Elsalvajeloco

It's essentially Bret and Shawn in 1997 with no actual person to really root for and 100% more Ace Steel.

That sounds like regular delusional promoter stuff. Everyone was going to fight Tyson in and around the time he left Don King. Plus, Rahman had already lost the titles back to Lennox and was going through a tough stretch by the time Mesi would have fought Jirov. Rahman wasn't the greatest but he wasn't the easiest matchup. He was slow and lumbering especially once after the 2nd Lewis fight, but he wasn't a pushover. Plus, Jirov was a cruiserweight and less than a year removed from that absolutely crazy, barnburner fight with (speak of the devil) James Toney that probably took years off Jirov's career as a top fighter and effectively ruined him physically. Yeah, he doesn't beat either Vitali or Wladimir. In a talent depraved era, he probably would have lost a boring, pedestrian decision to Chris Byrd like seemingly a bunch of the HW pretenders did at the time.

I totally agree with that sentiment, but for a world title match? You need to go off the air with that. They did it and then rolled on with rest of the show. I honestly totally forgot about it by the end of the show.

Not necessarily cause you don't have to do it in real time like a movie. I am not a big fan of the lose and then find your hunger/desire stuff, which is why I wasn't a fan of the suggestion if AEW signed Mercedes that should come in to get squashed by Jade. 70% of the people who debut in AEW lose their first or second match, and it automatically kills the luster. How about have them win and please the fans? Now in Punk's case, it's fine but I think they did it in the most WWF Superstars way possible. They did it in the middle of the show IIRC and then you're kinda left with this weird taste in your mouth. It was surprising but it wasn't going to have the staying power.

