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The Broken Skull Session with Jericho was really good. And really long. Maybe I just didn't remember how long these things could get, but this was over an hour and a half. They do talk about AEW and New Japan and basically do a really good overview of his career. Jericho comes like a bit of a prodigy TBH, like he planned his whole career out ahead of time and was lucky to be in the right place at the right time every time but then know exactly how to reinvent himself. For such a bright guy I don't know how he could put all that dumb shit (and horrible people) on his podcast, or be such an idiot about Covid. Also, there are a lot of really funny Vince stories on here. It's clear these guys have a rapport that's special. 

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It's frustrating with Jericho as I feel there's a lot of good things about him.  It's just too bad he's gone further into Florida Man territory as time goes on.

It's also frustrating to see a topic for the Network knowing I would need a VPN just to get back on it.  At least I checked out most of '93 ECW which was pretty wild from day one.

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Peacock added 10 new episodes of Superstars today starting on 1/15/94. The "old" Network had Superstars episodes through 1/8/94. 

Peacock does not have any of the pre-1/15/94 episodes uploaded yet.

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16 hours ago, Peck said:

Peacock added 10 new episodes of Superstars today starting on 1/15/94. The "old" Network had Superstars episodes through 1/8/94. 

Peacock does not have any of the pre-1/15/94 episodes uploaded yet.

Sounds delightfully logical. I hope the new episodes are on the OG Network as well!

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The new 24 on the Miz is really good although I am not sure how much of it is stuff that hasn't been on other shows that features him.  The stories about his period where he was kicked out of a locker room was pretty interesting.  No idea that they were making him change in the bathrooms that actual fans were using.   Also that it was basically Taker that allowed him back in.   the story on his main event match against Cena at Wrestlemania and the back stage stuff trying to deal with his concussion was cool.  The funny part is them trying to sell his recent world title reign as being some really important in his career.   Not sure anybody took it that seriously 

Other thing is watching Daniel Bryan talking about his infamous Talking Smack segment, it is hard to tell if Bryan is still "working" about how much he doesn't like the Miz or not

 

Edited by hammerva
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Thoughts on Bunkhouse Stampede 88

Why was the Western States Heritage title defended on Long Island?

Barry Windham lost to Larry Zbyszko after getting hit with Baby Doll's shoe. Again, the wheels were turning in Barry's head that maybe he shouldn't be such a nice guy.

Hawk is the MVP for mounting a strong challenge to Ric Flair's NWA World title.  Matches like this showed how strong the tag team division was, just like Bobby Eaton going to a 20-minute draw with Nikita Koloff for the TV title.

Seven of the eight men in the Bunkhouse Stampede eventually went to the WWF (Dusty, Animal, Powers of Pain, Tully & Arn and Luger). Of course, Ivan Koloff was already WWWF champion, so he had nothing to prove.

The rules were weird. You could only be eliminated by going over the top of the cage(!) or through the door. Why would anyone climb to the top of the cage or go anywhere near the door?

Dusty Rhodes won for the third time in a row, making the trophy the "Being Dusty Rhodes" title. This was actually one of the most influential shows in wrestling history, just because it inspired the WWF to invent the Royal Rumble.

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On 4/25/2021 at 6:10 PM, hammerva said:

Other thing is watching Daniel Bryan talking about his infamous Talking Smack segment, it is hard to tell if Bryan is still "working" about how much he doesn't like the Miz or not

Take this for what its worth but they posted this extra clip today where they talk about the rivalry and Bryan flat out says he doesn't like the Miz but he respects him

 

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I don't think we'll ever know for sure what's real or not until they're both long retired.  It's possible that Daniel truly finds Miz annoying and it's not much more than that which is understandable  But no matter what they sure found a way to turn that into a a storied rivalry that gets people talking.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thoughts on Great American Bash 88

The poor Baltimore fans had two babyface title wins ripped away from them. Sting & Nikita Koloff seemed to have won the World tag team title from Tully & Arn with the Scorpion deathlock. Alas, the 20-minute time limit had expired. Then Lex Luger seemed to beat Ric Flair for the World title, but the Maryland Athletic Commission stopped the match due to excessive blood. In baseball, this was the equivalent of a 420-foot fly out that would have been a home run in any other ballpark. 

The Midnight Express almost won the MVP award. With Jim Cornette in a shark cage and a straitjacket, they took matters (and a chain) into their own hands and regained the US tag belts from the Fantastics.

Speaking of the Fantastics, I showed my daughter their version of the Fargo Strut, and she said, "They don't look as much like a dying robot as when you do it, Dad."

