WWE Network Conversation

[Cobra Commander]

On 3/26/2023 at 3:18 PM, clintthecrippler said:

Spoiler

"General" Eddie Gilbert comes off as an annoying goober hick with a minor-league presentation compared to Jim Cornette and Skandor Akbar

 

wasn't Eddie fairly blatantly stealing a Jerry Lawler gimmick with that name too?

[zendragon]

That Taipeti glass match is one of those matches everyone should see once but only once

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Heat Wave 95

Hack Meyers beat Big Val Puccio after the 500-pounder missed an elbow drop. Wait a minute - this was the exact same match they had last month at Hardcore Heaven. Joey Styles was even making the same jokes on commentary. What's going on here?

Before Stevie Richards stepped into the cage with Luna, he looked like he was thinking, "I hope she's not as tough as she is in the Royal Rumble game for Sega Genesis." Unfortunately, she was! Stevie lost a bloody brawl when he submitted to a testicular claw.

Earlier in the night, he and Raven defended the tag team belts, but they lost by countout to Donn E. Allen & Broad Street Bully. This match featured a catfight (Beulah-Francine) and a dogfight (Pitbulls-Dudleys).

The Pitbulls later teamed with Dreamer to beat the Dudleys and Raven with the superbomb. The Pitbulls were regaining the popularity that they had temporarily thrown away.

The Public Enemy seemed to have their cage match with the Gangstas in the bag when Rocco put New Jack through two tables. But Mustafa sprayed something in Grunge's eyes and got the pin.

After Stevie's loss to Luna, Raven invaded the cage, but that was a big mistake. Tommy Dreamer attacked him, handcuffed him to the cage and delivered the Chairshot Heard Round the World. It wasn't a victory in the ring, but Dreamer finally gained some revenge on Raven, as well as the MVP award.

Edited April 2, 2023 by Gorman

[Dolphman 3000]

On 4/1/2023 at 1:28 AM, zendragon said:

That Taipeti glass match is one of those matches everyone should see once but only once

They did a second one at Hardcore Homecoming: November Reign in 2005 that was very good

[SirSmUgly]

On 3/26/2023 at 1:18 PM, clintthecrippler said:

Seeing @Elsalvajeloco namedrop Mark Ragin in the AEW Discussion thread made me remember how strange his debut in 1984 Mid-South was. Dude gets the full-scale "next big superstar" entrance coming to the ring to Michael Jackson and breakdancing with the music still playing even after the bell rings...and then he turns out to be extremely NOT ready for that level of presentation, and within a few weeks he's reduced to teaming with Mike Jackson (the wrestler) and people below that level like that "superstar" debut never happened.

He's like the Mid-South version of Outback Jack. And no shade on Mike Jackson with that previous comment, matches where he is on the job side of things show that he has always been really good and maybe even better in Mid-South than JCP because he actually gets hope spots in almost every match he is in and Bill Watts talks him up on commentary to give him some credibility.

As far as my current Mid-South watching is concerned, I am now into June 1985, but I'll put the rest of this in Spoilers since I know @SirSmellingtonofCascadia is still in 84 right now:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

This means I am now in the era of Mid-South Television Champion, The Snowman. It's the most shameless attempt yet by Bill Watts to create a "new Junkyard Dog" from scratch. Making a surprise debut as an alternate in the semifinals of the Television title tournament and squashing Dr. Death Steve Williams in under a minute complete with the familiar-looking "Big Thump"-style Powerslam and being presented as a protege of Muhammad Ali's trainer Bundini Brown with Ali himself in his corner at the Superdome for his big match against Jake Roberts, but when he finally cuts his first real promo on the weekly TV, you can tell immediately when he starts talking that he is not the long-term answer and is destined to be the short-term bandaid that peels off on its own the same day that it's applied.

