Tri-State Wrestling Alliance Winter Challenge II 03/02/91
By Maffew Gregg on 15 December 2024
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Penn Hall
Attendance 1,500
Winter Challenge in March? You sure this isn’t a British show?
Multi-camera shoot this time for maybe TWA’s most professional looking release so far. Check out the match graphics!
Stan Lane (w/Jim Cornette) vs. Al Perez
Giant, throbbing love for Stan & Cornette. I can’t get over how much Perez looks like 80s Seth Rollins. Cornette says something like “the only people who think Perez is the hottest man in wrestling all live at Taco Bell.” Well if anyone would know about living in a fast food place.
Perez pulls Lane’s hair on a hip toss attempt, leading to Lane stating he gets more women in a week than Perez does in a year so he’d better stop touching his hair and start following the rules. Cornette reminds him he’s pulling his tights too “cos he always wanted to get in them.” Crowd are eating all of this up with soft pretzels. Both men fight over more hip-tosses as Jim tells a fan “hey if I want your opinion I’d tell it to you.” That turned out prophetic.
Lane pulls Perez’s tights to get the advantage causing the crowd to play along and call Lane a hypocrite (amongst other things). Perez tries to tire out Lane on a criss-cross leading to Jim rushing the ring to stop Lane but he gets knocked down and Lane needs to give Jim CPR. Perez tries talking on the mic but his voice is too low for the Philly equipment so it’s inaudible. Lane distracts the ref so Cornette can bash him good on the outside as the crowd applaud the blatant-ness of it all. Lane alternates between choking Perez himself or letting Cornette do it, with Perez making a kinda-heroic comeback because the fans are enjoying listening to Cornette yell from ringside too much to get behind him. Lane attempts to use Cornette’s racket but drops it so as he’s reaching for it, Perez lands a Sunset Flip for the pin at 13:08.
Simple and effective opener with a really hot crowd enjoying all the silly bollocks.
Cornette lands a few fat elbows after the match and leaves to cheers. Crowd wanted daft Cornette antics and they got it so job done. Here’s Cornette’s thoughts on working for Joel if you’re that way inclined.
Ringmaster Rumble
Mr. Sandman vs. Rockin’ Rebel vs. Sabu vs. JT Smith vs. Larry Winters vs. Glen Osbourne vs. Jimmy Jannetty vs. Don E. Allen vs. Crybaby Waldo vs. Hoss vs. John Rock vs. CN Redd vs. Michael Bruno vs. Johnny O vs. Ghetto Blaster vs. Bulldog Brower Jr. vs. Rick Perez vs. Wild Child
Royal Rumble rules with local talent with the winner getting DC Drake later tonight.
Glen Osbourne (who would stick around the indie scene for ages, most notably for ECWA and CZW) and Johnny O (done by 1991) start off with their day-glow-neon a-lot-of-the-early-90s-looked-like-this attire. Crowd do not care for their amateur offence as I feel having this follow Cornette is a mistake.
Jimmy Jannetty (another guy that would stick around forever) attacks Glen until Goodhart realises it’s better to get this out the way fast and announces Hoss after a minute. Hoss apparently stuck around until 2004 to battle guys like Nigel McGuinness in HWA? That can’t be right. Dude looks like he’s already forty here. Crowd love him and his fat slams as he throws O outside. Rockin’ Rebel (currently in Hell) is next as they’re sending the lads as quickly as possible now. No love for Rebel despite being a former TWA champ because he’s upstaged by CRYBABY WALDO.
Crowd loves the sight and sound of this goon who would later become infamous as Big Slam Vader. Osbourne gets dumped but crowd are too busy going wild at the sight of Hoss and Waldo trading slams.
