goc

I'm not really sure who they are going to feud with either. I don't think they immediately put them in with New Day, Enzo & Cass are busy with the Dudleys and the only other face team I can think off the top of my head is Truth/Goldust and they're just starting their feud with Breeze/Fandango. I'd like to see them do well though because Primo is REALLY good, way better in the ring than the usual suspects people cry about not being used like Zach Ryder or the recently departed Sandow.

He's a big guy for Japan and the indies who can do strength spots because the guys he's wrestling are a lot lighter than him. He is absolutely NOT going to look impressive standing next to Lesnar and ain't no way he's picking him up and pressing him over his head or anything like that either. There's no good reason you'd go and sign him to be a Lesnar opponent when you have guys like Rusev or Big E right there who are big thick but not that tall dudes who can wrestle Lesnar. The only reason he got name dropped by J.R. as a Lesnar opponent is because he's "big and strong" when there are plenty of bigger, stronger guys in the WWE. He doesn't have an impressive look where you can just drop him in as a Lesnar opponent without a really long fucking time building him up to that level.

Dr. D is an awesome character and promo and decent in the ring. He and Dennis Condrey were a team for a little while in Memphis (and possibly Southeastern) and MAN do I wish we had more of them together because that's like the perfect redneck rasslin tag team. I desperately wanted to get them in the 1983 Fantasy Draft and have them feud with The Fabulous Ones but I couldn't make it happen.

I for one look forward to HHH vs. Shane. Both of them are in the running for best ever parody of a wrestling match with HHH vs. Sting and Shane vs. Taker so put the two of them together and there will assuredly be magic.

Michael Elgin vs. Lesnar is fucking laughable to me.

Another great show, really liked getting the look into the behind the scenes stuff around the split of Continental/USA. I always wondered why Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden went to Memphis instead of USA and now I know. And the story about Wendell Cooley going on TV and saying the only way he was making any money was by selling pictures at the shows due to signing the contract with The Stud Stable was fucking great. I also LOVED the explanation of how the Mink Coat tournaments worked. I never did understand exactly how that was such a big draw but the names in the shoe box gimmick put all the pieces together for me.

Well they actively encourage that type of thing now when they end a long feud like Bayley vs. Sasha with them crying in the ring together and taking bows.

I'm fine with long podcasts like Exile on Badstreet but I'm mystified when I see podcast reviews (like for WWE PPVs) that are either the same length or longer than the show being reviewed.

If the wrestling is good now, was good six months ago, and will probably be good in six months, then why does it matter? It's not a political party or a union you're a part of or something. It's a pro-wrestling company and you're a consumer of their product, not some sort of shareholder. You are right and wrong here, as I say I enjoy the product way more that ROH or really any other American company right now but, it's hard for me to have the same emotional investment on them growing that I can have with a company that I know is openly competing to be #1. It does not have a negative impact on the shows for me but I can't rally around the company the same way I use to knowing they have upward limits. On top of that these are living companies it's not like watching 90s AJPW and you just know what you have is what you have because both Evolve and ROH exist in real time there upward mobility and future prospects are important to my personal investment in the product There isn't any other wrestling company in the world that is actually competing with WWE to be #1.

Finally listening to this today and really loving it. I put that awesome segment with the phone call from 'Ronald Reagan' to Roy Lee Welch on youtube a while back and people definitely need to watch it. I loved watching 86 Continental but definitely agree that the New Guinea Headhunters run was just kind of lacking. Part of it was they just weren't very big and they also just didn't really come across as vicious as the gimmick called for. Also, I agree The Nightmares didn't really have the "blowjob babyface" look but neither did Johnny & Davey Rich. The idea of those guys (and giant Coke bottle glasses Scott Armstrong) as the big draw for the ladies has always amused the hell out of me. I may have missed it when you guys were talking about people being advertised as coming in and not showing up like The Sheepherders, The Moondogs & The Mod Squad but I didn't hear you guys mention Abdullah the Butcher. There was definitely a Kevin Sullivan promo where he talked about how he was bringing him in but as far as I know he never did. Definitely not on TV at least. I loved that talk about the awful Russian tag team. That was the point I got to in my 87 watching when I decided to just go back and start at the earliest Southeastern footage I had. Really bad workers and the worst fake Russian accent ever in wrestling and that says a lot.