That said, there is still plenty of awesomeness in Mid-South at this stage aside. Everything about the angle where Hacksaw Duggan gets blinded by Skandor Akbar is fantastic pro wrestling. Ted Dibiase and Dr. Death are starting what looks be a fantastic reign as Mid-South Tag Team Champions. Terry Taylor is the most credible he will ever be, presented as a scrappy underdog and mostly rising to the occasion to the point where you could see fans thinking that he has a legit shot at unseating Ric Flair for the NWA World Title, and Jake Roberts spends the first half of the year cutting wild heel promos and truly becoming the devious shitbird that a worldwide audience would come to captivated by in the WWF.

The North American Title is in a weird spot at this stage though, as it's now on the masked Nightmare, who is Randy Colley in a mask with a style and presentation that is very outdated compared to how the Mid-South roster has evolved since mid-84 and exposes how despite staying a traditional pro wrestling product, 1985 Mid-South is still such a different and more modern beast from the same time period just three years prior in 82. Being brought in initally managed by Eddie Gilbert pre-"Hot Stuff" in his "General" gimmick didn't help either, as at first "General" Eddie Gilbert comes off as an annoying goober hick with a minor-league presentation compared to Jim Cornette and Skandor Akbar, though he does transition to the "Hot Stuff" gimmick after The Nightmare becomes "The Champion" (both as a titleholder and his ring name) so I am looking to forward to seeing him get more comfortable and finding himself in that role.

The Nightmare and The Snowman aside, Mid-South overall is still hitting on a lot of cylinders in Summer 1985, and there's no way anyone could have possibly predicted that they would be gone from the scene completely just a mere two years later. And one of the greatest episodes of professional wrestling television is yet to come towards the end of the year...

 

OK, I'm watching Ragen get squashed in a handicap match by an over-the-hill Ernie Ladd like a month, maybe six weeks, after the dancing and "Billie Jean." Other than Vince McMahon Jr. getting tired of dudes after like two weeks, I'm not sure I've seen anything much like it. Wild. 

[odessasteps]

Mid-South was good at cutting bait. Look how fast Master G George Welles got pushed down the card when they realized he was not the new JYD. Of course, it didn't stop Watts from repeated trying. 

[clintthecrippler]

4 hours ago, odessasteps said:

Mid-South was good at cutting bait. Look how fast Master G George Welles got pushed down the card when they realized he was not the new JYD. Of course, it didn't stop Watts from repeated trying. 

That first introduction of Master G where Watts proclaims that Master G "turned down a five-figure payday in Madison Square Garden to be here because he knows the REAL competition is here in Mid-South" is some insane PRO WRESTLING BULLSHIT even for that era. 

[Cobra Commander]

IIRC, his debut was pretty hot, but it wasn't necessarily the usual babyface debut and it's George Wells, so they hit their ceiling with him pretty quickly

[odessasteps]

I swear there was a music video using Rappers Delight, but I can’t find it.

[clintthecrippler]

3 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

IIRC, his debut was pretty hot, but it wasn't necessarily the usual babyface debut and it's George Wells, so they hit their ceiling with him pretty quickly

I actually ended up thinking that him and Brickhouse Brown had great chemistry as a tag team together once they finally gave up on the singles push and there is a damn fun match between the two of them and the Midnight Express at some point, but just as they seemed like they were building momentum both of them disappeared, with Brickhouse coming back six months later. 

I definitely got the vibe that they could have taken that tag team to a few of the Southeast/Southwest territories and had fun runs if they felt so inclined to keep that team going into 85/86. 

[odessasteps]

They had 2 matches vs the MX, iirc, after the first one broke down into a shmozz. 

[odessasteps]

Here’s a Butch Reed music video instead of Master G.

 

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Gangsta's Paradise

Tony Stetson dressed up in a Philadelphia Flyers outfit as the Broad Street Bully, but the fans thought he was pandering to them and booed him. The WWF must have loved the idea, as they dressed up Wild Bill Irwin as The Goon one year later.

The Dudley Boyz shuffled their lineup, with Dudley Dudley and Dances with Dudley in the ring and Chubby Dudley and the injured Big Dick Dudley on the floor.

JT Smith lost his balance, fell off the top rope and put himself through a table, causing him to get counted out against Hack Meyers. Smith also thought he was Italian. 

