WWE Network Conversation

[Eivion]

Will always love the CWC and MYC. Wish they would run them again and/or say fuck it and run a Super J Cup with NJPW.

[Gorman]

On 9/3/2023 at 2:21 PM, Curt McGirt said:

And now I'm gonna ask again how that balcony dive went about: was there a table, did he land feet-first, how high was the balcony, etc.

This was a second-story balcony dive to put Mustafa through a table. New Jack landed on Mustafa cleanly, and the dive looked so good that it was included in the opening clips for the next PPV. Still, both men were completely wiped out and had to be helped to the ring by security for the finish.

[Gorman]

15 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

 It's been 7 years, bring Da Mack back

Return of Da Mack

[Cobra Commander]

Brief notes on Mid-Atlantic Wrestling (9/11/1982)

Jos LeDuc and Bad Bad Leroy Brown destroy Jimmy Vailiant's cassette player to kick off the show. It's personal now. Valiant beats Juan Reynosa in a squash. He's also in his FM 100 tights.

Jos LeDuc and Leroy Brown take on Mike Rotundo and Kelly Kiniski. Humperdink spends his time talking about what could happen if Mike Rotundo joined the House of Humperdink. LeDuc pins Kiniski with a nice looking side backbreaker.

Jim Dalton and Ben Alexander get promo time and Jim Dalton talks about how all the babyfaces are loses who don't work as hard as him and that they're losers. Jim Dalton looks like a country singer who openly hates John Denver while John Denver has no idea who he is.

Greg Valentine and Paul Jones vs Wahoo McDaniel and Jack Brisco! Wahoo and Valentine hitting each other is a good test of the studio mics. This was a pretty good match with some fun spots that descended into a schmozz. Brisco sitting up while applying the figure four to avoid Valentine's elbow drop was neat. You see both versions of how to apply the Figure Four between Valentine and Brisco. If you wanna see these four beating each other to a conclusion, you gotta buy a ticket.

Got a line of babyface interviews with Jimmy Valiant, Ricky Steamboat, Jack Brisco, and Wahoo McDaniel. Why yes there are matches with the tag team of Jimmy Valiant and Ricky Steamboat around this time.

Ricky Steamboat takes on The Gladiator. "I don't go anywhere without some big meat around me" - Oliver Humperdink without context. Steamboat unmasks the Gladiator midmatch and pins him. Ken Timbs is the Gladiator here for the record.

King Parsons and Keith Larson get interview time. Keith Larson tests the limits of letting literally anybody on the show get interview time (I can see the reason why they'd put almost anybody on TV to do interviews because how would you know which people are good at interviews if not). Parsons is very disappointed in Leroy Brown and he's better on the mic than Keith Larson.

Gene Anderson takes on Keith Larson. Okay, Jim Dalton isn't the oldest looking wrestler on a show where Gene Anderson is still working. Gotta love when running a dude chest-first into the ropes was a setup to a neckbreaker finish.

I think Humperdink is managing every heel in this promotion right now. So he gets more mic time with Greg Valentine, Paul Jones, and Gene Anderson. Paul Jones claims the Indian Deathlock was invented by a white man from Texas to beat Indians. He's a heel and heels do lie after all.

Well, that was an hour of 80s wrestling TV

[Hamhock]

13 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

King Parsons and Keith Larson get interview time. Keith Larson tests the limits of letting literally anybody on the show get interview time (I can see the reason why they'd put almost anybody on TV to do interviews because how would you know which people are good at interviews if not). Parsons is very disappointed in Leroy Brown and he's better on the mic than Keith Larson.

I think the deal was that these jobber/JTTS interview segments were largely for the studio audience and would be replaced by insert ads for the local market house show.

[Cobra Commander]

1 minute ago, Hamhock said:

I think the deal was that these jobber/JTTS interview segments were largely for the studio audience and would be replaced by insert ads for the local market house show.

Yeah that makes sense too. It could serve two purposes with one of them involving getting guys enough TV time to be confident enough to be able to do local market promos in the future

For some very obvious reasons, you can kinda see a lot of the 1985/86 JCP WCW episodes from how these JCP Mid-Atlantic episodes were put together a few years earlier. Like the whole "everybody cuts promos on the main storylines" thing that was all over 1985/86 wasn't just a Dusty thing?

[Cobra Commander]

There aren't any day baseball games today despite it being a Thursday, which is an abomination. So let's get to work on...

WWE Cruiserweight Classic, Week 5

Welcome to Round 2. Gonna be interesting to see how much filler are in episodes that go 50ish minutes with 2 matches. Maybe the stated time limits will factor into some drama for a match. During the first round, it was 20 minutes and nobody really threatened to use all 20 minutes.

Anyways, we start with some words from Gran Metalik and Tajiri.

Gran Metalik vs Tajiri: Man, Tajiri's just having fun having someone to do lucha matwork with in 2016. Nice somersault by Metalik to the outside. Is there a huge cache of quality Veteran Presence Tajiri matches from Japan that we're not watching? Metalik gets to do his stuff and Tajiri finds the openings for his favorite spots. Metalik beats Tajiri with the (Googles) Metalik Screw Driver. I'm sure Tajiri enjoyed spending his 40s working around Japan but he really should have worked even more with these guys. I mean, I know why he would prefer living in Japan over being the oldest guy on 205 Live, but Tajiri would have good matches with at least 25 of the 31 other competitors in this tournament and we only get to see him face two guys.

Meanwhile in the outside world: Balor vs Rollins at Summerslam

Got the prematch words from Cedric Alexander and Kota Ibushi.

Kota Ibushi vs Cedric Alexander: Time to see what happens in the next installment of Kota Ibushi's Summer Vacation. This match is fun as one would expect. Wow, that dive sequence with the miss by Ibushi and the hit by Alexander. Love the Ibushi flip sell for that flying clothesline. For as much as the WWE probably used this tournament as trials for some non-WWE guys, some of the WWE employed guys in this tournament really show that they would be very good if they went to Japan (upon checking Wikipedia, I find that this tournament got Cedric signed with the WWE so, um... nevermind the preceding). We got a reminder of the time limit for the first time in the tournament. Awesome Ibushi dive. Alexander countering the top rope rana and powerbomb and gettong some frantic near falls on Ibushi. Didn't know they hadn't yet banned the Brainbuster by 2016. Ibushi hits a German Suplex and wins with the Powerbomb in a pretty cool match. Once again the NCAA Tournament committee with some questionable seeding to have this match go so early. Cedric Alexander is still around the WWE and he made it through the cutback times. But if he ever needed to make money in Japan, he would be able to make it.

Week 5 is Tozawa vs Gallagher, Noam Dar vs Hoho Lun and Kendrick vs Nese. Probably a good idea to put 3 matches on that show instead of two matches.

Ian Rotten Our buddy Hunter walks out to congratulate Cedric Alexander as he approaches the entrance.

Onward..

WWE Cruiserweight Classic, Week 6

Let's get some words from Jack Gallagher and Akira Tozawa.

Akira Tozawa vs Jack Gallagher: A shame that pasty dork was also a sex pest. But what's life without having the occasional internet favorites end up being awful people. Hey, here's some British wrestling schtick and some actual cool looking things too. Even without the 'problems' with Gallagher, he does work a style where it would make sense for his opponents to get irritated and want to smack his chest until it was bright red (hey there's a five way with Gallagher and Walter that happened once). Tozawa wins with a very dramatic German Suplex in an ending that probably wasn't popular then. But hey, trust the process.