Hoss sadly eliminates himself after missing a charge and crowd aren’t happy. CN Redd (who is supposed to suck) shows up for boos. Ghetto Blaster (yes it’s 1991 and yes he’s black) appears as JJ lands outside, letting Mr. Sandman clothesline him in the entrance way as he heads in. Crowd are into this now. The beloved Larry Winters slowly walks in as Sandman tries his best to execute a swinging neckbreaker. Sabu in one of his first recorded appearances goes through the middle ropes from the floor to immediately attack Sandman as they already have issues.
Bulldog Brower Jr. is next and his career is already cursed with a name like that and he has no details online. JT Smith and a big pop are next as a lot of people get dumped at once. Wild Child has no info so he’s eliminated in a minute. Rick Perez also has no details but is almost assuredly named that because he looks like the Asylum Films version of Al Perez. John Rock is next as I swear they’re making these guys up. He’d go onto wrestle with Christian Cage despite having twenty matches to his name. Michael Bruno looks old but last wrestled in 2023 as he presumably wrestles when he’s not working at his local plant. Crybaby is out with the last entrant being Don E. Allen. Redd charges and sends himself over the top rope like Sgt. Slaughter and eats all the shit on the way down to the outside. Bruno eliminates himself by swinging wildly and missing.
This leaves Smith, Sandman, Allen and Rebel. If Avengers: Endgame was filmed in the 90s and set in Philly, these guys would team up to defeat Metal Maniac.
Rebel scoop slams Allen to eliminate him but Allen’s salty so he drags Rebel out Hogan-style. Smith drops Sandman on his head from a rough gutwrench suplex getting a faint “YOU FUCKED UP” chant, which is amusing considering Smith’s later infamy. Sandman lands a dropkick so amazing I have to share it with you all:
Goodheart starts doing crowd-work at ringside asking who the crowd wants to win as he knows this match is dying. Smith tries a small package as the refs tell him to stop that, leading to Smith escaping a powerbomb by jumping over Sandman to clothesline him out for a big pop at 24:48.
Crowd was into this mess of greenhorns doing bad wrestling badly and that made it inoffensive despite Sandman’s best attempts at doing things he shouldn’t be doing, but that’s why we like him.
Russian Chain Match
Ivan Koloff vs. Nikita Koloff
Ivan’s as old as everyone in the previous match combined. Nikita Koloff says he’s only going to wrestle one man and that’s Lex Luger “no matter how many rubbles they offer me” so he declines to wrestle. Nice of TWA to do some advertising for NWA because they needed it in 1991. Nikita has a flight to USSR in the morning so he MOSCOW (and leaves).
Crowd chants “refund” until Manny Fernandez charges down the aisle and they ring the bell before they even connect the chain.
Russian Chain Match
Ivan Koloff vs. Manny Fernandez
Ref tries to separate them in the corner but Manny yells “hey I’m trying to kiss him here.” Manny is in a foul mood and mouths off at the fans until Ivan kicks him in the KGBalls. Ivan slowly works him over slowly as they try and fail to get anybody into the idea of touching corners because chain matches usually suck. Nikita wanders out to hang out in the ringside area and distract the fans from anything interesting. Ivan whips Manny into the guardrail in our first bit of hardcore brawling tonight, which is remarkably restrained by TWA standards. Ivan gets crotched so he can lie down and let Manny carry him to nearly every corner until the ref gets bumped so Nikita delivers the Flying Sickle on Manny for the easy Ivan win at 9:19.
Chain matches stink and this was all about Nikita vs. Luger, a match not happening for TWA. Crowd loved Nikita more than Manny and this was a waste of time for everybody not around in 1991. Nice bait-and-switch too.
Falls Count Anywhere Match
Cactus Jack vs. Eddie Gilbert
OH HERE WE GO. Both men head outside immediately so Cactus can take another crazy header over a guardrail. They head near the exit for invisible action as we can’t see anything as either the camera is too far away or it’s too dark to see what’s happening. The lads return so Eddie can use a fan’s crutch on Cactus. Jack retaliates with a small package on the floor because of course he does. Eddie tries biting which gets a warning so Eddie wonders if the ref will DQ him. It’s a good point. Cactus attempts to piledrive Eddie on the timekeeper’s table but he backdrops out which takes out the table they’re both on so both of them eat a big pile of shit in another crazy moment.
