WCW Halloween Havoc 1992

 It's time for the Sting-Roberts SPIN THE WHEEL, MAKE THE DEAL match. We get some awful CG and STING HOWLING AT THE MOON. Bruno and Tony run down the possible stips for Spin the Wheel while we see Barbarian, THE WORLD TITLE CHALLENGER, taking bumps from guys in a ring with Cactus Jack training him. In kayfabe, WHY IS BARBARIAN NOT KILLING THESE GUYS!? Tony says he's training this way to prepare for the powerslam. Yeah sure. Missy is in a hot gold outfit while Jesse is in a fully body skull costume. Jesse gets all shouty talking about the wheel stips. 

The opener has Johnny Gunn, Zenk, and Shane Douglas teaming up to face Hayes, Eaton, and Arn. I like the match getting a graphic beforehand. Shane's dressed in a ridiculous white cutout jacket that he'd later use in ECW in a black and yellow motif. We get some nothing happening babyface action and Johnny pins Hayes with a shitty looking Thesz Press. Missy chats with Harley and he won't let her in to talk to Barb. Tony and Bruno chat before Brian comes out to face Steamboat, in some stunning red gear. 

Nice back and forth wrestling before Steamboat gets faceplanted and Pillman just chokes him on the mat. They exchange chops and Pillman loses after a crossbody into a pair of cradle reversals. Teddy Long is with Chono, Sakaguchi, Sasaki, and Hiro Matsuda. Kensuke will be his official and a ruling has been made about the US Title that Rude holds. Watts says Gordy is suspended permanently and he told Doc to pick a world-class partner and he picked Austin. Watts says that Rude has a surrogate to defend the US Title tonight and he's picked Vader to face Koloff tonight.

Nikita's out and A CLEAN-SHAVEN RUDE is with Vader and puts the belt on his shoulder. Vader beats the fuck out of him for a while before Nikita fires up and gets a crossbody to the back! He also slugs him on the floor Vader eats a corner punch barrage and a trio of tackles before a flying shoulderblock sends him down for 2. Nikita misses a charge on the floor and eats the post before a vertical bodyblock and a rough powerbomb ends Nikita's career. 

Barry and Dustin are backstage with the double gold. We get a lot of quick back and forth with Doc and Dustin before Dustin and Barry go at it. Barry is so smooth and Steve is lightning-fast here. Austin gets Dustin up for the Body backbreaker and they just fire back and forth. These two had amazing chemistry together. Dustin gets a lariat and they go back and forth before the time limit expires. Well, that's one way to have Doc not lose and keep the belts on Barry and Dustin.

Paul E says that he's the reason Rude succeeded and brags while Vader has the US Title on his shoulder. Madusa thanks everyone BUT HEYMAN and HE IS A MAN and Vader and Harley just step back and let him eat shit. He says SHE'S FIRED and shoves her hard and she kicks him! Sting comes out to SPIN THE WHEEL! It's the coal miner's glove match! NWA Title time with a clean-shaven Rude insulting the flabby, out of shape inner city sweathogs to shut up and Madusa's still with Rude. Chono gets the same generic Japanese music everyone got for a billion years. 

Speaking of a billion years, this match is just dreadful with long rest holds aplenty. Rude takes a bump off a leg pull on the ropes to create some motion before MORE RESTHOLDS! Chono goes for the STF and Rude blocks by putting his hands behind his head. Rude gets a horrible back bump dropkick, which looks like shit and barely hits. Chono mafia kicks Race when the latter got in the way when Rude ducked. Chono throws Rude over the top into Sasaki and causes Race to hit the barricade. Chono gets the STF and Sasaki makes the call before Race calls bullshit and eats a slam and then Sasaki dropkicks Rude! 

We get more training with Barb and Jack, now with Jack breaking cinder blocks on his back with a hammer. Barb is out and Ron is out with his hot sax theme doing a train with Teddy and Jesse talks about how many new friends Ron's gotten as champ. We get some nice brawling before Barb misses the ropewalk elbow. Barb gets a lariat, but the powerslam ends it. ERIK WATTS puts over Ron Simmons because hey, the Watts family isn't racist guys! Bruno puts over Ron as a great champion for the modern era and THAT does more to give Ron credibility than anything else and to be fair, they put Barb over hard before the match, in the match, after the match and here by saying he's tough and worthy of another shot down the road. 

