Mid-South Wrestling 12-25-81

Merry Christmas! Let's watch some rasslin'! Boyd and Bill greet us, with Boyd in an amazing pink suit. Boyd hypes up Dusty and Andre coming in soon and Bill joins him on commentary. Jerry Novak and Ricky Ferrera face Mike George of latter-latter-latter day AWA fame and Carlos Zapata. Based on pure appearances, this looks like jobber team vs. Jobber team. Mike George is actually pushed, so he's the star here and his partner is just a last-second replacement for JYD. Mike gets double teamed and Bill tries to avoid burying Zapata and Zapata gets slammed on the floor and George has to go it alone and dropkicks away to win.

Clips show Precious Paul doing the Persian Club challenge from the Iron Sheik. Paul is unbelievably built and just him MOVING CLUBS is getting over huge and does 50 reps before either dancing or having a seizure. Sheiky does 103, so his money is safe. Paul does it this week and says he'll do 444. Paul gets to around 50 and Sheiky attacks him. He gets the camel clutch, but Paul escapes before eating a flag shot from Ak and more kicks. Good stuff. Paul Orndorff faces Brian Blair, who looks maybe 200 pounds while Orndorff has thick chest hair and a five o' clock shadow and looks like a young, spry 45 year old.

Watts says that since the club attack wasn't a match, Grizzly may not be able to fine him. Bob Roop stares on boringly while Blair locks on a headscissor and Paul escapes after a few minutes. Paul lands some awesome back elbows that have great snap to them before backdropping him with an arm lock.PAUL LANDS A HIGH KNEE. Paul goes for a figure four, but Blair kicks him into the ropes after a big Watts speech about how any given man can win a big match. So right away, even though things seem like a mis-match, they aren't because Blair is a game competitor and anyone can truly beat anyone. Blair avoids a suplex with one of his own by hanging on! BLAIR GETS A FIGURE FOUR, but Paul reverses it and locks it in. Well, Blair could escape if he just opts to MOVE HIS RIGHT LEG and stop clenching it. The bell rings due to the time limit - but it would've been cool to have him tap to the reversal. Blair didn't submit - but the referee ended the match on his physical behalf. Perfect - Paul won with the reversal, so it's an effective hold - but Blair didn't submit.

Ted DiBiase faces Mike Boyer next. Ted without a beard or a tan is bizarre even now. Bill compares the figure four to about half a dozen things in football. Ted powerslams him and wins with the figure four - so in one show, we've seen a single move effectively get two victories not due to finish repetition, but to GET THE HOLD OVER AS DEADLY and each win happened in a different way with different context. Bob Roop teams with Bob Orton Jr. to face Frank Monte and Mike Bono. Orton humps the air for a bit before winning with a piledriver - not much to this, but they looked strong.

I love the usage of showing finishes before the break. It takes maybe five seconds, but gets finishers and angles over quickly. Ed Wiskowski faces Tom Renesto Jr. Ed is just so damn sloppy, but I like Bill putting Ed over on a loss to Ted. Ed hits a sloppy atomic drop before splashing his neck from a seated position and a pendulum backbreaker ends it. Iron Sheik faces Tom Serano next, but it never gets started as Paul brawls with Sheiky until TV time expires. MSW remains a fun, easy hour of wrestling to watch at all times. You can skip a show for eons and instantly get caught up thanks to the presentation - which is something you can't even do today.

WWE Clash of Champions 2017

Show starts off with the US Title 3 way. Roode's random spinning around is odd. Baron slowly clubs away while they yammer on about how Roode wants to restore history to the US Title. Dolph gets 2 off a famouser. Holy Jesus did this slow to a death crawl with Baron dominating everything. Crowd seems unusually hot for Bobby Roode. DON'T THEY SEE HOW TALL BARON IS!? Tower of Doom to Roode. Roode avoids sweet chin music and hits a spinebuster. Dolph avoids the glorious DDT and hits a jumping DDT. Baron runs into the post and then darts into the ropes and goes to the floor - stop blindly charging. Roode hits the DDT on Dolph, but Baron pulls him out. End of Days to Roode while DOLPH HITS THE ZIG ZAG AND WINS IT. Has to be his first win of the year.