Meanwhile in the outside world: Brock Lesnar! Randy Orton! Summerslam is this Sunday!

Noam Dar and Hoho Lun with some comments.

Noam Dar vs Hoho Lun: Well, the expectations aren't high for this pairing after their first round matches. How unimpressed must you be with your upper body (or how impressed must the WWE be) to be working in a t-shirt in this tournament. Got some neat enough looking moves with the dragon screw and the kicks. Watching 1982 Mid-Atlantic last night put me in the mood to want these 2016 Cruiserweights to randomly unleash shinbreakers during their legwork. That half crab with a head-step looks mean. Nice Michinoku Driver from Hoho followed by a Fisherman's Suplex. Noam Dar wins with a knee bar. Well, that was better than their first round matches, maybe the other guy was the problems early. Or Daniel Bryan's story about jetlag (that he only uses for the guys from Hong Kong and not Ibushi) was actually true for Hoho.

Alright... I can maybe watch Rugby World Cup on Peacock

Do you want comments from Brian Kendrick and Tony Nese? well tough because you're gonna get comments.

Brian Kendrick vs Tony Nese: Brian Kendrick looks the most like a pirate of anybody in this tournament. Cool looking somersault evasion by Nese on the apron. Hey these two noticed how large the turnbuckle pads were and decided to do a "hand is stuck in the turnbuckle" spot. Once again, another flub by the NCAA to have these two go so early because this is an awesome pairing. Nice Matrix avoidance by Nese. Nese looks kinda scuzzy but he looks normal next to Kendrick. This is the closest thing this tournament will get to a brawl between two local Ecstasy dealers. Cool counter with Kendrick hitting knees trying to block a suplex. Nice counter of Kendrick's choke into a cradle by Nese. Yeah Kendrick seems like he would headbutt a dude in a fight. Nese misses the 450, Kendrick picks him in the crossface and gets the win. An old woman in the crowd is impressed by the action she didn't know she was getting into by attending this taping. Kendrick looks like Justin Timberlake if Justin made a few different decisions in life. Oh yeah, we're getting Kendrick and Ibushi in a few episodes which should be really fun

How about another one?

WWE Cruiserweight Classic, Week 7

The line up for this one, Lince Dorado/Swann, ZSJ/Gulak, Gargano/Perkins

Lince Dorado and Rich Swann say things

Rich Swann vs Lince Dorado: Oh yeah, Lince Dorado is the wrestler who had a feud with Izzy's dad. Rejecting tests to strength to do a dance taunt, followed by getting dropkicked out of the ring and taunted. Nice dive. Pretty good back and forth but they were doing these camera angle changes on strike exchanges as early as 2016? Dorado misses a Shooting Star Press and Swann wins with the Phoenix Splash.

Meanwhile in the outside world: The Revival beat Gargano and Ciampa at NXT Takeover. How will this result impact the result a match taped a month before Takeover? We will see!

Prematch video package of Drew Gulak and Zack Sabre Jr

Zack Sabre Jr vs Drew Gulak: No handshake from Drew Gulak, that's minus 10 Code of Honor points. For how some thought ZSJ didn't look threatening enough in 2016, he made up for it by stepping on hands in a move or two. Love the taunt after a slap that got him hit in the face. Gnarly looking Gory Special. Makes me wonder if Rick Bolton ever brought his trick shoulder to Texas to take the Gory Special. This is a matchup for arms being twisted in unnatural ways. Neat complex pinning combo by ZSJ. Palm strike exchanges aren't any more goofy than all the other strike exchanges that get done constantly. ZSJ avoids the Dragon Sleeper and wins with an elaborate pinning move. Hey ZSJ vs Noam Dar in a few. Okay. Drew Gulak is still angry and does the bare minimum handshake. ZSJ is pretty good at being a heel who acts like he's not a complete dickhead. Like if ZSJ was an American, he would be the captain of the football team (then again, maybe they have captains of football teams in British High Schools too)

TJ Perkins and Johnny Gargano appear in their video packages. 24 matches into this, I think I can tell you that I don't actually listen to what's being said in the video packages. If they actually show what they say in matches, I might notice. If they don't, I won't. I'm flying blind in a lot of these matches, like how I went to an NXT show in April 2017 without actually watching NXT.

Johnny Gargano vs TJ Perkins: I think Johnny Gargano is a pretty good approximation of what would happen if you combined Ashton Kutcher and Sean William Scott. Nice spear through the ropes from Gargano. Gum spit after a kick. Powerbomb that turns into a double pin. This is NXT Strong Style. Gargano flips directly into the timekeepers table(?) that is very close to the ring. Time for TJ Perkins to hit some bombs. Gargano's crossface has a real "Hey Buddy" placement of his opponent's left arm behind Gargano's head. I guess the turnbuckles have to be large to deal with all the offense that involves throwing dudes directly into turnbuckle pads. Gargano gets caught in a knee bar, fights for a little and then taps out and TJ Perkins advances.

The final 8 matchups are..

Tozawa vs Gran Metalik
Noam Dar vs Zack Sabre Jr
Kota Ibushi vs Brian Kendrick
TJ Perkins vs Rich Swann

If I had to guess, I'd guess that the final four is Tozawa/ZSJ/Ibushi/Perkins. But this tournament has had a certain degree of unpredictability that goes beyond me not knowing who was getting pushed in 2016. Like I was expecting Gargano to beat Perkins and possibly win the tournament but then he loses to Perkins. So, I guess i'll find out if they put together this whole tournament to put two non-WWE guys in the finals, or which combo of WWE vs non-WWE is the finals matchup. Don't tell me what's gonna happen, I have 3 weeks left.

I'll get back to this later.

Edited September 7, 2023 by Cobra Commander

[Eivion]

1 hour ago, Cobra Commander said:

For as much as the WWE probably used this tournament as trials for some non-WWE guys

So I want to say Ciampa was the only guy actually signed to WWE before the tournament. He signed a couple of months earlier though he and Gargano had been working NXT semi-regularly for around a year before then. Its the tournament that got so many guys contracts. 

[Curt McGirt]

On 9/6/2023 at 7:14 AM, Gorman said:

This was a second-story balcony dive to put Mustafa through a table. New Jack landed on Mustafa cleanly, and the dive looked so good that it was included in the opening clips for the next PPV. Still, both men were completely wiped out and had to be helped to the ring by security for the finish.

I remember this! I think the other big dive they always showed was the dual dive with Spike Dudley. 

EDIT: Three minute mark in this, the Spike one is there too. There really is something to be said for these because of 1. the panache he always hits them with, 2. his aim, which is incredibly good, and 3. the sheer balls on him. The one where Sabu moves did not look fun to take. If you may get upset about the Danberry Fall it's the very first one in the video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33c43Bbd4Eo&ab_channel=OneManKru

Edited September 7, 2023 by Curt McGirt

[Technico Support]

Still meandering through Watts WCW!

Bash 92: Barry and Dustin vs Rude and Austin.  I take a few minutes to teach my daughter how, when I was a boy, TV was more squared (4:3, yes, I know.  Keeping it simple for the kid).  So now, it's more rectangular and they need to black out the edges on our TV.  She just tells me she hates how blurry it looks and I remember she never lived through non HD television.  Crazy.  So Rude and Austin set aside time from fishing, smoking weed, and debating whether this is an upper body business for this match.  Worth it, as this is just an incredible assembly of generational talent, 31 years ago, in one ring.  Damn.  Long long segment before the heat and really well done, as nobody really has a set advantage and all four guys are just showing what they can do.  It's so good.  The fact that Austin was, what, two years in here is amazing.  His stooging is next level.  Dustin was just coming into his own in his career here and was good but, four years in, was not as far along as Austin and was definitely the least of the three here.  So Barry eventually takes on the Ricky Morton role, which was smart as he was more the worker of his team.  Dustin finally gets the hot tag and, after a schmozz, they do a variation on the Crockett Cup '87 finish, as Dustin hits a top rope lariat on Austin, who is trying to piledrive Windham.  The production of this is shitty as they decide, during the finish, do do a weird live split screen with the hard cam shot on one side and Dustin jumping off the top on the other.  Blegh.  But anyway, you need to see this match.

