corner but he gets flipped in the corner for a big crash. Orton can’t superplex him and falls down, with Cornette admitting that the Midnight Express stole some stuff from Orton and Dick Slater. Adonis is back up with a sleeper, which is reversed into the same thing from Orton. That’s reversed as well though, with Adonis getting a small package for the pin and the title at 15:47.

Rating: C-. This got going near the end but the armbars and hammerlocks were more than a bit dull. They were just laying there on the mat without much going on and that’s only going to be so interesting. Adonis winning the title is certainly a way to go, but it’s fairly clear that he’s not quite some major star at this point. Still though, the last five minutes did get a good bit better, but maybe pick up the pace a bit before then.

We get the big title presentation.

Abdullah The Butcher vs. Bruiser Brody

We’re in San Antonio with Southwest Championship Wrestling (possibly July 1, 1984) and joined in progress with Brody chopping him in the head. They go inside and the referee gets punched down, leaving the other two to strike it out. Another referee comes in and gets taken out as well, allowing commentary to talk about the idea and thinking behind booking the match.

They brawl into the crowd (again) and Brody hits him with a piece of wood. More wood shots to the head have Butcher in more trouble but he chokes Brody down. They slug it out even more as commentary talks about Butcher making sure no one steals his wallet. Butcher is knocked off a platform and walks out at 5:12 shown.

Rating: C+. This is one of those things that works because they aren’t trying to do anything out of their comfort zone. A promoter would book this match for the sake of letting them beat the daylights out of each other and that’s exactly what we got here. It made for a fun brawl, though once you’ve seen one of them, you’ve kind of seen them all.

From July 4, 1983 in San Antonio, Texas from a show co-promoted by Southwest Championship Wrestling and Georgia Championship Wrestling.

Larry Zbyszko vs. Scott Casey

Zbyszko is from Georgia and Casey doesn’t like the invader. Joined in progress as they fight over a top wristlock as commentary tries to figure out the date of the match. Zbyszko snaps off a hiptoss and grabs a chinlock to slow things back down. This lets us talk about the Showdown At Shea show, with Meltzer rattling off the attendance and gate, blowing even Cornette’s mind.

Casey fights up but gets caught in another headlock, which is broken up with a backbreaker. Casey’s gutwrench suplex drops Zbyszko for two and they go outside, with Casey being sent into a table. Back in and Zbyszko hammers away but Casey suplexes his way out of trouble. A butterfly suplex and a neckbreaker drop Zbyszko for two and we hit the sleeper. That’s reversed into a cradle with Zbyszko putting his feet on the ropes for the win at 7:08.

Rating: B-. Zbyszko might not be the most thrilling star in the world but he was able to have a good match just about all of the time. That was the case here as they did some nice stuff here. Casey is someone who was a good hand back in his day and it’s easy to see why he wound up being a successful trainer.

Post match Tully Blanchard comes out to pose with Zbyszko but Eric Embry comes out and it’s a big brawl. Stan Hansen comes in to clear out Blanchard and Zbyszko.

From Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas, August 15, 1982.

Jerry Lawler vs. Bob Sweetan

This is a battle of the piledrivers. Before the match, Lawler requests more respect from the crowd, who doesn’t seem interested. Lawler is wearing tights here rather than the singlet, which is quite the visual. Sweetan steals the crown to start and it’s already time for Lawler to bail to the floor. Back in and Lawler doesn’t like the weapons check so Sweetan chases him outside.

Lawler gets the mic to yell a lot and we finally get the opening bell. Some right hands miss for Sweetan and Lawler punches away, with Sweetan chasing him to the floor. Lawler heads outside and says that his shots were open hand strikes so the referee shouldn’t be yelling at him. Back in and Lawler still isn’t happy but goes with the right hand to get on Sweetan’s nerves.

This lets Cornette explain the psychology behind Lawler’s matches as Lawler gets hit in the face, sending him bailing to the floor, unlike Sweetan, who stood there and took it. Back in and Lawler hides in the ropes as the stalling continues. Sweetan tries a piledriver and of course Lawler bails out to the floor. Naturally he grabs the mic again and says the piledriver is illegal where he comes from.

Lawler gets back in but bails again as the stalling continues. Back in (again) and Lawler goes to the eyes as Cornette points out that Lawler is doing most of the work but isn’t even breathing heavy. The fist drop misses and Lawler has to fight out of a piledriver attempt. Sweetan works on the arm but Lawler pops up and slugs away with left hands, followed by a big right.

The piledriver is broken up and Sweetan makes the comeback, including a belly to back suplex for two. Another belly to back gives Sweetan the pin at 12:55, even if Lawler’s foot was on the rope. Ignore that it was on the rope after the three but the referee says keep it going anyway. Sweetan charges into a knee in the corner and Lawler gets a rollup for the pin at 13:35.

Rating: C+. While Cornette’s praise of Lawler was a bit insane at times, he was right in saying that Lawler carried the whole thing here. There is only so much you can do when Sweetan is pretty much useless and only there for the sake of being able to do the piledriver. Lawler was pestering the fans, winding Sweetan up and doing his thing in the ring, without actually doing much physically. The fans stayed with him though, which is why this stuff works so well.

Post match Sweetan piledrives Lawler.

From Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas, August 15, 1982. This is the same show as the Lawler vs. Sweetan match.

SWCW Tag Team Titles: Terry Funk/Ivan Putski vs. Gino Hernandez/Tully Blanchard

Hernandez and Blanchard are defending. We’re joined in progress with Hernandez hitting a dropkick on Funk and Blanchard comes in for a piledriver. Commentary buries Putski, who hasn’t even come in yet, hoping that Funk gets to do most of the work here. Hernandez drops a top rope elbow for two but Funk sends Blanchard through the ropes for a needed breather.

A slingshot spear hits Funk but the referee gets bumped, with Blanchard then slamming Funk onto the referee for a bonus. Putski comes in anyway to clean house as everything breaks down. Putski counters a suplex and lands on Blanchard…with a young Ricky Morton coming in to count the pin at 3:08.

Rating: C+. We didn’t get much here but what mattered the most was having Funk out there doing his thing with some talented opponents. Blanchard and Hernandez were clearly the hot team but they needed more than one good challenger. I’ll take all of the Funk I can get though and…well Putski was there too.

That seems to count so Hernandez and Blanchard lay Morton out. Ken Lucas (Morton’s partner) runs in for the save. Putski and Funk get back in as well and the villains are cleared out. Oh and Morton’s interference is a DQ, as it should be. Lucas shouts at the heels.

From Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas, August 15, 1982. Third match in a row.

Dick Slater vs. Mongolian Stomper

In a cage with Bob Sweetan as guest referee. We’re joined in progress again with Stomper hammering away and grabbing a claw as Cornette puts over Stomper as an all time legend. The claw keeps Slater down but Slater is back up with an elbow to the head. Slater is sent into the cage though and we’re right back to the claw. That’s finally broken up so Stomper rams him into the cage again. We’re back to the claw as commentary talks about how ugly Stomper and Sweetan both happen to be.

Slater fights up and sends him into the cage a few times. Stomper is busted open again, leaving commentary to mock the age of Stomper’s manager Don Carson. Slater goes up for a top rope stomp, followed by the snap jabs. A low blow gets Stomper out of trouble but the big stomp is actually blocked. Sweetan gets knocked down but comes up to block Stomper from using a boot. Instead Slater takes it away and hits Stomper for the pin at 8:59 shown.

Rating: C. This took some time to get going but once they got away from the claw holds, the match got a lot better. It’s weird to see Slater as the good guy in the whole thing but there is no reason to have Stomper as a hero most of the time. At the same time, Sweetan was barely a factor until the ending, which is often the best thing for a wrestler.

Post match Carson distracts Sweetan so Stomper can get in a cheap shot. Slater fights back but Carson comes in and Stomper chokes Slater out. A loaded glove has Slater in more trouble but Santo Negro comes in off the top of the cage and Coco Samoa helps make the save.

From Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas, August 15, 1982. This has to be the last match from this show right?

AWA World Title: Nick Bockwinkel vs. Bruiser Brody

Bockwinkel is defending and has Bobby Heenan in his corner, with Lou Thesz as guest referee. We’re joined in progress again with Bockwinkel working on a headscissors as commentary buries Thesz’s weird referee shirt. Brody fights out and knocks Bockwinkel back as commentary explains the importance of the AWA World Title. A bearhug has Bockwinkel in trouble but a Heenan distraction breaks it up.

Bockwinkel actually wins a slugout and we’re right back to the headscissors. Some big right hands put Brody on the floor as the brawling is oddly going to Bockwinkel here. Back in and Brody wins a slugout before sending Bockwinkel into the apron. A top rope shot to the head drops Bockwinkel, as Brody is getting fired up. Bockwinkel needs a breather on the floor and a big slam connects, only for Heenan to offer a distraction.

Back in and Brody hits the big knee drop but Heenan offers another distraction, earning himself a pull into the ring. Brody unloads on Heenan, only to throw Bockwinkel over the top (uh oh). Heenan is tossed as well and Brody brings in a chair, which is taken away. Heenan and Bockwinkel walk out at 9:55 shown.

Rating: B-. Yeah this worked, with the format being a bit surprising as Bockwinkel won a lot of the brawling. Once Brody started fighting back though, everything picked up and it was a lot of fun. Brody is someone who could do the fired up comeback while still looking like a monster, while Heenan and Bockwinkel could do…well pretty much anything.

And apparently it’s a DQ instead of a countout.

Overall Rating: B-. These things are really hard to rate overall as it’s a case where the real draw is the commentary rather than the wrestling. There’s some good action to be seen though, with quite a few all time stars. It was a bit much to see so much from the same promotion and even show, but Cornette and Meltzer could talk about just about anything. Either way, fun stuff here and I’m looking forward to see the variety we get on the other discs.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

More Awesome Battle Royals
Commentators: Michael Cole, The Miz, Antonio Cesaro, Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, Kaitlyn, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield, Gorilla Monsoon, Lord Alfred Hayes, Chris Cruise, Larry Zbyszko, Roddy Piper, Jim Ross, Les Thatcher

See there are battle royals, and then there are awesome battle royals, but these are the battle royals that were awesome, but not quite awesome enough to make the original batch. Yeah there isn’t much to say about a set like this, but that’s the case with most battle royals. I have no idea what they can do to fill in nearly two more hours of this stuff but let’s get to it.

From Main Event, December 26, 2012.

Battle Royal

Brodus Clay, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Darren Young, Drew McIntyre, Epico, Great Khali, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Jinder Mahal, Justin Gabriel, Primo, Santino Marella, Ted DiBiase Jr., Titus O’Neil, Tyson Kidd, Wade Barrett, William Regal, Yoshi Tatsu, Zack Ryder

For a future US Title shot against Antonio Cesaro, on commentary. A bunch of people go after Khali to start so he tosses Tatsu without much trouble. Primo is tossed as commentary discusses battle royal strategy. The Prime Time Players go after Khali, which goes as well as you would expect. Cesaro and Miz argue about their accomplishments, with Miz listing off his rather impressive resume, which would only get bigger.

Things slow WAY down until McIntyre (a good 40lbs lighter than he would later become) is out, but he pulls Kidd out as well. Gabriel and Mahal are out too, triggering a brawl at ringside and a likely tag match. We take a break and come back with Jey Uso being tossed and Regal going out after him. Marella tries to hammer on Epico in the corner but gets sent to the apron. That just lets Marella skin the cat and pull Epico out, leaving Clay and Khali to slug it out. Khali kicks him in the head and tosses him out. Some big chops have O’Neil in trouble and Jimmy Uso is out as well.

More chops have more people in quite the agony as we take another break. We come back with the Prime Time Players circling Khali and they get him on the mat, which is a rather dumb idea in a battle royal, with Cesaro pointing out the idiocy. The Players finally annoy Khali too much so he dumps both of them, plus Rhodes (with a nasty chop) and Sandow.

We’re down to Marella, Ryder, Barrett and Khali, with Marella hitting the Cobra on Barrett. Ryder goes after Barrett but Marella tosses Ryder out. Barrett gets rid of Marella, leaving Barrett and Khali. A big boot puts Khali down and Barrett hammers away but Khali shrugs that and chops him out for the win at 18:16.

Rating: C+. Khali was oddly motivated here and put in more effort than I’ve seen from him…maybe ever really. I love seeing this kind of thing as it’s such a nothing, random battle royal that it made me wonder who was going to win. That’s a nice feeling to have and it didn’t feel anywhere near as long as it came off. Nice job.

From Saturday Night’s Main Event XXIX.

Battle Royal

Hulk Hogan, Jake Roberts, Tanaka, Shawn Michaels, Kato, Earthquake, Jimmy Snuka, Marty Jannetty, Warlord, Mr. Perfect, Haku, Greg Valentine, Tugboat, Jim Duggan, British Bulldog, Hercules, Paul Roma, Big Boss Man, Texas Tornado, Barbarian

It’s a brawl to start with Hogan choking Earthquake in the corner, with Roberts helping him out. Jannetty gets rid of Roman, who knocks Jannetty out as well. We settle down to a bunch of slow fighting, with Perfect being brave enough to go to the middle rope for a right hand to Boss Man. Hogan and Valentine take turns elbowing Perfect in the head as Bulldog is tossed out.

Kato is sent out and Roberts follows him, only to get the snake out and basically bring the match to a screeching halt. We take a break and come back with Tugboat and Hogan slugging out it, which is broken up by Warlord, earning him some praise from fans everywhere. Hogan dumps Warlord and Tornado is tossed as well. Earthquake gets rid of Duggan but gets tossed by Hogan. Kato is eliminated but Tugboat gets rid of Hogan in a surprise.

Hercules and Tugboat are tossed as well and it’s suddenly a midcard match. Boss Man slugs away at Perfect, who dropkicks him into a backdrop from Barbarian for the elimination. Michaels dropkicks Haku out and we’re down to Michaels, Perfect, Valentine and Barbarian. A dropkick staggers Perfect but Michaels is sent out, leaving us with three. Valentine manages to get rid of Barbarian and gives Perfect a heck of a chop. Some elbows let Valentine send Perfect to the apron but Perfect sends him out for the win at 12:31.

Rating: C. As was the case with the other Saturday Night’s Main Event battle royal, the match just DIES when Hogan is eliminated. It doesn’t help that Hogan was eliminated by Tugboat of all people, as that made for a rather pathetic moment. Perfect winning is fine, but this was disappointing to say the least.

From Monday Night Raw, April 22, 2013.

Divas Battle Royal

AJ Lee, Aksana, Naomi, Tamina Snuka, Layla

Yeah five women for a future Divas Title shot. AJ jumps into Tamina’s arms to start and gets kicked in the face for her efforts. Layla (who should be the crowd favorite as we’re in England but receives no reaction because…well look at the match) kicks Aksana out and Naomi/Layla hip attack Tamina. Naomi is out as Kaitlyn jokes about Layla’s gear being flag themed, with Cole trying to avoid various commentary. Layla kicks Tamina out and AJ is still out cold off the superkick. She picks the dead weight AJ up…and AJ tosses her out to win at 3:19.

Rating: D. If you only have five women for a battle royal, just don’t have the battle royal. This was in that weird period for the women where they had some people who were trying but it was still not exactly being taken seriously. Hence a five woman battle royal which lasted about three minutes and featured one of them being laid out for a good while.

From WCW Saturday Night, November 8, 1997.

Lucha Libre Battle Royal

Lizmark Jr., Super Calo, Villano IV, Villano V, Silver King, Hector Garza, El Dandy, Ciclope, La Parka, Halloween, Psychosis, Damien, Juventud Guerrera

Ok then. It’s a brawl to start and Dusty Rhodes is having WAY too much fun with this. Halloween is out and Damien misses a running dropkick in the corner. Lizmark moonsaults onto Damien and Rhodes is THRILLED with El Dandy being involved. The Villanos take over and Psychosis tosses Ciclope for a NASTY crash on the floor. Damien is out and Guerrera punches his way out of a powerbomb from Lizmark. Dandy tosses Lizmark (more like Lizmark tosses himself), sending Dusty into “ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT! EL DANDY IS STILL IN THERE!”.

The Villanos are both out at the same time (Rhodes: “They’re kin. They might as well go out together.”) and King is dropkicked out as well. Garza is backdropped out and Dandy gets rid of Calo, only to be kicked out by Parka (Rhodes: “Bless his heart. He did good!”). Guerrera monkey flips Parka and hits a heck of a springboard spinwheel kick. Psychosis gets Guerrera in an electric chair but Parka chairs Guerrera in the back and they’re both out, giving Parka the win at 7:00.

