Best of Puroresu Year By Year from 2000-2009 (New Japan, All Japan, NOAH, Misawa, Kobashi, Takayama, Akiyama)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Originally, I wanted to post all my original reviews of the below match, but unfortunately there is just not enough time in the world. I will get around to them eventually, but for now if you head on over to prowrestlingonly.com, you can find them there.

I have been watching a ton of great 80s wrestling and I am loving every minute of it. My mood is currently to watch all this great wrestling rather writing about it. I don't want my writing fatigue to rob you all of great content. I decided to throw up this comp piece detailing my selections for the Best 100 matches to take place in Japan between 2000-2009 by year.

I still plan to release all the reviews for these matches on my blog and at the end of that, I will post them in proper order from #100-#1.

Enjoy all this kickass Japanese Pro Wrestling!

ICHIBAN~!

2000
1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00
2. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00
3. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00
4. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokyo Dome Non-Title
5. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki - 01/04/00
6. Hashimoto & Iizuka vs Ogawa & Murkami - Tokyo Dome 01/04/00
7. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW  6/25/00
8. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00
9. Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Taiyo Kea - Budokan 07/23/00 
10.  Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada - Vacant All Japan Triple Crown 10/28/00
11. Kenta Kobashi vs Takao Omori - Champions Carnival Final '00

12. Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami - BattlArts 11/26/00
13. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival '00
14. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH #2 08/06/00

Match of the Year: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00

New Japan Match of the Year: Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00

Pre-Split All Japan Match of the Year: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00

Post-Split All Japan Match of the Year: Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Taiyo Kea - Budokan 07/23/00

Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of The Year: Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00

Juniors Match of The Year: IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW  6/25/00

Tag Team Match of The Year: Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00

2001

1. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01
2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 4/15/01 GHC Title Finals

3. Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01
4. GHC Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 07/27/01
5. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Takehiro Murahama - NJPW 4/20/01
6. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue - Budokan 5/01
7. Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - Zero-One 3/2/01
8. Genichiro Tenryu & Masa Fuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya - AJPW 6/30/01
9. Minoru Tanaka vs AKIRA - NJPW BOSJ 05/28/01
10. Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - IWGP Championship Tokyo Dome 01/04/01
11. Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & Vader - NOAH 1/13/01

Match of the Year: All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01

New Japan Match of The Year: IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Takehiro Murahama - NJPW 4/20/01

All Japan Match of the Year: All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01

Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of The Year: Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 4/15/01 GHC Title Finals

Juniors Match of The Year: IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Takehiro Murahama - NJPW 4/20/01

Tag Team Match of the Year: Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - Zero-One 3/2/01

2002

1. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Kazunari Murakami - NJPW 12/12/02

2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 9/7/02
3. New Japan (Liger & Minoru ) vs. NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 4/7/02
4. Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 07/07/02
5. New Japan (Liger &  Inoue) vs NOAH (Kikuchi &  Kanemaru) - NOAH 2/17/02
6. Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Taiyo Kea & Kazushi Miyamoto - AJPW 4/27/02
7.  IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Tokyo Dome 5/2/02
8. IWGP Jr Tag Champions Liger & Tanaka vs Kikuchi & Kanemaru - NJPW 8/29/02
9. GHC Tag Champions Akiyama & Saito vs Kobashi & Shiga - NOAH 10/19/02

Match of the Year: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Kazunari Murakami - NJPW 12/12/02

New Japan Match of the Year: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Kazunari Murakami - NJPW 12/12/02

Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of the Year:  GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 9/7/02

Miscellaneous Promotion Match of The Year: Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Taiyo Kea & Kazushi Miyamoto - AJPW 4/27/02

Juniors Match of the Year: New Japan (Liger & Minoru ) vs. NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 4/7/02

Tag Team Match of The Year: New Japan (Liger & Minoru ) vs. NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 4/7/02

2003

1. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03

2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 3. Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03
4. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda - NOAH 04/13/03
5. Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata - NOAH 6/6/03
6. KENTAFuji vs Jushin Liger & Murahama - GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Title Final 07/16/03

7. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 6/13/03
8. Toryumon Trios Four-Way - Toryumon 08/30/03
9. IWGP Jr. Tag Champions Kikuchi & Kanemaru vs Liger & Kanemoto - NOAH 1/26/03
10. GHC Tag Champions  (Akiyama & Saito) vs  (Kobashi & Honda) - Budokan 6/6/03
11. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takuma Sano - NOAH 6/6/03
12. Low Ki vs AJ Styles - Z1 01/05/03

Match of the Year: GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03

Best Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of the Year: GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03

Best Miscellaneous Promotion Match of the Year: Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03

Best Juniors Match of the Year: Toryumon Trios Four-Way - Toryumon 08/30/03

Best Tag Team Match of The Year: Toryumon Trios Four-Way - Toryumon 08/30/03

2004

1. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04
2. GHC Tag Team Champions Misawa & Ogawa vs KENTAFuji  Budokan 04/25/04
3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue - NOAH 09/10/04

4. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 
5. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - AJPW 02/22/04
6. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04
7. KENTA vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 06/27/04
8. Kazuyuki Fujita vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW 6/5/04 Vacant IWGP Championship
9. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax '04
10. Toshiaki Kawada vs Katsuyori Shibata - NJPW 11/03/04

Match of the Year: GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04

Best Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of the Year: GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04

Best Miscellaneous Promotion Match of the Year: AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - AJPW 02/22/04

Best Juniors Match of the Year: N/A

Best Tag Team Match of The Year: GHC Tag Team Champions Misawa & Ogawa vs KENTAFuji  Budokan 04/25/04

2005

1. Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama - Budokan 9/18/05
2. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs. SUWA - Budokan 9/18/05
3. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - FUTEN 4/24/05

4. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu - Budokan 4/24/2005

5. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs Kensuke Sasaki/Katsuhiko Nakajima - NOAH 11/5/05
6. Open The Triangle Champions Do Fixer  vs. Blood Generation Dragon Gate 2005
7.  Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Tokyo Dome 7/18/05 
8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki - Budokan 01/08/05
9. GHC Champion Takeshi Rikio vs Akira Taue - Budokan 11/5/05
10. Jun Akiyama vs Katsuyori Shibata - Wrestle-1 08/05

Match of the Year: Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama - Budokan 9/18/05

Best Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of the Year: Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama - Budokan 9/18/05

Best Miscellaneous Promotion Match of the Year: Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - FUTEN 4/24/05

Best Juniors Match of the Year: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs. SUWA - Budokan 9/18/05

Best Tag Team Match of The Year:Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama - Budokan 9/18/05

2006
1. GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 01/22/06
2. KENTA vs Bryan Danielson - NOAH 12/2/06
3. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW 12/10/06
4. Osamu Nishimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami - MUGA 9/25/06 Two Out of three Falls
5. Osamu Nishimura vs Hiro Saito - MUGA 08/02/06

Match of the Year: GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 01/22/06

Best Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of the Year: GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 01/22/06

Best Miscellaneous Promotion Match of the Year: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW 12/10/06

Best Juniors Match of the Year: KENTA vs Bryan Danielson - NOAH 12/2/06

Best Tag Team Match of The Year: N/A

2007
1. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yuji Nagata- NJPW 4/13/07
2. Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - 12/02/07
3. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Togi Makabe - NJPW 07/06/07
4. AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - AJPW 2/17/07
5. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW 11/11/07
6. AJPW TRIPLE Crown Champion Minoru Suzuki vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW 07/01/07
7. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi - Budokan 7/15/07
8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takuma Sano - Budokan 4/28/07

Match of the Year: WGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yuji Nagata- NJPW 4/13/07

Best Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of the Year: Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - 12/02/07

Best New Japan Pro Wrestling Match of the Year: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yuji Nagata- NJPW 4/13/07

Best Miscellaneous Promotion Match of the Year: AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - AJPW 2/17/07

Best Juniors Match of the Year: AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - AJPW 2/17/07

Best Tag Team Match of The Year: Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - 12/02/07

2008
1.  Yuki Ishikawa & Muneori Sawa vs Super Tiger II & Manabu Hara - BattlArts 11/16/08
2. Ishikawa, Otsuka, Sawa vs Ikeda, Super Tiger II, Usuda - BattlArts 7/26/08 
3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima vs Kensuke Sasaki - Budokan 9/6/08
4. Kobashi/Honda/Taniguchi vs. Morishima/Marufuji/Sugiura - NOAH 2/21/08
5. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion Bryan Danielson vs KENTA - NOAH 10/13/08
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Suwama - AJPW Champions Carnival '08
7. Ikuto Hidaka & Muneori Sawa vs Yuki Ishikawa &  Yuta Yoshikawa - BattlArts 8/31/08

8. Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshitune vs Fujita Jr Hayato - M-Pro 12/12/08

9. Yuki Ishikawa vs Carl Greco - BattlArts 06/01/08


Match of the Year: Yuki Ishikawa & Muneori Sawa vs Super Tiger II & Manabu Hara - BattlArts 11/16/08

Best Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of the Year:GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima vs Kensuke Sasaki - Budokan 9/6/08


Best Miscellaneous Promotion Match of the Year:  Yuki Ishikawa & Muneori Sawa vs Super Tiger II & Manabu Hara - BattlArts 11/16/08

Best Juniors Match of the Year: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion Bryan Danielson vs KENTA - NOAH 10/13/08

Best Tag Team Match of The Year: Yuki Ishikawa & Muneori Sawa vs Super Tiger II & Manabu Hara - BattlArts 11/16/08

2009
1. Fujita Jr. Hayato vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW Super J Cup 12/02/09
2. Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion Fujita Jr Hayato vs Great Sasuke - M-Pro 6/19/09 
3.  GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Kotaro Suzuki - NOAH 1/25/09 
4. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs Shinjiro Ohtani  - NJPW 10/12/09
5. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & KENTA - NOAH 10/03/09
6. Go Shiozaki & Sugiura vs Nakamura & Milano Collection AT - NOAH 3/01/09

7. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Manabu Nakanishi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW 6/20/09
8. GHC Champion Jun Akiyama vs KENTA - NOAH 5/17/09
9. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW 2/15/09

10. AJPW TRIPLE Crown Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Suwama - 8/30/09

11. Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion Fujita Jr Hayato vs Ou Kobushi - M-Pro 9/5/09

12. GHC Jr. Champion KENTA vs Katushiko Nakajima - K-OFFICE 02/11/09

Match of the Year: Fujita Jr. Hayato vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW Super J Cup 12/02/09

Best Pro Wrestling NOAH Match of the Year: GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Kotaro Suzuki - NOAH 1/25/09 

Best New Japan Pro Wrestling Match of the Year: Fujita Jr. Hayato vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW Super J Cup 12/02/09

Best Miscellaneous Promotion Match of the Year: Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion Fujita Jr Hayato vs Great Sasuke - M-Pro 6/19/09

Best Juniors Match of the Year: Fujita Jr. Hayato vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW Super J Cup 12/02/09

Best Tag Team Match of The Year: Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & KENTA - NOAH 10/03/09

Ric Flair vs The Von Erichs (WCCW, 1982-1985)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

On this day of Love and Gratitude, we must remember the words of Mr. T that we should not just love our mothers on Mother's Day. Neigh we should not just reserve our love for our mothers on these special days like her birthday or Christmas, we must love our mothers on Arbor Day, Flag Day and EVEN ON FATHER'S DAY! Still gets me every time. God Bless All Mothers!

