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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2022 13:48:40 GMT -5
Loved the main event last night....but I'm a bit bothered that the match, AND result (winner, and who would be pinned) was floating around 24 hours ahead
Where did you see the news? I’ve unsubscribed to wrestling news sites and the like (as much as I can). I understand your frustration. I’d like to see Roman Reigns cost Brock the belt against Lashley at Royal Rumble, leading to Brock winning the Rumble and challenging Reigns at WrestleMania.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2022 13:57:50 GMT -5
Hubby was looking at videos on youtube by those 'in the know' who were explaining why Brock won the belt....so we might stop doing that too, since it's so spot on.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 4, 2022 23:19:46 GMT -5
driver1980, since you have been looking at the 50s, you might enjoy watching Ricki Starr. Vs Hans Hermann, 1959, Chicago International Ampitheater; special introduction with Gorgeous George.... Starr was Bernard Hermann, born in St Louis, he trained as a boxer, first, but didn't liek the fight game. His father was a wrestler, boxer and referee, in Illinois and Missouri and he trained in amateur wrestling and then trained in ballet. It was thought he actually did it to develop his physical abilities to help him break into wrestling, in St Louis. He combined it into a ballet gimmick, where he would wear slippers and do actual movements, along with his wrestling. He was extremely agile and was a top draw throughout his career. However, he was also a top technician and he wrestled in places like Texas, as a straight shooter wrestler.... vs Duke Keomuka, in Texas, 1952.... Note that Starr is wearing boots and wrestles without the gimmicks. He appeared on the game show, To Tell The Truth.... as well as an episode of the comedy Mr Ed, with the talking horse. He later moved over to the UK and worked there and in Europe and settled in the UK. He passed away in 2014 Feature by Greg Oliver, at Slam Wrestling.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2022 5:08:43 GMT -5
Thanks for the links! 🙂
Pretty much reached 1971 as far as Network stuff goes…
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 6, 2022 14:06:52 GMT -5
Shozo "Strong" Kobayashi, one of Japan's biggest stars of the 70s and early 80s, has passed away. Here is his obituary, at Slam Wrestling.He was a major star for the second major promotion of Japan, International Wrestling Enterprises, the first real challenge to the Japan Wrestling Association. Their titles were "officially sanctioned" by the International Wrestling Alliance, a fictional governing body that was supposed to be a rival of the NWA. Kobayashi held the IWA World title, in Japan, and also wrestled for the AWA, who had a working relationship with the IWE. In his day, he was one of the most recognized sports stars in Japan.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 14, 2022 0:31:35 GMT -5
MLW has filed a lawsuit against the WWE, citing several instances of the WWE exerting pressure to sabotage deals MLW was making with Vice TV, as well as a previous deal involving Tubi. Not an easy kind of case to win, which suggests they may be trying for a settlement or else to get the government to bring its own anti-trust suit against the WWE or investigate its business practices. If the latter, that could open a whole can of worms related to them using gorilla power to stifle other promotions (which goes back to strongarm PPV providers to sabotage Crockett's PPV shows), not to mention their rather questionable definition of "independent contractor." Many have been angling for the Dept of Labor to get involved in that one, as the wrestlers are not independent contractors, as they are not free to leave the WWE, without a release and work for other promotions. In the territory days, they were independent contractors, able to work for whoever would hire them. Exclusive contracts, with non-compete clauses definitely changes that status. Could be interesting.
Meanwhile, Billy Corgan's NWA is returning to Youtube to broadcast NWA Powerrr and a new show, NWA USA. They are still maintaining their subscription-based presence on Fyte, which gets first broadcast and PPV, but Youtube is free, again. Viewership was down, after they left Youtube. Gives me a reason to watch again, though, apart from Trevor Murdoch's title win, I am way out of the loop on their storylines. I haven't seen any angles since COVID shut them down. In the interim, Josephus/Question Mark unexpectedly died and the lost Ricky Starks, Ziggy Dice, James Storm Eddie Kingston and Eli Drake, plus Thunder Rosa from the women's side. So, lots of catching up to do.
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Post by arfetto on Jan 16, 2022 16:41:59 GMT -5
I watch pro wrestling sometimes. I am going through 2021 Dragon Gate currently. When it comes to wrestling, I am always behind.
Here are some gifs I put together of the last big show of 2020 (no match related gifs so no spoilers)
I enjoy the presentation of this unit.
BxB Hulk and KAI being obnoxious, haha.
Ultimo Dragon still doing his thing.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 16, 2022 17:06:59 GMT -5
I watch pro wrestling sometimes. I am going through 2021 Dragon Gate currently. When it comes to wrestling, I am always behind.
Here are some gifs I put together of the last big show of 2020 (no match related gifs so no spoilers)
I enjoy the presentation of this unit.
BxB Hulk and KAI being obnoxious, haha.
Ultimo Dragon still doing his thing.
