IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #92
Date: January 11, 2020
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, AJ Kirsch

We’re still in New York as the Opera Cup continues with the second semifinal match. Other than that we get the fallout from last week with Tom Lawlor and the Spirit Squad beating down the Von Erichs. Other than that, there is always the chance of Contra getting into some violence. Let’s get to it.

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

Injustice has attacked Brian Pillman Jr. in an attempt to get him out of the Opera Cup, where the three of them are the alternates. This included some arm damage and a “fan” shouting for security. Injustice swears about this being what happens if you leave them out.

Opening sequence.

We look back at Tom Lawlor beating up Rip Von Erich (Lance’s son in a great joke), drawing out the real brothers. The Spirit Squad then ran in to save Lawlor and beat down Ross and Marshall.

Tag Team Titles: Filthy Squad vs. Von Erichs

Non-title and Lawlor is on commentary. The Squad is now in martial arts gear as they are Lawlor’s top students. During the entrances, we see their official induction into Team Filthy in a good bit of continuity. Some fans give the Von Erichs flowers in a Sportatorium inspired moment. It’s a brawl to start with Mikey being knocked to the floor so Kenny can run into a double dropkick. Back in and Marshall gets taken down, allowing the Squad to start in on his bad leg. Marshall kicks Kenny away with little effort and it’s Ross coming in to clean house. The Claw/belly to back slam finishes Mikey at 2:18. Short and sweet.

Post match, Rip Von Erich tries to run in but gets beaten down as well.

We look at Pillman being attacked again. Pillman is still being looked at.

Lawlor jumps the Von Erichs and hits Marshall in the bad knee with some kind of weapon.

Here are both attacks that you just saw again.

Injustice makes fun of Court Bauer wanting to fine them. You can’t get them on any BS charges so they should be in the Opera Cup now that Pillman is out.

Video on Mance Warner vs. Jimmy Havoc, who have been fighting forever and now it’s going to be a barbed wire match.

Fightland Control Center, with Killer Kross and LA Park confirmed.

Erick Stevens is coming.

Pillman is arguing with the doctors behind closed doors. Pillman, with a very taped up arm, comes out of the room and says he’s cleared for tonight. Tonight, he’s taking out Timothy Thatcher and then he’ll deal with Injustice.

Contra talks about loving violence and promise an upcoming war. They’re coming for the Von Erichs and Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Here’s the returning Konnan for a chat. He talks about the partnership with AAA, which he helped put together. As for now though, he’s found the next big thing in Gino Medina. This brings out Gino with Konnan talking about Gino being the son of a member of Los Gringos Locos, which also included Konnan and Eddie Guerrero. Gino accuses Konnan of trying to manipulate him but Konnan says that would be Salina de la Renta, with sex references included.

Cue Salina to say Konnan has no sex life so Konnan says he’s at the top of the penthouse and Salina is in the basement garage. Now it’s the Dynasty joining in on things, with MJF suggesting that he can get Gino into AEW. Richard Holiday talks about how elite the team is and Hammerstone brags about his physique for a sales pitch. Gino shakes Konnan’s hand but then lays him out, with the Dynasty joining in as Gino joins the team.

Post break, we look at what we just saw.

We look at how Brian Pillman Jr. and Timothy Thatcher made the semifinals of the Opera Cup.

Opera Cup Semifinals: Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Timothy Thatcher

Pillman has a bad shoulder coming in. A running dropkick sends Thatcher into the corner and Pillman starts chopping away until Thatcher gets in the first crank on the arm to cut that off in a hurry. An elbow to the arm lets Thatcher glare down at him and the keylock goes on. Thatcher mixes it up with a half crab and a bow and arrow, followed by another more traditional armbar.

Now it’s a Disarm-Her until Pillman slips out and reverses a belly to belly into a crossbody for two. The arm is fine enough to grab a powerslam for two but the Dire Promise is broken up. Thatcher gets two off a suplex and we hit the chinlock. With that not working, Thatcher goes with a Fujiwara armbar but Pillman reverses into a rollup for the pin at 8:14.

Rating: C+. They didn’t quite get up into a higher level but Pillman fighting through adversity to win the match and go on to face his friend in the finals. Thatcher looked good as usual as there is always room for someone who can wreck some limbs. Not a great match, but it did what it was supposed to do.

We look at how Davey Boy Smith made the finals to preview next week’s big match.

Overall Rating: C. This was one of those shows where you would have been better off reading a recap rather than watching the show. The wrestling was watchable at best but everything was so fast that it didn’t mean much. I liked the Gino segment and I can always go for more of Konnan vs. Salina. Next week’s main event should be good in a British Bulldog vs. Owen Hart sense, which seems to be at least an inspiration. It wasn’t a great show, but it could have been worse.

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

IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #91
Date: January 4, 2020
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: AJ Kirsch, Rich Bocchini

We’re still in New York to start the new year and it’s time for the semifinals of the Opera Cup. The first set of matches were pretty good and hopefully the semifinals and finals should be fine. Other than that, because it has been at least a week, we have another Jimmy Havoc vs. Mance Warner match. Let’s get to it.

Mance Warner yells about how he and Jimmy Havoc have fought several times. They’ve busted each other open and now Jimmy has left him bandaged up. Havoc needed his princess to help bust him open so Warner is going to put all that in his pockets and carry it with him to Dallas, Texas for their barbed wire match. That’s all well and good, but was there a reason why he was looking just off the center of the camera?

Opening sequence.

Here’s Tom Lawlor, in a Von Erichs shirt, with someone we don’t know. All anyone wants to talk to Lawlor about is the Von Erich family but that’s because they’re idiots. The only people dumber than them are these fans and Lawlor sees a lot of fakes in the crowd. In the back though, he sees a couple of fake Von Erichs (my kingdom for a Lance reference) so tonight, Tom wants to face the greatest Von Erich: Lance’s son (SWEET!) RIP VON ERICH!

Tom Lawlor vs Rip Von Erich

Rich: “Who the h*** is this ham and egger???” Lawlor offers Rip (who is a bit short but looks fine enough otherwise) a test of strength before shouldering him down. Rip tries another shoulder and bounces off of Lawlor before it’s time to work on the wrist. Now it’s a half crab as Lawlor starts in with the torture. Rip fights up, spins around a few times, and misses a discus punch. That sets up the airplane spin so Rip tries the Claw, earning himself a rear naked choke, complete with a Claw, to give Lawlor the win at 3:20.

Rating: D. It was an idea but they didn’t go far enough with the joke. Lawlor isn’t a big guy but Rip looked more like a regular jobber and not the kind of person you would really make fun of here. It helped when he was inept in the ring, but the joke really didn’t set in at the beginning.

Post match Lawlor celebrates his victory over the Von Erichs. He’s ready for people to be cheering for him instead of the Von Erichs. Cue Ross and Marshall (it took long enough) but the Spirit Squad of all people jump them from behind and the big beatdown is on. Even the corner man helps in with the stomping.

It’s the Zero Hour Control Center, focusing on Gino Medina and the AAA partnership. Oh and barbed wire of course.

We look at Contra attacking the debuting Stronghearts last week.

Richard Holliday and Alexander Hammerstone want Gino Medina in the Dynasty when Salina de la Renta comes in to laugh at the. Hammerstone says stop c*** blocking them but she doesn’t know what she’s blocking.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. is ready to out wrestle Hammerstone to make the finals of the Opera Cup. Fatigue is going to set in on Hammerstone and the submissions are coming.

Opera Cup Semifinals: Alexander Hammerstone vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Non-title, Holliday is with Hammerstone and MJF is on commentary because we’re a lucky audience this week. After MJF is bored with Smith and refuses a handshake with AJ without a lot of hand sanitizer, we’re ready to go with a battle over wristlocking. Smith takes him down for a double arm crank with AJ talking about leverage. MJF: “AJ the word is shut your mouth and stop making eye contact.”

Smith it sent hard into the ropes and has to skin the cat, only to have Holliday grab his foot. Hammerstone hits a bicycle kick (MJF: “HE GOT A BICYCLE!” The old school references are on fire this week!) and they go outside with Smith being dropped back first onto the barricade. Back in and Hammerstone stomps away in the corner as MJF goes into a tirade about a suggestion that he isn’t the leader of the Dynasty.

