History of Wrestling

This Day in Wrestling History: Parade of Champions 1984

It has been a long time since we looked back at a special event from wrestling's past and partially it's just because we don't always have event worth looking back on. At one point Dallas territory was one of the hottest territories in all of wrestling with World Class Championship Wrestling leading the charge. Starting in 1982 the hottest feud in wrestling kicked off when Terry Gordy slammed the cage door in the face of Kerry Von Erich kicking off the incredible feud. The territory would also have a number incredible talents like Chris Adams, Jimmy Garvin, Great Kabuki, Missing Link, and various others not only stabilizing the territory, but helping to really heat things up.

The significance of this event is that this was a memorial show for the recently deceased David Von Erich. Sadly David had passed away earlier in the year specifically in February while on tour in Japan. As the story goes he wasn't feeling the best before leaving for the tour and some family members suggested he miss the tour, but David rejected the idea. Unfortunately in wrestling like every other profession there are athletes that had their careers cut short for various reasons. It is hard to imagine how big of a star David could've been had he lived, because there have been various reports that David would've become the NWA World Champion eventually which likely would've remained in the NWA for a bit longer, but I don't know how much things would've changed from what actually happened. Overall this is a very special event and one filled with a lot of emotion, excitement, and energy one worth watching if you have free time.

Parade of Champions:

Chris Adams & Sunshine Def. (Pin) Jimmy Garvin & Precious
Butch Reed Def. (Pin) Chick Donovan
Kamala Draw The Great Kabuki
Junkyard Dog Def. (DQ) The Missing Link
Buck Zumhofe & Iceman King Parsons Def. Bill Irwin (C) & Scott Irwin (C) WCCW American Tag Team Titles (Title Change)
Fritz Von Erich & Kevin Von Erich & Mike Von Erich Def. Buddy Roberts (C) & Michael Hayes (C) & Terry Gordy (C)6-Person Tag WCCW 6-Man Tag Team Titles (Title Change)
Kerry Von Erich Def. (Pin) Ric Flair (C)11:24 NWA World Heavyweight Title (Title Change)

This Day in Wrestling History: 4/4/19

Happy Birthday to Chelsea Green who turns 28 years old

Happy Birthday to Ulf Herman who turns 53 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 3/18/19

Happy Birthday to "Lighting" Mike Quackenbush who turns 43 years old

Happy Birthday to Rick "The Model" Martel who turns 63 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 3/3/19

Happy Birthday to PJ Black who turns 38 years old

Happy Birthday to Hanson who turns 35 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/11/19

Happy Birthday to Ken Shamrock who turns 55 years old

Happy Birthday to Hernandez who turns 46 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/7/19

On this day Buzz Sawyer passed away 27 years ago

Happy Birthday to Kim "Tiger Toguchi" Duk who turns 71 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/22/19

Happy Birthday to Tully Blanchard who turns 65 years old

Happy Birthday to Al "911" Poling who turns 62 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/14/19

Happy Birthday to Matt Riddle who turns 33 years old

Happy Birthday to Jim Duggan who turns 65 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/10/19

Happy Birthday to "Pistol" Pez Whatley who turns 68 years old

Happy Birthday to Donovan Morgan who turns 43 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/30/18

Happy Birthday to Eddie Edwards who turns 35 years old

Happy Birthday to Carl Ouellet who turns 51 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/23/18

Happy Birthday to Kassius "Chris Hero" Ohno who turns 39 years old

Happy Birthday to Christopher Daniels who turns 47 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/16/18

Happy Birthday to Men's Teioh who turns 52 years old

Happy Birthday to Eagle Sawai who turns 53 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/13/18

Happy Birthday to Michael Elgin who turns 32 years old

Happy Birthday to Junkyard Dog who would've turned 66 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/2/18

Happy Birthday to Jinsei "Hakushi" Shinzaki who turns 52 years old

Happy Birthday to Gypsy Joe who would've been 85 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 11/24/18

At this point it is incredible to think that the first major closed circuit event in the world of American wrestling was a WCW/NWA event the event known as Starrcade. The event drew so well that radio broadcasts were advising fans to avoid the exit for the arena as all the tickets were sold for the event and the traffic was backed up. This was an event unlike any other and was the brain child of Dusty Rhodes the came together upon his arrival in Jim Crockett Promotions. The marquee for the read Starrcade 1983: "A Flare for the Gold" as Ric Flair and the NWA Worlds Champion Harley Race were headling the event. Though this might be a shock to most modern fans at this point in his career Ric Flair was the underdog good guy going against the evil champion which is interestingly enough the role he'd play for most of his career. However, at this point Flair had been the victim of a brutal attack by Dick Slater & Bob Orton who captured the bounty that Race placed on Flair. For a short time Flair "retired" but decided to return to get his vengeance on Race which would happen on this night.

In my opinion this would be Flair's true coronation as a top name in the world of wrestling becoming the go to guy in the National Wrestling Alliance following the event. Even though Flair had held the NWA title in the past that reign was more of test run in my book and this was his real chance to prove himself as the leader and flag barer for the National Wrestling Alliance. As history tells us "Naitch" did a pretty damn good job as champion becoming one of if not the single greatest professional wrestler of all time. It all started on this day 35 years ago!!!

NWA StarrCade 1983

Assassin #1 & Assassin #2 Def. Bugsy McGraw & Rufus R. Jones
Kevin Sullivan & Mark Lewin Def. Johnny Weaver & Scott McGhee
Abdullah The Butcher Def. Carlos Colon
Bob Orton Jr. & Dick Slater Def. Mark Youngblood & Wahoo McDaniel
Charlie Brown Def. The Great Kabuki (C) NWA Television Title (Title Change)
Roddy Piper Def. Greg Valentine "Dog Collar"
Jay Youngblood & Ricky Steamboat Def. Jack Brisco (C) & Jerry Brisco (C) NWA Tag Team Titles (Title Change)
Ric Flair Def. Harley Race (C) Steel Cage NWA World Heavyweight Title (Title Change)

This Day in Wrestling History: 11/22/18

Happy Birthday to Brandon "Boy" Tate who turns 27 years old

Happy Birthday to Lash Leroux who turns 42 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 11/4/18

Happy Birthday to Ryan Nemeth who turns 34 years old

Happy Birthday to Cody Hawk who turns 45 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 10/25/18

Happy Birthday to Atsushi Onita who turns 61 years old

Happy Birthday Perry Saturn who turns 52 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 10/7/18

As always wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. These two are very different talent and had two very different careers while they worked in this great business. The reality is that Rhino had the chance to be a star, but never really given a chance to show it, but Aiden English has become a star in a different way. Though it might also sometimes we encounter those that deserve to be remembered and acknowledged. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.

Happy Birthday to Rhino who turns 43 years old

Happy Birthday to Aiden English who turns 31 years old

Match of the Week: Mike Awesome vs New Jack

For once I have tried to actually find an actual random match, because I really don't focus too much on ECW or other companies that really don't exist anymore. The main reason that I don't really focus on those companies that don't exist anymore is because I feel like more people want to see matches or news about companies that still do exist at this point. One thing that I will point out is that Mike Awesome's ECW run is something that we could or should really talk about in another article at a later date, but this match is absolutely a major missed opportunity. The other guy in the match needs really no introduction because anyone who doesn't know New Jack should just google him.

This Day In Wrestling History: 9/20/18

Happy Birthday to Arn Anderson who turns 60 years old

Happy Birthday to Greg Valentine who turns 67 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 9/2/18

Happy Birthday to TJ Perkins who turns 34 years old

Happy Birthday to Joe E Legend who turns 49 years old

The Night that Extreme Was Born

Though we have seen a rise in status of the NWA in recent years thanks to a combination of Bruce Tharpe & Billy Corgan. However, at one point we saw the once most powerful governing body hang on by a thread after the WCW severed ties with them in early 1994 after WCW and NWA had a disagreement over a title change that WCW wanted to do with Rick Rude defeating then champion Ric Flair. Following the end of the association the NWA had to crown a new champion and they looked to Eastern Championship Wrestling for that champion. Going into this show many thought that we would see exactly that with prospect Shane Douglas getting the nod as many felt it was a long time coming.

It is worth noting that also going into the show Cactus Jack had been having a feud with the Public Enemy dating back to the infamous match where the fans started tossing chairs into the ring. This was also the biggest opportunity for the youngster Mikey Whipwreck as for the first time he would be in a main event competitive match. There is no doubt tough that the biggest story going into this show was the crowing of a new champion. The tournament went on and the finals finished with a new champion being crowned, but everything changes in the end. This night is remembered when the future "Franchise" tossed down the NWA World Title claiming that the NWA banner is Dead and that Extreme Championship Wrestling is the future.

ECW NWA World Title Tournament

Too Cold Scorpio def. Chris Benoit
911 def. Borne Again
Dean Malenko def. Osamu Nishimura
Shane Douglas def. The Tazmaniac
Too Cold Scorpio def. (CO) 911
Shane Douglas def. Dean Malenko
Shane Douglas def. Too Cold Scorpio NWA World Heavyweight Title (title change)
Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck def. Johnny Grunge (c) & Rocco Rock (c) ECW Tag Team Titles (title change)

This Day in Wrestling History: 8/22/18

Happy Birthday to Paul Ellering who turns 65 years old

Happy Birthday to Apollo Crews who turns 31 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 8/6/18

Happy Birthday to Dino Bravo who would've turned 71 years old

Happy Birthday to Bram who turns 32 years old

The Worst Match Ever

Think about this picture a match that takes place outside an arena in a Junkyard with one or two camera and one was in a helicopter. Now one would've thought that the promotion learned the first time they did they for the King of the Road match back in 1995. Anyone who thinks that any other company could've done this other than WCW is crazy due to the promotions past. Now I never really did understand the appeal or interest in doing this type of match especially outside of the arena at night time. For me this actually shows a disregard for any of the workers that took place in the match based on the fact that a number of talent did get injured including the winner of the match Finaly which further lambasted the point or purpose if the winner just gets a freaking trophy.

The puzzling side of the booking of this match is that I wonder if Eric Bischoff was the man behind it as I don't know when he did check out mentally for the promotion as he would leave WCW two months later. The WWE did do this during the Attitude Era with the Hardcore title at WrestleMania 16 but the difference is that it was done in an arena and not outside because the WWE was smart enough to keep it inside because who the hell would want to see it outside. Looking at the show it was a terrible event which is a sad site because of the long history this event had in the WCW calendar just look at Hogan's WCW tenure for this point. Overall this event was terrible and the Junkyard match is the embodiment of this event because this show belongs in a Junkyard and this is one of the worst matches I have ever seen because it makes zero sense why they did it. The only highlight was seeing the West Texas Rednecks sing "I Hate Rap" before their match against the Filthy Animals.

Bash at the Beach 1999

Ernest Miller def. (pin) Disco Inferno
Rick Steiner def. (pin) Van Hammer WCW World Television Title
David Flair def. (pin) Dean Malenko WCW United States Title
Brad Armstrong & Konnan & Rey Misterio, Jr. & Swoll def. (pin) Barry Windham & Bobby Duncum, Jr. & Curt Hennig & Kendall Windham
Fit Finlay def. Brian Knobbs, Ciclope, David Taylor, Hardcore Hak, Horace Hogan, Hugh Morrus, Jerry Flynn, Johnny Grunge, La Parka, Mikey Whipwreck, Rocco Rock, Silver King, Steven Regal
Bam Bam Bigelow & Diamond Dallas Page & Kanyon def. (pin) Chris Benoit & Perry Saturn
Buff Bagwell def. (pin) Roddy Piper referee: Mills Lane Boxing Match
Randy Savage & Sid Vicious def. (pin) Kevin Nash & Sting

Rest in Peace Big Van Vader

As a wrestling fan it always hard having to say goodbye to your favorites no matter how long they have been out of the ring for years or decades. It really doesn't matter how long someone is out of the limelight it is very hard to forget one of your favorites. Recently the wrestling world lost another legend Leon "Vader" White passed away on Monday after a battle with Pneumonia. I think that Vader is one of the many legends that I have been unable to give a spotlight too and though I really hate the fact that I have to write this type of article but I have found it comes with the territory as a wrestling fan.

Vader began his career in 1985 after ending his semi successful NFL career due to injury issues that had plague him for a time making his in ring debut as a member of the AWA roster. It was his move to the international promotions like New Japan and Catch Wrestling in Europe that brought him early success in wrestling winning his first World Title in 1987 as a member of the CWA Roster after defeating promoter Otto Wanz. At one point Vader would hold three different World Titles on three different continents having the IWGP, CWA, and UWA World titles in his belt cabinet. After leaving AWA in 1987 he would really stay out of the US for the next three years making a name for himself in the Pacific more than anything becoming a legend in Japan. In 1990, Vader actually signed a contract with the WCW but rarely seen by the company due in Japan not really allowing him to be seen on a consistent basis in the States until around late 1991. Starting in 1992, he would start working fulltime for the company they paired him with Harley Race as his manager. In the summer of 1992 he would defeat Sting at Great American Bash for the WCW World Title adding another title to his collection.

During this run he would become a major star in the United States and really would be one of the top stars in WCW prior to the 1994 arrival of Hulk Hogan in the company. Unfortunately for Vader he would be one of the first talent let go after the arrival of Hogan in the company with Vader leaving in the fall of 1995. Vader would then pop up in the WWE in early 1996 debuting at the Royal Rumble and kicked off his run in the only company he hadn't been in to that point the WWF. Early on Vader was booked very strong but then a match with Shawn Michaels didn't go very well and everything changed. Vader would remain with the company until 1998 when he would depart from the WWF and returned to Japan soon after but it would be different because it would All Japan instead. After this run he would slowly phase down in his active wrestling career never really wrestling full time again and would instead move between differ promotion which included sporadic appearances in companies like: WWE, NOAH, TNA, RevPro, XWA, NJPW, and others. Overall we have lost one of the best big men in wrestling history and other than Bam Bam Bigelow one of the men of that size that I can remember seeing do a moon sault from the top rope. Thank you for the memories Vader, I will always remember seeing you on episode s of Boy Meets World back in the day. Rest In peace Leon!!

The War Takes a Turn

The war continues and takes a turn at Great American Bash the not yet named New World Order would take sometime to clear tings up as far as any association they may have to the World Wrestling Federation. This is when they would also be given names of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash but even though this might seem like a minor angle it was until the end of the segment. Near the end of the segment things would begin to get physical with Hall providing Eric and then Kevin kicking Eric in the gut before hitting him with the jackknife power bomb off the stage through a table on the ground. This was something incredible for the time because this type of thing against non wrestlers for one never happened during the this time and the table wasn't a normal weapon for the time. Though this might seem like a minor turn but this moment did show a sign of things changing with a more reality base as oppose to the more comedic style like the way things had been in the past few years.

This would continue the slow build that the this feud was known for would keep going and the "Let it Simmer" approach would stay together as the promotion would slowly change there booking style little by little and it started with this feud. The wrestling world would change forever with the help of this angle and things could never be the same thank in part to the start of the NWO.

This Day in Wrestling History: 6/1/18

Happy Birthday to James Storm who turns 41 years old

Happy Birthday to Scoot Andrews who turns 47 years old

Hart N Soul: Owen Hart

Wrestling has produced some incredibly talented stars and some have been lost to history but others have stood the test of time. One of the names that have stood the test of time was the youngest Hart brother named Owen Hart. Though Owen did get his start in his father Stampede Wrestling promotion like the rest of his family. However, unlike his brother Bret it ok Owen a while to find his footing on a large scale; at First Owen found his most success on tours in Japan before making a name for himself in the states. Owen would first be known as a super hero type character called the Blue Blazer but would be more or less a jobber during the run which is more than likely the reason he didn't stick around. It's crazy to think that at first both WWE & WCW would loose out on Owen Hart before his brother jumped into help him. For those who don't know it was actually Bret who gave Owen his first major feud as the company wanted Bruce to feud with Bret but Bret said no and suggested Owen instead. The incredibly well put together 1994 feud between Bret & Owen would be a one of the few highlights of the weakest years in WWE with Owen becoming a major star just based off one feud.

Owen would then become of tone of the most stable workers in the company holding every title in the company other then the World Title. He would hold the tag team titles four different times with Yokozuna, British Bulldog, and Jeff Jarrett holding the titles twice with Yokozuna which surprised me. Owen would also hold the European and Intercontinental titles which most fans are aware of at least his IC title reign due to him being champion at Summerslam 1997 in his infamous match with Steve Austin. It is insane to think that it has been 19 years since that tragic night in Kansas City that took away Owen from us and left us with way too many what if situations.

Now I don't think that it is possible to know the right answer of what should have happened at Over the Edge 1999 and if the show should've ended or not. Overall there is no doubt that Owen was a tremendous talent and that certain signs point to the rumor of Owen hanging up with boots in the not to distant future which makes things all the more tragic. Owen you are still missed and will never be forgotten by those who had the intense pleasure of seeing you perform like only you could.

Back to the Territories: Jim Cornette & JJ Dillon discuss Mid-Atlantic

It has been a while since my last DVD review and I thought that it would be fun to mix things up again especially since I had recently finished watching this DVD from KayfabeCommentaries.com. The series is hosted by Jim Cornette who along with a legend from the territory era looks back at the different companies and specific territories from what some call the golden age of wrestling. This edition of the series looks at Mid Atlantic Wrestling and in many ways the historical impact that region had on the business. With the likes of Luter Lindsay, George Becker, Jimmy Valient, Gene & Ole Anderson becoming legends within the area. Overall it is one of the better installments of the series as classic matches are also a part of the DVD as well, but the one thing I will say is that if you have seen anything from the territory era this isn't for you; other than that it was a great buy in my opinion. Below are some other subject covered in the DVD:

- JIm Crockett Sr.'s reputation in wrestling and how his death affected the company
- George Scott & John Ringley leading the reeducation of the fans following his passing
- Changing to a singles from a tag team territory lead by Wahoo & Johnny Valentine
- Dusty Rhodes & JJ taking over the region after years of weak business
- The always deep talent roster
- National Expansion and why Jim went into the bigger cities
- Starrcade & the major event concept
- And Much Much More!!!

This Day in Wrestling History: It's Vader Time

For fans that may not know before his career in wrestling the man that would later be known as Vader had a short career in the National Football League as a member of the Los Angels Rams. Though Leon didn't last in the NFL he was the center on the LA Rams team who were the NFC Champions that year which meant they were one of the teams in the Super Bowl. Though the Rams did come up short in Super Bowl XIV that is quite an accomplishment for someone who would follow the lead of fellow former football players turned wrestlers were injury would force them to turn to the 24 x 24 ring instead of the gridiron. Following a little time in the AWA after being trained by AWA stalwart Brad Rheingans he would move across the Pacific were he would hit his highest point in wrestling and become a legend in Japan. In the middle of 1989 Vader wo0uld become the first Gaijin to hold the IWGP World Title.

From there Leon would become the first person to ever hold three World Titles on different continents the three titles that Leon would hold were the IWGP, CWA, and UWA World Titles. For those who don't know Universal Wrestling Association was the second biggest Mexican company behind CMLL before the formation of AAA. Also to explain the CWA promotion it was known as Catch Wrestling Association and was based in Europe lead by Otto Wanz. This promotion would bring names like Dave Finlay, Mike Drose, Steven Regal, Luc Proirier, and many others to forefront in the international wrestling world. Though his incredible run wouldn't last it would just be the beginning of his fantastic career.