Vader promo segment: my daughter asks if Vader is a baddie.  I tell her he is.  "Why is he fat?"  "Well, some wrestlers just are."  "Well he looks fat, but he also looks strong."

Edited September 10, 2023 by Technico Support

[Cobra Commander]

let's watch more wrestling

Mid-South Wrestling (10/30/1982)

Boyd Pierce gives us the intro, the Louisiana State Fair is going on (da da da).. Bill Watts is in the audience with Paul Boesch, some kids, a Gorilla (da da da).. there'll be a Mid-South Tag Team Title match where the loser of the fall leaves Mid-South. One problem though, Hacksaw Doogan isn't here (he might be in jail) and Matt Borne has been called in from Atlanta, potentially as a sacrifice since Borne doesn't even work here (TM). Tonight's also no disqualification.

Before all that, here's a tag team match taped from Houston. Killer Khan, Tully Blanchard and Gino Hernandez take on Andre The Giant, Mil Mascaras and JYD. Killer Khan might have won the timing lottery by being in the vicinity of Andre when Andre hurt his ankle one morning.

Bill Watts has drifted to the commentary table.

Now a studio match. Ted Allen takes on Kamala The Ugandan Giant. Kamala has so much stuff with him, no wonder he needs a handler. You wouldn't trust Mel Phillips with that stuff, would you. Kamala wins with a few splashes.

It's time for the big match: Ted DiBiase and Matt Borne face JYD and Mr. Olympia for the Tag Team Titles/No DQ. Matt Borne appears to have similar tastes in hats as fellow Oregonian Billy Jack Haynes. Reeser just casually gathers his things and departs as a brawl goes on around him. Hey, JYD pulling out a Russian Legsweep. JYD and Dibiase tag out to give Borne and Olympia a go. We see a shot of the gorilla in the audience (da da da). So was Mr. Olympia gonna win gold medals in the 1980 Olympics if not for Jimmy Carter? Of course Olympia's in all red so how patriotic is he really. Doug Gilbert could show up as the Dark Mr Olympia. No DQ means unlimited saves. Gotta love how refs will occasionally forget who the legal man is and allow heel teams to switch behind their back. Matt Borne hits the future whoopie cushion and DiBiase hits the powerslam. JYD makes the save and gets the hot tag. JYD gets the loaded glove and Borne gets hit. Meanwhile the Gorilla has bodyslammed Mr. Olympia and speared JYD. DiBiase gets the pin and JYD must leave Mid-South for 90 days, a stipulation that he will certainly faithfully adhere to.

Also, the Gorilla was Hacksaw Doogan. But I figured you probably knew that by now.

It's time for standby matches!

Grappler 2 vs Tony Atlas: Bill Watts has lost his voice and heart over the last match. Nice dropkick and headscissors by noted foot enthusiast Tony Atlas. Bill Watts will need to collect his thoughts and talk to JYD after what just happened. Atlas wins after a press slam and a splash.

Gino Hernandez vs Jesse Barr: Paul Boesch is taking over for Bill Watts for this match, gotta love how all these pieces come together. Boesch takes responsibility for Gorgeous Gino's entrance in wrestling (not in that way, those rumors were refuted). Gino's hair is immaculate. Gino wins after a suplex and a second rope back elbow.

Paul Boesch interviews Ted DiBiase, Matt Borne, and Jim Duggan. Ted noting that Money is the Name of the Game. As the State of Mississippi can attest to, that is true.

Marty Lunde vs Mr. Wrestling II: Arn looks almost exactly the same as he would look for most of his career in late 1982, when he was 24 years old. This is a fine matchup of guys who always looked old. II was 24 years older than Arn. Nice jazz hands from II before his final kneelift of the match.

Hiro Matsuda & Yoshi Yatsu vs Vinnie Romeo & Tim Horner: Hiro Matsuda wasn't the oldest worker on this week's card thanks to II. Yoshi Yatsu would have competed at the 1980 Olympics if not for Jimmy Carter, the rare wrestler who actually would have competed at the 1980 Olympics. Yatsu wins with a "Japanese Body Slam", or as normal people call it, a neat looking Belly to Belly Suplex off the ropes.

And that's all for this week! Next week is Wrestling II and Buck Robley vs the Grapplers and Gorgeous Gino vs Tony Atlas and certainly nothing else important.

[Curt McGirt]

23 hours ago, Technico Support said:

"Well he looks fat, but he also looks strong."

I just about spit out my Pop Tart on that one.

[clintthecrippler]

That "well he looks fat but he also looks strong" comment reminds me of when WWE were doing the gimmick of Heath Slater getting destroyed by random WWE legends for weeks on end, and my roommate at the time that was never a wrestling fan until he started living with me in 2005 was seeing a lot of those folks for the first time and his comment on Vader was shockingly accurate:

"He looks like he smells bad"

The only other comment I remember off the top of my head was when Sid was the legend of the week during that angle:

"This looks like Heath Slater getting beat up by his stepdad"

And he was also frightened by Bob Backlund still seemingly having crazy old man strength and seeming way too into cranking in the cross face chicken wing on Heath. 

[Cobra Commander]

Since there was Day Baseball on Tuesday, I didn't get to go to Peacock then. But with MLB Network not airing any of the West Coast day games, it's time to go to the Peacock and let's watch..

WWE 205 Live (12/26/2018, S3/E52)

This week is the best of 205 Live for 2018. As introduced by Nigel McGuinness, Vic Jonson, and Percy Watson

205 Live as a GM because this is the WWE and they lean on that, and it's Drake Maverick, who announces a Cruiserweight Title tournament (on checking, this would be when Enzo Amore torched his WWE career). You may remember some of these Cruiserweights from the Cruiserweight Classic (or at least the ones they signed after that tournament). This goes all the way to Cedric Alexander vs Mustafa Ali in the finals.

We join Mustafa Ali vs Cedric Alexander from Wrestlemania 34 ('s Preshow) in progress. Nice hang time by Mustafa on that back body drop. The soul of Cedric Alexander vs the heart of Mustafa Ali (cliches!). That mid-ring Spanish Fly might be a little too cooperation-y even if it looks cool. The top rope Spanish Fly looks even cooler. John Cena is in disbelief. The background of the multiple decks of the Superdome is impressive-looking. Alexander splats Mustafa Ali on the floor to counter his finisher. Cool reverse rana by Ali. Alexander lands in just the right spot after a spinning DDT. Alexander gets his foot on the rope after the 054. Ali misses a second 054. The 3rd back elbow inspires Ali to do a flip bump. Cedric wins the Cruiserweight Title with the Lumbar Check. John Cena is impressed.

We got New Year's Resolutions from the roster of 205 Live. Oh yeah, this was during one of the times that Maria and Mike Bennett were in the WWE.

Meanwhile in the outside world, The 2019 Royal Rumble approaches

Hey it's the Lucha House Party of Kalisto, Lince Dorado, and Gran Metalik. Here they are doing stuff. Nigel is not thrilled with the Lucha House Party.

