Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboats Intercontinental Championship Reign

Naturally, first thing that comes to mind when one mentions Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion is WrestleMania 3 and his victory of "Macho Man" Randy Savage. 

For many it is still the greatest WrestleMania match of all time, and the one that was the most talked about for decades.  Many, like myself, remember watching the build towards the match, the heinous Macho Man dropping the ring bell onto Steamboats throat numerous times from the top rope.  The damage to the larynx of the perennial fan favorite.  The vignettes of long recovery and and learning to speak again.

These are very prominent memories for me, but you know what isn't, his title reign.  I recall one tv match where Steamboat wrestled Hercules and Savage ran down and grabbed Hercules ankle in a awkward moment to prevent him from beating Steamboat.  The next thing I knew The Honky Tonk Man was the Intercontinental Champion.  Until I started this post I had never seen the match where he lost the title.

Steamboat held championship for a mere 64 days from March 29, 1987 to June 2, 1987.  Let's take a look at the matches.

March 29, 1987 Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan

WrestleMania III

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat with George "The Animal" Steel pinned Intercontinental Champion: Randy "Macho Man" Savage with Miss Elizabeth to win the Championship

April 23, 1987 Worcester Centrum, Massachusetts

WWF Superstars - Aired May 5, 1987

Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated Tiger Chung Lee

April 24, 1987 New Haven Coliseum, Connecticut 

Wrestling Challenge- Aired May 3, 1987

Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated Terry Gibbs

April 24, 1987 New Haven Coliseum, Connecticut 

Wrestling Challenge- Aired May 17, 1987

Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Natural" Butch Reed by count-out

April 25, 1987 Baltimore Arena, Maryland

"Macho Man" Randy Savage defeated Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  

by count-out

April 26, 1987 Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

April 27, 1987 Columbus, Ohio

Elimination Match: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Billy Jack Haynes & Jake "The Snake" Roberts defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage, The Honky Tonk Man and Hercules

April 28, 1987 South Bend, Indiana

Saturday Night's Main Event - Aired May 2, 1987 

Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated Hercules by disqualification

April 29, 1987 Syracuse, New York

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 1, 1987 Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 2, 1987 Rosemont Horizon, Illinois

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 3, 1987 Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 4, 1987 Peoria, Illinois

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 7, 1987 Cincinnati, Ohio

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 8, 1987 Springfield, Massachusetts

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 9, 1987 Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 10, 1987 Kansas City, Missouri 

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 11, 1987 Oakland, California

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 12, 1987 Anaheim, California

WWF Superstars - Aired May 30, 1987

Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat pinned Dusty Wolfe

May 13, 1987 San Diego, California

Wrestling Challenge - Aired May 24, 1987

Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat pinned "Iron" Mike Sharpe

May 15, 1987 Houston, Texas

Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 24, 1987 Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 25, 1987 Verdun, Quebec, Canada

"Macho Man" Randy Savage defeated Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat by count-out

May 26, 1987 Lake Placid, New York

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 29, 1987 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 30, 1987 St. Paul, Minnesota 

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

May 31, 1987 California, Pennsylvania 

Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage

June 2, 1987 Buffalo, New York

WWF Superstars - Aired June 13, 1987

The Honky Tonk Man with "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart pinned Intercontinental Champion: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat  to win the championship

This match with Honky Tonk Man was short just under 4 minutes, Steamboat went for a small package near the ropes, Honky grabbed the ropes reversing it and holding on through the three count.  

Steamboat defended the title 26 times from coast to coast and in 3 Canadian provinces.  As you can see the schedule was demanding and all over the place.  Allegedly  Steamboat asked for time off the home for the birth of his son and it angered McMahon who was going to have him drop the title to Butch Reed, but he no showed the card so instead he lost to the Honky Tonk Man.  In an interview Steamboat said Hogan was mad at him for outshining Hogan and Andre at Mania.  

Steamboat was not pushed through the remainder of his run in the WWF and finished up at WrestleMania IV losing to Greg "The Hammer" Valentine in the opening round of the WWF Championship tournament.

