New wrestler Blog

Dutch Mantell has entered the blogosphere with his new blog about his life in pro wrestling.
Check it out HERE.

The Way Back Machine

These are pictures I took around 1988 when the NWA (WCW) visited the Indiana State Fair

This is Terry Taylor in the red vs Mean Mark Callas, better known today as The Undertaker! he was unknown to everyone at the time and Taylor was making is first appearance for the NWA/WCW after leaving the WWF where he had been the "Red Rooster". He got a big ovation as he was a suprise and not listed on the program.
Here is the late Brian Pillman ready to face off against the Midnight Express of Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane. Jim Cornette was of course at ringside in the red jacket.

Here is the Nature Boy Ric Flair in a 6 man match with Sid Vicious and Buddy Landell as his partners.

the ring introductions for the 6 man match with the team facing Flair, Vicious and Landell being Lex Luger (then U.S. Champion) Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff and the NWA World Champion Sting!

World Champion Sting getting ready to gorilla slam the Nature Boy.

The crowd was HOT for Sting's Team this night.

Ric Flair Lottery Tickets

The North Carolina Education Lottery now has Ric Flair lottery tickets. Its amazing how popular Ric Flair still is in NC. I liken it to Dick the Bruiser in Indianapolis.
Here is the tv commercial for the Flair Lottery tickets. One of the strangest things I have seen in a long time.

Happy Birthday "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin

Jimmy Garvin turns 52 today and he is still happily married to Precious and now is employed as an airline pilot. He was born Jimmy Williams in 1957.

He won his first pro title, the NWA (Mid America) Southern Tag Team titles w/Bob Ellis defeating Dennis Condrey & Phil Hickerson on July 4, 1977.

Lets celebrate with this great match that Jimmy had against Ric Flair for the World Heavyweight title and it was on WCW Saturday Night. It was one of those moments where you wondered if he really blew his knee out but it was all designed to let Jimmy lose and still save face and get Flair over as even meaner and dirtier. It helped Jimmy get a bigger profile as a babyface as he teamed with his "brother" Ron Garvin.

Actually Ron Garvin was Jimmy's stepdad, let that sink in for a minute.
I was unable to embed this video but you can watch it here.

Well I got taken in too

From the WrestlingGlobe newsletter:
The Karl Afflis story that ran everywhere last week appears to have been a hoax. Somebody thought it would be a cool prank to fake his death, and even his ex wife and kids thought he had passed on until he turned up alive and well on Monday. Afflis is the son of Dick the Bruiser.

In Your House: Mind Games

Today is the anniversary of IYH 10: Mind Games. Held at the Core States Center in Philadelphia on September 22 1996. It featured the main event of WWF Champion Shawn Michaels defending the belt against Mankind. That match has been called one of the best matches in WWF/WWE history and with the peformers of Michaels and Foley, chances are it may be the best ever. I couldnt find that match but I found a highlight reel of the whole card.
The only belts to change hands were the WWF Tag Team Titles as the team of Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith beat The Smoking Gunns.

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - PPVReports: AJ Styles wins title at No Surrender

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - PPVReports: AJ Styles wins title at No Surrender

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Son of the Bruiser

it is being reported today that the son of Dick the Bruiser, Karl Afflis, has passed away in Florida. He spent time as a wrestler in Bruiser's WWA promotion in Indianapolis. He wrestled as Leroy Redbone.
I remember this assinine character and hated him because of course he was a heel but also because he just seemed to be a jerk.
Now it is being talked about on some message boards that he was in a trouble with the law quite a bit. I dont know about that nor was able to find anything about him, so maybe in the next few days someone might have something on his past.

Survivor Series 1990

here is a brief clip of the finale of Survivor Series from 1990. Team Hogan with Hulk Hogan,Tito Santana and Ultimate Warrior vs Ted Dibiase,The Warlord,Rick Martel,Hercules Hernandez and Paul Roma.

