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December Wrasslin' |OT| This title has been held by all the greats...and Triple H
Professor Beef
Banned
uh-huh
Nah brah, I'm going GAB 1992 next. An all tag team show with teams like Steamboat/Koloff, Pillman/Liger, Miracle Violence Connection, Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham, Hashimoto/Hase, and topped off with Sting vs Vader. No doubt I'll have at least 5 lariatoooooo gifs from the show.
Serpentine
Banned
these segments with Shane McMahon training Vince are the greatest things ever. I think Shane is my favorite character so far in my AE '99 watch (like 3 eps in).
god damn, this crowd goes crazy when Stone Cold just grabs the mic. these shows are so full of energy and every character has a story (some even have multiple stories!), it doesn't really matter that the wrestling itself isn't as good as it is today. well, okay, it does, but at least there was progression to the storylines rather than constant rematches and punkverse shit. even if dudes like Road Dogg and Al Snow are wrestling on every show
god damn, this crowd goes crazy when Stone Cold just grabs the mic. these shows are so full of energy and every character has a story (some even have multiple stories!), it doesn't really matter that the wrestling itself isn't as good as it is today. well, okay, it does, but at least there was progression to the storylines rather than constant rematches and punkverse shit. even if dudes like Road Dogg and Al Snow are wrestling on every show
UberTag
Member
Imagine what type of programming we'd get with today's talent and the capable booking & commentary of the Attitude Era. Storyline advancement was actually a thing.
And Shane has always been great.
Serpentine
Banned
what could be, man...
The Mango Sentinel
Member
I see a few of you commenting on old Attitude Era shit......where are you watching these?
Serpentine
Banned
Youtube! I typed in an old Raw is War episode a few days ago and just decided to start from the beginning of the year and watch all the Raws.
TheWarrior
Banned
Even Smackdowns in the early years was insane. The crowds were so into it.
The main event guys were all fairly young and there were more than just 1 guy at the top.
TheWarrior
Banned
Al Snow is a good example. His head gimmick was perfect for that era and the crowd went nuts for him. Never would move past mid-card but always got a pop.
British Monsoon
Member
Jushin 'Thunder' Liger vs Zack Sabre Jr. - (NOAH 11/27/13)
One of the best technical wrestling talents in the UK today takes on one of the greatest jr. heavyweight wrestlers of all time. This one should be a great match.
Anyone watching CZW tonight? Seems like Willie Mack won't be making it - he was supposed to be wrestling for Joel Maximo's (of the SAT 'fame') shitty promotion, but apparently Joel waited until Willie Mack was at LAX to inform him there was no flight ticket waiting for him. What an ass.
One of the best technical wrestling talents in the UK today takes on one of the greatest jr. heavyweight wrestlers of all time. This one should be a great match.
Anyone watching CZW tonight? Seems like Willie Mack won't be making it - he was supposed to be wrestling for Joel Maximo's (of the SAT 'fame') shitty promotion, but apparently Joel waited until Willie Mack was at LAX to inform him there was no flight ticket waiting for him. What an ass.
BronsonLee
Member
ASSSSSSHOOOOLE
No clue why people still think they're being flown in for Maximo shows, their last was a disaster
But ya go buy COD
BIONIC-ARRRMMM!!
Member
Watching more NXT really makes me question why Bayley isn't getting fast tracked to Raw and Smackdown. I prefer NXT as a show, but those are the shows that get the views and money and Bayley is one of the best Divas they have. Her gimmick would also allow for a ton of comedy shit to go down. She's on the same waifu tier as AJ.
Because they would see this easy-to-get-over and ripe for merch selling female that can wrestle, and say "nope, don't want that. Watch Total Divas now on E! and starring the Bella Twins!".
