This was actually relatively uneventful Saturday and after all the chaos in the previous weeks I get the feeling we may have a boring November. We're down to only 10 BCS conference teams with one loss or less compared to 18 at this time last year so I think law of averages this past week might be a sign of things to come. Even now in the era of a 12 game regular season and conference championships I still don't see us having the first two loss, post-bowls national champion. Believe me though I would love a two loss champion as it would even further kill the argument that the regular season is one big playoff.
Almost made it through October without ranking any three loss teams but as the SEC continues to cannibalize itself I have no other choice.
1. Ohio State
2. Arizona State
3. Boston College
4. Kansas
5. LSU
6. West Virginia
7. Oklahoma
8. Oregon
9. Missouri
10. Georgia
11. Connecticut
12. Alabama
13. Virginia Tech
14. South Florida
15. Wake Forest
16. Auburn
17. Florida
18. Michigan
19. Tennessee
20. Wisconsin
21. South Carolina
22. USC
23. Kentucky
24. Hawaii
25. Boise State
Ok, I've had enough days of not doing any of these...
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This match is from No Mercy 2002, and it's a Hell in a Cell match, featuring the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. The Undertaker. Remember, Taker has a broken hand.
Blow-by-blow: Taker swings his hand that's in a cast at Brock and Brock dodges him, then takes him down. Taker elbows Brock a few times, but a Brock powerslam gets 2. Brock charges into Taker, and Taker hits Brock in the gut with his cast. Brock bails out of the ring and Taker chases him, and Taker hits Brock in the head with the cast a few times, making Brock bleed. Quite a bit of blood, too. Taker rams Brock into the steps, then the Cell, and grates his face along the Cell. A cover on the outside gets a 2 count, and Taker torpedo tosses Brock into the Cell afterward. Taker does that legdrop where he sets the other wrestler up on the apron and runs down the apron to legdrop him, then goes up top. He clearly had 2nd thoughts about whatever he was going to do, as he comes down with a "something." I really don't know what it was. Taker kicks the Cell into Paul Heyman, and Heyman blades. Again, a lot of blood. Brock accidentally runs into Heyman, but Brock recovers and spinebusters Taker into the Cell, hard. Heyman hands Brock a belt, and Brock ties Taker up, against the Cell. Brock hits Taker in the back with a chair, and then hits the "broken" hand, repeatedly. The belt breaks, and Brock bites Taker on the hand. Back inside the ring, Brock rips the cast off. Brock does this thing where he swings on one of the Cell support beams like Tarzan and kicks Taker a few times. Taker hits Brock low, down low, then pushes him down into the ring. Taker with an elbowdrop into the ring off the top for a 2 count, and Taker kicks Brock into the Cell. Heyman screams out, "we're losing Brock" and he screams pretty much for the rest of the bout. It's funny. Taker dives out under the top rope onto Brock, and Brock gets up first, tossing Taker into the Cell. Brock throws the steel steps into Taker, and now Taker's bleeding. That's a LOT OF BLOOD, much more than that of the other two who are already bleeding. Brock throws the steps into Taker again, and we go back in the ring. A Brock spinebuster gets a 2 count, and Brock doesn't know what he needs to do in order to win. Taker goes up for OLD SCHOOL, but Brock armdrags him off the top rope. Brock goes for the F5, but Taker counters with a chokeslam for 2. Taker with an avalanche, and he goes for another, but Brock counters with a boot to the face. Brock gets backdropped on a BROCK LAST RIDE attempt, and a Taker running DDT gets 2. The LAST RIDE is countered again as Brock rams Taker into the buckle, and as Brock climbs the corner to punch Taker, Taker FINALLY gets the LAST RIDE. However, Brock grabs the ropes on the cover, so the next logical step is to TOMBSTONE him. Taker goes for the TOMBSTONE but Brock reverses it so that he's in TOMBSTONE position, and then Brock launches Taker into position for the F5, and gets the 3 count to retain his title at 27:15. Brock climbing up the Cell to celebrate is left out of the DVD program, so we'll stop there.
Match Analysis: In good conscience, no, this was not better than Taker's match with HHH at WM 17. But since I felt this match was ***1/4, I need to change the rating of the WM 17 match to ***1/2. It would only be fair. Not only that, this was the last great Hell in a Cell matches before they went to shit for a while. I don't remember whether or not the other ones after the 50 minute classic (sic) was better than this. Good for what it was, a brawl with a lot of blood.
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The next match is from the first Smackdown only PPV, Vengeance 2003, and it's The Undertaker vs. John Cena.
Blow-by-blow: IMO, Cena is far better in this role. As a cocky heel that doesn't give a shit what other people think, that's what Cena does best. His rap is corny, but good. Cena slaps Taker at the start, and gets tossed into the corner. Taker dumps Cena and tosses him into the table where the ring bell is situated. Cena grabs a waterbottle and takes a swig, then spits it into Taker's face. Taker tosses Cena into the guardrail, then back into the ring. Taker gets that apron legdrop, and a cover on the inside gets 1. Taker goes up for OLD SCHOOL, gets it, and a chokeslam, and Taker pulls Cena's head up at 2. Way to make the guy look like a jobber. Taker goes for the LAST RIDE, but Cena jumps over him and DDT's him. Cena goes to unwrap the turnbuckle, but he stops midway through doing so. He kicks Taker and chokes him, then after a Taker clothesline, Cena finishes taking off the turnbuckle pad. Taker misses a charge toward the exposed turnbuckle pad, and Cena knocks him out of the ring with a flying shoulderblock. Taker has some "internal bleeding" going on, but a Taker clothesline gets a 2 count after he misses a big boot. Taker with a dragon sleeper, but Cena gets a spinebuster for 2. Taker with a clothesline after both men trade right hands, and Taker goes for the TOMBSTONE. Cena counters and goes for the F-U, and that's also countered. Taker with a legdrop for two, but Cena hits Taker with his chain. Cena gets the F-U for a 2 count, and for the third straight match on this DVD, Cena goes into the corner to punch Taker, and Taker LAST RIDES him out of there, winning the match. Third straight time that spot has been used...
Match Analysis: I believe the word to use is overrated. I've seen in the past that this match drew pretty good star ratings, but it was a glorified Taker squash. He did nothing to make Cena look strong, Cena was only made to look weak. **1/2. I ain't feelin' it.
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Now, we have a BURIED ALIVE match, it's from Survivor Series 2003, and it's the Undertaker vs. Mr. McMahon.
Blow-by-blow: Vince prays to a "higher power" before the match, which I find incredibly funny for multiple reasons. Well, that didn't take long. Vince blades on Taker's first punch. Vince is GUSHING blood all over the place, and Taker rams Vince's grapefruits into the steel ring post. Heh. Then he does the same on the other side of the ring, and rams Vince into the announce table. Apparently, Vince threatened to have Taker's wife raped during the buildup for this match. Wow. Taker chokes Vince with a television cable and hits him with a TV monitor. Taker goes up to the stage where the grave is, and grabs a shovel. He hits Vince with it and I have to say, this might be the most blood I've ever seen in a match. It's all over the place. Taker grabs the steps and rams them into Vince's left leg, and we go TOWARD THE GRAVE. Vince gets his only offense of the match with a headbutt to the nuts of Taker and he then hits Taker with a shovel. Taker pulls Vince into the grave, and opens the forklift door in order to bury him. Taker, bury? harharhar. Kane comes out of the forklift and puts Taker into the grave, and Vince climbs into the forklift and dumps dirt into the grave for the win, at 11:58.
Match Analysis: Wow. Only thing keeping it from -*'s is the blood. DUD for the blood. Dumb.
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The last match on this DVD set is the return of the Deadman w/Paul Bearer in tow, at WM XX. He's facing Kane.
Blow-by-blow: Taker's entrance was awesome, what with Bearer coming out and the Druids. Kane keeps saying "you're not real" throughout the bout. OK. Kane bails early and Taker whips Kane into the apron of the ring. Taker does that legdrop on the apron, and back inside, avalanches Kane while Kane's in the turnbuckle. Bearer screams, "HOW DO YOU LIKE IT," and Taker goes for the LAST RIDE. Unfortunately, they blow a spot where Kane is supposed to counter and drop Taker along the top rope. As I was saying, Taker does not get dropped along the top rope, he just falls down in a heap. Kane with a big boot and right hands as the MSG crowd thankfully does not chant "you fucked up." Kane gets a sideslam and goes up for a flying clothesline that gets a 2 count. Kane misses a charge at Taker, and Taker gets a running big boot and legdrop. He goes up for OLD SCHOOL, but Kane catches him in a choke. Taker returns the favor, and Taker's the one to try the CHOKESLAM first. However, KANE gets the CHOKESLAM and taunts the crowd for a bit. Taker sits up, and no-sells a Kane big boot, then hits a flying clothesline on Kane. Taker gets the CHOKESLAM, and then the TOMBSTONE for the finish at 6:56.
Match Analysis: 1/2*. Not good, but I don't think it was supposed to be anything other than a quick vehicle to re-establish Taker. I don't think he needed it, though.
That's the end of the DVD!
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Now, ratings for the entire DVD.
Rating: Good. Unfortunately, a large majority of the matches are those that most people have probably seen. No hidden gems here, except for maybe the Bret v. Taker match from One Night Only. That match, and a match vs. Kurt Angle from Smackdown in 2003 were cut from the 24/7 airing of the DVD.
Best Match: Shawn vs. Taker from Badd Blood 1997.
Worst Match: Yokozuna vs. Undertaker from Royal Rumble 1994, and Taker v. Hogan from Survivor Series 1991 gets a dishonorable mention.
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The review of the show from the Spectrum in Philadelphia will be posted either tomorrow or Tuesday. I haven't made up my mind yet.
1 p.m.
• Week 8's pickkks.
(3.5) Cleveland @ St. Louis
Yeah the Rams are terrible, but they have to win SOMETIME, and playing Cleveland is usually one of "those times."
Detroit @ Chicago (5.5)
I think I picked the Lions to win earlier this year, and I was right. Now it's the Bears turn with their brand-spanking new QB.
(7.5) Indianapolis @ Carolina
I dunno. Indy is good. That's all.
(10.5) N.Y. Giants @ Miami
Here's is my reasoning. When I saw some ESPN report earlier this week, the Giants talked about practicing right away. Jason Taylor of the Dolphins talked about the blow-up doll the league was using to promote this game in England. Yeah, that's my scouting report.
Oakland @ Tennessee (7.5)
Tennessee beats bad teams. Oakland isn't a good team.
(1.5) Philadelphia @ Minnesota
I dunno. The Eagles seem to be struggling, but the Vikings QB looked dismal last week. Then again, that QB isn't playing this week. Shit.
(3.5) Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati
This is an odd one. The away team wins more than naught, but I have a feeling this could change in '08. Nevertheless, I'm going with the Steelers.
Buffalo @ N.Y. Jets (2.5)
The Jets? Favored? Nah.
Houston @ San Diego (3.5)
This game was off the books when I posted the spread, so I'll gladly take it.
Jacksonville @ Tampa Bay (4.5)
The AFC is a better conference. Great logic there.
(3.5) New Orleans @ San Francisco
The Saints upward march continues.
Washington @ New England (16.5)
I think the Redskins defense could keep this somewhat close, but you have to ride the Pats until they are unable to beat an opponent by 20 points. I learned my lesson earlier this season.
Green Bay @ Denver (3.5)
The AFC is a better conference. Great logic there.
6:30 p.m.
• So I get a call from the better half today.
“Someone hit the car.”
“You OK?”
“Yes.”
“Any damage?”
“There’s a dent by the front wheel side.”
“What happened.”
“Someone backed into me in this parking lot, etc. (Long story short: It was all his fault.)”
“Did you get his information?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. It didn’t look bad.”
Christ. So if there was some damage done, however unlikely it may be, we’re fucked. Yippie. Considering Mrs. kkk had this car near-totaled back in '03 due to some bitch gabbing on a cell phone ramming into her just months after she bought the vehicle new you'd think she'd be more vigilant about dealing with idiot drivers. Guess not.
10:15 p.m.
• Oh for fuck's sake. I hate these people.
OK, I'll side with them on this one issue. Having the "silence" at the start of third period is stupid. My school had it during homeroom before classes started right after the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ha. "Changed jsut a single word," that's a pretty big change.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the only thing I hate more than a Bible-thumper are these fags who get their panties in a knot over stupid shit like this. "Awkward position"? Here's how it was done at my school:
Homeroom bell rings.
Stand and do the Pledge. Something I once created a stink about. Yeah, I'm a terrorist.
The announcer guy says "Please remain standing for a short moment of silence."
*several seconds pass*
"Please be seated."
OMG THE RELIGIOUS REICH IS TAKING OVER~!
N*gga plz. During this brief moment of silence I was either nodding off because it was too early in the morning to think or I was looking at some nearby chick’s rack or backside. I’m sure there were other students that actually used this time to pray or say “what up” to their Deity of choice. Big fucking deal. Get over yourselves.
8:45 p.m.
• So today was the better half big “pizza open house” or whatever brown-nosing stunt her boss was trying to accomplish at work today. Now Mrs. kkk told me that a whole bunch of academic assholes showed up and began talking about how the U.S. tortures innocent people, starves children and all that other left-wing shit those with no experience in the real world chat about. On a side note, the better half’s co-worker asked her why I wasn’t at this event on my day off from work. Mrs. kkk’s response: If he was here he wouldn’t be asked back. Awesome. Oddly enough, if I’m at an event that’s not an informal get-together between people I know, I generally keep my mouth shut because I don’t want to ruin a host’s brouhaha. However, there are times when I will open my mouth, and this might have been one of those times. Actually, I want to meet the wife’s boss and hope she spews some of this commie shit with me because I’ll throw right back at her. What I love about pissing someone off regarding this sort of thing is that I really don’t care what their opinion is. Seriously. So what if someone you’re talking to doesn’t like the person you voted for in the last election. If you get legitimately mad over a person’s thoughts it that means you on some level take to heart what they think. That’s pathetic.
