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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 14, 2021 23:45:22 GMT -5
Billy Corgan has a new video up about the main event for their Back for the Attack PPV, on Fite, which will feature Aron Stevens (the #rd Degree National Champion) vying for the NWA World Hwt Title, held by Nick Aldis.
Nice idea; but, I haven't been as impressed by Stevens in the ring as on the mic and in comedy spots. His duo with The Question Mark was one of the most entertaining elements of the Power show and his deluded Hollywood personna makes for some fun interaction with the crowds; but, his in-ring isn't that special, which is probably part of why the WWE let him go and why he wasn't that big of a deal in TNA/Impact. Maybe Aldis can carry him, maybe he will step up his game.
Personally, I think a better match would be Trevor Murdoch and Aldis, both for an in-ring match and a storyline, as the clash of gimmicks is perfect (snooty, well-dressed, cocky Brit vs down-home rural tough guy American).
Still have a problem of what talent is still under contract/available. Ricky Starks left before they went into lockdown and Thunder Rosa has been in AEW, though they have used her image, suggesting she will still be involved. I kind of think they were angling for Kamille to gain the title, anyway, once they had finished Thunder Rosa splitting off from Melina. They have already done a title switch on AEW; but, Corgan owns the belt and trademark to the title, which suggests that Rosa is still under contract. When the pandemic hit, the wrestlers were temporarily released from contract obligations, to take other bookings (and contracts varied, as far as money and commitments, with Aldis at the top); but, the proviso that they would come back under the NWA banner, when they restarted. Question is, can Corgan continue to pay them or has enough time passed to nullify those agreements? I guess we will see. I hope the audience is there; but, I think they are probably going to be starting from square one.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 21, 2021 10:26:19 GMT -5
RIP to 80s WWF undercard wrestler Barry O, aka Barry Orton. Barry was the younger brother of Cowboy Bob Orton Jr, son of The Big O, Bob Orton Sr and uncle of Randy Orton (his actual legal name was Randall and Randy is named after him). Barry started wrestling in the mid-70s and worked for a short period of time in the Poffo ICW promotion, while Bob was working there. He worked in a few territories, including Stampede, in Calgary, as well as the Los Angeles promotion, in a tag-team with Hector Guerrero. In the mid-80s, he started working as and undercard performer in the WWF, jobbing to bigger names at television tapings and wrestling opening matches on cards. Barry became a central figure in the early 1990s sex scandal, at the WWF, involving the sexual harassment of ringboys, young fans who helped set up the rings and carry robes and jackets back to the dressing rooms. One of the people involved was Terry Garvin, a former wrestler (no relation to Ronnie Garvin, though they did wrestle as brothers) who worked behind-the-scenes in the WWF. Orton was no longer working for the WWF; but came forward with allegations that Garvin had propositioned him several years earlier, when he was a rookie and was refused and that Garvin, along with Pat Patterson, kept him low on the card as punishment for his past actions. He mostly left wrestling behind, though he did pop up again, as a manager, during the boom of the late 90s. He moved on to acting in small roles as well as the music industry.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2021 23:01:06 GMT -5
So, A&E ran their biography of Randy "Macho Man" Savage. I was interested, as I got into wrestling watching the Poffo family's ICW promotion, with Randy as the champion. Now, I knew there would be issues, as it was done in conjunction with the WWE, which means their version of history. In that situation, your best hope is some kind of interesting hook or an interview with somebody you don't normally see in these things.
Vice had already done their piece on Savage and Elizabeth, focusing on Elizabeth's overdose and ending with Randy's heart attack. It was decent and presented a fairly accurate portrayal, as much as you get with wrestling.
The hook here, for me, is they actually used some of the ICW footage that I watched originally. Not much exists and they didn't really turn up anything new. Most of it is on Youtube and they cleaned it up, and mixed Memphis stuff in there. Their timeline is complete BS, that is for certain, which is usual, with the WWE. They also talk with former girlfriend, Gorgeous George (Stephanie Bellars), who was his valet in WCW, when he came back from an injury.
For the average fan, it's fine, though you get comments from current WWE performers who weren't there, yet are talking about things that happened before some of them were even born. That's the WWE trying to use this to promote its current cast. It's par for the course, since, these days, a lot of their people are interchangeable.
The thing presents the idea that Randy played baseball, then got cut and turned to wrestling to earn a living. Randy was playing minor league ball and then started wrestling on the side, to earn extra money. He wrestled under a mask, as The Spider, before wrestling under his own name, after baseball, when he did it full time. They come up with some BS about the Savage name. That came from Ole Anderson, in Georgia. He said Randy wrestled like a savage and it stuck. In the doc, Lanny Poffo tells a story of Randy coming to him for advice about changing his gimmick. He says he told him to copy a promo he liked that represented a savage and Randy hit upon Pampiro Firpo, the Wild Bull of the Pampas, who had wrestled in Detroit (as had Angelo and Lanny). The Macho Man name came from their mother, though the Village People song came along at the same time.
Randy's history before Memphis is ignored. He wrestled in Georgia, Knoxville and the Carolinas, as well as Gulf Coast, with Lanny and Angelo, before getting a bit of a push in nick Gulas' Eastern Tennessee promotion, out of Nashville. Randy was a heel, feuding with Dutch Mantell and Dutch tells the story, in his book, about Randy getting into a fight with a guy at a Waffle House, where a knife is pulled and Randy leaps over the counter and grabs the first weapon he can get, which was a butter knife. The cops are called and 5 police officers can't take down Randy (who Dutch admits might have been on something), but a police dog took him down.
