WWE Network Conversation

[elizium]

On 10/29/2023 at 8:02 AM, Gorman said:

We never did find out how he always managed to get such great seats and how he could afford to attend 1000 shows and 35 WrestleManias.

So the long time rumour about him working for Make a Wish is not true? Did they talk about what he does for a living at all?

On 10/29/2023 at 11:43 AM, odessasteps said:

It's not like you don't have famously near sighted guys who were big stars (Hansen, Monsoon).

Crazzy Steve being legally blind and only able to see shapes comes to mind as well

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Guilty as Charged 2001

Joey Matthews and Christian York got a new manager, Joel Gertner. Yay! Oh no, Da Baldies attacked them, and then Jerry Lynn & Cyrus walked in and won their match. Will these plucky youngsters fulfill their destiny as the future of ECW? Or is another "oh no" on the way?

Speaking of the demise of national promotions in 2001, EZ Money had the honor of wrestling on the last ECW pay-per-view and then the last WCW PPV.

Tommy Dreamer got revenge against CW Anderson. Considering the promotion was closing soon, their feud "escalated quickly" to an I Quit match.

Sandman is the MVP for winning his record-breaking fourth ECW title in a ladder match. After the match, Corino and Credible shook his hand, foreshadowing their eventual participation in Ring of Honor.

No wait! I'm taking the award away from Sandman and giving it to Rhino! Serves Sandman right for never shaking my hand backstage.

Rhino gored Balls, Chilly, Simon, Swinger, and Dawn Marie. He was kind enough to spare Jasmine St. Claire ... but then he gave her a piledriver off the second rope. After Sandman won the title, Rhino coerced him into an immediate title shot by threatening his family. Rhino piledrove Sandman through a table (after he had already been through two other tables) and then piledrove him in the ring to win the title. Congrats Rhino ... you're the future of ECW!

Now it's time to complete the Attitude Era Collection by writing "King of Philadelphia." I haven't been tallying up the MVP awards, so this will be a rare instance in which the author doesn't know how the book will end until he gets to the final chapter. Until then, enjoy "King of New York" and "King of Atlanta"!

Edited October 31, 2023 by Gorman

[Gorman]

19 minutes ago, elizium said:

 Did they talk about what he does for a living at all?

No, they did not.

[odessasteps]

Also, Mike Johnson has said Vlad has been in poor health in recent times, so I hope he has seen all the love going his way. 

[Cobra Commander]

in the spirit of Halloween, it's time to find a horrifying wrestling show on the Network

Pretty sure my local video rental stores had most of the Halloween Havocs (despite not having a bunch of WCW), so I've seen them or i'm pretty sure i've seen them over the years. So, not one of those cards.

I thought about watching Great American Bash 91 or King of the Ring 95 but nah.. Uncensored 95 is part of how 1995 WCW was a comfort food that I watched like 25 years ago because that stuff was in the stores.

But what about...

The Things I Remember from watching WCW Uncensored 1996:

Supercard = i'm not typing as this one goes. This isn't weekly TV. You've probably seen this card in some form or fashion. I'm typing the non-main event stuff during the main event from memory.

Konnan vs Eddie was a good face vs face match were Tupelo was split between two Hispanic babyfaces with dueling chants. Some real fun spots to this one. Out of all the longer matches, this one dragged ass the least. A bit of a bullshit finish as Eddie runs his crotch into Konnan's face and is taken out for the count. Babyfaces are mad at each other postmatch.

Robert Parker's gig marks are so fucking obvious in a backstage interview. Life must have been tough in the mid-80s in Dothan.

Regal/Bruiser has a real good reputation but it probably went a little too long. Regal got some blood and WCW started shooting him from 50 feet away as per company policy. The crowd was more into Konnan/Eddie than Regal/Finlay. There was some hard hitting as you'd expect. Regal kicked Finlay right in the dick at one point. Then they had a run-in finish and fought to the back. Finlay bitchslapping Chives on his way down to the ring and throwing his gear at Regal was a fun way to start off. I think the other matches were probably better because your bloodfeud probably shouldn't go 18 minutes as the second match of the night.

I'm impressed that Madusa could get Robert Parker's fat ass up for a German Suplex. This match went quick but it was more physical than Disco Inferno/Jacqueline. Nice to see Dick Slater found some work in 1996.

Somewhere during this card, Lee Marshall interviewed the Road Warriors, which is a paring.

Booty Man/DDP went on for a long time and was a bit of a blur because let's be honest, it's 16 minutes of Ed Leslie in 1996. If Kimberly is any indicator, it was cold in the Tupelo Coliseum that night. There was this whole DDP-verse of storylines in 1996 that they just shelved eventually and then they got DDP over by not doing goofy stuff with him.

The Giant pretty much did all the work vs Loch Ness as the Giant was young and athletic and Loch Ness was old and had lymphoma. Loch Ness did not appreciate the dentistry joke from Gene in a backstage interview.

Sting/Booker vs the Road Warriors was the world's longest street fight. Holy shit, it made everything else seem breezy by comparison. It probably was a few years ahead of it's time for the brawling because every match was worked like this by 1999 but it was also a bit too much of a clusterfuck. The split screen was small but they eventually stopped showing the same scene on both cameras. It's like PIP during AEW only without commercials. Lex and Stevie finally help end the match after 29 minutes. Direct quote from me as I see Stevie run out to end this match "Fucking finally". The Lex/Sting dynamic is fun. For those not plugged into 1996 WCW, the match was originally Lex/Sting vs the Road Warriors but Lex went into the Doomday Cage in place of Loch Ness. That swap was likely a net positive for multiple matches. But this card probably needed an extra match instead of 5 matches going over 15 minutes.

The Doomsday Cage was a clusterfuck as you'd expect. The Alliance to End Hulkamania sounds like the name of an electoral alliance in a foreign country. Arn is so smart for working in a Nitro shirt on the top of the cage because he's not gonna drink beer with chain marks all over his body.. Eventually they go to the actual ring to give the people in the arena something they could see. Then they go back to the Doomday Cage and into the bottom ring. Also Zeus and the Final Ultimate Solution eventually show up. Michael Buffer "parts unknowns" Meng, the man whose gimmick involves being from Tonga. This whole match might validate Kevin Sullivan's claim that he was trying to win Hogan's trust. You think Sullivan tried to get Mark Lewin into the country for this one. Also Tony was mentioning Brian Pillman because Hogan was trying to siphon some heat off of Pillman around this time. Hogan and Savage beat everybody's asses with frying pans provided by the world's leading provider of frying pans, the Booty Man. Lex Luger has a black glove, is he Ted DiBiase? Lex "accidentally" hits Flair in the world's most obvious way. Hogan and Savage try to escape the cage before realizing "hey that's not how this match ends in WCW" so Savage gets the pin. At least Hogan gave Randy Savage the pinfall for his match while never jobbing for Savage in any match. Every triple cage match that i've seen is an incomprehensible clusterfuck. This one was at least a little less puzzling than the 1988 Bash cage match.