One pseudo-example of this experiences over the years has been when the topic of abortion is brought up. I mean, just because you say “murder the unborn” people get all bent out of shape. Uh, am I advocating the halting of sucking potential Social Security contributors from wombs and dumping them in the trash? No. I am simply calling a spade a spade. But yet I’ve had people go WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS GWARRRR~! Yay. Here’s the point: I don’t CARE what you think. You want to advocate the killing of innocent babies – knock yourself out. What you think doesn’t matter to me. I’m more concerned about effectively wiping my browneye after taking a shit than your opinion on abortion or any other subject.
Where was I going with this? Oh, that mixer. So Mrs. kkk then made my week by telling my that her Ph.D. boss fucked up making a SALAD for this “open house.” She asked me to guess how she was able to achieve this remarkable feat. My first guess was not getting enough salad. Wrong. Mrs. kkk then said that she made it last night, and that’s when I responded “Good God she didn’t put the salad dressing on then, did she?” Yep.
How the fuck does this person make six figures? I think a great reality show would be to get a bunch of academics and for them to survive in the real world. “I’ve worked for the private sector – they expect results.”
Oh, I forgot to mention some other topics that were discussed at this workplace gathering by these Ph.D.’s was how religion was the cause of addiction and that we should live in a society where there’s no mores or rules. This was around the time Mrs. kkk left the room and went back into her office. This also would have been the time I probably would have opened my mouth, which would have resulted in mass exodus 5-10 minutes later.
ABC
-Pushing Daisies-Best new show of the season. It's funny, has likeable characters (and hot chicks), great visuals, an intersting plot, and more. Great stuff. A
-Dirty Sexy Money-Not too wild about what I saw. Not even Donald Sutherland can save it. D
-Cavemen-No. F
-Carpoolers-Not even the presence of Kids in the Hall member Bruce McCulloch as a writer can make this good. Cliched and disappointing, as it could have been great. C-
-Big Shots-Sucks. I miss the shoe "Titus." F
NBC
-Chuck-The geek gimmick can occasionally get annoying, but it's still good stuff. B
-Journeyman-I really have wanted to like the show, and while Kevin McKidd is great, I have yet to be really involved. C+
-Bionic Woman-I really wanted to like this one also, but so far, it's just so-so. C
-Life-Good, but not great. It's fun, but formulaic. B-
Fox
-K-Ville-Also fun but formulaic. The thing that makes it is the cast, particularly Anthony Anderson. B-
-Back To You-Boring, with the exception of Fred Willard. D+
CBS
-The Big Bang Theory-From the producers of "2 1/2 Men." So yeah, it's not good. D-
-Cane-Interesting, and well acted, but a bit of a let down. C+
-Moonlight-Vampires as PI's? No thanks. F
-Viva Laughlin!-This is...well, it's something. It's a horrible show, but it's like a bad acid trip kind of horrible, as it's something you saw, hallucinated (well, it feels like it) and wish you never did see. F
The CW
-Aliens in America-Not too bad. The leads have great chemistry, and Adhir Kalayan could be the season's breakout star. Plus, it's got the kid from "The Hills Have Eyes" remake. B
-Reaper-The second best show of the season. Ray Wise gives the season's best performance as Satan. A
-Gossip Girl-Haven't seen it.
-Life is Wild-Ditto.
I really sick of major sporting events starting at 8pm or later on a weeknight or even on a weekend. Hey, I may sound like a grumpy old SOB because I go to bed early because of work, but I'm thinking of future generations here. There are so many kids who are missing the majority of, for example, the World Series because the damn games don't begin until 8:30pm. 11pm rolls around and they're still in the 6th inning. A great college football game took place last night (well, the first 3 and a half quarters were apparently pretty boring) and very few young football fans got the chance to see it. Nor did they see anything beyond the first couple innings of the World Series game (providing they have responsible parents who get their ass in bed on a school night). There's a game on Saturday night, and it could well be the only game played on a non-school day.
I dare anyone to name the last World Series day game for crissakes.
Alright enough bitching. I think Fox's coverage is terrific. Well, besides the awful, tired, so 20-years-ago James Taylor singing the National Anthem, which Fox may not have had a hand in anyway. I guess I'm old when I consider Jeannie Zalasko to be pretty hot.
It's now Sunday, and I've overslept. I was asked to be at the Cow Palace at 9 in the morning and I might be booked on the AWA show that is happening at 11..or noon. There was a AWA show happening, around that timeframe and that's all I knew, but I overslept and woke up at 11:00 or 11:30. I didn't get home till about 4 in the morning Saturday due to be at Rocky Horror, and when I got home, I just crashed out. I was so dead tired.
I actually did wake up at 10:00, but that's because I was in a lot of pain. My leg muscles were having very sharp pains. They felt like cramps but both legs were hurting. I finally was able to fall back asleep after a few minutes of sharp only to get a phone call from Rik Luxury asking me how he could get in. I told him I think he has to buy a day pass for 25 bucks, because I don't think they have anymore passes. He said he was going to try and make it out and he hung up. I got up and got ready to go back to the Cow Palace, praying that the whole event wasn't burned down by now. Rumors were still running even higher that the guy putting the event still wasn't paying talent, so I had a feeling things were going to be quite intresting.
I got back to the Cow Palace a little after 1, and instead of deciding of arguing with the parking people about paying for parking, I decided to park on the street and walk a little ways to the palace. I had one of those staff passes, but decided fuck it anyways, I'll walk a block. When I got inside, the first person I found was of course Sir Samurai. He explained to me that the AWA show was basically taken over by APW and his, Helfyre's, Jason Vega's, Alexis Darevko's match was made into a tag match, and right before they went out...two more guys got added, and then those two guys never got tagged in, and there's a reason. One guy (who'll remain nameless because he doesn't deserve to be known by name) has worked in years and all of a sudden just showed up at the Cow Palace and said "oh hi, I'm a indy wrestler.", the other guy likes to believe he's a wrestler, he'll rename nameless as well, but he's nothing more than a mark who carries bags for a wrestler. So they didn't get tagged in for a reason.
I also found out that none of them got any music or introductions, because apprently they couldn't figure out the sound stuff, but after the tag match was over and by the next match, it was all of a sudden working. Funny on how that works. Sorry, I don't have much tolerance when it comes to APW. They bash the hell out of every other promotion out here in Nor-cal and will happily try to fuck another promotion over when it comes to certain talent. Though I did meet their ring annoucer as he annouced on Friday. He seemed like a nice guy and did a good job on Friday, so I'll give him props.
After I talked to Samurai about the AP..I mean AWA show, I went off to find Darevko and Helfyre. I found them after a few minutes and saw that Helfyre was limping...badly. I asked him what happen and he told me how he kinda landed arkwardly while performing a move in the ring (think HHH spinebuster on Orton cause of said injury.), Helfyre ended up limping for the rest of the day.
Sunday seemed a lot better fan/booth wise. Steve Austin did indeed show up, so there was a lot of people in that area, which was great because that ment the SPW/DMW booth might get a lot of foot traffic. The Territory had also showed up and merged with us as well. The Territory are two guys who films pretty much all of the wrestling shows here in Nor-cal. They do annoucing, filming, and editing. The Territory guys set up a few tv's and put up a SPW and a BRAWL show....they just happen to forget the DMW show, but they had BRAWL instead...bastards, I'm only kidding.
Because the tvs got hooked up and were playing the SPW/BRAWL shows, we had a lot of people stop for a few minutes and watch the footage, which allowed me to hand out flyers for DMW and SPW to these people. Two funny stories for you people.
Funny Story 1: So this woman with her two kids stop at the TVs and is watching some of the footage of the shows, I stop to talk to her and hand her flyers for SPW and DMW, well Rik Luxury had made it in as well and was hanging out with us so I introduced him to her as well. Rik is the current Devil Mountain Wrestling champion and has a 60 minute hardcore ironman match for the SPW title this Sunday. We talked to her for a few more minutes and she asked how was the parking and we said, oh there's plently and said she could see what she could do to come out. After she left, Mr. Frost walked up to me and Rik and asked "Do you know who that is?". Rik and I said no, who? "That's Rey Mysterio Jr.'s wife and kids!" Frost said. I had just promoted the SPW/DMW shows and Rik Luxury to Rey Mysterio's Wife and his kids!
Funny Story 2: So people are starting to gear up for the ROH show that's taking place at 4 o'clock. Well someone in a football jersey walks up to the tv's and starts watching the footage of the SPW/BRAWL shows. I walk up to him and hand him a flyer for the SPW and DMW show and start talking to him, after a few minutes I find out he's from Delaware and tell him he could follow us over online at www.devilmountainwrestling.com if he would like, then I told him thank you and walked away. Well later at the ROH show, it's main event time and Jay Briscoe comes out and who do I see right behind him, holding the ROH tag titles? The same guy in the football jersey, Mark Briscoe. I had promoted the shows to Mark Briscoe.
So both SPW/DMW boothes got a lot of foot traffic and I handed out a lot of flyers and promoted the shows to a lot of people, so I was very happy about that. Around 3 o'clock the boothes started shutting down and people started packing it up, the ROH show was the last part of WrestleFanFest and the area where the vendors/boothes were, was going to be closed during the show. So we wrapped everything up, and myself, the guys from SPW, the guys from DMW, and Rik Luxury all headed over to the ROH show.
I felt the ROH show was alright, I only really enjoyed 3 matches out of the card and the fans were annoying as all hell. I did like the fact they were loud and hot, but all the chants over and over got really annoying. After the ROH show, we all said our good byes and I found Blue Meanie again and said good bye and thanked him again for Friday. After that I went home and relaxed. It was a busy/tireing weekend, that had a up and lows...well lows for other people.
For me, I really enjoyed the convention, as a fan, I got to meet a lot of the guys who I looked up to while growing up, as a Indy Referee, I was given the biggest opportunity of my life by being able to Ref the Sandman vs Steve Corino vs The Great Muta match. By the way, I found out who that woman was who came out with The Great Muta, the woman was Bobcat. I also had a LOT of fun working with Al Snow & The Blue Meanie in their match against Alkatrazz and Luke Hawk. I honestly couldn't have asked for anything more that weekend...ok maybe a pay out, but I'm ok that I didn't get one.
Well that's it for my series of blogs. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed writing for them for you guys. Thank you for reading and I'll try to post more often.
For closers the list includes the top 30 in Saves. Only difference from middle relievers is I do take into account Win Shares.
2004
1. Brad Lidge
15. Octavio Dotel
30. Shawn Chacon
2005
1. Mariano Rivera
15. Jason Isringhausen
30. Keith Foulke
2006
1. Jonathan Papelbon
15. Francisco Cordero
30. Derrick Turnbow
2007
1. J.J. Putz, Mariners
2. Takashi Saito, Dodgers
3. Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox
4. Joe Nathan, Twins
5. Bobby Jenks, White Sox
6. Joakim Soria, Royals
7. Matt Capps, Pirates
8. Manny Corpas, Rockies
9. Francisco Cordero, Brewers
10. Mariano Rivera, Yankees
11. Jeremy Accardo, Blue Jays
12. Huston Street, A's
13. Billy Wagner, Mets
14. Jason Isringhausen, Cardinals
15. Francisco Rodriguez, Angels
16. Jose Valverde, Diamondbacks
17. Trevor Hoffman, Padres
18. Kevin Gregg, Marlins
19. David Weathers, Reds
20. Brad Lidge, Astros
21. Alan Embree, A's
22. Brian Fuentes, Rockies
23. Brett Myers, Phillies
24. Chad Cordero, Nationals
25. Al Reyes, Devil Rays
26. Brad Hennessey, Giants
27. Todd Jones, Tigers
28. Joe Borowski, Indians
29. Ryan Dempster, Cubs
30. Bob Wickman, Braves/Diamondbacks
kkk's Top 103 Posters
Number 6: Black Lushus
He’s black and he’s got mad hoes. Or at least that’s what his member title once said. Actually, Mr. Lushus is from Nebraska, has legitimate children and works a full-time job, so what little street cred he had is long gone. Hell, he’s completely sold out by becoming a message board administrator over at the other place; instead of being oppressed, he’s become The Man holding others down. Then again, I guess you could claim pimpage or something if you really wanted. With all that said, there are two things that would (and should) put Black in anyone’s Top XX list. 1) Three certain words. 2) He befriended a fellow poster in real life and has allowed his young daughter around said poster. Who is this person -- someone in his 30s with a steady job and family of his own?
Not quite.
9 p.m.
• I was Googling, came across this and laughed.
8 p.m.
• So I heard this morning that the Steelers busted out their ALL-TIME TEAM or whatever it’s being called. It’s the franchise’s 75th anniversary, so naturally they’re doing gay stuff like this all season long. Time to guess who made it to this squad.
Quarterback: Terry Bradshaw.
Running Back: Jerome Bettis.
Fullback: Franco Harris.
Tight End: Trick question – the Steelers, until recently, never used them. I guess Bennie Cunningham since he never got to do anything but block while he played.
Wide Receivers: Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Hines Ward.
Tackles: No clue.
Guards: Alan Faneca. That’s all I got.
Center: Mike Webster.
Defensive Ends: No clue. Was L.C. Greenwood a tackle or end?
Defensive Tackles: Joe Greene, Casey Hampton.
Outside Linebackers: Jack Ham, Greg Lloyd.
Middle Linebacker: Jack Lambert.
Cornerbacks: Mel Blount, Rod Woodson.
Free Safety: No clue.
Strong Safety: No clue. My guess is Donnie Shell, although I have a feeling Troy Pala-whatever will be named.
Kicker: Gary Anderson.
Punter: No clue. I’ll say Josh Miller.
Yeah, I know I named people from the 1970s, 90s and 00s – sue me. The Steelers were terrible until the ‘70s. Time to see the actual squad.