Cedric Alexander would go on to win a bunch of matches on his way to facing Buddy Murphy in Australia.

We join Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy from Super Show-Down (The Australian one, not the Saudi one) in progress. We got Michael Cole on the call for this one. Nice Superkick by Cedric to counter a charge (obligatory gum spit). Impressive top rope Michinoku Driver to counter a jumping nothing. Nice Cedric dive and a nice Buddy Murphy powerbomb out of the corner. Cedric hits Buddy with movez leading to a kickout of the Lumbar Check. Buddy Murphy hits Murphy's Law to win the Title.

Let's look at the top 10 205 Live Moments!

• 10: Up for Gr-Abs: Lio Rush gets slung into a crowd
• 9: A Strong First Impression: Hey it's Roderick Strong winning his debut
• 8: The Power of Love: Maria and Mike Bennett are up to things
• 7: Up and Over: Alexander gets suplexed to the floor, lands on his feet and suplexes his opponent on the floor
• 6: The Scottish Supernova Returns: It's Noam Dar and he's back
• 5: The Man Of The Hour Arrives: Lio Rush is here
• 4: When In Doubt Just Senton Everybody:
• 3: The Mask Collector: TJP unmasks Lince Dorado and Kalisto and Gran Metalik
• 2: A Powerful Point: Brian Kendrick gets beat down by Gulak and Gallagher
• 1: Oh 5-4: An 054 to the Floor through a table by Mustafa Ali

How can the last segment of the show top that?

Heavy Machinery takes on Undisputed Era tonight on NXT! Also a #1 contender fatal four way for the Women's title. Tonight! Only on the WWE Network!

Drew Gulak hacks into the show to tell us that he's the best of 205 Live. This isn't even a Presidential Election year. 2019 is shaping up to be Drew Gulak's best year.

Tony Nese and Mustafa Ali faced off for a shot at Buddy Murphy, which Ali won. There was a staredown as a result.

We join Buddy Murphy vs Mustafa Ali from Survivor Series in progress. Yes, the 205 Live best of 2018 episode will have zero matches from 205 Live. Which, actually feels about right. But this was technically a brand in 2018? Or at least the land where they stashed all the small guys that they couldn't put in NXT (until they merged 205 Live and NXT). Maybe the 2 weeks of Best of 2019 for 205 Live had matches from the show. Murphy launches Ali to the floor and hits a cool dive on him. Reverse rana by Ali. Nice spinning DDT through the ropes by Ali. Ali gets flinged to the floor again. Nice Spanish Fly from the table to the floor. How many 205 Live matches had Spanish Flys. Murphy blocks the 054 with a superkick/hair pull and hits him with two powerbombs for 2. Ali gets kneed in the head as a counter to a crossbody(?) and Buddy Murphy wins with the Murphy's Law to retain.

A few words from Mustafa Ali about what 205 Live means to him.

Who will stop Buddy Murphy in 2019?

A few words from Drake Maverick about what's next on 205 Live in 2019. Buddy Murphy has a big title defense coming up at the Rumble. Next Week, Kalisto and Lio Rush! Tozawa and Gulak! Cedric and Hideo Itami!

[Cobra Commander]

some more WWE Network watching

World Championship Wrestling (9/12/1987)

Today it's Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton for the TV title, Barry Windham vs Arn Anderson for the Western States Heritage Championship!

"The New Breed" vs Alan Martin: That's what the graphics say. This is Sean Royal vs Alan Martin as Chris Champion is out because his 2002 driving skills weren't enough to avoid a car accident. Also Sean Royal's hair is different. Alan Martin hits a rana because yeah sure. Sean Royal wins with a top rope knee drop. The time is right to bring "Time Traveler from 2002" back to wrestling. I'm sure "guy who travelled forward in time 20 years" is just the gimmick for these days.

Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton for the TV Title: Bobby Eaton has enough fans in the studio to get a pro-Bobby chant. Back in the glory days where a studio would go wild as Nikita has Bobby in yet another headlock. Bobby has Nikita in a headlock when we come out of the break. A top rope dropkick by Bobby provides a break from headlocks. These two faced each other a few months later at the Bunkhouse Stampede. Eventually things start to happen. Cornette distracts the ref so that Stan Lane interfere. Then our hero Dusty Rhodes runs in and puts Bobby out in the Weaverlock and it's a disqualification. Apparently Bobby was the one disqualified in the end. Um. I don't think this pairing had a good idea of how to extend this match over multiple breaks and it wasn't gonna have a finish anyways, so. Well, hopefully the time limit draw at the Bunkhouse Stampede was better.

Dusty says that Dusty and Nikita will take care of their own business. Magnum shows up for the occasion and they're going for the US Tag Team titles.

Let's take a look at Terry Taylor taking on Shane Douglas over on the UWF side of 1987. Shane Douglas has a broken hand and shenanigans (Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert interference) are happening to help Terry Taylor. Terry Taylor pins Shane Douglas while he's in the Figure Four. Eddie Gilbert's First Family comes out. Gee, I wonder where Eddie got that name from.

Meanwhile on Pro, Arn vs Garvin devolves into a Horseman vs Babyfaces brawl with Dusty not looking the most lively while in the Rack. We get some comments from Ric Flair and JJ Dillon. Man, There's probably not a market for putting all the Pros and Worldwides on this network but that's a lot of programming not on the network.

Let's go to Eddie Gilbert and Terry Taylor. This show has a very "barely enough content to fill 2 hours" feel to it so far (I believe this will be covered on Between the Sheets next Monday). Terry Taylor has his best Tully Blanchard glasses on for this occasion and they're challenging Nikita Koloff.

Tully Blanchard vs Mike Force: Tully wins with the Slingshot Suplex in about a minute. 

COLLEGE SCOREBOARD NEXT (that's been clipped out but Alabama beat Penn State this week, Nebraska beat UCLA, Notre Dame beat Michigan, Ohio State beat West Virginia, Oklahoma beat North Carolina, LSU beat Cal State Fullerton, Florida State over East Carolina, Clemson over Virginia Tech, and Auburn over Kansas. Busy day for Craig Segar. TBS was airing Tennessee/Mississippi State on this day). Also in other sports, the Braves won a day game to improve to 61-79.

JJ, Tully, and Arn have some words about the situations. Dusty's sleeper is a chokehold.

Hey it's Missy Hyatt, the hostess of the UWF. The Western States Heritage Title originated in Fort Worth. Missy certainly looks a lot better than David Crockett in 1987.

Barry Windham vs Arn Anderson for the Western States Heritage Title: Yeah, this isn't from Techwood, it's from Pro. But if you're gonna fill out a show because the company is taking a Caribbean vacation, you might as well air matches with really good workers in front of a hot crowd (plus it's not like every market gets Pro?). Obligatory Anderson Family armwork. As long as the ringside camera stays away from the blaringly bright TV lights, that angle is all good. If the bodysweat is any indicator, it's 200 degrees under the TV lights in the Winthrop Coliseum this day.  This is a good match even if i'm not necessarily doing PBP. Barry Windham is requested to visit many schools. Arn takes a walk for a moment but Barry picks him up and carries him to the ring (hey wouldn't that tire out someone in kayfabe?). But in this case Windham puts Arn in the sleeper. Got a collision and both guys are down.  Barry Windham hits Arn with the Superplex but there's a foot on the rope and it's a time limit draw. I guess all those time calls shoulda gave you a hint. Barry WIndham retains but takes a Gourdbuster post match and Arn counts his own pin. Which seems sorta backwards of how it's usually done (heel champ, face claiming he would have won if not for the time limit seems more normal than face champ retaining via time limit and the heel with a self-proclaimed victory). But this is a promotion with a Western States Heritage Title (whatever that means) and things are sorta weird, at least this week.

