It’s the summer of 2019 and the Hidden Gems team is uploading it all: SummerSlam hype shows of varying quality, Mid-Atlantic Wrestling’s BOOGIE JAM featuring what might be the worst Flair/Steamboat match ever, a tribute to the recently deceased Harley Race, the complete NWA Superstars on the Superstation, a showcase of “Exotic” Adrian Street, and a few random house show matches from the UK. Not sure they did Harley their best, but a real mix of stuff.
SummerSlam Spectacular 1993 (WWF 8/22/93)
A week before SummerSlam, the WWF aired SummerSlam Spectacular, a hype show in which the PPV’s competitors participated in matches and interview segments to make you excited for the show or something. This one was taped August 16 at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center, and was building up a card with some mild effort put into it: Razor Ramon vs. Ted DiBiase, Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Perfect for the IC Title, Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler, The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez, and Lex Luger challenging Yokozuna for the WWF Title after bodyslamming him on the Fourth of July.
Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon host the show and sure do feel old and Southern.
The WWF was in Full Luger Mode here, with Lex Express videos throughout the show and a lot of the good guys sporting merchandise ranging from wristbands to ties to support Luger’s “Call to Action.” The full, insane, and mildly endearing Lex Express tour video was uploaded to the WWE Network in July 2018 as a Hidden Gem, and is covered here.
1. Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji: I don’t think it’s stated enough how much the WWF relied on Yokozuna in 1993, and I’m not sure he gets enough credit for how well he did in the role either. It might’ve been a down period, but that’s not on him – without him, things are even bleaker. He’s a bright spot on top of an iffy line-up, and just like on the March to Mania he opens the show having a great match with a fan favorite. Plus you can’t tell me the Banzai Drop didn’t cement a generation of wrestling fans’ love for this great spot.
This is actually an awesome Mid-South type of match, with the crowd all in on the U-S-A chants and JR in full Bill Watts mode, screaming about HACK-SAW and his wife DEB-RA and how Hacksaw thought about hanging it up after his first match with Yokozuna. Duggan actually starts the match with a sneak attack, knowing it’s his only hope, and grabs the 2×4 which is grabbed by the ref and sets up an assault by Yoko. When Duggan’s knocked outside he basically does his own comeback by standing up tall, looking at the crowd, yelling “GET OUT OF MY WAY!” at the cameraman, and running into the ring throwing jabs. Classic. He eventually falls, but what a run. ***1/2
Yoko, Fuji and Cornette (who wasn’t in the arena.. hmmmm) all saunter to the back where Vince is creepily waiting with a microphone as Yoko sweats a puddle onto the floor. Corny cuts an epic go-home promo on Luger: “And when he lands, Lex Luger, your career will be finished. The hopes, the dreams, and the prayers of all the millions of Americans who believe in Lex Luger will be smashed onto rocks forever. And the heartbeat of America will be silenced.”
2. Razor Ramon vs. Blake Beverly: 1-2-3 Kid pinning Razor Ramon is an iconic moment in my childhood, 1-2-3 Kid pinning DiBiase during DiBiase’s feud with the now-babyface Razor was one I do not recall but is real good shit. There’s an adorable camera shot here of a little girl booing Blake, then when Razor’s music hits she isn’t quite sure what to do. This match is a Razor squash, and you just know big Scott Hall was thinking about all the clever spots he could do to heat himself up. Blake takes a flip bump off a right hand, and his exposing of a turnbuckle leads to his eventual downfall at the hands of the Razor’s Edge. **
Jerry Lawler interviews an Elvis impersonator in a pink Cadillac so Lawler can talk shit about Bret Hart impersonating the “King of Wrestling” but they play it straight like it’s actually Elvis. Lawler’s a hoot, but weird.
3. Tatanka & The Smoking Gunns vs. Brooklyn Brawler, Barry Horowitz & Reno Riggins: Epic trio of jobbers right here, and Barry/Reno actually wear matching tights. Tatanka and The Gunns want to get their “timing down,” says JR, as they prepare for Bam Bam and The Headshrinkers at SummerSlam. What this ends up as is a shockingly long beatdown on Billy, where even Gorilla has to note that the Gunns and Tatanka aren’t looking so sharp. It also sees Brawler take a back bump in response to a Bart leapfrog, so Bart just stomps him. Tatanka eventually gets the crowd out of their seats with a hot tag. **
There’s an Undertaker in-ring interview where he calls Mean Gene “Mr. Okerlund”, and Giant Gonzalez comes out to be tall and scary and weird. Say what you will about the lack of in-ring fundamentals or the insane fake naked hairy bodysuit, this man was very scary to me as a child.
4. WWE Intercontinental Title: Shawn Michaels [c] w/ Diesel vs. Bob Backlund: What a match on paper this is, legitimately icon vs. icon. Michaels comes out to the full Sexy Boy theme flanked by Diesel, while Backlund comes out to no music, just cheers from the crowd. He stares at the IC Title as if it is the greatest gift in the world, and Michaels snatches it away. Incredible dynamic.