Eddie drags the the table into the ring so he can bounce Cactus off it, before making the mistake of taking Cactus outside. No Eddie, that’s where he flourishes! Cactus backbreakers Eddie to set up the CACTUS ELBOW off the apron onto the hard, hard concrete as crowd continue to cheer this mad bastard. You can hear every individual crackhead begging Cactus to pin Eddie but Gilbert breaks their hearts by delivering a back suplex on to the cold floor. Cactus kicks out so Gilbert delivers a stun gun via the guard rail. Cactus continues to kick out, smacking Gilbert in the balls to set up A FUCKING SUNSET FLIP OFF THE APRON ONTO THE CONCRETE. It gets two and a “woahhh” reaction. Jack carries on going punch-for-punch because strictly speaking that was an offensive move on his behalf. Missy throws her shoe to Eddie but it’s caught by Jack who twats Eddie with it to get the pin at 12:23.
What a crazy series of bumps held together with Eddie’s dickhead antics. Definitely the main reason to seek any of these shows out if only to see what Jack was willing to do to himself to get noticed. Even knowing the Sunset Flip was coming because Jack talked about it in his first book, I was still shocked when he came smashing down.
Post-match, Gilbert uses the shoe on Cactus and says a bunch of stuff I can’t hear because the crowd is loud and the production is bad. Still good enough for a recommendation though.
Abdullah The Butcher vs. The Sheik
The Sheik heads out with whatever belt he still had at this point, scaring any fan that looks at him.
Sheik attacks Abby as he steps into the ring and immediately uses the fork on him as Bulldog Brower holds down Abby. I don’t know why I’m doing play-by-play for Sheik vs. Abby. You know what happens. Abby stabs Sheik and Brower so everyone bleeds, but the video quality is so muddy it means you can barely see it. Ref gets shoved which means the match is thrown out at 5:03 as the crowd are very unhappy.
A lot of the local lads from the Rumble head out to sell for both legends as they head into the crowd where you can just about see them because the Blair Witch Project was lit better than this. Goodhart gets hit by Abby and then everyone moves on. Look, call me a snob but I like to be able to see the blood in my bloodfests.
Barbed Wire Match
Johnny Hot Body vs. Tony Stetson
Barbed Wire is wrapped around the top and middle rope and like everything else important on this show it’s barely visible. Johnny is sent into it first and the crowd are at least getting into the spirit by chanting “NOBODY” at him. Apart from that, same criticism as the previous match as both men slow-mo around the ring bleeding but you can’t see it. With the dim lighting and bright ring gear this show resembles a NES game come to life. Johnny gets the spot of the match by landing a loogie from the ring to the front row onto Hawaiian Shirt Guy. Must have been from drinking all that grog on Booty Island.
Audio cuts out several times because I assume they’re removing spot-calling. I’m running out of things to talk about here. Body gets whipped into the barbed wire as the fans are getting bored and request Body spit again. Stetson schoolboy roll-ups Body to win at 12:57. It’s amazing how boring barbed wire can be in the wrong hands.
TWA Heavyweight Title Match
DC Drake (c) vs. JT Smith
Drake is still being lead to the ring by Woman who gets a deafening pop when announced. Drake has a hell of a presence so he has to spend the first few minutes antagonising ringside fans in an attempt to get booed.
Woman distracts JT so Drake Pearl Harbours to start. Smith gets thrown outside so he can take three bumps landing out the ring as he’s the perfect foil for a rotten guy like Drake. Drake takes him apart as crowd really want JT to kick Drake’s arse. JT fights from beneath and shows great timing, even getting reactions from this worn-out crowd without needing blood or crowd brawling. Crowd want to see Woman’s tits so Drake sends Smith over the top rope so he can take the multi-bump again. Smith is able to slam Drake in the entrance way and follows with a crazy high crossbody which the cameras don’t catch but the crowd love it.