Hammerstone puts on the chinlock and demands that the referee ask him in Canadian (heard something similar before and it’s still funny). That’s broken up in a hurry so Hammerstone hits a dropkick (MJF: “THE MEAT CASTLE! GETTING AIR! AJ, was that dropkick tough enough???) for two, setting up something like a seated abdominal stretch. Smith fights back up and wins a slugout, including some right hands in the corner.

A big boot into the legdrop sends MJF into a short rant about how un-American these fans are for cheering for a Canadian. The Nightmare Pendulum is loaded up but Smith counters into the Crossface, only to have Holliday offer a distraction. MJF: “There’s clearly a bug on his kickpad!” Hammerstone kicks Holliday by mistake (MJF: “WHAT’S GOING ON??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”) and it’s a running powerslam into a Swan Dive to give Smith the pin at 8:55. MJF: “WHO THE H*** IS STU HART???”

Rating: C+. The wrestling was fine here but it was the MJF show as he was one of the most entertaining and hilarious guest commentators I’ve ever seen. He knows exactly what he is and who he is supposed to be and that’s a great thing for everyone. I’m sure he won’t be in MLW forever, so enjoy him while you can until he gets to AEW full time.

Post match Hammerstone loads up a handshake but Holliday pulls him away.

Brian Pillman Jr. is used to being the underdog because he left his home at 13 and no one helped him get into wrestling. Cue Injustice, who thinks they should be getting this interview time. They threaten Pillman with violence, because if Pillman is hurt, they get his spot as the alternates.

Contra is ready to destroy the Strong Hearts.

Erick Stevens is coming.

Video on Low Ki.

Strong Hearts vs. Contra

Cima is getting a World Title shot against Jacob Fatu in February so there are some future tie-ins here. Gotch and Cima chop it out to start with Cima shrugging off a takedown and hitting a dropkick. Another dropkick to the back sends Gotch into the corner and it’s Lindaman coming in for his own shot to the back. The much smaller Lindaman is brought into the Contra corner and the stomps/chops begin.

Gotch rakes him with the boot in the corner and it’s Fatu coming in for the real beating. Gotch’s suplex makes it worse for Lindaman and he’s smart enough to drag things back into the corner. There’s a low superkick from Fatu but Lindaman slugs away and even manages to get him up for a slam. Unfortunately he can’t turn it over though and Fatu falls on top of him with a big crash.

Lindaman finally gets over and it’s Irie, the big man, coming in with a slingshot splash for two on Gotch. To mix it up a bit, Irie piledrives Samael onto Gotch for the double knockdown and it’s time for the hoss fight between Irie and Fatu. An exchange of clotheslines doesn’t go very far but Fatu gets the better of an exchange of crossbodies. A handspring moonsault gets two on Irie and everything breaks down with all six heading outside.

Irie hits a suicide dive on Fatu, who jumps back inside to hit his own, giving us those crazy eyes. Back in and Fatu can’t quite beat up all three of them at once, allowing Cima to knee him in the head, setting up Lindaman’s bridging German suplex for two. Lindaman hits a big flip dive onto Gotch but Fatu hits a pop up Samoan drop on Cima. The double springboard moonsault finishes Cima at 11:01.

Rating: C+. I’m really not sure how smart it is to have the World Champion pin the debuting #1 contender with his finisher after a pretty dominant six man tag. Cima can do a lot of things in the ring but that doesn’t seem like the best idea in the world. That being said, Fatu is a total monster and I can go for seeing him do whatever he wants out there, just like this.

Lawlor challenges the Von Erichs to defend their Tag Team Titles against his two best students.

Overall Rating: C. This could have been a lot worse and I’ll take what I can get. The matches were ok, but the show doesn’t really have a major direction at the moment. Cima being thrown out there as the next #1 contender doesn’t do much for them and the Opera Cup seems to be the top story. That’s not exactly great stuff, though it’s still an entertaining enough show. Just get a bigger top story soon, plus more MJF talking is always appreciated.

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

IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Saturday Night SuperFight
Date: November 2, 2019
Location: Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: AJ Kirsch, Rich Bocchini

So this is a big deal as MLW is having its first pay per view. This is something that is a long time in the making and the card actually looks pretty good. The main event is LA Park challenging Jacob Fatu for the World Title in a match that could be anywhere between a disaster or a blast. Other than that, all three titles are on the line and we should be in for some good stuff.

Since we have to have more wrestling all the time, there is an hour long pre-show, which basically serves as this week’s Fusion but isn’t listed as such.

We open with a long recap of the big stories, which is always a good way to start.

Pre-Show: Leo Brien vs. Savio Vega

Feeling out process to start with Savio’s hammerlock being the big thrill of the first minute. They fight over said hammerlock and then yell at each other a bit, followed by a trade of slaps. Savio’s jumping kick to the…..chest I guess, sends Brien outside. That goes nowhere and it’s Brien hitting a knee in the corner to take over. A suplex sets up a chinlock for a short while until Savio fights up, only to get kicked in the face. There’s a spear to drop Vega again but Brien misses a middle rope elbow. Vega fights back but the referee gets distracted, allowing Brien to get in a bell shot. The big elbow finishes Vega at 6:57.

Rating: D+. I know Vega is a name and is working backstage but that doesn’t mean he should be in the ring. He certainly wasn’t a disaster but there really wasn’t anyone else they could have put out there? It’s not like he has a lot of value so the win doesn’t exactly mean much for Brien. They’re pushing someone new though and that’s a good sign.

Post match Brien goes after him again but gets spinwheel kicked down. Vega gets in some kendo stick shots and stands tall. Well tall enough at least.

Video on Mance Warner vs. Jimmy Havoc in the Stairway to Hell match. Havoc has gone all violent so Warner whipped out a chainsaw and wants barbed wire hanging above the ring this time. And we’ll throw in Bestia 666 in just for a bonus.

Gino Medina is….here tonight actually.

Gino Medina vs. Air Wolf

Gino is billed as a Latin heartthrob. They go to the mat to start and get a grand total of nowhere early on. A rollup gives Medina two and he shoves Wolf down by the mask. Wolf gets in a headscissors and a dropkick for his own two so Medina comes back with an enziguri. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Wolf sends him into the bottom corner for a 619. An exchange of kicks to the head goes to Wolf but Medina hits a running knee in the corner. Eat Defeat (with a wide gap between the foot and the jaw) finishes Wolf at 4:17.

Rating: D+. Medina didn’t showcase himself very well here while Wolf looked like a future star, as has been the case multiple times now. That being said, you can’t judge someone off of one match but this was pretty disappointing, especially after all of the weeks of vignettes about Medina. Hopefully the next one is better, which is certainly a possibility.

MJF gives Richard Holliday his sunglasses.

SuperFight rundown.

Cue Injustice to protest….or maybe advertise….the fact that they are on the pay per view.

Hijo de LA Park vs. Zenshi

Salina de la Renta is here with Park. Zenshi starts fast and flips in for a hurricanrana to put Park on the floor. That means a crazy high dive but Salina grabs Zenshi’s leg, allowing Park to score with an enziguri. The suicide dive drops Zenshi and Park gets in a chair shot as Salina yells at the referee….who can see the chair shots. Zenshi gets crotched on the barricade as I continue to wonder why this referee exists.

That’s good for a very delayed two and it’s time for some stomping. Zenshi kicks at the legs and hits a 619 over the top into a neckbreaker for two. Salina breaks up another springboard attempt but this time Zenshi is fine enough to sweep the leg into a slingshot corkscrew hilo for two more. Park is right back with a running corner dropkick and a Code Red gets two.

They head up top with Park hitting a super Spanish Fly, only to get enziguried right back down. Just to show off, Zenshi hits (ok with with me here) a crazy long flip dive coast to coast diagonally across the ring. It only grazes Park’s leg but dang that was almost incredible. Park is back with another kick to the head though and a belly to back package piledriver is good for the pin on Zenshi at 7:53.

Rating: C. Zenshi is another one of the names around here who could become something if they are given a bit of a push. Park may not be for everyone but he has the cool costume like his dad but minus about 50lbs. His matches have been fine enough though and he could become something as well, given how his stuff with Salina is going fairly well.

Post match Salina addresses the ladies and gentlemarks and naturally switches from English to Spanish because that’s what you do in a promo if you speak both languages. Cue Contra for their match, but Salina of course won’t get out of the ring because she’s rather stubborn. Thankfully she gets the hint and bails before getting killed.