OFFENSE
Terry Bradshaw - Quarterback (1970-83).
I still find it funny that even after winning two Super Bowls, he was benched in favor of a crackhead.
Jerome Bettis - Running Back (1996-05).
Rocky Bleier - Running Back (1968, 1970-80).
OK, so they went with three “running backs.” They have to give Rocky a break since his ex-wife beat him down in the court hearings.
Franco Harris - Running Back (1972-83).
If memory serves, I thought Franco played in the fullback position. Eh, whatever.
Bennie Cunningham - Tight End (1976-85).
Elbie Nickel - Tight End (1947-57).
No clue.
John Stallworth - Wide Receiver (1974-87).
Lynn Swann - Wide Receiver (1974-82).
Hines Ward - Wide Receiver (1998-Present).
Larry Brown – Offensive Tackle (1971-84).
I forgot about this guy. Shit.
Dermontti Dawson – Center (1988-00).
I love Dawson, but I only did one player per position. The least the Steelers can do is put Mike Webster on the list since he took roids and shortened his life so black and gold fans could feel good and stuff. Wait, he took drugs as a choice. Oh well.
Alan Faneca – Guard (1998-Present).
Tunch Ilkin – Offensive Tackle (1980-92).
Interesting. I liked Tunch’s local radio show when it was on. Didn’t realize he was that good.
Jon Kolb – Offensive Tackle (1969-81).
Heard the name. That’s all I got.
Mike Webster – Center (1974-88).
DEFENSE
Joe Greene – Defensive Tackle (1969-81)
L.C. Greenwood – Defensive End (1969-81)
Ha. He was an end.
Casey Hampton – Nose Tackle (2001-Present)
Ernie Stautner – Defensive Tackle (1950-63)
Dunno.
Dwight White – Defensive End (1971-80)
OK. If they say so.
Jack Ham – Outside Linebacker (1971-82)
Jack Lambert – Middle Linebacker (1974-84)
Greg Lloyd – Outside Linebacker (1988-97)
Joey Porter – Outside Linebacker (1999-2006)
Cool. Joey got on the list.
Andy Russell – Outside Linebacker (1963, 1966-76)
I’d have him on the list if I was going with multiple players at a single position.
Mel Blount – Cornerback (1970-83)
Jack Butler – Defensive Back (1951-59)
Que?
Carnell Lake – Safety (1989-98)
Didn’t realize he was an “all-timer.”
Troy Polamalu – Safety (2003-Present)
Come on, guys. He’s only played a few seasons.
Donnie Shell – Safety (1974-87)
Rod Woodson – Cornerback (1987-96)
SPECIALISTS
Gary Anderson – Kicker (1982-94)
Bobby Walden – Punter (1968-77)
Derp.
Boo. The Steelers took the Jew route and put multiple people in certain positions.
4 p.m.
• So yesterday I talked about Mrs. kkk’s workplace a bit. Basically, she works in a study about crazy people, and the topic is stupid as hell. It’s something like trying to see if women drug addicts have more risky sex than those that don’t. Whatever. The pay is hella good, and the study will last several more years. After that, the better half can ride her boss’s teet for the next study she starts up, then the study after that. Now her boss has a Ph.D. and is still on the young side of things (40s, I think), so this will be a nice gravy train for years to come. Then again, being a Ph.D. and employed through a university, this doesn’t mean Mrs. kkk’s boss is well adjusted. For instance, she’s arranging an open house in the near future that is nothing more than a suck-up-fest for her boss and other people making more than her six-figure salary. So what did Mrs. kkk and her fellow co-worker on this study have to do today? Have a pre-planning pizza party meeting. Jesus Christ.
Oh, and on my side of things, my work monitor that’s more than 10 years old finally died. Time to go to the hippie Mac store and get a new one. Of course, the last time I was at this place I first had to get a price quote for all the shit I was to get (a new work computer and updated software), have someone from work write out a check and then go to the store and purchase the shit. Of course, the problem with this was that the dollar amount was too high and the check wasn’t accepted. I then just put everything on my credit card and got reimbursed for it, which is what I wanted to do all along because that would make the process easier. Thank God I was able to do that again this year. And thank God I was able to find a somewhat decent parking space. Christ is this part of Shittsburgh a left-wing hell hole; talk about being a pilgrim in an unholy land. Oh, yeah. I also suck at parallel parking. I think that’s a big reason many people live in the suburbs – to simply pull into a driveway/garage.
Time for something easy to review....
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The first match in this part of the DVD is from Fully Loaded 1999. It's for the World Wrestling Federation Championship, and the challenger is, of course, the Undertaker. The Champion is Stone Cold Steve Austin, and the match is a First Blood, End of an Era match. If Austin loses, he can't challenge for the WWF Title again. If the Undertaker loses, Vince McMahon will have to leave the WWF "forever."
Blow-by-blow: First, this mix of the Undertaker's music kicks ass. Austin made Taker bleed earlier in the night, and Taker tells the referee not to worry about that cut. Second, Vince McMahon is a guest commentator for the bout. Austin comes out and Taker meets him in the aisle. They brawl, and Austin swings the Smokin' Skull belt at Taker, but misses. They're by the guardrails in the aisle, and Austin is covering up to protect himself from the rights and lefts that Taker is throwing. Taker knocks Austin into the crowd after a right hand, and throws the steel stairs at him. But they miss, and Austin tries to hit Taker with the steps. Taker kicks him in the gut, throws him over the rail, and rams him into the announce table. Finally they get in the ring, and Taker chokes Austin with his boot. Taker tries to rip the stitches out of Austin's head from attacks on RAW in the previous weeks, then chokes Austin, but Austin chopblocks him after a missed big boot. Austin goes for the left leg, and tells someone out there, "you got this shit." Austin kicks him in the nuts, and for some reason, the crowd's kinda dead. I've never seen this show, so I don't know why. Austin rams the left leg of Taker into the post, and on the outside afterwards, Taker knocks Austin into the crowd. They trade rights, and Taker knocks Austin back to ringside. For some reason I like this match, even though the crowd may not. Taker grabs a chair, and swings it twice, both times missing. He attempts to swing it a third time, and Austin drop-toeholds him into what's left of the steel steps. Austin chokes Taker with a television cable, during the process, he takes a mini-electrical fan and rams it into Taker's face. Taker pushes the ref back in the ring, then trips over the ref and winds up tied in the ropes. Shane McMahon runs in with a chair, and he takes a hard chairshot from Austin to put him on the outside. Austin is gonna hit Taker with the chair, but Taker gives him a big boot. Taker kicks Austin in the groin, and takes off the turnbuckle pad. Steve with a low blow, and a STONE COLD STUNNER. Vince McMahon hobbles to the ring and tries to hit Austin with a crutch because he's hurt, so he can't walk, see. Austin has a chair after he hits Vince, but Taker hits Austin in the back with it. X-PAC (WTF?) comes down to the ring and spinning heelkicks the chair into the face of Taker, and Austin grabs a television camera. Oh yeah, now I remember why X-Pac came down to the ring. He was partners with Kane, and Kane had a match with the Big Show. Who was the Undertakers partner. Anyhow, Austin hits Taker with the camera, and WE HAVE BLOOD. BAH GAWD, BAH GAWD. The ref's down, so the match isn't stopped immediately. Taker goes for the TOMBSTONE, and Earl Hebner sees that Taker's bleeding. We all go "RING THE FUCKING BELL," and the match is over at 15:38. Austin gives Vince a STUNNER, and Triple H comes out. THE ROCK comes out to attack HHH, and we brawl. Taker hits Austin with the chair, and Austin's bloody. Austin hits Taker with the crutch of McMahon's, and Shane gets punched by Taker. Finally, the brawl breaks up. Austin offers to give Vince a goodbye handshake, well, he does that, then gives him a Stunner.
Match Analysis: Wow. People complain about Russo's use of run-ins in TNA, but what I saw there, now THAT was overbooking. It was fun though, and well within the context of the match and other angles that were going on at the time. **1/4, although that may be overrating the match, I liked it.
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This match is from Wrestlemania 17, and it's The Undertaker vs. Triple H. Remember, this all started because HHH said he's beaten everyone, Taker came out and said no, then HHH destroyed his bike. Yada, yada, yada.
Blow-by-blow: The dubbed music of the Undertaker actually sounds pretty good. Like that could be his real music, or something. Unusual to find good dubbed music on this channel... They brawl on the outside, which is when I start the timer, when the action starts. Taker gets the best of it, and punches HHH who flies through the makeshift Spanish Announce Table. Just a regular table, in Dudley Boyz fashion. HHH with a high knee in the ring, and Taker no-sells it. He backdrops HHH, and clotheslines him. An Undertaker powerslam gets two, but he misses his elbow drop. Taker does a flying clothesline and goes up for OLD SCHOOL, but HHH armdrags him off the top. HHH with a neckbreaker that gets two, and two elbows to the head of Taker. HHH gets another neckbreaker, this time of the swinging variety, for a 2 count. HHH goes outside and grabs the SLEDGEHAMMER, as he gets this sick and twisted look on his face. That's good acting. The referee steals the SLEDGEHAMMER, and Taker slingshots HHH into the referee after a Pedigree attempt is reversed. Taker chokeslams HHH for a 2 count, and because it was ONLY a two count, Taker stomps on the ref and gives him an elbowdrop. He tosses HHH over the top rope and over to the floor, and HHH rams Taker's head into the steps. Taker backdrops HHH into the crowd, and they brawl up to the technical, usually off camera area. HHH hits Taker in the back and the head with a chair, and then wallops him all over the body with it. Taker chokeslams HHH "down to the floor," and I'll be honest, when I saw WM 17 on PPV, I thought HHH was dead. But, as we see on the replay, it was a well-cushioned fall. Taker jumps off the stage thing and elbowdrops HHH, and EMT's have brought out a stretcher to wheel HHH back with. Taker shoves them sumbitches out of the way, and the two men make their way back to the ring. Taker has the SLEDGEHAMMER now, and HHH gives him a nut-shot. HHH has the SLEDGEHAMMER, but Taker with a big boot. HHH goes for the TOMBSTONE but Taker reverses, and there's no referee to make the count. Taker "revives" the official, and picks HHH up for the LAST RIDE. HHH hits him with the SLEDGEHAMMER in mid-flight, and the cover gets 2. Taker's busted wide open, and HHH goes up for the 10 punch in the corner. Unfortunately for him, Taker gets the LAST RIDE (which I think looks visually better than almost all other powerbomb variations) for the 3 count at 18:58.
Match Analysis: Fun, and the overly gimmicked chokeslam at the technical area really didn't bother me. A good, dramatic match which made me think HHH would be the one to beat Taker at Mania the first time I watched it. Cool finish too. ***1/4.
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From Judgment Day 2002, this match is for the Undisputed Championship, and it's the challenger, The Undertaker vs. the Champion, Hulk Hogan.
Blow-by-blow: Hogan's ring entrance took a while, and it could give someone a seizure. The lights in front of the stage setup hurt my eyes. Taker's wearing Hogan's weightlifting belt to the ring, and once Hogan gets in, Taker smacks him with it a few times. Hogan finds a way to get the belt away, then hits Taker with it three times. Hogan clotheslines Taker as JR says, "this won't be a classic." No shit, huh. Hogan backdrops Taker and dumps him, and then he goes into HULKAMANIA BROTHER and tears his shirt off. Hogan with an eye rake, but Taker gives him a headbutt on the outside. Still on the outside, Hogan whips Taker into the steps. Hogan with some chops, but Taker gets an armbar and goes up for OLD SCHOOL. Hogan crotches him and gets a superplex (WTF?) for 2. It looked kinda funny. Taker with a chopblock, and he rams Hogan's knee into the ringpost. He wrenches the leg, but Hogan continually kicks Taker in the head to get out of it. They trade right hands, then Hogan misses the BIG BOOT AND LEGDROP, and Taker grabs Hogan's leg in a half crab. Hogan gets to the ropes and both men trade right hands. Hogan misses a clothesline, and Taker gives him the ugliest chokeslam I've ever seen. Hogan kicks out at two, and Hulks up. We all know the routine, 3 right hands, a big boot, and HE DROPS THE FUCKIN' LEG, but only gets two. A Taker running DDT gets a 2 count and Vince McMahon makes his way to the ring. Taker goes and grabs a chair, but Hogan kicks it into his face. He gives Taker the LEGDROP, but the ref isn't counting thanks to Vince. Hogan punches Vince and legdrops him, but Taker hits him with the chair and chokeslams him at 12:23 to become the new Undisputed Champion. Undertaker tells Hebner to put the belt around his waist, and he goes and grabs the chair "for his motorcycle." He "Team 3D's" him, you know, cause of what they did to Shark Boy, and that's it.
Match Analysis: Not a DUD, cause I was entertained. And I thought it was better than their match at Survivor Series 1991 so...I have to give it 3/4*. It was kept short, and to the point. That was for the better. If both men had more time for this match, it would have been terrible. With a capital T.
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An overall rating of the DVD will be coming soon, when I post Part 6. Since there's not much content that I haven't reviewed on 24/7 right now, I'll take my time.
Now it's Saturday, and everything still feels surreal. I still can't believe I got to Ref the matches that I Ref'ed and I still can't believe I shared a locker room with guys who I grew up watching and being in awe of. Myself and the Ultimo Dragon got dressed in the same locker room and for those who don't know, Ultimo is one of my heroes. I honestly feel that if I quit today and never looked back, I'd be happy with what I've done, but I still had a weekend to finish.
So now it's Saturday and I woke up around noon and got to the Cow Palace a little bit after two o'clock. I had to pay for parking as I still didn't have my pass for the convention. After I parked, I saw Mr. Frost and Sir Samurai and said my hellos. They told me that the SPW and DMW booth had been combined and we were right next to Molly Holly and The Blue Meanie. Which was great! I hadn't seen or talked to Molly since December when we were both in Oregon and I wanted to try and get to know Blue Meanie a bit better, but I had a problem, because I didn't have my pass yet, I got stopped at the door.