To the greatest Mom of all a special thanks. #HisMercyEnduresForever

It has been a long time, much too long, since I rocked 'n' rolled on the greatest blog on cbyerspace, Riding Space Mountain. Rest assured, I have not been resting on laurels, I have been diligently working on my next project, which I am set unveil now. First, the conclusion of the previous project (WCW in the late 90s) will be published on Thursday, May 14th and will take the form of the Best WCW Matches of the Late 90s list. 

For those not in the know, I have not had a lengthy existence on Earth and thus there are many who have gotten a head start on watching all this kickass, bitchin' wrestling. In fact, some even got to watch all this badassery in real time. Green is not a great color on Superstar Sleeze so instead of being envious I get even. Yes it is time for Sleeze to go back to the greatest decade this world has ever experience, the 1980s! I will be playing catch ball in the four major territories  of the United States of the 1980s that were not the World Wrestling Federation or Mid-Atlantic Wrestling/Jim Crockett Promotions (later World Championship Wrestling). All four of these territories at some point in the 1980s would make a play to go National or at the very least present themselves as a promotion claiming a World Heavyweight Champion. The four territories are World Class Championship Wrestling (Fritz Von Erich, Dallas), American Wrestling Association (Verne Gagne, Minneapolis), Mid-South Wrestling/Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts, OKC/Nawlins) and Memphis Wrestling/United States Wrestling Association (Jerry Lawler/Jerry Jarrett, Memphis). 

Instead of jumping headfirst into unfamiliar land, I decided to wade into the pool of the decadent 80s with an old friend of mine, the Nature Boy! In fact, I had seen four of the seven matches that I review today before this project as Ric Flair vs The Von Erich Boys is one of my all-time favorite rivalries. In future reviews, I will be looking at whole slates that I have never seen before, but I thought for my opening salvo I would stick close to home with Ric Flair and his NWA World Heavyweight Championship defenses in World Class against the Von Erichs.

Red = Green

Ric Flair won his first National Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Championship in 1981 from Dusty Rhodes, but more symbolically it was the transition from the Harley Race dominated late 1970s to the "too cool for school" Ric Flair. Ric Flair took up the mantle of the NWA Champion earnestly defending the championship throughout the Southern United States (Mid-Atlantic, Georgia, Florida, Continental), in Texas, Kansas City, Japan even eventually taking dates in Mid-South and the AWA (neither NWA-affiliated members). Collectively, in the first half of the 1980s, Ric Flair was the highest drawing NWA Champion of all time and was a true international sensation.  For the first half of his reign, his biggest rivalry was not in his home base of the Carolinas, but rather in Texas against the Von Erichs where he drew huge houses in the Dallas area including two massive Parade of Champions events held in Texas Stadium. 

World Class erupted onto the national scene thanks to the Von Erich hunks that captured the hearts of teenage Texan girls and had Texan boys longing to be them. Each of the classic trio had their own unique personality. 

Kevin was the oldest brother, but is often classified as a distant third star potential and is overlooked in wrestling acumen. I can't disagree more with the assessment of Kevin's place in history. Kevin was a fantastic, aggressive pro wrestler. I once read when you watch Kevin it is almost like someone forgot to smarten him up to the fact it is a work. I love his "think shoot, but work" mentality. He is the most aggressive and offensive-minded of the brothers. Where Kerry and David will give a clean break, Kevin will bull rush his opponent and fuck his shit up! When your opponents are the dastardly heels of Texas wrestling or Ric Flair, then they deserve a taste of their own medicine. 

David was the second oldest and his career was cut short at 25 due to his premature, drug-induced death kicking off the tragic story of the Von Eric family that would leave Kevin as the only surviving member of this historic wrestling family. Due to his early passing and a rumor that he was soon to be crowned NWA World Champion, his career has been romanticized that he was truly the great Von Erich and a lost star. As footage has been unearthed and the rumor gradually dispelled, there is a less rosy picture of David and many deem him mediocre, when once considered a great wrestler bubbling under. David is the brother I have watched the least of, but what I have seen has not been inspiring.

Kerry was the youngest of the original three and the Golden Boy. Kerry Von Erich looks like He-Man come to life and as the most statuesque of the brothers he was pushed heavily as the Von Erichs best chance to wrest the Word Heavyweight Championship from the nefarious "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. In my opinion, Kerry has been unfairly characterized as a mediocre power wrestler. From watching his matches in 80s World Class, I think he has been absolutely tremendous in many different flavors of pro wrestling whether it was the multi-year championship feud with Ric Flair or a blood feud with the Freebirds, Kerry excelled. Kerry understood well into how clue the fans into when a big moment was to happen especially when it came to the dreaded and beloved Iron Claw, which often triggered "We Want The Claw". On multiple occasions, Kerry has treated us to world class selling, which can be specifically observed in the Ric Flair matches of 1982. In 1984, in honor of his late brother, he finally achieved his dream of winning the World Championship from Ric Flair in Texas Stadium. It served as the high water mark of World Class Championship Wrestling and the climax to one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history, Flair vs Von Erichs.

For the opening blog, I just wanted to introduce the players and let the match analysis speak for itself. The Von Erichs are key figures in World Class wrestling and we will continue with their famous feuds against the Fabulous Freebirds and the Dynamic Duo. At some point, I want to discuss Ric Flair's perpetual motion strategy and why I think it is wicked undervalued and really break down Kerry & Kevin as wrestlers. .

Von Erich Family Photo

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich

August 15, 1982 Wrestling Star Wars Dallas, TX

2 Out Of Three Falls

The below review is from my third viewing of one of my favorite matches of all times. It focuses mainly on the layout and Flair's performance and I agree with everything I wrote. However, on this viewing, I intentionally focused on the Modern Day Warrior. The common knock on men like Von Erich and Luger is that they are broomsticks that are plugged into the Flair formula and out pops a classic. It can't be further from the truth. I can understand you can be distracted by the glistening He-Man physique and that horseface, but if you watch as intently as Kerry laid one on that young girl at ringside then you will see Kerry was a phenomenal seller. Early on, Flair does his usual bridge escape out of a headscissors and watch Kerry's face, he flinches in pain. Or when he has a headscissors on Flair, he conveys the internal struggle not to ball up his fist and punch Flair to the audience. During the match, Flair is always struggling looking for an opening with short knees or chops and Kerry is great selling the immediate pain. He gives Flair these brief openings, but always fires back up.  In the second fall, Kerry is just excelling at writhing in pain from Flair's leg work and really expressing how close he is to giving up. Now, Flair is no slouch as he is tremendous in his verbal selling especially when Kerry reverses the pressure. This entire match is a master class in selling by both men. Each man really is thinking shoot while they are working. They respond to each other and moments in the match in a real sporting manner.

Each time, I discover new spots and elements that make it a better match. Such as during the abdominal stretch, Von Erich makes a point to exaggerate his gesture that he is looking to put on the Claw, which really whips the crowd into a frenzy. The crowd was nuclear for Kerry from the get-go and totally rabid at the prospect of him dethroning Ric Flair especially after defeating previous Champion Harley Race in a de facto No. 1 Contender’s match just months previous to this. Flair, as usual, is a cardio freak, but my favorite moment is how he slowly ramps up his heelishness. At first testing his strength and clearly being bested, he resorts to hair pulling to win an over the top wristlock. Another thing, I love is that when Kerry has Flair in a head scissors in the beginning, they do not just lie on the mat. Flair is very broadly attempting to escape the hold, but cant. This does two things, it puts over Kerry’s strength and most importantly, keeps the audience engaged. Flair does a lot of things really well, but he is exceptional at keeping the audience engaged even during perfunctory matwork.

The beginning is all about putting over Kerry’s strength. This is accomplished by holding multiple head-scissors, winning over the top wristlocks and a visually impressive arm wrench that Flair bumps wells, which the crowd pops loudly for.  Flair gets some offense in the corner, which is Flair’s domain. Besides Vader, I do not think there is a wrestler that is better in the corner than Flair. Flair takes over with a knee-lift and begins taking shortcuts like the aforementioned hair pull. Off a missed elbow, they do a well-executed tussle for the ab stretch I brought up earlier. I love how they made each other work for it with Kerry ultimately winning. An eye-rake (Flair shortcuts) breaks it up, but Kerry hits two pretty impressive dropkicks. Flair’s next shortcut is to hold the rope down as Kerry crashes to the floor, which leads to Flair’s big flurry of offensive: dropping Kerry across the top rope, knee drop and piledriver. Kerry catches Flair with back body drop, but Flair blocks the corner. Flair pushes the ref, but as Kerry winds up for the discus punch he catches the ref in the head. Kerry puts on the sleeper, BUT THERE IS NO REF, here he comes and now the bell is ringing. KERRY WINS THE FIRST FALL!!! Right!?!?! Right!?!?!?

