Traylor of the Day: Day 1

The Big Boss Man vs. Earthquake (WWF, 10/29/90)

At some point in this project, I'm gonna have to look back on the Big Bubba/John Tenta matches of '96, because those were brutally panned at the time, and yet, looking back now, it kinda makes sense that that program would happen. I mean, I doubt WCW brass was sharp enough to think about it that way at the time, but Traylor and Tenta were good dance partners for each other in the WWF, and it kinda makes sense that you would pair them with each other again in order to try and reignite their respective flames at a time when they were starting to get burnt out. It may not have worked in '96, but these two did well by each other earlier in the decade. I always point to their Royal Albert Hall match when people ask me if Tenta ever had any good matches, and while I don't think this was as good, it was enjoyable in it's own right. It's hampered by a finish that brings the match to an end just when Act 3 should have been starting, but this was really smartly laid out up until then. One of the things everybody from my generation seems to remember about Bossman is how quick and agile he was for his size. I don't know that this match is the best example of that, but it's a great example of why people remember that. These are two big boys, and the match starts out by Quake asserting that he is the bigger boy by shoving Boss Man into the corner and flexing (because in wrestling, fat = strong!), so Boss Man has to take the advantage by being quicker, outmaneuvering him and socking him in the jaw when he gets the opportunity. He also manages to slip behind Jimmy Hart in one of my favorite parts of the match, and Jimmy comically reaches behind himself to feel Boss Man's face, much to his dismay. Quake retakes the advantage with his power, hits a nasty headbutt, and slaps on a bearhug, and we get a really cool moment were Bossman manages to fight him off. He hits a few headbutts of his own, bites his nose, and claps his ears to get him to release the hold...but as soon as he does, he falls to his knees, because his lower back has been damaged so much by the hold that there was nothing else keeping him upright. I was really struck by it. It was just such a clever way to sell the effects of a bearhug. It's the sort of thing that anyone could do, but not too many are actually smart enough to do. If nothing else, I come away from this match thinking of Boss Man as a guy who knew his craft. Earthquake starts focusing on the lower back after that. I should note that Boss Man was in the midst of a feud with Bobby Heenan at this point, and when Quake takes charge, Heenan comes down from commentary to "apologize" for his wrong-doings towards Boss Man, giving Quake quite the managerial dream team. We even get Jimmy lending Bobby the megaphone for a little while, which is another neat touch in a match filled with them. Boss Man digs down deep and starts fighting back, busting out the enzuigiri I forgot he hard, and getting Quake tied up in the ropes Andre-style, leading to the Edge-style crossbody to the guy in the ropes that I also had forgotten/didn't realize he did. Heenan interferes, and Boss Man chases him to the back and gets counted out, ending the match just when it should have been kicking into high gear. This might have been a high-end match with a little more time, but even without it, it's a fun way to kick this off, and I'd recommend it to fans of either of these guys.

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Traylor of the Day

"I want to hear SLLs thoughts on Boss Man."
     -"Good" William Helnick, Evil Overlord of the DVDVR 80's Project

You got it, Will.

Only problem is that, to be honest, it's been a while since I've sat down and watched a decent sampling of the Boss Man's work.  That suits me just fine, though. I became a wrestling fan when The Big Boss Man was at the height of his powers, and I've always had a soft spot for the guy. But unlike other guys I grew up on, that soft spot never went away when I revisited him as an adult, so I'm more than happy to take a deeper look into the career of one Ray Traylor. To that end, I'm going to watch and review a match, interview, or angle from the man every day here at Segunda Caida until I feel I have a thorough and clear (if not necessarily Complete & Accurate) picture of the man's career. Or until I just get tired of it. Whichever comes first. So hook up to the Traylor Hitch, everybody. We're taking a trip down to Cobb County, Georgia, and you better read the signs and respect the law and order. You know what happens if you don't.

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2013 Lucha Roundup

El Terrible v. Rush CMLL 1/22

Very fun match, the best lucha so far this year. This is the same kind of stuff I loved in their hair match last year. Rush being a smarmy shit bag, Terrible kicking his ass. Loved the chucks headfirst into the boards, and the big dives. Rush is really reaching a next level with his cocky shtick. He isn't at Casas level as a wrestler, but he has a similar charisma.