The match is quick but awesome – Michaels bodyslams Backlund right away and pantomimes SWEEPING THE RING, then bodyslams him again. Backlund responds with a bodyslam of his own. Michaels does a fun thing where to block the 10-punch in the corner, he puts his back to Backlund and covers his face – not sure why Tyler Breeze never did that. Eventually HBK catches the spunky Backlund with a front facelock and is like, “Jesus, this GUY.” Backlund slaps the prick and HBK takes a big bump off an atomic drop, but a Diesel distraction leads to a small package with Backlund’s tights pulled and the 3. ***
Probably not a good sign that they were doing “Who is Lex Luger?” bits a week before SummerSlam. They’re these black-and-white vignettes of him talking about role models with really weird close-ups of his mouth.
Ludvig Borga threatening Marty Jannetty in a promo is special: “And not only am I gonna fight you, I’m gonna fight the whole America at the same time!”
5. Marty Jannetty vs. Duane Gill: This is a quick classic babyface squash that includes a real slow but funny flying headscissors from Marty. He also does an incredible reverse Diamond Dust off the top rope that freaks the crowd out, only to follow it up with a top rope… chop for the win. **
WWF announcers (in this case, Mean Gene) stretching for time on their card rundowns to explain the thin stories around the matches is a tale as old as time, baby. You can witness another edition of it here.
6. Steel Cage Match – WWF World Tag Team Title: The Steiner Brothers [c] vs. Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & IRS): Lots of colors, Money Inc choking people, an admirable DiBiase performance, but this match is SO GOD DAMN LONG and thus it just sucks. The tag team escape-the-cage stipulation throws everything off too and makes things more confusing than fun. IRS and DiBiase both try to escape but IRS gets out and DiBiase gets dragged back in, then IRS desperately tries to climb back in and get The Steiners as they try to escape, and that’s a fun finish – but it isn’t the finish. They just keep going. And going. Then finally that coward Rick Steiner escapes, and against moderate odds Scott escapes too. DiBiase’s back was legendarily a mess at this point but he took more bumps than IRS, that’s for sure. Easy crowd, bad match. **
The early 90s tradition of embarrassing raps by Men on a Mission continued with this show, featuring Macho Man Randy Savage rapping in… Macho Man Randy Savage voice. Delightful.
A fun cold dive into 1993 WWF, but outside of that Yokozuna/Hacksaw match, Not Recommended
Harley Race & Bill Watts vs. The Brisco Brothers (CWF 10/8/74)
The passing of Harley Race brought snippets of the wonder that was his career in the 70s and 80s to the WWE Network. Here it is quite literal snippets, as the Championship Wrestling from Florida footage usually is – cool ringside shots with an 8MM camera of these mythical wrestlers, but also way too choppy to get a read on how the wrestling is. This stacked 70s card had Greg Valentine, Bob Backlund, Terry Funk, and Bullet Bob Armstrong in action, and a Dusty Rhodes vs. Toru Tanaka main event.
Race and Watts are very deliberate in their beating, just straight-up rubbing faces in the mat, and there’s a big pop when they’re slammed into each other with a noggin’ knocker. Cowboy Watts as a heel just seems weird. Harley’s falling headbutt gets screams. The Brisco Brothers sell like they’re stranded on a desert and just unload when it’s time to make a comeback. By the end of the match all four guys are struggling to stand and it’s kinda great, even if I can’t make any sense of what’s really going on. Harley drops another headbutt and Jack does a seizure sell, then Watts does some stomps and drops a knee for 3. Neat but Not Recommended
NWA World Heavyweight Title & WWWF World Title: Harley Race [c] vs. Superstar Billy Graham [c] (Guest Referees: Gorilla Monsoon and Ted Curtis) (CWF Superbowl of Wrestling 1/25/78)
In the late-70s the WWWF, NWA, and CWF got together and promoted the Superbowl of Wrestling at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, drawing over 12,000 fans for a show headlined by a Unification Match between the WWWF and NWA World Champions, as well as a whole bunch of names from the era ranging from Dusty Rhodes and The Brisco Brothers to Mike Graham and Steve Kiern to Ivan Putski and Rocky Johnson. A Superbowl of Wrestling had taken place once before in 1972, with no participation from the WWWF. The main event here was the attraction, featuring WWF mainstay Gorilla Monsoon and Florida promoter Don Curtis as referees, and pitting then-NWA Champ Harley Race vs. then-WWWF Champ Superstar Billy Graham, with $25,000 on the line – winner gets 70%, loser gets 30%.
As with 99.999% of big Title Unification matches of this era, it goes to a 60-minute draw, and this clip on the WWE Network is joined in progress and all clipped up, with maybe 10 total minutes shown. The real gem here is the pre-match stuff, first a press conference and luncheon hosted by Gordon Solie followed by a face-to-face promo with Harley and Superstar, both at the height of their absolute overwhelming manliness.
