Welcome back to another trip in the Stampede time machine, were we will yet again look back at some classic old school wrestling from some of the legends of the past. This time around , young Bret Hart who is very early in his career gets involved in yet another great inter promotional wrestling match that Stampede was famous for having from time to time. This time its not against any World Champion from one of the big American federations such as the AWA, but a match against an opponent from Japan named Animal Hamaguchi. Animal also went by the name Higo Hamaguchi and was a wrestler in many of the great Japanese wrestling promotions of the time such as Japan Pro, All-Japan and New Japan Wrestling. While most people know that Stampede Wrestling was broadcasting across Canada and also into the northern United States, the show was also syndicated in many other countries across the globe, including Japan. Heck, some middle eastern nations at this time did not have any WWF or NWA wrestling at all on their T.V., yet they were watching Stampede for years. This could help explain Bret’s ultra popularity over there. Worth noting this week is that this is actually a Japanese syndicated version of Stampede Wrestling, so its a pretty unique video to watch. Also worth noting are all the photographers at ringside. Check out www.wonderpodonline.com for more PatMan picks and for episode 90 of our Video Game Podcast! See you all next time!
Well another week gone by and another one closer to the Christmas holiday, I probably should get out and get my shopping done but with a lack of funds available I don’t really motivated. But I haven’t really felt motivated in general lately thought that doesn’t mead I wont do anything, if that even makes sense. So without further rambling, lets get this done and over with:
Wow, I just worked for 15 hours. So naturally, what do I want to do? Watch some Smackdown, you ask. Actually… yes. I do. See it’s “Beat the Clock” matches to determine placement in a TLC match. This is a gimmick I love. This review might be a little more convoluted than normal, however. Let’s hop to it, shall we?
Promo starts the program, it details the events leading to Final Resolution.
Steve Borden enters the ring and calls out Bobby Roode. Explains to Roode that there will be consequences for his actions and that last week was just one punishment the next is coming up. Out comes Dixie Carter. Borden tells Roode to apologize to her. Roode rants about how Dixie sucks at her job and that she needs him as their champion. He figuratively and physically spitting on authority. Dixie is in shock, Steve chases him from the ring. So much for the age of Selfishness.
Backstage continuation where Styles throws Roode up against a wall. Steve then comes to the back to confront Roode only to be held back by Styles and Hardy.
First Match. Samoa Joe vs Abyss–
Short match that seems to be the way for Joe. Steiner distracts the referee leading to Ray hitting the Samoan with a chain. Winner Abyss. Afterword with Steiner and Ray in the ring, Abyss blackhole slams Scott leaving Ray to run from the ring.
Backstage with Karen Jarrett. She instructs Madison to take out James. Yep inept assassin #2 will so put away Super Mickie.
More Backstage with Gunner and Borden–Gunner wants a third try against Garett Bischoff. He promises no Bischoff Sr. or Flair at ringside.
Devon and the Pope call out Matt Morgan and Crimson. Devon shoots a mutual respect in ring promo but promises to take home the titles. Pope grabs the mike and shoots a heel promo…Elijah Burke all over again TNA? After saying he’ll do whatever it takes stooping to any lengths to attain it. He bumps Morgan who grabs him and beats him down. Crimson and Devon scuffle to the back. Leaving Pope alone to low blow Morgan and calls in Devon’s kids. All three beat down on him until Morgan hulks out and they flee.
Madison Rayne vs Mickie James–
Yeah a four minute filler where Rayne puts on some offense before Mickie overcomes laying out Rayne with a DDT for the win. Rocky and Bullwinkle villain extinguished. Gail comes out to show off the belts. Because its setting up for Final Resolution. You know.
Gunner and Garett pt III, and still no one cares. The people in the back care so little that Bischoff Jr. still comes out in dress pants, belt and converse all stars. Even poorly dressed Gunner who whoops on Garett until Bisch Junior pulls off a single leg pin. Beatdown after the match leading to a spiked piledriver on the concrete. Afterwords Flair and Bischoff mock an unconscious Garett who is being loaded into an ambulance.