British Monsoon
Member
There's two iPPV's next weekend from Japan;
NJPW, "ROAD TO TOKYO DOME", 2013.12.21
Yamagata City Sports Center
http://www.ustream.tv/njpw - $15 - 18:00 JST | 10:00 CET | 09:00 GMT | 04:00 EST | 01:00 PST
01. Sho Tanaka vs Yohei Komatsu
02. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, KUSHIDA & BUSHI vs Jushin 'Thunder' Liger, Tiger Mask & TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)
03. Togi Makabe & Kota Ibushi vs CHAOS (Yujiro Takahashi & Takashi Iizuka)
04. CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Jado) vs Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)
05. Tetsuya Naito vs Gedo
06. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs YOSHI-HASHI
07. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Captain New Japan
08. Kazuchika Okada vs Tomoaki Honma
Dragon Gate, "THE FINAL GATE", 2013.12.22
Fukuoka Kokusai Center
http://www.ustream.tv/dragonGate - $25 - 17:00 JST | 09:00 CET | 08:00 GMT | 03:00 EST | 00:00 PST
00. Shachihoko BOY vs Chihiro Tominaga
01. Millenials (Yosuke♡Santa Maria, U-T & Rocky Lobo) vs Jimmyz (Jimmy Kagetora, Jimmy Kanda) & Ryotsu Shimizu
02. Don Fuji vs 'Hollywood' Stalker Ichikawa vs Batten Tamagawa
03. Oretachi Veteran-gun (K-ness, Super Shisa & Gamma) vs Mad Blankey (Cyber Kong, Mondai Ryu & Kzy)
04. Open the Brave Gate Championship: Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! (c) vs CIBA
05. Open The Triangle Gate Championship: Millenials (T-Hawk, Eita & Flamita) (c) vs Oretachi Veteran-gun (CIMA, Masaaki Mochizuki & Dragon Kid) vs Jimmyz (Ryo 'Jimmy' Saito, Jimmy Susumu & Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin)
06. Open the Twin Gate Championship: Mad Blankey (YAMATO & Naruki Doi) (c) vs Monster Express (Akira Tozawa & Shingo Takagi)
07. Open the Dream Gate Championship: Masato Yoshino (c) vs BxB Hulk
Getting that New Japan show for Okada vs Honma and Ishii vs Suzuki hate, but the Dragon Gate show looks excellent - all those championship matches look awesome and I've no doubt the undercard will be a ton of fun.
I'm probably gonna grab the replay, but it looks like a great card and will undoubtedly be better value for money than TLC;
http://www.rfvideonow.com/czw/ - $15
. Cage of Death: Danny Havoc, Devon Moore & Lucky 13 vs Drew Blood, Matt Tremont, Ron Matthis & Rory Mondo
. CZW World Heavyweight Championship: Drew Gulak (c) vs Chris Hero
. CZW World Tag Team Championship: Ruckus & BLK Jeez (c) vs JT Dunn & David Starr
. CZW Wired Championship: Alex Colon (c) vs Shane Strickland
. Special Singles Match: Davey Richards vs Chris Dickinson
. #1 Contender for the Tag Titles: Azrieal & Bandido Jr. vs Alex Reynolds & Johnny Silver
. Showcase Scramble: AR Fox vs Andrew Everett vs Anthony Nese vs vs Chuck Taylor
. Tag Team War: OI4K (Jake Crist, Dave Crist & Nevaeh) vs DJ Hyde, Sozio & Biff Busick
. Special Singles Match: Greg Excellet vs Freight Train
. Women's Match: Christina Von Eerie vs Kimber Lee
That 4-way match should be great, also really looking forward to Gulak vs Hero and Richards vs Dickinson.
NJPW, "ROAD TO TOKYO DOME", 2013.12.21
Yamagata City Sports Center
http://www.ustream.tv/njpw - $15 - 18:00 JST | 10:00 CET | 09:00 GMT | 04:00 EST | 01:00 PST
01. Sho Tanaka vs Yohei Komatsu
02. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, KUSHIDA & BUSHI vs Jushin 'Thunder' Liger, Tiger Mask & TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)
03. Togi Makabe & Kota Ibushi vs CHAOS (Yujiro Takahashi & Takashi Iizuka)
04. CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Jado) vs Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)
05. Tetsuya Naito vs Gedo
06. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs YOSHI-HASHI
07. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Captain New Japan
08. Kazuchika Okada vs Tomoaki Honma
Dragon Gate, "THE FINAL GATE", 2013.12.22
Fukuoka Kokusai Center
http://www.ustream.tv/dragonGate - $25 - 17:00 JST | 09:00 CET | 08:00 GMT | 03:00 EST | 00:00 PST
00. Shachihoko BOY vs Chihiro Tominaga
01. Millenials (Yosuke♡Santa Maria, U-T & Rocky Lobo) vs Jimmyz (Jimmy Kagetora, Jimmy Kanda) & Ryotsu Shimizu
02. Don Fuji vs 'Hollywood' Stalker Ichikawa vs Batten Tamagawa
03. Oretachi Veteran-gun (K-ness, Super Shisa & Gamma) vs Mad Blankey (Cyber Kong, Mondai Ryu & Kzy)
04. Open the Brave Gate Championship: Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! (c) vs CIBA
05. Open The Triangle Gate Championship: Millenials (T-Hawk, Eita & Flamita) (c) vs Oretachi Veteran-gun (CIMA, Masaaki Mochizuki & Dragon Kid) vs Jimmyz (Ryo 'Jimmy' Saito, Jimmy Susumu & Mr. Quu Quu Tanizaki Naoki Toyonaka Dolphin)
06. Open the Twin Gate Championship: Mad Blankey (YAMATO & Naruki Doi) (c) vs Monster Express (Akira Tozawa & Shingo Takagi)
07. Open the Dream Gate Championship: Masato Yoshino (c) vs BxB Hulk
Getting that New Japan show for Okada vs Honma and Ishii vs Suzuki hate, but the Dragon Gate show looks excellent - all those championship matches look awesome and I've no doubt the undercard will be a ton of fun.
