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Boyd Pierce dressing like a game show host is fun in a few senses.

So tonight i'm gonna watch Bash 88 (the Price for Freedom? what does that even mean, Dusty?) and I'm pretty sure I haven't seen Wrestlewar 92 before so i'll watch that tomorrow or later-ish.

Nikita Koloff with hair is a real "Scott Steiner in late 1997" sort of look (or Bron Breakker right now). The Baltimore Arena looks like a fun place for this one, in the same spirit of the Independence Arena in Charlotte for Starrcade 93 (which had the non-floor seats on the hard camera all night)

Nikita/Sting vs Tully/Arn was a good time. Which ends in a  20 minute draw. They didn't telegraph it as a draw as quickly as the TV title matches. The faces doing a phantom tag behind the ref's back was fun. JJ still looks like he steals money from the elderly through shady investments.

After the first match, the price for freedom is eternal screwing of the babyfaces.

For an arena seating 14000, the Baltimore Arena looks like an intimate venue for Bash 88 (aside from having 10 feet of space between the ring and the guardrails)

You can tell tonight's gonna be a special night because Jim Cornette is dressed up so he can hang from a steel cage. Stan Lane giving Jim Cornette an intro in a voice that Joel Gertner could be proud of. Jim Cornette also gets to wear a straitjacket (which was almost certainly demonstrated by one of the Fantastics strapping themselves up and getting beat down as a result). Always fun to put the guy who fucked up his knee on a scaffold up in an elevated cage, at least they can't drop him again, right? man, they just milk the shit out of this and it's glorious stuff

Edited by Cobra Commander
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extra Bash 88 notes:

having a 30 minute time limit for the US Tag Team titles one match after having a 20 minute time limit for the World Tag Team titles is slightly inconsistent but i'm sure that they negotiated an extra 10 minutes into the match. Another good match with the Midnights and Fantastics as per their usual. The forces of evil win after a chain shot. Then Cornette comes down and our heroes beat him up a little and take off Tommy Young's belt to get some shots in. Also the Maryland State Athletic Commission gets mentioned during MX/Fantastics (da da daaaa)

The Tower of Doom looks impressive, the rules explanation is a bit wordy, there are some giant fucking ladders (Ladders of Doom?) for this thing... and apparently this Tower Of Doom match is so huge that Kevin Sullivan, Gary Hart, and Paul Jones have teamed up for The Tower Of Doom.

I think they started this match by sending the two oldest competitors (Ivan Koloff and Ronnie Garvin) up ladders to the top cage and this thing is fucking bizarre

and then they opened up the trap doors and I thought one thing

sportscenter-espn.gif

Like seriously. What drugs were involved with this idea. Going from the first two matches to the Tower of Doom is a change. Multi man cage matches with escape rules make the people leaving the cage look like complete idiots. Points for creativity but that was a mess. And I believe they did it a few more times *before* Uncensored 96

Windham vs Rhodes: I'm pretty sure I haven't seen a 5 minute long clawhold spot until this match. So Ronnie Garvin got through the Tower of Doom, went to the back, and then turned heel on Dusty (which, IIRC, didn't go anywhere aside from Ronnie Garvin leaving the company)

With the combination of all the other matches and the main event, the price for freedom really is most of the babyfaces losing (aside from the Tower of Doom)

And upon seeing the trickle of blood stoppage ending in context..

1) kinda remarkable they did two "make the fans think the babyfaces won the title" endings on the same card and the fans bought it both times

2) Flair would have tapped a gusher if the ending was "the match is stopped due to Flair's bleeding and the title can't change hands"

3) how much would Flair need to bleed to make a blood stoppage not seem like bullshit?

man.... this card just fucked over babyfaces all night, it's sorta remarkable even if they kinda lit money on fire with these endings

Edited by Cobra Commander
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On 12/5/2022 at 12:39 AM, SirSmellingtonofCascadia said:

Paul Ellering - I knew he did a whole Superstar Billy Graham thing before he tore his knee up one too many times and switched to managing, but I didn't comprehend how bad, how excremental, how unwatchable it was until watching through this year. My God. Dude shaved his head and picked up a WSJ and immediately became about a trillion times cooler. 

How lame does a person need to be so that picking up the Wall Street Journal is an improvement? Ye Gods.

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SuperBrawl VII (1997) notes:

  • There is a whole vignette with Roddy Piper leaving Alcatraz that I don't need to relate to you except that when he takes off running across an empty courtyard and yelling, I laughed so hard. It was a textbook example of unintentional humor. 

 

  • Dean Malenko and Syxx bring the hate in the opener. Syxx has been spectacular in these PPV-level matches. Malenko pulls Syxx up off the mat a couple times after an early ass-whipping because he wants to bring the pain. He stands over a prone Syxx and talks shit, and Syxx reaches up and slaps him! Shiiiit. That was a great spot. Malenko slapped him right back, too. Syxx underestimated how angry Malenko is and can't get out of the starting blocks. His bare offensive output only gives him a second before Malenko is back on him. Malenko gets his belt back and walks around with it, then ducks a spin kick and clobbers Syxx.

 

  • This match is INCREDIBLE so far. Syxx takes over with a kick, but his offense is all just barely earned. Syxx hits a Bronco Buster because he's an asshole. Malenko hit the back of his head on the title, laying in the corner, and so he's selling a neck injury that came out of that unfortunate fall. His decision to grab the title and parade around instead of putting Syxx away has come back to haunt him so far. Syxx is fun as hell; he hits an elbowdrop from the second rope to Malenko's throat as it's draped across the apron. He hits a guillotine legdrop, but can't get three. Syxx works a headlock, but even that is entertaining since the row facing the hard camera starts a 1 - 2 - 3 SUCKS chant and Syxx enjoys reacting to it.

 

  • Syxx tries to use the belt, but Eddy Guerrero comes out and grabs the other end of it as Syxx re-enters the ring, dragging it along.. Unfortunately for Eddy, he loses his grip and it slingshots back into Malenko's face as Malenko tries to grab Syxx from behind. Syxx gets the win and the gold, we get an Eddy/Malenko feud set up, and I am happy. This match never gets mentioned as one of the best WCW PPV matches from this time, does it? It should. 

 

  • Okerlund pimps his hotline with promises of NEWZ on a possible WCW defection to the nWo. Hmm. Then, he interviews DDP, who is supposed to be wrestling Bubba tonight. Bubba got jumped on Monday, so who is his opponent going to be? DDP and Okerlund try to guess, but the answer is revealed via Gene's earpiece: Buff Bagwell! Sure, that sounds like it's going to be good. 

 

  • Big trios tag with La Parka/Konnan/Villano IV against Ciclope/THA JOOOOOOCE/Super Calo. Konnan gets over in this match by murdering dudes. He does look like a boss. La Parka is great. You know all this. Calo tries to commit hara-kiri, goes all out on whiffs, and I think that should count for something. It's sort of hard to watch from a "worker safety" standpoint, but at the same time, you know you'll at least get a man eating wild bumps when you see him on TV. Juvy and Parka fuck up an intricate top-rope move, but Juvy saves it with a great-looking springboard rana. I wish all this damage meant more because there are some awesome workers in this match, but everything just feels like a wrestling move exhibition. I hate this style of pro wrestling. 

 

  • This Prince Iaukea TV Championship reign is such a bad idea. Bischoff needs to get his head out of the monitors, stop watching RAW, and book his shows better. Mirroring Chyna with Jacqueline is fine, but you don't have to go farther than that. The cracks in Bischoff's booking were showing by late 1996, and this is another example of Bisch getting too wrapped up in the whole "wrestling war" thing. Anyway, if you guessed that this was a way to get the gold onto Rey Misterio Jr. without having him match up against a large competitor to win it, you would have been wrong. But the match is pretty good! Rey is killing himself trying to get this dude over. This match is competitive, which is a shame since Steven Regal comes out and blows the whole thing up, helping Iaukea win after Regal sends Misterio smashing face-first into the apron in another dope Misterio bump. Iaukea hands the belt to Misterio because he doesn't want to win that way, so yeah, he looks like a bum and undoes all the good work that Misterio did during the match. He hit a great-looking avalanche Samoan Drop though, so that's something. 

 

  • I love that Heenan admits that he's not really against the nWo in principle, but he's against them as long as Hogan is involved with them. 

 

  • DDP/Buff is good, especially because the crowd is hot for Page. He counters Buff with a DDT and the crowd is like YEAHHHHHH and maybe I am, too. DDP's offense is so good that it's almost impossible for him not to get over, though. It's not just the offense, I guess, but that he will often apply it creatively to counter an opponent, so he looks like a crafty tactician. You believe that he can outsmart any opponent on any given night. The endgame is Buff wanting to win with a ten-count and not a three-count and paying for it via Diamond Cutter. The nWo floods the ring before Page can cover for three, but he wins by DQ, I guess. DDP is so easy to root for; I'm a sucker for the wrestlers who seem like they're liable to outsmart everyone they face. 

 

  • Chris Jericho/Eddy Guerrero is solid. Both guys work hard. The crowd doesn't care about them, especially because they just spent a bunch of energy cheering DDP on. Also, there are diminishing returns on every match being a fast-paced one with lots of big spots. Eddy wins with a Sunset Flip, but honestly, his title reign has been kind of a dud. Also, he hands his belt over to Jericho for a second. What is up with these lame-ass WCW babyface champs?

 

  • Faces of Fear/Public Enemy/Harlem Heat have a triangle tag for the number-one contendership to the WCW Tag Championship. The Steiners kayfabe flipped their car, so the WCW Committee has decided that determining contendership is unnecessary until the Steiners are able to wrestle again. I can't enjoy this match like I should because I hate the tag rules: It should be a tornado tag so the wrestlers can work it logically, etc. Rocco Rock is bald now. It's weird. Harlem Heat is very over as faces, though. Well, Booker is because he has great-looking offense. Even if I can't sell you on Booker T as a good singles worker, can I sell you on Booker T as a high-level tag worker? Anyway, there are some very cool spots, including a strongman spot where Barbarian catches a somersaulting Rocco Rock in mid-air! He's the summarily pinned after Johnny Grunge follows up with his own dive and sandwiches Barbarian between the mat and two big dudes. 