Steamboat was one of the all time best wrestlers, except for the build to WrestleMania III I really feel he was wasted in the WWF during this 3 year run and his short return in 1991.  The NWA territories is where he really was able to shine.  

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page.  You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book the 2024 Limitless Wrestling Almanac, or any of my other books.

Until next time!

Marty Jannetty's Intercontinental Championship Reign

Marty Jannetty was an excellent wrestler and many say he was a victim of his own demons and it prevented him from climbing hire in the ranks of professional wrestling.  I'm not here to speculate about any of that, I'm here to write about his only singles title reign in a major promotion, the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

Along side Shawn Michael's as The Rockers they had a successful tag team run in Central States Wrestling and the AWA where they captured the Tag Team Championships in both promotions.  In the WWE from 1988 until January 1992 when the team broke up after the infamous Barber Shop segment that saw Shawn throw Marty through the window.  This was supposed to lead to a match between the two at WrestleMania, however and arrest in January 1992 lead to Marty being released from the company.

He was brought back in October 1992 after his house arrest ended picking up wins over enhancement talent at TV taping.  Although primarily known as a tag ream wrestler Jannetty was a former two time Central States Wrestling Heavyweight Champion and even challenging Ric Flair for the NWA Worlds Championship on four occasions.

Beginning November 27, 1992 through January 23, 1993 Jannetty toured the house show circuit challenging Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental championship coming up short at each encounter.

On January 24, 1993 Marty once again challenged for the Intercontinental Championship this time at Royal Rumble in Sacramento, California.  Once again Shawn Michaels retained his title.

In a backstage interview segment Jannetty attacked Michaels leading many to believe the feud would continue leading to a match at WrestleMania that year. However, Jannetty was accused of being intoxicated during the match at the Royal Rumble and was released shortly after.

On May 17, 1993 at the Manhattan Center in New York City on Monday Night Raw Shawn Michaels was in the ring being interviewed by Vince McMahon, Michaels said he would defend the title against anyone, anywhere.  Marty Jannetty then emerged from the crowd challenging Michaels who was forced into accepting the match.  He had returned to the WWE at house shows the days before losing matches to Michaels.

  Later in the night in just under 11 minutes Jannetty would pin Michaels with a small package to capture the championship much to the delight of the the crowd.

Jannetty's title reign would only last 19 days until June 6, 1993 when he lost the title to Michaels at a house show in Albany, New York.  In total he defended the title 7 times with 6 successful defenses, with only 1 televised defense. 

May 21, 1993 Hershey, Pennsylvania, House Show

Intercontinental Champion: Marty Jannetty pinned Papa Shango with a roll up

May 31, 1993 Manhattan Center, New York, Monday Night Raw

Intercontinental Champion: Marty Jannetty with Sensational Sherri defeated Bam Bam Bigelow with Luna Vachon by count - out

June 1, 1993 Sioux Falls, South Dakota, House Show

Intercontinental Champion: Marty Jannetty pinned Shawn Michaels

June 2, 1993 Sioux City, Iowa, House Show

Intercontinental Champion: Marty Jannetty pinned Shawn Michaels

June 3, 1993 Des Moines, Iowa, House Show

Intercontinental Champion: Marty Jannetty pinned Shawn Michaels

June 5, 1993 Minneapolis, Minnesota, House Show

Intercontinental Champion: Marty Jannetty pinned Shawn Michaels

June 6, 1993 Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, New York, House Show

Shawn Michaels with Diesel pinned Intercontinental Champion: Marty Jannetty to win the championship

The June 6th house show was Kevin Nash's debut in the WWE as Diesel, and he aided Michaels in defeating Jannetty to regain the title.  I don't understand why he lost the title at a house show instead of on Monday Night Raw the next night.

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page.  You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book the 2024 Limitless Wrestling Almanac, or any of my other books.

Until next time! 

Destined to Fight Forever: Santana & Valentine

In professional wrestling sometimes it appears as though two men are destined to fight each other forever, in this series of posts we will look at some of those battles.