I hope he and Roman Reigns have a Buried Alive match and Seth Rollins loses so all the inevitable BURIED!!! cries can actually have at least a tiny bit of truth.

This is the match where I first discovered that El Gran Apollo didn't really like to be shown as vulnerable. This is that "when kayfabe goes wrong" match that no one ever talks about. The ref has to just throw out the match because he and Barrabas are about to start having a real fight in the ring.

I did warn you going in that the little I have seen from Apollo is that he didn't care much for selling. Your thoughts on him are pretty much the same as mine from the little bit of Florida and Puerto Rico I've seen. I still think with a great booker like myself he could have developed into a star. Hopefully I'll be able to re-subscribe to Classics soon and catch that match and all the other awesome stuff that's dropped over the last month or so.

I'd say despite Evolve doing business with WWE they are still the best at presenting fresh talent. PWG doesn't run enough shows to fit that need, they have a shitty distribution model that's even worse than ROH's and they seem to mostly just use big indy names now.

Yea I guess I shouldn't be shocked that these questions still pop up but I am. It's just something cooked up by their marketing department months in advance. They definitely don't book months in advance and decide from that who is going to be in the marketing materials.

It's funny how Davey went from (in certain circles) being talked about as one of the best in the world a few years ago to pretty much being totally off the radar now.

Uhh have you been watching lately? Because Jericho has been pretty bad this year.

And yet Dolph Ziggler is still employed. There is no justice.

Yea I think I might have voted for him as well, I had La Fiera vs. Baby Face as my favorite match of the 80s Lucha set and I've liked every match of his that I've seen.

I regret not mentioning the Fuller Leglock myself. I don't even think anyone outside of the Fullers/Jimmy Golden ever used the move so unless you watched Southeastern/Continental or saw the Robert Fuller/Jimmy Golden run in SMW you've probably never even seen it.