*Special notice* When Taz and Tenay talk about fatherhood and Tenay looks annoyed by Taz and his non announcing ability. I guess it really is what you know.
James Storm confronts Angle spew some good dialogue which first seems like ass kissing. Gay reference. Storm turns his back to hit him from behind again. Mocks Angle’s catchphrase.
Devon’s Kids —- skip
Traci Brooks versus Gail Kim what was supposed to be a reenactment of the Madison Rayne/Tara match except Traci kicks out after 2. Leads to a decent match where Ms Brooks unleashes her frustrations on Gail. That is until Karen comes out distracts the referee causing Traci to be knocked out by Madison’s ill earned KO’s belt. Gail wins.
*Daniels is snarky funny, comparing RVD’s singlet to a colostomy bag was inventive.
Jeff Jarrett w Karen Jarrett/Bobby Roode versus AJ Styles/ Jeff Hardy—-Disconnected—-
Which I feel was a warning from the god’s to not spoil the ending of the pay per view. Who know but this Sunday is Final Resolution and here is too a decent 3 hr Impact.
Drowgoddess couldn’t connect. The entire show got disconnected half way through. Random ads started playing in the background. JT and G were hearing double. And when he went to upload the show after edits, ThinkSoJoE had no internet. Yes folks, this episode of BWF Radio was plagued with technical difficulties straight from the start, but finally, it’s here.
In BWF Radio Episode 3, ThinkSoJoE, G, JT, and Drowgoddess discuss IMPACT, ROH, and RAW, lament on the worth of ROH’s Final Battle and the upcoming WWE Network, and once again ponder the 1/2/12 videos. Also, our Impact Analyst, Pintnoir, joins in for a roundtable discussion of TNA Final Resolution, this coming Sunday on Pay Per View. Right click and “save as” on the link below!
Sources are now saying WWE is working on their network and is planning on launching it the day of Wrestlemania. So if you think Twitter, has been pushed down our throats, get ready. You have seen nothing yet.
Last night, I got to finish my first Dragon Gate USA match and had my life irrevocably changed. Something tells me things are going to seem worse because I have watched a match that will now be in my top 20 of all time. I also had the chance to see a really fun MPX show this weekend, so I’m still reeling off that. Maybe tonight I will watch wrestling as a diversion, which is exactly what it should be. If it’s painful, I may find myself going on Twitter and mocking it with my “tweeps.” Sometimes that makes it more entertaining than the show itself. I guess it’s because I do love wrestling so much that I want WWE to succeed and be good.
Sorry for my rant. Here is Monday Night Raw.
We start off with John Cena. The crowd is pretty mixed for him. Cena cut a pretty decent promo. And then we had Alberto Del Rio interrupt him. And then Cena went into 10-year-old-kid at the playground mode. Alberto Del Rio have footage of why he deserved a title shot. Then Vickie Guerrero interrupted the promo. Dolph Ziggler is in the main event mix? Cena tried to have a certain edge in his promo. It just sounded like a 10-year-old trying to cuss. Then the Miz came out. I hate to say this, but Miz’ swagger showed that the other three were not on his level. I liked the edgier direction they took this promo. Then Johnny Ace took the mic and could barely remember his lines. Then Ace set up Miz-Randy Orton.
Randy Orton vs. Miz was a pretty decent match. It had a good intensity. Wade Barrett came out and distracted Orton when Miz slithered back into the ring to get the win by countout. Made Miz look good without Orton losing. I’m liking Orton’s work, which is a compliment since I don’t really like him. I’m also liking the Orton-Barrett feud.
Zack Ryder is talking to Johnny Ace about how great the WWE Network looks. I guess a human being wasn’t available. Then John Cena shows up shilling some merchandise. Johnny Ace makes a match. Zack Ryder vs. John Cena. Ryder gets a US title shot if he wins. Cena gets into the title match if he wins. Interesting.
David Otunga tells Kevin Nash he will face HHH in a ladder match with a sledgehammer. I think Viscera would have a better ladder match than Kevin Nash. And now Kevin Nash gets to destroy some upstart’s career.