Rating: C+. Dusty Rhodes was the absolute star of this thing as he was having an absolute ball with the match. There are very few things as fun as listening to an energized Dusty Rhodes doing commentary when he gets to have fun and that was on full display here. The match was nothing, but dang the commentary was a blast.

From sometime in the mid to late 80s (possible December 1, 1986 in Fayetteville, North Carolina).

Bunkhouse Stampede

Ricky Morton, Bobby Eaton, Bill Dundee, Jimmy Garvin, Robert Gibson, Jimmy Valiant, Manny Fernandez, Italian Stallion, Krusher Khrushchev, Dennis Condrey, Arn Anderson, Rick Rude, Paul Ellering, Animal, Ivan Koloff, Tim Horner, Bobby Jaggers, Don Kernoodle, Barry Windham

I’m not even going to try to list everyone here as the audio isn’t great and the camera angles miss a bunch of the entrances anyway. It looks like we have about twenty in there but there is no commentary so it’s even more confusing. Some trashcan lids are brought in to make things even more violent though there are only so many elimination attempts. Fernandez and….someone go outside and seem to be out as Animal trashcan lids Koloff.

Horner (I think) is out as the ring is still way too full for much of note to go on. Jaggers is out and so is Khrushchev, who pulls someone with him. There goes Kernoodle as Anderson chokes Morton and Ron Garvin is out. Morton is tossed as the ring is finally clearing out a bit. Morton helps Gibson get rid of Rude, only for Gibson to be eliminated as well. Valiant is out and there goes Jimmy Garvin, followed by Ellering. We’re down to Anderson, Eaton, Animal, Condrey and…I think it’s Barry Windham.

Either way, Animal gets rid of Anderson and Condrey is tossed, followed by who I believe was Windham. That leaves Animal to hit Eaton with some kind of a whip plus a dropkick. Condrey gets in a cheap shot from the floor but Animal fights back and gets rid of Eaton for the win at 12:48.

Rating: C+. You can only get so much out of something like this as it’s just a wild brawl, but that’s the entire point. The idea was something like “come as you are” so a lot of them were in street clothes to make it feel more authentic. Then again there were also a bunch of trashcan lids involved so it could only be so serious. Good, fun brawl here though and a nice hidden surprise.

From Prime Time Wrestling, July 6, 1992.

Battle Royal

Beau Beverly, Blake Beverly, Virgil, Skinner, Koko B. Ware, Kato, Owen Hart, Brian Knobbs, Duane Gill, Jerry Sags, Tito Santana, Texas Tornado, Joe Mato, Tatanka, Jim Brunzell, Bret Hart, Barry Horowitz, Ron Starr, Sgt. Slaughter, Rick Martel, Ted DiBiase, IRS, Bret Johnson, Berzerker, JA Gooden, C. Martinez, Bob Bradley, Bob Knight, Bruce Mitchell, Gary Davis, Joe Holland, Jim Powers, Al Hunter, Scott Palantonio, Barry Hardy, Nick Ganger, British Bulldog

I got at least seven or eight of those jobbers’ names wrong, though they did at least get individual entrances. Berzerker is on the floor and pulls one of the jobbers out and beats him up, leaving Hayes to mock the guy for getting this kind of a match. Various jobbers are tossed out as commentary has no idea who these people are thus far. Berzerker finally gets inside as Powers is tossed out.

We take a break and come back with Martel and Gill being tossed out. Skinner dumps Tatanka and Santana does the same to DiBiase, followed by IRS going out. Owen and Virgil are gone too and the Beverlys and Bret are out as well. There goes Kato as the ring is suddenly FAR less full.

Sags is tossed and we’re down to Skinner, Bulldog, Berzerker, Santana, Ware and Tornado. Ware and Santana are tossed out rather quickly and Skinner actually gets Bulldog out. We’re down to Berzerker, Tornado and Skinner, which is one of the weirdest final groupings I’ve ever seen. Tornado slugs away at both of them but Berzerker comes back for the double elimination and the win at 9:58.

Rating: D+. Yeah not much to this one, with a good chunk of the entrants being jobbers who commentary couldn’t even identify. The idea here was to just have a spectacle of a match and that went well enough. They didn’t do anything special but again, the whole appeal was in having that many people involved at once, which went fine.

From New York City, New York, July 12, 1986.

Battle Royal

Junkyard Dog, Greg Valentine, King Tonga, Jimmy Hart, Billy Jack Haynes, Harley Race, Lanny Poffo, Iron Mike Sharpe, Pedro Morales, Brutus Beefcake, Tony Atlas, Moondog Spot, British Bulldog, Dynamite Kid, SD Jones, Johnny Valiant, Sivi Afi, Moondog Rex, Tony Garea, Big John Studd, Bobby Heenan, King Kong Bundy

A bunch of people go after Studd to get rid of him as Hart hides underneath the ring. Bundy is out as well, followed by Heenan (oh man seeing Heenan and Hart trying to have a match could have been great), who stops to yell on commentary for a bit. There goes Jones, followed by Sharpe and valiant.

Garea is tossed and Race is gone as well to get rid of the rest of the Heenan Family. There goes Afi and the Bulldogs dropkick the Moondogs out, leaving Dog and Haynes to lock up. Beefcake dumps Kid as Hart is still hiding underneath the ring. Morales is out and then Beefcake goes as well, leaving Valentine against five good guys.

Valentine manages to toss Hayes and Tonga, leaving Valentine, Dog, Bulldog, Poffo and Hart underneath the ring. Poffo and Bulldog are both tossed with Dog being sent through the ropes, where he finds Hart hiding. Dog throws Hart back inside and gets in a fight with Valentine. The two of them go over….and Hart wins at 12:57.

Rating: C. Call this one goofy fun, as it was a bunch of people doing their thing until Hart could come in and steal the win like a cowardly heel should. Hart would be able to brag about this for the better part of ever and that’s exactly how it should have been done. I had a good time with this, even if it was just a countdown to the obvious ending.

From WCW Pro, November 18, 1995.

Battle Royal

Dave Sullivan, Nasty Ned, Disco Inferno, Cobra, Mark Starr, Frankie Lancaster, Barrio Brother Ricky, Barrio Brother Fidel, Buddy Lee Parker, James Earl

Why? It’s a standard brawl to start and yes Disco wants to check his hair. They fight around the ropes until Lancaster is gone, followed by Cobra and Starr. A quick series of eliminations leaves us with Parker and Earl (regular partners) to beat on Disco, who fights up and tosses both of them for the win at 5:03. Disco is more annoyed at his hair getting messed up.

Rating: D+. The thing that interests me the most here is how many shows WCW had and kept running for YEARS. Pro went on until 1998 and was basically forgotten unless you happened to catch it at random. Case in point, any match where Disco Inferno is the biggest of the ten stars is not exactly a high level match, but it was a feature here.

From Superstars, February 16, 1991.

Tag Team Battle Royal

Nasty Boys, Power & Glory, Rockers, Legion Of Doom, Demolition, Bushwhackers, Orient Express

For the Wrestlemania Tag Team Title shot and only one member of a team has to be eliminated. They start the usual exchange of punching, with McMahon saying it’s too much action to call. Demolition loads up the Rockers in a double gorilla press but Marty pulls Shawn down in a smart move. A double superkick eliminates Smash and Demolition is out, followed by the Bushwhackers being thrown out.

Marty accidentally knocks Shawn out and we’re down to Power & Glory, the LOD, the Express and the Nasty Boys. Hawk dumps Kato to get rid of the Express and Animal gorilla presses Tanaka out for a bonus. Roma is sent through the ropes so Animal throws him back in (Piper: “No Animal! The other way!”). Hercules throws Roma at Animal, who pulls him out of the air and easily tosses him. We’re down to the Nastys and the LOD…but Roma crotches Hawk on top and dumps him out 6:19.

Rating: C. I’ve seen this one a few times before and it’s one of those ideas that works rather well. I’ll take it over some of the other ways to set up a title match and it was cool to see a bunch of teams getting to mix it up. The LOD were clearly the smashing machines here and it shouldn’t be a surprise that they would be champions in about six months.

From Smoky Mountain Wrestling TV, January 28, 1995.

Battle Royal

This seems to be more of a Royal Rumble with Robert Gibson in at #1 and New Jack in at #2. Jack kicks him in the face to start so Gibson grabs a small package, with commentary pointing out the instincts taking over. Chris Candido is in at #3 and teams up with Jack on Gibson with a string of elbows. Gibson manages to survive in the corner and it’s George South coming in at #4. The slow brawling ensues and it’s Boo Bradley (Balls Mahoney) in at #5 to go straight after Candido and toss him out. Buddy Landel is in at #6 and they start pairing off and Tommy Pitner is in at #7.

We take a break and the Dirty White Boy is in at #8 to chase Landel out and then go after him as well. So that’s two out, with Bryant Anderson in at #9. Anderson grabs an armbar on Bradley until Mustafa Saed (Jack’s partner) is in at #10. Saed and Jack collide for a double elimination as Bradley chills in the corner for a bit. The Wolfman is in at #11 and goes after Bradley, which doesn’t go well. D’Lo Brown is in at #12 and helps toss Gibson.

Scotty McKeever is in at #13 and Anderson is gone. Bradley and Brown are both out and it’s Unabomb (later known as Kane) is in at #14 for a bunch of powerbombs. Unabomb clears the ring and is left alone until Ricky Morton is in at #15. Morton strikes away as well as he can until Eddie Gilbert is in at #16. Gilbert wastes no time in throwing powder in Morton’s eyes for the elimination and apparently Gilbert and Unabomb both win (good for $5000) at 14:35.

Rating: C+. This was the Unabomb show and they clearly knew they had something special with him. He was huge, he could move, and he had a great look. Don’t bother trying to make it any more complicated than that and it should work. The rest of the match had some fun moments, but Unabomb stood out WAY above everyone else. And not just because he’s tall.

Overall Rating: C. Battle royals are hard to do in the first place, but I liked what they did here as it was a nice mixture of stuff. Rather than just having one battle royal after another, this featured different kinds of matches rather than the same wrestlers doing the same battle royals. It’s a set that was well set up and I’ll absolutely take that.

 

 

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Joey Janela’s Spring Break 4
Date: October 10, 2020
Location: Marion County Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Kevin Gill, Lenny Leonard

So due to me having an obsession with finishing series, we have one of the two Spring Break shows that I’ve never done. This is from the time when Covid was still running wild so the crowd is shall we say sparse. It’s also not spring, but Wrestlemania Weekend was canceled so this is about as good as we’re getting. I have no idea what to expect here so let’s get to it.

The opening video shows Joey Janela walking into a convenience store and getting a drink but getting annoyed at seeing something about the Rock N Roll Express. Another customer comes in and the clerk asks if he’s going to spring break. We see a graphic for Janela vs. Ricky Morton…and then the clerk chokes Janela. I’ve seen weirder from this show.

The crowd looks tiny due to social distancing.

Here is GCW World Champion Rickey Shane Page, with the required goons, to say he won’t defend the title but he does have an opponent in mind: Marcus Mathers, who is a young student here. Mathers comes out but Page calls him stupid and tells him to leave. The second option is the son of ECW legend 911, 411! Apparently it’s a guy named Big Dom, who comes to the ring and gets beaten down by Page’s goons. Cue Danhausen and he gets beaten down by the goons as well. We do have an opponent though.

Rickey Shane Page vs. Orange Cassidy

Page’s GCW World Title isn’t on the line and he has a bunch of goons with him. They both roll to the floor to start until Cassidy rolls back inside…and keeps rolling to the other side. The goons throw him back in, with Page having to stop another roll. Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets and Page takes them out for the BOO/YAY sequence. They run the ropes and Cassidy dropkicks him outside but a goon cuts Cassidy off so Page can run back in to stomp away.

Another trip to the floor lets the goons hammer away before setting up a door over some chairs. Back in and Cassidy gets in the lazy strikes, setting up the dive to the floor. Cassidy’s double noggin knocker sends two goons off the apron and through some doors at ringside. Back in and the chokebreaker gives Page two so he goes to get some of Cassidy’s juice. That goes too far so Cassidy kicks it into his face, decks one of the goons, and grabs the Mousetrap for the pin on Page at 8:00.

Rating: C+. So the point is that Page, the World Champion, is losing a bunch in these non-title matches but he’s bragging about still having the belt? I’ve heard worse ideas, but it’s one of those things that is kind of a self defeating concept. The fans popped for Cassidy though and that shouldn’t be a surprise given how he was being featured in AEW.

Video on Matt Tremont, who is apparently finishing up with GCW, with his last match tonight.

Ironbeast vs. Rascalz

That would be KTB/Shane Mercer vs. Zachary Wentz/Desmond Xavier, the latter of whom is better known as Wes Lee in NXT. The Rascalz start fast and Wentz hits a Bronco Buster on KTB, followed by a double dive to the floor. Back in and Ironbeast starts throwing them around with the suplexes but pauses to grab the doors. Wentz gets stomped down in the corner, with Xavier getting thrown into him so they can both be crushed in the corner.

A pop up piledriver sets up a Lionsault for two on Wentz, but he’s back with a headscissors to send the monsters together. Xavier comes back in to clean house but stereo dives are pulled out of the air. Ironbeast throws them together but Xavier slips out of a Doomsday Device. A four way knockdown gives us a breather before the Rascalz strike KTB down. Xavier’s dive is cut off with a raised door and a toss into a German suplex finishes Wentz at 9:32.

Rating: B-. Simple, to the point story here with the classic power vs. speed setup. It’s worked for years in wrestling and it worked again here. Mercer isn’t someone who is likely to become a big star elsewhere but he’s fine as an indy powerhouse. The Rascalz are quite good at what they do and they were getting to showcase themselves a bit here, even in defeat.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Lee Moriarty

They shake hands to start before going to the mat, with Gresham out wrestling him to start in on the arm. Moriarty has to bail over to the ropes and the fans approve early on. They fight over hammerlocks and Gresham can’t spin out of a wristlock. An exchange of headlocks goes to the mat and we have another standoff. A high angle springboard armdrag takes Gresham down and Moriarty gets to take over on the arm.

Something close to a crossface chickenwing has Gresham in more trouble and Moriarty rams the arm into the corner. Gresham gets out and snaps Moriarty’s arm for a breather, followed by a running kick to the arm. Moriarty’s arm gets tied up on the mat, including with Gresham’s legs, with the ankle being spun around for a bonus. Moriarty finally rolls out so Gresham starts twisting the fingers.

Back up and Moriarty uses the good forearm to escape and an enziguri staggers Gresham. A running double stomp gives Moriarty two and he rams his own shoulder into the buckle to get it back in place. Moriarty goes after Gresham’s arm for a change with a DDT on the arm, setting up a Fujiwara armbar to send Gresham over to the ropes.

Back up and Gresham kicks him out to the floor for a change before tying the arm up again back inside. Moriarty is back with another cross armbreaker but Gresham, eventually, makes the rope. They trade forearms to the face until Gresham grabs a German suplex into a running forearm to the back of the head for two. Two more running shots to the head get two more and the Octopus with shots to the head makes Moriarty tap at 20:46.

Rating: B. This was the technical showcase and it worked rather well, which shouldn’t be a surprise. Gresham was long since known as the technical master and Moriarty more or less followed in his footsteps. He wound up signing with AEW about a year after this, which isn’t shocking given how easily he hung in there with someone as good as Gresham.

Post match Gresham puts over Alex Shelley and Lee Moriarty. After some prodding, Moriarty eventually shakes hands.

Team Pazuzu vs. Alex Zayne/Blake Christian/Jordan Oliver

Pazuzu is Chris Dickinson/Santana/Ortiz. Christian goes after the rather strong Dickinson’s arm to start but gets wrestled down without much trouble. A double leg brings Dickinson down for a change and they roll into the ropes. Back up and Dickinson wants a shot to the face, with Christian just making him mad. A hard shoulder drops Christian again and it’s Santana coming in to strike away in the corner.

Santana’s running clothesline cuts off the comeback attempt but Christian gets over to Oliver anyway. That’s fine with the villains, who take Oliver into the corner for the alternating beatdown. Christian manages to get over for the tag to Zayne, who is quickly northern lights suplexed for two. Zayne fights up and hits a slingshot hilo to the back, allowing Christian to come back in for the rapid fire forearms.