Southwest Championship Wrestling @ San Antonio, TX - The HemisFair Arena 12/11/83 Ron Starr vs. 'Diamond' Timothy Flowers w/Jim Holliday - Ron Starr started off the match dominating Timothy Flowers with his rough, always moving forward style as Flowers tried in vain to stay out of his reach. At around the 5 minute mark Jim Holliday was distract Ron Starr from the outside long enough to allow Timothy Flowers to take over. After a few minutes of beating on Starr, Flowers whipped him into the ropes and lowered his head for a back body drop but Ron Starr recovered coming off the ropes and instead met the bent over Timothy Flowers with his big running knee lift and covered him for the win! Winner: Ron Starr in 8:12 with a Running Knee Lift Steve Pardee & Larry Hamilton vs. Pat Rose & Ron Sexton - This match started as a clean scientific bout just like the week before. Neither team was able to gain a solid advantage for the first 7-8 minutes until Ron Sexton Irish whipped Larry Hamilton and Pat Rose kneed him in the back when he hit the ropes. Pardee protested the interference to referee Carl Fergie which only allowed Rose & Sexton to double team Hamilton in the corner. As Fergie turned back around Rose was in the ring without a tag and had Hamilton down in a chin lock. Fergie questioned whether there was a tag with Rose & Sexton both vehemently swearing they had made one. Hamilton fought his way out of the chin lock and tried to make it to his corner to make the tag but Ron Sexton ran in illegally and cut him off. As the referee was getting Sexton out of the ring, Pat Rose tried to waistlock Hamilton and pull him back into the center of the ring but Hamilton used his amateur wrestling skills to quickly go behind Rose and shove Rose into the corner and then make the hot tag out to Steve Pardee! Pardee came in fired up but Carl Ferige didn't see the tag and kept him from coming in! While this was going on Pat Rose grabbed the distracted Larry Hamilton and dropped him throat first across the top rope and covered him just as Carl Fergie was turning around to make the pin count. Winners: Ron Sexton & Pat Rose in 11:43 after Pat Rose dropped Larry Hamilton throat first across the top rope Southwest Television Title (If Mike Masters is counted out, disqualified or fails to appear he loses the title): Man Mountain Link vs. Mike Masters w/Jim Holliday - Mike Masters quickly bails out of the ring when the bell rings. He lets the count get up to 9 and then re-enters the ring only to quickly duck out again once Link comes after him. Man Mountain Link tries to go out after him but referee Jack Howe stays between the ropes and Link to keep him from going outside. Masters keeps goading Link to come out after him as Masters tries to buy time outside the ring without being counted out. Finally Link backs off and lets Jack Howe start his count again only for Masters to get in at the count of 9 and quickly exit again before Link can get his hands on him. Link just quickly retreats from the ropes and allows Jack Howe to start his count over again but Masters only breaks the count at 9 again and then rolls back out. Masters and Jim Holliday mock Man Mountain Link from outside the ring and Link manages to get around Jack Howe and go outside the ring after them! Link chases Masters around the ring and Masters slides in under the bottom rope and then stomps Link right in the head as Link tries to pull himself up onto the apron. Link stumbles back and then comes forward to try again only to eat another boot to the head from Masters. On the 3rd try as Masters goes to kick Link, Link grabs his leg and pulls him down to the mat and then yanks him out of the ring! Man Mountain Link picks Masters up in a bearhug and then rams Masters into the ring post! He does it again and again, ignoring the count by Jack Howe and eventually both men are counted out! Result: Double count out in 5:11 After the match Man Mountain Link drives Mike Masters into the ring post a few more times until Jack Howe is finally able to talk him into letting Masters go, and Link drops the limp TV champion down to the arena floor. Link grabs the TV title off the timekeeper's table and holds it up to the delight of the crowd but Jack Howe takes it away from him and Link walks back to the locker room as Jim Holliday tries to revive his charge who is down on the floor of the HemisFair arena holding his ribs. Eddie Gilbert & Ken Lucas vs. Yin & Yang - Ken Lucas wanted to start the match for his team but Eddie Gilbert argued with him about it until Lucas finally relented and allowed Gilbert to start the match. Eddie and Yang charged at each other at the sound of the bell and both started unloading with punches. Yang got the better of the exchange and whipped Eddie Gilbert into the corner with Yin where Yin tried to grab hold of him but Eddie blasted him with an elbow that knocked him off the apron and dodged a Yang charge into the corner. Eddie monkey flipped Yang out of the corner and Yin tried to come in under the ropes to attack Eddie but referee Carl Fergie cut him off and forced him back onto the apron. While Fergie's back was turned, Eddie went into his tights and then blasted Yang with a punch that put him out cold. Eddie made the cover and Carl Fergie turned around and counted the 3. Winners: Eddie Gilbert & Ken Lucas in 3:27 after Eddie Gilbert knocked Yang out with a punch After the match Yin tried to alert Carl Fergie that Eddie Gilbert used a foreign object but Eddie blasted him with a punch that sent him flying out through the ropes. Eddie celebrated his victory until Ken Lucas came in the ring and started arguing with him. Ken tried to get Eddie to open up his right fight but Eddie refused. He shoved Ken Lucas