I'm probably gonna grab the replay, but it looks like a great card and will undoubtedly be better value for money than TLC;
http://www.rfvideonow.com/czw/ - $15
. Cage of Death: Danny Havoc, Devon Moore & Lucky 13 vs Drew Blood, Matt Tremont, Ron Matthis & Rory Mondo
. CZW World Heavyweight Championship: Drew Gulak (c) vs Chris Hero
. CZW World Tag Team Championship: Ruckus & BLK Jeez (c) vs JT Dunn & David Starr
. CZW Wired Championship: Alex Colon (c) vs Shane Strickland
. Special Singles Match: Davey Richards vs Chris Dickinson
. #1 Contender for the Tag Titles: Azrieal & Bandido Jr. vs Alex Reynolds & Johnny Silver
. Showcase Scramble: AR Fox vs Andrew Everett vs Anthony Nese vs vs Chuck Taylor
. Tag Team War: OI4K (Jake Crist, Dave Crist & Nevaeh) vs DJ Hyde, Sozio & Biff Busick
. Special Singles Match: Greg Excellet vs Freight Train
. Women's Match: Christina Von Eerie vs Kimber Lee
That 4-way match should be great, also really looking forward to Gulak vs Hero and Richards vs Dickinson.
Rafa=FedKilla
Banned
Bailey is beautiful but she has the face of a lunch lady.
Yes. As part of the cross over with BATTLEDOME, which was like an xtreme version of American Gladiators that aired at 1 or 2 in the morning in syndication.
BronsonLee
Member
BATTLEDOME SON
T-MONEY
T-MONEY
They can be called The Snack Pack.
BronsonLee
Member
Kidman is date rapist confirmed
Rafa=FedKilla
Banned
Goody Two Shoes Gabriel is his new gimmick.
avengers23
Banned
Alicia Fox had some decent matches during the NXT Women's Championship series, but I was surprised that this Natalya vs. Alicia Fox match was as decent as it was.
legitshook.com
WCW The Great American Bash 1992
Thankfully, this is taped from PPV, which means all matches will be on the show. Hopefully. Turner often cut home releases down to around 2 hours.
This whole show is a tournament to crown new NWA Tag Team Champions. The only singles match is Sting vs Vader for the WCW Championship. It looks to be an awesome card.
Tony Schiavone and Magnum TA are hosts. JR and Jesse Ventura are doing commentary.
TO THE BACK. Eric Bischoff talks with Bill Watts about the card tonight. Watts explains the rules differences on the show. The tournament matches are under NWA rules, which means top rope rules are allowed. In the WCW Championship match, top rope rules illegal.
Brian Pillman/Jushin Liger vs Nikita Koloff/Ricky Steamboat
To me, Steamboat's best run was WCW 1991-1994. He was just the best during this period. Pillman and Nikita start out. Koloff's size and strength advantage come into play right away. Jesse doesn't like Nikita due to his woman abusing ways. Nikita did something to Madusa I guess. Liger gets tagged in and works over the arm. Quick tags between the lightweights. Liger knocks Nikita off his feet. Steamboat is tagged in and immediately does some dropkicks and even pulls Liger into the ring. Arm drag! JR keeps getting Koloff and Steamboat mixed up. Double drop kick. Liger and Steamboat match up. Lots of tags in this. Liger nails a moonsault and tombstone on Steamboat. Flipping senton. Dragon stops the offense with a back suplex and quickly tags out. Steamboat is back in and does a series of Lesnar style backbreakers into a powerslam. Pillman gets a hot tag. Missile dropkick from Liger. Cartwheel attack. Nikita gets pissed at some stiff shots from Liger and puts him on his ass. Liger tagged out. Air Pillman! He follows this up with a missile dropkick. Dragon comes in and is dropkicked right out. Pillman tries a diving sleeper from the second rope. Nikita fell so he just did a normal sleeper. Steamboat rolls through a top rope cross body for the win. Steamboat and Koloff advance. Pretty good start to the show. It was worked as a weird mesh of heavyweights vs cruisers, face vs face, and some slightly heel work from Steamboat/Koloff.
