Loss

It was on the Invasion '92 commercial release, and we have it on the '91 yearbook.

A blood-stained Eddie Gilbert comes back out later in the show, flanked by Dick Slater. Gilbert looks like he's been through hell. Awesome stuff, and good interview.

Jarrett is quickly and mercifully interrupted by Eddie Gilbert. I love that everyone is wearing suits on this episode. Gilbert GOES THERE, pointing out that the reason Jeff Jarrett is so loved is that his dad pays everyone's salary. Things get heated, and Gilbert is phenomenal here because he's so convinced that he's right. They start taking off their jackets and the studio crowd is really getting into this. Jarrett responds that maybe Eddie's problem is that he's going through a divorce! Wow. Gilbert finally decks him and nails him with his shoe. Jarrett's white shirt is eventually covered in blood and this brawl is AWESOME. One of the best segments of the year in any promotion. Fantastic stuff, and I'm excited to see all the Jarrett/Gilbert matches ahead of us on the '90 and '91 yearbooks. I think this may be my USWA segment of the year.

Eddie Marlin is in a jovial mood, hyping the upcoming one-time Unified title tournament. Dave Brown does a rundown of all the tournament participants. Marlin wishes Lawler luck, and they show a clip of Lawler beating Hennig to win the AWA title in '88. Lawler comes out dressed in a nice suit. He recaps that he issued a challenge to all world champions at the time, and some proved themselves company champions. He's only said that about a dozen times this year. They show a clip of how he lost the title to Snowman with Leon Spinks screwing him over. He further buries Snowman, calling him a guy who didn't know the difference between a wristlock and a wristwatch. Marlin comes out to pile on, even accusing Snowman of offering to pawn the belt to a drug dealer! Snowman insults aside, this is uncharacteristically low key and classy, which makes it stand out.

Another Austin Idol video. I don't think this is the same one as before, but don't remember for sure.

One of the most memorable segments from my childhood sees Rick Martel "accidentally on purpose" spray Arrogance in Jake's eyeball, leading to some fascinating promos over the next few months. Jake's selling of this is incredible.

I don't know if Liger was a "draw", but Liger was absolutely a star who was marketable and over. I wonder if they could have made Rey the Liger of the U.S. instead of whatever it was that he was.

Nikita was pretty bad by that point, which made Dick Murdoch getting the excellent match out of him in January all the more impressive. Nikita had his moments, but was not a consistently good wrestler at any point. He was easily behind the Road Warriors as a worker, and Luger surpassed him by mid-1987.

Just had to come back to this. This seriously is one of the all-time great money promos from a babyface. It's phenomenal, and something that should probably be studied and referenced more.

Some 1998 odds and ends I'm curious if anyone knows anything about: Fuyuki-Gun Samurai TV 03/15/98 (Pg 1886) Hisakatsu Oya vs Jado (Fuyuki-Gun Tokyo 02/19/98) Yukihiro Kanemura & Mr. Gannosuke vs Koji Nakagawa & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (Fuyuki-Gun Tokyo 02/19/98) Hayabusa vs Ricky Fuyuki (Fuyuki-Gun Tokyo 02/19/98) ZEN Samurai TV 03/22/98 (Pg 1885) Masato Tanaka & Hisakatsu Oya vs Hayabusa & Ricky Fuyuki (ZEN Chiba 02/13/98) Atsushi Onita, Koji Nakagawa & Tetsuhiro Kuroda vs Yukihiro Kanemura, Gado & Mr. Gannosuke (ZEN Chiba 02/13/98) Indy World Samurai TV 09/02/98 (Pg 1871) Manami Toyota & Takako Inoue vs Yumiko Hotta & Kumiko Maekawa (Indy World Tokyo 07/22/98) Mens Teoh, Dick Togo & Shoichi Funaki vs Tarzan Goto, Azteca & Masaji Aoyagi (Indy World Tokyo 07/22/98) Pro Wrestling Kageki Vol II 10/26/98 (Pg 1730) Hiroumi Yagi vs Megumi Yabushita (Kageki 10/26/98) FULL Samurai TV 12/02/98 (Pg 1839) Momoe Nakanishi vs Nanae Takahashi (FULL Tokyo 10/22/98) Super Crazy vs Mosco de la Merced (FULL Tokyo 10/22/98)