 The original referee disqualifies Kerry for the punch much to the dismay of the crowd and to relief of a visually exhausted and desperate Flair. I liked the finish to the first fall even if it was a clusterfuck because Kerry was clearly put over as more dominant than Flair. Flair’s escape with a DQ finish in the first fall allows for Kerry to once again be perceived as the underdog as he has the unenviable task to win two straight falls against The Man. Another great element is that all of Flair’s control segments were initiated by shortcuts thus always making Kerry look better in comparison.

The second fall rules all and by itself would probably be one of my favorite matches of all time. Flair is still coughing from the sleeper hold and begs off immediately. Kerry and the crowd smell blood. Kerry slaps on the sleeper, but Flair makes use of the Bret leverage move to send Kerry crashing to the floor. Flair capitalizes this by wrenching Kerry’s leg across the apron. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!! Flair is absolutely crazed during this control segment as he clearly a desperate champ doing anything to take down the physically superior Kerry Von Erich. Flair hits the shinbreaker to a physically diminished Von Erich side-headlock. After Flair works over the leg, it is time for the Figure-4 Leglock whipping the crowd into frenzy. Just minutes ago, they thought their hero had the first fall in the bag and now it looks he is about to lose two straight falls. WAIT!!! Kerry had reversed the pressure and now Flair scrambles for the ropes. Flair tries to go back to the knee, but Keryr blocks with the vaunted Von Erich Claw. Flair blades like a champ off the claw and eventually is pinned. Flair’s control segment was fuckin awesome and Kerry sold his knee like champ. Then when it came to the hit finish everyone erupted when the claw was slapped on just when it seemed like Flair had this one in the bag.

Flair is drenched in sweat and blood and looking for a fight with the universal sign of “Put up your dukes”. A spirited two-minute intense brawl breaks out and the ref loses control of the match. At first, I was disappointed by the finish, but in retrospect it is a really good to put over the intense nature of the match and it would ultimately setup the Huge Christmas Day 1982 Cage match.

The basic idea of the Flair formula was executed, which is to make your opponent look like a million bucks and keep the audience engaged. However, Flair was not always a chickenshit heel as he vacillated among begging off, desperation and crazed. There was an urgency to each fall. Kerry felt like he NEEDED to win the first one and came out hot, but was robbed. Kerry NEEDED to win the second one or he lost, but by the same token Flair felt he NEEDED to win based off Kerry’s stellar performance in the first fall. Kerry played his part well and definitely added more than just his Texas star power. He sold well and worked hard to keep up with Flair and sell the importance of the match. I LOVE this match because there is never a dull moment and the match builds perfectly on itself until the wild brawl at the end. Just a little too much bullshit in the first and last fall to go all the way, but damn this is going to be a hard match to beat in World Class. ****3/4

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NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs David Von Erich 

World Class Championship Wrestling 10/11/82

World Class was really obsessed with Star Wars, who knew Fritz was such a huge nerd! Flair and David both enter to instrumentals from the Star Wars movie. After Kerry came within just one controversial referee call from winning the world championship, Flair did what any champion in the early 80s would do he put out a bounty on Kerry. Gary Hart Presents The Great Kabuki did the dirty deed, but not dirt cheap by breaking Kerry's leg. An incensed David is out for revenge for BountyGate 1982.  David might not be built like his brother, but he is one big boy. This is the first David singles match I have ever watched and was intrigued to see how he would do. He has struck me as the least entertaining of three main Von Erich brothers in the six mans I have watched. I love Kerry as the golden boy power wrestler with great selling and Kevin Von Erich as the crazy, violent dynamo. Of course, i keep an open mind at all times and you can ask for better circumstances to look better than Flair in 1982.

Flair is the master tactician. He knows David is hot about what happened to his brother. So he forces David to cool down with stalling tactics to force the match into a more championship style encounter. In a short brawl, anything can happen and as the champion he can't afford that especially with a big angry Texan out for blood for his brother. He wants to dictate the pace and be in control. David points to his leg and then lets Flair know he is going to snap his. Flair is not phased strutting, pec-bouncing and letting David cool off. David know what is at stake here. If he goes overboard, he will get disqualified and not win the championship. Is the ultimate revenge the championship or breaking Flair's leg? Early on the answer to that question is the championship. That being said, who says they have to be mutually exclusive. When Flair tries a whip out of the corner, it is he who is whipped and shoulder first. Flair sells this jammed shoulder like he has been shot. David just pounces and never lets go. David tortures the arm of Flair, he is focused, but you know he is enjoying it. The strategy for Flair is to create separation, movement and chaos. He needs to get out of this predicament by any means. At first he tries rifling out of it with chops, but David tenaciously holds onto the wristlock and pulls him down into a hammerlock. Then Flair tries pulling the tights into him to get that nasty short knee (somebody needs to crib that). Flair tries to create some movement but gets caught in a drop toehold and it is back to the hammerlock. David is not charismatic, but he is wrestling a smart match. He is not getting flustered by Flair's constant cheat and his singular focus is the left arm of Flair. Flair finally scores that bit of a chaos he needed. He does a seemingly innocuous dropdown on a rope running sequence, but pops up quicker than expected and chases David down to throw him out the ring. Wow! That is a genius spot. It is worth pointing out Flair never cowered in this early portion of the match. He took an unlucky bump and paid the price. David worked a smart strategy and Flair was cheating and selling, but never cowering. Once Flair is on top, he is sadistic. He hits these nasty little hammer elbows on David's face and then gnarly punches to David's face. David really shows his first glimmer of something extraordinary. His selling of the face is just spot on and some of the best work I have ever seen. The way he is covering up and reacting to Flair's punches is so great. 

Flair's punches taking their toll allow Flair to facelock David and regain his energy. This is the slowest part of the match and where it loses a bit of steam. There is some fun stuff like Flair telling the ref to watch the hair only to pull David back down by the tights, but overall it is dull though smart work. David throws his game plan out and just starts throwing live rounds. Flair does not want to get into a slugfest with David. but he obliges and is left cowering. David throws Flair into the Flair Flip. Flair looks to stop the bleeding with a suplex, but he is reversed. Flair grabs a desperation sleeper, but David dives and Flair takes a header into the turnbuckle. David goes for his jumping knee which scored him a point early, but this time he hits the top turnbuckle. Ruh roh! An injured knee in a Flair match, Flair goes right for the figure-4, but David pushes him off twice. Flair says fuck it and sit back into a toehold then converting into a deathlock. I LOVED THAT SEQUENCE! Kerry on crutches shows up, guess it is endgame. David rolls to the outside and Kerry coached him up. At first, I am confused if this was any later this would clearly be telegraphing a Kerry heel turn, but since it is 1982, I believe he is earnest. I can't figure out what Kerry is saying. Go for a side headlock?!?!?! David rolls back in and Flair goes for the figure-4 and it is an inside cradle!!! That's what Kerry told him to do! He was playing possum! HOLY SHIT! That was so cool! Flair throws him to the outside and rams him into the post repeatedly. David is wearing a crimson mask. I really bit on the countout finish. Flair starts jawing with Kerry and then he decks him. He stomps on the injured knee! OH THE HUMANITY! David grabs the world title and smashes Flair knee with it. Sick! Flair's head into the crutch and it is a five alarm blade job that must have been one helluva splinter. David is now wrapping Flair's leg around the post. It is a knee for a knee if he can't have the championship he is going to break his leg. Of course, the ref threw this whole fracas out, but wow that was one helluva angle. I loved how you morph from a great championship match to a hot and I mean double hot angle to set up the HUGE Kerry Von Erich Cage match for Christmas. Great booking!

This was an excellent match that accomplished so much in a quick 30 minutes. David looks like a viable challenger. He kept his cool and wrestled a strong match early. Not very charismatic, but Flair is so good at keeping things moving that it was still very exciting and dramatic. His selling of Flair's punches to the face was his standout moment. The finish run was awesome with David rearing back and going for broke, but hitting the top turnbuckle with his knee. He did everything he could to keep the figure-4 off him and then some great coaching from Kerry  almost got it for him. Flair was just the man in this match. Seriously, why do people need drugs when you have Ric Flair. I get a personal high watching his matches. I feel like I can take on the world after watching him kick ass in that ring. The angle was pitch perfect to get you pumped for the rematch and give the Von Erichs a taste of revenge to whet your appetite. On to Christmas at the Reunion Arena in the CAGE! ****1/2  

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NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich 

Christmas Star Wars 12/25/82 Steel Cage match, Michael Hayes Special Guest Referee

They had two different gimmicks to establish in this match plus they needed to get Kerry's revenge in,  needed to have a championship style match and run the one of the biggest angles in the history of pro wrestling. I think that was the biggest hindrance to this match was they were trying to accomplish so much in one match. With three lesser men, this would have been a clusterfuck. In the hands of Flair, Kerry and Hayes, they still manage to present an excellent match even if it is at the level of the first Kerry vs Flair bout. 

Unlike David, Kerry does not have to worry about disqualifications and he goes after Flair's leg immediately in retribution. Flair establishes he has nowhere to run due to the cage. Something I have noticed in watching five Flair vs Von Erich matches already is that he does not take many walks to break rhythm. He does beg off or back into a corner, but is not powdering as much as I remember from him. He definitely fight back more at this point with more hair pulls, tight-pulling and eye-raking to set up his chops and short knees. The other gimmick gets established early and often that is even if there is no disqualifications, Michael Hayes will not let one wrestler beat the other senseless in the match to the point where they can defend himself. So Hayes is very forceful in pulling the men off. This is a more logical and better approach than the fucking Kinski performance a year later. Hayes was introduced to the territory in mid-October as a friend of the Von Erich, but he has been even in actions.

