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Monday, October 30, 2017

They Wrestled in TNA?

In this post we take a look at wrestlers you may not have known wrestled in TNA.  When I started researching this I was amazed at just how many people made brief or one shot appearances in the early days of TNA when they were a weekly PPV company.


The Road Warriors
December 18, 2002 Nashville, TN run in
January 15, 2003 Nashville, TN with "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes & Jeff Jarrett were defeated by Vince Russo, Low-Ki, Christopher Daniels, & Elix Skipper when Skipper pinned Rhodes

The Road Warriors did a run in interrupting a triple threat match giving Americas Most Wanted a win over Harris Twins and The Disciples of the New Church.  Two weeks later they teamed up with Dusty Rhodes and Jeff Jarrett in an eight-man tag. 


David Flair
December 18, 2002  - April 9, 2003 Nashville, TN

Flair made ten appearances wrestling in nine matches winning five of them.  He was involved in a feud initially with Curt Hennig, then later teaming with Mike Sanders against Jerry Lynn and Ron Killings.  He formed a faction with Brian Christopher and Erik Watts called Next Generation feuding with Dusty Rhodes.


Big Van Vader
February 12, 2003 Nashville, TN run in
February 26, 2003 Nashville, TN with Dusty Rhodes defeated Ron & Don Harris
June 24, 2015 Orlando, FL defeated Bram by DQ

In the early days of TNA the man they called Vader ran in and saved Dusty Rhodes from a double team beat down by Ron & Don Harris.  Vader then challenged them to a match which happened two weeks later.  Vader and Rhodes got the win by DQ when Sonny Siaki ran in, he received a Vader Bomb for his trouble.


Mike Awesome
April 16 - May 14, 2003 Nashville, TN

Mike Awesome's short run in TNA started with him wrestling ECW alums in Perry Saturn, New Jack, Sandman and others.  He then has singles matches with Cliff Compton & Mike Sanders.  In total he wrestled five matches losing four of them.  His only win was a one on one match with Cliff Compton.  I was always a fan of Awesome specifically his FMW and ECW days, I'd like to see these matches.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Roy's Reviews

This page is where you can find all of Roy's Reviews listed with the most recent being on the top.  Roy's Reviews are a combination of Live Events he has attended and DVD reviews. 




































Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Shows I've Attended

On this page you will find a list of the post of shows that I have attended.  They will be listed with the most recent on the top. 





































Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Second Generation wrestler Mark Young

If you're anything like me the name Mark Young probably doesn't ring any bells.  Then you find out he's a second generation wrestler and the mystery continues.  Is he related to legendary referee Tommy Young, to the Youngblood family, or perhaps even the Great Mae Young?  Incidentally he is not.  Maybe his given name will give it away, Luke Joseph Scarpa Jr.  That's right Mark Young is the son of Chief Jay Strongbow.

Mark Young was born April 23, 1967 and began is wrestling career in 1986 training with the legendary Stu Hart in his infamous dungeon.  He debuted for Stampede Wrestling in late 1986 as Mark Scarpa.

Over the next couple years he would tour the territories with stops in the WWF, Continental Wrestling, AWA, Portland Wrestling, and WCW.  In the Summer of 1989 he began a near year long run with the WWE competing as enhancement talent on TV shows and trading wins on house shows with other enhancement talents.


The biggest win of his WWE tenure came on September 30, 1989 in his Madison Square Garden debut in a televised win over Barry Horowitz.

From May to June 1990 he embarked on a three week tour of All Japan Pro Wrestling competing in the Super Power Series as Mark Scarpa.  He wrestled in singles and tag team matches teaming with Dustin Rhodes, Johnny Smith, Terry Gordy, & Abdullah the Butcher.

This is where the information gets a bit sketchy.  Online world of wrestling reports that Mark Young contacted them directly and stated that he broke his neck on the All Japan tour continued to wrestle for a month after the incident.  He then returned home to the US, got surgery, and retired.

However other information on the internet states that when he returned from Japan he competed in the Global Wrestling Federation under the name Todd Overbow out of Dallas, Texas.


His matches lessened in 1991 - 1993 where he had sporadic matches for WWE, WCW, GWF, & Mid-South Wrestling.  His last match was on May 8, 1993 in Highlandstown, Maryland for Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation teaming with Trent Young as Vince Young in a losing effort to Joe Thunder & Johnny Blaze.

