New Footage Friday: Brazos 25th Anniversary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXMKL-Iy2Yk&feature=youtu.be

Escorpion Dorado Jr./Corazon De Dragon vs. Super Halcon Jr./Bestial

MD: It's been a while since I've seen undercard lucha, especially undercard indy lucha from 2001. Not a ton to say here. One-fall opening match. They didn't do anything big and most of what registered was carried by Bestial and Halcon's rudo antics. The crowd was into it, but more into booing them than cheering the tecnicos. Some things looked good. Some things looked sluggish. The only build to the finish was Halcon launching a cheapshot after a handshake and as a match, it probably could have used a bit more of a beatdown after that.


Super Nono/Super Kepler vs. Enrique Vertiz/El Cazador

MD: Ñoño had a big kid gimmick. He was definitely young but maybe not as young as luchawiki would have us believe (though hey, maybe). I thought he had the act down pretty well and the kids were into it to the point where they were chanting for him and not against the rudos. Cazador was a bit more into the match than Vertiz who was mostly bemused by everything (completely no-selling an outside-the-ring wedgie for instance). Kepler did not look smooth including some of the weirder stilted armdrags you'll see. If you had gotten the rudos from the first match and let them work with Ñoño, you might have had something here.


Pirata Morgan Jr. vs. Dash

MD: This was the first of a bunch of Luchas 2000 vs XLAW matches. Anyway, the first two minutes were pretty good. Morgan hit a Dropkick followed by a tope right to start and then had a string of fairly nice looking offense (press up facebuster, somersault senton, etc.). It got rougher after that. Dash looked like he was wrestling underwater and just seemed to lack the strength to get Morgan up at times (which could have been on Morgan too, I guess, though he showed plenty of effort elsewhere, like his flip bump on a clothesline). They were definitely not on the same page with some of the spots and holds. The run-in at the end was at least high energy.


Brazo De Platino/Super Brazo vs. El Pietir/Dolar

MD: Pretty satisfying mauling at times. Brazos were full on rudo but beloved, to the point that when they try to take a powder up the stairs, the fans inspire them to come back. Some perfectly fine 405 Live stuff combined with handshake goofing. Platino's clap slaps/punches were fun but would probably get old quick. Dolar had a presence and really ran into the corner on one whip late in the match. Perfectly acceptable fat indy guy. Platino and Super Brazo could do this stuff in their sleep but it's still a good, charismatic act.

MD: There was a bit with Gringo Loco and some young luchador where they did a lot in a short period of time and Gringo got clowned which was effective but not really much to write about. It felt like if they'd done a big indy show in 1998 Calgary and gave Teddy Hart a showcase or something.


El Brazo Jr./Brazo De Oro Jr./Brazo De Plata Jr. vs. Crazy Boy/Mike Segura/Genesis

MD: Totally different vibe to the show once we hit this point. The entrances are more elaborate. There's more of a buzz. The Brazos are out with football gear and ski masks to start, with weapons to bear. The XLaw guys cut a promo and then the violence begins. Amusingly, they cut away from a lawn dart iconoclasm onto a chair in the middle of the ring to focus on some floor brawling. That set the tone pretty well. They kept things moving here with a lot of creative weapon usage that didn't have overly elaborate set ups (except for the chair assisted moonsault in the dive train but that you can forgive, and the final table spot but at least that had a soundtrack). As with a lot of this show so far, especially with the XLAW vs Luchas 2000 stuff, the rudo/tecnico dynamic was a bit off. The crowd was behind the Brazos but the XLAW guys got the big comeback/momentum shift off the Brazos going to the well once too often with a whip into a chair in the corner. The crowd got behind them during the mauling that followed though. Like with any of this stuff, the craziest bump isn't always the most spectacular looking one. Crazy Boy took a clothesline over the top and hit a chair on the apron on the way out which just felt nuts. The one-on-one exchanges towards the end maybe went on a little too long and broke the tone of what had come before but there was nothing innately wrong with them. The wrestling was all good. It just felt out of place. By that point the genie had been long out of the bottle and they couldn't just go back to order after all the chaos; maybe if they had fall breaks, I guess. It was all very 2001 post-ECW Emulation with unprotected chair shots and violence on women so inconsequential that the camera didn't even follow it and some worked shoot stuff post-match (I guess?), but that can be good for you in small doses now and again.

PAS: This was fun without actually being particularly good. They wandered around and smashed each other with things, and sometimes the finish ended up being worth the set up, and sometimes it wasn't. The stuff that resembled traditional lucha brawling was the best, I really liked the bleeding and the dive train, and the ECW prop stuff didn't work as well. Segura is the biggest pro on the XLAW team, and his lucha stuff looked the best, Jr. Brazo's were fun, although it probably made sense for their careers to ditch the Jr. gimmicks and go with what they did.

Brazo De Oro/Brazo De Plata/Brazo De Platino vs. Villano III/IV/V

PAS: I love the idea of Hatfield vs. McCoys wrestling family feuds, Armstrongs vs. Fullers is really the only other one I can really remember which spanned generations like the Villanos and the Brazos. Imagine my glee when my boy Rob lets me know about a previously unseen Villanos vs. Brazos match. This is exactly what you want, expect and love about a match between these two families. Lots of blood pooling in forehead scars, great looking wild brawling, a couple of Super Porky miscommunication spots and all six guys looking like the dazed survivors of a tour bus crash. Porky is just iconic, I loved how he worked in the splash-his-partners comedy spots into non-comedic violent spots in a brawl, and the highlights of the match where him just standing and trading hard shots with Villano 3. A worthy addition to this iconic rivalry.

MD: This was shaping up to be a great, hate-filled, bloody brawl, and certainly there's a big history of those between these families but I'm not sure that was the right move to follow the last match, especially after the ceremony. I think this would have worked better if they started with more shtick and then built to the violence. There was plenty of room to transition that way. That's the problem with watching these things in context sometimes. That said, it was a really good brawl until the finish when La Dinastia Alvarado came in to battle in full force. Porky's physical timing was amazing as always. At the end of the first fall, he was masterful at trying to portray an attempt at stopping himself from jumping off the second rope after the Villanos switched up who he was going to land on. Too often guys in that situation would just jump. I was really into where it was heading with Villano III directing traffic but then everyone rushed the ring and that was that.