The Poffos worked a lot for "outlaw" promotions (small promotions, not affiliated with the NWA or other promotions), including Phil Golden's All-Star Wrestling, out of Paducah, KY, George Culkins' Gulf Coast, in Mississippi and Alabama, Ann Gunkel's All-South, in Atlanta, GA, as well as places like Detroit and Nashville, where the promoters (The Sheik and Nick Gulas, respectively) weren't NWA hard liners. In the late 70s, they went to work in Nova Scotia for Emil Dupree's Atlantic Grand Prix promotion, in what was called the Maritimes Territory, after the region in Canada (Eastern Canada). Angelo booked the shows, with Randy on top, as International Champion, with Lanny as the top babyface. That helped set the template for what followed, in 1979, in Kentucky. Angelo set up shop in Lexington, KY, as International Championship Wrestling, promoting in Kentucky and Tenenssee.. Lexington was promoted by the Memphis group, under Jerry Jarrett. However, that was about the only real overlap, as the Poffos were doing shows in small towns, which didn't get regular wrestling. They hooked up with a faction that broke away from the Knoxville, TN promotion of Ron Fuller and was running opposition. That group had Bob Orton Jr, Bob Roop, Boris Malenko and Ronnie Garvin. The two groups started working together, exchanging talent and co-promoting shows. That lasted until about 1980, when Roop and Orton moved on, getting back in with bigger territories. ICW ran shows in West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Southern and Central Illinois and Missouri, mostly along the I-64 corridor, in areas starved for pro wrestling on a regular basis. They ran near my hometown, in both Decatur and Springfield, IL (I grew up in a little farm town in between the two). They last more talent to bigger promotions and worked with some of the guys from Detroit, which was dying. Then, in 1983, as things were starting to go downhill and the remaining talent was leaving, they cut a deal with Jarrett for Randy to come in and feud with Jerry Lawler. Prior to that (mainly in the early ICW days), they had issued challenges and had matches listed on their cards as facing Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee and Jimmy Valiant, if they showed up, which they wouldn't. Now, after teasing this for 3 or 4 years, they were actually going to wrestle and faced each other in the Mid-South Colosseum, in Memphis and Rupp Arena, in Lexington, both of which were sold out. Lanny and Angelo were involved, with Lanny & Randy having a memorable match with the Rock N Roll Express, in the Mid-South Colosseum. Randy worked there through 1984, then, with the aid of Jimmy Hart, got a deal with the WWF.
The documentary talks in general terms about ICW, shows some clips and has Lawler and Hart providing the Memphis perspective, though with several clips that are actually the Memphis tv presented as if it was ICW.
Elizabeth is brought into the story and they do show a clip of her introducing the ICW show, as she did when they stopped doing it at the Lexington tv station and just presented tapes from arenas. She would introduce herself as Liz Huelette.
When they shift to the WWE, they present the angle where Elizabeth came out as manager, with Lanny providing the date of their actual wedding. The way the story is told, Randy wanted Liz to work as a commentator and Vince came upon the idea of a valet, like it was new, supported by his usual cast of stooges, Bruce Prichard and other WWE shills. reality was that valets were used in wrestling back to the 40s and 50s. World Class had done a major angle with Jimmy Garvin and his valet, Sunshine, against David Von Erich. Eventually, Sunshine leaves Garvin and he brings out Precious (his wife, Patty), while sunshine works with the babyfaces. That sparked a lot of valets in other promotions, as World Class was widely syndicated, nationally. Sunshine and Precious are soon followed by The Fallen Angel (Nancy Toffolini Sullivan Benoit, aka Woman), Rick Rude's valet Angel, Adrian Street's wife Miss Linda, and Missy Hyatt. Heck, randy had already used a valet in ICW, Brenda Britton, the then-wife of Rip Rogers (who also used her as a valet). Vince wanted Randy to have a valet from the start as a "beauty and the beast" thing and Randy suggested Elizabeth, who Vince hadn't even met. The rest was history.
The piece goes out of its way to play up the stories of Randy being paranoid about Liz (true, to an extent), but ignored that she was having an affair when the doc makes it sound like she walked out on Randy, because of his possessiveness. That affair was aided by Hulk Hogan's wife, which helped cause heat between Savage and Randy. They don't have Linda Hogan (as the Dark Side of the Ring piece did); but have Hulk (which is probably why no Linda) and then present Eric Bischoff's wife as a friend of Liz, even before Randy is working in WCW.
They bring up Randy leaving for WCW when Vince wanted him to just be a commentator and taking the Slim Jim contract with him. There were rumors that Randy had slept with an underage Stephanie McMahon, with not proof of any kind, as the reason for Vince holding a grudge against Savage, until his death; but, the Slim Kim thing cost Vince something like $16 million in ad revenue and sponsorship money. That hurt Vince, at a time when his business was declining.
Jery Lawler talks about Savage turning up, out of the blue on WCW tv, making it sound like it was Monday Nitro. That was Lex Lugar. Randy had gone earlier, with Vince's full knowledge
They present Stephanie Bellars, aka Gorgeous George and her relationship with Randy, though she makes an accusation I have never heard, about him having video cameras spying on her house, which she discovered monitors in a locked cabinet, in his house. no roof is offered and it sounds a bit too Hollywood. Bellars was a stripper, Randy was a celebrity and a ticket to bigger things, as she was brought out as Gorgeous George, his valet. Randy had actually purchased the trademark for the name, intending it to be a wrestling gimmick for lanny, at WCW and got him a contract, at $100,000 a year. Lanny was home training to debut, but never got called to tv and WCW continued to pay him his money to sit home. Randy gave the name to Bellars and also had the future Molly Holly , as Ms Madness, and Madusa Micelli in his entourage. Savage and Bellars split (after she and Randy got into it with Road warrior Hawk and his girlfriend, at a concert, resulting in Hawk beating the crap out of Savage) and Savage blocked her from using the name, with Bellars turning up in ECW as George and milking what celebrity mileage was left in her 15 minutes. Savage was older and was possessive, but she was also using him for her own notoriety and was hardly the innocent she pretends in the show, despite talking about being a stripper and doing drugs, including a promo on Nitro, while high.
Lanny is there, a bit and there is older footage of their mother, Judy Poffo talking, but family stuff is discussed by people outside the family, suggesting that they didn't like Lanny's take on things and show one answer, related to Elizabeth where Lanny blows off a follow up with "I gave you my answer." Lanny is understandably protective about family.
Absent from all of this is Debbie Combs, who dated Randy in the ICW days, before Elizabeth, and his widow, Lynn, though their history fills in the end portion, including the seeming reality that Randy was happy and at peace and had moved on from the wrestling world. the photos of them that surfaced sure seemed to reinforce that image, as she had been a woman he dated while playing baseball, in Florida, and they got reacquainted in the latetr years of his life and married.
Jim Cornette discusses the piece and problems with the timelines and info, as well as a encapsulated history of ICW and similar outlaws, with whom the Poffos worked...
