Friday, October 28, 2016

New England Pro Wrestling Academy Student Show 10/27/2016



A very unique show presented by the NEPWA where most of the matches on the card featured new students taking on veteran students of the academy.  The show is a single camera shot that appears to swivel.  The picture quality is really good and I watched this on my Kindle Fire 7 tablet.

My only complaint is in part one you can barely hear the ring announcer or the entrance music, if there was any.  The commentator Justin Shape you can hear loud and clear!  In the part two, the the camera changes the pictures is great, but you can't hear Shape too well, you can everything else.

Forgive me if I got any of the names spelling incorrect, send me a message and I will correct it.  Let's get to the action!

New England Pro Wrestling Academy
Student Show
Thursday October 27, 2016
Live on Facebook

Commentary: Justin Shape
Ring Announcer: Johnny Vegas

Christian Cassanova
Christian Cassanova vs. Patrick Williams
In just his second match Williams put on a great performance giving Cassanova  a run for his money.  Cassanova got the win with what looked like a scissors kick in just over 8 minutes.  I've seen Cassanova before, I really like his Michael Jackson gimmick and he has really improved over the last few years into a a very solid competitor.

Just Ike vs. Marcos Santiago
I haven't heard of Ike, this is Santiago's first ever match.  At under 2.5 minutes from bell to bell it's hard to really judge either man.  Ike is very odd in his wrestling style, crawling under the ring and biting his opponent on his posterior was the highlight of the match.

Donovan Dijak vs. Bryce Clayton
Dijak jumps the gun with a boot to the face before the bell and beating him down in the corner.  Clayton quickly takes over with a stiff clothesline and a two count.  Dijak takes over eventually taking the action to the floor.  Dijak remains in control back in the ring getting a two count with a vertical suplex throw.  Clayton fires back but Dijak catches him and after back breaker he is just thrown across the ring for a two count. Clayton reversed a choke slam into a spine buster then two high knees into the corners.  Clayton dropkicks Dijak to the floor, then drops and elbow off the apron.  Back in the ring Clayton delivers a top rope clothesline for a two count.


Dijak comes back with a chokeslam into a backbreaker following it up with a moonsault press for a two count.  Clayton catches Dijak coming off the ropes for a powerslam for two.  I cringed on the powerslam, thought Dijak was going to get dumped on his head.  Dijak goes for Feast Your Eyes but it is reversed into a school boy for two.  Clayton goes the top, but Dijak stops him nailing Feast Your Eyes for the pin at the 11:09 mark.
I was very impressed with Clayton in this match.  I hope to see him live in the future,

Mason Sims vs. Robo The Punjabi Lion
Both of these guys are making their debut, and 34 seconds into the match the Punjabi lion gets the pin with a unique finish that looks like a vertical suplex but ends as an uranage

Robo The Punjabi Lion vs. Kid Courageous
After making short work of Sims Robo issues and open challenged accepted by Courageous, also making his wrestling debut.  Lasting 71 seconds Robo picks up his second win of the night with a death valley driver,

Brick Mastone
Robo The Punjabi Lion vs Brick Mastone
In a second open challenge Brick Mastone answers the call.  Mastone gives Robo more than he can handle and after an inside out spear Robo walks away taking the count out.  Mastone with the win in 2.5 minutes.

"All Good" Anthony Greene vs. Leon Lozano 
This is Lozano's first ever match.  The exchange shoulder blocks running the ropes until Greene pulls a side headlock to the mat.  Greene lights Lozano up with a series of chops that leads to a two count.  The men exchange control of the bout until Green clotheslines Lozano to the floor and catches with a dive onto the floor.  Back in the ring Green retains control a cross body block off the top rope is good for a two count.  Lozano sends Greene to the floor slamming his arm onto the ring apron.  Back in the ring Lozano nails a picture perfect hammerlock slam.  They trade control back and forth but Lozano keeps going back to the left arm of AG.


AG fires back luring Lozano into the corner superkicking him and then getting a two count after  a 450 splash!  Lozano battles back reversing an Irish whip out of the corner into a Samoan drop for a two count.  Greene gets Lozano in the corner and delivers a running boot to the face.  He goes for a second and Lozano pulls referee Kevin Quinn in front of him but AG manages to stop in time.  Pushing Quinn out of the corner Lozano nails Greene with a low blow then school boys him getting the three count with a handful of tights at 12:20.
Great match, once again very impressed with another NEPWA rookie in Lozano.  Another guy I'd like to see more of.

