Haven’t really seen much lucha libre outside what WWF and WCW showed us. I’ve seen some YouTube matches, and a couple of bouts via tape trading.

I’d like to see the complete When Worlds Collide from 1994, I’ve only seen one match from that card, which was shown on a WWE DVD.

I subscribe to the AAA and CMLL YouTube pages. Sometimes I wish I could understand Spanish. But the action is what counts.

As a kid, I never thought we’d reach a stage where so many things were available. Back then, for stuff not available in the UK, my mother (thanks, mother!) would send an international money order to some company, and then you’d wait 6-8 weeks for, say, Bash at the Beach 1995 to arrive. The anticipation was frustrating, but also worthwhile.

But I’m glad we have accessibility now.

I think some AAA (along with NJPW) aired on a satellite channel here. But it was one of the premium channels (Eurosport, I think).

They’d also show archive footage at times. I remember being surprised to see Hulk Hogan & The Great Muta vs The Road Warriors (Hogan seemed pretty heelish against Hawk and Animal).

And, yes, I’d definitely hate to go back to the days of tapes. There were also some companies who would only ship to North America.

I did see some bootleg wrestling tapes at a comic convention once. They didn’t cost much, but when I got them home, the quality was rather dire.

John Lister is an acquaintance of mine. His itvwrestling.co.uk/ site has been an invaluable resource to me over the years. He's a good guy even if he doesn't rate Sid. 

Viewed earlier tonight:






I have fond memories of this tape. My mother and stepfather bought this for me while we on a holiday to Weston-super-Mare (nice place!). So there are great memories here. But how does it stand up?

Bobby Heenan and Gene Okerlund host this - sort of. Their car breaks down. Throughout the tape, we’ll see them attempt to rectify their car’s issues. And it’s amusing throughout, like most of those Coliseum segments. But what about the matches?

El Matador & High Energy vs. Repo Man & The Nasty Boys

What a dastardly trio Repo Man and the Nasty Boys are, eh? Anyway, this is a good six-man bout, featuring a lot of evil tactics from the heels, although the babyfaces battle back valiantly. We’re in the usual Coliseum Video territory of “our first match must feature an inconclusive ending” as the babyfaces win via DQ. Still, it was fun while it lasted.

Crush vs. Papa Shango

It is easy for some ‘journalists’ to knock the Federation Era, but it did feel like 90% of the roster knew how to look believable. Crush and Papa Shango hold nothing back here, hammering each other with everything but the kitchen sink. It’s decent while it lasts but we get our second consecutive DQ finish (Crush wins after Papa Shango shoots fire into Crush’s eyes).

The Big Boss Man vs. The Model Rick Martel

What can be better than a lovable lawman versus an arrogant narcissist? A good story is told here as Boss Man pretty much dominates Martel with his size, leading to a frustrated Martel trying all he can to stop the big guy. Boss Man even annoys Martel by messing with Martel’s perfect hair. But I’m afraid we get our third consecutive inconclusive ending as we see a double DQ.

Earthquake vs. Repo Man

I reviewed this when I looked at another tape. It’s a glorified squash match with Repo getting letting offence in. But we do get a decent story as Repo Man gets a brief upper hand and then gets too cocky by turning his back on Earthquake to boast to the crowd - leading ‘Quake to make a comeback and finish Repo off via pinfall after a vertical splash. Earthquake seemed pretty over during his babyface phase, eh?

WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs. Virgil

I don’t believe these two had a bad match, and Virgil almost played an underdog in those bouts (I was rooting for him to win the championship). Two of their other matches featured on other Coliseum releases. It’s nice that Coliseum showed us different Virgil/Shawn bouts as opposed to their usual recycling of “Let’s show Hogan/Andre from WM III yet again”. Anyway, after a solid contest, Michaels gets the win via pinfall.

The Undertaker vs. Berzerker

This may be the match of the tape. A good story is told - as Berzerker throws everything he can at Undertaker to no avail. Lord Alfred Hayes, commentating with Sean Mooney, comments on how frustrating it is that none of Berzerker’s offence is having much effect. So we’re seeing commentators enhance the match and paint a good picture for the audience. Anyway, both wrestlers worked well, and the pacing was good. Undertaker pinned Berzerker after the Tombstone - and for a bonus, we get Undertaker giving Mr. Fuji a Tombstone too. Great, great bout - and one to show to ‘journalists’ who seem to imply that every Federation Era bout was bad.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs IRS

I was bored. It elicited no emotion out of me. And it led to a double count-out. Absolutely nothing memorable occurred in this dud of a bout.

WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc. vs the Nasty Boys

There’s a lot of intrigue here, given the Nasty Boys had been managed by Jimmy Hart. And I was rooting for Knobbs and Sags here, I really, really wanted to see them win the belts. But they didn’t. Money Inc. cheated (as usual): DiBiase whacked Sags with a belt, allowing IRS to get the pin. The Nasty Boys came really close here, and I was on the edge of my seat.

Randy Savage vs. Terry Taylor

This wasn’t the greatest match I saw (Taylor’s 1992/93 run didn’t quite work for me). But it’s a reasonable bout, which ends with a pinfall win for Savage, who did seem highly motivated (I mention that as I believe Savage was motivated until his last day in the WWF, and I hate that he was “demoted” to the commentary desk).

WWF Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart vs. Kamala

We have more “recycling” (this was on another tape). Bret is believable as he attempts to take down a larger foe. I always liked the strategy Bret used against monsters. Sadly, we get a DQ win for Bret after Kim Chee interferes. It all ends on a fun note as Dr. Harvey Wippleman holds a dazed Bret down for a Kamala splash - but Bret moves out of the way and pulls Wippleman, meaning the “good doctor” takes Kamala’s splash again. And Bret puts Kim Chee’s hat on. Nice one, Bret.

El Matador vs. Razor Ramon

I must admit, I expected more from these men. Perhaps they didn’t have chemistry. It’s a short bout, so maybe more time might have benefited both men, but it just didn’t come together like I’d hoped. Razor wins via pinfall following the Razor’s Edge.

Loser Leaves Town Match: Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair

I feel this match is a tad overrated. Just a tad. Yes, it fills its purpose, and is incredibly heated, but it seems to go on forever. I don’t mind long matches, but this one seemed to last for an eternity, and might have benefited from being 12-15 minutes or so. Still, it does work reasonably well, and after pinning Flair, Perfect gets the victory. Bobby Heenan is golden here on commentary. When he thinks Perfect is gonna lose, he says, “Shall I call Mr. Perfect a cab?”

Summary

Other than Hacksaw/IRS, there’s something to be enjoyed in each match, and the tape presents a good mix of styles and wrestlers. And it left me once again with some good memories based on fun such as Wippleman being squashed by Kamala, and Mr. Fuji taking a Tombstone. It has something for everyone. I will be keeping this tape.

So, Big Show may or may not have embezzled tons of cash from WCW

According to the above video, when Show received royalties from the THQ game "WCW Nitro" for the PS1, he was accidently sent the royalties for the entirety of the roster that was featured in the game and then hid it in off shore accounts before an accountant came

Shinya Hashimoto made his debut 40 years ago today (if Wikipedia is accurate):


I haven’t seen too much of his work, but I understand he is rated very highly.

He was born in 1965, and died in 2005 at the age of 40.

Cagematch has what it considers to be his career highlights: www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=621&page=3