away and left the ring on his own, still happily celebrating his win. If The Cuban Assassin loses, Jose Lothario loses his manager's license: El Gran Apollo vs. The Cuban Assassin w/Jose Lothario - El Gran Apollo attacks Cuban Assassin as soon as the bell rings and is all over him with punches and chops. Jack Howe steps in and tries to get him to open up his fists which allows the Cuban Assassin a chance to cheap shot Apollo and then grabs his head and rake his eyes across the ropes. Apollo tries to swing blindly at the big Cuban Assassin but he misses wildly and then gets hit in the gut with a big knee and then taken to the mat and put in a nerve hold. Apollo tries to fight his way back to his feet but gets taken back down with a hair pull as Jose Lothario had the referee distracted. Apollo again makes his way up to his feet and this time is able to break out of the nerve hold with some elbows to the midsection of the big Cuban Assassin and then shoves the Assassin into the ropes and catches him with a dropkick that takes the big man off his feet. El Gran Apollo catches the Assassin with another big dropkick as he gets up again but on the 3rd attempt the Assassin is able to duck out of the way and Apollo crashes hard into the mat where The Cuban Assassin quickly pounces on him and puts him in a chin lock. Apollo tries a few times to get out of the hold only to be thwarted with a hair pull or a yank of the tights as Jose Lothario runs interference distracting referee Jack Howe. Finally Apollo is able to break out of the chin lock and shoves Cuban Assassin off into the corner and then Apollo charges in and mounts The Assassin and reigns down 10 punches on his head as the crowd counts along. Jose Lothario jumps up on the apron while Apollo is on top of the Cuban Assassin in the corner which distracts Apollo long enough for the Cuban Assassin to get out from under Apollo and then shove him from behind causing Apollo to drop down on the top turnbuckle and crotch himself. Cuban Assassin tries to follow that up with a belly to back suplex but Apollo keeps fighting him off and eventually knocks him down off the top rope with a big elbow that causes The Cuban Assassin to fall off the top rope and crash down into the ring. El Gran Apollo then is able to stand up on the top rope and perch himself to come off with the Flying Crossbody! Jose Lothario tries to warn the Cuban Assassin but as he gets back to his feet El Gran Apollo flies off the top rope and catches him flush with the Flying Crossbody! Jack Howe makes the count of 3 and the crowd erupts as El Gran Apollo defeats The Cuban Assassin! Winner: El Gran Apollo in 9:56 after a Flying Crossbody on The Cuban Assassin! Southwest Tag Team Title: Rock N' Roll Express vs. The Assassins - Robert Gibson started the match against Assassin #2 and used his quickness to avoid the bigger man and kept him off balance with hit and run tactics. Assassin #2 wound up in the corner of the RNR Express and found himself totally overwhelmed as Ricky and Robert continually used quick tags to keep switching out and keeping Assassin #2 from being able to mount an offense or get away. Finally Assassin #2 was able to get to his corner to make a tag after Ricky didn't quite get high enough on a leapdrop and Assassin #2 inadvertently headbutted him in the groin. Assassin #1 came in with Ricky on the mat in pain and he quickly took advantage of the situation by dropping down on him with a big splash and going for the cover but Robert came in at the last moment and broke up the pin with a kick to the head. Assassin #1 pulled Ricky Morton over to his corner and he and Assassin #2 started working him over but Ricky refused to submit or stay down for a 3 count. After a long time of getting beat down in the corner of the Assassins, Assassin #2 came in and loaded up the boot and charged at Ricky, but Ricky was able to roll under the big boot and dive into his corner for the tag! Robert came in and blasted Assassin #2 with a big dropkick! Assassin #1 tried to come in and cut off Robert but caught a dropkick of his own! Ricky then came back in to help and he and Robert connected with a Double Dropkick on Assassin #2! Robert went for a pin on Assassin #2 but Assassin #1 shoved Ricky Morton out of the ring and broke up the pin with a big elbow drop to the back of Robert's head! Carl Fergie tried to get Assassin #1 out of the ring but he just kept dropping elbows on Robert Gibson and after the 3rd elbow drop Carl Fergie called for the bell and disqualified the Assassins! Winners: The Rock N Roll Express by DQ in 13:44 after Assassin #1 broke up a pin attempt and wouldn't stop attacking Robert Gibson After the match The Assassins tried to double splash Robert Gibson but Ricky Morton pulled him out of the way and then they hit Double Dropkicks on both Assassins that sent them out of the ring! The RNR challenged The Assassins to come back in the ring for more but The Assassins grabbed their tag team titles and ran off back to the locker room! Boot Camp Match: Jim Duggan vs. Sgt. Slaughter - Jim Duggan comes out to the ring with a football helmet on while Sgt. Slaughter comes out with his combat boots and helmet on. Sgt. Slaughter called Duggan a coward and tried to get him to take off the football helmet only for Duggan to shake his head. Slaughter offered to take his own helmet off if Duggan would remove the football helmet. Duggan refused and Slaughter took his helmet off first as a sign of good faith and then as Duggan as soon as Duggan got the football helmet off his head, Slaughter charged him and blasted Duggan over the head with the combat helmet. Slaughter kept pounding on Duggan with the combat helmet until he opened up a cut on Duggan's