Ricky Jackson

The decline of MSG attendance in the 60s was the result of multiple factors, but having no TV/poor timeslots were the main ones No contemporary commentary for the Morales title win AFAIK. There is 8mm footage of Bruno vs Ivan 1/18/71 with Rocky Raymond commentary on youtube

I think this counts as "modern" since it's on Youtube. Anyway, I spent the morning putting together these playlists for your convenience. With the explosion of 70-80s WWF house shows on Youtube (thanks to landy1987, the Wrestling Collector, and some others) I thought I would organize them by arena and in chronological order. I've started with the Big 3--MSG, Spectrum and Boston Garden. I'll add more arena playlists later. Enjoy while it lasts. WWF MSG WWF Spectrum WWF Boston Garden

Cool. Good to know. Once again thanks for all this footage, it's so great

http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrestling-65-wwf-at-philadelphia-spectrum-october-16-1982/ They may not be as youthful and prolific as they were back in 2014, but the Titans have returned once again, this time to say farewell to the marvelous commentary of that great individual, Kal Rudman! On the docket: Pedro Morales vs Superstar Graham Bob Backlund vs Buddy Rose Chief Jay Strongbow vs Mr. Saito Pat Patterson vs Mr. Fuji Also on the show: -Parv hasn't regained his wrestling smile, but he loves him some Pat Patterson vs Mr. Fuji, much to the disdain of Pete -Conspiracy theories on why Kal Rudman was replaced as a commentator -Repo Man: Greatest Gimmick Ever??? -Plus Titans of Wrestling turns 3 years old! (about 87 in human years)

Yes it is, complete with bee design trunks

Vote in the Mystery Titans Theatre poll if you want to see more hot Hercules - Haynes action, this time with a chain!

Make your voice heard and choose which horrors the boys have to watch next!

Other than Brock doesn't get hurt by making Dean look good and making Ambrose look good benefits the company by having more credible stars the fans take seriously. Plus they made the comedy geek loser the Champ a few months later and the fans didn't seem to mind

I hope this means the GWE hangover has finally passed

Definitely in consideration. With the recent explosion of WWF house shows on youtube there are almost too many possibilities. Maybe I'll put together a poll to determine the next show later

Ooops "WWF"...shows you where my heart is

The post-Ryback Era begins!

Some impressive wrestling minds here. Not as impressive as the Only 5 Time Champion mind you, but not bad

Bingo

Bringing back the jobbers warms my heart

Have at it. Heyman's back

As far as getting a pod of the ground, I'm sure there are plenty of people around here that would be interested in doing a Memphis show. I first got together with Marty because I dug his reviews on here and thought he would be a cool character, so I shot him a pm and the rest is history. I know you sent out a call before, but ask around and see what happens

Thanks for the feedback guys I wouldn't say it's a sad state of affairs, but a lot of the once prolific podcasters have scaled way back, for various reasons. Johnny isn't one of them though, and Brainbuster is returning shortly

The worst part about the SI list is the individual write ups that feel like a cliched valley girl wrote them. "Like, oh my god, if I include Bruno, I have to like include Moolah or whatever, right?"

Great post. Should probably be its own thread. One of the things that disappoints me the most about wrestling culture is that mainstream wrestling journalism like this SI dreck and Shoemaker is propped up by a lot of fans as gospel when it is actually bottom of the barrel writing and criticism