I know 1997 isn't talked up much for Big Japan, but these look interesting: BJPW 06/03/97 comm (Pg 1916) Takashi Ishikawa & Kengo Kimura vs Shoji Nakamaki & Takashi Okano vs Yoshihiro Taijiri & Yuichi Taniguchi vs Kendo Nagasaki & Satoru Shiga vs Gedo & Jado (BJPW 06/03/97) BJPW 06/07/97 comm (Pg 1916) Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs Shinjiro Otani & Yoshihiro Taijiri (BJPW 06/07/97) BJPW Samurai TV 06/12/97 (Pg 1984) Yoshihiro Taijiri & Zumbido vs Black Warrior & Chicago Express (BJPW 05/29/97) BJPW Samurai TV 08/03/97 (Pg 2003) Yoshihiro Taijiri & Seiji Yamakawa vs Takashi Ishikawa & Kishin Kawabata (BJPW Tokyo 07/23/97) BJPW Samurai TV 09/14/97 (Pg 1967) Yoshihiro Taijiri & Seiji Yamakawa vs Gedo & Jado (BJPW Tokyo 07/31/97) (This is the 60 minute draw FLIK mentioned)

FLIK, thanks, this is fascinating. I will be posting more late 90s odds and ends questions over the next couple of days. In the meantime, I know you were holding off on the GAEA '99 recommendations for now. Feel free to make another similar post like your excellent ones for 1997 and 1998. I am working on 1997-1999 concurrently. You would think that this stuff would be more talked about than some of the older stuff, since it happened more recently.

Thanks. Here's some Osaka Pro, if anyone knows anything about these. Osaka Wars Vol. 1 May 1999 (Pg 1711) Super Delphin, Masaru Seno & Masato Yakushiji vs Violencia, Black Buffalo & Dick Togo (Osaka Pro 05/04/99) Dick Togo vs Naohiro Hoshikawa (Osaka Pro 05/05/99) Osaka Pro Wrestling Digest Vol 2 July 1999 (Pg 1730) Dick Togo, Black Buffalo & Police Man vs Super Delphin, Masato Yakushiji & Masaro Seno (Osaka Pro 07/24/99) Also, some IWA: IWA Samurai TV 04/21/99 (Pg 1762) Terry Funk & Keisuke Yamada vs Mr. Pogo & Shoji Nakamaki (IWA Toda 04/11/99) Terry Funk, Keisuke Yamada & Yoshiya Yamashita vs Mr. Pogo, Shoji Nakamaki & Gran Sheik (IWA Tokyo 04/13/99, Barbed Wire Baseball Bat Glass Bottle Death Match) Other odds and ends: WAR 06/20/99 (Pg 1734) Genichiro Tenryu & Magnum Tokyo vs Nobutaka Araya & Sumo Fuji (WAR 06/20/99) Genichiro Tenryu, Nobutaka Araya & Shoji Nakamaki vs Atsushi Onita, Sambo Asako & Shigeo Okamura (WAR 06/20/99, Street Fight Tornado Death Match) Onita Pro Samurai TV 06/16/99 (Pg 1778) Genichiro Tenryu, Shoji Nakamaki & Ichiro Yaguchi vs Atsushi Onita, Sambo Asako & Shigeo Okamura (Onita Pro Tokyo 05/13/99, No Rope Barbed Wire Street Fight Tornado Death Match) NOW Samurai TV 05/06/99 (Pg 1779) Genichiro Tenryu, Kendo Nagasaki & Maasaki Mochizuki vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Takashi Okamura & Nobutaka Araya (NOW Tokyo 04/04/99)

Thanks for your help. New Japan is starting to come together. Slowly but surely.