Well, the first 3 matches on this card were good. Then it got less good. Bobby Heenan and Dusty were in good form. The WCW Uncensored font looks like ransom letters. I could see how Uncensored 95 was even more notorious than Uncensored 96.

[Cobra Commander]

Vladimir being "Tommy from Martin" and having some form of employment that he won't mention is a very wrestling way to handle all that. Vlad's gotta keep kayfabe on something.

[Curt McGirt]

As someone who is legally blind I don't know if it should be legal to wrestle while legally blind, unless you got contacts in. (I've never managed to so glasses it is until I drop.)

The Tommy/CW match had the dumbest gimmick for a match ever: A roll of razor wire. Because concertina wire is meant to mutilate soldiers and prevent criminals from escaping prisons, there was no way to use it. Dreamer got spinebustered on it and it stuck in his shirt. How effective! Might as well have just thrown a gun in there...

[zendragon]

Inherent problem with ECW at some point there's no where else to go. That's why I think the next evolution was ROH not XPW or what ever

[odessasteps]

Wasnt George Weingroff legally blind? And he wrestled for a good while.

 

[Cobra Commander]

In the spirit of Halloween, it's time to go to a show that aired on Halloween.

World Championship Wrestling (10/31/1987)

We open with a split screen of events (that originally aired on shows not on the WWE Network)

Tony and David tell us about upcoming showz

Match 1: Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin vs Gladiator 1 and 2. There is no return, this tag team will be sticking around, in a year or two. The studio is jazzed up for Michael PS Hayes this week. Michael Hayes wins with a running bulldog that the Gladiator takes directly on the top of his head. Goodness.
Hayes and Garvin join David postmatch. Jimmy Garvin still has Starrcade fever as the antibiotics are moving ineffective. 

And then the audio cuts out. We see a few seconds of Santana/Stephens, then we go to a break and things work right.

Match 2: Ricky Santana vs Larry Stephens. Two fans are chanting "We love Ricky". Wonder if those $5 balcony seats at the Omni are any good. Great match if you like armbars. Eventually the armbar ends and Santana wins with a bodypress off the top.

We return to the Starrcade Control Center with Tony, Jim Crockett, Tully, and Arn. The World Tag Team titles will be on the line between Tully and Arn and the Road Warriors. We cut to a different board room as Paul Ellering and JJ Dillon join Sandy Scott. Ellering and JJ sign contracts ans say some words about the match. Tully and Arn have some comments about facing the Road Warriors in Chicago.

Match 3: Dick Murdoch vs Tommy Angel. The fans chant "Egg Sucking Dog" at Murdoch. Murdoch bounces Angel off of the podium outside the ring. This studio is fired up chanting "Traitor" at Murdoch. Murdoch wins with the Brainbuster.

Dick Murdoch joins Tony after the match (and a commercial break). Dick's wearing a George Jones trucker hat which is a perfect pairing. What do you think Dick Murdoch's favorite George Jones song was? Murdoch has words for Dusty. He insists that he only went after Dr. Death because he went to OU and he only went after Nikita Koloff because he's a Marine veteran and Koloff's a commie.

Match 4: Ivan Koloff and the Warlord vs David Isley and Rocky King. Lots of "distract the referee so the other heels can beat up Rocky King". The Warlord looks like he pisses steroids. Heels win after the doubleteam (Warlord holds up Isley and Koloff hits him with a forearm to the chest)

Match 5: Mighty Wilbur vs Cougar Jay. Mighty Wilbur is very very nice towards Cougar Jay as he squashes him. Wilbur wins with a splash after initially pausing and thinking about if he wanted to splash Jay.
Mighty Wilbur gets to talk to David Crockett postmatch. Wilbur hopes he didn't hurt Cougar Jay because he seems a nice guy. Wilbur actually wants to face Ivan Koloff. He threatens to use an American Chain on Koloff. Well, the world's nicest redneck is certainly a fresh enough gimmick.

James J. Dillon, Lex Lugar, and Hiro Matsuda join Tony. Lex has a magnificent sweater on over a collar shirt. Lex Luger has words for Dusty and then talks up Hiro Matsuda (saying he's never seen Hiro Matsuda sleep).

Match 6: Mike Rotunda vs Thunderfoot #1. Mike Rotunda hits an enziguri. The fans chant for an Airplane Spin and that's how Rotunda wins the match. There's so many unattended kids who are jacked up on Mountain Dew in this crowd.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD WITH CRAIG SAGER IS NEXT

In the big games of October 31st, 1987: #6 Auburn beats #10 Florida. #4 Florida State crushes Tulane. #5 LSU beats Ole Miss. #3 Miami beats East Carolina. #2 Nebraska beats Mizzou. #9 Notre Dame sinks Navy. #1 Oklahoma annihilates Kansas. #8 Syracuse beats Pitt. #7 UCLA beats Arizona State. Meanwhile on TBS, Vanderbilt beat Rutgers.

The Peacock machine doesn't put commercial breaks during the second hour of this show, so College Football Scoreboard is the last break of the show and it's all promos and squashes from now on.

Jim Cornette joins Tony. "Halloween, the only day of the year that David Crockett can walk around in public and feel accepted". Cornette's the first person on the show to mention Halloween, for the record and he has a pumpkin tennis racket cover for the occasion.

Match 7: Midnight Express vs Ed Frank and Alan Martin. Stan Lane hitting one of the more reluctant thrust kicks and the jobber doesn't get enough air on the double team move. Midnights get the win with the Double Goozle.

The Cornette promo continues postmatch. He's gonna do his best to sell the possibility of killing the Rock'n'Roll Express in a scaffold match.

Nikita and Dusty join Tony at the podium. Nikita has words for Terry Taylor. We see a recent confrontation between Hiro Matsuda and Dusty Rhodes with Johnny Weaver and Lex Luger getting involved. We see a visual of Hiro Matsuda squeezing Dusty Rhodes boob with a nervehold. Dusty talks about Murdoch and Lex Luger. Nikita goes Horns Down in regards to the Four Horseman hand sign.

Match 8: New Breed vs Rick Ryder and Robbie Idol. David Crockett running through a few "We'd like to say hello to"'s during this match. Sean Royal using the Scorpion hold for a few nearfalls. New Breed wins with a double team (suplex-crossbody block combo).

Match 9: Ricky Morton vs Joe Lynn. Ricky still taped up. Joe Lynn looking like a random blonde dude. Ricky wins in a few minutes with a small package.
Ricky talks to David Crockett postmatch. He has some words on the Scaffold match. For a teen idol, Ricky sure is a mean-sounding bastard on the microphone.

