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Post by dbutler69 on May 4, 2024 8:07:43 GMT -5
He changed his name back to Big Bubba Rogers when he turned heel in '95. Probably should have just done that in the first place when he came back to WCW.
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Post by dbutler69 on May 4, 2024 8:07:03 GMT -5
I saw Clash of Champions 28 from June, 1994. This is it! This represents Hulk Hogan’s WCW debut! He doesn’t actually wrestle here, but he does make an appearance, limo, police escort and all. The other storyline here is that Sensual Sherri (she can’t be Sensational any more since WWF has the rights to that name) is going to choose her “man” to stand by, but nobody knows who it is. Plenty of speculation, of course. Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan on commentary, with Jesse occasionally replacing Heenan. Okerland doing the interviews. First match is for the WCW World Tag Team Championship: Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan (c) w/ Dave Sullivan vs. The Nasty Boys. This one, unlike their previous PPV matches, just has regular tag team championship match rules. Due to the crazy nature of their previous encounters, there are two refs for this one. The second ref (who is on the floor) played absolutely no role in this match whatsoever, so I have no idea why they bothered. Anyway, this was a good match. Not as good as their previous PPV encounters, but another good brawl. The champs retain the belts when Cactus laid out Knobbs with the double arm DDT. Next match is The Guardian Angel vs. Tax Slazenger. The Guardian Angel is the Boss’s (AKA Big Bossman) new gimmick after WCW changed it to avoid litigation with the WWF. This was just a quick squash to put over the new gimmick. It was fine for what it was. Prior to the match, they had a video showing him training to become a Guardian Angel. Next match is for the WCW Television Championship: Larry Zbyszko (c) vs. Lord Steven Regal w/ Sir William. Zbyszko had gotten the title from Regal somewhere along the line, within the past couple of weeks, I think. Regal wins when Larry had Regal in a Boston crab, but Sir William walked by and flipped them over so that Regal now had Larry in a pinning predicament, then Regal held onto the ropes for the pin. This was a good match. A mixture of brawling and mat wrestling. I think Zbyszko retired for good soon after this. Dustin Rhodes has selected Arn Anderson as his tag team partner for the next PPV. Next match is for the WCW United States Championship: Steve Austin (c) vs. Johnny B. Badd.This was a pretty good match, except that the ending was stupid, confusing, and annoying. Austin pulls out some brass knuckles, clobbers Badd with them, and pins Badd for the win. Then, a second referee comes out and tells the first referee what happened. So Badd rolled up Austin and won, to take the title. Then he walks off with the belt. Or did he take the title? Apparently, though THEY NEVER EXPLAINED THIS DURING THE BROADCAST, Badd won by DQ, not by pinfall, so he did not win the title. First of all, I HATE when they have a second referee come in after the match is over and get a decision reversed. So many plot holes there. Why not do that every time then??? Second, the ref never should have counted Austin out for the Badd pinfall win. If you’re going to reverse the decision, then a Badd DQ win is the right call, which was apparently what eventually happened, though WCW, in their baffling incompetence, never explained that. Then Hulk Hogan basically challenges Ric Flair to a match. The main event here is Flair vs. Sting in a unification match, and WCW basically gave away the ending of that match with this confrontation between Hogan and Flair. Not the first time and probably not the last time WCW gave away the ending of a big match. They are apparently pretending that Hogan and Flair have never wrestled before. Also, they had Hogan on the mic a few times on this show, and he said "brother" about every fifth word. It got really, really annoying. It's like he's a parody of himself. The main event is the Unification Match: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs. WCW International World Champion Sting.The guys come out, and we finally see who Sherri has selected. She makes her grand entrance wearing the same face paint as Sting, and goes to his corner. The crowd seemed to be primarily behind Sting for this one. This was an excellent match. Not the best ever Flair-Sting match, but still very good. Flair wins when Sherri distracts Sting (she got clobbered by a Sting plancha when Sting was going after Flair but Flair pulled Sherri into the path – Shawn Michaels style) as Sherri went onto the apron to say something to Sting, and while that was happening, Flair rolled Sting up from behind for the win. It was a setup! Sherri had actually chosen Flair all along and tricked Sting! Then Flair and Sherri beat on Sting for a while until the Hulkster runs out for the save. I liked the Sherri double cross here. Anyway, with Hogan now on board, with Jimmy Hart, I might add, WCW will be changing a lot, of course. It had been getting more hardcore, but that will change. All in all, a very good show. No bad matches. You had the Guardian Angel squash, but that was short and wasn’t really bad or anything. We must have very similar tastes because, once again, my view is akin to yours. (Sorry to post this - all due respect - but wasn’t this Clash 27 rather than 28?) The main event is really just a placeholder bout. Expect an interesting thing or two between Dustin Rhodes and Arn Anderson. Austin’s stock is really plummeting at this point (not his fault, obviously). With the benefit of hindsight, while I felt a bit of excitement at Hogan being in a new environment, the discussions we’ll no doubt have about future PPVs will show just what Hogan meant for WCW, Austin included. Guardian Angel’s stock plummeted, too, and I can’t help but think the loss of The Boss gimmick hindered him a tad. Oh well, plenty of fun to come… Yeah, you're right - it's 27 not 28. I fixed my post, thanks. I read somewhere that Eric Bischoff thought that Austin wasn't marketable. I think Bischoff is in charge at this point, so maybe that's why he's slipping down the card. Good call, Eric! I agree that losing the Boss/Bossman gimmick hurt our Guardian Angel.
