I know the British Bulldogs, led by Davey Boy Smith ... but, the Dynamite KId is a virtual unknown to me and the problem is that I was too much focus on the Legion of Doom/Road Warriors, Demolition, Money Inc., The Rockers, and others and pretty much ignored the British Bulldogs because of Dynamite Kid was not that well known at all. It is ashamed that this occurred to me and I have seen this video and don't have much memory of it.

Dynamite got his start on the British wrestling scene, where he took the place by storm, working as the tag partner to Big Daddy, Shirley Crabtree (yep, his name was Shirley!). Bruce Hart saw Dynamite work, while on a tour of the UK and convinced Stu to bring him in. Stu was astonished when he saw Dynamite's size and notoriously said, "Eh, uh...skinny little besterd, ain't ya?" However, Dynamite took the territory by storm, with a hard hitting, high flying style that Bruce could work with, as well as tough matches with younger Bret Hart and Bad News Allen Coage. The Harts got him booked in New Japan, where he set their rings on fire against their junior heavyweights, including Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama. Dynamite was the opponent when the Tiger Mask gimmick debuted. They fought a series of matches, over the WWF Jr Heavyweight title, that changed wrestling forever. They inspired dozens of high flyers and their matches were highly sought after by tape traders.

Dynamite split his time between New Japan and Stampede, with a stint in the Portland territory. Meanwhile, cousin Davey Boy Smith, who had taken Dynamite's place with Big Daddy, had been brought into Stampede. He also worked New Japan, with matches against and with his cousin. They were put together as a tag team, in Stampede, when Vince McMahon came calling to buy out the territory, to get their tv and their shows in Calgary (he didn't care so much about their other towns, as they were never big draws). He brokered a deal to buy out Stampede, for $100, 000 a year, for multiple years, and a piece of the gate in their territory. He also promised spots for Stu's son, Bret, sons-in-law Davey Boy and Jim Neidhart, and Bret's brother-in-law Dynamite. Bret and Neidhart were brought in separately and eventually put together in a tag team, with Jimmy Hart as a mouthpiece, as the Hart Foundation, quickly getting over with their fast style, Bret's technical skills, and Neidhart's power moves and personality. Dynamite and Davey were a team from the start and electrified the ring with fast moves, high impact spots, flying, and sheer toughness. Soon, the babyface Bulldogs faced the heel Hart Foundation and legends were born.

Later, after the incident with the Rougeaus and some dissatisfaction with the office, the Bulldogs left the WWF, concentrating on wrestling in All Japan, until Dynamite suffered his back injury (last in a long line) that ended his career, until a 1994 tag match, in Michinoku Pro, that saw him as a shell of his former self, to the point even he was embarrassed. He did little the entire match and described in his book that he pretty much had to hang on in the corner to even stand. It wasn't long before he was confined to a wheel chair, as years of abuse, steroids and narcotics led to a slow decay of his body, until his recent death.

If you want a rarity, check out this 1989 match between two of the hottest tag-teams of the 80s; the British Bulldogs and the Rock N Roll Express. The match took place in 1989, in Kansas City, for promoter Bob Geigel.

Excellent Clip and I didn't realize that he was that talented in his early days of pro wrestling.

Davey Boy Smith is known to be a kid at heart ... @taxidriver1980 and that alone causes him think about pulling off the worst pranks that he can possibly do. It's causes friction and lost friendships as well; and that alone made him not the right man to fool around with. I heard from a friend of mine that he pulled a nasty prank on his cousin at a party that he was a guest of honor and he shake up a can of pop and the pop came out spraying all over and ruin his girlfriend's dress and the fabric could not be cleaned. Later a couple weeks later ... Davey Boy Smith paid his girlfriend's dress and then some. It didn't do him any justice and that's why he been described immature to some people and that's why I think he's never really grew up at all.

NWA Powerrr was back, with its post-PPV show.

Stu Bennett is introduced and barely shuts up for the rest of the show. he's not bad; but, he isn't as polished or as experienced as Cornette. he thinks he needs to fill air time with constant talk, rather than impactful comment. He doesn't quite know how to sell the product, instinctively and is not being produced well. We'll see how he develops. he and Galli are fine; but not standouts.