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2021 18:59:15 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on May 15, 2021 20:17:02 GMT -5
Yeah, saw that. Made a name for himself in Jim Cornette's Smokey Mountain Wrestling, with Mustafa, as the Ganstas, where he cut searing promos that pushed racial divides with the white fans of the Tennessee-based promotion. Cornette loved what he did and gave him guidance, while he drew nuclear heat, with promos related to the Rodney King beatings and subsequent riots, plus the OJ Simpson murder trial. from there, he went to work in ECW, where he continued the trend, as well as violent brawls. he became infamous for a match with Erich, Kulas, aka Mass Transit, a fan-turned-wrestler wannabee, who was a bus driver and called himself Mass Transit. He lied about his age, claiming to be 21, but was only 17. New Jack was to guide him through the match and Mass Transit was to (and wanted to) bleed, but didn't know how to make a blade and the safer ways to cut. So, New Jack did it for him, using a scalpel and cut too deeply, opening a couple of arteries, in the forehead. New Jack was Jerome Young, who had a violent childhood, as his father tried to kill his mother on more than one occasion. He came into wrestling via the USWA, the later version of the Memphis territory, after training with Ray Candy (aka Kareem Muhammad, of the Zambuie Express). His ring name was a nod to the film New Jack City. He met and teamed with Mustafa in the North Georgia Wrestling Alliance, before going to work for jim Cornette, in Smoky Mountain and then ECW. New Jack appeared in a portion of Barry Blaustein's documentary, Beyond the Mat and was a featured subject in last season's dark Side of the Ring, from Vice TV. The feature covered his time in Smoky Mountain and ECW, as well as subsequent incidents, after the Mass Transit incident. The Dark Side of the Ring piece is pretty unflinching and featured New Jack, Mustafa and Jim Cornette in interviews.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 18, 2021 1:18:48 GMT -5
RIP to tag-team specialist Don Kernodle.... Kernodle was born and raised in Burlington, NC and was always a fan of the Carolina-based, Mid-Atlantic territory, promoted by Jim Crockett Sr and Jr. From the age of 7, he wanted to be a wrestler. To obtain that goal, he started amateur wrestling in high school, as a heavyweight, and continued on at Elon College. From college he got his break into the world of pro wrestling during a tv challenge against noted "shooter," Bob Roop (an All-Army wrestler, an AAU collegiate wrestler, and member of the 1968 Olympic team), where he would take on all comers to see who could last with him. Kernodle lost, but, he so impressed The Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Gene and Ole Anderson, that they offered to train him for free. He debuted in 1973, working in the Carolinas. He was a solid wrestler, but lacked the personality and promo skills to rise far on the card, until the early 1980s, when Bob Remus, aka Sgt Slaughter, had an idea. In a car ride from Myrtle Beach, SC, to Savannah, GA, Slaughter bought a composition book and filled it out with a complete angle to elevate Kernodle to a higher place. The Sarge "recruited" the promising wrestler and trained him, like the drill instructor he portrayed (but never was, nor was he ever a Marine). Each week, Kernodle got better and he and Slaughter racked up wins, until they won the Carolina version of the NWA World Tag-Team Titles. In reality, the tag titles had been unused since Gene Anderson was injured, in 1982. Ole was the booker for Jim Crockett, but was fired and took the belts with him to Georgia, where he was also booker and owned part of the promotion, making himself and Stan Hanson champions. Ole was eventually forced to return the belts and then Slaughter and Kernodle appeared on tv as the new champions, having allegedly (and fictitiously) defeated Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki for the titles, in Japan. Slaughter and Kernodle proved to be a great heel tag team, mixing mat wrestling with brawling and heel tactics, with Slaughter's feared Cobra Clutch submission hold (a legit chokehold, when actually sunk in). They then entered an epic feud with the top babyface tag-team, Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood. For months, they battled it out over the tag-titles, electrifying audiences with the perfect mix of heal tactics and babyface technique, from two of the best tag-teams in the world, at the time. the feud culminated in a cage match, in Greensboro, NC, in March of 1983, where Steamboat & Youngblood finally defeated the heels and won the titles. Slaughter then went off to the WWF, to be fed to Bob Backlund for a title program, then continuing as a heel, until the Hulkamania era, where he was turned babyface, after a staredown with the Iron Sheik and their "Boot Camp Match." Kernodle remained in the tag-team ranks, teaming first with Bob Orton Jr, then with Ivan Koloff. Kernodle was teaming with Ivan when a Minnesota wrestler, Scott Simpson (one of Ed Sharkey's trainees, along with the Road Warriors, Rick Rude and Barry Darsow), was brought in as Ivan's nephew, Nikita Koloff. Soon, the Russians turned on Kernodle and he became a babyface, while Darsow was eventually brought in as Krusher Khruschev (a gimmick he carried over from Mid-South, where he had played the American turncoat, Crusher Darsow, who teams up with Nikolai Volkoff, to become Krusher Kruschev). The change was brought about by new booker, Dusty Rhodes, who didn't have much for Kernodle and even plans to reteam with a returning Slaughter fell through. Kernodle was left in the undercard of the Carolinas, before leaving to work for local independents. He eventually left wrestling for law enforcement. Kernodle was one of several Mid-Atlantic wrestlers to appear in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie, Paradise Alley, which featured Terry Funk as the local champion, Frankie "The Thumper" Lancaster, who is challenged, in the climactic match, by Stallone's younger brother 9armand Assante also stars as one of the brothers). Kernodle and several other Mid-Atlantic wrestlers appear in wrestling match scenes and montages in the film, including Ted DiBiase, Bob Roop, Dick Murdoch, Dory Funk Jr, Don Leo Jonathan, Gene Kiniski, Dennis Stamp, Ray Stevens and King Tonga/Haku/Meng. You can see the angle play out on this playlist, from Kernodle teaming with Jim Nelson (the future Boris Zhukov), as Pvt Nelson & Pvt Kernodle, managed by Sgt Slaughter, up to the climactic cage match title bout, defending against steamboat & Youngblood. Mid-Atlantic was some of the best wrestling in the country, in the 70s and 80s, eventually leading to Jim Crockett Jr buying out the World Championship Wrestling time slot, on WTBS and bringing the promotion to the national cable show and becoming the big rival to the WWF expansion (after buying the show from Vince McMahon, whose own show was a failure on WTBS, after fans rejected it for traditional NWA wrestling). !983 was a phenomenal year, as the Slaughter & Kernodle vs Steamboat & Youngblood feud headlined cards in one part, while Ric Flair vs Harley Race and vs Bob Orton Jr and Dick Slater headlined other cards, with a further main event program of Greg Valentine vs Roddy Piper, for the US title as another headline attraction. Steamboat & Youngblood entered into a program against former NWA World champion Jack Brisco and brother Gerry (a former NWA World Jr Hwt Champion) for the tag tiles. Valentine would bloody Piper's ear, causing hearing damage (some legit), building a bloody feud. Ric Flair had a bounty placed on his head, by NWA World Champion Harley Race, which was collected by Bob Orton Jr and dick Slater, after they double-teamed Flair and gave him a stuff pile driver, putting him out of action. It all led to the first Starrcade extravaganza, Thanksgiving Night, at the Greensboro Colosseum, shown on close circuit tv. The Briscos defended the NWA World Tag-Team titles against Steamboat & Youngblood, with the babyfaces emerging victorious. Piper and Valentine fought in a bloody Dog Collar match, where they were attached to each other by a heavy chain, linked to leather collars, around their necks. The main event was Ric Flair challenging Harley Race for the NWA World Hwt Title, in a cage, with former champion Gene Kiniski as the referee (a role which he botched horribly, inserting himself too much into the match and interrupting the flow). It culminated in Flair's win of the title and helped launch Crockett's expansion to WCW and elsewhere in the US. Starrcade was the blueprint for every other major arena show, including Wrestlemania. hulk Hogan had been booked to be in a tag match, with Wahoo McDaniel as a partner and skipped the event to go to the WWF, where Vince put the belt on him and launched Hulkamania.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 18, 2021 18:33:40 GMT -5
Another wrestler has passed away; perennial 1980s World Championship Wrestling tv journeyman/enhancement talent/jobber Mike Starbuck. Starbuck was one of several regular enhancement guys featured on the WTBS Saturday night World Championship Wrestling tv show (formerly Georgia Championship Wrestling, though it was still the Georgia NWA promotion), including Mike Jackson (who booked most of the enhancement guys), Pat Rose, Randy Barber, Chick Donovan and Rocky King. There job was to face the stars, each week, on tv, and gets their butts whooped, to entice fans to come out and see the stars.