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Post by dbutler69 on May 3, 2024 14:51:27 GMT -5
Funny thing is, on one of the weekend shows a few days before this Clash, WCW accidentally aired a segment that was supposed to air after the Clash where Mean Gene talks about Flair as being the winner of the big match with Sting. So they had already spoiled the result before the show started. Not that there was much doubt they were going to book Hogan vs Flair for the title as Hogan's first WCW match Yup, that sounds like WCW all right.
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Post by dbutler69 on May 3, 2024 11:41:32 GMT -5
I saw Clash of Champions 27 from June, 1994.
This is it! This represents Hulk Hogan’s WCW debut! He doesn’t actually wrestle here, but he does make an appearance, limo, police escort and all.
The other storyline here is that Sensual Sherri (she can’t be Sensational any more since WWF has the rights to that name) is going to choose her “man” to stand by, but nobody knows who it is. Plenty of speculation, of course.
Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan on commentary, with Jesse occasionally replacing Heenan. Okerland doing the interviews.
First match is for the WCW World Tag Team Championship: Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan (c) w/ Dave Sullivan vs. The Nasty Boys.
This one, unlike their previous PPV matches, just has regular tag team championship match rules. Due to the crazy nature of their previous encounters, there are two refs for this one. The second ref (who is on the floor) played absolutely no role in this match whatsoever, so I have no idea why they bothered.
Anyway, this was a good match. Not as good as their previous PPV encounters, but another good brawl. The champs retain the belts when Cactus laid out Knobbs with the double arm DDT.
Next match is The Guardian Angel vs. Tax Slazenger. The Guardian Angel is the Boss’s (AKA Big Bossman) new gimmick after WCW changed it to avoid litigation with the WWF. This was just a quick squash to put over the new gimmick. It was fine for what it was. Prior to the match, they had a video showing him training to become a Guardian Angel.
Next match is for the WCW Television Championship: Larry Zbyszko (c) vs. Lord Steven Regal w/ Sir William.
Zbyszko had gotten the title from Regal somewhere along the line, within the past couple of weeks, I think. Regal wins when Larry had Regal in a Boston crab, but Sir William walked by and flipped them over so that Regal now had Larry in a pinning predicament, then Regal held onto the ropes for the pin. This was a good match. A mixture of brawling and mat wrestling. I think Zbyszko retired for good soon after this.
Dustin Rhodes has selected Arn Anderson as his tag team partner for the next PPV.
Next match is for the WCW United States Championship: Steve Austin (c) vs. Johnny B. Badd.
This was a pretty good match, except that the ending was stupid, confusing, and annoying. Austin pulls out some brass knuckles, clobbers Badd with them, and pins Badd for the win. Then, a second referee comes out and tells the first referee what happened. So Badd rolled up Austin and won, to take the title. Then he walks off with the belt. Or did he take the title? Apparently, though THEY NEVER EXPLAINED THIS DURING THE BROADCAST, Badd won by DQ, not by pinfall, so he did not win the title. First of all, I HATE when they have a second referee come in after the match is over and get a decision reversed. So many plot holes there. Why not do that every time then??? Second, the ref never should have counted Austin out for the Badd pinfall win. If you’re going to reverse the decision, then a Badd DQ win is the right call, which was apparently what eventually happened, though WCW, in their baffling incompetence, never explained that.