Also add: NJPW Samurai TV 02/20/98 (Pg 1938) Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs Koji Kanemoto & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NJPW Osaka 12/08/97)

These New Japan matches made Samurai, but do not appear to have made Asahi. Anyone know anything about any of these? NJPW Samurai TV 02/27/98 (Pg 1938) El Samurai & Kendo Ka Shin vs Koji Kanemoto & Norio Honaga (NJPW Tokyo 01/26/98) NJPW Samurai TV 04/17/98 (Pg 1898) Shinjiro Otani, Koji Kanemoto & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs El Samurai, La Fiera & Dr. Wagner Jr. (NJPW Sendai 03/14/98) NJPW Samurai TV 04/25/98 (Pg 1898) Jushin Liger & Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto (NJPW Amagaseki 03/21/98) NJPW Samurai TV 05/23/98 (Pg 1912) El Samurai vs Koji Kanemoto (NJPW Kagoshima 04/14/98) NJPW Samurai TV 06/12/98 (Pg 1912) Shinjiro Otani, Koji Kanemoto, Dr. Wagner Jr. & Masakazu Fukuda vs El Samurai, Kendo Ka Shin, Yuji Yasuraoka & Hayato Nanjyo (NJPW Matsuda 05/16/98) NJPW Samurai TV 07/02/98 (Pg 1864) Jushin Liger, El Samurai & Kendo Ka Shin vs Shinjiro Otani, Kaz Hayashi & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NJPW Osaka 06/03/98) NJPW Samurai TV 07/24/98 (Pg 1864) Jushin Liger, El Samurai, Dr. Wagner Jr., Kendo Ka Shin & Hayato Nanjyo vs Shinjiro Otani, Koji Kanemoto, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Kaz Hayashi & Masakazu Fukuda (NJPW Tokyo 06/05/98, Elimination Match) NJPW Samurai TV 07/31/98 (Pg 1873) Shinjiro Otani vs Dr. Wagner Jr. (NJPW Yamagata 06/24/98)

These are matches that aired on Samurai TV that don't appear to have made Asahi. Does anyone know anything about these? NJPW Samurai TV 11/14/97 (Pg 1969) Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto (NJPW Maebashi 09/13/97) NJPW Samurai TV 11/22/97 (Pg 1969) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Norio Honaga (NJPW Maebashi 09/13/97) NJPW Samurai TV 11/29/97 (Pg 1969) Wild Pegasus vs Dr. Wagner Jr. (NJPW Osaka 09/17/97) NJPW Samurai TV 12/05/97 (Pg 1921) Jushin Liger, Wild Pegasus & El Samurai vs Chris Jericho, Koji Kanemoto & Dr. Wagner Jr. (NJPW Tokyo 09/23/97)