I told security who I was, what I did the previous night, and how I had a booth in the convention but that didn't really work. They told me to call someone and so I did. I called Darevko and he came over and confirmed who I was and they let me in so I could go and get my pass. I ended up getting a staff pass instead of a vendor pass, which was better because it allowed me to go anywhere I wanted to. After getting my pass, I returned to my booth and there was Meanie and Molly Holly.
I was a bit nervous saying hello to Molly as it's Molly Holly and I was pretty sure she didn't remember who I was. After a little bit of being arkward, I re-introduced myself and we got to talking about things. She did remember that we met in Oregon at BAW and we talked for a few minutes. She's still doing really well and she's really loving her current job now and doesn't seem she wants to come back to wrestling. We ended up talking to one another on and off until she left. I also re-introduced myeslf to Meanie and ended up talking to him for a bit as well...he really likes the Devil Mountain Wrestling shirt, I should try to get him one.
Overall I was pretty dissapointed with Saturday. Not a lot got done, the MMA show got cancelled, and a lot of people were drunk, and rumors were running that the promoter was stiffing the workers. Hell, when I was heading over to get my pass, someone, who thinks he's a worker but he's really not AT ALL!, tried to stop me and tell me how so and so didn't get paid and asked me if I got paid. I told him no, and so and so not getting paid isn't my problem.
I was a bit dissapointed that the MMA show got cancelled, only because I was going to use it as a time killer. I honestly don't care for cage fighting as to me it seems, one fighter just puts the other fighter near the cage and pin him against it and that bores me. I actually prefer to watch Pride over all. The plan was to go to the MMA show, leave around 10 or 9:30 and head over to Oakland to get ready for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but since the MMA show got cancelled, the convention shut down at 6:30 and had to head to Oakland because I didn't want to waste the gas. So I sat in Oakland, at the bar from 7:30 to 11:00. I was really fucking bored.
The best part of Saturday was getting to talk to Molly Holly and the blue meanie. Oh and also finding out Francine was ok...I kinda kicked Francine hard in the wrist on Friday night. I was checking on Steve Corino in the ring and she slid in behind me and I didn't see her. I shot my right leg straight out so I could be more comfortable and when I shot my leg out, I kicked her hard in the wrist. I couldn't fucking believe it, my awesome night almost went to complete and utter shit but luckily she was alright and told me not to worry about it as she's had worse happen to her. So that was one of the good parts of Saturday.
Sunday, was a lot better but that's going to be for another blog.
8 p.m.
• For those that don’t know, I’m taking part in Bored’s college football contest over in the sports thread. Seeing how I know jack shit about college football, I just read over his weekly list of games to pick from and just shoot off the first school that comes to my head from each match-up. This week in my batch of PM’d picks, I had the following:
Commissioning an Internet pick ‘em contest ain’t easy, folks.
• Gee, and here I thought that’s what sick days are for.
Actually, the EAN spokesperson has a point. It’s funny how white-collar jobs oftentimes have sick days, vacation days and holidays-with-pay, but some poor big-box retail clerk or fast-food worker will get shit on for calling off sick. I remember during my Burger King days I was getting ready to relax and watch an afternoon of NBA games when my one manager called and asked me to come into work. Now seeing how I closed Friday and Saturday nights, leaving at around 2 a.m. each time, I didn’t feel like coming in. Besides, that’s what happens when you people hire undependable people and they (gasp!) don’t bother to show up. Well, after I said “no thank you” I heard through the grapevine that the manager bitched about my refusal to come in afterward. Fun times.
While I’m sorta on this subject, the better half’s ex-boss bitched at her for calling off work the day after the Steelers won Super Bowl XL. She stayed up to watch the game with me and decided to use one of her numerous sick/vacation days, especially since there was no work for her planned that particular Monday anyway. Of course, this is the same boss who only worked an hour or two the day of the Steelers victory parade and left to attend that event. Then again, this bitch made Mrs. kkk’s life a living hell, but I guess in the end it all worked out because although the better half now has another crazy boss her situation is not nearly as bad as the previous workplace. (Oh but there are stories.)
Most radio side kicks don't bother me at all. But I listen to the Dennis Miller show and I have to say that his side kick "Sal" is the worst presence on radio that I've ever heard. This guy is HORRIBLE. Dennis seems to have a blind spot concerning this guy. He actually thinks Sal is hilarious. Sal will say the dumbest, most vapid, boring comment you've ever heard and Dennis will laugh like crazy.
Here's an example of Sal's brilliant comedy: Dennis was making a reference to Mr. Miagi from "Karate Kid", talking about how Southern California needs to prune back some of the foilage to prevent fires, like Mr. Miagi pruning the Bonsai to let it breathe. As they go into commercial break Sal chimes in with "Wax on Wax Off!". Oh God.
California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi took the opportunity to trash Bush while being interviewed by Chris Matthews about the fires.
Graham Nash and Bonnie Raitt are on Capitol Hill fighting AGAINST the building of nuclear power plants. Nash called such plants "monsters". Huh? Good God, get over it people. Why don't you read up on France. They seem to be doing well with it.
For middle relievers, the first two years I took the top 60 in games pitched and then last year I did the top 60 in Holds. This time around I tried to get a combination of both and put an arbitrary number of at least 70 games pitched or at least 15 Holds to work with at first and purely by accident I ended up with exactly 60 relievers. This of course excludes those who will appear on the Closers list.
I take into account six statistical categories: Component ERA, K/BB Ratio, WHIP, VORP, Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), and Pitching Runs Created.
2004
1. Tom Gordon
30. Jim Mecir
60. John Rielding
2005
1. Justin Duchscherer
30. Duaner Sanchez
60. Dan Kolb
2006
1. Cla Meredith
30. Francisco Rodney
60. Ray King
2007
1. Rafael Betancourt, Indians
2. Heath Bell, Padres
3. Hideki Okajima, Red Sox
4. Russ Springer, Cardinals
5. Carlos Marmol, Cubs
6. Jonathan Broxton, Dodgers
7. Joaquin Benoit, Rangers
8. Matt Guerrier, Twins
9. George Sherrill, Mariners
10. Peter Moylan, Braves
11. Ryan Franklin, Cardinals
12. Rafael Soriano, Braves
13. Bob Howry, Cubs
14. Pat Neshek, Twins
15. Jon Rauch, Nationals
16. Scott Downs, Blue Jays
17. Justin Speier, Angels
18. Damaso Marte, Pirates
19. Aaron Heilman, Mets
20. Casey Janssen, Blue Jays
21. Chad Qualls, Astros
22. Brandon Lyon, Diamondbacks
23. Tony Pena, Diamondbacks
24. Matt Lindstrom, Marlins
25. Justin Miller, Marlins
26. C.J. Wilson, Rangers
27. Pedro Feliciano, Mets
28. David Riske, Royals
29. Brian Shouse, Brewers
30. Saul Rivera, Nationals
31. Scot Shields, Angels
32. Michael Wuertz, Cubs
33. Cla Meredith, Padres
34. Jamie Walker, Orioles
35. Joe Beimel, Dodgers
36. Carlos Villanueva, Brewers
37. J.C. Romero, Red Sox/Phillies
38. Rudy Seanez, Dodgers
39. Derrick Turnbow, Brewers
40. Dan Wheeler, Astros/Devil Rays
41. Jeremy Affeldt, Rockies
42. Chad Bradford, Orioles
43. Randy Flores, Cardinals
44. Matt Thornton, White Sox
45. Tyler Yates, Braves
46. Scott Linebrink, Padres/Brewers
47. Scott Proctor, Yankees/Dodgers
48. Jimmy Gobble, Royals
49. Renyel Pinto, Marlins
50. Luis Vizcaino, Yankees
51. Brandon Morrow, Mariners
52. Taylor Tankersley, Marlins
53. Trever Miller, Astros
54. Frank Francisco, Rangers
55. Kyle Farnsworth, Yankees
56. Jorge Julio, Marlins/Rockies
57. Scott Schoenweis, Mets
58. Mike Myers, Yankees/White Sox
59. Antonio Alfonseco, Phillies
60. Mike MacDougal, White Sox
kkk's Top 103 Posters
Number 7: Vern Gagne
When trying to think of a significant moment or two from Mr. Gagne, I can’t come up with anything. Much like sfaJack, Vern has always been one of those posters who have been just “there.” That’s not a bad thing mind you. He hates his commie state. Man, he started that thread when I was in Ohio.
Jesus Christ, was this a long time ago. Duh-Whine? Voinobitch? Ha, he said “Paul Welfare.” Those were the days. Speaking of “the days,” I take back what I said about Vern with my first sentence. How the hell did I forget this blast from the past. But why is Vern ranked so high up? Because he's the Conservative Brigade member who loads the ammo inside the tank.
8:15 p.m.
• I forgot that Foxy Brown was in jail. Wow, she's hardcore.
She's on a few songs as a guest vocalist for some of the albums in my collection, but I never cared for her. How did she get into jail again?
Going to Rikers for that? Oh well, don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
6:15 p.m.
• Got this from the other place. Don't you know that not killing enough Muslims to keep gravediggers employed is one of the worst things you can do to a Muslim male..
The Bush economy strikes again. Boy, this really is a global economy.
• I don't go to casinos because I have better ways to flush my money down the toilet, but what exactly is a Players Club card? I ask because a homeless man has one.
I'm eagerly awaiting this one, and the reasons are obvious. The midget match is cut out, and that's good. I don't want to watch that trash. The prematch section is gone forever. It'll be integrated into the regular review of the match.
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From the Kiel Center in St. Louis, this is Badd Blood 1997. And the hosts are Vince, JR, and the King. No, not me.
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We start this pay-per-view with a handicap match. It's The Nation of Domination which consists of Kama Mustafa, Rocky Miavia and D'Lo Brown vs. The Legion of Doom, Animal and Hawk.
Blow-by-blow: We learn before the match that Ken Shamrock was supposed to be on the good guy side, but he had some "internal injuries" occur during a bout with Faarooq. That's a good thing, IMO. Hawk and D'Lo start, and D'Lo does a shoulderblock that inflicts no damage to Hawk. Hawk with a hipblock and dropkick, and then a big boot and clothesline leads Rocky to decide that he wants a piece of Hawk. However, the crowd begins to chant "Rocky Sucks," so he bails out of the ring and covers his ears. Rocky puts Animal into the buckle, and Animal comes out with a flying shoulderblock. Hawk tags in, and hits Rocky with a double axhandle from the 2nd rope. Kama comes in, and misses a charge to the buckle. Hawk with an enziguri, and Animal comes in with a powerslam. Rocky with a DDT as he interferes, and Kama with a karate kick to Animal. Animal gets tosses out, and the rest of NOD attack. D'Lo tags in, and prevents Animal from getting to his corner. D'Lo with a snapmare and two legdrops that get a 2 count, after that, he tags Rocky in. Rocky applies a chinlock, and you can just tell that the guy is a natural heel. Big things to come for him....and Rocky stomps a mudhole in Animal. Rocky punches him in the nuts with the referee distracted, and that gets a 2 count. Kama tags in and misses a charge, and Hawk gets a false hot tag. He can't come in, and on his way out of the ring, D'Lo comes in with the Lo'Down. Rocky covers and gets two. Animal with a clothesline now, and there's the tag to Hawk. Hawk with a powerslam to Rocky and a neckbreaker to D'Lo, and they dump Kama out of the ring. Animal and Hawk both with clotheslines, and they lift Rocky up for the Doomsday Device. Faarooq comes out as a distraction, and Rocky gives Hawk the ROCK BOTTOM for the pinfall at 12:19.
Match Analysis: I didn't think it was very good, and for two reasons. First, the heels were really green, or in the case of Kama, just not very good. Secondly, LOD were so far deteriorated that it was hard for them to have a decent match with anyone. *1/2.
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The next match is for the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Titles. The challengers, accompanied by Uncle Cletus, are the Godwinns. The champions are the Headbangers, Mosh and Thrasher.
Blow-by-blow: Sunny's the guest ring announcer, and the tag titles are FAR from what they would become less than a year later. Some of you may know Uncle Cletus as Dirty White Boy from SMW, or T.L. Hopper. The Godwinns get beat up by the Headbangers, so they leave the ring, and once they come back in, it happens again. Mosh rana's Phineas out to the floor, and Thrasher comes off the apron with one of the ugliest rana's you'll ever see on Henry. Mosh with a springboard body press to the outside, and the Headbangers do a tag team maneuver that nearly breaks the neck of Phineas. The cover gets two, and Thrasher and Henry tag in. A Thrasher rollup gets a 1 count, and he follows that with a dropkick. Henry bails, so both teams switch, as the Headbangers double team Phineas with that hop over the other move that the World's Greatest Tag Team does or used to do, I don't know if they're still a team. This match is really poor, so I'll get to the end. Mosh finally gets the hot tag and gives Phineas a BUTT-bump. The Headbangers then hit Cletus, and slam Phineas. However, Mosh comes off the top in a Bombs Away attempt, and gets powerbombed by Phineas. It gets a 3 count at 12:17. Cletus kept Thrasher from breaking up the pinfall, so the win wasn't clean. After the match, the Godwinns beat up the Headbangers. Tim White says that if they don't leave, they'll lose their newly won titles. So they leave.
Match Analysis: Unbelievably poor match. The crowd was dead, and the less said, the better. 1/2*.
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Now we have a video package that shows how out of control Stone Cold Steve Austin is, and afterward, Owen says he's going to be getting the Intercontinental Title back tonight.
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A legends ceremony follows, and the men brought out are Gene Kiniski, Jack Brisco, Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race, Terry Funk, Sam Muchnick, and Lou Thesz. Pretty good lineup of guys, if I say so myself.
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Michael Hayes (fuck that Dok Hendrix crap) is with the Nation of Domination, and Faarooq says Owen is going to get his ass kicked. Strong words. Better be able to back them up. Vince has a few words to say about Brian Pillman's death, and he doesn't say much. Seems like he knew the cause wouldn't be so good for Brian's family to know.