Kerry Von Erich grabs the sleeper and a huge pop happens because they remember that was the move that should have won him the first fall. Flair becomes incensed at getting his ass kicked, but Kerry is looking CLAW. They did a good job establishing the cage as nowhere for Flair to hide, they did not tease going into the cage. Regardless, when Kerry sends Flair head first into the cage and grates his forehead it gets a huge pop. This is Flair in his element bleeding and hollering. The verbal selling here is just top notch. Hayes throws Kerry off, but he still signals for The Claw and the crowd is pumped! Flair goes to his best weapon kicking Kerry in his bad leg and he takes Kerry to school. Kerry is pushing Flair off as a last ditch effort and throws him into the cage. It is around this time that it feels haphazard. They want to get Kerry's revenge in on Flair because he is not going to win the title tonight, but at least he will get his licks in. Yet, Flair is still trying to work in a championship style and perpetual motion. Again, trying to accomplish too much. 

Flair finally applies the figure-4 and when it is reversed we get some really classic Flair selling. He is so great at selling the struggle and then upon reversing it, just wow! Kerry Von Erich is just beating Flair senseless now and it does not look like the champ has a chance to survive. Hayes is trying to keep thing somewhat safe by pulling Kerry off. CLAW! Flair drapes his leg over the rope and Hayes pulls him off to big BOOOS! That was lame. One thing to keep Flair safe another to force a rope break. While Hayes and Kerry get into it, Flair hits a high knee sending Kerry into Hayes. Flair and Hayes go at it and Hayes decks Flair. Kerry won't take the pin and Hayes pulls him by the hair on top of Flair, but Kerry won't take it. Again Flair gets a high knee that makes it seem like Kerry shoved Hayes out of the cage. So the "Guardian of the Gate" (TM HHH), Freebird Terry Gordy has had enough of Kerry's shit and blasts him with the steel cage door! With that shot the Freebirds vs Von Erichs begins! Flair covers Kerry and Hayes comes back in counts a quick three even though Kerry had kicked out. 

The match actually continues, which I think is all for the better because we get some amazing staggering Kerry selling. You really get a sense of how much Kerry is hurt. I am not sure you would get the same feeling if it was Kerry knocked out, Flair pin and then Von Erich brothers swear revenge. Here you get to see Kerry's injury plus how sadistic Flair is in this situation. I love Kerry flailing around in the cage trying to get away from Flair and try to mount a comeback, but he is just too injured. Kerry is able to get a last resort Discus Punch, but he collapses and David Manning has not choice, but to call it. The announcer is worried about a concussion and the Von Erich brothers are worried and pissed. It was a great finish to keep Kerry looking strong and really show how much the Freebirds cost him the match. The world famous angle and the finish stretch ensures this match's place in history. There is never a boring moment in this match, but early on there is just too many things going on for this to be considered on the level of the first Flair vs Kerry match. I still think it was an excellent heated championship match. I have just slightly below the Flair/David match. ****1/2

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NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kevin Von Erich - WCCW 4/1/83

It is always Kerry, Kerry, Kerry and David, David, David, what about Kevin Von Erich!!! Kevin is an aggressive offensive dynamo. He is not going to take any shit and quite frankly does not give a shit. He is going to punch and claw his way through any situation. He does not wait for Flair to cheat, he just attacks. I love it! Kevin Von Erich does not believe in clean breaks. He believes in winning goddamnit! I love that spunky, high energy babyface of the 80s and Kevin was probably the best because he had the cool moves, he laid his shit in and he had the aggression. Kevin is telling Flair to put up his dukes early and is totally crowding the Nature Boy. I think Flair the master of the corner in setting up a transition is really thrown off by Kevin not giving him a clean break. Their brawl out of the corner is a great heated exchange. Kevin also adds dropkicks and flying headscissors to make him a dual threat. Kevin was definitely the best brawler of the family. Flair punches Kevin right in the face and Kevin yelps "I think my nose is broke!"  Flair is in the ropes and Kevin calls for the Claw. The other brothers would be dissuaded not Kevin who applies and yanks Flair out! Flair desperately gets out only to be put in a sleeper, he rakes the eyes. Great selling by Kevin! We get our first Flair press slammed off the top rope. On a kick out, Kevin lands on Bronco and when he moves Flair elbows the ref. Flair sends Kevin over the top and they do a great job teasing the countout. Flair works in his high impact blow like that nasty elbow. In the middle of a backbreaker, Kevin just punches Flair in the side of the head. This is a fight! Kevin kicks him legs up, but Flair has it scouted. Kevin starts teeing off on Flair. I love when the Von Erichs grab Flair by his mane and just start going off. Kevin runs through the ref. Kevin sends Flair over the top, but that is not the right side because the ref ain't over there so Flair gets him to toss him over the other side. Back in, Kevin hits a tremendous reverse crossbody. 1-2-3! THE CROWD GOES WILD! I am so confused and excited at the same time! Of course, Bronco reverses the decision since he saw Kevin dump Flair over the top. 

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! That is just cruel to do that with your fanbase. I hate, hate, hate those finishes. I am usually very open minded when it comes to a finish if a DQ or countout sets something up that is a good finish. This is cruel and stupid. Great match otherwise, I am so, so, so looking forward to more Kevin Von Erich. Everything he does is perpetual struggle. Him and Flair could have some Flair vs Garvin level encounters if they really let them go. I love the dynamic with Kerry being able to wrestle that long championship style while Kevin wrestles these high energy sprints. Flair is of course a master of it all. The finish brings the match down, but the work beforehand was World Class! ****1/4

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NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich - Parade of Champions 5/6/84

Great match? Not really. Awesome moment? OH HELL YEAH! I have seen this match a handful of times, but watching after seeing the other Von Erich bouts in order really hit home for me last night. I was as excited as every one of those 32,000 people in Texas Stadium (announcer claims 50k and the largest audience ever in attendance to watch pro wrestling) to see Kerry Von Erich capture the World Championship achieving his dream and honoring his late brother. The entrance was perfect with Kerry coming out with the Yellow Rose and wearing "In Memory of David Von Erich" on his jacket and the yellow trunks. The crowd starts up with a Go Kerry Go! Even though they are in stadium, the crowd is just as rocking as an intimate arena crowd. Flair does not seem psyched out, but maybe he is...as he brings the fight to Kerry trying to go for amateur takedowns. Or maybe it is the fact that he can lose title by DQ thus stripping him of his champion's advantage and forcing him to wrestle more like a challenger. I think he understands the moment and he needs to hush the crowd and bring Kerry down. On May 6, 1984, Kerry would not be denied. Kerry in a criss cross stops on a dime and hits a nice dropkick. Flair breaks his rhythm by retreating to the corner. We are getting the more standard Flair vs power wrestler here. Kerry gets the big punches and huge press slam that is such a great picture and gets a huge pop. It makes sense to work a bigger match in front of a stadium crowd. They work their usual spots like the sleeper and the tussle over the ab stretch. Flair tries to create motion to get something going, but Kerry gets the CLAW out of nowhere for the big pop! Flair knee to gut and then press slammed off the top and Flair Flip as we get now trademark Flair spots. He is desperate looking for the figure-4 with no prep work to salvage this match, but Kerry kicks him off twice. They go through the hiptoss sequence, but Kerry gets a backslide and 1-2-3! WOW! WHAT A POP! One of the loudest pops you will ever hear. Just an amazing moment for Kerry and his family after the heartbreak of the loss of David. It serves as the climax to the first half of Flair's reign as he transitions away from the travelling champion to Horsemen Flair. It is also a satisfying conclusion to the Flair/Von Erich program. Of course, Kerry would drop title back in Japan and Flair/Von Erich would continue in other territories, but this was the climax for this series. ****

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NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich vs Ric Flair - WCCW 5/11/84  

Coming off his recent loss of the World Championship to Kerry Von Erich, Ric Flair is out to prove he is still The Man. Wow, does that give this match a totally unique feel compared to other Flair vs Kerry matches. Flair is wrestling with a challenger's mindset even if this is non-title and he is here for a fight. He establishes this with a slap to Kerry in the corner. He is here to fight. People want to talk about matches that do not follow the Flair Formula, well here you go because this is a sprint where Flair is crazed and desperate. His hyper-offensive mindset is a double-edged sword as we will see. More often than not, he is rushing and like my mother always says "Haste makes waste" and in his haste Flair was giving Kerry openings. It was creating his own too. We see Flair crowding Kerry early and often. He is bringing the fight to Kerry. When he sends Kerry to the outside, he is right there with a hammer elbow and then crowding him in the corner. This leads to these spirited skirmishes in the corner with each man fighting through each other. Flair's offensive control seems tenuous because in his haste he leaves himself prone to dropkicks and press slams. He is keeping the powerful Kerry off-balance with his perpetual motion. Kerry looks to put Flair to sleep, but he gets a kneecrusher. Flair quickly looks for the figure-4 again haste makes waste as it leaves him prone to the Iron Claw! He fights through it, but then here comes press slam and discus punch. The loss of the championship is clearly eating away at Flair who is not consolidating advantages, which he has had in this match. It is a very frustrating match if you were a kayfabe Flair fan. I am loving the narrative they are building here. Flair jabs at Kerry's bad knee and this time he gets the figure-4. I love how when it gets reversed, he immediately gets out and limps over to chop Kerry. There is no rest in this match he is out to prove something leg be damned! Flair goes right back to the figure-4 and Kerry shoves him off. Flair back with the hammer elbow, Flair is not giving up. Flair runs right into a press slam and now a cross body. Flair tries a hiptoss, but Kerry falls back into a banana split cradle for the 3. Flair needs to stop trying to hiptoss Kerry that's two times in a week Kerry has gotten a pinfall from that situation. He has it scouted Flair. Awesome little sprint from these two. Flair worked like a madman and Kerry was with him every step of the way. Kerry thwarted him at every pass and it just frustrated Flair more and more. I loved all the heated exchanges and there was another after the match. Flair is just ripshit he is not champion. It is awesome. Really great TV match! ****1/4 

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NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Kevin Von Erich - Parade of Champions 5/5/85

Kevin Von Erich is my favorite Von Erich! Dude is just fucking relentless. Talk about "thinking shoot, but working" he personifies it. I watched this match on a plane to Italy last summer and I was floored by it then and still am. This is just nonstop fighting between two wrestlers who hated each other and wanted to be champion. The entire match is Flair trying to figure out a way to get through Kevin's perpetual motion, which is his usual strategy. Kevin Von Erich is the epitome of a good offense is a good defense mantra. He is just always coming forward and attacking. Every other Von Erich would break on the ropes or not use a closed fist. Kevin Von Erich just flies with reckless abandon. In the beginning, Kevin frustrates Flair with an O'Connor Roll, besting him in a test of strength and fire right back at him in the corner (Flair's domain). Quickness, strength and aggression, what the hell is Flair going to do? Flair just keeps going at it and Kevin traps him in the sleeper. Flair might be the best ever at selling a sleeper at this point in his career. He looks to be at a total loss. "WE WANT THE CLAW" is the chant goes up and Flair does all he can to avoid that. Flair catches him with a running atomic drop that buys him some time, but not much as Kevin Von Erich puts on the best abdominal stretch ever I mean he hooks his foot behind his own foot. Finally, I know what Gorilla was talking about! There is a great struggle over the Irish Whip out of a corner. Everything in this match is earned. Flair is putting forth a kickass effort and is just being beaten by someone who is wrestling like a man possessed.