DBryan is being an asshole and Shane...looks completely ridiculous.  Baron Von Sad Tummy is angry. Aiden English sings about Rusev! Rusev Day is hugely over and gets a giant chant. 3 UNHINDERED JINDERS! Aiden is great. Usos are amazing with their street rap. Lots of cradles get 2 before a brawl. Assisted dive to the floor. USO DIVE AND THEN THE RUN-UP BELLY TO BELLY HITS. Kofi just floored Gable with Rich Swann's finish. Yeah I wouldn't expect him back ever. Lots of waiting around to do stuff. Gable locks on a cloverleaf, but eats a fireman carry spinebuster for 2. Accolade is on Gable. So logically, why isn't Woods just hitting him with the trombone since it's a four way and he won't get  his team DQed? Machka kick to E! ACCOLADE TO E, BUT GABLE GERMANS HIM! CHAOS THEORY TO E! Superkick party and the splash end it for the Usos.

Long promo for Nattie-Charlotte. EVERY LUMBERJACK GETS AN INTRO.  Lana and Carmella having the same kind of gear is A-okay. Liv looks like she's cosplaying as Mandy Rose here. Not a good look for her. Neckbreaker and a yakuza kick get 2 for Charlotte. Charlotte lands some sloppy offense in the corner. Naomi hits a springboard dive on the heel lumberjacks. None of this is a DQ or even a call by the ref to do anything. MORE RANDOM BRAWLING leads to a cash-in tease. So Carmella's plan, HER BEST CHANCE TO WIN, would logically be to do it with five billion people on the outside - brilliant! Moonsault to the floor means NOTHING in the story of the match within three seconds...so why do it? Nattie just posted her and made that the focus. Figure 8. Nattie going for an Aloha Arn on her back - that's now how that works! Charlotte retains. Thank God that's over. Holy Jesus is Nattie a terrible talker and she talks about carrying it for 10 years and leaves and cries. What the fuck ever.

The Singhs are interviewed.Tyler is legit wearing Torrie Wilson's gear. As did Billy Gunn when he was on his downswing in TNA. The INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCE TEAMS are introduced during Breezango's intro. Bludgeon brothers destroy them. THE FUTURE HOLDS MORE BLUDGEONING! THE END OF THE BEGINNING. THE BEGINNING OF THE END. KO and Sami are interviewed. So they're teasing a Danielson heel turn with their usual idea of subtle - so it'll be a swerve and Shane will turn on Bryan. Recap video time already - so it might be time for the tag match. Orton's hair is some kind of ridiculous.

We get every SD tag match main event ever. Knees up for the senton. Running frog splash from table to table through announce table. Shane berates Bryan for not counting 3 on KO and I was hoping for a KICK HIS FUCKING HEAD IN chant. Silly back and forth cradle counts...for some reason. Shane screws Sami on a count, so Bryan fast-counts Sami and gives them a win off a schoolboy. Jesus. This finish is getting more replays than the Zapruder film. And of course the overarching story is WHAT WILL THE MCMAHON DO TO SHOW THE WORKING CLASS HOW MUCH BETTER HE IS.

Jinder's prayer rug game is on-point. Dude needs some Clearasil tho, and to work on his arms. Tom says that Jinder injected himself...into the Styles-Brock match. After what feels like several hours of exciting RIB-BASED OFFENSE, including a bodyscissors, AJ just throws himself around to do something. AJ hits a springboard 450 and the Singhs save him. AJ kicks out of the khallas. Jinder goes for the Clash, but AJ locks on the calf crusher and Jinder taps. That was indeed a match. Corey says THIS IS A BATTLE WE WILL NOT SOON FORGET.