Here, you can see Starbuck, teaming with Pat Rose, against the tag-team of Matt Bourne & Arn Anderson, managed by Precious Paul Ellering...
In 1983, Ellering went from a wrestler to a manager, after knee injuries ended his ring career. He had a stable of wrestlers, which at this point included Matt Bourne (son of Portland wrestler "Tough" Tony Bourne) and Arn Anderson (Marty Lunde, who had worked under his own name, previously, as an enhancement guy, in GCW). They were given a big push and were in line to win the tag titles, but Bourne got himself in trouble with the law and ran out of town, leaving Arn to go it alone. Booker Ole Anderson's plans fell apart and Arn wrestled singles, before leaving the territory to work under the Anderson name, until he ended up in the Mid-Atlantic territory, in time for Dusty Rhodes to come in as booker and give him a big push, teaming him with "cousin" Ole Anderson, as well as feuding with Dusty over the World TV title. Meanwhile, Ole tried a green wrestler, Joe Laurinaitis, as The Road Warrior, but he stunk up the joint. They brought in another Ed Sharkey trainee, Mike Hegstrand and paired him with Laurinaitis to become the Road Warrios (plural), with Ellering as their manager. ellering was also managing such heels as King Kong Bundy, Jake the Snake Roberts and Mad Dog Buzz sawyer, as his Legion of Doom. It was eventually pared down to just the Road warriors, who were then called the Legion of doom, interchangeably with the RW name.
Starbuck was generally one of the guys who bumped for the stars, rarely getting any offense. Pat rose, as seen in the above match, was one of the few who were allowed to get in offense, as they were veteran wrestlers who had worked in other territories, at mid-card level, at least. Rose had worked Memphis and Southeastern, but was a little on the smaller side and was never pushed in the bigger territories. Memphis often pushed smaller guys, as Jerry Lawler wasn't that big and Bill Dundee was very small, for American wrestling. Memphis also used a lot of tag-teams and Rose featured in several. southeastern was usually a smaller roster and not big payoff towns, though the climate was good and guys literally lived on the beach. Chick Donovan had also worked Memphis and Southeastern, vying for the US Jr Hwt title. Jackson worked opening matches and mid-card in georgia and elsewhere, while also working as a teacher. he was small and was given the gimmick of being the fictional Alabama Jr Hwt champion, eventually having a belt made to use at indie shows.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 19, 2021 18:20:05 GMT -5
Paul Heyman, on new Jack's passing.... and Jim Cornette... Cornette also talked extensively about New Jack, when last season's Dark Side of the Ring aired (and Cornette appears extensively in the show)...
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Post by codystarbuck on May 24, 2021 22:32:19 GMT -5
RIP to Chicago & Indianapolis wrestling mainstay Golden Boy Paul Christy.... That's Paul with his manager and later wife, Miss Bunny Love, one of the early modern era valets. Christy was from the Chicago area and worked in a health club, where the manager was a pro wrestler on the side. He saw Christy working out and thought he was perfect for pro wrestling and got him into the business. Christy was a babyface for many years, often working in tag-teams, with the likes of Yukon Moore Cholak, Ken Lucas (wrestling as his kayfabe brother Chris Lucas) and roger Kirby. He was a longtime friend of Angelo Poffo, working with him in Chicago and Indianapolis, and knew Randy and Lanny when they were young, before getting into the business. He promoted briefly, in Arizona, before returning to the Chicago area. He continued as a babyface in Indianapolis (which co-promoted Chicago, with the AWA, in the 70s), then turned heel and started appearing with manager, Miss Bunny Love. Bunny Burmeister was a local fan who used to come out to the matches, and cheer at ringside. She was 18 when she first met Paul and was gaga over him and slipped him her number, though it was a while before he called her. he thought she would be great as a valet/manager and she would accompany him to the ring, then cheer and jeer at ringside, following Christy's instructions, which was her training in wrestling. Eventually, she would compete in mixed tag matches and ladies single matches, facing women wrestlers, who worked with the babyface (including Spike Huber, the son-in-law of promoter Dick the Bruiser). Paul was also the "world champion" for Phil Golden's All-Star Wrestling, an "outlaw" promotion, which operated out of Paducah, KY, holding shows in Kentucky, Tennessee, Southern Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, along the I-64 corridor. Angelo Poffo also worked many of these cards, as did other wrestlers in the area, like Pez Whatley, Gentleman Saul Weingeroff and Lanny Poffo. Many of the people on these cards would form the nucleaus of Angelo Poffo's International Championship Wrestling "outlaw" promotion, which started up in late 1979. Saul Weingeroff's son, George, worked a tag-team, with Lanny Poffo (George was a collegiate amateur standout, as was Pez Whatley) and they hooked up with a rebel group on Knoxville, TN, that included Ronnie Garvin, Bob Roop, Bob Orton Jr and Boris Malenko. They traded talent for shows, then combined operations, before some of the Knoxville guys moved on to bigger promotions. The Poffos continued to work the area and challenge the Memphis promotion, which ran Lexington & Louisville, KY, Evansville, IN, as well as Memphis, Tupelo, and parts of Arkansas. The Poffos issued challenges to the Memphis group that were ignored, as promoter Jerry Jarrett knew that the Poffos needed the publicity more than they did and they had the established show and the name talent. Eventually, the Poffos brokered a deal for randy to "invade" the Memphis studio and finally have his showdown match with Jerry Lawler. About the time this occurred, Paul Christy joined the Poffos in working ICW shows, along with Bunny Love. He was made their US champion, then he challenged Randy for the ICW World title and defeated him, ending Randy's run as the champion (there are listings on the internet