Tito Santana vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

When I was a kid I was a big fan of Tito Santana, that flying forearm that he delivered was just amazing to me.  I never saw him as the active Intercontinental Champion, but I watched the coliseum home video releases and his wars with Greg Valentine over that championship are so memorable.  Especially the steel cage matches. 

A few months ago I went down a rabbit hole watching all of their matches on peacock from that feud, that I could find.  I tend to view Valentine as a bit of a lazy worker, but man could he go when he wanted too.  I wrote a blog about these matches back in 2020, you can read it here.

Checking cagematch the first match I can find they competed in against each other was a battle royal at Madison Square Garden June 4, 1979.  Their first singles match was a time limit draw on March 31, 1984 at the Philadelphia Spectrum when then Intercontinental Champion: Tito Santana was defending the title against The Hammer.

They would wrestle a couple dozen times over the next few months until Valentine defeated Santana for the championship on September 24, 1984 in London, Ontario, Canada.  This would mark the first time the championship changed hands outside the United States.

Over the next 10 months the two would wrestle over 100 times across North America competing in standard and specialty matches like Taped First, Lumberjack, No Disqualification, and Steel Cage matches.  

It was in a Steel Cage on July 6, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland that Santana would defeat Valentine to reclaim the intercontinental championship.  They would have a few return matches over the next couple months however later in 1985 Santana would drop the title to Randy Savage and Valentine with his Dream Team partner Brutus Beefcake would win the Tag Team Championships.

In Late 1985 / early 1986 Santana would team with Pedro Morales and unsuccessfully challenged Beefcake and Valentine for the titles.

In late 1988 they wrestled a series of matches on the house show loops that were either count-out or time limit draw finishes. 

In 1993 they battled each other in Austria and Poland for World Wrestling Superstars, including  a cage match on December 17, 1993.  

In 1994 & 1995 they fought again for the Savoldi's IWCCW: International World Class Championship Wrestling trading the IWCCW Heavyweight Championship.

In 1997 they fought twice in British Columbia, Canada for ECCW: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling.

Eight years later in 2005 at WrestleReunion 2 & 3 they traded the IWA Heavyweight Championship. They wrestled again in 2006, twice more in 2007, again in 2009, had a steel cage match for JCW: Juggalo Championship Wrestling Legends and Icons PPV on August 12, 2011.

They teamed together with the Honky Tonk Man on March 5, 2016 defeating the trios team of Hollywood's Finest for BCW Night of Legends in Williamsport, PA.

To date their last match was on February 25, 2017 in Totowa, New Jersey for Superstars of Wrestling Federation where they battled to a no-contest.  Valentine wrestled his last match to date in 2019 and Santana in 2022.

Their first singles match to their last singles match was fought 32 years, 5 months, and 1 day apart.  

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page.  You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book Limitless Wrestling: The First Five Years, or any of my other books as well.  

Until next time! 

Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine

For reasons unknown I just had the urge to watch a classic feud from my childhood, one that is underrated and doesn't get talk about enough, Tito Santana and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine's battle over the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.

Tito first won the championship from Don Muraco on February 11, 1984 in Boston, MA at the Garden.  He held the title for 226 days losing it to Valentine in London, Ontario for Maple Leaf Wrestling on September 24, 1984.  Valentine would hold the title for 285 days when Santana regained it inside a Steel Cage on July 6, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland.  Santana's second and final reign came to an end on February 8, 1986 in the city he first won it, Boston, when "Macho" Man Randy Savage captured the crown.

So I check the Old School section on the WWE Network and much to my surprise none of the Santana vs. Valentine matches are on it.  I check All Star Wrestling, Prime Time Wrestling, and even Tuesday Night Titans and only TNT has episodes from 1984 / 1985 and none of them featured the title change.

How could this be!?! Whenever a title change took place Gorilla Monsoon would say, history has been made, and yet the WWE doesn't have footage of these matches on their network.  The matches are on YouTube!

