Articles by Michael Fitzgerald — page 2

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

This week’s subject is hardly treading new ground, as many people have made YouTube videos, written articles and even created e-feds online to tackle the idea of what WCW One Night Stand would look like. However, I thought it would be fun to come up with a card for such an event, so I’m giving it a go.

For the sake of the article, let’s assume that WWE, buoyed by the success of the ECW equivalent, decided to hold a WCW One Night Stand event in the summer/autumn of 2005. Unfortunately, holding the event in this timeframe means that I won’t be able to use some guys like Kevin Nash and Raven, as they were contacted to TNA at the time and wouldn’t have been released to do it. Plus, I think Nash had suffered a really gnarly staph infection and wouldn’t have been available anyway.

Aside from that though, WWE had quite a few of the old WCW guard under contract and others were either working for companies that wouldn’t restrict them appearing or were freelance at the time, meaning that I think this card would have actually been able to legally take place had it been booked in July-September of 2005.

So, without further ado, let’s have a bash at WCW One Night Stand

Happy Stampeding Saturday Everyone!

We continue our journey into 1998 WCW today by taking a looking at Spring Stampede 1998. This is a show I’ve actually watched quite a bit because I had it on bootleg VHS back in the day when it was very difficult to get official WCW releases over here in the UK. From memory it’s not a great show but it’s got enough decent stuff on it as to make it worthwhile.

I actually managed to find the VHS version of the show, so I’m watching that for this. The bonus is that I get the original music without the Peacock/Network dubbing, but the negative is that the video quality is pretty rubbish

You can view the card by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1644&page=3

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

This week we’re going back to the theme of booking an event that never actually happened in the form of Bound For Glory 2003. NWA-TNA at the time were trying to build to a big Autumn showdown between Jeff Jarrett and Hulk Hogan in what would be the company’s first ever 3 hour pay per view event. I believe the 30^th of November was the planned date in question.

Sadly for NWA-TNA, Hogan ended up having surgery on his knee and the whole thing fell apart, with Bound for Glory not becoming a regular stop on the pay per view calendar until 2005. In this scenario however, The Hulkster doesn’t need to take time off and Bound For Glory 2003 can still go ahead, with Jarrett and Hogan closing out the event.

However, let’s see what I can come up with in order to put on a good show for 3 hours. NWA-TNA had some good wrestlers on the roster at the time and some strong storytellers in the form of Raven, so there’s a decent level of talent to work with.

Let’s book NWA-TNA Bound For Glory 2003!

Happy Stinky Saturday Everyone!

We’re back with another Stinker Review, where I look at a show with a bad reputation and see if it’s deserved. This week our target is WWF WrestleMania XI, a show that is wildly regarded as one of the worst Mania events ever. It was a show that was built around Bam Bam Bigelow facing off with famous American Footballer Lawrence Taylor, which is at least a big celebrity match with freak show appeal, but the under card isn’t really close to being Mania-Worthy.

However, maybe WrestleMania XI has been unfairly maligned and it’s better than people give it credit for? Let’s give it a chance to defend itself before we decide whether it deserves to be labelled as a Stinker.

You can view the card by clicking the link below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1925&page=3

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

We’ve got another owner mandated scenario this week. For those of you who haven’t read my Rebooking features from the past two weeks; this scenario entails me getting some form of order/direction from the owner of the promotion requiring me to book a certain match at the event. I’m free to book the rest of the show to my own whims, but one particular match MUST be mandated by the owner. This week it’s WrestleMania XII getting the rebooking treatment, with Vince McMahon demanding that we continue to run the WWF on Diesel Power™.

Yes, in this scenario I’m imagining that Vince McMahon has had one of his many stubborn turns and has demanded that Big Daddy Cool remain the WWF Champion into WrestleMania XII, as Vince refuses to let it go in an effort to thoroughly Roman Reigns his giant WWF Champion.

Thus I’ve been diligently set to work with the goal of coming up with a WrestleMania XII Main Event match for ol’ Big Daddy, although thankfully Vince has at least allowed me to dethrone the big lug. Thus here comes WrestleMania XII with Diesel closing the show. Wish me luck.

You can view the original card for the show by clicking below;

Card with guide « WWF WrestleMania XII « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database

Happy Extreme Saturday Everyone!

I’ve never watched CyberSlam 1997 before, but it’s on WWE Network/Peacock, so I decided to give it a viewing seeing as it takes place in that interesting period between Mass Transit and Barley Legal, where the whole company was based around the desperate pursuit of making it onto pay per view in the hope that it would finally allow them to kick on.