that have Lanny beating Randy for the title and losing it back, but that was never the case on the tv show). Christy took over as champion and main heel, while Randy worked Memphis and some of Memphis lower card talent worked Poffo shows, like Ron Sexton, Johnny Wilhoit, Tojo Yammamot & Gypsy Joe and the Batten Twins. When the Poffos shut things down, Paul Christy promoted a few of his own shows, using the ICW name. Paul Christy acted as Randy Savage's best man, when he married Elizabeth Huelette, in real life, in 1984. After Randy went to the WWF and then debuted his new manager, the stunning Miss Elizabeth, he also put a word in for both his brother Lanny (who did his Knight of the Ring gimmick, with a suit of theatrical armor, before he settled for just doing the poems) and Paul Christy. Christy then made an appearance on the Tuesday Night Titans program (with Vince as a horrible talk show host), where he did a magic trick and traded insults, while acting bizarrely, even for wrestling... (This has "Mean" Gene Okerlund as the show host.....) Paul Christy was a trained magician and hypnotist and did a side business with hypnotherapy for smoking and weight loss seminars. In his book, Christy said he had take a slug of vodka to relax himself, before they shot the piece. Christy had done interviews and promos, but nothing like what the WWF was doing and was nervous, plus, he had the magic tricks to perform, including the fire throwing gimmick. Sounds like he hit the vodka a bit too much and was confused by director signals and other things and the appearance was a complete disaster and Christy found himself quickly gone from the WWF. As it was, most of the Indianapolis guys that Vince ever used were mainly used as enhancement talent (aka "jobbers") losing to the big stars and that was pretty much Christy's role for his brief run. Christy continued working in wrestling until 1990, when he finally retired, for good (more or less) and continued to do the hypnotism and magic stuff, as an income earner. He lived with Miss Bunny love for over 20 years, before they got married in 2005 or 2006. he was a frequent attendee of the Cauliflower Alley Club banquets and both he and Miss Bunny were honored as a couple at one event. Christy kind of gets a bad rap from Youtube clips from the 80s; but, he was a great worker, in the ring and could have great matches with anyone. He just lacked the "It" factor to make it in the bigger territories, as a star. Here is an example of his ring work... Paul doing the "cowardly heel" bit to perfection. Here's some photos, set to music, of Golden Boy Paul Christy and Miss Bunny Love, from the ring and real life... Paul as ICW World Champion, including footage of Liz, before she debuted in the WWF, as Miss Elizabeth. ICW fans knew who she was, when she turned up! By the way, his opponent is Ox Baker, probably best know to the general audience as Slag, the gladiator, in Escape from New York, where he fights Kurt Russell (with spiked baseball bats!), as Snake Plissken. Ox was an old pro wrestler, who worked all over, including the WWWF, the Buffalo/Cleveland promotion (where he started a massive riot), Detroit, Indianapolis, for the Poffos, and other promotions. he also made an appearance on The Price is Right, which is on Youtube. And a 1977 WWA match, with Christy, as a babyface, teaming with Dominic Denucci, against the Bounty Hunters, one of whom, Jack Krueger, would later wrestle as Ali hassan, The Iranian Assassin, Sheik Abdulla, Sheik Abdul Ali Hassan, and was a WWF referee, under his own name. When I was young, we briefly got the WWA All-Star Wrestling tv show, around 1977, as Dick the Bruiser (the promoter and top star, along with promoting partner Wilber Snyder) was promoting a show or two in Springfield, IL. They weren't on long, but turned up again on the Springfield station, again promoting shows in Springfield, for another few weeks around 1980/81. The WWA wasn't a money territory, ever, but it was really not after it's real star, "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan left for the AWA. Bruiser & Snyder co-promoted Chicago with AWA star and promoter Verne Gagne, and that was their big money town, plus Bruiser still made regular appearances in the AWA and St Louis. Heenan started out working for Bruiser & Snyder and would work Chicago, but was used as a foil fro Bruiser, often ending up bloodied, in the ring. He managed the top heels, often working multiple times. Bruiser was cheap and Heenan finally left for the AWA, by the mid-70s. After that, the WWA lacked star power and coasted on older veterans and some young guys who never really made it. For a while, the top young stars were Spike Huber and "Mr Electricity" Steve regal (not to be confused with Lord Steven Regal/William regal, who took his ring name from a wrestling magazine, with a phot of the Indinapolis Steve Regal), who just happened to be the sons-in-law of Bruiser (Huber) and Snyder (Regal). Some years later, Scott Rechsteiner got his start in the WWA, after it was being promoted by Dr Jerry Graham, in Toledo, OH. Rechsteiner started using the ring name his brother, Rob, had adopted, in the UWF and became Scott Steiner (Rob was renamed Rick Steiner, after debuting in the UWF as Rob Rechsteiner). Paul Christy was a damn fine worker, who put in a lot of great years and matches; but, sadly, only the less spectacular later days and a couple of mid-range quality clips of his WWA work exist, forever clouding perception of him.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 6, 2021 20:16:55 GMT -5
New season of Vice's Dark Side of the Ring has been mostly good, so far. Two part season opener is Brian Pillman, with a lot of great material from family, his strength coach at the Bengals (who was a Wrestling Observer subscriber, for years), Dave Meltzer (editor of said newsletter and Pillman friend) and colleagues (and Bischoff telling porkies, as they say in the UK). His son Brian Jr, who wrestles for AEW (or has at least had a few matches), appears, as did widow Melanie, his sister, and his two daughters. Melanie Pillman doesn't come off well, but she pretty much accepts the criticism. She looks like the subsequent years and drug use were not kind to her.