 

  • Dusty gets VERY excited when the camera shot catches a woman who possesses what can only be described as a fantastic bust. WHOA, GOODNESS GRACIOUS, he yells, and even though you might suggest that he settle down, Dustynetico, I completely understand where he is coming from. 

 

  • LOL, a teenage girl in the crowd is holding a "PRETTIER THAN DEBRA" sign over her head, and Tony's like, Welp, not really, sis. MEAN. 

 

  • The previous woman with the large chest also had a very lovely face and was prettier than Debra, though, IMO. OK, OK, I'm settling down!

 

  • Jeff Jarrett and Mongo McMichael is such a tantalizing matchup. I also dig this love triangle in which Debra basically polices the match from outside and won't let either guy cheat. Debra wipes down a hurt Jarrett with a towel outside the ring, so Mongo comes out, takes the towel away from Debra, and chokes him. I hope people outside of DVDVR are re-assessing Mongo's run. He rules. He's green, but he still works spots really well, has so much energy and intensity, does fun power moves, and has that physical charisma that most wrestlers would kill for. Debra, who has been a revelation over these past few months' worth of shows, looks sadly into the camera and says, "Man, I just don't know who to help." The desk is incredulous at this statement. 

 

  • Mongo wants the briefcase, but Debra doesn't want to give it to him. Mongo goes to grab it. Petulantly, Debra tosses it over her head, and Jarrett grabs it and clocks Mongo for three. Jarrett is now a Horseman. The best part is that Debra looks into the camera, rolls her eyes, and says, "Now, how did that happen?" Then she cops a shit-eating grin. She is fantastic. WWF totally under-utilized her, didn't they? I don't remember anything about her from that time. She is SO GOOD at her role here. I feel like if she were around in 1987 or 1990 WWF or mid-'80s JCP or somewhere like that, she'd be thought of as a legendary valet a la Sherri

 

  • I didn't realize that Woman and Jacqueline would be strapped to one another during this Benoit/Sullivan death match. I'll say this; as soon as Jackie and Woman go at each other, the crowd explodes. From a kayfabe standpoint, it's impressive that Woman dominates Jacqueline, considering that Jacqueline has been beating up male jobbers on Nitro the last couple weeks. Then, the ladies get involved with the dudes. Woman crotches Sullivan with the strap; Jacqueline responds by whipping the shit out of Benoit and then kicking him square in the balls. OK, this is fucking AWESOME. Woman's just throwing forearms at Sullivan in the ring, holy shit. I did not expect this at all, and I am delighted. I am pleased that these guys knew they couldn't just do their typical wandering crowd brawl and thus had to mix it up somehow. Gonna be real, Woman, Jacqueline, and Debra have breathed a ton of life into the Horsemen and DoD, which would otherwise be two boring-ass stables with not much going on for them. 

 

  • The camera follows the wandering Benoit and Sullivan, but I'm more interested in whatever Woman and Jacqueline are doing back in the ring. We get a glimpse of Jackie choking Woman before cutting back to the totally passé wandering brawl. Do more mixed-gender spots where the ladies fuck these dudes up instead. Woman hits Sullivan with the strap, which gives Benoit enough time to come from behind and hit a piledriver on Taskmaster. Benoit gets a table and eventually he ends up doing a diving headbutt onto Sullivan and Jackie, stacked on top of one another, for three. The table doesn't break, so it looks sick. 

 

  • FIVE STARS

 

  • Maybe four-and-a-half because the wandering brawl section of the match isn't interesting anymore, but the rest of this fucking RULED. Arn Anderson comes out with a baffled look on his face. Was it not the damndest thing you've ever seen, sir? I'm not sure if they're working an injury angle because Benoit looks like he might have legit fucked himself up on that dive, but on the other hand, they're doing a stretcher job for Jackie and Sullivan, too. I don't remember anything about this and don't know what is a work or a shoot or a worked shoot, but that table not breaking has me wondering about Benoit. Jesus, that looked nasty. I guess it's an angle because they follow them back to the ambulance, but Benoit might well actually have legitimately hurt himself. 

 

  • The Outsiders against the Giant and Lex Luger should be good, though I hate that they're working this Luger injury angle. I just want to see the match-up. Hall is a really good stooge, though. He wrestles so small when he's tagging with Nash even though he's obviously a big guy. It takes some talent to give off that sense of smallness (though I guess standing between Nash and Giant helps). The crowd chants for Lex Luger. The Giant hangs on for as long as possible, but Hall hits Giant with Syxx's Cruiserweight title and then Nash hits a SWEET Jackknife on Giant. This prompts Luger to come down. Bischoff tries to stop him and gets tossed. Luger gets the hot tag, throws a bunch of cast-assisted forearms, and racks Nash, who's selling a back injury from powerbombing the Giant. Nash submits and Luger and the Giant have the tag titles for all of, what, 24-ish hours? The Giant chokeslams Hall for good measure. This ruled even though it was largely hinged upon an angle. The crowd dug the hell out of it, too. 

 

  • Piper and Hogan worked a pretty good match at Starrcade '96, but I just don't see how they can possibly follow those last two matches. Piper's "crazy man" act is so bad. I will give Hogan credit here in that, again, he's trying. He stalls a whole bunch and does his best to sell big for Piper's shitty offense. Savage and Sting come out partway through, but only Savage makes his way to ringside; Sting chills in the aisle. The fans WANT STING. *iagree.gif*

 

  • Again, Hogan is working hard, but the match itself sucks and really, the intrigue is in what Savage/Sting will do. Piper gets the sleeper and wins it, so he's the champ. Then, I guess, uh, what the fuck? Savage loads Hogan's fist and Hogan hits a punch for three. Why? Tony S. speculates that Hogan's leg was under the ropes, but the camera did a poor job of making that clear from the angle it took. Savage joins the nWo and I...don't...care. Boy, that was an AWFUL finish. Savage and Hogan hit their finishers on Piper, there's spray paint, and I think to myself that this main event would be so much better if it were, say, Nash/Luger as opposed to Hogan/Piper with Savage doing a run-in. 

 

  • That was a brutal main event. Overall, though, this show was much more good than bad, and the semi-mains were VERY good.
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watching a World Championship Wrestling episode post Bash 88, and realizing that such a high percent of WCW episodes I've seen were Tony/David episodes that the idea of Jim Ross being on the crew calling matches in Techwood was sorta weird to me.

Also still love the promo stylings of these episodes which is "cut a promo on every major person currently around even if you're not working with them".. Evil Ronnie Garvin has promise but I know he's not sticking around long. Rubbing the money on his chest was certainly a decision he made.

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12 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

Evil Ronnie Garvin has promise but I know he's not sticking around long. Rubbing the money on his chest was certainly a decision he made.

I remember being freaked the f*** out as a kid when Garvin did that.  The rubbing of the money, that is, not turning on Dusty.

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decided to dip into some hour long wrestling that I wasn't watching at the time...

Pre-USA Network NXT!

Starting with June 20th, 2012, the changeover from FCW to NXT. Gonna try my best to not realize "hey, this guy didn't actually do anything on the big roster"

Speaking of that, Bo Dallas kicks off this series.

Edit: So far there's vignettes for everybody.. Seth Rollins! Antonio Cesaro! The Ascension! Bray Wyatt!

Also, a RAW Rebound in this episode because I wasn't actually watching during the Johnny Ace People Power era.

Episode 1 ends with a pretty competitive Tyson Kidd/Michael McGillicutty match.

Into Episode 2 where we're introduced to Jinder Mahal and we get a Leo Kruger vignette/match. Seth Rollins is a ball of energy in his squash over Jiro. And a vignette for Richie Steamboat. The Usos are here too against the Ascension. Richie Steamboat in action as Rick Victor shows up yet again and the NXT Job Squad is becoming defined. Antonio Cesaro making a debut but first.. Raw Rebound to remind us that Chris Jericho faced John Cena on Raw but the Big Show showed up to beat up Cena too. Dante Dash takes on Antonio Cesaro, Cesaro had a valet, a first name, but didn't have hair back then either.

2012 NXT is a murderers row of people who are all over the WWE/AEW these days (and some dudes that I can't remember what they did after 2012)

Episode 2's main event is Johnny Curtis vs Derrick Bateman, which involved a backstage segment involving a bathroom in episode 1.

I had to check, NXT was airing on Hulu (and internationally to replace some other shows?) through 2014.. so you get stuff like JR having to note that Iowa was in the United States.

Another edit: I had no idea who Kruger, Bateman, or Curtis would end up being (or I forgot years ago)… so I got done surprises checking Wikipedia

Edited by Cobra Commander
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Notes from 2012 NXT episodes (the month of July 2012)

S6 E3 (July 3rd):

Paige is "already in the ring" for a match with Sofia Cortez. While Paige is in the show intro (I have no idea it was the actual show intro when this show originally aired), Sofia Cortez wins quickly.

Debuting tonight: Kassius Ohno! Then we're told we're getting Seth Rollins vs Camacho tonight. Camacho also gets a tron that has Hunico all over it. I might keep watching to see how long Seth Rollins does that hyperactive dance on the stage. Rollins wins after the heels collide and he does the Stomp. Then Camacho/Hunico beat him down postmatch until Bo Dallas makes the save.

Corey Graves, in a previous life, comes down to the ring with his partner Jake Carter. They take on likely NXT Job Squad dudes CJ Parker and Nick Rogers who are already in the ring. Corey Graves looks remarkably sleazy while shirtless. Graves/Carter win after "tandem offense".