Dickinson comes back in with the kick to the back and a snap suplex gets two. Santana hits his own snap suplex for his own two as everything breaks down. A powerbomb drops Christian and his leg gets wrapped around the post. Dickinson actually gets smart by grabbing a half crab, followed by a leg trap piledriver (ok then) for two. Santana is back in with a top rope double stomp to the back before kicking the leg out again. Christian finally manages to get in a kick of his own, setting up a snap German suplex.

Everything breaks down and Zayne hits a shooting star double knees to the back of Dickinson’s head (ow). Christian’s springboard 450 gets a VERY delayed two but Dickinson is back up with a hard clothesline. Another powerbomb into Santana’s German suplex gets two and a Death Valley Driver into a frog splash gets….two on Zayne as these near falls are getting a bit much. Christian comes back in to slug it out with Dickinson until Oliver is in to help with a running knee. Zayn hits a big dive but Christian’s 450 hits raised knees. A toss Razor’s Edge gives Dickinson the pin at 23:54.

Rating: B-. GCW doesn’t have the best reputation but this was yet another good match in a series of them on this show. They played a simple story here and that’s all it needed to be. You had a bunch of talented villains against three scrappy underdogs who were trying their best. It worked well here, with an enjoyable match despite it being rather long.

Post match Dickinson asks for some respect for the other team and GCW as a whole. Santana thanks the fans and we get a bunch of handshakes.

Tony Deppen vs. Alex Shelley

This is Deppen’s handpicked match and Shelley uses a chair to get into the ring for some reason. Deppen grabs a cravate to start as commentary puts over GCW’s stars as the future of wrestling. They go to the back mat with Shelley working on the leg and then grabbing a headlock. That’s broken up and Deppen hits a dropkick, only to get caught with a tornado DDT out of the corner.

A slugout on the apron sets up Shelley hitting a DDT but Deppen blocks the Downward Spiral into the corner. Deppen switches things up with a Figure Four, with Shelley making the ropes without much trouble. Back up and Shelley keeps it simple with a kick to the head, only for Deppen to take the leg out again. Shelley sends him into the corner for a needed breather and they trade the forearms.

Deppen gets smart by chopping the bad knee so Shelley knees him in the ribs. A hanging swinging suplex gives Shelley two but the knee gives out again. Deppen knees him into the corner and a springboard Codebreaker gets two more. An STF sends Shelley over to the ropes again so Deppen knees him in the face. Shelley is right back with some superkicks into an Air Raid Crash for two, followed by Shell Shock for the same. The Border City Stretch goes on but Deppen spins out and grabs La Majistral for the surprise pin at 13:29.

Rating: B-. Deppen is known for being a horrible scoundrel but he was able to hang with a long established veteran like Shelley. It was a big win for Deppen, as Shelley is someone who is pretty much universally respected in the ring. This felt like Deppen’s breakthrough match and he would win the Ring Of Honor TV Title the following year.

Lio Rush vs. ACH

Man ACH just fell off the planet a few years ago. We get the handshake and hug to start as it seems to be all nice feelings here. They fight over wrist control to start and that’s good for an early standoff. Some standing switches don’t get us anywhere either so Rush takes him down with a headlock. That’s enough of the wrestling stuff so Rush snaps off a springboard hurricanrana to send ACH outside.

Some kicks to the face set up a bottom rope Asai moonsault but ACH is back in with a swinging backbreaker. Another backbreaker gets two as the pace slows down a bit. ACH kicks him down and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Rush manages some forearms. Rush sends him to the apron and hits a kick to the floor as the comeback is on. The springboard Stunner gets two but ACH kicks him down in the corner.

Back up and Rush tries another handspring but dives into a bridging German suplex for two. They trade some rapid fire kicks until ACH’s double stomp to the back gets two more. The frustration is setting in for ACH, who has to win an exchange of forearms. Rush slugs right back and sends him outside for a big suicide dive. Back in and ACH grabs a tiger driver for two but Rush kicks him in the face. A running Spanish Fly into the Final Hour gives Rush the pin at 16:21.

Rating: B. Sweet goodness this show has been way better than I was expecting. These two worked well together and you could see ACH getting more and more frustrated with everything not working. Rush hung in there long enough and finally pulled it out, which made for a good story to go with the solid action.

Joey Janela vs. Ricky Morton

The fans are into Morton (of course) as he works on the wristlock to start. Janela flips him down and does the Shawn Michaels pose so Morton hits a running shoulder out to the floor. Back in and Janela hammers away as commentary makes 1986 references. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Morton is back up with another shoulder to send Janela outside. They chop it out until Morton kicks him low, sending Janela over to set up a plastic table.

That takes so long that Morton piledrives him through the table but Janela is back on offense 25 seconds later (yes I timed him). A chair to the face hits Morton and believe it or not, he’s busted open. Morton manages a dropkick for a needed breather and they fight to the apron. A Death Valley Driver plants Janela (that’s a new one for Morton) and it’s time for a door.

That takes too long and Morton gets sent into it, setting up a top rope backsplash onto the door onto Morton for two. Some door shots to the knee set up a Figure Four, sending Morton to the ropes, which works in a match where he was just beaten up by a door. Janela takes too long putting him up top and gets caught with a Canadian Destroyer for two. The Figure Four goes on again but this time Morton rolls him over….for the tap at 13:50. That’s a new one.

Rating: C. You know that Janela is going to have a featured match on his show, but this one was far shorter than what he does most of the time. That being said, it also wasn’t all that interesting with the ending being more of a surprise than anything else. At least Janela puts someone else over, even if it is someone who has been a legend for decades.

Clusterf***

It’s a Royal Rumble with an unknown number of entrants and fairly randomly timed intervals. You’re eliminated by pinfall, submission, over the top, leaving the building, or death (Commentary thinks the latter should go without saying.). Spyder Nate Webb (hometown boy) is in at #1 and we get the full Teenage Dirtbag entrance. JTG is in at #2 and they shake hands to start, with JTG taking over with a clothesline. A powerbomb is loaded up but Jimmy Lloyd is in at #3 to chop away.

Cole Radrick is in at #4 (very quickly, as this show is probably running long) and Starboy Charlie is in at #5 with maybe thirty seconds between the entrances. Flash Flanagan (geez he’s ancient at this point) is in at #6 to clean house as commentary is commenting on the fast intervals. Sugar Dunkerton (Pineapple Pete from the AEW days, albeit with a basketball) is in at #7 to cross over on JTG and then dribble his head on the mat in a nice spot. Radrick (with a bad leg) steals the basketball but gets blocked by Dunkerton and then stomped down into the corner as Allie Kat is in at #8.

A seated senton out of the corner hits Charlie and it’s Kung Fu (Joey) Janela in at #9. Charlie sends him to the apron but gets chopped in the head, leaving Dunkerton to piledrive Janela. That’s no sold (naturally) and it’s Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku/Dominic Garrini) in at #10 (Or is it 11? I can’t imagine it matters.). Another piledriver actually slows Janela down and Violence Is Forever gets to clean house. Ku curb stomps Kat and a high/low pins Flanagan for the first elimination. JTG fights up but gets caught with Chasing The Dragon for the pin.

Kerry Awful/Nick Iggy (The Carnies) are in at #12 with a selection of chairs, allowing the two teams to sit down and slap each other in the face. Willow Nightingale/Solo Darling (another team) are in at #13 with chairs of their own and it’s time to sit in a circle for a string of punches to the face. Then they throw the chairs at each other and Darling gets Garrini in a reverse Figure Four. That’s broken up and Webb comes back in as Levi Everett (he’s Amish) is in at #14.

Everett churns the butter (of course) and Webb gets into it as well, only for Everett to hit him with the….whatever it is that holds butter being churned. Cassandro El Exotico is in at #14 to kiss Lloyd and snap off a running hurricanrana. Dustin Thomas (the wrestler with no legs) is in at #15 for a 619 to Cassandro and it’s Kerry Morton (whose name is not mentioned for a good while) in at #16. Dropkicks abound as most of the entrants are out on the floor.

Jody Threat is in at #17 for a top rope seated senton to Kody Lane (who I don’t think had an entrance). Juicy Finau is in at #18 for a Samoan drop to Threat and then hits one on three people at once. Calvin Tankman is in at #19 and uses Lane to beat up Garrini for a double elimination. Tankman gets rid of Awful and Ku as the ringside is starting to clear a bit at least. Morton is eliminated over the top and there goes Iggy, leaving Finau and Tankman to have the big man showdown. Tankman Death Valley Drivers Finau for the elimination and Billie Starkz is in at #20.

Tankman tries to dive onto Charlie but hits the pile at ringside instead (not eliminated). Charlie and Starkz slug it out and Starkz kicks him in the head, setting up a bridging German suplex for two. It’s Tankman getting back in to go after Starkz, and it’s the entire 4-4-0 (Rickey Shane Page’s goons: Atticus Cogar, Eddie Only, Gregory Iron and Eric Ryan) in at #21.

Iron stomps on Starkz and cranks on her leg until the referee calls it off for the elimination. Janela goes after the team and is eliminated, with Cassandro and Threat getting the same treatment. Threat powerbombs Ryan for two and then stops to smoke, earning an elimination. Thomas gets triple stomped but Iron, who has cerebral palsy, has a bit of sympathy. That doesn’t work for Thomas, who doesn’t buy it, and hits a top rope DDT on Iron.

Thomas gets beaten down again and it’s Elayna Black (the future Cora Jade) in at #22 with some tarot cards….and the Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner, AJ Gray, 1 Called Manders, Matthew Justice and Effy) is in at #23 to get rid of 4-4-0. They all brawl off and it’s Nasty LeRoy in at #24. LeRoy teaches Kat and Black to dance but 4-4-0 are back in to jump him. The Crew is back in to eliminate 4-4-0 and the….Wal-Mart (I think? There are references made to Target to it sounds right.) Dudes in at #25.

One of the Dudes (Tahir2x, partner of Lord A) get to clean some house and almost immediately turn on each other. A third Wal-Mart Dude comes in (doesn’t seem to be an official entrant, in case it matters) and helps beat up Lord A as Cabana Man Dan is in at #26. Nightingale is back in to give Dan a spinebuster but Parrow is in at #27 to beat up Nightingale and Darling for a double pin. A sitout powerbomb gets rid of Dan and it’s Manders coming in for the hoss fight. Parrow World’s Strongest Slams Manders for the fast pin as Robert Anthony and Frank The Clown are in at #28.

LeRoy is back in and gets beaten down by Anthony and Frank, who then manage to knock Parrow down. That’s broken up and Frank bails, albeit without an elimination. The Invisible Man (there it is) is in at #29 and gets to clean house but Everett powerslams him down. Everett churns the Invisible Man but misses a splash, allowing the Invisible Man to crank on Everett’s arm. A clothesline gets rid of Everett and Parrow is sent to the apron, with Thomas managing to get rid of him. Thomas is sent outside and….I won’t ask how he can be eliminated if both feet….never mind.

Anthony and Frank beat up the Invisible Man, who fights back with a double chokeslam. Tankman is back in to get rid of Anthony and Frank as Young Dumb and Broke (Charlie Tyler, Griffin Taylor and…someone commentary doesn’t bother naming) is in at #30 to go after Lloyd. Black is back in to go after them and something like Matt Morgan’s Hellevator is enough for Black to be tossed out.

As we find out that the third member is named Ellis Taylor, Working On Dying (Steve Sanders and Dylan McKay) are in at #31. McKay flip dives onto the floor but gets back inside anyway to go after Young, Dumb and Broke. Stereo flip dives off the top get a double near fall and the Crew is back in to get rid of McKay and Sanders. John Thorne (a promoter) is in at #32 as a big dive hits the pile on the floor. Thorne grabs a weapon, charges at Kat, and is eliminated. Logan Stunt (Marko’s brother) is in at #33 as McCoy (I think) is tossed by Tankman.

Cue Marko to throw Logan out and they brawl to the back, with Marko being eliminated as well. Tiger appears to be out too and Radrick is rolled up for another elimination. The Wal-Mart Dudes are back to keep fighting with Lord A hitting a spinning Tombstone to get rid of Tahir2x but Lloyd sends Lord A through a table for the pin. Thunderkitty is in at #34 and knocks Webb down without much trouble.

The Invisible Man takes Thunderkitty down and then plants Taylor for a fast pin. The Second Gear Crew grab chairs to go after the Invisible Man but get tossed outside (though Effy does get in a kiss first). Yoshihiko is in at #35 and plants the Invisible Man for the fast pin. A bunch of Canadian Destroyers and poisonranas give Yoshihiko the pin on Lloyd but Webb is in to beat up Yoshihiko.

Webb hits a moonsault with a chair for the pin and Shark Boy is in at #36 to complete the field. The Chummer gets rid of Thunderkitty but Webb has a cooler. Shark Boy gets a drink but Kat and LeRoy want in on this too. The toast sets up a double Stunner to get rid of Kat and LeRoy. Charlie is back in with a Stunner on Shark Boy for the elimination but Cogar rolls him up for another pin.

That leaves….I think Cogar, Webb, Tankman and AJ Gray so Tankman is here to Pounce Cogar. Gray and Tankman strike it out until Gray hits a string of clotheslines for the elimination. Cogar throws fire at Gray for the pin and Webb is back in for the final showdown. They fight out to the floor with Webb getting chaired in the head.

A bunch of chair shots to the back have Webb down and an Air Raid Crash through the chair gets two. Webb throws a trashcan to tie Cogar in the Tree of Woe. A moonsault Van Terminator (that’s either amazing or stupid and I’m not sure which) hits Cogar and a Razor’s Edge spun into a DDT gives Webb the final pin at 72:25.

Rating: C+. This is the definition of “just sit back and have fun” and there is nothing wrong with that. Obviously the winner means absolutely nothing so letting the hometown crowd favorite go wire to wire is not a bad thing. This was before the match became a total insane spectacle like it would become in later years but I’ll absolutely take it for what we got here. Fun, though other editions have been better.

Since that’s not enough, we have another match to go. We do pause for a mat change because that was a lot of people in there over and over. And for weapons to be set up of course.

Video on Matt Tremont’s history at Spring Break and now he’s headlining in his final match. A lot of violence is involved but it’s set to Metallica so at least it’s not all bad.

Matt Tremont vs. Alex Colon

Colon has Markus Crane and this is a Deathmatch in Tremont’s GCW farewell. They stare at each other a bit to start and lock up to go nowhere. The much bigger Tremont shoves him down a few times as they’re starting slow, which has me worried that they’re getting time. They both tease going into the light tubes so Colon grabs one, which Tremont blocks. Tremont sends him through a bunch of the tubes but gets thrown through them as well.

Colon starts carving Tremont’s forehead up with a broken tube and then breaks another one over his back. That works so well that Tremont does it right back to him but stops to lick his own blood. Colon fights up and sends him through a barbed wire board before they just hit each other in the face. Tremont gets staggered with a chair to the head and a running forearm knocks him out of said chair.

Something like a powerslam puts Colon through a chair and they walk towards the bleachers, which isn’t very social distancing. They go back to the ring where Colon hits him with some light tubes. It’s time for a ladder, which takes too long, allowing Tremont to backdrop him onto the ladder. That gets the very delayed two and they suplexes each other through some more light tubes.

Another light tube (we get the idea) over the head staggers Colon but he’s back with a swinging DDT through some tubes. A double knee breaks some tubes over Tremont and they go to the apron, with Tremont Samoan dropping him through a barbed wire board. We pause for Tremont to be freed from the wire before it’s time to walk around some more. The fight heads into the crowd where they sit on the bleachers and seem to chat a bit.

Tremont hits a suplex and they go back to the floor, where a bunch of doors are set up. Colon dives off a balcony to put him through the doors and we pause again for a breather. Back in and a top rope double stomp crushes more light tubes onto Tremont, who pops to his feet. A big clothesline puts Colon down and a Death Valley Driver through another tube gets one. Thankfully they mix things up a bit with Colon hitting him with a trashcan, which is put over Tremont’s head for a top rope double stomp.

Cue some goons with fans/rakes made of light tubes, plus a big box of light tubes which are poured out on the mat. They take turns breaking tubes over the other’s head, getting up to about ten each. Colon breaks about ten in a row over Tremont’s head but Tremont grabs a belly to back suplex, because this is still wrestling you see. Colon pops up and hits him with two more light tubes, followed by breaking a rake (with five tubes in a row) over Tremont’s head. Tremont wants him to do it again so Colon uses the other rake, which is enough for the pin at 26:29.

