Ryan's Dive into '95 - Part 24 (6/11 - 6/17)
The Rock N' Roll Express work HEEL?!? Plus, an ECW barbed wire match, RINGS~!, Rey vs. Juvi, NJPW action, and more!
How ya now?
So, how does one top THE GREATEST TAG MATCH EVER? The answer: we don’t! However, that doesn’t mean that we won’t have a fun week at The Dive. We have the Rock N’ Roll Express as bad guys in a tremendous rarity, worked-shoot action from RINGS, another chapter in an exciting lucha rivalry, an IWGP tag title match, vignettes, a look at ECW’s latest supershow, and MORE!
Well…
JUNE 11th
USWA A Night to Remember - Hey, we're walkin’ in Memphis again after a couple of weeks off, and on a Sunday? Whoa! This show is part of a weekend of legends-centered shows, with Memphis Memories II taking place the day prior.
USWA Tag Team Championship: PG-13 (c) vs. Rock N’ Roll Express - Since we're in Memphis, PG-13 are the fan favorites here. The Rock N’ Roll Express represent Smoky Mountain Wrestling, putting them in the rare position of antagonists. You can tell they're heels because Robert Gibson is rocking a ponytail. Babyface Gibson would let whatever’s left of his fleeting locks flow freely. The Rock N’ Rolls are the current NWA champs at this point, but those belts are not up for grabs.
Wolfie D gets the advantage early by armdragging the crap out of both opponents, but Gibson retaliates with an armdrag of his own, then Morton tags in for a high knee to send Wolfie bailing to the floor. JC Ice tags in, and Morton slaps him in lieu of a clean break! JC returns the slap moments later, and Morton milks the sell.
Gibson gets a quick tag and leaps in with a clothesline on JC Ice, then knocks Wolfie off the apron! Wolfie checks in, but quickly runs into a Gibson high knee. The Express take over with some double-teams, then work over Wolfie. Wolfie comes back with some rapid-fire punches, popping the crowd. PG-13 get a double facecrusher for two, then Morton powders. Gibson tries to enter the match illegally, citing a tag on the floor, but the ref isn't having it.
JC Ice dodges a double clothesline, but runs into a double big boot for his troubles as Gibson tags back in. The Rock N’ Roll Express control the match, even getting an illegal switch behind the ref's back! Gibson hits a Bulldog-like powerslam and Morton nails a HUGE inverted atomic drop to snuff out a JC Ice comeback attempt. Ice gets a sunset flip, but the ref is distracted by Gibson and Andrea Callaway (Ricky's girlfriend). This allows Morton to recuperate and kick out.
Morton gets a clothesline for two, then the Express double-suplexes JC Ice behind the ref's back. JC Ice misses a cross body, resulting in him flying to the floor. Morton holds him up for a slap from Andrea! The referee misses a tag to Wolfie D, allowing for more double-teaming from the Express. JC forearms both opponents down to counter a double-clothesline, then zooms around the ring to dodge his opponents and it's HOT TAG WOLFIE D! He does hot tag stuff, getting a body press for a two count before Morton and Gibson hit a double back body drop.
Morton attempts a splash, but misses! JC Ice and Robert Gibson then miss top rope moves! Wolfie misses a top-rope front-flip senton! Sunset flip on Gibson gets two! Andrea throws powder in Wolfie D’s face, but the ref stop the pinfall when he sees the powder! Gibson hits a DDT out of a roll-up, but Ice SMASHES Morton in the head with a hubcap, allowing Wolfie D to cover for the pin to retain!
After the bell, Andrea slaps JC Ice, and the Rock N’ Roll Expess beat down the champs, culminating with Ricky DDTing Wolfie D on the floor. Andrea spraypaints a yellow streak down each of their backs. Pfft, wannabe Outcast.
***1/4 - The Rock N’ Rolls each had heel runs as singles, but you rarely see them working heel as a tag team. That novelty alone makes this worth checking out. I liked that they wrestled like crafty veterans that were fully competent, but relished in using underhanded tactics and Morton’s girlfriend to maintain the advantage. PG-13 did well fighting from underneath and kept the crowd on their side. It almost felt a bit too chaotic at the end, but we had some fun sequences, an engaging storyline throughout, and great heat.
Now it's PROMO TIME with PG-13! They cut a decently fired-up promo on the Express. We have a rematch coming up, this time with the Rock N’ Roll Express’ NWA belts on the line.