We're in week 3 of Wyatt Family vignettes. This really gives you a great view of the Tampa area, doesn't it? Also, Bray Wyatt! Next Week! The key to keeping me watching episodes is to just introduce somebody 'new' every week. (New, unless you were watching FCW)

Kassius Ohno is here, he faces Mike Dalton. Dalton has the hair of a southern pro wrestler. Ohno wins with an elbow and does a promo postmatch.

Derrick Bateman is taking on Jinder Mahal this week. Bateman with a nice dive and goodness, that ramp has an angle to it compared to most WWE sets I've seen. Jinder wins with the evil foreigner Camel Clutch.

Now it's time for Tyson Kidd, Seth Rollins, and Bo Dallas vs Michael McGillicutty, Camacho, and Hunico! McGillicutty might be up there for guys who never really got a good ring name while in the WWE. Kinda fitting that Tyson Kidd is teaming with MatRats-era Bo Dallas. Bo is in peril for awhile until he tags in Tyson. Seth Rollins with a nice dive onto a bunch of dudes. The Forces of Evil prevail as Kidd is pinned by McGillicutty.

No Raw Rebound, how will I ever know what was happening on the main roster?

S6 E4 (July 11th):

Lets start off another episode with more Tyson Kidd. He goes up against Camacho (who has hsi own screen video this time). Just remembered after looking at him that Camacho is an Islander (Meng's kid?). But since the WWE has a surplus of Pacific Islanders, he's Hispanic at this time. When I was going to school in a place with an unusually high number of Samoans for Missouri, the generic term was "Polynesians" which can cover a lot of ocean. We get a Tyson Kidd dive just before a commercial break. Regal and Saxton are commentating this week, our 3rd crew in 4 episodes (Regal/JR, Saxton/JR). Camacho wins with a DDT after McGillicutty runs out to distract Kidd. Regal suggests that this Kidd/McGillicutty feud could go on forever which sounds like a threat to me.

Week 4 of Wyatt vignettes because he debuts next! Before that.. Matt Striker slumming around NXT interviewing Justin Gabriel. We're getting Justin Gabriel vs Heath Slater next week. Aiden English gets fed to Bray Wyatt this week. At this time, Bray was from Lafayette and called 3rd generation by the commentators. He wins with the Sister Abigail. If the current stuff truly gets old, Bray could always do a Jerry Garcia gimmick.

Meanwhile on the Big Roster, CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan with AJ Lee as the referee, Cena/Kane/Big Show/Jericho, a big ass Money In The Bank ladder match, and Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio for a title. Richie Steamboat gets a promo and Leo Kruger gets into a fight with him.

Raquel Diaz gets a vignette. She'll start the Exfoliation of Ugliness next week.

Usos vs Prime Time Players is your main event this week. JR is back to commentate for this one, so in a way, this main event is like AEW Rampage. Titus tries a headbutt and it gets no-sold, if you're unsure about which race has the hardest heads in pro wrestling kayfabe. I have no idea how long JR stays on this show (don't tell me) but he's not about to figure out which Uso is which (that's a job for one of the other commentators). Prime Time Players win with the Demolition finisher.

S6 E5 (July 18th):

Tamina Snuka vs Kaitlyn opens the show. Kaitlyn does some weird looking offense. Tamina wins with the Superfly Splash. Regal seems almost apologetic for saying that Tamina is known for headbutts.

Apparently Jinder Mahal is polarizing. He faces Percy Watson. Before that, we get a Big E Langston vignette. Regal putting over how good Percy Watson could be in 3 years and we hear that John Cena is working with him. Jinder wins with the evil foreigner Camel Clutch.

Richie Steamboat vs Leo Kruger. Between Regal mentioning Jinder Mahal's uncles, Leo Kruger, and Justin Gabriel, South Africa getting mentioned a lot in this episode. Kruger wins by countering a bodypress with some cheating.

Okay, I figured out during her intro (From "El Paso") that Raquel Diaz is Eddie Guerrero's daughter. Paige gets an actual intro this time around. Raquel Diaz wins in short order with a Gory Bomb variation. Of course Regal mentions Raquel Diaz being a Guerrero a few minutes after I figure it out. NXT has so many legacies that some of them use different last names.

Cesaro and Aksana do a form of the Rick Rude bar routine to get Cesaro into a confrontation. Next week it's Cesaro in action with Alex Riley.

Our main event is Heath Slater vs Justin Gabriel. This show is a mix of young talent in squashes and dudes on the main roster that are still working matches down here for one reason or another. JR is here once again. Justin Gabriel takes a scary looking bump just before a commercial break. Got some near falls involving Gabriel's neck. He wins with a moonsault into a reverse DDT

S6 E6 (July 25th): 

Love the Coheed instrumental theme for these episodes. Our main event tonight? Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre.

Bo Dallas and Derrick Bateman teaming up in the opener against Johnny Curtis and Michael McGillicutty. Well, Joe Hennig is known for his ties to Curt's. Apparently Derrick Bateman is very strong and deceptively strong. Excellent narrative control there. Regal is such a nice heel commentator, comparing Curtis/McGillicutty to the Andersons. Heels win after Curtis pins Bateman.

Antonio Cesaro vs Alex Riley. You see, Cesaro's a heel because he's introduced using the metric system (among other things). JR is joining us in the booth early for some reason. JR blames Alex Riley's problems on being around The Miz for too long. Cesaro wins with the Neutralizer.

Kassius Ohno gets a promo where he talks about his element of danger. Not sure what sticks out more in this promo or the Richie Steamboat promo from the last episode, the talent not looking towards the camera or the camera moving randomly.

Matt Striker interviews Drew McIntyre. We're at a point in history where Matt asks about the idea of Seth Rollins being the future instead of McIntyre.

Sofia Cortez vs Natalya. Sofia Cortez wins after Natalya gets herself counted out and then Natalya beats up Sofia.

Want to see the highlights of RAW 1000? doesn't matter because you're seeing highlights from RAW 1000.

The Ascension take on Dante Dash and Garrett Dylan. Garrett Dylan's name has to come from an NXT name generator. Ascension wins quickly.

Former WCW Champion David Arquette and the stars of the 2012 WWE want you to Be A Star

Big E. Langston vignette. He debuts next week.

Seth Rollins dancing like he's being attacked by bees. JR is back to commentate on this match too. Seth Rollins is a "heavy metal enthusiast". Dynamite drop-in, JR. Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre is a must-win match. JR finds Seth's striking quality ironic because Seth is from the amateur wrestling hub of Iowa (which he has to mention is a US State since apparently the international syndication makes up a higher percent of the viewership than Hulu users). Drew McIntyre wins with an impaler DDT.

Interim GM Dusty Rhodes has a huge announcement next week on Dynamite NXT

 

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4 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

Garrett Dylan's name has to come from an NXT name generator

It was deliberate - real name Jody Kristofferson (son of the actor Kris Kristofferson, who was in the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, along with Bob Dylan)

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4 hours ago, Hamhock said:

It was deliberate - real name Jody Kristofferson (son of the actor Kris Kristofferson, who was in the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, along with Bob Dylan)

Oh yeah, I remember joking about how they renamed Kris Kristofferson’s son in NXT. I just forgot that they picked Garrett Dylan.

I guess Dusty liked Billy the Kid a lot more than A Star Is Born so Jody didn’t work as John Norman Howard.

Don’t spoil it for me if the complexion of the guys working NXT episodes changes once Main Event starts in October 2012. I want the authentic experience of the roster switching over to have fewer underutilized Raw/Smackdown guys and more superindy dudes.

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taking a momentary break from 2012 NXT to watch a 1976 show from the Garden

They clipped out the first match of the night, so we don't get to see Manual Soto and Pete Sanchez go to a 15 minute draw. Thankfully.

Johnny Rivera beats Jose Cadiz with a bodypress off the top. He also did a hurracarana at one time.

SD Jones beat Johnny Rodz after Rodz pinned himself with a back suplex. Sorta like the double-pin but someone lifted a shoulder screwjob, but with the heel looking dumb. Also we got a relatively rare wrestling racial stereotype of Johnny Rodz hurting his hand punching SD Jones in the head.

The Executioners beat Jose Gonzalez and Dominic DeNucci 2 falls to 1 to retain the Tag Team titles. Executioners win the first and third falls. One of the Executioners selling exhaustion by being unable to do a top rope move was neat. DeNucci was in peril for awhile. Lots of heel switcheroos. Maybe we need some openly incompetent referees to get heat on heels? Not necessarily a heel ref, but a ref that is the Angel Hernandez of referees.

Bruiser Brody beats Kevin Sullivan with a torture rack. Of course Bruiser Brody makes his Garden debut one match after Jose Gonzalez worked. Kevin Sullivan was still a few years away from being evil. The height difference was neat.

Jay Strongbow and Billy White Wolf defeat Baron Mikel Scicluna and Rocky Tamayo. For those keeping score at home, the two Indians are an Italian and an Iraqi. The heels are using their actual ethnicities though. The ring announcer looks like Stephen King, this is pre-Finkel. At least White Wolf went on to do more honorable things like make Sgt. Slaughter abandon America during the Gulf War.

Bruno Sammartino defeats Stan Hansen in a steel cage match by beating the shit out of him until he decides he's finished with Stan. Blonde Stan Hansen is a weird sight because i'm used to him not looking like a Moondog or wearing green trunks. This crowd is full on Italians watching a Rocky movie as you'd expect from a Bruno revenge match in a cage. Bruno goes with a low blow that people in the last row could see because no ref is there to stop this folks. We get blood as Hansen bleeds, which the TV-14 rating for this show told me "there'll be blood". Pretty good amount of blood too. Bruno does return to the cage post-victory to beat up Stan a little bit more. Stan gives the camera a good shot of how much he's bleeding tonight. You tell me that Bruno couldn't have made some money in a non-WWWF territory that demanded blood. Looking at Cage Match, Bruno worked all of 2 matches in Chicago post-1962 (both tagging with Dick the Bruiser) and he did work an Amarillo match in 1980 tagging with his son. Never got Bruno vs Terry Funk which probably would have been fun to see.