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Saturday Night 2/13/99

Saturday Night 2/13/99

1. Bobby Blaze vs. Jerry Flynn

This was pretty awesome right here. Both guys threw big suplexes and big chops and this was a pretty great strike-based sprint. Flynn matches are always dependent on how much of a beating his opponents are willing to take, and Blaze is a pudgy guy who will take some kicks, throw some neat suplexes, and that all happens here. Flynn looked like a beast here and I especially loved his spinning kick in the corner. Blaze was a man and took is right on the chin. Loved how Flynn had a habit of just finishing guys with a tight armbar after throwing a suplex.

2. Johnny Swinger vs. Vincent

a 30 second Vince squash!? Swinger couldn't have felt great about himself after taking a 30 second loss to Vincent. That being said, Vincent has been a WCW B-Sides MVP contender on rewatch. I have no clue where he got good, but his late 90s WCW stuff has been killer. Here he uses a really cool single arm DDT into an Americana to get the quick tap.

3. Dave Burkhead vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

I may be the biggest Dave Burkhead fan online . I'm pretty sure he was never involved in any classics, and he didn't have a great look, but he did a lot of small things better than most guys. Here he really made me appreciate taking a drop toe hold as he seems genuinely surprised by it and just does a hard face plant. At first I thought Burkhead was just a lumpy jobber, but now that I've had the privilege of seeing more Burkhead matches than most human beings, I can officially be called a Dave Burkhead fan. Dude was rock solid and always threw cool stuff into his jobber matches. He's like the Barry Houston of the late 90s. I showed this match to my incredulous friends who thought I was lying to them about how awesome Burkhead was, and they were all way down with Burkhead by the end of the match. Dude knew how to put over offense (he took a German suplex and tornado DDT right on the dome).

4. Scotty Riggs vs. Kaz Hayashi

Man Kaz Hayashi is fucking awesome. I remember digging him in 1999, but this guy is looking top 20 in the world from everything I've re-watched so far. Everything he does looks gorgeous and it's so accurate. He does that gorgeous tumbling moonsault from the top rope into the ring, and also over the top to the floor and it looks super graceful. Guys also give Kaz tons of offense in his matches even though he almost always ends up losing. Kaz takes like 70% of this match and it's awesome. Finish was Kaz leaning way into the 5-arm and holy shit Kaz Hayashi was like top 5 in WCW at this point.

5. Lodi vs. Kidman

I...truthfully didn't have much opinion on Lodi before watching this match. I don't remember seeing him wrestle much before the whole Lenny/Lodi thing, and even then I don't remember if he was good, bad, horrendous, awesome, whatever, who knows. But he seemed pretty damn good here. He took a monster bump into the guardrail and threw a really great knee lift (which is a move that a lot of guys do terribly). There was a GREAT spot where Lodi was trying to load one of his gloves in the corner, dropped it, and when he bent down to pick it up Kidman ran up and caught him in his springboard bulldog move. It was one of the greatest examples I've ever seen of "guy occupying himself while other guy sets up convoluted offense". How many times do people just bend at the waist waiting to take a move (looking at YOU Booker T axe kick), and Lodi of all people makes taking a move look entirely logical and makes Kidman look WAY better in the process. Finlay is the best at logically getting into position for opponents' signature offense, but now I'm genuinely looking forward to more Lodi!

6. The Cat vs. Booker T

Booker has aged horribly on this rewatch. I remember really liking him and now I'm starting to think the time I actually really liked Booker was like 3 months at the very beginning of 1998. I remember loving the Martel and Saturn matches from Superbrawl and some of the Benoit series, and now I'm realizing that might be it as far as WCW Booker. Harlem Heat has been dreadful. It's all sorts of sloppy kicks and posing. Cat looks pretty clueless here as well. It's not as bad as it could have been and has some pretty inspired moments (Cat got leveled on a nice short arm lariat) but then it ends in a DQ and it's like Whhhhhhhhhy!?