Rating: D-. Nope. Ignoring that I absolutely cannot stand this stuff most of the time, but this one was especially bad. A good chunk of this match was standing around waiting for the other to get up so they could use more light tubes. That’s where they lost me, as the last few minutes of the match was almost literally them just standing there breaking light tubes over the other’s head. Then Colon used A BUNCH of tubes for the win. I can occasionally tolerate a deathmatch, but this was just the same stuff over and over for the better part of half an hour.

Post match Colon checks on Tremont and then leaves him alone so Tremont can have a moment. Tremont shouts something and pays tribute to a former wrestler/wrestling personality who has passed away. We get the big moment of respect to end the show. Tremont would indeed stay away from GCW for over a year before returning in 2021.

Overall Rating: B-. The original version of this show that I found didn’t include the main event and my goodness do I wish that’s how it stayed. This show was SO MUCH BETTER before the main event. Prior to that mess, I was having a great time with this show offering one good to very good match after another. You don’t get that on almost any show and it was rolling here. It says a lot when the Cluster**** was the weakest match because it’s one of those “fun by definition match”. The less said about the main event the better, but dang they were feeling it until then.

 

 

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Joey Janela’s Spring Break 9
Date: April 18, 2025
Location: Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Dave Prazak, Jordan Castle, Veda Scott

Here we have the first half of what has become the biggest independent event of the weekend, featuring the wacky cast of GCW. That can mean just about anything in the way of oddball matches, but this time around the main event will see Joey Janela facing Sabu in the latter’s retirement match. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is set to an old Rat Pack style song with various hardcore clips. That’s quite the dichotomy.

Tag Team Titles: Violence Is Forever vs. Alec Price/???

Violence Is Forever (Dominic Garrini/Kevin Ku) is defending and Price’s normal partner, Cole Radrick is injured and he needs a replacement. For now though, Price is fighting by himself and dives onto the champs to start fast. They go inside with Price hitting a top rope leg lariat and some running shots in the corner. A Blockbuster hits Garrini but Ku is back up with a brainbuster onto the turnbuckle.

Garrini kicks Price into a reverse capture suplex and Chasing The Dragon gets two. The titles are brought in but here is Cole Radrick (still injured) to bring out Jordan Oliver to be Price’s partner. The diving tag brings Oliver in to clean house and Radrick sends in the crutch. Everything breaks down and Oliver hits a kind of reverse powerbomb out of the corner to pin Garrini at 6:54.

Rating: C+. This was kind of two matches in one as Oliver was brought in the middle to change everything around. Before he showed up it was Price getting beaten up but after Oliver showed up it was basically a fast paced win. It’s a good way to open the show with the feel good return and title change so well done.

We recap Atticus Cogar vs. Fuego del Sol, which is quite the blood feud and now it’s mask vs. career, loser leaves GCW.

La Familia Wagner vs. Los Desperadoes

That would be Dr. Wagner Jr./El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr./Galleno del Mal vs. Arez/Gringo Loco/Jack Cartwheel. Hijo and Cartwheel start things off with Hijo spinning out of a wristlock to take him down. A basement crossbody puts Cartwheel down and they have a cartwheel off. Galleno and Arez (he’s weird) come in to run the ropes until the much bigger Galleno shoulders him down. With that going nowhere, it’s off to Loco vs. Wagner Jr. but first we need a hug between the Wagners.

They trade armdrags to no avail so Loco gets in some hip gyrations. Wagner Jr. takes off his mask and everything breaks down, with Cartwheel hitting a big flip dive to the floor. Galleno gets triple teamed in the corner and a double suplex puts him down. Loco drops the split legged moonsault for two but Galleno fights out of the corner. Hijo is in for the save as Wagner Jr. grabs a trashcan to start cleaning house.

Arez takes it away and hits Wagner Jr. instead, followed by an enziguri to drop him. Hijo hits Three Amigos (yes with dance) on Arez, setting up the frog splash for two. A running Codebreaker gives Arez two but Galleno makes the save. Loco catches him on top with a super Spanish Fly but Arez is right there for a running shooting star (one foot) onto the pile on the floor. Back in and Wagner Jr. powerbombs Cartwheel into la majistral for the pin at 17:04.

Rating: B-. This was a bunch of people having a good match with a family fighting three other stars. Wagner Jr. is an older guy but he certainly hasn’t lost it by any means. This is the kind of variety that can make a show feel more interesting and fun, which is what GCW seems to want to do. And it worked.

Bozilla vs. Megan Bayne

This is whatever the female version of a hoss fight would be. Bozilla powers her into the corner to start but Bayne tells her to run the ropes. That’s what Bozilla does, with a big shoulder running Bayne over. Bayne kicks her to the floor and a suicide dive connects. Back in and Bozilla catches her with a Samoan driver for two and the bearhug goes on. Bayne fights out and hits a running dropkick, followed by a belly to belly for two.

Bozilla comes back with a German suplex, only for Bayne to drop her with a clothesline. They go up top with Bozilla hitting a super fall away slam as something weird comes over the audio (seemed to be a glitch). A powerbomb puts Bayne down but she gets up for a sitout powerbomb of her own. They strike it out until Bozilla drops her with a clothesline into three straight powerbombs for two. Bozilla’s moonsault misses though and Bayne hits a flip dive off the top. Fate’s Descent and a tombstone finish Bozilla at 12:13.

Rating: B. There is something fun about two big, strong people beating the fire out of each other until one of them can’t get up. That’s exactly what we got here and it’s cool to see a hoss fight between two women for a change. Bayne felt like she was out to prove herself here and that made for a good story from the bigger star.

We recap 1 Called Manders vs. Zack Sabre Jr. Manders has finally started having some success, winning the WXW World Title. Now he wants to prove himself against Sabre (in theory, as there isn’t any talking).

1 Called Manders vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Non-title. They start slowly and go to a test of strength, which goes nowhere. An exchange of shoulders goes badly for Sabre but Manders makes the mistake of extending his arm. That’s all Sabre needs and he starts stomping away but gets dropped ribs first across the top rope.

Sabre starts in on the arm again and Manders bangs it up again on a chop. The arm is bent around the rope and a big kick to the chest gets two. Manders tries a comeback but gets spun around by the arm again. A single chop gives Manders two and the lariat, albeit a weakened one, gets two. Sabre pops back up and grabs the European clutch for the pin at 7:56.

Rating: C+. This is a match that probably should have been better but just wasn’t. For one thing, they didn’t have a ton of time and it hurt things a good bit. How much can you do when you don’t even have eight minutes? Manders seemed to be trying to prove that he had gotten so much better, but that doesn’t have much of an impact when Sabre picks him apart, survives a finisher and then wins.

We recap Atticus Cogar vs. Fuego del Sol. Cogar doesn’t like del Sol for wearing the mask and thinks he’s hiding something. They have fought a few times now and this is mask vs. career.

Fuego del Sol vs. Atticus Cogar

Fuego comes to the ring with a bunch of masked people. They go right after each other to start and Cogar is already bringing in the weapons. Fuego gets in a chair shot for a breather and it’s time to bridge a door between the chairs. Cogar whips out some scissors to cut at the mask and stab at the head, because that’s something you see done. An Air Raid Crash off the stage sends Fuego through the doors to really leave him down.

They get back inside with Cogar bringing in more weapons but getting kicked down. Fuego gets crotched on top and Cogar bites the forehead. Cogar is tied in the Tree of Woe though, only for Cogar’s brother Otis to run in. Cue Fuego’s friend Sam Stackhouse for a (rather large) suicide dive to the Cogars. Atticus fights back with the chairs but Fuego Sun Fire Drivers him through the chair structure.

A German suplex sends Fuego onto an open chair and it’s time to jab some skewers into Fuego’s head. Otis chairs Stackhouse down for Fuego kicking out and it’s time for a 2×4 with gusset plates. Fuego uses the breather to hit a moonsault DDT for two and Stackhouse is back up to take out Otis. Fuego’s 630 sends Atticus through the door at ringside for two more, meaning it’s time to skewer Atticus. The 2×4 hits Atticus in the arm but he whips out a tazer to blast Fuego. A Brain Hemorrhage (bulldog driver) onto a trashcan finishes Fuego at 17:44.

Rating: B. This is a good illustration of what a story can do. The match itself was pretty much a garbage brawl, but I wanted to see Fuego beat Cogar. The story they had told set Cogar up as an evil that wanted to destroy Fuego for the simple reason of “Cogar doesn’t like him”. Fuego has done nothing wrong and that makes me want to see Cogar get what is coming to him. I was disappointed when Fuego lost and that’s a sign that they did something right. Nothing match, great storytelling, and the latter is more important.

Post match Fuego has Stackhouse remove the mask and he hands it to Atticus. That gives us a victory lap from Atticus who puts on the mask then throws it on the stage and steps on it. Fuego takes his boots off and leaves, seemingly ending his career.

We recap Matt Tremont vs. Minoru Suzuki, which is basically “two monsters are going to fight”.

Matt Tremont vs. Minoru Suzuki

They yell a lot and then strike it out with both of them wanting it brought. For some reason Suzuki thrusts his hips before they fight outside, where he bents Tremont’s fingers. Tremont is rammed into various things and is already busted open, which isn’t going to be a good thing. Suzuki slowly hammers away and bends the finger before going back inside to bend the finger even more.

More blood flows but Tremont manages a clothesline for two. The Death Valley Driver gets two but Suzuki comes back with a choke. They get to the ropes so the referee tries to break it up, earning himself a piledriver from Suzuki. More referees come out as the fight goes into the crowd. They both grab their titles for a staredown and it’s no contest at around 10:45.

Rating: D. So they had Suzuki do his thing, Tremont do his thing, and then they brawled off rather than have one of them do a job. Suzuki has had a rough stretch of matches over the weekend and this was another one on the pile. I’m sure this was a match that was supposed to sound great on paper but that didn’t exactly play out. It was more an extended brawl than a match and that’s not quite much to see.

Video on Joey Janela vs. Sabu, with Janela getting the Sabu that he wanted for Sabu’s final match.

JCW Title: Masha Slamovich vs. Suzu Suzuki

Slamovich is defending. Suzuki wins an early exchange of shoulders and a running knee to the back gets two. Back up and Slamovich grabs some hair mares to set up a seated abdominal stretch. That’s broken up and Suzuki hits a spear, followed by a missile dropkick for two.

Slamovich is back up with some running strikes in the corner but the White Knight Driver is broken up. Suzuki kicks her down again but stereo kicks to the head leave them both down. Back up and they trade more kicks to the head, with Slamovich’s being a bit more effective. The White Knight Driver retains the title at 9:48.

Rating: B-. They didn’t have a ton of time here but it felt like a hard hitting fight and that’s what this needed to be. Slamovich has been working hard throughout this weekend with one of the busiest schedules of anyone. You can see why as well, as she hasn’t had anything close to a bad match all weekend, which is more than a lot of people can say.

We recap Gabe Kidd vs. Mance Warner, which is a rematch from earlier this year when they brawled so much that it had to be stopped.

Mance Warner vs. Gabe Kidd

Warner comes out swinging a screwdriver to start and gets knocked down, allowing Kidd to get said screwdriver. Veda Scott: “Are we going to have a shoot murder?” Warner is already busted open and it’s time to stab him in the head even more. The comeback is on in a hurry and Warner goes to get more weapons.

Back in and Warner gets the screwdriver, which he licks and uses to comb his hair, and then stabs Kidd. Naturally after the whole double stabbing thing, they sit in chairs and slug it out. Kidd drops him back first onto some open chairs, followed by a discus lariat for two. The (bloody) door is set up but Warner is back up with a springboard tornado DDT to send Warner through the door in a crash.

The big lariat gives Warner two and they both need a breather. Warner sets up a bridged door but Kidd is back up with a piledriver through said door. They trade forearms until Kidd hits a big right hand to knock Warner cold, with Kidd collapsing on top of him for the pin at 14:39.

Rating: C+. This was the violent spectacle that you knew was coming at some point on a GCW card, even though the barbed wire main event is still to come. What mattered here was having the two of them beat each other senseless, with the ending being more about both of them looking equal as Kidd just got lucky. Odds are that sets up a rematch, and I’m almost scared of what happens when they try to get more violent.

Senior Scramble

They’re all old and they’re having a match. We have Ricky Morton (68), Mike Jackson (75), George South (62) Damien 666 (63) and Robert Gibson (66). It’s a brawl to start (oh dear) and here is Kerry Morton (Ricky’s son) to complain about the collective erectile dysfunction he sees in the ring. He couldn’t get on the show because of “these old f******” and wants “Uncle Hoot” (Gibson) to get out of his ring (ignore that Gibson is on the floor).

Gibson chairs Kerry in the back and he gets inside for the big group beatdown. Jackson even goes Old School and Ricky adds a Canadian Destroyer. A triple team powerbomb sends Kerry through a door and it’s a quintuple pin at 6:15. Kerry: “I’M NOT A F****** JOBBER!”. Ok that was funny.

Rating: B. This was barely a match but dang I had fun with it. There’s something funny about a whiny young guy getting what is coming to him, especially with a bunch of veterans getting to give him a beating. It was the silliness that a show like this needs and found a way out of having a bunch of older people lose. On top of that, they even had a hot start, which made me wonder just how far they were going with this.

We recap Joey Janela vs. Sabu. Janela agreed to face Sabu in his retirement match but then got hurt. Then Janela started talking about how he wanted to give Sabu his Independent Wrestling Hall Of Fame induction plaque but that Sabu, the one that Janela grew up idolizing, was dead.

This brought out Sabu to stab Janela with his spike, which made Janela say he would face Sabu at Spring Break no matter what. Janela actually cut a heck of a promo, talking about how he got the Sabu that he wanted and promised to kill Sabu’s career. Then it was time to make it a bared wire match because that’s what Sabu likes to do.

Sabu vs. Joey Janela

The ropes have been replaced with barbed wire and there are various barbed wire accessories around the ring. Janela jumps him during the entrances and hammers away but Sabu fights back. A whip into the wire has Sabu in trouble but he comes back with the spike. Cue Bill Alfonso (with the whistle) as Sabu is sent into a barbed wire box. The already bleeding Sabu loses his jacket and is thrown through a barbed wire board. Cue the Cogars to beat up Janela and Alfonso…and the lights go out.

The Sandman does his full entrance through the crowd with the fans singing along (of course) and (of course) the Cogars just kind of stand around while Sandman takes his sweet time. Sandman comes in and clears out the Cogars with some one armed cane shots, leaving Sabu to send Janela through a barbed wire board. Sabu sends him into the barbed wire box before they take turns throwing chairs at each other. Janela gets planted onto a chair and the Arabian Facebuster gives Sabu the pin at 17:07.

Rating: D. Yeah what else were you expecting here? This was never going to be a quality match, but even then it wasn’t very good. The match was a bunch of violence with interference and about a five minute Sandman entrance. Those things were there to extend the time, mainly because there was pretty much no way Sabu could do much other than get thrown into things. Of course he won on his way out and I’m sure Janela would have it no other way, but dang this was not an easy watch. And Sabu couldn’t do this in Philadelphia the year before?

Post match Janela gives Sabu his Hall Of Fame plaque, even though he knows Sabu will probably sell it. Janela thanks Sabu for the house to wrap up the show.

Overall Rating: B-. You can definitely feel the effort on this show and they put together a good overall presentation. There is good action and only two bad matches, with Suzuki vs. Tremont and the main event not really working. On the other hand though, you had a nice selection of quality, plus the shockingly engaging Fuego vs. Cogar fight. Another solid show here, as GCW might not be my thing, but they know what they’re doing with a show like this.

Results
Alec Price/Jordan Oliver b. Violence Is Forever – Reverse powerbomb to Garrini
La Familia Wagner b. Los Desperadoes – La majistral to Cartwheel
Megan Bayne b. Bozilla – Tombstone
Zack Sabre Jr. b. 1 Called Manders – European clutch
Atticus Cogar b. Fuego del Sol – Super Brain Hemorrhage onto a trashcan
Matt Tremont vs. Minoru Suzuki went to a no contest
Masha Slamovich b. Suzu Suzuki – White Knight Driver
Gabe Kidd b. Mance Warner – Right hand
Ricky Morton/Mike Jackson/George South/Damien 666/Robert Gibson b. Kerry Morton – Triple powerbomb through a door
Sabu b. Joey Janela – Arabian Facebuster

 

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WrestleCon Supershow 2022
Date: March 31, 2022
Location: Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Veda Scott

This is one of the biggest and most interesting shows of Wrestlemania Weekend as you do not know what you are going to get on any given show. Some of the matches are going to be announced in advance, but sometimes you are just going to get some wrestlers without opponents. This is the non-WWE ticket I make sure to get every year and this was no exception. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting opposite the main screen about five rows back.