Match 10: Eddie Gilbert vs Tony Suber. Eddie has a very emerald colored outfit this week. Eddie takes a random shot at Mighty Wilbur ("how'd you like that, that's my Mighty Wilbur impersonation") after a clean break. The studio fans sound like they're yelling pro-Eddie stuff. Eddie wins with the Hot Shot.

"Headache? lose it watching some NWA action" - a bit of a bold claim about 1987 JCP programming

Kevin Sullivan joins Tony to talk about all the Starrcade matches that he's not in. Kevin has some words for Dusty Rhodes and he insists that the Nassau show is a trap for Dusty. Babyface(?) Kevin Sullivan trying to give advice to Dusty Rhodes sure is a style. 

Match 11: Tully and Arn vs Keith Steinborn and Rex King. Tully and Arn win with the Double Gourdbuster, which looks cooler than a normal Gourdbuster.

Ric Flair joins Tony at the podium. It would make Ric's life for Dusty to be gone for 90 days. Ron Garvin has a pickup truck and fat broads. The Road Warriors gotta take on the champs. Also they're taking over New York City at Nassau in a few weeks. Ric is just on another planet this week and it's amazing.

Match 12: Terry Taylor vs Curtis Thompson. Terry Taylor wins really quickly with a figure four.
Terry and Eddie join Tony. Nikita Koloff apparently reclaimed his TV title belt on some other show. Eddie has words for Dusty, Michael Hayes, Jimmy Garvin and Sting. Nice Espirit top Eddie.

And that's all for this week of World Championship Wrestling.

[Mister TV]

I had no memory of Mighty Wilbur even though I watched WCW pretty much every Saturday night back then, I've come to the realization that I changed the channel whenever someone with a "hillbilly" gimmick showed up on tv.

[Cobra Commander]

Sounds like you missed out on the saga of Paul Jones turning into Mr. Spacely

 

[Mister TV]

1 hour ago, Cobra Commander said:

Sounds like you missed out on the saga of Paul Jones turning into Mr. Spacely

 

Paul Jones was also a channel changer for me once the Rick Rude-Manny Fernandez team disappeared. 

[Cobra Commander]

Just watched the Greatest Wrestling Managers docu on the network and a Legends of Wrestling episode on Southern Wrestling (were they stashing Joey Styles on Legends of Wrestling since he wasn't doing anything else at the time but a JJ Dillon/Michael Hayes/JR/Jimmy Garvin panel is gonna handle the topic well and Joey mainly stayed out of the way)

The mid-2000s Bobby Heenan stuff can be a little rough to watch once he's being treated for cancer but it's great that they got something from him in the 2000s

It would be neat if the DVDs on the network which had bonus matches had a way to watch the bonus matches but i'm not holding out for that happening.

[Cobra Commander]

The World Series is over and the Texas Rangers have won in 5 games. So let's watch something that isn't 1987 JCP for at least a night.

World Class Championship Wrestling (3/26/1983)

David Von Erich drops in on Bill Mercer's opening to talk about our main event of Kevin and Kerry vs Hayes and Gordy. Also about taking the Texas title from Jimmy Garvin.

Match 1: Jose Lothario vs Jimmy Garvin (w/ Sunshine). The prematch routine (removing various items and pushups) by Jimmy is fun. Good move for Jimmy to bail as soon as he sees Jose cocking a left hand. Lothario lifting up Garvin with some of that arm work. A monkey flip and armdrags by Jose! Sunshine looking a little less like Agnetha Faltskog than she would look in a year or so. Lothario swings a left hand and Garvin immediately goes to the corner arms behind his head. A shinbreaker and Jimmy goes directly to the floor. One left hand and Jimmy falls through the ropes to the floor. The ref has words on his shirt so it doesn't look like he's working in a t-shirt. Jimmy gets some offense in and the fans chant for Lothario as he's in a chinlock. Garvin furiously selling the backbreaker that he's hit with coming off of the ropes. Jose gets another punch in before the finish of Garvin grabbing Lothario's legs and pinning his shoulders down with his hands on the rope. Garvin takes two punches from Jose and Sunshine gets in-between. Jose's punches still rule and Garvin was gonna make that old man look like a killer.

Bill Mercer joins Skandor Akbar in the Devastation Inc Boardroom. Which is an amazing concept to think about for a heel group. Apparently Skandor Akbar is working with OPEC to make Texans pay more for gas. We get stock photos/footage of oil fields from his homeland. OPEC won't take Skandor Akbar seriously if Devastation Inc loses matches. Also King Kong Bundy is shirtless and he's gonna get $80K for a Rolls. Kamala can't be trusted in tag situations and Akbar says he's negotiating with Ric Flair. Of all the Pro Wrestling Universes, that's certainly one of them.

Armand Hussein is at ringside with Bill Mercer to talk about how Devastation Inc is gonna go after Yatsu in revenge for Kabuki.

Match 2: King Kong Bundy vs Tola Yatsu (w/ Armand Hussein). I think Yatsu's doing a pre-match Haka (but it's not technically a Haka). First time i've seen King Kong Bundy use a hammerlock in a match. I can buy into "King Kong Bundy is gonna lay on top of this dude's arm for a few minutes" somehow. Bundy seems like he'd have am arm fall asleep if he tried sleeping on his side. Hussein tabs Bundy's leg, throws Yatsu a kendo stick (Yatsu drops it the first time) and Yatsu gets disqualified for hitting Bundy with the stick.

Here's another look at the Kamala introduction video as he walks through the jungles of Jerry Jarrett's yard.

Match 3: Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy (w/ Buddy) vs Kevin & Kerry (w/ David) in a Texas Tornado match. Buddy and David exchanging words before the match. We have two referees for this one. Cool doubleteams with Gordy dropping Von Erich's across Michael Hayes' knee. Are Green and Yellow the Freebirds St. Patrick's Day gear? As you'd hope for from a Texas Tornado match, this is worked with all the finesse of a riot. Kerry trapped in the ropes by the heels until David helps out. Stereo claw holds on the heels! Two referees and neither of them see guys getting thrown over the top rope. Buddy and David start getting involved. In all the chaos, both teams have been disqualified. Kerry is unhappy with the tshirt ref as a result of the decision.

King Kong Bundy and Kabuki join Bill Mercer at the broadcast location. The Boss is gonna bring in Kamala. Next week, Iceman and Kabuki! David and Buddy Roberts!

You just don't get heels claiming to be influencing gas prices these days, do ya.