Roberts is out to what would become Austin's theme in grey gear that makes him look even paler. We get a walk and brawl before they just do stuff for a bit and Jake eats the pole. Jake gets the snake glove and Sting gets the coal miner's glove and hits Jake in the back, causing "the snake to latch onto Jake!" via Jake holding him on his face. Jack takes Jake out of there and we get some closing comments from Bruno, Jesse, and Ross. Yowza what a not great show. Madusa's turn on Heyman was good though and there were flashes of greatness in the double tag title match.

AEW Dynamite 10-28-20 - Omega vs. Penta

 Dasha tries to talk to Wardlow, but MJF interrupts before he can do so. MJF says that if Wardlow wins the title, it's his title because Wardlow works for him. MJF talks shit about Sammy and tells him to cut the shit and keep the jacket. MJF says Sammy needs to not cut promos and he looks like he sells Adderall to middle schoolers. I love the idea of Sammy as a babyface...but it feels odd to do this while he's a violent heel feuding with Matt Hardy. Page jumps Wardlow with a shotgun dropkick. Wardlow gets a big edge, but misses a swanton. Page gets a running SSP FOR 1! Buckshot is avoided and Wardlow lariats him for 2. F10 hits, but Page rolls out due to where he's planted - frustrated Wardlow. They're telling a great story here of him being inexperienced and that's costing him. They fight up top and Hangman tosses him off the top! BUCKSHOT DROPS HIM TO A KNEE! ANOTHER ONE HITS AND ENDS IT! This was great stuff.

Mox says that he's been defending this title all year and he's defending it not for rankings - but he's defending it and weaponizing it against Eddie Kingston. The Family comes out and Kingston insults Mox for not being here. He's here to take out Matt Sydal THE JOKER IN THE BATTLE ROYAL THAT HE WAS NEVER ELIMINATED IN! Sydal's gear looks fantastic. Sydal armdrags him and gets a Fujiware. METEORA OFF THE TOP gets 2 for Sydal. Spinning backfist KOs Sydal and bulldog chokes him out. He demands Matt quit and so he does. 

Ex talks about chatting with FTR and the Bucks earlier. He's with the Bucks and FTR is elsewhere. The Bucks are dicks to Ex and they rationalize everything they did to show how serious they are - they needed their spark again. FTR storms off and says they aren't needed - they'll see them at Full Gear. Matt and Nick say that they bet on ourselves and Ex knows the story. They've added a stip and at Full Gear, if they don't win the titles, they will never challenge for them again. So they're redoing the Cody stip year to year.

We get a goofy political-style town hall meeting for the Inner Circle. Luchasaurus asks MJF how he can help the Inner Circle draw money. He makes a graphic showcasing how much more profitable it will be. Reba tells Jericho he has a great smile and Britt says she loves MJF, but YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A DENTIST LIKE HER TO KNOW HE'S A BAD FRIEND! Jericho says he knows that and they aren't dipshits. MJF says they got into wrestling for money and titles - and they'll get them all. Peter Avalon begs to join the Inner Circle and gets laughed off. A Mr. Eric B from Wyoming returns! He wants to know what MJF will do to make them better and he IS a total package and he is humble, but he is not the best team player - but he can become that by joining them. 

Jericho is called a primadonna and Tony tells him that Eric has the floor and he says that MJF is similar to him in that way. MJF wants Chris to answer a question and he wants to know why he doesn't get in based on the friendship, gifts, and great TV! HE GAVE HIM HIS BEST SEGMENT OF HIS CAREER. He asks what he hasn't done and Jericho says he hasn't beaten him - but he can do that at Full Gear. IF MJF wins, he's in the Inner Circle. This stip would mean more if THE BUCKS HADN'T JUST ANNOUNCED A STIP OUT OF NOWHERE. MJF tells him he'll do anything to win. Ortriz tells him they don't want him in and he'll team with Sammy next week to face MJF and Wardlow. 