One more note: after the show was over, the fans would be allowed to vote on their choice for best match. The wrestlers in that match would split $5,000, which seems to be a legitimate prize. It worked for Kip Allen Frye and it should work here too.

We open with the traditional graphic for the show as we wait on the feed to start. The music that was being played in the arena still going on in the background does help a bit.

The video starts with a look at Mark Hitchcock, a graphic designer who worked for WrestleCon but passed away on his honeymoon. The show is named in his honor, though the introduction of the tribute isn’t included here.

Mike Bailey vs. Bandido

Bad start to the show: ignore Bret Hart’s music starting for no apparent reason, plus the ring announcer introducing Bandido as Bailey’s video plays on the wall. Commentary talks about how they’re supposed to be impartial, but Veda might be about to marry Bailey in a few months. They start with the handshake but then start the fast pace with neither being able to hit much of anything.

With that not working, they wind up on the apron less than a minute in with Bandido missing a baseball slide, allowing Bailey to jump to the top for a moonsault out to the floor (that was some sweet timing). They walk around the ring with Bailey firing off some kicks to the chest. Back in and they chop it out until Bandido drops back to avoid a shot to the face, allowing him to nip up in a great looking sequence.

Bandido grabs a delayed vertical suplex….and by delayed I mean he holds Bailey up for 64 seconds before dropping him for a double knockdown. Back up and Bailey hits a running shot to the mask but Bandido grabs Three Amigos into the Eddie dance. There’s the frog splash to give Bandido two but Bailey counters the X Knee. The bouncing kicks rock Bandido, who is right back with a pop up cutter to put both of them down again.

They go to the floor and trade back to back to back to back dives (because of course) and they need a breather. It’s time for the required fight on the apron, including the chop off. Bailey takes him down and hits the moonsault double knees on the apron, only to miss the Ultimate Weapon (taking a rather hard landing on his knees). A big spinning faceplant sends Bailey out to the apron again, where a pop up cutter kind of drops Bailey face first.

Back in and the 21 Plex gives Bandido two and the kickout leaves him stunned. Bailey kicks him down and misses the Ultimate Weapon but settles for moonsault knees to the ribs. Shooting star knees to the ribs gets two and the Flamingo Driver (similar to the One Winged Angel) gives Bailey the same. Bandido is back up with some running knees and a release 21 Plex, setting up the super moonsault World’s Strongest Slam for the pin at 16:21.

Rating: B. This is a show where I’m going to be a good bit lighter on the ratings as this is all designed to be a bunch of one off matches. That was on display here, as they were doing everything they could and trying to fit in a bunch of spots. In that regard, they had a heck of a match here that had the crowd fired up, even if Bailey’s idea of selling his knee is grabbing it in between flips. Bandido continues to be amazing in just about everything he does and this was a lot of fun.

Post match fans throw money in the ring and, after seemingly realizing that it is cash instead of garbage, Bailey seems really taken aback. They split the money and show respect as Veda Scott takes some jabs at how expensive everything is at the hotel (hence why I stayed out of the restaurant).

And now, here is Bret Hart as a special ambassador. Bret comes to the stage, thanks the fans for being here, and wishes us a good night. He might have been out there for thirty seconds.

Mia Yim vs. Athena

Athena is better known as Ember Moon and is the hometown girl. We get a dueling chant before the bell with Athena dancing to her own chants. They mirror each other to start before going to a test of strength with Athena taking her down. Yim’s bridge holds up so they go to an exchange of wristlocks instead. Athena hits some cartwheel knees to the ribs and we’re already in a chinlock.

That’s broken up and Yim drives her into the corner before hitting a dropkick out to the floor. Athena has a seat at ringside and the chase lets her post Yim rather hard. Some right hands set up something like a standing Crossface, followed by Athena’s running forearm in the corner. Yim is back with the Tarantula but Athena breaks that up and hits a quick Downward Spiral.

The Koji Clutch goes on and is broken up just as fast, setting up a Boston crab from Yim. Back up and they hit stereo crossbodies for a quick double down. Yim is fine enough to hit a running big boot in the corner, setting up a Cannonball for two. The package piledriver is countered into an Alabama Slam so Athena goes up.

That’s broken up with a super hurricanrana attempt, which is countered into a super hurricanrana, which is countered into a super sitout powerbomb for two. The stunned Athena shoves Yim into the referee, meaning it’s time to grab a chair. That’s taken away and the distraction lets Yim hit the package piledriver for the pin at 13:40.

Rating: B-. Athena isn’t someone who has been around very much lately but she can still go in the ring. Yim would fit the same description, as she can have a good to quite good match with anyone but for some reason neither are in a major promotion at the moment. I could go for either of them somewhere else, as this was a good, back and forth match that kept me interested.

Post match Athena gets a nice show of respect.

Timothy Thatcher vs. Tomohiro Ishii

This is going to hurt. Feeling out process to start with Thatcher using the height advantage to grab a quickly broken nerve hold. A headlock takeover works a bit better for Thatcher but Ishii is back with a Kimura, sending Thatcher straight to the ropes. They forearm/uppercut it out until Thatcher snaps off a belly to belly for two. A short armscissors keeps Ishii down as Scott puts over Thatcher’s abilities to hurt people in so many ways.

Thatcher kicks him to the apron but Ishii is back in with a suplex (not the brainbuster for some reason) for two. We get the big slugout until Ishii punches an enziguri out of the air. Thatcher is fine enough to snatch an ankle lock, which is reversed into another ankle lock. That’s broken up as well and now the enziguri can connect, setting up a cross armbreaker to put Ishii in more trouble.

A Fujiwara armbar sends Ishii over to the ropes again (you don’t see him do that very often) but he’s back with a clothesline into an enziguri. The sliding lariat gets two but the brainbuster attempt is countered into the Fujiwara armbar. Ishii counters that as well, setting up the brainbuster for the pin at 12:52.

Rating: B. This is a good example of a match where you know what you’re getting when you sign up for it and that is what we got here. Ishii and Thatcher know how to hurt people and they make it look really easy to do so. I could go for Thatcher showing up somewhere else as he is the kind of person wrestler that can always be added to a roster for some depth. Ishii is long established and he gave you what you’re needing here. Good, hard hitting match.

Scott talks about how there are matches that make her want to get in the ring and compete, whereas that one makes her glad to have this comfy chair.

Johnny WrestleCon vs. Taya Valkyrie

This is a Dirty Dishes match with the loser having to do the dishes for the rest of their lives. Before the match, Taya says they have been married for about five years and when they first got married, Johnny was so nice. Shopping trips, nice dinners, even making the bed. So what happened? Johnny has gotten so lazy that he can’t clean up after himself and can’t even, ahem, clean himself in certain areas.

As proof of how much of a slob he is, Taya has brought THEIR DIRTY DISHES to the show, with a bunch of people bringing them out. Johnny: “YOU BROUGHT OUR DISHES TO DALLAS???” Johnny laughs at the idea of Taya having to be right all the time and says ring the bell.

Feeling out process to start as the fans shout about JOHNNY DISHES. Johnny chills on top and they shout at each other until Taya hits a heck of a chop. Taya gets shoved down into the corner but she knocks him into another corner for some running knees. And now, it’s time for some dirty dishes (Ian: “Can’t they just hire someone to clean them?”) but Johnny smashes a plate over Taya’s head.

The flipping neckbreaker gives Johnny two as the fans dub him JOHNNY DOGHOUSE. A coffee cup is broken over Taya’s head but she kicks him to the apron. Johnny knocks her down again and busts out some sponges to rake the skin off of Taya’s back. Some Clorox to the back makes it even worse but Taya is back up with a spear. Two bottles are broken over Johnny’s head for two (Scott: “Why is he kicking out??? JUST DO THE D*** DISHES JOHNNY!”) and it’s time to spray some more cleaning stuff in Johnny’s face.

The cookie sheet is brought in but Taya hits La Mistica into the broken glass. Johnny blocks a kick and knocks Taya down into the splits, setting up some hip gyrations. That doesn’t do much for Taya, who hits him low and puts a bucket on his head for a DDT. A Canadian Destroyer with the bucket on Johnny’s head gets two but the referee gets taken down. Therefore the Road To Valhalla gets no cover, allowing Johnny to hit him in the face with a glass.

Johnny puts the bottles on her stomach and hits Starship Pain, which winds up being a rather bad idea. Hold on as Johnny grabs a mic and asks for a kitchen sink to be brought in. We get a rather large sink brought in but a Skull Crushing Finale (nice) onto the sink is countered with a Stunner. Taya hammers away and hits him with a bunch of plates, setting up the curb stomp onto the sink for the pin at 14:31.

Rating: B. This one is much more about the fun than the quality and that is the kind of match you need to have at the WrestleCon Supershow. Seeing the two of them go completely over the top and have that much fun with a match is all you could expect here. It was a novelty match but I had a blast with it both live and watching it back. Good stuff here that didn’t take itself seriously in any way.

Johnny: “I HATE DISHES! But I love you.”

The ring announcer explains how to vote on the Match of the Night and the $5,000 prize.

We have another WrestleCon ambassador: Jushin Thunder Liger, and yes the fans seem to like him. I met him earlier in the day so this was a cool surprise again. Liger shows up, takes some bows, and leaves.

Michael Oku/Laredo Kid/Rey Horus vs. Josh Alexander/Black Taurus/Ace Austin

Lucha rules and Ring Of Honor’s Cary Silkin is on commentary but I can’t hear a word he’s saying. Taurus misses a charge to start and gets armdragged down by Kid. A headbutt into a snap powerslam drops Kid and it’s off to Horus, who gets smacked in the face. Horus knocks Taurus (and yes commentary plays up the rhyme) to the floor for the big dive, meaning it’s off to Oku for a running kick to Austin’s face.

Alexander comes in and kicks Oku in the face to even things up, setting up a powerbomb onto the knee. Everything breaks down and Alexander and company clean house, leaving Taurus to hit a pop up Samoan drop on Oku. Silkin’s mic is fixed as Oku manages to stack up all three opponents and half crab (his finisher) all of them at once). Horus is back in with the satellite DDT on Taurus, setting up the huge dive over the post to take out Austin.

That doesn’t keep Austin down as he’s back up with some flips on the apron to kick away at Horus and Kid. Oku takes Austin down so Taurus hits a huge corkscrew suicide dive. Back in and Taurus hits a running crucifix bomb (cool) on Kid as commentary actually tries to keep track of who is legal. Alexander Death Valley Drivers Kid and Horus at the same time but Oku dives in with a top rope splash.

Austin hits Oku with a spinning slam but Horus catches him with a Spanish Fly for two. The Tower of Doom is loaded up but the people come crashing down instead (on purpose), leaving Taurus to hit a super gorilla press on Horus. Oku makes the save though and it’s back to back to back top rope splashes to finish Taurus at 13:08.

Rating: B. Much like the previous match, this is what you should have expected when you saw this match added to the card. They didn’t bother with the tagging and such and it would have been ridiculous to try and do so. I haven’t seen much of Oku but he seems to be pretty good at this wrestling thing. The other five were all awesome and it was a treat to see Alexander live, even if he was replacing Jonathan Gresham. Heck of a match here, again.

BUY THE HIGHSPOTS VIDEO NETWORK! No really, it’s a heck of a deal for about $10 a month.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Biff Busick

This is going to hurt too. You might remember Busick as Oney Lorcan from NXT but he’s a bit more fun outside of WWE. They start slowly as Scott talks about Busick being busted open in a match earlier today. Suzuki grinds away on a headlock before switching over to a leglock as he has a thing about hurting limbs.

The threat of a Kimura doesn’t quite click as Suzuki gets caught in a headscissors, which is broken up for a standoff. Busick grabs a slam but has to escape an armbar over the ropes. They head outside with Busick being sent face first into the announcers’ table as Busick is busted open (again).

Back in and Suzuki drives an elbow into Busick’s head, setting up the Kimura. Suzuki switches to another armbar, allowing Busick to make it over to the ropes. The running elbows stagger Suzuki and it’s a half and half suplex into a half crab. Make that an STF as Busick goes Samoa Joe. Suzuki gets the legs free and makes the ropes, setting up a running kick to the chest. The chop off is on, with Busick staggering a lot more than Suzuki. Busick’s half and half doesn’t mean much as Suzuki hits another chop, setting up the Gotch style piledriver for the pin at 14:37.

Rating: B-. This was another good one but it felt a bit too much like the Ishii vs. Thatcher match. That being said, it was a hard hitting fight as Suzuki hurting people is always worth a look. Busick is someone else who didn’t quite get to be himself in WWE, though the lite version was still pretty good while it lasted. Another hard hitting match here and I had fun with it.

Team PCO vs. Team Onita

PCO, NZO, Jimmy Wang Yang, Barry Horowitz, Dirty Dango
Atsushi Onita, Rock N Roll Express, Juice Robinson, Colt Cabana

So this is….a choice. The ten person tag is the signature WrestleCon Supershow match as the captains get to pick their teams. Before the match, NZO gets in his catchphrase because…well why else is he here? Horowitz, who looks even more ancient than he is, comes out to We Are The Champions for a nice touch. Ian would also like to know how PCO could possibly know Dango but forgets all about that when Cabana comes out, turning Ian into a cheerleader for his former broadcast partner. Onita also has his chainsaw carrier with him for a bonus.

Cabana and Horowitz start things off with Cabana hugging one of his heroes. Horowitz tries to lock up but Cabana grabs the hand for a pat on the back instead. Robinson and Dango come in with Robinson working on a wristlock. A sunset flip gives us a crazy balancing act from Dango, who manages to turn it into some dancing. Cabana isn’t having that and comes in to catapult Robinson’s head up for a low blow (always funny) to take over.

It’s off to NZO to take Dango down and walk on his back, before handing it off to Yang for some COWBOY S***! Yang hammers away with some right hands in the corner and it’s off to PCO. Robinson tries to chop with him for some bizarre reason before handing it to Onita. The mist staggers PCO and they brawl to the floor for a pretty horrible DDT (with Onita losing him on the way down). Back in and Morton gets the tag, only to have NZO break up the double….uh, something.

Dango gets to pound Morton into the corner and hip grinds on his head for a bit. NZO misses a charge into the post though and the hot tag brings in Gibson so everything can break down. PCO cleans house and hits some suicide dives, setting up the Deanimator for two on Robinson. The chair is brought in but the PCOsault only hits mat, meaning Onita can come in. They mistime…something, until Onita kicks the chair into Dango’s face. The mist sets up a Stunner to give Onita the pin at 12:18.

Rating: D+. I know the match looked good on paper and was probably a funny idea, but this didn’t work whatsoever in execution and it was a huge misfire. A bunch of the people were either so broken down that they couldn’t move or just looked sad out there. This match tends to be the big showcase of the WrestleCon Supershow but this came off like a joke and that was more disappointing than anything else.

Post match Onita mists Yang and beats him into the crowd. That leaves Dango to get the Fandango music….and Summer Rae of all people comes to the ring to dance with him for some old times’ sake.

Rottweilers vs. Briscoes

You really can feel the energy when the Briscoes come out, as they are one of the most charismatic teams you will ever find. Hold on though, as we need to get to one of the most infamous moments of the weekend. Homicide seems to flip off a fan at ringside (though he might have been aiming at the Briscoes) but then Low Ki starts shouting at the fan. Said fan (in the front row) slams something against the barricade and Low Ki drops to the floor to get in his face.

The referee has to hold Low Ki back and Low Ki threatens to f*** the fan up. The rest of the fans egg Low Ki on and he goes outside again as the fan is taken out by part of the production team. With the fan gone, Low Ki sits in his front row seat before getting back on the apron. The bell FINALLY rings and commentary gets to talk again, as they were mostly silent during the whole thing.

Hold on again though as Homicide grabs the mic and says put that CENSORED in the front row. Homicide: “I F***** YOUR GIRL LAST NIGHT!” Low Ki says put him in the front row and adds an “oh good you’re back.” The fan shouts something else at Low Ki, who points out that he’s the one in the ring (though he’s on the apron at the moment) while the fan is the one paying to watch (fair point).

I actually got to talk to Low Ki the next day and he said that the whole thing was real, to the point where even the locker room wasn’t sure what happened after the show. Apparently the fan flipping him off was the point of no return and while Low Ki was working a bit, he was still mad about the whole thing.