7. Horace vs. Chris Benoit

So as well as being the biggest Dave Burkhead fan, I'm pretty sure I may be the biggest Horace fan as well. I really dig Horace and this was a pretty good late 90s WCW dream match for me. Horace has some nice stuff in this including a great yakuza kick, a big tope (to one of the guardrail sides of the ring, not even into the entrance ramp side!!), takes all of Benoit's suplexes really well for such a large guy (reacts great to the snap suplex as well, shaking his finger at Benoit afterwards). Matches ends with Vincent running in to break things up, and then Mongo runs out and get this - doesn't look very good.

8. Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Misterio Jr.

Classic late 90s cruiser action, and you really have to be a hardened asshole to hate on this kinda stuff. A lot of nerds nowadays will complain about "he should have sold _____ longer" and blah blah blah but whatever, this was two of the all time great cruiserweights doing tons of cool moves and reversals at a blindingly fast pace and it ruled. Cool flips and a rad Juvi springboard spinning heel kick and rad reversals and pre-shitty Rey tattoos and pre-weird Juvi stories about selling birdseed and gym bag-shitting and whatever. My girlfriend and I loved every second of this and it really brought me back to the days where I wouldn't give a shit about heavyweights and bought all my wrestling tapes based on all the rad cruiser matches on it. 90 stars.

9. Brian Adams/Vince vs. Dean Malenko/Chris Benoit

This was supposed to be Brian Adams vs. Dean Malenko, which sounds kinda shitty on paper. But it was changed pre-match to the tag you see above, which to me sounds completely AWESOME on paper and explains the earlier, shorter Vince match. Seriously, late 90s WCW Vincent is a revelation, just the perfect syndicated TV worker. Really knew how to cater his style to whatever guy he was working and he really may be the great lost late 90s superworker. His work against Malenko here was great, flying into his silly leaping flipping calf kick and once he goes on offense really begins the story of the match (working over Dean's back and building to the Benoit hot tag). He has all sorts of cool forearms and clubbing blows and an amazing elbow drop to Dean's back, with Adams then working it over with a nice tilt-a-whirl slam and just stretches Dean over his knee. Yeah it all gets no sold by the end of the match but the work by nWo was strong and you can't expect much more from a 6 minute Saturday Night tag that ends in a run-in. Personally, I thought Adams and Vince smoked the vanilla midgets in this match.

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Regal With a Thorn in his Side, Behind the Hatred There Lies

Lord Steven Regal v. Terry Taylor WCW 1/1/94-GREAT

Hell of a start to 1994 for Regal. This felt almost like a US version of a lucha maestros match. Taylor is pretty bland but can put on simple holds which Regal can find awesome ways of working counters around. First part of the match was Regal working a top wrist lock and then Taylor working a body scissors. Could be dull in other peoples hands, but Regal has a ton of nifty spots built around wrist locks and bodyscissors. There is always action in every hold. Finish got a little chippy with Regal slapping down Taylor's lock up attempts and throwing forearms. They finally finished with the fish flop counter sequence (which wasn't a cliche in 1994) which Taylor was a little awkward at. Very cool stuff though and probably a top 10 Terry Taylor match

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE REGAL

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I'm Thinking The King, Nullify My Life. You're Going to Die. You Gonna Decease.

Jerry Lawler v. Yukon Braxton IWR 2/3/02-GREAT

Nifty discovery which just showed up on the internet. Braxton basically works heel Lawler against a face Lawler. He stalls, hides the chain, grabs the rope in an ab stretch. Lawler fires back with some great looking Lawler punches, including a chop/punch combo Tenryu style. End run was pretty exciting with Braxton misses a huge top rope elbow, Lawler hitting his piledrive for a very close 2. Finish was a little goofy though with Lawler bumping the ref, grabbing Braxton's chain KOing him. Only for the ref to reverse the call. I love these touring indy Lawler matches, he is so good at coming in and making the local guy look great.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE KING

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2013 Lucha Roundup

Polvora v. Titan CMLL 1/1

Not really my kind of lucha, as this was pretty much just young guys throwing out all of there spots. Still this was a singles match which got some time, and some of the spots were pretty crazy. All the second caida stuff around the ramp was nuts, as was Titan's tope to Polvora's back. CMLL is going have this kind of match and this isn't a bad version of it.