You can view the card by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=379&page=3

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Last week I rebooked WrestleMania VIII on the assumption that the owner of the promotion mandated a certain Main Event, thus ensuring I would be forced to mix up the card a bit. This week we’ll do the same with WCW Starrcade 1993.

In this universe, we’re going to assume that the scissor incident between Sid and Arn Anderson didn’t take place, thus meaning I’ll be expected to close the show with the previously planned Main Event of Vader Vs Sid.

Let’s see if I can be amendable to the WCW hierarchy whilst still putting on a fun Starrcade 1993.

If you wish to view the original card you can do so by clicking below;

Card with guide « WCW Starrcade 1993 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database

Happy Saturday Everyone!

We’re going to review WrestleMania VII today because we’re nearing Mania in real life and I’ve always enjoyed this show. The Main Event is Sgt Slaughter defending the WWF Title against Hulk Hogan, in a feud that had a very tasteless build but at least delivered when they got in the ring. The other big match is Macho King Randy Savage facing The Ultimate Warrior with both respective wrestlers’ careers on the line.

If you’d like to view the card, you can do so below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1768&page=3

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I actually think WWF WrestleMania VIII is a decent enough show overall, although it loses steam after the great Ric Flair Vs Randy Savage match. I decided to set myself a challenge this week, whereby I assume that I’ve been mandated to do a certain thing by the promoter and then have to book a show to fit this criteria.

In this instance, I’m rebooking WrestleMania VIII under the assumption that Vince McMahon has demanded that the Main Event be Ric Flair Vs Hulk Hogan. In real life, McMahon decided he needed something different on top, which is why we got Hogan against Sid and Flair against Savage. In this reality though Vince has decided that we’re going to do Flair Vs Hogan and it’s up to me to book the rest of the card.

With that in mind, let’s see what I can cook up.

As always, please feel free to share your own booking ideas and thoughts in the comments section.

You can view the real card for the event by clicking below;

Card with guide « WWF WrestleMania VIII – “Friendship Torn Apart!” « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Uncensored 1998 has a couple of good matches on it, and also some sucky ones, but I’m hoping the positives will outweigh the negatives and this will end up being a decent show overall. Fingers crossed eh?

The big storyline coming in was dissension within the nWo, as Hollywood Hogan and Randy Savage have fallen out and now the group is splintering as guys pick sides. Sting is also defending the WCW Title against Scott Hall, whilst Kevin Nash will wrestle The Giant in a rematch from Souled Out 1998.

I’ll be watching the opener on WWE Network/Peacock and then I’ll be switching over to the official Pal VHS release from then on, so if there are any inconsistencies then that’s why. Sadly the tracking is all messed up for the opener on the VHS but it clears up when the second match kicks in. I need some Self High Five in my life though, as well as Jericho’s Evenflow knock-off theme, so VHS it is.

You can view the full card by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1641&page=3

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

We return to the rebooking series this time because I felt like having a bash at WCW Starrcade 1994, mainly because Scott reviewed it during the tail end of last year and it inspired me to try it. The real show featured Hulk Hogan taking on Ed Leslie in the Main Event whilst Kevin Sullivan fought Mr. T, which didn’t end up being a critical success.

Let’s have a go and see what I can come up with. Hopefully it will be fun stuff!

You can view the full card for the event by clicking the link below;

Card with guide « WCW Starrcade 1994 – “Triple Threat” « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database

Happy Stinky Saturday Everyone!

Today we do our monthly review of a show with a bad reputation, as we look at nWo Souled Out 1997. This was WCW’s attempt at establishing the New World Order faction as a viable second brand, with the idea being that they could then run separate WCW and nWo branded events and ostensibly make the WWF the third biggest company in the USA (this was actually their plan).

The event ended up being awful though as, even though the nWo were cool, they were still the bad guys and the WCW fans ultimately wanted to see the WCW guys be booked as competent rather than them being the weekly punching bags they usually were. The show ended up being both a critical and commercial bomb, with the only bonus being they managed to sell out the 5,000 seater arena they booked it in.

Let’s see if time has been kind to this one or whether it’s still as stinky as I remember. If you’d like to see the card for the event you can do so by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1627&page=2

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

We did parts 10 to 6 last week, so we’ll finish it up with 5 to 1 this week!

Monday Night Raw has been on the air for over 30 years now, so I thought I’d take a trip back through the cavernous archives to pick out 10 of my personal favourite Monday Night Raw segments or moments from the show’s history.

