Match of the Day

Today's match is from the NWA and Chi Town Rumble 1989.   Held Feb 20th 1989 and will forever be known as the PPV that had one of the greatest wrestling matches of all time as Ric Flair defended the NWA World Title against Ricky 'The Dragon" Steamboat.

This match from Chi Town Rumble features former tag team partners in Rick Steiner defending his World Television Title against Varsity Club member Mike Rotunda

Match of the Day - Randy Savage

Still celebrating the career of the late "Macho Man" Randy Savage with our Match of the Day.


Today's match features the "Macho Man" defending his WWF Title against the equally legendary Andre the Giant on Saturday Night's Main Event.


November 26th 1988

The Road Warriors

I am in the process of reading the new book by Road Warrior Animal (Joe Laurinitas) about the "Life and Times of the Road Warriors"
He details all of his career along with stories of his long friendships with Rick Rude, Barry Darsow (Krusher Kruschev), Nikita Koloff (Scott Simpson), Scott Norton and Nord the Barbarian.
One of the more interesting things is the details of some of the many thousand matches they have had over the years including their first trip to Japan when they became Gods of Wrestling to the fans.
Their first match there was against the big rugged team of Animal Hamaguichi and Killer Khan.  All 4 men loved to work stiff and made it look real and rough.
Here is there first match in Japan from March of 1985

Whatever Happened Too...

Whatever happened to Randy Savage one time girlfriend and valet Gorgeous George (Stephanie Bellars)?

Well I did a little searching and she is now married to punk rock guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein (Paul Caiafa) and she performs with his current group Gorgeous Frankenstein. (above)

She was with him for a run in WCW and had mixed tag team matches with Madusa against Ric Flair/Charles Robinson (Little Nature Boy)/Aysa

Randy Savage Updates

courtesy Wrestling-Online.com

CAUSE OF DEATH OF MACHO MAN STILL UNKNOWN AFTER AUTOPSY
- TMZ.COM is reporting that the cause of death for Macho Man Randy Savage is
not known yet and it's listed as pending in the medical examiner's report.
Macho Man's body was transferred to the Pinellas county Medical Examiner on
Friday evening and an autopsy was performed on Saturday. According to the
website, no extensive trauma was noticed on the body and now it will take
four to six weeks for toxicology results to be completed. Savage died on
Friday after his Jeep Wrangler hit a tree in a head-on collision following a
"medical event" which initially was thought to be a heart attack according
to his brother Lanny. His wife Lynn who was in the passenger seat was also
slightly injured but has since been released from the hospital.

> SPORTS ILLUSTRATED WEBSITE PUBLISHES RARE PHOTOS OF SAVAGE
- The Sports Illustrated website has a collection of twenty rare Macho Man
photos starting from 1956 when he was just four years old. The photos go
through his teen years when he played baseball up until 1975 and then jump
to his WWE career from 1988 with a photo as WWE champion with Regis Philbin,
with Hogan in 1996 at WCW etc. It's a pretty cool collection which you can
see at http://w-o.it/inCUSj

> SAVAGE TO BE CREMATED, NO PUBLIC MEMORIAL SERVICE TO BE HELD
- TMZ.COM is reporting that there will not be a public memorial service for
Macho Man Randy Savage as he expressed his wish not to have one and the
service will only be for family members. His brother, Lanny Poffo, told the
website that he will be cremated and his ashes will be spread around a tree
where his dog's ashes were also spread several years ago. "If it's good
enough for Herc (his dog), it's good enough for me," Poffo recounted his
brother often saying. Meanwhile, the website also got the 911 emergency call
that a woman placed immediately following the accident. The call can be
heard at
http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/newsdesk/tmz_audio/052311_randy_savage_911_calls
.mp3

Match of The Day - Randy Savage

Today we are still celebrating the career of  "Macho Man" Randy Savage with our Match of the Day.

Our match for today spotlights one of the Macho Man's fueds in his last days in Memphis against another late great Rick Rude.
These 2 were top of the line showman and had the talent to make it look really good in the ring.

Match of the Day - Randy Savage

With the sad and untimely passing of a legend in "Macho Man" Randy Savage I am giving him the Match of the Day for the next few days.
Today we start with his WWF Title win at Wrestlemania 8 in Indianapolis Indiana at the Hoosier Dome.

"Macho Man" Randy Savage

Yesterday about this time was the tragic end of the life of pro wrestling icon "Macho Man" Randy Savage.