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WCW Worldwide 8/22/98

Saturn vs. Mark LaRoux

ER: This must be an early Lash appearance as I don’t remember him being called Mark LaRoux. It’s usually a tough draw when you pull job duty against Saturn, and LaRoux earned his payday here. Saturn, the guy doing high arcing half nelson suplexes at noon on Sundays. Hard clothesline, that suplex, and the best death valley driver in wrestling, this was quick.

Bobby Blaze vs. Brian Adams

ER: This is a full Adams squash, Blaze gets nothing whatsoever, but Blaze makes all of Adams big slams and backbreakers look good. Adams has his big tilt-a-whirl backbreaker which looks good, drops a nice leg, hits a big press slam into a gut buster, all of it looks good. But Blaze is good enough that we could have had an interesting match. Really the best thing about this was Vincent as Adams’ second. That guy was a great hype man and knew how to carry himself with braggadocio, proud to be the bottom rung on the nWo ladder. When Adams went for the press slam Vincent came running around the ring holding both his arms up, like he was sitting on the sidelines when Steph did a no look pass leading to a Klay 3.

Jim Powers vs. Mark Guthrie

ER: Man Mark Guthrie? I had no idea how many randos WCW was using around this time. This must have been right before the next crop of Power Plant guys came through. Guthrie has a real bad dirtbag kid mullet, looking more homemade than styled, the kind of cut that was looking dated in 1995. Powers tries to bring energy to this, hits a nice shoulderblock, decent kneelift, good enough powerslam. This was another short one, kind of a dull couple weeks of WCW syndie TV here. We need a little help on this episode.

Roadblock vs. Mike Sanders

ER: Roadblock heard my plea and answered my prayer! I barely recognized Sanders here, he had a shaved head and wore a plain black singlet. I guess with Sanders and LaRoux showing up here, we ARE in the period were new Plant guys were getting called up. Roadblock works a fun squash, throws a big lariat and hits a big powerslam, misses a huge elbowdrop off the middle rope (really crashing the landing), and he does cool stuff like sticks his knee up in the corner when Sanders tries to ram him. The rope flip moonsault is nice and squishing, always a finisher I love. After the match some dad with a bad mustache is angrily booing Roadblock, but…was he cheering for Mike Sanders? That’s weird. Cheer Roadblock, he’s an awesome big fat guy!

Los Villanos vs. Doc Dean/Manny Fernandez

ER: So, you know by now, this is not THEE Manny Fernandez, but I do like this Manny Fernandez leaning into the camera on his entrance to say “I’m back, baby!” Another fan is doing the “We’re Not Worthy!” bow to the Villanos as they come out, and I now want to meet that man. It’s always going to be a fun watch when you spot a Villanos tag in the wild where you're practically guaranteed their victory. Doc and Manny didn't have ZERO chance, but I'VE never seen either of them pull a win, and we've at minimum seen Villanos beat Disorderly Conduct. So we get to watch a match where the Villanos are showing off their offense and getting to act like the bigger team, like the bullies, and it's a rare treat. Villanos threw a bunch of nice lariats and it's cool seeing them control a team that aren't other luchadors. It's not a total squash as Manny has a brief quick run where he shows off a tight 5 seconds of material, but you want this because it's the Villanos main eventing a taping and cutting off the ring on a couple white guys as the babyfaces. The Doomsday Device crossbody was a great finish, with Manny strongly missing an avalanche chest first, and I thought it was cool that they opted to do their finish on the larger of the two opponents. Nice flex that they earned.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE WCW B-SIDES

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Saturday Night 7/25/98

Bobby Eaton vs. Scott Putski

ER: And at 3:05 Pacific Standard Time on this Saturday afternoon in the middle of Summer 1998, Bobby Eaton was given a task that would have turned away most men. Show opener, tone setter, just do it with one of the bigger stumblebums on the roster. Scott Putski is truly putrid, and had I gone to a Saturday Night taping perhaps I would have brought a poster board sign stating Putski is Putrid, or as long as I was using MAD Magazine type humor on my sign, Scott Pukeski. He being Bobby Eaton, wearing his shiny and sequined ring jacket that looked like a torn open King Cake, wearing that jacket that I’m sure was sold on eBay for much less money than I would have paid for it, he being Bobby Eaton, he has a nice little match against Scott Putski. Until Scott Putski makes his usual conscious decision to cease having a good match. Eaton goes over for some short arm drags, Putski grinds his knee in Eaton’s left arm, Eaton makes it look like Putski can semi-convincingly work an arm and Eaton also rubs this left arm out occasionally after. Eaton throws punches you like and walks directly through a Putski right to the body, Eaton refuses to break stride and silently makes an agreement with the audience that nobody was to acknowledge that punch thrown by Scott Putski. At this point it’s time for us to go home, and Putski runs for that finish line like a man with his boots tied together. He almost drops Eaton on his head during a backdrop where he can’t muscle him up properly, he barely lifts Eaton up for some kind of spinebuster type attempt, and then he almost gets Eaton up for an ugly Lo Down style powerbomb. Putski made everyone sad at the end of this.

Stevie Ray vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

ER: Boy serves me right for trying to watch 1998 WCW on an early AM plane ride. But this match keeps threatening to get good, and keeps eventually swerving back into not good territory, but maintains its threat of being good. One major thing WCW matches like this have going for them, is the short TV match structure works so much better than WWE’s current structure. Here were two water oxen clubbing at each other and working strikes and slams, and not once did Stevie Ray grab a chinlock for 20 seconds to build to Duggan’s comeback. Once you notice that every 4 minute WWE match has a babyface comeback out of a chinlock, it’s disheartening, and it’s refreshing seeing two meaty guys just clonk each other for the duration of their allotted 4 minutes. Duggan doesn’t always have great punches, but his fists read well; they are round, and he balls them up tight, so the visual of him throwing a heavy hand at your jaw set a high floor for him. Stevie Ray takes an incredibly slow bump over the top to the floor, gets a couple nicely timed eye pokes in on Duggan at different times, grabs a terribly bearhug that Duggan sorta does an okay job of fighting out of….but we get heavy punches the whole time, back elbows, a couple slams, and it all felt like something constantly moving forward without stopping. One thing I was genuinely excited for the entire match was finding out who was taking the pinfall. I always love establishing WCW hierarchies among B-show competitors, and wasn’t sure who outranked who at this point. Amusingly, this match goes to a double DQ when they both shove the ref, and 6 other refs hold them apart as Stevie Ray and Jim Duggan have a pull apart brawl.