Anarcy Rulz 1999

Here is a clip from the ECW ppv "Anarchy Rulz" from this day in 1999. This is pretty much a great overview of ECW and what it offered, and Jack Victory is the brother of Road Warrior Animal and now the head of talent relations in the WWE,

Ric Flair Website

I found this today and its not much but the Nature Boy now has a website.
He also has a twitter account and a facebook fan page.

Fall Brawl 1996

Today is the anniversary of the WCW PPV Fall Brawl from Sept 15 1996. This again was a WAR GAMES ppv with Team NWO vs Team WCW. Well that went as expected but I thought we should watch a better match from that PPV, Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit.
WCW had no clue of the incredible talent they had here and in Japan this would have headlined and rocked the house. They gave it all in this match for a receptive crowd but as usual the WCW honchos had no clue what to do with them.
The sad part is that the announcers were too busy hyping all the other matches to come that Heenan had to keep dragging them back to the match.

UFC 106

LESNAR VS CARWIN OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED FOR UFC 106- It was officially announced that former WWE Heavyweight champion and thecurrent UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will be defending his goldagainst Shane Carwin at UFC 106, taking place live from the Mandalay BayEvents Center in Las Vegas, NV., on November 21. "Brock Lesnar has beentearing through everyone over the last year," said UFC President Dana White."But in Shane Carwin, he's not only fighting someone as big as he is, he'sfighting someone who has ended all of his fights in less than three minutes.This is literally the biggest heavyweight title fight ever and may also bethe most explosive." Lesnar said he is looking forward to face Carwin and hewill be the man who ends his undefeated MMA run. "He's undefeated and I'mthe man who is going to put an end to that," Lesnar said.

Your WWE Monday Night Raw host next week

From the Wrestling Online Network:

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER HOST OF NEXT WEEK'S RAW- Next week's RAW guest host is Cedric Kyles, better known as Cedric TheEntertainer. Cedric is probably best known for his role as Eddie in theBarbershop films and the Big Momma's House movie. It was believed thatLilian Garcia would be the host of next week's RAW as it is her last nightwith WWE but obviously there is something else planned.

CANOE -- SLAM: WWE Breaking Point * Sunday, September 13, 2009 * Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec

Pictures from WWE Breaking Point PPV

CANOE -- SLAM: WWE Breaking Point * Sunday, September 13, 2009 * Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec

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CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - PPVReports: Montreal fans 'screwed' again in Breaking Point sham

sounds like the Orton vs Cena match had a joke finish!

CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - PPVReports: Montreal fans 'screwed' again in Breaking Point sham

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Road Warrior Hawk

Today would have been the 52nd birthday of Road Warrior Hawk (Mike Hegstrand).
Sadly Hawk died Oct 19th 2003. He had battled addictions to pain pills and alcohol for years but lets remember him with this video clip from NWA World Wide Wrestling in 1987.
An 8 man tag team match with The Four Horseman vs Dusty Rhodes/Nikita Koloff and The Road Warriors.
What memories this brings back. Enjoy

Flyin Brian Pillman

Here is Flyin Brian's debut in ECW. This was March 1996 during the ECW PPV Cyberslam.
This is awesome!! and proves Pillman was one of the best on the microphone.
***(Be warned, this was PPV so he doesnt hold back on the language)***

New Hulk Hogan 3 Disc DVD Collection

Here are the match listings for the new "Hulk Hogan's Unreleased Collector's Series" DVD. To be released Nov 17th.

Here is the Amazon listing.

Jeff Hardy News

This isnt good news for someone who has had his past issues with controlled substances and substance abuse
Here is the story of the lastest problems for Jeff Hardy, who just left the WWE on good terms.

PWTorch - WWE News and Pro Wrestling Coverage Since 1987

This highlights how bad the WWE is right now.

PWTorch - WWE News and Pro Wrestling Coverage Since 1987

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WWE PPV Update

This is the for the October 4th PPV "Hell In A Cell"

It replaces No Mercy in the PPV calendar of the WWE.

This is the poster for the October 25th PPV "Bragging Rights". This replaces Cyber Sunday on the PPV calendar.