Drake tries to beg off but JT lands his gutwrench and a chunky Northern Lights but…Larry Winters shows up in a ref shirt as there’s confusion outside that the production missed so he runs in to count the three before assisting Drake in spike piledriving Smith on a chair. Smith gets whipped with a belt and then choked with a chain because it was the style at the time. Whole thing is thrown out at 18:26.
Really solid encounter with the crowd really wanting Smith to win thanks to their dislike of Drake. Smith looked really good early into his career too.
And of course there’s ten more minutes of brawling and arguing and brawling all the way to the back because these shows aren’t long enough.
USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title Fan Participation Lumberjack Match
Terry Funk (c) vs. Jerry Lawler
It’s well past 23:00 now and people have seen everything so what can these two legends produce?
A small child mouths off at Funk as he heads down the aisle then immediately gets worried as Funk heads towards him. Funk tries talking but he’s got the wrong bass for this mic so he’s also inaudible but it’s nothing positive judging by the boos he receives. Anyway Funk assesses the crowd to see who should get to be in this Lumberjack match and HEY LOOK IT’S VLAD.
No-one gets picked and the bell rings so I don’t know what that was about. Giant “LAWLER SUCKS” chants which is not what the last show was supposed to set up but again, a lot of the appeal of these shows is “come see the stars” and Funk’s one of the brightest out there.
Funk is immediately thrown outside and is mobbed by some fat fans who shove him back in and Funk does not appreciate that and oh God this is going to be a train wreck isn’t it?
Funk calls for a time out on the Lumberjacks as he wants to yell at a fan so they let him until the lumberjacks realise it’s their cue to throw him back inside. Lawler insults the fans some more before being thrown outside and the Lumberjacks throw him back in so quickly that Funk can’t finish his spot. Oh wow.
Funk throws Lawler outside but he bangs himself hard on the guardrail so Funk buys some time by heading outside to yell at Hawaiian Shirt Guy before he’s carried back inside, with Frank Talent looking concerned. He should be. Funk takes some wonderful Lawler rights before landing his sweet Piledriver for two. Lawler is sent outside and the Lumberjacks keep shoving him even when he’s back in the ring so Bulldog Brewer has to calm them down and oh my God at this disaster. Whenever Lawler sticks so much as a finger near the ropes the fans (who all resemble Scott The Engineer) are ready to shove him. Funk gets so mad he starts pushing the lumberjacks so other lumberjacks respond by shoving Funk into the ring and I have to pause this match to go walk around at the chaos unfurling.
Lawler goes outside to headlock Funk before smacking a fan into the side of the ring and I can’t believe I don’t hear more people talking about this match. Funk takes a comedy bump off the apron to the floor and sells like he’s hurt so Bulldog gets mad as he thinks Funk is really in pain and he starts SHOVING AND GETTING READY TO THROW DOWN WITH THE LUMBERJACKS as I’m laughing and crying at the same time. Stop reading and go find this match. Funk punches the ref semi-accidentally before launching Lawler outside so he can grab the guard-rail and drag it with him as the Lumberjacks throw him back inside. The fans and Funk combined can’t drag Lawler back inside as Funk loses it and goes after some more fans before attacking Lawler.
The bell rings to end this so Funk chokes a fan for the hell of it. Crowd is booing and laughing at the same time as Bulldog helps Funk beat up Lawler again. Funk starts throwing chairs at the Lumberjacks who take their cue to get the fuck out of there.
Left alone, Lawler and Funk continue to throw chairs at one another, with Funk hiding next to fans and daring Lawler to hit them before eventually sauntering off and throwing Vs in the air like Nixon. Funk stops to try to bite fans in the entrance way as bits of garbage can be seen flying at him. Lawler calls a fan “Sambo” and demands he shine his shoes as uh hey look WE’RE OUT OF TIME FOLKS.