Now we are going to gloss over things from this point forward but fact is Vader would become one of NJPW's top talents for years to come until he moved back to the states full time. In 1993 he would move to the company known as WCW and once he became a full time star in the company and he would become a Monster for the company as well as a top heel for the company in the pre-Hulk Hogan era. Now following the arrival of Hulk Hogan in WCW his time would slowly come to a close in the company not fitting into the post Hogan WCW. From there we moved to WWE and then back to Japan with both runs being pretty lackluster and feeling like somethings missing. Overall there is no doubt that Vader will go down as one of the best big men in the history of wrestling and if things were done differently he could've been higher on the list.

This Day in Wrestling History: Remembering a Female Wrestling Legend

With the ever developing popularity of women's wrestling in the world of modern wrestling there is always time to look back an admire those who have come before the ladies of today. Much like you normally hear announcers especially in the WWE say that certain legends paved the way for the future we should do the same for the female talent of the past. Now I know they tried to do it with Fabulous Moolah earlier this year and though there might be a case for that to be made due to her legacy and what she gave to the business taking that moment away was the right thing to do. However, I do think the name could've been given to another female star of the past for example the woman whom is the focus of this article is one that could've taken the honor.

This one name doesn't get much in terms of much mentions likely due to her relatively short career compared to some of her fellow wrestlers from the time. I know that a lot of fans may not know who Judy Grable is but that's why I am here as first and foremost she was one of the many females trained by Moolah. For all her negative traits Moolah did help get a lot of women booked and Judy was one of those women, however it was the unique traits in her character that made her stick out. For example, her nickname was "The Barefoot Contessa" based around the fact that she actually preferred wrestling barefoot as opposed to wearing boots which I've seen from a lot of men, but she is the first woman I've heard this about.

Overall, looking her career she had a modest career that may not have seen a lot of title victories but she did help pave the way for women of the future. The legacy she has left behind is clear from her inductions into both the WWE & Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum which will let her legacy live on as well as the impact she had on Wrestling. Though I think we could see a barefoot female wrestler today I don't think we will so Judy will always have that unique distinction.

Elizabeth: A Manager Unlike Any other

Though at this point the idea of a manager is seemingly a foreign one in most of the top American companies outside of only a handful of names. This is the total opposite to how things were back in 1980's with various holding things together in basically every territory in the United States. Now most for most fans when they think of a manager they think of someone who wouldn't hesitate to get involved help his or her client get the win in their match. However, that wasn't always the case and one manager in particular was so different then everyone else that she rose above and stuck out from the pack. In 1985 when Randy Savage made his debut in the WWE the first thing he needed to do was find his manager and he was offered the services of basically every manager on the roster at the time. But when the time came to chose his manager he shocked the wrestling world by choosing someone at the time that nobody had heard of and her name was Miss Elizabeth.

One of the reasons this moment was so shocking is due to the fact that at the time Elizabeth became one of if not the first female manager in the WWF especially one of a high profile talent like Savage. For anyone who has never seen Elizabeth as a manager she was unlike any other manager of the time for the most part because it didn't matter if Randy was face or heel she would never get involved directly in his matches. Don't get me wrong Liz did play a part in some of Randy's matches, but normally it was by Randy's actions not her own which made her even more unique then she already was.

Looking back it would be hard to discount the pivotal role that Elizabeth had in Mega Powers feud heading into Wrestlemania 4 especially on the night that the Mega Powers exploded. Another major moment that Liz was apart of was at Wrestlemania 7 following Randy and Warrior's classic match it was Liz who came to the aid of Savage stopping Martel's attack. This then moved to one of the most heartfelt moments in the history of wrestling when after around a year of being apart Liz & Randy Savage reunited & those in attendance were in tears. It is moments like this that embody how unique and the effect that Miss Elizabeth had on the wrestling business. Sadly we did loose Elizabeth very young back in 2003, but there is no doubt that every now and again that looking back and spotlighting the past is just what we need to do.

This Day in Wrestling History: 5/2/18

Happy Birthday to Big Bossman who would've turned 57 years old

Happy Birthday to Caylen Croft who turns 36 years old

Number One has Passed On

One of the many ways to honor those who have left us is just to shine a light on the legacy that they have left behind. At one point Paul Jones was underrated performer in Jim Crockett Promotions and was one of the top territory stars during his in ring career. By 1983 he would officially retire from the ring and make the move into become a manager leading the "Paul Jones Army." At one time or another Paul would manage many top heels of the territory like Masked Superstar, Ivan Koloff, Rick Rude, Manny Fernandez, Powers of Pain, and many others. Though Paul would never really reach the level of Jim Cornette or JJ Dillion he was a very capable manager and in way was underrated as he would never really get the catch to manage on a large scale as he stepped away from the camera around the time WCW began.

Long story short this match sees two of the top stars from the Mid Atlantic region lock horns for the top prize in the territory not called the NWA Worlds Title. There is no doubt that Paul Jones is a sort of unknown to some fans but that just means they aren't aware of the legacy that Number 1 leaves behind. Thank you Paul for all you gave to the sport of pro-wrestling and the memories you leave those who were lucky to see you do what you do.

This Day in Wrestling History: 4/25/18

Happy Birthday to Amazing Red who turns 36 years old

Happy Birthday to Jerry Blackwell who would've been 69 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 4/18/18

For once we look back to find a way to spotlight legends of yesteryear and give them another moment in the sun. This different due to it focusing on talent that is no longer with us as opposed to those who are still here and celebrating being another year older. On this day in history the wrestling world lost two legends of the sport in Wahoo McDaniel & Gory Guerrero. Sometimes you can point to certain names as reasons a territory turned around and after the death of Jim Crockett Sr. one of the talents that helped morph Jim Crockett Promotions into the company we know as WCW was Wahoo McDaniel who with Johnny Valentine changed the territory. The patriarch of the Guerrero family also left us on this day in 1990 leaving behind a number of sons who would become tremendous in ring performers and carry on the family legacy for years to come. I've said it before and will say it again that being a wrestling fan it is always hard to say goodbye but one good thing about wrestling his the legends never leave us.

Wahoo McDaniel vs Johnny Valentine

Tribute to Gory Guerrero

This Day in Wrestling History: Dallas Wins the Big One

Though in a lot of cases many fans began to tune out of WCW around this time and most fans think there was a lot of lackluster bookings. But there was one moment that nobody saw coming, because didn't expect him to get the opportunity as he started working in the ring full time at age 35. From the time he started in the ring Diamond Dallas Page had his critics and hosts of people that said he would never make it. But on this night Page proved everyone wrong and won the big one. Now there were always some events that for whatever reason the WCW always put a great show for and this wasn't a great show but it definitely was a really good one for the time.

Looking at the card it really shows not just how deep the WCW roster was at one point but just the pure talent the company had and let get away. Looking at the roster it is also interesting to see how many stars would continue their cars and go on to be very successful in both the WWE & Impact Wrestling. I also think it's worth nothing that at this time Randy Savage had pretty much retired from in ring action or many thought he was due to his prolonged absence from the ring. Overall though I want to point out that the Cruiserweights, Benoit, Malenko, and Saturn were among the highlights of the show at not just this event but on a monthly basis and were among one of the main reasons for the WCW success for a time.

WCW Spring Stampede 1999

1Juventud Guerreradef. (pin)Blitzkrieg11:11 ****¼
2Bam Bam Bigelowdef. (pin)Hak11:33"hardcore"***½
3Scotty Riggsdef. (pin)Mikey Whipwreck07:03 ½*
4Konnandef. (pin)Disco Inferno09:17 *¼
5Rey Misterio, Jr. (c)def. (pin)Billy Kidman15:32 WCW Cruiserweight Championship
***
6Chris Benoit & Dean Malenkodef. (pin)Raven & Saturn14:11 ***½
7Scott Steinerdef. (pin)Booker T.15:37 WCW United States Title
**½
8Goldbergdef. (pin)Kevin Nash07:44 *
9Diamond Dallas Pagedef. (pin)Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair (c), Sting17:27referee: Randy Savage
four cornersWCW World Heavyweight Title
(title change)*¼
see all cards »

Luscious Left us Too Soon

Wrestling has always gone through eras and things where certain aspects of wrestling were more popular then others especially in some areas like the Mid Atlantic region for one. But for this "retrospective" we head to the Indianapolis territory to find a young Bobby Heenan and his first client Jimmy Valient. Bobby would then look to other territories to try and find a new partner for his main meal ticket and they looked to New York and the man that would become "Luscious" Johnny Valient and the kayfabe brother of Jimmy. Though these two would become a legendary tag team in the history of wrestling and would at one point become among the top heels in the territories they were a part of. Before he got his big break he would wrestle in the WWWF as John Sullivan.

Really Johnny would be a perfect example of how old school wrestling was because he would be brought into the Indianapolis territory and repackaged. Though this might not sound like that big a deal it was very common for the time that if you didn't have a good spot in one territory and another promoter could use you in his then it was up to the home base promoter to decide if you could go or not, but in some cases the talent decide to leave himself. After becoming a team the Valient Brothers would first be managed by Bobby Heenan and then following his departure they would be managed by Jerry Valient.

IN period rich with various tag teams the Valient Brothers stuck out as one of the top teams winning tag team gold everywhere they went and becoming major stars with the WWA during their time there. Jimmy would return to the WWF during the Rock n Wrestling era under the name he made famous during his in ring career he would manage Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine who were collectively known as the Dream Team. Johnny would add Dino Bravo to the stable ahead of the largest Mania event in history. Though Johnny wouldn't become one of the more known managers of the time due in part to him being a part of a very deep pool of incredible talent and this not a slight on Johnny but a testament to how deep the WWF's managerial pool was back in the day. Sadly news came around two days ago that Johnny Valient had passed away after being hit by a truck he was 71. Thank you Johnny for all the memories you have given us fans and the legacy you leave behind. God Speed and Rest in Peace!!

This Day in Wrestling History: 3/29/18

Happy Birthday to Michael Hayes who turns 59 years old

Happy Birthday to Dixie who turns 36 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: WrestleMania XX

Now looking at some of the cards The earliest WrestleMania for me that I actually remember watching is WrestleMania XX and though I could maybe remember certain match from other shows I remember the most about WrestleMania XX. Now this is a perfect example of how the WWE use to book before the introduction of the Battle Royal's on the event. The WWE attempted to fit just about anyone on the card that they could which include a four way tag match and a multi person cruiserweight title match. Though the WWE does still do this they do it now in a more clean way as opposed to just having multiple random matches to fit everyone on the show. It was crazy to think that this marks the 14 year anniversary

WWE WrestleMania XX

John Cena def. (pin) The Big Show (c) WWE United States Championship
Booker T. (c) & Rob Van Dam (c) def. (pin) Garrison Cade & Mark Jindrak, Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley, Rene Dupree & Rob Conway fatal 4-way tag World Tag Team Titles (WWE)
Christian def. (pin) Chris Jericho
Batista & Randy Orton & Ric Flair def. (pin) Mick Foley & The Rock handicap tag
Sable & Torrie Wilson def. (pin) Miss Jackie, Stacy Keibler "Playboy Evening Gown"¼*
Cruiserweight Open for the Cruiserweight Title:
Chavo Guerrero def Rey Mysterio, Taijri, Nunzio, Akio, Shannon Moore, Ultimo Dragon, Jamie Knoble, and Billy Kidman
Goldberg def. (pin) Brock Lesnar referee: Steve Austin
Rikishi (c) & Scotty 2 Hotty (c) def. (pin) Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin, Danny Basham & Doug Basham, Bradshaw & Faarooq Fatal 4-way tag WWE Tag Team Championship
Victoria (c) def. (pin) Molly Holly hair vs. title WWE Women's Championship
Eddie Guerrero (c) def. (pin) Kurt Angle WWE Championship
The Undertaker def. (pin) Kane
Chris Benoit def. (sub) Shawn Michaels, Triple H (c) Triple-Threat World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)

Match of the Week: Nikita Koloff vs Terry Taylor

It's once again time to look back into the annals of wrestling with another random match to highlight certain talent from the past. Though most fans believe that Terry Taylor had a good amount of potential that was never really found. I don't think that the man most known as the Red Rooster lost his potential I just don't think he was never really able to put everything together. Looking at the other side of the match is the Russian Nikita Koloff who was an amazing heel and one of the top stars in the NWA at the time, but once the shelf life ended it was tough for him to find his footing elsewhere. Overall though these two are very talented members of a bygone era that were signs of the time and one of the many reasons why the 1980's were so good.

This Day in Wrestling History: The Original Beast

It might be surprising to know but not many names have actually been called "The Beast" over the years. Think about it who sticks out other then currently Brock Lesnar, think about it coming up with someone else that shared the nick name is pretty tough. There is someone though and that person is former Canadian star Pierre LeBelle and there is no relation to the inventor of the LeBelle Lock that was used by Daniel Bryan. To start his career Pierre was actually brought into the business by Canadian Promoter Emile Dupree who suggested he get in the business. Pierre would then make his way to the states to continue his training specifically in Texas and Indiana. He would then end up in the Mid Atlantic region where Jim Crockett Sr. would give him the nickname of "The Beast."

Pierre would then move on to spend majority of his career in both Stampede Wrestling and Eastern Sports Association in the Maritimes region of Canada. Pierre would be a fixture in the territory for most of the decade and would headline events with the likes of Stu Hart, Dory Funk, and others. One of the biggest moments of his career came when he fought Giant Baba in front of 45,00 people in All Japan Pro-Wrestling, and though it might not seem like a big deal it is when you think how rare it was for talent to go to the newly formed territory as All Japan was still in it's infancy at the time. Though Pierre never made it big as he would call it a career before Vince began to expand on a national scale & he is looked at as a reliable major draw in the Canadian country during his entire career. Sadly, though Pierre would pass away in March 2009 heart attack days after a surgery at the age of 70 years old. Pierre would leave behind a legacy that may not be a national legacy but is still remember name in the country north of the boarder.

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/25/18

Happy Birthday to Ric Flair who turns 69 years old

Happy Birthday Sean O' Haire who would've turned 47 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/21/18

Happy Birthday to Dos Caras who turns 67 years old

Happy Birthday to Carlito who turns 39 years old

Hot Stuff Inc Remembered

Fact is there is a reason that so many former wrestlers claim that the 1980's was the golden age of pro-wrestling and that has to do with the amount of pure talent that was a part of the business at one time. Hindsight allowing us to look back like it does also us to know just how each talent effected the business over the years. Talent like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Fabulous Freebirds, Gino Hernandez, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, various others helped make the territory system an incredible era for wrestling. One underrated name from this era was the man named "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert who spent most of his career working in various territories in the southern area of the country. During his career he became one of the many extremely smart wrestling minds that helped book the Memphis wrestling territory, but he never did reach where his potential could have brought him.

One of the things that unfortunately goes hand in hand with the 1980's is the excessive drug use not just in wrestling but in almost every place in society. This lead to various people suffering from personal demons and Eddie was unfortunately not above those demons either. In many ways his personality & those other problems would lead to Eddie leaving Memphis and later his lack of ability to trust anyone near the end of his life lead to him leaving the original ECW. However, it is not without looking that we can see just how much of an impact that Eddie had during his career and the age old question of how much of an effect that Eddie Gilbert would've had on wrestling had a few things been a little different.

To bring everything together we sadly lost Eddie on this day 23 years ago and this has left a lot of fans to wonder what could've been and thanks to the internet have the ability to admire and marvel at the legacy and the body of work he would leave behind.

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/16/18

Happy Birthday to Gangrel who turns 49 years old

On this day 8 years ago Johnny Grunge Passed Away

This Day in Wrestling History: The Night the Line was Crossed

The fact is very few nights in wrestling that carry a long lineage through the years due to it's effect on the historical legacy of the company. There two parts of the event that would follow ECW through it's full history, as one part of this event would become a part of the intro package for the Hardcore TV shows. The first event that would be tied to ECW through their history was the main event of the show that saw Shane Douglas, Sabu, & Terry Funk colliding for the ECW World Title. Many fans and writers alike credit this match for basically being the match that is credited with kicking of the career of the "Franchise."

The other moment that was tied to ECW was the match including JT Smith & Mike Awesome and though this is a random match to remember there is a reason for this. The reason for this is because of a certain moment during the match when Smith ended up on the floor. Awesome would actually take too the air and dive over the ropes onto Smith who lands back first on the guard rail almost getting impaled on the rail. This moment would be forever engrained in ECW history as a part of the intro video which is featured below.

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/8/18

Happy Birthday to Sherri Martel who would've turned 60 years old

Happy Birthday to Big Show who turns 46 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/6/18

As always wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. Before the days of the women's revolution the wrestling world had given women's wrestling the spotlight but never really on a large scale and one of the ladies that gave them. One the most spotlighted women was Madusa or later known as Alundra Blayze. The other talent we spotlight is the forgotten member of the PWG 6 as Joey Ryan, Excalibur, Super Dragon, Scott Lost, and Disco Machine; the lost member was Top Gun Talwar. The reason that Top Gun was forgotten is because his career ended four years into PWG's history. Though it's hard to say that PWG would've gotten going without Top Gun is easy to assume due to his association with the other five that thins would be a lot different. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.

Happy Birthday to Madusa who turns 55 years old

Happy Birthday to Top Gun Talwar who turns 34 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: The Passing of a Giant

For those who don't know the history of companies across the ocean. Originally the world of Japanese wrestling was very similar to the current world of wrestling with one company on top the only difference is that top talent have never walked out of the company. Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki would both walk out of Japan Pro-Wrestling Alliance to form their own promotions with Inoki opening New Japan and Baba opening All Japan respectively. In 1972, Baba would open the territory and change Japanese wrestling forever as he really is one of the reason that talent like Vader, Stan Hansen, The Funks, and various others made a career for themselves in the Pacific.

Baba would also build a roster full of extremely talented performers that he would have a hand in training most of the names on the roster including legends like Mitsharu Misawa , Jun Akiyama, Toshiaki Kawada, Masanobu Fuchi, and various others not just walked through the door but were brought up on the roster by Baba. All Japan was also the setting of the legendary battles between Kenta Kobashi & Mitsharu Misawa. However, everything changed when Baba passed away. Years before the dark ages of New Japan began it was in June of 2000 when New Japan had entered their own dark ages. Top star Misawa would lead a mass exodus the likes of which hadn't been seen since the All Japan & New Japan exodus of 1972. According to reports 26 of 28 contracted AJPW stars left the company with Misawa to join his new promotion leaving Baba's widow high and dry pretty much. The reason for the exodus was that Misawa and Baba's widow had a major disagreement over the future of the company which lead to Misawa to walk away. This event was held before the relationship between Misawa and Motoko would go south.

AJPW 1st Anniversary of Giant Bab's Death

Masao Inoue & Tamon Honda def. Masahito Kakihara & Yoshihiro Takayama
Maunakea Mossman def. Haruka Eigen, Kentaro Shiga, Makoto Hashi, Masanobu Fuchi, Mitsuo Momota, Naomichi Marufuji, Rusher Kimura, Takeshi Morishima, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Yoshinari Ogawa, Yoshinobu Kanemaru 12-man Battle Royal
Toshiaki Kawada def. Jun Izumida
Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa def. Akira Taue & Stan Hansen & Takao Omori 6-person tag

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/28/18

As always wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. One phrase when describing a tag team that has become very common is the "Marty Jannetty" and though it is normally to describe teams in major companies it is also possible for it to describe teams that fell a part of the Indies like the Valedictorians which was a team in ECWA that consisted of Rob Eckos & Billy Bax. Odds are you know the man formerly known as Robbie E, but don't know of his tag team partner well that's because Rob made it, but Billy never did. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.