TO THE BACK. Eric Bischoff talks with the Steiners. They aren't in the tournament due to Scott having been injured by Dr. Death.
Hiroshi Hase/Shinnya Hashimoto vs Fabulous Freebirds
This is probably going to be the worst styles clash of all time. What a terrible match up. Hase and Hayes start out. Fuck Michael Hayes. I just want to see Hash stiff the ever loving piss out of him. Naturally, they didn't mesh well at all. Hase pinned Garvin with a Northern lights suplex. No one beat the shit out of Michael Hayes, so I was very disappointed.
TO THE SCHIAVONE. Tony is with Bill Watts and Hiro Matsuda. Bill Watts has regained control of the Big Gold Belt. Ric Flair's name was taken off the belt. It was then handed over to Matsuda, as a tournament would take place in NJPW to determine a new champion. Once that champion is crowned, he will face the WCW Champion in a unification match.
Rick Rude/Steve Austin vs Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes
Rude is the US Champion. Austin is the TV Champion. IT'S AN UPPER BODY BUSINESS, GOD DAMN IT! Austin and Barry start out. Austin tries a number of roll ups until Barry just punches him in the mouth. Austin is so fun as a shitbird heel. Rude and Dustin are tagged in and Rude goes to town on Dustin in the corner. Dustin stuffs that with a lariatooo and back suplex before working a hammer lock. Rude attempts a tombstone. Dustin reverses it into one of his own. Austin is in and hits a lariatooo. It briefly heads to the floor. Dustin slaps on an abdominal stretch. Diving lariatooo from Barry. Madusa distracts the ref, allowing Rude to do some hair pulling and go up top for a weird missile dropkick. Barry kicks out. Solid piledriver from Rude. Barry tries his best to make a hot tag, but is cut off by Austin coming off the top rope. Austin does a lot of classic heel work while doing submissions. The heels switch out while the ref was distracted and Randy Anderson actually makes them switch out because he didn't see the tag. That might be the first time I've ever seen that in a tag match. Double lariatoooo. Kind of. It was awkward. Barry and Rude collide heads. Tags are made. Dustin is on fire with elbows, lariatoos, and dropkicks. Austin attempts a piledriver on Windham. Dustin comes off the top with a lariatooo for the win. I was a WWF kid growing up, but nothing is better than a well worked Southern tag match. Barry/Dustin advance.
TO THE BACK. Bischoff talks with Vader and Harley Race. There will be a lot of disappointed Stingers tonight. YOU WANT VADER?!?!
Ricky Steamboat/Nikita Koloff vs Miracle Violence Connection
Well, MVC weren't called that in America, but that's what they are. They are the reigning WCW Tag Team Champions. Those titles are not on the line. MVC received a bye in the tournament. Gordy and Dragon start out. Koloff/Dragon go from cruisers to full on super heavyweights. Dragon unleashes some arm drags. Steamboat is out wrestling Dr. Death. Nikita is tagged in. They do some awkward amateur style wrestling. I always enjoyed how Jesse pronounced that word. Amater. Gordy and Koloff have some shoulder blocks with neither man budging. A lot of amateur style with Nikita and Doc, which is weird because I don't think Nikita ever showed his amateur skills. Dragon gets tagged in and fires up. This is stopped by a Doc lariatooo and they do some more amateur style stuff. Dragon goes for a crucifix. Doc backs up into the corner and tags in Gordy. Another lariatooo. Double shoulder block. Another spot of the heels switching out and the ref not allowing it because he didn't see it. So crazy. That never happens. Back break injures Steamer's ribs. He hits a desperation DDT and tags out. Nikita hits a series of shoulder blocks, the last of which Gordy just slams Nikita to the mat. STF on Nikita. Doc is tagged in an applies a Boston crab that is almost a Liontamer. Hot tag to Steamboat. He hits Doc with a top rope chop. He goes up for the crossbody only to be pushed off by Gordy. Doc then hits a modified Oklahoma stampede for the win. MVC advance.