Haven't seen the Nick Gage episode, largely because I hate "garbage wrestling". Know he tried to rob a bank and it didn't go well.
Ultimate Warrior features his first wife heavily and Jim Cornette and Jim Ross and covers that aspect of his career well, then kid of zips through the later years and the second wife, not to mention his homophobic rants (discusses it, but at the tail end and quickly). A&E moved up their WWE Biography version to get there first and had Dana Warrior (yes, that is her legal married name, since the Anabolic Warrior legally changed his name from Jim Hellwig to Warrior Warrior. Can't make this stuff up, folks). Still comes across as a guy who didn't care about anyone but himself and making money. Jake Roberts tells porkies in this one that don't match the timeline. No involvement from Sting.
The WCW/New Japan Collision in Korea episode covers Antonio Inoki.s political stunt card he promoted in North Korea, over two days, with the government forcing the audience to attend, to the tune of 180,000+ each day. Inoki suckered Bischoff into getting WCW involved and Bischoff himself went, with Flair, Benoit and the Steiners, while Scott Norton, Hawk and Too Cold Scorpio were there for New Japan (plus a couple of Inoki's guys and a few women wrestlers, including Akira Hokuto. Government people and guards were hostile to them, they were used for propaganda, couldn't go anywhere, hotel had no amenities, Scorpio and Hawk got into a fight and Norton got a phone call to his wife cut off after he badmouthed North Korea and got hauled into an office and interrogated and intimidated as a result. Bischoff claims to have gone jogging one morning and people were terrified of him and his minder went ape-s@#$ on him. As Cornette said, not saying it isn't true; but, it makes him sound like a moron, since the US government warned them not to go. Scorpio claims to have beat the crap out of Hawk, but everyone else says he was ill and on medication and that Hawk would have ripped off body parts and eaten them. he did F-up Randy Savage, when he tried to start something with him and was, by all accounts, the most feared one of the bouncer group that provided future wrestlers Hawk, Animal, Scott Norton, Rick Rude and Barry Darsow. Scorpio says he pocketed metal chopsticks and sharpened them into a shiv. Scorpio says a lot that no one else verifies, though they don't contradict it, either. No involvement from Flair or the Steiners.
Grizzly Smith, about the father of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Sam Houston, and "Rockin" Robin. Grizzly started in the 50s, as part of the Kentuckians, a hillbilly gimmick. Real name: Aurelian Smith. Jake is Aurelian Jr, Sam Houston is Michael Smith, Robin is Robin Smith. Griz had kids by two or 3 women. Jake has a brother Richard and a sister, Jo Lynn. Jake's mother was about 13, when he was born. he was raised by his grandmother, while brother Richard was adopted by relatives and sister bounced around between houses. When Jake's grandmother died, he had to go live with his father, who constantly berated him. he claims his step mother sexually abused him, then beat him. Sister Jo Lynn was kidnapped and murdered, by the ex-girlfriend of her husband. The body was never recovered. Sam Houston and Robin were children of Grizzly's second wife, who was in her teens when they married. Houston (called Michael throughout) idolized his father, Robin was sexually abused by Grizzly. Jake got into wrestling to show up his father, claims his father got him fired by a couple of promoters. Cornette called Sam Houston the best in-ring worker, but Jake was the master of psychology. Robin was trained by NWA World Jr Hwt champion Nelson Royal, in North Carolina, trained to wrestle like a man (holds, high spots, brawling), rather than the way Moolah's troupe were taught and wrestled (hair pulling, butt drops, etc). That got her the gig with the WWF and the title, as it impressed Vince. Baby Doll (Nickla Roberts) is interviewed, as she knew Grizzly and the kids, growing up (her father promoted the Lubbock area, of Texas and her mother had been a wrestler) and married Sam Houston while both worked for Crockett. Not discussed but that got her heat with Dusty and was part of why Sam Houston never got a big push, despite his work. He had drinking problems then, that spiraled out of control until he had dozens of DUIs, which Grizzly got dismissed or toned down, until a judge finally threw the book at him and he went into prison. He doesn't add much. Robin had drinking and self esteem issues. baby Doll describes travelling with Grizzly and stopping to pick up some teenage girl, while her parents waved goodbye and that the girl was with them on the road. Cornette talks about locker room jokes in Mid-South about Grizzly having young girls sitting on his lap, reading bible verses. he found that an odd joke about the office (guys joked, but that was an odd angle). didn't put it together until Jake started talking about his father and his past, after Beyond the Mat. Really dark episode.
Next up is Dynamite Kid, though I doubt they can bring up much that Dynamite didn't confess in his book.
Upcoming subjects:
Bruiser Bedlam (Ion Croitoru)-Canadian wrestler who worked for Cornette's Smoky Mountain, as bruiser Bedlam, involved later with motorcycle gangs, drug trafficking, was charged with a murder, but got off, then tried and convicted for conspiracy to commit murder.
The WWF Steroid Trial-features Vince's lawyer, Jerry McDevitt, talking about his defense of McMahon, without ever calling defense witnesses.
FMW-Japanese "garbage wrestling" promotion, Frontier Martial Arts-Wrestling, which featured Atsushi Onita and others in "death matches," inspired by wild brawls in Memphis territory. Promotion was notorious for exploding ring gimmicks, barbed wire and similar crap. Influenced ECW, CZW and other US and Japanese garbage promotions. Top flyer Hyabusa wrestled for them and ended up paralyzed, after a botched quebrada. Died a few years ago but had regained some ability to walk. Mike Awesome also wrestled there and got the crap beat out of him, before doing the same in ECW, then made a fool in WCW and WWE, before committing suicide.
Plane ride from hell-charter flight of WWE personnell, with heavy amounts of alcohol and lots of juvenile and dangerous behavior, including Curt Hennig trying to leg dive Brock Lesnar and them colliding with the plane door, Michael Hayes passed out drunk (and possibly other things) and getting his eyebrows shaved off, and Dustin Runnels serenading his ex-wfe, Terri, aka Miss Alexandra York, aka Marlena.