Eleventy Billion Stars. Shakespeare couldn’t have written a Comedy Of Errors better than this. You could have uploaded this magnificent disaster to liveleak and it would have kept the site online. I wondered what Funk and Lawler could do to follow everything else and they didn’t disappoint.
Overall: Probably the best TWA show in terms of match & production quality, and even then it’s still really heavy on the brawling and bleeding. Joel would have ruled with an editor, or at least a production crew good enough to record blood.
Here’s some opinions from people who were there at the time (courtesy of the WON mailbag):
I’d like to write a few words on Philadelphia area talk show host and promoter Joel Goodhart. To say that he is becoming a force in the wrestling business may be an overstatement but it is probably accurate to say his independent wrestling cards are as popular as any independent shows in the country right now. His advantage over other small promoters is his weekly radio show, which he pays for and which he uses to shamelessly push his cards. I have no problem with a promoter paying for his own advertising to push his cards. But Goodhart masquerades as a wrestling reporter. He uses his air time to blast other organizations, mainly Titan Sports, claiming that their product is fake while his product is real. Anyone who takes this ludicrous stand has a real credibility problem when it comes to reporting wrestling news. Because of that, Goodhart comes off just as self-serving and dishonest as his favorite target for criticism, Vince McMahon. Having said that, I must give the man credit as a wrestling promoter whose organization is growing while the industry is in a decline. He has had success by appealing to hardcore wrestling fans and juice freaks. Is this a future trend in the business or just a regional aberration? I’d like to know what other Philadelphia area readers think of Goodhart and his promotion.
David Gioia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I was shooting ringside at the 3/2 TWA show in Philadelphia and some of your reports about the show may have slightly missed the mark. During the Cactus Jack-Eddie Gilbert match, Gilbert only juiced lightly but it was a great brawl which included a piledriver onto a ringside table. As far as The Sheik blading local wrestlers, he only bladed one guy, Jimmy Janetty. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Rockin Rebel work, but he’s pretty green. He has good size and potential but he sells rarely and horribly and some of his moves are a bit stiff. The best worker in the TWA by far is J.T. Smith, who was injured during his match with D.C. Drake when he dove off the top rope onto the floor but missed his mark and took a nasty bump on the cement. I believe he may have broken a rib or two. As a side note, Gilbert’s valet was an absolute babe. As far as the audience participation lumberjack match with Lawler vs. Funk, I feel that Joel Goodhart was risking a lawsuit. Funk got very physical with some of the lumberjacks. The match itself was very entertaining with Funk getting a pretty big babyface pop.
Edward Russino
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I hope this letter will be informative as I have worked for Joel Goodhart. There are three different personas one must consider when talking about him: 1) Radio show host; 2) Wrestling promoter; 3) Wrestling school proprietor.
Let’s start with point one. Mr. Gioia was right that Joel shamelessly pushes his cards on his radio show. During a typical broadcast, he will give his phone number out 30 to 40 times to promote himself, his fan club and his cards. He pays for this time and can do with it what he wants. But what is aggravating is how he constantly talks about all his inside sources when I know he gets his information from the Observer and Matwatch, then hypocritically denies that he uses them as a source. His most famous target of criticism is Vince McMahon and the WWF. It’s funny to listen to him knock the fake WWF and their fake wrestlers, but as soon as one becomes independent, he can’t wait to book them.
Now, Joel, the promoter. Granted, he deserves credit for putting as many, if not more people in buildings than the NWA does here. But he never talks about his last three shows at the end of 1990 in West Chester, PA, Mount Holly, NJ and Trenton, NJ where the sponsoring organizations lost money because his shows drew less than 200 people. I’ve also worked for other promoters in this area, such as Dennis Coraluzzo, Larry Sharpe, Rob Russen and Afa the Samoan. I, as well as the other boys would rather work for Coraluzzo and Sharpe because they treat you like a person first. Goodhart brags that he ran the WWA, NWF, IWA and TWWF ouit of business. Granted, he is one of the better payoff men around, but he still is a pompous ass.