Will Hobbs' win on Dark is shown and Taz says they're about money - and Hobbs is legit. Cody slings him into the buckle. OC gets knocked into the arms of the Best Friends. Satellite DDT is turned into a figure 4, which is turned into a kick of Cody to the floor. We get brawling from the lumberjacks and Cody superplexes him to the pile! STUNNER OUT OF A GORDBUSTER! Silver boots OC behind Cody's back and poses before getting kicked out by Cody. Cross Rhodes hits for the win and then we just get a brawl - so why even bother doing a finish? 

Penelope dresses as OC for Halloween before Miro and Sabian beat up the Best Friends. Serena Deeb comes out and Ex talks about her beating Rosa last night and she comes out with the NWA Women's title. She says the game changed when she won the title. 1-2 record in AEW for the NWA World Women's Champ just makes that title seem so nothing. She's facing Leyla Hirsch, who looks like a local indie shooter gimmick. Big corner dropkick gets 2 for Hirsch. Draping neckbreaker from Serena. Gedo clutch gets 2. Leyla's shining brightly here and Serena...is certainly a good hand. MOONSAULT MISSES FOR HIRSCH! Chain of neckbreakers from Serena and the Tequila Sunrise ends it. This was the best match on the show by far.

Shida challenges Nyla to a match at the PPV and that's made. Shawn Spears it out with Tully. Spears gets a quick win and then a costumer in a bull outfit beats him up. IT'S SCORPIO SKY! TKO! OC faces John Silver at the Buy In. Miro faces Trent next week and Scorpio faces Spears. Cody and AUSTIN AND BILLY OF THE GUNN CLUB face the Dark Order too. The Sweepers are out for Kenny wearing the masks of the Lucha Bros. Love the new giant intro for Kenny.

Okay. Omega going B-show t-shirt with this is a great little heel callback. CHOPS APLENTY takes that away! Penta preps a mega-chop and throws Kenny his glove - which OMEGA BITCH SLAPS HIM WITH! FLIP DIVE BY KENNY! Kenny goes up and gets superkicked into an Alberto double stomp in the corner for 2. TWO SNAPDRAGONS BY KENNY! V TRIGGER. THEN ONE IN THE CORNER TO THE NECK! Omega sets up a superplex to the ramp and Penta headbutts him down and HITS A DESTROYER ON THE RAMP! ZERO FEAR PILEDRIVER HITS FOR 2.9! 

 BASEMENT ENZUIGURI BY PENTA! CIERO MEIDO - V TRIGGER! OWA BUT PENTA FIGHTS OFF. ARM SNAPPER! AND IT HITS! Kenny avoids the Penta driver and gets some chops BUT EATS A SUPERKICK. He blind dives right into a knee! OWA HITS AND ENDS IT! This was one of Kenny's best matches in AEW yet. It sets up Page vs. Omega perfectly - as professional rivals only, for now. 

WWE Hell in a Cell 2020

 A nice Sasha-Bayley video package runs through their modern-day feud. Heyman cuts a fantastic promo about Roman COMMANDING Jey to say I Quit tonight. Long, boring Orton promo to hype up the main event. Sam and King chat inside the cell. Truth beats Gulak after Gulak does some invisible man spots with Little Jimmy, but falls to a Lie Detector. Drew comes to the panel and says Cena sucks. Booker T rambles on for a bit and now the show itself is on. 

I like the old TV and behind the TV video wall stuff here. We get 800 recaps of the Roman-Jey deal to set up their match opening the show. 15 MINUTES INTO THE SHOW, the opener starts. Jey hits a pair of suicide dives. Roman lands two spears, but Jey won't quit even after a shot with the wrist gauntlet. Uso splash, but Roman won't quit. God, WWE's formula just makes it impossible to enjoy a show. So far, they've each used up several of their MAX FINISHERS. WHAT ELSE CAN THEY DO!? Jey gets a strap and says HE'S GONNA WHOOP THE DOG SHIT! And does! Desperation spear! WWE needs to never use "I can't breathe!" in a match's story. 