There is two rings at this event. Flair does his Flip in the corner and falls into the other ring. KEVIN HITS A SPLASH FROM ONE RING TO THE OTHER! HOLY SHIT! There is no rest for the wicked, Flair! Kevin kicks some more ass and Flair can just Flop. Iron Claw, oh so close! Flair gouges the eyes and throws him to the outside. Finally, Flair gets a chance to recuperate. This has been a war! Wait, here comes Kevin again. Oh, hell! Flair tries to escape into the other ring. Flair gets his short knee. He is going up top, oh no, this is not going to end well. Press slam off the top! Kevin just takes his foot presses Flair's face up against the ropes. Kevin might be the most underrated asskicker of all time. Goes for the Iron Claw so Flair goes for his bridge sequence, which ends in a backslide that is how Kerry won it 1-2-NO! Texas Stadium erupted for that nearfall! IRON CLAW! They tumble to the outside. There is a melee with Flair restraining Kevin from returning to the ring triggering a double countout and retaining his title. Kevin loses his fucking shit. He decks the ref and that puts the Iron Claw on Flair and will not let go. It takes David Manning, his brothers Kerry & Mike and his father Fritz to finally convince him to let go before he kills Flair. 

Wow! Kevin Von Erich kicked the shit out of Flair, but it never felt like a squash or an exhibition. Kevin was determined from the outset to win the match. You truly believed that this was the most important thing in the world to Kevin and he was going to do whatever it takes to win. It was never a squash because Flair was just as invested as Kevin. He wanted to win the match and was constantly fighting back, but Kevin was fighting through his offense. It was a truly great brawl by these two badass wrestlers. ****1/2

Goodbye WCW: Bret Hart, Sting, DDP (WCW, 1999)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

I saw our Lord, Savior and Personal Redeemer this past Thursday at the Boston Garden as He demonstrated why he is the personification of Love and Mercy. I had my personal qualms with His return to Cleveland to a city that does not deserve a Man of His Magnificence after they showed their true colors as entitled, spoiled and petulant brats. What Bron Bron has shown time and time again is that he truly has an infinite capacity for Love and why I struggled with this decision. Wishing him the best, but at the same time not wishing Cleveland nothing but ill will in terms of sporting ventures, I tuned out of this basketball season. Then my Father told me that LeBron would be returning to Boston for the playoffs. I had never seen the Greatest Athlete of my Lifetime in a playoff game. It was very tempting and praying on it. I realized that LeBron was teaching us the greatest lesson in forgiveness and mercy. He no longer just embodied Love, he embodied Mercy and showed he is True Love manifested in a perfect individual. 

His Mercy Endures Forever.

For those here for just the pro wrestling, that probably made no sense, but in short LeBron James rules and everyone else drools. From a man I have nothing but love for to a man I have nothing but disdain for here is Chris Benoit. I end this WCW viewing project with a slew of Chris Benoit matches from 1999, the last time WCW was truly WCW. Benoit was at worst the second best wrestler in America in 1998-99, where I give DDP a slight edge over him. He finally had put all the pieces together. His brutal mechanical efficiency was now being showcased in strong match layouts and his selling was par excellence. He dragged one last good WCW match out of Ric Flair. In a clash of the two best wrestlers in America, DDP and Benoit put on the best Thunder match in history. That is not saying much, but I don't think anyone has ever thought about it, but now you know! I think his two best matches come later in the year against the World Champion Sting and the Owen Hart Tribute match with Bret Hart.

The Sting match was a discovery through the Pro Wrestling Only Yearbooks and it was tremendous a real hidden gem that no one really talks about. It was an old school championship bout with the upper midcarder pushing the champion to his breaking point, but coming up short due to nefarious tactics. For someone who had never worked heel in his career up until that point, Sting looked great at controlling the match and making it feel dramatic. Between this and the DDP match, Sting had quite the 1999!

The Owen Hart Tribute match, which was a beautiful gesture is of course stained by the Benoit murders, but stands as a great statement of what true pro wrestling is. It is hold and counterhold. It is two combatants trying to execute a strategy to win a contest. It is each opponent reacting to each other, the circumstances around them and moments within the match. In a few weeks, WCW would hand over the reigns to Vince Russo, who obliterate any semblance of pro wrestling of pro wrestling and replacing it with common trash and the wrestling taking a back seat to inane skits. In essence, this match was WCW saying goodbye to pro wrestling and thus a fitting match to end the viewing project.

Goodbye, WCW.     

Diamond Dallas Page vs Chris Benoit - WCW Thunder 5/27/99

Best match in Thunder history? I would hear arguments against, but going through PWO and the Smarkschoice poll I am not seeing anything that was close to this. Benoit and DDP are the best workers in WWF & WCW in 1998-99 (I have never watched ECW from this era). It is such a treat to watch them work and I am going to seek out the Road Wild 99 match. I really don't see how it can any else than good. It is amazing DDP is just as good as a heel as he was as a babyface. He makes Benoit look like a million bucks in this. Having watched a ton of Benoit in 99 now, the commentary team and the wrestlers were clearly working hard to make Benoit feel like a main event babyface. The angle here is that Flair, who is loony tunes, gave DDP/Bam Bam a tag title shot over his Horsemen buddies. This has now transitioned into a youth vs. veteran storyline. Has that ever really worked in America?

These two just make every move seem like the most important thing in the entire world when they are working. Everything is so urgent and heated. I loved Benoit's reversal of the usual discus clothesline with a Crossface. DDP, all shook up, heads for the hills and all of sudden you see Benoit fly into screen and wipe him out. I LOVE THIS MATCH! We are only two minutes into it. DDP always ups his game against Benoit and hits a wicked back elbow to turn the tide. I like how organic it felt like you thought he was going for the Irish Whip, but he stops short with a nasty back elbow. The ring can not handle this fight. Benoit just keeps coming so DDP hits a low blow in the corner and then drops him head first on the top turnbuckle. DDP works a great fucking short heat section. We are taking nasty gutbusters and wicked big boot when he has him hung out on the ropes. Benoit was selling like a champ here. You could really him sucking for air. DDP asks the ref to check for the time and he chokes him with tape. It is official DDP was a Wrestling God in 1999! That's the most awesome thing I have seen in months! Benoit mounts a comeback off a jawbreaker on a sleeper. German with a bridge for 2 and then another one with a bridge. I like the rolling Germans with a bridge after each a lot better! DDP lunges for the ropes on the third one and that trick knee acts up. Love it! DDP hits a nice spinning powerbomb for his nearfall. He signals for the Diamond Cutter, but Benoit gets a backslide. DDP looks for the Cutter again and CROSSFACE! Bam Bam Bigelow runs in for the DQ and Flair attacks Benoit for his insubordination for good measure.

Tack on a finish and this is a contender for best free TV WCW match of the late 90s. Incredibly heated stuff early on that made Benoit look huge loved the early Crossface and crazy dive. DDP worked an outstanding heat segment like the best short one I have seen in months. I loved the Benoit finish stretch. Really, really good shit. Watch this match! ****

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Chris Benoit vs Ric Flair - WCW Thunder 6/3/99

I have been singing the praises of DDP in recent months, but in the back of my head I have known there was one challenger to his "Best in America" throne in this time period and that is Chris Benoit. Where DDP faltered, Benoit managed to pull out a very good match from Flair and showcase him at his best since 1998. The match was set up the week before when Benoit decided to challenge Flair's ruling to give the Triad the tag title shot instead of Benoit & Malenko. Benoit and DDP rocked it last week and after Benoit looked poised to win Bam Bam & Flair put the boots to Benoit. What helps this most is that Benoit is a strong definitive face for heel Flair to play off. Benoit and Flair started off firing chopping each other. Benoit goes with the old standby of applying the figure-4 to Flair and continues to work the leg. Flair uses the eye poke to take advantage, but still sells the leg. Flair leverages Asya outside to interfere on his behalf. Benoit is at his bets here chopping through Flair's offense or rattling off a snap suplex. Flair's big push is the kneecrusher/figure-4 combo. Benoit reverses the pressure. The match, commentary and the arena make Benoit seem like a big deal and a babyface on the rise. Flair goes for the bridge/backslide spot which we have not seen from him in awhile. Benoit hits a clothesline and a diving headbutt. This time Flair's new buddy, DDP saves. Not as much heat as the DDP match and some disjointed moment, but the Benoit push continues. But if a push happens on Thunder, is it really happening? ***1/2

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WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Chris Benoit - WCW Nitro 9/20/99

