NMB Wrestling Archive

While watching an old Clash Of The Champions for a match review, I came across the Running The Gauntlet series gimmick, and I think it could be interesting to do something like that now, so here is what it entailed, and tell me what you think: On the Friday Power Hour show, a wrestler would be selected from all those eligible to take part. Three random wrestlers would then be drawn, and the previously chosen wrestler would have to wrestling the first opponent on that Friday?s Power Hour, the second opponent the following day on World Championship Wrestling, and the third opponent would be wrestled on Sunday?s NWA Main Event. If the wrestler made it past all…

Razor Ramon v Jeff Jarrett - WWF Royal Rumble 1995 It's been a while since I've been so surprised at the quality of a match. I didn't remember Jeff Jarrett being much of a worker in the mid-90s, but all the footage I've watched recently, putting him against guys like Morton, Benoit and now Razor Ramon, has had him playing an excellent heel and wrestling a very smart style. He doesn't really expand past the most basic of moves, but what he does he does very well. Check out his dropkicks in this match, and even more, check out the great build to the figure four leglock. The one black mark he has is that he likes to stall a little too much, and if he tightened up his wor…

Spoilers will be included as I post spoilers from the Meltz: Spoilers Ahead!!! Warning.... OK, one last chance to turn back.....

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Sting & Lex Luger v Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman - WCW Monday Nitro 11/27/95 The storyline is so off-kilter at this point that it's impossible to work a face/heel Southern tag off of it, but they managed to do a very short one with virtually no suspense at all. Lex Luger is a heel because he turned on Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc, but he remains Sting's friend. There's not really an opening babyface housecleaning, which usually takes place, as they segue right into the cheating from Arn and Pillman, with Sting working face in peril. Luger proceeds to destroy both of them in some admittedly fun spots -- my favorite of which is Arn and Pillman trying a double c…

Sting v Cactus Jack - Submit Or Surrender Match - WCW Power Hour 11/23/91 This is an "I Quit" match, basically, but they don't actually have to get on the microphone and say those words, so it's more of a submission match than anything. The rules, as stated by the ring announcer, are that the only way the match can end is if the wrestler submits, surrenders or is unable to respond to the ten-count. Cactus Jack is a creepy psycho, make no mistake about it. Mick Foley? He's harmless. He's a children's author who loves his wife and is a big fan of Kay Parker's work in the adult film industry, but Cactus Jack is mentally unstable and women and children (and most men) are …

Diamond Dallas Page v Chris Benoit - 02/22/98 (WCW) This is a good match, but it's obvious Benoit isn't working to his full potential. That has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the goal here is to get Page over, and Benoit wrestling without dumbing down his style, even a little, would have totally exposed his opponent. They're working so many parity sequences early on that they had to be effective to translate the story properly; it's often argued that wrestlers should get over the match first and themselves second, and that is what Benoit is doing here. The disadvantage is that Benoit isn't doing everything he could do, so the match isn't anywh…

Chris Jericho v Juventud Guerrera - 02/22/98 (WCW) Mask v Title Jericho's infamous WCW character was in full swing here, wearing his hair in a strange style, ripping signs from fans that support him in half, and demanding to wrestle the match while wearing the cruiserweight title! The announcers are quick to point out that he has been wearing it while working out, eating lunch and sleeping, and he's also refused to take the belt off in some cases in the TV preceding this match. Jericho can't compete with the best workers of the division; he does pretty much everything well, but he's not the best at anything. So, he found his niche in this role, which made him the most…

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Anyway, Some Guy was entertaining the idea of making me a Kane-Undertaker comp with all of those classic promos and matches but he was going to charge me double for having to sit through all of those Paul Bearer interviews. This got me thinking... I personally think Paul Bearer is the worst manager of all-time. I am not talking about the mindless eye candy tha tcan pass themselves off as managers (Woman, Baby Doll, Elizabeth, etc.) but the men who rolled in the corner. Some managers have terrible gimmicks (Slick), some are perfect at what they do (Heenan, Cornette), some are just there (Lou Albano) but who was the worst?