Happy Birthday to Sheamus who turns 40 years old

Happy Birthday to Billy Bax who turns 37 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/25/18

Happy Birthday to Mark Andrews who turns 26 years old

Happy Birthday BJ Whitmer who turns 40 Years old

When Wrestling Lost an Innovator

Wrestling much like all sports had a period of time when segregation prevented some of the top stars in wrestling from being known, but much like Jackie Robinson in MLB the pro-wrestling business had Bobo Brazil. Though Bobo never really made it big on the national level he became an icon in various areas within the United States. Specifically, Bobo and his feud with fellow legend The Original Sheik is stuff of legend in the Michigan area considering the feud would not end until the mid 1980's. Another achievement in the long list of achievements is that in 1962 Bobo Brazil would become the first NWA World Heavyweight Champion.

There is no doubt that Brazil is a legend and a borderline icon in the wrestling business that really doesn't get the recognition that he so rightfully deserves. Names like Bobo, Ernie Ladd, and others helped pave the way in the wrestling industry for others to follow and the impact they had on the business should never be forgotten. This on the 20 year anniversary of his passing more than any day should be one day when we take the time to remember Bobo for his accomplishment and the legacy he left behind. Check out Bobo in action below against his greatest rival:

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/17/18

Happy Birthday to Mark Briscoe who turns 33 years old

Happy Birthday to Chase Stevens who turns 39 years old

Match of the Week: The Godfather vs Road Dogg

With the Royal Rumble right around the corner it seems fitting that we look back at two veterans who have one more than once appeared in a Royal Rumble. Now even though Road Dogg has only appeared as a special entrant once, The Godfather however has appeared on a variety of occasions in the Rumble match. But now we go back to 1999 when both men were active performers in the ring.

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/5/18

For the first time in 2018 we will be looking at what happened on this day in wrestling history. But, as always wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.

Happy Birthday to Doug Gilbert who turns 49 years old

Happy Birthday to Willie Mack who turns 31 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: The Moment When We Knew

Though many fans pinpoint the Starrcade of the previous year as the event that may have started the slow downturn of World Championship Wrestling. Back in 1996 when the WCW hit their stride with the New World Order and they went on the 84 week in a row run between 1996 to 1998 a lot of people within the business thought Vince finally found a worthy adversary. However, nobody intend on one thing changing and that is an added influence from the executives that ran the WCW as the parent company. There is no doubt that Eric Bischoff did make a lot of bad business decision in 1998 but in a way it could also be considered a very expensive learning experience.

Looking at this card it did give an indication in the state of WCW, but also what the future could be like in the company come the new year. Now I am not going lie that Starrcade of 1997 I feel like did have more of a direct influence over the war, but this edition of WCW's WrestleMania was just as important. During the height of WCW and even to the end it would be very hard to disagree with the idea that the WCW didn't normally have solid to very good openers on PPV events. As you can see I kept just one match length on the show to show just how different the WCW was at this time and not in a good way. Now looking at the main event for the World Title and this was Goldberg's first loss in the company.

Though this was one of the more criticized matches in the history of the company due in part to who won the match. Goldberg didn't deserve to win but at the same time deserved to lose as he couldn't be undefeated forever. Putting aside the rumored reactions he was getting at the time it was clear he needed to lose but I also would guess that something that hurt WCW even more was not having a long term plan for the top guys. I disagree with the idea that Nash didn't deserve the win, and I think it would've been look at as better if they had a long term plan in place.

WCW StarrCade 1998

Billy Kidman (c) def. (pin) Juventud Guerrera, Rey Misterio, Jr. WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Billy Kidman (c) def. (pin) Eddy Guerrero WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Norman Smiley def. (sub) Prince Iaukea (11:31)
Perry Saturn def. (pin) Ernest Miller
Brian Adams & Scott Norton def. (pin) Fit Finlay & Jerry Flynn
Konnan (c) def. (sub) Chris Jericho WCW World Television Title
Eric Bischoff def. (pin) Ric Flair
Diamond Dallas Page def. (pin) The Giant
Kevin Nash def. (pin) Goldberg (c) WCW World Heavyweight Title

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/25/17

Happy Birthday to Rusev who turns 32 years old

Happy Birthday Chris Harris who turns 44 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/21/17

Happy Birthday to Ron Bass who turns 69 years old

Happy Birthday to Del Wilkes who turns 56 years old

Vince Russo Timeline WWF 1998 DVD Review

After watching what i thought was by far the worst video I have seen from Kayfabecommentaries.com, I found another within the collection to watch that couldn't possibly be that bad. Within the Kayfabecommentaries library they have a series called Time line were they look back an events that took place during a specific year with someone that worked for the company at the time. They have the time line series for WWE, WCW, and ECW going through the history of the companies year by year. This video in particular was about the WWE in 1998 with Vince Russo as the guest. Now though Vince does have his critics I don't think that anyone is better to be a guest for this year other than the head writer Vince Russo. Below were some points of discussion within the DVD:

- Montreal Screwjob and if it was a work or not
- The differences between booking now and then
- Brawl for it All
- Thoughts on Austin, Rock, Mankind, Hell in a Cell 1998, and many other things
- How he got the book in WWE
- His problems with Jim Cornette
- Who was more built for the business between Shane & Stephanie

This Day in Wrestling: 11/26/17

Back in the territory era Thanksgiving day had been a hot a day for pro-wrestling and especially big events. One of those big events that were traditional to take place on Thanksgiving is Starrcade. The reasons I did pick this event is two fold and one of those reasons was this was the blow-off to the then NWA-UWF Invasion which was a worse flop then the WWE/ECW/WCW Invasion. The other thing that sticks out about this event is that a lot fans believe that this was the beginning of the end fro the NWA & Jim Crockett Promotions.

NWA Starrcade 87

Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes & Sting draw (time) Eddie Gilbert & Larry Zbyszko & Rick Steiner 6-person tag
Steve Williams (c) def. (pin) Barry Windham UWF Heavyweight Title
Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson def. Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane Scaffold (tag)
Nikita Koloff (c) def. (pin) Terry Taylor (c) NWA Television Title & UWF Television Championship
Arn Anderson (c) & Tully Blanchard (c) def. (DQ) Animal & Hawk NWA Tag Team Titles
Dusty Rhodes def. (pin) Lex Luger (c) Steel Cage NWA United States Title (title change)
Ric Flair def. (pin) Ron Garvin (c) Steel Cage NWA World Heavyweight Title (title change)

This Day in Wrestling History: The End of a War

Over the last two years I have been doing a lot of research into the end of WCW and there is no better event that puts in perspective how the business changed in the year 2001. Many things have been rumored about the events that lead to this show and how things could have gone down. The Invasion storyline was one of the biggest missed opportunities in WWE history and something that if done right could have changed the future of wrestling. Though this show was the end of the supposed to be biggest story in wrestling history and ended up as a pretty big flop.

With the background out of the way I will admit this was good show and though this shouldn't have ended the feud the choices were limited based on how it was booked. The amount of star power on this event is an embodiment of how effective booking during the Attitude Era was for the company. Based on the booking of the show though it is clear they had a plan for Test but that he may have been missing something to make it as far as they wanted him to.

Christian (c) def. (pin) Al Snow WWF European Title
William Regal def. (pin) Tajiri
Edge (c) def. (pin) Test (c) WCW United States Title & WWF Intercontinental Title
Bubba Ray Dudley (c) & D-Von Dudley (c) def. (pin) Jeff Hardy (c) & Matt Hardy (c) Unification Match
Test def. (pin) Albert, Billy Gunn, Billy Kidman, Bradshaw, Chavo Guerrero, Chuck Palumbo, Crash Holly, Diamond Dallas Page, Faarooq, Funaki, Hugh Morrus, Justin Credible, Lance Storm, Perry Saturn, Raven, Shawn Stasiak, Spike Dudley, Steven Richards, Tazz, The Hurricane, Tommy Dreamer Immunity Battle Royale
6Trish Stratusdef. (pin)Ivory, Jacqueline, Jazz, Lita, Mighty Molly04:356-pack challengeWWF Women's Title
*
7Chris Jericho & Kane & The Big Show & The Rock & The Undertakerdef. (pin)Booker T. & Kurt Angle & Rob Van Dam & Shane McMahon & Steve Austin44:56"Survivor Series"****½

This Day in Wrestling History: 11/10/17

Happy Birthday to Bob Orton Jr who turns 67 years old

Happy Birthday to Hugh Morrus who turns 49 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 10/30/17

Happy Birthday to Edge who turns years 44 years old

Happy Birthday to Alex Porteau who turns 48 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 10/28/17

Happy Birthday to Rocky Romero who turns 35 years old

Happy Birthday to Christy Hemme who turns 37 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 10/21/17

Happy Birthday to Butch Miller who turns 73 years old

Happy Birthday to Johnathan Boyd who turns 75 years old

Show of the Week: Championship Wrestling From Florida

For the first time I actually found a show that is worth sharing and I don't an event I mean an episode of Championship Wrestling From Florida's television program. Now one of the reasons I picked CWF of all the possible companies to pick is that in a recent edition of my monthly territory series with Billy Garcia we covered the Florida territory. I also thought that doing this would allow for me to shine a little more light on a particular territory and this is something I will continue to try and do as me and Billy continue to go through the other territories in wrestling.

The initial broadcast of this event took place on March 31, 1982 from the Sportatorium, now with both Kevin Sullivan & Dusty Rhodes still Florida you can be sure that this will be a great event.

So Far Back Saturday: Flair 30 for 30 Documentary

With the date now official for the Flair 30 for 30 documentary announced I thought it'd be fitting to look back at when I covered an update about the documentary last year. This is by far the longest build for something I have wanted to watch as I have been keeping updated on. I am very much looking forward to being able to watch this finally as it will be incredible.

Though details are somewhat scarce at this point we have finally found out that filming has begun for a new 30 for 30 which is the ESPN Documentary series and it will be based around the legendary "Nature Boy" Ric Flair for this installment. If you remember back in February of 2015 ESPN did a 30 for 30 short on the Von Erich family as it centered around Kevin and his family trying to beat the "curse" of his family and continue his once prosperous name to remember for more positive things. This would be the second time ESPN did a 30 for 30 documentary based on wrestling and nothing bigger then Ric Flair.

At this point it is unknown whether or not the Flair will be a full length E: 60 documentary film or if it will be a 30 for 30 short. Though their is plenty of material to sift through from Flair's career and it would absolutely be enough to fill a hour long documentary it's just matter of how controversial do they want to get. Now it's just about playing the waiting game until more information comes out about this story. I would really look forward to a Ric Flair documentary much like I did for both the Von Erich and NXT special. We shall wait and see what happens!!

This Day In Wrestling History: A Legendary Voice Has Passed on

We have been hearing reports for the last few days about a legendary announcers suffering from severe health problems and the wrestling world has stood still waiting for him to get better. Sadly we have to say goodbye to another legend as it was reported earlier today that Memphis wrestling legend Lance Russell has passed away. During the territory era Lance was the voice of Championship Wrestling Association along with the likes of Dave Brown. The territory was ran by co-owners Jerry Lawler & Jerry Jarrett and Lance reminded the voice until the territory would finally close its doors but remained an icon in the area.

Lance was the typical old school wrestling announcers and is probably most comparable to a Jim Ross as Lance would always do his best to put over the action in the ring and sell the fans on the interviews outside of it. Lance in a way was the voice of a generation as he was one of the longest tenured announcers during the era and was a staple of Memphis television for its entire run. Rest in peace Lance you will always be a legend and thank you for voicing some of the greatest moments in wrestling history.

This Day Wrestling History: A Gobbledy Guerrero Birthday

Over the course of wrestling history there have been numerous families that have transcended the world of wrestling and in some cases it was one name that built an empire and in other cases it was a variety of stars. When it comes to southern wrestling two wrestling families are to be held hand and hand with the area is the Funk Family and Guerrero Family. Starting with Gory Guerrero the Guerrero family's legacy was started and then that opened the door for Gory's kids to enter the business after him which allowed Hector, Mando, Chavo, and Eddie.

Even though both Eddie and Chavo more so Eddie has reached the highest of high of his family members. However, even though he didn't make it big nationally Hector Guerrero did have a tremendous career in his own right as he succeed as an in ring performer and an announcer. Not many modern fans have much knowledge of Hector's career in wrestling outside of his time as an announcer in TNA. But some fans do know that Hector Guerrero was the man in the turkey suit as the infamous Gobbledy Gooker. Even though some fans may look at Hector as a joke, but the longevity of his career as seen below is something to be proud of and written home about. Also a big Happy Birthday to Hector who turns 63 years old.

Hector Guerrero vs Jose Lothario

Denny Brown vs Hector Guerrero

This Day in Wrestling History: 9/18/17

Happy Birthday to Gerald Briscoe who turns 73 years old

Happy Birthday to Yoshiro Takayama who turns 51 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 9/12/17

Sometimes this series is great because it allows me to spotlight stars of the past that some of you may have forgotten. But one of the best things about being a wrestling fan is being able to look back at talent from yesteryear and remember all the memories of those stars. However, a stark reality of the wrestling industry is that a lot of names aren't with us anymore and all we have to remember them by is these matches and moments of an era from the past. And as always:

Wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.

Happy Birthday Road Warrior Hawk who would've been 60 years old

Happy Birthday to Shocker who turns 46 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 9/10/17

Happy Birthday to Don Muraco who turns 68 years old

Happy Birthday to Drake Wuertz who turns 33 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 9/4/17

One of the most overused words in wrestling is underrated and the phrase "this guy is underrated." During the days of the territory system if someone didn't end up with Jim Crockett Promotions or Vince. Also some talent were on the way out near the time the business was going national which made fans less likely to remember them. In many respects Ray Stevens was one of these names that was nearing the end of his career at the time that the WWE began to expand the company nationally. For those fans that don't know a lot about the original "Crippler" there isn't enough time in the world for me to explain the impact Stevens had on the business.

To put over Stevens a little more to know how important Ray was to the history of wrestling he was the innovator of Ric Flair's classic spot where he does a rope flip in the corner ending up on the outside of the ring. To move now toward the other person below and that is the "king of the ace crusher" AR Fox. Since the uptick on the popularity of Indy wrestling and the rise in attention for Indy wrestling I feel like at first AR Fox had gotten a good amount of attention from fans, but things have seemed to been cooling down and Foxy may have been replaced by fresh faces.

Happy Birthday to AR Fox who turns 30 years old

Happy Birthday to Ray Stevens who would've been 82 years old

This day in Wrestling History: Summerslam Mismatch

See when fans always talked about the days of when Summerslam was good and actually meant something more than it does now. This night was the big moment for the long standing feud between Bret & Owen who had been going tooth and nail against each other for over a year at this point and they have the hottest feud in the company and yet they aren't the main event. To set the stage, back at the Royal Rumble event The Undertaker was attacked during a casket match with Yokozuna. It was after that attack that we'd see the disappearance of the "Deadman" until the Summerslam event or so we thought as a few weeks before the event Ted DiBiase claimed to have found The Undertaker.

However, DiBiase found the Fake Undertaker and considering everything Vince decided those guys should main event instead of the hottest feud in the company. Vince may be one of if not the best bookers in the history of wrestling, but it would take a really good reason to explain this mistake in formatting. There is no reason why Bret vs Owen shouldn't have been the Main Event of this show as they stole the show and in my opinion became the match of the year or at least had the feud of it.

Summerslam 1994

Bam Bam Bigelow & Irwin R. Schyster def. (DQ) Fatu & Samu
Alundra Blayze (c) def. (pin) Bull Nakano WWF Women's Title
Razor Ramon def. (pin) Diesel (c) WWF Intercontinental Title
Tatanka def. (pin) Lex Luger
Jeff Jarrett def. (pin) Mabel
Bret Hart (c) def. Owen Hart WWF World Heavyweight Title Steel Cage
The Undertaker def. (pin) The Fake Undertaker

So Far Back Sunday: Jerry Jarrett Coming back to Wrestling

Though not very known to modern era fans, Jerry is a legend of the wrestling business behind the scenes as without numerous legends of the ring wouldn't have gotten there start in the wrestling business. For over 60 plus years the Jarrett family name has gone hand in hand with the wrestling it didn't matter if it was in a small territory or now world wide. The Jarrett's have always been wrestling almost as much as the McMahon's have always been wrestling. Not many people know that more recently Jerry was once the majority owner of TNA and actually began the company with Jeff. But due to numerous reason Jerry walked away from the wrestling business in 2005.

For the first time in almost over a decade the business that Jarrett said he would never return to well now it seems possible that a return to the wrestling business could be imminent for the longtime wrestling promoter. Though at this point not much is known other then he has plan and it seems to be working out quite well for him. So with seemingly so much that has been going on recently we have to take the wait see approach, but if Jerry is anything like Jeff was with GFW he will release more information when it best benefits him. We just have to wait to find out!!

Match of the Week: Manny Fernandez vs Wahoo McDaniel

At one point this weekly series was a normal occurrence for this section of the site as away to get content up in this part of the site and it has moved around over the last few months but I thought it'd be fun to bring things full circle. From what I've taken from the description of the video these two fought each other in violent feud in the AWA. Though in my opinion both these men became bigger stars for Jim Crockett down in the Mid Atlantic region.

This Day in Wrestling History: Summerslam of the Past

With the most recent edition of Summerslam now behind us it is time to look back at one of the best Summerslam's in history as far as build up. It might be hard to believe that I actually remember the build to some of these matches like Benoit vs Jordan, Angle vs Eugene, and Hulk Hogan vs Shawn Michaels. This also was the blow off for one of them more questionable feuds between then and now as the feud between Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio was over custody of Rey's son Dominic. At this event we also saw the beginning of the hottest feud in the company between Matt Hardy and Edge having the first match in what would be a violent feud.

WWE Summerslam 2005

Chris Benoit def. (sub) Orlando Jordan (c) WWE United States Championship (title change)
Edge def. Matt Hardy
Rey Mysterio def. Eddie Guerrero Ladder Match
Kurt Angle def. (sub) Eugene No Time
Randy Orton def. (pin) The Undertaker
John Cena (c) def. (pin) Chris Jericho WWE Championship
Batista (c) def. (pin) John Bradshaw Layfield No Holds Barred World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
Hulk Hogan def. (pin) Shawn Michaels

This Day in Wrestling History: 8/15/17

Happy Birthday to Kazuo Yamazaki who turns 55 years old

Happy Birthday to Ruckus who turns 39 years old

So Far Back Sunday: Goodbye to a Legend

The report read Breaking News earlier this morning, when the news that Nick Bockwinkel has passed away at the age of 80 years old. Nick was an incredible talent during time in the ring and was the Ric Flair of Minnesota. He was the leader of the AWA with Verne Gagne. With Verne leading way with in ring skill and Nick balanced it out being the complete package and showed it every night. It didn't matter if it was Nick by himself or in tandem with Ray "The Crippler" Stevens was still the man of Minnesota.

Minnesota, was the home base of the AWA from the mid 1960's - 1991 when the company went bankrupt. Nick remained with the company from day 1 to the end. Nick was the promo master of his day and talked more people into the arena the just about anyone of the era. Though the old saying is some guys were designed to be regional stars and couldn't make it on a national scale well Nick wasn't one of those people. Now we look around and see that Nick has been added to that never event in the sky and now many dream matches never thought possible can happen again. The promo master is back at work once again talking people into the arenas forever and always. Now I say goodbye to one of the greats, so long Nick and God Speed!!!

RIP Nick Bockwinkel
1934 - 2015
Gone But Never Forgotten
Thanks for the Memories

This Day in Wrestling History: 8/7/17

Wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.

These two women put on display just how far women's wrestling has come in the last few years and how different the division was booked back in the 1990's compared to how they are looked at in modern wrestling.

Happy Birthday to Marti Belle who turns 29 years old

Happy Birthday to Sable who turns 50 years old

This Day in Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Kid Kash who turns 48 years old

Happy Birthday to Johnny Ace who turns 52 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 7/26/17

Taking a little different approach with this one as I am giving the talent the spotlight rather then the same old topic sentence that always kicks things off for these birthday posts.

