Dream Matches — page 2

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This time I have stuff from all over the world once more, starting with a FAT MAN STAND-OFF from WWF RAW in 1994- Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Mabel! In one of Luna Vachon’s last appearances from this year! After that, a request to check out World of Sport dickhead heel “Cyanide” Sid Cooper leads me to a TIGER MASK appearance, as young Sammy Lee is decked out like Bruce Lee and makes Cooper look like an absolute boob for three rounds of fast-paced action! Then it’s over to All Japan as Toshiaki Kawada of the new generation up & comers takes on established veteran shit-disturber Masanobu Fuchi! WCW jobbery goodness as Power Plant washout Mike Tolbert takes on UK wrestler Doc Dean on WCW Worldwide in 1998! And finally, this week’s PWI 500 guy is Torch/El Antorcha, a Canadian guy decked out as a luchador, here facing his trainer “Gorgeous” Michelle Starr (a man in an Adrian Street gimmick) in Extreme CANADIAN Championship Wrestling!

MABEL (w/ Oscar) vs. BAM BAM BIGELOW (w/ Luna Vachon):
(WWF RAW, June 27th 1994)
* YESSSSSSSSS- it’s everyone’s favorite match- a FAT MAN STAND-OFF! Mo is absent due to injury, giving us the first Mabel solo run, where he’s largely treated like a midcarder and jobs a lot, which doesn’t help the company AT ALL when they try a Monster Heel run a year later. Bam Bam is getting a semi-decent push but never gets to pick up big wins either. Mabel’s in the “almost all purple” version of his gear that invited so many Barney comparisons, but I liked it way more than the overly-gold stuff as a kid.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, I have a match I’ve wanted to see for YEARS- the infamous Antonio Inoki/Masa Saito ISLAND DEATHMATCH, where they fight on an island in between two of Japan’s major islands in a bloody war that lasts over an hour! FINALLY I get to see the entire thing! And OMG you gotta see… part of it.

After that, it’s a look at WCW in early 1992, as first we get a Wacky Mishmash Six-Man with Big Van Vader, Cactus Jack & The Taylor Made Man facing “Heavy Metal” Van Hammer, Ron Simmons & El Gigante! And then Johnny B. Badd takes his bizarre Little Richard act against fellow babyface Firebreaker Chip! And finally it’s our PWI 500 feature of the week, as I find Austin Steele, a guy doing a riff on Ric Flair’s act (despite Flair being very active in the 1990s), doing an indie match against Krazy Kane Atoms, then a squash match where he takes on Mabel in 1994 WWF!

ISLAND DEATHMATCH:
ANTONIO INOKI vs. MASA SAITO:
(New Japan, Oct. 4th 1987)
* This match has long fascinated me for the sheer over-the-top carney brilliance of it, but I’d never seen it. Manjiimmortal showed me that someone uploaded a FULL VIDEO to Archive.org, though, meaning I can finally watch this in its full two-hour glory! The idea here is that Inoki, legendary hero and Ace of his own promotion, is taking on the Olympian powerhouse Masa Saito, and only an ISLAND DEATHMATCH will do. I’ve long felt that the ultimate final form of any wrestling feud should be “I want you dead, but murder is illegal so let’s do a match where everything I do can be nice and legal”, but this elevates it to a form even beyond that: “I Hate You SO MUCH That I’m Willing To Risk or Shorten My Own Life In Order to Cause You Harm”. I mean, just the idea is so incredibly “Martial Arts Movie” or “Comic Book Supervillain”- “They only way we can end this is to fight a DEATHMATCH on the FORBIDDEN ISLAND!”. This is, ON PAPER, the greatest idea in the world. So time to see the actual execution!

The dramatic establishing shots, sadly making this look less like forbidden wilderness and more like “just some mundane island with some trees”. It was chosen because it was the site of a famous battle between samurai Kojiro Sasaki and Musashi Miyamoto in 1612.

Wrestling has done the occasional “Empty Arena Match” or things like that- the famous SuperBowl Halftime match between Mankind & The Rock, the Boiler Room Brawl, the Memphis one with Lawler, AEW’s Stadium Stampedes, etc. It’s an epic idea- a match so ruthless and outlawed and personal that it’s just two guys fighting and nobody else around them but a guy to count falls. The reason it’s so rare is kinda obvious- wrestling promotions wanna MAKE MONEY and that means selling tickets- hard to do that when the audience is zero. So with stuff like this it’s more about drawing ratings, selling recordings of the match, etc. Sadly the build for this one looks pretty mundane- when I heard “ISLAND DEATHMATCH”, I was thinking some forbidden isle in the wilderness with trained guides using lost maps and no civilization for miles, but this is a pretty plain island with normal Japanese domestic buildings in the background, and they go by speedboat and there’s a bunch of guys with dorky white “we’re BOATING” safety hats about. Ganryujima Island is actually just a small island between Honshu & Kyushu (two of the major islands that make up Japan itself) and few trees, not some wilderness (Japan is surprisingly wild, with 13 people killed in bear attacks in *2025 alone*, including All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling referee Katsumi Sasazaki).

30 minutes in and they’re still doing fuckery on this tape, with endless flyovers and shots of spectators sitting next to flags. A white ring is set up far away from everyone, with neckless beast Saito wearing long tights and having compression stuff around his left arm. STEALTH INOKI is finally seen crouching in some short bushes with a big-ass boat seen behind him, and the two enter the ring LIKE GENTLEMEN.

This starts out very “early UFC”, in that they circle doing jack shit because they’re afraid to over-commit and get caught. Saito finally ankle-picks Inoki and sticks the ankle under his armpit, Inoki turtling up. So he’s like my little brother or cousins when we play-wrestled. Well it’s effective- hard to put holds on a guy who skooshes up like that. Inoki does an ugly roll-out and stalls, then manages to get Saito’s back, drawing first blood by pressing his forearm into the nose as he fishes for holds on the mat. Saito takes the back next, holding a headlock for an eternity as they roll around. Inoki fishes for an armbreaker and they’re tied up in the ropes- at least every movement looks like they’re fighting & struggling, fishing for an advantage while being VERY careful not to leave themselves in a vulnerable position. They tease FIGHTING ON THE GRASS, but no- the fans must wait. Inoki mostly works a bodyscissors for 3 minutes and Saito looks BEAT, sore and tired after Inoki releases and taunts him. Saito fails a judo throw and can’t get anything going on wrestling- Inoki throws some shots at him until Saito finally muscles him to the ground and work the arm. Inoki slips his legs in for a jujigatame attempt before giving up. 25+ minutes gone now. Saito can’t get a proper takedown so weakly ends up on top & Inoki tries a keylock, but Saito figure-fours the legs and leans on him- Inoki has to bend an arm again. 32 minutes and they roll out and FIGHT ON THE GRASS, Inoki taking him down and working a headlock until Saito can stop over him and stretch him out.