Contra vs. Douglas James/Dominic Garrini vs. Spirit Squad

That would be Kwon/Gotch for Contra and Ken/Mikey for the Squad. Before the opponents come out, Gotch pounds a chair against the floor for no logical reason. The Squad is from the University of Parts Unknown (the Dean better be named Douglas) and they are JACKED. Ken and James start things off with the former grabbing a headlock, allowing him to take James down and strike the pose.

Some elbows keep James in trouble until Kwon tags himself in and gets a hard dropkick from James. Mikey gets in a hair pull from the apron and everything breaks down in a hurry with the fight heading to the floor. James and Kwon chop it out in the ring until Kwon dives onto the pile. Back in and Garrini pulls Mikey down into a cross armbreaker. That’s broken up and Ken gets in a cheap shot of his own from the apron to take over again.

A snapmare faceplant gives Mikey two on Garrini and it’s Gotch coming in to stomp on Garrini as well. Garrini gets in a suplex to drop Gotch and it’s Kwon coming in to face Ken. James tags himself in and starts kicking people in the face, one of which makes Ken DDT Kwon. Everything breaks down and Garrini break sup whatever the Squad had planned and grabs a choke on Ken. The referee breaks that up and Kwon mists Mikey, setting up the piledriver from Gotch for the pin at 6:43.

Rating: C. Contra should NOT be having this much trouble against the Spirit Squad and a thrown together team. I’m not sure why they needed to take this long for what should have been a squash. Their teammate is the World Champion and the team as a whole was in the main event of the most recent major show. It wasn’t long or bad but it was set up wrong.

The announcers preview the card one more time to wrap up the preshow.

The opening video is your standard, yet well done, preview.

Opening sequence, complete with graphics identifying the wrestlers in each match. How nice that is for a change.

Tag Team Titles: Dynasty vs. Von Erichs

The Dynasty is defending and this is Texas Tornado. Hold on though as MJF grabs the mic to tell the fans that they need to shut up and that the Von Erichs suck, plus a mocking of the Claw. Richard Holliday calls the Von Erichs fake Texans who live in Hawaii and you know those are fighting words.

The Von Erichs hit the ring and send the champs outside with some fast double dropkicks, only to be sent into the barricade on the floor. MJF tears up a sign and hits Marshall in the head with the bell as the beating continues. Ross gets taken inside and a lifting swinging neckbreaker gets two. A double armbar makes things even worse until Ross sends the champs together.

Marshall comes back in with a double clothesline, setting up stereo Cannonballs in the corner. Something like a double powerbomb gets two on Holliday but he’s fine enough to superplex Ross down. MJF’s top rope splash connects for two with Marshall having to moonsault in for the save. The Claw/belly to back suplex combination finishes MJF at 9:46.

Rating: C. This was a pretty basic match that seemed designed to protect the still very green Von Erichs. That is the right play too as you don’t want them going out there and looking terrible in one of their biggest matches to date. Just let them get in, do their stuff, and win the titles for the feel good moment, as they did here.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. fires up Brian Pillman Jr. for his match against Low Ki.

Injustice vs. Gringo Loco/Septimo Dragon/Puma King

Lucha rules but hang on as we need to check Injustice for weapons. With that out of the way, the big brawl is on and everyone heads to the floor. Back in and Loco and Oliver trade misses before heading outside again. Dragon and Reed come in with Dragon hitting a running Spanish Fly. It’s King with a few superkicks and a faceplant to Kotto and a reverse powerbomb makes it even worse.

Double moonsaults from Dragon and Loco and a double reverse gorilla press slam puts Oliver back down. The dives are on and the fans certainly seem to approve. Back in and it’s King and Dragon being sent outside so Injustice can suplex Loco down. Brazil’s Sling Blade gets two but Oliver’s top rope hurricanrana is countered into a sitout powerbomb for the double knockdown.

Everything breaks down again and Dragon’s top rope double stomp crushes Reed. Loco’s Tombstone gets two on Reed and it’s some very hard dives from Injustice. Reed hits his running jumping over the top cutter on Loco, setting up the standing Sliced Bread on Dragon. Brazil adds the springboard 450 for the pin at 10:16.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure how smart of an idea it was to have the first two matches both be wild fights but Injustice is getting somewhere as a midcard heel stable. Some of the dives and flips looked really good here and I was getting into the match by the end, which I wouldn’t have expected from Injustice. Nice addition here and a good way to keep the crowd going.

We recap Austin Aries vs. Teddy Hart for the Middleweight Title. Hart has been champion for a long time but Aries is here to show that he is the greatest middleweight in the world. He gave Hart a brainbuster onto the apron to knock him cold so Hart is here to retain the title and get some revenge.

Middleweight Title: Teddy Hart vs. Austin Aries

Hart is defending and has Mr. Velvet the cat with him. Aries hits the suicide dive before the bell (common theme tonight) and we’re ready to go in a hurry. Well Hart isn’t ready but that’s kind of the point. Aries can’t hit a brainbuster on the floor but he can hit a missile dropkick for two inside. They’re already back on the floor with Hart hammering away but barely being able to stand.

Back in and Hart hits his springboard spinning legdrop for two to send Aries outside again. Aries grabs the Death Valley Driver onto the apron to mess up Hart’s head even more, setting up the slingshot hilo for two. It’s off to a leglock of all things, though Aries does put a foot on Hart’s head to make it worse. A middle rope elbow to the jaw gets two and the Last Chancery goes on.

That doesn’t last long either so it’s Hart coming back with shots to the face and a Backstabber. A belly to back gets two but Hart hits his head again. Aries scores with the discus forearm to take right back over but spends too much time talking trash, allowing Hart to hit a Project Ciampa out of the corner. Hart puts him on top, only to come back with the sunset bomb for two.

The Last Chancery goes on in full, sending Hart on the slow crawl to the rope. Hart’s super Canadian Destroyer is countered with a crotching and now the brainbuster connects….for two. Aries freaks, as he probably should given how protected that move really is. Hart rolls outside and ducks the suicide dive to send Aries face first into the barricade. Aries has to be muscled back inside and he grabs a quick rollup for two, only to get caught with the Canadian Destroyer to retain Hart’s title at 18:32.

Rating: B. They took their time here and set up a good story with a better match to make it the best thing on the show so far. Hart was fighting through his injury and still managing to pull off the win, which was arguably an upset, in the end. I’m rather surprised that Aries lost, mainly because I have no idea who is supposed to take the title off of Hart now.

Josef Samael congratulates Hart on his win but says he has a target on him. So that’s what’s next for Hart. Anyway, Jacob Fatu will retain the World Title tonight.

The women’s division is coming.

Low Ki vs. Brian Pillman Jr.

Ki offered some advice to Pillman and got blown off, setting this up. Pillman starts fast with the chops in the corner and hits the running slap for a bonus. They head outside with Pillman striking away as they walk around ringside. Ki gets the better of the striking (well duh) and it’s a kick to the chest to set up the Figure Four necklock back inside.

Some kicks to the face set up a chinlock on Ki, followed by a spinning chop to the back of the neck. A powerslam gives Pillman two but the double arm neckbreaker is broken up. Ki kicks him in the head a few times and the referee might want to stop this. Pillman fights up and wants to fight so it’s the rolling Liger kick to knock him cold for the stoppage at 8:12.

Rating: C. This was shorter than I was expecting and it was just ok. It felt like a big TV match more than a pay per view one but at least they are getting something with Ki being all angry and violent. Pillman is still pretty green and needs ring time, but one of the good things about this place is being able to have him in there with a bunch of different styles. It certainly wasn’t bad and while it could have had more time for the story to develop, it went the way it should have.

MLW is partnering with AAA. That’s a good thing for MLW as the star power and more variety are nice additions.

Tom Lawlor vs. Timothy Thatcher

They’re both shoot style guys and Thatcher challenged him for the fight. Thatcher also has Douglas James with him. They slug it out to start with Thatcher being knocked outside and the fight heading out there as well. Lawlor’s guillotine is countered with a ram into the barricade and they head back inside for some attempts at pulling on limbs.

Thatcher kicks him in the head and gets a bow and arrow hold, only to be reversed into a blocked cross armbreaker. The half crab works better on Lawlor but he’s out in a few seconds, setting up a seated strike off. Lawlor gets in a Figure Four but Thatcher rolls over into the ropes pretty quickly.