Sting doing a kneelift cutoff was more surreal than seeing Sting in a WWE ring. After years upon years of Sting getting cutoff by heels, it was just so strange for him to finally do the kneelift. Then I was just as discombobulated when Sting's kneelift was reversed into a cradle, it was just so wrong. Overall, I loved this match, it felt super dramatic and Sting just has a huge presence in this match. The weird part of this match was that Sting worked the early portion as a babyface. He would hit these big spots and Benoit would have to bail on the outside to catch his breath. They were working this like a Clash of the Titans match for a Mania or a Dome it was really neat. Sting looked great in this match everything had purpose and an energy to it. The crowd reaction was definitely mixed for the Woos. It almost feels like they are doing an interesting evolution of the Sting character. Yes he did something rotten at Fall Brawl, but that is not going to change who he is in the ring, but it changes the crowd response. That would be some high-end booking if that was the plan. Benoit picks an ankle starts to go to work on the legs of the Stinger. Benoit gets in a nice bridging Deathlock, but he goes for the dropkick on the Tree of Woe one too many times and Stiing posts Benoit. AT this point, Sting does his mid-match turn and starts breaking down Benoit with really well-timed elbows and chinlocks. Benoit is just great at the chippy, upper midcarder with thee short bursts of energy, but Sting always has a cutoff. Sting hits a huge front suplex. They are building great drama on every nearfall. I am really blown away how food this is right now. The commentary is really putting over Benoit. Sting goes for out of control top rope splash and eats knees. Sting tries to recover quickly, but ends up eating turnbuckle on the Stinger Splash.  Benoit signals for the heatbutt and he hits it! WOAH! 1-2-NO! Double hot sequence right there! Benoit pours it on with rolling snap suplexes and now the Crossface, but too close to the ropes. Sting is disoriented and desperate shoves Benoit into the ref. Benoit looks powerbomb, but goes piledriver WOW! Count to 1000, but there is no ref and the crowd is counting along for Benoit. Benoit now with rolling Germans and again gets the visual fall, but Luge comes comes in and cracks a bat across his exposed abdominals. Benoit sells this like a champ and Sting retains. Here comes Flair who looks great throwing punches in the corner. DDP here to help heels as Hogan clears the ring. Tony hypes Hogan/Hart/Flair vs Sting/Luger/DDP. You know, as a WCW mark, I would have loved to see where this was going without Russo's interference. It may not be the most inspired or unique booking, but definitely piqued my interest.

I really liked this match and thought both Sting and Benoit looked king-size in this. Sting looked great as King of the Hill, which he has shown flashes of in his career, but this is unique as he is a heel in this match and he plays the finish so well. This was the perfect match for Benoit to be having at this point of his career taking a heel champion to the limit and within a year finally climbing that mountain if this was a normal company. Really strong TV match. ****

The Lord Said Let There Be Fight: Steven Regal, Fit Finlay, Sting (WCW, 1996)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

FINALLY! I am once again officially a full-time employee BABY! This time as a chemical engineer WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Dreams do come true!

Buxom Lassie, now that's somebody I wanna stiff ;)

Steven Regal is one of the greatest mid-carders of all the times with his ability to deliver entertaining and unique matches on the undercard. He had a rare talent possessed only by a few of the greats such as Greg Valentine or a Vader where he would take his opponent out of his comfort zone and creating a unique environment for this wrestler. It is one thing to coerce a wrestler to wrestle your style this can lead to style clashes or plug and play. Regal was able to adapt his style to his opponent. Every Regal match is worth watching is because you get to see Sting, Psychosis and Larry Zybszko in truly unique matches. For example, my major malfunction with Ultimo Dragon was how he would unleash his amazingly deep offensive arsenal like an exhibition of fireworks rather than a contest to win a match. Regal was able to reign in Dragon and force him to use his offense in a compelling manner. Dragon did not change his game plan; he was still using his kicks and holds to set up the Tiger Suplex, but he had to earn the offense. Regal is so versatile at selling and bumping for a wide range of wrestlers like the bruisers (Finlay), luchadors (Psychosis) and main event talent (Sting).

For all his talent, Regal was underutilized by WCW, sure he had a great run as Television Champion, but in 1995 he was relegated to WCW's fledgling tag team with Bobby Eaton. On the surface, that sounds like the stuff dreams are made of, but unfortunately their opponents were Harlem Heat and Nasty Boys. But in early 1996, WCW was making a concerted effort to truly being an all-star promotion. They had the strongest main event talent of the 80s and 90s and they had brought in American talent that had been working overseas. Soon, they would bring in the luchadors. In addition, they brought in Fit Finlay as Regal's arch -nemesis. They brought a brutality and violence that has rarely been seen before or after in the US. It was BattlArts/FUTEN levels of violence with nasty strikes to each other face and bodies. They fought through each other's offense and earned every inch. Until Regal's nose is demolished by Finlay's stiff strike, which the perfect ending even if unintentional to such a tour de force.

Check out the best of Lord Steven Regal in 1996 and hopefully, it will inspire to watch even more Steven Regal in WCW and beyond.

Lord Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay - WCW Uncensored 1996

If you are real quiet and pay attention real close, you can actually hear Regal's nose explode at the end of the match. This was Ishikawa/Ikeda levels of brutality and uncomfortability. They were just beating the absolutely fucking shit out of each other. This would not look out of place at all on BattlArts card. This is why I loved WCW in 1996, it really felt like an all-star promotion with the best of every style on the card. Finlay set the tone early by whipping Regal with his jacket and just attacking him with vicious forearms, knees and headbutts. They were just fighting through each other's offense, which is one of my favorite style of matches. To me it is not my turn, your turn because you fucking earned your turn in this war. Whether it was stiff Finlay knee to the head to break out of an armbar or Regal nearly taking Finlay's head off with a dropkick. The only defense in this match was more offense and fight fire with fire. Unlike Ishikawa/Ikeda, they had a hard time keeping the heat up throughout the match and in the holds. They worked the palm strikes and knees in the holds well, but the holds in the match while gnarly did not have the drama of a BatBat match.  I loved that the chairs were attached together preventing Finlay from using the chairs at Uncensored. I always mark out when someone suplexes someone from the ring to the floor, which seems so dangerous. Dusty is hilarious totally missing Brain's point that they wrestled each other thinking he was thinking England and Ireland were the same thing, "Ireland is five miles from London. I don't think so." Apparently, this match was supposed to go 30 minutes and I think thankfully it did not. It was running out of steam and this was the perfect ending for the match. One guy hits another guy so hard that his nose is shattered and he is just a bloody mess. It was really the only proper way to end such a nasty fight.

As much as I love sheer brutality, I do like a bit more of a strategy and/or narrative to my matches. It really is another form of a spotfest, but better than what is commonly thought of as a spotfest. Because they are fighting through each other's offense, it never feels like an exhibition. Because they are hitting each other so hard, it always feels like they are trying to win. It does not have the same pitfalls as a standard spotfest, but it does lack hook from a character/angle perspective to make it truly excellent. Still, I think this is an undervalued match. It is well-known, but the usual rating seems a bit low to me. It does not reach the greatness of some of the BatBat/FUTEN stuff I saw in the past year, this is not far off. ****1/4

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Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay - WCW Saturday Night 4/13/96

Coming out of the violent Uncensored match where Regal's nose was demolished, Regal felt like the more sympathetic character and I feel like they played that up with him being more of a babyface here. He takes the match to Finlay early and it looks like he may trying to go for a nose for a nose with those nasty palm strikes. Finlay actually begs off before he gets a vicious elbow to the nose and he looks to keep grounded. He misses an elbow and Regal pounces with a double wristlock. It does not last long as Finlay gets a nasty thumb to eye and a wicked headbutt. Finlay looks to take Regal's arm off and beat him with it. The Blue Bloods come out to bail out Regal. I did not like the finish. Regal is a much better face than Finlay, but Finlay was over. I liked Regal as the fired up babyface and the finish just felt totally out of place. It even seemed the way Regal reacted that they may be teasing a face turn. Good set up for more matches. ***

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Steven Regal vs Fit Finlay - WCW Nitro 4/29/96 Parking Lot Brawl

Really cool, unique set up with these two bitter rivals surrounded by park cars. Finlay wastes no time putting his foot through a window. Finlay uses a tire and a bumper to fuck up Regal. I loved the build to the climax with all the teases of doing moves from the top of the car. You know we all wanted to see it. They delivered in spades and I will let the viewer see it for themselves because it is quite the exclamation point on a great undercard feud. Bischoff was trying to get this match over by calling for wide angles and saying this is too violent, but it just came off as more annoying. I wish we had Tony calling this match. That being Bischoff or whoever in WCW came up with this match was really smart. This is cutting edge shit that takes ECW puts a new twist on it and is applied to a feud that fit it well. It comes off as super fresh and really makes WCW seem must see. Great and entertaining match, but does not touch the sheer awesomeness of the Uncensored match. ***1/2

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Sting vs Lord Steven Regal - WCW Great American Bash 1996

One of those mildly hyped WCW matches that I have never had a chance to see, until now. I am a pretty big Regal fan because he reminds me of someone like a Valentine or a Vader that will force an opponent out of their comfort zone, but still adapt to the opponent. It is a rare talent and one not too often discussed. A little background on why Regal was getting a crack at the top when he was usually relegated to great mid-card actin. This is the PPV before Bash at the Beach and thus the entire company is in a holding pattern until the New World Order is formed. Sting needed a win and a match with Regal could serve to enhance Regal's star power. After the NWO, there did not seem to be plans for Regal and of course Regal was also battling personal demons. The set up was pretty simple as Regal showed Sting the back of his hand and Sting took offense. Tony mentions during the course of this bout that Sting's dark hair look is recent. I always prefered bleach blond and spiky, but it was a good way to freshen up Sting.