Here is the template for this week: EVENT #37 ONE Fight Night 8: Superlek vs. Rodtang (03/24/2023) - Kallang, Singapore (Singapore Indoor Stadium) ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing Championship: Superlek Kiatmoo vs. Rodtang Jitmuangnon - Kiatmoo, DEC ONE Women's Strawweight Muay Thai Championship: Allycia Hellen Rodrigues vs. Janet Todd - Rodrigues, DEC Seo Hee Ham vs. Itsuki Hirata - Ham, DEC Ho Taek Oh vs. Akbar Abdullaev - Abdullaev, DEC ONE Kickboxing Rules: Peimian Zhang vs. Torepchi Dogak - Zhang, DEC ONE Muay Thai Rules: Danial Williams vs. Rui Botelho - Williams, DEC Alex Silva vs. Keito Yamakita - Yamakita, DEC EVENT #38 LFA 155: Do Nascimento vs. Hodge (03/24/2023) - Niagara Falls, NY (Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino) Rafael do Nascimento vs. Jerrell Hodge - Nascimento, SUB, R2 Rafael Barbosa vs. Mairon Santos - Santos, DEC Joe Taylor vs. Ben Parrish - Taylor, TKO, R3 Cody Davis vs. Joseph Camacho - Davis, DEC Rodney Kealohi vs. Alvaro Prado - Kealohi, DEC EVENT #39 BKFC 39: Barnett Jr. vs. Alvarez (03/24/2023) - Norfolk, VA (Scope Arena) Reginald Barnett, Jr. vs. Frank Alvarez - Barnett, Jr., DEC Britain Hart vs. Jenny Clausius - Hart, TKO, R3 Dustin Pague vs. James Dennis - Pague, TKO, R3 Will Worley vs. Dimitri Angelini - Worley, TKO, R1 David Simpson vs. Jay Jackson - Jackson, DEC Ka'Sim Ruffin vs. Trai Santos - Ruffin, TKO, R2 EVENT #40 Fury FC 76: Chairez vs. Vasquez (03/24/2023) - San Antonio, TX (Boeing Center at Tech Port) Edgar Cháirez vs. Gianni Vazquez - Cháirez, DEC Isaac Moreno vs. Armus Guyton - Moreno, DEC Zack Borrego vs. Lajuan Davis - Davis, DEC Zachary Reese vs. Tommie Britton - Reese, TKO, R1 Dimitre Ivy vs. Carlton Minus - Minus, TKO, R2 Angel Luis Cruz vs. Marcelo Rojo - Rojo, TKO, R2 John Yannis vs. Casey Jones - Jones, DEC Nico Echeverry vs. Tedrick Macklin - Macklin, TKO, R2 BONUS EVENT #1 Boxxer Presents: Okolie vs. Light (03/25/2023) - Manchester, England, United Kingdom (AO Arena) WBO Cruiserweight Championship: Lawrence Okolie vs. David Light - Frazer Clarke vs. Bogdan Dinu - Levi Giles vs. Michael Gomez Jr. - Karriss Artingstall vs. Linzi Buczynski - Callum Simpson vs. Celso Neves - Rhys Edwards vs. Brian Phillips - Shakiel Thompson vs. Robert Talarek - Aaron McKenna vs. Lukas Ndafoluma - Samuel Antwi vs. Omir Rodriguez - Casey Brown vs. Harvey Lambert - Frankie Stringer vs. Jakub Laskowski - BONUS EVENT #2 Top Rank Boxing on ESPN: Ramirez vs. Commey (03/25/2023) - Fresno, CA (Save Mart Center) Jose Ramirez vs. Richard Commey - WBA & WBC Female Strawweight Championship: Seniesa Estrada vs. Tina Rupprecht - Antonio Mireles vs. Patrick Mailata - Raymond Muratalla vs. Humberto Galindo - Charlie Sheehy vs. Angel Rebollar - Subaru Murata vs. Jose Negrete - Ricardo Ruvalcaba vs. Marco Cardenas - Jessie Guerrero vs. Eduardo Alvarez - EVENT #41 UFC Fight Night on ESPN: Vera vs. Sandhagen (03/25/2023) - San Antonio, TX (AT&T Center) Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen - Holly Holm vs. Yana Santos - Nate Landwehr vs. Austin Lingo - Andrea Lee vs. Maycee Barber - Alex Perez vs. Manel Kape - Chidi Njokuani vs. Albert Duraev - Daniel Pineda vs. Tucker Lutz - Steven Peterson vs. Lucas Alexander - Trevin Giles vs. Preston Parsons - C.J. Vergara vs. Daniel Lacerda - Victor Altamirano vs. Vinicius Salvador - EVENT #42 Benavidez vs. Plant (03/25/2023) - Las Vegas, NV (MGM Grand Garden Arena) Interim WBC Super Middleweight Championship: David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant - Cody Crowley vs. Abel Ramos - Chris Colbert vs. Jose Valenzuela - Joey Spencer vs. Jesus Ramos - Kevin Gonzalez vs. Jose Sanmartin - Marcelino Lopez vs. Orestes Velazquez - Demler Zamora vs. Jesus Ibarra - Robert Meriweather vs. Jesus Perez - Daniel Blancas vs. Nicholas Molina - The Friday events deadline is March 24, 10:15 p.m. CST The Saturday events deadline is March 25, 1:30 p.m. CST

I hope they get at least 13-15 minutes. Anything more than that is all gravy.

For a brief moment, there was Joe Mesi but he had health issues after a fight right after the hype started and that was the end of him. So yeah, Morrison was the last American born white guy I remember getting that level of hype for an extended amount of time. Just like Mesi though and Cooney before those two, he got a LOT of hype based on being semi competent and demolishing guys (the ones who were known) that were well past their prime. I get if Sly and the crew were hedging their bets that he was gonna be this major star. 1989 going into 1991 for HW boxing was wacky with Tyson being in the news every week for something, then the Buster Douglas fight happens, then Evander beats Buster, and we get the fallout from all that. He finally fought a guy who was in his prime in Ray Mercer (who going into that fight got pissed off about how Tommy was being promoted and his own payoff) and got absolutely anesthetized for his troubles. To me, that signaled the end of Morrison being a true contender if he ever was one.

People have to remember this was before we would see crazy looking SOBs on TV so anyone who looked like Mr. T at the time was gonna turn some heads. It's the old pro wrestling airport test. It also helped he was a bit of a character himself. When all that played out and the novelty wore off, he was just another person who got spit out by Hollywood. However, it was clearly right time and right place.