We got Del Rio vs. Daniel Bryan. It wasn’t much of a match. Bryan was still coming off his rib injury so he was out to do the glorified job. I don’t think he lost too much.
We got Eve & Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix & Nattie. It is nice to know we haven’t seen that match before (<-sarcasm font). My wife heckled their work. That’s bad.
Then we got John Cena vs. Zack Ryder. I’m intrigued to see where this will go. John Cena beat him without killing him too badly. So the WWE is going to work on building John Cena by having him beat the most popular wrestler in the company.
John Cena had a lot of fire for his backstage promo with Johnny Ace. He gave up his title shot for Zack Ryder to get another chance. That is a good step in rebuilding John Cena.
Zack Ryder got Mark Henry. Ouch. Ryder sold like Shawn Michaels. Then John Cena comes out and does an Attitude Adjustment and has Ryder cover Henry. Strange. Ryder beat Henry but was not put over.
Nash walked down to the ring in record time. He killed Santino.
For the main event, I got Dolph Ziggler-Sheamus. Ryder interfered and Sheamus ended up getting the win. In some ways I think Dolph Ziggler is this generation’s Mr. Perfect. And that is NOT a name I use lightly.
Then there was a contract signing. CM Punk came out and cut some major promos. Miz has so much fire. The fans are rejecting Alberto Del Rio. Then there was some major battling that went on.
All in all… Pretty decent Raw. I like the edgy inside stuff. They seemed to be focused.
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Welcome to the new edition of Random Randomness, well not really new, just now with less wrestling and more random. I figured that since I’m a part of BWF Radio (listen damnit) I wouldn’t rehash my opinions twice in the same week, so the articles may be a bit shorter or there may not be one at all some weeks, it all depends on what I can find out there in the world. So without further ado, lets get this show on the road:
Welcome to another episode of Stampede Wrestlings classic moments. This time around I bring you the Magnificent Don Muraco, who had only recently left the WWF and ventured to Calgary. The” Magnificent One” would find great success in the Stampede promotion. He won the Heavyweight Championship by defeating Mike Shaw( Bastian Booger, Norman The Lunatic) in late 1988. He would defend that title against all comers in the territory, only to drop the title against Davey Boy Smith about 5 months later in a series of great matches! Don Muraco’s Tag partners for this match were the legendary British Bulldogs, who had recently returned to their wrestling roots back to Calgary from a tour of Japan, after leaving the WWF. Their opponents for this match were The Cuban Commandos, the constantly cheating team that the Bulldogs had recently defeated for the Stampede tag team belts. Joining that veteran heel tag team was Makhan Singh, who Don Muraco was fighting with for the heavyweight title. Worth noting in this video is the use of the ” yellow cards” which the Stampede referees sometimes used to ” warn” wrestles before they were disqualified with a “red card”. Enjoy the match, its a ” ring – a ding-dong- dandy”! I shall return with more classic wrestling action from Calgary next time!
What am I saying its the wrestling business. Everyone gets second or third chances in this business just ask Jake the Snake Roberts. But that is later on in the show. We open with a Roode promo detailing his family struggles with his shady dealings that won him the title. (Obviously they must have been sleep walking during his Robert Roode run 4 years ago.)
Steve Borden (No Makeup makes him Steve) comes down to the ring to make an announcement about the “Inmates running the asylum” And how he is going to punish those who step out of line. First up is Robert Roode, or Bobby Roode who is called out after his heinous treatment of Dixie Carter. Roode comes out and him and Borden banter throwing as many puns out there that they can in ten minutes. That is until Borden calls out AJ Styles and then promptly follows it up with Jeff Hardy before telling Roode that he will be involved in a triple threat match in the main event. Roode is disgusted and so are probably half the wrestlers in the back who don’t sell the merchandise Hardy sells.