Travis "Flip" Gordon & Bret Viginamino vs. Cam Zigami & Liam Christopher
I'm sure I butchered Bret's last name.  A really great tag team match.  Bret and Flip utilized some great double team maneuvers before Bret took on the Ricky Morton role getting beat down an unable to make the tag to Gordon.  Once he makes the tag Flip comes in a house on fire taking about both Zigami and Christopher.
Travis "Flip" Gordon
Cam Zagami
Flip has Liam prone in the ring going to the top, Zigami crotches Flip and he and Liam attempt a double superplex that is reversed into a double powerbomb pinning combo for a two count.  Bret evens the odds sending Zigami to the floor then taking him out with a running penalty kick.  Flip sets up Liam and nails I believe  Phoenix splash for the three count.  Not sure exact time of the match, I'm thinking it was a good 15 minutes.

Mikey Webb
Mickey Webb vs. Josh Briggs
This is Briggs third match.  He's a big guy, looks like a wrestler probably shouldn't be stepping over the top rope to enter the ring when he's barely touching with his toes, has the opposite effect of making someone look big.

This match started slow and methodical but really picked up the last few minutes with the action going crazy including one of the best crucifix drop pin attempts I have ever seen.  Briggs gets the win when he catches Webb  with a choke slam coming off the top rope at 15:27.

The New England Pro Wrestling Academy must be doing something right because if I had seen any of these guys on any other Indy show I would be able to tell that they were green but not this this was their initial matches.  

I look forward to seeing several of them again, specifically Bryce Clayton and Leon Lozano.

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Thursday, October 27, 2016

Signed Trading Cards: Sting

Recently my buddy went to a Big Time Wrestling show where Sting was doing and appearance.  I wasn't able to go but I was able to get my buddy to get two cards signed for me.  Having Sting cards of him in NWA, WCW, TNA, & WWE I of course wanted to get one of each signed.  But it would have been much too expensive.

I had to limit myself to two and after much deliberation I went with these:


NWA Wonderama 1988 Card 194


This 343 card set features the talents of Jim Crockett Promotions from the top to the bottom.  Before ebay this card set was my favorite to find cards of because of the talent on them.  I have several of these signed.


WCW Magazine 2000 card 48


This 48 card set was released in 2000 with WCW magazine exclusively in the UK market as an uncut sheet of 9 cards.  You had to by three copies of two different issues to get all 48 cards.  For some reason the cards are number up to 54 with cards 34, 35, 36, 37, 42, & 43 never released.

The NWA Wonderama card was always going to get signed, I chose the WCW Magazine card because off all the Sting cards released this one is the rarest and it features a different Gimmick than the NWA card.

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Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Theodore Long Five Minute White Boy Challenge


Back in the spring of 2003 Rodney Mack made his TV debut for the WWE managed by Theodore Long.  Long's character at the time was about the black man being held down by the white man so he started the short lived Theodore Long 5 Minute White Boy Challenge.  Initially Mack faced enhancement talent in the first three outings, then mid-carders Spike & Bubba Ray Dudley before ultimately being defeated in less than 30 seconds by Goldberg and officially ending the gimmick.

Long would join The Coach and Jerry "The King" Lawler on commentary where he would continue his black man being held down by the white man propaganda.


April 21, 2003 Atlanta, GA
defeated Sean Evans with a running powerslam at 1:46

April 28, 2003 Boston, MA
defeated unknown at 1:58
During this match on commentary Long told The Coach he was the only black man he knew who had a calendar with out the month of February on it.  February is Black History Month.  Mack's opponent was never mentioned by name.

May 12, 2003 Philadelphia, PA
defeated Mike & Ken Phoenix in a double challenge
Ken Phoenix would go on to become Kenny of the Spirit Squad.  This night was also the night that the Legion of Doom made a surprise one night return wrestling Tag Team Champions: RVD & Kane

May 19, 2003 Greenville, SC
defeated Spike Dudley by submission with the Black Out cobra clutch at 4:59
This was also the night that Triple H wrestled Ric Flair in the main event and post show they had an impromptu celebration for Flair.