We go old school with an airplane spin to make Thatcher dizzy, though he’s fine enough to pick the ankle. Lawler gets to the ropes to save his arm and it’s time to slug it out again. Thatcher hits a belly to belly so Lawlor hits one of his own for the double knockdown. They head outside again with Thatcher being sent into the barricade this time and then getting chopped around ringside.

Back in and some YES Kicks have Thatcher in more trouble but he’s right back with a butterfly suplex. The Fujiwara armbar goes on but this time Lawler reverses with a German suplex. Thatcher gets in his own suplex so Lawlor grabs a Tombstone for two. They both grab arms with Lawlor hitting a pumphandle suplex for two. That’s enough for Lawlor as he unloads with strikes to make Thatcher cover up, meaning it’s time for the rear naked choke to give Lawlor the win at 15:27.

Rating: B. That’s the kind of match that they were supposed to have and it was rather entertaining. These guys beat each other up with strikes and submissions until one of them won. They even told a nice story with Thatcher being the one who believed he could hang with Lawlor, only to find out that he was in over his head because Lawlor was a professional fighter who knew exactly what to do in this situation. Heck of a fight too.

Post match Thatcher is busted open but Lawlor says he can do anything he wants around here because MLW is going to stay filthy.

We recap Mance Warner vs. Jimmy Havoc….and vs. Bestia 666, who is here after Havoc attacked his father in a bit of a forced addition. Anyway this is Stairway to Hell with barbed wire above the ring and anything goes, with wins coming by pinfall or submission.

Mance Warner vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Bestia 666

Warner and Bestia start brawling on the floor to start with Warner getting the better of it, only to head outside to poke Havoc in the eye. Bestia’s dive is cut off by a trashcan to the head, followed by the staple gun to Havoc’s crotch. Mance goes outside and gets some dollar bills from the audience to staple to various parts of Havoc. You know, like Thesz used to do to Gotch.

It’s Warner up first to get the barbed wire but a double teaming takes it away. Havoc rips up Warner’s face and it’s time for the barbed wire to be put on a trashcan. A suplex sends Warner through both of them but Havoc sends Bestia into the announcers’ table (Rich: “ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? HOW MANY TIMES???”). Back in and Bestia backbreakers him onto the edges of two open chairs, only to have Havoc get up and slam him off the ladder onto the same edges in your HOW IS HE MOVING spot of the march.

Warner comes back in and takes the wire to the head, followed by the wire going into Bestia’s crotch. Back up and Warner’s lariat hits Havoc but Bestia superkicks Warner down. Bestia mocks the kneepad up, kneepad down before bridging a door between two chairs. You don’t mock kneepads though and Warner superplexes Bestia through the door for the pin at 14:02.

Rating: C. This is another case where your mileage may vary but what matters here is keeping the violent insanity to one match instead of doing it over and over. This was your designated violence match and while it didn’t go as far as some others (that’s a good thing), it felt like a lot of violence for the sake of violence. I’m also not big on the feud continuing as Bestia was tacked on to take the fall, but that’s wrestling for you.

Post match Havoc jumps Warner and piledrives him onto a piece of the barricade. An Acid Rainmaker leaves Warner laying.

There will be a special Fusion on Thanksgiving. Just what the world was waiting for.

We recap Alexander Hammerstone vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. They’re the hoss monsters of their respective groups and this has been built for a long time. Hammerstone even hooked up with Smith’s sister to get in his head, which seemed to work well.

National Openweight Title: Alex Hammerstone vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Smith is challenging. Davey shoves him away to start before headlocking Hammerstone down. The arm cranking begins with Smith working on one arm and then both at once for a bonus. Hammerstone can’t power out of it so it’s off to the ropes instead. The choking in the corner doesn’t get Hammerstone very far so he hits a delayed vertical suplex.

Smith pops right back up and waits for Hammerstone to turn around in a good visual. We see how it’s really done to send Hammerstone outside, setting up a ram into the barricade. Back in and Hammerstone pulls the turnbuckle pad off but Smith hammers away in the corner instead of eating steel. Hammerstone slugs right back and even hits a missile dropkick for two. He takes too long going up though and it’s a superplex, setting up a Swan Dive for two on the champ.

They take turns no selling release German suplexes so Smith rolls some German suplexes for another near fall. Smith can’t get the Crossface as the Dynasty comes out for a distraction. Hammerstone sends him into the exposed buckle for two and the shock is real. Smith is right back up but can’t get the running powerslam. Instead he tries an O’Connor roll but Hammerstone reverses into his own rollup and grabs the rope to retain at 13:29.

Rating: B-. I wasn’t feeling the ending but at least Smith was protected and didn’t lose clean here. Hammerstone is a genuine monster and whoever beats him is going to get a heck of a rub. I didn’t like the ending though as it felt out of place in the match after two guys beat each other up for so long. It was good while it lasted, but I could have gone with a hotter finish.

Post match Smith is ticked.

Quick recap of LA Park vs. Jacob Fatu for the World Title. Park won Battle Riot II to get a title shot so it’s time to cash in. This has turned into Promociones Dorado vs. Contra, which is quite the fight.

MLW World Title: LA Park vs. Jacob Fatu

No DQ, Park, undefeated, is challenging and Fatu is a monster. Salina de la Renta and Josef Samael are here as seconds. Before the match, Park grabs the mic and rants in Spanish. They circle, shove and slug it out with Park getting the better of it off a pair of clotheslines. A running knee puts Fatu on the floor and there’s a suicide dive, which is like a flying bus at this point.

Back in and Fatu starts firing off the headbutts to take over and some shots to the face put Park in trouble. The mask is torn and it looks like we already have some blood flowing. Park gets whipped into the barricade as the beating continues on the floor. Even Salina is looking worried as they head into the crowd to continue Park’s destruction. Back in and Park gets knocked into the corner but snaps off a powerslam for two and a breather.

Fatu superkicks him down and hits a handspring moonsault for his own two. With nothing else working, Park goes up top and hits something like a Whisper in the Wind. What all else fails, throw your large body at the other guy. They head outside again with Park nailing a chair to the back, followed by literally breaking the bell over Fatu’s head. Park headbutts away, which sounds rather idiotic against a Samoan. After not knocking himself silly, Park whips away with the weightlifting belt.

Fatu, now busted as well, runs the corner for a flying shoulder to send Park outside for a huge running dive to crush Park again. There’s a table set up in for corner as Park is thrown back in, only to avoid the moonsault. Samael throws a fireball at the referee though, which might be taking things a bit too far. That brings Salina in….and Park’s spear misses Samael, sending Salina through the table instead. The Samoan drop sets up the double jump moonsault to retain the title at 20:00.

Overall Rating: B+. This is a case of the show having nothing bad and being under some good circumstances. MLW has come a long way in about a year and a half and they gave us a good first pay per view here. Almost all of the wrestling was completely watchable to very good and the stories got to pay off in a logical way. On top of that we also got some stuff to set up the future. This was a really nice success and I hope people bought it to see what MLW can do.

Results

Von Erichs b. Dynasty – Claw/belly to back suplex combination to Friedman

Injustice b. Septimo Dragon/Gringo Loco/Puma King – Springboard 450 to Dragon

Teddy Hart b. Austin Aries – Canadian Destroyer

Low Ki b. Brian Pillman Jr. via referee stoppage

Tom Lawlor b. Timothy Thatcher – Rear naked choke

Mance Warner b. Jimmy Havoc and Bestia 666 – Superplex through a door to Bestia

Alex Hammerstone b. Davey Boy Smith Jr. – Rollup with a grab of the rope

Jacob Fatu b. LA Park – Double jump moonsault

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

IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #69
Date: August 3, 2019
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Tony Schiavone

Things are getting wild around here with all kinds of things going on. That has made for some interesting setups and the nice thing is MLW has gotten a lot better at paying those things off. If they can do that again, we could be in for a nice setup as they head towards their first pay per view in the fall. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Bestia vs. Mance Warner last week as Mance loses another battle in the war against Salina de la Renta. The rather wild Von Erichs vs. Contra match gets a look as well.

Opening sequence.

Jimmy Yuta vs. Low Ki

Yuta drives him into the corner….and gets kicked in the head for the knockout at 30 seconds. Longer than usual for Low Ki lately.

Post match Low Ki says he’s got a lot of unfinished business.

Tom Lawlor is ready to go to war with Contra in the War Chamber.