Doc Dean vs. Rick Fuller

ER: Rick Fuller is your proto- Rhyno/Albert big man who somehow never got the opportunities those two got. Doc Dean didn’t get much here, and due to him being a foreigner he got roundly booed while not getting much. The match went on a little longer than I anticipated, especially since Dean only got a couple quick corner punches before getting shoved off, and then only got a sunset flip attempt, which was blocked. Fuller owned this match and Dean was there to bump all around for him, and he did. Fuller hit a big chokebomb, and caught a crossbody attempt from Dean and just walked around with him for awhile before planting him with his unparalleled over shoulder piledriver, always a killer.

Barry Horowitz vs. Chris Adams

ER: You know who's really great in '98/'99 WCW? Chris freaking Adams! Until watching several of his '98'99 WCW matches I had no clue that he would have worked really well in similar era BattlArts.  He's really vicious with all his offense, from tight headlocks and a stiff shoulderblock, to hard elbows to the jaw, to a hard kneelift and cool rolling kneebar. Horowitz really gets nothing in this, Adams just roughed him up for 3 minutes. Adams really came off with this badass shooter charisma during this era, it was a really cool coda for his career that was sadly almost over. Honestly a Chris Adams in  WCW C&A is a pretty great idea. I bet there are some awesome gems in there, with nearly two years to pull from. I think it's on!

Villanos vs. High Voltage

ER: Man this was a pretty great little scrap. High Voltage were a super fun tag team with a bunch of fun tricks in their bag. They did a lot of things really well and were always open to ideas, a team that worked really hard and that was probably harder than they needed to. They were always breaking out weird double teams that you'd only see them do once, always looking for something vaguely dangerous that would never stick. Here they make up a couple suplexes (two different times they hold a Villano in monkey flip position but then just throw them into a backdrop), and Kaos drops a leg off the middle rope while Rage holds a Villano in a Boston crab. Rage hits a cool springboard crossbody Doomsday Device, Kaos hits a genuinely great flying double lariat, Villanos are super stiff breaking up pinfalls and hitting a cool missile dropkick, dropping nice elbow drops. Both these teams would be great to see in a series, would be nice to see Villanos get a bit more. But this match was the kind of thing you want to see when you pop in a WCW disc.

Steve McMichael vs. Julio Sanchez

ER: What a weird shitty on paper match that somehow totally works in execution. Julio Sanchez was an indy darling when indies didn't have many darlings, and McMichael was a guy who was no good but had a lot of energy and tried, and that means something. There were some things that sucked, McMichael throws bad clotheslines (a couple variations of bad clotheslines!); but then there are those cool moments that surprise you like Sanchez hitting a nice kneedrop (when have you seen Julio Sanchez drop a nice kneedrop??) and Mongo hitting a big back suplex, great running tackle, cool tombstone piledriver, and then you're taking a look in the mirror over how much you enjoyed a Mongo vs. Julio Sanchez match.

Road Block vs. Lash Laroux

ER: "Hey Eric, you wanna see a Roadblock squash to guide us into your MLK day off?" Obviously I want that to happen. Lash looked exactly like current Adam Devine only ginger, and he gets absolutely worked by the gigantic Roadblock. Roadblock turns up on a disc and brother it's like when I bought a 25 cent pack of Donruss baseball cards in the Raley's checkout line with my mom, and found an Elite Series Jose Canseco card. Some dude offered me $250 for that card at a local baseball card show. I did not take that man up on his offer. I don't think I know where that Jose Canseco card is today, and if I did I likely wouldn't be able to sell it for the 25 cents that the pack originally cost me. Unless it turns out the fucking Melendez brothers were sitting in the background in one of those situations that makes day to day life bearable and worth waiting around for. I don't know where that card is (parent's garage?) but I got Roadblock on this disc, squishing the hell out of a cajun who would have a kind of impressive status leap within a year. Roadblock crushing him with huge right arm chops, a great lariat, big boot, leaping elbow drop, just the best Son of One Man Gang. Roadblock was a decade too late. He throws a great powerslam and hits his Dead End, just flipping backwards over those ropes like Charlotte, but belly flopping like Louie Anderson. There really is no 90s finisher more damn fun than the Dead End. This match is pure undistilled joy.

Jerry Flynn vs. Fit Finley

ER: Well you knew this would be a cool asskicking. It was Flynn early and Finley down the stretch, both guys landing shots throughout. Flynn even opens the match with a hard as hell spinkick to Finley's chest that Finley sells like a brick hit him in the chin. He sells it for the next couple minutes of match too. Flynn hits kicks to the head, nice kneedrop, an awesome big left hand in the corner, tosses him around ringside; Finley is really cool in how he sells offense based on how much a guy's offense deserves to be sold. Flynn had nice offense, Flynn gets his offense sold. Finley takes over by getting the boots up and runs through the greatest Finley hits. Hard shots with none wasted, sticks the rolling senton, snaps off the tombstone. Just was the exact kind of asskicking you wanted, that these two always deliver.

Scott Hall vs. Konnan

ER: I really dig this era Scott Hall. The guy had so much personality. He was like an actual tough version of John Tatum. I love coward sniveling pretty boy John Tatum, but Scott Hall is Tatum with stubble and posturing. If you know you know. And Hall is in the driver's seat for a ton of this. Hard short arm shoulderblocks, great stomps to the back of the head, choking Konnan over the middle rope (and also allowing my boy Vincent to sneak in shots), and all the while making all these great expressive faces, totally nailing his character. We even get Vincent helping Hall lock in an extra tight abdominal stretch because that was a THING and the WCW crowds always responded to things like that. Konnan is sluggish on a lot of his eventual offense, but at least he throws some pump behind his seated dropkick. Barely bends on a snapmare, but can throw a dropkick. Konnan goes down kind of shockingly easy here. Sure you had Vincent with some interference on the floor, but Konnan didn't have any kind of run here, not even putting two moves together at any point. Hall and Konnan were both guys who would show up in main event "big name" squash match on Saturday Night, but it's a rare thing to have them together, let alone with one being so dominant. WCW hierarchies are just one of my favorite things in pro wrestling.