Digging deeper into the WWE Network if you go to section In Ring, then WWE Home Video Classics, look for Match Compilations and finally WWE Grudge Match Mar 27, 1986.  This is an old coliseum home video release.  This tape has three segments looking at the feud between Valentine & Santana starting with Valentine winning the championship from Tito and ending with their cage match from Baltimore where Santana recaptured the title.

Here are the links to the matches on YouTube:

September 24, 1984 London, Ontario, Canada
Intercontinental Champion: Tito Santana vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

On Grudge Matches this match is clipped down to four minutes, YouTube has the complete match. 

July 6, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland
Steel Cage Match: Intercontinental Champion: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Tito Santana

This match is very significant as after Santana won the championship Valentine destroyed the championship belt on the cage.  WWE would then introduce the version of the Championship that most people are familiar with.

In an interview from a couple years ago Santana was asked what happened to the broken championship and he replied that he threw it in the trash that night at the arena in Baltimore.

On the WWE Network is you search Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine there are 12 matches that come back featuring both men, some are tag matches but there are four in particular that I want to point out.

TNT: Tuesday Night Titans July 17, 1984
Santana is Champion and this features a non-title match between the two.  Valentine is interviewed by McMahon before and after the match and it's worth watching

WWE Old School October 22, 1984, at Madison Square Garden 
Valentine is champion, this match is short but they beat the hell out of each other! Also it sets up the return match that happened the next month.  This is also Santana's first match back after surgery on his knee, also his return match against Valentine after losing the championship to him in September.  Valentine injured Tito causing him to have the surgery.

WWE Old School November 26, 1984 at Madison Square Garden
Valentine is champion and this is the best match between the two on the card during this time frame.  It goes nearly thirty minutes and really shows that these guys can work their ass off.  This match was the main event of the card, Hogan was not on the show, and it was a sell out.  That's how big this feud was they main evented and sold out Madison Square Garden.

WWE Old School March 17, 1985 at Madison Square Garden
Valentine is champion and this is a Lumberjack match but it's really not the over the top Lumberjack style match that I am used to that WWE has put out the last 20 years.

My overall reaction to these series of matches is that these guys beat the hell out of each other everytime they were in the ring together.  A lot of people only know Tito for his time in the WWE in the 1990's and they are missing out on what he could do in the ring.

Santana and Valentine were first in the ring together Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling on December 3, 1978 in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Granted this was a 24 man battle royal, but I'd like to think that they mixed it up.  Six months later they were in another battle royal together, this time for the WWF at Madison Square Garden on June 4, 1979.

They wouldn't be in the ring together again until March 31, 1984 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.  In this match Santana was defending his Intercontinental Championship against Valentine and the match ended in a time limit draw.  The most recent match against each other was an amazing 33 years later on February 25, 2017 for the Superstars of Wrestling Federation in Totowa, New Jersey where they battled to a no contest!

Currently Santana is 66 years old and Valentine is 68 years old and they both had matches in late 2019.  If they wrestled against each other again this year I'd watch it.

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!

Pedro Morales: One The Greatest Champions in WWE History

Pedro Morales is one of the greatest champions in the history of the WWE and I'm going to tell you why.  I didn't always think so when I was a kid whenever Pedro was on TV I remember him losing or getting wins over jobbers who I called bums.  I would hear the commentators state that he was a former champion, but I just didn't see it.  Now looking back and seeing his old matches I see it and you should too.

Born in 1942 be debuted at the age of 17 in 1959 in New York after training with Barba Roja.  Although primarily known by me for being in the now WWE he has stints all over the United States and in Japan.

He held titles in NWA Hawaii, Championship Wrestling from Florida, NWA San Francisco, Puerto Rico's WWC and was a two time WWA World Heavyweight Champion.  He also wrestled for the American Wrestling Association, Crockett's Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as other promotions.

On January 24, 1963 the Capitol Wrestling Corporation officially became the WWWF holding their first ever television taping in Bridgeport, Connecticut on January 29th.  Morales made his WWE debut at that taping teaming with Dory Dixon and defeated Johnny Barend & The Magnificent Maurice.   He stayed with the WWE for two years then moved onto the WWA. 