JUNE 12th
NJPW Fighting Spirit Legend, Night 14 - It’s been a bit since we had heavyweight tag action from the Nooj, and it’s for the straps!
IWGP Tag Team Championship: Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata (c) vs. Ookami Gundan (Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) - Junji Hirata was the one-time (and future) Super Strong Machine. SSM teamed with Chono at one point, but Chono turned on him, resulting in Hirata unmasking and reverting to his real name.
Tenzan gets on the mic and talks shit, resulting in a scrap with Hashimoto to kick things off. Hirata comes in for a big lariat, and Tenzan bails. Chono tags in and HE eats a lariat. Hirata plants Tenzan into the earth with a DDT and tags in Hash. Both guys chop the dogshit out of each other, but Ookami Gundan briefly take over. Hash comes back with kicking, then tags in Hirata for more abuse to Chono, at least until Chono rakes the eyes. That JERK.
The heels then work over Hirata for a bit until he escapes a chinlock with kicking. Hashimoto tags in and hits a top rope double-stomp onto Tenzan!
Junji and Hash then each hit sentons as the entire contents of Tenzan's stomach have likely been evacuated into his brightly-colored trunks. After a bit of working over Tenzan, it's a four-way fracas. Things settle down as the bad guys work over Hirata, focusing on the knee. Chono nails a Yakuza kick and the baddies hit a double-team powerbomb, but Hirata comes back with a superplex and a sit-down powerbomb.
Hiro Saito hops on the apron for a distraction, but is promptly knocked off. Diving headbutt from Hirata, who favors the knee. HOT TAG HASHIMOTO…but he gets quickly chopped down by Tenzan. That doesn't last, though, as Hashimoto fires back with some STIFF kicks.
A Hashimoto DDT gets two, then Hash NAILS a brainbuster…but Chono breaks up the pin to piss off the crowd! Hash goes for a back suplex, but Chono mule-kicks him in the beanbag. Chono tags in and unleashes the Yakuza kicks. STF is applied, but the crowd wills Hashimoto into making the ropes! Hash kicks out of a top-rope shoulderblock and ducks an enzuigiri before nailing one of his own! He goes for the tag…but Saito yanks Hirata off the apron!
Tenzan hits a Mountain Bomb and a top-rope headbutt, but only gets a couple of twos. Tenzan hits a moonsault, but Hirata breaks up the pin as the crowd goes apeshit!
STF is reapplied as Hashimoto is bleeding from the nose. Chono releases the hold in favor of a double-team powerbomb and a double-kick, but Hirata again breaks up the pin! Chono and Hashimoto slug it out until Hash SWEEPS THE LEG JOHNNY! Hashimoto goes for the brainbuster, but Tenzan interrupts. This allows Chono to blast Hash with one last Yakuza kick for the pin and the titles!
Post-match, Chono TEARS UP the paper certificate and drops the big-ass trophy onto the apron.
**** - This started off a bit slow, but God DAMN, this got great near the end. Ookami Gundan were total assholes here, taking every shortcut they can to get and stay ahead, keep Hirata at bay, and eventually wear Hashimoto down to win. These fans wanted the faces to beat these dickheads SO BADLY, which led to some killer near-falls and a MOLTEN crowd by the end of things. The actual work was snug, too, which is always appreciated.
WWF Monday Night RAW - We check in with our old friend Waylon Mercy. He waxes poetic about nature as an inchworm crawls up his arm.
He enjoys worms, but doesn't enjoy worms crawling on him. When Waylon gets into that wrasslin’ ring, he doesn't want wrestlers touching OR crawling on him. If they try that shit, Waylon will SMUSH them like he does with that unfortunate worm.
Another interesting vignette here as Spivey continues to play the character with the right levels of Southern gentleman charm while allowing more malevolence to shine through. Plus, it's always smart to showcase a wrestler with a squash.
JUNE 13th
ECW Hardcore TV - We catch up with Cactus Jack, who joins the Four Horsemen.
Well, not really, but he does discuss his upcoming barbed wire match with The Sandman (more on that later!), saying that Sandy will see a much darker side of Cactus Jack this Saturday. Sandman will NOT escape Jack's bloodlust!
He recounts his past barbed wire war with the late Eddie Gilbert. Unlike his opponent, he doesn't need 16 beers to get in the ring! He's coming for Sandman and the belt! BANG BANG!