Ron Garvin seemed to take the easy way out of the Tower of Doom match. All he had to do was survive a two-minute fight with Ivan Koloff in the tiny top cage, wait for two minutes in the middle cage, and then walk right out of the bottom cage (which gave away whose side Precious was on as "keeper of the key.") This made sense later when Garvin knocked out Dusty Rhodes with the Hands of Stone and collected a huge payday from Gary Hart and JJ Dillon. For making the most money by doing the least work, Ron Garvin is the MVP.

 

Edited by Gorman
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Thoughts on Starrcade 88

Steve Williams showed in the opener that he should have been in the main event. He would have been a great challenger for Flair or even for Windham, whom he beat at the previous Starrcade.

The Russian Assassins saved their masks and Paul Jones' career by using the ol' loaded-mask headbutt to beat the incredibly odd couple of Ivan Koloff & Junkyard Dog.

The NWA loved the "manager above the ring in a shark cage" gimmick so much that they used it again with Kevin Sullivan in the TV title match between Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner. Tommy Young caught Steve Williams prematurely ringing the bell, leading to a restart and Steiner's title win.

Sting and Lex Luger were unable to dethrone Ric Flair in 1988, but they were still green and not ready for the top spot. Ric Flair is the MVP for beating Luger despite being unable to save his title by getting disqualified. Tony Schiavone dubbed Flair "Mr. Starrcade" for wrestling in all six main events. 

As the show was going off the air, a bunkhouse battle royale was about to start. Junkyard Dog won it to send the fans home happy. 

Edited by Gorman
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19 hours ago, Robert s said:

Latest Network (or I guess Peacock) drop were some Challenge episodes from late 86 and early 87. Considering their loop, I guess that means some 1994 WCW Saturday Night in June?

That would be great! It's just been a bit of an issue,that I'm falling way behind on these classic drops. I still have an episode or two of previous Saturday Night drop to watch, more than a couple from previous Superstars drop and now a whole batch of Challenge! Add this to the RAW... well, SmackDown, anyway, edits airing on Finnish television, I'm really having trouble keeping up. That's a fun problem to have, as far as problems go, but a problem nonetheless.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thoughts on Chi-Town Rumble

Going to college in Chicago had its perks. This wasn't even the first PPV I attended in my freshman year at Northwestern. That would be AWA SuperClash III, which took place two months earlier in the same building, the UIC Pavilion. 

I hope Jack Victory made a lot of money on this night. He wrestled Michael Hayes for 15 minutes as Russian Assassin #1 and then came right back two matches later to team with Randy Rose, who lost the Midnight Express vs. Midnight Express match. If Victory had lost, it would have made no sense for him to leave town because he just joined the team that night.

When Mike Rotundo had a ton of help from the Varsity Club at Starrcade, he lost the TV title to Rick Steiner. When he had almost no help on this show, he won the title back. Kevin Sullivan lent him a little hand by implying that he had harmed Steiner's dog. Steiner pinned himself, and then Barry Windham did the same thing in the next match to lose the US title to Lex Luger.

Ricky Steamboat is the obvious MVP for winning the NWA World title from Ric Flair. He took the fight to Flair so strongly that Flair didn't have the chance to cheat. He's the rare wrestler who had more opportunities in WCW than the WWF. We fans had been burned by so many Dusty finishes that we didn't believe Steamboat had won until both referees raised his hand.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/18/2021 at 9:24 AM, Gorman said:

Thoughts on Starrcade 88:  True Gritt

Steve Williams showed in the opener that he should have been in the main event. He would have been a great challenger for Flair or even for Windham, whom he beat at the previous Starrcade.

The Russian Assassins saved their masks and Paul Jones' career by using the ol' loaded-mask headbutt to beat the incredibly odd couple of Ivan Koloff & Junkyard Dog.

The NWA loved the "manager above the ring in a shark cage" gimmick so much that they used it again with Kevin Sullivan in the TV title match between Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner. Tommy Young caught Steve Williams prematurely ringing the bell, leading to a restart and Steiner's title win.

Sting and Lex Luger were unable to dethrone Ric Flair in 1988, but they were still green and not ready for the top spot. Ric Flair is the MVP for beating Luger despite being unable to save his title by getting disqualified. Tony Schiavone dubbed Flair "Mr. Starrcade" for wrestling in all six main events. 

As the show was going off the air, a bunkhouse battle royale was about to start. Junkyard Dog won it to send the fans home happy. 

 

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Thoughts on WrestleWar 89: Music City Showdown

Great Muta vs. Junkyard Dog would have been a hilarious contrast of styles. However, JYD didn't show up, so Muta beat Doug Gilbert instead.

Like Wahoo McDaniel in an Indian strap match, Dick Murdoch showed that he was good at Texas bullrope matches. He tied up Bob Orton with the rope and pinned him. Orton retaliated by hanging Murdoch with the rope, so you can't win 'em all.