I've spent all morning going through all the old "What Are You Watching?" threads and splitting all the match reviews into individual topics in the new subfolder at the top of the page. That way, matches are less likely to get lost in the shuffle. If you want to review a match someone has already covered, in lieu of starting a new topic, you can just add your review to that match's already-existing topic. I think we should still do "What Are You Watching?" for stuff like shoot interviews, entire PPVs, etc, but any match reviews would go in the new folder. I think this should work much better. Thanks for contributing so much, even if it took me 3 hours to sort it…

Not everyone who signed up voted, but hopefully everyone who signed up will step in and vote from here on. I'll do brackets in a few minutes and post the matches, and the first round of the tournament will take place tomorrow. *32* matches, so be prepared to do lots of voting. Yoshihiro Taijiri (13 votes) defeated Marc Mero (2 votes) Val Venis (10 votes) defeated Al Snow (5 votes) Irwin R. Schyster (14 votes) defeated Savio Vega (1 vote) Terry Funk (8 votes) edged out Rikishi (7 votes) The Brainbusters (14 votes) defeated The Killer Bees (1 vote) Bad News Brown (13 votes) defeated Adrian Adonis (2 votes) Greg Valentine (14 votes) defeated Don Muraco (1 vo…

Lioness Asuka v Jaguar Yokota - 08/22/85 (AJW) After watching the last match, this match left me cold. Perhaps I'll come back to it later, but my first instinct is to say that while it was a great match, it wasn't quite the classic it has been pimped to be. I enjoyed watching it, but compared to Devil/Chig, it's shallow. I'm impressed by how much offense Jaguar gives Asuka, considering that she's the babyface; the very beginning stages see Jaguar firmly in control, but after Asuka finds an opening, she keeps it for quite a while. Jag is the first to establish a strategy, targeting Asuka's leg, a plan she would later have thrown back at her. She's getting outwrestled i…

Chigusa Nagayo v Devil Masami - 08/22/85 (AJW) AJW matches in the 1980s have an atmosphere unlike any other era any other company era ever had. Chigusa Nagayo was essentially the biggest name in the history of pro wrestling. She wasn't on the level of Hogan or Rock in the United States; she was more on the level of Madonna, in that she was immersed in the pop culture of the time period. The Crush Girls were a wrestling promoter's wet dream, crossing over into just about every aspect of entertainment, and as a result, they attracted hoards of teenage girls. Hardcore fans of the time were often embarrassed or uninterested by AJW, and it was their loss, as matches like t…

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Voting starts tomorrow. Here are the first round matches. Because of the high number of matches, the first round will be open for two days. Bret Hart v Bam Bam Bigelow Ultimate Warrior v Brock Lesnar Davey Boy Smith v Taka Michinoku Chris Jericho v Roddy Piper Demolition Smash v Rick Martel Yoshihiro Taijiri v Randy Orton Bob Backlund v Mick Foley Jeff Jarrett v John Bradshaw Layfield Marty Jannetty v Honky Tonk Man IRS/Mike Rotunda v Eddy Guerrero Paul Orndorff v Rey Misterio Jr Rick Rude v HHH The Rock v Sid Ted DiBiase v Tully Blanchard Val Venis v 1-2-3 Kid/X-Pac Shawn Michaels v Sgt. Slaughter Arn Anderson v Bad News Brown Yokoz…

I SWEAR all of these were totally coincidental. I put all the names in a hat and drew them out and this is how they all came out. Voting will start tomorrow morning and because of the number of matches, this will be a two-day affair. I'll post the first-round matches in a separate post, but here's the bracket. Winner bolded: Bret Hart Bam Bam Bigelow Ultimate Warrior Brock Lesnar Davey Boy Smith Taka Michinoku Chris Jericho Roddy Piper Demolition Smash Rick Martel Yoshihiro Taijiri Randy Orton Bob Backlund Mick Foley Jeff Jarrett John Bradshaw Layfield Marty Jannetty Honky Tonk Man Mike Rotunda Eddy Guerrero Paul O…