Hiroshi Hase/Shinnya Hashimoto vs Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham
Hase and Dustin start the match. Windham soon comes in and we get some nice chain wrasslin. Test of strength. Hase bridges out and hits a back heel kick. Hashimoto tags in. Jesse talks about how Hash is one of the few Japanese that could be a football player. Hash grounds Dustin and some arm work begins. Hase has a hammerlock on and pulls Dustin down by his jaw, doing basically a weird crossface chicken wing. Windham comes in and starts throwing Hase around, also doing an arm work. Hase bridges and flips out of a version of the short arm scissors. Hash is in, does some kicks, then applies a triangle. He turns this into a cross arm breaker. Hash taunts and wants a strike battle. Dustin just gives him punches and elbows and easily wins it. But then Hash pokes him in the eyes/throat and uncorks a series of kicks and spin wheel kick to the face. Spike piledriver that ended up being more of a spike sit out powerbomb. Windham gets sick of this shit and gets into the ring to smack the shit out of those darn Japanese folks. Dustin plays FIP for quite a while. Hase misses a top rope knee drop and is drilled with a lariatooooo. Hot tag to Barry. Dustin leap frogs Hase, who runs right into a Windham lariatooo. Dustin and Barry advance to the finals against MVC.
TO THE TONY. Tony and Magnum talk to Ron Simmons. DAMN. He wants the winner of Vader/Sting.
Vader vs Sting WCW Championship
Sting bows right up to Vader. Vader immediately backs Sting into the corner and starts beating the shit out of him. Short arm lariatooo. Sting rolls to the floor. When he gets back in, Sting does a lariato which has no effect. He then tries a cross body. Vader catches him and throws him back like Sting was a cruiserweight. Sting's speed allows him to hit a back suplex and send Vader to the floor. Sting is dumb enough to go for a test of strength, but SWERVES Vader with a thumb to the eye. He knocks Vader to the apron and actually suplexes him back in. His momentum is stopped by running right into Vader. Not even really a move so much as bouncing off of Vader. Sting nails two boots to the face and nearly wins with a small package. Vader does some posing and JR takes a dig at the WBF. Big splash. Vader applies the Scorpion Death Lock. Sadly, it's about as good as Rock's. Sting gets out, but Vader is knocking the shit out of him. Lariatoooo. Powerslam. Sting fires up and hits a koppo kick OUTTA NOWHERE. DDT. Vader tries to go up top and is caught. Sting squats this fat fuck and does a Samoan drop. Ref bump. Sting hits a German suplex. The ref recovers enough to count the pin, but the slight delay could have cost Sting the match. Stinger Splash. While doing the second one, Sting appears to have knocked himself out by hitting the metal bolt connecting the turn buckle and the ring post. Vader easily wins with the powerbomb. New champion! Sting is helped by officials and Nikita Koloff (in his ring gear, without knee pads, and wearing flip flops) after the match.
TO THE SCHIAVONE. Tony and Magnum talk about the match.
TO THE BACK. Bischoff talks with Vader and Harley Race. Vader is the king of wrestling!
Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes vs Miracle Violence Connection NWA Tag Team Championships Special Guest Referee: Ole Anderson
Before the match, the Steiners came out but were not allowed to stay at ringside. Doc and Barry start the match. If I'm not mistaken, these two had a UWF Championship match when JCP bought the UWF and treated it about as well as Vince treated WCW when he bought it. Gordy is tagged and Dustin unloads a series of elbows. Barry applies a figure four. Gordy gets to the ropes and tags out. Belly to belly. Lots of mat work and hold grabbing in this. Doc got his nick name in 9th grade. Can you imagine a 14 year old being such a bad ass that people call him Dr. Death? Gordy locks Dustin the STF. Doc is pretty great at cutting the ring off. Powerslam to Dustin. Hot tag to Barry. A lariatoo sends Gordy to the floor. Float over suplex on Doc. 2 count. Gut wrench suplex. Barry locks on a sleeper. Doc runs into the corner, causing Barry to hit his shoulder on the same place that Sting hit his head earlier. Lariatoooo. Barry settles into FIP. Hot tag to Dustin. He was quickly cut off by paying too much attention to Gordy and leaving himself open for Doc to attack. Big kitchen sink. Doc appears to have hurt his knee doing it. Another big ass lariatoooo from Gordy. Oklahoma Stampede! He went for an extra run. Barry dropkicked Doc before he could do the slam. Dustin goes for the bulldog, but is sent into Terry Gordy on the apron. They clank heads. Doc the drills Dustin with a lariatoooooooooo to win the NWA Tag Team Championships. This now makes them the Unified World Tag Team Champions.