These holds go so long it’s actually believable guys will release due to being tired and the other dude just slipping out- Saito holds Inoki in a chinlock FOREVER until they roll back into the ring from the grass and Inoki manages a backdrop suplex! Our first actual non-hold 44 minutes into the match, lol. They’re both down, but Saito holds a chinlock, countered by Inoki rolling out and sorta holding Saito’s injured arm against the ring apron’s edge. A single armbreaker against it after a minute (lol even if this match it’s 1:00 increments for holds) and they’re BACK TO CIRCLING OH MY GOD. They show the sky darkening then pan the view back to nothin’ going on- Saito finally dives in and fights for a keylock, then just grinds his forearm against Inoki’s face. For ages. But then the ring boys light some fires to give us some light, which makes the match look a million times cooler. Inoki, ever the showman, knows to immediately slide out of the ring to FIGHT BY THE FIRES and give us a better visual.

I present this last image with no added context.

Saito leans on Inoki and holds a headlock, but they stroll over to a torch and Saito’s RUN INTO IT, cinders flying and the torch smoking up the grass! Saito kinda just stares at it like “WTF man” and throws a single kick, Inoki throws one (57 minutes and we’ve escalated to strikes!), then Inoki’s silly little back kick in the ring sends Saito to the outside again. Saito sells that on the grass for a bit before heading back in- Inoki counters his forever hammerlock attempts with a headscissors, then releases to slam him. Then… just stands there not capitalizing so Saito can outwrestle him again and just holds both his arms back in another resthold. And then it’s like “ok it’s dark now time for the actual match” as Inoki immediately leverages out, dumps Saito to the grass and starts unloading with shots to his forehead, smashing him into the ring apron and headbutting him. Saito rolls over dead while Inoki stands their menacingly (ie. waiting for him to blade), then throws more headbutts, gets back in the ring like “Come on!” and throws more, just taking him to the woodshed now, leaving Saito groaning in pain as Inoki fires off punches to the cut. He waits for Saito to get up and show the blood running down his chest before slugging him again. Like, Saito’s literally stumbling around in a daze, kinda defiant and looking tough before falling to one knee, making it look like Inoki just wants him DEAD and is stalking his prey.

They roll to the grass while Saito just walks around all stiffly… but OH NO HE’S GOT A STICK. He grabs one of the slabs of firewood and swings it to send Inoki rolling across the grass. Saito stalks him (ie. rests for 30 seconds between strikes) before shoving him with a boot, then smashes him in the head with the firewood. Inoki lies there a while and then goes into the post, eats two headbutts, and then tries to throw him into the torch, but BAM! Inoki grabs two sticks to smash it and send cinders everywhere, causing Saito to disengage. Inoki then collapses and they slug it out by the ring so they can lean against it and wipe blood all over the white ring apron (CLEVER!), leading to both guys half-dead.

THERE’s our money shot! A huge explosion of cinders in the dark. 

Wrestling 101: If you’re gonna bleed, make sure something nice and white is nearby to wipe it.

Inoki gets a vertical suplex and rolls out, leaving a bloody Saito to Scream Defiantly in the ring, egging him on while Inoki gives us the “Superstar Shot” of him staring forward with blood all over his face and upper body. Saito can barely stand, rolling out to meet Inoki and slowly throw overhand punches that Inoki can’t answer. Back in- backdrop suplex! Both are down for ages, but Saito STILL HAS THAT FIREWOOD, and he blasts Inoki in the head with it and adds another backdrop! Exhausted, he tries to finish with a lariat, but Inoki ducks him! Then hits a dropkick and bails. Back in, Saito hits a punch and headbutt, but both fall to their asses and Saito takes a stroll… Inoki sneaking behind him with a Sleeperhold! After a minute’s struggle, Saito collapses to the ground in a deceased manner, and so Inoki triumphantly stumbles off, making sure to dramatically collapse in the dirt several times on-camera in order to sell the accumulated damage and pain (1:22:28). An arbiter or someone checks on Saito’s corpse, and he’s indeed down for several minutes before he finally rolls over, revealing a full crimson mask. The announcer’s hushed, whispered tones really sell the drama, lol. Saito is loaded onto a stretcher and taken into a tent where they check his heart for signs of life, marking Inoki as the ultimate victor. We end things with a happy Inoki in a blue jumpsuit doing an interview, long after the match is over.

Haha, what even is this match? How does one judge this? SIXTY-THREE MINUTES of restholds and circling like Shamrock/Severn and it goes absolutely fucking nowhere, then they go “K, it’s dark enough, time to do the actual match” and they suddenly start trying, throwing hands and cutting each other up. That part of the match was GREAT, as they use the exhaustion from the other stuff to justify “hitting one shot, then falling over or standing there waiting for the other guy to get up”, making it look like methodical punishment. Saito is the first to use a weapon, showing how desperate he is once Inoki started beating his ass, while Inoki only used one out of CLEVERNESS, stopping a torch-shot with it and making Saito disengage. Or because he wimped out of going into the torch and still wanted a cool “exploding torch” visual, lol. Then they have this exhausted beatdown and smear their blood all over the white ring apron to create another great visual. So the match is like a total DUD with a **** brawl stuck on at the end of it, with tons of great visuals, defiance and anger.

The sheer difference between the “waiting for darkness” and “okay time for the real match” is hilarious because it’s so stark. It finally gets dark enough to get the visuals they want and BOOM- off to the races with good visuals, weapon shots, and more. It really makes you notice how obvious the “restholds” are when it barely even works up a sweat for them even though they’ve gone longer than an NWA Title Match by this point. And yes I cranked fast forward on some a’ that shit. I HAVE MY LIMITS! I checked periodically to see what kind of effort was being put in but nooooooooooppppe. Another disappointing thing is the lack of viciousness and rulebreaking considering there’s no referee. Saito shoulda been trying to shove splinters in Inoki’s eyes or found other makeshift weapons in the trees around them or something. I kept expecting a bloodbath as they fight through a forested area, but this is just some “light foliage” so again disappoints.

Rating: **1/4 (watch the “actual trying” stuff if you can, but OH MY GOD how can you give 63 minutes of restholds a good rating?)

BIG VAN VADER, CACTUS JACK & THE TAYLOR MADE MAN (w/ Harley Race) vs. EL GIGANTE, “HEAVY METAL” VAN HAMMER & RON SIMMONS:
(WCW, Jan. 14th 1992)
* WILD. One of those weird mishmash six-mans that seem nearly impossible, you have Terry Taylor floundering in WCW alongside the two top heels, then a random babyface squad of a failing giant (Gigante), a failing midcarder (Van Hammer, carrying around a guitar he can’t play), and future World Champion Ron Simmons.

Vader & Simmons start off, unable to overpower each other so Vader makes use of their collegiate football backgrounds by daring him to go to a three-point stance and they’ll have a TACKLE OFF. Ron is finally shamed into doing so, at which point Vader just pops up and starts hammering on his back, haha. Vader beats him up and throws an avalanche, but hits knees on the next one and Ron nails him with a flying shoulderblock, a running one, then a powerslam before tagging Van Hammer. He tries an armbar but Vader immediately just punches him in the face and tags in Taylor, who quickly eats a facecrusher and slam. Cactus tags himself in, but in comes Gigante to the best reaction so far, and he easily squashes Cactus in the corner and “throws” overhand chops to the back, then puts on the Giant Claw. Taylor tries to fly in, but gets caught like a baby and thrown at Jack’s feet- Taylor suggests to Cactus they charge him, but they get clotheslined like a couple of bumbling boobs. He trades Jack over to Ron, who gets distracted by Taylor and Cactus shitcans them both to the floor with his clothesline. A beating on the floors sets up Vader’s lariat & splash for two. Taylor comes in and is immediately suplexed, to it’s Cactus/Hammer- Cactus clotheslines Hammer coming off the top but gets backdrop suplexed (“Van Hammer trying to come out of the one-dimensional wrestling style that he’s been basically in as a power wrestler”), luring in Taylor and soon everyone hits the ring. This FINALLY gives us a Vader/Gigante showdown, but they just fight to the floor, distracting the ref as Hammer hits Taylor with a Slingshot Suplex and covers the illegal man, leaving him vulnerable to the dreaded Interfereing Elbow off the second rope- basically an MDK in the early ’90s still- that gets the win for Cactus at (8:23).