Aron Stevens comes out with Question Mark and the National title belt. After 3 weeks training, he is a third degree black belt in Mongrovian ka-rah-tay (as GM keeps reminding it, as Stevens says Kuratee). He says he is not the National champion, he is the Third Degree National Champion, as he has added 3 yellow stripes to the belt. This is stupid and goofy; but entertaining. Colt Cabana comes out and calls him out on stealing the title after hiding the whole match, behind a Christmas tree (they show the clip). QM interfered and Stevens got the pin and the title.

Question mark and Aron Stevens are entertaining as hell and make an odd dynamic. QM is the most over guy in the company and Stevens the most booed. It emphasizes Stevens as a deluded imbecile and QM as some kind of weird freak. They walk off the set and see Thunder Rosa standing there and make way for her, as if intimidated. She calls the crowd to silence and brings out Melina. Ashley Vox attacks, but gets laid out. melina tells Thunder to climb to the top of the ropes and drop on Ashley's injured arm; but, Allysin Kay and ODB come out to make the save and Melina and Thunder run off. Thunder is the star and Melina is not impressing me. I haven't seen her WWE or TNA work; but, her promos are middling and the word from the PPV match was that she had serious ring rust.

Backstage vignette of Melina and Thunder running into Marti Belle, asking where she was. She comes back that they ordered her to stay in the back. melina says "Don't do what I tell youto do, do what I need you to do." Um, yeah; the NWA sucks as badly as everyone else with backstage pieces. They aren't actors; don't waste airtime displaying that fact. Total TNA move.

Qualifying match to get into the TV title tournament sees Zicky Dice, Saul Rinauro and CW Anderson in a 3-way. Rules for the tournament are a 6 minute, 5 second time limit (6:05); if there is no winner, both are eliminated. This goes fast, with multiple pin attempts in a fairly innovative match. Guys were jumping from a cover on one guy to immediately trying for a pin on the other. Dice wins. The only guy I have heard of is CW Anderson, who started out in ECW and was a decent worker. Dice has supposedly been around since 1998. Well, apparently, he was never good enough for a spot in a major promotion. His look is pure 80s, and not in a good way. He's a dime a dozen indie guy who never made it and will never be a star. Mediocre promo follows that says nothing. He's another of the shouting nonsense is supposed to be a promo.

Dawsons out to say they were supposed to be paid money and get title shots for helping Wild Card and are going to expose the truth. Latimer and Isaacs come out with chairs and the Dawsons run.

Footage of Marty Scurll's surprise appearance and promo, saying he wants another shot at the belt. That awful Highspots ad follows. Seriously, be wary of buying from them.

Eddie Kingston out as guest commentator for Rock N Roll Express squash match. They beat their opponents with double schoolboy pins. Not even a dropkick. Promos follow, calling out other past champions, including the Midnight Express, Four Horsemen, and Dusty & Magnum. Dusty & Magnum never held titles together. The last tag title Magnum held was the Mid-South Tag-Team title, with Mr Wrestling II, before the start of the Midnight Express/Rock N Roll Express Feud. They are asked about Nick Aldis and Morton says comparing himself to Flair and Harley means he has a long road to hoe.

Dawson's turn up again, Wild Card comes out again and they brawl.

Spot showing the announcement of the revival of the TV title. Followed by Dawsons vs Wild Card. Latimer & Isaacs are now wearing matching gear. They make a good tag team. They bust up Zane Dawson's hand and get the win. They cut a promo and Latimer sounds like Sean Bean. He's from Derbyshire, though, not Yorkshire; but, still a Northerner. Says ":bloody" well. Used to be married to Ashley Fliehr, aka Charlotte. He doesn't sound like a particularly nice guy, based on his rap sheet, in Florida. They say Santa is a fake and Jocephus comes out, dressed as Santa, and tosses merch to the crowd. The Tennessee Santa, in the orange suit and hat (in the crowd) steps forward for a hug and Jocephus yells for him to get back in the stands and leaves. First time he has been seen since he was laid out by James Storm, early on. You know, you never see him and the Question Mark in the same place.......

Footage of James Storm, backstage, after the PPV match, with a big old welt on his forehead from the exposed turnbuckle. He says he will be back on top.

Anti-tackle football PSA, equating it with giving kids cigarettes. May be true; but not a very persuasive spot.