Contra says bring it on, but it’s four on four. The match has since been confirmed as WarGames under a different name.

It’s time for the War Chamber Control Center. The only match set so far is the namesake match, meaning we hear the WarGames rules again, though you can win by pinfall or submission. That just sounds awesome no matter how you slice it.

We look back at Warner vs. Salina de la Renta and company.

Konnan has some demands for Salina. First up: he wants Jimmy Havoc vs. LA Park, loser leaves MLW. Both Salina and Havoc aren’t happy but the match is made. That sounds like writing Havoc off for AEW.

The Dynasty is at a car dealership and don’t like being told to wait. They like MJF’s watch and threaten a Yelp review for taking so long. It turns into a discussion of Teddy Hart failing the Wellness Policy, meaning he can’t cash in his rematch for the Tag Team Titles. Hammerstone freaks out over a Wellness Policy but they’ll get him some clean liquid.

MLW is going to be working with Pro Wrestling Noah.

Here are the Spirit Squad (Mikey/Kenny) to say they’re here because they earned it instead of their open name. That means an open challenge, which isn’t going to end well.

Spirit Squad vs. Von Erichs

The fight is on in a hurry with the Von Erichs beating them down while the music is still playing. A double dropkick and the threat of the Claw send the Squad bailing to the floor. The music keeps playing as it’s a double noggin knocker on the floor. We take a break and come back with Marshall beating up the Squad on his own and dropkicking Mikey to the floor. There’s a powerslam and a good looking moonsault for two on Kenny, followed by a claw slam/belly to back suplex combination for the pin at 5:25. They needed a break in this match? The music played through the entire match.

Post match here’s Contra for the brawl, with the Von Erichs holding their own for a good while. Cue a mystery man to spray mist in Marshall’s eyes as Contra has a fourth member. What a great time to mention that Marshall has a newborn. It worked in Mid-South.

Gringo Loco vs. Zenshi

This is from the Chicago tapings due to Low Ki’s match going so short. They flip around to start with Gringo shoving him away and saying not so fast. Zenshi climbs the ropes and gets a sunset flip for no count. A shooting star misses and Zenshi says bring it. Loco misses an enziguri as Jordan Oliver and Myron Reed are protesting in the crowd.

With Loco on the floor, Zenshi flips over the top, handstands on the apron until Loco gets to his feet, and then headscissors him down. We spend a good while looking at a replay and then a crowd shot (I can’t imagine the botch in there) before seeing Zenshi hit a bottom rope 450 for two. Zenshi tries a moonsault but gets caught in the Tombstone for the pin at 3:50.

Rating: C. This was fine for a quick filler with some exciting flips and that’s all it was supposed to be. Sometimes you can have something that is little more than a popcorn match and that’s what we got here. Loco is popular with the crowd and it’s easy to see why. It did its job and didn’t try to do anything else, which is how it should have gone.

We look at Marshall being blinded again.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. doesn’t want to talk about Alexander Hammerstone and his Georgia. Instead he’s ready for Timothy Thatcher tonight and knows it’s going to be strong style catch wrestling. Smith’s technique is too strong for Thatcher and ignores a question about Georgia. Brian Pillman Jr. comes in and seems to have a plan.

Timothy Thatcher vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

They slap hands to start and it’s a slow pace to get things going. Davey throws him off of a headscissors on the mat and it’s time for some early grappling. Smith gets a hammerlock and you can see Thatcher playing this out in his head as he tries to find a way out. The hold is reversed into a half crab, with Thatcher’s eyes bugging out. That’s broken up so Thatcher kicks at the leg and grabs it again, this time sending Smith over to the ropes.

More kicks to the leg set up a belly to belly to put Davey back in the middle, setting up a legbar. With the grappling not working so well, Davey headbutts his way to freedom but can’t get a cross armbreaker. Thatcher switches into an ankle lock with a grapevine as the counters continue. Davey slaps the mat (not a tap) and turns it over into a Sharpshooter, sending Thatcher to the ropes for a change. They slug it out (Tony: “Like two rams butting heads on the side of the Rocky Mountains!” How long has he had that one saved up for?) until Thatcher gets two off a small package.

Another pinfall reversal sequence gives us some slick two counts and it’s time for a breather. Back up and Smith rolls some German suplexes, followed by a tiger suplex (Thatcher’s “OH DANG” look when he knows he can’t block it is great) for two. They fight over arm holds with Thatcher not being able to get a cross armbreaker this time. Smith isn’t having this and rolls out into a Crossface for the tap at 14:46.

Rating: B. This was almost all technical mat work, which is all the more impressive given Smith’s size and power. It makes him look like a complete package and all the more dangerous, which he’ll have to be to go after Hammerstone. Thatcher looked incredible as well, making me wonder why he hasn’t gotten a job in a big company yet. He isn’t the most interesting looking but there’s always a role for someone with his style.

Georgia comes out to interview Davey, who is thankful to the fans. He knows Georgia wants to keep her silence on Hammerstone but Hammerstone is playing her. Smith promises to use a crossface chickenwing on Hammerstone to become Openweight Title.

Overall Rating: B+. There are times where you just get the Fusion concept and this was one of those nights. You got enough of everything to make for a fun show which absolutely flew by. It was a knockout, an energetic squash, a lucha match and a technical clinic. That made for a very easy show to watch while stories were advanced and stuff was set up for the future. Well done all around and one of the best put together shows they’ve had to date.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #68
Date: July 27, 2019
Location: Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Jim Cornette

We’re getting closer to the end of the summer and that means things are getting a little better around here. Things have been that much more interesting over the last few months and the shows have been getting better as a result. This week’s main event is Contra vs. the Von Erichs in an unsanctioned match, which could go several different ways. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Salina de la Renta to rant about Mance Warner being annoying, though he did get rid of Sami Callihan for her. Tonight though she has someone from the firey pits to deal with Warner.

Bestia 666 vs. Mance Warner

Death match. Bestia isn’t waiting around and suicide dives onto Mance to get things going before the bell. Warner pelts a chair at him and rips at Bestia’s face before fishooking his mouth with a turnbuckle. As in the hook from a buckle, which just happened to be at ringside. Bestia is back with a whip into a barricade and grabs the kendo stick to blast Warner over the back.

Warner headbutts his way out again and tries a chop, which hits the post at full force to make me cringe again. The hand is fine enough for a DDT onto the apron, which is the closest they’ve gotten to being in the ring. Warner pulls out some weapons, including some chairs, a board and of course thumb tacks. The tacks go onto the chair but Bestia sends Warner face first into them instead. They FINALLY get in the ring with Bestia putting a trashcan over Warner and blasting him with a chair. A trashcan to the head gets two with Cornette saying it shouldn’t count because it’s under a rope. Dude, come on now.

Warner is back with a spear through the board in the corner for two and it’s time to slap it out. A pop up headbutt rocks Bestia and it’s a piece of board to the head for a delayed two. Warner’s running knee gets two but Salina slips Bestia a red bag. Bestia gets tied into a chair but Warner spends too much time yelling at Salina, allowing Bestia to throw powder into his face. A MuscleBuster through a chair finish Warner at about 10:00 (I didn’t hear an opening bell).

Rating: C. This is one where your individual taste is going to vary as I’m not big on hardcore for the sake of hardcore. It didn’t go too far that it’s ridiculous, but Warner losing again isn’t the best idea if he’s going to be the one to go after Salina and company. I know it’s his signature thing, but they do these brawls a little too often and I’m getting numb to them.

Salina has the Golden Ticket back.

Opening sequence.

We see Georgia Hart and Alexander Hammerstone seeming to get rather close in an elevator. Oh dear.

The Dynasty dodges questions about Georgia and brags about how awesome they are.

MLW is going to have a working relationship with Pro Wrestling Noah. Fine enough.

Contra doesn’t want the fans throwing things at them again or they’ll hurt the Von Erichs even more.

Ricky Martinez vs. Low Ki

Salina is here with Ricky and has changed her clothes in the five minutes she has been gone. Konnan is on commentary. Martinez throws a jacket in Ki’s face and dropkicks his knee out to start things off in a hurry. An elbow in the corner keeps Martinez in control as Konnan talks about what he’s found in Salina’s phone.

Ki hits a palm strike for a breather and the Liger Kick knocks Martinez out of the air for a cool visual. Martinez manages to send him into the buckle and a middle rope Codebreaker gets two. Hold on though as Salina goes after her phone with the distraction letting Ki grab the dragon sleeper for the knockout win at 4:13.