[Mister TV]

7 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

Match 3: Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy (w/ Buddy) vs Kevin & Kerry (w/ David) in a Texas Tornado match. Buddy and David exchanging words before the match. We have two referees for this one. Cool doubleteams with Gordy dropping Von Erich's across Michael Hayes' knee. Are Green and Yellow the Freebirds St. Patrick's Day gear? As you'd hope for from a Texas Tornado match, this is worked with all the finesse of a riot. Kerry trapped in the ropes by the heels until David helps out. Stereo claw holds on the heels! Two referees and neither of them see guys getting thrown over the top rope. Buddy and David start getting involved. In all the chaos, both teams have been disqualified. Kerry is unhappy with the tshirt ref as a result of the decision.

King Kong Bundy and Kabuki join Bill Mercer at the broadcast location. The Boss is gonna bring in Kamala. Next week, Iceman and Kabuki! David and Buddy Roberts!

You just don't get heels claiming to be influencing gas prices these days, do ya.

Green and gold were basically the Freebirds alternate uniforms, they'd wear them once a month or so. 

[odessasteps]

Didn't they wear the green and gold in their brief wwf stay?

[Mister TV]

3 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

Didn't they wear the green and gold in their brief wwf stay?

They wore green and gold entrance gear in Philly, they would have gotten booed and laughed at had they worn the Confederate flag stuff there.

[Cobra Commander]

2 hours ago, odessasteps said:

Didn't they wear the green and gold in their brief wwf stay?

I hadn’t seen Highlander recently enough to remember that but Hayes did go to blue/white during one of his “trying to hang around after the rest of the team got fired/quit” matches

 

[odessasteps]

Wearing Stars and Bars robes to the ring in the movie. filmed at a PWUSA show in the Meadowlands, iirc. 

Edited November 2, 2023 by odessasteps

[Cobra Commander]

Oh okay. I knew it was a Freebirds match but I forgot which one (and which promotion)

[Cobra Commander]

How about some more 1987 JCP for this Thursday Afternoon?

World Championship Wrestling (11/7/1987)

We open with footage of the Road Warriors in action from a different recent show

Ricky Santana is at the podium and he has a nice suit and he's talking about Starrcade. He speaks Spanish.

Match 1: New Breed vs Rex King and Robbie Idol. Last week the New Breed beat Robbie Idol and Rick Ryder. This week it's Robbie Idol and Rex King. Chris Champion countering a flip out of the corner by just locking his arms in the ropes is very casual. Sean Royal hits a spear off the top rope towards an irish whipped jabrone (not sure we see that in the era of endless spears). New Breed wins after a double team (suplex/splash).

Ric Flair joins Tony. Hey Ricky Santana got himself mentioned by Ric Flair on TV. Ric mentions the New Breed, talks Starrcade, approaches the ring, takes off the jacket, nice sweater vest. Also he mentions the Nassau show. He's a little fired up this week.

Match 2: Kevin Sullivan vs David Isley. The usual Sullivan squash. Sullivan wins with a double stomp. But his knees did touch the mat during this match so he's ramping up the work a little.

We return to the Starrcade Control Center. We get hype for what we'll hear about on next week's Starrcade Control Center. I guess this was a bridge from last week to next week.

Match 3: Sting vs Tommy Angel. Any lull in the action will be met by the JCP Honey Cam showing women in the studio watching the action. Sting wins with the Stinger Splash.

Jim Cornette and Bubba join Tony. He alerts us that Sunday Edition won't be seen in it's regular time because of a Braves/Padres game that's computerized and changed from color to black & white (topical humor!). [For the record: The Winston Western 500 was on Sunday afternoon November 8th on TBS]

Match 4: Midnight Express vs Bob Emory & Joe Lynn. Cornette on commentary alerting us to tomorrow night at the Omni (Midnight Express, Tully and Arn vs Rock'n'Rolls and New Breed). Midnights win with the Rocket Launcher.
More words from Jim Cornettte postmatch. Jim doesn't want the Rock'n'Rolls to get nervous because if they get nervous, they could fall off that scaffold.

Match 5: Ron Garvin vs Alan Martin. Ron Garvin gives his towel to a fan at ringside. That's a little less alluring than getting Bret Hart's sunglasses. Ron Garvin getting some loud shots in so that's fun. Garvin wins after the Garvin Stomp. Kinda weird to have a babyface champion whose only TV work for his reign involves squashing jobbers.

Nikita talks a little about his upcoming Starrcade match.

Lex Luger joins Tony. He takes off his shirt. He also wanders towards the ring and uses the ring as a visual aide for the promo.

Match 6: Hiro Matsuda vs Rocky King. Unless i've missed it or it was mentioned on another show, i'm guessing Hiro Matsuda hanging around Lex Luger around this time was a bit of an easter egg for the people who knew (there's a Lex Luger/Hiro Matsuda tag squash on Worldwide this weekend, so I probably haven't noticed them mention the connection). Hiro looking like Cassandra's dad from Wayne's World 2. Matsuda wins with the sleeper. Despite being evil, Hiro does wake Rocky King up afterwards.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD WITH CRAIG SAGER IS NEXT (boy that first hour just went by in a blur)

The big games on November 7th, 1987: #13 Alabama beat #5 LSU. #10 Clemson beat UNC. #4 Florida State beat #6 Auburn. #10 Georgia beat #17 Florida in a game aired on TBS. #3 Miami of Florida beat Miami of Ohio. #2 Nebraska beat Iowa State. #9 Notre Dame beat Boston College. #1 Oklahoma beat #12 Oklahoma State in Bedlam. #8 Syracuse beat Navy, and #7 UCLA beat Oregon State. Huge game day. Yes, there were two #10s that week, they had the same vote total, so it was a tie.

We begin our second hour with Kevin Sullivan talking about how awesome Starrcade is gonna be. Gotta love the show promo formula of "if you don't have a Starrcade match, talk about the big Starrcade matches" which actually means "see if you can get namedropped by the big stars". Sullivan has more words about Dusty's situation.

Match 7: Ricky Santana vs Rick Ryder. Speaking of JCP TV not on the network, there's a Ricky Santana/Barry Windham team that feels very random. Rick Ryder just leaping over Ricky with a non-leapfrog sort of leapfrog. Ricky Santana wins with a bodypress off the top.

Sting joins Tony. He has the energy. There's crowd shots of people who appear to be into this. Sting didn't exactly hatch out of an egg in March 1988 with no build. But it's amazing that he soared that quickly.

Match 8: Nikita Koloff vs Gladiator #1. Clearly this is a smart masked jobber because he bails out of the ring to avoid getting Sickled within a minute. You just don't have full bodysuit masked job guys anymore. Nikita wins with the Russian Sickle.

Ron Garvin joins Tony. Out of the babyfaces with a blond flattop, Ron Garvin is about to be surpassed by Sting. For some reason, I think Ron Garvin sounds more Quebecois/Canadian this week than usual. I just think he's sounding like a Pat Patterson  promo this week. But that might be a thing where if you're from a part of the country far from Canada, you don't notice those things about how Ron Garvin sounds.