May 26, 2003 Mobile, AL
defeated Bubba Ray Dudley by submission with the Black Out cobra clutch at 2:30

June 9, 2003 Miami, FL
defeated D-Von Dudley by submission with the Black Out cobra clutch at 4:14, this was never officially called a Five Minute White Boy Challenge even though he won the match in less than five minutes.  No reason was given as to why it wasn't.

June 23, 2003 Madison Square Garden
was defeated by Goldberg with the jackhammer in 26 seconds
This was the only Open Challenge Five Minute White Boy Challenge.  Mack tried to attack Goldberg in his pyro and failed.  The Garden was absolutely crazy for Goldberg.

This was the final Five Minute White Boy Challenge, I'm not sure why the concept was dropped as Long's character did not change after and he continued managing Mack.  Possibly because Mack was no longer undefeated.

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Saturday, October 22, 2016

Random Wrestling: Despina Mantagas


I was watching AWA WrestleRock 86 which featured a 10 women battle royal.  I was familiar with all the competitors in the match except one, "The Greek Goddess" Despina Mantagas.

My first impression was she was pretty and I like her wrestling gear, but I was really impressed with her skill and strength in the ring.  Researching her on the internet I couldn't find very much but this is what I discovered.

She was trained by the Fabulous Moolah debuting in 1984 wrestling in Continental before going to the AWA.  She also wrestled in Japan, the WWE, Florida, Mid-Atlantic, Mexico, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and the LPWA.

At one point she was married to Tarzan Goto.  I've noticed in her matches sometimes she wrestled barefoot and other times with boots on.

I have no idea if she ever held a championship, but she did compete in the first ever mixed-tag team match in FMW,


On October 26, 1990 at the Gifu Minou City Gym she and her husband Tarzan Goto defeated Megumi Kudo and Ricky Fuji.



You can find several matches of hers on You Tube, here are a few:

Despina & Leilani Kai vs. Princess Victoria & Velvet McIntyre
9/01/1984 WWF Philadephia Spectrum
Really great match going nearly 15 minutes really showing just how good women's wrestling was in the mid 1980's.

Strap Match: Despina Mantagas vs. Delta Dawn
12/10/1989 FMW Korakuen Hall Tokyo, Japan
This three minute clip is joined in progress and is typical of the hard hitting style that was ladies wrestling in Japan.


Tag Team Champions: Misty Blue Simmes & Heidi Lee Morgan vs. Despina Mantagas & Rustee Thomas
LPWA Super Ladies
Ken Resnick calling the action.  Team America were the popular babyfaces in the match, and this match was essentially used to highlight them and put them over.  No disrespect to those in the match but Despina was clearly the most talented worker in the ring.  Morgan got the pin on Fox after and elbow drop.

I meet Rustee Fox November 13, 1998 in Livermore Falls, Maine at and EWA show, she was super nice and wrestled Malia Hosaka that night.

There are a lot more of her matches on You Tube you just need to do a search of her name and you'll see them for yourself.  From what I've seen of the matches that I watched she was one of the best during that time.  Why I had never heard of her I don't know, perhaps it was because she retired earlier than others.  I just glad that I have now had the opportunity to enjoy her work in the ring.

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Friday, October 21, 2016

Roy's Review: WrestleMania X & XI


Match 1: Owen Hart defeated Bret Hart. Very good match. One of the best opening matches in Wrestlemania history. Very good technical match and a great story to it. The Hart family feud is one of my favorite storylines in wrestling history.
8.75/10

Match 2: Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon defeated Doink the Clown and Dink. Awful, just awful.
0.5/10

Match 3: Randy Savage defeated Crush w/Mr. Fuji in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. The rules to this one were awful. They could battle anywhere and pins counted anywhere, but when someone was pinned they had 60 seconds to get back into the ring or they lost, not when they were pinned. Despite these terrible rules it wasn't a horrible match. It would have been way better had they used the normal Falls Count Anywhere rules. This was Savage's last match in WWE.
6/10

Match 4: Women's Champion Alundra Blayze defeated Leilani Kai. Kai was way past her prime and Blayze had only about 3 moves. This was pretty bad.
2/10

Match 5: Men on a Mission (Mo and Mabel) w/Oscar defeated Tag Team Champions The Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre) w/Johnny Polo by Count-Out. This match kinda sucked because MOM is terrible. Plus the count out finish on the biggest PPV of the year didn't help out either.
3.75/10