Solie sets the tone: “This is The Omni where the press luncheon was held, the press conference was signed, uh, pitting Superstar Billy Graham, the WWWF Champion, versus Harley Race, the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion. This is something that has been the dream for uh, the three leagues of wrestling for years and years and years.” He introduces NWA President Eddie Graham, who puts over the NWA World Heavyweight Title, then begrudgingly puts over the WWWF and AWA. He says the AWA’s champ was invited to participate, but for some reason or another it couldn’t be negotiated – SUCH SHADE.
The contrast of Superstar’s loud flowery shirt vs. Race’s tailored matching suit in the pre-match promo is a sight to behold, and has some tremendous lines that establish the seriousness of professional wrestling with absolute conviction. “I would’ve never risked so much money, fame, and glory if I didn’t know in my own heart, in my own mind and my soul that I am man enough, more than man enough, to defeat Harley Race, and I will become NWA World Heavyweight Champion of the World,” says Superstar Billy Graham, all straight-faced among his outrageous attire.
“Gordon, after 18 years in professional wrestling, how many people do you think that I’ve stood and heard, listened to, say exactly the same thing, over these years … I already went through the flamboyant BS that this man is living in right now. Now I’m listening to it all over again from a guy who wants to be where I’m at,” Harley utters calmly, just absolutely obliterating the Superstar. Superstar FLEXES, but Harley isn’t impressed: “I don’t need pumped up baloney. I’m already a man.”
The match? 10 minutes of it. Just random ringside clips with the 8MM camera. Don Curtis does voiceover commentary with Solie. It’s raining, the crowd is light, and nobody seems all that excited about anything. There’s a little slipping and sliding, and it’s kind of outrageous that these nutcases went SIXTY considering the conditions. At some point just call an audible and go double DQ at thirty, you know? Race takes some risky bumps over the top rope, and a bearhug gets the first fall for Graham 40 minutes in. Harley suplexes Superstar back in and pins him to even the score with 7 minutes left, then the camera cuts to Superstar and Harley both cut open and Harley applying a sleeper. The crowd counts down as I crack up about Curtis’ super casual recollections on commentary: “I couldn’t even hear it, there was so much noise.” The bell rings at 60, and though barely any of the match is shown I’m going with a light Recommended just for the pre-match stuff alone.
NWA World Heavyweight Title: Harley Race [c] vs. Jack Brisco (CWF 8/12/78)
This is another 60-minute draw that has 10 minutes of actual footage shown, and another one filmed with that ringside camera. And respect to these guys – who knows how the rest of the match went – but what is shown here is basically one long front facelock from Harley Race. Jack Brisco is the definition of fired up early on, Harley Race is full-on grizzled heel champ through the whole thing, Derek and the Dominos’ Bobby Whitlock is the referee, and the crowd is amped – but man oh man is this one long front facelock.
Once they get past that Brisco goes after Harley’s leg, and Harley does a great Flair flop followed by another delayed flat back bump that the crowd loses it for. Both guys try their best at the finish with a figure-four and inside cradle and backbreaker and punches and a jackknife hold but the bell rings, another wrestling match that went 60 minutes long and decided absolutely nothing. I’m sure the full match is great, but this Hidden Gem is Not Recommended.
NWA World Heavyweight Title: Harley Race [c] vs. Ric Flair (Mid-Atlantic 11/14/80)
Even harder to follow than CWF’s tape library is the occasional Mid-Atlantic film reel footage uploaded to the Network, with even more choppy clips – almost pictures – of individual moments in the match. It’s fun to see this legendary pairing a few years before the first Starrcade cemented Flair, though there’s not many surprises if you’re familiar with each guy. The crowd seems rabid but I can’t track much of anything here. There’s some close-ups of Flair selling like he’s choking, both guys bleed, and Flair eventually gets on the figure-four. Race gets to the ropes and Flair pushes the ref away and people keep screaming to ring the bell until suddenly the clip cuts to Flair holding the championship, but being told to calm down. I do not think he won said championship. Cool old timey footage but so chopped up – Not Recommend
Superstars visit Napoleon’s tomb in Paris (WWF 10/1/87)
A reminder that Harley Race and Andre the Giant were human beings, larger-than-life to be sure but men who understood the ridiculousness of the profession they chose. This is some quick clips and outtakes of Harley, Andre, and French Martin preparing a promo for an upcoming show in Paris. Race is in his full King gear while Andre lurches over him. Race starts: “For many, many years, many centuries, Frenchy, whenever I’d return… to France – and I just blew that one.” It’s ultimately just some brothers trying to do a promo in public, complete with pre and post-cut footage. “And whenever I’m in Rome, this is where I stay!” proclaims Race. “In Rome? In France!” bellows a laughing Andre. Recommended
King of the Yard – Harley Race vs. Junkyard Dog (Special Guest Referee: Andre the Giant) (WWF Paris 10/23/87)
There’s no clipping here, as WWF provides the entire pre-match and post-match presentation which is a sight to see – WWF’s first visit to France, an excited crowd, CANAL+ logos everywhere. There’s no commentary on this version, though it was provided in French by Frenchy Martin and Guy Hauray. The rest of the card was S.D. Jones vs. Sika, Sensational Sherri vs. Velvet McIntyre, Hacksaw Duggan vs. Iron Sheik, Cowboy Lang vs. Lord Littlebrook, Outback Jack vs. Nikolai Volkoff, and The Rougeau Brothers vs. Greg Valentine & Dino Bravo for 20+ minutes. Yikes.