Match 9: Kendall Windham vs Thunderfoot 2. Kendall looks like his dad and brother kept stealing his food. It'd take a few years for his metabolism to surrender. That was an awkward looking shoulderblock out of the corner. Kendall wins with the running bulldog.

For anybody curious, the Thunderfoot team was Joel Deaton/Gene Ligon. The Gladiator team was Gary Royal and George South. Royal/South would also be the Cruel Connection. Just so you don't mix up your JCP masked jobber tag teams.

Match 10: Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin vs Curtis Thompson and Tony Suber. Jimmy Garvin pins Suber with a brainbuster which maybe didn't look better in slow motion.
Hayes and Garvin join David postmatch. Is it possible for it to be bad that a tag team is too similar because Hayes and Garvin are feel like two guys who are on the same wave length. The "two coolest dudes from different high schools meeting in college" reference might be better utilized in reference to Hayes/Garvin.

Match 11: Dick Murdoch vs Bob Cook. Dick Murdoch spends time on the mat as David demands Bob Cook go in for the kill. Then Murdoch bounces Cook off the podium and hits him with a chair in front of the ref. Nice of the ref to not disqualify Murdoch. And you thought the modern refs worked too loose. Murdoch wins with a brainbuster.
Dick Murdoch joins Tony postmatch. He has words about Dusty. He calls Barry Windham "Wind-ham" which feels like a solid way to intentionally mispronounce a name.

The New Breed get interview time. It feels unfair to ask Seab Royal to try engaging in a war of words with Jim Cornette. How thin must the JCP babyface tag ranks have been to have the New Breed be a babyface junior partner to the Rock'n'Roll Express (well, they were about to bring the Fantastics in). Chris Champion also has words for Arn and Tully, which feels like an unfair fight. For all the cult acclaim for the New Breed, man, in context, these guys come off like complete idiots who didn't know how to get out of their own way.

Match 12: Sheepherder Luke Williams and Johnny Ace vs Eric Long and Gary Phelps. The Sheepherders have won the UWF tag team titles since they were last on this show. Luke and Johnny do the Battering Ram and the double stomachbuster for a quick win. Gotta love how much noticeably fast the late squashes are worked compared to the first hour squashes, maybe they keep having matches or promos go over the allotted time.

Luke and Johnny join Tony for a few words and that's our show for this week. Only two more of these shows until Starrcade 87, Chi-Town Heat! Bound For Glory! Not Available on PPV in your area!

Edited November 2, 2023 by Cobra Commander

[SirSmUgly]

Oh, I forgot to mention: All the Dark Journey stuff in Mid-South is the worst and I hate it. I can put up with a lot of racially insensitive stuff in pro wrestling, but this is a real low in race-based pro wrestling angles. And it's also a real low in gender-based pro wrestling angles, too! Just a double whammy of shit that should never have aired. 

[odessasteps]

And Slater was the one booking it, unsurprisingly. 

[SirSmUgly]

Judgment Day ’06 notes:

• My wife is in no way a professional wrestling fan. She’s glad I am, though, if only because I bought tickets to this show and stayed with some friends in the area. The day before the show, those friends had a get-together, and I met my wife at that get-together. We sometimes joke that at least Vince McMahon has done one helpful, decent thing in his life, even if inadvertently.

 

• I have not seen this show since I watched it live, and I thought that maybe I’d do a little diversion and write about it because we were just talking about how we met earlier today.

 

• Ah, pro wrestling! What can’t it achieve?

 

• I remember this show being very fun, but of course, I was sitting in pretty good seats taking in the hot, hot wrestling action. I also remember the silent confusion in U.S. Airways Center (dammit, it’ll always be America West to me) when Khali murdered the Undertaker. That should be fun to relive.

 

• Bible quote from the chapter of Job. Super dramatic video package to hype the matches. Kurt Angle is on like a hundred percs in his clips.

 

• I guess CM Punk’s old “This Fire Burns” theme is the general theme for this show, which is too bad as that song suuuuuuuucks, sorry to anyone who enjoys it. I mean, “Cult of Personality” is a super-mega-upgrade IMO (which you may agree with even if you like “This Fire Burns”).

 

• MNM is always a fun time! Their coats with what look like LED panels on them are pretty good. Pro wrestling costumes need more LED panels or LED-panel-lookalikes in them. Some heel should definitely be wearing a belt with an LED buckle that scrolls insulting comments about their opponent. Anyway, MNM are on a five-match losing streak to these goofs London and Kendrick, and I’m wondering how they aren’t already the champs if they’ve beaten the champs five straight times?! I genuinely don’t remember much of the TV around this time, as I was working toward a postgrad degree and was somewhat preoccupied with that, with doing karaoke with friends in the dive bar near campus, with getting into what was easily the best shape of my life, with building an unexpected relationship with the person who I'd end up marrying, and not so much with pro wrestling, even though I still watched Smackdown regularly and RAW every once in awhile.

 

• But you’re not here for my trip down memory lane. You’re here to read about some hot, hot tag team action. MNM has the slight size advantage, so Morrison plays some bully ball early with shoulder blocks, but as quick as he is, London’s just a bit quicker. We get five cuts on a top-rope double axe and a shot of a troubled Melina at ringside when two cuts would do. My goodness, this is hard to watch with all the cuts. I’ve been away from this awful production style for too long to ignore it.

 

• Kendrick delivers an aesthetically pleasing plancha to both MNM members, but London whiffs on a follow-up top-rope crossbody to Morrison back in the ring. London is FIP now. Melina screams really loudly, and it’s irritating, and she knows it, so she does it again. I remember commenting on how piercing that scream was to the person I was with. Hearing that again pulled an unpleasant memory/sensation from the deepest reaches of my brain.

 

• Kendrick finally gets a hot tag and goes in on MNM, but takes time to celebrate and gets clocked from behind. MNM hits Kendrick with a Snapshot, but the count is delayed because Jimmy Korderas is, IDK, taking a cig break or something, and London has time to make the save. We get a second FIP segment with Kendrick eating offense. Kendrick gets a flash pin in there, but Mercury distracts Korderas. The heels hit some nice offense, including a lovely stalling vertical suplex from Mercury. They try to smother Kendrick with neckholds and headlocks, but Kendrick fights out and gets the second hot tag of the match.

 

• London eats a boot at one point during his initial blitz, but recovers from that and gets two off a lariat. London hits a combo dropkick/moonsault that gets 2.9, except that Melina pulls a Sindel and shrieks right in Korderas’s ear to break the count. We get a back and forth finish in which MNM almost gets three with a little double-team leverage pin, but London kicks out, dodges a wayward Joey Mercury lariat that takes out Morrison, and schoolboys Mercury for the three and the gold. That was a textbook solid opener. IIRC, MNM broke up after this loss, maybe? That seems like something that happened around this time. Wait, it happens now, actually, that’s why I remember it. The crowd wants MNM to know they suck, but actually Melina and Morrison think that Mercury is the one who sucks, and they brawl with him post-match. Also, Melina punts Korderas in the balls, which is the height of physical comedy if you ask me.