Then Hulk Hogan basically challenges Ric Flair to a match. The main event here is Flair vs. Sting in a unification match, and WCW basically gave away the ending of that match with this confrontation between Hogan and Flair. Not the first time and probably not the last time WCW gave away the ending of a big match. They are apparently pretending that Hogan and Flair have never wrestled before.
Also, they had Hogan on the mic a few times on this show, and he said "brother" about every fifth word. It got really, really annoying. It's like he's a parody of himself.
The main event is the Unification Match: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs. WCW International World Champion Sting.
The guys come out, and we finally see who Sherri has selected. She makes her grand entrance wearing the same face paint as Sting, and goes to his corner.
The crowd seemed to be primarily behind Sting for this one. This was an excellent match. Not the best ever Flair-Sting match, but still very good. Flair wins when Sherri distracts Sting (she got clobbered by a Sting plancha when Sting was going after Flair but Flair pulled Sherri into the path – Shawn Michaels style) as Sherri went onto the apron to say something to Sting, and while that was happening, Flair rolled Sting up from behind for the win. It was a setup! Sherri had actually chosen Flair all along and tricked Sting! Then Flair and Sherri beat on Sting for a while until the Hulkster runs out for the save. I liked the Sherri double cross here. Anyway, with Hogan now on board, with Jimmy Hart, I might add, WCW will be changing a lot, of course. It had been getting more hardcore, but that will change.
All in all, a very good show. No bad matches. You had the Guardian Angel squash, but that was short and wasn’t really bad or anything.
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Post by dbutler69 on May 3, 2024 11:38:34 GMT -5
Shoot me now, please: I shudder to think what his latest lies may be. Noooooooo! “Brother, I was playing in my high school band, and I met Neil Armstrong, who saw our band regularly. He wasn’t sure about the space program, but I said to him, ‘Brother, you gotta do this for the United States and its morale.’ And he went to the Moon. So I like to think Hulkamania - before Hulkamania was even a thing - played its little part in making sure America won the race to the Moon…”Don't forget about how he invented the internet.
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Post by dbutler69 on May 3, 2024 7:49:54 GMT -5
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 29, 2024 7:14:27 GMT -5
Did you ever see Jacques and Pierre in WCW as The Amazing French Canadians (1996-98)? Didn’t really get a high profile during the nWo era, but it was good to see them again. Not that I recall. I may have seen them back in the day and don't remember it. I'm sure I'll get to that eventually as I make my way through the WWE/WCW content.
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 27, 2024 7:45:22 GMT -5
Taped on this day 30 years ago, the Head Shrinkers defeated The Quebecers to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship (the victory would air in early May): I really enjoyed this title change as The Quebecers were heels you loved to hate, and had been so dastardly at times. Seeing The Head Shrinkers humble them was great. I just watched this a few days ago! It was on Raw. I read that Jacques was leaving the company (he wanted to be able to spend more time at home and I guess the money WWF was offering him wasn't enough to offset that) so I assume that's why they dropped the title at this time. Another tag team champ for Captain Lou Albano!
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 25, 2024 16:02:21 GMT -5
I finished watching WCW Slamboree 1994.
Again, Bobby Heenan and Tony Schiovane are the announcers with Ventura doing interviews and Okerlund doing features from the interview platform. This was held in Philadelphia.
Rick Rude was supposed to defend his international title against Vader here, but suffered a career ending injury in Japan, so Commissioner Bockwinkle rules the recent Rude-Sting bout a no-contest and awards the international title to Sting, but Sting comes out and says he refuses to win a title in the board room, but he will wrestle Vader for the title. Good man! Still, it might have helped their buy rate if they had announced this match beforehand instead of during the event.
Sensational Sherri (now Sensual Sherri due to WWF rights issues) is in the audience! 2 Cold Scorpio was fired for failing a drug test, unfortunately. Ric Flair is going to wrestle a large mystery masked opponent (who attacked him on an episode of WCW Saturday Night and is in Col. Parker’s stable) for the WCW title.
First match is a U.S. Title Match: Stunning Steve Austin (c) (w/ Col. Parker) vs. Johnny B. Badd.