head and then threw him over the top rope out to the floor of the HemisFair Arena. Slaughter talked trash to the fans at ringside as he held up Duggan's football helmet and then as the big Hacksaw tried to get back up to his feet Slaughter threw the football helmet down on top of him and then went out after him and kept up the assault, continuing to beat Duggan over the head and back with the combat helmet. Slaughter went to hit Duggan with the combat helmet again but this time Duggan grabbed it with one hand and then blasted Slaughter with a big punch with the other hand, causing Slaughter to fall backwards and let go of the combat helmet! Duggan then started wailing on Slaughter with the combat helmet and Slaughter retreated back into the high ground of the ring. Duggan tried to follow him in under the bottom rope but Slaughter caught him with a kick to the head with the steel toed combat boots and stopped the bloody Hacksaw in his tracks. Slaughter then waited for Duggan to start to get back up and came in with a running kick right into his ribs with the combat boots and that sent Duggan back out of the ring again. Sgt. Slaughter followed him out of the ring and grabbed a chair and brought it down over Duggan's head and then went for a cover but somehow Duggan was able to kickout at the count of 2! Slaughter argued with referee Jack Howe about a slow count as Duggan tried to get back up to his feet, spurred on by the sold out HemisFair crowd chanting his name but Slaughter booted him right in the face as he got up to his knees and sent him sprawling back to the floor. Slaughter went for another cover but Jim Duggan managed to kick out again. Slaughter grabbed Duggan by the hair and pulled him around to the big wooden steps and slammed his head off of them and then stepped back away from Duggan as he started to struggle back to his feet again. Slaughter sized the big Hacksaw up for a running boot with the steel toed combat boots but Duggan grabbed the boot as Slaughter was coming in! Duggan kicked Slaughter's other leg out from under him and then started to untie the steel combat boot and yanked it off of Slaughter's foot! Duggan put the boot on his fist and wound up for a big punch but Slaughter came up holding Duggan's football helmet and managed to block the punch from Duggan with the football helmet! Both men swung their weapons at each other and both connected as Slaughter nailed Duggan upside the head with the football helmet just as Duggan connected with a wild swing of the steel toed combat boot. Both men went down to the floor and came up bloody with Sgt. Slaughter now having a cut opened up on his head as well. Duggan threw the combat boot at Slaughter but missed him and then Slaughter swung at Duggan again with the football helmet but Duggan was able to grab it and pull it away from Slaughter! He quickly put it on his head and headbutted Slaughter with it which sent him staggering backward! Duggan then dropped down into a three-point stance with the football helmet on and launched himself at Sgt. Slaughter with a huge Spear that looked to about break the Sgt. in half! Duggan then made the cover and Jack Howe made the 3 count as the crowd in the HemisFair Arena erupted at seeing 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan defeat yet another of Sheik Adnan's mercenaries! Winner: Jim Duggan in 12:19 after a Spear with the football helmet on Southwest Heavyweight Title: David Von Erich w/Sunshine vs. Tully Blanchard - David Von Erich came out to the ring to a thunderous ovation from a crowd eager to see him finally get revenge on Tully Blanchard. Tully came out looking completely confident, his usual arrogant self as he came down to the ring with the Southwest Heavyweight Title around his waist. Before the match he blew a kiss at Sunshine who looked disgusted and David Von Erich came charging at him and had to be he held back by Carl Fergie. Tully continued to antagonize David and Sunshine as Carl Fergie desperately tried to get things calmed down to where he could ring the bell to start the match. Finally Carl Fergie was able to get both men into their corners and just as Fergie turned to the timekeeper to tell him to ring the bell Sunshine jumped up on the apron behind David Von Erich and blasted him in the back of the head with the brick loaded purse! Fergie turned around to see David crumble to the mat and Tully quickly cover him! Carl Fergie was conflicted about making the cover, knowing that something was wrong but not having seen what Sunshine did he had no choice but to make the pin count. Winner: Tully Blanchard in 5 seconds after Sunshine blasted David Von Erich in the back of the head with the brick loaded purse! The crowd in the HemisFair Arena were stunned at what happened until Tully grabbed Sunshine around the waist and started making out with her in the middle of the ring! Then they started to boo the hell out of Tully & Sunshine and started throwing trash into the ring. David started to try and groggily get back to his feet looking totally out of it and Sunshine slapped him and then Tully blasted him in the head with the Southwest Title, sending him crashing back down to the mat! Tully picked Sunshine up in his arms and carried her out of the ring making sure to step on David Von Erich on his way out. Tully and Sunshine then had to quickly make their way back to the locker room being pelted with trash and surrounded by San Antonio's finest to keep the crowd off of them.

Why is Jay Lethal a month away from a year long title reign? RoH is nothing if not consistent at booking their World title reigns past the point where anyone cares.

I tried to warn you that Buddy as Dale Valentine was not as good as Buddy as himself.