Sadly, this whole match seems PERFECT for a Vader/Gigante clash, so of course that didn’t really happen until the very end, despite Vader standing right there while Cactus got bounced around and couldn’t get anything going on the big man. While Vader was a good enough worker to possibly get something going with Gigante, he was probably like “lol fuck that” because the only way to make a dude this useless look good is to just bounce off him, and Vader is the company’s top Monster Heel so that’s a no-go. Instead they throw some light shots and fight to the floor to set up Cactus beating the vulnerable babyface.

Rating: ** (your everyday TV tag match- it usually kept going and was fine without being high-effort or any good)

Johnny coming out laying “kisses” on girls and a fucking old lady literally tries to slip him some cash hahahahahaa. Lady got the THIRST. Tragically they call her “Badd’s grandma” or something, marking it as a STUNT GRANNY.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the Johnny B. Badd gimmick is just SO bizarre. First off, it’s a 1992 gimmick based on Little Richard, who peaked in *1955*, so it’s literally 35+ years out of date. Then it takes Richard’s somewhat effeminate mannerisms and ratchets it up to near drag-queen levels with lipstick and rouge. But he’s a BABYFACE pro wrestler in a very homophobic time. Also he’s clearly named after Johnny B. Goode, a song by CHUCK BERRY, not Little Richard, and Berry had none of Richard’s flamboyance. Also he’s wearing very “1990s” gear with the sparkles and details on his gear. Oh, and HE’S NOT EVEN BLACK, but a guy from a Jewish background given very dark tanning to the point of blackface (enough that some kids actually thought he WAS black). Like WHAT WAS THIS? Why did anyone think this might get over? Imagine if today someone did a gimmick where they were a glam rock star, pushed it as far as being a drag queen, but also did blackface on top of it?

JOHNNY B. BADD vs. FIREBREAKER CHIP:
(WCW, 1992 sometime?)
* Poor Chip, in a fireman-red singlet, is demoted to already being in the ring while Badd comes out full of theatrics, planting gigantic “lips” stickers on pre-teen girls while a thirsty old lady tries to shove a wad of cash at him like he’s a stripper. Oh that’s apparently a thing- women and teen girls are putting cash in his thigh garter (THIGH GARTER) of this hip young babyface, who is apparently also a stripper. He tries to fire off his confetti gun, but no dice- it won’t go off and he just shrugs. Happens to the best of us! Uh, so I hear!

Badd & Chip shake hands to establish this is babyface/babyface, then Badd hits an armdrag, hiptoss & slam. Wait, didn’t last week’s WCW match I review start with exactly those three moves in that order? Chip manages his own slam, and starts getting worked up at Badd’s mannerisms, shoving him and earning a shoulderblock. Badd threatens a punch and Jim Ross goes into a long thing about how he keeps defaulting to that when he gets aggressive, which is a good character bit (Mero’s a legit boxer), but he leapfrogs Chip and dropkicks him to the floor, where Chip brandishes a big plastic chair at him. Back in, Badd takes a GREAT bump off a back body drop, then oh NOOOOOOOOOOOO poor Chip tries a fancy Run-Up move in the corner but buggers it up and lands ass-first on the top rope and falls backwards like a dope. Badd immediately pins him with a schoolboy at (4:16). Oh man was that supposed to be a crossbody that got countered? Bad win for poor Badd, who kinda just beats a loser since Chip messes up a move as the finish.

Rating: * (match was a fine Jobber Bout of a sort, with smooth wrestling save for one giant obvious botch, but nothing really impactful happening and ending on a rollup and not a finisher)

THIS WEEK’S PWI 500 GUY: AUSTIN STEELE:
Appearances: #466 in 1992, #268 in 1993, #351 in 1994, #265 in 1995, #263 in 1996

-Steele is a career jobber who did some WCW & WWF appearances, then indie stuff, and the most interesting thing is his bio is that after Flair left the WWF in 1994, Steele started doing Flair mannerisms while in squashes. He’s a bit burly and has longer bleach-blond hair, making him look Flair-like. Which is… weird. Like I get wannabes, but why pick one of THE MOST FAMOUS WRESTLERS IN THE WORLD if you’re gonna be a direct clone? Never mind one that’s still active. Steele was most active in the Pro Wrestling Federation in North Carolina… why was there a podunk indie right in Mid-Atlantic/Crockett territory in the early ’90s? Wasn’t WCW still heavily situated there? Also… “Austin Steele”? That’s a brutally generic wrestling name. Never mind there are too many Austins and Steeles in wrestling as it is. Actually the name is so generic there’s ANOTHER AUSTIN STEELE, as I can find some modern indie dork by the same name, haha. Much of his run is unlisted even on Cagematch.

THIS WEEK’S PWI 500 GUY: KRAZY KANE ATOMS:
Appearances: #486 in 1999

-Kane Atoms appears to have not had much of a career- just a few scattered matches around North Carolina and Cleveland- his Cagematch profile starts at 1994 despite wrestling as of 1991. His one PWI appearance is in 1999, too. He looks like some random guy- a decent jobber look but awful gear.

AUSTIN STEELE vs. KRAZY KANE ATOMS:
(FPWF, Nov. 9th 1991)
* Atoms has a simply terrible look- dark hair with a blond portion for the mullet, with a white tank-top and blue shorts with green kneepads and white boots. He looks like a 1980s calisthenics video host, but out of shape.

Steele keeps powering out of Kane’s full nelsons (doing Flair-style “WOOO!” stuff and flexing), so dares him to try it again and gets dropkicked into the corner and rolled up- he takes a powder and gets slingshotted back into the ring, but eventually gets a back body drop and takes over with choking, elbowdrops & kneedrops (Flair-style). I think he’s choking him while doing a front facelock but it’s unclear. He takes a shitty backdrop bump and begs off, but slugs Atoms out of a leg-twist and clotheslines him, but does a headbutt and Flair Flops himself off it. Atoms hits his own clothesline and some elbow & legdrops, working the arm then monkey-flipping him into a headlock. They collide and Steele works the leg, twisting the ankle, going “WOO!” and doing the stomp in the ropes. They do a clunky, bad International, Atoms defaulting to that clothesline again, then putting everything he has into a powerslam. He doesn’t go for a cover- he’s lucky Monsoon isn’t commentating this!- then goes up with a fistdrop. Steele sells a bunch, then does the Flair Flip in the corner and goes up… then just GOES BACK DOWN so he can eat another clothesline. Someone shoulda taught Atoms another move! Atoms throws some chops and is about to whip him when he suddenly mounts him for corner punches and takes an AWFUL bump off an inverted atomic drop. Steele chokes & mount-punches him but gets DDT’d by a probably blown-up Atoms, but Atoms can’t roll him over for a pin before he recovers, working over Atoms from the floor. Steele does a slam, elbowdrop and more “filler” offense to pad this out, Atoms fires off some limp chops, and they bump over the top to brawl to a MOTHERFUCKING DOUBLE COUNT-OUT at (17:12) lmaooooo. All that time totally not half-assing watching this shitty match and that’s the finish we get.

haha, so lame. This was one dude being Dollar Tree Ric Flair, openly mimicking the offense and mannerisms of one of the top wrestlers of that era, along with another guy who could only kinda work. Then they built a 16-minute match around “first month of wrestling school” offense so it’s very jobbery in addition to that. Atoms appears to totally suck AND get blown up, forcing Steele to use Jobber-Fu to carry 17 goddamn minutes more or less by himself until Atoms can mount 1-2 moves per “comeback”.