On February 8, 1971 at Madison Square Garden Morales defeated Ivan Koloff for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship ending the Russian Bears three week reign as champion. He would go onto hold the championship for 1,027 days dropping it to Stan "The Man" Stasiak in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 1, 1973.

As champion he headlined Madison Square Garden 30 times defending his title against the likes of Larry Hennig, BlackJack Mulligan, Freddie Blassie, Ray Stevens, and George "The Animal" Steele just to name a few.  On September 30, 1972 Morales defended the Championship against Bruno Sammartino in front of more than 22,000 fans at Shea Stadium wrestling to a 75 minute time limit draw.

Morales left the WWE in 1975 returning in 1980.  On August 9, 1980 he and then WWE Champion Bob Backlund defeated the Wild Samoans in two straight falls to win the World Tag Team Championships.  They were stripped of the titles the next day because of Backlund being the WWE Champion.
 

On December 8, 1980 he defeated Ken Patera at Madison Square Garden to capture the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship becoming the first ever Triple Crown Champion.  He would hold the championship for 194 daus dropping it to Don Muraco in Philadelphia on June 20, 1981, but would regain it from Muraco on November 23rd at MSG.

His second reign would last over a year until January 22, 1983 when Muraco defeated him again at the Garden ending Morales 425 day run. 

To summarize:

Morales is the first ever Triple Crown Champion

He is one of only two people to ever hold the World and Intercontinental Championships for over a year on single reign, the other is "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

His 1,027 days as World Champion is the fifth longest single reign behind Bruno's two reigns, Bob Backlund, & Hulk Hogan.  The title has traded hands 134 times to 49 different title holders.

As Intercontinental Champion he held the title twice for a combined 619 days, the longest reigning champion of all time.  His second reign at 425 days is the second longest single reign behind the Honky Tonk Man.

Some will argue that I'm wrong, for instance Chris Jericho has held every championship in the promotion.  WWE Champion, World Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, Hardcore Champion, European Champion, Intercontinental Champion, United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, and World Tag Team Champion.

In total Jericho had 26 championship reigns whereas Morales only had four.  However, Morales' four reigns lasted for 1,647 days and Jericho's twenty six lasted 1,059 days.  I firmly believe that this proves that Pedro Morales, without question, is one of the greatest champions in the history of the WWE. 

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. 

Later Readers!

Ric Flair's Intercontinental Championship Reign

"Nature Boy" Ric Flair is one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of professional wrestling and has always been one of my all time favorites.  I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Flair on a few occasions and I wrote about it here.

Through-out his career Mr. Flair has held more championships beyond being a 16 time World Heavyweight Champion.  He held numerous titles in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling & Jim Crockett Promotions and the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship.

In September 2005 Flair had been back in the WWE  for almost three years, in that time he had two Tag Team title runs with Batista but his last singles reign as a champion had been five and half years earlier in WCW with a controversial day as Heavyweight Championship.  At age 56 many thought Flairs days were coming to an end, and as much as I'd hoped for one more World Championship run, his days as a champion were over.

On September 5th in Oklahoma City at the Unforgiven PPV "Nature Boy" Ric Flair opened the show against Carlito in a match for the Intercontinental Championship.  This match was set up on an edition of Carlito's Cabana where Flair was the guest and Carlito spit an apple in Flair's face before the two came to blows.

Back in early 1983 Flair wrestled Carlos Colon in a controversial series of matches where Colon allegedly won and lost the NWA World Championship to Flair in a change that was never recognized by the NWA.

Carlos Colon

On this night though in just over eleven and a half minutes and much to the surprise of those in attendance Flair submitted Carlito with his figure four leg lock to capture the championship.  Near the end of this match Flair went to the top and Carlito caught him for the usual bodyslam, but Flair punched him and then came off with a blow to Carlito's head.  The crowd popped big time and Flair raised his arms in victory, it was quite a funny moment.  The crowd erupted for the tap out.