The Steiners lost a six-man to the Eliminators when their partner, Taz, had a neck injury and got pinned by Jason.

Raven & Richards defended the tag team belts in a dog collar match against the Pitbulls, who would have to break up if they lost. This match was more about tables, as they led to Raven's win in the first fall and the Pitbulls' in the second. Pitbull 2 left with an injury, Tommy Dreamer took his place and pinned Raven to win the belts. Then professional wet blanket Bill Alfonzo came out and said it didn't count.

This match was destined for a super-happy ending, though, as 911 finally chokeslammed Fonzie, and Pitbull 2 returned from his injury, and the Pitbulls won the belts.

Rey Misterio Jr. fits into whatever promotion or decade in which he wrestles. Psicosis dove through the ropes and Rey Jr. blasted him with a chair. Fans: "ECW! ECW!"

Mikey Whipwreck is the MVP. He dressed up as Public Enemy and proved himself before the match by swiping ring announcer Bob Artese's wallet and watch. He capped off the night by pinning The Sandman to win the six-man cage match. Mikey had progressed from overmatched joke to top contender to the ECW title.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Gorman

[SirSmUgly]

Road Wild 1997 notes:

• Vicious and Delicious are the impromptu faces against Harlem Heat. Can you believe it? I never would have guessed. There's a crowd cut as the nWo members come out that shows a young woman who looks like she is suffering just being in this crowd. Seriously, maybe someone should have done a welfare check on her. Anyway, this match gets pretty much none of the reactions that you would expect from a typical crowd. It's good, though. Both teams work hard. Jacqueline comes to ringside as a Sister Sherri replacement. She distracts Scott Norton with a few punches, then holds Norton's ankle down to help Booker earn a pinfall off a sidekick. She went 8.5/10 on the "James Vandenberg Competent Ringside Managing" Scale, at least. 

 

• That is one boxy laptop that Ted DiBiase answers chat questions on. 

 

• Rey is kinda over in front of this crowd. He can get over pretty much anywhere, huh? Konnan being mean to a smaller opponent is actually a pretty good time. I enjoyed the limb work, and Rey is bendy enough (and Konnan mean enough) to make it work. It's probably not the right thing to focus on in front of this crowd - maybe more strike-based or weapon-based limb destroying would work better for the audience - but I enjoyed it, at least. It also made sense for Konnan to go after Rey's mask since he wanted to show disrespect to the traditions of lucha, so when he was distracted by the mask instead of focused on punishing Rey, it was logical. Not that it mattered because Konnan straight bullied Rey to get the win. Good stuff. 

 

• The crowd was more into Mongo's power wrestling than the intricate exchanges between Benoit and Malenko in the big Horseman-affiliated tag match. The crowd seems to think that Jeff Jarrett sucks. I think there are more actual fans in this crowd than there were the year prior. They know the significance of Jarrett and Mongo finally being tagged in at the same time, for example. Jarrett falls over and holds Mongo down on him for three, then jets with his gold. He'd rather not get an ass-kicking today, I guess. This is apparently an elimination tag, so Malenko is left alone to get beaten down by the two remaining Horsemen. I've been watching Nitro, but I'm pretty certain that this was not billed as an elimination tag on that show at any point. Maybe on the WCWSN's that I didn't see, it was. Malenko gets dissected and Tombstoned twice for the Horsemen victory. 

 

• Well, Alex Wright shows up and an, uh, unfortunate chant starts. Jericho actually has to work to try and get them to just cheer or rev their engines or, like, anything else but what they're doing. Tony S.: "The bikers here can identify a little bit more with a guy like Jericho than a guy in key-lime tights who dances." That's one way to put it, Schiavone. These fellas have progressively had better matches since they started their recent series a few Nitros ago. The first match stunk, but they course-corrected pretty quickly. Wright, for his part, does the little heel things nicely, including some early surreptitious hair-pulling that he pulls off to great effect. Wright stalls and cheats, and Jericho works effectively as a fiery babyface. I think their last Nitro match was better than this PPV match, but this is still good. Wright cheats his way out of trouble with a roll-up and a hook of the tights for the three. 