Tommy Rich is by far one of the reasons why the territory system was such a success and different for the time, because even though some remember him as nobody special from his time with WCW and ECW. But during his prime Tommy was one of the top faces in the Georgia territory and his feud with "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer is stuff of legend. Then on the other hand we have Tessa Blanchard who is the daughter of wrestling legend Tully Blanchard and granddaughter of Joe Blanchard. As far as her in ring skill she delivers every time she gets in the ring she puts on display just how comfortable she is in the ring. In my opinion Tessa is one of the top female competitors in the world of wrestling and she is only 22 years old. Crazy!!

Happy Birthday to Tessa Blanchard who turns 22 years old

Happy Birthday to Tommy Rich who turns 61 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 7/19/17

Wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.

This is the best mix of random talent and names from two different walks of the wrestling world one from the world of tag team wrestling and the job guy turned World Champion. I want to send birthday wishes to all those celebrating there big day today.

Happy Birthday to Robert Gibson who turns 59 years old

Happy Birthday to Jinder Mahal who turns 31 years old

This Day Wrestling History: 7/12/17

Wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below. Now I have always been one for promoting history of wrestling that nobody talks about and this post is proof of that.

Happy Birthday to Roy Hefferman who would've been 92 years old

Happy Birthday to Hurricane Helms who turns 43 years old

Ric Flair 30 for 30 Update

Though it seems like it's been forever since we last heard anything about the Flair 30 for 30 we finally have another update on the documentary. Late last year ESPN was getting footage together for a documentary highlighting the career of Ric Flair both in and out of the ring. This documentary has had two years of build around it since it was first announced in early 2016 and we hadn't gotten anything about what will be included other then the short trailer that was released in December last year. Names like Arn Anderson, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Vince McMahon, Sting, and Triple H have been interviewed for it a variety of other names have as well.

After doing some research I have found that it seems September 8 maybe the day that we will get the Flair documentary from ESPN. I say September is a soft date as some authors seem to have doubt that the documentary will be released then as it could be pushed back again to next year. I know that ESPN did an amazing job with the NXT 30 for 30 last year so I am very excited to see how they do with the Ric Flair documentary that could be hitting air ways on September 8, 2017.

This Day in Wrestling History: Stinger Reaches the Peak

In the spring of 1987 the company known as Jim Crockett Promotions would purchase the Universal Wrestling Federation and one of the top up and comers of the time came along with the deal. Then that same talent would have his major push kick off in the spring of 1988 at the first Clash of Champions event against Ric Flair. The reason for this game is that the only reason this was important is because of the main event. Because once again Flair is tied to the wrestler he helped build 2 years before.

In 1988, Steve Borden's career would get it's kick start in a time limit draw with Ric Flair. Clash of Champions actually went head to head with WrestleMania 2 and actually gave it a run for it's money. Then in 1990, Flair would make Sting famous again as at this event Sting would win his first World Title.

NWA The Great American Bash 1990

David Sierra def. (pin) Mr. X Dark
Doug Furnas def. (pin) Dutch Mantel
Mike Rotunda def. (pin) The Iron Sheik
Brian Pillman def. (pin) Buddy Landell
Butch Reed (c) & Ron Simmons (c) def. (pin) Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson NWA Tag Team Titles
El Gigante & Junkyard Dog & Paul Orndorff def. (DQ) Arn Anderson & Barry Windham & Sid Vicious
Harley Race def. (pin) Tommy Rich
Big Van Vader def. (pin) Tom Zenk
Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner def. (pin) Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes
Bobby Eaton (c) & Stan Lane (c) def. (pin) Steve Armstrong & Tracy Smothers NWA United States Tag Team Titles
Lex Luger (c) def. (pin) Mark Callous NWA United States Title
Sting def. (pin) Ric Flair (c) NWA World Heavyweight Title

Shoot of the Week: Bobby Eaton

It has been a while since the last time I shared a shoot interview with you all so I thought I would pick a unique. In all the shoot interviews I have posted I have never really given the spotlight to an underrated star of the past. During his prime very few people could match his overall skill in the ring even in a tag team he could match anyone and don't believe me just ask Jim Cornette.

This Day in Wrestling History: 7/2/17

Happy Birthday to Bret "Hitman" Hart who turns 60 years old

Happy Birthday to Charles Robinson who turns 53 years old

A Strangle Hold on the Past

In the world of pro-wrestling in most cases it is about what have you done for me lately and most people don't think or worry about the past very much. Which allows those who paved the way for the profession we all love today to fall through the cracks and be forgotten about in most cases. One of the tops stars in the early days of pro-wrestling after they moved from the carnivals to arenas was Ed "Strangler" Lewis. The reason that he adopted the nickname of "Strangler" is that during a match in France he put his opponent in a Sleeper Hold and the fans thought he was strangling his opponent as they had never seen a move like that before. One thing he is remembered for is being the innovator of the sleeper hold maneuver.

Later in his career Ed was one third of the Gold Dust trio based in Chicago along with Toots Mondt and they are credited with making wrestling more of a show than just one match. When Toots would promote shows he would promote a card rather than just one match. Also it was in this trio that the concept of not having your top guy always hold the title came to be a common idea and instead letting the star lose the title and then win it back.

Even with a long list of other accomplishments this icon of the past is still forgotten about in the world of wrestling because nobody talks about the past as most are too busy complaining about present day wrestling.

This Day in Wrestling History: King of the Ring 1998

At one point the King of the Ring was not only a PPV every year for WWE, but was also an extremely respected tournament and was every so often responsible for giving a wrestler a little push. By now the PPV had gone through some down times with one bright spot being Steve Austin winning back in 1996, but since then the PPV was more just like the others rather then unique. But there is a god reason for that as the top two matches on this show give a good explanation for not focusing on the tournament. In particular the Hell in a Cell match between Undertaker and Mankind is one of those matches that helped shape the Era of Attitude and shift the fans back to WWF in the Monday Night Wars.

If you have never seen the Hell in a Cell match then it is one you need to go back and watch, because it is also the match that helped cemente the legacy of Mick Foley in the WWE and wrestling a whole.

King of the Ring 1998

Mosh & TAKA Michinoku & Thrasher def. (Pin) Dick Togo & Men's Teioh & Sho Funaki 6-Person Tag
Ken Shamrock Def. (Sub) Jeff Jarrett
The Rock Def. (Pin) Dan Severn
Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor Def. (Pin) Al Snow & Head Referee: Jerry Lawler
X-Pac Def. (Pin) Owen Hart
Billy Gunn (C) & Road Dogg (C) Def. (Pin) Bodacious Bart & Bombastic Bob WWF Tag Team Titles
Ken Shamrock Def. (Sub) The Rock WWF King Of The Ring
The Undertaker Def. (Pin) Mankind "Hell In A Cell"
Kane Def. Steve Austin (C) "First Blood"WWF World Heavyweight Title (Title Change)

This Day in Wrestling History: 6/22/17

Happy Birthday to John Tenta who would've been 54 years old

Happy Birthday to Tetsuya Naito who turns 35 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 6/17/17

Happy Birthday to Bruiser Broday who would've turned 71 years old

On this day 7 years ago the wrestling world lost Michael "Trent Acid" Verdi at the young age of 30 years old

The First Televised King

For the longest time the King of the Ring tournament had been a staple of the WWE eventually though the concept was scraped by the company. Over the last decade though we have seen the concept make four different returns but would always end up back on the shelf. The King of the Ring had begun back in 1985 with the winner being Don Muraco, but the 1993 event would be the first KOTR event that was televised on PPV. This also was the event where Jerry Lawler's feud with Bret Hart began and even though the 1990's was rough for the WWE this feud was one of a few highlights in an era of transition.

WWF King of the Ring 1993

Bret Hart def. (pin) Razor Ramon
Mr. Perfect def. (DQ) Mr. Hughes
Bam Bam Bigelow def. (pin) Jim Duggan
Tatanka Draw (time) Lex Luger
Bret Hart def. (pin) Mr. Perfect
Yokozuna def. (pin) Hulk Hogan (c) WWF World Heavyweight Title
Bart Gunn & Billy Gunn & Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner def. (pin) Fatu & Irwin R. Schyster & Samu & Ted DiBiase
Shawn Michaels (c) def. (pin) Crush WWF Intercontinental Title
Bret Hart def. (pin) Bam Bam Bigelow WWF King of the Ring

UWF The Second Time Around

Back in the Fall of 1990 a new promotion kicked off ran by Herb Abrams. The intention behind the start of the company was to return wrestling back to it's roots. This was great time for a company like this to appear because there was a tremendous amount of depth on free agency following the end of most of the territories. At this time legends like Ivan Koloff, Bob Backlaund, Paul Orndorff, Bam Bam Bigelow, and others were on free agency. Also future stars like Cactus Jack, Steve Williams, and Blackheart Destruction who would later be known as Gangrel in WWE.

Using the name of Universal Wrestling Federation his company carried quite a linage going into the debut PPV. Unfortunately, Herb didn't live up to the expectations set by Bill Watts a few years before. There was no doubt the talent roster was there but just looking at the time stamps on the matches it's pretty clear that whoever formatted the show didn't give the wrestlers enough time to construct a proper match. If you thought the WWE was bad this company gave their World Title match almost 9 minutes on there first PPV. Meaning the match to crown their first World champion only went for about 8:47 which is crazy in my opinion, because the main event of your first show should be a huge deal especially if your looking to crown your first champion.

UWF Beach Brawl

Boris Zhukov def. Paul Samson Dark
Blackheart Apocalypse & Blackheart Destruction def. (pin) Fire Cat & Jim Cooper
Terry Gordy Draw (DCO) Johnny Ace Street Fight
B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell def. (pin) David Power & Larry Power
Rockin' Robin def. (pin) Candi Devine UWF Women's World Championship
Paul Orndorff def. (pin) Colonel DeBeers Strap Match
Bob Backlund def. (pin) Ivan Koloff
Steve Ray & Sunny Beach def. (pin) Bob Orton Jr. & Cactus Jack
Steve Williams def. (pin) Bam Bam Bigelow UWF Television Championship

This Day in Wrestling History: 6/6/17

Happy Birthday to Phil "Gunner" Shatter who turns 35 years old

Happy Birthday to Ahmed Johnson who turns 52 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: First King of the Mountain

Over the course of TNA's history we have seen some really great idea come to the light like the Ultimate X match or Six Sides of Steel. But they have also had some really bad ideas like the Reverse Battle Royal or the Asylum match or Elevation X and the list could probably go on further. In my opinion one of the better more unique ideas was the King of the Mountain match which appeared for the first time at the anniversary show for TNA in 2004.

This match would be the night that Jeff Jarrett would help garner his name over the "King of the Mountain" as Jeff would would win the first ever match of this type. Also this event would display just how unique TNA was back in the day and the fact that they gave the so many different talent an opportunity.

Slammiversary 2004
Bobby Roode & Petey Williams Def. (Pin) Heavy Metal & Jerry Lynn
Monty Brown Def. (Pin) Sonny Siaki
Frankie Kazarian Def. (Pin) The Amazing Red NWA X-Division Title
Abyss Def. (Pin) D-Ray 3000
Dallas & Kid Kash Def. (Pin) Dusty Rhodes & James Storm NWA Tag Team Titles
Jeff Jarrett Def. A.J. Styles, Chris Harris, Raven, Ron Killings (C) "King of The Mountain" NWA World Heavyweight Title
(Title Change)

This Day in Wrestling History: 5/30/17

Happy Birthday to No Way Jose who turns 29 years old

Happy Birthday to Jake Roberts who turns 62 years old

You Want a War?

Today is the day that everything changed in wrestling, because 21 years ago today a war would begin. Now prior to May 27, 1996 everything was pretty much just stagnant in wrestling with nothing really big happening. To set the stage the WWE is still not only recovering from the Steroid trail, but also their worst year for business ever in 1995. Little did they know two of their top stars were about to move south to the "rasslin" company in Atlanta. The first domino to fall was on a lackluster show when the man formerly Razor Ramon would shock the world and appear in the crowd. Now known as Scott Hall proceeded to jump the railing and declare war on WCW.

For those who may not have been a fan at this point well an Invasion was something that never really took place especially one as well put together as the one that would become the NWO. Though some fans and talent in hindsight may look at the NWO as a mistake, there is no doubting that the New World Order is was put WCW over the top and began the Monday Night Wars.

A Macho Anniversary

Back in May of 2011 the wrestling world was turned on it's ear when the news of the Randy Savage started making rounds all over the wrestling world. Randy began his legendary career in 1973 as a member of Georgia Championship Wrestling under the name The Spider and would end up joining his father's promotion in the late 1970's. He would become a big star in the Memphis area before heading up to New York as a part of the National expansion that Vince had begun a year earlier.

The legendary career of the Macho Man would be jump started once he entered the door of the World Wrestling Federation and immediately would stick out from the crowed roster. Randy would go onto have legendary feuds with Ricky Steamboat, Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts, George Steele, and a variety of others. In mid-1994, Randy would be one of the many names to jump ship from WWE to WCW and that would change history as he would blackballed from the company. Unfortunately, Randy would never return to the company as he would leave us far too soon. Randy's career didn't end following the WWE as it would continue in the WCW and then would make a few appearances in the early days of TNA. The reason I chose to gloss over his career instead of going through every aspect of his career is because it would take to long.

The legacy of Randy has left in the wrestling business is incredible and he has been an innovator and an idol that propelled future stars into the ring. Though I am right with a lot of other people that wish Randy would have been able to accept the induction into Hall of Fame and bury the hatchet with Vince after all those years. Thank you Randy! Your a legend and will never be forgotten, you will always be one of the best ever.

This Day in Wrestling History: 5/17/17

Though most wrestling fans only remember the bad side of WCW especially when it comes to a lot that was done near the end of the companies run. But that is only a half truth as the company did do a lot of good that gets lost in the bad and the WrestleWar PPV from 1992 was one of those bright spots. At this point and time the PPV schedule in wrestling it was nothing like it became as PPV was still in the very early days and the WCW didn't even have 12 monthly events yet. Later on in the history of the company we would see WrestleWar get replaced by Slambore which would be the monthly event from 1993-2000. Below is the card from the historical event in WCW.

Diamond Dallas Page & Thomas Rich Def. (Pin) Bob Cook & Firebreaker Chip
Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes Def. (Pin) Greg Valentine & Terry Taylor WCW United States Tag Team Championship
Johnny B. Badd Def. (Pin) Tracy Smothers
Scotty Flamingo Def. (Pin) Marcus Bagwell
Ron Simmons Def. (Pin) Mr. Hughes
The Super Invader Def. (Pin) Todd Champion
Big Josh Def. (Pin) Richard Morton
Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner Def. (Pin) Takayuki Iizuka & Tatsumi Fujinami WCW World Tag Team Titles
Brian Pillman Def. (Pin) Tom Zenk WCW Light Heavyweight Championship
Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff & Ricky Steamboat & Sting Def. (Sub) Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko & Rick Rude & Steve Austin WarGames

This Day in Wrestling History: 5/15/17

Wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.

Today we focus on two legendary members of the pro-wrestling family and two members of the WWE Hall of Fame. Today these two men are celebrating their birthdays and will turn 60 and 59 years old respectively. Even though both these men were never really on top of the card or major names by today's standards they both had amazing career and have left quite a legacy on this industry.

Happy Birthday to Kevin Von Erich who turns 60 years old

Happy Birthday to Ron Simmons who turns 59 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 5/12/17

Happy Birthday to Doug Basham who turns 46 years old

On this day 15 years ago Mass Transit Passed Away at the age of unknown

This Day in Wrestling History: 5/9/17

Happy Birthday to Mike Shaw who turns 60 years old

Happy Birthday to Air Pairs who turns 40 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 5/3/17

Wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below. Speaking of talent that fans may have forgotten one of the greatest in ring performers that never really gets recognition.

Happy Birthday to Stu Hart who would've been 102 years old

On this day 21 years ago Ray "The Crippler" Stevens passed away

Too Little Too Late: Brodus Clay's Push

It was in 2012 when Brodus Clay was brought onto to Raw from the NXT competition show. When Brodus Clay first appeared on screen he was a big bad ass, but once he debuted on Raw he became a freaking dancing dinosaur. For over a year he would remain as a dancing dinosaur with Cameron and Naomi then later team with Sweet T. Back in the day before Brodus debuted in 2012 their rumors of him opening up the "Hall of Pain" instead of Mark Henry.

It was late 2013 when things started to turn and made some people believe that Brodus Clay could be getting a second chance to be a serious gimmick and an actual push. However, things didn't last when it came to his push in many ways you could blame the talent he was against rather then him. In my opinion his push was never given a serious chance, because of the people not being cared about enough by the fans. Then him getting a demotion to follow in the foot steps of the likes of Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel. Clay would have a small opportunity to get a serious push, but once again didn't really get a fair chance.

Looking back at the push and this point and time for the WWE I think that it was a little to little late for Brodus to get a serious push after being comedic gimmick for so long. Never given a fair shake on the main roster, and in my book his ticket was punched for him once he was demoted to developmental. Am very happy to see that he has achieved deserved success down in TNA as Tyrus.

This Day in Wrestling History: 4/24/17

Happy Birthday to Lou Thez who would have been 101 years old

On this day 16 years ago Johnny Valentine passed away at the age of 73 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 4/22/17

Through the years many people have credited success of ECW to them becoming a wrestling fan or even keeping talented wrestlers in the business and giving some names an opportunity that they may not have been given elsewhere. In my opinion by this time in ECW it was a very tough time for the company or at least is was approaching that time period. On this day 17 years ago, ECW held the Cyberslam PPV which was a big event because this was the first event with Taz as the World Champion following him defeating Mike Awesome days earlier. On the April 10, edition of Monday Nitro at the time a current World Champion named Mike Awesome made his shocking debut wearing the ECW title. Unfortunately for Mike his momentum was killed as he was held back from returning to TV until he wasn't World Champion anymore and so he returned to ECW to drop the title to Taz.

Now this match if I remember was at a live event, but Taz would go on to defend the title later that week against Tommy Dreamer. At this point in the company Tommy was one of the few in the company that remained with the company for a long time without holding the title. There is no doubt that his match with Taz was extremely anticipated, because even though some fans may have been able to anticipate the ending of the match it is difficult to say that Tommy didn't deserve it or that people didn't want to see it. But I have to question the reason that they took the belt off Tommy on the same day with Justin winning the belt later in the show. Now I will say that Tommy is better in the hunt for the title rather than just being the champion, but with how weak the title had been booked recent months I feel like they needed to repair the belt a little more.

ECW Cyberslam 2000

Masato Tanaka def. (pin) 2 Cold Scorpio
Dawn Marie & Lance Storm def. (pin) Jazz & Super Nova
Little Guido def. (pin) Kid Kash, Super Crazy Three-Way Dance
Bill Whiles & C. W. Anderson def. (pin) Amish Roadkill & Danny Doring
Balls Mahoney & New Jack def. (pin) Spanish Angel & Tony DeVito
Steve Corino def. (pin) Dusty Rhodes "Bullrope"
Rhino def. (pin) Yoshihiro Tajiri (c) ECW World Television Title
Tommy Dreamer def. (pin) Taz (c) ECW World Heavyweight Title
Justin Credible def. (pin) Tommy Dreamer (c) ECW World Heavyweight Title

The Wrestlerock Rumble

Over the years so many things have become big with the rise in popularity of the internet like for example The Shockmaster. But the fact is that another concept that has been spoofed a few times is the WrestleRock Rumble which was a PPV from the AWA in 1986. The reason that this particular event sticks out is because this was the first and only event with it's own Music Video. This was the first time non WWE event that I can remember as this was more a WWE thing than a non WWE thing. Looking at this card it was incredibly huge as there were 16 different matches on the show. Even after 30 years it is the music video featured below that has defied time and is still talked about to this day.