Rating: C-. This was very hard hitting while it lasted but I’m having some trouble caring about Konnan vs. Salina as it has been going on for months now. The phone deal is at least something fresh instead of having the same stuff over and over again. Ki has surprised me as well as he has gone from someone I never cared for to someone solid in his role.

Post match Salina seems to offer Ki a spot back on the team but he walks away.

The Von Erichs are ready to bring Contra to justice, Texas style. Oh good grief.

Kotto Brazil is tired of all the interference around here, just like Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver. They say JUSTICE over and over.

Tom Lawlor’s life has been a nightmare lately but he loves the fighting. He wants his World Title back though and is getting his rematch at Never Say Never. That’s not enough though as he and the Von Erichs are coming for Contra in the War Chamber (seems to be WarGames).

We recap the Georgia Smith/Alexander Hammerstone deal.

The Hart Foundation sees the video for the first time and aren’t happy.

Contra Unit vs. Von Erichs

It’s Samael and Gotch for Contra here. The Von Erichs waste no time and go straight for the Claws but get thrown off in a hurry. Gotch dragon screw leg whips Ross as Marshall sends Samael into the barricade. Ross’ knee is fine enough to be sent into the ropes so Gotch can knee him in the ribs. What looks like a crossface chickenwing keeps Ross in trouble and it’s Samael and Marshall getting back inside.

Ross fights back to save his brother from the double teaming but gets sent outside again. That means Marshall gets to make the Texas comeback this time and it’s a double dropkick to Gotch. Marshall hits a moonsault for two with Gotch making a save. Samael and Marshall clothesline each other as Ross has a chair. As luck would have it, Samael busts out the fireball but Ross uses the chair to block it. A chair to the head gives Marshall the pin on Samael at 6:24.

Rating: C+. The action was better here and the wild brawl felt more appropriate here, mainly because it was different from the way the opener went. The Von Erichs are a nice addition to the roster and while they have a long way to go, they’re getting the ring time that they need here. Nice match too.

Post match Contra goes after the Von Erichs again and the riot squad comes out to break things up. The Von Erichs want to keep fighting and we cut to the back where Jacob Fatu is beating up the squad. Tom Lawlor comes in for the fight for a hot ending to the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show got better after the main event but it wasn’t their best effort overall. The problem here was having too much brawling on one show, which tends to be a problem around here. What did work though was the storytelling, as they’re coming up with some creative enough ways to keep things moving without feeling tired. That helps so much and it did so here. Just keep it up and give us the big payoffs, which they tend to do well enough. This wasn’t their best show, but it’s still an easy hour to watch.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

The season is done now and the good news is that the show has received the highest audience and ratings in the history of the network. That would make it seem like a second season is likely, which is great as this has been one of the best series of documentaries I can remember seeing.

Bruiser Brody

We’re starting with probably the best episode here. Bruiser Brody was a monster back in his day and one of the true traveling attractions in wrestling. He would wrestle a little bit throughout the territories but never stayed in one place for very long. Eventually he tried to buy into the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico, which didn’t sit well with another wrestler, who stabbed him to death in the shower.

That’s what the episode focuses on because what else could it focus on? The main speaker here is Tony Atlas, who was in the locker room that night and saw the knife. He also helped carry Brody out but there was nothing that could be done to save him. This is a well known story in wrestling but the fallout is the fascinating part though as the show looks at the coverup of the murder, with claims of self defense and subpoenas being delivered after the trial was over.

This one felt like a dive into a very deep story and that’s where this thing got fascinating. The main story is well known but the details themselves make it clear how horrible the entire situation really was. It’s one of those cases where everyone else seems to know what happened but the people involved with the killing yet somehow they’ve gotten away with the whole thing. Check this one out as it’s more than worth your time.

Von Erichs

This one is much more like the Montreal Screwjob episode than anything else. The problem with the Von Erichs is that there is so much to be said about the whole thing that you can’t contain the whole thing in a single hour. The family is one of the greatest tragedies in wrestling history and we get a lot of that here.

Kevin Von Erich, the last of his generation, gets to talk a lot here and you can feel the real emotion coming from him as he talks about his brothers passing away. The line of “I used to have five brothers and now I’m not even a brother anymore” is a really hard one to sit through, though it does seem like he has found peace, which is the best possible ending that he could have.

The other big issue here is talking about how David passed away from stomach issues when it has been pretty well established that it was a massive drug overdose. That being said, I can completely understand the lack of wanting to talk about something like that as maybe Kevin still believes otherwise. Can you blame him for wanting to try to have some peace on that? Either way, this made me want to watch the other two awesome documentaries on World Class, both of which are more than worth seeing. This is a good show for another side, but it could have been twice as long to really cover everything in more detail.

Gino Hernandez

I was looking forward to this one as Hernandez is another interesting case that you don’t hear about very often. Hernandez was a young and talented heel who knew how to work a crowd but also spent a lot of time partying and getting involved with some rather questionable people.

This one takes a different twist though as it’s much more about Hernandez’s family trying to find out what happened to him. Hernandez died under some mysterious circumstances (the autopsy report had some mistakes and he had something like five times the amount of cocaine in his body for an overdose) and for thirty years his mother and daughter weren’t sure what happened to him. The producers found some of the people Hernandez associated with back in the day and smoothed things over a bit, though it does seem that there was some more going on.

This is more in the true crime path like the Brody show and that made it better. Again, it helps to have a story that a lot of people aren’t familiar with and some characters that are easy to get behind. Throw in some stories like Hernandez being paranoid that he was about to be killed and then dying under mysterious circumstances and this was quite an easy watch. Well if you can ignore a story about death, drugs and a destroyed family.

Fabulous Moolah

Series finale time and this one didn’t work as well for me. The idea is that Moolah is someone who is beloved for her success and influence on wrestling but she might have been a rather horrible person behind the scenes, controlling her women wrestlers and throwing them away when she stopped making them money. It sounds like a lot to cover and that’s where this runs into trouble.

The problem here is they run through so many different stories about Moolah that it’s hard to get any kind of flow going. It’s a lot of looking at one person/story then another then another and while it certainly makes Moolah look horrible, it’s not the best way of presenting things. It’s much more a bunch of things being thrown together and used as a presentation of everything wrong with her. The overall message works, but the means of getting there not so much.

Overall, I’m sure there’s something there with Moolah, but her legacy is so strong and influence so incredible that it’s rather easy to overlook. At the same time though there are so many stories of people being treated horribly that it’s impossible to overlook. When you consider the history of wrestling though, especially the era when Moolah was on top, it’s all but guaranteed that Moolah wasn’t the only boss doing things like this. It’s a good amount of stories and evidence against her, but that’s what it feels like: a bunch of stories told one after another instead of one big compelling idea.

So yeah, the series is great and even the worst episode (probably Moolah or the Screwjob) are all worth checking out. The Brody one is great though and they all fly by. Season two should be great as it’s not like there aren’t a ton of stories to tell. Dino Bravo has been rumored for a season premiere and that could work out very well. Check these things out as soon as you can.

The WWE Network has given us our Christmas present.

http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-what-ive-been-waiting-for/46072/

Time for one of the most famous tag teams of all time: the Fabulous Freebirds.

Six Man Tag Titles: Freebirds vs. Von Erichs

And the aforementioned rematch.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Von Erichs vs. Freebirds

The titles are vacant and this is a Badstreet Match, meaning anything goes. The heat on Michael Hayes is just nuts but the Von Erichs are as over as free beer in a frat house. It’s Kerry, Kevin and the lowly Mike here. Mike tried but he just wasn’t very athletic and it caught up with him. The brawl is on while the announcer is still doing the intros and we’re told there are NO tags, instantly making this more awesome.

The Von Erichs clean house to start but the Freebirds are right back in to keep fighting. Kevin takes off his belt to hammer on Terry Gordy but Mike is thrown to the floor to give the Von Erichs a disadvantage. Terry is sent to the floor almost immediately after and Mike comes back in, only to hit Kerry by mistake. Gordy hits Mike low to put him down and this is going WAY too fast to keep up with.

Kevin has a boot off and is hitting any bird that he can find before a triple dropkick puts Terry outside again. He gets back in and nailed with the boot over and over again before Hayes is pulled back in over the top rope. Mike spends too much time beating up Buddy Roberts though and Hayes gets in a boot shot to the back of his head. Kevin slaps the Claw on Hayes but Gordy makes the save, only to get nailed with the boot some more.