Let's take a look at Sting from the UWF with a quick pin in a squash match.

Stan Lane vs Mike Jackson: Mike Jackson looked old 35 years ago, can't imagine what watching him work in 2023 looks like. Mike Jackson is a very David Crockett looking man at this time. Not sure where that karate kick landed. Mike Jackson gets a lot of the match before getting kicked and butterfly suplexed for the pin.

This was the wrestling show equivalent of making dinner out of the random food you had. Barry Windham vs Arn for a good portion of the show is a pretty good thing to have in reserve though. Guess i'll find out by Monday how this show came together because it was filler-riffic even if I didn't know about why the JCP section on BTS is gonna be relatively light.

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Hardcore Heaven 99

Taz destroyed Chris Candido at the beginning of the show, which needed a new main event. The Dudleys gave Taz a 3D after the match, so Taz beat Buh-Buh in a bloody main event to retain the title again. Taz's dominance earned him the MVP award but also highlighted how many stars were no longer with the company.

Lance Storm saved Justin Credible twice: first from getting powerbombed by Sid and then from getting put through a table by Sabu.

Jerry Lynn looked impressive again, but RVD hit a pair of five-star frog splashes to retain the TV title.

When the Dudleys issued an open challenge for the tag team belts, they didn't need to say "if anyone has the balls ..." because you knew Mahoney was coming out. He didn't even wait for a partner, but Spike joined him. The Dudleys won, and Balls took out Joel Gertner with a fireball. This led to Gertner paying the Dudleys to beat up guys backstage (even some people they liked!) before Taz issued the challenge for the main event.

 

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by Gorman

[Cobra Commander]

Let's get back on the horse and watch..

World Championship Wrestling (9/19/1987)

Hey, any show could have an off-week on occasion. Let's watch even more of this promotion to see if they got enough of their roster back from St. Martin/Sint Maarten for a coherent show.

And... Tony Schiavone is at ringside in Raleigh, NC. So, this is different from most World Championship Wrestling episodes. I'd say they're covering for the vacation but this taping is from September 11th, 1987 so it's not old for a Wrestling taping. Dorton's a good wrestling building. Plus this will cover for the lack of Worldwide/Pro on the Network, and the fact that pretty much every (or every) Old School arena show on the Peacock is WWF. I could watch all the Worldwide/Pro I want through YouTube, but I haven't really. I'm not Kris Zellner.

Let's go to the ring where The Barbarian is taking on Colt Steele (joined in progress). It's like we're watching a Mid-Atlantic episode after they left the studio, only in a big arena. The Barbarian is using the Scorpion Deathlock, and the internet dorks didn't realize he's actually a super-worker for years. Paul Jones has the outfit of a man suspected of cattle-rustling his neighbors. Colt Steele seems like the sort of wrestling name that's kinda wasted on this guy. Long sleeperish chinlock by The Barbarian. Barbarian wins with a diving headbutt.

Our second match of the night is Lex Luger vs Barry Windham as we're just giving away awesome matches on TV today. Lex is the US Champ, Barry is the Western States Heritage Champ. I guess having the promotion go on a work trip to the Caribbean is good because it means we get to see Barry Windham work bangers on cable TV on back to back weeks. This sort of matchup makes you miss when either wrestling crowds made noise or wrestling promotions had a soundmix that made their crowds sound alive. JJ looking excellent tonight, looking like someone who is engaging in financial crimes as his main source of income. 

{With this commercial break, I'm able to check the WTBS sports listings for September 19th, 1987. They aired Florida/Alabama at 11:30 Central and Braves/Dodgers is at 9:05pm Central in Los Angeles}

Back to the match, Barry Windham launches himself for a sunset flip nearfall. Lex's neckbreaker didn't look too physical. Tony doing a timecall, are we really doing another Barry Windham timelime draw, we had one of those last week. Lex Luger goes to a bearhug, one time that the larger guy is the one who is having to fight out of a bearhug. Or least least Barry's waist looks larger than Lex's. Barry counters the Bearhug into a Belly to Belly, which is more physical than all the WWF guys who had to fight out of bearhugs. Barry's in the "Figure Four without the spinning toe hold setup" club at this time. Nice fight by Barry to get Lex over for a suplex. Nice top rope dropkick, JJ breaks it up and gets punched on the outside. Arn Anderson shows up and Earl Hebner orders him away and then a minute or so later, Earl barges into the ring to get Luger disqualified. But Lex puts Windham in the rack until the nearest babyfaces make a save. That was a fun match.

{Here's the Wrestling that aired on TV in Kansas City on September 19th. Channel 62. Championship Wrestling at 8am. Universal Wrestling at 9am. Wild West Wrestling at 10am. World Class Wrestling at 11am. The movies today were GI Joe the Movie at 1pm and THX 1138 at 3pm. Huge Saturday}

JJ Dillon is outraged that the Rock'n'Roll Express dared make a save (hey, there's an RnR vs Tully and Arn match on this show)

Let's cool off from that action by watching Ivan Koloff vs George South. George South is in the 2023 PWI 500. Nice opening dropkick from South. Without checking i'm guessing this match also happened in a North Carolina indie in the early 1990s. Ivan Koloff wins with the Russian Sickle.

A very special video package of Ronnie Garvin swimming in a lake and running through a park. Well for all the dumping that people did on the idea of putting the NWA Title on Ron Garvin just to have him lose it 2 months later, they did do some hype for the concept of Garvin challenging Flair. Here's Ron Garvin pumping iron in his home gym. Not sure if this smooth jazz music over a montage of Ron Garvin highlights is a replacement for real music or not (on checking, it was a replacement for "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, which the WWE is sure the fuck not gonna pay Frank's estate to use, if only all the replacement music was smooth jazz)

We return to Jimmy Valiant vs Tommy Angel joined in progress. It's Jimmy Valiant working a match that had to be joined in progress. Valiant wins with the elbow drop in under a minute. Hit that Ron Garvin smooth jazz.

Dusty joins Tony at ringside "What I just seen was a total ripoff" (no, not the Jimmy Valiant match, the Windham/Luger match). I guess if I keep watching, i'll see Dusty modestly offer himself up to beat Lex for the US title. Dusty calls out Lex, Lex comes out, Arn comes out, Windham/Nikita come out. The heels leave.

Sean Royal joins Tony at ringside. They still aren't giving Sean Royal his own on-screen graphic. Chris Champion is currently in 2002 being physically upgraded. I don't remember health care getting that good. Would the New Breed gimmick be better or worse if it turns out they stole the whole "people claiming to be time travelers" thing from some mentally unwell homeless person that one of the wrestlers crossed paths with once, because in kayfabe, The New Breed are either liars or insane people.

Meanwhile let's watch Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin vs John Savage. Jimmy's hair is in prime form. Garvin wins with a shittttyyyyy looking brainbuster where John Savage's head did not come close to hitting the mat or hitting anything. No camera angle could save that finish. Thanks for showing up, John. It wasn't Jimmy's fault at least.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD IS NEXT. It's cut, of course. But #8 Clemson beat #18 Georgia, Florida beat #11 Alabama, #7 Florida State beat Memphis, #4 LSU beat Rice, #9 Notre Dame beat #17 Michigan State, #5 Ohio State beat Oregon, and Texas A&M beat #10 Washington. Exciting day of College Football, Craig.