The crowd is ELECTRIC. Everybody gets PYRO, including Andre the Giant who creeps out to a massive pop, wearing his white BIG HAND t-shirt tucked into his pants. King Race gets boos and whistles, entering to what became the Lawler theme. The crowd loves JYD, though I can’t tell if it’s a dub or the mic-ing but there’s something off about “Grab Them Cakes.”
Junkyard Dog wasn’t a renowned ring warrior, but there are plenty of matches where a seasoned worker gets brilliance out of him. There’s the Terry Funk SNME match from SNME in 1985 and there’s the Harley Race match here. They lay this out perfectly, making the 20-minutes feel like a breeze. Excellent time-killing and a lot of spots with Andre playing the role of biased heel referee, even if I’m not sure he went down for one single pinfall attempt – what a legend.
Andre just fucks with JYD all match – makes him ditch the chain immediately, helps disrobe Harley, admonishes him for a closed fist, holds down the ropes for Harley to get back in, backs JYD off on a rope break, claims a chinlock is a choke. It’s all timed to perfection, a character like Andre has this vibe that he’s in on the joke but you’re still pretty pissed at him.
JYD no-sells a piledriver later on which doesn’t quite get the desired reaction but once he starts charging towards Harley the crowd loses it. Andre STANDS IN FRONT of Race in response to this. Both guys evntually collide and do an incredible double collapse into the ropes which Andre helps Harley out of to BOOOO’s. JYD hits a powerslam, Andre doesn’t count. Harley drops a belly-to-belly that is so perfect and looks like it hurts so much. JYD fires back with headbutts, Andre kicks him to the floor and DQ’s him for using too many. The French folks talking shit to Race is a great visual too. Tremendous match. **** and Recommended
Sunday Night Slam 1994 (WWF 8/21/94)
If you thought WrestleMania 10 was great, if you were blown away by the King of the Ring, get ready for the new WWF Generation, because we’ve picked up the pace and are in your FACE.
Domino’s Pizza Presents Sunday Night Slam 1994… WELCOME to the NEW GENERATION! From the BEEGHLY CENTER in Youngstown, Ohio, taped on August 1, comes another hype show for a SummerSlam coming up. JR runs down the show while Macho Man offers soundbites. 1994 WWF was a mess, but there is something so cheesy and endearing about Macho throwing to the the neon WWF set with a “here we go brother, let’s do it!”
Throughout the show there’s bits with Leslie Nielsen on the hunt for The Undertaker and the gimmick is that he always just misses him. It’s all generally good. These cracked me up as a kid, not to say the WWF material was great but Leslie Nielsen was very much Leslie Nielsen here and I dug it. There’s clips of a bunch of working class dudes (cleaner, auto body, baker, etc) saying they saw The Undertaker, but nobody seems to believe it, like he’s some kind of Bigfoot.
As dumb as The Undertaker vs. “The Undertaker” feud ended up being, this line got me: “The Undertaker that Ted DiBiase brought to the WWF was hated and despised, The Undertaker under the guidance of Paul Bearer was loved and admired.” That’s pretty layered stuff for the WWF, with the guy that brought Taker in trying to bring in an imposter. Taker was getting POPS on RAW at the time too.
SummerSlam 1994 was headlined by the Undertaker vs. Undertaker match, supported by a Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart Steel Cage Match for the WWF World Title and Razor Ramon with Walter Payton in his corner challenging Diesel for the IC Title.
1. Lex Luger vs. Crush: A match that has Lex Luger selling for 90% of it, especially opposite 1994 Crush, never had much of a chance but the crowd was EXCITED. Macho Man brings up how impressed he is with Crush’s presence, despite the fact they tried to kill each other like four months ago at WrestleMania. Ted DiBiase observes this match as he’s has returned to the WWF and is saying he’s formed a new Corporation, alluding Luger is his first signing. Crush does two whips into the corner to setup a side slam, which I appreciate. There’s also something I appreciate about JR calling a kneedrop from Crush a martial arts blow. Macho Man gives up the house like five minutes in: “You know this match hasn’t gone that long but this has been so grueling and so intense that both guys are almost out of gas, they need a gas station!” DiBiase offers Crush cash, Crush slaps it away, and Luger takes advantage with a clothesline like the tweener he was for the win. **
2. 1-2-3 Kid & Thurman “Sparky” Plugg vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & IRS w/ Ted DiBiase: 1-2-3 Kid is awesome here, especially paired with Bigelow – big bumps to the floor, a somersault plancha that JR calls a moonsault, all kinds of other stuff. “Sparky Sparky Thurman Sparky Thurman Sparky Plug YEAH!” as Macho Man blurts out is kind of slow, as is I-R-S, so it’s a hot tag match when they aren’t fumbling around. ***
SO MANY DOMINO’S PLUGS. GOTTA BE, GOTTA BE, DOM-I-NO’S!