Haven't seen Dragon Gate footage, but did see a bit of Toryumon, when Dragon first started it up, with is students. Also had one tape of Gran Hamada's original Universal Pro Wrestling, his lucha-oriented promotion where Dragon wrestled without a mask, under his real name, Yoshihiro Asai. Great Sasuke and Super Delfin were also there, before Sasuke went off to start Michinoku Pro. Had a few matches from them, on a Ultimo Dragon compilation, with matches between him and Sasuke. The bulk of the tape was from Tenryu's WAR promotion, with a little CMLL and the J-Crown matches. I always liked the hybrid of lucha and Japanese strong style, though it depended a bit on the performer. Some of the guys knew how to adapt the lucha stuff to the more realistic strong style, while others were a bit too luch oriented and it looked too cooperative. Lucha, itself, evolved a bit, in the 80s and 90s, with more acrobatics, as the stuff you could see in the 60s and 70s had a bit more realistic action, with some flashy stuff mixed in. The characters were a bit wild, but got wilder in the 90s than they had been, with some exceptions (the comedy stuff).
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 18, 2022 18:35:38 GMT -5
GLOW just lost another sister: Andrea Micheil, aka Angel, has passed away from complications related to COVID.
Micheil had one other tv credit, an episode of Melrose Place. She came into the series during the second season, as one of the "bad girls," the heel side of the group. She later joined the exodus of performers who followed David McLane to found POWW, which operated as a touring wrestling troupe, while co-promoting matches with the WWA and AWA, in their latter days (McLane started out in the WWA, as a photographer, then announcer). She wrestled in POWW and elsewhere as Hot Rod Andie, with the Hot Rod being a tribute to Roddy Piper. She also used the name Andrea Jackson.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 25, 2022 13:23:12 GMT -5
Memphis wrestling midcard mainstay and Runner Up in the Wrestling's Most Unfortunate Surname Category, Ken Raper, has passed away, at 67.
(Here against Exotic Adrian Street....)
Ken was mainly a tv jobber and undercard guy in Memphis, though he did have a handful of matches for the AWA and WWF, as enhancement talent. He was given a surprise win, on tv, for the CWA World Tag-Team Titles, along with partner (who must have been on hiatus from the Brady Bunch) Robert Reed....
Prime Jimmy Hart, before the WWF turned him into a caricature of himself, baby! Little help from the Fabulous Ones; but, like they said, real champions should be able to handle a little "outside interference!" You know how important a title is in wrestling when it is represented by a trophy! Also, no trophy ever appeared on a wrestling show without getting broken over someone's head! The Assassin's were Don Bass and Roger Smith, not Tom Renesto and Jody Hamilton. Memphis had at least 3 different versions of the Assassins, none of whom were Renesto and Hamilton.
Here's one from Memphis's days as the Championship Wrestling Alliance, before changing the name to the United States Wrestling Association, after buying out World Class. Prior to that, Memphis was "governed" by the Continental Wrestling Association, for its "world" heavyweight and tag titles, while the Southern titles were said to be governed by the AWA (and, previously, the NWA, when Memphis would book the NWA World champion). Raper takes on a young wrestler, by the name The Master of Pain. Looks kind of familiar....
Yup, that is Mark Calloway, the future Mean Mark Callous, in WCW and, then, more famously, the Undertaker.
Oh, who was the winner of the Wrestling's Most Unfortunate Surname Category? Ricky Steamboat! What's so bad about "Steamboat?" Well, that isn't his real name and he wasn't given it until he came to work in Florida. Steamboat's real name is Richard Blood, which is an awesome name for wrestling, if you are a heel; but, Steamboat was the quintessential babyface. He did start out using it though; but, he was known as Dick, when he got started; so, he was announced as Dick Blood. That's just not a name to win over fans. Funny enough, someone else did wrestle as Richard Blood.....Merced Solis, better known as Tito Santana. For a short time, in his rookie days, he wrestled as Richard Blood, since Steamboat wasn't using it.