Man, Mick sold the hell outta that match. Luckily, we’ll get to see that very match at the end of the week!
Continuing the Cactus Jack-ness, we have a music video! Hooray! Set to “Despacito” The Cult's cover of “Born to Be Wild”, it's clips of Cactus Jack elbowing and bludgeoning the crap out of people, chiefly Terry Funk and The Sandman. This is probably the same one I reviewed in Part 19, but I’m not 100% sure.
JUNE 14th
NJPW Fighting Spirit Legend - Tag 16: Super Power Group Declaration VI - We join Keiji Muto (c) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in progress. Long time, no see, Tenzan! This is essentially a battle of the moonsaults, as the loser of the match is no longer allowed to utilize said move. Tenzan hits a second-rope electric chair for two, then hits Muto with a powerbomb for another near-fall.
Tenzan lands a German, but releases it just before Muto kicks out. Weird. Tenzan goes for a moonsault attempt, but there’s no water in the pool. Muto goes for his own, but he lands on his feet after Tenzan rolls out of the way. Muto misses another moonsault, then Tenzan soon catches him during a handspring elbow attempt and coldly dumps him to the floor. After a few moments, Muto storms back in and beats Tenzan down, busting him open!
Muto then hits a facecrusher onto exposed concrete! Note to self: do NOT piss off Keiji Muto. Muto applies a Royal Octopus Hold for a moment, but Tenzan is FIRED UP! Headbutts and Mongolian chops fly, and a spinning kick gets two. Tenzan finally hits a moonsault, landing on Muto's FACE, and that gets two! Note to self: do NOT piss off Hiroyoshi Tenzan.
Mountain Bomb gets another two, but a diving headbutt misses. Muto hits a springboard dropkick for two, then he fucking SPIKES Tenzan with a top-rope Frankensteiner! Muto finally hits HIS moonsault to pin and retain not only the title, but the right to use his signature move.
The action we got was quite good with some great psychology around the moonsault, though you can tell that Tenzan was still a bit wet behind the ears. As a result, Tenzan will no longer be able to use the moonsault. I don’t believe this stipulation stuck as Tenzan was doing moonsaults well into his twilight years.
Funnily enough, over 25 years later, Tenzan lost ANOTHER match with a signature move on the line, this time dropping a “Loser Has to Retire The Mongolian Chop” match against Great-O-Khan in January 2021.
JUNE 16th
AAA Sin Limite - We have more Triplemania to look at next time, but here's a match from the TV show to tide you over.
WWA World Lightweight Title: Juventud Guerrera (c) vs. Rey Misterio Jr - These guys wrestled a LOT back in the day, and it was always awesome. I've always loved AAA’s wrestler graphics:
PRIMERA CAIDA: Juvi parades around ringside with the belt aloft.
Rey dives onto Juventud, but ends up catching a severe case of “belt to the face”. Juvi hits a NASTY Splash Mountain for two! Juvi gets a holding fallaway slam for two, then hits a big guillotine legdrop and a frog splash to bag the first fall! It's a really nice frog splash, too.
SEGUNDA CAIDA: Rey starts off with a Boston Crab, but Juvi grabs the ropes. We get some mat wrestling, with Rey dishing out abuse to Juvi's leg. After a breather for Juvi, he comes back with a big vertical suplex on Rey for two. Rey mounts a comeback with some dropkicks and a rolling ‘rana. After a miscues in the ropes, Rey hits a springboard headscissors, but Juvi wisely moves out of the way before Rey can follow with a dive. Back in, Rey snaps off a Frankensteiner and a Ligerbomb for two.
Rey hits two frog splashes of HIS own for the pin and the second fall!
TERCERA CAIDA: Rey does some fancy dodgin’ (including a Tiger Feint), then hits Juvi with an enzuigiri. Juvi comes back with a dropkick, but Rey gets a backdrop hold for two. Juvi back-kicks a charging Rey, then starts toying with him before dropping an elbow. Rey intercepts another top rope move with a double-jump Frankensteiner, but Marabunta, Juvi's second at ringside, pulls him off of a pin cover! Juvi follows with a baseball slide dropkick, then nearly lawn-darts himself on a tope.