This was a pretty good match, mostly mat based, with a botched ending. I don’t know what they were going for, or how to describe it, but basically they were both laying on the mat and Austin rolled on top of Bad for the pin and retains his belt.
Next match is a Legends match, Tully Blanchard v. Terry Funk. Gordon Solie joins Heenan on commentary for this one. This is ECW territory, so Funk got an especially nice pop from the crowd. This was a wild brawl. I’d have thought it was a no DQ (with all the weapons that Funk used) and no countout match, but I guess the ref was just being very permissive. At one point, Funk puts a chair in the ring and tries to piledrive (I guess) Blanchard off the middle rope onto the chair but either it was botched or Blanchard just blocked it. Anyway, this thing ended about the only way it could have, with a double DQ. Good match. Also, I read that Blanchard was promised a larger payoff than he got, and thus refused to do the job as a result. The fans were chanting “bullsh*t” after this match.
Next match is Larry Zbyszko vs. Lord Steven Regal (w/ Sir William). Regal is the TV champ but this is a nontitle match. Zbyszko has come out of retirement to feud with Regal, who has been saying bad things about the good ol’ US of A. This match was very slow and had a lot of stalling. Some good technical stuff here, but could have been better, in my opinion. Zbyszko pulls off the upset when he counters Regal’s butterfly suplex attempt with a backdrop, and stays on top of him for the pin.
A wonderfully insane Terry Funk interview follows.
Next match is a Bull-Rope Match: Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck (w/ Col. Parker). A rematch from their Bunkhouse match at the last PPV, Spring Stampede. The rules are that the two guys are tied together with an 8 ft. bull rope which has a large cowbell attached, which either wrestler can use as a weapon. Effectively a no DQ match. The crowd chants “we want blood” repeatedly and loudly. Philly fans are so nice! They didn’t get their blood until after the match was over though, when Terry Funk came out and attacked the victorious Rhodes with his branding iron, I guess because he doesn’t like Dustin’s daddy.
It backfires when Col. Parker tries to interfere and Dustin is able to clobber Buck with the cowbell over the head for the win. This wasn’t as good as their Spring Stampede match, but it was still a decent brawl.
Next is the WCW Title Match: Ric Flair (c) vs. Barry Windham (w/ Col. Parker). Odd to have the title match here in the middle of the program, but whatever. Col Parker’s mystery man is finally revealed as Barry Windham, who lost his NWA title (which later became the WCW International title) quite some time ago. Parker had been promising a 6’ 7” 300 lb former world champ to get people to think it would be Hulk Hogan, but we get a curveball here. The fans didn’t seem too thrilled about this. Windham hadn’t been seen in WCW in quite some time and looked out of shape. Tony said that he’s been away for 6 months due to a knee injury
Anyway, Flair wins with a cross body off the tope rope. This was a boring match, for the most part.
Next is Broad Street Bully Match for the Tag Team Titles: Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan vs. The Nasty Boys (c)
Former Philadelphia Flyer Dave Schultz was the guest referee. I guess this was supposed to be Kevin Sullivan and his kayfabe brother Dave but Dave (or Evad, in an embarrassing WCW dyslexia storyline) was injured by the Nasties, so Cactus Jack is taking his place.
A Broad Street Bully match means pinfalls count anywhere, no DQ’s, and all four guys are legal at al times. Basically, the exact same rules as with their Chicago Street Fight match at the last PPV. However, for some reason, they only have one referee for this one, trying to watch two pairs of guys fighting oftentimes 50 or more feet from each other. Schultz didn’t seem too interested in getting involved, not that I blame him as he might have gotten hit by a stray chair!