Sting actually showed some really good fire early, which has always been my problem with him. Yes, he has a ton of energy to spare, but rarely is it channeled into violence. Regal is able to come back with some technical wristlocks to subdue Sting, but Sting's energy and strength allow him to power out. Regal resets the match asking for a handshake and his facial expressions during this is priceless. Sting thrusts his Little Stinger in Lord Steven's direction. Tony calls that an Elvis move. Dusty says that is not an Elvis move that was a pelvis move! Too funny. We hit the test of strength and Sting maybe stronger, but Regal knows those little tricks that allow him to apply a cobra clutch. From there, it is all Regal and that is goal of this match to showcase Regal as a credible opponent for WCW's main eventers through his holds, vicious strikes and his cocky attitude. His little strut, which was supposed to mock Sting just struck me as a weird than as annoying or entertaining, a rare bit of character acting that Regal misfired on. Regal takes a good 80-90% of this match and wrestles a solid heat segment with vicious palm strikes to the head and interesting arm holds, but I think overall Malenko smoked him on this night. Sting's hope spots were well-timed and Regal had nice underhanded counters like an eyepoke for them. I actually kinda liked Sting powering up while in a knucklelock and Regal's selling was spot on. Sting hits his sugar high and explodes with clotheslines, but that is just a hope spot and we get a sweet butterfly suplex. The part of the match is that pisses me off more than anything else happens right here. Regal applies his Regal Stretch and then just gives it up. I can't stand when wrestlers just give up on submissions and YOUR BEST SUBMISSION that is ridiculous. The setup for the finish is great that Regal is mauling Sting in the corner and Sting won't go down so he shows him the back of the hand just like at the start of this angle and Sting wakes the fuck up for that.  Sting hits some really great monster punches. Sting eats knees on the Stinger Splash, but quickly applies the Scorpion Deathlock to get out of Baltimore with the victory.

Regal looked great in this match just by being able to hang with Sting. Sting had some real flashes of violence and intensity as opposed to his more FUN energy. I thought that was a very good match, but I don't they ever really flirted with great. Regal gets to show his stuff, Sting kicks a bit of ass, but needs the flash submission to defeat Regal and build momentum towards the clash with the Outsiders. Very good match to build Regal up, but sadly nothing ever came from it. ***1/2

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WCW TV Champion Steven Regal vs Psicosis - WCW Nitro 12/16/96

Penascola, Florida sure loved them some Psicosis and they can be on my team any day of the week. The entire camera side of the crowd was standing for the majority of this match start to finish and literally every Psicosis spot got a decent to huge pop. You really could not have asked for a better crowd. Psicosis sold phenomenally, but on offense was decent at best, if really ripped it up this had potential to be of the elite Nitro matches (I am talking top 5-ish). The crowd was clearly on Regal's case early with USA chants and they were even amped for the opening armwork. Look, I love Regal's intricate armwork and Psicosis with a lucha background had no difficulty keeping up. That is over with me, but I don't expect the crowd to really respond. This crowd was going apeshit over the littlest details, it was awesome. As soon as Psicosis slammed Regal down on the arm, you would expect fucking Hogan had just slammed Andre. I honestly think Psicosis was bewildered by the reaction. His tope was sick as always. I thought Regal's selling was incredible in this match. Honestly, this match featured some of the best selling I have seen in a long time. My major malfunction with the crowd so hot, they were basically begging fro Psicosis to do something, but he kept stalling and looked unsure of himself. Stuff like waiting for Regal to get up only to hit a dropkick. Look, I get you needed to sell, but we needed a babyface shine. The early Guillotine Legdrop got a massive reaction and was a great nearfall. I love Regal throwing Psicosis on the bad shoulder and then he just pounces with a gritty facelock and palm strikes to head. Regal was a beast in this match working the arm tenaciously, but selling fatigue and pain simultaneously. Psicosis gets one more nearfall by throwing Regal off the top rope, playing to the crowd and hitting a top rope splash for two. Psicosis looks to go for a victory roll, but Regal slams him face first and applies the Regal Stretch to break the hearts of every one in that Penascola crowd. Tighten Psicosis' offense and have reach the potential I know he has and this would be an all-time classic. As is, I still thought this was fabulous from a selling perspective especially. In addition, I thought the Psicosis nearfalls meant a lot especially due to the crowd and that Regal's offense and ability to capitalize on mistakes was great. The crowd definitely tips the balance for me. ***3/4

The Fall of WCW: Scott Steiner, Goldberg, Rey Mysterio ( WCW 1999-2001)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

This weekend, an old friend of mine paid a visit to God's Country & The Birthplace of America, Boston, and we got what is left of the old gang here and had a kickass time reliving memories and making new ones. As much as fun as it is to wax nostalgic, it is the just the best to add to our story with new fresh memories and to keep building upon that. It is a bit melodramatic for me to call a pro wrestling promotion, my friend, but in a lot of ways growing up, WCW was my best friend. I will always be able to relive memories and discover new gems, but I have been robbed of making new memories.

I would make memories with her over and over again!

I grew up painfully shy as a child, which will shock most people that know me now. I know what you all are thinking, now we can't get Martin to fucking shut up, but I pretty much did not have friends in elementary school. I was never bullied or anything like that just did not really talk or hang out with people. I was always amazed by these larger than life figures that could seemingly effortlessly could talk to 20,000 people on national TV. They were my friends and every Monday night, I would watch them as they would make me laugh, smile and angry usually all within two or three awesome hours. Because of parental regulations, I grew up a WCW fan because my mother thought the WWF did not treat women well (Dustin Rhodes/Terri Runnels fallout being the end of WWF for a year in my house), but I think I always liked WCW better. There was something endearing about its haphazard nature and still is to this day to me. Unfortunately, the egos and a lack of singular authority began to negatively impact TV and by the summer of 1999, I had to check out. Then I remember reading on wrestleline.com, that Vince Russo was coming to WCW in October of 1999. Russo was a head writer for the WWF at the time and it seemed like a massive coup for WCW to get what was at least part of the driving force of the Attitude Era. How much Russo contributed to WWF and was filtered/reigned in by Vince McMahon I cannot say, but it is safe to say that was not pure Russo. So, I started to watch Nitro again excited at what new changes would be had.

Even as a ten year old, I knew what I was watching was absolutely mortifying. To continue the friend analogy, it is like watching your friend lose his mind or maybe an elderly member of the family show signs of dementia. It was not WCW anymore. It was not even pro wrestling. It was trash. Sure, the voice of my childhood, Tony Schiavone was still there and hey even my favorite, La Parka was getting more television time, but he was made into a Skeletor comedy character, which is one of the more least offensive things done under the Russo watch. There was outright racism towards the Luchadors and Japanese wrestlers like Liger. There was personal insults towards Jim Ross. There was rampant misogyny. The matches were shorter. There was a ton of things happening, but at the same time nothing was happening. The worst part was the Powers That Be angle/character, which openly described pro wrestling as a work, spoke about wrestlers like Benoit being held down  and how certain wrestlers would not do the job. Remember folks, everything you just watched is a work, but THIS RIGHT HERE IS A SHOOT, BRUTHA! That was the Russo matra. I hated it. Before the year was up, I quit watching WCW. WCW quit on Vince Russo too as he was fired by the end of the year and Kevin Sullivan took over as head booker.

In April, WCW planned a major reset with Russo-Bischoff in charge with the idea being that Bischoff would filter Russo and somehow I got suckered into this bullshit. This time I lasted four months and even ordered New Blood Rising! In this regime, we had more racism, more misogyny, more the rest of the card this is a SHOOT! This was hallmarked by the announcers claiming during a triple threat match when Goldberg walked out on the match it was because he was being unprofessional and did not want to do the job. SO now Nash and Steiner had to improvise a finish. After New Blood Rising, I stopped watching WCW again and actually stopped watching wrestling all together in October 2000. This is important because this is why I really hate Vince Russo.

Is Vince Russo directly to blame for the sale of WCW? I don't think so. Would AOL-Time Warner been more amenable to keep WCW around if they had not lost $60 million in a year, probably. Still, Nitro was bringing in a 2.0 rating on Monday Night against direct competition from WWF and that is not horeshit. If the folks after the merger wanted wrestling on their station WCW would still be on TNT, it is that simple. Bischoff had a group together to purchase WCW, but without TV, it would have be useless in his opinion and you can't blame him. Russo contributed to the death of WCW, but ultimately it was the AOL-Time Warner merger that killed WCW dead. Why I especially despise Russo is not because he turned WCW into personal joke or has done seemingly irreparable harm to pro wrestling that WWE still has not recovered from, it is because I missed the death of my friend. I found about the sale of WCW to WWF in March of 2001, a little bit after Wrestlemania X-7 and by then it was too late. I did not get to see the last Monday Nitro live and that deeply upset me. At this point, I have let it go and I am not terribly bitter about it. Hell I have even enjoyed some of TNA and it generally liked their 2005-2007 period. I do not how much Russo influence there was, but it was a fun promotion at times. I am sad to this day that WCW does not exist and will often go back see something so WCW that I just wish it would come back. In this blog, the one of the most WCW things ever was debut a brand new championship, a week before your company is shutting down and of course that match is the best match in 18 months! He did not rob me of making new memories that was AOL-Time Warner. He robbed me of saying good-bye to my childhood friend.

On Riding Space Mountain, we always look for the sliver lining and fuck, even Russo could not manage to have at least a coupled decent matches under his watch. Here are some of the last great bouts from the dying days of World Championship Wrestling.

I will always be a WCW fan first & foremost and look forward to reliving those memories for the rest of my life because Russo, AOL-Time Warner or anyone else will never able to take those away.

Match Listing:

Chris Benoit vs Jeff Jarrett - WCW Starrcade 1999 Vacant US Championship Ladder Match

Violent ladder match sprint with a couple huge spots and a big time feel for the Benoit victory.

Scott Steiner vs Goldberg - WCW Fall Brawl 2000

Russo did his best to try to kill this Clash of the Titans classic, but these two worked their asses off.

Rey Mysterio Jr & Kidman vs Primetime & Kid Romeo 

WCW Greed WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship

The last great WCW match is a well-structured, high octane tag team match featuring my man, Rey Rey!

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner vs Diamond Dallas Page - WCW Greed

Father Time finally caught up to DDP as he just did not have any gas left in the tank to put on one last classic DDP match. Disappointing. 