Rating: DUD (worth watching only for the botching and subpar Flair imitation, lol)

MABEL (w/ Oscar) vs. AUSTIN STEELE:
(WWF RAW, July 18th 1994)
* YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS an Austin Steele squash vs. MABEL! From WWF RAW! Steele looks doughy and big-bellied here, yet harmless compared to his gold & purple opponent. An ad following the entrance has Bret Hart shilling IcoPro as part of the secret of a World Champion. Macho Man is EXCITED about Oscar & Mabel’s approach, high-fiving both of them and making me long for a potential Macho/Mabel tag team. The Mega Missioners? The Men of Madness?

Steele grabs a headlock as I marvel he even has his KNEEPADS set like Flair, around his upper tibias. Mabel easily launches Steele across the ring, then throws him to the corner, dancing while Steele does the clumsiest, slowest run up the corner imaginable so he comes off and Mabel just swats him outta mid-air. hahaha well he’s a jobber so his stuff looking like shit actually works and is funny, here. Mabel hits a vertical suplex and Steele writhes in agony during a test of strength, indeed howling and flopping his hair around like Flair. lmao why is Mabel now working the ARM? Fuckin’ Mabel out here doing matwork, then he DESTROYS him with an avalanche in the corner. Steele Flair Flops and Mabel shouts “Whoomp! There it is!” and finishes him with the Bossman Slam at (2:37).

Rating: * (not the worst TV squash- Mabel easily bounces the guy around and his “Shitty Flair” act is more amusing as a jobber than trying to do a real match- 3/5 on the Squash Scale)

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week I have a really wacky one, as it turns out that Tatanka teamed up with KEN SHAMROCK way back in 1990, when both were green rookies and Shamrock wasn’t as roided and wasn’t in UFC yet! And they face THE PITBULLS! But they’re not the ECW monster team yet, but a pair of roided goobers still struggling in the low-end indies! So come see a green Tatanka team with a green “Vince Torelli” against “The Pit Bulldogs” in South Atlantic Championship Wrestling!

Next up, it’s a WWF RAW World Tag Title match, as The Quebecers defend against mystery challengers who turn out to be Men on a Mission! Then some WORLD OF SPORT greatness as some of the fastest and flashiest mat-wrestling you’ll ever see has Johnny Saint & Steve Best team up against The Barons, Ian Gilmour & Jeff Kaye) way back in 1972! And a very “1992 WCW” midcard match with The Taylor Made Man (Terry Taylor) facing The Z-Man (Tom Zenk)! Then it’s over to 1998 WCW as Super Calo faces Alex “THE PUG” Porteau on WCW Worldwide! And finally, this week’s look at the obscure PWI 500 guys has Joey Kaos take on future Impact Wrestling performer Willie Mack in a 2011 indie!

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! I can’t decide what’s weirder to put as a headliner- Tank Abbott and Rick Steiner have a shoot-style match that’s ACTUALLY GOOD, or the FABULOUS FREEBIRDS come to All Japan and take on the greats! yes, Terry Gordy had a big run for almost a decade in AJPW, but I didn’t realize he brought his partners with him, so come see how Michael “P.S.” Hayes deals with the likes of Jumbo Tsuruta and plucky babyface The Great Kabuki!

And more Steinery goodness sees Scott Steiner try to take the TV Title from Stunning Steve Austin in 1992 WCW! Part of the short run of The Patriot in 1997 WWF as he feuds with Bret Hart and the Hart Foundation, and gets ready for a PPV Title Match by fighting a fading Sultan (Rikishi/Fatu) on WWF RAW! Then it’s over to the Global Wrestling Federation as a very green Booker T of the “Ebony Experience” takes on the future PUG, Alex Porteau! Then Alex Shelley faces this week’s PWI 500 guy, Sonico the Caucasian “Luchaghoul”in some Pacific Northwest indie that’s already dead!

TANK ABBOTT vs. RICK STEINER:
(WCW Thunder, June 21st 2000)
* hahahaha I was laughing when I was told about this one, then the person who shared it was like “wait, this was actually good!” so I just HAD to check it out! It’s Tank Abbott in his UFC black shorts out there fighting RICK STEINER, and it’s a SHOOT STYLE match! This has disaster written all over it. Rick Steiner in 2000 WCW is one of my least favorite wrestlers ever- an unprofessional jackass who wouldn’t sell for ANYONE and just stiffed the shit out of all his opponents and made a ton of guys with potential look like garbage while sitting around as this oddly dominant midcarder. Tank was a quick wrestling washout with an 8-month WCW run to his name and that’s about it. An infamous walking WrestleCrap nomination who never learned to work. So it’s IMPOSSIBLE that this could be good! IMPOSSIBLE, I say! Tank looks like a burly homeless man with a greying beard and a gut hanging down, while Rick’s in a black “Bite me!” singlet and has a full beard.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, I have a headliner I’ve wanted to get to for a bit: NWA Champion Ric Flair vs. AWA Champion Rick Martel! In 1984 All Japan! Ooooooooooooh I can feel it- we’re gonna get a clean pin for sure! Next up, it’s another match from “Dollar Tree Haystacks Calhoun” Solomon Grundy, as the barefoot hillbilly from Pig Knuckle, Kentucky takes on World Class Champion Al Perez in the dying days of 1988 World Class! Then it’s a representative of WCW’s “Rick Fuller Division” of giant jobbers, Rick Fuller, taking on Ice Train on 1997 WCW Pro! And finally, a look at the PWI 500 loser names, as we find MBM out of Belgium! And he’s teaming with white European Luchadore Ultimo Sombra against Close Personal Friends, Just Joe Lando & Danny Black as they do an ROH-Style Flippy Double-Team match in a random indie! Then I look at a clip of MBM vs. Joey Janela as Janela proves once again why he’s unworthy for TV!

NWA TITLE vs. AWA TITLE UNIFICATION MATCH:
RIC FLAIR (NWA) vs. RICK MARTEL (AWA):
(All Japan, Oct. 21st 1985)
* OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH baby! It’s Ric Flair vs. Rick Martel! Champion vs. Champion! An NWA Title vs. AWA Title Unification match! In 1980s All Japan! Gonna be Clean Finish-amania all up in this bitch! Martel is 28 years old here with big ’80s hair and has all his chest hair at this point, and Flair is about 35, with flowing white locks and red trunks. They go face-to-face, revealing Flair is a notch bigger, while commentary says this is the first time such a thing has happened in 80 years! And a cursory Google check reveals this to be true enough that I don’t feel like researching further! That means it’s a fact!

