The SmarK Rant for the Stars N Stripes Challenge – 07.04.93
So I did that episode of Superstars yesterday, and commented that the bodyslam challenge wasn’t broadcast anywhere originally but was on the WWE Network, in case you wanted to watch it. YOU. NOT ME. But then one of my Patrons sent me money and asked for a review, and by the rules of my Patreon I had to accept the challenge. DAMN HIM. They couldn’t have tried to bribe me to review the four hour Crockett Cup 86 on there instead?
The SmarK Rant for The War To Settle the Score – 02.18.85
So yeah, I’ve been wanting to do this one for a while, hoping that it would return to the WWE Network after being mysteriously removed a week into being posted. And then it never was. However, someone was paranoid enough to rescue the show before it got pulled, and sent it to me just before it disappeared. Normally my policy is to only review stuff that’s available for everyone, but I just wanted to FINALLY give this one a look for you and these are weird times anyway.
As for this show, it’s a sequel to The Brawl to End It All and kind of a proto-Wrestlemania, taking place a month before the real deal. Originally it was cut down to 30 minutes and aired live on MTV, but this is the full 2:20 show.
Taped from Madison Square Garden
Your hosts are Mean Gene & Gorilla Monsoon
The SmarK Rant for NWA/AWA Nite of Champions II – 12.29.85
I actually keep finding random stuff on the Hidden Gems section of the Network that I’ve never watched before and I just go “WTF? Where did this come from?” This is another one of those things.
Taped from the Meadowlands in New Jersey, apparently drawing 12,000 people.
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – NWA Boogie Jam 84 (03.17.84)
I totally forgot that this one got added as a Hidden Gem show a while back, mostly because the interface is such dogshit now that I can barely find anything unless I know exactly where I’m supposed to be looking. And since Clash VI is apparently hacked to pieces on the Network anyway, we’ll go with this one as our second version of the Flair v. Steamboat celebration this weekend.
https://watch.wwe.com/program/Boogie-Jam-1984-103634
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – AWA Brawl in St. Paul 12.25.86
Well, Hidden Gems might be gone now, but I’ve still got some left on the Network that I never had a chance to finish up. And this is one that’s pretty appropriate for the season – The AWA Christmas night show in 1986, featuring the Rockers against Rose & Somers in a legendary cage match!
Taped from St. Paul, MN
Your hosts are Rod Trongard & Dick Jonkowski
The SmarK Rant for WWF Survivor Series Showdown 1992 – 11.22.92
Wish this had been on the Network when I was doing these episodes of Superstars.
Taped from Springfield, in whatever state Springfield is in.
Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – WWF Sunday Night Slam 11.20.94
Yes, it’s another USA Network special, this one building to Survivor Series 1994. And although they are traditionally two hours long, by this point the format was getting long in the tooth and so now it’s down to an hour.
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – After the Last Battle of Atlanta! (11.06.83)
So they’ve found ANOTHER Omni show from Georgia Championship Wrestling, this one after the famous Rich-Sawyer Last Battle of Atlanta show and just before Starrcade ’83.
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – NWA Great American Bash 1988 (Greensboro 07.16.88)
This is yet another show where the WarGames main event was thought to be lost back in the day, and then they released a WarGames DVD set and suddenly found it. And now they’ve found the entire damn show and put in on the Network. I’ve been meaning to get to this one since it came out last week, but there’s so much great wrestling to watch right now! It’s becoming a real problem for me.
Taped from Greensboro, NC
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – Mid-South in New Orleans, 11.11.85
With the impending dump of Mid-South on the Network this Monday (which means I can pick up where I left off in 1985, yay!) the theme for the Hidden Gems this week is, duh, Mid-South and/or Houston from that time period.
First up, a Mid-South house show from New Orleans!
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – Georgia Championship Wrestling at the Omni – 12.04.83
(Hey youse guys, you get a second rant this morning because I wrote this on the weekend to have something banked for later. However, with NWA Powerrr, AEW Dark (yeah I’m gonna review that too, wanna fight about it?), Dynamite and Smackdown all coming up this week, I’m pretty packed for content as it is and I don’t know when this would get posted. So let’s just post it now! )
Wait, where the hell did THIS come from? I don’t even remember this getting added to the Gems collection but it’s just sitting there now, mocking me for never watching it this whole time.
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – 10.03.19
I’m back with fresh content after a week of stuff that was a combination of reposts and Observer Flashbacks written two weeks ago. And a very timely set of Hidden Gems we get this week, building up the impending Brock-Kofi match on Smackdown tonight with early dark matches featuring the two of them!
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – Great American Bash 86 (Greensboro 07.26.86)
Figure I might as well get this second Bash show done so it’s not hanging over me.
For those who don’t know or don’t remember, this show and the previous supercard in Charlotte were both added as Hidden Gems a couple of months back, the full versions of the shows that were edited down to a 2-hour compilation tape called “Great American Bash 86” back in the day.
Taped from Greensboro, NC
The SmarK Rant for The Brawl to End It All – 07.23.84
OH BABY. We’ve been waiting a long time for these shows to drop on the Network! These are the full MSG shows, which were then edited down for the MTV special later on.
First up, a strange bit of history, as I was always told that we got the first ever women’s main event when Charlotte and Sasha did it. And yet, unless I’m dreaming, this show is headlined by a women’s title mach!
Taped from Madison Square Garden
Your hosts are Gene Okerlund & Gorilla Monsoon
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – 08.29.19
This is quite the eclectic mix this week, with Adrian Street matches and international title defenses as the theme(s). Oh, wait, Street is from WALES, now I get the tie-in. Duh.
The SmarK Rant for WWF Sunday Night Slam 1994 – 08.21.94
This was a backdoor addition to the Network as a Hidden Gem that is basically impossible to find at this point unless you literally know it’s there and search for it.
https://watch.wwe.com/program/Sunday-Night-Slam-August-1994-103116
Anyway, this was the Summerslam 94 leadup show, centered around Leslie Nielsen searching for the Undertaker. So you know it’s quality.
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – 08.08.19
This week’s theme should be obvious.
Hidden Gems returns! Huzzah!
The SmarK Rant for Summerslam Spectacular 1993
– Taped from Poughkeepsie, NY, somewhere around August 16 1993. Probably that night.
– Your hosts are Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon. Huh.
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – Pro Wrestling USA presents Meadowlands Mayhem!
Taped from East Rutherford, NJ (04.19.85), drawing about 10,000.
Your hosts are Killer Ken Resnick and Doug McLeod.
Tonight’s main event is a UGANDAN DEATH MATCH. That’s a hell of a hook. I’ve got no idea what’s on this show, but it’s another unholy union of Jim Crockett and Verne Gagne talent so let’s just check it out and see what we get.
The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems and Other Stuff – 06.27.19
Just a couple of quickies for the Hidden Gems today, so there should be time to explore some other stuff I’ve been meaning to get to.