I live for this.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE WCW B-SIDES

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Villano Familia v. Black Terry and the Boys

51. Black Terry/Demonio Infernal/Diablo Jr. v. Villano IV/Kortiz/Villano III Jr. IWRG 5/3

PAS: This was a good old fashioned smash a head into a beer cooler Arena Naucalpan brawl. Villano III Jr. is a little green and a little slight for a Villano but I though he had good energy and he and Terry really went after each other. This was worked as local rudos vs. invading rudos which is always a fun lucha trope. The little moments of VIV and Terry brawling were sublime, at one point Terry starts bleeding and Villano IV just goes after that cut with a true bit of nasty focus. Kortiz looks virtually indistinguishable from a classic Villano, slightly different outfit but otherwise he would fit right in a UWA match in the 90s. The only downside of this match was a weirdly blown finish with Villano IV rolling up Terry but Terry clearly kicking out before three, no idea whether the ref just missed it, or it was supposed to be a weird rudo ref thing, it was deflating though. Otherwise this was well worth watching.

ER: The odds are pretty good that if a match literally opens with Black Terry and a Villano punching each other on the floor, that I'm going to like the match. And guess what? I liked the match. This was my first time seeing Villano III Jr., and he had a couple kinks (if you can't throw a decent back elbow, don't throw one at Terry, as he will demonstrate how to strike) and he's real lanky, like no Villano you've ever seen (compared to Kortiz, who may as well have been Villano V, just the same exact shape, even his face looks similar through his mask), but he takes some big bumps (that backwards flip bump into the crowd is quite the crazy lucha bump to be turning into a common bump) and he does have certain "Villano" things down like that "left left left right" strike combo, and I liked his kicks. He doesn't spam superkicks or anything, he just had solid "normal" kicks. That's a good sign for his future work. Diablo is getting better literally every match I see him, Kortiz too. They're becoming guys I need to seek out whenever they make tape. But if you're watching this, you're probably watching it to see Terry and V4 mix it up, and they certainly mix it up. As I said, the file literally starts with them punching each other, and they kinda stay at each other's throats for the first two falls. Terry gets buster open quick and bleeds the way Terry bleeds, scraps with everyone throughout the match, and Villano looks as badass as ever. V4 has slowed down a bit but throws some great strikes, barrels through dudes with a mean western lariat, really works like a bully. Finish of the match is total horse apples, with Terry kicking out well before the 3 but the ref counting anyway. Laaaaaame. The ref didn't even seem like he was working lucha heel ref, just looked like he kept counting and stubbornly stuck to his guns. In a year of lousy finishes, this might be the worst. Still, enjoy the journey and all that, there was tons of gold to be found.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2015 Ongoing Match of the Year List

48. Villano IV v. Blue Demon Jr. AAA 3/18

PAS: VIV shows up twice a year on tape to have these gritty nasty brawls. Blue Demon is sort of luggage set, but he is solid in all the different parts of this match, and that iconic mask soaked in blood is a great visual. Villano is awesome in this, he does a bunch of interesting mat stuff early, lands some beautiful punches on the cuts and builds a lot of drama till the finish. Villano is one of the most interesting punch combos in wrestling, he mixes in hooks, jabs, body shots, the highlight of the match is Demon and Villano IV standing toe to toe and just exchanging until both fall over. I would rather see VIV matched up with someone a little better (man he would be great against Pentagon Jr.) but I am thrilled we still get to see him on a big stage.

ER: I really liked this, it combined the kind of clumsy stiffness you typically see from old white guy wrestling, with the slow grace of old luchadors fighting. When old guys fight there's a built in vulnerability that really appeals to me. Every spill resonates more as these guys are long past the days of feeling invincible. At this point they have a finite number of falls left in their bodies. Both men operate to a degree as symbols. Demon is a legend who isn't a legend, more like a son running his father's drywall business into the ground, but the long time employees still like him despite his faults because of how much they loved his father. V4 is much closer to a legend, but probably pales when compared to V3 and V5. But here they are both legends, older slower, still willing to takes risks, still utilizing their tools. I love the slowed down old man lucha spots, the slower armdrags, the slower go behinds, and we get those; but things take a turn as V4 backs Demon back into the corner with punches to the face, body, short kicks to the ribs and kidneys, and soon we get biting and mask ripping and bleeding, and any ounce of grace is gone. V4 drops that classic leg on the apron, falls short on a dive, Demon hits a rana off the top rope; these are things they don't need to do and don't often do anymore, but you can hear the fans getting deeper and deeper involved as they see what level the two luchadors are taking it to. The big moment comes - and this is legitimately one of my absolute favorite wrestling moments of the last few years - where V4 comes out of the corner throwing tight balled up fists right at Demon's chin, and Demon responds in kind, and you have these two just standing in the middle of the ring punching each other in the face, not taking turns, just swinging until collapse. Hearing the fan murmur slowly starting to build to a roar was really special. I love it when old guys really show up. These kinds of matches are just made for me.


2015 ONGOING MOTY LIST

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Fire Fundraiser: WCW Saturday Night Weirdness, Part I

"I'm looking for the oddest matches or occurrences...matches that make you say "only on Saturday night"." So said friend and donor Sean, when requesting what wrestling he would like to see written about. So I set about on a search for WCW syndicated weirdness. I specifically focused on 1998-2000 as by that point the show was able to operate completely under the radar from all the people who were busy with Nitro and the general circus. It was in a total vacuum and it wouldn't be stunning if you found out over half the office never actually watched this era of WCWSN. With that in mind, I think that era had more weird potential. So here are several of my favorite weird, only in WCW syndicated TV moments:

~Prophetic Canadian Murderer, 2/7/98: The main event was Benoit vs. Raven, and Benoit starts off with some mic work (yeesh) and drops the line "Now obviously, the book on my life has yet to be written." And how! If it HAD been written you would now probably have to reprint a new edition with AT MINIMUM an updated prologue.

