1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly vs Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka (WWF, 1-22-1995)

WWF Royal Rumble, Tampa, FL

A request! It’s the finals of a WWF tag team title tournament at the Rumble, with two kinda makeshift teams reaching the final.

Bigelow and Tatanka had beaten Men on a Mission and the Headshrinkers to get here, while Kid and Bob had replaced the Smoking Gunns in the tournament (Bart was injured in a rodeo) and are on a Cinderella run, having beaten Well Dunn and the Heavenly Bodies.

Would Bigelow and Tatanka finally bring goooold to Ted DiBiase’s worst of all time stable? Boy it seems likely, what with them being bigger!

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Bull Nakano vs Heidi Lee Morgan (WWF, 8-21-1994)

WWF Sunday Night Slam, Youngstown, OH

A request! EIGHT DAYS away from SummerSlam! It’s a two-hour special on the USA Network from Youngstown! The city of cities!

The WWF’s women’s division of this period had talent available and, to some degree, an effort to bring in real top talent from Japan like Nakano and Aja Kong and whatnot. But you could tell (1) Vince wasn’t sincerely interested in a women’s division, and (2) Vince really did not actually care for the real top talent from Japan like Nakano and Aja Kong. He did not like their wrestling style and he did not like their, well, point of origin.

Randy Savage liked Bull, though. He’d go, “BULL NAKA-NAKA-NAKA-NO!” He wasn’t saying the name right but he was enthusiastic.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Ultimate Warrior, Tito Santana & Hulk Hogan vs Ted DiBiase, Warlord, Power & Glory & Rick Martel (WWF, 11-22-1990)

WWF Survivor Series, Hartford, CT

A request! This is the one and only ever Grand Finale Match of Survival at Survivor Series, the first indication that Vince was losing interest in the original Survivor Series concept, as he was starting to tinker.

The concept is all the surviving good guys from good guy teams face all the surviving bad guys from bad guy teams. This is a clear thing that also plays a bit loose with logic in a way, so it’s sort of an iffy idea, but it’s neat that it was done once.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Ron Garvin vs Ric Flair (NWA, 11-26-1987)

NWA Starrcade, Chicago, IL

A request! A follow-up to Garvin beating Flair in Detroit for the NWA title in late September, as Flair tries to get the belt back at Crockett’s big show, Starrcade, the Granddaddy of ’em All.

Also one of the most interesting nights of the 80s wrestling war, as Starrcade ’87 was the NWA’s first pay-per-view event. They’d run prior Starrcades exclusively on closed circuit, while the WWF had started pay-per-view in ’85, so as usual Crockett and the bos were behind Vince’s curve.

But Vince being Vince, no amount of domination in the market was ever enough for him, so he scheduled the first Survivor Series on the same date, and threatened PPV carriers that if they didn’t carry that exclusively, they would be left out of carrying WrestleMania IV the next spring. In the end, the PPV providers caved instead of calling McMahon’s bluff on losing tons of money on WrestleMania in ’88, and very few carried this show.

Ric Flair vs Ron Garvin (NWA, 10-3-1987)

NWA World Wide Wrestling, Detroit, MI

A request! The date of the match is actually Sept. 25, but aired on the Oct. 3 edition of World Wide from Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

A(n in)famous mistake, in the minds of most.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Royal Rumble Match (WWF, 1-15-1989)

WWF Royal Rumble, Houston, TX

A request! The first Royal Rumble match to air on PPV, as it became the last of the WWF’s original Big Four PPV shows following the debuts of WrestleMania (1985), Survivor Series (1987), and SummerSlam (1988). The first Rumble does pre-date the first SummerSlam, but aired on USA Network to take a further shit on Crockett’s Bunkhouse Stampede PPV.

It’s also the first 30-man Rumble, as the inaugural ’88 edition featured 20 men, and was won by Hacksaw Jim Duggan, featuring entirely midcard (however popular or whatever) wrestlers.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Dante Fox vs Killshot (Lucha Underground, 9-27-2017)

Lucha Underground: Ultima Lucha Tres Pt. 1, Los Angeles, CA

A request, as Swerve’s Texas Death Match with Adam Hangman at Full Gear reminded someone of this match. I was pretty well out on LU at this point so I’ve never seen this. It’s not that I don’t think I could find plenty to enjoy in seasons three and four, but they lost the plot compared to that first season, which I truly loved.

This was also taped in June 2016 but didn’t air for 15 months. The title date is the air date, which is how I usually do it.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Asuka, Kairi Sane, Bayley & IYO SKY vs Bianca Belair, Shotzi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch (WWE, 11-25-2023)

WWE Survivor Series: WarGames, Rosemont, IL

It’s the WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGAMES: For Her!

This new and improved version of Damage CTRL is the coolest faction in WWE history, there’s really no question about that.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Hangman Adam Page vs Swerve Strickland (AEW, 11-18-2023)

AEW Full Gear, Inglewood, CA

A Texas Death Match! Did you know the only way to win is by knockout or submission? To me that seems like the only ways, but I am not a Dapper Yapper.

I have heard a lot about this match but couldn’t watch live because I can almost never do Saturday night wrestling, which is why God put wrestling PPVs on Sundays, but now The Fighting Khans, Nick and Tony, are determined to defy the Lord.

Swerve has a whole entrance with Prince Nana and dancers. Hangman Adam does not do an entrance, because this is PERSONAL and he is FURIOUS, so he rushes into the ring and jumps on Swerve to get us going.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

Undertaker vs Hulk Hogan (WWF, 12-3-1991)

WWF This Tuesday in Texas, San Antonio, TX

A request! The big rematch from the Survivor Series controversy six days prior, where Undertaker beat Hulk Hogan to win the WWF title with a little help from Ric Flair.

The PPV was an attempt to see what they might do business-wise with this sort of thing, right on the heels of some controversy, with a shorter, more budget-priced broadcast. I was far more interested in the ongoing Savage-Roberts feud than in what Hogan was doing by this point, and also wanted to see Bret Hart against Skinner for the IC title.

The live event itself also had a Ric Flair vs Roddy Piper dark match plus a pre-“Tatanka” Tatanka getting a W over JW Storm, making him just J Storm in the aftermath.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)