BruiserKC

I remember when I was 8 years old I played T-Ball in a league where most of the kids were smaller than me, I had missed the deadline to play in the 9-10 year old league as my birthday was a month away from the deadline. They wouldn't make any exceptions, even though some parents and coaches wanted me to play in the older league. One coach got really nasty about it. I had my best games against his team, including one where I hit 3 homeruns...including one that I hit so far by the time I crossed home plate his outfielders were still chasing down the ball. That kid should get the chance to show what he's made of. Then if this kid makes the major leagues, his victims can talk about how they were gunned down by him when he was 9.

I'd like to see the beginning days of the AWA on ESPN. I want to see the days of the Road Warriors, Rick Martel, Stan Hansen, the Long Riders, Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin, etc.

The ancient Greeks had the right idea...they made the condemned kill themselves. Make these people commit suicide and take their own lives. The blood is on their hands and save us all a lot of grief.

I think it's funny that there are people who are blaming Georgia for this, when it was Russia rolling in to put the kibosh on Georgia joining NATO, etc. Georgia has no blame for what happened, Russia wants to take over, plain and simple.

One I want to throw out...Nikita Koloff at Starrcade '86. From what I understand, Dusty originally wanted to put the World title on Magnum, T.A. and have him feud with the Russian Nightmare for the title into 1987. Nikita was on a Goldberg-esque run at that time, having won the US title in August, and then the following month unifying it with the National title beating Wahoo McDaniel. When Magnum's career ended with his car accident, this left Dusty changing things, and turning Nikita face. When Nikita came out as a partner for Dusty during a match with Ole Anderson and JJ Dillon the place erupted. Nikita was quickly one of the most popular wrestlers in the NWA, and it would have been an awesome moment to see him beat Flair for the NWA World title at Starrcade. Nikita had only been a pro for about two years but had dramatically improved. He could have feuded with the Horsemen, then gone to a program with his "uncle" Ivan.

Two sandwiches I do... Roast Beef on Whole Wheat with Mustard, Chipotle sauce, Tomatoes, Onions, and Banana Peppers (I have begged them to bring back the horseradish sauce) Tuna on Monterrey Cheddar with Provolone, Light mayo, Sweet Onion, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Spinach, and black pepper

Savage's 3 top-rope elbow drops on the Ultimate Warrior at WM '91. I was going crazy at that moment...thinking the Warrior was done.

This has been going on for three years now...going back to when the Packers drafted Rodgers and Favre stated at the time that it's not his responsibility to groom Rodgers to take over when he retires. Favre would think about retirement during the offseason, leave the team in the lurch, then come back another season. I'm sure that at some point the scenario would get old when he played that card once too often. Favre's worn out his welcome in Green Bay, plain and simple. The Green Bay front office (and possibly some of the veterans and players on the team) got tired of the act and said enough is enough.

Monk is a class act. And Dr. Z aka Paul Zimmerman is a tired old bitter man who should be stripped of his credentials for electing players to the HOF. Zimmerman stood in Monk's way for many years for induction for God knows why. People can point out all of Monk's character and quality of humanity. Bottom line, when the man retired he was the all-time leading receiver in NFL history. That alone should have put him in Canton well before now. I'm a diehard Bears fan, but now let the Hall do the right thing next year and induct former Vikings Cris Carter and the NFL's Ironman, Jim Marshall. I also agree with Jay Mariotti...there is no reason as to why the Bears didn't put together a package for Favre. There's no way the Packers are letting him go to Minnesota, so the Bears could put a deal together that would give them a real shot at the divisional title again and a decent chance at getting back to the Super Bowl with as mediocre as the NFC is this year.

Teams and gimmicks like the Spirit Squad, Eugene, Zack Gowen, and soon to be Colin Delaney failed is that Vince tried too hard to shove the gimmick down our throat. I remember when Gowen was siding with Hulk Hogan before making his in-ring debut and for months all we saw was Gowen all over our TV. By the time he debuted, I didn't care one bit for him. How to book Adamle...have him booked as a very serious, all-business type of guy. At first, no one takes him seriously but eventually he turns the product around and has RAW running smoothly. Just as he has RAW running on all cylinders, Vince comes back and fires him. He puts Stephanie or Shane in charge and the chaos suddenly resumes. And this time, Vince can't keep order and after all these years of being the bad-ass in charge the act has worn thin and all hell has broken loose.