~Everybody Gets a Trophy Day, 2/14/98: This episode was fascinating and weird because El Dandy AND The Villanos each got pinfall wins in separate matches. Think of how many Villano wins you can picture in a WCW ring? Try and imagine what the Villanos finisher was. Until this episode I couldn't do either. And they didn't even beat other Mexicans! They got to beat good ol' Mean Mike and Tough Tom clean in the middle. Their finisher was like Road Warriors' Doomsday Device, but instead of getting clotheslined off of their shoulders, Mean Mike got hit with a Villano IV crossbody off the top while perched on V5's shoulders. Miracle. And then later in the episode El Dandy got to level Super Calo with a punch and then pin him with the Dandy Roll. It was Dandy and Silver King vs. Juvy and Calo, which immediately made me assume Juvy was going to be pinning Dandy. But somehow El Dandy was the winner. Dandy! Dandy was winner! This episode also featured a Sick Boy vs. Renegade match which I genuinely loved. I cannot think of one other match from either Sick Boy or Renegade that I even passively enjoy. So this episode was chock full o' weird.

~Scott Hall's Celebrity Roast, 10/17/98: I titled it that, because this whole segment Scott Hall came off like a wasted out of his mind Dean Martin on one of his old celebrity roasts. This was a handicap match of Scott Hall vs. Disorderly Conduct. Hall comes stumbling out and just looks dangerously drunk, grabs a microphone and starts rambling and telling a bunch of inside jokes about Kevin Nash, then saying he's giving Nash the night off because he - pointing to Disorderly Conduct - "can beat these two JAY-brones (that's how he pronounced it!!) by himself". Then Hall takes his toothpick out of his mouth, flicks it at the camera, misses the camera, drunkenly shrugs...then pulls out A SECOND TOOTHPICK to flick at the camera. That's incredible. But what's shocking is Hall proceeds to work a totally normal handicap match, with D.O. taking most of the match by constantly cheating and double teaming Hall. Hall had a couple fiery babyface comebacks and threw some nice rights, but D.O. would go back to controlling. You've never seen so many Disorderly Conduct control segments. After awhile though, and without building to any finish, Hall clearly and loudly signals that he just wants the match to end and then hits an Outsiders Edge to win.

~Mr. World Class, 1/16/99: Lost in the syndicated late 90s was a brief feud between Chris Adams and Chip Minton over who should have the rights to call themselves "World Class". Chris Adams had been using the nickname World Class for some time, as well as Gentleman (which really is the best), but Minton started using the name Mr. World Class when he debuted in USWA a few years prior. Minton was a legit two time Olympian, as the pusher on the US 4 man bobsled. This was truly something that could only be settled in the ring! It was a weird two week feud and THIS was the blowoff! And then the match was just painful if your name was Chip Minton, because Minton got steamrolled by Adams. Adams came out wearing a gi, and then proceeded to do a bunch of shoot looking stuff with Minton getting next to no offense. Adams would regularly take him down with single legs, do dickhead stuff like stomp on Minton's calves, really hammered him with elbows, hit one of his meanest superkicks (and think of the ground that covers) before locking Minton into a gross submission for the win. Adams was choking Minton with his legs and then grabbed his arm to start hyperextending it. Minton did not look along for the ride. Minton had lost the battle. HOWEVER, two years later Chris Adams DIED. Who won that war? AND to my knowledge Minton was never even questioned. It is telling that NOBODY else has challenged Minton for the title of Mr. World Class. Makes you think.

~Barry Windham's Nut Stranglers, 6/26/99: This was during the West Texas Rednecks period for Windham, and for whatever reason Barry just could not get any good look going. Not redneck chic, not cowboy, not even a simple trunks/vest/cowboy hat. Instead, here, he decided to sport cowboy boots, a gigantic knee brace, a way too undersized wife beater, gardening gloves....and the most impossibly short, unbearably tight cut off jean shorts you have ever seen. He looked ridiculous. He looked like a man who lost a bet, and the person he lost to just kept coming up with punishments off the top of his head. But damn those shorts were the worst. Those shorts haunt me. Those shorts will just stare at you with a feral look, like Angela at the end of Sleepaway Camp. These shorts were just so tight, and the denim so uncomfortable looking, that every single time Windham moved I expected one of his testicle to rupture. It was terrible.


We'll be back with Part II of this WCW Weirdness series tomorrow. Thanks again to Sean for donating and requesting this delightful madness.

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2014 Ongoing Match of the Year List

14. Brazo Jr. v. Kortiz WMC 8/24

PAS: This is the son of a Brazo vs. the son of a Villano  and it is the kind of gritty a old school bloody lucha singles match which would have been right at home on the 80's set and something which does the legacy of that family feud proud. Kortiz is great, really a nasty asskicker truly in the family tradition, he mauls Brazo Jr. early with nasty punches, and post shots until Brazo Jr.'s gear is covered in blood. Very traditional structure for this kind of match, with one sided rudo domination early, until Brazo ducks a punch and unloads with an over hand slap. He then takes over and bloodies Kortiz by smashing his head into the top of the metal post. Then we get more of a back and forth match including an awesome section with both guys on their knees unloading everything they have. The finish was a little goofy, with Brazo's second faking a towel throw, and then Kortiz gets distracted, his mask pulled off and rolled up, but for a bs finish it was pretty clever.