TO THE SCHIAVONE. Tony and Magnum talk with the new champs. Doc plugs the hotline.
DQ Count: 0 out of 7 matches.
Pretty awesome show. None of it was flashy, but instead it was a ton of rugged, dirty, stiff, great pro wrasslin all night. No bullshit. All clean finishes. Only one match went under 15 minutes, which was the one match that needed to not go anywhere near 15 minutes. Bill Watts may have been a total cock, but he could put together some great wrasslin shows.
WCW The Great American Bash 1992
Thankfully, this is taped from PPV, which means all matches will be on the show. Hopefully. Turner often cut home releases down to around 2 hours.
This whole show is a tournament to crown new NWA Tag Team Champions. The only singles match is Sting vs Vader for the WCW Championship. It looks to be an awesome card.
Tony Schiavone and Magnum TA are hosts. JR and Jesse Ventura are doing commentary.
TO THE BACK. Eric Bischoff talks with Bill Watts about the card tonight. Watts explains the rules differences on the show. The tournament matches are under NWA rules, which means top rope rules are allowed. In the WCW Championship match, top rope rules illegal.
Brian Pillman/Jushin Liger vs Nikita Koloff/Ricky Steamboat
To me, Steamboat's best run was WCW 1991-1994. He was just the best during this period. Pillman and Nikita start out. Koloff's size and strength advantage come into play right away. Jesse doesn't like Nikita due to his woman abusing ways. Nikita did something to Madusa I guess. Liger gets tagged in and works over the arm. Quick tags between the lightweights. Liger knocks Nikita off his feet. Steamboat is tagged in and immediately does some dropkicks and even pulls Liger into the ring. Arm drag! JR keeps getting Koloff and Steamboat mixed up. Double drop kick. Liger and Steamboat match up. Lots of tags in this. Liger nails a moonsault and tombstone on Steamboat. Flipping senton. Dragon stops the offense with a back suplex and quickly tags out. Steamboat is back in and does a series of Lesnar style backbreakers into a powerslam. Pillman gets a hot tag. Missile dropkick from Liger. Cartwheel attack. Nikita gets pissed at some stiff shots from Liger and puts him on his ass. Liger tagged out. Air Pillman! He follows this up with a missile dropkick. Dragon comes in and is dropkicked right out. Pillman tries a diving sleeper from the second rope. Nikita fell so he just did a normal sleeper. Steamboat rolls through a top rope cross body for the win. Steamboat and Koloff advance. Pretty good start to the show. It was worked as a weird mesh of heavyweights vs cruisers, face vs face, and some slightly heel work from Steamboat/Koloff.
TO THE BACK. Eric Bischoff talks with the Steiners. They aren't in the tournament due to Scott having been injured by Dr. Death.
Hiroshi Hase/Shinnya Hashimoto vs Fabulous Freebirds
This is probably going to be the worst styles clash of all time. What a terrible match up. Hase and Hayes start out. Fuck Michael Hayes. I just want to see Hash stiff the ever loving piss out of him. Naturally, they didn't mesh well at all. Hase pinned Garvin with a Northern lights suplex. No one beat the shit out of Michael Hayes, so I was very disappointed.
TO THE SCHIAVONE. Tony is with Bill Watts and Hiro Matsuda. Bill Watts has regained control of the Big Gold Belt. Ric Flair's name was taken off the belt. It was then handed over to Matsuda, as a tournament would take place in NJPW to determine a new champion. Once that champion is crowned, he will face the WCW Champion in a unification match.