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And now, we have the final match of the Intercontinental Championship tournament. It's Faarooq vs. Owen Hart.
Blow-by-blow: Owen's wearing an Owen 3:16 shirt, and Stone Cold Steve Austin is supposed to present the Intercontinental Title to the winner of this match. Austin takes the broadcast headset away from Vince and says that the Owen 3:16 shirt is nothing but cheap heat. He said it like he really meant it, in shoot fashion. Who knows if it was. Faarooq with a shoulderblock and Owen follows it with a headlock, and then a leg lariat after being thrown into the ropes. Owen works on the left leg with assorted offense, namely a leg grapevine and kneedrop to the leg, as Austin makes his way to each commentary table and has some words for the respective announcers. The WWF built him up PERFECTLY. A Faarooq backbreaker gets two and Faarooq attempts a bodyslam, but Owen falls on him for 2. Faarooq with a falldown slam, but he misses a legdrop from the 2nd rope. Owen tries the SHARPSHOOTER but he can't get it, and Faarooq gets a powerslam for 2. Jim Neidhart comes out to support Owen, but Faarooq hits a spinebuster. Fortunately, that only gets a two count. And again, fortunately for Owen, Austin hits Faarooq with the Intercontinental Belt, and Owen pins Faarooq for the win at 7:15. Austin tosses the title to Owen and leaves.
Match Analysis: Austin was hilarious, but his presence at ringside took away from the match. The match already had enough going against it, both men were heels. *. In a different situation, I think these two could have put together a decent match.
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The next match is filler because of Pillman's death, but it's Los Boricuas vs. Disciples of Apocalypse. In truth, it's kinda hard to pay attention. Mostly because the Boricuas chinlock Chainz to death. There should never be a chinlock in an 8 man tag match. WHY THE FUCK are you resting? Just tag out or work the guy over with some moves. Anyway, Crush finishes with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker at 9:10. That's the first babyface victory of the night. The crowd likes them, even if they weren't supposed to be babyfaces. Who knows. The whole GANG WARZ thing was fuckin' stupid to begin with. DUD.
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This match is a FLAG MATCH, and it's The Patriot and Vader representing the United States vs. The British Bulldog and the WWF Champion Bret Hart, representing Canada. In this flag match, due to the injuries of all participants, the Flag Match can be won by pinfall or submission.
Blow-by-blow: Before the match, Vader calls the "Best there is, best there was and the best there ever will be" slogan BULLSHIT, Vince apologizes soon after, and now we have our match. The Patriot hits Bret with the American flag that he brought to the ring, and Vader hits Bret with the Canadian flag that Bret brought to the ring. Now the Hart Foundation returns the favor, and the American flag breaks as the Patriot is being hit with it. The babyfaces get in the ring as the heels regroup, and why aren't they going for the flag? Davey and the Patriot start, as the Patriot gets a suplex, hiptoss and an ugly backdrop. Vader comes in with a shoulderblock, and Bret tags in as well. A short-arm clothesline from Vader follows, and Bulldog clotheslines Vader from the ring apron. Bret with a russian leg sweep on Vader and he goes for the flag, but Vader hits him low. Down low. Vader sits on Bret after Bret tries a sunset flip, and that gets two. Bulldog and Patriot come in, and a Patriot dropkick gets 2. Patriot slams Davey and tries for the flag, but he can't get there. Following that, Bret applies the ringpost figure-4 on The Patriot. And it's perfectly legal too. Bret then slams Patriot, and headbutts him in the nuts. Bret gets the SHARPSHOOTER on Patriot, but Patriot reverses it. A Bulldog clothesline from behind ends that, but all men are in one corner and Patriot tries to climb over all them in order to get the flag. But he can't. Vader runs into an opponent for a 2 count, and then gets a back suplex on Davey. Vader with a splash for two, and Davey goes to the chinlock. Bret comes in with a back suplex and THE SHARPSHOOTER, but Patriot breaks it up. Vader goes for the SHARPSHOOTER but he can't get it, so he tags the Patriot in. The Patriot applies the figure-four, but Bret gets in a position to tag the Bulldog. Bulldog with a delayed vertical suplex for 2, and the Patriot gets a poweslam for two. Bret kicks Patriot in the back and gets a suplex, and then he goes for the flag. Vader stops him and tags in, slams Bret, and goes for a MOONSAULT. He misses the moonsault but lands on his feet, and Vader dumps Bret to the floor. Bret hits both the Patriot and Vader with the ring bell, and we go back in. Bret with an elbow from the 2nd rope and legdrop, and then a DDT for 2. Vader clotheslines both heels and Patriot comes in. He gets the UNCLE SLAM for a 2 count and a fan comes in the ring. Nobody goes Eddie Guerrero and punches him though, so Vader goes up for the VADER BOMB, and gets it. However, a bit of a scrum ensues, and Bret reverses a Patriot rollup for the pinfall at 21:16.
Match Analysis: It was kinda slow, and the Patriot just isn't very good. As with all the other matches so far, no heat. Kinda sad to say that when you have a 21,000+ crowd. Rating is **, and I'm being kind.
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Michael Hayes is with HBK, and he says that nobody, NOBODY can beat the SHOWSTOPPA.
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And now, we have the MAIN EVENT. It's the first EVER Hell in a Cell match, and it's for the #1 contenders spot and a WWF Title match at Survivor Series. And we all know what happened there. It's the European Champion, The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker. The match is not for the European Championship...
Blow-by-blow: The Cell is on its way down, and HHH, Rick Rude and Chyna make their way out of the ring. They aren't allowed in, see. Commissioner Slaughter checks under the ring, and it's all good. Taker enters and Shawn plays the 'scared as shit' role real well, as he runs away. Shawn gets to the ring, and Taker whips him hard into the buckle, and Shawn goes upside down. Shawn gets clotheslined for two, and Taker goes OLD SCHOOL. Taker with a slam and legdrop for 2, and a HUGE backdrop has Shawn's feet touching the roof of the Cell. Taker just THROWS Shawn out of the ring and to the floor, and the bump looked like it hurt. Shawn tries to climb the wall on the inside to get away from Taker, and gets pulled down to the ground by Taker. Taker tosses Shawn into the cage and clotheslines him....and then he does it again. Taker picks up HBK in powerbomb position, but Shawn traps him against the Cell and punches him. Taker follows with some rights and lefts to the body of Shawn, and he picks him up and rams him from Cell to post, Cell to post. Shawn tosses Taker into the Cell, but Taker no-sells it and clotheslines Shawn. Into the stairs Shawn goes, and Taker chokes him. Taker misses a charge toward the Cell though, and Shawn gets a bit of control. Shawn with a TOPE through the ropes, and he follows that up by climbing the inside wall of the Cell and giving Taker an elbow drop. Shawn with a flying clothesline off the ring apron, and he grabs the steel stairs and rams them into the back of Taker. Then, Shawn PILEDRIVES Taker on the steps, and Shawn jumps from the top rope onto Taker with a double axhandle. Shawn grabs a chair from under the ring (remember, that started their feud) and hits Taker twice in the back with it. The cover gets a 2 count, and Taker fights back with a backdrop that puts Shawn on the floor. Shawn punches Flash Funk a cameraman, and the announcers apologize to the family of the cameraman. Uh-huh. Shawn does his flying forearm and kip-up that he always does, and now there's help for the cameraman. So the Cell door opens. Shawn TUNES UP THE BAND, and Taker no-sells Sweet Chin Music. Shawn sees the door open, and he's gone. Shawn gets slingshot into the cage and blades, and Shawn gets his face rammed into the cage a couple of times. Shawn climbs up the Cell, and the crowd goes nuts. Taker backdrops him up there after a Shawn piledriver attempt, and Taker press slams him. Shawn climbs part way down, and Taker steps on his hand until he falls off, and through the Spanish Announce Table. Wow. Pre-KotR 98, that IS THE big WWF bump. Taker biel's Shawn onto the French table, and press slams him off it to the floor. HBK is bleeding everywhere, as Taker drags him back into the Cell, and into the ring. Taker chokeslams Shawn from the TOP ROPE into the ring, and gets a chair of his own. He hits Shawn in the head with it, and signals for the TOMBSTONE. But the lights go out. AND THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE. HE RIPS THE DOOR OFF THE HINGES, THROWS HEBNER INTO THE CELL WALL, his pyro goes off, he STARES DOWN UT, and TOMBSTONES HIM. Shawn drags his dead carcass over to Taker, and Hebner counts what has to be the slowest 3 count of all time at 29:54, so Shawn gets the Title Match at Survivor Series. Literally, Shawn came out of a pool of his own blood. DX comes to the ring and carries Shawn out of the ring, and backstage. Shawn didn't move the whole time, so I meant it when I said carried.
That's the end of the show!
Match Analysis: This is my favorite match. Shawn bumped like a madman for Taker, so it's no wonder he had all that back trouble a little bit down the road. The ending is flawed because of Kane having music, which he shouldn't have. It didn't make sense for Kane to have music or pyro. I don't care, though. It's a ***** match. At this point, it's near impossible for Shawn to have a bad match. Show me a bad Shawn PPV match from the end of 1992 to the end of his run in 1998. I doubt you can. I don't think he's the best worker of all time although he's definitely top 5, but I'm able to look past all the wrong things he did in the past. Politicking and stuff, mostly. All people wanting to wrestle should watch this match and take notes. And when I said that the ONO match was Taker's best, I meant it was his best straight wrestling match. This is obviously his best match.
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This show was a DOG. D-O-G. Terrible until the main event, and all the heels won, except for one tweener group. If not for the main event, it's one of the worst WWF PPV's of all time. IMO.
Rating: Decent. Only because of Hell in a Cel.l
Best Match: Hell in a Cell, Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker.
Worst Match: Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas.
Loudest Sound: Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, and Rocky Miavia. Rocky was hated...
No sound: Headbangers and the Godwinns.
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That's it, I might do a review tomorrow, and if I do, it'll be posted at night. I get a content update tonight, but the Kings are playing, so I'm not watching anything. Until then...
A semi-humorous bit from this morning. I have to admit, occasionally, the people here can bring some entertainment.
There's this older guy here at the office that, according to a couple of my female coworkers, is a dirty old man. About the only things I know about him are, his name, the fact that he's worked here for over 30 years, and that his daughter just squirted out another kid (I know this because they had a cake party here to honor that glorious occassion a few months back). I really only speak to him when we exchange greetings when passing each other in the halls, so I've never seen this dirty side of him, but whatever.
So I'm at the copy machine this morning when he walks in. After exchanging our usual greeting, he starts this off:
"Man, sometimes I wish I was 25 again."
"Really? Why's that?"
"Have you seen that new chick in Billing? Lauren?"
"Yeah, I've seen her."
"She was over here earlier, getting water. Doing something with these people over here. Man...WOW."
(NOTE: Lauren is not that hot. There's nothing wrong with her, but she's not even close to being the hottest chick at this place.)
I continued:
"She always looks angry to me. Like she'd be a total bitch about everything."
"Yeah. But don't you think that's kind of hot?"
"Depends."
"Well, either way, I'd like to get some of that anger out of her. I know that."
"Uh huh..."
"You know what I mean, right?"
*sighing* "Of course."
"So yeah...you know."
I guess his reputation is well-earned.
(Matches I'm in will be told in Kayfabe. I'm not going to disrespect the guys who I worked with by talking about the behind the scenes stuff.)
Now it's showtime and I'm a wee bit nervous. I'm in the Cow Palace, around all of these big name workers, and the crowd is nice and hot. It's not a big crowd, but the first 4 or 5 rows are pretty much filled up, and the crowd is hot. I can't complain I'm just happy there's a crowd and they're not dead. The advertised card was changed all the way around, because of all the stuff that wasn't taken care of.
The first match was Team 3D vs The Steiner Brothers. The crowd was really into it and I did watch some of it from behind this curtain with a few of the guys. I was standing behind Virgil Flynn, because I could see over him without having to stand on my tip toes, and I told him "Dude...we're watching the Steiners against Team 3D live. This is great." The Steiner Brothers won the match and the crowd enjoyed it. After the match it looked like Brother Ray and Devon were going to go at it but right before they threw punches at each other, they hugged and went back to the back.
The 2nd match was Gail Kim vs Traci Brooks vs Cheerleader Melissa. I didn't watch the match but I do know Gail Kim won.
Then it was the 3rd match, my first match of the night. Luke Hawk & Alkatrazz vs Al Snow & The Blue Meanie. Everyone knows who Meanie and Al Snow are, but for those who don't know, Luke Hawk and Alkatrazz worked on the MTV WSX show for a minute. I was still a bit nervous but I was ready for anything as I know Al and Meanie like to have fun in the ring. Before the match, I was talking to Al and Meanie and we just started saying new names for Alkatrazz. We were saying things like Alkey, Alkaline, Alcholic, jail bait (I came up with that one.), I almost said Nailz but changed my mind.
I went out and all my nerves went away, I very quickly went to ease as I came out the otherside of the curtain. I got to the ring and waited for the wrestlers to come out. Luke Hawk and Alkatrazz came out first, then Meanie and Al Snow came out and the crowd just started Head almost right out the gate. Yes Al did have Head! The two of them got in the ring and there were a lot of Head and bWo chants. Al would bounce side to side in the center of the ring and as he was bouncing the crowd would chant "Head" until he popped Head into the air. It was great. After a minute or two I was able to get the match started.
I say a minute or two later because Al...I mean Head kept going after Luke Hawk or Alkatrazz. Well it was Al holding Head but Al would blame Head and kept telling me that Head didn't want to go in the corner. Al literally chased either Luke or Alkatrazz out of the ring with Head and I had to cut him off. I cut him off and told him he had to get Head into the corner so I could start the match. He told me again that Head wasn't listening to him and told me to ask Head. So I told Head to go back into the corner and Head gave me that fucking blank look and wouldn't go. Head's very stubborn.