Sadly Mark passed away on February 25, 2016 at only 48 years old.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

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Friday, October 20, 2017

Rey Mysterio Jr: The Weakest World Champion


At WrestleMania 22, April 2, 2006, in Chicago Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Randy Orton and World Heavyweight Champion: Kurt Angle in nine and a half minutes to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

I was not happy at all!  I was pissed when Mysterio won the Royal Rumble because for 60 of the 62 minutes he was in the ring he hid in the corner avoiding competition, if you're a heel that's smart, if your the underdog babyface you look weak.  

Mysterio winning the championship was the feel good moment stemming from the unfortunate death of Eddie Guerrero the previous November.  My thought is that it should have been Chavo an actual Guerrero family member to win the championship in Eddie's honor. 

I am of the opinion that Mysterio was booked as the weakest World Champion in recent history and it began before he won the Championship.  After winning the Rumble Mysterio was goaded into putting his WrestleMania title match on the line against Randy Orton at the No Way Out pay-per-view in Baltimore on February 19th.  A match that Mysterio lost.  Teddy Long the SmackDown general manager then re-inserted Mysterio in the match making it a Triple Threat.  He lost the match that he "earned" and then was awarded for no reason and put back in the match.  

Mysterio's title reign lasted 112 days from WrestleMania April 2, 2006 to July 23, 2006 at the Great American Bash, where he lost the championship to King Booker.  He competed in 48 matches during that period, sixteen of those were broadcast on television or PPV the rest were at house shows.  Of those sixteen matches only six of those did he win clean in the ring.  Of the ten remaining one was a tag match that his team won and one was a dq victory.  The remaining eight saw him come out on the losing end.
  

Mysterio's second reign as World Champion only got worse.  Lasting 28 days from June 20, 2010 to July 18, 2010 he competed in only thirteen matches of which three were televised.  He teamed with Big Show defeating Cody Rhodes & Jack Swagger by disqualification.  Then on July 18th at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view he defeated Jack Swagger in about ten minutes to retain the title only to have Kane cash in his Money in the Bank losing the title in less than a minutes.

Mysterio has had one reign as WWE Champion holding the title for only a couple hours.  On July 25, 2011 on Monday Night Raw from Hampton, Virginia Mysterio defeated Miz in the finals of a tournament to declare a new champion.  John Cena challenged Mysterio to a match that night and defeated Mysterio for the championship.

It's no secret to my friends that I am not a fan of Rey Mysterio, but it wasn't always that way.  Essentially I still am a fan of anything he did prior to being unmasked in WCW, after that though..pass.  Me being a fan of Mysterio or not though doesn't change the fact that in my opinion as World Champion he was made to look the fool.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Signed Trading Cards: Joey Ryan and LAX

These cards I got signed on September 22, 2017 in Westbrook, Maine at the Limitless Wrestling show "Question the Answers."  You can read my live report about it here.


Joey Ryan

The King of Dong Style made his Limitless Wrestling and I'm pretty sure State of Maine debut at show.  The card on the left is from the 2013 Tristar TNA LIVE set, the card on the right was Independently made in I believe 2013 in the 60 card IPW Trading Cards set.



LAX: Oritz & Santana

Better known to most as EYFBO Angel Ortiz and Mike Draztik have been in Limitless before and I'm sure will be back in the future.  This card is from a set of 5 cards that were made in conjunction with the State Island Yankees, the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, and Impact or Global Force Wrestling.  They were given out to everyone that attended the house show that was held at the ballpark.


I got a set for myself and Roy when I wrote the ballpark and they gave them to me.  TNA wanted $5 for the set, EYFBO actually had them for sale as well for $5.  Other wrestlers in the set include Allie, James Storm, Bobby Lashley, & EC3.  This is the first TNA trading cards since 2013.


Willow Nightingale

This isn't a trading card but a sticker, it is a little smaller than trading card size but it works for me.  I can't say enough positive about Willow.  This was my first time seeing her in person in the ring and she is really good, not to mention a fantastic personality and a pleasure to talk to.  She's coming back to Limitless next month and I look forward to seeing her in the ring again.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Friday, October 13, 2017

The Last Match: The Tag Teams of Arn Anderson

In this post we look The Last Match of The Tag Teams of Arn Anderson beginning with becoming and Anderson as a member of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew and concluding with his last Tag Team Championship reign with Paul Roma.
 

