Wrestling with the Pandemic

I don't do a lot of opinion pieces on this blog.  Yes it can be argued that every post is in essence my opinion about the about the topic I am writing about.  Typically though, those posts are backed up with facts about the events or moments that I am writing about.  Today's post is just my opinion about the current state of wrestling.

The Corona Virus Pandemic has spread across the world essentially bringing it to it's knees.  With events greater than ten people being banned live entertainment has come to a screeching halt.  College sports, professional sports, concerts, plays, theaters, everything has stopped.

Professional wrestling thrives on being performed in front of an audience because the wrestlers feed off the audience's reaction. March 11, 2020 was the last day that both WWE & AEW presented their last shows in front of an audience.  AEW emanated from West Valley City, Utah for Dynamite while NXT was live from Full Sail University.

Penelope Ford with a fisherman's suplex pin on Ana Jay in AEW

Since then both companies have continued to present shows featuring matches with no crowds.  For my money AEW has done a better job with their shows, for the most part, than WWE has done with their multiple shows.  WWE even presented a taped WrestleMania which I was much better than I thought it would be.  WWE have been taping their shows in Orlando area while AEW taped shows first in Jacksonville, Florida before moving tapings to Norcross, Georgia.

It should be noted that neither company is using their full talent rosters due to travel, health risks, and quarantine situations.

WWE has even already taped the Money in the Bank PPV matches at Titan Towers in Stamford where the wrestlers started on the ground floor and fought to the roof where the briefcase was hanging.  I'm actually interested in watching this.

It's not just companies in America that are suffering from this.  In Japan, Mexico, England, Canada, and other countries promotions are either running shows with no crowd or not at all.  New Japan Pro Wrestling hasn't run a show since February 26th.  All Japan Pro Wrestling has run a show with no crowd.  Pro Wrestling Noah just completed the six event Global Tag League tournament with no audience.

Tournament winners and new tag team champions: Dr. Wagner Jr. & Rene Dupree

In Mexico CMLL the longest continuously operating wrestling promotion in the world hasn't had a show since March 13th in Mexico City while their biggest competitor Lucha Libre AAA ran their first show since March 15th with no crowd on April 18th.  The oddest part of this show is that it featured seven one on one matches.  Most cards in Mexico feature several tag and trios matches with very few singles matches, much less and entire card of them.

Independent wrestlers has been hurt the most, most companies haven't run a show in over a month which means a month of not working.  Limitless Wrestling, my local promotion, at the end of March after having to cancel their March show ran a taping at the Limitless Dojo.  From what I understand they taped 31 matches to air weekly in IWTV, a limited series show call Pandemic at the Dojo.  Four episodes have aired to date and they are well worth you time to watch them.

Basic Becca ready for action at the Limitless Dojo

I don't know when this is all going to be over and when we are going to be able to get back to going to wrestling shows.  At this point I'm thinking we would be lucky if we could be able to attend a show in June.  Limitless has already had to cancel two shows, most likely their May show as well.  Mikey and I had tickets to the AEW show in Boston scheduled for April 15th and that has been postponed to August 5th.

The only thing I know for sure is at that first Limitless show back, after the fans lose their mind for Rich Palladino coming to the ring, the first wrestler introduced is going to get the biggest pop they've ever heard as we all can't wait to get back to the 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 The Wrestling Insomniac on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Until next time!

Big Van Vader

This write up started as a brief career overview of Big Van Vader for my upcoming post about Wrestlers Who Died in 2018, however the more I wrote I decided to make this a post on it's own.

The Baby Bull in the AWA

After a failed football career Leon White was trained by Brad Rheingans debuting in the AWA as the Baby Bull in 1985.  In 1986 worked for Otto Wanz's Catch Wrestling Association under the name Bull Power.  The following year he won the CWA World Championship ending Wanz's near 9 year run as champion.  Strangely the match took place in Denver, Colorado.  He would go onto hold the championship three times.

Bull Power with the CWA Championship

He debuted in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1987 after being given the gimmick Big Van Vader and demolished Antonio Inoki in short order in his debut match causing a riot in Sumo Hall.  On May 25, 1989 he won his first of  three IWGP Championships.

Big Van Vader IWGP Champion

In November 1989 he debuted in Mexico for the Universal Wrestling Association.  He defeated El canek to win the UWA World Heavyweight Championship, a title he would hold for one year.  He also wrestled a couple matches for CMLL a few days after winning the UWA Championship.

Big Van Vader with the UWA Championship

In February 1990 New Japan battled All Japan in Supercard that lead to Vader going on to have a memorable feud with Stan Hansen including having his eye popped out of it's socket.  Vader pushed it back in and continued the match.

