thuganomics

If by h2o you mean H2 wrestling, they closed a couple months back as well. MLW is back open, but it remains to be seen when they actually start promoting again.

good resource, although the rosters are rather out of date.

As the guy who currently runs the official No Limits forum (end cheap plug) I think it would be a shame to see No Limits go away, but having attended only one of the Quad Cities show (a 2 hr drive for me) I'd rather see them move farther in to Iowa. The area between Des Moines and Waterloo was once a hot bed for pro wrestling; I personally think it could be again if a promotion as good as this one moved in.

Smackdown actually seems to be the better show for the moment, although the fact they don't really push JBL at us for half an hour at a time is itself enough to cause improvement. Dupree & Suzuki work oddly well as tag champs, and the Kidman and London feud looks like it should prove really, really good. RAW on the other hand can't even seem to figure out what to do with Chris Benoit, William Regal, or half their other stars. Most of Smackdown's cast at least has direction.

Y'know, you could have at least given us a match listing for the thing... ah, well.

How can you have a no time limit Iron Man match? Just wondering...

I enjoyed KW Jeter's Boba Fett trilogy, but I will admit she was an odd choice to author the books as she has a more introspective style. Stilll good reads though. Kevin J Anderson's books are weak. The fact that Kyp Durron wasn't even punished for destroying several whole systems says to me he didn't even think his plots out. Utterly weak, and now he's hacking up the Dune universe. Both Salvatore and Elaine Cunningham are examples of D & D authors that should have been kept far away from Star Wars novels. Only Troy Denning seems to have a handle on the universe from the former TSR writers. I actually would like to see more from Williams and Dix who wrote three books in the NJO series. They're really talented guys who actually tried to breathe life in to an utterly stale series.

Looks like a good show. Who the hell is the UK Kid though?

I voted for D'Lo, mostly because I'm a mark for him. Honestly, I think giving a solid push to ANY of these people could help the company. Just removing Jarrett from the title picture would probably help buyrates for TNA, as I feel that mose people just don't want to see him as champ anymore. But convincing the bigheaded oaf of that would probably prove nearly impossible.

In the case of Jerry Lawler, I would guess that WWE has released it so Jerry himself can take ownership of it, as he wrestles outside WWE quite a bit now. Don't know about Chris Jericho either, but I would guess he owned the rights to his own name...

Lynn was around for a good month after ECW joined the Invasion angle. He fought several WCW stars on Heat and Jakked, and they'd always question why he didn't joine, but nothing came of it do to his injury. And Lynn had been recovered from his injury for several weeks before he was fired. If I recall, he'd been sitting around at OVW for weeks before they let him go to do the WWA show.

um... actually I'm pretty sure the TE winner just gets a million, no guaranteed contract for a year. That way they don't have to worry about getting any "quality" workers like Jackie and Linda Miles out of this one. And I want to know who the hell Norma Lee is as well.

Hey, Jeff may be a little off in the head, but he sure as shit ain't as crazy as the Warrior and his made up concepts.

It seems strange to me that Starship Troopers gets mentioned repeatedly, but Heinlein's finest work, Stranger in a Strange Lan remains unmentioned. I've read it at least 4 times. And Speaker of the Dead is superior to Ender's Game, though a much tougher read. And Neverwhere's my favorite Gaiman work. I've read it three times, while I've only covered the others twice. And I need to throw out the poetry of Allen Ginsberg and the writings of William Burroughs and jack Kerouac for their re-readability, although you generally need to read them twice just to figure them out...

It's a good DVD though I'd liked to have seen the WM XX match, and maybe the street fight with John Cena, because that was damn entertaining.

It WOULD be nice to see them move over in to Iowa a little further; maybe book a show in Cedar Rapids or Iowa City.

presented by Introduction: It's the beginning of the year 1988. Reagan's reign as President is coming to an end, and with it the cold war. But in the world of wrestling another paradigm shift is occuring, as the heyday of the regional companies draw near a close. Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation and Ted Turner's recently purchased Jim Crockette Promotions (a.k.a. the National Wrestling Alliance) have become the two premiere companies in the country. Struggling with dismal ratings and rosters picked apart by the big two, many of the regionals are barely able to survive. World Class Championship Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, American Wrestling Alliance, and others can barely stay afloat. But one company, Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler's CWA have realized the future of wrestling in time. But their moderately sized Memphis promotion only barely makes a profit. So Jerry Lawler calls in a favor. His close friend Andy Kaufman is on the road to recovery following a nearly deadly bout with cancer. Kaufman had made a name of Jerry Lawler in a series of matches at the beginning of the decade, and the two became unlikely friends. Andy had the wrestling bug, and Jerry made him an offer: fund CWA and receive a guaranteed place in wrestling history. Kaufman agreed, asking for only one boon: to be made the company's on-screen president. Lawler agreed, not realizing quite what Andy had in mind. The company, still trapped on Tennessee television began to recruit wrestlers from around the country and the world. At the same time, they changed the company's name to United States Wrestling Alliance (USWA) in order to more strongly capture the scope of their plans. As 1988 dawns, a new era in wrestling is about to begin. . .