Match 6: WWF Champion Yokozuna w/Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette defeated Lex Luger with Mr. Perfect as special referee to retain. This was a pretty good match. I've always thought that Luger and Yoko had good matches with a really good story just for some reason the finish always ruins it. It kinda sucks that Perfect's back got re injured because the finish of this one was a good set up for a feud between him and Luger.
7/10

Match 8: Earthquake defeated Adam Bomb w/Harvey Wippleman. A 35 second squash
0/10

Match 9: Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon defeated Shawn Michaels w/Diesel in a Ladder Match to retain. This was absolutely crazy for 1994. Way ahead of its time. These guys killed it and deserved to win match of the year.
10/10

Match 10: Bret Hart defeated WWF Champion Yokozuna w/Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette to win the WWF Championship. Solid match but nothing really special. It was kinda what you would expect from these two. The finished really sucked. Yoko falling off the 2nd rope when going for the banzai drop and losing, awful.
6.75/10

This show is memorable for 2 reasons, the ladder match and Bret vs. Owen. The 2 Yoko matches would have been way better if the finishes didn't suck. Why did he always have bad finishes as champion? 


Match 1: The Allied Powers (Lex Luger and The British Bulldog) defeated Jacob and Eli Blu w/Uncle Zebekiah. This match sucked. The only time the Harris Brothers were even remotely good was in ECW. Luger and Bulldog were a bad team. Mostly because Luger was terrible.
3.5/10

Match 2: Razor Ramon w/1-2-3 Kid defeated Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett w/The Roadie by DQ. A DQ finish at Wrestlemania is terrible, especially in a title match. Aside from that this was a solid match as these 2 always had. The DQ came when Razor had Jarrett up in the Razor's Edge and The Roadie came in and clipped his knee.
7/10

Match 3: The Undertaker w/Paul Bearer defeated King Kong Bundy w/Ted Dibiase. This match was awful because Bundy is awful. Dibiase had the urn at the beginning of the match. Taker got it back but Kama came out and stole it back.
3.5/10

Match 4: Owen Hart and Yokozuna w/Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette defeated Tag Team Champions The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) to win the titles. Yoko was Owen's mystery partner. This was a solid match and a great moment for Owen. I kinda wanted to see this match go a few more minutes.
6.5/10

Match 5: Bret Hart defeated Bob Backlund in an I Quit match with Roddy Piper as special referee. This was awful. About every 15-20 seconds, Piper was jamming the microphone in someones face, asking "Waddya Say?" If Piper had stayed out of it, it may have been better but the wrestling was bad too. The finish sucked to because Backlund didn't even say I Quit. He said Yeah instead.
3/10

Match 6: WWF Champion Diesel w/Pamela Anderson defeated Shawn Michaels w/Sycho Sid and Jenny McCarthy to retain. This was a good match but not nearly as good as many people say. I don't think it should have been Match of the Year. It was a good match up until the ending. The finish was super rushed.
7.5/10

Match 7: Lawrence Taylor w/The All-Pro Team defeated Bam Bam Bigelow w/The Million Dollar Corporation. The 2 teams got into a brawl before the match even started. Taylor did okay but had a super limited moveset. This match was watchable but not really anything more. It wasn't the worst match on the card and it had a guy who was making his wrestling debut.
5/10

This is one of the worst Wrestlemanias. There really isn't a match that is worth getting excited for. Bret Hart had a terrible match and Shawn Michaels' match was good but not great.

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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

AWA Wrestlerock 1986

I recently was looking through the vault section of WWE Network in the AWA and found four of their supershows, including the only AWA PPV just listed in the TV section.  The shows are this one here, Super Sunday and Superclash II & III.


April 20, 1986 
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hubert H. Humprey Metrodome

Commentary: Rod Trongard & Larry Nelson
Interviewer: Ken Resnick
Ring Announcer: Gary Michael Capetta
Duration: 3 hours 42 minutes

At the beginning of the show there were so many empty seats on the floor and in the stands, it did fill in by the end of the show.  It was interesting that Rod Trongard called the first eight matches by himself before Larry Nelson joined him.  The faces and heels came from separate sides of the ring.  Also there were several guest ring announcers in the evening.

Opens with the national anthem sung live

Brad Rheingans vs. Boris Zhukov with Skandor Akbar
1 Fall 15 minute time limit
American Olympian vs. Evil Soviet Communist to a hilt.  Rheingans gets an interview on the way to the ring.  Rheingans took a beating for the majority of the match before making his comeback with a powerslam for the pinfall.  8 min 31 seconds.  Decent very formulaic for that time frame.