Zicky Dice out there to annoy. They call out all of the participants in the TV title tournament:

Zicky Dice, Ricky Starks, Caleb Conley, Colt Cabana, Trevor Murdoch, Tom Latimer, Question Mark (biggest pop of the bunch), Eddie Kingston, Tim Storm, Zane & Dave Dawson, and World Champion Nick Aldis! They then announce that they will be drawing the names for the first two qualifying matches, for next week and bring out a former TV champion...................

NIKITA KOLOFF!!!!!

Bozemoi!

Nikita certainly improved his accent over the years. He now sounds like a guy from Minnesota.

Nikita draws the names and Dave Marquez reads out what is fed to him through his earpiece.

Ricky Starks vs Eddie Kingston
Colt Cabana vs The Question Mark

Aldis brings over Starks and cuts a promo about wanting to hold it all, which is why he will win the tournament. he then blows off Ricky Morton's comments and says Kamille is out and he is assembling a new team. I smell a 4 Horsemen knockoff.

Marty Scurll and Stu bennett in pre-taped interview. He doesn't confirm that he is there full time; he's keeping people guessing. refers the the "Villain character." Okay, rookie mistake. If you are talking to outside media, its a character. if you are doing a wrestling interview, it's who you are.

Tim Storm joins commentary for No DQ match between Eli Drake and Ken Anderson, continuing their angle from the PPV. Drake is hoarse from the throat injury, with footage shown of Anderson putting a folding chair around Drake's neck and shoving him into the ring post (not sold very well). Match goes outside fast and they brawl up the bleachers into the top are of the studio, slam into doors and gates with safety cables, then back down to the ring. Anderson brings in a chair to the ring to hit Drake with his finisher on the chair (as in the PPV) and Drake blocks and hits a drop toe hold onto the chair. He gets Anderson into a sloppy Spicolli Driver (calls it he Gravy Train...ugh....). All punch kick and impact spot. Typical WWE-style stuff, neither knows how to work on the mat.

Tim Storm is asked about Aldis during commentary and Aldis comes out (after the match and calls out Storm and they argue, away from the mics. Total WCW move, with no audio. Storm has had enough and goes to the ring, throwing down his suit coat and tie. Aldiss steps in and removes his jacket an Wild Card come out for the Pearl Harbor. Aldis joins in, then Kamille hits the ring, throws down her pumps and gets into a shoving match with Aldis. Storm struggles to his feet and then Kamille spears him and Aldis puts the boot in. Wild Card stand with Aldiss and Kamille. Latimer then sticks his tongue down her throat, answering their relationship question that was asked a few episodes back. She even pirouettes under his hand. Refs try to break it up; but, won't enter the ring, making them look weak. No babyfaces hitting the ring for the save.

So, looks like we have Babydoll and the tag team component of the Horsemen, with their Flair. Now, we need an Arn Anderson as an enforcer. Trevor Murdoch would be the right kind of guy, but, his gimmick doesn't fit and he isn't being positioned that way. I'm betting, for now, this is the group.

Thoughts: Good show, still hurting from Cornette's absence. Bennett is okay but he and Galli are trying to fill up air and not really presenting the most important stuff. Precision is better than volume, guys. Marquez is still a bad announcer and doesn't add much to interviews. He's mostly a human mic stand in those segments. They need a Gordon Solie or a Lance Russell who interacts with the interviewee and challenges the heels and babyfaces, while still putting them over. Corny knew how to do it. Even JR is sounding pretty bad on AEW, though he and Schiavone work better than he and Excalibur.

Melina, so far, seems a waste of money, to me. Her being there seems like TNA, where anyone who worked for WWE got hired. She hasn't shown much, except an excess of makeup and a wardrobe that looks like a call girl. Thunder Rosa is the star there and she is playing second fiddle. Marti belle is green as grass, as is Ashley Vox. Allysin Kay isn't a great promo but is decent in the ring. Jazz was a better women's champion, as she had the experience and talent. Thunder is the future; but, she needs someone to work with. Tessa Blanchard would be a good opponent; but, I doubt that she would go here. Either AEW, with Dad, or WWE. Step-Dad Magnum did work with the NWA, for the Crockett Cup, but I still think it is a longshot.

Dawsons and Wild Card has potential as a feud. Wild Card do good double-team spots and Isaacs gets some aerial stuff. latimer has the charisma and size; but, doesn't have a great repertoire. Dawsons do impact brawling and are agile.