Rick Rude/Steve Austin vs Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes
Rude is the US Champion. Austin is the TV Champion. IT'S AN UPPER BODY BUSINESS, GOD DAMN IT! Austin and Barry start out. Austin tries a number of roll ups until Barry just punches him in the mouth. Austin is so fun as a shitbird heel. Rude and Dustin are tagged in and Rude goes to town on Dustin in the corner. Dustin stuffs that with a lariatooo and back suplex before working a hammer lock. Rude attempts a tombstone. Dustin reverses it into one of his own. Austin is in and hits a lariatooo. It briefly heads to the floor. Dustin slaps on an abdominal stretch. Diving lariatooo from Barry. Madusa distracts the ref, allowing Rude to do some hair pulling and go up top for a weird missile dropkick. Barry kicks out. Solid piledriver from Rude. Barry tries his best to make a hot tag, but is cut off by Austin coming off the top rope. Austin does a lot of classic heel work while doing submissions. The heels switch out while the ref was distracted and Randy Anderson actually makes them switch out because he didn't see the tag. That might be the first time I've ever seen that in a tag match. Double lariatoooo. Kind of. It was awkward. Barry and Rude collide heads. Tags are made. Dustin is on fire with elbows, lariatoos, and dropkicks. Austin attempts a piledriver on Windham. Dustin comes off the top with a lariatooo for the win. I was a WWF kid growing up, but nothing is better than a well worked Southern tag match. Barry/Dustin advance.
TO THE BACK. Bischoff talks with Vader and Harley Race. There will be a lot of disappointed Stingers tonight. YOU WANT VADER?!?!
Ricky Steamboat/Nikita Koloff vs Miracle Violence Connection
Well, MVC weren't called that in America, but that's what they are. They are the reigning WCW Tag Team Champions. Those titles are not on the line. MVC received a bye in the tournament. Gordy and Dragon start out. Koloff/Dragon go from cruisers to full on super heavyweights. Dragon unleashes some arm drags. Steamboat is out wrestling Dr. Death. Nikita is tagged in. They do some awkward amateur style wrestling. I always enjoyed how Jesse pronounced that word. Amater. Gordy and Koloff have some shoulder blocks with neither man budging. A lot of amateur style with Nikita and Doc, which is weird because I don't think Nikita ever showed his amateur skills. Dragon gets tagged in and fires up. This is stopped by a Doc lariatooo and they do some more amateur style stuff. Dragon goes for a crucifix. Doc backs up into the corner and tags in Gordy. Another lariatooo. Double shoulder block. Another spot of the heels switching out and the ref not allowing it because he didn't see it. So crazy. That never happens. Back break injures Steamer's ribs. He hits a desperation DDT and tags out. Nikita hits a series of shoulder blocks, the last of which Gordy just slams Nikita to the mat. STF on Nikita. Doc is tagged in an applies a Boston crab that is almost a Liontamer. Hot tag to Steamboat. He hits Doc with a top rope chop. He goes up for the crossbody only to be pushed off by Gordy. Doc then hits a modified Oklahoma stampede for the win. MVC advance.
Hiroshi Hase/Shinnya Hashimoto vs Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham
Hase and Dustin start the match. Windham soon comes in and we get some nice chain wrasslin. Test of strength. Hase bridges out and hits a back heel kick. Hashimoto tags in. Jesse talks about how Hash is one of the few Japanese that could be a football player. Hash grounds Dustin and some arm work begins. Hase has a hammerlock on and pulls Dustin down by his jaw, doing basically a weird crossface chicken wing. Windham comes in and starts throwing Hase around, also doing an arm work. Hase bridges and flips out of a version of the short arm scissors. Hash is in, does some kicks, then applies a triangle. He turns this into a cross arm breaker. Hash taunts and wants a strike battle. Dustin just gives him punches and elbows and easily wins it. But then Hash pokes him in the eyes/throat and uncorks a series of kicks and spin wheel kick to the face. Spike piledriver that ended up being more of a spike sit out powerbomb. Windham gets sick of this shit and gets into the ring to smack the shit out of those darn Japanese folks. Dustin plays FIP for quite a while. Hase misses a top rope knee drop and is drilled with a lariatooooo. Hot tag to Barry. Dustin leap frogs Hase, who runs right into a Windham lariatooo. Dustin and Barry advance to the finals against MVC.
TO THE TONY. Tony and Magnum talk to Ron Simmons. DAMN. He wants the winner of Vader/Sting.