The 2nd one in many ways a better match even though it was kinda thrown together at the last minute and it's now face vs. face. I think they realized that card was gonna suck if the top two matches were just Taker vs. Kama and Diesel vs. Mabel. The only issue is you can tell we're in full Shawn is a clear and utter asshole mode. Either it's that or he was just so much of a perfectionist that he was a bundle of nerves going into that match. Between showing up the referee before the match for hanging the belt up wrong (not absolving the ref cause you should know the correct way and it's not with the main plate facing up or down for that matter) and losing his cool over the botched finish (that WAS Shawn's fault), it's evident what path Shawn was headed down over the next 2 and 1/2 years from that point.

In that case, we can start recent. Track down AZM's latest title defense with Starlight Kid for AZM's High Speed Title and on the same show is Hazuki challenging for Stardom's version of the IC/US title the Wonder of Stardom against Saya Kamitani. They are both on Stardom's Triangle Derby Finals card from March 4th. You will understand instantly why both are in that match.

Now that I think about it? You know who permeated the exact same energy Mr. T had as Clubber Lang and would have been a better fit than Morrison? Early 90s James Toney before he realized KFC was a thing and ate himself in boxing obscurity for a few years. I know he was like only a handful of months away from knocking out and upsetting Michael Nunn by the time Rocky V got released, but that's a much better fit than Morrison. His shit talk was the stuff of legend. Scary to most of white America? Check. I mean even when he got fat later in his career and he started slurring his speech he was and still is a tremendous and charismatic shit talker. I am guessing that's what got him the brief cameo in Ali as Joe Frazier. Maybe Sly and the producers probably didn't want to go down the Clubber Lang route again, but he did the black protege thing eventually with Creed. I am just watched a split screen interview with James and Roy Jones Jr. before their historical fight in November 1994 and the last two or three minutes is great with Roy dropping a "I'll be your huckleberry!". That's another one for the pop culture time capsule.

T had the unique charisma though. Watch the press conference scene from Rocky III and it comes across immediately. Morrison never even displayed that in boxing. Granted, they (HBO and his real life promoter Tony Holden) tried their best to downplay his partying (which was his undoing in more ways than one) in favor of this good old, down home Okie boy who just loves having fun. No one was like....movie star. Gina Carano (pre antisemitic scandal) starring in a Steven Soderbergh film is wild too seeing as she has/had the acting chops of a wet cardboard box, but she was a bombshell from a visual aesthetic point of view. Crazy, but you still could see it.

Last week, I realized I hadn't watched the last of the Rock vs. Austin WM trilogy since it happened back in 2003 and maybe a few years ago during covid I stopped like mid way for whatever reason. Then I realized why. That final five minutes and the aftermath is incredibly sad. Kinda heartwarming based on Rock breaking character and sitting down to thank Austin for what he's done, but also incredibly sad and bittersweet. Not on the level of seeing Ali against Larry Holmes or Tyson losing to Lennox Lewis for me personally, but it's up there now that I finally watched the whole thing and it's fresh in my mind.

Speaking of a time capsule, even as a diehard hardcore boxing fan, it's kinda hard to explain the Icarus too close to the sun, weird phenomenon that was Tommy Morrison. As the further we move from the early 90s, it gets harder and harder. Now try to explain why he's the goddamn co-star of a tentpole, well known universally beloved franchise. Mr. T, I understand. Morrison didn't even have that cache in the boxing world. He had the WBO heavyweight title back when the WBO wasn't considered one of the major alphabet orgs in boxing. I know Ronda Rousey was gonna be the star of the Roadhouse remake (before Holly Holm casted her spirit to the shadow realm) back when she was UFC champ that Jake Gyllenhaal is filming right now, but that would have been easier to explain to someone. I have no answer as to why and how he got that role other than he was just the latest great white hype. Other than that, I got nothing.

Thing is though, if you're doing it in a "look how cool I am" way that's not really worthy of praise. Like when CM Punk says well I haven't seen Rocky, the first thing someone should tell him is so fucking what? That's not even the point of the conversation. If someone is playing backyard football with you and you bring up the Immaculate Reception or Dwight Clark's catch or David Tyree's helmet catch in Super Bowl, they don't have to explain the ENTIRE GAME of football to you even if you are a non sports fan. I like Punk but that's kinda a douche chill "Alright...and?" moment. The right thing to do is just to say, "hey man, can you elaborate a bit further?". Not roll your eyes and say well I haven't seen the Rocky movies. As for the films themselves, it would depend on the age of the person you're talking to. III is wondering around that Skynet is self aware thing where they know it's a very lucrative franchise so the film has to have certain beats. IV basically lost the plot, but they were working with house money.