Ole Anderson
Billed as his nephew Arn took Gene's place as Ole's partner in The Minnesota Wrecking Crew.  The duo captured the NWA National Tag Team Championships and with Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard formed the Four Horseman.  The team broke up when Anderson was kicked out of the Horsemen.  The started teaming again in December 1989 when Arn returned to WCW after his run in the WWE and they would team again for a couple months before Ole retired.

First Match: April 13, 1985 Atlanta, Georgia
defeated Gene Ligon & Rocky King

Last Match: February 24, 1987 Rock Hill, South Carolina
defeated Johnny Ace & Tommy Angel

February 25, 1990 Wrestle War 1990 Baltimore, Maryland
defeated by NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers: Rick & Scott


Tully Blanchard
As memebers of the Four Horsemen they began teaming after Arn's partnership with Ole ended when he was kicked out of the group.  The duo left WCW together joining the WWE where they took on Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as their manager.  Together they won two NWA World Tag Team Championships and one WWE World Tag Team Championships.  The team came to an end when they left the WWE and Anderson resigned with WCW.

First Match: June 28, 1987 NWA Rock Hill, South Carolina
defeated Dexter Wescott & Rikki Nelson

Last Match: November 5, 1989 WWE House Show Waukegan, Illinois
defeated by WWE Tag Team Champions: Demolition: Ax & Smash


"Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko
The veteran duo dubbed themselves The Enforcers and dominated the tag team division winning WCW World Tag Team Championships.  Their partnership was short lived but the made an lasting impact.

First Match: July 9, 1991 Tallahassee, Florida
defeated The Young Pistols: Steve Armstrong & Tracy Smothers

Last Match: December 14, 1991 Dublin, Ireland
defeated by "Natural" Dustin Rhodes & Bill Kazmaier


"Beautiful" Bobby Eaton
Just two weeks after ending his team with Zbyszko Anderson joined the Dangerous Alliance and began teaming with another tag team specialist in "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton.  Just three weeks later they captured the WCW World Tag Team Championships holding them for four months.

First Match: December 25, 1991 The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia
defeated by "Natural" Dustin Rhodes & Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in a two out of three falls match

Last Match: November 18, 1992 Clash of the Champions XXI Macon, Georgia
defeated by Erik Watts & Kensuke Sasaki


Paul Roma
Roma joined the Horsemen at a time when other thought Tully Blanchard would be returning to the group.  His first match in almost two years teaming with Anderson.  Their team was short lived, as was this version of The Horsemen. 

First Match: June 7, 1993 WCW Saturday Night Atlanta, Georgia
defeated Don Brodie & Warren Quinn

Last Match: Octrober 6, 1993 WCW Saturday Night Atlanta, GA
defeated by "Stunning" Steve Austin & Paul Orndorff, this matched aired November 27, 1993

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Monday, October 9, 2017

Who is the most prolific tag team wrestler


In my lifetime there have been a few teams with longevity that is unreal.  For example The Rock n' Roll Express have been teaming since 1983 and are still going strong and The Road Warriors and The Dudley Boys were together for twenty years.

I'm a big fan of tag team wrestling and some wrestlers are better at it than others.  Some guys, like Billy Gunn, are good singles wrestlers but great tag team wrestlers.  In this post I take a look at wrestlers who excelled at tag team wrestling with different partners. 


"Enforcer" Arn Anderson
A member of the legendary Four Horsemen and Anderson Family "The Enforcer" first began teaming with Jerry Stubbs in the Alabama territory Southeast Championship Wrestling capturing the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship three times.  He had a fourth title reign with Pat Rose before leaving for Jim Crockett Promotions.

Once he arrived in the Carolina's he began teaming with Ole Anderson as The Minnesota Wrecking Crew.  Together the Anderson's captured the NWA National Tag Team Championships on April 28, 1985 holding them until early 1986 when Ole was injured.  The titles were later abandoned and replaced with the United States Tag Team Championships.