 

• Syxx is such a great pro wrestler. I don't have time for any of this "X-Pac Heat" shit. That's a myth. Everyone just hated Uncle Kracker. Whether never-say-die babyface or detestable heel, Waltman is great. The story of his match against Flair is that Flair's still an even bigger shitheel than Syxx is. It's like two Sith fighting each other to be King of the Sith or whatever (look, I don't really do Star Wars, but I've played enough KotOR to know that there can only be one when it comes to the Sith). The problem for Syxx is that Flair's not ready to give up being the absolutely dirtiest player in the game. Flair boots Syxx in the nuts on a second Bronco Buster attempt and then rolls Syxx up with his feet on the ropes for leverage. Syxx, you are not ready, young Padawan. Unless that's only a Jedi thing. 

 

• We got a rare hair whip in a men's match in DDP/Hennig. The crowd was very into it, and very into any time someone got their testes trashed. These folks in Sturgis love a nut shot or two ten. This match was okay, I guess. DDP got busted open on an exposed turnbuckle, but kicked out of a PerfectPlex. The blade job and kick out made him look like a killer, but of course, there was a ref bump. Flair came down and ate a Diamond Cutter; Hennig reapplied the PerfectPlex on a distracted Page for three. Well, I guess if you're going to have DDP lose three straight PPV matches to Randy Savage and Curt Hennig, you could do worse than what's been done, but I'm impressed that Page was able to survive his booking. He's enough of a scrappy underdog that I guess Bischoff got away with it. I'm not quite sure the booking fits him, though, in spite of his portrayal. 

 

• Randy Savage stalls, tries a body slam, fails at the attempt, and then gets murdered by the Giant. Savage clips the knee in desperation at one point and tries his best to capitalize, but the Giant never really feels like he's in danger. Savage goes for a double-axehandle, but jumps himself right into a goozle and a chokeslam. It was fine for what it was. 

 

• Scott Hall has the only good "heel locks on an abdominal stretch and uses the ropes/his partner for leverage' spot. Why is that? It's not fundamentally different from when any other heel does it. He's the only one that gets me to enjoy it, though. Ric Flair's the only other guy who is all-time great at using leverage spots for entertainment. Still, there are a lot of stretches and chinlocks in the heel control segment of the Steiner Brothers/Outsiders match. Woof, it's slow going. I much prefer their Souled Out match to this.  The finish is also a disappointing cop-out because the Steiners have the belts won, but Nash pulls Nick Patrick out of the ring during the three-count for the cheapie DQ. I don't like it; this should have been a clean victory after the months-long chase that the Steiners have been through. I guess it's okay if they have a rematch that's no DQ that the Steiners win definitively next show (or on Nitro, since the next show is Fall Brawl and the Outsiders'll probably be in War Games). But really, this felt like the culminating match for the whole feud. 

 

• Michael Buffer is wearing a biker hat along with his usual ring announcer getup, and it looks stupid. I laughed. Lex Luger's title reign was too short. He could have at least held it for a month. He was red-hot for the last few months of 1996 and the first half of 1997. Five days wasn't enough. On another note, I think heel Hogan was pretty good as a big-match worker on PPV in 1996 and into 1997. He's clearly athletically limited in a way he wasn't even two or three years before, but he gets a lot out of a little and goes into his bag of '70s/'80s heel tricks whenever he can fit that in. The Starrcade match against Piper is the best example of this because it should have been awful, but it was actually a good little match.

 

• This is another match that is probably better than it should be, and Hogan's heeling is a big part of that. I recall that in 1997, people were sick of Hogan matches and Hogan winning main events, but I think from a distance, this sort of old-school heel work is engaging and, for me, appreciated. I don't think Luger got enough shine before the heel control segment, though. So, the nWo does a mass run-in again, and Luger's ability to fight everyone off is to his detriment as Fake Sting hits Luger with a bat shot behind the referee's back. Hogan gets three and the announcers are incredibly stupid for thinking, yet again, that Fake Sting is actual Sting. Sweet hell. The nWo celebrates in the back and spray paints the belt. 