SNME 1-4-86

I'm quite a bit behind on Wayback Playbacks - but the SNME eps are always a blast. Hogan is making protein shakes on the beach or at a water park. Gene goes into convultions after having the shake. Piper AND THE OTHER BAD GUYS LOOK AT BABYFACES HAVE FUN IN THE POOL. We go to the Sundome which is very yellow and green and we get a PEACE MATCH between  Kirchner and Volkoff. JYD and Steamboat face Fuji and Muraco, while Steele faces Savage and Hogan faces Terry Funk. Jesse Ventura is out here in gear to team with Piper and Orton to face the hillbilies. Jesse says that he's the only announcer who is man enough to get into the ring. Heenan replaces Ventura tonight, and Heenan replaced Jesse in both the WWF and WCW as well. Gene interviews Piper and Orton in the aisle, and it looks great because the fans are so alive. The heels are out first and we see the hillbilly wedding being spoiled by the heels.

Hillbilly Jimmy, Uncle Elmer, and Cousin Luke are here. Jesse looks a bit out of shape here, but is still in shape. Elmber hits big club shots and we get some hilarious selling here from Jesse. A HEADLOCK SLOWS THINGS DOWN. Knee to the gut to Jim before Piper comes in to face Junior. Luke shakes his hand and clubs him before the heels hit a double elbow. Ventura clubs him and walks on him. Piper slaps away before Ace hits an elbow off the second rope. Hillbilly Jim gets a tag, but the ref misses it. A Piper fan goes crazy with everything he does and Elmer is in and clubs away. A bearhug is met with an eye rake. Piper slugs Jim and then the heels triple team him to the joy of an old guy in the crowd. The heels win with a Piper sleepr and Jesse meets with Bobby again.

Jimmy Hart was branded by JYD last time, so now they'll settle the score in a waterslide contest. Jimmy is in his 40s here and looks 25. JYD wins it and this offends Jesse and his speedo. Terry Funk says he wants to be in SI and we see clips of Funk hitting him with a branded iron and HOGAN LOSES BY COUNTOUT AND BRANDED. Hogan says he's bringing JYD with him to make sure Jimmy Hart isn't involved. Terry Funk quit due to non-stop matches with JYD. Hogan is in Superman blue and red. JYD forces Hart into a chair and we get a red, white and blue Hulkster graphic - that's a small thing, but tells you his character in literally a second.

Hogan vs. Funk was a big ratings-getter and we get a unique back and forth corner whip and a big corner lariat. A fan has a bedsheet with some shockingly-good graphics on it. Terry eats an Irish whip and goes chest-first in before being clotheslined over the top. Terry ducks down and we get another spot I haven't seen before - Hogan running on his back every time he inches closer to the ropes, Terry making it to the ropes and then falling on some chairs on the floor. Terry throws a chair in and Hogan sits on it. Terry chops away in the corner and then gets flipped in the corner. Terry mule kicks in the balls and Vince says he was aiming for the shins. Terry goes up top and Hogan shakes the ropes and this forces him to jump forward and crotch himself. AXE BOMBER and a big elbow hit. Hogan is shoved into the rope and Jimmy pulls the ankle, so Jimmy hides between JYD and Hogan under the ring. Terry chokes him with the tape and makes it look like a sleeper. Terry hits a piledriver for 2. Terry hits his punches, but Hogan Hulks up. Punches and a big back elbow lead to the boot. Terry gets 2 and thinks it's due to the ref tapping his back, but an axe bomber hits and ends it.

Terry throws a chair in the ring and puts his dukes up to the fans, who cower. TERRY FUNK DRAGS JIMMY OUT OF THE BUILDING. How awesome. Gene and Hogan are mid-ring and we get a promo. We get a video on Steele showing his face turn and TNT skits. Steele is in a very large speedo while Lou Albano is near him and there are some hot models nearby. Jesse and Savage are with Liz, who looks terrified and then Randy just tosses her in the water. Macho comes down in an incredible robe and Liz's dress matches. George touches Liz and Lou tells him to get away. Randy comes over and yells at Liz and threatens to slap her. And this was just their TV life...yeah that sure was a healthy life for her I'm sure.