Walter Payton does a promo with Razor Ramon on Shawn Michaels and Diesel and seems so proud of nailing the “If you try anything, there will be a vacancy sign above your Heartbreak Hotel.”
3. Razor Ramon vs. Todd Becker: An absolute SQUASH – all Razor on offense: an STF with slaps, a backdrop off the top rope, the Razor’s Edge. Perfect. **
Abe “Knuckleball” Schwartz is shown striking in the crowd. Because baseball.
4. Bull Nakano vs. Heidi Lee Morgan: It was always cool seeing Bull Nakano in the midst of mid-90s WWF, but Heidi Lee Morgan stood out here by busting out what I can only describe as a Reverse Canadian Destroyer and she also did some other really great sunset flip-based offense and a cool armlock takedown. Very cool. Eventually, naturally, she loses. *1/2 but worth watching.
Bret Hart does a long basic-ass interview on Owen Hart in the middle of all this. “As far as Jim Neidhart goes – I’ve talked about how fat he was, but I failed to mention that he’s really stupid too.” That’s not very nice!
5. Typhoon vs. Diesel w/ Shawn Michaels: This is post-Shockmaster Typhoon, his last run cup of coffee run in the Federation. I was very into this dynamic of newer big guy with an attitude taking on the fellow big veteran guy. Typhoon knocks Diesel down early and it’s HOT. Diesel does a flying shoulder tackle where he… turns mid-air after the collision? “Just when you think you’ve seen it all from Diesel, he gives ya something else that’ll boggle your mind!” Man, Nash was really trying early on there. Typhoon runs into a boot, and Diesel hits a flying clothesline for the 1-2-3. TYPHOON of all guys immediately gets right up the 3 after which HBK seems disappointed by. I’ll tell ya what – he was gone a few weeks later. *3/4
6. “The Undertaker” (Brian Lee) w/ Ted DiBiase vs. Sonny Rogers: JR and Savage make sure to stress that Sonny has no relation to Buddy Rogers. This is a very quiet, awkward match where Lee does a kick and an uppercut and puts Rogers in a tree of woe, then wins with a horrifying tombstone where the hard cam shows Rogers’ head just collapsing into the mat. DUD
But that’s not all, no. JR and Macho Man sign-off from the arena, but as has been plugged throughout the show Jerry Lawler and Vince McMahon will be taking calls live from WWF Studios – oh NOOOOO. “CNN has a King, why shouldn’t the WWF have a King live!?” crows Vince. “If you do try to give me any problems, I’ll dump ya faster than the NAACP dumped Ben Chavis!” yells Jerry at the fans. Oh NOOOO.
So basically the fans can call into the hotline and talk shit to the King, that’s the the hook. John from Wisconsin asks about the Hart Brothers feud, and Lawler endorses Owen Hart’s WWF Title bid. Janice from New Jersey brings up The Undertaker from “from when he was with the Twin Towers [in WCW]” and Lawler and Vince look awkwardly at each other while all Vince can muster is an “I don’t know” and deflects to the King. Donna from Florida asks if The Undertaker has a twin brother. Don from West Virginia thinks Tatanka has sold out to DiBiase, not Luger.
Lawler asks Vinnie, a child, if he’s ever used a phone before and little Vinnie says “bite me.” Bob from New Jersey gets right to the point: “Do you think there’s another Undertaker?” Then there’s a bunch of technical difficulties. “I wanna congratulate you,” says Laura from Boca Raton, Florida to Vince, “Because I know all along that you weren’t guilty.” Vince speculates that interactive television will soon be coming to the WWF, and this strange drop into 1994 WWF comes to a close. Some interesting bits, but Not Recommended
Boogie Jam 1984 (Mid-Atlantic 3/17/84)
We’ve got a crowd filing in, the NWA ring mat and apron, and a big ol’ POP for the bell ringing. A boy plays the National Anthem on a Trumpet, and Mid-Atlantic’s BOOGIE JAM begins. This was a supercard promoted by Jim Crockett promotions that wasn’t widely available prior, hence the whole Hidden Gems thing.