This was another brutal match. It was similar to, but not as good as, the Nasty Boys-Jack/Payne match from Spring Stampede. Again, mostly weapons such as table and chairs being used, most of the match taking place outside the ring, and the two pairs of guys fighting separately. In the end, Jack/Sullivan win when Sags takes Dave Schultz’s hockey stick (which he’d brought to the ring with him) and is about to club Jack with it, but Schultz take it away from him and sets it down. He then punches Sags several times and then pulls his shirt over him, hockey style. Then Jack picks up the hockey stick (and for some reason Schultz doesn’t take the stick away from Jack like he did from Sags) and hits him with it, then covers him for the pin. So Dave Schultz is an even worse referee than The Boss. Jesse (who had stepped in for Heenan on commentary for this one) is rightfully indignant about that ridiculous ending. It did get a big pop in Philly, though, of course. Still, in spite of that, this was a very good and, as I said, brutal match. Also, after that, Jack and Kevin Sullivan continue (with some help from the referee Save Schultz) to attack the Nasties, then Dave Sullivan comes out in crutches and hits Knobs with a crutch, while Maxx Payne comes out (I guess he was not in this match because he was in the doghouse for injuring Sags’ shoulder – and Sags needing shoulder surgery is why they had to drop the titles) and smashes the guitar over Sags’ head, smashing it to pieces. And all is right with the world.
And our final match is the International World Title Match: Sting vs. Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race)
I guess this was supposed to be Vader-Rude but Rude suffered that career ending injury in Japan vs. Sting so Sting gets this spot instead.
The fans started a “Sting must die!” chant during this match. Philly fans are brutal! It got me to wondering who the worst sports fans in America are.
Anyway, this was an excellent match. I don’t think it was quite as good as some of the Sting-Vader matches from 1992-93, but it was still a very good match. It ends with a Sting victory when Vader misses a moonsault, Harley Race accidentally headbutts his own man (then gets tossed by the ref) and Sting hits a flying splash for the pin. Sting is the new International champ!
All in all, a very good PPV. No bad matches!
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 22, 2024 8:12:43 GMT -5
What I noticed on the coloring as I started out, it looks like stuff like gradient backgrounds are a little crisper in the digital style. It doesn't bother me, but I know these details do matter to people considering reprint collections. I was able to do a compare per below where the first 2 side by side are the coloring from the original first issue (left) and the Special Edition reprint a few years later (right) which I didn't realize had been recolored! Then below a picture I took from my book (had to crop a bit, I was having trouble scaling down as the gradient started looking checkered which it doesn't in person). It looks to me like they went back to more the original colors for the omnibus, with some digital enhanced pattern backgrounds/fills, and a little brighter overall. So not perfect for the purist, but again works for me just fine. New omnibus: This is a really helpful comparison @kal . I'm a big fan of Bill Mantlo's writing, but I have not read any Micronauts since I was a very, very young lad in the late '70s (it appeared in black & white as a back-up strip in Marvel UK's Star Wars Weekly comic in '78 and '79). I'd like to read the at least the early issues, with Michael Golden on art chores, and have been wondering whether to get the omnibus, the Special Edition '80s reprint, or the original issues (which aren't that pricey). This post of yours helps me make a more informed decision. Yeah, if you haven't read these since back in the day, you need to get on it! At least the first dozen issues, with Michael Golden. Those are the acme of the series, but the entire series is really good.
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 19, 2024 15:36:35 GMT -5
I watched WCW Spring Stampede 1994. This takes place in Chicago. I can’t believe WCW is going north of the Mason-Dixon line. Good for them!
The announcers are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan. Jesse Ventura is handling the locker room interviews. Gene Okerlund is making some announcements from the stage.
First match is Johnny B. Badd vs. Diamond Dallas Page (w/ The Diamond Doll). Badd wins with the sunset flip off the top rope, which has been his other finisher (along with the Kiss That Don’t Miss, which is just a left hook) in in just under 6 minutes in a pretty decent opening match.
Next match is for the TV Title: Lord Steven Regal (c) (w/ Sir William) vs. Flyin’ Brian Pillman. This match ends in a time limit draw as both guys fall over the top rope onto the floor with about 15 seconds left. Pillman suplexes Regal back in but there were only about 2 seconds left when he did that so there was no way this wasn’t ending in a time limit draw. This was a pretty good match, with Regal having Pillman in a variety of holds for much of the match, but probably would have been better if Pillman could have had a flurry of offense and nearfalls the last couple minutes or so of the match, but that never really happened.
Next match is for the WCW Tag Team titles and is a Chicago Street Fight: The Nasty Boys v. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne. I guess a Chicago street fight means falls count anywhere and no DQ’s.