Steele does his wacky mannerisms and a dude in a Hawaain shirt is doing them too! Savage is tossed over the top The SNME logo remains great even today and we get a lot of nothing that is great due to Savage. Steele punches and kicks him before a brawl on the floor. Savage uses Liz as a shield and Steele goes to see if she's okay. Surprisingly, Savage doesn't boot him - but does it mid-ring. Buckle is destroyed and Steele drapes his neck over the rope and Savage jumps 3/4 of the ring to hit an axehandle and win. Very impressive-looking finish - so it had that going for it.

Gene and Hogan are outside and Gene is dancing to music. We get a highlight reel of '85 and man was the Piper-Mr. T staredown incredible. We get an upskirt of Liz for Halloween. Hogan plays bass and hillbillies dance. Piper breaks a record over Albano to cause a riot and we see Piper vs. Orndorff. and the Dream Team win the titles. We get a shot of Vince and Jesse in a darkened area before Gene interviews Blassie and Volkoff. Sheiky's gear is still great today. We get a video of Corporal Kirschner doing skydiving and dressed like Rambo.

Nikolai sings and they get water thrown on them. Hopefully water. Kirschner gets the ROTC intro. We get a clean break from the evil Russian and the fans have figured out to put the banner against the seats. Long headlock because of course. Long takedown from Volkoff leads to BACK BRIDGE CRADLE for 2. Well, didn't see that coming. HE DOES A CARTWHEEL AND A SHOULDERBLOCK. This is more movement than I ever remember him having. Makes me want to watch some of his stuff in Mid-South. Big kneedrop ends it and wins for Nikolai. A woman is overjoyed at the win by the evil Russian. We get a silly spot where he goes to slam Sheiky while Volkoff goes to attack him, but Volkoff just has to stop it. We get clips of Muraco beating up and hanging Steamboat.

 

Muraco lounges around and teams with Fuji, oh joy and Fuji jokes aboiut eating dogs. Steamboat is in his gi and looks great. JYD says some stuff about being on the side of the kids and wanting to be a role model. Steamboat is in black trunks over red tights - which looks bizarre. JYD slams Don down and misses the headbutt. Fuji gets some stuff in before JYD hits some shitty armdrags. Eye poke brings Don back in who drops an elbow. Fuji hits a headbutt to the balls. Steamboat flails his arms around to somehow help him get a tag, and he hets a tag. Big chops and punches for everyone and lands Inoki's head kick. Steamboat gets the dive, but Fuji kicks him to beak it up. JYD comes in and headbutts Fuji to win. Wow was this sloppy and bad. We get tons of filler with Jesse and Vince.

House of Hardcore 12-2-17 - Blizzard Brawl

Guido beats Steve Cuttler in an okay-ish match. Guido still looks about the same as ever, shockingly. Jay Bradley's out in somehow more generic gear than his TNA days to face MVP. MVP looks better now than he did in TNA and has dyed his hair black again and lost some weight. They exchange slaps after some mat wrestling. MVP lands a yakuza kick on the barricade. Bradly eats one mid-ring, but avoids the playmaker, but eats a belly to belly. Bradley gets 2 off a bulldog. Mid-ring drive by kick ends it.

Nick Aldis comes down with Shane Douglas, whose "CUT THE DAMN MUSIC" promo doesn't work without actual music. Shane cuts a Local Sports Team promo instead of actually putting over Nick Aldis. So this was worth the ticket for him. Carlito has a re-recorded version of his theme and pretends to be blown up slapping hands. Between this and the HOF, he is so much funnier outside of WWE. Carlito paces around the ring to go after Shane, giving Aldis a chance to avoid damage. Ref tosses out Shane, but Aldis wins anyway.

Squad World Order video airs and Curt Stallion is out for the four way with  Connor Braxton, who uses a hoverboard in his matches and had a funny HOH comedy match with Striker a while back. Bull James is fat again and Arik Cannon is still around! We get some segway-related comedy. Bull is scared to ride, but gets punched around. SEGWAY SWING and Arik hits a neckbreaker on the ropes. James hits a cheesehead seated senton and wins it.