Luna Vachon-second generation wrestler, daughter of "Butcher" Paul Vachon, niece of Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon and Vivienne Vachon. Worked all over and notably in the WWF, with bam-Bam Bigelow and The Oddities. Married to Dave Heath, aka Vampire Warrior, aka Gangrel. major drug issues, died of an overdose of painkillers and psychiatric meds (she was bipolar and prescribed benzodizapines). Likely to be sad, as she was well liked by those in the business, though she had no time for the women like Sable, Debra McMichaels and other eye candy performers, doing wrestling matches, instead of real workers.
Xtreme pro Wrestling-short-lived garbage promotion, run by a pornographer, copying ECW angles and using cast-offs.
Chris Kanyon-Chris Klucsartis; wrestled in WCW and WWE, after buyout. Really talented, got minor pushes, but never to the upper level. Gay and hid it for a long time, then came out about it. Then claimed it was a publicity stunt, then retracted that. Was bipolar and attempted suicide at least once before and then took his own life, in 2010. Also likely to be pretty dark and depressing. Really misused by both WCW and WWE, I always thought. Wrestled under a mask, as Mortis, in WCW, before appearing as Kanyon, as part of Raven's Flock and with DDP. Also part of Men at Work tag-team, with Mark Starr, early in his WCW career.
Love to see them cover the Midnight Express, while all those guys are still alive (Dennis Condrey has battled cancer and Bobby Eaton has had heart issues). Lot of material there, from boobby starting as a teen, to Dennis teaming with Phil Hickerson and walking out on the Express, with Crockett; Stan Lane trained by Flair and part of the Fabulous Ones, with Steve Keirn, the Midnights, paternity suits, "Fake Stan Lane," announcing with the WWF and power boat racing. Randy Rose and Norvell Austin, as the original Express and Randy and Dennis as The original Midnight Express, with Paul heyman, plus Corny's history, as a fan, photographer, manager, booker, promoter and historian. Plus, Corny has all the footage!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 6, 2021 20:34:00 GMT -5
Pillman Jr is still in AEW... he's in a tag team called the Varsity Blonde with Griff Garrison. They seemed like they were going to be official Jobbers to the Star, but they actually won a few matches and got (and lost) a title show against the Bucks.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 7, 2021 22:06:12 GMT -5
Pillman Jr is still in AEW... he's in a tag team called the Varsity Blonde with Griff Garrison. They seemed like they were going to be official Jobbers to the Star, but they actually won a few matches and got (and lost) a title show against the Bucks. Bet the show had a lot to do with getting the wins. AEW has some involvement in this season, as there is the Pillman Jr footage, Jim Ross wears an AEW polo shirt, Chris Jericho is narrating, Jake is shown at an AEW event, backstage, at the end of the Grizzly Smith episode. The steroid trial episode looks to be the first where there is involvement from anyone associated with the WWE, though that might just be limited to McDevitt. Hope they also talked to Jerry Jarrett about the plans for him to run the WWF, on a tight budget, if Vince went to prison. If not, I'm sure Corny can fill in those details. I'll be interested to see who is involved for the Dynamite Kid episode. He was married to Bret Hart's sister-in-law, for a time (and threatened her with an unloaded shotgun). Davey is gone; can't remember if Bret appeared in the Owen episode (I only recall Martha showing them files from her lawsuit). Hope they have access to footage of him and Sayama, as Tiger Mask. Those matches were off the chart then, and hold up far better now than modern flyers. Buzz and Bret sawyer would be another good subject. Both were accomplished amateurs and Buzz had the run in Georgia, but was known for being wild in and out of the ring. The drugs took away the ability and then the death. Bret got a bit of a push, when Jake Roberts was booking, plus the brothers as a tag-team; but, then he kind of fell back down the cards, there and elsewhere and has a had a string of DUI arrests. Eddie & Mike Graham would be another, given Eddie's career as wrestler and one of the top promoters and bookers, and Mike's own career and time with WCW. of course, both had dark ending; but that is a lot of what this series draws on. Lawler's history could make for a hell of an episode, given the split of the territory (Jarrett splitting off from Gulas to promote the Memphis end), with Lawler as the rising star and hometown boy, the big matches at the Mid-South Colosseum, the Andy Kaufman stuff, Lawler's run for mayor, his trial for statutory rape, his marriages (especially Stacey carter and the wife after her, that conspired to rob his house with a stooge), his relationship with his two sons, Brian's death, his heart attack on live tv and his art. Doubt he would participate, though Corny could fill in a lot; mike get Kevin Lawler to talk. Shame that Scott Bowden is gone now, too, as he knew Kevin and Brian as kids and then working for Lawler and Jarrett. TNA would make for an interesting thing, from the birth as a Jarrett promotion and PPV-only, to Panda Energy coming in and foisting Dixie Carter on the world, Russo, the young talent, Corny and his headaches, Dutch Mantell trying to keep peace and make it work, Billy Corgan's involvement, the financial schenanigans, the ultimate demise and buyout.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 12, 2021 19:26:30 GMT -5
The Dynamite Kid episode of Dark Side of the Ring aired. Pretty good, though having followed his career since the Stampede days and having read his book, there wasn't anything terribly new. I knew the guy was more than a bit of a jerk, was abusive to his wife, was sent packing by said wife and was a hollow shell of what he had been, the last time he tried to step in the ring, in Japan, for Michinoku Pro (I suspect promoter Great Sasuke didn't know how bad off, physically, that Dynamite was). Dynamite was embarrassed by the whole thing, in his book and he copped to most of his antics, including the violence. He made no excuses for it. That and subsequent internet know-it-alls have labelled him as a sadistic bully and human piece of trash. The episode doesn't do a lot to try to change that, except from a rather odd corner of the story: his ex-wife, Michelle Billington.
Featured in the episode are Michelle and her sister Julie (Bret hart's ex-wife, who so wonderfully told off Triple H, in Wrestling with Shadows, after the Montreal Screwjob), Michelle and Dynamite's eldest, Bronwyne and younger daughter Amaris. Michelle presents a more rounded image of Dynamite and says the sadistic bully wasn't there before his back injury, that he was a kind and loving man and devoted father. She says things changed with the injury and the pain that came with it, followed by the pain pills, booze, halcyons and probable CTE from the diving headbutt and other collisions, with his fast paced, hard-hitting style. That was when the bully came out and the abuse began. Now, there are stories from Calgary and Calgary was noted as a place where sadistic ribbing was a constant, including from the Harts. So, Michelle might have been a bit blind to that, as she saw the blooms of love. It definitely changed him at home and his physical limitations did seem to make him more bitter, at work. It almost seems like Michelle is defending the abuse; but, I don't see it that way. She relates the events without sugar coating it and how it came to a head, with her giving him a one-way plane ticket to England, upon which he pulled out the notorious shotgun (which he said in a latter interview wasn't loaded). She said their marriage had to end, for everyone's sake. So, I don't think it is a case of the abused defending the abuser as much as her wanting to show the other side of Dynamite, that she fell in love with, but which has all but been erased, since he and most everyone else is gone. Especially given how the internet spreads a narrow point of view as gospel, in so many things, perpetuated by people who never knew Tom Billington and generations who never saw the Dynamite Kid wrestle.