1. Dory Funk Jr. vs. Tully Blanchard w/ Paul Jones: These two legends go like 15 and it’s a whole lot of Dory headlocking and armbarring while Tully occasionally takes bumps that get bigger pops than anything Dory does. Dory throws some brutal European uppercuts, but Tully is able to reverse a reverse cradle and grabs the tights for the win. ***1/4
2. Rufus R. Jones vs. Ernie Ladd: Ladd is such a COCK. He let’s out a big “OOOOOOHHHH” as the crowd soaks in his natural condescension. The thing that stood out to me about this match most, to be honest, is that both these guys in 1984 had real saggy man boobs. Ladd misses a dive in a real spectacular win, and he does the J-O-B for Rufus after a jumping headbutt. **
3. Chief Wahoo McDaniel & Mark Youngblood vs. Don Kernodle & Bob Orton Jr. w/ Gary Hart: Wahoo and Youngblood are the current Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA World Tag Team Champs, but aren’t defending here. This has got a raucous crowd but doesn’t hold up as the most exciting fare today, even with the old school charm of Chief and his spunky tag partner opposite Kernodle and Orton Jr., who stomp at Wahoo’s leg and whoop Youngblood’s ass and bump all around for Wahoo’s chops. ***
4. Junkyard Dog, Angelo Mosca Sr. & Angelo Mosca Jr. vs. Ivan Koloff, Great Kabuki & Gary Hart: What a show this was – it opens with Dory Funk Jr., features Flair vs. Steamboat, closes with Jimmy Valiant, and in between it all we cut to Great Kabuki doing his nunchuck routine and Gary Hart in his stupid purple singlet, showing off his tall frame but obviously having not lifted a weight in years. This is a fun novelty tag – Mosca Jr. does some impressive rope-running with Kabuki, Kabuki beats some ass, and Mosca Sr. gets some revenge for his kid before he takes a beating and shakes a bit. JYD bodyslams Hart and tags in the kid who does a flying crossbody for the win, while Mosca Sr. swings around Ivan’s chain. ***
5. No DQ Steel Cage Match – NWA U.S. Heavyweight Title: Dick Slater [c] vs. Greg Valentine: The flashing colored lights, darkened arena, spotlight in the center of the steel cage, and most importantly the ROBES that these men wear. This is a special kind of professional wrestling. Valentine as a babyface always trips me out, and while these two slug it out like any good Valentine match and it’s all rough-and-tumble and gritty like one, god DAMN are these some chinlocks applied inside this Steel Cage. I mean a significant amount of chinlocks. Both guys end up all bloody, sweaty, and swinging at each other, before Valentine applies but the figure-four but Slater counters with a real shit rollup for 3. **3/4
6. NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair [c] vs. Ricky Steamboat: This is a 60-minute draw and it’s terrible. And by that I mean it’s kind of good, because Flair and Steamboat are God-like creatures of professional wrestlers, especially when paired with each other. But this match is terrible.
It starts well enough. Flair’s intro is full Flair. Steamboat seems humbled by his pop. Ric bumps around, they work some headlocks, Flair breaks clean a lot and Steamboat seems untrustworthy. Steamboat keeps Flair down with the long headlocks and occasional rope-run and before you know it 15 minutes has gone by, but not in a good “hey! this went by quick!” way – more in a “when’s this going to get interesting?” way. This is followed up by the longest front facelock you ever might see.
Both guys finally stand after 20 minutes and Flair shakes Steamboat’s hand to a mixed reaction, as the tension rises a bit. 30 minutes in, Steamboat’s stuck in a bodyscissors. They bust out some of their cool spots where Steamboat uses his core strength to deadlift his way into a monkey flip, or Flair begs off after a gorilla press slam. There’s also a rare obvious miss with these two, as Steamboat seems to expect a Flair leapfrog but ends up just kind of hooking a leg and backing into the ropes. Steamboat’s selling of not being able to breathe and his back hurting is admirable, but MAN – if you want to wait sixty minutes for a match to reach any kind of second gear, here it is. They call 5 seconds left but it takes more like 10 for Ricky to setup a splash from the top, the bell ringing before any count can be made.
I respect the game but this was a pile of shit. **
7. Hair vs. Mask: Jimmy Valiant vs. Assassin #2: No wonder this is the main event – HERE’S your spectacle. Dusty Rhodes is tied to Paul Jones with a bullrope and Assassin #1 is told over a loudspeaker that Jim Crockett Sr. has ordered him GONE from ringside. The crowd pops and Jimmy goes to work on the second Assassin, who eventually uses a foreign object to take control while referee Tommy Young wonders if something is afoot. Then he does a very cat-like knee drop. The production crew seems to figure out they can do a picture-in-picture gimmick at ringside for Dusty and Jones with like two minutes remaining in the show.
Assassin falls into Tommy Young, Jones hits Dusty with the bullrope and gets on the apron, Valiant bleeds (duh), and it’s kind of fascinating to see one side of the ring action lead into another, with Dusty clocking Jones and then Assassin #2 with the bullrope. Valiant drops an elbow for 3, and Assassin #2 is unmasked as… Hercules Hernandez! Jimmy shows his face to every side of the crowd, which is a very satisfying thing to do for a mask match and not something you often see. Thanks, Jimmy. **3/4
The show is called Boogie Jam so that’s an automatic Recommended, but the truth is this is a fun mix of wrestling characters just as Hulkamania was ramping up and even though the Flair/Steamboat match is a stinker the rest of the far is a fun late night “wrestling is wild” kind of watch.
Superstars on the Superstation (Mid-Atlantic 2/7/86)
Magnum T.A., looking dapper in a tuxedo, hosts with Linda Curry, who I cannot track down a thing about other than some scary articles about a woman named Linda Curry who was poisoned by her husband in 1994. Tony Schiavone and David Crockett handle commentary.
