NMB Wrestling Archive

From Meltzer...

credit: TNAwrestling.com

In a couple of weeks, the book "Pain and Passion" will be released. I mentioned it in a previous WO update and it is going to be a comprehensive history of the Stampede prmotion. Meltz says it is in the elite class of books on wrestling. Since I have been accumulating some Stampede with more on the way, I am really interested in this book. One catch... Meltz says there is no U.S. release being planned. So, which of our friendly neighbors to the North is willing to accept my U.S. dollars and send me a copy?

Thought I would post this. Just a great post by Meltzer at WC about the politics and ego that led to the demise of Flair as a top draw in 91/92 WWF.

Besides the Dudley Boyz issue, now even Ivory is being told she can't use that name anymore. Is Vince afraid TNA is going to shoot to the moon on the drawing power of Ivory, Spike Dudley, and Kidman?

Interesting. I know the X Divsion belt has "NWA TNA" on it, but on their programming and website they never call it an NWA title, it's always the TNA X Division title. I hope the "trial period" doesn't require TNA to get unattainable ratings like the deal they had with ECW did. Wasn't ECW getting higher ratings than whatever TNN was showing in that timeslot before?

from WWE.com He was teaming with Ken "Mr. Kennedy" Anderson in OVW, so I guess this was expected. He had a good Ken Shamrock vibe in the matches I saw, he'd destroy people UFC style. I guess with Spike using Ultimate Fighter to stick it in WWE's ass, they didn't want a UFC style guy on the payroll.

...and I was completely blown away. I read the taping reports of the Johnny Jeter angle and I thought "well it can't be *THAT* good, these are mostly developmental guys and indy-4-life guys". I watched it and I can say it WAS that good. The way the angle was sold was better than anything WWE has done in years. The one person who got it over the most was OVW announcer Dean Hill. He's a 6 foot 5 (at least) ex-cop with a Wilford Brimley looking mustache, and after the intial beatdown of Matt Cappotelli, the image of Dean sitting at the ringside desk with Matt's blood on his hands (literally) not able to form his disgust into words was awesome to watch. The next…

From the Inside Pulse reviewer, who comes off as a dick, but Meltz didn't have a PBP thread up (rant about that following). Sounds like a good show if nothing else for the main event. I wonder though, is there a reason Meltz didn't do a match by match PBP thread? He does them on every WWE show of course, and every MMA show he can find anywhere on Earth, but there's another US based wrestling company on PPV and he ignores it? Whatsupwitdat?

I was reading the results from the latest Deep South Wrestling (WWE's new development fed) show and I see that Ray Gordy is one of the wrestlers on the roster. Ray of course is Terry's son, and since they've been talking to Kevin Von Erich about obtaining World Class footage, and since Michael Hayes still works in the office I wonder if we won't be seeing Ray Gordy being called up to WWE to promote a WWE Freebirds DVD. If Ray has issues cutting a promo (and if he's anything like his dad he probably does), they could have Hayes come down to manage him. Just a theory I've been working on, but I think it could be good if done properly.

My sub ran out 2 weeks ago and right now I am just not interested enough to re-up. But Meltz teased having a big history of Mid South/New Orleans/Superdome in this weeks issue. Can someone post/scan?

Jim Breaks. I have only seen 3 of his matches but I am pretty convinced that he may be the greatest heel I have ever seen. He is sneaky, he is whiny, he is angry at the crowd, he cheats but swears he isn't, and the list goes on and on. Jim Breaks v Jon Cortez from 2/14/81 has Breaks really making the match. Cortez looks like a sturdy hand in the ring but without Breaks to really put a solid story into the match, he would be just another flashy euro mat work guy. Instead Breaks makes him look like 1000 bucks while getting over his character. Breaks v Grasshopper is the shortest match but features lots more jawing with the crowd and heel bufoonary. …

Every now and then I'll read through results of indy shows, or older shows and I'll read about a match for the (insert promotion here) Brass Knucks title? What exactly is the story behind that sort of title? Is is just a prelude to a Hardcore Title, or did promotions seriously have matches where both wrestlers would wear knucks?