ER: This was a 3 part match for me (well, erm…I suppose most lucha matches are). I loved the first two parts, right up with the best stuff I've seen all year, and the third part was good but lost me a little by the end. But damn those first two parts. Kortiz comes out not rocking the Villano name, but unmistakably rocking the Villano body and viciousness. You realize what kind of match this is going to be around the 4 minute mark, as the action had spilled out in front of the camera and Kortiz punches Brazo a lot right in the ear, and Kortiz is really mean throughout all of this. His overhand chops sound like the sound-sweetened versions on Lucha Underground. Brazo looked like kind of a pushover (I really appreciate that somebody somewhere taped this, but you get the feeling the match would be that much better if filmed up close so we could really get inside Brazo's selling and comeback) until a missed Kortiz strike and then it was on! Possibly my favorite lucha moment of the year (and think of the ground that covers in 2014) sees Kortiz climbing up the ropes but getting caught by Brazo, and with both men facing out towards the corner, Brazo starts bashing Kortiz's face into the edge of the ring post. I've never seen that before and lucky us it was happening on the post closest to camera side, so we could see all the glory of a guy getting smashed into a ring post. We get some nasty leg work from Brazo in the tercera, the worst when Kortiz has his leg draped over the bottom rope and Brazo just curb stomps right through it. They lost me a little with some move and submission trading, but upon rewatching the match it wasn't really nearly as bad as my initial impressions. There aren't wild lucha brawls with blood anymore so I should really have been focused more on how exciting THAT was, instead of getting a little lost with some mostly pointless "but he didn't sell the knee long enough" type stuff. As a whole picture the match was great, total hidden gem that - thanks to Phil's OCD about searching for obscure wrestlers every day on the internet - totally pays off.

2014 Match of the Year Master List

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Worldwide 11/16/97

1. Los Villanos vs. Barry Houston/Doc Dean

Oh hell yes. I don't even need to watch. This is 8 stars. But of course I watch and it's awesome. I wanted more but was happy with the 4 minutes it went. It was cool to see Villanos as the guys squashing jobbers. I don't think it happened very often as I've seen them eke out wins, but never seen them in WCW as "well these guys are clearly going over" guys before the bell. Tony and Bobby put them over huge the whole time, with Tony actually being able to tell them apart and Brain going on about how crafty they are and how they'd be challenging for the tag titles. It's great seeing them jaw with the crowd and sneak in cheap shots from the apron. Houston you know as the lost superworker of the 90s, able to adapt to any style. It's a shame he had that chubby face and Napoleon Dynamite mouth so never got a national shot. Damn I wish some of his sessions in the WWF "Funkin Dojo" made tape. We need to make a definitive Barry Houston comp, with his WCW work, any IWA Japan work and whatever Memphis work exists. Who wants the Complete & Accurate Barry Houston?? After the win the Villanos do a bunch of stooging with the crowd, shadowboxing with each other and doing a bunch of cocky lucha tumbling post match. V4 does the worm into a headstand into a bridge and the fans are hating it. So awesome to see these guys actually treated as something important.

2. Mike Anthony vs. Steve Regal

Oh my god this was amazing! I don't think I've ever heard this match mentioned but although just 4 minutes long it's one of the most awesome Regal performances ever. If anybody needed a 5-minutes-or-less primer on why Regal is incredible this would be a perfect "greatest hits" to show them. He works a whole bunch of trippy British matwork into it and does a bunch of cool standing wristlock reversals and does all sorts of neat things like grabbing a wristlock, kicking Anthony (you've maybe seen him from his ECW run as Mike Lozansky) with yakuza kick variations, stomping his fingers, throwing brutal knees from the clinch, etc. He was just dishing all sorts of cool things and then strutting around and flexing and stooging. Anthony threw some Lance Storm-level soft offense and deserved to be clowned.

3. Jim Powers vs. Dave Taylor

Before the match they have a Dave Taylor promo/highlight package that includes a genial sit down interview that shows what a nice cool guy he is and how excited he is to be in WCW, makes a joke about how he's accomplished a lot because he's so damn old. And then we cut to his entrance where he's jawing with fans about being a better human being than them because he's British. What? Match was weird as Taylor put over Powers a bunch. Probably put over Jim Powers a bit too much, as he was Dave Taylor and he was wrestling Jim Powers. But Taylor still got to be Taylor and that's something I will always greatly love. He threw some great duplexes, and his floatover butterfly suplex finisher was epic. Also of note, Tony called him "Regal" twice in the match, and Powers threw possibly the greatest punch of his career here. I mean, I think he accidentally punched Taylor in the face, and rightfully got the shit kicked out of him for it, but it was still likely the best Jim Powers punch ever.

Yeah we got a commercial for Valtrex! You know that they should have gotten wrestlers themselves to be spokesmen for a herpes medication, but I suppose just advertising during wrestling works well enough. But seriously, what WCW contracted wrestler during this time do you think MOST needed a Valtrex prescription? I'm gonna go with Bobby Blaze, just for reasons. Dude looked like he just...got with the rattiest ring rats.

4. Bobby Eaton vs. Kevin Northcutt

I used to think Northcutt was all sorts of cool because he was an indy guy with size (my 15 year old opinions may have been affected by his PWI 500 placement). Turns out, he was just a tall tubby dude with soft offense wearing latex overalls like Willem Dafoe in Streets of Fire. This works because it's just Northcutt missing offense, followed by Eaton doing an awesome punch, followed by Bobby and Tony talking about how great Eaton's punches are. Eaton also hits his awesome knee drop from the top to end it.

5. Syxx vs. Chris Benoit

Now this was awesome. I loved Waltman when he was fast and reckless and here he bumps all over for Benoit and then Benoit returns the favor. Waltman at his lunatic best, bumping crazy through the ropes to the studio floor and then splatting again on the floor from a Benoit baseball slide (Benoit returns the favor later on Waltman's baseball slide). Hall cheats to Waltman transition by clotheslining Benoit's legs out from under him on the top rope, leading to Benoit hanging in a tree of woe while Syxx hits a nasty but non-anus busting Bronco Buster. I don't think I've ever seen him hit it that way and it looked killer. Syxx actually gets the win with his cool modified rear naked choke/crossface chickenwing. This was all so much damn fun. Everything you want in 5 minutes of pro wrestling.

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Cassandro Could Show You Everywhere You're Wrong/But He's Never Talking to You Again

Cassandro/Hijo de Pirata Morgan vs. Villano IV/Ray Mendoza Jr. - GREAT

ER: CASSANDRO! is back wrestling after a long layoff, and finally a couple matches of his have started popping back up.