Bobo Brazil defeats Gashouse Doug Gilbert by countout in 45 seconds. Doug Gilbert (not that one) got the name gashouse for being a guy doing steroids in the 1970s. Bobo headbutts Gilbert a few times and Gilbert leaves to spare us of experiencing a longer match. Bobo never took his jacket off.

Ivan Putski defeats Skandor Akbar. POLISH POWER scrolls across the bottom of the screen like we're watching a Polish American public access show as Putski enters the ring. This match is a matchup of two fine Texans. This is a very Texas rasslin Garden card between Brody, Hansen and Akbar. Putski wins with some brawling and the Polish Hammer. Grandmothers everywhere are thrilled with how this card went.

We end the show with a plug for the next Garden show (not on the Peacock network) main event of Bruno Sammartino vs Bruiser Brody.

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watching wXw Ambition 11 (which is on the Network because of the WWE's relationships with various promotions to take their footage for the network?).. i've never actually seen much of these shows aside from probably seeing clips of Walter beating the fuck out of dudes from Germany. This show is from Toronto in a jampacked room. What's the least attended non-COVID-era shows on the WWE Network?

Timothy Thatcher vs Alexander James: I've seen Thatcher before in MLW and maybe some other places. For some reason (probably this setting).. the ring, or the sounds of stepping in the ring, is a little loud. But things get miced different when there's no commentator. Eventually the crowd stops treating this like golf for a moment and chants for Thatcher. If I were tracking points, i'd tally which guy has the loudest strikes. To be fair to the crowd, these guys could beat up a good portion of the crowd so it's best to not risk angering them. Thatcher wins with a half-crab.

Bobby Gunns vs Daniel Makabe: I've heard Makabe on Between the Sheets. Makabe looks like a Canadian rocker who gets most of his plays due to CanCon. Makabe also works in a soccer jersey. Makabe wins with a rear naked choke as Our Lady Peace prevails over Europop.

Daniel Garcia vs Buck Gunderson: Buck Gunderson has the look of someone who sells pot to high schoolers. Garcia has a job where he's on cable TV on Wednesdays and Fridays these days. Garcia wins with a shoot-style Sharpshooter before staring into the camera like someone on the verge of an in-school suspension.

Walter vs Speedball Mike Bailey: Mike Bailey's in Impact but I don't watch Impact. Walter, of course, is all over the Network display for all the Euro stuff on here. Walter on the offense has the aesthetics of watching a bear maul someone. Bailey got some stuff in here. Walter wins with a Boston Crab. Not sure if there's anything to the rumors of Gunther/Lesnar at Wrestlemania but that could be interesting, or it could be Lesnar's version of Macho Man Randy Savage matches where Randy ate their offense for a few minutes and then won with a slam and the elbow. Gunther might be in a little too good shape to be paired with Lesnar at the moment, if that makes any sense (good for him on getting in shape because we all probably need to do better there). He might need some of that Puggsley Addams size to be a credible threat vs Lesnar? Anyways... a Walter-sized Walter vs Lesnar match would be like if two South Dakota towns sent their toughest males to fight each other for local bragging rights.

Daniel Makabe vs Timothy Thatcher: Makabe has a different soccer jersey for this match. Some good stuff here. Thatcher wins by a TKO.

Daniel Garcia vs Walter: Walter's classical theme (sorry i'm not cultured enough to know what it's called but it's probably something obvious) opens like we're hearing the theme from Jaws, the prelude to an Austrian Shark showing up to maul beachgoers. Walter wins quick with a Boston Crab.

A Superfight! Tyson Dux vs Yuji Ishikawa: these two are both new to me from what I can tell. Dux is a good Canadian boy from London, Ontario who kinda looks like a reformed biker. Some people there know Ishikawa enough to chant his name early. Lots of work on the mats even compared to the tournament matches. Ishikawa wins with a choke. Weird to have something called a Superfight in this sort of setting but it is what it is.

Timothy Thatcher vs Walter: I figured this would be the final when I got to the 4th match of the tournament. Only natural to have the two largest dudes in this field do multiple standing counts instead of being heavy in submissions like other matches. These two put their time into beating the fuck out of each other for a bit. Walter powerbombs Thatcher and goes to the Boston Crab, which Thatcher escapes. Thatcher gets up after the powerbomb only to be hit by a Walter lariat that flips him like he's facing Nikita Koloff in Techwood in 1985. Walter is your winner by TKO and the dozens of people are compelled to applaud lest they incur the wrath of Walter. No I don't hold some deep take about the name change. It's not as dumb as other WWE name changes.

Do you want to see people who you didn't realize were on the WWE Network doing shoot-style matches in front of Canadians? well, this is a card for you! I'm not particularly a huge fan of the UFC wrestling that pretty much everybody there can do some form of these days, but this is certainly way different from the rest of the network and you gotta wonder what people who are only familiar with the WWE think when they accidentally end up watching wXw stuff on the network.

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Thoughts on ECW When Worlds Collide 94

That was a popular show title in 1994, as AAA's pay-per-view in November had the same name.

Mikey Whipwreck was so skinny that the ECW TV title belt wouldn't fit around his waist. 911 chokeslammed referee Pee Wee Moore and got disqualified, even though he could have pinned Mikey easily to win the title. An enraged 911 chokeslammed Pee Wee twice more.

Jimmy Snuka beat Kevin Sullivan without landing one offensive move. Sullivan dominated the match but was distracted by Sandman running off with his wife. This would become a nagging problem in Sullivan's career. He got tripped by Hunter Q Robbins III, and Snuka just pinned him.

Speaking of wives, Peaches pinned Sandman in the tag team Singapore caning match, but at least Sandman gained a gimmick that would last the rest of his career.

Pee Wee Moore came back out to referee another match, so 911 came out and chokeslammed him two more times. It's not like Pee Wee made a bad call!

Shane Douglas used the fact that Arn Anderson was in the building to cut a promo on Ric Flair. JT Smith emerged as the sole survivor in an eight-man elimination by pinning both members of Public Enemy, who were the tag team champions. By the end of the night, Rock & Grunge had beaten up Terry Funk, collected a payoff from Paul E., and signed to face Terry & Dory Funk Jr. on the next big show.

ECW drew its largest crowd ever for this show, with Sabu & Bobby Eaton vs. Terry Funk & Arn Anderson. There's no way two WCW wrestlers would have visited if it weren't for Funk's involvement, so he's the MVP. Unlike WCW, ECW didn't fumble the big moment. This match included crazy brawling and everyone hitting their crowd-pleasing spots. Arn turned on Funk, who had blasted him with an errant chair shot, and Sabu won with the half Boston Crab.

Now we know that Jesse Ventura never watched ECW. Later in the year, he said “If Arn Anderson said he’ll be your partner, he’ll stand behind you.” But Arn turned on Dustin and joined the Stud Stable, which included ... Terry Funk.

Edited by Gorman
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It's time to go back to 2012 NXT

S6 E7 (August 1st, 2012)

We start off with Dusty Rhodes announcing that it's time to have an NXT Champion, and "tournaments" (happening somewhere) have happened to narrow the field to 8: Richie Steamboat, Bo Dallas, Leo Kruger, Seth Rollins, Mike McGillicutty, Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal, and Justin Gabriel. Also the Gold Rush tournament begins right now.

Gold Rush NXT Title Tournament: Richie Steamboat vs Leo Kruger

A rematch from 2 weeks ago! Got a back and forth. Regal talks about the South Africans in the tournament. Kruger fakes a knee injury to jump Steamboat. More back and forth. Some peril with a Kruger sleeperhold that Steamboat escapes. Steamboat counters an Irish whip attack into a bulldog variant and gets the win to advance.

Our other tournament matchups are Rollins/McIntyre (another rematch), Gabriel/McGillicutty, and Bo Dallas/Jinder Mahal. We'll get Rollins/McIntyre later in this episode.

Big E. Langston debuts next! (vignette aired in-between two commercial breaks)

Big E. Langston vs Adam Mercer: A reminder of this show's TV deals that Byron has to use the phrase "American football" so that nobody watching this show in Romania thinks that Big E. Langston plays soccer. Kneelifts! Backbreakers! Shoulderblocks! A spear puts Mercer down. Mercer actually gets a move in (a jawbreaker). The Big Ending wins it for Big E.

We're in the quarterfinals of the Gold Rush Tournament, the first few rounds having taken place in Rio. Also we got Raquel Diaz vs Audrey Marie later.

Did You Know?: Raw 1000 was more socially active than the top 10 broadcast TV shows combined. Whatever that means.

Raquel Diaz vs Audrey Marie: These matches are apparently William Regal's favorite parts of the night. The Exfoliating Ugliness tour apparently commences now (and not when Raquel worked a few weeks ago). It's so weird that Raquel is being acknowledged as a Guerrero on TV while working under a different last name but it's WWE for ya. Diaz wins with the Gory Bomb. She kinda worked like if Vickie Guerrero was actually wrestling. Also some lipstick vandalism postmatch as Byron assumes that L stands for "loser"

Paige gets a promo to talk about what Raquel Diaz just did. Thanks for showing up, Paige!

Hunico/Camacho vs Jason Jordan and Mike Dalton: Jordan/Dalton are "already in the ring". Maybe I should upgrade Mike Dalton to "trying to sorta look like Dolph Ziggler. Regal tells a story of Camacho and Hunico bonding after Camacho bit a man's nose off (where could Camacho have learned that sort of skill?). Mike Dalton counters a leapfrog into a powerbomb double team move into a rana and pins Camacho for the upset win.

We get to see the Bo Dallas feature again just before our main event.