Back in, Juvi folds Rey up like a really large slice of pizza with a uranage, but Rey gets a foot on the ropes. Rey lands on his feet out of a monkey flip and goes for another double-jump Frankensteiner, but Juvi catches and Ligerbombs him off the top! Fuuuuuuck. Rey somehow manages to kick out. Juvi attempts a Rita Romero Special, but Rey escapes and gets a jackknife roll-up for two. Juvi gets the Rita Romero this time, resulting in a double two-count. On the apron, Rey dodges a charging Juvi, sending him into the post. A BIG La Silla/flying teabag from Rey follows!
Back in, Rey manages a sunset flip for a close two, then a hurricanrana for another close count. Juvi counters a ‘rana with a powerbomb for two, but Rey catches Juvi with an armbar/abdominal stretch for the pin, the third fall, and the title!
**** - Another fantastic outing for these two. This one had Rey overcoming early adversity to FINISH THE STORY. Juvi held up his end of things very well. The match had great near falls, crazy spots, good pacing as they let things breathe a bit in-between sequences, and it was just a lot of fun to watch.
Post-match, Marabunta and Winners (the wrestler, not the department store) fight it out, with Marabunta going after Winners’ mask.
JUNE 17th
RINGS Rising Series IV: Miyazaki - Man, I've been waiting for RINGS to show up in this series (well, other than that dogwater match from Bridge of Dreams).
Volk Han vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto - Volk Han (real name Magomedkhan Amanulayevich Gamzatkhanov) is a Russian sambo expert, ex-military man, and general badass. What I’ve seen of him, I’ve enjoyed quite a bit. He's pretty fun to use in Fire Pro, too. Not at all familiar with Yamamoto, but he is primarily a mixed martial artist, albeit not a super successful one based on his 15-26-1 A record.
Han almost gets a standing armbar shortly after the bell rings. He ends up grabbing a standing legbar, which he transitions into a half-crab, then into a grounded legbar. That's fucking sweet.
After some struggle from Yamamoto, Han turns that into a cross-legged grapevine. He then transitions to a pseudo-Regal stretch, THEN chicken-wings both arms when Yamamoto goes for the ropes! Yamamoto somehow wriggles out and breaks via the ropes. That chain of submissions from Han was incredible.
After a couple strikes back and forth, Yamamoto double-legs Han down and goes for a full mount. Jujigatame is attempted, but Han manages to grab both legs and grapevine them again! However, Yamamoto has a hold of the ankle and counters with his own holds. After a bit of back-and-forth graps, Yamamoto ends up in a side mount and goes for a keylock, then a jujigatame. Han grabs the ropes to escape.
After a brief high kick exchange, Han snags an armbar, prompting Yamamoto to burn another rope break, resulting in losing a Down. From what I understand, each competitor has five “Downs”, and they lose one for each time they get taken down or knocked down, or for every two rope breaks. I could be wrong, but I can’t find a definitive RINGS ruleset online. If anyone knows of one, drop me a comment! I’ll be your friend for life.
After they square off again, Yamamoto grabs a leg bar, but Han grabs his OWN anklelock out of it.
Yamamoto escapes, but Han has the upper hand, being in a standing position, and almost grabs a scorpion deathlock, but takes the grapevine to the mat instead. Yamamoto grabs his own leglock out of it, but both guys roll into the ropes to break. Back up, Yamamoto lands a nasty palm strike, and Han collapses in a heap for our first knockdown! Han gets back up at 8, then dodges a running legsweep and grabs a legbar. Yamamoto escapes via the ropes.
Yamamoto hits a couple of strikes and manages an armbar, forcing a second rope break for Han, putting him down 3 falls to 4. Yamamoto grabs a mount, but Han works into a half-crab, then into a legbar, then into an STF, but Yamamoto uses rope break.
Yamamoto attempts a rear-naked choke, but Han uses the ropes to escape. Han utilizes a BRUTAL hammerlock overhead takeover, resulting in Yamamoto eating another down. Yamamoto barely makes it up before 10. Yamamoto gets a couple of kicks, but the ref stops to have Yamamoto's arm looked at. Yamamoto is just FINE. In fact, he manages to knock Han on his ass with another palm strike.
Han makes it up at 8, but finds himself in a guillotine choke. He escapes and locks in a jujigatame for the tap!