This all starts as Texano Jr./Super Nova  vs. Mendoza/V4, in some sort of show-long mask/hair tag tournament on Mendoza Jr.'s retirement show. Losers advance to the next round and here we are, with both Villanos (Mendoza is the former Villano V but I assume most people reading a specialty column on an obscure lucha star would know that already) beating the hell out of Nova/Texano (posting Nova and hurling chairs, Mendoza dishing some sick punches, and doing more of their classic legdrop/elbow drop double teams). Things really ramp up when V5 accidentally clotheslines V4 over the top (with both spilling out in spectacular ways) before eating great dives from Nova/Texano. V5 goes spilling into chairs and V4 splats on the floor. Back in the ring and V5 is soaking it all in, working over Nova's cut and torn mask with punches, then biting the cut!!! And then spitting out blood!!! But then they lose moments later and....

Cassandro and his partner hit the ring with his partner. This is the finals. Either Pirata loses his mask and Cassandro loses his hair, or Villano IV loses his mask and Mendoza loses his hair. V5 gets worked over pretty nicely by Pirata, bumping around the floor for him and letting Pirata blast him with a chairshot. I woulda liked to see what Cassandro and V4 were doing on the other side, but what we got wasn't bad. Cassandro is limping pretty bad (possibly from an earlier match?) but otherwise looks to be in incredible shape. He starts breaking out awesome JYD falling headbutts that I have NEVER seen him use before, and wouldn't you know that he does them better than anybody I've ever seen attempt them, really whipping his head into V5. His stomps are epic too, but he's always had incredible stomps, where he coils up and really gets full extension on his leg, right to the back of chumps' heads. When the tables turn Cassandro shows that he eats offense better than just about anybody, bumping viciously for a V5 clothesline (really whipped his head back into the mat) and then leaning in chin-first for V4's jabs. V4 hits him in the back of the head with a chair and good lord Cassandro is as insane as ever. He decides he hates his brain and whips his head into the mat again off a brutal V4 powerbomb, and then eats a brick wall clothesline from V5.

It should be noted that Los Villanos are just great here as well and it's incredibly fun seeing them stiff Pirata's son, but Cassandro keeps stealing the show from them (which is what we all expected going in). Cassandro can make a sunset flip look painful. I was hoping we'd get a Cassandro dive and we were not let down with Cassandro plowing through both Villano IV and the first couple rows of chairs.  Cassandro eliminates V4 with a beautiful rana, V5 eliminates Cassandro with a slick sunset flip, and I suddenly don't like Cassandro's hair's odds. Pirata does a couple aesthetically awful moonsaults on V5, but they work since even though sloppy they look painful as all hell, landing knees first on V5.

Cassandro even knows how to sell a haircutting properly, snatching the scissors away and forcefully snipping away while crying. Crowd totally gets behind him at this point and begins chanting his name. Awesome match that goes by in a flash, hopefully more and more Cassandro stuff keeps popping up. Hopefully we get some sort of revanche?

PAS: Very good match, up there with the best stuff anywhere this year. V4 is incredible, he is brilliant as a wild old brawler clearing out a bar. Rey Mendoza Jr. has put on the pounds but he can still move around and brawl. Hijo Del Pirata isn't much and his performance keeps this from being the MOTY. However Cassandro comes limping in and we all remember why we love him, wild, violent and brilliant. I hope that leg injury isn't more serious, because with Finlay, Rey, Lawler and Dick Togo all stepping away last year wrestling needs Cassandro.

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Saturday Night 2/14/98

2/14/98

Dave Taylor/Doc Dean vs. British Bulldog/Jim Neidhart

Taylor/Doc is a fun team and Taylor got to control a bunch early here, really picking on Bulldog. Even when he was bloated and pilled up Bulldog always kinda woke up against stiffer competition. Taylor rocks him with some uppercuts here and Davey made a chinlock look really good during this period of his career, as his face was so bloated and purple already that it really got over that he was having the life choked out of him. Of course you know who was going over here but it was a nice finishing sequence with Davey hitting the powerslam and Neidhart tagging in to hit his slingshot shoulder tackle (then running and tackling Taylor with a super stiff shoulderblock).

Renegade vs. Sick Boy

OK...something might be wrong, as I...kinda sorta liked Renegade vs. Sick Boy. Neither guy really looked good at all, but they were a couple of big guys exchanging big moves. Something about it worked for me. It was like a heavyweight X Division match, your move my move, but something about it worked. It was short and enjoyable. Renegade looked way less like Warrior at this point, and a lot like Lorenzo Lamas, TV's Renegade. Sick Boy had a bunch of stuff he usually didn't hit well, but kinda hits it well here (including a mean springboard back elbow that took Renegade's head off). Renegade hits a fucking plancha! Sick Boy even finished with a Can Opener! Like a couple years before Mark Coleman! Call me crazy, this wasn't bad.

Len Denton vs. Jerry Flynn

This had an odd set up, as Disco came out to face Denton, and gave him a Chart Buster (which Denton sold like a fish out of water, all flopping awesomely like mad). Then Disco left, and Flynn came out to face Denton. And the match started and Denton got up and worked a match like he hadn't just been hit with a stunner. Real odd. Flynn beat him real quick though, threw some nice kicks, and Denton took a sick DDT right on his head.

Villanos vs. Disorderly Conduct

Villanos vs. Disorderly Conduct is pretty much a Saturday Night B-Sides dream match. It will finally answer the question of who is higher on the WCW totem pole. I'm pretty sure I've never seen either team win a match, so the answer iiiiiiisssssss........Villanos! The Villanos are above Mean Mike and Tough Tom!! I genuinely didn't know how this one would go (again, one of my favorite things about WCW syndicated programming). Villano V was just super awesome in this, really beating the shit out of MM and TT. Favorite spot was when V5 was thrown into the ropes, and Tom kneed him from the apron as he hit the ropes. V5 just turns around, punches Tom in the face, then punches a charging Mike. Awesome. V4 hits a rad spin kick right to Mike's gut, then compresses Mike's neck with a DDT. God bless you for taking it that way, Mean Mike. V5 hits really great ambidextrous chops, equally brutal with his left or right arm, D.O. miss a tandem clothesline and FINALLY, for the record, the Villanos finishing move is a crossbody from the top rope, while the opponent is on one of the Villanos' shoulders. I don't know if it got used again, as I wasn't aware the Villanos ever won even one WCW match.

