I don’t know if six years ago constitutes a “classic,” per say. However, with the Superbowl being a week prior, it occurred to me that there has been an off-and-on again revival of Stampede Wrestling.
Today’s match took place on September 15, 2006 during the half time CFL matchup between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Calgary Stampeders (the Rock’s former club). It is outside, under a veiled night sky… and because it’s Canada, it’s snowing/sleeting at negative three degrees Celsius.
Our bout for the North American Heavyweight Championship: Apocalypse {C} versus TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd of WWE). While the footage is a little blurry (in part due to the weather), it’s an interesting watch. The two grapplers deal with the adverse ring conditions, trying not to slip on the icy canvas… and I don’t think I’ve ever seen an outdoor match anything like this. Enjoy!
Why “almost” you ask? This stems from the fact that the two involved indeed cut their teeth in the Hart Dungeon, but Stampede Wrestling was inactive at the time of this match.
On February 4th, 1994, Lionheart Chris Jericho would square off against Lance Storm in a ladder match for the Mid-Heavyweight title. (more…)
Last weekend was a whirlwind of activity for this G guy. With the Royal Rumble being the highlight, or so I thought, to cap off a content filled Saturday and Sunday, expectations were high. Did the Rumble deliver? Hrmmm… not so much, but I’ll get to that this week with the BWF Radio Crew on Sunday. Until then, let’s see how the outcome of the PPV affected Smackdown this week, shall we?
I’ll even throw in the Power Poll just for fun. If anyone reading this wants to participate and write for the BWF and/or WPO, this democratic multi-site ranking position is currently available. Toss a message in the comments if you are interested.
And even though it was kind of a depressing Rumble, we did get this.
Its time again for more retro wrestling favorites from Calgary, Alberta, Canada! A few weeks ago I featured a 6 man tag team match featuring the British Bulldogs & Don Moraco. This time, we will take a look at a great match that took place only a few weeks prior to that event. The Stampede International Tag Team champions, the Cuban Commandos, had been fighting off the title hungry British Bulldogs for about a month, doing what ever it took to remain champions.This involved cheating, getting counted out , using foreign objects and being disqualified on numerous occasions. These matches drove the crowd absolutely nuts every time as Stampede fans anticipated their returning heros, and former world Tag Team Champions in the WWF, to win the titles with ease. They did not. These matches were all leading up to, of course, a match where the Commandos were confined to an event with no rules , no where to run and no way to win by cheating. A match inside a solid steel cage! Enjoy the match and I will return with more classic wrestling from the Stampede promotion. Check out more PatMan picks over at www.wonderpodonline.com and also check out our year end videogame podcast ! But, “In the mean time, and in-between time, that’s it. Another edition of Stampede Wrestling”!
Let me level with you, there IS a PPV this Sunday. Seriously. I know what you’re thinking, but I assure the TLC PPV is this Sunday. This might seem baffling if you have been watching WWE programming lately, because you’d think they’d make you care and want to tune in to see it. But they didn’t book much, or do much, and as a result… meh. Let’s just hop to it, shall we? I’m too tired. (more…)
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?
It wasn’t that long ago. Just a few weeks, actually. I jumped right on this very website right after WWE RAW SuperShow to rant about how they ruined a perfectly entertaining show with the introduction of John Laurinaitis as the interim RAW General Manager. Now, I’m right back here after what many are saying was a terrible episode of RAW, and finding myself in a less than familiar situation – one where I’m not a cynical asshole.
Personally, I went on Twitter immediately after I watched last night’s show and mentioned that I felt like last night’s show was solid from top to bottom, and after re-watching it today with my wife I’m standing by that tweet. The fact is, the internet wrestling community (IWC) doesn’t know what they want. The same people who tune in to TNA and time the matches so they can jump on the internet and point out that there was only 10 minutes of wrestling in a two hour program are the same ones that I see right now saying that this episode of RAW, where the talking was kept to a minimum, was terrible.