Roman straps him and ties Jey's wrist to it - leading to Jey using it against Roman. Jey chokes him out with a strap and then a straightjacket variant on it. Jey ASKS IF HE QUIT instead of continuing. Roman locks on the front choke and Jey goes out. Ref TELLS HIM TO QUIT and Roman drive-bys him into the post. Then, ALMOST 40 MINUTES INTO THE PPV, we get a drive-by of the steps into his head into the post. Jey's out and the ref tells Roman he has to call it before beating him up and officials run down. Roman threatens the steps. NO. NOT THE DREADED TRIANGULAR PART OF THE STEPS THAT A HEAD CAN FIT IN! Jimmy runs in to make a save and plea to help Roman. 

Roman says he's sorry and cries. We get shoot namez from Jimmy and then they shake and Roman front chokes him and Roman uses that move to get Jey to quit. Okay. That's cute, but this took WAY TOO LONG. Afa and Sika are on the ramp and they show that he's their chief. AFTER 45 MINUTES, they have the gall to run an ad AND THEN A REPLAY. And now it's Elias vs. Jeff Hardy. An Elias match is a...bold choice to follow that up with. OH HEY A CHINLOCK! Jeff twisto, but Elias rolls out to avoid a swanton and guitar shots him for a DQ. LAW AND OTIS RECAP.  Miz vs. Otis. Nothing much here. Corner lariat by Miz and a sleeper. Tucker KOs Otis with the case and Miz wins the case. Miz calls out both top champs. LOL @ Serous Miz in 2020. 

Bayley vs. Sasha. We get canes, tables, chairs...Sunset flip into a corner chair gets 2 for Bayley. Bayley gets some tape and sticks. ULTRAMEGAKENDOSTICK forthcoming! Shotgun knees into the cell from Sasha. Frog splash, but Bayley gets the chair up. WHY GET A CAN OF SPRAYPAINT WHEN YOU CAN JUST FLYING ELBOW DROP HER THROUGH YOUR GOOFY CONTRAPTION!? SHOCKINGLY, her plan fails and she then eats SHOTGUN KNEES IN THE CORNER. At least she painted NWO on her for some reason. Belly to Bayley gets 2! Chair-trap crossface gets the tap and the title.

MVP says that Lashley will put the US Title on the line tonight and he'll take on anyone. Lashley vs. SLAPJACK! My head canon for the stupid names and outfits is that either Ali saw The Secrets of Pro Wrestling Revealed and thought "man, THAT'S GOOD SHIT, PAL!" or in keeping with the anti-WWE nature of the group, gave a group of talented people gimmicks so bad that it couldn't help but help them outside of WWE since you would never want to book any of these acts in their Retribution gimmick ever. Hurt Lock and Slapjack's out. Remember when the NWO lost all their title matches? Even secondary titles? They send Ali packing and NOW Lashley wears the US Title. 

Drew comes out and gets his huge intro while Orton tries to jump him in street clothes - but no night vision goggles, so he fails. Drew kicks his ass some more and closes the cell door. They brawl and brawl. Drew gets tossed into the steps. Gets a flying neckbreaker. Draping DDT hits and HURTS THE BROKEN JAW. A month later. Orton escapes the cell and Joe says he's just a great general and he's changing the battlefield. Orton goes up top and the ref tells Drew to not follow him up. All this mid-match yammering is bizarre. Randy has a big red pipe up there and then gets tackled and punched. They fight down the cell when Orton...just gets bored and leaves and Drew gets sent off the side of the cell through an announce table. Drew comes up with a bloody mouth. If only they hadn't spent eons killing the importance of announce table spots - then this MIGHT have meant something. Drew gets up and a backslide gets 2, but a claymore leads to Orton rolling out. Claymore misses and the RKO ends it. Orton is now a 14-time World Champion.

AEW Dynamite 10-21-20

 We've got Penta vs. Fenix and Sonny vs. Omega with Sonny replacing his partner Joey. Wardlow's out to face JUNGLE JACK PERRY! Wardlow chucks him down and just slinks away. Takedown and he just stands up on it. Wow. Wardlow REGISTERS a dropkick to the back. Perfect. Right out of the Brody playbook. APRON SUPERKICK BY JACK! Jack gets chucked into the post off a powerbomb. Just like 2K19! Tony messes up the wacky dinner name before Wardlow lariats him to kingdom come for 2! Jack avoids the pull-down knee and knees him! The gordbuster GTS in 2K19 is perfect for Wardlow's pull-down knee. Big tope to the back sends Wardlow into the barricade!