Kevin is knocked to the floor as things slow down to just insane instead of unable to keep track of anything. Gordy rakes Kerry’s face as a cameraman goes down. Mike’s foot is caught in the ropes and Kevin is busted open. Terry hits Buddy with a boot by mistake and Mike sends Roberts to the floor. Everyone is back in again and with everything going nuts, Killer Khan comes in and blasts Kerry with something, giving Hayes the pin.

Rating: A-. Oh yeah I see why this is loved. They did not stop for nine minutes straight and just beat the tar out of each other the entire time. There’s no way you can have the Von Erichs lose a straight fight and this sets up the Von Erichs vs. Khan which is fine to keep things going. Great match, though I’m not sure on Match of the Year.

The team would head to the WWF in 1984 for a handful of matches before Andre yelled at them for being late, basically sending them back to Texas. Here they are in MSG on August 25, 1984.

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

Back to Texas now with two thirds of the original team on WCCW TV on January 6, 1985.

Terry Gordy/Chick Donovan/Buddy Roberts vs. Mr. X/Skandor Akbar/The Missing Link

This is an odd occasion where the Freebirds are faces in this company which is like Ricky Steamboat as a heel. You just don’t see it that often. The second team is Devastation Inc., which was a top heel stable for a long time. This is elimination rules, tornado rules, and you can lose by pin, submission or being thrown over the top rope. It’s also loser leaves town.

The announcer is a very different style. His voice is fine as he apparently used to be a legit sports commentator in the Dallas area, but the way he speaks is odd. He goes over the ways you can win (being counted down for the 1-2-3, being ejected from the ring or giving in via a submission. It’s just kind of odd sounding but in a refreshing way). We’re part of the NWA here also.

Missing Link is RIPPED but he has a green face. Literally, along with black hair that looks like Bozo the Clown’s. The referee is in a WCCW t-shirt and red pants. Odd looking indeed. It’s a big brawl to start as it’ll likely be the whole time. Link almost goes out but manages to come back in. If I were his manager I’d suggest that he Try Force. That should work.

Link goes out but comes back in anyway. This is all over the place and rather hard to keep up with. Only one announce here too which is kind of weird. I told you it was like ECW. Ok apparently you can go through the ropes but not over them. Got it. X tries to get rid of Gordy forever but can’t manage to get him out. Why not autoban him? Donovan is fighting Akbar who is the leader, on the floor.

Never mind as they’re back in now. And never mind that again at Donovan is thrown out. He’s out of the company apparently. Oh wow ok this just got more interesting. X gets pinned by Roberts off a sunset flip but there goes Roberts, leaving us with Akbar/Link vs. Gordy.

Gordy gets Link tied up in the ropes and gets a spike of some kind into the neck of Akbar (A guy named Akbar at a show called Star Wars? Sounds like a trap to me) but Link saves. A few seconds of double teaming later, Link misses a charge to put out Akbar and is dumped out seconds later to end it. Well that was quick.

Rating: D+. It was very exciting but from a quality standpoint it was pretty bad. To be fair I have no idea on the backstory of this though so it’s kind of hard to know why all of this is going on. The match was certainly fun and the gimmicks didn’t overwhelm it. Having it go more than 8 minutes would have helped a lot though. Still not terrible but it could have been better.

The team headed to the AWA for a bit, including this match at SuperClash 1985.

AWA Tag Titles: Freebirds vs. Road Warriors

And this one at WrestleRock 1986.

Road Warriors vs. Freebirds

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

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

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

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

Freebirds vs. Paul Jones/Manny Fernandez/Ivan Koloff

s Terry Gordy and this would be like Sheamus vs. Runjin Singh. Things break down and an elbow drop ends Jones quickly.

t mean much. Gordy was a monster though and ran through everybody at the end. He would team with Williams in 1992 in one of the most successful yet boring tag teams of the period. Anyway, nothing match and Paul Jones is one of the worst characters and managers of all time. This was from Atlanta as well.

Time to hit TV with Hayes and Garvin entering a tournament for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Titles. Here are the finals and semifinals at Clash of the Champions VII.

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

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

World Tag Team Titles: Freebirds vs. Midnight Express

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

Gordy would pop up for one more match at the 1989 Great American Bash.

WarGames: Freebirds/Samoan Swat Team vs. Road Warriors/Midnight Express/Steve Williams

In case you don’t know the rules: two guys start for five minutes and then we have a coin toss (the heels will win) and the winning team gets to send in another man for a two on one advantage. This lasts for two minutes until the losing team gets to tie it up at two. After two minutes the winning team goes up three to two. You alternate every two minutes until everyone is in there and when everyone is in there, it’s first submission wins it. No pins.

Eaton vs. Garvin starts us off. Williams is still in his Hogan attire here which makes me laugh. As JR puts it, it’s Beautiful vs. Gorgeous in WarGames which got a chuckle out of me. Garvin controls early but it’s not like it means anything. The Freebirds beat the Express in a tournament final to win the world tag titles so there’s your explanation for this part of the feud. This is more or less back and forth with nothing really to report on.

Dangerously, the Samoans’ manager, says that Hayes will be next about 10 times. Eaton controls for the most part and works on the back of the mullet-tastic Garvin before throwing on a Boston Crab. After Dangerously shouts about Hayes being in next, Terry Gordy comes in next. That’s another great example of a great heel manager. He didn’t accomplish anything but he lied BECAUSE HE COULD. So simple yet so effective.

Gordy comes in and it goes badly for Eaton to put it mildly. Garvin has a glove and tape or something or his hand so this is mainly punching and stomping. He eats a lot of cage too as Garvin is mostly fine. Apparently Eaton failed in his mission to hurt him. Williams comes in to even things up and in one of the most mind blowing spot I’ve ever seen, he picks up Gordy, who is probably 290 at the least, and gorilla presses him EIGHT times into the cage. Just insane.

After some more choking the heels get us back to about even for Samu to come in as Eaton is more or less dead. Double fishhook on him by Garvin which looked very painful. Everyone is in one ring and they need to spread it out a bit. Eacon somehow gets back up and holds the heels off a bit until Animal ties it up again. Again they’re all in the same ring and it’s WAY too crowded in there.

Ah there we go as he and Samu head to the other ring. Much better. They hate each other because of a big beatdown the Samoans gave the Road Warriors and then they beat up Ellering, the Road Warriors’ manager. The Warriors cost the Samoans a spot in the finals of the tag tournament, which brings us here. Animal just destroys everyone as Fatu will be in next.

All six in the same ring still and it’s just stupid. There’s (Rikishi) Fatu to make it 4-3. The Samoans beat down Animal as Williams and Gordy are in the other ring now to space things out a bit. Eaton and Garvin are still fighting and here comes Stan Lane to even it up at four apiece again. That leaves Hayes and Hawk as the last two. The Samoans eat metal as Lane cleans house.

Dangerously to Hayes: Ok so when you go in you go over here. Hayes: I GOTTA GO IN???” Dangerously: There’s no one left! Hayes: Dang. Funny stuff. There are 9 people in the match and 9 are in the same ring. Hayes DDTs everyone to take out the faces and then goes off into the other ring to taunt Hawk. The fans want Hawk with one minute left. Hayes drops Eaton with a hard left and here’s the bird man.

Now it’s first submission wins. Hawk cleans house as it is on in a big way. The faces are dominating here as was the custom in WarGames once everyone got in. Dangerously tries to force the phone through the cage and turns around to see a referee with his arms folded looking at him. I need some wawa music there.

Mainly just punching now with nothing of note as far as flow or anything but that’s a good thing here as there isn’t supposed to be anything remotely resembling order. Look at the first name of the match: WAR. Doomsday Device on Gordy is blocked so Hawk kills Garvin with a clothesline and works on his neck, throwing on a hangman (Hawk grabs Garvin for a reverse neckbreaker and lifts him onto his back in a neck crank/choke) which gets the submission to end it.

Rating: B+. Very solid battle in there which was exactly what this was supposed to be. It’s not a classic or one of the best ever but this was quite good for the point of blowing this feud completely off and have all the feuds in there at once. This was effective for what it was supposed to be and the match was as fun as ever. Good match.

Back to the regular tag team at Clash IX.