Brad Rheingans def. (pin) Boris Zhukov
Cowboy Lang & Little Mr. T. def. Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook
Colonel DeBeers def. (DQ) Wahoo McDaniel
Buddy Rose & Doug Somers def. Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels
Tiger Mask I def. Buck Zumhofe
Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo def. Stan Lane & Steve Keirn
Giant Baba def. Bob Brown
Harley Race draw (DCO) Rick Martel
Sherri Martel def. Candi Devine, Debbie Combs, Despina Montegas, Joyce Grable, Kat LeRoux, Luna Vachon, Misty Blue Simmes, Rose Devine, Taylor Thomas Battle Royale
Sergeant Slaughter (c) def. (DQ) Kamala AWA America's Championship
Curt Hennig (c) & Scott Hall (c) def. Bill Irwin & Scott Irwin AWA Tag Team Titles
Scott LeDouxdef. (DQ) Larry Zbyszko
Nick Bockwinkel def. (DQ) Stan Hansen (c) AWA World Heavyweight Championship
Greg Gagne & Jimmy Snuka def. Bruiser Brody & John Nord Steel Cage (2 on 2)
Verne Gagne def. Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissy Steel Cage
Animal & Hawk def. Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes Steel Cage (2 on 2)

This Day in Wrestling History: 4/18/17

On this day 15 years ago Wahoo McDaniel passed away at the age of 64 years old

Happy Birthday to Steve Lombardi who turns 56 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 4/16/17

With the Women's Wrestling tournament nearing it's beginning I figured it was fitting to give one of the top women in the wrestling world a chance to shine. For years Women's Wrestling has been taken seriously, but it always had been on a smaller scale and never in a big way like for example in the WWE. However, that all changed in the Summer of 2015 and since then a lot has changed and now the women are slowly becoming just as important as the men on a larger scale. Even though Mia Yim has never been in the WWE she has always displayed a great potential to be something good and have a bright future in the business. Also as of this writing it seems like Mia maybe on the WWE's radar for their women's tournament later this year.

Recently, the wrestling world has had a rough go of things in 2017 with a number of legends leaving us in a short period of time and one of those legends were George "The Animal" Steele. George was by far one of the most unique characters ever to step foot in a WWE ring and never failed to entertain the audience. Though he never won a championship during his illustrious career that doesn't change the impact that George had on the business and the legacy he has left behind. On this day, I would like to send the birthday wishes to not just those who are still with us but also those who are no longer here.

Happy Birthday Mia Yim who turns 28 years old

Happy Birthday George "The Animal" Steele who would have been 80 years old

The Warrior's Way

Honestly, looking back I still am shocked that this happened as it seemed like everything was going well and finally the tension would be gone. I thought that finally we would be getting a new legend that could make guest spots every now and again rather than just seeing the same old names over and over. Sadly, that wasn't the case as two days after WrestleMania and the day after he made his first appearance on Raw since the very early days of the show The Ultimate Warrior passed away. Warrior has been away from the WWE since around 1996 due to a sour relationship with Vince, but they buried the hatchet and Warrior came back to the company to headline the 2014 Hall of Fame Class. Though looking back it's awesome that they were able to end the feud and that he was able to comeback one more time, but I just wish the story had a happier ending.

During his career Warrior was picked to be the new Hulk Hogan and something just didn't really fit with Warrior as a top guy and he really never hit the Hogan level. I could some bitterness on both ends as Hogan isn't the person to replace and it was an almost impossible task for the Warrior, but in his defense once they took the title off him he never would get another chance. Also his match with Randy Savage is one of the my top favorite matches of all time. Warrior wrote the book on how to be different in wrestling and get over it's amazing to think what wrestling would've been like if he was able to catch on and keep the WWF hot, could they have avoid the poor business that they had in the mid 1990's. Then again that is one of the best things about wrestling as you are able to ask the question "What if?"

The Page Turns to Main Event

For all the criticism that World Championship Wrestling takes as a failure and never building for the future people seem to the ignore the push that they put in place for a new member of the WWE Hall of Fame that being Diamond Dallas Page. In January 1997, the WCW attached Page to a rocket and rode the momentum all the way following his turn which was his attack on NWO members Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Going into the Spring a feud began between Randy Savage and Diamond Dallas Page, this feud would become one of the best feuds in the history of WCW. The first match of this feud would take place on this day 20 years ago at the annual Spring Stampede event.

This would be Dallas Page's first many PPV Main Events in the WCW and he not only won a match, but he defeated a legend like Randy Savage. I honestly feel like that this was another moment that the WCW could have strap a rocket to him and continued to ride his momentum. This would continue into the Summer and was the hottest feud in the company at the time with the feud capping off actually in October at Halloween Havoc.

As for the rest of the show I would wager a guess that the best way to describe the show as a little rough other than an amazing match between Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko. Even though the WCW momentum would drop off in December, Page's momentum kept building up following Starrcade and really didn't start tailing off until October of 1998 when Page vs Goldberg was cut off before the finish. Basically in my opinion I believe that Dallas should have won the World Title in 1998 rather than in 1999 to capitalize on his long standing momentum and push. Though the show overall was nothing special without Randy & Dallas this show would have been terrible and since they had the match it made the show very special. Also taking things a step further this match and feud all together is one of the many reasons why Diamond Dallas was able and deserving to punch his ticket for the Hall of Fame at this past WrestleMania.

This Day in Wrestling History: 4/3/17

Happy Birthday to Lance Storm who turns 48 years old

On this day five years ago the wrestling world lost the legendary figure of Chief Jay Strongbow

Mid-South Coliseum Update

Today seems to the be the day of updates as we have another update this on a legendary arena which could end up being demolished in the very near future. Since 2006, the Mid-South Coliseum has been closed to the public and hasn't run an event of any sort since then the arena slowly decayed on itself and has become very run down. According to the Memphis Commercial Appeals the future of the arena will be decided at the end of the month and that could change everything.

The arena which hosted decades of wrestling events could be getting a 12 million dollar face lift by property Wisearce Brewing who will be making their decision on the renovations either this month or next month. If Wisearce goes ahead, they would take over the first floor and rent the rest of the businesses that "Might include restaurants, a bowling alley, climbing walls, a wrestling museum and a civil right homage." Developer Brian Saulsberry is pushing to restore the venue as a "concert and entertainment hub" but his bid was denied as it was doubted he could get the money to make it happen. Memphis residents also want to save the building instead of demolishing it. Before the arena closed Jerry Lawler attempted to run the arena one more time with Hulk Hogan and himself as top billing the event.

I am all for the conservation of history and even though the likelihood of seeing another wrestling event in this arena is extremely doubtful the idea of the arena at least getting some upgrades and fixed up instead of getting demolished is just as good. Now I don't know for sure that this project will happen just yet as the decision from the land owners hasn't came down yet, but we can at least hope that they will bring new life into one of the most famous wrestling arena's.

Finding Refuge with Family

The territory system, has given us some of the greatest moments and memories in wrestling history. One part in particular is the Dallas territory and though a lot has been said in the past about World Class it is difficult for me to find the words to describe the Von Erich's. From Fritz to David to Kerry one family with so much talent among them and things haven't changed with Ross and Marshall carrying on the family legacy in Independent circuit. So I'll leave it up to the excerpt from the article:

"Before moving to Kauai, retired professional wrestler Kevin Adkisson would lay in his bed in Dallas, Texas, and feel himself growing old.
“I wanted to get out. I wanted to change my scenery bad,” said the 59-year-old Adkisson. “But here, my heart rang like a bell.”
Adkisson is known in the professional wrestling world as Kevin Von Erich of the famous Von Erich wrestling family out of Texas.
The Von Erichs were inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2009, where Kevin represented his family.

His story is one most wrestling fans know: Adkisson is the last surviving son of the late Fritz Von Erich, a wrestling promoter of the World Class Championship Wrestling territory in Dallas.
Tragically, five of Kevin’s brothers — four of whom were professional wrestlers — died at young ages. Three of his brothers — Mike, Chris and Kerry — committed suicide.

“I really thought I lost my ability to enjoy things,” he told The Garden Island. “It was pretty bad. I lost a lot of brothers.”
But then the father of four and grandfather to over a dozen children settled on Kauai with his wife and entire family, and found refuge and solace on 27 acres of Kapahi land.
“After what I been through, losing my family, to me I learned the hard way. That is the most important thing in life: family,” he said. “Family is what it’s all about.”

Kristen Nikolas, Adkisson’s oldest daughter, wasn’t crazy at first about transitioning to Kauai, as she thought Oahu would be more comfortable.
But all that is in the past, and Nikolas lives in one of five houses on the property with her family.
“Personally, people (on Kauai) do love kids,” she said. “They’re just really caring. It’s all genuine. I just love that it’s a close community.”
The Adkissons moved to Kauai in 2007, according to family matriarch, Pam."

For the full article: click here

The Stamp of Approval

I have just found out that one of the more mysterious characters in the history of pro-wrestling Dennis Stamp has unfortunately passed away. Now most people may not know who Dennis is, but if you have seen the movie Beyond the Mat or if you are one of those fans who are aware of the pro-wrestling scene outside of WWE then you have probably heard the name Dennis Stamp. During his active wrestling career Dennis was more or less booked as an enhancement talent in companies Pro-Wrestling USA, WWE, AWA, and various others. Dennis would develop somewhat of a following through his nickname "I am Not Booked" which played on how rare it was to see Dennis on a show later in his career. Even though not many fans nowadays may know the name Dennis Stamp his memory will continue to live on and now he will always be booked!

RIP Dennis Stamp
You Will be Missed

Shoot of the Week: "Outlaw" Ron Bass

Bad things just keep coming as thus far in 2017 the wrestling world lost a handful of legends and it is only March. Earlier this week we lost "Outlaw" Ron Bass at the age of 68. Sadly, Ron passed away due to complications from a surgery to repair a busted appendix that he had been hospitalized for earlier in the month. During his career Ron was considered one of the toughest men in the wrestling business spending a lot of time with the WWF and Championship Wrestling From Florida as a member of the Long Riders with Black Bart. The legacy he leaves behind is that of a rough, tough, brawler all and all the embodied of a true "Outlaw."

RIP Ron Bass
Gone but Never Forgotten
1948-2017

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/19/17

Happy Birthday to David Starr who turns 26 years old

Happy Birthday to Danny Doring who turns 43 years old

Match of the Week: George Steele vs Bob Backlund

The hardest thing about being a wrestling fan is having to say goodbye to so many of your favorites in a short period of time and a lot of them leaving us very young. Earlier today the wrestling world suffered a major loss in that of wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer George "The Animal" Steele. George is most remembered as being one of the many colorful characters to inhabit the WWF locker room during the territory era and into the Hulkamania Era. His legacy in this business is that of being one of the most feared men in the ring, but a beloved member of the wrestling family outside the ring.

RIP George "The Animal" Steele
Those Turnbuckles Look Good Enough to Eat
Thanks for the Memories
1937-2017

Booking Philosophies Through the Years

Over the course of wrestling history many philosophies have changed and many of these change were attributed to the idea that everything evolves. The idea that everything evolves or changes has worked to perfectly describe the happenings within the wrestling business for the last 100 years. However thus far in the century the same philosophy or idea that has worked for so many decades previously seems to have hit a wall. The ratings are down, buy rates plummeting, and overall popularity just keeps finding way to moving back to the underground.

Many people thought that wrestling would never become so unpopular or so culturally irrelevant again after the tremendous success the sport endured in the late 1990’s along with a popularity spike. However, everything changes or evolves and sometimes not for the better as wrestling is one of the only sports in which more people used to watch it then do now. Various wrestling personalities have stated that fans normally phrase things either in the past tense when referring to their favorite moments normally because they don’t watch anymore.

Now I don’t feel as though the PG switch is too blame for the downswing in popularity as much as ignorance by promoters who somehow managed to believe that anyone can either run a wrestling company or book a wrestling company is to blame. I’m not going to be like everyone else and just say that the writers are too blame or one name in particular is to blame, because in doing that not only would I be hypocritical, but also I would be displaying extreme ignorance. This series will take you on a ride down memory lane and hopefully teach you some new details of the past and what has made the present so different.

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/11/17

On this day 21 years ago, another shocking moment in the history of WCW took place and not just because this moment actually happened months before the NWO arrived and effectively put WCW on the map. The reason that this event deserves to be remembered and is different from any other Superbrawl is because of the match between Kevin Sullivan and Brian Pillman. You see at this time the Four Horsemen were feuding with Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom which lead to this PPV match. However, the plan was to put over and push Pillman's loose cannon gimmick he would go off the script and call Kevin (who was booking at the time) the booker and then walk out on the match leading to him getting fired from WCW; only to return down the line.

Unfortunately, what turned out to be a great idea never was able to materialize and not just because Brian ended up in WWF, but it is also because of Brian's untimely passing the following year. This card you see before you was a great indication of both how good and how bad WCW could be as some of these matches were fantastic and others were well DUD's and that's being nice. However, one question still remains had the original plans that saw Brian return to WCW after his hiatus; had they not changed how would that have changed the Monday Night War and not just that but both Brian Pillman's career and WCW as whole. It's question's like this that make me love professional wrestling, because it gives all of us just another reason to debate.

Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags Def. (Pin) Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock0 Johnny B. Badd Def. (Pin) Diamond Dallas Page (WCW World Television Title)
Lex Luger & Sting Def. (Pin) Booker T. & Stevie Ray (WCW World Tag Team Titles)
Konnan Def. (Pin) One Man Gang WCW United States Title
Kevin Sullivan Def. (Sub) Brian Pillman "I Respect You" Strap
Arn Anderson Draw (NC) Kevin Sullivan
Lex Luger & Sting Draw (DDQ) Animal & Hawk
Ric Flair Def. (Pin) Randy Savage (Steel Cage WCW World Heavyweight Title)
Hulk Hogan Def. The Giant (Steel Cage)

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/8/17

Looking through all that happened on this day in the past it was tough to find something worth writing about because I wanted to mix things up from the normal as far as not posting the typical birthday post. Then I came across an episode of Monday Nitro on this day back in 1998 and one match stood out to me on the card. It was about the sixth match on the show and at the time one of the only times since his debut that he went for over a minute. Well I think you realized I was talking about Goldberg as early 1998 the "Streak" was still sorta new and still fresh. The reason this "random" match sticks out for me is because this would the man who faced Goldberg on this night's last match in WCW for at least a year or so, because following Steven Regal would be fired by Eric Bischoff for not going along with the plan. See the plan for this match was for Regal to follow suit with just about everyone else who had faced Goldberg previously and get squashed in a few minutes.

However, Regal took it upon himself to almost "shoot" on Goldberg and worked the match very stiff and a little competitively which actually gave Bill his first test WCW. I feel like the idea of letting Goldberg go longer with guys like Regal and others who could've carried him in the ring would've been good because in the long run it may have given them a way to keep the Streak going longer. Because if he wrestled longer as the Streak went on then it would have been different and not a year and 1/2 of squashes like we got, but instead squash match first and then after a certain point you start letting him go longer against guys who are further up the card. Either way this match saw the end of Regal's career with WCW at least for the time being. Below is the card for that night's episode of Monday Nitro:

Chavo Guerrero Def. Dave Taylor Dark Match
Steve McMichael Def. Glacier
Konnan Def. Norman Smiley
Disco Inferno Def. Yuji Nagata
Chris Jericho & Eddy Guerrero Def. Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Dean Malenko
Juventud Guerrera Def. El Dandy
Goldberg Def. (Pin) Lord Steven Regal
Chris Adams Def. (DQ) Louie Spicolli
Perry Saturn Def. (Pin) Ultimo Dragon
Raven Draw (NC) Booker T.
Randy Savage Def. (DQ) Hulk Hogan
Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner Def. Kevin Nash (C) & Scott Hall (C) WCW World Tag Team Titles
(Title Change)

30 For 30: Nature Boy

I have been waiting for this edition of 30 for 30 since the rumors began last year that ESPN was taping footage together for a documentary on the entire career of the Nature Boy. With legends like Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Undertaker, and a variety of others also included this will be another home run by the crew behind one of the best documentary series on TV. For the second time this year ESPN is giving the spotlight to something wrestling related as earlier this month they had a 30 for 30 on the XFL and now they giving the light to one of the greatest of all time. The Nature Boy embodied the pro-wrestling business for over 30 years which is incredible and to put that storied career into a documentary form will be very special and I seriously cannot wait for what will be an amazing documentary and this is the first of many trailers as we approach the release date for the documentary in the spring.

This Day in Wrestling History: 2/1/17

Happy Birthday to Masa Saito who turns 75 years old

Happy Birthday to Dennis Condrey who turns 65 years old

Retro Recall: A look at Japanese Wrestling

Trying something new with this series as I have always thought that I could use something to replace So Far Back Sunday for a little bit even if this series only replaces it every now and again. With the recent rise in exposure and popularity with Japanese wrestling after the incredible contest between Kenny Omega and Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 11; I figured it would be a good time to shine light on the long storied history of Japanese wrestling. From Baba to Inoki to Misawa and everything in between in discussed in the video:

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/24/17

At the time he proposed the idea for a special on the USA Network Pat Patterson thought it would just be a one off idea that would never be heard about again and due to how popular the concept of a battle royal was even back then it would disappear after the one off. But that didn't happen as the special was extremely successful and Vince decided to keep the idea and added to the yearly calendar alone with Wrestlemania, Survivor Series and later that same year Summerslam would also join the PPV calendar and the rest as they say is history. The significance of today is that on this day 29 years ago the very first annual Royal Rumble event was held and nobody knew the success it would become. The card for the event is featured below:

Ricky Steamboat Def. (DQ) Rick Rude

Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno Def. (Pin) Judy Martin & Leilani Kai (2 Out Of 3 Falls) WWF Women's Tag Team Titles

Royal Rumble Match:
Jim Duggan Def. B. Brian Blair, Boris Zhukov, Bret Hart, Butch Reed, Danny Davis, Dino Bravo, Don Muraco, Harley Race, Hillbilly Jim, Jake Roberts, Jim Brunzell, Jim Neidhart, Junkyard Dog, Nikolai Volkoff, One Man Gang, Ron Bass, Sam Houston, The Ultimate Warrior, Tito Santana 20-Man Royal Rumble

Haku & Tama Def. (Sub) Jim Powers & Paul Roma (2 Out Of 3 Falls)

Shoot of the Week: Smash on Rude/Warrior Incident

Normally I search the internet for the best possible shoot interview to share with you but this week I decided to change things up by just taking a piece of a shoot interview instead of the full shoot. For once I did actually have a reason for this interview as I will try to start sharing videos of those who I feel will either be or should be going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year and with all of the rumors about Rick Rude being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

I mentioned earlier my feelings on Demolition and why they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. We all have our own list for the Hall of Fame, and most of us can't agree who belongs in the Hall of Fame and who doesn't. But one thing is for certain this years class seems like they will all be very very deserving of the honor to be inducted and we will see History!!

Wrestling Express Hall of Fame

As of this writing we have reached the half way point of January and that means we are bearing down on the second year anniversary of Wrestling Express. This is a big deal for me because we have done a lot in the last two years as far as growing and becoming more known little by little and day by day. The Wrestling Express brand isn't like most websites as I am not doing for the money I am doing this because I love interacting with all of you and sharing my knowledge and opinions on the profession that we all love. But that isn't what this post is about, this post is about honoring the past and this is something that I have taken great pride in since the start of this website.