From PWInsider:

From Wrestling Observer The Bret Hart Story: The Best There Is, Was, and Ever Will Be." -- Clips of Hart in Stampede -- Hart vs. Tiger Mask in New Japan from 1982 -- Hart Foundation skits -- Team Canada skits from 1997 -- Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith at Wembley Stadium in 1992 -- Hart vs. Austin at Wrestlemania 1997 -- Hart vs. Michaels at Wrestlemania 1996 -- Hart vs. Henning at Summerslam 1991 -- Hart vs. Benoit in WCW 1999 -- Hart vs. Steamboat in Boston, 1986 -- Hart vs. Savage at Saturday Night's Main Event, 1987 -- Hart vs. DiBiase at a house show in Odessa, TX, 1989 -- Hart vs. Andre in Milan in 1989 -- Hart Foundation vs. The Rockers a…

Well it seems like the Jesus Push is on for Chris Masters, I don't know if he's going to get over, but it won't be from lack of trying. Two matches in, Ashley's credibility is shot with her Gayda-like performance. Not like Torrie can carry anyone to a watchable match, but Ashley was blowing basic spots to an embarrassing level. Carlito vs Flair? Kinda weird seeing Ric compete for the IC title, even in this stage of his career, but at least Carlito's future over-ness is in good hands.

Benoit vs Jordan is scheduled for next week's Smackdown. Well, enough is enough. Yes, Jordan wasn't the best US champ ever but he doesn't deserve to get buried like this. Is there anything coming out of this? You know they could be thinking of doing another swerve like they did at the last Smackdown PPV and having Jordan win again just because everybody thinks he won't. I don't know. Does anyone else know? Edit -- Isn't Benoit on the cover of the Smackdown mag as US champ? That would seem to dictate he's not losing the belt for a little while yet. Gilmore Girls is really inturrupting this thread here!

I was watching some Memphis from 1984 and Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich were introduced as the Fabulous Ones. Now, I was always under the impression that Stan Lane and Steve Keirn were the original Fabulous Ones. Guess not. So, were there any other incarnations of this team? Also, when we were participating in the tag team tournament, I refused to vote when it came to Fabulous Ones matchups. What matches should I look for? What famous feuds were they part of?

There's currently 3 Impact! shows available for download here, can anyone convert those into the actual shows to download instead of the RealPlayer links?

To me this is a good thing. Dusty, for all the bashing he gets, comes up with some entertaining stuff. By most accounts, Dave Lagana was the guy who shit on any idea that was brought to him by a wrestler, and you'd have to think Dusty won't do that.

The Hardy/Edge Street Fight was better than it had any right to be. It's what the match at Summerslam should've been. WWE seems to be teasing smart fans that keep calling who's going to return. I've been guessing Trips and Trish to come back since before Summerslam. I think Trips will come back on the first USA show but I don't know what to think about Trish anymore. I hope Angle gets the title off of Cena, although I did laugh at his Geico comment. Tomko made it back to Raw. LOL

Cause you know the best thing to do when morale is down is to law down more rules to make people unhappy. Distraction from what? Did someone blow a spot because they were playing PSP during a match? These guys aren't flying airplanes for chrissakes. This seems like an extra step just to bust balls. Doesn't deducting from someone's check seem easier for all involved than keeping a credit card on file? "Move along, nothing to see here folks" .....besides, international shows are right up there with DVDs as the few draws the company has left to count on. The irony-meter just pegged if Taker was in attendance at that meeting. Lord knows the key to dr…

Clash of the Champions XXXIII August 15, 1996 in Denver, CO The Giant pinned Chris Benoit (0:23).

... this is the way I see the categories going, based on the number of nominations we've gotten. JAPAN I'm thinking it might be a good idea to separate Joshi from the pack and save it for when more footage becomes available, which is what DVDVR is doing since apparently more footage is going to be aired on Samurai TV in the near future. Also, the 90s were an insane decade for work all around the world but especially in Japan, so I think we need to break down the categories a little more. *1980s Mens *1990s AJPW *1990s NJPW *1990s Other Japan *All Joshi MEXICO Since 99% of the footage available is from the 1990-present, I'm thinking we should do …

Pretty lame start as one guy's hurt already and two quit. One couldn't handle the camera and the other gave up at the very end of trying to drop 20 lbs. for a fight. Hopefully this doesn't become a running theme for the show.