Yuji Nagata vs. Chris Adams

I really liked Nagata's WCW run, and his kick combos made him really fun to play as in WCW vs. nWo Revenge for the 64. This match wasn't long, but Adams really stiffed Nagata up with wicked elbow and forearm shots, they threw in a lot of spots, with both guys getting cool throws, and Glacier running in and blasting Adams with an Icicle Kick to the back of the head, allowing Nagata to get the Nagata Lock.

Kendall Windham vs. Meng

Kendall Windham is fast becoming my favorite WCW late 90s wrestler and this match ruled. There were no slams or nothing like that, it was all strikes for 4 straight minutes. Kendall throws a mean left hand Meng mixes up his shots with cool body blows. Both guys just throw punches for 4 minutes, roll to the floor and throw punches, back in the ring for more punches. Kendall dodges the Death Grip a couple times, but Meng finally just boots him in the face and locks it on. Awesome stuff. Why wasn't Kendall a bigger star? He had size and looked like a badass.

Frankie Lancaster vs. Marty Jannetty

On a roster that had some dated looking guys in 1998, I don't think anybody looked as dated as Marty Jannetty looked in '98 WCW. Match was pretty short with Marty looking good and Lancaster looking like the most gassed dad you've ever seen. Marty really planted him with the Rocker Dropper, too. If some dude had already sued a previous employer because of my finishing move breaking his neck, I personally would be careful doing it in the future. But that's me.

Silver King/El Dandy vs. Juventud Guerrera/Super Calo

OK, you got a match between Juvi/Calo and Dandy/SK. Juvi has a mask vs. title match with Chris Jericho in a week or two. Who goes over in this match? If your answer was "El Dandy pinning Juvi", then you would be correct. Of course nobody in a million years would have ever guessed Dandy getting the fall in any match, let alone over the Juice, let alone over the Juice in a match a week before the biggest WCW match of the Juice's career. What's more, the ref was out of position for the pinfall and distracted, so Dandy held the Dandy Roll for over 9 seconds and it still got the 3 count. One of the odder and more unpredictable finishes I've ever seen. I love you WCW syndicated TV. Everybody looks great in this and they all get to hit pretty spots. Cool headscissors galore, Juvi hits a massive springboard dropkick, Calo hits his rad forward roll headscissors off the top, Dandy takes a giant bump over the top to the floor, and Dandy gets to nail his great punch. Too much great shit to mention here, AND Dandy taking the fall? Too great.

Rick Fuller vs. Hugh Morrus

Morrus threw a stiff clothesline and nailed his "run up the ropes, turnaround clothesline", but then overshot his moonsault. I'm a big Fuller fan but he didn't get much here.

Konnan/Vincent vs. Steiner Bros.

Well Vincent looked AMAZING in the main, and boy did he take a crazy beating from the Steiners. Scott almost dumped him on his head with a belly to belly, Rick gives him the fastest and most dangerously painful Oklahoma Stampede I've ever seen (running him full speed stomach first in to the buckles, with Vincent's knees whipping over the top rope. If Steiner had been offline then one of his knees would've shattered into the ringpost), powerslam off the top, etc. It gets to a point where Vincent tries to tag out and Konnan backs away, and Vincent's face is priceless. He then gets bulldogged off Scott's shoulders for the loss. Fun match I wasn't expecting much from (since Konnan may be the worst in WCW...him or Stevie Ray).

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My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Worldwide 7/4/98

My favorite way to watch my favorite wrestling is to just grab a random disc out of the stacks, no cherry picking, no looking up matchlistings, just going in blind. Sometimes you get bent over hard and end up sitting through Stevie Ray vs. Konnan, and other times Orion smiles upon you and you get a gloriously random mix of the most fun wrestling ever. So I went into the vaults and pulled out 7/4/98, the 222nd birthday of this great nation of ours. And WCW wished America happy birthday with one weird fucking episode.

1. Vincent vs. Marty Jannetty

First off, Marty fucking Jannetty (!) gets a clean pin over a member of the nWo halfway through 1998! WHAT!? Vincent looked awesome here, hitting an assortment of fistdrops and "Hitman" style elbow drops. Then Jannetty somehow gets the win. Insane. Did not see that coming. That's one of the great things about syndicated WCW, is that you get weird hierarchy matches between people that you've never seen win one match. Who wins a match between Van Hammer and Scott Vick? There are often no foregone conclusions with these matches. I didn't even know Marty was employed this late, let alone winning matches.

2. Lenny Lane vs. Spike Moore

Spike Moore was a guy I have NEVER seen before. He was wearing a pirate skull shirt and kinda looked like Droz. Match was close to getting the full point, before Lenny sold a roll up like a clothesline and then they just awkwardly cut to a finish. Moore hit his shoulderblocks really hard and looked decent. I could not find any information on the guy. Anybody?

3. Magnum Tokyo vs. Bobby Blaze

Blaze threw some fine suplexes and Tokyo grinded his crotch in Blaze's face a bunch, and Larry Zybszko kept calling Magnum "The Japanese". What? Really? This match could not take place anywhere else.

4. Villanos vs. High Voltage

THIS was totally awesome, with Villanos looking great as always, and RAGE and KAOS hitting their fun springboard power moves and bumping shockingly well. RAGE and KAOS were a pretty damn fun team looking back. I remember enjoying Rage's NJPW stint earlier this decade, but didn't remember if he was any good or not. For a team that jobbed constantly in WCW, the Villanos always seem to get put over strong on commentary and by their opponents. Teams always give them a bunch of offense (even if there's usually quite a size difference). Shoot, Brian Knobbs had a competitive 8 minute match against one of them, and most heavyweight workers don't get that much of a rub from Hogan friends. Good times.

5. John Nord vs. Goldberg

WHAT THE FUCK was Goldberg doing on WORLDWIDE in the middle of 1998!?!?!?!?!? Was this taped in like 1997!? Why was John Nord wrestling in 1998!? What the hell was happening here? I love you WCW!!!

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