 

• So, the KotR finals are at this show – Booker T. is on the cusp of becoming King Booker. As a life-long Booker T. stan, I was indeed rocking that ugly ass Booker T. “5X” t-shirt which I only wore to two or three WWE shows (including this one) and inside the house. Now, you can and should critique me for openly rooting for the heel during that match, but I think (and hope) that I wasn’t that annoying about it. The section I was in found it amusing (or at least pretended to, which would be gracious of them) and I wasn’t like, you know, yelling and cussing and obnoxious during that or any match, really. But that’s later on, though. Right now, we see a flashback to Bret HitG.O.A.T. Hart putting the ol’ victory roll on Bam Bam Bigelow for the crown in 1993.

 

• Funny enough, I’m at a point in my WCW watch where Benoit and Finlay are dance partners. They just had a match at Slamboree 1998 that kinda stunk, but 2007 Finlay is way better than 1998 Finlay, so I have higher hopes for this. Finlay being mean and using the apron as a weapon and bonking people with a shillelagh is great television, and I am very into it. Man, I was very into a couple of the heels on this show.

 

• My memory of this match is that it was a bit of a letdown, though, now that I think about it. But what I’m seeing to start is solid. They have their “stare intensely at one another as though they might fight, fuck, or both” opening and then trade a few holds to start. I just want Finlay to gain control and do mean stuff to Benoit while everyone waits for Benoit to explode into a comeback. This actually is a better match on TV than I think it was live because some of these holds look great on camera, like Finlay cranking the neck on a chinlock, but in the arena where we were, it wouldn’t have nearly that effect.

 

• These dudes slap the shit out of each other and are very disrespectful in general. When Benoit makes it a fast-paced brawl, he is in control. When Finlay slows it down and trades holds, he’s in much better shape, is the flow of this match in general. But what I love is that these guys crank their holds and work them really well. That includes the guy in the hold, trying to indicate chokes or huffing and coughing or whatever. Benoit actually wins a mat exchange within the flow of the match, gets two on a roll-up, and only loses control when Finlay jabs him in the eye.

 

• Finlay does a weird surfboard kind of deal where he pulls Benoit’s arms from above and uses a boot to press down on the crown of Benoit’s head. This reminds me of a WoS match where dudes are just transitioning from hold to hold, always working them, and some of the holds they transition into are strange and creative. This crowd is pretty into it for a modern crowd watching dudes trade holds on the mat. We were alright, man.

 

• Benoit finally gets to a base and finds a way behind Finlay to hit triple Germans. Benoit goes for the killshot, but whiffs on a diving headbutt. I guess Benoit’s trying to establish the Sharpshooter because he went for it to start the match and tries for it again. Finlay escapes and grabs a chair, but Benoit baseball slides the chair into Benoit’s midsection, then drops another diving headbutt that gets 2.9.

 

• Finlay regains control and targets the neck throughout, using the apron to full effect as he does. Finlay gets two on a lariat to the back of the head and two on a sit out splash before cranking the neck again. There’s just some good-ass wrestling in here, folks, with Finlay stuffing Benoit comebacks and wearing him down through targeted strikes and holds. Finlay stays standing too long and Benoit eventually goes for the triple Germans, and though Finlay blocks the third one, he gets enziguri’d out of the ring and ends up eating that third German out there after whiffing with a shillelagh shot.

 

• Why did I think this match was kind of a letdown? It’s fantastic. I think it’s actually because I wasn’t quite close enough to the ring to get the full effect of the emoting and working of the holds or some of the disrespect. Anyway, back in the ring: Benoit hits the triple rolling verticals while the crowd chants Eddy Guerrero’s name. Benoit wants one more top rope move, but Finlay cuts him off and goes back to targeting the neck and shoulder. Finlay wants what looks like a potential suplex, but Benoit slips out and tries to lock on a desperation Crippler Crossface. They fight over it, but Benoit works through the accumulated damage to his shoulder and just barely locks his fingers on the hold; Finlay immediately taps out. Yeah, this match is way better if you can pick up the little things, and unfortunately, I couldn’t quite do that live. That is one of the best “classic WoS-style” matches that WWE has ever put on, in fact.

 

• I forgot that Jillian Hall existed until this match she had with Melina. I guess they’re feuding over makeup or something. We are squarely in the Divas Era, folks, and it stinks. Melina’s still kayfabe calming down from that disastrous opener, but at least she has Morrison with her to run backup. Oops, no, Morrison tries to bully Hall and the ref before the match and gets tossed from ringside. Speaking of the match, I mean, Hall hits a pretty nice Thesz Press, so there’s that. Actually, terrible strikes aside, she’s not that bad in the ring. She rolls Melina to open. Melina finally kicks Hall into the ring steps and takes over. It’s inoffensive.

 

• This whole match is inoffensive. Hall eventually blocks a very telegraphed second-rope elbowdrop with double knees to the gut. Hall flips Melina over on a rollup and, though Melina gets a hand on the ropes at two, the ref can’t see it from his position and counts three. Rough night for Melina! Kristal Marshall comes down with a mic and draws out a question about exactly how rough this night has been for Melina, in fact. Melina calls her a bitch and then, to cap things off, gets her ass beat by Kristal Marshall on the metal ramp while Marshall’s wearing high heels to boot. Man, Melina should have just stayed in bed that day.

 

• JBL is the United States champ right now, I guess. He cuts a race-baiting promo while wearing an American flag t-shirt as the audience, which has a lot of Latin folks in it by the way, boos lustily. JBL’s distracted by Chavo Guerrero Jr., who is chilling just off camera. JBL reminds Chavo about when JBL beat Eddy for the big gold and promises to do the same to Rey. Chavo’s all like VIVA LA RAZA and the crowd, which has a lot of Latin folks in it if you recall, pops big.

 

• Video: Steve Austin downs Jake Roberts in the 1996 KotR final and then cuts a classic promo to boot.

 

• Shane Gregory Helms, the current Cruiserweight Champ, defends against Super Crazy next! Super Crazy is fantastic. He rides out on a lawnmower, which, you know, that’s unfortunate. But let’s focus on the positive, which is that the Mexicools are all great and any one of them makes for good television at this point and really at any point between now and 1997. Even Juvi cutting terrible promos is entertaining because Juvi is entertaining in general.