Gold Rush NXT Title Tournament Match: Drew McIntyre vs Seth Rollins

Lots of trust being placed in the wrestlers to keep that NXT title belt by the ramp unattended. Seth Rollins could knock that belt over with his dancing. This is a rematch from Last Week. Seth Rollins is apparently the flagbearer for individualism. JR has to explain that single elimination means that only the winners advance in this tournament (where were they sending this show off to?). Nice of them to not insert a commercial break into the commercial break (they just fade out and back in a few seconds later). Got some dramatic work on Seth's arm and a one armed leaping DDT by Seth. Nearfall after a McIntyre clothesline. JR explains for a 2nd and 3rd time that you only advance if you win. Rollins avoids a big kick, and wins the match with the Curb Stomp to advance because after all, only the winners advance in this tournament. Seth will face the winner of Justin Gabriel vs McGillicutty. Richie Steamboat faces the winner of Bo Dallas/Jinder Mahal.

S6 E8 (August 8th, 2012)

The tournament participants talk about what being the first NXT champion would mean (includes comments from Kruger and McIntyre, who were eliminated an episode ago).

NXT Gold Rush Title Tournament (only the winners advance): Michael McGillicutty vs Justin Gabriel

JR notes he would be surprised if McGillicutty doesn't win this tournament. Okay. JR notes that Justin Gabriel is popular with the ladies and that he's single. Thanks, JR, i'm sure Justin Gabriel will appreciate his Moldovan mail order bride. We got talk about Gabriel's strategy, Regal wrestling Gabriel's father, and we also got a commercial break. Back and forth. Nearfall with a Perfectplex or whatever they call it for McGillicutty. McGillicutty wins with a running swinging neckbreaker to advance to face Rollins.

CJ Parker vs Kassius Ohno: CJ Parker gets a tron video (so he's one step above some guys on this roster!), he also goes yoga. The name Kassius Ohno also means that Byron referring to him as "Ohno" means we think he's saying "oh no" in response to something Kassius is doing. Ohno smokes Parker with a boot and then beats him with a rolling elbow.

We got a vignette for The Ascension as one of them is seated and there's a green screen. The Ascension rises... next week!

Paige/Tamina Snuka vs Kaitlyn/Caylee Turner: I don't think Tamina Snuka is about to arrive in AEW. Kaitlyn starts off for her team with her multilayered MySpace caliber hair. Nice fallaway slam by Paige onto Caylee. Paige/Tamina win after Paige small-packages Caylee.

Derrick Bateman talks to Bo in a random hallway to passively aggressively note that he didn't get into the tournament.

NXT Gold Rush Title Tournament: Bo Dallas vs Jinder Mahal

JR notes during Bo's entrance that ONLY THE WINNERS ADVANCE in this tournament. Regal mentions Jinder Mahal dedicating his NXT Title Tournament victory to Dara Singh. JR noting he could see Jinder and Bo Dallas being WWE champions in the future (1 for 2, so far). We hear about how Bo has big hands like Blackjack Mulligan. Bo gets a nearfall with a bulldog off the ropes. Flatliner leads to Jinder winning with the evil foreigner Camel Clutch. Jinder goes on to face Richie Steamboat. JR notes the concept of India celebrating a Jinder Mahal NXT title victory (just you wait)

S6 E9 (August 15th, 2012):

Pre-open, Richie Steamboat gets some words in until Jinder Mahal confronts him

NXT Gold Rush Title Tournament: Jinder Mahal vs Richie Steamboat.

JR noting that Richie Steamboat had an 'extra week' to prepare (if we wanna pretend these shows are live, then both faces had an extra week compared to the heels, which might be the reverse of how you'd pace this?). Richie doing some moves and also avoiding the Camel Clutch. Backslide exchange. Richie misses a generic move off the top rope and Jinder goes to the Camel Clutch for the win. Jinder will go on to finals.

The NXT backstage guy (he has a name, Riley Pierce). He gets word with Leo Kruger, who is being bothered by something. It's possible Kruger became more normal after his gimmick switch.

Heath Slater gets mic time on this show. He's issuing an open challenge, which is a risk considering how large the roster is in NXT. There's at least 70 wrestler relatives back there, Heath. You might end up having to fight off Ron Bass' nephew who was in NXT for two weeks. We go to a commercial break. Hey, Scotty 2 Hotty was around. So we're doing the NXT leg of Heath Slater's Summer 2012 Raw 1000 gimmick a few weeks (in TV time) after Raw 1000. Scotty has moved from Maine to Orlando as the years went on. Heath jobs to the Worm. Scotty with short hair and not looking all that old is a sight.

Did You Know? that WWE Superstars have already competed in a lot of countries this year including Russia, China, and Ecuador?

Riley Pierce talks to Bo Dallas about his loss. Derrick Bateman wonders into the shot to continue being passive aggressive.

The Usos vs the Ascension: This match has dueling entrances. It goes on for a little bit, some of the Ascension mystique is hard to get into right now knowing how it didn't work for them later on. Then suddenly ends with the Ascenion getting DQed because they pushed Jey off the top rope to the floor. What is this, the AWA? The Ascenscion goes after Jimmy postmatch.

Richie Steamboat doesn't have the time to talk to Riley. Matt Striker talks to Hunico and Camacho. Raquel Diaz is talking to a mirror about the Exfoliating Ugliness tour (not to be confused with the WWE's methodology for hiring female talent)

NXT Gold Rush Title Tournament: Seth Rollins vs Michael McGillicutty

We got all the things we could expect here. Seth's dancing, his dive to the floor. JR thinking that McGillicutty could get a quick win if he did a cover quicker. We have a break which includes a vintage Be A Star commercial. We're 9 episodes into this and JR is still mentioning Iowa being known for amateur wrestling. Rollins and McGillicutty exchanging punches for a little bit. Regal claiming that Masa Saito taught his suplex to Michael McGillicutty which could be bullshit but Regal sounds very trustworthy, so. Superplex gets blocked. Powerbomb out of the corner gets blocked. Seth beats McGillicutty with a running powerbomb into the buckles and the Curb Stomp. So our title match is gonna be Seth Rollins vs Jinder Mahal. See, that crossing of paths a few episodes ago was foreshadowing. Long term story telling. Jinder Mahal comes out postmatch to yell at Seth Rollins. Dusty comes out postmatch to note that Seth/Jinder is the finals and to wish them luck. Jinder jumps Seth and gets run off.

So our next episode might be the title match but it's late and I was sorta not paying attention for parts of the 3rd episode anyways, so let's pick back up with this show later. Things are starting to heat up towards the first NXT Golden Era and i'm still wondering how long they keep making JR call these shows (don't spoil it for me) because he's not exactly on his A game here.

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Notes about where the various 2012 NXT guys stand with me through 9 episodes

Seth Rollins: the top babyface on the show (just you wait a few months). Seth is a good worker in the ring although i've seen enough of it that i'm numb to some of what he does. I'm sure if I watched even more Rollins, i'd figure out what 2000s indy things were beaten out of him by being fulltime in the WWE.

Jinder Mahal: if they say he's polarizing right now, just wait a few years until he's the champ and he's still not some people's cup of tea. Jinder is a bit less enhanced back in 2012. He's sorta working on a throwback sort of heel push right now.

Richie Steamboat: it was probably always impossible for him to not be seen as sort of a bland version of his dad. IIRC, he gets hurt or fades off and leaves within the next year or two.

Michael McGillicutty: not feeling him at this time and place, some of it is unfair because it's about how incongruous his presentation is, he's the son of a WWE HOF but has a different name because this company. He's probably fine but not really too exciting. And we're not even seeing his final form in the WWE

Bo Dallas: it's gonna get better, just you wait? I don't know if they sincerely thought that he could be the top babyface on this show but I hear that they make the most of what happened

Drew McIntyre: hanging around NXT because they're not giving him enough to do on the main roster? just wait until he has to leave and make himself impressive again in a few years

Leo Kruger: he's unintentionally trying to be the director of a corrupt safari? they might be on the verge of doing something to make him a little more interesting, or he's gonna disappear and get that gimmick change.

Justin Gabriel: enjoyable to watch even if a certain amount of selling really blurs the lines between selling and "did he just legitimately hurt himself?"

Tyson Kidd: he's hanging around but he might be on a big show at this time? probably could have been the veteran worker with NXT guys until the end of time if he was healthy and he wanted to do this

Kassius Ohno: have seen a little of him so far.  Wonder when we see him hitting a ceiling in NXT

Cesaro: he's had a few NXT matches while being on Smackdown(?) with Aksana, good stuff as you'd expect, but probably not full time with the crew?

Big E. Langston: just "debuted" (for the purposes of this show, FCW only exists in vignettes) and had a good match

Bray Wyatt: has had one match and a bunch of vignettes, it's what you'd expect from him in the ring

Derrick Bateman doesn't seem to be going anywhere, Johnny Curtis seems to be going nowhere faster. 

The Ascension: I'm really trying to not hold the main roster people squishing this team against them in NXT. I really don't want to see this as a sort of Public Enemy thing where it works under certain controls. I think the Authors of Pain might be in a similar realm for how they were in NXT and the main roster?

The Usos: Young Usos who are losing more than they win but they're getting some good reactions too?

Hunico and Camacho: kinda sticking out like a thumb so far?

other dudes who have shown up a handful of times that don't seem to be regular: Rick Victor, Damien Sandow showing up once, Mike Dalton/Jason Jordan/CJ Parker are sorta in the same circles. Jiro probably never shows up again? Aiden English will do stuff later. Dante Dash is a dude with a name. Corey Graves has had a match and looked sleazy. Jake Carter and Nick Rogers were in that match. The Primetime Players showed up once. Hey remember Percy Watson? he showed up too. Heath Slater seems to be chilling out here until Main Event starts up. Alex Riley had a match once. Also there's Adam Mercer. I found out the secret of Garrett Dylan.

As for the women's division... I think we're still a year or two from Stephanie McMahon inventing women's wrestling as a serious artform so the division is a bit light. Most of the actual character work has been Raquel Diaz (who exists in the McGillicutty zone of incongruity). Paige did some jobs early but could be gaining some momentum. But you also have stuff like a Natalya cameo being weird. Caylee Turner. Kaitlyn. Tamina Snuka. Thunder Rosa's friend Sofia Cortez. We're sorta in the in-between where the announcers are trying to hit a midpoint between treating them like completely serious athletes and being horny in public. So far i'd say it's reasonably good since Linda's running for the Senate and they're tamping down on some things as a result (which coincidentally helps them get respectability!). So this division can only get better.