****1/2 - I LOVED this stuff! Volk Han was absolutely insane with his chain- and counter-wrestling. Dude was firing off combos like it was a Batman Arkham game, constantly transitioning from one hold to another, and it wasn’t just to show off. He was linking together holds to prevent rope breaks, giving them a purpose. That hammerlock takeover was also sick as hell. Yamamoto delivered here, too, with some sturdy striking and decent grappling of his own. A spate of terrific near-finishes made things exciting, too. Some worked-MMA matches can fall into the trap of being boring, but Han never disappoints.
USWA Championship Wrestling - We're walkin’ in Memphis this week with footage of the Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductions from the Memphis Memories II weekend. Among the honorees are Eddie Gilbert (Tommy Gilbert, his father, accepts on his behalf), Phil Hickerson, Jos LeDuc, Billy Wicks, and Jackie Fargo. J-Fargs treats us to a lovely speech and closes with a FARGO STRUT!
Everyone gets paper certificates. I know that Kinko's can be pretty costly, but could you at least hop over to Dollar Tree and spring for some FRAMES?
Smoky Mountain Wrestling - Al Snow and Unabomb join Les Thatcher. Les wants to ask about an upcoming cage match, but Snow is all like ‘Les, cut the shit’. He bemoans the recent property theft they were victims of. Les cuts that tangent off and throws it to the Rock N’ Roll Express.
Ricky and Robert, who are sporting what looks like Los Pollos Hermanos shirts, are brandishing a tape recorder. They promise to play the contents of the tape NEXT WEEK unless Al Snow grants them a title match. Look at these faces! Hard to believe that these guys were considered heartthrobs only a decade prior.
An exasperated Snow complains about the thievery and attempted blackmail, but refuses to put the belts on the line. However, they do promise a BEATING in the Thunderdome cage match.
We now join Cornette's Militia in the ring. Sgt. Shithead Jim Cornette runs down Les Thatcher and the fans, then threatens to overthrow the order of Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
Corporal Cuck addresses the mysterious Armstrong's Avenger, who is set to face Buddy Landel for the SMW Heavyweight Championship at Summer Blast. Buddy Landel is NOT worried about him at all! Major Misogynist changes gears, introducing a new member of the Militia…TERRY “BAM BAM” GORDY! OH SHIT.
He rambles for a bit before Admiral Asshole wraps it up. I know that Bam Bam’s best years are behind him, but he’s still an imposing presence.
WCW Saturday Night - “Mothership”? More like “Mother-SHIT SON, we’re back in the Dungeon of Doom”! The Master rants while Kevin Sullivan grovels like Beastly from Care Bears.
The Master implores Sullivan to TAKE THE FINAL STEP, so Sullivan does, running into a nearby room (as pyro goes off behind him). He emerges as THE TASKMASTER, imbued with THE POWER TO CRUSH HULKAMANIA!
They cackle in each other's faces as we fade out. Holy crap, this is so amazingly bad in a ‘crappy Saturday morning cartoon’ way.
ECW Barbed Wire, Hoodies & Chokeslams - Well, that’s certainly a mouthful. We pick things up with referee Bill Alfonso interrupting ECW Commissioner Tod Gordon in the ring. Fonzie lambasts Gordon as the crowd chants for Tod to kick his ass. Tod fires back, telling Fonzie that he'll run ECW how HE wants!
Things escalate to a shoving match until wrestlers and officials break it up. Fonzie comes over and BOPS Gordon on the head, pissing him off even more! The crowd politely asks everyone to let Tod go, but to no avail. Bill Alfonso continues to be an INCREDIBLE heel, generating the kind of nuclear heat people think Dominik Mysterio is getting.
Beulah McGillicutty vs. Luna Vachon - Beulah comes out to the ring with Raven and Stevie Richards in tow. Richards’ reaction to Beulah's singlet reveal is hilarious. Stevie is tremendous comedy relief. Luna comes out by her lonesome, scares Stevie off, and spits on Beulah, who hides behind Raven.
Richards comes in and chairs Luna from behind, the bastard! Beulah covers for the immediate pin, then Raven hits Luna with a DDT and a big boot! Tommy Dreamer runs in and gets immediately brained with the chair. Dreamer eats a DDT, then Raven breaks Dreamer's finger! Another DDT to Luna and another finger snapped for Dreamer.
Raven snaps yet another finger as Richards blasts a prone Dreamer with a chair. Raven and Richards then handcuff Luna's arms to the ropes in a crucifix position. Raven goes to smash her head in with a chair, but Dreamer takes the blow! Man, this did its job of making Raven look like a sadistic asshole and Richards like a opportunistic weasel.