After getting his eye popped out

The first time I ever saw Vader was watching the Wrestle War 1991 tape and seeing Vader and Hansen battle to a wild and crazy double DQ.  On July 12, 1992 Vader defeated Sting at the Great American Bash to win the WCW World Championship, he would hold the title three times.

Big Van Vader with WCW Championship

I loved watching Vader in WCW he was so dominate and was just the man.  Then he went to WWF and well, he just wasn't.  After WWF he would return to prominence in All Japan winning the Triple Crown Championship and NOAH winning the GHC Tag Team Championships with 2 Cold Scorpio.  He would bounce around the independents, making sporadic appearances in TNA, WWE, and AJPW.

Big Van Vader as Triple Crown Champion

Vader & Scorpio NOAH GHC Tag Team Champions action figures

I saw Vader wrestle live just once on June 1, 2012 at the Pro Wrestling Syndicate 5th Anniversary show in Rahway, New Jersey.  On the card he wrestled Too Cold Scorpio in a hard hitting match that was much better than I expected it would be.  Vader won with a Vader Bomb.

My photos of Big Van Vader vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

From August 21, 1989 to December 12, 1989 Vader accomplished something that I do not think anyone else has ever duplicated.  He held three different world championships in three different promotions on three different continents.  Mexico's Universal Wrestling Association, Austria's Catch Wrestling Association, and Japan's NJPW IWGP Championship.

He caught the headlines once again in the summer of 2016 after Will Osprey and Ricochet had a much herald match in New Japan Pro Wrestling.  Vader was very critical of the match which lead to a twitter feud between Vader and Osprey.  This lead to a match on August 12, 2016 that saw Vader defeat Osprey at RevPro Uprising 2016 in Bethnal Green, London.

In April 2017 he wrestled his last tour of Japan, a three day stint wrestling in six man tags in Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Osaka.  His final match came on May 25, 2017 defeated The Ironman at WrestleJam V in Ringgold, Georgia.

In November of 2016 after a vehicle crash, Vader was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and was very public about the fact that he only had a couple years left because of it.  A year and a half later he succumbed to pneumonia on June 18, 2018 at the age of 63.

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!

The Last Match: Japanese Legends

It's been a long time since I made a post about The Last Match and it's time to bring it back.  This time I'm digging deep and looking at some of the Legends of Japanese wrestling.

Rikidozan

December 7, 1963 JWA Hamamatsu, Japan
with Michiaki Yoshimura & The Great Togo wrestled Buddy Austin, Ilio DiPaolo, & The Destroyer to a 60 minute time limit draw

The Father of Puroresu debuted in 1951 was a former Sumo wrestler before making the change to the squared circle.  He established the promotion Nihon Puroresu Kyokai  or Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance and established a training school.  He captured many championships in the Japan and a few in the United States.

He died December 15, 1963 from peritonitis a week after being stabbed by Yakuza member Katsuji Murata in a Tokyo nightclub on December 8th.

Antonio Inoki

April 4, 1998 NJPW Tokyo Dome, Japan
defeated Don Frye

Inoki began his training with Rikidozan in 1960 at the age of 17.  What he is best know for is his June 26, 1976 shoot match against Muhammad Ali that was not good.  He is also known for founding New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972.

In 1995 he stages the two day wrestling festival for peace in Pyongyang, North Korea that drew a combined 340,000 fans to the two events and saw Inoki defeated Ric Flair in their only match against each other.

A multiple time champion with titles from around the world he is also one of only a few people to be inducted into both he WCW & WWE Hall of Fame's.
 

Shohei "Giant" Baba

December 5, 1998 Tokyo, Japan
with Mitsuo Momota & Rusher Kimura defeated Haruka Eigen, Masanobu Fuchi, & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi

Trained by Rikidozan alongside Antonio Inoki both men debuted on the same night.  In 1972 several months after Inoki launched NJPW Baba opened his own promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling.  Holding several championships in Japan he was also a three time NWA World Heavyweight Champion.

Baba died January 31, 1999 at the age of 61 from cancer.

Toyonobori

February 20, 1973 NJPW Yokohama, Japan
defeated  Bruno Bekkar

A former Sumo wrestler he turned to professional wrestling in 1954 joining the JWA.  He became the second most popular wrestler in Japan behind Rikidozan, the two of them held multiple All Asia Tag Team Championships.

After Rikidozan's death Toyonobori and others would continue running JWA where he became the number one draw for a few years.  In 1966 he formed Tokyo Pro Wrestling but it folded in less than a year.  He announced his retirement in 1970 but came out of retirement two years later when Inoki launched NJPW to help provide name value for his cards.