With ALL of that out of the way, Mark and Low Ki trade arm control to start. Low Ki tries to roll out but Mark holds back, only to get pulled into an armbreaker over the ropes. With that broken up, Low Ki kicks him out of the corner and it’s Jay coming in for a running big boot. The Rottweilers are sent outside where they throw in a bunch of chairs. Jay likes this idea and grabs the mic, saying let’s make this No DQ. Doesn’t work for Homicide (brother) so Mark gets a running start and flip dives onto the Rottweilers on the floor.

The bell is rung on Low Ki’s head (right in front of the unruly fan) but Mark chairs Jay by mistake. We settle down to the Rottweilers elbowing Jay until Mark makes the save with a chair (as we seem to have hit No DQ by default). Everything breaks down and Jay superkicks Low Ki, who might have lost a tooth. The Doomsday Device is broken up but Homicide is sent to the floor, leaving Low Ki to have his Jay Drilled. The Froggy Bow gives Mark the pin at 12:00.

Rating: B-. Once we got all of the insanity out of the way, the match wound up being the pretty good stuff that you would have expected. You don’t see a bad Briscoes match and they were doing their usual stuff here, albeit against a team that you have to be an old school ROH fan to remember. The problem with that was the thing at the beginning, which took me completely out of the match and is all I could remember about the thing. Kind of a shame, but if Low Ki was going for memorable, he certainly got it.

Overall Rating: A-. Ten man tag and pre-main event fiasco aside, this was a heck of a show that did exactly what it was supposed to do. We got a bunch of solid wrestling with a nice mixture of things to make it work. The WrestleCon Supershow is designed to be a big mash up of all kinds of fun and wacky matches and that is what we had here. Heck of a show, but skip that ten man tag and the Low Ki stuff, as it really drags things down.

 

 

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AND

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Powerrr
Date: January 21, 2020
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Stu Bennett, Joe Galli

It’s the season finale, meaning the last show before Saturday’s Hard Times event. I’m not sure what that is going to mean, but apparently this week’s show is going to be an extended hour and a half edition. Hopefully they use the extra time in a good way, and around here I think they actually will. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap sets up Nick Aldis vs. Ricky Morton for the World Title tonight.

Into The Fire.

Here’s Robert Gibson for a chat. He’s so happy to have helped his friend and partner get a World Title shot. Now go get it.

Tasha Steelz vs. Thunder Rosa

Steelz grabs a headlock to start but gets snapmared down and kicked in the back of the head. Rosa kicks her in the corner and chokes a bit with the boot, setting up a quick dragon sleeper. A hangman’s neckbreaker keeps Steelz in trouble but she gets a boot up in the corner. Steelz gets dropkicked out of the air though and a sitout Emerald Flosion finishes for Rosa at 2:52. This was just a step above a squash.

Post match Rosa says if you want to know what Melina’s problem is with her, ask Melina.

Nick Aldis is coming to see Marty Scurll in Baltimore and wants the NWA to come out in force. The tickets are free too.

Here are Royce Isaacs and Mae Valentine for a chat. Royce talks about Strictly Business being on fire but it’s pointed out that he is on a personal losing streak. That doesn’t sit well with Royce, who says his stock is going up. Galli lists off all of Royce’s losses and points out that the losses started when Valentine debuted. That’s not cool with Valentine and we’re done.

Let Austin Idol teach you how to get heat!

TV Title Tournament Qualifier: Thom Latimer vs. Trevor Murdoch

Latimer stomps away to start in a hurry to put Murdoch on the floor early on. Murdoch gets sent face first into the apron and a rake to the back makes it even worse. Back in and Latimer hits a powerbomb for two but a missed charge in the corner lets Murdoch grab a rollup (with trunks) for the pin at 2:31. That was his only offense for the match.

We recap Melina vs. Allysin Kay. Melina is a star but Kay is the defending Women’s Champion so it’s classic vs. modern.

Melina and Kay are at the interview desk with Melina wanting to make amends. Kay isn’t convinced and tells her to spit it out so Melina tells her to f****** listen. Melina has an idea for a match and Kay is ready to go. Hold on though as it isn’t against Melina, because Kay has to face Thunder Rosa at the pay per view. For now though, it’s a No DQ match with Kay facing….someone.

Allysin Kay vs. Marti Belle

Non-title and No DQ. It’s a brawl to start with Marti hammering away in the corner but getting knocked outside in a hurry. They slug it out on the floor until Marti flapjacks her onto the steps. Kay can’t get a chair as Belle kicks her away and puts on something like a camel clutch with Kay’s neck through the chair. That’s broken up and Belle’s knee hits the chair so Kay can slug away and take the fight into the crowd. Back in and Kay hits the AK47 onto the chair for the pin at 4:48.

Rating: C-. It was short but intense with Kay getting to showcase herself a bit more than usual. It’s almost weird that the Women’s Champion gets so little exposure but a showdown with Melina is the best thing for everyone involved. Odds are Melina wins the title, as they could have someone take it from her for a big rub. Either way, not a bad match here, with Belle getting to shine a bit.

Video on Nick Aldis vs. Ricky Morton. It’s so weird to say that in 2020. Or ever for that matter.

Buy the VHS guide to spiritual….something.

Here are the Pope and Eddie Kingston for a chat. Pope isn’t to blame for last week’s loss because he’ll help you if he can. People have been asking what his endgame is but he is still looking for his Super Powers and his Horsemen, and then you’ll see where this is going. Kingston says last week’s match shouldn’t have happened but Pope pushed them a bit too hard. They needed their victory last week but they learn instead of lose.

Kyle Davis replaces Galli on commentary. Was this taped out of order or something?

Here’s Aron Stevens for a ka-ra-tae demonstration, brought to you by the Mongrobian Ka-Ra-Tae Association. He brings out the Question Mark, but insists that he is NOT a mark! First, we face Mongrobia and bow, followed by Mark demonstrating a few chops. Now it’s some strikes to a masked man, followed by an explanation of how to disarm a man with a gun (or a finger gun).

But what if someone is carrying, say, a spatula? As I long for a squeegee joke, Mark demonstrates how to steal mace and use it on your attacker. Now we see two attackers taken out at once, which is why Mongrobia doesn’t need a nuclear program. Mark is ready to break some Mongrobian oak, but Stevens wants to do it himself so he can earn his fourth degree black belt.

Stevens needs to breathe a bit….but one of the masked men hits him with the board and unmasks as…..Ricky Starks for a good payoff. Speaking of payoffs, if you want to know Mongrobian secrets like these, it’s just 99.99 a month to learn why Mongrobia has been a free nation for thousands of years. This was rather entertaining as these two continue to be some of the most entertaining people in the NWA.

Buy Tony Falk’s tire irons! And have a waffle while you’re at it!

Gauntlet Match

The winner is the final entrant in the TV Title tournament. This is basically an eight man Royal Rumble and you can be eliminated by pinfall, submission or being thrown over the top. CW Anderson is in at #1 and Caleb Konley is in at #2. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to get anywhere until Konley takes him down by the arm. That’s broken up and we’re at another standoff.

Jocephus is in at #3 and is eliminated in about six seconds. Anderson clotheslines Konley for two but gets caught in a sitout ProtoBomb into a half crab. Colt Cabana is in at #4 as the intervals are all over the place. Cabana beats both of them up in a hurry, including a reverse Rings of Saturn to Konley. Anderson breaks that up and stomps on Cabana as Dave Dawson is in at #5. Splashes abound and it’s turning into more of a regular battle royal. Everyone is knocked down and it’s Aron Stevens at #6.

Stevens gets in, looks around, goes to the floor and crawls underneath the ring, Cue Zicky Dice to say he’s undefeated everyone around here and won’t be wrestling here because he’s already qualified. With that out of the way, Sal Rinauro is in at #7 to clean some house until Dawson dropkicks him for two. Everyone gangs up on Dawson though and Konley’s moonsault gets rid of him to clear the ring a bit. Ken Anderson is in at #8, giving us a final field of CW Anderson, Konley, Cabana, Stevens (under the ring), Rinauro and Ken Anderson.

Ken gets to clean house, including the Mic Check to eliminate Rinauro. Cabana and Ken get together to take over, which means it’s another Mic Check to get rid of Konley. CW hits Ken with a spinebuster but it’s the Superman Pin to finish CW off. Cabana and Ken are ready to go at it but cue the Question Mark as Stevens gets back in. Mark Mongrobian Spikes Stevens by mistake though and Stevens is paralyzed, allowing Cabana and Ken to throw him out. A handshake lets Ken roll Cabana up for the win at 12:35.

Rating: C. This worked well enough, mainly due to the battle royal setup instead of just a regular gauntlet. Ken getting the win is a good way to go as he’s one of the bigger stars around here. I could go for he and Cabana having a feud as neither exactly has anything better to do. If nothing else, you can probably bet on Cabana costing Ken his tournament match and that’s fine.

Post match Ken shakes Cabana’s hand….but hits him low and grabs another Mic Check. That’s not it though as Cabana gets posted for the knockout.

Hard Times video.

Eli Drake and James Storm are here to see Ricky Morton win the World Title. Storm is a tag team wrestler because of Morton and tonight Morton is like Dale Earnhardt. We even get a prayer for Morton to win the World Title tonight. Drake is fired up too and this helped things a bit.

It’s time for the Hard Times Control Center.

The final two spots in the TV Title tournament will be Matt Cross and Ring of Honor’s Dan Maff.

Maff wanted to be on the list of great NWA TV Champions.

Flip Gordon is ready for Nick Aldis at Hard Times because Marty Scurll has made him a new man.

New stipulation on the main event: if Morton wins, he is defending at Hard Times. If Aldis wins, the Rock N Roll Express have to defend in a triple threat match against the Wild Cards and Eli Drake/James Storm.

One more thing: Aron Stevens defends the National Title against Scott Steiner. I think I need to see that one.

NWA World Title: Nick Aldis vs. Ricky Morton

Aldis is defending and Billy Corgan is on commentary to make it special. Robert Gibson and Strictly Business are all at ringside for a bonus. Hold on though as Corgan tells Bennett something. Bennett says everyone has to leave ringside so it can be one on one. Aldis bails to the floor to start and it’s over a minute before they lock up for the first time. That goes nowhere so they circle each other a bit and lock up again, giving us another standoff.

Morton works on a headlock and manages to get Aldis on the mat for a change. Back up and a chop sends Aldis into the corner so it’s time for Aldis to start hammering away. Aldis goes for the arm so Morton elbows him in the face as they’re keeping it in first (or maybe second) gear so far. Some right hands in the corner send Aldis to the floor again but he rakes the eyes to get a breather.

Morton gets posted and a hard whip sends him into the corner for a bonus. A headbutt puts Morton down but he punches Aldis out of the air. That just earns him another rake to the eyes but Morton slams him off the top (he did face Flair before). A hurricanrana sets up a Figure Four on Aldis but a rope is grabbed. Morton tries a small package so Aldis reverses into one of his own and grabs the tights for the pin at 11:00.

Rating: C+. I didn’t come into this exactly thrilled with the concept but by the end, I wanted to see Morton win the title. Maybe it would be just a nostalgia act, but that can be a lot of fun at times. Of course it wasn’t going to happen and wouldn’t have been a great idea, but they got me on board and that’s more than I would have expected.

We get a graphic from Villain Enterprises saying Hard Times are coming for Aldis.

We look at the Hard Times lineup one more time to end the show.

Roll Credits.

Overall Rating: C+. The point of this show was to make me want to see Hard Times more than I did coming in and that’s what they did. The show is looking pretty nice on paper and that’s more than I would have bet on coming in. Somehow the NWA is having an intriguing run as of late and I’m curious to see where it wins up. Just have a good Hard Times and we should be fine.

Results

Thunder Rosa b. Tasha Steelz – Sitout Emerald Flosion

Trevor Murdoch b. Thom Latimer – Rollup with trunks

Allysin Kay b. Marti Belle – AK47 onto a chair

Ken Anderson won a gauntlet match last eliminating Colt Cabana

Nick Aldis b. Ricky Morton – Small package with tights

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also -available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Powerrr
Date: January 14, 2020
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Joe Galli, Stu Bennett

We’re closing in on Hard Times and that means we should know what the big stuff is going to be around here. Nick Aldis has been the major star and the focal point of the show, as he brings in Scott Steiner to help him deal with the existential threat that is Ricky Morton. We also get another TV Title Tournament qualifying match tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Aldis not being able to beat Ricky Starks and turning down five minutes with Ricky Morton. Then a six man tag was set up to earn Morton a shot, with Aldis bringing in Scott Steiner as his third man.

Into The Fire.

Here are the Rock N Roll Express for an opening chat. They’ve always put the fans first and that’s why they’ve never minded being #2. The two of them paved the way for today’s tag teams but they’re not crying over spilled milk. Morton has to get up every morning and work to feed his kids, so you better believe he’s coming to work hard to become World Champion. They aren’t saying who their third man is so keep watching to find out.

We finally get some brackets for the TV Title Tournament

Tim Storm

Zane Dawson/Dave Dawson

Ricky Starks

Open Slot

Zicky Dice

Open Slot

Question Mark

Trevor Murdoch/Thom Latimer

Well that’s better than nothing at least.

Zicky Dice and Ricky Starks argue about who will go further in the tournament. Starks says he’ll win the title but Dice says the only thing Starks will be stroking are these curls. Kind of random but giving these new guys promo time is one of the best things for them.

TV Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Dave Dawson vs. Zane Dawson

They circle each other and go nose to nose with only a shove for contact in the first thirty seconds. A headlock goes nowhere so they ram into each other, followed by Zane hitting a splash in the corner. Zane’s middle rope shoulder gets two but Dave is back with a kick to the face for two of his own. Dave misses a charge though and shoves Zane in the face, sending Zane over the top with chops in the corner. He even goes after Zane’s bad arm but the referee breaks it up, allowing Zane to hit him with the cast for the pin at 3:55.

Rating: D. They were managing to tell a little story here and I can certainly appreciate the extra effort. The wrestling was what you would expect from these two in a short match but there was only so much they could do with so little time and their limited in-ring abilities. It wasn’t very good, but they were running with a few anchors.

Zane is screaming in pain after the win.

Hard Times video.

Breaking News: the NWA invaded Ring of Honor over the weekend. More later.

Ken Anderson and Colt Cabana aren’t happy with their loss last week and seem to blame each other. Anderson is NOT bitter though.

Ashley Vox vs. Melina

Vox dropkicks her at the bell but Melina hits a running hair bulldog. A missed Cannonball in the corner makes it worse for Vox and Melina bends her neck around the rope. Another comeback attempt is cut off with a kick to the head and Vox is down again. They trade forearms with Vox doing the screaming comeback, only to get caught in something like an Eye of the Hurricane with a legdrop for the pin at 3:07.

Rating: D+. Melina is the top star in this division by a mile and that isn’t likely changing anytime soon. Kay is pretty good as well but they need to get the title on Melina already if they want it to have some credibility. The women’s division is still in its very early stages and going with the veteran makes sense.

Post match, Melina challenges Kay, who comes out and is ready to do this right now. We won’t be, but she’s ready to.

We get more clips of the NWA Invasion with Aldis attacking Marty Scurll and then running away from the threat of a beatdown. The next night, Aldis called out Scurll and security had to break up a brawl. Aldis challenged Flip Gordon for Hard Times.

Pope denies that he is managing Outlaw Inc. See, he’s advising them, which is totally different. He doesn’t like Aron Stevens either because Stevens won’t defend the title. Back to the tag teams, Outlaw Inc. is a real team, unlike Storm and Anderson, who are together because of convenience.

Outlaw Inc. vs. Aron Stevens/Question Mark

Question Mark now has a flag bearer (also masked of course). Stevens and Kingston start things off with Stevens being sent outside in a hurry. A double suplex gets two on Stevens and it’s Homicide staying in to mock the ka-ra-te. Stevens avoids a charge though and gets to hammer away, including sending Homicide shoulder first into the buckle.

The armbar goes on and it’s a Crane pose elbow (cool) to set up…well another armbar actually. Kingston comes in without a tag to save his partner but walks into the Mongrobian Spike. Everything breaks down and Homicide’s arm gives out on the Gringo Killer attempt, leaving him to take another Spike to give Stevens the pin at 4:56.

Rating: D+. The wrestling isn’t the point here, as tends to be the case with this show, but sweet goodness Stevens and Question Mark are two of the most entertaining people in the world. Those two have some serious chemistry and have figured out something that works, so let them go with whatever they want as the fans eat it all up.