Leono/Tigre Blanco v. Bobby Zavala/Disturbio CMLL 1/1

I liked this a bunch, four guys given a shot to have a hair match in Arena Mexico and they left it all on the mat. Really liked the rudos they were both really aggressive, bumped huge and eat all of the technicos offense. Liked Zavala's chops a bunch, he threw them in a different way, big dives and some real drama with out overkill like the title match. Would like to see all of these guys get more chances

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Worldwide 3/27/99 & 4/3/99

3/27/99

Holy lord, I have no idea where this episode was sourced from, what local feed from whatever state in America this was originally taped from, but I love local TV. And whomever originally recorded this episode of Worldwide in whatever state they live in, have a local news anchor named......STORM FIELD!!! Storm Motherfucking Field starts off this episode of Worldwide by pimping the March of Dimes, and it's really awesome that things are working out so well for him after leaving Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. I mean holy shit, Storm Field.

1. Barry Horowitz vs. Johnny Swinger

Damn Horowitz was a monster here! He comes out wearing his rad gold suspenders, and from there it is just a beatdown on poor Swinger. Swinger finally draws the card of someone other than Finlay or Regal, finally gonna get a chance to not get beaten within an inch of his life...and that's when Horowitz works stiffer than I have ever seen him work before. Just punching and chopping and elbowing and throwing dropkicks like Swinger was a trainee in Gaea Girls. I've always enjoyed Barry, but I need more of THIS Barry.

2. La Parka vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Yeah buddy! Always fun getting to watch these two do their thing. Crazy to think that 13 years later Parka is probably the most relevant guy out of these sets. I mean, he's one of the only guys who is still active, but he's also a major star. Not sure who would have predicted that in 1999. Here we get some fun dives, some dancing, and some big bumps. Who can hate?

4/3/99

You know this is going to be a fucking awesome episode because it starts out with a crowd pan and there is a woman in her 20s holding up a sign that says "Take me Back Stage". I guarantee you that sign and the ensuing events that assuredly happened were not even in the top 10 biggest mistakes that woman has made in her life.

1. Kendall Windham vs. Bobby Duncam Jr.

YESSS! Syndicated dream match for me right here. This had to have been right around when they started the West Texas Rednecks. I thought they had already started when I was in college, but I clearly must be wrong as there is no mention of them here. I wish this could have gotten 12 minutes, but it only goes about 3-4. Still, they cram a bunch in with both guys throwing bombs and the action going all over the ring, ending in a count out. I wish this match up was on every episode.

2. Kidman vs. Evan Karagias

And then we end the evening on this. Kidman matches are really fun when he's against somebody with great offense, because Kidman can bump like a complete lunatic. I'll level with you, Evan Karagias does not have great offense. Or good offense. Or...offense. So, this stank. Karagias was super awkward and not great at taking offense, and if you weren't great at taking offense then you may die against Kidman. Karagias does manage to powerbomb Kidman. It turns out the trick is to use a gutwrench. Evan cracked the code! Then he tried a regular powerbomb, Kidman reversed, and it somehow ended with Karagias flying face first into Kidman's knees. Kidman goes up for the shooting star and we all take bets on where Kidman will end up. My guess was "Kidman's chest/chin landing on Kargias' knees". Other guesses included "Kidman's knees on Karagias' chest". The winning answer was "Kidman's chest on Karagias' groin."

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Pro 3/23/96

WCW Pro 3/23/96:

1. Joey Maggs vs. Lex Luger

So people bagging on Luger officially needs to stop. Dude was damn good as late as '97. He looked real good here and bumped around for fucking Joey Maggs, who doesn't actually jump as often as his name would have you believe. Luger worked this match 50/50 and it was weird for everybody.

2. Ice Train vs. The Gambler

Boy Ice Train was not very good. Here he blows a couple hip tosses and botches a shoulderblock. Gambler, however, was great, as The Gambler always is. His sateen little league coach jacket always looks primo, and he always gets his gimmick of being a gambler over pre-match, whether it be holding a deck of cards, or throwing dice like he did here. The problem here was that the cameras didn't do a good job of showing the dice before he starting rolling, so it looked like he was uncomfortably miming jacking off while looking straight into the camera. This went on for too many seconds before the big dice reveal (he rolled a 3). His character feels like something that would really work today, in one of those "ripped from the headlines" type deals. He could lose all his money in some sort of Bernie Madoff scam, or lose his home in a subprime lending scenario.