Next Anderson began teaming with Tully Blanchard, one of the greatest tag team of all time.  The duo would capture two NWA and one WWF World Tag Team Championships.  In the WWF Anderson and Blanchard were known as the Brain Busters.  Returning to WCW Anderson held the WCW World Tag Team Championships with Larry Zbyszko, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton, and Paul Roma.

In total Anderson had 11 reigns as Tag Team Champion with 7 different partners.


Stan Lane
Stan Lane was a Fabulous One, a Heavenly Body, a former member of the Midnight Express, and a 33 time tag team champion.

From 1982 until 1987 Steve Keirn and Stan Lane teamed as the Fabulous Ones touring the Southern territories and setting them on fire.  They captured the tag team championships twenty times in four different promotions including becoming 15 time AWA Southern Champions.  After breaking up they reunited briefly in 1991 in the USWA adding championship to their Legacy.

Lane joined the Midnight Express in early 1987 and it didn't take long for the duo to win tag team gold as he and partner Bobby Eaton defeated Ronnie Garvin & Barry Windham just four months after their formation.  They would hold the US Tag Team titles twice and the World Tag Team Championships one time during their near four year run as partners.

 April 9, 1992 Lane arrived in Smoky Mountain wrestling teaming with Tom Prichard to form The Heavenly Bodies managed by Jim Cornette.  The were the first ever SMW Tag Team Champions and just over a year later in May 1993 Lane left the team having held the titles five times.

In an interesting twist, Stan Lane wrestled his first match as a member of the Midnight Express on January 1, 1987 in Atlanta for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and is final match as a member of The Fabulous Ones in a Barbed-Wire Cage Match in the CWA on February 16, 1987.


"Beautiful" Bobby Eaton
Best known as being one half of the Midnight Express with "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey and later "Sweet" Stan Lane, Eaton has 23 reigns as tag team champion with ten different partners.

With Dennis Condrey they held 7 different championships a total of nine times ranging from little known regional and independent titles and the NWA World Tag Team Championship 3 times. With Stan Lane the duo held the NWA United States Tag Team Championships three times and the NWA World Tag Team Championship once.

Eaton held tag team championships with "Enforcer" Arn Anderson, Rikki Nelson, Sweet Brown Sugar, Duke Myers, Lanny Poffo, George Gulas, Mexican Angel, Great Togo, and others.


Billy Gunn
Gunn had three long term tag team partners starting with Bart Gunn than the Road Dog Jesse James and finally Chuck Palumbo.  With these three partners Gunn held six different championships 16 times.

As one half of the Smoking Gunns in the WWE they are three time tag team champions.  Prior to joining the WWE they wrestled as The Long Riders holding the International Wrestling Federation tag team championships twice.  They teamed together just for 3.5 years.

Gunn first teamed with Road Dogg Jesse James on the October 4, 1997 episode of Monday Night Raw.  over the next 18 years the duo would team on and off in multiple promotions including the WWE, TNA, and a few dozen independent promotions.  Known primarily as New Age Outlaws and being a part of Degeneration-X they also teamed under the names James Gang and Voodoo Kin Mafia in TNA.

In between his time teaming with Road Dogg, Gunn teamed with Chuck Palumbo under the tag team Billy & Chuck.  The duo were only together for about a year holding the World Tag Team Championships two times.  They created a tremendous buzz as their characters portrayed being in a relationship together.

Other men holding multiple tag team championships with different partners includes

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Signed Trading Cards: Rey Fenix, Sami Callihan, & More

In this post all the cards I got signed in person at live wrestling events.


Rey Fenix

I met Fenix at Limitless Wrestling July 21st, 2017 and he signed these for me.  On the left is a sticker released in 2016 by the Panini company in Mexico for the AAA promotion.  On the right is a fan made card from the 2016 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.


Super Crazy

These cards I also got signed at Limitless Wrestling in July.  The card on the left was released by San Francisco Toymakers in 2000 and included in their ECW figure line.  The card of the right is from the 2006 Topps United Kingdom Payback set.


Sami Callihan

I also got these cards signed at the July Limitless show. The card on the left is from the fan made 2016 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.  The card on the right is from the Topps 2015 Slam Attax card game and features Callihan as Solomon Crowe.  I'm slightly disappointed because I was distracted and he signed the back of the PWG card before I could say something.