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week I go absolutely all over the place, starting off with two requests. Thanks to Maffew, I got a clip of Earthquake vs. The Warlord… from Wrestle Association R in Japan! If Warlord gets three body-slams he wins! Watch as they both work pretty damn hard, since they’re in Japan. Next up is a FAT MAN STAND-OFF, as the future Yokozuna, The Great Kokina, decks out in his Samoan gear as he takes on a 400-lb. Haystacks Calhoun knock-off in Southern wrestler Solomon Grundy… in a baseball stadium in Puerto Rico!

Next up is Bret Hart’s “Fightingest Champion in WWF History” angle as he gives a title shot to VIRGIL! Can Virgil unseat the newly-crowned champion and become Heavyweight Champion of the World? READ ON! Then a Ring of Honor movespam match as the Young Bucks take on Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly) and the Bravado Brothers in a 3-way match! And finally, the PWI #500 of 2024, BLUE KANE (he’s like Kane, only he’s BLUE! And he has ICE POWERS!), facing Jerry Bakewell in 2023’s Lost Souls Wrestling

SUPER HEAVY WAR:
WARLORD WINS IF HE SLAMS EARTHQUAKE THRICE:
EARTHQUAKE vs. THE WARLORD:
(Wrestle Association R, 12/15/1993)
* Became Maffew is a hell of a mensch, when someone mentioned this match and I said I’d watched part of it but it’d since been lost on YouTube, he uploaded one for me! Both of these guys did a tour in Genichiro Tenryu’s promotion, which was kind of a mess (it was the “Generic Style Puro” with no real identity, mostly just having AJPW-style guys and whoever Tenryu could get from elsewhere- hence guys like this, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, etc. Also Ultimo Dragon as probably the most notable native it produced. This is a funny one, as Warlord is combining gimmicks- he has his Powers of Pain facepaint but his “solo WWF run” gear. The rules for the match are somewhat unique- Earthquake must pin Warlord, but Warlord will win if he gets three bodyslams. The size of these two dudes is so immense that it almost diminishes both- you forget that Tenta’s a shoot 6’6″ or so because Warlord’s matching him and is BUILT.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week I have an incredible find- Jim Londos vs. Bronko Nagurski for the “Heavyweight Championship of the World”- in 1938! Come see how heel wrestlers worked 90 years ago! Then it’s two straight amazing “WTF?” matches from Japan- All Japan sees Abdullah the Butcher and BOTH KAMALAS team up against a native squad of Akira Taue, old man Mighty Inoue, and young bitch-boy Yoshinari Ogawa! And IT DOESN’T SUCK! They go all-out and have a good match! I swear! Then an equally weird one as Tatsumi Fujinami, Masahiro Chono and Shinya Hashimoto team up against George Takano and the SOUTHERN BOYS in 1988 New Japan! Come see Tracey Smothers get fired up against Fujinami- not something I ever thought I’d see.

Looking through American indie sleaze, I found a bizarre “Bone on a Pole” match between two guys doing silly gimmicks- it’s Hobo vs. Manimal! And finally, our PWI #500 for the week sees 2023’s entry, Andre Chase of “CHASE U”! He’s actually an NXT guy until like a week ago, so I have an NXT match where he faces Ridge Holland in 2024! Then I look back at his Pro Wrestling NOAH run as “Harlem Bravado”, as he faces Ricky Marvin!

THE UNDISPUTED CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD:
BRONKO NAGURSKI vs. “THE GOLDEN GREEK” JIM LONDOS:
(Nov. 18th 1938)
* It’s the Champion of the United States (Nagurski) vs. the Champion of Europe for the Undisputed Championship of the world! “A version of the World Title”, apparently. And Bronko Nagurski may be the single most “1930s Athlete” name I’ve ever heard in my life. He also looks EXACTLY like his name, stocky and hairy. Born Bronislau Nagurski, he’s a Canadian-born NFL player and was a legit superstar for the Chicago Bears, wrestling as a side job, where he’d become NWA Champion once. He’s 238 lbs. versus Londos at 202. Both are in black trunks so I’ll have to take commentary’s word for who is who. Both guys have real “before steroids” bodybuilder physiques- stocky and powerful with huge arms and shoulders. Londos is shockingly at least 44 years old here if the date is correct. He was a HUGE star in his day, and apparently popularized the airplane spin & sleeperhold according to his VERY kayfabed Wikipedia page. This has that “early movie hyperspeed” thing going but I think 0.85x speed is about what it would have been in real life.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week I found a TON of disparate stuff! First off, the culmination of the Sammartino/Piper house show feud, as we get Rowdy Roddy Piper vs. Bruno Sammartino in a STEEL CAGE! With outstanding heel selling by Piper and some S-tier babyface energy by Sammartino in an amazing showcase of each guy’s qualities! And then I have a real doozy- Men on a Mission EXPLODES! With a 2004 match between King Mabel and a very obese Mo! And not just any match… a SUBMISSION MATCH in a dying Memphis promotion in a tiny studio! You gotta see what moves they pull off!

Next up, the Steiner Brothers squash the Master Blasters in 1991 WCW! Come see Kevin Nash & Al Green in their earliest days! Then it’s Blackjack Mulligan vs. Tiger Chung Lee in 1987 WWF! Memphis jobber Rockin’ Randy teams up with the Reaper to face The Southern Rockers (Well Dunn), and then he appears as Jerry Fox in a squash against recent WWE Hall of Famer Sycho Sid! Rick Martel vs. Hardbody Harrison in 1998 WCW! And finally, a documentary on PWI #500 for 2022, “Big Dust” Dustin Wilson!

STEEL CAGE MATCH:
ROWDY RODDY PIPER vs. BRUNO SAMMARTINO:
(WWF, Boston Garden Steel Cage Showdown, 1986)
* This is the culmination of the Piper/Sammartino feud, started mostly because Piper was being an asshole to everyone, and “everyone” also includes Sammartino, who may be in his 50s, but also doens’t take shit off of fools, of whom Piper is the high king. Piper was talking mad shit to Bruno and Italian people, Piper uttered an ethnic slur and popped him in the balls, then teamed up with Bob Orton to beat Bruno down. Assorted matches resulted, and this is the end one. Bruno, as Gorilla notes, has been in more of these than anyone, and he & Jesse Ventura point out the disfigurement and brutality of cage matches (“Pain? Disfigurement? Having your face raked like a piece of lettuce across the cage?”). This is escape rules, as always, disallowing SISSY THINGS like “pinfalls” and “submissions” like those soft wrestlers in the NWA. You must escape the cage LIKE A REAL MAN. Beat your opponent to a pulp to escape and that’s it. Ventura is blunt that he hates these matches- “I go on record, Gorilla. I don’t LIKE these matches. Can you imagine if the Body were to get in this, all the women throughout the world, the VOID that would be left in their hearts?” “Well you’d just have to use more makeup than you’re using now, Jess” “… that bill’s gettin’ expensive enough”. “haahahahah”. And of course in the Boston Garden, Piper comes out with “Super Bowl Champions- The Chicago Bears” on his t-shirt and two fucking BEARS POSTERS, which he proceeds to tape up inside the cage. This man is a genius, hahaha. Like cheap heat is one thing, but he always finds a way to “plus” things and annoy people even more.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! And now, thanks to a Scott Keith review, I have been aware of the ultimate FAT MAN STAND-OFF that was yet to hit YouTube until now! It’s YOKOZUNA vs. MABEL in their first match against one another! In an 11-minute Superstars bout! Following that, a Burly Meaty Brawl if equal ferocity if not magnitude, as Stan Hansen takes on Terry Gordy in 1986 All Japan! Then another rarity, as the three-man Demolition team, Ax, Smash and Crush, do a six-man tag against “Teaming With Jobbers”-era Rugged Ronnie Garvin, Jose Luis Rivera & Tim McPherson! Watch which jobber has his bumping boots on!