Nip up from Wardlow leads to a run-up punch. SUPERBOMB INTO A RANA BY JACK! SHOTGUN KNEES AND A BACKSTABBER BY JACK! SHOTGUN KNEE FOR 2 off the top! Ramp to ring F-10 hits and then THE BIG TWIRLY F-10 ends it. This ruled! Kingston's top-tier promo from the post-show last week is shown. He says Mox has a wife and his love and ALL HE'S GOT IS WRESTLING! Mox says he was prouder than anyone when Kingston signed with AEW. 

He loved Kingston - but he doesn't know the guy who bitches and moans. He's gonna end it on November 7 at Full Gear when he tortures him until he gets his friend back! The, he'll be left with no one to blame but himself. Sonny is out and Kenny now gets A GIANT INTRO. HE HAS BROKEN MELTZER'S FIVE STAR SCALE SEVEN TIMES AND TRANSLATES FOR NAKAZAWA. PERFECT booking here with Kenny just nailing a V trigger and OWA to end it. PERFECT! Kenny hugs her and is Luger-esque in terms of greatness as a fake babyface. 

Tony chats with OC and then Dasha chats with Cody as he arrives in a giant limo. Cody is a plausible babyface, but has that air of arrogance to him. Eddie Kingston's backstage to respond to Mox. He says he's going to talk about his family first because unlike Mox, he doesn't forget about his people. Penta and Fenix will prove to everyone why they're the best and then Butcher and Blade will take out the fold tonight and beat FTR. Once he gets done with Mox, he'll call his old boss to take him back. Mox was right - he is bitter and angry. HE HATES WHO HE IS BUT HE HAD TO BECOME THIS! My ends justify the means because before, he got nothing and now he gets a World title shot. 

Penta gets an ankle lock. CHOPS APLENTY! I approve of the Shelton-HBK finish being a transitional spot for ONLY THESE MEN. TORNILLO TO THE FLOOR BY FENIX! POP UP SUPERKICK BY FENIX! POP-UP RANA attempt leads to Penta powerbombing him for 2. ARM SNAPPER! Penta sets up a destroyer, but FENIX SNAPS ONE OFF AND WINS IT. This was a highlight reel deal! Best Friends stuff - Chucky blames Trent for spearing it accidentally and we get Miro saying he was TRYING TO BE FRIENDLY!

Silver and Reynolds take over Colt's promo.  "I HAVE A GREAT SINGLES RECORD WITH MY FRIENDS!" "We are not friends. No, not at all." Hangman's graphic lets us know he entered the tourney via a series of drunken voicemails. Uno gives Colt advice for an early lead, but a boot and SSP turn the tide for Hangman. Three camera cuts FOR THE FOREARM ON THE APRON alone! Diving splash misses for Colt and Hangman powerbombs him for 2. STOP TAKING FUCKING APRON BUMPS IN A COLT CABANA MATCH! Superman pin gets 2 for Colt. Colt gets taken out and Dark Order picks him up.

Hardy compound match between Matt and Sammy at Full Gear in the form of ELITE DELETION. Team Taz is out and Starks is dressed like a total douche. He demands that Will Hobbs gives them an answer and says that earlier today, TK told him that if Starks beat Darby Allin, he'd be getting the TNT Title! Jericho and MJF have a pissing contest over steak before BREAKING INTO A BRIAN AND STEWIE MUSIC NUMBER! They get their bloody steaks and then want them sent back. This was ungodly amazing. 

Tony has notes! Britt is wearing pink for breast cancer. Britt has IT! Britt projects being a star even better now and has smoothed out a lot of the rough patches in her game pre-injury. Surfboard CURB STOMP BY BRITT! Ex gets in a Super Dragon reference on TNT in 2020. CORNER FLATLINER! Kilynn gets a high kick, but Britt avoids a German. Slingblade and a DDT hit before a fisherman neckbreaker hits. Hard curb stomp hits! Glove and LOCKJAW END IT! Britt is like Tessa in how crisp she is now. OC vs Cody is now a lumberjack match next week. 