Midget Tag Team Match
Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo vs. Little Mr. T & Cowboy Lang
1 Fall 15 minute time limit
At the beginning of the match Trongard busted out this gem "Big or small short or tall the AWA has it all" and later "Coast to coast and border to border we go all over."  Not going to lie, I love it!
Not your typical comedy filled spotfest.  This match was actually a physical seriously contended match with what I would call only one comedy spot.  Lang and Mr. T got the win when Lang pinned Littlebrook with a scissor roll.  10 min 1 second.

Wahoo McDaniel vs. Col. Debeers
1 Fall 15 minute time limit
Short match, basically punch, kick, and chops with Wahoo getting disqualified for throwing DeBeers out over the top rope.  Post match McDaniels and DeBeers had a better match/fight on the floor before officials separated them.

Tiger Mask vs. "Rock n' Roll" Buck Zumhofe
1 Fall 15 minute time limt
Pre-match promo with Zumhofe while Tiger Mask made his entrance.  There was so much feedback you couldn't understand Zumhofe.  Mitsuharu Misawa was under the hood as Tiger Mask in thsi match.  This was no Dynamite Kid classic, in fact Zumhofe was outclassed by Tiger Mask who seemed not impressed to be there.  Tiger Mask gets the win when he does a front flip off the top rope and crashes into a standing Zumhofe.


Ken Resnick interviews Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham calling them former WWF Tag Team Champions.

Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham vs. The Fabulous Ones: Stan Lane & Steve Keirn 
I was never a fan of the Fabulous Ones, I always preferred Lane in the Midnight Express.  Really great tag team match with four guys that really know what they are doing.  Lane had Rotundo set up for a piledriver when Windham came off the top rope with a elbow to the back of the had and scored the three count.  Classic 80's good guy doing what the bad guy does and getting cheered for it.

Giant Baba vs. "Bulldog" Bob Brown
1 Fall 20 minute time limit
Terrible, just terrible.  Baba wins with a kick in the chest


Harley Race vs. Rick Martel
1 Fall 20 minute time limit
Interview with Race on the way the ring. I've never seen these two wrestle each other before.  This match started a bit slow but after a few minutes they turned it on and just went for it battling to a double count-out.  I'm not even angry about it, it was truly a fantastic match!  After the match they kept at it on the floor until it was broken up by officials.

Ten Women Battle Royal
Sherri Martel won last eliminating AWA Women's Champion: Candi Devine.  Other competitors: Joyce Grable, Kat LeRoux, Luna Vachon, Rose Devine, Taylor Thomas, Destina Montagus, Misty Blue Simmes, Debbie Combs. Near the end of the match Tongard confused Debbie Combs and Champion Devine calling one the other.

The only lady in match I had never heard of was Despina Montagas and I was very impressed with her in the match especially her strength.

Sgt. Slaughter vs. Kamala the Ugandan Giant with Skandor Akbar
Slaughter is in GI Joe ring gear.  Bad match, fans were popping big time for Slaughter though, who won by disqualification when Akbar interfered.  Larry Nelson conducted a post match promo with Sgt. Slaughter, he gathered up a few kids to say the pledge of allegiance.

AWA Tag Team Championship
Champions: "Big" Scott Hall & Curt Hennig vs. The Long Riders: "Wild" Bill & Scott "Hog" Irwin
1 Fall 60 minute time limit
 Hall is awarded a trophy from Pro Wrestling Report for being voted Most Popular Wrestler.  This match wasn't very good at all.  For some reason Hennig and Wild Bill were in the match 95% of the time.  Hennig pinned Wild Bill with a missile dropkick.


Larry Nelson conducted a post match promo with the champs.

European Rules Match
Scott LeDoux vs. Larry Zbyszko with Go the Ninja
10 two minute rounds with 1 minute rest breaks
Ken Resnick conducted a pre-match promo with Ledoux.  Special Referee Larry "The Axe" Hennig.  This match was basically a hot mess.  Both men wore four ounce karate gloves, but it was never made clear how you can win the match.  At the end of the first round the bell rang and Larry Nelson asked what that bell was all about.  Midway through the second round Trongard said this could end many ways.  It was basically punches, kicks, and take downs with then awkward ground grappling.  At the beginning of the 5th round Zbyszko throws LeDoux to the floor and posts him drawing the disqualification.  Larry Nelson conducted a post match interview with LeDoux.