I confess that I basically stopped watching the show on any sort of regular basis from about 2015 onwards, due to a combination of me falling out of love with the WWE product and the fact that three hours a week is just WAY too long for a wrestling show. So if you’ve been an avid watcher from that period onwards then I’m afraid your own personal favourite moment won’t appear here.

So yeah, sorry about that…

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I’ve never watched WrestleFest 1988 in full before but I have seen the Main Event. That actually won’t change here as I’m watching the Silver Vision version and I believe they cut some of the matches out. This was a big stadium show where Andre The Giant and Hulk Hogan would seemingly settle their long running feud inside a Steel Cage. I think this might have been their last big singles match together but they would face off in tag team matches after this show.

You can view the card by clicking below so you can see what matches I’m missing;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=62053&page=2

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Monday Night Raw has been on the air for over 30 years now, so I thought I’d take a trip back through the cavernous archives to pick out 10 of my personal favourite Monday Night Raw segments or moments from the show’s history.

I confess that I basically stopped watching the show on any sort of regular basis from about 2015 onwards, due to a combination of me falling out of love with the WWE product and the fact that three hours a week is just WAY too long for a wrestling show. So if you’ve been an avid watcher from that period onwards then I’m afraid your own personal favourite moment won’t appear here.

So yeah, sorry about that…

Happy Saturday Everyone!

We’ve got a bit of a hit and miss WCW pay per view this week, as some of the stuff on SuperBrawl VIII is very good and some of it is less so. WCW was coming off a very bad Starrcade and a much better Souled Out here, with the Main Event being a rematch of the awful Starrcade Main Event between Hollywood Hogan and Sting. We’ve also got The Outsiders Vs The Steiner’s and Diamond Dallas Page taking on Chris Benoit.

You can view the card by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1640&page=2

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Back with another one of these where I book a show that never happened, in this case the ECW Living Dangerously 2001 event that was originally due to take place on the 11^th of March but ended up never happening due to ECW going out of business.

This week I’ll try and build from the Guilty As Charged event in January 2001 in an effort to keep existing storylines moving whilst also creating new ones. ECW doesn’t have the biggest of rosters but we’ll see what I can slap together and we might even bring some fresh faces in.

I’m assuming the reality we’re living in is one where ECW seemingly got another TV deal and thus managed to survive a bit longer. This would have put them in the interesting position of being the defacto second company in America what with WCW soon going southward.

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I reviewed a bad WWF/E show last week so let’s redress the balance by reviewing a better one in the form of No Way Out 2000. The big selling point for this show is that Cactus Jack is putting his career on the line in a Hell in a Cell match with WWF Champion Triple H. Aside from that, we’ve got Rock putting his WrestleMania 2000 Title shot on the line against The Big Show whilst European Champ Kurt Angle tries to win the WWF Intercontinental Title from Chris Jericho in order to become the third Euro-Continental Champion in company history.

Vince McMahon apparently credited this as the only buy rate Mick Foley ever drew, which seems a bit unfair when you consider how Foley played his part in more than one major pay per view match during the WWF’s hot streak.

Let’s see if this one holds up. You can view the card by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=2117&page=2

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

This week we finish off our little arc into 97 WCW as we rebook WCW Starrcade 1997. Starrcade 1997 is a very odd event actually as it was chockfull of Heel wins and is generally one of flattest shows you could watch, especially as it was supposedly WCW’s biggest show of the year and probably the most ordered one they ever had. You’d think they’d want to fill that show with feel good moments so that buyers would leave feeling positive about the product and wanting to see more, but instead the show had something bordering on a funereal atmosphere at times.

I’m going to try and address that here by putting in some more babyface wins and also trying to feature some good wrestling. Let’s see if I can succeed. Though we’re ending the arc this month I’ll also have a think about what the next show would look like too and if that sounds like fun to you readers I might pick this thread up again.

If you’d like to see the real card for this event then you can click below;

Card « WCW Starrcade 1997 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database

Happy Stinky Saturday Everyone!

We’ve got another Stinker Review for you this week, where I look at a show with a bad reputation and then decide whether that reputation is deserved. This week we’ve got WWE Royal Rumble 2006, a show renowned for being pretty awful from a general match quality perspective with a Rumble match itself that way under delivers.

I remember disliking it a lot back in the day and I never really wanted to go back to it, but maybe time has been kinder to it?

You can view the card by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=5231&page=2