Next up is Nikita Koloff vs David Isley from the Isley Brothers. I'm sure Cornette already made that reference 25+ years ago. Nikita's a fighting champ who won't avoid guys like David Isley. Also as noted last week, Terry Taylor is talking stuff. Nikita wins with a Russian Sickle. Nikita Koloff joins Tony post match, we see the Eddie Gilbert/Terry Taylor interview challenging Nikita Koloff. Nikita tells us he's been watching a lot of Terry Taylor matches recently. We're propelling towards the matchup everybody dreamed up when JCP bought the UWF, Nikita Koloff vs Terry Taylor, TV Title vs TV Title.

Ric Flair gets interview time and he appears to be popular in Raleigh. A great interview for crowd reaction shots. This is JCP and this is Ric Flair so he's gonna cut promos on everybody who mentioned his name on TV since the last time he talked. Nikita Koloff, Terry Taylor, Ronnie Garvin. Ron Garvin is apparently not styling. This is very much of a home field advantage sort of interview for Ric in North Carolina because duh, he's cooler than all the babyfaces.

Now it's time for Rock'n'Roll Express vs Tully and Arn, no DQ for the Tag Team titles. Time to see what sort of chaos ensues with that stip. 3 of the 4 wrestlers in his match are introduced as from a state (Tully gets an actual home town). Hey can we avoid putting that bright TV light in the ringside shot? They mention an upcoming show at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. No attendance figures to figure out how many people would attend an outdoors wrestling show in a minor league ballpark in Vegas in September (because Cornette was in Harrisonburg, VA instead of Vegas). Tony tries to explain that Tommy Young won't complete 3 counts if he catches guys cheating but that the cheating won't lead to a DQ, well, okay, guess there's no better way to make sense of that. Nice kick by Ricky towards the outstretched hand of Tully. This being a no DQ match, Tommy Young gets Ricky to give him the chair before somebody gets hurt. This is no DQ but you still gotta hold onto the tag rope, this isn't anarchy afterall. It's possible they're overthinking this a little. No rule against double figure fours though. Tony does a time call but i'll trust him since Lex/Barry didn't go to a draw. I can see how making over the top a disqualification makes sense when there's no mats at ringside. Yessss. got some choking with a detached tag rope, finally that thing is relevant. Ricky Morton gets tagged in during the break (which might have been worth showing on TV). We're now up to 25 minutes into this match. Robert Gibson seems to be the one in peril for quite a bit of this match so we're trying new things tonight. Tony at least has enough power to make sure they don't go to a break during a spinebuster nearfall. Gibson makes the tag to get Ricky in this one. Ricky just casually shoves Tommy Young so that Tully can hit him with the belt to win the titles. But nope, Earl Hebner's snitch ass shows up and this match must continue. Good on them for not using literally the same finish as Lex/Windham. And of course this no-DQ match ends in the most rational way possible, a double countout. This was a good match, there's no real way for these 4 to not have a good match in the 80s. Of course they're gonna find some way to do a screwjob in a no DQ match. Both teams fight into the darkness and the Rock'N'Roll reemerge holding the belts.

Still a pretty good show with a hot crowd, good matches, and Earl Hebner repeatedly sticking his nose into things. No wonder he had to get plastic surgery to help Ted DiBiase. This was essentially a Worldwide/Pro episode, wasn't it? Also, it seemed more big time than Techwood. But Crockett was already burning enough money without having to tape all the TV in arenas.

That was a good time. I'm sure all the fans who weren't total dorks or jaded had a good time at Dorton for that one.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Cobra Commander

[zendragon]

On 9/13/2023 at 11:52 PM, Cobra Commander said:

 

Stan Lane vs Mike Jackson: Mike Jackson looked old 35 years ago, can't imagine what watching him work in 2023 looks like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug-elh1GIZk

[Godfrey]

Im about 6 months behind @Cobra Commander on watching JCP for the first time and I’m having a ball. Luger has just joined the Horsemen but Ole is still around, Dick Murdoch turned Russian, and Cornette lit Ron Garvin’s face on fire leading to one of my all-time favourite segments with Jimmy Garvin charging the heel locker room. Amazing stuff and I never get bored even though the majority of the matches on TV aren’t that competitive (although I do skip Baron von Raschke and Jimmy Valiant segments unless they seem important, those would be my bathroom break matches if I were watching live). Looking forward to reading some reviews once I’ve caught up

[Cobra Commander]

Might as well charge to the finish line for this before I forget

WWE Cruiserweight Classic, Week 8

The quarterfinals begin tonight.

Mauro and Bryan really working this tournament like your local sports team announcers. Which is a compliment.

This week has Tozawa/Metalik and Ibushi/Kendrick.

Akira Tozawa vs Gran Metalik: An early reminder that this tournament is taking place in it's own universe with a mention of CMLL as "the oldest professional wrestling promotion on the planet". These two gel really well, nice matwork. Loved the dropkick hitting Tozawa as he hit the ropes. Awesome suicide dive by Metalik. Metalik doing a non-spinning toe hold figure four that it takes a moment to get called. Tozawa dropkicks Metalik in the back on a handspring which rules. Tozawa with a suicide dive. This match rules. Tozawa with another suicide dive. The "you hit me, I hit you" exchange makes me wonder how many people are insane enough to do backfists instead of chops. Kinda wild that a casual standing shooting star press can exist and make sense but it does. Nice big dive by Metalik. Nice rana off of the ropes by Metalik. The setup for Tozawa's deadlift German makes me think at least one of those dudes doing a Camel Clutch in 2023 should use their Camel Clutch setup for a German Suplex. Metalik wins with the Screw Driver. This match ruled. This match ruled. I'm not keeping track of how good I really think the matches are but this might be the best match i've seen from the CWC so far. If not, it's close.

Brian Kendrick vs Kota Ibushi: Kendrick starts this match by acting like a shithead, which fits him. Kendrick eats an Ibushi moonsault to the outside quickly. Kendrick keeps acting like a shit by trying to trap Ibushi's foot in the rail. Kendrick working this match like a baseball pitcher using an emery board out in the open. A neckbreaker over the turnbuckle is creative. Brian Kendrick working this like a sleazy dude who ended up in the Bloodsport tournament. Nice kick to the face and Sliced Bread by Kendrick. That German Suplex over the ropes was fucking insane looking. Ibushi escapes that crossface and kicks out of a burning hammer. Yeah boys, we just did a burning hammer in a WWE Network exclusive quarterfinal match. Now it's time for Ibushi to hit some bombs. Ibushi misses a splash, gets in the crossface, counters, and Ibushi wins it with a powerbomb. This was also good. A bit grittier than the first match. Kendrick worked the match like he bet the money allocated for his child's medical treatments on beating Kota Ibushi. A handshake and a hug at the end because in this tournament, there aren't faces and heels, just dudes and a few random punchable dudes doing hot movez.

Brian Kendrick gets his chant and Daniel Bryan walks down to hug him.

WWE Cruiserweight Classic, Week 9

This week, we got ZSJ/Noam Dar and Rich Swann/TJP. Good luck to those 4 after Week 8.