Next up, it’s one more TEIJO KHAN match, as the violent “Asian” menace teams up with The Barbarian to face the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express in 1986! Then a request, as the Ric & David Flair vs. Curt Hennig & Barry Windham match is built up by Chris Benoit & Steve “Mongo” McMichael taking on Hennig & Windham on WCW Thunder in 1999! And then finally, it’s the PWI #500 of 2021, as apartment comedy wrestler Lulu Pencil takes on both Trans-Am Hiroshi and Antonio Honda!

YOKOZUNA (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. MABEL (w/ Oscar):
(WWF Superstars, March 22nd 1994)
* HELL YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! The ultimate FAT MAN STAND-OFF!!! 1,000 lbs. of humanity! That’s like ten Young Bucks! These two actually fought off and on over the years, but never had a protracted feud. Even Cornette was like “you don’t book the two giants against one another!” and I’ve had it explained that “put the biggest guy vs. the other biggest guy” is “mark thinking” but excuse me if I don’t MARK OUT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! This is very shortly after Yokozuna lost the WWF Title. Sadly music & crowd noise are set way too loud here, preventing us from listening to Stan Lane & Ted DiBiase’s commentary and Oscar’s legendary enunciation as he raps Mabel to the ring. The Hammerstein Ballroom is ELECTRIC for Mabel, waving their hands in the air like they do not care.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This time, I felt like going through another WCW Nitro from the WCW YouTube channel- this one featuring GLACIER vs. BOBBY EATON of all things! Also a big variety of other stuff- Big Bubba vs. Konnan in a Strap Match, Kevin Sullivan squashing Chavo Guerrero Jr., Eddie Guerrero vs. Alex Wright, an amazing Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psychosis performance, Lord Steven Regal defending the TV Title against Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Arn Anderson in street clothes against Jeff Jarrett, Lex Luger vs. Meng, Harlem Heat vs. The Amazing French Canadians, HUGH MORRUS vs. JIM POWERS, and a big interview featuring the nWo and Hulk Hogan’s PPV opponent, The Giant!

And finally, the PWI #500 for 2000, Dan the Dad, taking on one of the guys to play Curry Man!

WCW MONDAY NITRO:
(Jan. 6th, 1997)
* I wanted to check out another Nitro, but most of the other 1997 stuff is just continuations of the one I just did, and feature some LONG story segments (including THAT infamous Piper one), which isn’t quite what I want for this sorta recap. Our first-hour hosts are Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko!

GLACIER vs. BOBBY EATON:
* SPECTACULAR. A failed Mortal Kombat ripoff vs. a fading veteran. Eaton was used as a jobber for the last 6-ish years of his WCW career I think. Here he’s up against the still-new Glacier, who is carrying a helmet he won in some sort of backstory touranment (they were attempting a mythology of sorts around this helmet and his fighting career, with Mortis as a former foe, but it mostly got dropped for “they hate each other” and wasn’t dwelled on). Larry actually goes hard in putting over Glacier and how he had to work on the katas and mixing the hard and soft styles together. Glacier wearing the Sub-Zero ripoff gear reminds me that he should actually wrestle using the mask, which makes him look cooler than “some white guy with weird contacts”.

Eaton takes some kicks as Larry Z writes off his singles capabilities (“Great tag team partner, but…”)- Glacier stops his comeback with hiptosses and they mess up a leapfrog spot (Glacier ROLLS under him, which has his leg catch Bobby’s), then poor Bobby has to eat three big kicks in a row, Glacier sorta coming at him from all angles as this is looking messy. Like Eaton “kicks out” but Glacier might be leaning on him for real so it looks bad. Glacier leapfrogs him and hits a Superkick to end it at (1:54). Poor Eaton, haha. This was looking ugly- Glacier is sorta coming at him from all sides so Bobby is just doing his best to fling himself around off of it. Signifcantly more time was spent on Glacier doing his kata with Tony Khan’s weekly coke budget flowing around him.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, I have some requests, as there’s a 1997 Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu match… in ALL JAPAN, as Baba brings in ECW’s hellraisers for a very “ECW” spotfest in the middle of the promotion a lot of Westerners have mistaken as being the most drab and serious of the companies out there! And then more All Japan sees a 1982 brawl between Terry Funk and STAN HANSEN! Come watch the two best sellers of the ’80s go completely wild in a berserker brawl that soon draws the entire ringside into the ring! Then it’s Perry Saturn vs. Psychosis from a 1998 WCW Thunder!

Following that, it’s a look at one of the very first “Failed Attempted to Counter-Program to WWE” promotions- the XWF! This company featured Jimmy Hart, Tony Schiavone, Greg Valentine, The Wall and a host of other guys WWF didn’t want from WCW’s death, and it’s before NWA-TNA or any other company tried it! And the match is giant monster Emory Hale as “Hail” vs. Marty Jannetty! I take a look at shitty micro-indies with fat indie loser Hellraiser Hark taking on Kevin Dark in a chain-link Steel Cage Match in front of thirty people! And finally, our PWI #500 showcase of the week has young Corey Storm (2019’s #500), fighting Jonathon Wolf in a “high schoolers cosplaying as Will Ospreay” indie shitshow, and then a better appearance from 2023 as the renamed Corey Calhoun takes on Adrian Alexander for the “Nice Guy Andy Podcast” Title! Yeah I dunno either!

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, I have a REAL dream match for you… it’s the WCW Special- an “on paper” dream match that totally sucks and disappoints! It’s Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, who of the all-time legends, versus “would-be” legends Lex Luger and Sting! Except it’s WCW Nitro in late 1999, which means everyone involved has long since stopped giving a shit! And Sting is in his addict phase! Holllllllllllly shit you should see his work here!

Then it’s a look at the “Asiatic” wildman Teijo Khan the Great, aka a very Caucasian man swinging his arms around and growling a lot, as he enters Memphis territory in 1987 and messes with Bill Dundee! Plus I found a short squash against future Blake Beverly, Mike Enos! Also I found a match where he takes his “White guy pretending to be Asian” gimmick TO JAPAN, as he faces Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shunichi Nakano while teaming up with Invader #1 as commentary openly makes fun of how short they are! Then it’s a classic WCW Saturday Night type of contest, as I finally get MORE JIM POWERS CONTENT in here as he takes on Fit Finlay in 1998! Then Barry Windham takes on giant jobber Emory Hale in a 1998 Nitro! And then I take a look at Hale’s go-nowhere Saturday Night push as the monster “Hail”, as he demolishes one jobber a week in early 2000- Chuck Coates, Mike Jones (Virgil!), Chad Hart (doing a Bret Hart riff) and Cassidy Riley! And then it’s the PWI #500 guy for 1998 (sorta), PUF, a 400+ lb. American who mostly wrestles in Canada, as he takes on AEW wrestler John Silver in an indie in 2020!