Finally Al was able to convince Head to put it in the corner...or Head maybe told Al to put it in the corner..either way, Head went to the corner and I got the match started. The match was pretty much with Meanie and Al basically playing with Luke Hawk and Alkatrazz. Meanie made Luke Hawk look up and popped him one in the mouth, Luke tried the same thing on Meanie and Luke got popped in the mouth again. At one point Alkatrazz went for a drop down on Al and Al jumped over Alkatrazz, and laid beside him, Alkatrazz looked up and saw Al next to him and Al yelled at him and scared Alkatrazz in the corner. Luke Hawk again tried the same tactic on Al and got popped in the mouth again.
At one point of the match, I sorta lost control and to get control back I had to back Al back out of the ring since he JUST tagged out. After I finally got Al Snow out, I turned around and Alkatrazz was in the ring chokeing Meanie in the corner and Alkatrazz wasn't the legal man either, so I had to back him out. Alkatrazz gave me a hard time about it but when I finally got him out of the ring, I turned around just in time to see Blue Meanie give Luke Hawk one hell of a splash and I made the 1, 2, 3 pinfall and rasied the hands of The Blue Meanie, Al Snow, and Head....well Al rasied Head up.
Oh before I forget, during the match, Al brought Head back in the match and tried to use Head, but I cut him off again. Both Luke Hawk and Alkatrazz dropped off the ring and to the outside. Al looked at me and gave this weird look towards me. All of a sudden, Al with Head dropped to his knees and started head banging Head and started walking on his knees towards me. The crowd starts chanting "Head, Head, Head, Head!" as Al was backing me up in the corner. So during the match, Head pretty much made a attempt to give me Head, luckily I got out of dodge before Head got to close. I think I would have in pain if Al had gotten to close with Head.
After the match, I got prepared for the Battleroyal. The Battleroyal had a lot of the local Nor-Cal wrestlers I know, so I was happy to have the best seat in the house to hopefully see the match shine..but I'll get to that in a second.
Match 4 was The Powers of Pain with this very hot woman vs One Man Gang and Kamala with Slick. By the way, Slick is awesome. He kept ribbing me in the locker room about me giving him a straight count and to make sure I turn around when he's choking someone...but I didn't have this match so I didn't have to worry about Slick's antics. The Powers of Pain won.
Match 5 was Abyss and Shark Boy vs Lance Hoyt and someone who was doing a French Gimmick...I heard something about a Wild Stallon. I didn't meet him and wasn't in the back area when the introductions were made. Abyss and Sharkboy won, I missed this match.
Match 6 was a Hardcore 3 vs 3 tag match. It was Junior Fatu (Rikishi), Black Pearl, and Vampire Warriror (Gangrel) vs Orlando Jordon, Vic Grimes, and someone who was a Indy worker, didn't catch his name either. I didn't see this match either but I know the team of Fatu, Black Pearl, and Vampire Warriror won the match.
Match 7 was the Knight of the Indies battleroyal. Myself and the 3 other Referees were all out for this match. I didn't catch the Hardcore 3 vs 3 tag match but I did happen to see the spots of blood outside the ring...or it could have been Gangrel's blood myst.....either or it was someone's blood. Guys I knew in the battleroyal were Helfyre, Jason Vega, Alexis Darevko, The Ghetto Hesimen Badd Blood from Rated 2G, Maynard Skynard, Sexy Chino, 2 members of The Surburban Commandos T-Rent and D-Unit, Virgil Flynn, Mr. Frost, Timothy Thatcher, Sir Samurai, Mike Hyashi, and Robbie Gilmore. I hadn't seen Robbie in months because he decided to go to Booker T's school in Houston a few months ago, so it was really good to see Robbie Gilmore again. Two legends were in the battleroyal as well, Rock Riddle and Chavo Gurrero Sr.
Unfortunaily, none of the guys who I knew won the battleroyal, Sexy Chino came close and ended up being one of the last two guys in the ring...the other MMA fighter Shannon Ritch. Unfortunally Shannon Ritch elimated Chino from the match much to the fans dissapointment and won the battleroyal.
The next match was Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Koko B. Ware and Dr. Death Steve Williams. I didn't watch this match as I was getting ready for the main event but I know the team of Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine won. Dr. Death now has a hole in his throat due to his battle with throat cancer and even in his condition, he was a joy to talk to and he still worked a match. Dr. Death is the fucking man.
Next was Billy Kidman vs Ultimo Dragon. I caught the first half of this match, and it was great. I didn't catch the other half because I really wanted to get my mind set for the mainevent as it was going to big, but I heard everything about this match was great. Hopefully even with all the bullshit of the convention, the dvd will be put out and the show will air on Pay Per View. If you honestly can either watch the dvd or the airing of the show on PPV, I recommand this match. One of the things I did see was Ultimo Dragon came out with his son and his son was dressed just like him. Mask, tights, boots, and cape, they both looked great together. They even did Ultimo's enterance together. Both of them got in the ring, Billy Kidman dropped to his knees and challanged Ultimo's son, Ultimo's son answered by running up and chopping Billy in his chest. Ultimo Dragon won the match with his Asai DDT. During the match, the fans chanted "This is awesome!" and it truely was.
Finally it was the main event. I went out first, I was so fucking nervous, I'm not gonna lie. I'm in the middle of the cow palace, on a show that's going to be recorded for PPV and sold on DVD (Hopefully) and this could be a great oppotunity for me..SO I CAN NOT FUCK THIS UP!
I eagerly wait for the guy's in the match. First out was Steve Corino w/ Francine. Steve got on the mic and started cutting a promo on the fans, then the fans started chanting at Francine, the good ol "She's got herpes" chant came out of the bag and Francine got heated and took the mic from Corino and started going off on the fans as well. After a few minutes The Sandman came out with 3 girls representing the FireFrighters Brewery beer. The Sandman and the girls got in the ring and then he got on the mic. Sandman put over the brew and then started cutting a promo...then introduced someone to make sure Francine was kept in her place and that was...Babydoll.
Babydoll came out of the curtain holding the singapore cane of The Sandman. So now things have picked up. The match was about to start when all of a sudden Babydoll swung the cane at Corino and Corino quickly grabbed the micaphone and told me that I because Babydoll almost hit him with the cane, that Sandman should be DQ'ed and I need to annouce him as the winner. Corino hands me the mic and I gave him this response. "You are not the winner of the match, This is not a regular match, this is a hardcore match (fans pop), that means pinfalls and submissions only!" (fans pop again.) I hand the mic back to the ring annoucer and rang the bell for the match to start and right before The Sandman and Steve Corino lock up....music plays and out comes The Great Muta!!!!
The Great Muta whose in ring gear is now making his way to the ring and he has this woman with him (I can't remember her name.). The Sandman, Steve Corino, and myself are in shock. The Great Muta enters the ring and Steve Corino goes after him, only to be cut off and catch a dragon legsnap from The Great Muta, The Sandman goes after Muta and Muta cuts Sandman off as well and Sandman gets a dragon legsnap as well. The match is now a triple threat hardcore match!
During the match, The Sandman left the ring and made his way back to the curtain area. A minute later, I see Sandman coming back towards the ring, holding something over his head. It's a fucking guardrail! Sandman places the guardrail against the ring and gets back inside. At this time I noticed that Babydoll has been sliding a number of chairs into the ring. I had been paying so much attention to the action, I didn't notice that she had been doing that. When I realized it there was about 4 or 5 chairs in the ring. Steve Corino got thrown out of the ring and when he got back up, Corino placed the guardrail into the ring and got back into the ring and started going at it with The Great Muta again.
While Muta and Corino was going at it, The Sandman took advantage of it and set two chairs up near the corner, then placed the guardrail on top of the two chairs. The Sandman tried to get back into the match but both Muta and Corino cut him off and was able to lay him on top of the guardrail! Corino and Muta all of a sudden joined forces and Muta told Corino to go to the top turnbuckle and splash the fallen Sandman. Corino climbed to the top turnbuckle and when he turned around The Great Muta met Corino with a punch to the jaw....a loud punch to the jaw. Muta then grabbed Corino and climbed to the 2nd turnbuckle and suplexed Corino onto The Sandman...all three men were out and the crowd popped loudly.
And that's where I'm going to end the story of the match because I want you guys to buy the dvd or order the pay per view.
After the show was over, I thanked every man and woman in the matches that I was in and I said my good byes to all of those who I knew and met that night. Then headed back towards my house to make a quick apperance at a friends halloween party. The first night of the convention was great for me. There was a lot of rumored bullshit going on, but I really didn't pay any attention to it. I figured I wasn't being paid so I really didn't care. The experiance I got and the stories I can now tell is great for me. I am however trying to get a copy of the dvd, so we'll see how that goes.
The next two days of the convention will come in my next few blogs. So come back later!
10 p.m.
• I haven't seen "Casino Royale" yet, but did this really happen? If so, I hope he also wore a seat belt whenever he was in a car.
7:30 p.m.
• So this past weekend the brother-in-law had some Halloween trail set up in the woods behind his house for his kids and a number of their friends, and I was one of the people that did stuff to scare the kids. No, I didn’t tell them about the story of my life. I hid in some trees and threw these ghosts disguised as plastic bags with stuff in them. Of course the one ghosts no-sold my attempt at releasing it, but the other one that swung at an angle hit some kid in the head and had him screaming like a girl. Good. This kid has been over my brother-in-law’s house during his son’s birthday parties and stuff, and he’s a little spazz. Of course, I had no idea it was him that I hit. My instructions were to aim for the center of the herd. Then again, it wasn't as bad as the chainsaw guy not being able to start up his weapon of choice, but that's what happens when there's more empty bottles of beer out along the trail than there are actual people. Despite all these glitches, this first-ever jaunt was a success. Too bad in a few years these kids will be out back in the wilderness screwing rather than bobbing for apples. They grow up so fast.
Afterward, when all the kids left, a group of us gathered around the kitchen table and stuffed ourselves with all sorts of sugary shit. Among the plates of gummy worm chocolate cake, several kinds of puddings, chips, nachos and other junk food, there was a huge bowl of candy with real bars of Crunches and Hershey bars. Being in the mood for a Kit-Kat, I took one and ate it. On the way home the following conversation was had. Figure out who is who.
Seriously, who starts collecting candy in the middle of October and puts it as part of their Halloween stash? And these weren’t those gay “fun bars.” These were full-fledged regular-sized candy bars. And there was a HUGE bowl full of them. Christ, their teeth will be falling out if they ate all that shit. I remember one year I kept my candy supply until the new year. Not sure why. I guess maybe to prove to myself I could. *Shrug.*
I've seen a lot of people bitching about the way this show is edited, and I'd like to say that I find all those people to be complaining about a whole lot of nothing. It's not important. As long as a show has all the matches and all the commentary, I'm fine with it. The rest is unnecessary, as although I'd like to see it, I'll live with it, and like it anyway.
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Now, for the review.
Jim Ross and Bob Caudle are the hosts from the Civic Center in Philadelphia, and they're pretty good ones too. As there aren't any entrances, the usual prematch part will be left off my review.
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We start things off in the ring with Gary Michael Cappetta, and the first match is The Z Man vs. Captain Mike Rotunda. Rotunda is of course, the future Irwin R. Schyster.
Blow-by-blow: The two men lockup, and Rotunda gets an amateur style takedown of Zenk from behind. Zenk rebounds with a headlock and two shoulderblocks, afterwards, Rotunda bails to the outside. Back in, and Rotunda gets a hipblock. He then misses an elbow drop, and Zenk follows with a dropkick, so Rotunda bails again. Rotunda with a knee and a thumb to the eye, then he tosses Zenk out of the ring. JR says the ladies came up with the Z Man name. O RLY? Zenk comes in with a sunset flip for 2, and grabs onto Rotunda's arm with a hammerlock. The ropes lead to a break of the hold, and Zenk with a headlock takeover next. Rotunda with a headscissor on the mat, and he cheats using the ropes. He gets caught when he tries again, so the hold is broken. Rotunda throws Zenk out under the top rope, and slams Zenk's head into the apron. Rotunda with a kick to the back of the head of Zenk, and a suplex in for a 2 count. Rotunda with an abdominal stretch as he holds the ropes, but the referee catches him, so he goes to a chinlock. Zenk attempts a comeback, but Rotunda finishes that with a good clothesline. Rotunda misses a dropkick and Zenk gets a back elbow, but Rotunda gives him a rake to the eyes in an attempt to slow Zenk down. Rotunda attempts a springboard crossbody block, but The Z Man rolls through it for the pinfall at 13:22.
Match Analysis: It was a solid match, and although I don't believe that the crowd cared for either man, they seemed to be into it. It was missing something though, so my rating is *3/4. It was slow, I didn't mind that. But the finish kinda came out of nowhere.
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Chris Cruise is with our Guest Referee for the main event, Bruno Sammartino. He talks about the Thunderdome match, and how he won't take any crap. The usual.
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The next contest is a 6-Man Tag Team attraction. We have the Samoan Swat Team & The Samoan Savage w/Sir Oliver Humperdink vs. The Midnight Express (Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton version) and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams w/Jim Cornette. Yes, it's weird seeing Cornette in the same corner as Steve Williams. Anyhow...