AWA World Champion: Stan "The Lariat" Hansen vs. Nick Bockwinkel
1 Fall with a 60 minute time limit
On his way to the ring Hansen beat up Larry Nelson.  As you can imagine this was a wild and crazy Hansen style brawl.  I've never seen Bockwinkel in a match like this before, he didn't have a choice though, it was survival!  Also the perennial heel Bockwinkel was getting baby face reactions.  After several minutes of these guys beating the tar out of each other we get a ref bump and Bockwinkel gets several pin falls that the ref doesn't see.


Of course he comes too in time to see Hansen back body drop Bockwinkel over the top rope drawing the disqualification and giving Bockwinkel the win and Hansen retaining the title.  Of course after the match they keep fighting.  10 minutes 8 seconds, felt longer, in a good way.  Larry Nelson conducted a post-match interview with Bockwinkel.

Main Event Steel Cage
Greag Gagne & "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka w/ Verne Gagne vs. King Kong Brody & The Barbarian w/ Shiek Adnan Al-Kaissie 
1 Fall to a finish no time limit
If Greg & Snuka win Verne gets Al-Kaissie in the cage for 10 minutes.  This was contested under standard tag team rules, just in a cage.  Brody wasn't the typical wildman that we are used to.  Gagne and Brody got busted open well, Barbarian just has a cat scratch,  Oh my god, the pin fall came when Gagne was down on all fours, Barbarian and Snuka were both standing with Barbarian holding Snuka open for a shot from Brody who threw a dropkick knocking Barbarian backwards over Gagne tripping Barbarian and Snuka falling onto him for the pin...seriously.

All four men battle to the back and Vern grabs Al-Kaissie ramming him into the cage twice before throwing him in the ring where Al-Kaissie was bleeding profusely.   This wasn't your typical "10 minutes in the ring" this was a match! So yes Verne actually Main Evented the card.  Verne gets the pin with a small package. 3 minutes 49 seconds.  Larry Nelson conducted a post match interview with Verne who stated that, that was his last match.  Verne would wrestle three more matches after this before ending his in ring career.

Steel Cage
The Road Warriors: Hawk & Animal vs. The Fabulous Freebirds: Michael PS Hayes & "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin
In the first minutes Hayes eats the cage and is busted open.  Standard match with the Warriors dominating and getting a quick win after a few minutes when Hayes accidentally hit Garvin with a foreign object and Animal getting the pin on Garvin.  7 minutes 18 seconds.


Even though the previous match was announced at the Main Event the Warrior vs. Freebirds was the last match on the tape.  Checking a couple websites also shows that this match happened prior to Gagne & Snuka vs. Brody & Barbarian.

Also checking those same websites show that a match on the card appears to have been cut from this broadcast on the WWE Network.  The Rocker vs. Playboy Buddy Rose & Doug Somers.  Now before any says anything here is a video capture I found on the internet of the match with the WWE logo on the screen.


I wonder why it was cut.

Also cut from this version, and I'm not upset about it, was a concert performed by Waylon Jennings, to which I question about Waylon Jennings qualifies as rock music

This would be the last dome show for the AWA with an announced recorded attendance of 23,300 but inside the 65 thousand seat dome it looked sparse.  If I didn't list the time limit it was because it wasn't mentioned same with the time of the match.

Rod Trongard
Rod Trongard just has one of those amazing voices that I just love from wrestling's past.

I've never seen this show before and was surprised to see some guys on the show like Giant Baba, Rotundo and Windham.

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Thursday, October 13, 2016

Defunct WWE Championships

Many of us are familiar with Championships that are no longer active in the WWE.  You can read about them on their own web page, World Championships, European Championship, World Tag Team Championships, Women's Championship, Light Heavyweight, Cruiserweight, Hardcore, Women's Tag Team Championship, and the Diva's Championship.  They even list the WCW World Championship and all the ECW Championships.

However there are several championships that were created over the years and were only recognized for a short time that the WWE currently doesn't acknowledge their existence.


WWWF United States Tag Team Championships
July 1958 - July 29, 1967

Started in July 1958 at the NWA United States Tag Team Championship for the Capitol Wrestling Corporation with a name change to the WWWF once they left the NWA in April 1963.  No reason was given for them being abandoned.  You can read the complete title lineage here.