This was a brutal, ECW style fight. Apparently all four guys are legal at all times (with two referees) and almost all of the match took place outside the ring with Sags battling Cactus and Knobbs battling Payne. The majority of the fight included weapons – chairs, tables, concession stand items, and a shovel. The Nasties win it when Sags hit Jack in the head multiple times with a snow shovel, knocking him out (or at least down enough for the three count). Meanwhile, Payne had apparently had Knobbs pinned at about the same time and both refs missed it. Excellent match, especially if you’re into the extreme type stuff.
The next match is for the WCW United States Heavyweight Title: Stunning Steve Austin (champ) w/ Colonel Rob Parker Vs The Great Muta.
Austin wins when he charges at Muta, and Muta sort of ducks and shoulders Austin (I guess it’s a back drop) over the top rope onto the floor, resulting in an automatic DQ for Muta and Austin retains. Oh brother.
To be honest, I was a bit disappointed in this match. Two of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and this match was dull. It lasted about 16 minutes, and the last 3 minutes were very good, until spoiled by that stupid, lame ending (what a stupid rule – and I remember Ron Simmons at a previous PPV literally backdropping his opponent over the top rope and that wasn’t a DQ and this was because of….reasons?) but the first 13 minutes were very slow with some stalling and some very long rest holds.
The next match is for the International World Title Match: Sting vs. Ravishing Rick Rude (champ).
Before the match starts, Harley Race comes out and challenges the winner to a match on behalf of Vader. Since Vader is going to face the winner, gee, I wonder who will win this match.
This match started quickly with Sting jumping Rude and pouring on the offense for the first minute or two. Then things slowed down…a lot. Then we got a flurry of offense. Sting gets the win when Harley race comes out and tries a chair shot on Sting but Sting ducks and it hits Rude instead knocking him out. The ref (who had been knocked down a minute early) finally revives enough to count Rude out and we have a new International champ!
The first minute or so was good, and the last few minutes was good but the middle 6-7 minutes was very slow and boring, consisting mostly of long rest holds. I love Rick Rude but he hasn’t been the same since he was injured and missed about 3 months from late 1992 to early 1993, and in fact, I think this is his last PPV as he suffers a career ending injury in Japan in the not too distant future.
I have to complain again about WCW’s stupid over the top rope rule. Sting clotheslines Rude over the top rope, then later Rude crotches Sting on the tope rope then knocks him off the top rope onto the floor, yet these aren’t DQ’s yet “propelling” someone over the top rope (throwing and usually backdropping, though I’ve seen that not get a DQ before) results in an automatic DQ. This rule is so inconsistent, illogical, confusing, and just plain stupid.
They mention that Ric Flair invited Hulk Hogan to this event, but don’t know if he’s in the building.
Next match is the Bunkhouse Match with Bunkhouse Buck (w/ Col. Parker) vs. Dustin Rhodes.
Apparently a Bunkhouse is just a no DQ match that’s come as you are (so they’re both in street clothes) and I think pins have to happen in the ring. I guess there’s a feud here but mostly between Parker and Rhodes, as Buck hasn’t been in WCW too long though I guess he did something to Rhodes last week.
WCW is going all ECW on us at this PPV. This was another good, bloody brawl with no real wrestling but plenty of action. Belts, powder, and sticks used as weapons and both guys bleeding profusely. Rhodes is about to pin Buck after a bulldog (which he often used as a finisher) but decides to beat up Col. Parker, standing on the apron, instead. This gives Buck time to recover. Parker surreptitiously hands him some brass knuckles, and he hits Rhodes with them, covers Rhodes for the win, then sneaks them into his jeans. I’m not sure why all the subterfuge in a no DQ match but I guess old habits die hard. A shocking upset here (Buck has been in WCW for only a few weeks!) but this allows the feud to continue.
Next match is Big Van Vader w/ Harley Race Vs The Boss (not the Big Bossman!). This comes out of the last PPV when the Boss screwed Vader out of the championship with his biased officiating.
This was a very good brawl between two really good big men.
Vader backdropped Boss over the tope rope, which I’m pretty sure is supposed to be an automatic DQ but wasn’t. The announcers claimed the ref didn’t see it, but that’s nonsense.
Vader wins it by going to the top rope for the MOONSAULT atop the prone Boss. Pretty sweet finish.