Blow-by-blow: Lane starts off with a backdrop on the Savage, and then he clotheslines the Savage over the top rope. I'll enlighten the reader of this with some information in case they didn't know, the Samoan Savage is Tama of the Islanders. Moving on from that, the Midnight Express hit one of those fat asses with a double backelbow, and now Samu comes in after a Savage eye gouge. He misses an elbow drop on Eaton, and chops him a few times. Samu then misses an avalanche, and Steve Williams is on his way in. The crowd loves him, too. Williams with right hands and clotheslines for everyone, and all the Samoans bail out. Fatu is the Samoan that decides to get in the ring with Williams and Williams clotheslines him, and football tackles all the Samoans. Bobby Eaton comes in, and applies an armbar on Fatu, then Stan Lane comes in. Fatu with a clothesline on Lane after Lane's failed hiptoss attempt, and Samu comes in with a dropkick. Dr. Death soon follows, and Samu eats a clothesline. Williams with a legdrop, and Eaton comes in with a big flying clothesline. That gets 2. Samu attempts a monkeyflip, but Eaton elbows him. Both Lane and Fatu are tagged in, and Fatu gets a falldown slam. He misses an elbowdrop, though, and Bobby Eaton tags in, along with the Samoan Savage. Eaton gets crotched into the ringpost after an attempt at a bulldog, and then Samu and Fatu crotch him on the guardrail outside. Fatu beels Eaton HARD on the concrete, and after Eaton recovers, he sunset flips the Savage inside for a 2 count. Savage with a chop, and Fatu comes in. The SST's come in and clothesline Eaton, as he's the heat magnet du-jour. A Fatu headbutt gets two, and he goes to the nervehold. Fatu with a clothesline and then Samu comes in with a legdrop and headbutt for 2. Fatu in with a headbutt and the SST's kick Eaton in the nuts with the referee distracted, and then the Savage tags back in. A sideslam gets two, and then the Savage goes up to the top. He misses a pump splash, and the hot tag goes to Steve Williams. And the crowd just LOVES it, as Williams is a HOUSE OF DEATH. That was terrible, sorry. Williams with a double axhandle off the top, a LARIAT, and a press slam. A scoop slam and powerslam get a 2 count, and Lane comes in with a swinging neckbreaker on the Savage, and an enziguri. Cornette hits Humperdink with his tennis racked, but Lane and Cornette collide with each other, and the Samoan Savage gets the pin for his team at 18:16.
Match Analysis: See, at first, I thought this was a **1/2 match. But after thinking about it, it was a little better than that. The crowd heat is a large part of the *** rating. They were wild for Williams, and Eaton's heat sequence was really good. Really, really good.
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Gordon Solie is with Terry Funk and Gary Hart backstage, and Hart says the J-Tex Corporation NEVER quits, and that Flair is going to fry when they get inside the Thunderdome tonight.
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The next contest is "Wildfire" Tommy "4 Days" Rich vs. The Cuban Assassin. Wildfire is a really shitty nickname. FIDEL SIERRA!!!
Blow-by-blow: The Assassin attacks, and throws Rich into the turnbuckle. Rich slams the Assassin twice and the Cuban bails. The crowd just shits all over Rich for the duration of this match, and the match is so bad that I'm having a hard time re-writing everything again. Cuban Assassin gets a springboard crossbody for a 2 count, and Rich follows that with an "ugly as fuck" sunset flip for a 2 count of his own. Yes, the quoted is what I said aloud while watching that move take place. The crowd starts a "BORING" chant, but it doesn't get too loud. I'm thinking please take the match home while watching Rich do nothing but armdrags and punches, but I don't get what I want. Rich backdrops Assassin after the Cuban attempts a piledriver, but Assassin suplexes him. After Rich crotches the Assassin, Rich does an ugly back elbow. The Cuban tries another springboard crossbody, but this time he misses, and Rich does a Lou Thesz Press for the pinfall at 8:25.
Match Analysis: Just fastforward. It's not -*'s because I usually get enjoyment out of negative starred matches. In this case, it was completely unenjoyable. And that's my criteria for a DUD.
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Gordon Solie's with the Fabolous Freebirds, unfortunately they have nothing to say, but lo and behold, they're a part of the next match. See, they're the NWA Tag Team Champions, and they're taking on the Dynamic Dudes, who're managed by Jim Cornette. The Dynamic Dudes are a mullet-clad Shane Douglas and Johnny Ace, and the Freebirds are Michael fuckin' Hayes and Jimmy Garvin, for those that don't know.
Blow-by-blow: Hayes struts at the beginning and the crowd just eats it up. The Philadelphia crowd is in love, LOVE, with The Freebirds. Hayes armdrags Douglas, and then headlocks him. Hayes with a sunset flip that Douglas reverses for a 1 count, and Hayes chops Shane. We soon see how GREEN Douglas is, as he absolutely blows a spot where Hayes comes off the ropes. It was REALLY bad. Douglas headlocks Hayes and gives him a swinging neckbreaker, and then both Garvin and Ace come in. Ace with a dropkick and armdrag, as Douglas comes back in with an armbar. Shane with a backdrop, and Hayes comes in. Shane with a wristlock reversal, and Ace comes off the top rope with an axhandle as he's tagged in. Ace with a powerslam, and the Dudes clear the ring with a double dropkick. The fans just boo the SHIT out of them, and as the Birds get settled down, Douglas reapplies the armbar. Ace with a face smash for a 2 count, and then a headlock on Garvin. Ace with a backdrop and he headscissors Hayes over as he takes Garvin over with a headlock. Ace with a headlock and then a shoulderblock on Garvin, and a roll-up of Garvin gets a 2 count. The Dudes playing to the crowd like babyfaces is beyond annoying. Not a soul is cheering for them, they're being booed. Loudly. Hayes clocks Ace in the head from the apron, and Garvin gives him a back suplex. Garvin kicks Ace in the back, and Hayes comes in with some right hands. Garvin does the same when he comes in, and backdrops Ace. Hayes back in as the crowd chants "DDT, DDT, DDT," although Hayes can't apply it. Douglas comes back in and backdrops the Freebirds, then dropkicks them a whole bunch and rams their heads into one another. A double high-knee follows by the Dudes, but Garvin reverses a double back suplex as he winds up on top for the full 3 count, at 11:27. The Freebirds retain their belts, and Philadelphia rejoices.
Match Analysis: The Freebirds really know how to work the crowd, and the heat on the Dudes was just hilarious. Really funny match, and although I'm probably overrating it, I'll give it **. It's a must-see match, if you're able to. Douglas was green as grass, but Hayes was awesome at actually being able to play to the crowd and get a pop. He didn't have to go for heel heat, and the fans just loved it. Douglas would see better days in Philly.
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Rick and Scott Steiner cut a promo with Chris Cruise, and oh boy, Rick Steiner is fuckin' terrible. That's almost as bad as the Ken Patera promo I heard the other day. I'll link that at the end of this. After that, we obviously have their match. It's the Steiner Brothers vs. Doom w/Woman. Doom is masked, here, and if you don't know any better, you can't tell who's who. But I know better.
Blow-by-blow: A brawl starts things off, and the Steiners give each member of Doom a german suplex to clear the ring. Butch Reed is the skinnier one, Ron Simmons is more compact. That's how I can tell Doom apart. Rick's hair is wild here, it's a good thing he cut it. STEINERLINE's for both members of Doom as they get back in, and they'll regroup again. Ron Simmons and Scott Steiner will start, and a Steinerline gets 2. Rick has Steinerlines for both members of Doom, and he barks. That gimmick was over, even then. Rick and Butch Reed are in now, and a big right hand by Rick gets a 2 count. Butch with an inverted atomic drop and I've gotta say, if you don't already know who these two are, good luck watching. The announcers did nothing to establish them from one another, and neither did the wrestlers. One could have worn different color boots, or something. Simmons in with a headbutt, but Rick reverses his suplex attempt. Scott's in, with a Steinerline off the 2nd rope for two. Scott with an armbar, and Rick comes in with a chinlock, but Simmons counters with an ace crusher variant. A legdrop by Simmons follows, and he tags Butch. A big clothesline by Butch turns Rick inside out, and Reed drops Rick along the top rope for 2. Scott finds his way into the match (no, I don't know how), and gives Reed a front suplex for 2. Simmons is in, and Scott gives him a release german suplex. An elbowdrop by Scott gets 2, and a snapmare and chinlock follows. Doom takes control though, as Reed uses a double axhandle off the 2nd rope in order to do that. Simmons beats up Scott on the outside and slams him twice into the guardrail, and then Butch Reed gives Scott an eye gouge. Clever. A double back elbow by Doom gets two, and they practically choke Scott to death for 2 minutes. As the referee is distracted, Reed throws Scott Steiner over the top rope. The ref was distracted cause that's illegal, see. A Reed swinging neckbreaker gets two, and he follows that with a powerslam. Both members of Doom slam Scott for free, and we have a false hot tag, as Scott tags Rick with the ref distracted again. Does.Not.Count. A spike piledriver by Doom gets 2, and they go to the chinlock. Scott kicks Simmons on the irish whip, though, and Rick FINALLY gets the tag. Rick with a backdrop to Butch, STEINERLINE'S for everyone, and Scott does a FRANKENSTEINER. Rick with a powerslam and belly-to-belly as Woman gets on the apron, and she slips a foreign object into the mask of Butch Reed. Reed headbutts Rick Steiner and DOOM wins the match at 15:24.
Match Analysis: That was a fun power match. Man, Scott could go. Why the fuck did this guy have to ruin his body? The shit he was doing in there was great. ***. Doom is good too. I always thought Butch Reed was an underrated worker, and Simmons pulled his weight in this match.
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Solie's with Lex Luger before his match...the promo is surprisingly good, and HE'S THE CHAMPION OF THE 90'S. LAWL.
Yeah, this match is for the United States Title, and the challenger is Flyin' Brian Pillman. The CHAMPION is The Total Package, Lex Luger. Both guys are disgustingly juiced. I think Pillman looks more gross, honestly.
Blow-by-blow: We go to THE LOCKUP, and Luger with a knee to the body of Pillman. Clubbing right hands follow, as Luger whips Pillman into the buckle. Luger slams Pillman and slaps him across the face, and then tosses Pillman out of the ring. Pillman comes back in really quick though, and football tackles Luger. He then chops Luger, backdrops, dropkicks and baseball slides into Luger. As we are now on the outside, Pillman chops Luger some more. Pillman chases Luger around the ring, but since Luger got in first, he's in control. He pummels Pillman with some right hands, but Pillman gets a springboard crossbody for a 2 count. Pillman goes to the armbar after an armdrag, and Luger whips him into the ropes where Pillman counters a Luger hipblock (impressively so, the counter) and dropkicks Luger. Back to the armdrag, but Luger regains his composure, and shoulderblocks the challenger twice. Pillman with a crucifix after another armdrag, but the crucifix only gets 2. I don't know why Pillman keeps armdragging Luger, but he does it again, and we're done with that for the rest of the match. Luger misses a charge into a corner, and Pillman goes up to the top and misses a splash. Lex follows with a HUGE flapjack, and then he drops Pillman along the top rope. Luger with a clothesline and big boot, and then he clotheslines Pillman twice, with the last one being to the back of the head. A Luger delayed vertical suplex gets two. Two elbowdrops from Luger follow, and Luger dumps Pillman to the outside. Pillman comes back in with a sunset flip for 2, and unfortunately for him, Luger gives him a inverted atomic drop. He sets Pillman up on the top rope, but Pillman pushes him up. Luger tells Pillman to come down and he does, with a sunset flip Yes, obvious spot call...and Pillman gives Luger a nice flying back elbow. He backdrops Luger and slingshots in with a clothesline. I believe the youngin's call that "Air Pillman." Luger's in the ropes though, so no pinfall. Pillman with a neckbreaker and he goes up, but he misses a missile dropkick. Luger HOTSHOTS him along the top rope, and Luger retains his title at 16:48. Yes, there wasn't a TORTURE RACK in this match.
Match Analysis: Well, you learn something new every day. One, Luger can call a match in the ring. Two, that Luger can call a GOOD match in the ring. Three, that Luger can have good matches with guys not named Ric Flair. The match got better as it went, and I've seen another reviewer give this quite a high rating. I can't go that high though, but I'll go close and give it ***3/4.
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Chris Cruise is with the Road Warriors and Paul Ellering, Hawk made sense for the duration of the interview and didn't talk about breaking limbs, or other such nonsense. Good stuff.
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This contest features The Road Warriors w/Paul Ellering vs. The Skyscrapers, who are accompanied by Teddy Long. Long's carrying a big key, and a skullet of hair. Imagine that. He looks funny. The reason behind the Skyscraper name is obvious. Both Sid and Spivey are huge.
Blow-by-blow: Animal and Danny Spivey start, and Danny lets off a couple left hands. Animal with a clothesline, and Spivey bails. Hawk tags in, gives Spivey a double axhandle off the top rope, and a shoulderblock does nothing. But a flying shoulderblock does, and that forces Sid Vicious to tag in. Sid does what he wants, so after a Hawk clothesline, Sid does, well, nothing. Animal comes in and the Road Warriors deliver a double back elbow, but once Hawk leaves, Animal's shoulderblock to Sid does absolutely nothing. Nothing, I say. Sid misses a clothesline, and Animal's flying shoulderblock puts Sid down. Notice the pattern? Hawk comes in, and we have a TEST OF STRENGTH. Sid wins it, but Hawk monkeyflips him. A clothesline follows as Animal and Spivey comes in, and Animal clotheslines him, and both men tag out again. Hawk and Sid are in. Sid with a headlock takeover and a KIP-UP (!) as he clotheslines Hawk. Sid picks up Hawk in Razor's Edge position, and spins around the ring with him, soon to throw him to the canvas. Whoa. That was an impressive visual. Spivey with a sideslam for 2, and Hawk clotheslines Danny after Spivey misses a clothesline. Spivey baseball slides Hawk out of the ring, and Sid drops him along the guardrail. A Spivey delayed vertcial suplex gets a 2 count, and Sid comes in. Spivey with a clothesline in the corner before he leaves the ring, and Sid follows by choking Hawk. Hawk with a chop in an attempt to fend Sid off, but Sid comes back with a clothesline, ending those hopes. Spivey tags in and tries to suplex Hawk, but Hawk counters the move with a suplex of his own. Sid comes in and applies a front facelock, and Long distracts the referee as we have a false hot tag. Animal must go back to his corner, and Spivey gives Hawk an avalanche in the meanwhile. Hawk finally does what is necessary to get back to Animal, as he clotheslines Spivey, so Animal tags in. Yay! A dropkick by Animal and flying shoulderblock put Spivey down for a while. When Sid comes in, a pier-6 breaks out. Animal with a powerslam, and for some reason, Paul Ellering's on the apron, presumably because the ref isn't counting the fall. Teddy Long hits Ellering with the big key, and tosses the key to Spivey. I'm assuming that the key is supposed to be the key to controlling these two behemoths. But I don't know. Spivey hits both Animal and Hawk with the key, so the Road Warriors win by disqualification at 11:37. Hawk steals the key after a flying clothesline, and hits both Skyscrapers with it.