Saxton and Regal are pretty good at commentary. JR seems like he'd rather be somewhere else.

So, please don't spoil too much if i'm about to get really surprised by some turn in events on this show.

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Let's go back to 2012 NXT for a bit

S6 E10 (August 22nd, 2012)

Derrick Bateman vs Antonio Cesaro: Cesaro, he's still around NXT at this time. Cesaro just won the US Title on the Summerslam preshow several days before this episode aired but he appears beltless here. Nice Stinger Splash by Bateman followed by a contrived DDT variant. Cesaro moves out of the way of a flying nothing into the corner, gutwrenches Bateman and beats him with the Neutralizer. Cesaro could have made for a relatively credible looking Russian back in the day.

We got a tag team match involving Johnny Curtis. We got a face to face with Seth Rollins and Jindar Mahal. We got Tamina Snuka in action. We got everything in this episode.

Got a video package about how winning the Gold Rush NXT Championship match would be really important. Featuring Daniel Bryan and also various NXT dudes.

Tamina Snuka vs Sofia Cortez: There is a bit of a size difference in this matchup. Sofia with a bodyscissorsthat Tamina reserves into the corner. Near fall for Tamina with a Superkick. Tamina wins with the Superfly Splash. Raquel Diaz jumps Tamina postmatch in a horrifying display of second generation on second generation violence.

Did You Know? WWE Home Video has 75 out of the top 100 sports DVDs in America

Kassius Ohno vs Jake Carter: Feels like "quite possibly the most dangerous man on NXT" is one way for the announcers to sell Ohno. Jake Carter has the look of a high school football team captain who went 7-3 in his Senior Year. After checking Wikipedia, I see that Jake Carter is the semi-covert son of Vader. Ohno beats him with the rolling elbow. Kassius Ohno's postmatch beatdown is interrupted by Richie Steamboat. 

Time to take a look back at Summerslam 2012! Fans are meeting superstars and they're happy about it! Be A Star lures in the celebrities that probably wouldn't normally show up to a WWE event!

More talk about how important it would be to win the NXTTt title. Remember Ted Dibiase Jr? he gets to speak abou this topic because sure.

Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel vs Michael McGillicutty and Johnny Curtis: JR is here to give us dynamite insights like saying Kidd/Gabriel is combining the South African and Canadian Air Forces. Got some good tag team teamwork from both sides. Nearfall for the heels with a side slam/springboard leg drop combo. Kidd botches a top rope move and tries to make the best of it. Kidd/Gabriel win with a Hart Attack/Buff Blockbuster combo.

Seth Rollins will face Jinder Mahal for the title next week, but this week they will have a face to face. Also, Kassius Ohno accepts a challenge from Richie Steamboat for next week.

Cena is picking Rollins in the title match. Booker T is picking Jinder. Ted DiBiase Jr picks Seth Rollins.

Seth Rollins! Jinder Mahal! Face To Face!: Hey, I wonder which person in the NXT orbit decided on the nickname "Punjabi Nightmare" for Jinder. Hmmm. According to Seth, the WWE gave Seth Rollins purpose in life. Jinder says being the NXT Champion is his birthright. Fans are "What"ing him because it's 2012. Of course this deteriorates into a brawl. Seth does his dive to conclude the fight. Nice to see these guys getting to do main roster things.

S6 E11 (August 29th, 2012)

Mike Dalton and Jason Jordan vs Camacho and Hunico: Mike Dalton has a tron. We see Dalton/Jordan beat Camacho/Hunico from 4 weeks ago. Camacho pins Dalton after an Olympic Slam variant to get their win back from last time out.

The Usos come out to talk and they have unfinished business with the Ascension. The Ascension comes out and beats down the Usos. Nice Total Elimination by the Ascension. Somebody at Full Sail is learning to utilize all sorts of lighting during these Ascension segments.

Raw Rewind: Jerry Lawler wants an apology from CM Punk. CM Punk has a good promo. Jerry Lawler faces CM Punk in a steel cage. Also, AJ announces a CM Punk vs John Cena PPV match just before postmatch beatdown in the cage.

Big E. Langston vs Chase Donovan: Chase Donovan is already in the ring, if that tells you anything about his chances tonight. Shove, clothesline, straps down, Big Ending, and that's the match.

Did You Know? the WWE App has been downloaded a million times in 2 weeks?

The NXT Gold Rush NXT Championship Final: Seth Rollins vs Jinder Mahal

It's a big occasion, they're letting Howard Finkel ring announce for this one. Dusty Rhodes has been quietly promoted from Interim General Manager to NXT Commissioner. A bunch of the roster is on the stage because this is a big deal. JR thinks there's a contrast between India and Iowa. Jinder refuses to shake Dusty's hand prematch. All those Seth Rollins dives where building to Jinder thudding Seth on the ramp. Gotta like that Jinder's style is pretty unambiguously heel. Unless you're in India, there's not much of a reason to cheer for Jinder over a babyface. Now the quality of Jinder's work, pre or post-steroid infusion, is what it is. Nice dive to the floor by Seth and a superplex by Jinder. Seth avoids the Camel Clutch. Bucklebomb and Curb Stomp wins Seth Rollins the title. When was the last Howard Finkel appearance as a ring announcer? because this might be close to the last time he announced a match (as opposed to announcing for the WWE Hall of Fame). Dusty and Seth hug to celebrate. Seth swings the belt to verify that it won't fall apartt. The other NXT people celebrate with Seth in the ring. The era of Seth Rollins has begun, apparently.

S6 E12 (September 5th, 2012)

According to Byron, NXT is the hottest ticket in Orlando at this time

Richie Steamboat vs Kassius Ohno: After some back and forth and Regal comparing Richie and Ricky (in regards to mean streak), Kassius Ohno gets disqualifed for eyeraking Steamboat. Well, okay. Then there's some postmatch beating. Ohno drops Steamboat on the guardrail throatfirst. Well, as long as no kids get kicked as Steamboat is getting led to the back. Rolling Elbow ends the beatdown. After Kassius leaves, Ricky Steamboat goes to the ring to yell at referees and check on his son.

Audrey Marie vs Paige: This match transitions seamlessly from wrestling to mat-throttling to some more wrestling. Paige yells and hits Audrey with the Paige Turner for the win.

Ricky Steamboat confronts Kassius Ohno backstage. Ohno is a fun kind of disingenuous here. The refs break it up. Kassius made a good move to wear glasses because obviously a lifetime babyface wouldn't hit a man wearing glasses in the face. Angry dad Ricky Steamboat has been more interesting than anything Richie has done so far.

The Funkasaurus is in the house. Okay. We're also getting Usos vs Ascension tonight.

Richie has been taken to a "local medical facility", so things are pretty serious.

Percy Watson vs Leo Kruger: Leo Kruger has changed up his look, which means that he's wearing cargo pants and he no longer has a sash. Apparently Leo went back to South Africa and came back a changed man, nice unintentional Dave Chappelle reference. Nearfall for Watson with a splash. Kruger wins with a face-first neckbreaker sorta move. Leo Kruger working like he's hearing voices in his head.

Last Monday on Raw, CM Punk talks about beating down Jerry Lawler last week. Alberto Del Rio will face John Cena! Sheamus will face CM Punk (or not?)! Cena and Del Rio wreck shit and Punk ambushes Cena to get Del Rio the win. Also Paul Heyman is in a car. Lots of excitement on the big show that i'm not watching right now.

Brodus Clay vs Ryan Collins: We got a past and future NWA Champion on tonight's show. JR shows up for this match because I guess he wanted to see some Funkadactyls. Brodus wins quick and they bring some kids into the ring to celebrate.

The Usos vs the Ascension: Usos start off hot, JR gets to use the phrase "Standing Tall" like he's experiencing a flashback. Commercial break makes me wonder when they dropped "Be A Star". JR is sorta relatable to me in his inability to tell Jimmy and Jey apart. Pretty good back and forth. Jimmy Uso with a nice dive, but Cameron crotches Jey and then wins with a neckbreaker. The Usos keep paying dues out there.

Did You Know? that last Friday's Smackdown was the highest rated regularly schedueld show on SyFy for the 100th week in a row? (i'd hope so!)

Jim Ross is in the ring to interview the first NXT Champion Seth Rollins. He used Jinder Mahal calling him a born loser as motivation. He'll be a fighting champ and he closed by saying that sooner or later everybody gets blacked out (a finisher name that I don't think make it onto the main roster)

So that's another 3 episodes down.

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WCW Uncensored 1997 notes:

  • Dean Malenko and Eddy Guerrero for the U.S. Championship is a suitable opener., though the promise of the first couple of minutes isn't really fulfilled by the end. We somehow got from Eddy trying to help Dean Malenko last month to Eddy breaking bad this month, but the promise of heel Eddy makes this all worth it. We cut backstage to see the nWo standing around a beaten down Rick Steiner, who I guess is out of tonight's main event. In the ring, both guys are heated. This is no DQ, so Dean grabs Eddy's U.S Championship belt and wallops him with it just a few minutes in. Eddy takes apart Dean's knee and targets it with a deliberate mat-focused attack, but again, this is no DQ and these dudes hate each other, and I wish there were more brawling. It started out that way, but this long Eddy control segment really slowed things down. Eddy uses the ropes on a Figure Four and threatens to break Dean's leg, a spot with some hate in it that ends up being a bit too long and calming the crowd back down. This wasn't quite the right match, but you can see in spots the match they should have and could have had. 

 

  • I do want to note the spot with Malenko hitting Eddy with a frog splash because the facial expression Malenko makes while he's going for the cover is hilarious. If this board ever had custom smileys, that would have to be one. 