First Champions: Mark Lewin & Don Curtis defeating Hans Schmidt & Dick the Bruiser in a tournament final

Last Champions: Bruno Sammartino & Spiros Arion


Longest Reign: The Fabulous Kangaroos: Al Costello & Roy Heffernan 409 Days November 28, 1960 - January 11 1962 defeated Johnny Valentine & Chief Big Heart defeated by Buddy Rogers & Johnny Barend

The Fabulous Kangaroos
Most Reigns: Team: The Fabulous Kangaroos: Al Costello & Roy Heffernan 3 for 514 days, Individual: Dr. Jerry Graham 6 for 632 days

WWWF United States Heavyweight Championship
April 6, 1963 - March 1976

Was created after the WWWF left the NWA to be their secondary championship behind the World Championship.  Looking at the title lineage it was pretty much the Bobo Brazil Championship and I would dispute the authenticity of that final title run.  But then again look at when Duane Gill at the Light Heavyweight Championship.  You can read the complete title lineage here.

First Champions: Bobo Brazil was awarded the Championship upon it's creation

Last Champions: Bobo Brazil

Longest Reign: Bobo Brazil 1837 Days February 19, 1971 - March 1976 was awarded the Championship after Pedro Morales vacated it when he won the World Championship, title was abandoned.


Most Reigns: Bobo Brazil 7

WWF North American Heavyweight Championship
February 13, 1979 - April 23, 1981

Only 3 people held the North American Championship with the longest and last reign belonging to Seiji Sakaguchi at 532 days until the title was abandoned.  Essentially this title was the precursor to the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship which was "won" by Pat Patterson November 1, 1979 while he was still the North American Heavyweight Champion.


Ted Dibiase February 13, 1979 - June 19, 1979 Allentown, PA
     awarded the championship upon signing with the WWF

Pat Patterson June 19, 1979 - November 18, 1979 Allentown, PA

Seiji Sakaguchi November 18, 1979 - April 23, 1981 Otaru, Japan

The official WWE History states that on September 1, 1979 Pat Patterson unified his North American Heavyweight Championship with the fictional South American Heavyweight Championship by defeating Johnny Rodz in the equally fictional tournament in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to be crowned the first ever Intercontinental Champion.

WWWF / WWF International Heavyweight Championship
July 1959 - October 31, 1985


The first time the WWWF or Capitol Wrestling Corporation recognized this title was in July 1959 when Antonio Rocca defeated Buddy Rogers, was later declared inactive in 1963, assuming when WWWF withdrew from the NWA.  Revitalized in 1982 appears to have been awarded to Tony Parisi.

Gino Brito August 1982 Buffalo, NY defeated Parisi

Tatsumi Fujinami August 30, 1982 - April 3, 1983 Madison Square Garden

Tatsumi Fujinami
Riki Choshu April 3, 1983 - August 4, 1983 Tokyo Japan

Tatsumi Fujinami August 4, 1983 - October 31, 1985 Tokyo Japan

Akira Maeda March 25, 1984 - July 23, 1984 Madison Square Garden
     defeated Pierre Lefebvre at MSG to be recognized by the WWF.  Maeda defended the title in the        UWF until July 23 when the WWF and UWF ended their affiliation.

Fujinami defended the Championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling and the WWF for the entirety of his second run with the championship until the companies ended their affiliation.  Why the WWF started a second lineage with UWF I couldn't tell you.

WWWF/WWF International Tag Team Championships
June 1, 1969 - January 1, 1972
May 24, 1985 - October 31, 1985

Recognized in the WWWF as a secondary tag team championship but primarily defended in the Pittsburgh Territory.  The titles were initially vacated in January 1, 1972 when the territory was sold to the NWF.  Later reactivated and recognized in both the WWF and NJPW until their affiliation ended October 31, 1985.  You can read about the title lineage here and here.