Brothers in Arms: Johnny Rodz and Jose Estrada These two men worked together hundreds of times in the 70s and 80s. Rodz likely teamed with Estrada more times than any other wrestler during his long career. Their story together is a tale of two teams. In the Northeast, they were purely an enhancement team, losing about 85% of the time. In Puerto Rico, as the masked Medics/Super Medicos, they were a top team, holding several titles over a 8-year span. Estrada was from Puerto Rico, born in 1946 according to Wikipedia. Also according to that site he got into wrestling in 1975. Wrestlingdata.com has him first wrestling in the Northeast on 3/10/76, losing to Johnny Rivera at a TV taping in Hamburg, PA. He first teamed with Rodz as the Medics in Puerto Rico in 76, winning the North American tag titles on Christmas Day, and holding them until 3/4/1977. He was the first WWF Junior Heavyweight champion, supposedly defeating Tony Garea in a tournament final 1/20/78, but this appears to be fictitious. What is certain is that he dropped the belt to Tatsumi Fujinami 1/23/78 at MSG. Like Rodz, Estrada was a jobber/JTTS for many, many years in the Northeast. There, they teamed together frequently between 1977-1983, with the peak being 80-83. They wrestled each other on occasion over the years, with Estrada apparently failing to go over the elder Rodz a single time. The Medics returned to Puerto Rico in 1981 and feuded with Los Pastores (The Sheepherders/Kiwis/Bushwackers). In 1982, Estrada toured Japan for the first time, wrestling for New Japan and teaming with a disparate array of talent, including Jim Neidhart, Perro Aguayo, Black Tiger (Mark Rocco), Bad News Allen and Buddy Rose. He occasionally wrestled under a mask in 1982/83 as the White Angel in WWF, wearing his Medic gear. 1983 saw the Medics return to Puerto Rico and arguably achieve their greatest success as a team. On 7/10 they won the North American titles once again. Then, on 9/10 they defeated the super team of Carlos Colon and Pedro Morales for the World Tag Team titles. Perhaps inspired by this success in late-1983 they renamed themselves the Super Medicos. They also added a third member around this time, Don Kent, who was most notable for being a member of the Fabulous Kangaroos in the late-60s and 70s. At some point in 1984 Kent replaces Rodz, and by 1985 Estrada is solo as the only Super Medico. He would continue to work in Puerto Rico off and on over the years, eventually teaming with his son, Jose Jr. ( part of Los Boricuas in late-90s WWF) as a new incarnation of the Super Medicos in 1990-91. Another son, Julio, would wrestle mostly in Puerto Rico as Rico Suave. Back in the WWF, Estrada had one last run, appropriately under a mask, teaming with fellow longtime job guy Jose Luis Rivera, as the Conquistadors from 1987-1989. He retired in 1992, making sporadic returns in Puerto Rico over years, as late as 2007. I was inspired to look at the Rodz and Estrada team because of a match we reviewed a few months back on Titans of Wrestling. Rodz/Estrada vs Tony Garea/ Steve Travis best 2 of 3 falls from 9/18/82 in Philly is an awesome match, finally supplanting Rodz vs SD Jones 3/16/81 MSG as the best Rodz match I've seen. So I thought I would see what else is out there. I couldn't find any footage of the original Medics/Super Medicos online unfortunately. I did find a few WWF matches though. Last night I watched a pretty good Rodz/Estrada vs Martel/Garea bout from 9/21/81 MSG. Today I will examine a couple more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqZyeawlj14&list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0CJA6wxD_Y_EpgpVQQEW9Ij&index=24 Rodz/Estrada vs The Samoans, 9/9/1980 Allentown (aired 9/27 Championship Wrestling) Estrada is balding here. He would eventually go with the bald-with-beard look, appearing very similar to Bad News Allen. They teamed together during that 82 Japanese tour, and I really want to believe that Allen was inspired by Estrada to adopt his signature look. Samoans were the tag champs at the time. Vince puts over Rodz/Estrada as a "very aggressive tag team combination". They are in full babyface mode here, which was rare, and they get a decent shine in early. At one point Afa gets tangled in the ropes and Rodz taunts him by stretching out on the top rope and relaxing. Samoans take over and pummel Rodz. Rodz does make a tag, but it isn't hot, and Estrada comes in for a brief House O' Fire. He's cut off and destroyed by a Samoan drop for the pinfall. Not a bad little TV match. Cool to see Rodz/Estrada work babyface. Rodz/Estrada vs Dom DeNucci/SD Jones, 10/19/81 MSG https://youtu.be/1Za3I1oibMU?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0CJA6wxD_Y_EpgpVQQEW9Ij&t=5632 Estrada rocking the full Allen (or full Estrada) look here. The boys have matching green tights. Together, this is a very impressive collection of JTTS talent. In a way, SD was the Dom to Rodz's Baron, eternal enemies in the ring, with the added wrinkle that Rodz trained Jones. This match was disappointing though. No heat, which isn't surprising given how low these guys were on the totem poll at the time, but it was also a sloppy match with little structure. There were some nice spots between Estrada and Jones. Rodz threw some nice punches and took a wacky bump over the top rope at one point. Mostly a meandering affair with multiple messed up four-man spots. Nobody really builds any heat, and Dom in particular seems to be just going through the motions, sadly. Jones pins Estrada with a sunset flip. A rather typical dull WWF undercard match from the time, unfortunately. Just watch the Rodz/Estrada vs Garea/Travis match! https://youtu.be/RHC3z2Hnohw?list=WL&t=2271

Playlist with the 1/9 Boston show and the Philly matches https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0DxIZcvvV8-Je015bl3aKxw Angles vs Girls http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3g0fqp_wwf-royal-rumble-1988-the-jumping-bomb-angels-vs-the-glamour-girls_sport 6-Man Cage http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31cpkg_randy-savage-strike-force-vs-honky-tonk-man-the-hart-foundation-cage-match-08-05-88_sport

http://placetobenation.com/tag-teams-back-again-episode-18-putting-smiles-on-peoples-faces/ Kelly and Marty ring in the new year of 1988 with a eclectic sampling of matches from the WWF! British Bulldogs vs Conquistadors, 1/9/1988 Boston Strike Force vs Hart Foundation, 1/9 Boston Jumping Bomb Angels vs Glamour Girls, 1/24 Hamilton British Bulldogs vs Islanders, 2/6 Philly Hulk Hogan/Bam Bam Bigelow vs Andre the Giant/Ted DiBiase, 2/6 Philly Strike Force/Randy Savage vs Hart Foundation/Honky Tonk Man, 3/5 Boston Cage Match Burnt out on wrestling? Kelly and Marty have the cure for your blues with another episode of Tag Teams Back Again!

Why do you care what they draw?

Here's a playlist with some of the matches and angles discussed on the show. If nothing else, check out the Bad News turn on Gouldie video for an amazing promo from Stomper https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Chr2HXCyzvFWuGvSIwti8C