Pending an autopsy, there is speculation that he suffered a heart attack while driving and slammed into a tree.  He died later at the hospital from his injuries.
He was only 58 years old but he left us an incredible body of work in and out of the ring that will live forever on DVD, dusty VHS tapes and Youtube.
Born Randy Mario Poffo he made a run at pro baseball but never rose past Single A level.  After retiring from that he bulked up and joined his father, Angelo Poffo, in the world of pro wrestling.   From early on he was targeted as a special performer and the only limits were those he imposed on himself.
He would arrive in the WWF n 1985 and for 7 years he and Hulk Hogan were THE wrestlers to see.  From his fued with Hulk Hogan over the WWF Title to his historic match with Ricky Steamboat at Wrestlemania 3, he gave 100% every night and made sure all the fans went home with something to remember.

Savage would go on to WCW and hold the World Heavyweight title and join the infamous NWO but he never slacked or took a night off.    He quietly retired from action in the ring and never made a "comeback" to tarnish what everyone remember of him.   Like he wrestled, he did what he said he was going to do and when he left he stayed gone.
We all would loved to see him again, he was one of the all time greats on the microphone and ringside commentary.  For reasons known only to Vince McMahon, Randy Savage has yet to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame when wrestlers with no connection to the WWF/WWE have been inducted for years, he still remains outside.   He should have gone in with Hulk Hogan or at least the next year because Vince can say he owes what he has now to Hogan and Savage and what they did in the 80s to make him THE force in pro wrestling.

R.I.P. Randy Poffo   and thanks for the memories

Ron Garvin NWA World Heavyweight Champion

September 25th 1987
Ric Flair is defending the NWA World Title against #1 contender Ronnie Garvin.   Held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit Michigan and in a steel cage.
This would be the one and only title victory for "the truck driver everyman" Ron Garvin.

Today in Wrestling History May 10th

1981 - Verne Gagne announced he was retiring as AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Verne vacated the title (it was his 9th or 10th reign, depending on what records you use), and it would later be awarded to number-one contender Nick Bockwinkel, who Gagne had defeated for the belt on July 18, 1980.

1981 - WWF champion Bob Backlund defeated George Steele in the main event of a Manchester, NH event at the JFK Coliseum.

1983 - Eddie Gilbert sustained major injuries, including a broken neck, in a car accident traveling from a WWF television taping in Allentown, PA.      

1983 - Roddy Piper fought NWA World Champion Ric Flair to a draw in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match; fall #3: the 60-minute time-limit expired in Portland, Oregon.



1985 - The very first WWF Saturday Night's Main Event was taped at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The matches would be shown the next night on NBC in the spot usually occupied by Saturday Night Live, earning an 8.8 rating.
Here are the matches that aired on the show:
- Barry Windham, Mike Rotundo & Ricky Steamboat defeated The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff & George "The Animal" Steele when Windham pinned Steele.  After the match, Sheik and Volkoff turned on Steele, leading to a face turn for the "Animal" who was befriended by Captain Lou Albano.
- WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Cowboy Bob Orton via DQ when Roddy Piper interfered.
- WWF Women's Champion Wendi Richter defeated The Fabulous Moolah with a small package.
- Junkyard Dog defeated Pete Dougherty with a powerslam.
- Also on the show was an edition of Piper's Pit where Roddy Piper blamed Paul Orndorff for the Wrestlemania I loss, leading to Piper and Orton beating down Orndorff and Mr. T making the save.  They also filmed a "Mother's Day Party" backstage, hosted by Cyndi Lauper in one of her last WWF appearances.





1999 - Debra defeated Sable for the WWF Women's Title in a very unusual manner during a Raw broadcast from Orlando, Florida. Nicole Bass subbed for Sable in an evening gown match in Orlando, Florida, and easily ripped off Debra's gown to get the victory. However, then-WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels came to the ring and said that, in his opinion, the winner of the evening gown match should be the woman who loses her clothing first, so he gave the win, and the title, to Debra.  The main event of the broadcast saw WWF champion Steve Austin, the Rock, & Vince McMahon defeated The Undertaker, Triple H  & Shane McMahon at 4:38 when Austin pinned Shane with the   Stone Cold Stunner.  Moments earlier, Austin hit the Stunner on Shane and a dazed Vince made the cover, only for Austin to pull him off and hit a second Stunner on Shane before making the cover himself; Shawn Michaels was the guest referee for the bout.