 

• This show was solid. No classics, but no duds. 

 

[SirSmUgly]

Clash of the Champions 35: The Finale notes

• This is the end of an institution, and I’m bummed. And it ended almost thirty years ago! Still bummed, though.

 

• I hope if Gorman is casting around for “King of…” ideas after he finishes up the ECW PPVs, the King of Clash is a potential one that he pursues.

 

• We see Sting and an audience full of people explain what Sting wants to J.J. Dillon on a recap. Tony S. swears that Dillon understands, but just wants Sting to vocalize it. I would like to challenge that notion, Tony. 

 

• Jeff Jarrett's putting up the U.S. Championship against Mongo McMichael. Jarrett has had such a good run, but he's pretty much out after this, right? I wonder why he left so quickly? I'm sure he's talked about it. His run has been so good that it seems like a mistake to let him go back to the competition without too much fuss. There are some actual Jarrett fans in the front row, facing away from the hard cam! There are dozens of us! Dozens! We are in Nashville, though, and Jarrett's still mostly booed, so maybe it's not that impressive. Jarrett gets real disrespectful by tackling Mongo out of a three-point stance. Jarrett bails whenever he's losing control of the match and uses his speed and experience to keep Mongo off balance. He bashes Mongo into the steps outside and goes to town; Debra helps where she can. Mongo powers out of a sleeper and locks on one of his own. Debra distracts the ref, and Eddy comes down to help Jarrett, but Eddy ends up blasting Jarrett with the U.S. Championship accidentally, and Mongo wins the title off the error. Debra tries to pull a Sunny and ditch the former champ for the new one, but Mongo's not feeling it. Is there a Jarrett/Eddy match before Jarrett leaves, at least? Let's hope. 

 

• Eric Bischoff is a real sadist; he sends Alex Wright out to do another interview with Okerlund, though I appreciate that Alex Wright ignores Gene's pleas for an English-only interview. Wright is still bad at promoing, but that was a nice touch. 

 

• It's a TBS Dinner and a Movie promo, live at the Clash! Aw man, this brings back some memories. These fellas say they're making jerk chicken, but I don't see a Jamaican woman anywhere near this set. 

 

• When does Raven get his "Come As You Are" knockoff theme? I love the Nirvana knockoffs that he and DDP ran with. Raven grabs the mic and announces that he will have a no-DQ match against Stevie Richards. The former WCW Light Heavyweight Champion goes to town on Stevie immediately, capping off his opening flurry with a plancha. Stevie goes into survival mode immediately, but Raven dominates him anyway. The crowd loves Raven's chair-focused offense, which is certainly creative for 1997 WCW - he hits a drop-toehold onto a chair, then ups that with a bulldog onto the chair. Stevie gets a flurry when he reverses a whip and sends Raven into the chair, but Raven regains control and hits the Evenflow DDT for the win. That was a fun little change of pace match.

 

• Mike Tenay narrates a cool hype video giving background on Ultimo Dragon. I can't imagine that they're having him drop the TV Title to Alex Wright here after that, but who knows? Wright starts out aggressively, but he doesn't understand that he can't afford to be cocky against Dragon, who is adept at misdirection and has more experience. Wright very nicely counters Dragon with a neckbreaker and then a powerbomb, but he doesn't go for the cover, and the desk freaks out over his mistake. This match is fantastic at getting over that Dragon is very experienced and Wright isn't, from the package that showed Dragon's wide range of wrestling experience up through the work in the ring and at the desk. It's so satisfying when everything comes together to enhance a narrative. The desk stays on Wright looking unfocused and not taking advantage of his opportunities.