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, I have a big-time All Japan Triple Crown defense for you, as Steve Williams heads to All Japan and takes on JUMBO TSURUTA for the top crown in the promotion! Come see how the old lion takes on the new, young challenger! Then it’s a look at the MONGOLIAN MAULER, as some no-talent takes on a 1970s “Wildman” gimmick in 1990 and somehow gets a *WCW* run out of it, teaming up with Stunning Steve Austin against Brian Pillman & Dustin Rhodes! Oh and he is REALLY bad. Fascinatingly bad to the point where you actually learn a bit about how pro wrestling works and is planned because he keeps cocking it up! And I also found a squash he did against the future ROAD DOGG, Brian Armstrong! You gotta see this guy’s finisher.

Then more WCW squashes, as Disco Inferno faces Hardbody Harrison! Also the most WCW Thunder match possible, with Rick Fuller taking on Sick Boy! And finally, the PWI #500 guy of the week is 2016’s entrant Timmy Lou Retton, aka TIM, as he faces the entrant of 2017… “Progressive Liberal” Daniel Richards. Oh dear.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! And this week is a TREAT! Roy Lucier’s awesome All Japan channel is the gift that keeps on giving, as he pulls out all sorts of great obscurities, such as the singles match between Jumbo Tsuruta and CACTUS JACK during Mick Foley’s tour of AJPW in 1991! Two of the greatest and smartest workers in the history of the wrestling business- talk about a guaranteed ****+ MASTERPIECE, amirite?? Surely it’s not Jumbo in slack-ass mode with Foley as a jobber pin-eater!

Plus I got a great co-headliner- a FAT MAN STAND-OFF on Saturday Night’s Main Event, featuring King Kong Bundy vs. Uncle Elmer in the latter’s final WWF match! Will there be shoulderblocks? Will they be no-sold by virtue of obesity? READ AND FIND OUT! A look at the Dangerous Alliance era of WCW, as Larry “The Cruncher” Zbyszko, Beautiful Bobby & Arn Anderson take on “Heavy Metal” Van Hammer, Todd Champion and Firebreaker Chip! Then not one, but TWO Kaos vs. Bobby Duncum, Jr. matches on WCW Saturday Night, as the weird “Kenny Kaos Sorta Push While Other Stuff is Going On” continues! And finally, one of Dan Severn’s few WWF squashes, as he takes on jobber Al Phillips as “G.I. Bro” in 1998’s Shotgun Saturday Night! And finally, my PWI #500 series continues with none other than 2015’s entry, comedy indie wrestler Space Monkey!

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, I have the famous match where the Nasty Boys decided to make up a resume, working their asses off as free agents to get a fat WWF contract as they work a masterpiece of a tag match against the Steiner Brothers! Then the most amazing “1999 WCW” match possible, as Kenny Kaos and BOBBY EATON team up… against La Parka & Silver King!

Next up, it’s some WCW jobbery goodness, as WCW Worldwide sees THE PUG UNLEASHED, as Alex Porteau tries his level best against brutal jobberslayer Fit Finlay! And finally, our PWI #500 guy of the week is Scotland’s GRADO, an “Everyman Wrestler” taking on Temu Justin Credible, Chris Renfrew, in a hardcore ICW Title match in a UK indie. Plus an extra one, as I saw the name “Cloudy” and figured I had to check out someone named THAT- he’s a skinny indie guy taking on future WWE guy Joe Gacy in 2016!

NWA UNITED STATES TAG TEAM TITLES:
THE STEINER BROTHERS (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. THE NASTY BOYS (Brian Knobs & Jerry Sags):
(WCW Halloween Havoc 1990)
* This is a pretty famous one- the story goes that the Nasty Boys were working without a contract, so wanted to impress people and make themselves into hot free agents, so decided they were going ALL-OUT tonight. Famously sloppy, ugly dudes, they nonetheless had a lot of “go” at times and you never know what people are capable of. The Nasties apparently bloodied the Steiners and had them stretchered out after the contract signing, so as the Steiners head down they charge the ring and IT’S ON.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! And as a headliner I found the most AMAZING rarity from the WWE YouTube channel’s recent uploads- the one and only time “Macho Man” Randy Savage has teamed up with the Undertaker! And it’s against RIC FLAIR AND THE BERZERKER!

Following that it’s WCW greatness with Cactus Jack taking on the mighty Arachnaman (Brad Armstrong in a Temu Spider-Man get-up)! I find more matches featuring the “Rick Fuller Division” of WCW as Fuller teams up with Maxx Muscle against the Steiner Brothers on WCW Worldwide! And not one but TWO matches featuring gigantic 6’6″ Jobber Emory Hale in WCW, first as he takes on Mike “Blake Beverly” Enos and then the mighty VAN HAMMER in short D-Show matches! And finally, this week’s PWI 500 guy is Troy Stevens, indie goober from Connecticutt, as he takes on former AEW jobber Sonny Kiss! And then I found one as a rookie from 2015 against The Amazing Red where the poor kid has to be carried all match long!

“MACHO MAN” RANDY SAVAGE & THE UNDERTAKER (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. RIC FLAIR & THE BERZERKER (w/ Mr. Perfect & Mr. Fuji):
(WWF House Show, July 21st 1992)
* AMAAZZZZZZZINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! What a bizarre Dream Match! This features the one and only team-up of two of the biggest stars in history- Savage & Undertaker! And their opponents are an even bigger “WTF?”, combining Ric Flair and the Berzerker. Berzerker was the silliest gimmick here and the lowest-ranked guy, suggesting to me he’s either eating the pin or we’re getting a fuck finish. Savage somehow pulls off looking like a masculine bad-ass despite wearing neon green & floral print blue with pink tassels everywhere. Everyone’s wildly into character, Taker being an unfeeling zombie while Berzerker’s stomping around the ring already, cocky Flair going like “hey now…” as he’s trying to control his psychotic partner. lol ‘Zerker just grabs the ref and pulls him aside which didn’t look fun for poor Earl Hebner. Savage is the current WWF Champion.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week is the last in my 3-Nitro review set as the WCW YouTube Channel put up three consecutive WCW Monday Nitros from early 1997- this is the March 10th SPRING BREAK Nitro from 1997! This one features the nWo (still with Sting in tow) announcing that Dennis Rodman had joined the stable, and the famous disollution of the Roddy Piper Family after last week’s disastrous show and segment!

Also here are a variety of matches- Eddie Guerrero vs. JIM POWERS for the US Title as Eddie’s issue with Dean continues! The Mongo & Jarrett team try to reach a united front against up & coming High Voltage! Scotty Riggs prepares to fight Buff Bagwell, but first must overcome dorky babyface Chris Jericho! Ultimo Dragon & Juventud Guerrera, big names for “cold TV matches”, are sent out to die against one another! Prince Iaukea defends the TV Title against Steven Regal’s partner, Squire Dave Taylor! Diamond Dallas Page gets another squash, this time against Sgt. Craig Pittman! Kevin Sullivan of all people gets a squash against Hardbody Harrison! Rey Mysterio Jr. gets built up against GALAXY (Damien in a mask)! And the all-time most bizarre “Only in WCW” Dream Match possible, The Giant, Lex Luger & The Steiner Brothers face Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Roadblock & The Amazing French Canadians!