 

  • Syxx, who does not get even 1/100th of the TV time he should get, comes out with a camcorder, tries to steal the belt, and drops the camera in the ring while fighting with Eddy over the gold. Malenko pulls a small-scale Sycho Sid and clocks Eddy with it for the win and the U.S. Championship. 

 

  • Some WCW star left the company, according to Mean Gene. Who was it? No seriously, I'm trying to think about who he's talking about. Was it an actual star, or was it like, Maxx or somebody? Now Roddy Piper is yelling. He steamrolls Gene and generally gives us another piece of evidence that Bischoff saying, You're a legend Hot Rod, do whatever you want in your segments was possibly the worst decision he made in his time at WCW. Roddy's Horseman partners show up - Mongo, Jarrett, and Benoit. Mongo being incredulous that the nWo couldn't even pull a real ath-a-lete like an NFL star is amazing - "You got Dennis Rodman...[disgusted guffaw]...a BASKETBALL PLAYER?!" That right there is another smiley-able face.

 

  • Ultimo Dragon/Psicosis is fine. Lots of speed, lots of counters, lots of speedy counters. I dig Dragon's signature kick combo. I don't dig Dragon doing a corner headstand and then failing miserably at running across the middle ropes. They do a bunch of choreographed-looking counters as the crowd looks on, generally quietly. Dragon hits a series of moves culminating in a Tiger Suplex for three, a finish that should have come five or six minutes earlier than it did.

 

  • We get some interview time with Diamond Dallas Page. Page is literally out here saying ACKNOWLEDGE ME, and since Page is a whole bunch of levels above Roman Reigns, I think by rights, we should, and so should Randy Savage. Show some damn respect! Anyway, Savage finally does acknowledge Page, and we get some Savage mic work that kinda blows, but at least Liz is out here bumping the nWo dress and looking good. Savage is like OOH YEAH, I'M REALLY REALLY REALLY COOL, BUT YOUR WIFE IS IN PLAYBOY AND THAT AIN'T COOL, OOOH YEAH and Page has to pretend that he's not proud of his scorching-hot wife being a nude centerfold. Kimberly is also pretending to be upset about being super-hot and totally into being the centerfold, and she comes out crying. Don't cry, you have this centerfold and an elite bit movie part to your record, and no one will ever take that away from you.  Savage attacks Page as he consoles her and then spray-paints Kim's back while she cries over Page's fallen body. This was an actively shitty segment.

 

  • Hey, it's Mortis! Sure, I'm into Kanyon putting on a cool offense exhibition. Apparently, they've been running a "someone from Glacier's past is coming to confront him" angle on the B- and C-shows. So, this is a "Martial Arts Match," whatever that means, and I hope it won't be too limiting. Glacier is mid, but Mortis is always fun to watch. I do love that Mortis has this look like he's part of a secretive Eastern clan that opposes the Lin Kuei, and then he yells a few taunting words at Glacier, and his Joisey accent comes booming out. It really fucks up the presentation, but who cares? It's Kanyon. Cool-looking Kanyon offense notes: press slam across the apron, Rocker Dropper, and a niiiiice Northern Lights Suplex. It's rough when Kanyon is way better than Glacier re: cool-looking offense. Kanyon should have had Glacier's spot, notwithstanding that the gimmick was outdated almost as soon as the first vignettes appeared. Mortis gets a nearfall after dodging a Cryonic Kick by using the ref and then hitting a superkick, but his follow-up attempt at another, James Vandenberg-assisted superkick whiffs and Glacier wins with a Cryonic Kick. Boooooooooo.

 

  • After the match, Vandenberg calls out Wrath, who I think kinda rules, honestly. What is the general DVDVR assessment of Bryan Clarke? He's a really fun above-average hoss wrestler, IMO. Wrath and Mortis beat Glacier up to crickets. Well, I enjoyed it. We got a Death Penalty and everything. 

 

  • Buff Bagwell proclaimed that he'd prioritize beating Scotty Riggs to a pulp over winning as he came to the ring for their strap match. Happy days for him: He does both! They have a pretty solid match, honestly. Buff does his whole chickenshit opportunistic heel thing well. Riggs has a run of good offense and even gets the crowd into his punches in the corner. It's just that strap matches are better when the crowd feels the hate and fuels the intensity of the match, and this is an ice-cold feud. But yeah, this is good for what it is, especially Buff's asides to the camera: "I swear to God, I love myself more than anybody else I can think of." It's just too bad that the biggest face pop in the match was for Pee-Wee Anderson shoving Buff Bagwell around. Hopefully two straight wins for Buff on PPV ends this feud. 

 

  • The nWo cut a promo backstage that wanders and fills time. 

 

  • WCW finally just runs the tornado tag with Public Enemy that I've been asking for instead of all sorts of tag stips that invite wandering brawling, but also demand the structure of a typical tag match. Now,  this match was originally PE vs. Mongo and Jarrett, until (I believe) Piper's tryout segment for his Uncensored team bombed horribly and Mongo and Jarrett were shifted into that match. Harlem Heat is their replacements, basically. PE attacked Mongo and Jarrett to signal that this match was happening, and then Harlem Heat attacked PE a week later as PE cut a promo about how the Horsemen were ducking them. It's inelegant, but it's fine for a sudden necessary shift in the card. This match goes everywhere and involves plunder and Dusty says COMMODE. It is what it is. Oh, Dusty says OH, HE LAID HIS OL' TIRED ASS OUT when Rocco Rock hits Stevie Ray with a trash can, and it cracks everyone at the desk up, and indeed, it cracks me up too. But yeah, you know what you're getting out of this. It's acceptable for what it is, I suppose. There are diminishing returns with every repetitive cookie sheet shot, though. Jarrett and Mongo run out and use the Halliburton on Rocco, followed by a Booker T Harlem Hangover for three. 

 

  • Team WCW, down a man, talk to Gene Okerlund. They're just going to go into this super-important match a man down, I guess. They don't seem to have a backup plan. I'd suggest that they're using subterfuge for a Sting run-in, but they're WCW and therefore are stupid. 

 

  • Prince Iaukea has entrance music now! Good for that guy. He and Rey Misterio Jr. have a solid TV Championship match that ends when the fifteen-minute time limit expires. There are some nice moves, including a slingshot powerbomb from Iaukea. Heenan does a pretty good job giving Iaukea some shine on commentary, first by saying that Iaukea's win has given him confidence to bust out more offense immediately after the slingshot powerbomb. After that, he compares an Iaukea dive to the aesthetic beauty of a Julius Erving dunk. Rey asks for more time after the limit and the crowd boos initially. Rey's MORE TIME, YEAH, does get a few pity cheers, though. The match doesn't last too much longer; Iaukea rolls through a springboard rana and holds Rey down for three. 

 

  • A small element in the crowd started a BORING chant during the previous match, and let's talk about this crowd in Charleston, South Carolina. The most heated any fan has been has been this whole time? A very red-faced fan yelling maniacally at the only two black dudes wrestling on the show (unless you count Dennis Rodman's main event antics) enough that Stevie Ray diverted over to get in his face. Otherwise, this crowd doesn't give a fuck about the undercard. Then again, the undercard is bland, though the workers try hard. The first match wasn't quite laid out or worked right, and the rest of it is all heatless feuds or matchups. I blame everyone but the actual wrestlers for the terrible atmosphere of this show, I guess is what I'm saying. Road agents, Bischoff, this bum-ass crowd: Everyone else can get it. 

 

  • Spring Stampede promo with the Horsemen hanging out in the Wild West. Sure! Tony S. claims that it's a new event. 1994 didn't exist, I guess. 

 

  • Michael Buffer introduces the main event. I confess that I forgot this match ever even happened. It's like a bastard Triple Threat War Games, but with no cage and with eliminations (pinfall, submissions, over the top rope to the floor) until one man is left instead of a single submission or surrender to end it. Let's run this thing down right quick:

 

  • Benoit, Hall, and the Giant start the match. The Giant gets down there last and clubbers the shit out of everybody. OK, this makes zero sense. Why wouldn't the Horsemen and Team Luger join up and eliminate every nWo guy, then fight each other? WCW - master strategists. The Giant's dumb ass eliminates himself [1] after whiffing on a corner charge (GREAT bump from this guy, he rules). After five minutes, everyone sends their second man down: Jarrett, Savage, and Luger. There are no eliminations during this period. After a shorter period of time, two more minutes, the third men come down: Mongo, Nash, and Scott Steiner. Steiner suplexes the fuck out of Hall and Nash and Savage and looks like a beast. Nash recovers enough to eliminate Jeff Jarrett [2] by tossing him outside. Hall backdrops Mongo to the floor [3] for another elimination.

 

  • The DOLLAR GENERAL MATCH BEYOND starts as Piper and Hogan come to the ring. In the meantime, Steiner gets dumped [4]. Hogan strolls down with Dennis Rodman and Dennis Rodman's Inexplicable Hat. Did he buy that from Bob Saccamano in Central Park? The crowd makes a demand for Sting. I agree with this demand. Piper jumps through the ropes to attack Hogan at ringside, as Hogan is just chilling outside standing next to Rodman for whatever reason. Savage comes out to save Hogan and steer this tepid brawl back to the ring. Piper doesn't stick around much longer, though. The Worm pulls the top rope down from his spot at ringside and spills Piper to the floor below [5]. Get this bum OUTTA HERE. MVP-level moves from Rodman at ringside.

 

  • So Hogan and Savage are still in this match, but they're not in the ring. In the ring are Luger, Benoit, Hall, and Nash. The Crippler eats a Razor's Edge and gets dumped [6]. Its four-on-one as Team nWo regroups in the ring. They call Rodman onto the apron to celebrate prematurely. The desk does a good job of reminding everyone of Luger's WW3 performance where he almost overcame the whole nWo to win it,and on cue, Luger racks Savage for a submission [7], clotheslines Nash over the top rope for an elimination [8], and then racks Hall for another submission [9] in short order. The crowd thinks this is awesome. I also think it's awesome. Luger racks Hogan, but Nash runs a distraction so that Savage can hit Luger with a spray can. Hogan gets the pinfall to end the match [10] and this arena fucking DEFLATES. I feel the same way. Oh, great, now we get a post-match beatdown. I know, I know, Sting's going to show up, but Luger should have won this. This is some old bullshit. Sting rappels down and the crowd goes nuts, the nWo attacks him, and he beats the fuck out of the nWo with the bat. I agree that it rules, but I'm still heated over Luger. Also, what the heck, why would the nWo attack Sting? He's been standing around with them the last few Nitros. Did I miss something on the Saturday Night before this PPV? 