ECW World Heavyweight Championship, No-Rope Barbed Wire Match: The Sandman (c) vs. Cactus Jack - Well, this is a dandy way to end a busy week.
As per custom, Sandman takes his time with his entrance…
…hold on a sec…
…MUSIC BREAK!
Cactus comes out rocking a shirt with Bruiser Brody and Stan Hansen airbrushed on it.
The crowd chants “LOVE THE SHIRT, CACTUS! LOVE THE SHIRT!”, then we start with some teases of Sandman going into the wire. Sandy bails and buys time on the outside, chugging a can of liquid courage and lighting up a bravery dart. Back in, shortly after Woman clocks him with the Singapore cane, Jack eats the barbed wire first.
Sandman then drops Cactus stomach-first onto the wire! Sandman then hits a leaping stomp to the floor, then guillotine leg-drops Jack onto the wire. Sandy then wraps the wire around Jack's arm and gets two off a vertical suplex. Jack now gets a bit of revenge, torturing Sandman with the barbed wire for a bit.
Jack pulls Sandman's shirt over his head and continues the barbed wire beating. Cactus tosses Sandman and whacks him with a chair. Sandman recovers quickly and wraps the wire around Cactus’ head. Jack returns the favor, using barbed wire and a cheese grater to further lacerate Sandman! Back in, Sandman mule-kicks Jack right in Dick Foley, then drops him CROTCH-FIRST on the wire, prompting an “OH MY GOD!” from Joey!
Back in, a fan tosses a Hulk Hogan action figure into the ring, BROTHER, which Sandman promptly tosses. Jack comes back with a DDT onto a chair for two. After a chair-assisted legdrop, Jack tosses in the entire roll of barbed wire, but Sandman drops Jack onto it! Jack baits Sandman onto dropping an elbow, but he moves, sending Sandman into the roll of wire. Jack then cuts some wire off and castigates Sandman with it. He then hits the big elbowdrop to the floor! Back in, we get more concussionizing chairshots, but Jack is too cooked to follow up.
The ref counts both men down, with Jack managing to get up just before ten! Cactus Jack wins the ECW title…but Bill Alfonso comes out and rules that the title cannot change hands on a ten-count and orders the match to continue! OG official Jim Molineaux protests, so Fonzie shoves him down! Molineaux wants him some of The Fonz, but Sandman garrotes Jack with the barbed wire!
Sandman then tosses Jack through the barbed wire, and Fonzie calls for the bell as he declares Cactus Jack as “unable to continue”, despite Jack still being in somewhat fighting shape. He awards the match to The Sandman!
Tod Gordon comes out to confront Alfonso…and Fonzie clotheslines him down! Holy shit, what a prick.
*** - This was shockingly good for 1) an ECW barbed wire match, and 2) a match featuring The Sandman. Other than the initial stalling, it was well-paced, had some satisfying carnage, and Jack took some ridiculous bumps on the wire. I normally don't care much for Dusty finishes, but the Fonzie stuff near the end was great. They really landed on something incredible with this character.
Also happening on this show:
The Broad Street Bully (the former Tony Stetson) defeated the New Jersey Devil in 16 seconds. Hockey references!
Mikey Whipwreck beat Val Puccio via DDT.
The Vampire Warrior (GANGREL~!) beat Hack Myers, also with a DDT. Vamp was booked as part of a package deal with his then-IRL wife, Luna Vachon.
Tommy Dreamer beat Vampire Warrior in an impromptu match with the move du jour, a DDT. With the amount of times that move is being used, they should have named the show “Oops! All DDTs”. Shit, there were tons of DDTs in the earlier Raven/Dreamer/Luna angle and some during the barbed wire match.
Norm MacDonald’s favorite wrestler, 911, chokeslammed Jim Steele to oblivion in 36 seconds.
2 Cold Scorpio & Taz defeated Raven & Stevie Richards, shockingly NOT with a DDT.
Another varied week is in the books. Pretty much any of the matches are worth checking out, especially the RINGS bout, the New Japan tag, and Rey/Juvi. ECW absolutely continues getting hotter, especially with Bill Alfonso and Raven as the lead antagonists.
NEXT TIME: It's The Great American Bash! Also, lots of action from Triplemania III, some UWFi graps, and more SMW Interview-o-Rama!
Smell ya later!