Dr. Of Wrestling Psychology Austin Idol is ready to teach you how to get heat.

We get the same recap that opened the show.

Here’s Strictly Business and Scott Steiner now has an unidentified title. Aldis talks about how he was warned about the snakes in the business, including Steiner. Now he trusts Steiner, who goes on a rant about hating fat people. The title is the original NWA World Tag Team Title belt, before it became WCW. Tonight, they’re beating up the Rock N Roll Express.

Team Morton vs. Team Aldis

Morton: Robert Gibson/Eli Drake/Tim Storm

Aldis: Wildcards/Scott Steiner

If Team Morton wins, Ricky Morton gets a World Title shot. Latimer punches Drake into the corner to start so Drake reverses into a few right hands to the face. Gibson comes in to work on the arm before it’s off to Storm for more of the same. A neckbreaker gets two so it’s off to Isaacs, who gets clotheslined down in a hurry. Storm kicks him in the face for two more and it’s back to Gibson to work on the arm…for all of two seconds before Drake comes back in.

Isaacs finally gets in a clothesline and Steiner comes in for the first time to chop away in the corner. Latimer grabs a cravate and knees Drake in the face before Isaacs comes in for the chinlock. That doesn’t last long so here’s Steiner for an overhead belly to belly. Latimer is back in for his own chinlock but Drake fights up and hits a running DDT. Gibson gets the hot tag and finally stays in for more than a few seconds with some knees and right hands. Everything breaks down and Gibson rolls Isaacs up for the pin at 9:26.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one as it was a rather boring match with Gibson only doing anything at the end. The rest of the match was your basic formula stuff, though it’s not like there was any secret about who was going to win. I get pushing the Rock N Roll Express but it doesn’t make for the most intriguing stories outside of nostalgia. Granted that’s kind of the point of this whole place though right?

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: C-. This wasn’t one of my favorite shows and it was a lot of stuff that didn’t exactly work. The promos are still good and the show flies by, but the TV Title Tournament isn’t exactly thrilling and then you have Aldis vs. Ricky Morton and Ring of Honor, which makes for quite the combination. I just didn’t get the whole deal tonight but they can bounce back, as they tend to do.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also -available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

The next to last entry is one of the most influential tag teams of all time: the Rock and Roll Express.

The Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) got started in Memphis in 1983 and got into a huge feud with Lanny Poffo and Randy Savage, who had started an outlaw promotion based out of Lexington, Kentucky and were then brought in to Memphis for a HUGE feud. Here they are on June 25, 1984.

Randy Savage/Lanny Poffo vs. Rock and Roll Express

Gibson and Savage get things going and it’s clear that this is going to be white hot. They trade headlocks until Gibson grabs an armdrag and makes the tag. Morton hiptosses Randy as Poffo comes in for a failed save attempt, sending the brothers out to the floor. We settle down with Poffo flipping head first over the top to face Morton. Poffo tries flipping again but starts jawing with Gibson, allowing Morton to get behind him for a trip, sending the Poffos outside again.

Back in and we get a crisscross but Morton makes a blind tag, allowing Gibson to drop toehold Poffo down. Randy gets knocked off the apron and the fans are getting louder and louder. It’s amazing how precise the Express really is. They start working on Lanny’s leg and even get in a shot on Savage for a nice touch. It’s back to Savage who has to yell at the fans before he gets in.

We hit the stalling again to fulfill the Memphis requirements. Robert finally misses a charge into the corner and Lanny stomps away to take over. Gibson will have none of that though and slides over for a tag so Morton can beat up both brothers. Everything breaks down and the Poffo patriarch Angelo sends Morton into the post to really take over.

Back in and Lanny misses a dropkick in the corner but Savage is right there with a top rope ax handle to keep the Express in trouble. He misses a middle rope elbow (still refining the idea I guess) but Ricky is busted BAD. Ricky Morton starts playing Ricky Morton but avoids a Swanton (in 19 freaking 84!) from Lanny, allowing the hot tag to Gibson. A quick backdrop sends Gibson over the top though and that’s a DQ back in these days.

Rating: B+. This is what a white hot crowd can do for you. The action is hot and fast but the crowd carried it on beyond whatever they were going to be able to do on their own. Poffo and Savage were white hot as heels and they were in there with the biggest face tag team of all time at that point. What more could you possibly ask for?

I don’t usually do this but I have to mention the post match brawl with Savage piledriving Morton through the announcers’ table. In today’s product, this would be the equivalent of Pillmanizing a guy’s neck. Morton was out for the better part of ever and the fans just went SILENT. That was a huge spot in Memphis and one of the more famous moments ever for the Express.

It was off to the NWA soon after this and we’ll start at Starrcade 1985.

World Tag Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. Ivan Koloff/Nikita Koloff

The Rock N Roll Express are two pretty boys named Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson who could fly around a ring as well as any pair of guys you’re ever going to be lucky enough to see. They’re also challenging here and this is in a cage. I believe you win by pin or submission only. Ricky and Nikita start things off and the fans are already chanting USA. Ricky, a far smaller man, is shoved down by the more powerful Nikita. Morton fires off a quick dropkick and we’re at a standoff.

Nikita pounds Morton down and kicks him in the ribs before bring in Ivan. Ricky starts speeding things up by flying around and hitting a quick cross body. Ivan crotches him on the top rope and it’s time for Morton to play Ricky Morton. For those of you unfamiliar, Morton was so good at being beaten down and making a comeback that the beatdown leading to the hot tag is called Playing Ricky Morton.

Actually scratch that as Robert comes in for a quick rollup and a double chop to the head gets two on Ivan. Robert sends him head first into the cage and Morton does the same. The Express starts doing their double teaming jazz as is their custom. It’s off to Nikita though and there’s the bearhug on Robert. Nikita rams him into the cage back first and does the same with Robert’s head for good measure.

Back to Ivan who is busted open as well. Robert is sent into the cage yet again and an elbow drop gets two for Ivan. Off to Nikita for some biting to the head before Ivan comes in for some slow power offense. Robert rolls away from a legdrop but Nikita comes in for a chinlock. Gibson is busted open as well, which seems to be a requirement tonight.

A kick to the back keeps Gibson down and Ivan gets two. Back to Nikita for some more choking but Ricky makes the save. Don Kernoodle, the Express’ second, starts a USA chant as the referee is knocked down. He can’t make the count on Robert but as he gets back up, Ricky makes a blind tag and rolls up Ivan for the pin and the titles out of nowhere.

Rating: B. Good old fashioned tag match here with the Express getting destroyed until the very end where they won on a pure fluke. The fans were WAY into the Express at this point and Morton would even get a program with Ric Flair. The Russians were a great old school tag team idea with both guys looking like monsters and acting like it as well. Also this was nice to see a change in the usual Express formula with Gibson getting beaten down instead of Morton.

If you’re any kind of a wrestling fan, you’ve heard of the feud between the Rock and Roll Express and the Midnight Express. This is one of the greatest combinations of all time and you could count on them having a great match every time. There they are on a special called Superstars on the Superstation on February 7, 1986.

World Tag Team Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express

If this is anything lower than a B+, it’s a failure for these guys. These teams completely revolutionized tag team wrestling and basically invented the tag team formula you see in every major tag match. This is the less famous version of the Midnights with Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey as the challengers. It’s a brawl to start with the Midnights taking over on Gibson but Morton comes back in to take everything to the floor. The fans are NUTS for the Rock N Roll here.

Back in and the champions quickly clean house, sending the Midnights out for a consultation with Jim Cornette. We finally start with Gibson vs. Eaton as things slow down a bit. Gibson blocks a hiptoss and throws Eaton down before hitting a sweet flying headscissors. Off to Morton who punches both Midnights down and works on Bobby’s leg. They head back to the floor with Morton backdropping Eaton onto the concrete before pounding him against the barricade.

Back in and it’s a double tag off to Gibson vs. Condrey. The Rock N Roll takes over on Dennis’ leg with some slingshot splashes and elbows onto the knee for two. Gibson cranks on the leg before Morton comes in, decks Eaton, and cranks on Condrey’s leg as well. Condrey fights up and hits a knee to Ricky’s ribs but hurts his own leg so bad that he hits the mat. I miss selling like that in today’s product.

The champions take turns working on the leg with Ricky coming in off the top with a knee drop on Condrey’s leg. Dennis finally gets over to Eaton without too much resistance and we’re back to even for a bit. Eaton takes him into the corner for some HARD right hands, only to be taken down by a suplex. Back to Gibson whose dropkick is caught in a catapult, sending him face first into a forearm from Condrey. Dennis comes back in as we take a break.

Back with Eaton holding Gibson in a chinlock before it’s off to Condrey for the same hold. Morton gets drawn into the ring, allowing Eaton to drop a top rope knee to Gibson before Condrey puts on the chinlock again. Gibson finally fights up with a knee lift but Condrey rakes the eyes to stop a tag. Back to Eaton who gets two off a neckbreaker and puts on another chinlock.

Robert fights up and gets a quick two off a sunset flip but Condrey punches him back down. The Midnights miss the Rocket Launcher and there’s the hot tag off to Ricky. Everything breaks down and the double dropkick (Rock N Roll’s finisher) hits Eaton but it takes the referee out as well. Cornette brings in the tennis racket and Condrey BLASTS Morton in the back of the head, giving Eaton the pin and the titles. Keep in mind that this is 1986 when titles NEVER changed hands on TV.

Rating: B+. Yeah it’s still awesome. These guys just know how to work together and the crowd was way into this. The matches would get even better when Stan Lane replaced Condrey which says a lot given how good these guys looked here. Solid match here, which is all you would have expected coming in.

Here they are at Starrcade 1986 against another great tag team.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From the 4^th of July on the Great American Bash tour in 1987.

World Tag Titles/US Tag Titles: Midnight Express vs. Rock and Roll Express

This match happened twice on the tour and I think this is in Atlanta. The Rock N Roll Express are the world tag champions and the Midnights are the US Champions and it’s title for title. Gibson vs. Eaton to start us off and there’s no Cornette here which is REALLY weird to see. Off to Stan Lane who doesn’t have much luck either. He gets sent to the floor and now it’s off to Morton.

A Japanese armdrag gets one for Ricky. Lane makes a tag and Eaton can’t get anything going either. This has been all Rock N Roll so far. Back to Morton who gets into a test of strength. I love seeing that from smaller guys. Ricky literally climbs up onto Eaton’s shoulders and drops over the back. I’m not sure what the point of that was but it looks cool.

Sweet rana gets two for Morton and it’s back to Gibson. A rana misses there and Lane cheats to save Eaton so that the Midnights can take over. I’m not sure what to make of Gibson being the one beaten down but it’s certainly happening. The Midnights beat down Gibson as only the Midnights can do even though they never really do since it’s always Morton getting beaten down but who cares. Hot tag brings in Morton (that may never be said again) and house is cleaned. A double dropkick gets two on Lane and everything breaks down. Bubba comes in with a Bubba Slam and it’s a DQ.

Rating: B-. This is one of those matches that is always good and this is no exception. They know how to have great tag matches and this is something that you flat out did not see back in the day. The Rockers claim to have introduced this style but if they did then they never watched the NWA because these guys were doing it years before that. Good match, bad ending.

Let’s throw in a gimmick at Starrcade 1987.

Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express

This is another Skywalkers (scaffold) match which is an odd choice for these guys. These two teams redefined tag team wrestling with their incredible series of matches, so the company decides to put them in a match with no wrestling involved in it at all? The Midnights are the now Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane and they’re the US Tag Team Champions but this is non-title. They also have Cornette and Bubba with them.

Both teams are skeptical to go up but after over a minute and a half of waiting, everyone goes up top. Actually scratch that as Bubba pulls Morton down as he’s climbing and spikes him down onto the mat to give the Midnights a two on one advantage. Bubba tries to climb up as well but Morton gets up and steals Cornette’s tennis racket. A few shots to the back keeps Bubba down and Morton climbs up, still holding the racket. Eaton gets whacked a few times as well as the fighting really gets going.

Morton knocks Eaton around with the racket as Gibson pounds on Lane on the other end of the scaffold. Eaton busts out his trusty powder to blind Ricky and now Gibson is double teamed. Ricky gets the tennis racket back to stagger Bobby with as all four guys head back to the ends of the scaffold. Eaton drops the racket to the mat as Lane climbs under the scaffold.

Cornette throws the racket up to Eaton again so he can pound on Robert’s back. Morton heads under the scaffold to get at Stan, eventually kicking him down to the mat. Eaton and Gibson are up top still though until Ricky goes up too. The Rock N Roll finally knocks him down over the edge and down to the mat for the win. I know the ending sounds sudden but there really isn’t much else to it than that.

Rating: D+. Just like last year, what can you really expect from a match like this? They can’t do much without risking a very serious injury but you don’t want the fans to be bored out of their minds either. These guys had some of the best tag team matches ever when they were on the ground floor and I have no idea why they were given this gimmick of all things.

The Express would head to the AWA for a little while, including this match at SuperClash III.

Jimmy Golden/Robert Fuller vs. Rock N Roll Express

CWA vs. AWA here I think. Golden is Bunkhouse Buck and Fuller is Colonel Robert Parker. Why in the world this is going on last is beyond me. There’s a different announcer here too for some reason. I really didn’t want to see Parker in trunks. Golden and Morton start us off. Technical stuff to start and the Express clean the ring out quickly. Back to the starters as the crowd is gone after the real main event.

They fight over a front chancery as the fans chant boring. Morton gets a nice counter into a suplex kind of move as we get heel miscommunication. Off to Fuller and Gibson for a crisscross. It’s pretty clear Fuller isn’t the most sound wrestler in the world. Oddly enough Gibson is portraying Morton here and Golden throws on a bearhug. Double team abdominal stretch goes on after some cheating by the not Express’ manager. Hot tag brings in Morton to clean house and the double dropkick takes down Golden. We go to the floor and it’s thrown out.

Rating: C-. Just a tag match here with a bad ending. I have no idea what the point of having this on here to end the show was, especially when it’s just another match. Golden and Fuller were nothing of note and would be in WCW a few years later. The Express would go on to the indies forever and have some more time in WCW.

Back to WCW with this match at WrestleWar 1990.

Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express

This is another one of those matches where the starting rating rises up from a C to a B. These guys feuded for probably 6 years on and off and had more classics than you could shake a stick at. Why you would want to shake a stick at it is beyond me but you get the idea. Gibson vs. Stan gets us going. Lane dives to the mat and they counter each other a lot. Gibson counters a counter and drops a fist onto Lane’s head to take over.

Cornette gets in an argument with Nick Patrick and wants to box him. This is an old spot they did which always gets a big reaction. Cornette is dispatched quickly and it’s Morton vs. Lane now. The fans are into this too. Bobby gets knocked to the floor and Lane shoves him down as well. We never got a big singles match between those two and I think that’s for the best.

Lane vs. Bobby now and they speed things up. Nothing seems to be coming out of the shove from a few moments ago. Off to a test of strength and Morton is losing. He climbs up Bobby, stands on his shoulders, and jumps onto Lane in the corner. Gibson runs off Lane and the Midnights are knocked to the floor. Cornette tries to get in and falls over the top rope so Gibson knocks back down. Both Midnights are double clotheslined to the floor as well and it’s been one sided for about the first eight minutes.

Back in now and it’s Gibson vs. Lane but Lane still can’t get anything going. Morton comes in for a double elbow but gets sent outside. Never mind again as Lane goes into the post. Now it’s Eaton again and it’s a slugout. Terry gets into this and they both tumble to the floor. Outside Lane slams Morton and the Midnights take over.

Now we get into a much more traditional tag match which was popularized if not perfected by these teams, making this a fun match. Morton is sent to the floor and rammed into various metal objects. He manages a sunset flip but Cornette grabs the referee. Morton tries an O’Connor Roll but Lane makes a blind tag and hooks a neckbreaker for two. Eaton goes after the arm with a single arm DDT and into a hammerlock.

Lane comes in for a quick reverse chinlock before bringing in Eaton for a top rope elbow. Back to the arm by Lane. Man the Midnights tag in fast. Eaton works on the arm again with the hammerlock and the Midnights set for the Rocket Launcher. It hits the knees though and here’s Gibson. Everything breaks down but he’s still 2-1. The Midnights load up the Flapjack but Gibson rolls through for the pin on Lane.

Rating: B+. Oh come on it’s the Midnights vs. Rock N Roll. There’s practically no way that this can be screwed up. It’s a great speed match and they know each other so well that they’re going to have a good match through familiarity if nothing else. Fun stuff here but somehow not their best work together.