 

• Crazy outsmarts Helms to start and gets two on a roll-up. So, the deal is that Helms wants to be a power wrestler in a world of flippy dudes and wrestles as such. Nick Patrick randomly stops Crazy from hitting a plancha so that Crazy can flip over him to hit it. Helms is completely out of this match until he can turn some Crazy corner punches into a Hotshot. Then, he goes to work with his array of aesthetically pleasing neckbreakers. Lots of neck work on this show so far. Crazy works back to a base from a neck crank, then blocks a vertical suplex and hits one of his own.

 

• This is actually some very good heel work from Helms, who regains control and then locks Crazy’s arms and throws knees into Crazy’s neck and shoulders. Michael Cole and Taz have a dumbshit argument about something and should just shut the fuck up because they’re not Monsoon and Heenan. Anyway, Crazy makes a couple of little comebacks and gets stuffed until Helms whiffs on an elbowdrop twice in a row. Crazy hits a lovely combo that ends in a standing moonsault for two. He drills a picture perfect, DVDVR-approved missile dropkick for another two. He goes for the top rope moonsault to finish it, but whiffs. Helms tries a Shining Wizard, whiffs, and eats a kick himself, but kicks out at two. Look, they go back and forth and back and forth until Helms hits a sweet diving neckbreaker from the second rope for another two. Hey, this is all very good, and when Helms counters a Crazy corner charge with a powerbomb and his feet on the ropes that finally ends the match, I feel like I don’t know why I forgot this match even existed because it was really quite a show!

 

• Melina and Morrison barge in on former handler of Norman the Lunatic and godfather of Smackdown general managership Teddy Long. They want reparations for all of the Ls they took tonight, and when Long isn’t too interested in any of that, Melina slaps him. Long's like Nah fuck this, son, you’re fired to both of them. Wow, they really shit on these two on their way out of this part of the territory, huh?

 

• Video: Though it was hopeless, I rooted for Rikishi in what was obviously going to be a losing effort against Kurt Angle at KotR 2000.

 

• AW YEAH, THREE 6 MAFIA ON THE AUDIO. Mark Henry in 2006 is officially the absolute best, and I was in the audience rooting for him in what was obviously going to be a losing effort against Kurt Angle at this show. Henry splashed Angle through a table in the build up to Judgment Day and on tonight's show, in a spot that I remember popping for when it happened, clears the announce table in advance before Angle even gets out here. Then, he grabs a mic and basically wants Angle to know that he’s going to gravely injure him tonight. These yokels from the Valley chant WHAT at him because they’re desert dwelling chumps and most of them have road rash. Anyway, Angle comes out and he is tweaking like a motherfucker. His mouthpiece has REVENGE printed on it, his pupils are dilated, and he’s ready to fuck someone up tonight.

 

• This match is all about Angle trying to break Henry down and Henry trying to find that one kill shot he thinks will put Angle out of wrestling. That announce table is quite the Chekhov’s Gun, by the way, and the only question is who is going through it in this match. Kurt tries to destroy Henry’s knee – lots of well-worked holds tonight that look gnarly on this show. Henry gets control with a lariat and uses heavy strikes to wear Angle down. He even locks in a chinlock, but sticks his knee in Angle’s back and cranks it, then grabs Angle’s palate and yanks upward. I love that everyone was like Hey, if we’re working chinlocks, we’re going to be entertaining as fuck about it tonight.

 

• Angle fights up and tries a crossbody that Henry catches, but Angle swings out and into a DDT before Henry can drop him with a World’s Strongest Slam. They trade standing strikes until Angle ducks under a wild haymaker and drops Henry with a German Suplex and then an Angle Slam that only gets two. Angle Slams were meaningless at this point, yeah. Totally devalued. No one in the crowd was even that surprised about Henry kicking out. Angle runs the ropes, but Henry hits a diving lariat that looks sick, man, it was great, and then he hits a World Strongest Slam that Angle kicks out of at two. That is a slightly more surprising finisher kickout, IMO.

 

• Henry tries another World’s Strongest Slam, but Angle slithers out and around and grabs Henry’s ankle in an ankle lock; Henry gets a knee up and then uses his momentum to sling Angle off of him. They go outside, where Henry puts Angle on the announce table and prepares a big splash from the Spanish table onto Angle; Angle gets off the table before Henry can jump. Man, what a big tease. Henry just decides to post Angle and beat the ten count instead, which earns him a count out victory. Hey, why did I think Henry lost this? I could swear that I remember Henry losing this one. Oh, yeah, Henry goes through the table post-match when he comes back after getting his hand raised and unsuccessfully attacks Angle, that’s why. YEAH I DON’T CARE, THAT’S YOUR WINNER LAYING IN THE WRECKAGE OF THE TABLE THAT HE BOUNCED OFF OF AFTER AN ANGLE SLAM SO ANGLE HIT HIM WITH AN UNPROTECTED CHAIR SHOT TO THE FACE TO GET HIM TO TOPPLE THROUGH THE TABLE FOR REAL THIS TIME, YEAHHHHHH. Anyway, Angle freaks out as his synapses fire off far too much for a healthy person and his music plays (even though he’s not the winner, dammit!).

 

• Queen Sharmell gets Booker T. hyped up backstage, and she cuts a very entertaining delusional heel promo, actually. Bless this delusional couple of nutbars, and may God save the King and Queen.

 

• I don’t really believe in multi-show King of the Ring tournaments. Wrestlers working accrued damage is half of what makes this tournament so compelling. We get a tournament recap and though I don’t remember all of these matches, let me tell you that they look like they were all super, honestly. This recap is nicely produced, too, even if I have to hear “This Fire Burns” a-fucking-gain in the last part of the recap.

 

• I adore this Booker/Sharmell royal couple act so much. What I don’t adore is how fucking hot Booker’s pyro is. Like geez, man, tone it down a bit pyro person. As for Bobby Lashley, my general rule is that if Lashley is wearing a lot of suits, he’s probably pretty great, and if he’s not wearing suits, meh. I didn’t see that Hurt Business stuff really, but I saw pics and some video and all I could think was wow, they made a black Four Horsemen, didn’t they? As a black fan, that sounds like a fever dream. Not that there’s anything wrong with the white Four Horsemen of course, but I spent a lot of time as a kid wishing for Ron Simmons to become a Horseman in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s without understanding why that might not be a workable or welcome idea in that era of JCP/WCW. Anyway, Lashley was good by the time he was spending his days in TNA as I recall.

 

• Booker struggles to match power with Lashley. Lashley is an explosive athlete, let me tell you, and clearly will be very good someday even if he’s still learning at this point in 2006. Lashley has no issues winning the power game early, but can he win the “heel cheats to gain control game?” Book takes control with a thumb to the eye and when he loses it, dodges a corner charge and lets Lashley post himself. Book uses the steps, tries to win by count out, and basically wants to take whatever shortcut he can as long as it earns him that crown. Even if he has to take a spear while sitting in that throne, he’ll be fine with it. He’d better be because he takes a spear while sitting in that throne after the match.