Every performer on last night’s show put on a solid performance. The IWC doesn’t seem to think so, and I’d like to think that it’s because they’re so jaded about everything that the WWE does nowadays. John Cena has proven time and time again – despite the fact that I boo the hell out of his character – that he’s a solid performer and can have a good match with most of the guys on the roster, yet no matter how good of a match he has, you’ll still hear about the “five moves of doom.” The Divas have all been working very hard on their in-ring work, but as soon as they’re on television, the IWC collectively says “piss break!”
The biggest criticism I’ve seen of last night’s show was the ending. Oh no, “Super Cena” just beat Awesome Truth all by himself, why does he even need to bother with The Rock at Survivor Series? What show are you watching? Cena beat The Miz, then while Miz was incapacitated, R-Truth tried to attack him, but got caught and ate an AA for his trouble. That’s not Cena beating up two guys at once, that’s Cena beating two guys back to back. If it were Awesome Truth against Cena by himself, Cena gets beat down. See last week’s RAW for proof.
What bugs me is that if ROH did the exact same finish – let’s say with Davey Richards in the John Cena role, and members of The House of Truth in Awesome Truth’s place – these same people who are criticizing Cena would be praising Richards for outsmarting the opposition. You know I’m right.
This is what I want. I want all of my fellow members of the IWC to get off of their little cloud, and watch RAW back as a FAN and not as a cynical asshole desensitized to the business by the internet, and tell me what the hell was so wrong with last night’s show.
I’m almost at a complete loss of words over last night’s WWE RAW. The beginning was great. WWE proved that they could do a show with just four guys, and it would be a great show. Then Vince McMahon came out, and from that point forward, WWE proved that they could do a terrible show with 60 guys.
I don’t know why, but I absolutely loathe John Laurinaitis. I feel that it’s more than just the character, I think I actually despise John Laurinaitis the person. Over the past couple of months I didn’t mind him so much, but as soon as he was appointed “Interim RAW GM,” I started to hate his very being. And the strange thing is, I don’t think it’s his fault that I hate him at all. What I really hate, is heel authority figures in wrestling.
The first couple of times, ok cool. Now, it’s just stale. It’s old. I can’t stand it. This is wrestling. I’m supposed to be rooting for the good guy and booing the bad guy, not rooting for the good guy and booing the good guy’s boss. If I wanted to boo a good guy’s boss, I’d march into my boss’s office with my thumb down.
Look, I get the idea that we’re all supposed to hate our boss, and that when the good guy’s boss finally gets his comeuppance, we’re all supposed to cheer because we’re living vicariously through our favorite Superstar. I actually like my boss. Sure, sometimes I think I’d like to hit him with a Stone Cold Stunner, but most of the time I think I’d rather share a couple of Steveweisers with him (WHAT?).
The fact is, we’ve been doing this same angle for 15 years now. For everything the WWE is doing right – pushing the tag team division, bringing back managers and stables – this is one of the wrongs. There was a time when I’d tune in to WWE programming because I liked the wrestling. A promo here or there and a very rare post-match beatdown went a long way back in those days. Now, we have an hour of promos on a two hour program and a beatdown after every match – almost literally in the case of last night’s RAW – and they’ve lost their effectiveness.
I think what we need in mainstream wrestling – WWE, specifically – is a face authority figure (Teddy Long doesn’t count) who will restore order. Post-match beatdown? $250,000 fine. The effectiveness will eventually be rebuilt because the only time we’d see a post-match beatdown is when somebody dislikes a guy so much that they’ll gladly pay a quarter of a million bucks to get in a few extra shots at them. Is it a perfect suggestion? Maybe not, but at least I’m trying to come up with something different.
For now, I think I’ll vote with my remote control – I’m considering not watching wrestling until they replace Laurinaitis as RAW GM. That’s how strongly I feel about this crap.