Post match Flair cut a promo about proud he was to win this prestigious championship.  That it was just as sweet as winning each of those 16 world championships.

The next night on Raw in Wichita Falls, Texas Flair would retain the title in just over 20 minutes in a rematch with Carlito winning by submission with the figure four leg lock.  Flair would then begin a five month run as champion some would say his most successful run in the WWE seconded only by his final Career Threatening run in 2007 / 2008.

He wrestled on the house shows defending the title against first Carlito and then Triple H and finally against Shelton Benjamin before losing the championship to Benjamin on the February 20, 2006 Monday Night Raw in Trenton, New Jersey.  All the time he feuded on television with Triple H and Edge.

His biggest defense of this run came in San Diego at Taboo Tuesday on November 1st in a steel cage match with Triple H.  The build for this match was excellent with Hunter turning on Flair in a tag team match and busting him open with a sledge hammer shot.  Flair begged the fans to vote for a cage match between himself and Triple H at the PPV and got his wish.

The promo package played prior to the this match was tremendous.  Flair came out second to a huge ovation from the crowd.  When I think of Ric Flair what comes to mind is the Four Horsemen, the NWA Championship, and his famous bloody steel cage battles for that championship.  This match hearkened back to those matches as both men were busted open and Flair blonde hair was soaked red with blood.

The match open quickly with both men trading blow and Flair lighting up Triple H's chest with chops.  Hunter then took over for several minutes sending Flair into the cage opening him up just a few minutes into the match.

Eventually Flair took over and sent Triple H into the busting open the game and dominating the rest of the match.  The finishe came when Flair pulled a chair into the ring and laid Triple H out with it.  He then escaped the cage getting the victory in just under 24 minutes.

I had the opportunity to see Flair live as Intercontinental Champion at a live Monday Night Raw from TD Garden in Boston on December 12, 2005.  In an Elimination Chamber qualifying match Kurt Angle defeated Flair with the ankle lock.  Sadly none of my pictures that I took with Flair wearing the belt came out well.

Flair's final championship would come one year later on November 5, 2006 at the now re-named Cyber Sunday.  Ric Flair and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper would defeated Spirit Squad members Kenny & Mikey to win the WWE Tag Team Championships.

They would lose the titles eight days later at Raw from Manchester England to Rated-RKO: Edge & Randy Orton.  I'm not sure where photo above was taken but after winning the titles Flair and Pipe teamed with the Highlanders for five eight man tag matches against The Spirit Squad across the United Kingdom.

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. 

Later Readers!

The 1990 WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament

April 14, 1990 Superstars of Wrestling in an Update segment WWF President Jack Tunney announced that after winning the WWF Championship at WrestleMania VI he is surrendering the Intercontinental Championship.  The new champion would be decided in a tournament.

April 4, 1990 Glen Falls, New York Wrestling Superstars Taping

Aired April 28th
Round 1: Tito Santana defeated Akeem The African Dream by count out when Santana's flying forearm knocked Akeen out of the ring

 Aired May 5th
Round 1: Mr. Perfect pinned Jimmy Snuka with his feet on the ropes

April 23, 1990 Austin, Texas Wrestling Superstars Taping

Aired May 12th
Round 1: Dino Bravo with Jimmy Hart wrestled Brutus Beefcake to a double count out

Aired May 19th
Finals: Mr. Perfect pinned Tito Santana with an inside cradle after being distracted by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, after the match it was announced that Heenan was Mr. Perfect's new manager

April 24, 1990 San Antonio, Texas Wrestling Challenge Taping

Aired May 13th
Round 1: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Rick Martel to a double disqualification when Martel used his Arrogance atomizer and Piper used a steel chair.

You did not read that wrong.  Two of the opening round matches ended with both men being eliminated from the tournament.  Not only that but the finals and a new champion was declared before the final first round match even took place.

If you think this is odd then you should read my post about how the Freebirds were WCW World Tag Team Champions for negative six days.

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!