 

• But I’m jumping ahead here. Booker smothers Lashley and works the posted shoulder. Lashley rises to his base, so Booker tries an axe kick and takes a spinning bump when he’s knocked out of the air by a Lashley lariat. Lashley wins a strike-fest and goes to work; he’s ready to try and finish Booker when Sharmell gets on the apron and distracts the ref. That doesn’t keep Lashley from hitting a belly to belly suplex and setting up for the spear, so Sharmell grabs Lashley’s leg to stop him. Book hits a Harlem Houston Side Kick and a Rock Bottom Book End, but Lashley kicks out at two.

 

• Lashley comes back and gets two on a powerslam, and this match really picked up after the Booker heel control segment. Lashley builds up steam and runs himself into another Houston Side Kick and then a scissor kick that gets two for Book. Booker looks for another kick as Lashley runs the ropes, but Lashley counters with a spear that knocks Booker from the ring. Sharmell, panicked, draws the ref’s attention, and Finlay comes down to the ring and finally hits someone with that damned shillelagh tonight. He cracks Lashley in the head; Book follows up with an axe kick for three. That match was pretty fun, too. This show is even better than I remember it being, and I was basking in the glow of being newly in love at the time!

 

• Anyway, Book gets speared post-match, and maybe if you listen close enough, you can hear my complaints from halfway up the stands about this grievous assault on royalty. Also, Sharmell is a gem. She’s pleading BABY, STAY WITH ME as Booker wheezes for air (Book, gasping like a private eye who has just been gut shot in a detective story: “He got me good, baby”). These two crack me up.

 

• Few shows are strong all the way through, however, and it is at this point that I regret to inform you that the Undertaker is wrestling the Great Khali next. All I remember is that Phoenix did not buy the brain chop as a legitimate finisher, which we theoretically should do, right? But our section was basically the Krusty “What the hell was that?” macro when we saw this finish.

 

•  I’ve seen the Undertaker’s entrance a few times in person, and yeah, it ruled every time. At least we got the spectacle of this entrance because the match itself stunk in 2006 and it stinks now. Undertaker tries his best, but Khali is totally immobile and throws some pretty awful strikes besides. At least it’s short! Khali wins with the brain chop (and a regular ol’ follow-up boot to the mush, I forgot about that), I sit here in both 2006 and 2023 unimpressed by that finish, what the hell was that, etc.

 

• (I understand the booking and it’s entirely logical, of course. I just don’t want to watch this because my goodness, who does? In all honesty, I played today’s Hoop Grids while watching Undertaker toss himself around trying to sell this ponderous beatdown.)

 

• Rey Misterio Jr. won the gold at WrestleMania 22 and then his whole reign was actually about the deceased Eddy Guerrero. JBL’s whole gimmick of basically being Ronald Reagan (except a slightly better actor) is solid, but I just never bought the guy at the tippy-top level. I see in the promo package that they had Khali and Kane kill Rey before this title match, which I remember now. In fact, I remember being irritated about it. They really botched this Rey Misterio title run, didn’t they? Let’s put that sucker on King Booker ASAP.

 

• Rey gets a huge pop on his way down. He’s announced as being from San Diego, which as anyone knows is a second home for Zonies who don’t know how to drive in California and who unfortunately bring their road rash and their cactus humping ways to San Diego’s various pristine beaches. What I’m saying is that this is basically home turf for Rey.

 

• Big EDDY chant as JBL piefaces Rey, who comes back with kicks to the quads. Now we get a 619 chant as these fellas eye one another. I don’t even need to tell you the story of this match, which is a) power and size versus speed and agility and also b) THE SPIRIT OF EDDY GUERRERO LIVES ON THROUGH REY. Rey’s trying to hit his big home run move, the 619, and JBL has to dodge one early on. Rey goes to the air and scores an early two count off a top-rope crossbody, then another two off a dropkick. Ooh, then he hits a Syxx-style legdrop to the back of the head for two. That low running legdrop that Waltman does is one of my favorite movies in the whole pro wrestling oeuvre. Rey hits a baseball slide into JBL’s junk and this crowd is LOVING IT, man, they are way into Rey brutalizing Bradshaw’s ballsack.

 

• Finally, JBL dodges another baseball slide and hits a big boot, then tosses Rey into the steps to get a little space for himself. Bradshaw actually is solid in heel control here, which he was decidedly not for most of his WHC run. He busts Rey open, punches Rey’s bloody eye, shows his bloody knuckle to Rey’s wife, and then hits the triple vertical suplexes and celebrates like Eddy would. That’s good stuff! We also get a fallaway slam (another great move; the Kliq members did a lot of cool moves) outside the ring. I’m pretty much happy with this, and of course, the crowd is ready for Rey to make his comeback after all this good heel work.

 

• Rey’s busted brow has spewed blood all over his appropriately white mask, and it is a fantastic visual. Bradshaw tries to win by KO after a few short-arm clotheslines, but Rey makes it up at nine; Bradshaw follows up with a big boot, but only gets 2.9. Bradshaw stifles a Rey comeback with a jab to the eye, then locks on a sleeper and – I dig this – throws punches at Rey’s busted eye while he cinches it in. He dumps Rey out of the hold when Rey’s arm goes down twice to go for the cover instead because he’s a dick, but Rey kicks out at two.

 

• Bradshaw looks for a super back suplex, but Rey elbows out of it and gets 2.9 on a desperation moonsault. This signals Rey’s comeback, as he finds a way to out-strike Bradshaw and gets a couple two counts out of it. Rey tries a Bronco Buster, but Bradshaw sticks his boot up and punishes Rey’s penis for once. JBL tries to follow up with a powerbomb, but Rey flips out of it, draping Bradshaw across the middle rope in the process, and scores a 619. He tries for the springboard rana to finish, but JBL pulls the ref in the way, then hits a powerbomb and waits for a new ref, who runs down and only counts to two before Rey kicks out.

 

• Bradshaw, who has already knocked out Nick Patrick, goes HAM on all the WCW refs he can possibly reach and next knocks out Charles Robinson, who ran down to count that last pinfall attempt. JBL goes for a chair, but when he brings it into the ring, Rey kicks it into his face, hits another 619, and finishes with a Frog Splash that scores a three count from a recovering Patrick. Yeah, that is absolutely JBL’s best match. I thought it at the time and this merely confirmed it. Chavo comes out to celebrate with Rey, which I’m sure he will continue to do throughout Rey’s title reign with total grace and no malice whatsoever.

 

• This was a great show, just a great show, the sort of show that you would remember fondly even if you didn’t also completely outkick your coverage the night before. Go, wrestling! Go, me!