With WCW’s AMAZING Spring Break set, WHO WILL GO INTO THE POOL!?!

WCW MONDAY NITRO:
(Spring Break, Panama City, Florida, March 10th 1997)
* HELL YES IT’S A SPRING BREAK NITRO! The last in this set posted to WCW’s YouTube channel, this features the end of “Piper’s Family” (who debuted, of course, the week prior) and gives us another look at the phenomenal Nitro Spring Break set- the ring is set up around a POOL, with fans split off and in the stands. It’s a phenomenal setting for wrestling, full of raucous college students. And right ouf the gate we get the announcement that Dennis Rodman has joined the nWo and we see him with Hulk Hogan! And RODDY PIPER arrives with his confused, kilt-wearing “Family”, John Tenta and those two other guys I forgot the names of already! Well we haven’t seen the last of THEM- surely they’ll get named!

haha, you got a hot crowd, raucous fans, an amazing set, HOW DO YOU HOOK THEM? Rage & Kaos, of course!

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week I have one I’ve been curious about for a LONG time- the infamous Ric Flair/Scott Steiner Clash of the Champions match that led to a lifelong grudge from Scott to Flair, accusing the Nature Boy of “sandbagging” him and deliberately making the match worse to hurt Scott’s career! Various people have interjected at this point, with Lance Storm seeing “I can kind of see it!”, so I wanted to check it out for myself and see what Flair was doing, precisely.

Next up, a classically “WCW D-Show” match with El Dandy vs. Rick Fuller on WCW Worldwide! The giant jobber takes on the shrimpy, dumpy jam-up guy in a quick one! And then I find a LATER Rick Fuller match, as he’s put against WCW’s new giant hireling, HAIL! Apparently a tall guy I’ve only vaguely heard of, getting a micro-push before WCW died! Next up, another failed would-be star, as WWF hire GLENN KULKA appears in two matches for Power Pro-Wrestling, a WWF developmental territory in the late ’90s- first he takes on KURT ANGLE while Kurt was getting seasoned for the WWF, and then Dangerous Doug Gilbert (oh yeah, that’s a Memphis territory alright). Finally, today’s PWI #500 guy- Gino Martino! A once-obese New York powerlifter takes on The Giant Pharaoh in a tiny hall with an insanely hard ring!

WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE:
RIC FLAIR vs. SCOTT STEINER (w/ Rick Steiner):
(WCW Clash of the Champions XIV, Jan. 30th 1991)
* The WCW YouTube channel uploaded the famous Flair/Steiner match! This one is somewhat famous, especially these days, as Scott has accused Flair of “sandbagging” him during the match to make it worse and thus hold him down. As Scott was stuck in tag wrestling until 1998 or so, that’s a bit strange, but Lance Storm said watching the match with that accusation in mind, “I can kind of see it!”. Which isn’t really a corroboration exactly but Lance would know 100 times better than I would if a guy was actually trying to sandbag a match, so take that for what you will (it’s not a pure accusation, either). Scott has 4-5 years in the business at this point and minimal experience in singles, but got so much attention from fans that WCW basically HAD to push him. Flair is back then “only” 41, in yellow trunks with a terrible ’90s haircut, and Scott’s in a neon orange singlet. NJPW President Hiro Matsuda comes out before the match to hype Flair vs. Tatsumi Fujinami in a couple months, and then El Gigante comes out to hype up his WCW career, standing a full two heads taller than anyone else in the ring and high-fiving Scott.

WCW MONDAY NITRO:
(Atlanta, Georgia, March 3th 1997)
* There’s a bunch of Nitros on the WCW YouTube page, and I was gonna grab another random one, but found this one and… oh no. Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…

Oh yes, this is the time they did the infamous “Roddy Piper Recruits A Bunch of Scrappy Guys” angle. Also tonight is Dean Malenko vs. Mike Enos! A spectacular dream match of Michael Wallstreet vs. Scotty Riggs! Plus Jeff Jarrett & Steve McMichael vs. Hugh Morrus & Konnan, Juventud Guerrera vs. Ray Mendoza Jr. (an unmasked Villano IV), Eddie Guerrero vs. Ultimo Dragon, Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Mr. JL, and the Steiner Brothers vs. Lex Luger & The Giant! Plus interviews with Eric Bischoff and HIS boss, Madusa, and more!

Right at the beginning, we see the nWo arrive (then Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Macho Man, Michael Wallstreet, Vincent, Miss Elizabeth, Ted DiBiase, Syxx & Scott Norton). Then it’s Dr. Harvey Schiller, the President of Turner Sports (and thus a guy ahead of Bischoff in seniority)! Importantly, this is in Atlanta, GA, home base of WCW (and its parent corporation).

JEFF JARRETT & STEVE “MONGO” McMICHAEL (w/ Debra McMichael) vs. HUGH MORRUS & KONNAN (w/ Jimmy Hart):
* It’s the Four Horsemen still having an issue with the Dungeon of Doom, as we continue the boring “can JJ be accepted as a Horseman?” angle. Morrus got a squash win last week so is sorta getting more focus. Konnan’s still doing his rapper thing even though he’s in a Spooky Stable.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, something a little different- I found an entire episode of WCW Monday Nitro from 1997 to watch! Public Enemy vs. Steve McMichael & Jeff Jarrett! Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. jobber luchador Galaxy! Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera! The Faces of Fear vs. Eddie Guerrero & Chris Jericho as dorky babyfaces! Dean Malenko vs. Ultimo Dragon! Hugh Morrus vs. Joe Gomez! Diamond Dallas Page vs. Squire David Taylor! Ice Train vs. La Parka! Prince Iaukea vs. Pat Tanaka! And WCW Tag Champions Lex Luger & The Giant are set to go against Harlem Heat!

WCW MONDAY NITRO:
(WCW, Feb. 24th 1997)
* Live from Sacramento, California! It’s Tony Schiavone, & Larry Zbyszko and the nWo is wild!

PUBLIC ENEMY (Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) vs. THE FOUR HORSEMEN (Steve “Mongo” McMichael vs. Jeff Jarrett, w/ Debra McMichael):
* Public Enemy (no “The”) defeated the Faces of Fear & Harlem Heat last night in a triangle match. And they’re taking on the Horsemen! Except it’s the worst two ever (YES INCLUDING ROMA)- McMichael, who could barely work and was beloved as the boys’ coke supply and Jarrett during one of his many “ACKNOWLEDGE THIS GUY AS A STAR! P-please? Pretty please?”, with no less than Ric Flair coming out and begging fans to accept Jarrett as a Horseman. It never worked, to the point where Jarrett bailed on the company for the #2 WWF and a re-push THERE. He became a Horseman last night after beating a suspicious Mongo when he grabbed Debra’s tossed briefcase. Public Enemy’s music is edited out for some generic stuff instead of their “Hotstepper” knock-off, which makes all their swaying mis-timed to the music now.