Zack Sabre Jr vs Noam Dar: ZSJ had a very jolly red nose for a moment during the prematch hype packages. The early-on in this match is kinda like Zack Sabre Jr vs Zack Sabre Jr's little brother. Interesting limb work, like ZSJ is the world's gawkiest Anderson family member working the arm. Nice half nelson suplex counter to Dar's taunt. Nice backslide counter to a ZSJ uppercut by Dar. Some real neat counters in this match. Double stomps off the top always kinda look lame but doing a double stomp to the leg looks a lot more dangerous. Some authentic drama with ZSJ since he looks like a guy who might get hurt because he's not wearing knee/elbow pads in a WWE ring. ZSJ wins with a Rings of Saturn variation that looked killer. I could see some people not digging this because it sorta went through the weeds in the styles of choice but this was pretty cool and Noam looked much better here than in his first two matches. ZSJ still looks punchable.

Rich Swann vs TJ Perkins: I don't remember Raw being the exclusive home of the Cruiserweights but that'll be the case as of September 19th. I'm guessing it didn't really last long in any serious form or fashion because this was mid-2010s WWE. Having Rich Swann be miffed at someone showboating back to him is sorta relatable real sports stuff. Like a pitcher getting miffed at batflips while also celebrating every strikeout. Started a little slow and sped up. Nice flip to the floor that caught nothing followed by a sliding kick. All four of these quarterfinal matches have worked within their own ecosystems. This one seems a little more methodical than the others. But if you actually do legwork that they're selling, the match will be slower. Using a top rope rana to advance the knee work is creative. Well, hopping around is one way to lead into a kneebar neartap spot (do they have a word for nearfall submission spots?). Neat Tiger Driver with a jackknife cover. You could cite the legwork to note all sorts of things here like the height of Swann's jumps. Perkins wins with another kneebar. If this wasn't the 4th match of an impressive run, maybe I like it more. I liked the first 3 matches of the quarterfinal more than this match. But this was a pretty peril-heavy sort of match. Having Swann sell his leg to the point of not hitting the ropes was good. Nothing wrong with this match but the main foundation of the match kinda kept this velocity of this one down compared to the other matches. Kinda goes against type for all the cruiserweight wrestling that got big here in the 90s to have kneebar finishes. It makes sense but it's the mixed martial arts version of cruiserweight wrestling, if that phrasing makes any sense.

One more to go

WWE Cruiserweight Classic, Week 10

They have a big trophy for this one, which is better than giving the winner a Mid-South Television Title medallion.

Holy hell, just realized this is double the length of the other episodes. Well, it is the final week, so.

The Semifinals are Metalik vs ZSJ and Ibushi vs TJP. Or as Mauro calls them "The Fantastic Four" (is that riskier than calling them the Final Four?)

Gran Metalik vs Zack Sabre Jr: Meanwhile in the outside world, Kevin Owens has thrown his support behind Zack Sabre Jr. Slight difference in styles between Owens and ZSJ. Quicckk start by Metalik to get this going. Hey there's at least two ZSJ Mexico matches which both happened after this tournament. ZSJ vs Negro Navarro and ZSJ vs Daga both in 2017. I get the sense that ZSJ could be a menacing octopus compared to a lot of guys working in Mexico. Some of these Dragon Sleeper setups we've seen in the tournament have been a little "slip on this banana peel and fall backwards into a dragon sleeper". Easily reversible corner charges, we got easily reversible corner charges. Got some "I hit you, you hit me" with both of them on their knees on multiple occasions. Nice rana off of the ropes. Metalik springboards into a triangle and flips out of it. Metalik beats Sabre with the Screw Driver to advance to the finals. This match wasn't quite as good as their quarterfinals matches (high standard) and it probably could have been longer. But it was reasonably good and I was surprised by the Metalik win. William Regal shows up to give Metalik a medal. I swear I did not expect that when I made the Mid-South TV Title Medallion joke.

"Cruiserweights arrive on Raw this Monday" - yeah, this didn't last long, did it?

Kota Ibushi vs TJ Perkins: Probably a good idea to keep the trophy out of the range of the ring so that nobody dives into it. Ibushi escaping an early attempted kneebar and looking disappointed in TJ for trying that. That was a dangerous-looking presumably safe bump by Ibushi getting kicked on the ass to reverse a moonsault to the outside and falling to the floor. Nice rana counter by Ibushi. Nice moonsault dive. Neartap situation with a TJP kneebar (moonsault countered with a knee before the kneebar). That German Suplex over the ropes spot looks more bonkers facing the hard cam than it looked with Kendrick/Ibushi on the other side of the ring. Perkins hitting some real bombs to get nearfalls. Moonsault kick countered into a kneebar. Ibushi looks agonized about the idea of tapping but he gets out of it. The inner Gorilla Monsoon in all of us would comment about leaving the shoulders untouched by the cover in that Ubushi powerbomb. That missed Phoenix Splash looked nifty. Lots of big movez. Kneebar into a crossface and Ibushi taps to send TJ Perkins to the finals. That was a little more epic than Metalik/ZSJ. So the two finalists both happen to be either on their way to the WWE or about to be there very soon post-tournament. Guessing that Ibushi doesn't use the Dan Severn "i'll job to people with shoot creds" approach to determine who he jobs to in this tournament (TJ being a New Japan Dojo guy in his teens and all). Mauro and Bryan consider this a huge upset, I'd argue that Metalik over ZSJ was a big upset too. TJ Perkins also gets a medal from William Regal.

You can tell that this is in a different universe since Gran Metalik is watching a TV monitor like a normal person.

Oh yes, we got a Noam Dar and Cedric Alexander vs DIY match on this show too. Man, that Noam Dar Scottish Israeli accent is something.

Noted big wrestling show watcher Sasha Banks is here! Kalisto is here! Rich Swann is here! Jack Gallagher is taking time off of sexpestery! Bayley is here! It's like Starrcade 1997 in a way.

Noam Dar and Cedric Alexander vs DIY: I believe this is the unofficial "let the finalists catch their breath" match. But it should still be an NXT style battle so my expectations for movez are high. I didn't have WWE Network until sometime around when they gave all the Xfinity people Peacock in 2021, so a lot of DIY stuff that only aired on the Network is new to me. Nice dive by Alexander. Nice baseball slide counter to a handspring elbow. My display driver stopped displaying for a moment because I used the same descriptor one too many times. Well, Noam's trying at least but some of this stuff isn't quite hitting. Love that forearm/clothesline by Alexander. Okay, Noam's doing better in a strikes exchange. Noam trapped Ciampa in the corner for a like a minute and then we get some fun between Cedric and Ciampa. DIY hitting some NXT Strong Style. Nice lawn dart into a turnbuckle and Ciampa pins Dar for the win. I guess having Noam Dar in this match so he can eat the fall makes sense.

Story Time, coming in November! (of 2016). Also Holy Foley! Hey, while you're watching this, watch other stuff too! Over 6000 Hours of Classics, which is only 250 days if you watch it all in order.

William Regal comes into the booth to talk about the tournament and he towers over the rest of the booth and you don't usually think of William Regal as being a massive but here he is. Corey Graves has escaped the Events Center and he's gonna talk a little bit too as we stall for time before the tournament finals. Also we get a flashback to earlier in this episode.