After the match, Boss hits Vader from behind with his nightstick,, then beats on manager Harley Race with his nightstick. But it’s okay, folks, because he’s a babyface, so ANYTHING he does is justified. Eventually commissioner Nick Bockwinkle comes in and stops Boss’s beatdown. However, in the locker room afterwards, Commissioner Bockwinkle strips the Boss of his nightstick, his handcuffs, and the Boss monicker for his actions. Which actually sort of makes sense, but I guess they did this because of the threat of legal action from WWF for infringing on the Big Boss Man character.
Between the Rude match and this match, Harley Race has taken some serious bumps tonight!
Next is the main even, the WCW Title Match: Ric Flair (c) vs. Ricky the Dragon Steamboat. A rare face vs. face match.
This was a great match. Not as good as their ’89 matches, but still really good. And, it was a wrestling match, not a bloody brawl. Those were good too, but it was nice to get a more traditional match as well. I didn’t care for the ending, though. Steamboat gets Flair in the double chicken wing (which is how he beat him for the title in Chicago 5 years earlier) but this time he suplexes him and holds him there, both shoulders on the mat, and the ref counts to three and rings the bell. Everyone thinks Steamboat has won the title. However, the commish comes into the ring (along with another ref) and they talk and the ref says that both guys’ shoulders were down so they both got pinned. He then declares Flair the winner. Which doesn’t make sense, as it should have been declared a draw, but it doesn’t really matter, as Flair would retain the belt either way. The commish then says he’ll discuss it with the committee and they’ll read a decision by the time of WCW Saturday Night but for now, Flair is the champ.
Overall, this was a very good PPV. The Rude-Sting and Muta-Austin matches were disappointing, but the rest of the card contained all good matches and some great ones. Some bad finishes, but that’s become par for the course for WCW. All in all, very solid!
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 19, 2024 15:15:44 GMT -5
Star Blazers was my favorite cartoon back in the day. I never even knew there was a comic! Same here, I watched that show religiously haha! Yeah, Comico did two series actually, this one from 1989 with the Ken Steacy covers and then an earlier one from 1987. I've seen another one in the 90's listed from Argo comics but I haven't read it. Dark Horse did some work much later on in support of the remake Yamato 2199 series. There were also some early 80's books that just used animation cell art. If you love the classic series, not sure if you've ever watched the original Japanese Yamato series that they harvested for the Star Blazers we grew up with. It's a total trip to watch subtitled, I actually enjoy both now! These are the DVD's I bought: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001NBLW2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1Sweet! No, I haven't watched the original series. It would be interesting, especially with subtitles.
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 19, 2024 8:25:07 GMT -5
Star Blazers was my favorite cartoon back in the day. I never even knew there was a comic!
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 18, 2024 15:56:45 GMT -5
On this day 30 years ago, Spring Stampede 1994 aired on PPV, taking place at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, Illinois: These were the matches: Johnny B. Badd vs. DDP WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal vs. Brian Pillman WCW Tag Team Champions The Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne in a Chicago Street Fight WCW United States Champion Stunning Steve Austin vs. The Great Muta WCW International World Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude vs. Sting Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck in a Bunkhouse Match The Boss vs. Vader WCW World Champion Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat This was a reasonable card. The Street Fight was a good, if short, bout. Austin vs. The Great Muta was pretty reasonable, although there was a DQ finish. Rick Rude (who was in pain) had a decent bout with Sting, and it’s sad to think how this was Rude’s final WCW PPV bout (that planned match with Vader at Slamboree 1994 was the ultimate dream match). Had Rude remained in good health, I wonder how he would have fit in with the forthcoming Hulk Hogan regime. The Rhodes/Stud Stable feud was my most underrated feud of 1994, and Rhodes and Bunkhouse Buck had a solid bout, although it was a bit too long. The Boss and Vader had some great scraps which were always heated, and this was one of those. The Steamboat/Flair match was good, but it couldn’t hold a candle to their previous bouts, and the ending (a double pin) was the way it was solely to protect the forthcoming Flair/Hogan bout. I can’t really remember much about Regal/Pillman, and Badd/DDP. I've just started watching this! I'm not going to finish reading your post yet in case it contains spoilers.
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 16, 2024 15:52:08 GMT -5
This assumes that Stallone was not the one who wanted his face to be shown. I have always understood that studio execs believed that American audiences did not know who Judge Dredd was but did know Stallone, and would want to see Stallone. Which makes me wonder why they bothered making a Judge Dredd movie at all. That sounds about right. Movie studio execs are that stupid.
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