I have developed some sort of motto that being "If you don't talk about it's forgotten" and a lot of pro-wrestling's past has been forgotten and that is very unfortunate. This is why as the two year anniversary approaches for the site I have decided to put together a Hall of Fame. With all talk of not just the WWE, but also the upcoming announcement for the MLB Hall of Fame I have decided to do my part in honoring the past by starting the Wrestling Express Hall of Fame.

The following is the criteria that I am basing the Hall of Fame Inductions off:

- In each class there will be a total of seven members inducted
- Each era of wrestling history will have two names inducted into the Hall of Fame.
- At least two inductee will be posthumously inducted
- Each will have a YouTube video announcement as well as personal description of their careers on the website.
- Two inductees will be decided by Twitter vote.
- One inductee will be chosen by and inducted under the category of Owner's Choice. This is basically my way of inducting someone I feel should be inducted, but may not have the career achievements to warrant a solo induction.

Ric Flair vs WCW

And what about other top-tier performers like Sting, Lex Luger, The Steiners and Diamond Dallas Page, who have enjoyed their share of success at the box office?
Most, however, saw Bischoff's remark that "the only three big- time draws" were Hogan, Savage and Piper as a direct slap at Ric Flair, the 13-time world champion who - if the truth be known - probably has drawn more customers during his career than any of the three mentioned by Bischoff.
Flair, whose WCW contract expires in January, continues to generate speculation as to whether he will be finishing out his storied in-ring career in Atlanta or venture north for a final major run with the World Wrestling Federation.
Bischoff, in an interview a year ago, said, "I think Ric Flair can be here as long as he wants to be here."

The above video from an episode of Ric Flair’s Woooo Nation podcast with special guest Jim Cornette mentions the fact that the “Nature Boy” was about five steps away from joining the WWF back during the Attitude Era in the late 1990’s. This report from the Post and Courier from November, 1997 backs that story up because Flair’s contract was expiring with the WCW in January 1998. Most people are aware of the tension that existed between Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff from back in WCW for year upon years almost since the end of WCW pretty much.
In many ways I feel that Eric believes that Flair is the total opposite of what Eric knows as Bischoff was brought up in the North as a member of the AWA and I believe he never was really a fan of the southern style of wrestling. If that is the case then it would explain beyond a doubt the tension between Flair and Bischoff as nobody embodies the southern style of wrestling more than the “Nature Boy” himself.
Who made WCW a big deal? Who changed the perception? Well to be honest it was in the early summer of 1994 and the signing of Hulk Hogan that changed the perception of the company and really started to make WCW look like a big deal. But without Ric Flair where would the company be in my opinion I don’t think that WCW would’ve made it as far as it did or as long as it did.
Just think about how things would’ve changed or been different if the WCW had lost Ric Flair in the early part of 1998. Think about how things would’ve been different if Flair wasn’t there for the final Nitro in March of 2001. Think about how things would’ve been different if Flair wasn’t there for the Four Horsemen Reunion in September of 1999 it wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t with the company anymore.

Credit: The Post and Courier (11/2/1997)

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/11/17

Happy Birthday to Abdulah the Butcher who turns 76 years old

Happy Birthday to Kuniaki Kobayashi who turns 61 years old

Shoot of the Week: Kevin Nash Shoot

One name in wrestling that has not just never been afraid of expressing his opinion, but never been afraid of going after his critics is the man himself Kevin Nash. That's why I figured that I could pick nobody better for the first Shoot of the Week in 2017 and instead of me talking about the video I will let the video talk for me as Kevin has never needed an introduction before:

This Day in Wrestling History: 1/3/17

Wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. In this case I have picked two names that had very different career paths and went down very different roads in the wrestling business. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to those featured in the post below:

Happy Birthday to New Jack who turns 54 years old

Happy Birthday to Jim Ross who turns 65 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/27/16

Happy Birthday to Goldberg who turns 50 years old

Happy Birthday to Bill Eadie 72 years old

The Night Candian Wrestling Changed

On this day 32 years ago the Candian wrestling circuit changed forever with one fell swoop as a very tragic car accident took place involving four top names from around Canada. One of those names was Pierre Lefbreve who actually was one of the names that was about to be signed by the WWE when they raided the IWA-Montreal territory. Instead of trying to tell the story myself I will actually use the knowledge of a local pro-wrestling writer: For the full article visit here

"Pierre 'Mad Dog' Lefebvre and Raymond Rougeau were born six days apart in 1955. From Grade 4 in St. Sulpice, Quebec until Lefebvre was killed in a Christmas Eve car accident in 1985, the two were best friends, and their wrestling careers were deeply intertwined.

But Lefebvre was much than just Raymond's best friend. He was an additional Rougeau family member, often staying at the Rougeau household for an entire week.

Lefebvre was the youngest in his real family, and his father died when he was about five. His mother re-married, and when Raymond met the Lefebvre family for the first time, only one sister was living at home with her mother and step-father; a brother and sister had already left the household.

And so young Pierre found himself hanging out with his new best friend Raymond, and the large Rougeau family. "He was always with me," Raymond Rougeau recalled for SLAM! Wrestling. "Actually, he lived five minutes walking distance, but he always slept over. He had his own bed. We were like four boys at home. Instead of Jacques, Armand, myself, it was Jacques, Armand, Pierre and myself."

'Mad Dog' would later be teamed again with manager Tyler, and be was a hated heel when Christmas 1985 came about. Tyler, Lefebvre and referee Adrien Desbois were on their way home from the matches at Centre Georges-Vezina in Chicoutimi on the evening of December 24, 1985 when they were in a terrible car accident. Their Ford Escort rammed a tow truck at 1:25 a.m. on an icy Route 175 in the Parc des Laurentides. All three men were killed; the driver of the tow truck was unharmed. The news quickly made the rounds, especially with the tragedy coming so close to Christmas.

"I was at work at about 6 a.m., in Dorval and heard the news on the radio," Joanne Rougeau remembered. "I called Raymond and he had just been called himself with the news. I cried silently in my office most of the day (and night). When I went to the funeral home, I was alone and in denial, grieving for the loss of a love, a close friend and a brother in one."

Lefebvre, only 30 at the time of his death, was survived by his wife, Micheline, and two children -- his son Sebastian, who was six, and his daughter Caroline, who was three.

Sailor White had high praise for Tyler and Lefebvre. "Two of the greatest wrestlers that I've had the priviledge of knowing. They had wrestling in their hearts. They were not quitters. They were super entertainers. They didn't give 100%, they gave 150%."

There is no question that Pierre 'Mad Dog' Lefebvre was destined for greatness in 1986. The WWF was expanding, wrestling was booming, and talent all around him like Rick Martel and Dino Bravo was getting scooped up.

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/21/16

Happy Birthday to "Outlaw" Ron Bass who turns 68 years pld

Happy Birthday to Wes Brisco who turns 33 years old

Harley Race Health Update

Recently news had broke that wrestling legend Harley Race was placed into a nursing home due to his decling health and his families inability to give him the proper full time care he was needing. Luckily, with recent news the original story has been proven untrue by the folks over a PWInsider.com who reported that Harley was placed in a nursing home on a temporary basis to help with physical threapy. The move was made so Race can focus on the PT that he needs for his legs to as he had been wheel chair bound in recent years for some appearances. Harley's mobility has been limited in recent years due to all the damage his legs have endured over the years from his time in wrestling.

I am glad this story isn't as serious as a lot of us first thought or originally heard and I don't think this was bad reporting or a missunderstanding I just think not all the facts were available at the time and the internet did what it does best and that is blow things out of proportion like always. If you don't know Harley Race then spend some time to learn about one the greats in the wrestling business, because you are missing out on one of the greatest of all time and also one of if not the greatest World Champion ever as well. I want to wish Harley a very speedy recovery and I would also like to wish the best to him and his family this Holiday season.

Thank you for all you have done for the wrestling industry Harley and I hope you can get back to 100% eventually.

So Far Back Sunday: The New Blood Too Little Too Late?

After years of bad decisions, mismanagement, and never transitioning to a new generation of talent that all end up catching WCW really all at once, because things started going bad they didn't stop going bad. From Starrcade 1997 to Starrcade 1998 to The Giant & Chris Jericho leaving to Bret Hart's career ending injury to The Radicalz leaving so when they tried to save it and change things they were really just beating a dead horse.

Fact is for those who may not know on April 10, 2000 the WCW went through in many ways one last change in power, but that change only lasted a couple of months. As on April 10 it was the first time that Eric Bischoff & Vince Russo would try to work together to save the WCW. On that edition of Nitro it was also the night that WCW was re-launched and all the titles were vacated. This night saw the formation of The New Blood, who were lead by Bischoff & Russo; the stable consisted of talent that had been held down by the company and never really given a fair chance to be something. This stable and this direction for the company lasted about 3 months flat before WCW management wasn't happy and decided to change things again.

This stable idea was a great idea because it gave new faces the TV time that they never got before, but it was two year too late. As fans had been begging for WCW to push new talent for years, but we didn't see anything other then the same from them year after year after year. Then when they finally chose to give the younger talent a chance I guess you could say it was "Too Little To Late." On July 9, 2000 everything changed, because that is the night of Vince Russo's famous shoot on Hulk Hogan and also the last time Bischoff and Hogan would be in a WCW ring. However, this was also night that prompted Bischoff to begin looking into buying the WCW. Imagine what would have been like if Eric was able to purchase the company and save the legacy that WCW left behind.

Note:
Due to the large excess of members that were at one point a part of The New Blood the list would to long for me to list them here on the site. So with that being said I have chosen to post a link and the link is to show you all just how many members were in stable that was together for only two months remember that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Blood

DVD Review: Guest Booker with Jerry Jarrett

Once again I dive into my personal collection of DVD's and come up with my opinion. Now if you know anything about me I reference Kayfabecommentary DVD's very often, because I have seen a lot of them; I am a really big fan of the product as they always put out good DVD's. I really enjoy the Guest Booker series which isn't that surprising considering that is the series that inspired the How I Would Book it series that used be a staple of my writing. But seeing Jerry Jarrett go in the wrestling time machine and rebook WCW 2000 is something very interesting, because it provides a perspective on a company that was struggling at the time by someone who wasn't directly involved in the business anymore during that period intially. If your interested in the DVD below are some topics that were discussed:

- History with WCW management
- Booking style and how to book wrestling
- Working with Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon
- Why an old school booker wouldn't be able to succeed in WCW
- Time in TNA
- Thoughts on AJ Styles, The Carters, Bischoff, Russo, Sid Vicious, and many others

This Day in Wrestling History: 12/3/16

We are back again with I guess the birthday messages for some wrestlers this time around. Honestly this has been one of my favorite series to do every time, because I love to give the spotlight to random wrestlers from both the present and the past. I would to send birthday wishes to those featured below. But like always I would like wish all those who have birthdays today a very Happy Birthday and very special wishes to those who will be featured below:

Happy Birthday to Super Crazy who turns 43 years old

Happy Birthday to Shaun Simpson who turns 53 years old

Match of the Week: Rob Van Dam vs Sabu

Changing things up a little this week considering the longevity of the series and the fact that I really have never actually touched old ECW matches. But these matches are very worth sharing and talking about as there is such fantastic numbers of matches, I guess you could say that the vault is very deep for video works. For those who don't know Rob and Sabu had quite a feud with one another both before and after being a team together and becoming one of the top teams in ECW. They showed exactly what ECW was all about in all their battles:

This Day in Wrestling History: 11/28/16

We are back again with I guess the birthday messages for some wrestlers this time around. Honestly this has been one of my favorite series to do every time, because I love to give the spotlight to random wrestlers from both the present and the past. Legacy is something that is very important and could mean very different things for very different people and the legacy that we leave behind and these two men have very different legacies. But like always I would like wish all those who have birthdays today a very Happy Birthday and very special wishes to those who will be featured below:

Happy Birthday to Hayabusa who would've been 47 years old

Happy Birthday Jerry Lawler who turns 67 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 11/25/16

Happy Birthday Blackjack Mulligan who would've turned 74 years old

Happy Birthday "Boggy Woggle Man" Jimmy Valiant who turns 70 years old

This Day in Wrestling History: 11/19/16

Over the course of history a lot of pro-wrestling companies have come up with both great ideas or really bad ideas and one of those companies that have seen a lot of negative and positive ideas was World Championship Wrestling. Most people remember that the WCW was able to help jolt the wrestling business in the latter part of the 1990's with WWE as a part of the Monday Night Wars. However, in the early part of the 1990's the WCW didn't really have the best of luck coming up with ideas that stuck for the company.

But there was one idea that really did stick unfortunately the WCW chose to discontinue the concept without any real reason and would replace it with something called World War 3 which was nothing short of a clusterf***. The original concept was called Battle Bowl which basically was a battle royal where the participants were determined based on the winners of prior tag team matches which had their teams determined at "random." For the first two years the concept actually was the main focus of the biggest PPV of the year for WCW that being Starrcade, specifically the 1991 and 1992 installments of this yearly PPV. Then in 1993 for the first and final time the WCW would run Battle Bowl as it's own event in the month of November where the winner of the Battle royal would receive a title shot and a ring to commemorate their win. Below is the card from the 1993 event:

Cactus Jack & Vader def. (pin) Charlie Norris & Kane
Brian Knobbs & Johnny B. Badd def. (pin) Erik Watts & Paul Roma
Paul Orndorff & The Shockmaster def. (pin) Lord Steven Regal & Ricky Steamboat
Dustin Rhodes & King Kong def. (pin) Awesome Kong & The Equalizer
Jerry Sags & Sting def. (pin) Keith Cole & Ron Simmons
Ric Flair & Steve Austin def. (sub) 2 Cold Scorpio & Maxx Payne
Rick Rude & Shanghai Pierce def. (pin)Marcus Bagwell & Tex Slazenger
Rip Rogers & Road Warrior Hawk def. (pin) Davey Boy Smith & Kole
Vader def. (pin) Brian Knobbs, Cactus Jack, Dustin Rhodes, Jerry Sags, Johnny B. Badd, King Kong, Paul Orndorff, Ric Flair, Rick Rude, Rip Rogers, Road Warrior Hawk, Shanghai Pierce, Steve Austin, Sting, The Shockmaster "BattleBowl" Battle Royale (16 man)

Elimination Chamber Debut

When a new gimmick match debuts we can either see the match become a tremendous success like numerous other matches including Cage match, War games, Hell in a Cell, and a variety of others. One match that has become a staple of the WWE since it's inception in 2002 is the Elimination Chamber match. In the heat of the new Brand Split with the fresh and new GM of Raw in charge they wanted something to get people talking and it just so happened that they would get that by coming up with a new idea. The new idea turned out to be a combination of the War Games match and Hell in a Cell.

The same show that saw the end of Brock Lesnar's unbeaten streak, the WWE debut of Scott Steiner, and the reformation of the Dudley Boys after they split due to the draft. This event saw the first ever Elimination Chamber which included Kane, Shawn Michaels, Booker, T, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, and then World Champion Triple H. In the build to this match the talk of the town was many wondering if Shawn Michaels would be at 100% competing in only his second match since returning to the company. Well I think you know what happened in the end, but if you don't well I'll tell you:

This Day in Wrestling History: Legendary Passing

It was one year ago today when the wrestling world suffered a major loss as the terrible year that wrestling was having continued. Earlier in the year we had lost three other legends and the passing of Nick Bockwinkel just made matter worse. The second generation superstar made his debut back in 1955 and was lucky enough to be trained by the greatest World Champion ever in Lou Thez and his father Warren. Nick would actually make his debut at the age of 16 against Lou Thez himself which is something that I am surprised about. I can understand that a trainer would want to make sure his protégé does his best, but I didn't realize they even did this back then.

Fast forward to the early 1970's when Nick would join the American Wrestling Association where together with Ray Stevens and Bobby Heenan they would become one of the best tag teams in wrestling at the time. Collectively they would become 3 time tag team champions and would hold victories over other legendary teams like Crusher and Dick The Bruiser. However, Nick's biggest accomplishments came when he would become AWA World Champion and he actually his first title win at age 40 in 1975. The impact that Nick had on AWA can not be understated because in my book I don't believe that the company would have made it for as long as they without him.

Nick would walk away from the AWA in 1987 in favor of a job as a road agent with the WWF and would never return to the AWA. Nick would wrestle his last match in the ring against Dory Funk Jr. at Spring Stampede 1993. From that point to his passing last year Nick would continue to have a part in the professional wrestling industry it didn't matter if it was an active role or just appearances at conventions. The lasting legacy that Nick has left on pro-wrestling is that of an articulate promo, a psychological master, and in all a legend of the professional wrestling business.

RIP Nick Bockwinkel
Thank you for the Memories
1934-2015

This Day in Wrestling History: 11/9/16

With Survivor Series right around the corner and some of us looking to Sunday night we also must look back as on this day 19 years ago the wrestling world was turned on it's ear. Because one of the biggest up and comers in wrestling had his career cut short and this night saw the biggest moment of the Attitude era. Today is the 19 year anniversary of Survivor Series 1997:

I would like to talk about two matches in particular the first being the match for the Intercontinental championship between Steve Austin and Owen Hart. For the entirety of 1997 to that point Austin had been feuding with the Hart Family after having a legendary match with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13. Fast forward to the fall and Austin is now engaged in a heated feud over the Intercontinental title against Bret's brother Owen, but mind you it isn't the feud we remember as much as we do the match. This is because Owen botched a pile-driver during the match planting Austin right on his head and leaving immobile on the mat so much so that we would see the weakest roll-up ever but Austin still won by legit surprise. If you don't know already Steve did have pre-existing neck issues and the pile-driver reinjured his neck so it isn't totally Owen's fault.

Later on the card the feud that was over a year in the making between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart for the WWE Title. Well I think all of you know by now what happened in this match. But the historical context of this match pretty much made way for the future of WWE, because in the span of 3 months both Bret and Shawn would be gone from WWE and that would open the door wide for new faces to arrive. So even though the "Montreal Screwjob" is something we will never forget and though at the time it didn't work out for everyone it did end up historically doing more good for the WWE then bad because without it I don't know if the WWE would have came back to beat the WCW in the War!!

This Day in Wrestling History: 11/1/16

Wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. During his career Brad Armstrong was one of the more underrated talents in the WCW due to his in-ring skill but his lacking charisma is what held him back from achieving more success. However, he is worth remembering as he was a great hand in the ring and a highly respected talent behind curtain among his co-workers. So today we remember Brad Armstrong and wish Bobby "The Brain" Heenan a very Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Bobby Heenan who turns 72 years old

We also Remember Brad Armstrong who sadly passed away 4 years ago today

This Day in Wrestling History: An Old Halloween Tradition

Much like the November tradition that WWE has developed with Survivor Series if we flipped the coin the WCW had their October tradition in Halloween Havoc which would become one of the companies oldest PPV's. Now most people believe that WCW didn't really start taking off until the arrival of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall which is true. But this event made it clear that the WCW had loads of potential and it just depended on what was done with said potential. Looking at this card you can see three names who would become future WCW World Champions and also three names of this card would become big names in other companies in the coming years.

The significance of this show is one match in particular as Ric Flair & Sting vs Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman would bring us one of the greatest moments in WCW probably until the debut of Scott Hall in May. See in the years prior to this event Flair and Arn had been not just feuding for the first time but also enjoying successful runs without the other. But in the tag match we saw Flair turn on Sting and side with Arn and Pillman to reform the Four Horseman. (also including Chris Benoit) For the last two or three years the WCW had done away with the Horseman idea and had both Arn and Flair doing other things so seeing the Horseman reunite was a huge moment especially with the inclusion of Brian Pillman. Sadly Brian would be gone by early 1996 and on his way to the WWE.