TJ Perkins vs Gran Metalik for All The Cruiserweight Classic Glory: But before these guuys actually wrestle, here's Papa Triple H to make an entrance to give us a pep talk. Also the winner of this match will be the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion and there's a belt to prove it. Man, that trophy just got Wally Pipped. This match starts off with some headscissors action. The pendulum would be a fun spot for a world where we didn't know that it was bad to repeatedly bang your head against the mat. Nice suicide dive by Metalik. That ringwalk springboard senton was neat. That Perkins rana from the ring to the floor was cool. Another cool dive by Metalik. That springboard elbow looks pretty good. We get another missed splash/submission move sequence. You'd think by now they'd know to avoid missing splashes. Not sure if Metalik got dropkicked in the knee or he flipped to avoid it because it didn't look like that came close to making contact. Both of these guys have firemans carry setups to their big moves so watch out. Convenient that TJ can just go to a kneebar if he doesn't get the pin with his big stomachbuster move. Metalik escapes the submission moves and gets a nearfall. Screwdriver but his knee hurt so that's a kickout by TJ. In a way, makes a lot of sense to have a cruiserweight title tournament with lots of legwork when you consider all the highflyers who had their knees get fucked over time. So many kicks while on the turnbuckle or near the ropes. TJ avoids a Superscrewdriver and locks in another kneebar. Metalik taps and TJ Perkins is the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion, a championship that is now lineally held by Dominik Mysterio provided you ignore the vacancies over time.

We got 7 minutes from the finish to the end of this episode. Assuming that they don't have a standby match ready like it's Shreveport in 1983.

Triple H puts the belt on TJ Perkins, The trophy feels lonely and unloved. Handshakes with Metalik. A 31 match tournament with sportsmanship and clean finishes and no chicanery or nonsense and lots of kneebars. And in the fine mid-2010s WWE tradition, it doesn't really lead to anything except memories. Man, TJ got marked up a bit during all this.

So, that was a fun 10 episodes of action. I'd imagine it was well received at the time and he probably aged pretty well all things considered.

[Eivion]

2 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

Mauro and Bryan consider this a huge upset, I'd argue that Metalik over ZSJ was a big upset too.

At the time I think Metalik was a bigger name in Mexico than ZJS was world wide. That didn't really happen until after the CWC.

[Cobra Commander]

10 minutes ago, Eivion said:

At the time I think Metalik was a bigger name in Mexico than ZJS was world wide. That didn't really happen until after the CWC.

Looking at Wikipedia and yeah, ZSJ didn't debut in New Japan until post-CWC so his biggest non-UK fed would be NOAH post-Misawa.

Probably possible that CMLL moved ahead of AAA for quality/visibility at times too after AAA's early surge.

The whole thing sorta worked out to be Kota Ibushi's Summer Vacation, didn't it?

[Cobra Commander]

and let's watch some more wrestling, from a place that has a lot less flying than the CWC.. it's late 1983 Mid-South

Mid-South Wrestling (10/29/1983)

Boyd Pierce gets a long introduction this week. Bill Watts has returned from a meeting of the "Mid-South Board of Directors" in Tampa, Florida. There's shocking news and a landmark decision.

Two weeks ago, we had a runoff election between Doogan and the Dog to decide who would wrestle Butch Reed and the Dog won. But Butch Reed wanted to wrestle Magnum TA instead. JYD looks gigantic in that refs shirt (he's bulking up to face those heels) and JYD sacrificed himself to protect TA. JYD popped Butch Reed and TA wins the North American Title.

Last week, Nicolai Volkoff challenged Magnum TA and said if he didn't win the North American title, he's leave America, but TA didn't have the authority to make this match. So we're now in part two of this lesson on the power of sanctioning bodies.

Volkoff beat TA for the North American title in New Orleans last week. But before finally hear about the decision, here's Nicolai Volkoff's victory interview. Note that it's Nicolai according to the graphics.

The decision: Champions can't make their own matches because that would be absurd and we can't have absurdity in this sport. Second, the fans picked the Dog. Volkoff has been stripped of the North American Title. TA's title win is also annuled. So Butch Reed gets the title back, and he's gonna wrestle JYD. With a special troubleshooting referee. Sure are placing a lot of authority in a verbal fan vote, aren't we.

Anyways, that's 12 minutes of a 42 minute show right there. Did you take notes about the lessons about sanctioning bodies and picking opponents and the oral contract of the fans who picked the Junkyard Dog over 3 other contenders. There'll be an exam later.

So we're gonna get Butch Reed vs Junk Yard Dog right now. At least that was 12 minutes well spent. We have two referees in the ring but there'll be a third very special referee and it's Dusty Rhodes who just strolls in quietly in a hat and jacket. Dusty is wearing jeans and a DUSTY t-shirt for the occasion. JYD looks pretty well put together when he's next to Dusty in a white shirt. Apparently this title can change hands by DQ so Butch doesn't have incentive to get disqualified. So many chin locks so far. Dusty and JYD collide as Dusty comes off the ropes and Dusty bumps out to the floor. Butch goes to the top rope because the ref is out but gets slammed. There's Jim Neidhart but Dusty gets back into the ring, Neidhart is dispatched. JYD slams Butch Reed, Dusty gets impressive hangtime jumping to get in position for the pin and JYD is the North American champion.

Next up, Max The Missing Link vs Magnum TA: Apparently The Missing Link's first name went missing over the years. Link doing some non-headbutt moves. Watts talking about the freestyle/greco-roman credentials of the Belly to Belly Suplex. The Missing Link goes to the top rope but TA catches him with an unusually gentle belly to belly variant as he's coming down and gets the win.

Nicolai Volkoff vs Jerry Oates: Nicolai has a bag of American wheat which is current for the time. Jerry Oates has a stellar head of hair. Nicolai is so mad over being stripped of the North American title that he has a bag of wheat. It's a symbolic protest and it's more tasteful than having a toy airplane with KAL-OO7 on it. Nicolai Volkoff wins after slamming Oates like a bag of wheat. Wheat. Surely that won't lead to any heat angles soon.

Tom Stanton vs The Iceman King Parsons: Tom Stanton looks like a guy who is running a scam to get women to pose nude for his modelling company. Of all the companies, this is the one that wants to make sure you remember that his first name is King. He's called the Iceman because he worked with Ice to put himself through college (Lincoln, which is in the same conference as the school I graduated from, until 2024 when they'll leave again). It looks like Iceman barely has enough hair to put in braids. The unnamed Butt Butt wins the match and Boyd Pierce is there to explain it even if Bill doesn't know what the move is called.

Jim Neidhart and Bobby Duncum vs Marty Oates and Mike Bond: Not sure if Neidhart looks more or less deranged with more hair. Jim Neidhart looks a little like Tank Abbott around this time. Apparently Jim Neidhart is disparaging how Jim Duggan dresses and acts which is certainly an angle. Neidhart pins Bond with a nice looking Samoan Drop.

Doug Vines vs King Cobra: We got multiple Kings on this show this week. Next week it's Dusty and Doogan vs Reed and Neidhart for the Mid-South Tag Team Titles. Cobra pins Vines with a flying headscissors where he hooked the leg. Which is creative-looking. I know the side headscissors have pretty much been a dead art due to ranas but that looks like something that could still be used by someone instead of the usual sunset flip/sunset flip reversal pinning combinations.

So, I can see how the takeaway from watching this promotion is that they lacked guys that women would want to fuck (The exact phrase being "Where are the blowjobs"). There's a lot of beef on this roster in late 1983. Maybe leaning a bit hard on the bosses favorite kind of wrestler.

[Curt McGirt]

9 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

a meeting of the "Mid-South Board of Directors" in Tampa, Florida

"Getting Drunk and Eating Ribs on Eddie Graham's Boat"

Edited September 16, 2023 by Curt McGirt

[Cobra Commander]

Also, would it be accurate to guess that the WWE announcers have moved away from talking about how Noam Dar is driven by his fandom of Oasis in the 7 years post-CWC? I know that Dar is still around.

But yeah, Daniel Bryan was excellent in his role of "recently retired player who does color commentary for his former team"