They have to show the DeBeers-Milliman Turkey On A Pole match...that was the greatest night in the history of the AWA. It's been amazing to watch where the AWA went from the mid-80s to when they went in the shitter. I caught them on ESPN from day one when they were on the air back in 1985. When they first started they had a solid show. Rick Martel was very credible as World champion, ditto with Stan "The Lariat" Hansen and later Lawler. For most who have seen Lawler only as a commentator rubbing one out whenever the women enter the ring, he was a good wrestler in his heyday.

My dream took place a few years ago...I'm walking downtown with a couple of friends and we go into one of our usual hangouts. This bar has a front section where everyone sits and watches sports, a back section with pool tables and your gratuitous Golden Tee/Silver Strike games, and the patio. First...we are ID'd at the front door...it's not the usual bouncers/doormen. In fact, on the left is the One Man Gang/Akeem, and on the other side is "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell. We walk in...in the front everyone stops to look at us. We see John Cena, Nigel McGuinness, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, etc...many of the current wrestlers. Doing bartending and waitress duties are Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Maria, Angelina Love, and other wrestling women. The owner walks out...and it's Paul Heyman. He calls us by name and says if we need anything let him know. Off in the back is a table set up for poker and pool action going on. In the back are some of the oldschool wrestlers from the past, even some deceased ones. Bruiser Brody, Owen Hart, "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer, Andre the Giant, and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams among those hanging out. Suddenly, some guys I used to fight with in high school show up and start looking for a fight. They walk towards me but before they can get too close come the rest of the bouncer crew...The Road Warriors and the Fabulous Freebirds. They beat up the troublemakers and throw them out, all but one. Heyman is talking on his huge cell phone he had back in the day, interrupts his convo long enough to clock him in the head with the phone, then finishes his talk without skipping a beat.

Was watching this the other night...IIRC was part of an old wrestling video. It brought back quite a few memories of how wrestling once was. "Macho Man" Randy Savage was one of the best in the ring and on the mic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQQ3XZNeiLk You can have your "Real American", "Pomp and Circumstance"...whatever...I always felt this was the greatest theme song ever in wrestling and no doubt the best video.

If I remember, that was at the first Superclash in September '85 in Comiskey Park. The Freebirds had scored the pinfall and the win in that match, albeit through the usual heel tactics. However, Verne Gagne went to the instant replay card and reversed the decision in favor of Animal and Hawk. For some time, I remember reading Gagne was wanting to get the belts off Animal and Hawk, and did shortly after with Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal winning them. Of course, it's been brought up here in another thread, but Stan Hansen refusing to job to Nick Bockwinkel in 1986. Hansen had brought major credibility to the AWA World title but Verne wanted him to put Bockwinkel over. He refused, plus Hansen wanted to also fulfill his obligation to All Japan. So Verne stripped Hansen of the championship, and the story of Hansen running over the AWA World title belt prior to returning it to Bockwinkel came about. Ric Flair refusing to job to Lex Luger on many occasions. Most notably the GAB and Starrcade '88, and the GAB '91. At the Bash in '91 they were booking Luger to finally go over Flair. But Flair would have none of it, plus the contract dispute that took place leading to Flair bolting and taking the title belt with him when Jim Herd wouldn't pay back the $25K deposit the champ put down on the belt.

I find it quite funny that once upon a time Arianna Huffington was a bleeding-heart liberal when she was hooked up with former California governor Jerry Brown, switched over to the other team when she married Michael Huffington, then after their divorce became even more of a leftie than before.

I liked some of the angles that took place during the WCCW days... King Kong Bundy getting his signature look from his days with World Class, having his head shaved when Fritz Von Erich beat him in his retirement match. Ultimate Warrior's botching of a piledriver on Chris Adams during a non-title match when Adams was WCCW World champ. Warrior caught Adams in the throat and when he was unable to continue sped up the ending by letting Warrior beat him with a flying elbow. Eric Embry's vomiting in the middle of the ring, actually tossing his cookies when he was attacked by Akbar, Cactus Jack, and Gary Young with a baseball bat. Plus, later when Akbar and company attacked Frank Dusek, Marc Lowrance referred to the attack as absolutely sickening. When told not to use that verbage, he told Akbar to kiss his ass and walked off the set before a Kerry/Jarrett vs. Cactus/Young match.

Only time I've seen anything post-1989 from USWA is when I had the chance to catch IWA wrestling from Puerto Rico on Empire Sports. They would show a lot of USWA and Global footage from that time, including Austin, the Ebony Experience (aka Booker and Stevie) and the Patriot.