I would have liked to have seen more about his beginnings in the UK (they do bring up The Wigan Snake Pit, Billy Riley's gym, which trained submission wrestling), as a young wrestler and his pairings with Big Daddy (as would Davey Boy Smith and Steven/William Regal) or what a sensation he was in the UK, leading to Bruce Hart getting him booked in Calgary. Stu was disappointed upon seeing him, but won over when he saw him work. Also, nothing about other places he wrestled, as his actual ring career was secondary to his body deteriorating and his abuse and the notorious incidents. After Calgary, he spent some time working in Portland, before returning to calgary and then the WWF. A little footage of Calgary is seen, some from New Japan (with Tiger Mask) and a clip from All Japan, after the Bulldogs left the WWF, as well as a clip from the infamous Michinoku Pro match (Tiger Mask and Mil Mascaras teamed with Great sasuke, while the opposing team consisted of TM's rivals dynamite Kid and Kuniaki Kobayashi and Great Sasuke's rival amd Mil's brother, Dos Caras). Dynamite is noticibly thinner (no steroids) and can barely walk and holds onto the ropes, for most of the match. He takes few real bumps and mostly brawls....
Great Sasuke had recently won the J-Crown tournament, uniting 8 titles, and the introductions list each title, with the belt held by a model/valet. In his book, Dynamite felt the whole belt valet thing was ridiculous. It's been 20 years since I read his book; but, as I recall, he could barely do anything and the others bumped for him and did their best to cover for him, but the crowd was horrified by how small and frail he looked and the lack of his signature style. He looks like he was in slow motion, compared to his matches with Tiger Mask...
You can see clips from early Dynamite, in the UK, as well as Stampede, the WWF and New Japan. Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid revolutionized wrestling, allowing the smaller guys to rise to the top with fast-paced, high flying matches, which unfortunately took a toll on everyone involved. Tiger Mask was the smarter, as he didn't work the same schedule (Japan ran on tours, with some off time between) and he split away from new Japan to help form the first Universal Wrestling Federation, which presented a more realistic style of pro wrestling, which allowed Sayama to do more mat and submission wrestling, than the high flying stuff. He then left that behind (after political battles behind the scenes and an infamous match with notorious cheap shotter Akira Maeda) and formed Shooto, a submission wrestling style, with both an amateur and professional focus. he made special appearances in matches and would do his signature spots; but, didn't wrestle regularly. Dynamite destroyed his body and never gave it a chance to even try to heal and ended up crippled, more or less, with debilitating health, as time wore on.
The episode does present a little light in the end, as Bronwynne travelled to the UK to reconcile with her father, before his health really went downhill and he apologized to her for not being there and for what happened with her mother.
In all, the episode does show that Dynamite was loved by his family, before his physical and mental state changed, was respected by his peers, and still had friends in the business (Dan Spivey and Scott McGee are featured in interviews). Not an exaltation; but not a hatchet job, either.
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Post by commond on Jun 13, 2021 7:44:51 GMT -5
After Sayama had a falling out with the UWF workers, he released a book called Kayfabe that exposed the inner workings of wrestling. He then left the wrestling word completely to form Shooto, an early mixed martial arts organization. Sayama was heavily involved in the early MMA scene in Japan and was influential in bringing Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the country. The first pro-wrestling match he had after quitting UWF was an exhibition match against Liger in 1994 on a New Japan show. He had a falling out with the Shooto board of directors in '96, and actually attempted a serious pro-wrestling comeback at that point, but the rest of his career fluctuated between pro-wrestling stints and attempts at developing new martial arts styles like Soukai Shininryu.
Regarding DK, there were a lot of teenage wrestlers in the UK over the years, and he was by far the best teenage wrestler I've seen. If he'd stayed in the UK, he would have been one of the best workers of his generation, but there was no money in British wrestling. Quite a few of the lads ended up wrestling overseas. Every time he'd return to the UK after wrestling in Japan or the States, he always looked fantastic in the ring, much like his contemporaries Dave Finlay, Marty Jones and Marc Rocco. The trouble was that the UK scene was in a terminal decline while New Japan was booming and the WWF was about to go national. The drugs, steroids and bumps destroyed his body. If he'd stayed in the UK, I doubt he would have touched a steroid and he certainly wouldn't have bumped like he did. A lot of hardcore fans don't like DK's style, but I think he was fantastic in his younger days.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 13, 2021 10:22:01 GMT -5
I used to have a compilation tape of Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid matches, including the Madison Square Garden match, as well as the bulk of their battles. Those guys were flying all over the place, diving out of the ring, slamming into barriers....just insane stuff, but it looked far more real than lucha matches that did the same and were more exciting than the slower heavyweight style. I had another tape of Sayama that had a variety of matches with Dynamite, Villano III (from Mexico), Kuniaki Kobayashi, and British wrestler Pete Rocket. Each showed his ability to adapt to the style of his opponent. With Rocket, he did a lot of World of Sport, traditional British spots, mixed with his own hybrid. With Kobayashi, it was a mix of martial arts, mat wrestling and the lucha moves. With Villano III, it was more lucha. Sayama trained in Mexico and in the UK (wrestling as Sammy Lee), mixing in what he had learned into a hybrid of flying, mat work, submission, and martial arts.
I saw him wrestle twice for the WWF; the match with Dynamite and one against Jose Estrada, defending the WWF Jr Hwt title, also in MSG. The WWF of that period (still under Vince Sr, as this was 1982) was really slow and plodding and Tiger Mask just lit the place up. Later got to see when they brought the Cobra (George Takano) in, as Tiger Mask's replacement, after he split with New Japan. Cobra had wrestled in Stampede and was tapped as the ne WWF Jr champion, in New Japan, then did a couple of tours with the WWF, just before Vince Jr bought out his father and started his expansion. Takano ended up leaving New Japan to work with Super World Sports, who cross-promoted some shows, in Japan, with the WWF.
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