Willie Mack comes down to face Brian Cage, who is fucking gigantic. Cage hits a wacky pumphandle facebuster for 2. Mack hits a Samoan drop and a nip up into a moonsault for 2. Cage hits an F5 for 2.5. Cage for a rainmaker, but Mack hits an exploder out of that and no-sells it. Double-down off a lariat. Cage goes for a screwdriver, but Mack his Swann's kick and a stunner before frog splashing him to end it. The Squad is out with Junior Member Randy. They bury the Packers and make gay jokes. Randy gets a "who are you" chant.  Kenny cuts a Joel Gertner-esque promo and is awesome at that.  He's also great at hyping up Mikey, who comes off like a bigger star than anyone on Raw.

Al Snow, Swoggle, and Dave Hero are out - with Snow and Swoggle wrestling. Al Snow is still all jacked up, but he's shaved his goatee. We get a lot of stalling, and given that Snow is old and Swoggle is terrible, this is a good move. Snow holds up Head for a long time. Then Al does some cheerleading for Swoggle. Long criss cross. Jesus fuck this match. Al's arm gets pumhhandled, and this is only going to end one way. KENNY GETS HIS ARM PUMPHANDLED! Randy is great here. MIKEY KEEPS DOING IT until he sees his enemies and now he knows he's doomed. Okay, that almost redeemed this match. Faces bite the assholes of the heels. German to Mikey by Swoggle. Al eats a beating, but Swoggle comes in with a tag the ref doesn't see. SAMOAN DROP BY SWOGGLE! Snow gets a tag and the Snow plow gets 2. DAMMIT. END! Head hits and the tadpole splash ends it.

Abyss is out to face Tommy Dreamer in his own Bullet Club-style shirt. So that has to be the jump the shark moment for that. They stall. And brawl. And stall. and Brawl. and stall. Abyss goes down after THREE FLIP FLOP AND FLY ELBOWS. TNA walk and brawl special. Tommy gets crotched on the guardrail. The commentators talk about Tommy being an innovator and how he's always thinking of new things to do. Abyss goes for the earthquake splash and it goes the same way it always does for Abyss - with a chair to the balls. Abyss sends Tommy down and gets a ladder. Dreamer DDT gets 2. Tommy's hair is amazing and he gets a bag of tacks. Aldis distracts Tommy and he takes a black hole slam into the tacks to end it. Tommy says some stuff that can't be heard due to the mic. They play Tommy's music and he's pissed because he lost.

Lisa Marie Varon is out to face Candice Michelle in her final match. Victoria looks fine, while Candice has had a few too many surgeries on her face. Both are put over as legendary, so that term means even less than usual. Victoria's knee buckles off a backbreaker and she suckers everyone in by slapping Candice. Candice hits a variety of lariats. Candice avoids the widow's peak and hits a kneeling x-factor. She thanks Wisconson before hitting a sloppy tornado DDT and winning. Well, this was a perfect retirement match for her given how limited she was a decade ago. They hug and kiss. Candice thanks Lisa for helping her become who she is and talked about being in Hollywood at 18 and getting her big break thanks to WWE. She talks about being so excited about winning the women's title. She says that tonight marks the 15th anniversary of her mother's death and she thanks Tommy for giving her this platform to go out on. She talks about being a role model for her kids tonight and man was this great - it was a billion times better than the match itself.

Joey Mercury comes out with Shane and the Federal Director comes out and tells Shane that he now has a managerial license across the country. Austin Aries comes out in front of his hometown for the first time. I love the commentators burying Shane for his sneakers and suit jacket. Aries goes through the motions and tries to have a good match with Mercury, who can move - but can't really work anymore. Long reverse bearhug by Joey. Superman punch and pedigree hit. Suicide dive hits the heels. Steel chain from Shane KOs Aries, but Dreamer is the second ref and he stops short. RKO TO JOEY! Tree of woe to Shane and Joey and we get Aries and Dreamer doing double ECW dropkicks.450 hits and ends it.

Aries says he has a sequel promo - kidding, this place is packed.