What people don’t know is that Goodhart told me as well as some of the other boys who work for him that the only reason he got involved with the Tom Robinson benefit show was to make an ass out of Coraluzzo. He almost pulled it off. He wanted to kill all the heat before the big matches by having his wrestlers brawl outside the ring, use the blade, crotch shots and chairs. If it wasn’t for Caraluzzo threatening to shoot some people in the locker room, he might have pulled it off. When the show was a success, Goodhart tried to grab all the credit. If Jim Cornette didn’t call Goodhart’s show for three straight weeks to help his friend, who knows if Joel would have ever even plugged the show.
Name withheld by request
There’s been a lot written about Philadelphia promoter Joel Goodhart and his TWA promotion in the last few weeks. I have to take issue with some of the comments made by David Gioia in the 4/1 edition. I don’t know Goodhart, but have attended several TWA events and I’ve yet to be disappointed. Goodhart has created a successful promotion by bringing in the best independent wrestlers available (Funk, Lawler, Bigelow, Abdullah, Gilbert, Cactus Jack, Orndorff) along with developing promising young stars of his own like J.T. Smith. Goodhart also has a local radio show which consists mainly of listener calls, some wrestling news and an occasional interview and plugs for his shows. I don’t particularly care for his radio show, but it is very naive to believe that Goodhart isn’t going to use air time he pays for himself to promote his events. His bias against Titan Sports is obvious, and his stance that Titan Sports is fake and his and other promotions like WCW are real is absurd. However, it’s unwarranted for Mr. Gioia to say that because of this Goodhart comes off as dishonest and self-serving as Vince McMahon. As a promoter, he’s been honest to his fans. He doesn’t advertise talent that he knows won’t be there nor does he claim his promotion is national or world-wide in scope. His champion is referred to as Tri-State champion. In the event a wrestler is unable to fulfill a commitment, like when Terry Taylor signed with WCW, he has told the fans honestly and found a replacement. Regardless of his radio show, if he continues to put on excellent wrestling shows, I’ll keep attending.
William McMichael
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I’d like to agree and disagree with some of the things David Gioia had to say about Joel Goodhart. Saying Goodhart has become a force in pro wrestling was an overstatement.
I may not like Goodhart, but I do enjoy his wrestling cards, although I can’t see him lasting long-term for the following reasons:
*Even though wrestling is self-regulated in Pennsylvania, a promoter can lose his license for blading, although this is unlikely since the wrestler has to complain and if he does, he’s the one that will end up being punished by loss of paydays.
*The brawling out of the ring is an invitation for a law suit from a fan, especially at bar shows where wrestlers go through crowds that have been drinking.
Several years ago when I started listening to Carmella Panfil and Joel on the radio, the show was lively, informative and fun. Now, the only information we receive is about what I call Joel, Inc.
Call the show and agree with him and you can practically co-host the show by phone. However, dare to disagree and you are off the air before the listeners even know that you called.
Personally I think he should change the name of his radio show to “I love Joel.” I wonder how stupid he thinks his audience is. He knocks the WWF to death and beyond. He continues to use his famous line that they are “fake by their own admission” (referring to testimony given by Linda McMahon in regards to a failed attempt at deregulation in New Jersey). But if the WWF lets somebody go or they decide to leave, like Greg Valentine or Honkytonk Man, guess who is the first to try to have them on one of his shows.
Are we to believe that he calls them into the back of the locker room and says to them, I know you worked matches for Vince, but now for me, it’ll be a shoot and may the best man win. Remember, he insists that his wrestling is real.
Pete Miskofky
Mickleton, New Jersey
Next week: TWA Summer Sizzler II aka the one with Cactus vs. Gilbert: Best Of Three!