USWA TV preview April 16 Tempers continue to flair in USWA! The British Bulldogs will take on World Champion Art Barr and his former foe Raven in a battle to prove that Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith are world class athletes. Plus, the feud is renewed: the Rock N Roll Express vs the Midnight Express! These two teams have been age old enemies, and they will once again collide on USWA television! Plus, in an amazing 8-man match, Demolition and the Fabulous Ones will get in to the ring with the combined forces of tag champions Perfection and the Brainbusters! All this, plus apperances by all your favorite USWA stars, this Saturday on USWA TV!

Interesting article but you haven't got to XPW at all yet, so it seems kind of pointless so far. I'll read part 2 though.

While he was signed only a couple of weeks after his TNA debut I don't really think that WWE gave a lick who worked for them. I'm guessing they signed London after Cornette's repeated visits to ROH showed to him that he was a talent worth having in WWE.

Anybody going to this show?

Outside of Shelley, Hero, and now Jay Lethal, I really don't care that much for CZW. They waste too much time on people like the Messiah, Adam Flash, and Justice Pain. Meh.

It should be a good show, but Bret vs Owen at WM X is one of the best matches of ALL Time, why wouldn't they put it on there? Also, I think they need a Hart Foundation/British Bulldogs match of some kind, because those two teams put on some amazing matches.

USWA TV Friday, April 9, 1988 Steve Kiern vs Tully Blanchard Steve Kiern held his own in his battle with Tully Blanchard, but the match ultimately came down to interference from Arn Anderson. Double A hit Kiern with a chair while the ref was down, allowing Blanchard to score with a Brainbuster for the win. Rating: *** The Brainbusters joined Paul E. Dangerously backstage. Paul told the Fabulous Ones that the Brainbusters have whipped them time and again, and the Fabulous Ones should just give up while they can. -Commercial- Bert Prentice was in the interview position with Rip Morgan when we returned from the first break. Prentice told Bill Dundee that he'd regret the day he interfered with their business, and that it starts tonight with a tag team match. Andy Kaufman is backstage, and announces that tonight we will see Demolition and Rock N Roll Express fight in a tag team match to determine which team REALLY deserves to take on Perfection at Champion's Carnival II. -Commercial- Bill Dundee and Al Snow vs The Black Knights (Rip Morgan and Norvell Austin) Bill Dundee and Al Snow really took it to Norvell Austin in the early goings of this match, but eventually, Norvell managed to tag in Rip Morgan. Morgan decimated Al Snow in the ring, but found himself fighting tooth and nail with Bill Dundee. The Black Knights' manager Bert Prentice finally got involved, distracting Dundee long enough for Morgan to hook him in to a Piledriver for the three count. Post match, Al Snow rushed the ring, and he and Dundee forced the Black Knights out of the ring. Rating: ** 3/4 Eddie Gilbert was backstage. He gloated about putting Jerry Lawler out of commission for the week. He was tired of Lawler hogging the spotlight in USWA and CWA, and he would destroy Lawler's career if it was the last thing he did. -Commercial- As we returned from commercial, Dynamite Kid Tom Billington had taken over the interview position. Dynamite told Art Barr that at Champion's Carnival II he'd prove himself the best wrestler in the world today. Davey Boy Smith vs World Champion "Love Machine" Art Barr in a non-title match Davey Boy proved himself to be a solid wrestler when he stood toe to toe with Art Barr in the center of the ring. Barr tried his best to wrestle his way around Smith, but Davey Boy matched him move for move, hold for hold. Art Barr ultimately has to result to cheating to pick up the win over the British Bulldog. He whipped Davey Boy in to an exposed turnbuckle, than landed a Frog Splash to pick up the win. After the match, Dynamite Kid ran in to help his partner, and he began to brawl with Art Barr. He floored Barr with a rolling triple vertical suplex, than scored with the Swandive Headbutt to lay out the champ. Rating: *** -Commercial- Perfection was backstage in a special viewing area where they could not interfere with the main event. They ripped in to both Demolition and the Rock N Roll Express, stating no one would be able to defeat them. -Commercial- Demolition vs Rock N Roll Express for the Tag Team #1 Contendership The match proved to be a clash of styles, but Demolition's brawling seemed to be enough to counter the Rock N Roll Express's superior mat skills. Ricky Morton seemed to be taking the best of Smash midway in to the match, when the Midnight Express of Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey arrived on the scene. Eaton and Condrey attacked Morton and Gibson at every available opportunity, ultimately allowing Smash to pick up the win after an Elbow Drop on Robert Gibson. Demolition celebrate their victory, while the Rock N Roll Express find themselves battling with the Midnight Express outside of the ring. Eaton and Condrey ultimately piledrive Gibson in to the concrete floor, before leaving the arena. Rating: **** Demolition return to the ring, to celebrate their number one contender status. Perfection emerge from the crowd, hitting the ring with chairs in hand. They lay out Demolition with chair shots, then stand victorious in the ring. Overall Rating: 83%

News and Notes from the Wrestling Observer: Word from CWA (the developmental branch of USWA) is that a Women's division may be in the works for USWA's future. Stay tuned to this mag for more info. Expect another major tag team to follow the Rock N Roll Express in to USWA. The company seems poised to become the tag team mecca of wrestling. Card for CHAMPION'S CARNIVAL II so far: World Heavyweight Championship: "Love Machine" Art Barr © vs. International champion "Dynamite Kid" Tom Billington World Tag Team Championship: Perfection © vs. Demolition