He died on July 1, 1998 from heart failure.

Toyonobori is often overlooked in the history of Japanese wrestling for the layperson.  Most all have heard of Rikidozan and his two prize students Inoki and Baba who would go on to form the two biggest promotions in the history of Japan.  I can't find any of his matches on New Japan World but there are some on YouTube.

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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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.

You Tube: Kevin Von Erich vs. Johnny Rodz

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.

YouTube: Greg Gagne vs. Jose Estrada

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. 

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Japanese Championships: One Year Champions

When preparing the article I decided to go with what I consider the three top promotions in Japan.

IWGP: International Wrestling Grand Prix Heavyweight Championship

Big Van Vader
August 10, 1989 - August 19, 1990 374 Days defeated for and defeated by Riki Choshu

The Great Muta
August 16, 1992 - September 20, 1993 400 Days defeated Riki Choshu defeated by Shinya Hashimoto

Shinya Hashimoto
May 1, 1994 - May 3, 1995 367 Days defeated Tatsumi Fujinami defeated by Keiji Mutoh

April 29, 1996 - August 31, 1997 489 Days defeated Nobuhiko Takada defeated by Kensuke Sasaki

Yuji Nagata
April 5, 2002 - May 2, 2003 392 Days defeated Tadao Yasuda defeated by Yoshihiro Takayama

Hiroshi Tanahashi
January 4, 2011 - February 12, 2012 404 Days defeated Satoshi Kojima defeated by Kazuchika Okada

Kazuchika Okada
April 7, 2013 - May 3, 2014 391 Days defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated by AJ Styles

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Jushin Thunder Liger
January 4, 1993 - September 24, 1994 628 Days defeated Ultimo Dragon vacated title due to injury

February 7, 1998 - March 17, 1999 403 Days defeated Shinjiro Otani defeated by Koji Kanemoto

Heat aka Minoru Tanaka
December 14, 2003 - January 4, 2005 387 Days defeated Jado defeated by Tiger Mask

Prince Devitt
November 11, 2012 - January 4, 2014 419 Days defeated Low Ki defeated by Kota Ibushi

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships

Tencozy: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima
July 20, 2000 - September 23, 2001 430 Days defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata defeated by Osami Nishimura & Tatsumi Fujinami
mit
Cho-Ten: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Mashahiro Chono
March 24, 2002 - June 13, 2003 446 Days won vacant titles defeated by Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yutaka Yoshie

Bad Intensions: Karl Anderson & Giant Bernard
June 19, 2010 - January 4, 2012 564 Days defeated Seigigun: Wataru Inoue & Yuji Nagata defeated by Tencozy: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima

Bullet Club: Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows
January 4, 2014 - January 4, 2015 365 Days defeated KES: Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer defeated by Meiyu Tag: Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata

Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship

Jumbo Tsuruta
January 19, 1991 - January 28, 1992 374 Days defeated and was defeated by Stan Hansen

Mitsuharu Misawa
August 22, 1992 - July 28, 1994 705 Days defeated Stan Hansen defeated by "Dr. Death" Steve Williams

January 20, 1997 - May 1, 1998 466 Days defeated Kenta Kobashi defeated by Toshiaki Kawada

Toshiaki Kawada
September 6, 2003 - February 16, 2005 529 Days won vacant title defeated by Satoshi Kojima

Satoshi Kojima
February 16, 2005 - July 3, 2006 502 Days defeated Toshiaki Kawada defeated by Taiyo Kea

Suwama
August 29, 2010 - October 23, 2011 420 Days defeated Minoru Suzuki defeated by Jun Akiyama

Kento Miyahara
February 12, 2016 - current 377 Days won vacant title

World Tag Team Championship

Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki
June 28, 2008 - January 3, 2010 554 Days defeated Joe Doering & Keiji Mutoh defeated by Masakatsu Funaki & Keiji Mutoh

World Junior Heavyweight Championship

Masanobu Fuchi
January 3, 1987 - January 20, 1989 748 Days defeated Kuniaki Kobayashi defeated by Joe Malenko

October 20, 1989 - May 21, 1993 1,309 Days defeated Joe Malenko defeated by Dan Kroffat

Dan Kroffat
July 12, 1994 - September 10, 1995 425 Days defeated Masanobu Fuchi defeated by Yoshinari Ogawaka

Yoshinari Ogawa
July 19, 1998 - June 16, 2000 698 Days won vacant title, vacated title defecting to Pro Wrestling Noah

