40-Man Battle Royal (WWF, 5-18-1992)

WWF, Cincinnati, OH

A request! This is from a Wrestling Challenge taping in Cincinnati, and is on the “Bashed in the USA” Coliseum Video. Mike McGuirk, under Jim Ross yelling, announces that this is a first in WWF history, a 40-man battle royal.

“40?!?!” Bobby Heenan asks, as checked out of being here anymore as he can stand. 40 whole men??? Wh-wh-WHAT? There is also a 40-man battle royal that took place on June 1 and is on the “Rampage ’92” tape. No idea why they got horny, with a thinned-out roster, to do 40-man battle royals in the spring of 1992.

Now I also hear you saying: “But TAPE, you handsome scientist, Jim Ross did not work in the WWF until WrestleMania IX in 1993.” Yes, but this tape didn’t come out until he worked there and it’s just him and Heenan doing half-awake commentary about a year later or whatever. Like, duh! Haha! How could you even be so silly as to pause on this idea for a minute when you wanted to be sure about the date? OBVIOUSLY studio recorded commentary recorded later! Hello!!

Oh, Randy Savage is also here on commentary.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

El Generico vs Kevin Steen (ROH, 12-18-2010)

ROH Final Battle, New York, NY

A request! It’s mask vs ROH career at the Manhattan Center! It is UNSANCTIONED! It is a FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR!

It is also the main event of Final Battle.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Wheeler Yuta vs Daniel Garcia (IWTV, 8-8-2021)

IWTV 100, Williamstown, NJ

A request! From the H2O Wrestling Center in scenic Williamstown! I have no idea if it’s scenic or not. I said “scenic” like “haha how could it be, it’s in New Jersey,” but dog I’ve never been to New Jersey and I’m sure it has nice little towns and parks and stuff like every other goddamn place. This was just a momentary lapse in letting TV influence how I think. I apologize to the great state of New Jersey.

Wait, they’ve got a Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park?

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

REVIEW: Dark Side of the Ring – Abdullah the Butcher: Legacy of Blood

A request! I did the Adrian Adonis episode, and then got a request for this one.

I saw Abdullah live once, in June 2004 against Mad Man Pondo for IWA Mid-South. They brawled around for a little over 10 minutes and ended in a no-contest. The match wasn’t what you’d call good, but it was interesting to see this genuine, unique wrestling legend up close in a carpeted gym in Highland, Indiana.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Jinder Mahal vs AJ Styles (WWE, 11-7-2017)

WWE Smackdown, Manchester, England

A request! As WWE approaches the 2017 Survivor Series, they realize that Jinder Mahal is champion on Smackdown, which means that they are nearing the deadline to have to really, really, actually say, “Yes, Brock Lesnar will face Jinder Mahal at Survivor Series.”

And so!

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Undertaker vs Big Boss Man (WWF, 3-28-1999)

WWF WrestleMania XV, Philadelphia, PA

A request! Kinda. I got a four-pack for Hells in Cells, and the last one was left to me to pick one. So I went with this.

Long story short, Undertaker and his menacing collection of dark-clothed mediocrities had started targeting Mister Vince’s family. So Mister Vince had no choice but to send the Big Boss Man into the cell at WrestleMania to fight on his behalf. Boss Man had returned in ’98 as Vince’s enforcer. It was a fine role for him at this stage of his career and he did it well. That doesn’t mean he was a particularly credible opponent for Undertaker in the cell at Mania, but things are what they are.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks (WWE, 10-6-2019)

WWE Hell in a Cell, Sacramento, CA

A request! The second-ever women’s Hell in a Cell match, this one opening the Hell in a Cell PPV in 2019, which started at a high point and just kinda kept getting worse.

This is a match called by the team of Vic Joseph, Jerry Thekinglawler, and Dio Maddin. This was really some time in the old WWF. Not that they were bad or anything, really, they were exactly like every other rotating door WWE commentary team for the last decade that doesn’t have Michael Cole, but it’s hard to remember this was the Raw team for about six weeks in 2019. Then Dio got dropped, then Samoa Joe came in for about a month, then Vic Joseph was kicked out for Tom Phillips, and Joe was gone for Byron Saxton, but later Joe came back, and

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Triple H vs Cactus Jack (WWF, 2-27-2000)

WWF No Way Out, Hartford, CT

A request! I’ve said before that the Rumble match the month prior with HHH and Cactus is one of my favorite matches ever. This always felt like a somewhat limp sequel to me, not because I thought it was bad (and I don’t expect I will this time, either), but it was just so hard to follow, and furthermore, the title vs career stipulation didn’t stick for more than a few weeks, as Foley was right back for the ill-fated four-way main event at the ill-fated WrestleMania 2000.

The big thing even before that return for me was this just didn’t quite have the vibe that the Rumble did. And it couldn’t have. HHH couldn’t be terrified of Cactus Jack the way he was leading into that match; he’d beaten him at the Rumble, after all. It wouldn’t work like it did then. But they did do the best they could with the adjusted attitudes.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels (WWF, 10-5-1997)

WWF Badd Blood: In Your House, St. Louis, MO

A request! It’s the first-ever Hell in a Cell match! Shawn Michaels and his DX friends had been fucking with Undertaker since SummerSlam, including a match at the September In Your House that I really kinda hate, and now it was coming to a head, as the great narration on the opening package lays out:

“Pride. Confidence. Extraordinary talent. They’re the signature of a superstar performer. Add arrogance, conceit, self-adulation to the equation, and you’ve defined the very essence of Shawn Michaels.

“For two months, the self-proclaimed ‘master antagonist’ has launched a calculated and brutal war of destruction on the phenom of the World Wrestling Federation. And like hyenas rabid from the scent of a fresh kill, his pack of allies have been quick to join the slaughter.

“But tonight, within the unforgiving confines of a specially-constructed steel cell, the cocksure tormentor will become the tormented! Tonight, Shawn Michaels will stare into the eyes of a merciless reaper hellbent on revenge.

“There’ll be no Helmsley, no Chyna, no insurance policy to save his soul. Tonight, there’s no way in. No way out. No one to stop the carnage!”

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Ric Flair vs Sting (NWA, 3-27-1988)

NWA Clash of the Champions, Greensboro, NC

A request! The first-ever Clash of the Champions! Going head-to-head on TBS with the WWF’s WrestleMania IV on pay-per-view. You take that, WWF! Jimmy Crockett and Teddy Turner are comin’ for blood now! You messed with Starrcade, they mess with WrestleMania.

I have a good feeling about how this will all turn out for the fellas down south in the coming years.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)