2001 - Vince McMahon officially announces the end of the XFL. Although Vince had been telling potential advertisers that he was speaking with the WB about airing XFL, and that UPN was in the running to carry games, it was obvious he had been posturing. Variety reported that a WB spokesman said, "The WB is not interested in getting the rights to the XFL and neither are any of our affiliates." McMahon, even with his posturing, admitted that if they didn't get a weekly timeslot for the league to replace NBC (which had pulled out at the conclusion of the first season), they would have to shut it down, and it came to pass.

Match of The Day

From WWF tv in 1974  the WWF Tag Team Champions The Valiant Brothers take on the team of Dean Ho and Tony Garea.
This is the time period I remember the Valiant Brothers from and their trips to Indianapolis to take on Dick the Bruiser and whoever he had as partner at the time.   I really did love to hate the Valiants, they were just so dang good at being bad and getting the crowd worked into a frenzy.

Match of The Day

Todays match is from 1991 Clash of Champions 15 (Knocksville USA) 


Sting vs Nikita Koloff

News and Notes

courtesy of the Online Wrestling Network

CHRISTIAN, CENA NEW CHAMPIONS AT EXTREME RULES
- Here are the results from yesterday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view which
took place at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida: Randy Orton
defeated CM Punk in a last man standing match; Kofi Kingston defeated
Sheamus in a tables match to become the new United States champion; Michael
Cole and Jack Swagger defeated Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross in a tag team
country whipping match; Rey Mysterio defeated Cody Rhodes in a falls count
anywhere match; Layla defeated Michelle McCool in a loser leaves WWE no DQ
and no count-out match; Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match
to become the new World Heavyweight champion; Big Show and Kane defeated
Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson in a lumberjack match to retain the WWE tag
team titles; John Cena defeated The Miz and John Morrison in a steel cage
match to become the new WWE champion.

CENA ANNOUNCES DEATH OF BIN LADEN TO FANS AT EXTREME RULES
- Following his match against John Morrison and The Miz, John Cena went up
on the announce table and told the fans that Osama Bin Laden was killed.
"The President has just announced that we have caught and compromised to a
permanent end Osama Bin Laden," said Cena as fans in attendance erupted in a
massive pop. Chants of USA then filled up the St. Pete Times Forum as Cena
grabbed the WWE title and said, "This is something I feel damn proud to be
an American." Most fans in the arena had no clue about the news since they
were at the show.
Click here to see the video from the announcement


THE ROCK'S BIRTHDAY PARTY LIVE TONIGHT ON RAW
- It is going to be a special Monday Night RAW tonight as the people's
champion, The Rock, will be on hand to celebrate his birthday and WWE has
promised that it will be the most raucous and entertaining birthday party
for the great one. The show will be held from Miami, Florida, The Rock's
hometown. The Divas have a special birthday present for him, a present that
according to a press release issued last week, he "will never forget." With
Cena now champion again and the two set to clash at WrestleMania next year
it is safe to say that Cena will have a present of his own for Rocky. "I got
him a special gift for tonight," wrote Cena on Twitter after congratulating
The Rock on a massive opening weekend for his movie Fast Five.

CHRISTIAN FINALLY WINS THE BIG ONE AFTER 9 YEARS, 2 STINTS
- It took him nine years and two different stints with the company, but
finally Jay Reso, the man wrestling fans know as just Christian, has finally
won the big one. At Extreme Rules yesterday, the former 9 time tag team
title holder defeated Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match to become the new
World Heavyweight champion, a title that was vacated by his best friend Edge
just two weeks ago following his retirement. Edge sort of interfered in the
match, coming out in a car and distracting the Royal Rumble winner, giving
enough time to Christian to recover and tip over the ladder - and Del Rio on
it. Christian then climbed the ladder himself to unhook the title. The two
friends then celebrated in the ring as fans showed their appreciation.
Christian won a total of sixteen titles during his WWE career up until
yesterday winning the ECW, Intercontinental, Tag Team, European, Hardcore
and Light Heavyweight titles. His seventeenth reign, which kicked off
yesterday, surely must be the most important one of his career so far.

From Department of Hard to Believe but its True

courtesy of the Online Wrestling Network:

> DWAYNE JOHNSON TO PORTRAY CHARLEY PRIDE IN BIO PIC
- Dwayne Johnson has been tapped to portray country singer Charley Pride in
a biography movie, taking the place of Terrence Howard who was supposed to
be the lead actor. The casting news was confirmed by Pride himself who said
that while Howard is a more in-depth actor academically, The Rock is a force
on screen. "It startled me a little at first, but he flew down to Dallas and
spent a day with me just sitting, talking recently. And when he left it was
like parting with an old friend. We had such similar views on so many
things," the 73 year old Grammy Award winner said.