 

  • Hogan will only get in the ring  with Sting when the Stinger puts the bat down. When he does, he gets a bat-free asswhooping and a Scorpion Death Drop as we go to the credits. 

 

  • This Uncensored was questionably booked and the crowd was dead for almost everything, but the show wasn't bad in the way that people tend to argue Uncensored shows historically are. There were quite a few missed opportunities, though, and even an armchair booker and road agent like myself can see where a few tweaks would make this show a good (or even great) one.

 

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Baby it's cold outside, so let's watch some more 2012 NXT

S6 E13 (September 12th, 2012)

We open with the Ascension's entrance.

Kenneth Cameron vs Jey Uso: The tag team partners are at ringside for his one, naturally. That arm fling into the buckles was a bit of a nutty bump for Jey to take. Jumping thrust kick wins it for Jey.

Tyson Kidd! Michael McGillicutty! tonight!. Also Big E. Langston.

Hey, Rob Naylor's hanging out with Dusty. I didn't know he was still employed at this point (unless Dusty found someone who looks exactly like Naylor post-FCW). Rick Victor (who I confused for Derrick Bateman) shows up to talk to Dusty for a moment.

Big E. Langston vs Chad Baxter: Baxter is already in the ring. He has some tattoos and he's in black and pink trim. Three backbreakers, Vader attack, straps down, Big Ending, and that's that. Post-match, Big E does another Big Ending and 5 counts Chad Baxter. Which begins the 5 count era for Big E. The crowd is behind the post-match beatdown, by the way, so Big E does a 3rd Big Ending and does a crowd-aided 5 count.

Kassius Ohno is backstage. Next week, we'll see a Kassius Ohno sparring session. Kassius is the most dangerous indy rocker on the planet.

We got a video asking "Where's Trent?", I didn't know he was missing. Good news, Trent has been found. Way to blow the suspense. Trent Barreta returns next week, for the record.

Garrett Dylan vs Damien Sandow: Garrett Dylan gets to walk down the ramp but he doesn't have a video. First time we've seen Sandow on NXT in like 2 months of show time. One could only imagine the conversations Dusty had with Kris Kristofferson's son. Sandow wins by making sunday morning come down with a neckbreaker variant. The crowd is a little more assertive this week than in some previous weeks.

Seth Rollins with his second interview after winning the title. Rick Victor interrupts Seth. Seth doesn't know his name and gets slapped for it. To be fair, I thought that Derrick Bateman was confronting Seth Rollins, so I can't blame Seth for not knowing Rick Victor's name.

The Raw Rebound! John Cena and Bret Hart are in the same ring. CM Punk comes out to defend his good name. Nobody gets suspended in the process. Nice of them to not do a Raw rebound about Jerry Lawler almost dying on live TV.

Dusty is still in his office, and Seth Rollins has some business to address.

Tyson Kidd vs Michael McGillicutty: Kidd is good, McGillicutty is what he is. It feels like I've seen a variant of his pairing multiple times already. Kidd had some precise kicks to the back-thigh there, for when you don't wanna kick somebody in the ass or the back of the knee. McGillicutty lifts the knees to counter an elbowdrop. Nearfall for McGillicutty with the Perfectplex. Top-rope rana out of the corner by Kidd doesn't exactly hook both feet around the head (one was in McGillicutty's armpit). McGillicutty wins with his neckbreaker after Kidd missed an enziguri.

S6 E14 (September 19th, 2012)

Rick Victor vs Seth Rollins is tonight, a match one week in the making.

Trent Barreta vs Johnny Curtis: One fan has a "let's get weird" sign, which is a little much to ask, but maybe Leo Kruger is working this show. The release Northern Lights into the corner that Trent took was a bit loony. Top rope legdrop misses for Curtis and Trent wins with a running knee to the face.

Paige vs Alicia Fox is next! Rick Victor looks like the Pete Best of the Ascension/Authors of Pain. Like he could fit into one of those teams but they just didn't want Rick Victor on their team. (thing I realized after checking Wikipedia to verify the spelling of Cameron's name after watching all these episodes.. there's a reason why I think "hey this Rick Victor could be with he Ascension")

Nice to see that Machine Gun Kelly made something of his career after appearing in the same Be A Star PSA that they play every few weeks on this show. Hey, the official Night of Champions theme song with Limp Bizkit, Birdman, and Lil Wayne.

Alicia Fox vs Paige: We're a few weeks into the phrase "enchanting raven haired lady" being used during Paige matches. Near falls for Alicia with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a Northern Lights Suplex. Cradle sequence leads to Paige winning with the Paigeturner DDT, a move Byron was surprised by even if this isn't the think time we've seen the move on this show.

Tonight! Kassius Ohno sparring session!

The Raw Rebound! A double pin at Night of Champions! A kid is crying! We get CM Punk/Alberto Del Rio vs Sheamus/Cena! Cena pins Punk with Punk's foot on the rope. CM Punk continues the confrontation into the backstage area, which is so unlike him.

Jimmy Uso vs Conor O'Brian: Not sure what people thought in 2012 but with 10 years of hindsight, people probably should have expected the Usos to do more on the big stage than the Ascension? Several things happened, the partners got involved. Jey distracted the ref, leading Cameron to interfere against Jimmy. Conor wins with a dropkick. The Usos get beat down postmatch as order is restored to the Ascension/Usos universe after one week of the Usos going over in this feud.

Bo Dallas gets a promo. Michael McGillicutty shows up to interrupt and they brawl.

Did You Know? Night of Champions was more sociallyu active than all the broadcast TV shows up against it. Must have been a down night for 60 Minutes.

Kassius Ohno's Sparring Session! His opponent is Oliver Gray (who is wearing purple). Gray taps out to a cravate-ish hold. Kassius Ohno decides to graciously give him another try and then kicks his ass some more. Richie Steamboat shows up to make the save.

Leo Kruger gets a vignette this week.

Rick Victor vs Seth Rollins: Seth Rollins keeps enemies from jumping him by having an entrance where it's dangerous to get too close to him. It's a non-title match because you don't get a big title match by slapping the champion. JR is here and noting that Rick Victor might be a bit weird as a result of spending time in the Hart dungeon, bold claim to make. Splash, kick, Curb Stomp, and Seth Rollins win this match.

S6 E15 (September 26th, 2012)

Pre-intro video of the situation with Kassius Ohno and Richie Steamboat. That's our main event tonight, folks.

Michael McGillicutty vs Bo Dallas: It takes a hot match to keep Michael McGillicutty out of the main event for this show. Regal noting that both competitors had grandparents in wrestling. I suspect the Blackjack Mulligan/Larry the Ax matches were more interesting than any Mike Rotundo/Curt Hennig matches. McGillicutty wins with the neckbreaker after a few minutes and a commercial break.

Paige gets a vignette this week.

Hey, Natasha Lyonne has a Peacock-exclusive series now.

The Raw Rebound! Mick Foley showed up. CM Punk and Mick exchange words. A future Hell in a Cell match is talked about. John Cena shows up with his arm in a sling. Our hero John Cena hits CM Punk with a lead pipe as we got a match for the next PPV. Then CM Punk kicks Mick Foley in the stomach, only for Ryback to show up before I made another joke about CM Punk and backstage problems.

Jake Carter vs Leo Kruger: Jake Carter's tron says he's "Your Girlfriend's Favorite", a nickname that Vader never used to my knowledge. Let me correct my call from earlier. Jake Carter looks eerily like The Miz. Kruger wins in a few minutes with his neckbreaker that is distinctively different from McGillicutty's or Sandow's neckbreakers. Apparently our girlfriends love losers.

Up next: Ryback is in action!

Ryback vs Aiden English and Francis Remi Dorian: This is your 1980s WWWF special match of the evening. Ryback wins after Samoan dropping both guys at the same time.

Kassius Ohno vs Richie Steamboat: Barring a late angle, this episode is one without anything set up for next week. This is a match set up due to a personal issue. The personal issue of Kassius eyeraking Richie and kicking his ass postmatch a few weeks ago. JR shows up to remind us that all these NXT matches are very important. Richie looks like the hero in a movie where a teenager learns karate to defend himself from bullies. We go to a commercial break after Richie gets his head bounced off the ringpost. I believe we're around the time that Punk was lobbying to make Ohno/Hero part of the Shield instead of Roman Reigns. They're certainly doing work to make Kassius look strong on these shows. Chop attack for Richie. Nearfall for Kassius with a kick. Nearfall for Richie with a Superkick. Steamboat misses a moonsault and gets cradled for 2. Steamboat counters the elbow into a cradle to get the win. Naturally there's a postmatch beatdown. NXT apparently has 5 referees as they break up the cravate. Kassius walks up the ramp and that's our show.

I'll check back in later tonight or tomorrow (when it'll be even colder) to see what this show has to offer in the month of October 2012. Probably gonna get something like Richie Steamboat and Bo Dallas vs Kassius Ohno and Michael McGillicutty.

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I feel like the Mid-South crowd had no belief that Tony Atlas and Andre the Giant were going to win the Mid-South tag titles and were just sitting quietly, waiting for the inevitable fuckery on the 2.12.83 episode. It took a loaded glove and a 2x4 to get Andre down (Hacksaw must have seen Kamala swing for the fences with that 2x4 and thought, "Hey..."). Kamala slamming Andre was a fantastic visual, though, I'll tell you that. 

 

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