There's a man in the crowd with a tucked in Dolphins jersey who clearly has no idea how to boo while giving the double thumbs down. It's like he's doing a weird combo of "revving a motorcycle" miming, and "crying baby with fists balled into eyes". His buddies all walk that line of a) wrestling fan or b) developmentally disabled...or c) developmentally disabled wrestling fan (it's almost always C).

3. Kurasawa vs. Randy Savage

Best part about this was Savage has Hogan at ringside holding a chair, cheating for him the whole match. Savage needed Hogan's interference to beat Kurasawa. All the while they're building up Hogan and Savage about to face 6 dudes in a cage at Uncensored, but Hogan helps Savage beat Kurasawa.

4. Konnan vs. Kanyon

Boy Kanyon will bump fantastically to put over crummy Konnan offense. Kanyon takes no fewer than two moves onto his head here, including the finish DDT which Kanyon plants himself on gorgeously.

5. Meng vs. Hulk Hogan

I actually like this match-up and it is hilarious how much Hogan cheats like a motherfucker through this whole match. Not one move he does is legit or done after being provoked. Right out of the gate he's biting Meng on the forehead, arm, leg, backraking him, choking him on the mat, hitting him with a chair, all while the announcers are putting him over. But then Meng does all that shit back to him and Dusty says like only Dusty can "Well he kinda had that comin to him." I don't want to see Meng job to the legdrop and luckily Zeus and the Ultimate Solution run out and Rachel is like "That guy from the Ice Cube Coors Light commercial did wrestling?!" and Savage wisely pulls a chairshot instead of hitting Meng as hard as he could in the face, because Meng would have bit his nose off backstage.

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Worldwide 8/11/96

WCW Worldwide 8/11/96

1. High Voltage vs. Eddie and Chavo Guerrero

High Voltage do a bunch of press slam spots and I think that always makes me think they're more awesome than they actually are. Whatever. Rage doing a bunch of presses here lead to a cool Eddie roll-up reversal. But whatever, HV's springboard spots always look great. Heenan's commentary also never ceases to shit all over Mexicans.

2. Kevin Sullivan vs. Chad Brock

Brock bumped around pretty well for Sullivan, but I hate Sullivan squashes because they're always like 50 seconds and he does all his moves in the exact same order: back a guy into the corner with chops, throw him to the floor, go out and get him (if '97, insert Jacqueline vertical suplexing the guy here), tree of woe, double foot stomp. Bleh.

3. Maxx vs. Ice Train

Lee Marshall humbly talking about "powerful men feeling each other out" made Rachel laugh and filled me with wrestle shame. I think this match actually could have benefitted from more time. I think it needed more time to build up that both guys' power cancels the other's out, so the person with the better combo of power and speed will win. Instead we only get one shoulder block no-sold by both, with both flexing and screaming, and then we go into Ice Train spots. I would have liked to see more power parity spots. I did like Maxx's big missed leaping back elbow, but this wasn't great.

4. Big Bubba vs. Chip Minton

Bubba looks like a total skeet here with a week long bender beard and homemade sleeveless shirt. Minton is game here for a beating and Bubba doles out a pretty decent one with a nice big boot, GREAT headbutt from the apron, couple big time slams, although he did look like he was yawning and sleepwalking his way through this. Minton has some really impressive leaping ability and I'm shocked WCW never tried to do more with him as it seems like they could have gotten SOME publicity out of it.

5. Rough & Ready (Enos and Slater) vs. Harlem Heat

I actually don't remember the Enos/Slater team at all. This match gets a lot of time, 11 minutes, and is pretty decent. But good lord Harlem Heat is just not very good at all. They've probably aged worse than anybody in this span. Stevie Ray is worse than you remember him, and yes I know how badly you remembered him. Enos and Slater actually make Stevie Ray offense look good and for that they get enormous credit. Enos throws a standing overhead belly-to-belly that dumps Booker right on his head. Ouch. Stevie Ray throws a clothesline to Slater's stomach that Slater has absolutely no clue how to sell. But overall this whole match works because most of it is awesome Enos/Slater control segments, with my favorite part being Enos cutting off a tag by running and stomping over Stevie on his way to knock Booker off the apron. To the shock of everybody, Booker wins this with a shitty looking kick.