Time for a change of pace at Capital Combat in June 1990.

Rock N Roll Express vs. Freebirds

The Freebirds are Garvin and Hayes here and this is a Corporal Punishment match, which means a strap match. They can beat on each other with them or whatever they like but aren’t attached. We get Badstreet USA so this is already a success. The Birds get pyro which was a rare thing back then. I love how in recapping the night, Ross talks about Robocop and Sting and the US Tag Title match in the same manner, as if they were the same amount of time.

The straps are attached to the ring posts. Why? No reason is given but whatever. We finally get to the straps as the Express are dominating. Ross of course talks about the woodshed. That’s some weird obsession he has. This is kind of disjointed as it’s a segment and then a whipping and then we repeat. We get a whip duel between Gibson and Hayes which is kind of cool.

Ross says one of his favorite teams is the Steiners. Not sure what that has to do with this match but whatever. The heels take over and Ricky Morton plays Ricky Morton. Playing Ricky Morton means getting the living tar pounded out of you for a LONG time before making the hot tag. It was designed and more or less invented in the Express vs. Express matches and has been a staple of tag team wrestling ever since.

If you ever hear of someone playing Ricky Morton, it’s a guy in a tag match, 99% of the time a face, being beaten down really badly. The straps are kind of awesome actually as at least they make a really loud sound so you can tell it’s painful. That’s better than nothing at least. Garvin goes up and that completely fails which you would think would set up the hot tag to Gibson.

Nope not yet which isn’t incredibly surprising. In a nice idea, Morton goes to the wrong corner. That’s not bad at all. There’s your hot tag to not a ton of heat actually. Ross calls it The Sleep again. That’s just weird to hear. It really is. Hayes gets his DDT but doesn’t cover. This allows Morton, the illegal man, to come off the top with a sunset flip for the pin. Nice ending.

Rating: B. Not as good as the previous one, but then again the Freebirds aren’t as good as Zenk and Pillman in the ring. This came off fine although the straps weren’t used as much as I would have liked them to but I can live with that. This was fine for what it was though and was a very good use of nearly twenty minutes. The Express was past its prime at this point, but they still make fine tag matches. The ending made up for a weaker match here, which is fine as it’s the last thing you see.

We’ll go back to the guaranteed layup at Clash of the Champions XI.

US Tag Team Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express

The Midnights are defending as this legendary feud continues. Both teams get quick promos saying they’ll win with an identical train in the background. The image is inverted for the Midnights though, meaning they’re from the other side of the tracks. It’s probably unintentional but it’s a nice touch if it was on purpose. Eaton and Gibson get things going as the announcers emphasize how even these teams are.

The fans chant for the Rock and Roll and Gibson takes over with a hiptoss and flying headscissors. Lane comes in off the tag and scores with a few kicks, only to be taken down by an enziguri from Gibson. Off to Morton as they run the ropes to speed things up. Lane misses a charge in the corner and gets backdropped down, leaving us at a stalemate. Back to Eaton who walks into a dropkick and hurricanrana, sending him into the corner for some consultation with Cornette and Lane.

Stan comes in again but gets caught in a Gibson armbar. Gibson sends him into the corner before it’s back to Morton for an armbar. Morton rolls Stan up in the corner for two as everything breaks down. Ricky is sent to the floor and Gibson gets caught in a double flapjack to give the champions their first control. It only lasts a few seconds though as Morton comes back in for a double rollup to change momentum right back.

Things settle down and Bobby goes up to pull Morton down by the hair. The Midnights double team for a few seconds but Ricky quickly runs over and makes the tag off to Gibson. Everything breaks down again and it’s Robert working on Stan’s leg in the ring. Lane kicks away though and the Rock N Roll collide, allowing Bobby to come off the top with an ax handle to give Stan two. The double dropkick drops Eaton but Lane pulls the referee out for the DQ.

Rating: C+. This was picking up in a hurry near the ending but the first part of it didn’t do much. They needed about five more minutes here to really get something going but those are the perils of televised wrestling. It’s almost impossible to screw up this match though and that’s a valuable asset to have on a card.

Here they are against a different kind of team at the Great American Bash 1990.

Tag Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. Doom

This is more or less the final run for the RNR and they’re challenging here. Simmons vs. Gibson starts us off. JR talks about Gibson signing in the ring, as in sign language. Gibson speeds things up and gets a rollup for one, which makes Simmons tag in Reed. An elbow puts Butch back into the corner and here’s Ricky. Reed knocks Morton down so the Express double teams him down.

The idea of the match here is very simple: when the Express can double team they win, but when it’s one on one they don’t have much luck. Reed knocks both of them to the floor but it’s Gibson taking the worst of it. Back in a sunset flip gets two for Robert as does a slam for Reed. Morton comes in to speed things up and gets two with an O’Connor Roll on Butch. They speed the clock up to say that it’s been ten minutes.

Reed works over Morton with pure power and brings in Simmons. Morton gets a dropkick but Reed comes in to keep things at the status quo. Reed comes in and slows things back down again, which makes perfect sense for Doom. Gibson has had enough and comes in for some cheating but it doesn’t do enough to get him in legally. Back to Simmons as Morton takes a beating like only Ricky Morton can do.

Reed gets two off a big right hand and it’s time for more chinlocking. Doom does their cheating by throwing Morton over the top while the other has the referee distracted. Shoulder block gets two for Ron. Morton slugs it out with Reed which goes horribly and results in a powerslam for two. Morton ducks another shoulder and there’s the hot tag to Gibson. He cleans house and a sunset flip gets no count on Ron as everything breaks down. An enziguri sends Ron into Teddy to bring him inside. Gibson beats him up which is enough of a distraction for Reed to come off the top and kill Gibson with a shoulder to retain.

Rating: B. Doom was awesome at this point and would soon turn face and fight the Horsemen, causing some AWESOME fights. The Express never really went anywhere after this other than to the indies and other companies. Great match though in the traditional formula that the Express perfected long ago.

The team would head to Smoky Mountain Wrestling for a long time and wound up appearing in the main two companies on some co-promotional deals. Here they are at SuperBrawl III.

Smokey Mountain Tag Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies

The Bodies are Stan Lane and Tom Pritchard, which makes little sense because Bobby Eaton is with them. I’m kind of glad that they didn’t go with the Midnights here. This one is hard to screw up. I think the Bodies were using the Freebird Rule. Oh ok Eaton is thrown out to a lot of booing. Why in the world are these guys on WCW? I get the history but SMW in WCW? That’s just odd as all goodness. Morton gets a nice hurricanrana to start us out.

They do a cool/funny sequence where Morton has a wrist lock on and keeps swinging Lane around in circles and he can’t catch a tag. The Express is dominating here. Cornette hugging Pritchard is great stuff. Cornette is just awesomeness in a bad suit. Jesse implies Cornette is gay which you have to be a political geek to get. Don’t ask and I won’t tell you about it. The faces haven’t been in trouble yet at all. Cornette gets taken down to a HUGE pop.

The RNRE just standing in the corner is priceless stuff. Cornette finally interferes to break up the hot streak and the tennis racket gets a shot in to draw great heat. We get the eternal question of what is Pritchard a doctor of and Jesse suggests gynecology. That’s just odd to hear on a wrestling show. He’s the doctor of disaster of all things. That’s so indy level I can’t even wrap my mind around it.

The Bodies are the champions here which I completely forgot to mention. This is the same formula that they’ve used for years and it works fine here. Morton gets the tar beaten out of him and finally Gibson comes in for the save. The double dropkick connects but Cornette makes the interfering save. Eaton comes in for the save but it misses and Gibson gets the pin for the titles.

Rating: B-. This was fine. It’s the same thing they did about a million times in SMW so they knew what they were doing. This was all for the live crowd as these teams were more or less legendary in the area. The decision would be reversed later and the Bodies would get the titles back.

And at Survivor Series 1993.

Smokey Mountain Wrestling Tag Titles: Heavenly Bodies vs. Rock N Roll Express

This is part of an agreement the companies had at the time which didn’t quite work that well. The Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) are the champions and they’re defending against the Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray). It’s a brawl to start with the Express being sent to the floor. Gibson is pulled back in but Morton pulls both of the Bodies out to the floor. Ricky follows that up with a suicide dive to take both of them out at the same time.

Things slow down and we start with Gibson vs. Del Ray. Things are going to go very fast in this match and that’s exactly how it starts with Gibson flipping out of the corner and hitting a headscissor takeover before bringing in Morton. Prichard comes in and gets booed louder than all of the Knights in the previous match combined. Morton can’t quite get above Prichard on a leapfrog and he ducks a Del Ray superkick which takes Prichard down instead.

Both Bodies get monkey flipped out of the corner and we get the always dumb looking rowboat spot, which is where all four of the heels’ legs are rotated around by the good guys. Gibson works on Prichard’s leg and the Express take out Del Ray in the corner before Morton works on Prichard’s leg as well. Tom finally gets in a shot and it’s off to Del Ray who is immediately armdragged down.

In a nice move, Gibson blocks the buckle before Morton’s back hits it to prevent the Bodies from getting the advantage. It’s all Express other than the first fifteen seconds or so. The Bodies have a quick huddle on the floor and the fans are bored. It’s Prichard vs. Morton now with the heels taking over for the first time since the beginning. Off to Del Ray who is suplexed down onto Morton for two.

Back to Prichard for some more choking. There wasn’t a tag but that’s why the Bodies are heels. Del Ray hits an Asai Moonsault to the floor and it’s back to Prichard in the ring who hits a powerslam for two. Off to a chinlock as this match is turning into an old school tag match of the NWA style. A Trash Compactor (a kind of spinebuster/guillotine legdrop combo) gets two but Del Ray’s powerbomb is countered into a rana for two.

Ricky hooks a small package for another two and Del Ray hits a moonsault press on Morton for ANOTHER two. This is why it’s called Playing Ricky Morton people. The guy was a master at it. A double DDT puts the Bodies down and Morton rolls over to make the tag to Gibson.

Now we get to the point of the match: Prichard throws Morton over the top, which is a DQ in SMW, but this is in the WWF. Gibson gets confused and decked for his confusion as Morton gets beaten down even more. There’s the double dropkick to Prichard but it only gets two. Del Ray comes off the top with a tennis racket (Cornette signature) shot to Gibson for the pin and the title.

Rating: B-. This was a strange match as from a technical standpoint it was quite good and in SMW it would have been the main event of a big show, but we’re not in SMW. We’re in the WWF here and these people don’t mean anything. There’s a deep history here of a ton of matches with various gimmicks to them, making this a huge feud. The problem is all we’re told is they’ve been feuding for years. It’s the same issue you have with Japanese wrestlers: just being told how great they are doesn’t mean anything to most fans. We need to see these things, not be told about them.

They would pop up in WCW as jobbers, including this match which could have made a fortune eight years earlier. From Nitro on June 3, 1996.

Rock N Roll Express vs. Ric Flair/Arn Anderson

If this was 1986, this would be able to sell out every arena in the south. Flair and Anderson come out in football…….GOOD FREAKING GRIEF Liz looks good in red leather. Her hotness went WAY up around this time and this is no exception. The audio is messed up here so it sounds like the announcers are about a mile away. Flair teases throwing his jersey to the crowd and then hands it to Liz on the floor. Classic.

Morton and Anderson start us off, despite no one caring about the Express here. WCW’s infinite brilliance continues as they have a countdown clock going in the corner to the second hour and then in the middle of the match pyro and fireworks go off because THE HOUR CHANGED!!! It makes Arn visibly jump. Good thing he was standing by himself and not like, piledriving someone right? For the life of me I never got why that was such a big deal.

Flair vs. Morton now and Morton can’t throw convincing punches at all. Gibson vs. Anderson as I have a feeling we’re in for a long one here. Cross body gets two for Gibson and we’re off to Flair again, who is caught in the figure four rather quickly. Anderson gets caught in one by Morton in a spot we saw very often with these two over the years. Flair gets in the referee’s face and gets shoved to the floor by the striped shirt guy.

After a break the audio is fixed and Morton hits an armdrag to Anderson. Bischoff shows off his ability to tell us what we’re seeing and it’s back to Flair again. Morton hammers away as we talk about the football thing to no end. We actually hear about a WCW charity show in Buffalo. That’s rather awesome. There’s the hammerlock slam by Anderson and it’s arm working time.

Off to Flair and the Horsemen keep their awesome tag work going. Powerslam gets two. The idea here is that Heenan might be managing the Horsemen at the PPV but he won’t say it. Chinlock time which eats up a good while. Morton grabs a sleeper which gets him nowhere. Figure four is reversed for two and a sunset flip gets the same for Morton.

Back to Anderson and Heenan strolls down to ringside to talk to Woman and Liz. And now, back to the match. Morton takes down Anderson with something we don’t see and it’s off to Flair and Gibson. Double dropkick to Flair as Heenan is apparently sitting at Flair’s VIP table. Woman pops up for the distraction and a rake of the eyes, allowing Arn to hit the DDT on Gibson to end this.

Rating: C+. It’s the Rock N Roll Express using the Rock N Roll Express formula. Were you expecting anything different here? Not much to complain about here as it’s nearly 20 minutes of these four. These practice matches are working rather well and this was no exception. Fun stuff here but a bit long for modern wrestling.

And to the WWF for that bizarre NWA invasion angle. From Saturday Night Raw on February 21, 1998.

NWA Tag Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. Headbangers

Mosh and Gibson start us off but it’s off to Thrasher quickly. There’s something funny about the Express coming out to the Rockers theme song. Cornette distracts the referee and Morton can cheat to shift the advantage. It’s so weird to see the Express as heels and with Cornette.

Mosh gets beaten down for a bit until he gets a double DDT to break the Express’ momentum. Lukewarm tag to Thrasher who cleans house. Stage Dive (powerbomb/guillotine legdrop combination) gets two as Gibson is thrown over the top so it’s a DQ win for the champions. Totally predictable ending.

Rating: D+. Just a basic match that existed to show that the NWA had different rules. It was pretty clear there was going to be a screwy finish as soon as Kelly talked about there being different rules in the NWA than in the WWF. Not a terrible match but there was nothing of note here at all.

We’ll wrap it up at In Your House XXI as I don’t think there’s a ton of interest in two guys in their 50s touring the indy circuit.

NWA World Tag Team Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. New Midnight Express

The New Midnight Express is comprised of Bombastic Bob (Bob Holly) and Bodacious Bart (Bart Gunn). The original version was managed by Cornette and feuded with the Rock N Roll Express (challengers tonight) for most of the 80s in a feud that revolutionized tag team wrestling. The Rock N Roll Express comes out to the Rockers’ (a WWF tag team) music. Bob and Robert Gibson start things off with Gibson shoulder blocking Bob out to the floor.

Back in and the formerly very fast Rock N Roll Express are just kind of quick here with their signature double leg snap into a rolling double punch to the Midnight on the apron. The fans just do not care here and it’s rather sad to see. Ricky Morton comes in and works on Bob before sending him into Bart, starting an argument between the champions. Bart comes in and puts on an abdominal stretch as I think this is a way to replicate the original feud but it’s just not working at all.

Cornette gets in an argument with the referee and comes into the ring for a boxing match which is an old signature spot of the feud. The referee is ready to go and Cornette runs away to wake up the crowd a bit. Cornette drops back to the floor and trips Morton, allowing Bart to hit a knee to the back, sending Ricky to the floor. The Midnights double team Ricky for two and Bart’s powerslam gets the same.

Bob misses a top rope legdrop though and it’s off to Gibson with no one reacting at all. Everything breaks down with the Rock N Roll in control and hitting their double dropkick on Bart. Gibson has to avoid a Cornette elbow drop but the distraction lets Bart bulldog Gibson down for the pin to retain.

Rating: F. This match wasn’t so much bad as it was pitiful. This was a tag team trying to get back to its old level of glory and just not being able to do it anymore. The match wasn’t horrid, but the idea of the match just didn’t work at all. The NWA angle never worked and had to have been a way to humiliate Cornette instead of help the company at all.

I don’t know what else you want me to say about these guys. The Rock and Roll Express are one of the best and most influential tag teams of all time and you can see so many of their ideas in wrestling today. You can thank them for the face in peril spot and the classic tag team formula which we’ve seen for the last fifteen years minimum. That series they had with the Midnight Express is as good of a pairing as you’ll ever find and it more than holds up today. If you love tag team wrestling…..well you’ve probably seen these guys before. Go watch them again because you’ll learn something new.

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