 

• Wright lets Dragon back into the match after a TV break, and then it gets intense as they have a strike-fest. Wright goes to the apron, but stalls to jaw at the crowd; Dragon takes the opening and hits a springboard dropkick. Dragon tries to crossbody Wright on the floor, but Wright simply steps to his left and avoids it. This match actually rules pretty hard. Dragon ends up getting control back and hitting an Asai moonsault to the floor. They clamber back into the ring, where Wright blocks a top-rope rana attempt, but then gets blocked on a superplex attempt. A Dragon La Magistral gets two, and Wright gets a two-count of his own after countering a handspring elbow. This finishing run is so good. They reverse a few roll-up pinfall attempts on one another, and Wright beats Dragon to his feet after that exchange and rocks Dragon with a German Suplex for three. THAT WAS FANTASTIC. Holy shit, I knew it'd be a good match, but I didn't expect that. 

 

• May we have a third new champion in as many title matches tonight? Eddy Guerrero is pretty certain that he's going to lift the Cruiserweight Championship off of Chris Jericho. Eddy enjoys jawing at Jericho and the crowd, but he gets caught and gorilla pressed on a leapfrog attempt. That was a dope spot. I feel like the crowd should have enjoyed that more. They definitely enjoy Eddy crawling over to the ref and asking for help. These fellas have a fast-paced match that's very good, though at one point Jericho botches a corner jump and tumbles outside; Eddy responds by ostentatiously belly-laughing and pointing at Jericho, which is an AMAZING way to save a blown spot. Eddy is such a dick, man, such a dick. He's in excellent form here with his taunting and shit talking. Back in the ring, they're countering one another at pace; Jericho hits a nice overhead release German for two. Jericho is huffing and puffing as he tries to keep up with Eddy, but he makes it through a final pinfall counter-exchange and rolls Eddy up for three. Eddy attacks Jericho in frustration after the match; he hits a brainbuster and a belt-assisted Frog Splash before rolling out like the champion in our hearts that he is. 

 

• There's an eight-man lucha tag. Uh, let me see who all's here. Psicosis, Silver King, and Villanos IV and V are up against Super Calo, Juventud Guerrera, Lizmark Jr., and Hector Garza. There are lots of speedy flips and counters and dives. There are a few synchronized spots. Super Calo nearly kills himself on the railing in the first of multiple dives onto a lunch of luchadores standing around waiting to catch a dude outside. Psicosis, who doesn't bother with any of that dumb shit, has left himself refreshed enough to stick Super Calo with a guillotine legdrop for three when Calo makes it back to the ring. It was perfectly fine palate cleanser stuff. 

 

• The Dinner and a Movie guys, while revealing their finished dishes, go nWo over at the kitchen set. I appreciate that they totally sell this shit and don't half-ass their heeling. Bless 'em. They rip off their shirts and reveal Macho Man shirts beneath them. Savage comes out and squawks; the Dinner and a Movie guys harass Okerlund until he leaves. They then talk shit about DDP until DDP comes out, destroys the set, dumps the nWo birthday cake the fellas have presented on the floor, and hits a Diamond Cutter on Paul Gilmartin. Gilmartin bumped like a champ, too. Much respect to these fellas for this fuckery; it was genuinely entertaining AND a wonderful little time capsule of TBS in the '90s. 

 

• Bobby Heenan wants Lee Marshall dead. I guess you got your wish eventually, huh, Heenan? The desk ignores Bobby's complaints about Lee Marshall's lame "weasel" potshots to talk about the nWo. Syxx and Konnan come to the ring to face off with "Nature's Perfect Tag Team," as one reasonably clever fan sign calls them. Did Hennig and Syxx have any matches against one another in WWF? I need to check that out. Flair and Syxx are the prime matchup to see here. I think they have a surprising amount of chemistry. I've written before that Flair as a babyface against Hall, Syxx, and Nash are the most interesting matchups for him in 1997. At least concerning Hall and Syxx, Flair has excellent chemistry with them. Hennig plays FIP, and Flair eventually has enough of it and comes in. All four men brawl, but as Flair is trying to get the Figure Four on Konnan, Hennig tosses Syxx behind him and into Flair's knee. Did he do it on purpose? Probably not because he did it blindly, and he put Konnan away with the PerfectPlex about thirty seconds later anyway. Post-match, Gene Okerlund interviews the winners. Hennig still isn't proudly declaring himself to be a Horseman. My head canon right now is that Hennig's fine teaming with Flair without any further commitment, because with every win, he convinces Bischoff to up the dollar amount of his nWo contract offer. 