Johnny B. Badd def. (pin) Diamond Dallas Page WCW United States Title
Randy Savage def. (pin) Zodiac
Kurasawa def. (pin) Road Warrior Hawk
Sabu def. (pin) Mr. JL
Lex Luger def. (DQ) Meng
Ric Flair & Sting def. (DQ) Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman
Hulk Hogan def. The Giant Sumo Monster truck
Randy Savage def. (pin) Lex Luger
The Giant def. (DQ) Hulk Hogan WCW World Heavyweight Championship

This Day in Wrestling History: 10/25/16

We are back again with I guess the birthday messages for some wrestlers this time around. Honestly this has been one of my favorite series to do every time, because I love to give the spotlight to random wrestlers from both the present and the past. Doing something different this time around as I would call this old school vs new school more then ever before. So now like always I would like wish all those who have birthdays today a very Happy Birthday and very special wishes to those who will be featured below

Happy Birthday to Austin Idol who turns 67 years old

Happy Birthday to CM Punk who turns 37 years old

Nerd Note 1

The new series just keep coming out in drones! At least that's what I want you to think as this serious is one I used to do every now and again a few years back, but haven't touched this concept in a very long time. But now I think it's fair to say that we are taking a trip back in time to one of my old favorites for posts. Now it's time for to let the post do the talking for me:

I have always been somewhat of a nerd when it comes remembering the smallest details about random events or random facts about pro-wrestling. Back a few years ago I had done this series for a few months, but due to so many moving parts this series fell out of favor with me and has been forgotten about pretty much until now. Hopefully, you guys and gals are just as interested in history and these random facts as I am with sharing them with you.

During his time in power Eric Bischoff ruffled plenty of people’s feather just ask certain legends who worked in the WCW and even talent who worked with him his later years in TNA. Job security can give someone a very big mouth and an even bigger ego and that is what Bischoff in many way had during the early days of his tenure in the WCW. Like in November 1997 when word was circulating that Eric wanted to fire veteran enhancement talent “Jumping” Joey Maggs and Veteran tag team wrestler and former member of the Midnight Express “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton.

Apparently it was during this time that they were thinking about reforming the Midnight Express with Joey and Bobby being the tandem. However, I highly doubt the reformation would do justice to the status that the legendary tag team’s name has in wrestling history. Below is an excerpt from an article written by Mike Mooneyham from the fall of 1997 which this subject was covered in:

"Bischoff also ruffled some feathers at WCW when he recently asked booker Terry Taylor to fire longtime WCW performer Bobby Eaton. Eaton, who in the '80s formed one of the top teams in the business with both Dennis Condrey and Stan Lane as The Midnight Express, is a respected "hand" and particularly well-liked by his fellow wrestlers.
Taylor, who was told to give veteran jobber Joey Maggs his pink slip as well, talked Bischoff out of the firings. At one point during the past year, WCW had considered pairing Eaton and Maggs in a reformation of The Midnight Express with Teddy Long as manager."

Credit: The Post and Courier
Copyright The Post and Courier Nov 2, 1997

Territorial Perspective: World Class Wrestling

If you are new here then I will explain this by saying if "History isn't spoke of then it's forgot about" and it's for this reason alone that I have given and will be giving so much time to the territory era companies. For those of you who don't know I am in the early stage of reliving the territory system with World Class Wrestling in the year 1983 on YouTube. (which you check out here) Apart of really the background to the series I prepared a video showing the talent that passed through WCCW over the years and though I may have missed some names it does give a glimpse into the legacy that WCCW left in the world of pro-wrestling and the fans who enjoyed this legendary wrestling promotion. Join me now as we head back to the 1980's and jump right to Dallas, TX with World Class Championship Wrestling:

Shoot of the Week: Buddy Rose

Recently I have been giving a whole lot of love to Dallas territory specifically World Class Championship Wrestling so I figure it'd be nice to take a break from Dallas and head up north to Portland. The Portland territory housed the oldest American promotion that being Pacific Northwest Wrestling which has roots dating back to 1923 and was headed by the "Man Behind the Mud Wrestling Match" Mr. Don Owen. PNW brought the wrestling some the greatest never spoken of like Rip Oliver, "Playboy" Buddy Rose, Ed Wisokowski, Bull Ramos, Tony Borne, and a variety of others. Also like every territory PNW has some talent that made it big with Vince in the WWF and those names include Buddy Rose, Curt Hennig, Roddy Piper, and I am sure a long list of other who made a name for themselves in the Pacific Northwest. But now we head to a shoot interview with one of the top heels in the territory and is the "Playboy" himself Mr. Buddy Rose!!

DVD Review: Guest Booker with Gary Hart

It's been a while since I have actually taken a step back and looked at some of the DVD's I have in my possession. It's been a long time since I sat down and watched some DVD's so this is somewhat a nice change of pace from the normal type of posts. Below are some of the topics spoken about in this DVD which is one that I highly recommend for any fan of the territory system or the history of wrestling in general.

- The set up of the Dallas Booking Office

- Thoughts on Joe Blanchard, Paul Boesch, Road Warriors, and others

- Lost psychology in wrestling nowadays and his booking style

- Using established names to get more eyes on TV

- Weaker show for go home show

- No Exodus of talent from the World Class Wrestling

- No cession in 1986 from the NWA for World Class

This Day in Wrestling History: 10/2/16

Though this type of post is normally a joyous post as the point is almost always to wish those who are featured below a Happy Birthday, but unfortunately sometimes we need to step back and wish those who are no longer with us a Happy Birthday as well. Today that is exactly what I am going to do with this post and I will say that both of these men affected pro-wrestling in two totally different ways but both still deserve to be remembered for what they did accomplish. With that being said I would like to wish a Happy birthday to all those who are still with us to celebrate and also those who we have lost over the years:

Happy Birthday to Paul Boesch who would've been 104 years old

Happy Birthday to Yokozuna who would've been 50 years old today

Flashback Report: Tommy Dreamer

Tommy Dreamer

Throughout Tommy's career he developed a good sense of how to work the crowd while he was in the ring. He didn't during his time in ECW & during his stint with WWE. Tommy was also never a bad guy because people saw the heart & passion he had for this business and loved him for it. Tommy was also a special wrestler because he was one of the few who didn't need to be a champion to be incredibly over with the fans because he was that loved. Now he wasn't the best wrestler in the world no doubt but he give it everything he had every night and for that I have no doubt in my mind one day Tommy will get the call that he will be getting inducted into the Hall of Fame because he deserves it. Nobody was more unique with ways to try and hurt his opponent which is why he was called the "Innovator of Volience" & those words "Thank You Sir May I have Another" still ring through that arena the phrase that made Tommy. Below are two videos one match and a tribute to the Innovator of Violence and one the most unique wrestlers to ever lace the boots..... Tommy Dreamer.

This Day in Wrestling History: 9/22/16

I am a firm believer that with the right type of booking someone can defy expectations and achieve more then even the biggest critic thought possible. At this point Shawn Michaels WWF World Championship win was still fresh in everyone's mind from WrestleMania earlier in the year. But with that win we saw his critics come out in drones pretty much saying that he wasn't tough enough to be champion and how he was just a pretty boy. Well they listened to that and gave Shawn his biggest test as champion on this day 20 years ago when Shawn stepped into the ring against the hottest heel at the time in Mankind. This match showed a new side of the "Heartbreak Kid" and proved that he could brawl as it was the highlight of what was a pretty lackluster show. But also in many ways was the top match from Shawn's first run with the WWF championship. The card is featured below with the match:

Savio Vega def. Justin Bradshaw "Caribbean Strap

Jose Lothario def. (pin) Jim Cornette

Owen Hart & The British Bulldog def. (pin) Bart Gunn (c) & Billy Gunn (c) WWF Tag Team Titles (title change)

Mark Henry def. (sub) Jerry Lawler

The Undertaker def. (pin) Goldust "Curtain Call"

Shawn Michaels (c) def. (DQ) Mankind WWF World Heavyweight Title

Random Indy Wrestling Video of the Day

At one point both of these men were considered among the top stars on the Indies and big ticket talent for any company to land. Now fast forward to 2016 and both men have held World Championships or in AJ's case is a current World Champion. Some might say the only way you make yourself known is by making it to the WWE well in my book AR Fox proved that logic wrong by pretty much making it to the top of every company he has been in thus far in his career. Also Foxy is young enough to still be able to enter a WWE ring eventually I mean just look at when AJ finally did. The run that AJ had on the Indies before the WWE in many ways brought his career full circle and showed just how far he's come in his long and storied career. What a first time ever this match is:

The Internet Age in 1997

Here we go again if this year didn't speak on the unspoken history of wrestling's past we visit our time machine again to head back to the year 1997 and specifically WCW. For those of you who didn't know the WCW may have had a lot of bad ideas, but they did have some good ideas like having events broadcast on the WCW website. Though WCW would run their last event in 2001 they stopped running the Internet specific events in 1998 after only a year of doing such events and though I think it was necessary I do believe it could've helped them in the future had they kept going with the idea. Consider how much business that AOL could have possibly received had WCW continued the Internet events post the Time Warner-AOL merger in January of 2000.

Even though the company doesn't get a lot of credit I will say I totally forgot about this "advancement" they made or maybe the right word is that WCW was finally early to a party. However, it has been now perfected in modern times with things like IPPV and the WWE Network as well as NWA Classics. But remember WCW did it first and on this day 19 years ago they had their second Internet Specific Event live from Seattle:

List of all the WCW Internet Events: Click Here

Eddy Guerrero (c) def. (pin) Dean Malenko WCW Cruiserweight Championship

Ultimo Dragon def. (pin) Alex Wright

Rey Misterio, Jr.def. (pin) Konnan No Disqualification

Kevin Nash (c) & Scott Hall (c) draw (NC) Lex Luger & The Giant WCW World Tag Team Titles
Curt Hennig (c) def. (pin) Jeff Jarrett WCW United States Title

Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner def. (pin) Booker T. & Stevie Ray

Diamond Dallas Page def. Randy Savage Deathmatch

This Day in Wrestling History: 9/17/16

We are back again with I guess the birthday messages for some wrestlers this time around. Honestly this has been one of my favorite series to do every time, because I love to give the spotlight to random wrestlers from both the present and the past. So now like always I would like wish all those who have birthdays today a very Happy Birthday and very special wishes to those who will be featured below:

Happy Birthday to Masahiro Chono who turns 53 years old

Happy Birthday to Jim Cornette who turns 55 years old

Happy Birthday John Tolos who would've turned 86 years old

The Start of The End

Today marks the 20 year anniversary of the starting point for the feud that could have give the WCW the lead for a little longer, but in the end we know what happened. In hindsight, this feud was built up masterfully but the payoff was incredibly lackluster and basically helped stun the momentum of WCW so much so that it never really recovered. This event in question was Fall Brawl 1996 which saw the still fairly new NWO face off with Arn Anderson, Ric Flair, Lex Luger, and Sting aka Team WCW. In the build up to the show they had a new member show up to join the NWO and that was Jeff Farmer who was better known as the NWO Sting. That's right they tried to swerve the faces into thinking that Sting had joined the NWO which lead to decension between Team WCW leading up to and including Fall Brawl.

Following the event Sting would drop his Surfer gimmick and become a darker character as his now trademark Scorpion and Crow esque attire was born and on that night Sting would become a free agent. Fall Brawl 1996 would also be the last time we would Sting in the ring until Starrcade 1997 as he would hide in the rafters from everyone until he made it clear that he allied with the WCW and was after Hulk Hogan the WCW World Championship. After a year of build and no contact between them the match would ultimately follow the lead of the War Games match on this night and fall flat.

The problem for WCW was that they never really focused on having a great main event to send the fans home happy due to who was in the main event and the fact that most of them were very limited with their in-ring ability and that is why the under-card was so much better. However, once they lost the depth on the roster they and they were still having the same main events as when they had the depth that caused more of a stir since more the focus was on it. The show was extremely bad so that is why I will not be displaying the card from the show. I will say that some of the matches were very good and worth looking up on the WWE Network or on Youtube.

This Day in Wrestling History: 9/13/16

On this day three years ago the oldest wrestling promotion in the world CMLL which is the alternative promotion in Mexico to AAA and also is the long time working partner with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. To me the fact that they were able to reach such a monumental milestone for the company should give some indication on how successful the company has been over the years. Also even though AAA may have big names like Mysterio and formerly Del Rio as well as expansion into the US their is no disputing the fact that CMLL is still by a long way the most successful wrestling company just based on longevity and ability to produce new stars. Below is the card from that night.

Namajague & Okumura & Tomohiro Ishii def. Fuego & Rey Cometa & Stuka Jr. (2 out of 3 falls)
Euforia & Mephisto & Niebla Roja def. Brazo De Plata & Maximo & Titan (2 out of 3 falls)
Marco Corleone & Rush & Vangelisdef.El Terrible & Negro Casas & Shocker (2 out of 3 falls)
Averno def. (sub) Blue Panther 2 out of 3 falls (hair vs. hair, submission)
La Sombra & Volador, Jr.def.Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero
Mascara Dorada (c) & Místico II (c) & Valiente (c) def. Dragon Rojo Jr. & Polvora & Rey Escorpion (2 out of 3 falls) CMLL Trios Title
La Sombra def. Volador, Jr. mask vs. mask (2 out of 3 falls)

15 Years: Never Forgotten

Though this might have very little to do with wrestling it is still one of the most important anniversaries in the calendar year especially as this year is concerned in my book. See the year 2016 is by far one of the most important years in the wrestling business due to the fact that 15 years ago the wrestling world changed forever when two of the United States top wrestling companies went out of business within a month of each other. In 2001 the wrestling world changed forever when the WWE became the last surviving member of the big three.

However, on by far the saddest note that I have to talk about is that this year marks the 15 year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The attacks became the worst attack on US soil since the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Though when this tragic world event happened I was very young and wasn't really old enough to really understand what happened, but as the years went on I began to fully understand what happened. Now after all these years one thing hasn't changed and that is we will never forget the past and never move on from the events of that day and all those who were lost. I will now turn things over to the WWE and let them do the talking for me:

Flashback Report: 2 Cold Scorpio

I am trying something a little different with this as I am going back to how I used to do this series. As you al may know I have always been a big fan of series for this site and recently I have been pulling from the past here and there to make the old series pop up again. Though post has been one I have been planning for weeks, but I will say this that it shows why it's better only brining certain series back once and a while.

2 Cold Scorpio

Average on Mic
Good in the ring

Scorpio's career really didn't begin to take off until he was allowed to be himself and wrestle like he was in ECW. While in ECW Scorpio stole the show many times with various different challengers from Eddie Guerrero to Dean Malenko to Tazz to Shane Douglas to Mickey Whipwreck and many others. Scorpio became one of the best in the ring in ECW during his time in the company, Scorpio left ECW in 1996 for the WWE. In the WWE he became Flash Funk where he would dance to the ring but he never reached the championship success he had in ECW. Scorpio even in his late 40's now is still good in the ring and can still give anyone a run for their money.

Below is a match & a showcase from Too Cold Scorpio:

TV Draws Comparison Across Decades

“Three hours of live program was too much for our organization to produce and our wrestlers to work. So it was absurd to keep thinking that we can do three hours of live television every week and then come back and do two hours two night later. It was too much.”
- Brad Siegel (MCN Interview 2000)

This above was the position that former WCW president Brad Siegel was placed in after around a year of employees telling him it was just too much and needed to go back to two hours every week. In many ways the switch back to two hours from three hours could have made the ratings look worse than they were due to being rated on an hour less, but it did help the creative process. Now I know I can’t speak from experience on this subject, but what I can say that common knowledge would say that 5 hours of weekly TV programming is a lot harder to write out then just writing 4 hours, but that’s just my opinion. I am not trying to make excuses for WCW’s programming in the later years, but I will just add that if not for extra pressure from management and failing belief in any writer then maybe the company would have had a chance. However, things are at this point with WWE but aren’t anywhere near the getting better or changing point just yet.

To the knowledge of those on the outside looking in nobody knows if anyone in company has stood up to Vince and told him that 6 hours of weekly TV is too much like Eric & Vince Russo did in WCW. But that is where problem lies if nobody is willing to stand up to Vince then nothing will change, even though Vince is a micro-manager so was Eric during his time in WCW and see what happened to him. Problem with that connection is Vince can’t get fired like Eric did in September of 1999 in favor of Vince Russo & Ed Ferrera. I would wager to guess the reason that nobody stands up to Vince is fear, the fear of losing their jobs, but what about Stephane or Hunter why can’t they go to them.

Think about this in weeks that WWE runs a PPV it’s a total of 10 hours of programing form them to run during the week including the PPV. Then who could forget the fact that you have 6 hours of programing on the PPV and Raw the next day on the week following the PPV. I wonder if WWE ever thought that maybe the reason the PPV buys are down has to do with Raw being three hours which is the same length as a PPV and it makes people ask the question why watch the PPV when I spend the same amount of time watching Raw. Three hours of weekly programing is just too much to take in on a weekly basis and though it may help the bottom line it ends up doing more harm than good in the long run.

Now I did get this information from an article in a database that I had access to thanks to my college which is the reason why I am unable to the link the article below like I normally do so I apologize. Just wanted to make mention to that and say credit goes to former MCN writer Steve Donouhe who actually handled this interview with then WCW president back in the year 2000. Also I originally wrote this little thing back in December of 2015 so it's about time I posted it am I right!!

This Day in Wrestling History: 8/27/16

Over the last few weeks I have seen basically every Summerslam ever in the thus far 29 year history of the show and the 1995 edition of Summerslam saw probably the best mix of the great and the ugly. It was at the show that for the first and last time until the 2002 King of the Ring when Brock Lesnar won and received a WWE World Title shot that the winner of the King of the Ring would receive a shot at the WWF World Championship. The reason that this was the last time the winner of the KOTR would earn a title shot at Summerslam because the match between Mabel and Diesel was extremely lackluster and disappointing. Over the course of the match Mabel did end injuring Diesel which also caused his push to be halted and within around 8 months Mabel would be let go from the company.

Earlier in the year at WrestleMania 10 we would see one of the best matches of the pre-attitude era that being the first Ladder Match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Title. This time around the rematch between these two in my opinion was just as good or maybe even better then the first match-up at WrestleMania. It's impossible to find two people with better chemistry during this time in the WWE, because both these guys pretty much knew what the other was going to do before they did it. Especially in this match because they were told to make the match-up feel differently then the last match so they didn't use the Ladder much in the match because they used the ladder a lot in the WrestleMania match.

Either way it's fair to say that Summerslam 1995 had a great mix of the good and the bad but I have to be honest that in my book there is no reason why the rematch between Shawn Michaels and Razor should have Main Evented over the World Title match. Yes for the longest time Vince has stated that the World Title always needs to main event but in this case it would have been better for the show if it was headlined by one of the biggest matches of the pre-attitude era, but that's just my take.

The Spotlight Still Shines

Say what you will about the profession of pro-wrestling and say what you will about the former CM "Phil Brooks" Punk. The Summer of Punk is upon us once again as the world is still talking about Punk as we approach his first fight at UFC 203 in September. Though Punk may not have left the WWE on the best terms the night after the Royal Rumble a few years ago and even though he did his best to put wrestling behind him he will always be considered a pro-wrestler in the eyes of critics and fans.

Think about this: If you were in many cases considered one of the best employees in your company by your co-workers no less, but are never given an opportunity and never truly given the ball even though you invested every ounce of energy you have into what you do. How about being given the richest prize in the business for over 430 days and being the first person to hold the World Title for over 400 days in the modern era and then being told to lose it to a part timer. I don't blame CM Punk for leaving the WWE and leaving pro-wrestling all together, because the WWE broke him after 5 years of giving him a little and taking a lot, having unreal recovery timetables, and never fully pulling the trigger on CM Punk as the "Face of the Company" he left. Wouldn't you?