This is the poster for the September PPV "Breaking Point" with the always present HHH.

Here is the latest match listing for the September PPV "Breaking Point" in which all main events are submission matches:

(subject to change)
It is obviously subject to change as Rey Mysterio will be suspended effective Wednesday:

1-"I Quit" Match/WWE Championship- Randy Orton (c) vs. John CenaUltimate Submission

2-World Heavyweight Championship- CM Punk (c) vs. The Undertaker

3-Unified WWE Tag Team Title Match- Chris Jericho & Big Show (c) vs. MVP & Mark Henry

4-WWE Intercontinental Title Match- Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Dolph ZigglerWWE

Breaking Point will take place on Sunday, September 13th from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Really?

from the Wrestling Online newsletter today:
KHALI, BIG SHOW INVOLVED IN BACKSTAGE FIGHT- Mike Johnson over at PWInsider.com is reporting that The Big Show and TheGreat Khali got into a fight backstage after their six man tag team matchduring the weekend at the Manuel Iguina Coliseum in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.Big Show apparently threw the first punch according to Johnson which funnyenough Khali blocked and then the two brawled until Show slipped and wentdown like a ton of bricks. Khali took advantage of Show being on the floorbut several Superstars who were backstage broke the fight off, keeping thetwo monsters away from each other. The whole argument according to MikeJohnson was that Show felt that Khali was using moves which should be"reserved" only to the Big Show. As the veteran, Big Show should've knownbetter than to start a fight. It will be interesting to see if any of themwill be punished for their childish actions.

This was probably funnier than anything serious because as we have seen neither of them move with any grace or speed.

In Your House:Ground Zero

Today is the 12th anniversary of the WWF PPV In Your House: Ground Zero. It took place at the Louisvill Gardens Arena in Louisville KY. Although the main event featured Shawn Michaels against the Undertaker the hightlight for most wrestling fans was the WWF Title match between champion Bret Hart and the Patriot (Del Wilkes).
I have posted the lead up to the match with some good video of too many wrestlers either retired due to injuries (Wilkes/Hart) to dying too young (Pillman,Davey Boy). The big thing to notice is how much has changed in the 12 years since this card. The crowds arent has "hot" for guys like this anymore and the talent level is much higher as its spread all over this PPV event.
Injuries cut short the career of Wilkes who had been around only about 10 years but was a major player for the brief time he had in the WWF.
Here is the lead up and the match.

Your Monday Night RAW Host on Labor Day

Bob Barker will be the host for the Labor Day 2009 edition of Monday Night RAW from Chicago.

Now in the past the Chicago crowds have the some of if not the rowdiest crowd on RAW. This is a long standing tradition in Chi Town going back to the days of the Ampitheater where they served beer in bottles and those bottles ended up in the ring by the end of the night. You never know what will happen with a crowd like this. I know from personal experience that the minute they dont like a match it will be louder than any crowd noise WWE can pump in to try an drown them out.

Clash of Champions XVI

This clash was called "The Fall Brawl" and started off with a Battle Royal with some great talent and some really worthless talent and talent that was wasted by WCW. The best is Kevin Nash in the horrible gimmick of "OZ". It still makes me laugh to this day, it was so bad. This is part 1 and if you really think you want to see anymore just follow the video link to youtube.
A highlight is Steve Austin with hair and the completely untalented El Gigante who WCW was trying to turn in a new Andre the Giant, of course it failed miserably but gave us this priceless footage.

Clash of Champions VIII

Joined in progress from Clash of Champions VIII Sept 12th 1989
Ric Flair & Sting vs Great Muta & Dirty Dick Slater w/Gary Hart in the corner. Great old school matchup.

Bam Bam Bigelow

Today would have been Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow's 48th birthday. He died Jan 19th 2007from an apparent heart attack brought on by drug abuse and heart disease.
Here is Bam Bam vs Big Van Vader from September 1988 in Japan. These 2 would later form and dominate tag team winning the IWGP Tag Team Championships.