Match Analysis: There were good reasons to not have this match end cleanly. Therefore, no deduction for it. Also, this is the "good Sid." The one that's not screwing up moves, being generally disagreeable, and the one that's fun to watch. I can watch the Sid from this match all day. It's fun. **1/2.
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Sting, Ole Anderson and Ric Flair are with Chris Cruise, and that means it's time for the main event. They say that under NO circumstances will Ole throw the towel in tonight, and that J-Tex Corporation is done, starting now.
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The MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING is a THUNDERDOME Cage Match, and the participants are...from J-Tex Corporation, The Television Champion, The GREAT MUTA, and TERRY FUNK (the first time I wrote that, I wrote it as Terry Fuck. On accident.). Their "third" is Gary Hart. I'll explain in a bit.
And on the other team, it's STING, and THE NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION, THE NATURE BOY, RIC FLAIR. Their "third" is Ole Anderson. For those that aren't accustomed to this, the caps are deliberate, and not intended to be funny in the least. It's a main event of a PPV, it's cap worthy.
The guest referee of this match is none other than BRUNO SAMMARTINO. To win this match, the opponents third must throw in the towel. Simple as that. And the cage is ELECTRIFIED!
Blow-by-blow: The Thunderdome is like a taller Hell in a Cell, but without a full roof. And some genius decided to decorate it with leaves, Tarzan-ish ropes, and vines. Only in that company, I swear. Obviously enough, the leaves catch on fire. Muta puts them out with his mist. Haha. His face is painted red, too. Flair and Funk start, and Terry shoulderblocks Flair. Flair with chops and Funk with a bodyslam afterward. Flair returns the favor with 2 slams of his own, and some chops. I don't understand why you have to tag your partner in, but whatever. Sting comes in and dumps Terry to the floor, and then slams Terry hard into the cage. Flair tags in, and he and his partner Sting deliver a double back elbow into Funk. A kneedrop from Flair follows, and the GREAT MUTA comes in. Flair chops both he and Funk, and Sting comes in with a dropkick. Funk pushes Bruno, and Bruno ignores it for now. Sting attacks Muta, and Sting press slams him too. Sting with a suplex, and Flair comes in. Flair with an inverted atomic drop and a kneedrop, and then he tags in Sting again. Sting dumps Muta and rams him into the cage, but once they're back in the ring, Muta begins to take over. An elbowdrop and legdrop follows, as Muta really knows how to work the crowd. He really does. Flair chokes Muta as Funk is choking Sting, and Funk rams Flair into the cage. Muta suplexes Sting, and we're done with tagging in. Flair with an atomic drop and Sting with a clothesline, as Sting attempts to apply the SCORPION. That's what the Scorpion Deathlock was called then. Muta kicks Sting hard in the back, and then Funk chases Sting around the ring on the outside. This match is a mess, but in a fun way. Muta chokes Flair, and once Funk chases Sting into the ring, Funk is attacked by Flair. Now they climb up the fence for no apparent reason, seemingly because the top of the cage is electrified, but even still, it makes no sense whatsoever. Sting suplexes Muta, and now Muta climbs the cage. He gets shocked (I don't know if it was real or not. I just don't.), and Muta comes down from the cage. While Funk and Flair are up there, Flair swings off a rope that's hanging down from the cage and into Terry Funk. I laughed. He's flying into Funk at a really slow speed. Sting has Muta held up in press slam position, but he just drops him instead of throwing him into the cage. Terry's on the cage and Muta's under the ring, as this match is starting to turn into a giant clusterfuck. Muta comes out from under the ring and rams Flair into the cage, and Terry and Sting climb up the cage. Flair with a back suplex and figure-four, but he releases it. At the same time, Sting grabs onto the rope and "Tarzans" into Funk. I asked my brother what to call that, and he said Tarzan. So I did. Muta kicks Flair in the back of the head, and applies the INVERTED STF. If nothing else, it's a cool visual. Why someone hasn't blatantly ripped this move off, I don't know. As the camera pans over, we notice that Funk tied Sting up. Ole unties Sting while Funk and Muta beat Flair up, and during the process, J-Tex gives him a spike piledriver. Ouch. Now Sting is untied, and he FLIES from the cage onto Funk in the ring with a body press. He jumped halfway across the cage, BAH GAWD. Ross then says that Muta's going to become "fried wonton," as Muta climbs up the cage. LOL. The un-PCness of announcers back then astounds me. Flair with a shinbreaker on Funk, as Muta is at the top of the cage. Flair with a kneedrop to Funk, and Muta decides to come down. Muta with a spinning heel kick on Sting and a backbreaker as he goes up top for his moonsault, but he gets crotched on the top rope. Flair applies the figure-four as Sting repeatedly splashes off the top rope into Funk, and Hart says he ain't throwin in the towel. Muta hits Bruno Sammartino, and Bruno knocks him out. Gary Hart gets on the apron in an attempt to break up the figure-four, and Ole Anderson hits him, so Gary Hart's towel flies onto the shoulder of Bruno. Bruno sees that, and says the match is over. Flair and Sting win the bout at 21:53.
And that's also the end of the show!
Match Analysis: Too weird. The whole cage should have been electrified, not just the top. What sense does it make to climb up there knowing you will get shocked? Aside from that, it's a perfectly fine match. Not great, but passable. **. Don't forget, Muta is still "undefeated" at this point, so they made sure that he wasn't the one to look weak. But Terry sure did.
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I realized that my overall ratings are flawed, so we'll add the "excellent" category. Not that this show is excellent, but I need another category to define how good a show is. There are some really good tag teams on this show. The Skyscrapers, Steiners, Doom, Road Warriors, Samoan Swat Team, The Midnight Express...
Rating: Good. Lots of decently rated matches, and a few good ones in particular. Only one terrible match, and that's good.
Best Match: Lex Luger v. Brian Pillman
Worst Match: Tommy Rich vs. The Cuban Assassin
Loudest Sound (two guys that got the biggest pop/heat): Michael Hayes and Steve Williams
No sound: Tommy Rich and Tom Zenk.
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Badd Blood will be done tomorrow, until then...
OH, I almost forgot. The Ken Patera promo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hELEcT2aZKU
Now that WrestleFanFest is over, I can happily blog about....well about my experiance anyways, but I'm doing to do it in parts, starting with day 1, Friday the 19th, which will be done in two parts. :0)
Friday was going to be a long tire-some day for me and I knew it. I was excited about it, but I just knew it was going to be a long tiresome day. Mainly because of my day job. For my day job, I have to be at work at 6 in the morning and I DON'T go to bed early, I really can't unless I take a pill and I don't do that unless I don't feel good or have a bad toothache. For my job, I drive a truck, so not only do I have to get up early in the morning and not get a lot of sleep because I don't go to bed early, but I drive for the better part of my day. The truck I drive isn't a big rig or anything, it's just a flatbed truck, that's like 10 feet long or something, by the way, the only reason why I'm telling you all this stuff, it isn't important to my story but it helps me tell my story about how I know it's going to be a long tiresome day that I was excited for.
So after a 7 hour shift of driving around Oakland all day, and taking two cat naps in my truck, as I had to wait for a few companys to take care of a few things before I could move on to the next place, I left work at 1 o'clock in the afternoon and hurried home to take a shower and get cleaned up and make my way out to the Cow Palace. I left my house around 3 all nice and packed up. Luckily on the way there, traffic wasn't all that bad, there was a bit on the 101 after the Bay Bridge but I lucked out as it died out pretty quickly, so I was able to get to the Cow Palace a few minutes after 4 pm.
I pulled into the parking lot expecting that I wasn't going to pay because I was working the show, but did the parking people have a list of names of people suppose to be at the convention.....nope they didn't, so I was suppose to pay the 8 dollar parking fee, which I really wasn't to happy about, I was even more dissapointed when I found out I only had 7 dollars on me. I asked the parking guy if I could back up and go find a atm to get more money as I only had 7 dollars on me, he told me to go ahead and park but next time I need a parking pass. I quickly explained that I hadn't been given any information except on who to ask for when I got to the door and he didn't want to hear it, so I drove away and parked. I walked up to the front door and was asked to open my bag, I told them I was a Referee for the show tonight and needed to know where to go, I got told gate 11.
I went over to gate 11, and was asked on where my pass was, I told them I didn't have a pass as I hadn't recieved it yet but I was suppose to ask for someone when I showed up. Another worker named Jardi Frantz was next to me as well and was explaining the same thing, it was the first time I had met Jardi but I had heard of him before. After we both explained our sitution and had the same story pretty much, we were let in to try and go find where we get our damn passes. We walked towards the back of this room where the vendors, booths, and wrestlers doing autographs were being held and asked around, but we both got no information. After a few minutes, I told Jardi was going to walk around and just see if I can find anyone I knew and walked away. Shortly I found Sir Samurai and one of his students.
Sir Samurai and his student shook my hand and gave me a brotherly love hug and pulled me in the right direction to go, which was to the back. In the 5 minutes that I was in the convention hall, I had already seen Virgil (Millon Dollar Man body guard), Mean Gean Okerland, and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. On the way to the back, before we had rounded a corner, Samurai warned me not to mark out to hard because the entire backstage area was filled with legends and other wrestlers...and he wasn't kidding. Devon was there, Slick, Ernest Miller, One Man Gang, and others well. Also I found a lot of the Nor-Cal wrestlers who had already been there for awhile. Helfyre, Alexis Darevko, Jason Vega, Maynard Skynard, Mr. Frost, Tim Thatcher and others as well. Also two guys from LA who I knew from before were there as well, which was great as I hadn't seen them in awhile.
As time went by, more and more wrestlers/legends started coming around and I got to meet a lot of them. Dr. Death Steve Willams, Bubba from Team 3D, Lance Hoyt, Mean Gean Okerland, Larry Zybysko (who told me his neighbor had a dog named Toby and I responded, "I always hear that when I meet someone new.), Eric Bischoff (who I didn't meet, but said Hi to.), Kamala, Rock Riddle, April Hunter, Ultimo Dragon, Francine, Steve Corino, The Sandman, Black Pearl, Chavo Gurrero sr., Orlando Jordan, and so many more. A lot of indy guys from around the United States as well.
As it became closer to show time, I went up to the locker room to get changed. When I found a room, there was Gangrel talking with Traci Brooks. I introduced myself to her and found a spot against the wall and started getting changed. I would say I introduced myself to Gangrel, but I've worked with him so much as of lates, he feels like one of the boys to me. After getting changed, I decided to stay by the stairs in the hallway because A. it was getting crowded and B. it was getting hot and there was a nice ass draft coming from downstairs to upstairs. So I stood next to the stairs.
When I got to the stairs, I heard a loud banging sound as someone was coming up them, I peaked my down and there's Big Poppa Pump Scott Steiner walking up the stairs, the banging sound was coming from his bag hitting the stairs. When he got up the stairs, I introduced myself, Rick Steiner was already upstairs, along with the Powers of Pain the Barbarian and Warlord, and let me tell you they both are still in great shape, espically Warlord. I didn't introduce myself to Warlord as I was intimated, I did however did introduce myself to Barbarian before the show started, he ended up dressing in the same room as I did, so I had to. I was nervous as all hell but Barbarian was completely and totally a great guy. Very easy to talk to.
After Scott Steiner came up the stairs, I saw that someone else started making their way up the stairs as well, The Great Muta. I shook his hand and mentally marked out hard! Physcially I looked very comfortable around him, but mentally...yeah I was marking out. More and More wrestlers started coming up to the locker room and I introduced myself them all one at a time, all very nice people. I decided to go downstairs and find the other Refs to see what matches I had schduled for the night.
To be honest, I was a bit worried about what matches I was going to get. The other 3 Refrees were from So-Cal and were friends, and normally Nor-Cal and So-Cal workers don't get along to well. Luckily I really haven't that problem when it came to Rated2G and Chino, but I was worried about the other Ref's because A) It seemed they were all friends and B) This wasn't no indy show. When I got downstairs, the other Refs pulled me aside and showed me the card. They told me I had match 3; Al Snow & Blue Meanie vs Luke Hawk and Alkatrazz, Match 7; The Battle Royal (All of the Referees were out for that match, and Match 11; The Main Event The Sandman vs Steve Corino vs The Great Muta. Yup I had the main event, I was mentally Marking out even harder now, it was like a orgasmic marking out....physically I was all fucking smiles..not quite marking out, but you could easily tell I was happy and excited as all fuck. I heavily thanked the other 3 Referees and went off and told a lot of the workers who I was close with.
Everyone close to me worker wise, shook my hand, gave me a brotherly love hug, and told me congrats. I introduced myself to Al Snow, The Blue Meanie, Luke Hawk, Alkatrazz, Steve Corino, Francine, The Sandman, Babydoll, The Great Muta, and another woman whose name escapes me right now as I just can't remember it. She told me it when I met her, but there was a lot of noise so I really didn't catch it. All of the workers involved in these matches treated me very nicely and I was very honored to have their matches. Never in my life did I ever think I'd be sitting in the same room as these guys, it was a dream come fucking true. It was so great.
(I'm going to skip the backstage stuff, i'd most likely get in trouble for telling those stories, so I'm not, I'm sorry.)
So 7:30 starts nearing by and the wrestlers and workers are getting themselves ready for the show and their matches and now...it's show time.