 


Kushida

This card I did not get signed at Limitless.  I met Kushida at the Ring of Honor pay-per-view Best in the World 2017 on June 23rd in Lowell, Mass.  This card is from the Japanese 2015 King of Pro-Wrestling card set.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

Monday, October 2, 2017

They Wrestled in the WWE?

In this post I take a look at a few guys that you may not have known ever wrestled in the WWE.  Everyone one of these men I associated with wrestling in World Class, the NWA, Japan, AWA or anyplace but the WWE;


Jumbo Tsuruta
April 1, 1974 Madison Square Garden defeated Johnny Rodz

Tsuruta was recruited into wrestling by Shohei "Giant" Baba and sent to Texas to train with Dory Funk Jr.  He is the man who unified the NWA International Heavyweight, NWA United National, & the PWF  World Heavyweight Championships into the All Japan Pro Wrestling Triple Crown Championship on April 18, 1989.  He is also a former AWA World Heavyweight Champion and held numerous other championships.

However, I never knew that Jumbo had a match in the WWE.  His one and only appearance was on April 1, 1974 at the fabled Madison Square Garden where he defeated Johnny Rodz.  This match was part of a short 4 match tour he made in the States also wrestling in NWA St. Louis and Championship Wrestling from Florida.


Gino Hernandez
February 8, 1977 Philadelphia, PA defeated Sylvano Sousa at Championship Wrestling TV Taping
February 9, 1977 Hamburg, PA drew Johnny Rodz at All Star Wrestling TV Taping
March 7, 1977 Madison Square Garden defeated Johnny Rodz

When I hear the name Gino Hernandez the only place I think about it Texas.  Hernandez debuted in 1973 after training with Jose Lothario for Joe Blanchard's Southwest Championship Wrestling.  In Southwest he feuded with Lothario before forming a top heel tag team with Tully Blanchard; The Dynamic Duo.  In World Class Championship Wrestling he feuded with the Von Erichs teaming with "Gentlemen" Chris Adams losing a famed hair vs. hair match at the Cotton Bowl on October 6, 1985.  He turned on Adams in December blinding him with the Freebirds hair cream.

Sadly Hernandez died on February 2, 1986 from a cocaine overdose he was only 28 years old.


David & Kevin Von Erich
November 19, 1979 Madison Square Garden David defeated Davey O'Hannon 8:47
January 21, 1980 Madison Square Garden Kevin pinned Johnny Rodz with a Thesz press

The world famous Von Erich family are a Texas Wrestling institution.  There has been so much written about the Von Erich's that I don't need to rehash it here.  I knew about Kerry's run in the WWE from 1990 - 1992 but I wasn't aware of any other time on of them wrestled in the WWE.



However, in a five month period brother's David, Kevin, & Kerry all did.  For David and Kevin not only was it their only appearances in the WWE but it was at Madison Square Garden which is significant.  Incidentally Kerry defeated Jose Estrada on March 24, 1980 also at MSG.


"Wildfire" Tommy Rich
January 28, 1980 Scranton, PA wrestled WWF World Champion: Bob Backlund to a 60 minute time limit draw
February 18, 1980 Madison Square Garden defeated Johnny Rodz 7:41

Tommy Rich debuted in 1974 and is most likely best known for four day reign as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion defeating Harley Race on April 27, 1981 in Augusta, GA and losing it May 1, 1981 in Gainesville.

Prior to that though Rich made two appearances in the WWE where he wrestled then champion Bob Backlund and later making his only appearance at Madison Square Garden.  Otherwise Rich spent the majority of his career in the Southern Promotions and a couple years in ECW as the Big Don.


Greg Gagne
January 17, 1977 Madison Square Garden defeated Johnny Rodz
April 21, 1980 Madison Square Garden pinned Jose Estrada after two dropkicks
August 9, 1980 Shea Stadium pinned Rick McGraw

The son of promoter Verne Gagne his name is synonymous with the AWA.  I knew he had worked for both WCW and the WWE in producer or agents roles after his in ring career ended however I can't recall ever hearing about him wrestling anyplace other than the AWA.



The pattern that stands out for all of these competitors is that each of these competitors wrestled at Madison Square Garden which has long been considered the mecca of wrestling venues in the United States.  The only other connection is other than David Von Erich, they all wrestled "The Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz.

"The Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz
Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!