 

• Michael Buffer's making bank doing his little catchphrase for WCW these past few weeks. Tonight, he does the ring announcements for the main event. Balloons fall as Nash announces that Randy Savage will take his place alongside Scott Hall in the match against Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page. He also announces that it'll now be a WCW Tag Team Championships match. Somewhere backstage, the Steiner Brothers dimly realize that they've been screwed again. I assumed immediately that we'd get an nWo beatdown and DQ to end this match after the title stip announcement, but I was wrong and am glad that I was wrong. Luger overpowers Hall early until Hall pulls the tights and tosses him outside. Then, Luger fights his way to a tag and DDP beats the hell out of everyone until Hall can yank his leg from outside and set him up for a Macho clothesline. So yeah, that's the flow of the match. Luger and DDP have the juice, so the nWo needs misdirection, double-teaming, and assorted cheating strategies to keep control. 

 

• Page plays FIP again, as he did on the Nitro before this one. He takes a beating, and when Luger gets the hot tag, the crowd is very into it. Luger is such a good hot tag. He racks Scott Hall, but Savage cuts him off with a boot to the gut. Hall pushes Luger away and into DDP out of desperation. DDP, who was hit from behind, just pops off a blind Diamond Cutter. This is a good finish, I think. Of course, DDP thought Savage or someone was barging into him. Hall makes the cover on a downed Luger for three. The nWo just barely survives, but they actually got a clean pinfall to do it! How refreshing. 

 

• The nWo has a huge birthday celebration in the middle of the ring, but Sting's not having that shit! Scott Hall, after Bischoff does an over-the-top introduction of how great he is: "Aw shucks, I think you're great, too." I fell out. He even does a whole faux-bashfulness deal, fluttering his eyelashes and looking away from the camera, as he says it. Genuinely funny. Bischoff rambles on until the lights flicker and Sting's awesome new music plays. Crow Sting's standing on the catwalk, holding Vulture Sting. This rules. The vulture is on fucking point when it's time to work. Birds are so cool. Anyway, it goes dark, and when the lights come up, the vulture is perched on the rope, staring menacingly at the nWo kinda chilling up there checking stuff out. THIS MAGNIFICENT AVIAN SPECIMEN TURNS HIS BACK ON THE NWO AND PUTS HIS WINGS OUT LIKE CROW STING DOES AFTER HANDING A DUDE A BAT! Bischoff comes up to the bird, but backs off when the bird turns on him. Nash readies his tag title as a weapon. The vulture doesn't give a fuck about your weapons, nWo!  IDK what anyone says, that was great. 

 

• I know the Clash went away because they were not as necessary once WCW shifted to monthly PPVs, but there's something about these shows - not as big as a PPV, but bigger than a typical weekly show - that is special. As a kid with no money and a desire to see PPV-quality matchups, these were everything to me in the late '80s and early '90s. At least these shows went out on an awesome finale. That undercard delivered some quality pro wrestling and the main event was a very good tag match. Also, Vulture Sting was fantastic. This show is worth visiting (or revisiting) the next time you sit down to watch some pro wrestling.

[twiztor]

i have a soft spot for the very last Clash. everything just clicks at my exact frequency. Even those stupid 'dinner & a movie' bits are just so perfectly executed. the reveal of the food names "WCW Cream Puffs" "N.W.Okra". just the silliest way to go for it, but it still works. 

 

8 hours ago, SirSmUgly said:

Did Hennig and Syxx have any matches against one another in WWF? I need to check that out.

sadly, no.

but in looking thru cagematch, i did see some Waltman matches that look interesting: Rick Martel (WWF All American Wrestling, 10/3/93); Chris Kanyon (Wrestling Challenge, 10/23/94); Bam Bam Bigelow (Action Zone 1/15/95)

[zendragon]

What was the deal with those cooking show / movie mash up shows? There seemed to be a bunch of them?