The tag match demonstrates what was so great about the territory days and their tv shows (when they were good; plenty of them were pretty bad); you could have an upset win and have a genuine reaction from the studio audience that made it bigger. The underdog win was always a favorite; but, promoters used it sparingly and, generally, to reward underneath guys who got good reactions from the studio crowds, but were never going to be stars (or just weren't experienced enough). Florida did it with Jack Hart, aka Barry Horowitz, who also got a surprise win in the WWF, after losing streaks; and, the WWF did it with Sean Waltman, as The Kid, leading to his run as the 1-2-3 Kid. Crockett did it with the Mulkey Brothers, giving them a win over "The Gladiators," (fellow enhancement guys George South and Gary Royal), to earn a spot in the Crockett Cup tournament, after so many butt-whoopins by the Road Warriors and Midnight Express. The AWA did it with Jake "The Milkman" Milliman, on the ESPN show. Flair used to do an upset win with promising young guys, when he was the champion. They'd wrestle to a 10 or 15 minute draw and Flair would demand 5 more minutes, in frustration and the rookie would pin him, leading to a title match at the big show. he did it with Barry Windham, in Florida, Mike Von Erich, in Texas, and a few other guys in various territories.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 25, 2022 13:40:05 GMT -5
ps Adrian Street was one of the most under-rated wrestlers, in the US, as he wasn't always used well by promoters and he had trouble adapting to the American style, when he first came to the US. Street was a legit shooter and tougher than 99.99% of any locker room he entered; but, he didn't always get to show it. The effeminate bit used to rile up crowds, especially in the South, though he started it in the UK (and riled up crowds just as much; but, he still did the technical wrestling). Here is Adrian, in the early 70s, on World of Sport, vs Jim Breaks.... Memphis reacted well to him and he came through there a few times and He was used by Crockett, though mostly in the upper mid-card. Continental (the Pensacola & Alabama promotion of the Fullers) actually used him as a babyface, in the later 80s, against Hustler Rip Rogers, with both valet/wives involved (Miss Linda and Brenda Britton, respectively).... That was Street's own record, for his entrance music, "Imagine What I Could Do to You?". He recorded it in the 70s, during the Glam Rock days (part of the inspiration for his look) and sold 45 rpm singles of it, at arenas. Quite frankly, it was waaaay better than Michael Hayes' "Badstreet, USA." Brenda Britton was Rip's wife (they divorced later and she passed on, from Cancer, several years ago) and started out with him, in ICW, as a valet. She was also Randy savage's Ms Macho Man valet, for a brief time, and Rip says Randy tried to maneuver his way in there, despite being friends. That was before Elizabeth came along. Britton and Rip worked together in Florida, Continental and Kansas City; but, no matter her actual age, I always thought she looked like an experienced prostitute, which was probably deliberate, on her part. She wasn't a great talker; but, she could get fans pretty mad and the were usually encouraged to call her "fleabag," by the babyfaces. She was a pretty darn good valet, adding more heat to Rip, who drew it well enough, on his own. By the mid-late 80s, every other heel had a valet, then a female manager. Kevin Sullivan had The Fallen Angel (wife Nancy, later murdered by Chris Benoit), Rick Rude had Angel (in Memphis) and Raven (in Dallas), John Tatum and, later, Eddie Gilbert, had Missy Hyatt, Tully Blanchard had Baby Doll, Jimmy Garvin had Sunshine, then Precious (his wife, Patty); Robert Fuller had his wife, Miss Sylvia, Street had wife, Miss Linda,. Later, we got female managers, with Sherri Martel and Madusa Micelli.
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Post by arfetto on Jan 29, 2022 17:27:22 GMT -5
I bought a lot of very cheap wrestling dvds (and a few blu-rays) from a collection. I don't have streaming services or tv, so if I want to watch something I watch it on computer or dvd/blu-ray.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2022 17:33:27 GMT -5
Royal Rumble 2022 tonight...having BBQ and hopefully a good time with all my predictions
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 1, 2022 1:25:10 GMT -5
Here's some fun. See if you can spot the connection between these two matches.....
Okay, obviously, they feature the same two guys. The first is from World of Sport, the UK's top wrestling program, for years. Satoru Sayama was sent to train in Mexico and the UK and wrestled there as Sammy Lee and was quite popular with crowds. Marc "Rollerball" Rocco was a top heel there and a World of Sport favorite. This is March of 1981.
Move forward a bit and Sayama is back in Japan, as the new living version of the manga and anime hero, Tiger Mask, debuting, in the role, in April. In January of 1982, he defeated Dynamite Kid to win the vacant WWF Junior Heavyweight title, which had been based with New Japan Pro Wrestling, since 1978, when Tatsumi Fujinami won it. In May, 1982, Tiger Mask defeated Les Thornton to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title, holding both titles simultaneously. Some NWA promoters did not like their title being defended along with the WWF title, though the WWF was still part of the NWA, at this time. The board upheld Sayama as champion; but, a few of the promoters continued to recognize Thornton and he wrestles for Georgia Championship Wrestling, with a new title belt.
Marc Rocco was brought in, probably due to the suggestion of Sayama, to portray the foreign heel counterpart to Tiger Mask, Black Tiger. They had a series of matches against each other and Black Tiger won the WWF title, after Sayama was forced to vacate it, after an injury. Sayama then defeated Black Tiger to regain the title.
Tiger Mask's main rival for the title was Dynamite Kid, then Kuniaki Kobayashi, as his chief Japanese rival. He also had a series of matches against the likes of Villano III, Gran Hamada, and even a match or two with Bret Hart.
Other Japanese wrestlers who worked in the UK included Akira Maeda (as Kwik-Kick Lee) and Fuji Yamada, better known as Jushin Liger....
Tiger Mask also faced a few British challengers, in Japan (aside from Dynamite and Rocco), including Pete Rockets and wrestler (but not comedian) Steve Wright....
Steve Wright is mostly unknown in the US; but, you might be familiar with his son, "Das Wunderkind" Alex Wright, who wrestled for WCW, both under his own name and as Berlyn. Steve Wright worked regularly in Austria and Germany for Otto Wanz's CWA promotion and settled there, where Alex was born and raised.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2022 12:08:10 GMT -5
Honestly don't like over-rated Goldberg and the way he just walks out and not only demands a Title match ahead of everyone else, but gets it.
Was disgusted on last night's Smackdown, spoiled the rest of the show.
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