Vader vs Sting WCW Championship
Sting bows right up to Vader. Vader immediately backs Sting into the corner and starts beating the shit out of him. Short arm lariatooo. Sting rolls to the floor. When he gets back in, Sting does a lariato which has no effect. He then tries a cross body. Vader catches him and throws him back like Sting was a cruiserweight. Sting's speed allows him to hit a back suplex and send Vader to the floor. Sting is dumb enough to go for a test of strength, but SWERVES Vader with a thumb to the eye. He knocks Vader to the apron and actually suplexes him back in. His momentum is stopped by running right into Vader. Not even really a move so much as bouncing off of Vader. Sting nails two boots to the face and nearly wins with a small package. Vader does some posing and JR takes a dig at the WBF. Big splash. Vader applies the Scorpion Death Lock. Sadly, it's about as good as Rock's. Sting gets out, but Vader is knocking the shit out of him. Lariatoooo. Powerslam. Sting fires up and hits a koppo kick OUTTA NOWHERE. DDT. Vader tries to go up top and is caught. Sting squats this fat fuck and does a Samoan drop. Ref bump. Sting hits a German suplex. The ref recovers enough to count the pin, but the slight delay could have cost Sting the match. Stinger Splash. While doing the second one, Sting appears to have knocked himself out by hitting the metal bolt connecting the turn buckle and the ring post. Vader easily wins with the powerbomb. New champion! Sting is helped by officials and Nikita Koloff (in his ring gear, without knee pads, and wearing flip flops) after the match.
TO THE SCHIAVONE. Tony and Magnum talk about the match.
TO THE BACK. Bischoff talks with Vader and Harley Race. Vader is the king of wrestling!
Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes vs Miracle Violence Connection NWA Tag Team Championships Special Guest Referee: Ole Anderson
Before the match, the Steiners came out but were not allowed to stay at ringside. Doc and Barry start the match. If I'm not mistaken, these two had a UWF Championship match when JCP bought the UWF and treated it about as well as Vince treated WCW when he bought it. Gordy is tagged and Dustin unloads a series of elbows. Barry applies a figure four. Gordy gets to the ropes and tags out. Belly to belly. Lots of mat work and hold grabbing in this. Doc got his nick name in 9th grade. Can you imagine a 14 year old being such a bad ass that people call him Dr. Death? Gordy locks Dustin the STF. Doc is pretty great at cutting the ring off. Powerslam to Dustin. Hot tag to Barry. A lariatoo sends Gordy to the floor. Float over suplex on Doc. 2 count. Gut wrench suplex. Barry locks on a sleeper. Doc runs into the corner, causing Barry to hit his shoulder on the same place that Sting hit his head earlier. Lariatoooo. Barry settles into FIP. Hot tag to Dustin. He was quickly cut off by paying too much attention to Gordy and leaving himself open for Doc to attack. Big kitchen sink. Doc appears to have hurt his knee doing it. Another big ass lariatoooo from Gordy. Oklahoma Stampede! He went for an extra run. Barry dropkicked Doc before he could do the slam. Dustin goes for the bulldog, but is sent into Terry Gordy on the apron. They clank heads. Doc the drills Dustin with a lariatoooooooooo to win the NWA Tag Team Championships. This now makes them the Unified World Tag Team Champions.
TO THE SCHIAVONE. Tony and Magnum talk with the new champs. Doc plugs the hotline.
DQ Count: 0 out of 7 matches.
Pretty awesome show. None of it was flashy, but instead it was a ton of rugged, dirty, stiff, great pro wrasslin all night. No bullshit. All clean finishes. Only one match went under 15 minutes, which was the one match that needed to not go anywhere near 15 minutes. Bill Watts may have been a total cock, but he could put together some great wrasslin shows.
Master Thespian
Member
Sounds great. I'll give this one a watch.
Magnum TA
Magnum TA for the WWE Hall of Fame!
TheWarrior
Banned
Snow and Bob Holly had a great feud going. Ironically enough I am snowed in today. I'll probably put some of these old Raws on a Chromecast playlist and reminisce
that would be good for business
BIONIC-ARRRMMM!!
Member
I'm doing an Attitude Era watch right now and I honestly like King here. I legit laugh at his shit all the time. No idea what's gotten to him these days.
He doesn't care anymore. He's made it clear in interviews over the past few years that he doesn't care about commentating anymore, and he's rather be wrestling. He doesn't even watch the product.
And Triple H looks like a shar pei. Doesn't stop his mug being everywhere in the WWE.
TheWarrior
Banned
This is the AE Raw I am watching now. Feel free to share what you are watching
The crowd is amazing. It's a pre Rumble show from 1998.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr9fRacEWPM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
The crowd is amazing. It's a pre Rumble show from 1998.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr9fRacEWPM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
See, I think King sucked even back then, just in a different way. I never liked King as a commentator and would also prefer he be wrestling or not on shows to begin with. Now, he's old, boring, and bored. Back then, he ruined matches by talking about tits or saying racist/stupid shit non stop. And squealing.