Fast forward now were are quickly approaching UFC 203 and Punk's debut in the Octagon. Within the time span that Punk has been training a lot has changed but the perception of Punk remains the same and will until his time comes to step in the ring. This isn't about Punk the wrestler or Phil Brooks the person it is about a man who is a dream and putting everything he has into doing what he wants to do. If you don't know Punk then the one thing you need to know is that the best quality about CM Punk is his determination and that when he sets out to do something he puts everything into his passions and dreams which is something that is 100% praise worthy. Good luck to CM Punk in September when you step in the Octagon for the first time do your fans proud.

This Day in Wrestling History: 8/19/16

Today we are going to switch things up and not just give the spotlight over to talent of the past who are celebrating their birthdays today, but I am also giving a little bit of the spotlight to those talents who are no longer with us. The reason for this and being on this day in particular is because the two talents in question are two very different people who aren't given enough credit by today's fan in my book. Killer Kowalski was by far one of the best trainers in wrestling as he trained the likes of Kenny Dykstra, Triple H, Chyna, Perry Saturn, and others. Also during his active wrestling career Kowalski was one of the most feared heels in the business he wasn't called Killer for nothing. The other names is Jim Londos and though most of you may not have a clue who is well if you go back to the early days of pro-wrestling when it first went to the arenas. Jim Londos was one of the top stars of the profession back in the early 1920's and all the way into the late 1940's. If anyone should be mentioned on a list of names that helped pave the way for the future of wrestling then Jim Londos should be right at the top with all the other all time greats.

Killer Kowalski

Jim Londos

This Day in Wrestling History: 8/16/16

As we keep changing things up and trying new things with this series as I will be mixing things up once again. This I will be giving the spotlight to two retired wrestlers and one current wrestler. Either way I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to each person who is celebrating a birthday today.

Happy Birthday to Buddy Landel who would've turned 55 years old

Happy Birthday to Dick Murdoch who would've turned 70 years old

Happy Birthday to Cedric Alexander who turns 27 years old

An End to the Summer of Punk

On this day 5 years ago we saw one of the more anticipated rematches in recent WWE history as CM Punk would face John Cena in a Unification match for both of there WWE Championship titles. See if you don't remember it was back in June of 2011 that CM Punk dropped his first pipebomb when he did a worked shoot promo to close Raw on John Cena, WWE, and the powers that be. It was the following week that we found out that Punk would not only be facing Cena for the WWE title at Money in the Bank, but that his contract with WWE was set to expire at midnight on that same day. Long story short Punk would win the match against Cena at Money in the Bank but he would only disappear for two weeks as he returned in the first week of August to start building a big PPV match against Cena.

At this time the WWE did something very UFC esque as even though they crowned Cena the official champion I think everyone knew Punk would return so in a way Cena was just the interm WWE Champion and not the actual champion. Now let's head to Summerslam's match as Cena fought Punk with Triple H as the Special Ref and Punk did end up winning, but it was also on this night that the line was drawn and they made it clear Punk needed to be brought down a little. Following the match Punk would be attacked by Kevin Nash who had recently returned to the company and had been feuding with Punk. After the attack Alberto Del Rio swopped in to pick up the pieces and cash in his Money in the Bank contract on Punk. One month later Punk would lose to Triple H leaving many people wondering why not give Punk the ball and see where things go as at that time Triple H was more inactive then active and Cena was stale and should've been moved away from the spotlight for a bit.

Now looking back after so long I still wonder why certain things went the way they did in the summer 2011 and now looking around at the landscape of wrestling now and how things have changed. Think about this 5 years ago Punk was WWE Champion and Cena was still being pushed as the top face in the company and now Punk is getting ready for his UFC debut and Cena has spent more time out of the ring this year then he has in his entire career. Oh my how things have changed, but what if the "Summer of Punk" went a little different maybe then he'd still be in a different ring. Hmmmm.....

Wrestling Legend Has Health Scare

Recently the news came out that WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend "Superstar" Billy Graham has been hospitalized with some serious medical symptoms. Graham began his career in Calgary after being trained by wrestling legend Stu Hart and would later take on the nickname Superstar two year later when he would make his debut with the American Wrestling Association. While in the AWA his stock began to rise but it really began to take off when he made his way to New York which he found his way to in the fall of 1977. Soon after his return to the company he would defeat then champion Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Championship to really become the first long term heel champion in the New York territory. Though Billy would only stay on top of the mountain for a little over 9 months he is still in the record books as the first heel champion.

In the long term he might've had the opportunity to flip baby face and remain champion for a little longer his feud following his title lose is all the more memorable then his planned feud for the belt would've been. As following his title loss he would enter a feud with the "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes which will go down as the feud that really put Dusty's talent on display for the world to see as Dusty and Billy would set the territory ablaze with some of the best promos ever. At this point what I would like to say is I would like to offer the best to Billy Graham and that he will have a speedy recovery from whatever illness he maybe suffering from right now.

This Day in Wrestling History: 8/9/16

Back in the days on the Monday Night Wars and the Attitude Era many fans tuned in to both WWE Raw and WCW Nitro, but they weren't the only companies around for the fans to enjoy as ECW was also around during this time as well. Over the course of their history they would change wrestling in many ways they would be the was who influenced the WWE's attitude era. On this day 19 years ago fans witnessed one of the most brutal "mainstream" matches from between Sabu and Terry Funk as they competed in a Barbed Wire Match. Though this wasn't the first time we saw a Barbed Wire Match in ECW, but this was the last one for ECW because of how brutal the match was there was no way that it could've been topped: Take a look!

So Far Back Sunday: A Tribute to a Legend

The report read Breaking New earlier this morning, when the news that Nick Bockwinkel has passed away at the age of 80 years old. Nick was an incredible talent during time in the ring and was the Ric Flair of Minnesota. He was the leader of the AWA with Verne Gagne. With Verne leading way with in ring skill and Nick balanced it out being the complete package and showed it every night. It didn't matter if it was Nick by himself or in tandem with Ray "The Crippler" Stevens was still the man of Minnesota.

Minnesota, was the home base of the AWA from the mid 1960's - 1991 when the company went bankrupt. Nick remained with the company from day 1 to the end. Nick was the promo master of his day and talked more people into the arena the just about anyone of the era. Though the old saying is some guys were designed to be regional stars and couldn't make it on a national scale well Nick wasn't one of those people. Now we look around and see that Nick has been added to that never event in the sky and now many dream matches never thought possible can happen again. The promo master is back at work once again talking people into the arenas forever and always. Now I say goodbye to one of the greats, so long Nick and God Speed!!!

RIP Nick Bockwinkel
1934-2015
God Bless You Bockwinkel
Thank you for the Memories!!!

Legends of the Past: Ed "Strangler" Lewis

The lineage of pro-wrestling has always gone through ups and downs as far as success of the business. But as always things change and names change as well like who may be on top of the cards or brining the fans in to the arenas. There was a time back in the day that event cards only had one or two matches on them where the matches would go for at least an 1 hour and sometimes even longer. Names like Jim Londos, George Hackenschmidt, Frank Gotch, and a variety of other names. One of those names was Ed "The Strangler" Lewis who became one of the top names in the wrestling business in the early part of the century and lead the charge for the business into the new era.

"With Sandow as his manager and with the new name of the Strangler, Lewis quickly moved up the ranks of professional wrestling and within a couple of years was one of the top men in the heavyweight division. But even with his success and with Sandow pushing him relentlessly he still found himself stuck in the position of contender behind the other members of the "Big Four" of the era - Earl Caddock, Joe Stecher, and Wladek Zbysko. The truth is, even during this period when it wasn't a completely legitimate (or even close to legitimate) sport, "shoots" were still common enough that skill dictated your position. And as good as Ed Lewis was he still wasn't the best. Caddock "the Man of 1000 Holds", had wrestled rings around Lewis when they met - although he had been unable to pin him. Wladek, who Lewis genuinely disliked, drew with him in what were some honest to goodness "bad blood" matches."

Much like Lewis became a major star during his time, his future manager Billy Sandow was one of the biggest names of the early century before wrestling really started to gain attention. Though Ed has fallen victim to the unfortunate side of effect being apart of wrestling history as a good number of people from wrestlings past have fallen out of the public eye and aren't spoken of at all. Lewis wasn't a name just because he was a headliner or because he was a a multiple time World Champion. The story goes like this: Ed was competing over in France in a contest and the fans in attendance thought at one point that Lewis was "Strangling" his opponent but in reality he actually had his opponent in the move that would be known as the Sleeper Hold.

Source: Click Here

A Rowdy Anniversary

Last year or even more so the summer was a very tough time for wrestling fans as we had to say goodbye to some of the biggest names in the wrestling business. Though this year hasn't been better for me last year was very hard because I thought of two of these men as idols and the embodiment of class as well as someone you can respect for all the hard work and dedication they gave to their profession.

One year ago today the wrestling world lost a legend, an icon, a Hall of Famer, and dare I say a man that was in a class above others he was the "Hot Rod" he was "Rowdy before Rowdy was cool" his name is Roddy Piper. Now I will not go through Roddy's long career from start to finish because that's the thing Roddy never really finished though his in ring career may have been long behind him his love for the wrestling business still burned until his last day. The impact that Roddy had and those both within the industry and who find themselves on the outside looking in can't be put into words, because the lessons and the stories just always prove that Roddy loved those who respected him and loved pro-wrestling. I have never heard a bad thing spoken about Roddy Piper because those who knew Roddy loved Roddy.

Rod was one of the many who made their career in wrestling long before national expansion took over and long before Vince gave him his "big break" the fans knew Roddy. People remembered his brawl with Greg Valentine at Starrcade 1983 in a Dog Collar Match, they remember his stints on commentary in Georgia and Portland, they remember his wars with Buddy Rose in PNW. Long before Frankie Williams said he was from Cleveland, OH and long before answers needed changing Roddy was a household name. Rod started up in Canada at 16 and got his but kicked, Roddy paid his dues the hard way and was respected because of it.

I know I am not alone saying that I can't believe he has been gone a year and that even though I never met him it was the emotion that he exuded every time he was on TV that really made you get the sense of how much Piper loved what he does.

RIP "Hot Rod"
You Maybe Gone But You'll Always be Remembered
"You Don't through Rocks at Someone Holding a Machine Gun"

This Day in Wrestling History: 7/27/16

Gordon Solie Passed Away 16 Years Ago Today

Rhonda "Monster Ripper" Singh Passed away 15 years ago Today

Happy Birthday to "Crazy" Luke Graham who turns 91 today

This Day in Wrestling History: 7/22/16

In 2001 that was when everything changed in the pro-wrestling industry as the wrestling world was turned upside down when the WWE purchased WCW in March of 2001 and then would get everything in line with ECW in April of 2001. Then at the end of May 2001 we saw the biggest storyline in wrestling history kick off and that was the WCW/ECW Invasion. Now many people have re-booked this storyline after it being a flop pretty much overall and was in no way close to the dream story line like everyone thought it'd be. But this isn't about how poor or wrong this story was booked and is more about the biggest PPV of that period and I guess the best way to put it is that in 2001 Summerslam wasn't the biggest party of the summer but July 2001 we saw the biggest party as the WWF Invasion.

The PPV became the highest grossing non-WrestleMania PPV in the history of the WWE. This was the first major event in which the WCW talent were able to be seen on the large scale by the WWE fan base. Though not many of the big names came along for the ride it should be very telling that they were able to gain as much buys for the PPV as they would without names like Nash, Hall, Goldberg, Hogan, Sting, and others.

Christian & Edge def. (pin) Lance Storm & Mike Awesome
Earl Hebner def. (pin) Nick Patrick referee: Mick Foley
Bradshaw & Faarooq def. (pin) Chuck Palumbo & Sean O'Haire
Billy Kidman def. (pin) X-Pac
Raven def. (pin) William Regal
Chris Kanyon & Hugh Morrus & Shawn Stasiak def. (pin) Albert & Billy Gunn & The Big Show
Tajiri def. (pin) Tazz
Rob Van Dam def. (pin) Jeff Hardy (c) WWF Hardcore Title
Lita & Trish Stratus def. Stacy Keibler & Torrie Wilson referee: Mick Foley
tag team bra and panties
Booker T. & Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley & Diamond Dallas Page & Rhyno def. Chris Jericho & Kane & Kurt Angle & Steve Austin & The Undertaker

Shoot of the Week: Kevin Nash & X-Pac Shoot Interview

Been a couple of weeks since the last time I put together a shoot of the week, but we are back and it's gonna be a good one. These two men are two of the most outspoken gentlemen in pro-wrestling. Also for reference this shoot interview is from at least 3 years ago or so as they do mention the Nexus. Though both these men have their critics I would bet you a lot of money to find me someone in wrestling who doesn't have any critics. They might not be on the level of Nash, Hall, or Pac but that doesn't matter because they feed off the hate and now it's time for you to embrace the hate and enjoy this shoot.

This Day in Wrestling History: 7/8/16

At one point the King of the Ring was something of not just value but also importance and something that us fans would look forward on a yearly basis, because a win at the King of the Ring would normally mean that person would be getting a push in the near future. Names like Bret Hart, Randy Savage, Brock Lesnar, Steve Austin, and a variety of others. However, more recently the King of the Ring has become a big joke and just another way for the WWE to make money by using the name of the KOTR as a big event. The winners of the King of the Ring tournament recently has done nothing for the winners like Sheamus, Bad News Barrett, and really anyone that won the tournament following 2002.

Back in 1985 the King of the Ring was fresh and new as the WWE was focusing on their attempt to grow on a National scale ahead of each and every territory. In my opinion I will say that the King of the Ring at the time it first began was a pretty unique aspect of pro-wrestling and was just another reason why the WWE was I will say ahead of the curve in the post territory era.

Just to keep things together on this day 31 years ago the WWE held the first ever King of the Ring tournament... Below you find highlights of every KOTR and also the last match of the 1985 King of the Ring Tournament.

Don "The Rock" Muraco

1985 King of the Ring Tournament Finals

VS

The Iron Sheik

This Day in Wrestling History: 7/6/16

It was a few months before this night at Starrcade 1997 when WCW's luck pretty much ran out. After a lackluster match between Sting & Hulk Hogan things began to change for the WCW as they had the opportunity to take the lead and they failed. The match that they built up for over a year didn't even come close to living up to expectations when push came to shove. The early part of 1998 showed us that somethings are bullet proof as they really dragged the World Title through the mud with weak booking there was nothing good about the first half of 1998 for the WCW. Except well at Starrcade 1997 the WCW had their future on the card as well and it was one former NFL player up against another former NFL player as the Undefeated Bill Goldberg went head to head against Steve "Mongo" McMichael.

That is correct the only good part of 1998 as far as the upper card in WCW was when we would see Goldberg go head to head with eventual World Champion Hulk Hogan. People didn't have to wait to long as Hogan won back the championship on the April 20th edition of Nitro from Randy Savage and little did he know at the time, but he would be on a collision course with the "Da Man" Goldberg less than three months later.

The night was July 6th 1998 as 41,421 packed into the Georgia Dome to see the hometown boy win the World Championship from Hulk Hogan and they weren't disappointed as the show began with the NWO running down Goldberg. Then we found out Goldberg would face Scott Hall later in the night and if he won he would get Hollywood in the main event of the broadcast. That is exactly what happened and though it was quite a moment in time it could've been better, but still. This was a big moment of not just the Monday Night Wars, but also in keeping WCW relevant.

Note:
Two weeks later Bill Goldberg would head into his first PPV with the World Title around his waist. That's right instead of waiting two weeks and having one of the biggest title wins they possibly could've happen they chose to let it increase the ratings for one week instead of looking at the financial gain by having the win happen two weeks later at Bash at the Beach which was a famous WCW PPV already. Mind you the biggest star in the company and his first title defense is against Curt Hennig and then the following month he is bumped into a Battle Royal with the B-Level members of the NWO in favor of a celebrity involvement. Goldberg wasn't treated like a champion even though he was in fact the companies top meal ticket at the time. Go figure why they went out of business a little over 3 years later.

Shoot of the Week: Jake "The Snake" Roberts

I am not sure when I kicked off this series, but I can honestly say that this has been one of my favorite series to do because I have found a lot more shoots then I thought existed on the internet and that a lot more people have done shoots then I thought. For this edition of the Shoot of the Week we are looking at legend of the business, a man with a gift for gab and an amazing psychologist in the ring his name is Jake "The Snake" Roberts. I am extremely happy to see how different Jake is now compared to where he was and I have the utmost respect for him winning the battle and getting to finally truly live. Now let's get to the video:

So Far Back Sunday: Wrestling World Loses a Promoter

Bob Geigel

As I have said on many occasions one of the hardest things about being a fan of wrestling is having to say goodbye to some your favorites when they pass away. Many fans will tell you that most of their favorite stars growing up are gone, now is this a lot of people who grew in the 80's... yeah. However, the evil side of the wrestling industry has not just touched the fans of the 1980's, but also has hit the fans of both the 1990's and 2000's. This is one of the many reasons why I believe that the past isn't celebrated as much as it should be in the wrestling business. Like the territory days, or legends or who helped pave the way, or anything just to help fans of today know who people like Lou Thez, George Hackenschmidt, Bob Giegel, Jim Barnett, Magnum TA, Giant Baba, and the list goes on and on. Though wrestling will respected by those outside the business that doesn't mean those within can't respect it and honor those from days gone by.

Two days ago the very sad and unfortunate news of former NWA President, Owner and Booker of Central States Wrestling, as well a member of various Hall of Fame..... Bob Giegel had passed away. Now, Bob lived a long and full life as he passed at the age of 90 years old and though he's now gone what he gave to the business will be forgotten. As a whose who came through Bob's territory in St. Louis and also in many respects Bob lead the NWA as President to much success. Now without digging or going to far in I did find out that sadly Bob had Alzheimer's which may have been the cause of death. Seeing that happen to a legend and a man who had such a great mind for the business is heart breaking and even more the fact that I guarantee most people never heard of him is terribly sad. Which is very sad, because true fans of any sport are aware of the past as if your not than your not a true fan and your just a causal. In my book and I will keep saying this until it happens that WWE or someone needs to preserve the history of great sport and teach the young fans about the past of this sport, because it's an awesome past to learn about. Also learning about the past gives you an alternatives if you don't like what you see from current products. A small interesting fact about Geigel is that he actually was a wrestler before becoming the booker and later Owner of the Central States Territory of the NWA.

Note:
I am still very undecided if I am willing to bring back this series or not because at this point I don't really know if it is needed, but I will say that how this post does maybe an indication to me if this series should make a come back or not.

This Day in Wrestling History: 6-22-16

The hardest part of being a fan of pro-wrestling is having to say goodbye to so many of our favorites so young. Buddy Landel was once a top ranked up and comer in the wrestling world on the level of Lio Rush or Zack Sabre Jr. of today but unfortunately Buddy was never able to realize his potential due to his personal problems. At one point Buddy was at one point on track to get his shot at the NWA World Title and very possibly on par to become Worlds Champion unfortunately his demons always got in the way. Buddy was just another name on a list that is way to long of talent that people ask the question about "What if he was able to beat it?"

Sadly one year ago on this day we had to sad goodbye to Buddy Landel at the young age of 55 years old. Near the end of his career Buddy did get clean and we caught a glimpse of the talent that he had always had, but sadly it was too little to late. I will say that I was one of those people who thought that Buddy had tremendous potential and is very sad story, but it is also unfortunately not uncommon in the world of pro-wrestling.

"Nature Boy" Buddy Landel
1961-2015
Gone but Never Forgotten