[DangerMark]

What's Buffer's strike rate for getting people's names right on all these shows? I can't think that I've seen him get more than half of the names I've ever seen him try and say right.

[SirSmUgly]

On 4/14/2023 at 2:02 PM, zendragon said:

What was the deal with those cooking show / movie mash up shows? There seemed to be a bunch of them?

I only really remember Dinner and a Movie, and I'm not sure I watched it more than twice. I just remember the promos. 

14 hours ago, DangerMark said:

What's Buffer's strike rate for getting people's names right on all these shows? I can't think that I've seen him get more than half of the names I've ever seen him try and say right.

He's doing fine so far. I have a theory that he gets worse with his ring announcing as WCW gets worse as a creative entity. 

[zendragon]

I remember all the movie clips of people eating (especially what about bob) for the dinner and a movie promo 

[SirSmUgly]

So, that Fantastics "Sharp Dressed Man" video is absurd enough as it is, even though it made more sense to me once I watched the original. I've never heard the song before except maybe in the OG Mid-South Fantastics matches that I saw, so this was the first time I've listened to the lyrics. OK, once I heard the lyrics, I got the point of the video. Cheesy, but yeah.

However, as it is on the WWEN with a random rock instrumental replacing the OG song, it is fucking bizarre. I thought I was having some sort of fever dream there for a second. I went out of my way to look up the original on YouTube so I could make sense of it all. 

 

[SirSmUgly]

8/18/84 Mid-South is the first post-JYD episode. Watts didn't initially go in as hard on JYD as hard as I thought he would. I'm looking forward to him going increasingly off the rails as business slows down, though. 

The crowd started a JYD chant while Duggan was getting attacked, but it died out once they remembered/figured out that he wasn't exactly going to show up. 

Mike Jackson is one of those dudes that you can't help but root for. I saw him wrestling an X-Division title match in his 70s, and apart from the times that I was hoping he wouldn't, like, die or anything, I was very into hoping that he'd set a record for oldest X-Division champion. 

Dude is a very good underneath wrestler. 

One more edit: Then again, Brickhouse Brown squashing Buddy Landell twice in a row probably indicates what's to come w/r/t Watts desperately trying to find another black main eventer pretty well, huh?

Edited April 18, 2023 by SirSmUgly

[odessasteps]

Not technically on Peacock but I was shocked how good the Dusty biography was. 
 

 

[Matt D]

On 4/15/2023 at 6:43 PM, SirSmUgly said:

On 4/14/2023 at 5:02 PM, zendragon said:

 

I only really remember Dinner and a Movie, and I'm not sure I watched it more than twice. I just remember the promos. 

Renee and RJ have pitched “Dinner and a Match.” 

[SirSmUgly]

Fantastics/MX were awesome in not one, not two, but three different territories. It's on my shortlist for greatest pro wrestling rivalry. And it was a hot rivalry EVERY TIME, too. 

The Fantastics just took some gross unprotected headshots on the 9/8/84 episode, though. Man. Great segment, but those shots were rough. 

I also got a kick out of Adrian Street, a Welshman, being disgusted at beer-chugging Louisianans. I'm pretty sure the Welsh might have invented chugging beer!

I assume WWE didn't even remotely bother to get the rights to "Imagine What I'd Do to You," but that's some bullshit IMO. 

EDIT: Watts seeing JYD on WWF shows triggered the FUCK out of that guy, hahaha. Here we go. I love it, and I'm looking forward to an increasingly deranged Watts cutting matches to make it look like JYD lost clean to all the heels and showing Kamala matches from like 1983 in which he lost to a current Mid-South performer and...hey, did he ever do this sort of thing to any non-black wrestlers?

2X EDIT: Maybe Orndorff? 

Edited April 20, 2023 by SirSmUgly