Kendo Kashin
April 13, 2002 - February 12, 2004 won vacant title, title vacated due to inactivity

Shuji Kondo
October 22, 2005 - February 17, 2007 483 Days defeated Taka Michinoku defeated by Katsuhiko Nakajima

Katsuhiko Nakajima
February 17, 2007 - March 1, 2008 378 Days defeated Shuji Kondo defeated by Silver King

Kaz Hayashi
February 6, 2009 - January 2, 2011 695 Days defeated Naomichi Marufuji defeated by Minoru

All Asia Tag Team Championships

Rikidozan & Toyonobori
June 7, 1960 - February 3, 1962 606 Days defeated Dan Miller & Frank Valois, defeated by Luther Lindsay & Ricky Waldo

Toyonobori & Rikidozan

Giant Baba & Toyonobori
May 29, 1964 - June 3, 1965 370 Days defeated Caripus Hurricane & Gene Kiniski, defeated by The Destroyer & Billy Red Lyons

Antonio Inoki & Michiaki Yoshimura
October 30, 1969 - December 1, 1971 762 Days defeated Mr. Atomic & Buddy Austin, vacated when Inoki left the promotion

Seiji Sakaguchi & Michiaki Yoshimura
December 12, 1971 - January 30, 1973 415 Days won vacant championship, vacated when Yoshimaru retired

The Great Kojika & Motoshi Okuma
May 31, 1979 - May 23, 1981 723 Days won vacant championship, defeated by David & Kevin Von Erich

Takashi Ishikawa & Akio Sato
June 11, 1981 - January 1, 1983 569 Days defeated David & Kevin Von Erich, vacated when Sato was injured

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Kenta Kobashi
May 25, 1992 - June 2, 1993 373 Days defeated Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat, defeated by The Eagle & The Patriot

Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
September 9, 1993 - December 5, 1994 451 Days defeated The Eagle & The Patriot, vacated championships

Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori

Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori
January 29, 1995 - January 9, 1998 1,076 Days defeated Fantastics: Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton in tournament final for vacant titles defeated by Wolf Hawkfield & Johnny Smith

Arashi & Nobutaka Araya
April 13, 2002 - June 20, 2003 433 Days won vacant championships, vacated titles when Arashi won the World Tag Team Championships with Keiji Mutoh

Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kensuke Sasaki
July 26, 2005 - October 29, 2006 460 Days defeated Shuji Kondo & "brother" YASSHI, vacated when Sasaki was injured

GHC: Global Honored Crown Heavyweight Championship

Kenta Kobashi
March 1, 2003 - March 5, 2003 735 Days defeated Mitsuharu Misawa defeated by Takeshi Rikio

Mitsuharu Misawa
December 10, 2006 - March 2, 2008 448 Days defeated defeated Naomichi Marufuji defeated by Takeshi Morishima

Takashi Sugiura
December 6, 2009 - July 10, 2011 581 Days defeated for and defeated by Go Shiozaki

Takeshi Morishima
January 22, 2012 - January 27, 2013 371 Days defeated Go Shiozaki defeated by KENTA

GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship

Yoshinobu Kanemaru
July 10, 2004 - July 18, 2005 373 Days defeated Jushin Thunder Liger defeated by KENTA

Yoshinobu Kanemaru

October 31, 2009 - December 5, 2010 400 Days won vacant championship defeated by Kotaro Suzuki

Taiji Ishimori
January 27, 2013 - March 8, 2014 405 Days defeated Shuji Kondo defeated by Daisuke Harada

GHC Tag Team Championships

Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa

January 10, 2004 - January 23, 2005 379 Days defeated Yuji Nagata & Hiroshi Tanahashi, defeated by 2 Cold Scorpio & Doug Williams

Akitoshi Saito & Bison Smith

May 23, 2008 - September 21, 2009 486 Days defeated Team Ikko: Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura defeated by Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima

Killer Elite Squad: Davey Boy Smith & Lance Archer

February 11, 2015 - May 28, 2016 472 Days defeated TMDK: Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste, defeated by Naomichi Marufuji & Toru Yano

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships

KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji

July 16, 2003 - June 5, 2005 690 Days inaugural champions defeated by Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura 

Yoshinobu Kanemura & Kotaro Suzuki

July 13, 2008 - January 17, 2010 553 Days defeated Taiji Ishimori & KENA, vacated due to Suzuki injury

No One Year Champions

New Japan Pro Wrestling

IWGP Intercontinental Championship

IWGP Junior Tag Team Championships

Katsuyori Shibata 3 time Never Openweight Champion

NEVER Openweight Championship

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions

All Japan Pro Wrestling

Gaora Television Championship

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