WrestleMania 32 Review

I always get excited for WrestleMania every year and leading up to it this year was no different.  Sadly though I must have watched a different show than others in my Facebook food because I didn't watch a show that was awesome, insane, spectacular, amazing or any other accolade that makes a blanket declaration stating the entire show was tremendous, because it wasn't.

The pre-show started at 5pm with the first match starting around 5:45pm and the main event ended about 10 minutes of midnight.  That's pretty near a 7 hour event which is very long.  I'ts a good thing I had coverage at work until 1am and not midnight.  

Including pre-show and the Rock's impromptu match the card featured 12 matches.  The three pre-show matches were better than I thought they would be.

United States Champion: Kalisto defeated Ryback

10 Woman Tag: Team Total Divas: Brie Bella, Paige, Alicia Fox, Natayla, & Eva Marie defeated Team Bad and Blonde: Lana, Tamina, Naomi, Summer Rae, & Emma when Brie made Naomi tap out to the Yes Lock.  It also seems as thought it's Brie's last match. 

The Usos: Jimmy & Jey defeated The Dudley Boys: Bubba Ray & Devon

As much as I hate to admit this, the sequence that Brie used to set up the Yes Lock was actually really, really good.  Lana makes her in ring debut, didn't do a lot boy she looks different with her hair down.

The main show was kicked off with the 7 Man Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship.  It was a good match, the last guy I thought was going win it did in Zack Ryder.  He's worked hard for the company for a long time and deserves to have this big moment at WrestleMania.  I can't imagine he'll have a very long title run. (Note: He lost it to the Miz the next day on Raw.)

It's was bullshit that Jericho got the win of Styles.  First off it looked like Jericho purposely had a bad match.  It was more than just the timing was off, or they weren't clicking because when it came time for Jericho to look good he was spot on.  However when it was Styles turn Jericho was slow and off a step.  This is their 4th singles match, one we didn't need to begin with, so does this mean we have to watch them have 1 more match together at the next PPV, god I hope not!

League of Nations beat New Day, it was Four on three they should win.  As much as I loved seeing HBK, Austin, & Mick Foley come out and beat down the League it basically made their win look worthless.  I will say I marked out big time seeing HBK in his wrestling gear. 

Brock Lesnar defeated Ambrose in a Street Fight.  Not much of a street fight, some chairs, a kendo stick, and a whole bunch of suplexs.  It was basically an extended squash.

Triple Threat Match: Women's Champion: Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch when Becky tapped to the Figure-8.  In my opinion this was the best wrestling match of the night.  It was damn good and it stole the show.  Charlotte came to the ring with the Diva's Championship and left with the Women's Championship officially ending the Diva's name that I have hated since they started it.  Sasha got the big entrance with her cousin Snoop Dog rapping her to the ring.

Hell In A Cell: Taker beat Shane, I found surprising because storyline wise it seemed Shane was destined to win so he could take over Raw.  If you take out the part where Shane jumped off the top of the cage to elbow drop Taker on the announce table, it wouldn't be as good of a match.  It was a spectacular spot and I really enjoyed the match but it wasn't great.

I would never guessed that Baron Corbin would win the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, he had no build up, just walked to the ring with the others that were unannounced and came away with the win.  I wonder if this means he is on the main roster now?

Rock had a really long segment where he announced the attendance of the event.  Then the Wyatt Family interrupted which lead to an impromptu 6 second match where Rock beat Eric Rowan.  Then Cena made a surprise return aiding Rock in yet another Wyatt Family beat down. I could have done with out the whole segment.

Roman Reigns beat Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, of course that's not a surprise to anyone.  The crowd booed Reigns after his win and during his celebration.  The only pop for Roman is when he accidentally speared Stephanie, because if there is anyone they hate more than Roman is Stephanie McMahon.

I realize there are a lot of people that really like WrestleMania, and that's cool, I just don't agree.  There were aspects that I really liked about it, aspects I didn't like at all, It has nothing to do with the outcomes not being what I wanted them to be.

The best part about Mania was Paul coming over and us watching it together and that chat group with the other guys.

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