Freebirds vs. Road Warriors

Non-title. The Freebirds are still listed as World Tag Team Champions here, despite having lost the titles at a taped show a few days prior to this. Hawk and Hayes get things going and Michael runs from a big right hand. Animal throws him back inside so Hawk can kick him in the face.

And again at Clash XI.

Southern Boys vs. Freebirds

The Southern Boys are Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers dressed like Confederate soldiers in their major show debut. The Freebirds jump them to start but get taken down by running forearms. Double clotheslines send the Freebirds to the floor and the fans are all fired up. Garvin and Smothers get things going with Tracy running into a knee in the corner. Hayes tries to interfere so the Southern Boys dropkick both Freebirds outside again.

The Birds would get a World Tag Team Title shot at WrestleWar 1991.

World Tag Titles: Doom vs. Fabulous Freebirds

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

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

US Tag Titles: Freebirds vs. Young Pistols

Ok now hold on because this one if about as confusing as possible. Actually this match isn’t but the story leading up to it is cool so I might as well go into it anyway. As for this match, the Steiners were the US champions but when they won the world tag titles from the Freebirds the US belts were stripped and put up in a tournament, which this is the final of. Ok, that’s very standard stuff.

The WEIRD part is how the Steiners got the world tag titles. The Freebirds won them on February 24, 1991 and lost them February 18, 1991. You read that correctly. See, back in the day WCW would tape MONTHS of shows in advance over about a three week period. Think of what TNA does now but on a much bigger scale.

Anyway, the Freebirds won the titles at a PPV called Wrestle War which we might get to later as there’s a great WarGames match on there, which is of course the greatest gimmick match of all time. Anyway, they won the belts on a Sunday, but the taping where they lost the belts (which no one had seen them win yet) took place on the Monday BEFORE the PPV where they won them.

I think you can see the problems that this could cause and it bit them in late 1993 when Sid was supposed to win the world title at Starrcade but at a show in England he legitimately stabbed Arn Anderson with a pair of scissors so obviously he was fired. WCW had about three or four months of tapes set up with him as world champion, so those were now worthless and they had to scrap the whole thing.

This is why in the mid to late 90s on syndicated shows like Worldwide or the Main Event, you never see guys with belts as the commentary could easily be redone. So yeah, the Freebirds lost a pair of titles almost a week before winning them. Their reign lasted -6 days, which is how it’s recorded in a lot of sources. Oh yeah there’s a match here.

The Young Pistols were a cowboy kind of tag team that did nothing at all. It was Tracy Smothers, who would become far more famous and I use that term very loosely, and Steve Armstrong, whose brother is Brian, or Road Dogg. The Freebirds were legendary heels in WCCW out of Dallas and revolutionized heel tag team wrestling. This pairing is nowhere near that as they’re both old and more or less worthless at this point.

The original trio of Buddy Roberts, Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy is gone and it’s now Hayes and Jimmy Garvin who by law had to have made at least 5 adult movies in the 70s looks like he does. Anyway, this is for the midcard tag titles. That’s saying a lot about the tag title scene. Not only was there a strong world tag title scene, but there was enough of one to warrant a midcard tag title. That’s saying a lot.

If nothing else the Freebirds have the greatest theme song ever with Badstreet USA. Oh and they’re part of a stable called the Diamond Mine, which is run by one Diamond Dallas Page. Oh and they have a manager named Big Daddy Dink, who you would know from the 80s as Oliver Humperdink. Ok most of you won’t but he existed. Page is just a manager here and is already in his mid to late 20s here so he started WAY late.

The Birds are supposed to be a rock band here and to their credit Hayes sings their theme song so there we are. The Pistols are from Wyoming of all places. My goodness this has to be a record for longest amount of writing just to set up a match. There’s the bell and it’s Armstrong and Hayes. I can’t tell the Pistols apart which is likely because I don’t want to. Uh oh Ross is using football analogies. This could be a long night.

Brad Armstrong, Steve’s other brother and the most talented of the three comes out to balance out Dink which makes sense at least. The referee throws Dink out so that’s good as Brad leaves also. Steve completely misses a clothesline but Hayes sells it anyway. Have to love that old school mentality and experience shining through there. The Pistols actually aren’t terrible. They’re not good but there are far worse teams.

Ah there we are with some nice cheating to get the advantage swung. Sometimes all it takes is pulling a rope down and the heels are very heelish. Tracy freaking DIVES for a tag which looked a lot funnier than it should have. In a bad looking spot, the Pistols both go for missile dropkicks. Armstrong misses completely and Smothers hits Garvin but Garvin doesn’t do anything and Smothers goes down.

The Pistols are all over the place but they’re not hitting a lot of stuff. Dusty says there are going to be new champions here. Gee Dusty you think? In a tournament final there will be new champions?

After a ref bump, a masked guy in what would be called a black chicken suit comes out and beats up the Pistols, hitting both with DDTs from the middle ropes which would be the same as they stand on the mat while he does them but whatever. That gets the Birds the titles. While it was never revealed on TV, the guy in the suit was Brad Armstrong.

Rating: B-. I liked it. It’s a very formula based match but that’s often times the best thing you could ask for and this is no exception. It’s basic heel vs. face stuff but it held my attention for ten minutes which is more than most modern tag matches do. This was fine, but some people would be bored with it I think.

Off to the infamously awful Great American Bash 1991 with the team joined by the masked Badstreet, who didn’t last long but was incredibly talented.

Young Pistols/Dustin Rhodes vs. Freebirds

They finally make contact with some chops followed by Dustin slamming both of the regular team members. The Birds chill on the floor and Hayes yells at the crowd a bit. To his credit it gets the crowd to start a short Freebirds Suck chant, which is one of the first of the night. Garvin hits Rhodes in the back so Hayes can take over. The Birds hit the Pistols so Dustin takes both Birds down, allowing the Pistols to hit top rope shoulders. The Freebirds go to the floor again as things pause for the third time in less than four minutes.

Smothers finally gets back up to the apron but Hayes drops him with a right hand. We finally get back in and Garvin pounds away on him a bit. Off to Badstreet who dances in and clotheslines Tracy down. Hayes comes back in with a sleeper, which might be the most appropriate move that he could do. Tracy finally breaks out of it and gets a bit of offense in, only to run into a GREAT left hand to put him down.

One more US Tag Team Title match at WrestleWar 1992.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Silver Kings vs. Freebirds

#2 misses a missile dropkick and Garvin hammers away before getting two off a suplex. Hayes gets the tag and stomps away in the corner before strutting a lot. #1 comes in again as Jesse thinks this sounds like a Dr. Seuss book. A top rope elbow gets two for #1 and the Silver Kings clean house. Things settle down again and #2 hits a dropkick on Hayes and takes him down with a drop toehold.

Back to Garvin who grabs a chinlock for a few seconds before both guys get up and make tags. #1 comes back in and dropkicks Hayes in the ribs before #2 comes in with a missile dropkick for two. Hayes finally nails his big left hand and everything breaks down. The fans want the DDT but get a pair of bad dropkicks to send the Birds outside. The Kings use what would become the 619 to send the Freebirds running away before #2 dives on them both. Hayes accidentally punches Garvin but #1 misses a dive and hits #2. Michael slides in for a small package on #1 for the pin.

NWA Tag Title Tournament Quarter-Finals: Fabulous Freebirds vs. Hiroshi Hase/Shinya Hashimoto

Hase comes in for a few seconds before Hashimoto comes in for his famous kicks. Hayes comes in to pound away with “American right hands”, a JR trademarked term. Hayes hooks a quick armbar but Hashimoto hits him in the throat to escape. Hase hits a gutbuster and shouts a bit. Bach to Shinya for more kicks which is about all his offense consists of. A fallaway slam suplex gets two on Hayes.

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

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kfnys|var|u0026u|referrer|ahizf||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) we’re looking at one of the guys that belongs in the Hall of Fame: Michael Hayes.

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

Six Man Tag Titles: Freebirds vs. Von Erichs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AWA Tag Titles: Freebirds vs. Road Warriors

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

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

Road Warriors vs. Freebirds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

US Title: Lex Luger vs. Michael Hayes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the finals from later in the night.

World Tag Team Titles: Freebirds vs. Midnight Express

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

World Tag Titles: Doom vs. Fabulous Freebirds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tag Titles: Acolytes vs. Hardys/Michael Hayes

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

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

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

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

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