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Worldwide 8/4/96

WCW Worldwide 8/4/96

1. Craig Pittman vs. The Gambler

Pittman/Gambler was odd but really fun, as it was just a squash, but one that got 3 minutes more than Pittman squashes usually get. So we get a 5 minute match with Pittman getting to show off every single move he's ever known to fill time, with tons of hardway suplexes and forearm shots to the throat and random submissions. Gambler is always awesome and here he gets to mug a bunch and gets his one offensive move no sold (a real nice German suplex). Heenan: "The more I see of the Gambler, the more he improves. He used to hit the mat WAY harder."

2. Scott Norton vs. Manny Fernandez

Norton/Fernandez was hilarious because it was 2 minutes of Norton just clubbing (not thee) Manny Fernandez, and it was all building up to Manny's ONE bit of offense...which he promptly blew, and blew spectacularly. His ONE move, and he goes for some ridiculous asai crossbody type thing, and just falls off the ropes 2 feet short of Norton, who then just picks up Powers and crushes him with a shoulderbreaker to win. Brutal. Imagine just waiting around the whole day during everybody else's match, knowing that you are going to get ONE MOVE for your reward, and then just slipping and falling on your face. That shit would give me nightmares 16 years later. This match might need to be on the WCW set just for that spot, just to show kids that if they ever follow their dreams they'll likely fail in their one chance, just like Manny Fernandez.

3. Billy Kidman vs. Dean Malenko

This was a fun 6 minutes that I probably would have watched a million times back when it happened, and now at least seems like fun 90s junior work. Basically worked like a squash, with Dean getting about 5:30 of the 6 minutes, tossing Kidman around with powerbombs and brainbusters and a bunch of pointless leg locks scattered throughout the match. Kidman gets a couple sunset flip type reversals and hits a nice crossbody off the top (the way Dean took it made it seem like he had a piano dropped on top of him). Loved Dean finishing with the Finlay rolling fireman's carry senton.

4. Kurosawa vs. Konnan

was not good in any sort of way, and that shouldn't shock anybody at all. Konnan was so fucking awful it's almost hard to describe, just moving around in the ring and positioning himself in the most out of position ways possible. Konnan's signature offense is the most "here, you get into position right here and I'm going to go over here and do this thing right here" of anybody since Public Enemy. I wonder how many times Konnan/Public Enemy matched up? Any matches featuring Stevie Ray, Konnan and PE?

5. Jim Powers/Joe Gomez vs. Arn Anderson/Chris Benoit

Benoit and AA get 9 minutes with Gomez and Powers, and it is just not good at all. Gomez and Powers bring less than nothing to the table and Arn looks like he just has open disdain for Powers; not so much in a "We're gonna stiff the shit out of you." but more in a "I've been working matches with this asshole for EIGHT YEARS now. Fuck." Arn just looks at him like "Uggggggghhhhh Jim Powers." The eyeroll is palpable. Jim Powers has the superpower to have the largest-man-to-lightest-crossbody ratio that I've ever seen.

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2013 Lucha Roundup

So much Lucha is available on the internet these days, I thought we would try to cover the 2013 highlights here on SC. If I miss something good throw me a message.

Faby Apache/Mary Apache v. Trauma 1/Trauma 2 PDM 1/1

(As always with these BTJr. files, the first fall is public, message him for the final two)

This is always a fun match up, and I am happy they made it Apaches v. Traumas rather then a parajas like they have done in the past. The Apaches have some size to them so this doesn't look like as big a mismatch as some intergender matches do, when Fabi hits a senton it looks like it hurts. Enjoyed the first fall matwork a bunch, this is what the Traumas do at an elite level, and both sisters are well trained too. Second fall had the Traumas really rudoing it up, bullying and stiffing the ladies until a satisfying comeback. Third fall was a bit perfunctory and short which kept this from being a high end match, fine start to the year but nothing which is going to stick by the end

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