Chris Benoit vs Jeff Jarrett - WCW Starrcade 1999 Vacant US Championship Ladder Match

Benoit's neck is freaking massive here. Double J's normal size neck looks like a stack of dimes compared to the juiced up Crippler. Benoit and Jarrett put together a really strong and violent ladder match sprint in this one. Benoit unleashes a can of whoop-ass early and hits a superplex to incapacitate JJ long enough to get the ladder. I like a small victory like that in the shine to show how dominate Benoit was early. Jarret is able to recover with a baseball slide into the ladder and then dropping Benoit face first on the ladder opening up a nasty cut on Benoit's face. I liked Jarrett as a heel taking advantage of the situation to take a control. They work some struggle spots with Benoit kept coming at Jarrett, but since Jarrett was a bit fresher he could still control the match. One of the scarier spots was Jarrett was in the Tree of Woe, but in the ladder and tipped over the ladder like you would reverse the pressure on a figure-4. Jarrett could have severely fucked up his knee and the way Benoit's head bounced off the ropes he could have seriously injured, but that's where the freaking massive neck will save your life. The spot of the match would be an all-time great spot if Double J did not hesitate forever and made Benoit look like a fool. That being said it is better to be safe and really focus. He dropkicks the ladder, which goes flying and Benoit takes an awesome bump. It actually came off pretty safe compared to a lot of ladder bumps, but was a sweet visual. Another fun spot is Benoit doing a roll through under the ladder and then dropkicking it into Jarrett's face. Benoit hitting the diving headbutt off the ladder and then grabbing the title does seem excessive, but they needed that climatic spot and it is a good one. The crowd was fucking dead for the beginning of this, but they won them over and Benoit's victory does feel like a big deal by the end. Some really great spots mixed with a strong sense of urgency and struggle makes this a pretty easy call for me to say this is a great, but too spotty to be a true classic. ****

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Scott Steiner vs Goldberg - WCW Fall Brawl 2000

I couldn't believe the angle they ran before this where it was implied Goldberg put Midajah (Steiner's favorite freak) through a table and then I guess he smashed Steiner's face in with a lead pipe. Why the hell is the babyface attacking defenseless women? Fuck Russo! Steiner then puts Goldberg's girlfriend in the Steiner Recliner, but since that's shown on TV that means exposes it as a weak ass chinlock, Awful Russoian, misogynistic  booking aside, I am pretty pumped for this match and so is the Buffalo crowd. The Bills football team hates Steiner and is super pro-Goldberg. Steiner is wearing a face mask and Goldberg has his arm taped up, which is good continuity, but neither one really plays into the match so it is a wash. Steiner stiffs the fuck out of Goldberg and Goldberg know no other way to wrestle so this comes off a gargantuan match. I loved Steiner taking right to Goldberg with some wicked shots only for Goldberg to come out of the corner with a huge Press and then catch and slam. It was amazing watching these two behemoth throw each other around. Steiner puts up the best resistance he possibly can, but his standard power game is not getting it down when Goldberg can outmuscle him. This is exemplified when Steiner hoists him into the Tombstone, but Goldberg reverses into a Oklahoma Slam. However, the one time the pre-existing injuries play into the match is when Goldberg's arm starts to bother him (nice Goddamnit on one of the strikes) and then he misses the spear. Steiner is able to take advantage on the outside and bust him over as his favorite freak, Midajah strolls out with a lead pipe. Steiner throws Goldberg around and hits a couple push-ups. Go Blue! Little shit like Goldberg nasty back elbows to Steiner and Steiner rethinking his suplex to a Belly to Belly was what was making this match great. Midajah hands Steiner the pipe, but SPEAR! Goldberg goes for the Jackhammer and the match goes to Hell because here comes Satan himself. Russo hits Goldberg with an obviously gimmicked bat. They were having a great match why the fuck do we need Russo and fake as fuck weapons. If they presented the fake bat as a real bat and had Goldberg lose right there, I would have no problem it was the bullshit with Goldberg being able to continue. Goldberg powering out of the Steiner Recliner was fucking awesome as he literally threw Steiner half way cross the ring from his shoulders. Midajah and Russo play pinata with Goldberg on the top rope, fuck, they are killing this match. Goldberg looks like he is finally going to kill Russo so Steiner smokes him the pipe and puts in the Recliner. The fake weapons and Russo bullshit really ruined what was otherwise a really good match. I am a sucker for two big men throwing each other around. There were great highspots and plenty of struggle. Goldberg's spear and the Goldberg's powering out of the Recliner were awesome spots. They did not need the overbooking, alas that is the story of Russo booking. Still the best match of the Russo regime.  ****

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Rey Mysterio Jr & Kidman vs Primetime & Kid Romeo 

WCW Greed WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship

It is so WCW to debut a brand new title on their last PPV! I was actually how shocked how much liked this. I have not seen Elix Skipper in forever and I have never seen a Kid Romeo match, but fuck I thought they were a fun little heel duo. I actually think Romeo would have been decent in TNA and maybe he was, but I missed it. WCW Greed felt really TNA-y, maybe it was inevitable if WCW continued we would have gotten the same shit as we did from TNA. Still, I think the weird endearing WCW booking would have carried on in a way TNA has never really captured. Onto the match, but this was actually a really good tag team match and I know tag team wrestling (listen to my podcast, Tag Teams Back Again, with Chief Jay Historian, Kelly Nelson on Place To Be Nation.com)! They did a great shine, worked a solid heat segment with nice hope spots and then had a hot finish stretch that went a bit too long. The shine was some really good shit from Kidman & Mysterio constantly keeping the action moving and keeping the crowd into it. I thought the highlights was Rey Mysterio guillotine leg drop and I love how Kidman holds Primetime there. I hate it as a single move like KENTA used it, but as a tag team move great spot and logical. I loved the hiptoss of Primetime onto Romeo from the stage and then the double dive onto them. Damn, they got me rocking right with them. The heel transition is Romeo hitting Kidman with a blind forearm while he was running the ropes. Love it! Kidman does a great job using stuff like Irish whip/clothesline combo to get early hope spots, but Primetime and Romeo know how to bend the rules. This is a really basic layout that was just modernized with some of the more high-flying moves, but everything was still sensible. The funniest fucking botch ever happens in this match as Primetime whiffs so bad on a forearm he falls down. I was rolling and then a fan gets on his case and he jaws with him, good shit.  Kidman hits a nice spinebuster/powerbomb-y thing from the top and Rey comes in. Holy Shit! Rey looked fucking awesome here. Words don't do it justice watch it. Kidman says two can play that game and he hits a beautiful springboard Shooting Star Press to the floor. WOW! It should have been over sooner rather than later, but it kept going with diminishing returns with lots of nearfalls and weak saves. Rey hitting two powerbombs seems a bit ridiculous to me and I am a powerbomb mark. The actual finish was pretty sweet with Romeo catching Rey Rey on the quebrada attempt and dropping down with the Northern Lights Bomb. Romeo & Primetime dance afterwards! I love this team! Well now I am sad WCW ended because we did not get more Primetime/Romeo goodness. They stuck with the tried and true formula sprinkled in some great spots, solid heel work and Rey Rey is such an elite wrestler that he adds that little sumthin sumthin to matches like this. Probably the best match of WCW's last 18 months. ****

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WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner vs Diamond Dallas Page - WCW Greed

My main man, DDP, looks to give one last stellar performance on WCW's last ever PPV main event, but it just was not to be. DDP's magic of 1997-1999 has faded and it looks like Father Time has finally caught up to him. He was still one helluva promo as showcased in the pre-match hype video. Where he explains he is the last of the WCW standard-bearers and that no matter how brutal the attacks have been he still has the great equalizer, the Diamond Cutter. He could talk the talk, but he just couldn't walk the walk. The punches did not have the same zip and his step did not have the same pep. I love the Scotty Steiner character at this point as a totally despicable, vile human. I was hoping this would be a great Steiner match to add to his resume. It is too bad they did not turn Steiner earlier in his career. He was actually a pretty good bumper and stooge for babyfaces in addition to being violent. There were still some fun DDP spots early like his excellent flying clothesline, but then we descended into guardrail whips and obviously planted crutches and Paul London as a fan that Scotty Steiner badmouths. I actually liked the finish stretch though as DDP gave it one last burst of the old DDP. After the bearhug and suplexes, DDP had a great string on offense. I really liked the quick knee lift into a DDT. Steiner hit a nasty back elbow at on point. Shit is starting to heat up. Of course, we get some trademark DDP like the floatover DDT. He signals for the Diamond Cutter! BANG! I get why that went with Booker, but damn, the love I have built up for DDP, I really wish he was the last WCW champion and that was the finish. Instead, Rick Fucking Steiner pulls the ref out. I don't think I have ever seen Rick Steiner without his earguards. It is so weird. Anyways, they prolong the inevitable with some fun drama with weapons and submissions moves, but DDP passes out to the Steiner Recliner. Steiner puts out yet another WCW babyface legend. Steiner buries DDP in a Michigan flag! GO BLUE! I wish we were good at enough football when I went there to pull shit like that. It is a decent match, but really not worth seeing it besides for the novel value of being the last WCW PPV main event. Disappointing more than anything for me.

Best Matches World Championship Wrestling (WCW, 1992-1999)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

This will be a living blog post that details what I, Martin Boulevard (@superstarsleeze), believes are the best matches for World Championship Wrestling primarily focusing on 1995-1999, but a smattering of 92 & 93. As I finish 2000&2001 and then go back to the Turner Buyout, this list will be updated.

Matches will be grouped based on star rating level. Within a star rating level they will be list chronologically. Links to reviews will eventually be posted.

***** Matches

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Vader - Great American Bash 1992

****3/4 Matches

Sting vs Vader - Starrcade 1992

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader vs Sting - SuperBrawl III Strap Match

WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Eddy Guerrero vs Rey Misterio Jr. 
Halloween Havoc 1997 Title vs. Mask

****1/2 Matches

Ric Flair vs Randy Savage - Great American Bash 1995

WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs Rey Misterio Jr. 
Great American Bash 1996

Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis - Bash At The Beach 1996

WCW United States Champion Diamond Dallas Page vs Chris Benoit - SuperBrawl VIII

*Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho - Brian Hildebrand Tribute*
*Technically not a WCW promoted match, but featured all WCW talent*

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page vs Sting - WCW Nitro 4/26/99

Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit - WCW Nitro 10/4/99