Here is every six-man tag from Toryumon in 1999, along with a few others that looked notable. Don't mind the pg number, that's a note for me. What's worth picking up, and what's worth skipping altogether? Toryumon TV 02/15/99 (Pg 1796) Magnum Tokyo, Saito & Dragon Kid vs Sumo Fuji, Judo Suwa & Shiima Nobunaga (Toryumon 01/31/99) Toryumon TV 02/18/99 (Pg 1796) Shiima Nobunaga vs Magnum Tokyo (Toryumon 02/05/99) Dragon Kid vs. Dr. Cerebro (Toryumon 02/06/99) Dragon Kid vs Judo Suwa (Toryumon 02/07/99) Great Sasuke vs Magnum Tokyo (Toryumon 02/07/99) Toryumon Be Crazy: Crazy Max Films 1999 (Pg 1697) Shiima Nobunaga, Sumo Fuji & Judo Suwa vs Magnum Tokyo, Dragon Kid & Kennichiro Arai (Toryumon 04/22/99) Shiima Nobunaga, Sumo Fuji & Yoshikazu Taru vs Magnum Tokyo, Taka Michinoku & Kennichiro Arai (Toryumon 07/16/99) Toryumon TV 05/14/99 (Pg 1761) Shiima Nobunaga, Sumo Fuji & Yoshikazu Taru vs Yoshiyuki Saito, Genki Horiguchi & Susumu Mochizuki (Toryumon 04/25/99) Dragon Kid vs Judo Suwa (Toryumon 04/25/99) Toryumon TV 07/30/99 (Pg 1778) Magnum Tokyo, Kennichiro Arai & Yoshiyuki Saito vs Shiima Nobunaga, Yoshikazu Taru & Sumo Fuji (Toryumon 07/04/99) Great Sasuke, Magnum Tokyo, Tiger Mask & Kennichiro Arai vs Shiima Nobunaga, Sumo Fuji, Sasuke the Great & Yoshikazu Taru (Toryumon 07/11/99) Toryumon TV 09/03/99 (Pg 1730) Shiima Nobunaga, Sumo Fuji & Yoshikazu Taru vs Taka Michinoku, Magnum Tokyo & Kennichiro Arai (Toryumon 07/16/99) Toryumon TV 09/24/99 (Pg 1747) Shiima Nobunaga, Judo Suwa & Sumo Fuji vs Makoto, Yoshiyuki Saito & Stalker Ishikawa (Toryumon 09/14/99) Magnum Tokyo vs Yoshikazu Taru (Toryumon 09/14/99) Toryumon TV 11/27/99 (Pg 1697) Shiima Nobunaga, Sumo Fuji & Judo Suwa vs Magnum Tokyo, Kennichiro Arai & Maasaki Mochizuki (Toryumon 11/17/99) Shiima Nobunaga, Sumo Fuji & Yoshikazu Taru vs Magnum Tokyo, Saito & Maasaki Mochizuki (Toryumon 11/19/99) Toryumon 01/03/00 (Pg 1697) El Hijo del Santo, Genki Horiguchi & Dragon Kid vs Blue Panther, Kennichiro Arai & Bombero Infernal (Toryumon Dec 1999) Magnum Tokyo vs CIMA (Toryumon 12/18/99) Toryumon Comes To Japan (Pg 1711) Magnum Tokyo, Dragon Kid & Saito vs Sumo Fuji, Judo Suwa & Shiima Nobunaga (Toryumon 01/31/99) Dragon Kid vs Dr. Cerebro (Toryumon 02/06/99) Dragon Kid vs Judo Suwa (Toryumon 02/07/99) Great Sasuke vs Magnum Tokyo (Toryumon 02/07/99)

I'm glad Jerry is having that effect. Flies with honey, lessons I could learn, and there you go.

Drew Carey?

They work better in a promotion that is more sports-like in its presentation. I don't think WWE really needs weight classes at this point.

Meng was a cartoon character who used a Tongan Death Grip where he shook his own head for no real reason. But Tonga Fifita as a no-nonsense asskicker? Why not?

Maybe even guys with completely worked barfighting gimmicks. I don't think they necessarily had to be MMA, just clearly guys that were "tougher" than the regulars. WCW production probably couldn't pull this off without it looking hokey, but a fan sending in shaky footage of a Goldberg bar fight, with Goldberg having a shiner and not wanting to talk about it, would be an interesting angle. Tough Guy Who Gave Goldberg A Shiner would come out of the crowd one week and take credit for it. They'd have a pull apart and eventually a match. Maybe he beats up someone expendable to hype up the match a little bit. Maybe he has buddies that joined him. Anyway, building the promotion around Goldberg's strengths is the key.

I need a positive thread before I turn everyone at this board completely against me forever. So yeah, wrestling is awesome. We all have talked many times about what made us watch to begin with. But I have to say that what keeps me watching is that there's so much buried treasure still out there. For as much "new" (read: old) wrestling has been found and discussed over the past few years, there's still so much more where that came from. This is the hobby that keeps on giving. Wrestling is awesome. I don't mark out like I did when I was a kid as much anymore, but I really love watching athletic performers manipulate emotions of people through a medium of fake sport. It really is a brilliant concept when you actually think about what wrestling is at its core. There's nothing like it. How about you?

They should be fixed. Daily Motion stuff wasn't copying for some reason.