This show was heavily promoted on the weekly TV at the time, an exciting opportunity for the wrestling fan to vote in the matches THEY wanted to see, and well what you end up with is mostly the expected top pairings at the time. That means it’s a high-level card in a TBS package.
1. NWA World Tag Team Title: The Rock & Roll Express [c] vs. The Midnight Express w/ Jim Cornette: It’s these guys! The greatest! The Midnight Express beats down Robert Gibson, which they did more than you’d think, and throw in two major high spots by Eaton: an Alabama Jam and the flying kneedrop. Loverboy for his part offers a major lariat. Ricky keeps trying to protest and fight his way into the ring, while Cornette takes advantage of his plight and whips Gibson with a belt. The Ricky hot tag is teased to and executed brilliantly, before a double dropkick bumps Pee Wee Anderson. Cornette gets dragged in and cowers as Ricky prepares to beat some ass, but Loverboy clocks him with the tennis racket and The Midnight Express WIN THE TAG TEAM TITLES. Compact, but classic. ****1/4
2. The Road Warriors w/ Paul Ellering vs. The Russians (Ivan Koloff & Nikita Koloff): As cool as this always seems on paper, I never liked this pair. There’s some decent pushing and strong guy stuff here and there, and the press slam on Ivan Koloff is wild, but the action never quite hits before Baron Von Raschke shows up and gets the Russians DQ’d. Warriors kick some ass with the chain afterwards. **3/4
NASCAR racer and commentator Benny Parsons has some stuff goin’ on at WTBS and he shows up to plug it with Magnum. Then we go to the set of Stagecoach, where Tony Schiavone is sitting at a table with Willie Nelson and Dusty Rhodes who are looking like the most brother of all brothers. They talk about their friendship and Willie reads a poem. I’m not sure Tully Blanchard ever even got mentioned.
3. NWA National Heavyweight Title: Dusty Rhodes [c] w/ Baby Doll vs. Tully Blanchard w/ JJ Dillon: At the end of the day this felt like a match where Dusty said, “Look. We need to run this again, let’s take it easy, but we’re still gonna give them a show for 20 minutes.” And they accomplished that. Each guy worked a leg, slugged it out, and there actually was pretty minimal Tully scrambling. Main highlights were Dusty doing a backslide and Tully breaking by his feet simply ending up in the ropes, and Dusty dropping his ass ass for a Boston crab which they stayed in until time ran out. Solid use of 20-minutes, not their best but this was prime time Dusty and Tully. ***1/4
Next up is a fascinating bit of professional wrestling insanity, as Joel Watts interviews Bob Johnson, Executive VP of the Louisiana Superdome, where the Crockett Cup is being held. Bob says he has respect for the wrestling events that Watts and Crockett promote “and stage” across the country. The catch is that Watts and Bob are clearly not in the same room and the back-and-forth is just shoddily pieced together. Lol.
4. NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair [c] vs. Ron Garvin: A match based around Garvin tearing Flair’s nips up with chops and Flair just chopping his heart out back. Incredible timing and bumps by Flair, while Garvin establishes the template for the future Ishii match by being this brick wall of a force that will not let Flair have a moment. ***3/4
A stacked show in the prime era of JCP – this is Highly Recommended.
Street’s Stampede – Adrian Street vs. Davey Boy Smith (Stampede Wrestling 10/30/81)
“And away we go, with another edition of the Stampede Wrestling show, and as I live and breathe… and lo and behold, the first face I saw… Adrian Street. I just about took a return flight.” Street had only recently taken his gimmick overseas full-time and he looks like a Rip Rogers type, with bright purple tights over bright pink pants. This is 3 and a half minutes long, and the uncomfortable vibe of early 1981 Canada casts a shadow over the match: “There’s uh, Adrian Street… that uh… creature out of the SoHo in London.” There’s some wristlocks and a gutbuster and kneelifts from Adrian before Davey fights back. They do the WORST small package before Adrian grabs Davey by the mouth but charges into his boots, leading to a top rope splash from the future Bulldog for 3. Zero read on Street as a performer here at all, to be honest. *1/2 and Not Recommended
“Exotic” Adrian Street w/ Miss Linda vs. Bobby Fulton (Mid-South Live Event 10/1/84)
We are in the Downtown Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans with Bill Watts on commentary and Exotic Adrian Street has FOUND himself in North America. Good Ol’ Jim Ross provides the TV introduction: “Perhaps the most unusual and bizarre individual that I’ve ever seen in the Mid-South Wrestling area. He’s also one tough man… underneath those… blonde locks are two cauliflower ears, he is a tough customer.”
Street is fully gimmicked up, with Road Warrior spikes all over and pink bows on his blonde hair that somehow overwhelm the complex makeup job on his face. Miss Linda is at his side and rocking the full gear too as Bobby Fulton just shakes his head in disapproval. Street holds out his hands limply for the ref to check, quizzing him about the rules and always, ALWAYS being on and portraying this effeminate amazingness, teasing the ref during the pat-down, then blowing a kiss when the bell rings and skipping around the ring, which leads Fulton to walk outside and tell him to cut it out.
