Heavy Metal

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, I have a hell of a find- a Mirror Match between Bruiser Brody and the guy who lifted all his stuff- Nord the Barbarian! Turns out they were old tag partners and occasional opponents, making that less of a theft and more of a “trainee” thing! But come see a mega-roided future Berzerker take on his elder self in Windy City Wrestling in 1988!

Next up, I have the most “1994” match ever, as Adam Bomb and the Smoking Gunns take on Kwang & Well Dunn- the Wippleman Dream Team. Next up is “Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich in his final televised WWF match against the Repo Man! Finally, I knock out a lucha match I reviewed ages ago as El Hijo Del Santo, Latin Lover & Heavy Metal face La Parka, Fuerza Guerrera & Blue Panther!

KING KONG BRUISER BRODY vs. NORD THE BARBARIAN:
(Windy City Wrestling, 1988?)
* !!!!!!!!!!! Completely wild! Bruiser Brody, shortly before he died, and he’s up against the guy who lifted nearly all his shit in John Nord (aka The Berzerker). They were actually tag partners in 1986 AWA, mentioned here, so it’s actually somewhat natural that Nord became one of the “Brody Clones”. The video quality here is NOT good, but Brody has black trunks and longer hair, and is less toned than a 25-ish Nord, who has short curly hair and brown trunks.

Welcome to another column of Dream Matches! This one has some truly crazy “Wait, that was a thing?” cases, as the indie superstar of the 2000s meets the supposed indie superstar of the 1990s, in Bryan Danielson vs. Reckless Youth! Plus the two most bizarre “ECW guys looking out of place in WCW” cases, with the Sandman AND Mikey Whipwreck showing up, taking on Billy Kidman and a Villano, respectively! Watch on YouTube as Dusty Rhodes leads poor Scott Hudson through the most insane conversation in history to fill time. Oh, and remember that four weeks when you saw AAA luchadores on the main WWF TV shows? Well I do! And here’s the time they got sent out on RAW to die while they furthered other programs during their match!

ECWA SUPER-EIGHT TOURNAMENT (2001, second round):
BRYAN DANIELSON vs. RECKLESS YOUTH:
* Oh my god, I just wanted to find Reckless Youth stuff to snark on mid-1990s PWI’s obsession with him, and I found Baby Bryan! So at the time Bryan was just some nobody on his way up- short-haired and clean-shaven like every other Indie Dweeb at the time, but he’s now up against the GOD of the Indie Dweebs. The ECWA Super-Eight was kind of like the ultimate trophy of the indie scene at the time, which at this point was made up of wannabes to WWF & WCW, and wrestled more or less like those companies’ styles- it was either guys who were gonna make the big leagues, or guys who were too small and/or shitty for them. But the focus on Cruiserweight wrestling in WCW, Shawn Michaels, and New Japan’s Juniors, the new generation being fans of that style, and the fact that bouncers and failed football players were suddenly finding careers other than wrestling, meant that there was this massive culture shift that sort of birthed Ring of Honor and the modern style.