That reminds me: I saw this not too long ago where Jimmy Hart has a "funeral" for the Bruise Brothers (the Porkchop Cash and Dream Machine/Troy Graham version) and "debuts" the New Fabulous Ones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GsKFvsiDC0 Not to spoil the surprise, but tell me you don't get hype when the fucking Gap Band hits. This is amazing TV. Tony Khan, steal this. Please. Do this for the Gunns. I am begging you.

Timestamped: https://youtu.be/fqjVSLiDPQQ?t=76

I know we had a discussion somewhere recently about cool themes for someone who is uncool and Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) came up. From the territory stuff I have been watching over the last several months, there have been a slew of folks who would fit that bill that use various famous songs from that era including some of the famous Rocky soundtrack hits. The PYTs (Koko B. Ware/Stagger Lee/Sweet Brown Sugar or w/e name he was using then and Norvell Austin) coming out to Michael Jackson is hilarious so I will give a pass on that, but like Mark Ragin coming out to Michael Jackson? Fuck no. Robert Fuller and his skinny, gangly pasty legs and the future Bunkhouse Buck strutting out to "All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose" in Continental is up there.

Let someone say they never seen Slap Shot, which definitely is lost in the pop culture time capsule. I bet Punk wouldn't stand for it.

Punk strikes me as one of those guys (MJF as well) who would have used that cheap heat everytime he's in Philly of their most beloved sports figure being a fictional character. That and they built a well known statue of said character and not one for all time greats like Joe Frazier or Bernard Hopkins...who you know...are real people. Hell, Sonny Liston was from St. Louis via the deep south but he trained in Philadelphia. That would make more sense than Rocky Balboa. I would even take Bennie Briscoe, who is the most famous boxer to never win a world title. Man, that's easy heat right there. It would right up there with The Rock in 2003 at the go home Raw for WM XIX in Sacramento saying his friend Shaq calls the Kings "the Sacramento Queens".

Man, I just watched the AWA match with Hogan and the future Killer Bees vs. Heenan, Ventura, and Patera last week. When that song hits, you would have thought the goddamn Beatles were in the building. FWIW World Class used it for a Kerry music video. DUDE I WAS GONNA POST THAT! They played that shit RELENTLESSLY.

We're going have to vehemently agree to disagree on that one. Now I will concede that Stallone himself hasn't been a major movie star in a couple decades now. Plus, now, with the flooding of content out there isn't a whole bunch of stuff that EVERYONE should know. However, for example, if "Eye of the Tiger" doesn't play and you cannot instantly recognize at a certain age I dunno what to tell you. If you don't know it from Rocky, it's definitely one of those songs you can readily recognize but have no clue what the name of it is. "Going the Distance" has been sampled like 45 times in major pop hits.

Speaking of Liger, I just went back and watched 3 of the 4 matches Liger and Sano had (the Thunderstruck match w/ the SSP is the one from January 1990). However, based on the website you go to, one is mislabeled. It's easy to figure out which one is which based on the IWGP Jr. title history. The SSP one is on the same card as the pre Camp Cornette team of Vader (Big Van Vader) and Yokozuna (then Great Kokina) challenge Masa Saito and Hashimoto for the IWGP tag team titles. The other ones are from the year prior. Of course, if it's on a comp then it's a bit tougher obviously.

I think it was probably originally going to be just a singles, and then they saw what Hazuki did against Saya and believes she's a miracle worker now.

Hell, due to the sheer number of highly rated matches, I am pretty sure I somehow haven't seen a bunch of 90s All Japan matches. I think a lot of it is because at some point, stuff started running together and I am not entirely sure if I seen it or not based on the year. Pre coronavirus New Japan was starting to get up there for awhile. I just got to a point where I refuse to watch all of it.