Fulton eventually shakes his ass and it’s on, baby. They do some wrestling, Street poses and gets dropkicked. Then Street just grabs Fulton by the CHEEK and forces him down to the mat. He kicks him on the floor when Fulton tries to get back in, then goes back to the CHEEK. Fulton gets a few shots in before Street holds onto the ropes off a dropkick, drops an elbow, throws some European uppercuts, and drops a SPLASH for 3. A real experience, and the best example on the Network of the magic of Adrian Street. Loved it. ***1/4 and Recommended
“Exotic” Adrian Street w/ Miss Linda vs. Terry Taylor (Mid-South Live Event 12/2/84)
This is another match where the Exotic is on full display, though Fulton made for a more fired up opponent than Terry Taylor. Street rocks a cape here and gets major heat while the ladies LOVE their Terry. Street screws with the referee some more here, a shtick I am now aware he made frequent use of in late-1984 Mid-South thanks to the award-winning WWE Network. The referee, clearly afraid of the AIDS that it would definitely absolutely give him, stands back in fear when Taylor tries to push him into Street. There’s a lot of wristlocks here, but also distractions of the referee by Miss Linda and eye gouges and random complex holds from Street like one where he puts Taylor’s neck over his boot while he traps his arm. Taylor takes a whole bunch before he fires back, which includes a great moment of Adrian Street holding his own face in pain. A flying elbow ends this perfectly solid perfectly 80s match. *** and Recommended
WWF Title: The Undertaker [c] w/ Paul Bearer vs. British Bulldog (WWF Live Event Ontario 11/30/91)
The Undertaker’s first WWF Title reign went by real quick: he beat Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series on November 27, then lost it back to Hogan at This Tuesday in Texas on December 3. In between that time, the WWF traveled to Ontario, Canada, where WWF Champion Undertaker wrestled Davey Boy Smith three times: once on November 28, and twice on November 30. This was from the evening show on November 30, and actually aired on the French version of WWF Superstars like three months later.
“Ladies and gentleman … accompanied by his manager, Paul Bearer…” gets a HUGE POP. Hearing “from Death Valley, weighing 328 pounds, the new World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion, The Undertaker!” is a trip. The Undertaker CARRIES the title to the ring, just casually in his hand as if it’s a weed he has just pulled and is bringing it to a bag of yard waste. He and the Bulldog have a real 5-minute kind of match, with nobody’s strikes seeming to hit and a whole lot of choking. Bulldog doing the stalling suplex on Taker is actually pretty cool, and Taker sitting up at the 2-count is a MOMENT. Paul Bearer uses the power of urn to rally Taker early on, then Undertaker hits Bulldog with the urn when Bearer gets on the apron. The urn DROPS, which seems like a SERIOUS mishap, but before anyone can react Undertaker has retained the championship.
Undertaker tries the bodybag gimmick post-match, but Bulldog really crappily clotheslines him over the top rope. Bearer holds the championship in the air with his right hand and the urn close to his chest with his left as Taker skulks to the back. ** and Recommended for the interesting factor but really no good wrestling at all.
WWE Title: Randy Orton [c] vs. Triple H (WWE Live Event Nottingham 4/13/08)
Of course, OF COURSE this clip is TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES. These two in 2008 were so not good but completely convinced they were. The only thing different here from every other god damn match they’ve had is that it’s filmed only with a ringside camera, so you get stuff like an uncomfortably close-up shot of Triple H’s pecs that just engulfs the screen. . The match is all they do and still do. It’s fine. It’s serviceable. It never really clicks as main event caliber. Orton’s heat segment is arguably criminal. He sets up THE PUNT but just sleepwalks right into a spinebuster, and after like 20-minutes bell-to-bell he bops Triple H in the head with the WWE Title and is DQ’d. Fuckers. *3/4 and Not Recommended
Triple Threat Match – NXT Title: Finn Balor [c] vs. Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe (NXT Live Event Cardiff 12/15/15)
Ah, the… good… old… days? This was a weird era for NXT. It seemed to be peaking, but as the Balor & Bayley era came to a close it was missing a whole lot of sparks it used to have. There’s a funny bit here where nobody knows Balor’s theme song intro so once Zayn and Joe enter, there’s a big “who’s it gonna be!?” feel until BALOR CLUB pops up on the Titan Tron and everybody goes nuts. There’s nothing must-see here, it’s just some good brothers having some fun at a house show. Joe gets some boring chants but turns the crowd to his side as he sets up a Balor/Zayn lock-up that he breaks up anyways. Balor and Zayn have fun with GEAR, Zayn putting on Balor’s leather jacket and Balor Zayn’s hat. Balor’s “Don’t do that – oh my GOD!” as Zayn puts the jacket on MIGHT be worth seeking out, might be. Balor skanks once he puts on Zayn’s hat and then everything gets real slow again and there’s a “WE WANT TABLES” chant and Balor wins. ***1/4 just for the ACTION~! but Not Recommended