The Dynamic Dudes ditched their skateboards in favor of Frisbees. They even dragged a kid out of the crowd and played Frisbee with him.

Flashy Freebird Michael Hayes and buttoned-up businessman Hiro Matsuda formed one of the most mismatched wrestler/manager combinations ever. After Hayes bragged that he would need no help from the Freebirds to beat Lex Luger, Terry Gordy showed up and helped him win the US title.

Flair came out with four ladies in dazzling outfits and another group of women supporting him from the floor. Steamboat countered with his wife Bonnie and baby Richie, who was riding a pony and carrying a miniature guitar.

Even though I was there in Chicago for Steamboat's win over Flair, I have to admit that the Nashville match was better. It was a true "WrestleWar," as the action kept spilling out of the ring. Flair won the title without cheating, so he's the MVP.

Nobody saw Terry Funk's post-match attack coming because he was innocently sitting at ringside with fellow judges Lou Thesz and Pat O'Connor.

Edited by Gorman
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Thoughts on Great American Bash 89

All of the participants in the two-ring King of the Hill battle royale were given crowns before they walked down the aisle. Most the guys tried to look tough by just carrying the crowns rather than putting them on their heads. 

The Skyscrapers co-won the battle royale, and Teddy Long wisely stopped them from fighting each other for the $50,000. Two matches later, Sid Vicious & Danny Spivey wiped out the Dynamic Dudes to earn the MVP award.

The Steiners looked great in their PPV debut as a team, so the tag team division was heating up. They took advantage of the Texas Tornado stipulation when they both pinned Kevin Sullivan of the Varsity Club.

Sting lost the TV title in his match against The Great Muta in the "Oops, I pinned myself" finish. We already saw this finish twice earlier in the year, including in a TV title match.

Bonnie and little Richie Steamboat came to the ring again, fortunately far away from Daddy and his giant komodo dragon. 

Ricky Steamboat snapped after years of being beaten to death. My mom thought Steamboat was a bad wrestler because every time she saw him on TV, someone was trying to kill him. So he got disqualified for destroying US champ Lex Luger with a chair, probably saying, "This one's for Muraco (wham!)" "This one's for Jake (wham!)" "This one's for Savage (wham!)"

 It was strange to see the Midnight Express and Road Warriors working together in WarGames. The Midnights and Jim Cornette were babyfaces for a lot longer than I remembered.

Terry Funk was 45 years old when he challenged Ric Flair for the NWA World title. Give him credit for holding up the main event scene with Flair not just on this night, but for most of the second half of 1989.

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On 4/29/2021 at 3:46 PM, Gorman said:

Hawk is the MVP for mounting a strong challenge to Ric Flair's NWA World title.  Matches like this showed how strong the tag team division was, just like Bobby Eaton going to a 20-minute draw with Nikita Koloff for the TV title.

One of the first wrestling shows I remember seeing live was a JCP show in Charleston, WV in July 1986.  That was the summer Morton was feuding with Flair over the heavyweight title.  Flair and Morton wrestled a cage match that night and the pop was Morton was nuts.  I feel like Ricky definitely could have drawn well if they put the belt on him that summer.

Also saw a Horseman-R&R Express match somewhere in that same general time period and the crowd went ballistic every time Arn or Tully so much as touched one of the R&R.  

Edited by Eoae
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Thoughts on Halloween Havoc 89

Jim Cornette as a babyface had a terrible night. Not only did his Midnight Express lose along with Dr. Death vs. The Samoans, but his skateboard-wielding Dynamic Dudes lost their tag team title match against the Freebirds. Jimmy Garvin got a big kick out of the Philly fans being on his side.

Doom debuted under masks with Woman as their manager. They had an underrated great rivalry with the Steiners and won here with the Loaded Headbutt OF DOOM.

Just as these teams matched up well physically, so did the Road Warriors and Skyscrapers. Their war ended in a DQ involving a giant key related to a wrestler who wasn't even in the match (Norman the Lunatic).

Good WCW idea: They liked cheerleaders with the Varsity Club so much that they put them with a babyface (Brian Pillman). Lex Luger as the posing heel US champion was the perfect warmup for his eventual World title win and his future "Narcissist" persona in the WWF.

Bad WCW idea: Shooting off fireworks above the Thundercage, which was decorated with spooky Halloween foliage. Of course, it caught on fire.

The underrated winner of the MVP award? Ole Anderson. First, he saved Sting, who had been hog-tied to the cage by Terry Funk. Then, he beat up Gary Hart, causing Hart's towel to fly right onto the shoulder of special referee Bruno Sammartino. Well done, Ole!

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