Stan Hansen/Terry Funk vs Abdullah the Butcher/Kevin Sullivan ECW 1993
I don't want to steal anyone's early ECW reviews thunder. Stan Hansen only did a handful of matches in the states after 1990 or so. I don't know how Todd Gordon got him to show up to a tiny indie. Lots of blood. Not a lot of action. Funk and Sullivan climb the scaffold. Stan and Abby punch, choke, and blade each other. Nothing really happened and then it cut out.
Tatanka vs Chris Hammrick WWF 1994
Pre-heel turn. I hope for the Hammrick bump. He does the Owen/Bret corner bump. YES! The Hammrick bump! What the fuck was he thinking making that his signature bump? Whattamark. You'd think after a few years of him doing that on TV and not getting hired for anything but jobber matches, he'd have phased it out. Instead, he was still doing it through ECW and TNA. He's probably still doing it today if he can still walk. He kind of looks like an anorexic Bobby Eaton. End of the Trail for the win.
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Antonio Inoki vs Steven Regal WCW 1994
How fucking weird that Inoki is wrestling on TBS in fucking Iowa. And at 51. Regal immediately attacks Inoki as he gets in the ring. Once the match starts, it is stiff. Inoki gets the choke in, but they were in the ropes. This is definitely not your normal WCW match. This shit looks like a struggle going on. Two hard men with big chins fighting to win a match. Regal hits a series of kicks to the chest. Taijri style. This is almost shootish style. Inoki totally whiffs on a wheel kick, but Regal just jumps right back on him to cover it up. Nick Bockwinkle comes out during the match for commentary. Brain and Bock on color! I wasn't listening to what he said as I'm listening to a Paul McCartney concert form Mexico last year, but I don't think Brain was happy with what ever it was. Butterfly suplex from Regal. That's probably the first throw so far. It's been them just beating on each other and struggling for holds. Inoki gets the choke and Regal goes out in a hurry. This was pretty awesome. Completely random and very much in front of the wrong crowd (Iowa wasn't really down for a Brit and Japanese guy working a shoot/catch style match for 10 minutes, especially when they didn't even know who Inoki was and were there for Hogan vs Flair), but awesome. I would recommend people look this up on the Youtubes.
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Joshi Survivor Series Match WWF 1995
I don't know anyone besides Madusa, Aja Kong, and Bertha Fay, but I'll gif everything that needs it. I didn't realize I had a thing for women in LOD/Warrior/Sting face paint, but apparently I do.
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Aja Kong vs Chapparita Asari WWF 1995
This had to be so weird for the crowd. Two random Japanese women beating the shit out of each other? Aja hits some seated kicks that I swear moved Asari 6 inches. Jesus. Aja Kong is awesome. She might have actually been meaner than Vader. Holy shit, package piledriver on Raw in 1995. Face is knocked off from the spinning back fist. Jesus. Aja Kong is fucking brutal. I believe it broke Asari's nose.
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Miracle Violence Connection vs The Eliminators ECW 1996
This is a brawl right away. Doc and Saturn go to the floor, leaving the fat druggies in the ring. Broken down, post-stroke Gordy kind of makes me think of Abyss. Gordy hits a few dragon screws on Kronus. Doc gets tagged in and laid out with a lariat. He comes back with a German suplex. I feel like having Kronus work a majority of the match is a bad idea. Saturn powerbombs Doc on the floor. Eliminators hit a Finlay roll and splash on Gordy, but can't make the pin. Total Elimination! Doc breaks up the pin. Saturn drops an elbow from the top of the scaffold and pins Gordy. I believe he also destroyed his knee.
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Ken Shamrock vs Vernon White WWF 1997
This was a shooty exhibition for Shamrock. It's a UWFI match in the middle of the US on Raw in front of a crowd that likey had zero knowledge of guard, open mount, sweeps, and various submission work. Ken wins with mounted punches.
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