I remember seeing the Lawler head-shaving incident...the fans in Memphis just about rioted and stormed the ring. But IIRC doesn't Vince own the rights to the Memphis footage up until that time? Global action would own...I would like to see guys like the late "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert one more time.

He was 71 Lighten up, Francis. It's just an expression.

"Got into an argument this morning with my Rice Krispies. I distinctly heard, "Snap, Crackle, FUCK HIM!" " "Running isn't a sport because it's something everyone can do. Anything everyone can do can't be a sport...I can run and you can run. My mother can run, you don't see her on the cover of Sports Illustrated." "New Jersey gets my vote as Tollbooth Capital of the United States. You can't even get out of your driveway without some schmuck in a hat wanting 50 cents. And I don't mind paying tolls, but every 37 feet? BULLSHIT!" And my all-time fave line of his... "Have you ever noticed that most people that are against abortion are people you wouldn't fuck in the first place?" George Carlin was the greatest comedian ever. Period. Very few people managed to stay funny and relevant over as long as he did stand-up. He changed his schtick several times over the 40-plus years he performed and never got stale. I think I'm going to listen to some of his albums tonight in memory of him. RIP, George, we hardly knew ye...

I'll go old school for a couple of these... Kerry Von Erich's winning the NWA World title in 1984 from Ric Flair. Seeing Von Erich celebrate with his family was a touching moment, especially after the tragedy that befell brother David. Jerry Lawler's winning the AWA World title in 1988..."The King" is almost in tears and then gets hoisted on the shoulders of guys the like of Jeff Jarrett and Superstar Bill Dundee. Plus both of these are in the respective winners' hometown...added much more to the whole thing.

As the Sheepherders Luke and Butch kicked all forms of ass. But as the Bushwhackers they did blow serious chunks. I remember I liked Koko B. Ware even though he sucked, Frankie was the most redeeming part of the gimmick. Others that I knew sucked but still got a kick out of watching... Sam Houston Mulkey Brothers Barry Horowitz Brian Adias Jake "The Milkman" Milliman

I like the segments with Awesome Kong beating up the fans. They've made her into a very credible monster heel and a very solid women's champ. Jim Cornette going from one extreme to the other regarding the angle=ratings. He's showing to be more interested in the bottom line for TNA which is ultimately working out very well. His decisions might screw over some wrestlers but it's more for the Benjamins than it is to hose so-and-so. I'll be very interested to see where the Kevin Nash enforcer angle goes. I wouldn't be surprised if he joins up down the road with Booker T and Team 3D.

I'll help if you're still planning on going forward with it.

July 1979 AWA Champions World- Nick Bockwinkel TT- Verne Gagne/Mad Dog Vachon Southern- Ron Bass NWA Champions World- Harley Race TT- Paul Jones/Baron Von Raschke US- Ric Flair Southeastern- Dick Slater Southeastern TT- Ron and Robert Fuller Women's- Fabulous Moolah WWWF Champions World- Bob Backlund TT- Jerry and Johnny Valiant Women's- Fabulous Moolah Also...looking around the Net, found other champs of some top regional promotions of the time. Mid-Atlantic Champ- Ken Patera TT- Ken Patera/Big John Studd TV- Rick Steamboat Brass Knuckles- Cyclone Negro Georgia Champ- Wahoo McDaniel TT- Tommy Rich/Stan Hansen TV- Blackjack Lanza Florida Champ- King Curtis Iaukea TT- Jimmy Garvin/Steve Keirn TV- Dusty Rhodes Central States Champ- Bob Sweetan TT- Jerry Brown/The Turk Missouri Champ- Dick Murdoch Mid-South/Tri-State North American- Mr. Wrestling II Arkansas- Charlie Cook Tri-State Louisiana- Mike George Tri-State Brass Knucks- Angelo Mosca World Class American- The Spoiler American TT- El Gran Markus/Gino Hernandez TV- The Spoiler Texas- David Von Erich Texas TT- Kerry Von Erich/Bruiser Brody ICW Champ- Randy Savage US TT- George Weingeroff/Lanny Poffo SE- Ron Garvin SE TT- Bob Orton Jr/Bob Roop SCW (Southwestern Championship Wrestling) Champ- Tully Blanchard PNW Champ- Stan Stasiak TT- Sheepherders