No one knows how to mat wrestle; but, that is pretty much true for most of American pro wrestling, anymore.

Tim Storm is still the real babyface of the promotion and Aldis is now pure heel. That seems the theme of this show, as they are really establishing faces and heels, as most were tweeners, before. Storm gets an honest babyface reaction, ala Ricky Steamboat. Aldis has been a subtle heel; but is amping up the heat, which helps his presentation. Latimer and Isaacs are jerks, but cut good promos.

Question Mark is massively over and I have a suspicion he may end up as the tv champion Next week will show if I am right or not. Murdoch may be another candidate. I doubt they would really put it on Aldis.

The tournament kind of exposes the lack of depth in the roster, at this time. Zicky Dice is not impressive. Both Dawsons? Latimer? Caleb Conley?

Nice to see Nikita, though I wish he had kept up the accent. He legally changed his name to Nikita Koloff; but, come one dude! We know you are Scott Simpson, from Robbinsdale , MN, and went to school with Tom Zenk, Barry Darsow, and Curt Hennig. Still......

It would have been really great to have THE WORLD TV CHAMPION, Arn Anderson there for this; but, he last worked with AEW (though so did the Rock N Roll Express and they do not require exclusivity, which may let Marty Scurll work both). Nikita held it once; Arn multiple times and for long durations (Tully, too).

Question Mark is way more over than Jocephus ever was or is, as the Santa thing proved.

Lose the backstage vignettes; they don't work. Backstage interview is fine.

Lighter fluid in an inhaler was Johnny Valentine, father of Greg "The Hammer."  Dynamite liked to spike drinks, cut up clothes, etc; but, was never that horrible.  I don't recall about setting a bed on fire.

Johnny Valentine was known as a really mean ribber, to the point of sadism.  He also chopped the hell out of people, making Flair's look like a soft pat on the shoulder.  The stories of his matches with Wahoo McDaniel are legendary, that their chests resembled ground beef after their matches (and they had tons of them).

Wrestlers are jocks and their lives are built around power; so, you don't necessarily get stable human beings. Most will tell you that no one sane goes into wrestling.

In regards to JBL, he got his comeuppance from an announcer. He was on the tour of Iraq and reports say he spent most of the time massively drunk. he was harassing and hazing people (dumped a bucket of ice on a sleeping Lilian Garcia) and announcer Joey Stiles. Stiles had enough, they got into a shouting match, someone got between them and Stiles blasted him with a punch to the face that left him with a black eye and a cut. The eye was still visibile under makeup, on the next RAW, and the reports were that JBL was very quiet and subdued that night, staying off to himself.

Corny has been asked about bullying in the territories and said it wasn't a thing. he pointed to the problem of guys having no alternative, vs being able to give notice and go to a new territory, if they were unhappy, in the old days. He said there were ribs and some guys had reps for being stiff; and there were incidents, but usually settled privately.

One notorious example was Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, who insinuated his friends onto cards, at the expense of local talent. he was also known for taking liberties in the ring, with guys who weren't shooters. He got his comeuppance when he was cornered, in the locker room by Karl Gotch and Big Bill Miller (both dangerous shooters). He tried to run and they slammed a door on his hand, breaking bones.

Vader was notorious for being stiff and being an a-hole. He was supposed to be in an interview area and agent Paul orndorff sent word to get his butt in gear and get over there. He didn't show and was still holding things up. Orndorff tracked him down and and told him to get his fat ass over there. Vader tried to get physical and Orndorff, with one weak arm, proceeded to deck him and started stomping him, while wearing flip-flops. Vader wished he was back in Japan, being threatened by Yakuza, with razors.

Bret and Shawn got into it backstage and Bret ripped out a chunk of hair and was getting the better of Shawn. Michaels stormed into Vince's office, threw down the hunk of hair, said it was an "Unsafe working environment," and left the building. Cornette scooped up the hair (said it looked like a dead possum) and took it home to show his wife. Last he knew, she ended up with it, in the divorce.

Shawn previously got mouthy with a Marine, insulted his girl, and was getting seven kinds of s@#$ kicked out of him, when Davey Boy Smith got him out of there. Others were there but just watched, as they thought Shawn had it coming.

Like I say, dumb jock alpha males, with a need for adoration. Not a healthy mix.