Next we have the knockouts in bathrobes in the parking lot, were Karen is in the process of verbal and physically undressing to wash the wrestlers cars. For some of the women this is a repeated performance of a past life, Velvet, Tessmacher, Tara and Angelina have all posed in revealing clothing inside and outside the ring so no real shock there. But Winter and Madison (who still annoys me but does look good in her two piece, what put her on mute and commence….oh yeah “pigeons loose.”
Wonder Years Jason Hervey interviews Hardy until Jarrett comes into the spotlight. He still mad that Jeff no showed a past event and came intoxicated to the ring in March and wants him gone. FYI: Does Jarrett really get off on being in the spotlight feuding with top talent rather than elevating Kazarian or Magnus? We will find out later tonight. Ray and Bischoff have a sub par meeting in the back, Which will lead to another Roode vignette. Where they continue to play the aftermath of his “Reign of Selfishness.”
More semi dressed Knockouts as ODB wondering around out in the parking lot most likely going home because she had nothing to do, runs into Karen who is watching the knockouts as closely as a lesbian prison warden from some 80’s sexploitation flick, propositions her to take out Mickie James adding the bonus of earning a title shot. Logic aside her wouldn’t the fact that Gail is allied with Karen make a title opportunity a moot point considering Gail and her posse would just cheat? But so far I’m liking this episode.
Three way tag match between Ink Inc w/Toxxin vs Mexican America w/ Sarita & Rosita vs The Pope and Devon w/o the 2 kids they share. I’m all-pro gay marriage with kids especially since Devon’s wife practically disappeared after a couple of appearances. Decent match that saw what will now be the norm in Impact Wrestling, make shift tag teams. Because who needs already made ones when you can… I’ll stop now I enjoyed it for what it was.
Aries comes out and cuts a promo where he says he has beaten everyone in the division clean. And that the division should be renamed the AA division, (in short his cocky heel promo rocked.) Kid Kash comes out all angry and ready for a fight. They spit back and forth making for a solid set up at Final Resolution for a X division title match.
Steve Borden and Jeff Jarrett have a fight backstage about how if Jarrett interferes in the main event there will be consequences. Which is all just foreshadowing for what is obviously going to happen.
More Roode family promo fallout. Mickie James vs ODB in a street fight. First off I’m wearing off on the Mickie Express. Her movements in the ring just seem so forced and over theatrical for me. Where as ODB who has been toned down from the last time she was there is a breath of fresh air. She stands out and in a good way. Sadly she has now become enhancement talent for Hardcore Country. After a solid showing the match ends when Mickie weakly (and ODB telegraphed putting the chair in front of her face) spin kick for the 3.
Interview with James Storm where Kurt Angle shows and taunts James some more telling him to show up next week to sign on for a match at Final Resolution. Ah heels and there non concern for concussions or torn hamstrings. Either way good promo.
Comedy Gold rears it head as Steiner and Ray try to find a way to calm down Abyss. Until the idea for sending 2 of the finest of “the big bad booty daddy’s” stable to satisfy him. What happens next is predictable but still caused me to smirk. Another Roode family promo better put together than all the others which should of aired at the beginning of the show and getting rid of the others leaving room for more matches but whatever.
Television title match where RVD no sells losing in favor of interference from Daniels setting up another pointless match between these two at final resolution. Next.
Back to the knockouts who now break out in a fight with soap and water, car wash style. Tara, Love, Winter and Tessmacher will help many through the night. Pope, Williams, MA and Ink Inc minus Toxxin come out to see all the commotion. It all ends when Gail sprays the girls down.
Main event
Bobby Roode vs AJ Styles vs Jeff Hardy in a 3 way dance. At first what starts as a beat-down of Bobby Roode basically becomes predictable as Jeff and AJ turn on one another. Jarrett interferes costing Hardy the match.
Borden comes out and makes a cage match at Final Resolution where if Jeff Hardy loses he is gone for good and if he wins he gets bumped back into the world title picture come Genesis. So since we know who sells merchandise we can expect the feud between AJ and Roode to end come Final Resolution and Jeff back in for the belt. hmmm.
In conclusion, I’m getting better at watching this program without belittling it lets see how long this will last.