First Champions: Rising Sons: Toru Tanaka & Mitsu Arakawa June 1, 1969 awarded championship

Last Champions: Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura May 24, 1985 Kobe, Japan defeated Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis in tournament final

The Mongols: Geeto & Bepo (Nikolai Volkoff)
Longest Reign: The Mongols: Bepo & Geeto 368 days June 15, 1970 - June 18, 1971 defeated Victor Rivera & Tony Marino MSG defeated by Bruno Sammartino & Dominic DeNucci Pittsbugh, PA



Most Reigns: Team: The Mongols 2 for 501 Days, Individual: Geeto Mongol 3 for 515 Days

Geeto Mongol & Johnny DeFazio
Champions 12/18/1971 - 1/1/1972
This title was precursor to the IWGP Tag Team Championships that New Japan established December 12, 1985

WWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship
September 1965 - October 31, 1985

The early lineage of the Championship is not exact.  Paul DeGalles is the first recognized champion when Toots Mondt, who was a partner with Vince Sr., took over the Pittsburgh Territory as DeGalles has been recognized as the International Junior Heavyweight Champion since July 1960 in West Virginia when Mondt ran that territory.

Second Version the one awarded to Wild Pegasus
Title was declared vacant in 1972 when then champion Johnny DeFazio retired.  The title was re-established on January 20, 1978 when Carlos Jose Estrada defeated Tony Garea in a tournament final in Undiondale, NY.  Three days later at Madison Square Garden Tatsumi Fujinami won the title and took it to New Japan where it was primarily defended until October 31, 1985 when WWF & New Japan ended their affiliation and the title was abandoned.  If it was defended in the US it was mostly just at Madison Square Garden.  You can read the complete title lineage here or here.

Dynamite Kid
2/7/1984 - 12/28/1984
First Champion: Paul DeGalles September 1965 - October 15, 1965 was defeated by Johnny DeFazio

Last Champion: The Cobra July 28, 1985 - October 31, 1985 defeated Hiro Saito

Longest Reign: Tatsumi Fujinami October 4, 1979 - December 1981 defeated Ryuma Go, vacated the title to move the the heavyweight division.


Most Reigns: Tiger Mask 3 (official) Johnny DeFazio 4 (disputed)

The physical belt that represented this championship was later used as a trophy and presented to "Wild Pegasus" Chris Benoit when he won the 1994 Super-J Cup Tournament.

This title was precursor to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship that New Japan established in the summer of 1986.

WWF Canadian Championship
August 18, 1985 - January 22, 1986

AWA World Champions Rick Martel and WWF Canadian Champion Dino Bravo
The WWF had purchased the Montreal based Lutte Internationale promotion and crowned Dino Bravo as the Canadian Champion while they toured Canada. The title was abandoned when Bravo left the promotion making him the only person to hold this Championship.

WWWF / WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship
December 18, 1978 - 1990

Awarded to Antonio Inoki by Vincent J. McMahon (Sr) upon his debut in the WWF and was recognized by the WWF and NJPW.  When the companies parted ways on October 31, 1985 it was then only recognized by NJPW until it was retired in 1990.


Antonio Inoki December 18, 1978 - April 24, 1989 MSG awarded by Vince J. McMahon

Shota Chochishvili April 24, 1989 - May 25, 1989 Tokyo, Japan

Antonio Inoki vs. Shota Chochishvili
Antonio Inoki May 25, 1989 - 1990 Osaka, Japan

The physical belt was then later used in New Japan calling it The Greatest 18 Club Championship and was awarded to Riki Choshu on September 29, 1990, he lost the title to The Great Muta on August 16, 1992 who later retired the title and New Japan abandoned it.

WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championships
January 7, 1991 - 1991


This championship was created when UWF Japan and WWE started a brief affiliation.  The titles were awarded to Perro Aguayo and Gran Hamada who were the only champions when the affiliation ended later in the year.

Of course after I did all this work I found this article on the WWE.com website talking about the 10 Championships You Never Knew Existed in the WWE.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment and check out my other blog posts and give a like to the Facebook page!

Later Readers!


Monday, October 10, 2016

Signed Trading Cards: Rene Dupree


Rene Dupree is the son of wrestler Emile Dupree is the current promoter for Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling in the Canadian Maritime's.  He is also a former two time WWE tag team champion with Sylvain Grenier as La Resistance and with Kenzo Suzuki.

My buddy Roy got these cards signed for me at and IWE show that Dupree was booked at in Brewer, Maine.


2005 WWE Topps Heritage card 24




2006 WWE Topps Heritage card 24


I one day hope to go to a show in Canada, just to say I've been to a wrestling event in another country.  Most likely it will be one summer at a Maritime's tour show.

Thanks for stopping by, please leave a comment, check out my other posts and like my facebook page.

Later Readers!