New Darby video with Steve O. Darby rolls off a half-pipe in a body bag. Okay kiddo. Butcher and the Blade come out and we see the Bunny break QT's heart and rejoin the Butcher and Blade. Private Party and Dark Order get PIP intros while the Bucks get a full-screen intro. Britt Baker-esque tan for Matt tonight. Silver and Quen are great together. "HE'S ALL JACKED UP ON DIET MOUNTAIN DEW!" cracking up FTR is tremendous. SILLY STRING TO REYNOLDS! SUPERKICK PARTY TO BUTCHER! Indytaker/senton combo gets 2! Almost A YEAR LATER, Private Party beating the Bucks still has significance, BTW. Callback to that finish leads to THE BUCKS WINNING IT when they reverse the cradle that beat them then. Tremendous! The best part is it really only get 2.8 - so it helps Private Party if they want to.

A MYSTERY MAN ATTACKS and they Pillmanize Matt's leg and IT'S TULLY, who got quite physical here. This was a good way to make the Bucks the face for this. Good stuff. They've done a fantastic job building this feud up overall.

WCW Clash of the Champions XX - 20 Years of Wrestling on TBS

 

We get Gordon and Andre before OF COURSE HERE'S BILL WATTS IN HIS PRIME! Andre, Bruno, Hank Aaron, Bill Watts, and Sting arrive. Bill Watts is of course with the black mayor of Atlanta of the time to show that he couldn't possibly be racist. Jim Ross talks about taking a tally on the hotline about taking away the top rope DQ rule - well, might as well try to make money off it somehow. Steamboat's out to face Austin with his Jesus Christ Superstar knockoff before Johnny B is out to introduce the girl for the national anthem. 

Ricky takes him down with a headlock takedown. Great back and forth action and the crowd goes nuts for Steamer throughout this. Long, good abdominal stretch leads to a Ricky escaping and getting a tombstone and crossbody off the top to win it since it's no DQ. Clip of Mr. Wrestling II winning with the kneelift. Tag team history video airs. Jesse meets with Hayes, Arn, and Eaton about Michael giving them advice on Terry Gordy.  Slater and Valentine are mid-ring to face Arn and Eaton. We get some great action from Eaton before Arn hits a spinebuster. Larry hits Greg with a cast before Eaton hits the Alabama jam to win it. 

Bruno promo about this show and Halloween Havoc '92. Teddy is with Andre and Gordon Solie. WE GET A BULLET BOB PROMO! Randy Watson's speaking style is right out of Thunderbolt Patteron's promos. Mr. Wrestling II chats from Hawaii about HOW WRESTLING IS GETTING BACK TO WRESTLING! Tony talks about Brad being hurt in Japan wrestling Muta. Bill puts over Brad as a fiery babyface who wants to come back, but couldn't DUE TO THE DOCTORS and he's being stripped of the belt for a tourney later. Pillman cuts AN AMAZING promo on Brad for being a coward for not wrestling and depriving all his fans of seeing him win the title - to the point that even Jesse is defending Brad.

Singles star video package. Simmons title win video package. Cactus is out to face Ron in slick black and yellow gear. Ron whips his ass and beats him with a powerslam that demolishes his ribs after already killing him with the spinebuster. We get clips of Chono's NWA Title win in Japan, starting with the celebration and leading to the match...as ya do. We get a Rude promo about wanting the NWA Title - but he's got the US Title too. ANOTHER HALLOWEEN HAVOC VIDEO! Nice intense promo from Jack here. He knows Ron's weaknesses and he's BUTCH REED. Reed and Barb face Dustin and Barry and BARB WINS WITH A GIANT BOOT! 

We get clips of Dusty and Willie Nelson. The history of Sting and Vader is showcased before we see Rude and Nikita brawl. We get some NJPW footage of the Steiners double impact DDTing Mutoh. Rude talks out Nikita with a knee on the apron allowing Jake to schoolboy him for the elimination. Sting takes out the Super Invader with a facejam! Rick goes for the double impact, but can't get Vader up - so he holds him with his head and Scott lariats Vader who takes a nasty head bump! Cactus clothesline by Rick after Scott's DQed for going off the top. Vader goes for a floor powerbomb on Rick, who barely backdrops him up and Vader flips himself over. Rick gets counted out and it's Sting versus everyone! Vader splashes Sting, but hits Rude! Jake DDTs Sting to win it!