Fantasy Booking: International Wrestling Association Week #1

I decided to keep my mind busy and jump into writing a fantasy wrestling promotion.  This takes place after AWA shuts down in 1991 and will take over the void of booking in Chicago and other areas in the mid-west.  I take free agents that aren't a part of the big 2 companies of the time.  I also try to incorporate Japanese and lucha wrestlers where I can but try to keep it realistic enough with a budget of who I can afford in the beginning.  Chicago is a great place to feature luchadores because of a sizable Hispanic population that would come out for the stars and because Galavision and Univision are accessible in the area.

Week 1 (June 15-21)
IWA Genesis
Odeum Pavilion
Villa Park, IL
1.    Chris Candido defeats Jeff Gaylord (7:34) with the Suicide Blond diving headbutt to win the pinfall.
2.    Eddy Guerrero defeats Al Snow (15:12) with brainbuster suplex to win pinfall.
3.    The Wild Bunch and The Eliminators fight to a double DQ in a bloody brawl (13:29).
4.    Blue Panther/Negro Navarro/Black Terry defeats Pirata Morgan/Fuerza Guerrera/Emilio Charles Jr. (14:13) after Panther makes Guerrera submit.
5.    Brad Armstrong defeats 2 Cold Scorpio (9:45) with a Russian legsweep turned into a three-quarter facelock causing a submission.
6.    The Fantastics defeats Eddie Gilbert/Eric Embry (19:47) when Bobby Fulton rolls Gilbert up in a small package.
7.    Tully Blanchard defeats Norman Smiley (12:51) after a low blow that the ref didn't catch and rolled Smiley up.
8.    Lightning Kid defeats Jerry Lynn (18:10) via pinfall after a guillotine leg drop.

IWA on WGN (June 18, 1991)
West Bradley Place
Chicago, IL
⦁    Our announce team, Scott Hudson and Bob Caudel welcome us to the very first episode of International Wrestling Association on WGN.
⦁    They go on to declare that this will be the promotion of the future and that while they have established stars from all over the country, they will be giving a bigger platform for the future of the business.  They go on to announce the main event as two of the hottest young free agents in wrestling: Lightning Kid vs. Jerry Lynn!  Tully Blanchard and The Fantastics will be on hand for matches as well as stars from Mexico and England!
⦁    A highlight reel of newcomer Sabu is shown before the first match of his exploits in the indies around the U.S. and in Japan.
⦁    Sabu defeats Chris Candido (5:04) by submission with the camel clutch after a short but very intense match that saw Sabu also perform a big moonsault from the top rope to the outside onto Candido.
⦁    Hudson and Caudel introduce former NWA U.S. Champion and World Tag Team Champion Tully Blanchard to the announcing desk for an interview.  Caudel asks Blanchard what he expects to achieve in the IWA.  He said simply to continue to prove that he's the best in the world and will capture the Heavyweight title when it becomes available and no one's in his way here to stop him.
⦁    Caudel introduces the audience to the world of lucha libre in a short highlight reel of the high flying moves that occur on a regular basis.
⦁    Eddy Guerrero defeats Fuerza Guerrera (7:24) with a brainbuster.
⦁    The Fantastics defeat Dave Taylor/Dave Finlay (9:42) with the Fantastic Flip.
⦁    The Fantastics give a post match interview in which they are happy to be in Chicago and wrestle in front of crowds that appreciate real, down to earth wrestling and will continue to bring the most exciting tag team wrestling in the world.
⦁    Tully Blanchard defeats local jobber (2:23) via pinfall after his patented slingshot suplex.
⦁    Jerry Lynn defeats Lightning Kid (2-1) in a 2 out of 3 falls match (14:45).  The first fall is more mat based and showing their use of counters and submission work.  Lynn defeats Kid in first fall (5:48) with a rollup with a brige pin.  The second fall, while short, is a bit more frantic.  Kid then pins Lynn after running him head first into the ringpost and taking him into the ring and pinning with his feet on the bottom rope (8:03).  The third fall is an all out affair as both incorporate dives and all of their signature high spots.  Lynn gains the victory with a missile dropkick.
⦁    After the match, Jerry Lynn is celebrating his win and then Lightning Kid out of nowhere attacks him from behind.  They brawl around the time keepers table and back by the announcers area.  Officials break them up and commissioner Les Thatcher comes in to intervene.  He said that he knows of their feud across the country and how out of control it gets.  Kid demands a rematch and Lynn agrees.  Thatcher grants them the rematch after a bit of thought but he said he won't appreciate any more chaos around the ring.  They'll have to keep it in the ring so next week's main event will pit Lightning Kid and Jerry Lynn in a lumberjack match!
⦁    As every one staring each other down, the screen fades to black.

Top 50 First Time Watches of 2015 [Final Edition]

This has been a big year of watching wrestling for myself as I've probably viewed more matches than I have in several years.  This list includes all eras including 2015 matches. 

1.    The Midnight Express vs. The Fantastics [NWA Worldwide 4/26/88]
2.    Jumbo Tsuruta/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Stan Hansen [AJPW Real World Tag League 12/6/89]
3.    Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yammamoto [RINGS 6/24/99]
4.    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchiko Okada [NJPW WrestleKingdom 9 1/4/15]
5.    Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan [WWE Extreme Rules 4/29/12]
6.    Kerry Von Erich vs. Jumbo Tsuruta [AJPW 5/22/84]
7.    Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa/Yoshinari Ogawa [AJPW 3/6/99]
8.    Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas [CMLL 3/2/12]
9.    Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas [CMLL 3/26/93]
10.    Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi [NJPW WrestleKingdom 9 1/4/15]
11.    The Sheild vs. The Wyatt Family [WWE Elimination Chamber 2/23/14]
12.    John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan [WWE SummerSlam 8/18/13]
13.    Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle [WWF SummerSlam 8/19/01]
14.    John Cena vs. CM Punk [WWE Raw 2/23/13]
15.    Alexander Otsuka vs. Yuki Ishikawa [BattlArts 1/20/98]
16.    CM Punk vs. John Cena [WWE Night of Champions 9/16/12]
17.    La Parka vs. Ultimo Guerrero [CMLL 4/14/04]
18.    Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho/Eddy Guerrero [Brian Hildebrand Tribute 11/29/98]
19.    Alexander Otsuka vs. Daisuke Ikeda [BattlArts 11/5/97]
20.    Ron Garvin vs. Ric Flair [NWA Starrcade 11/26/87]
21.    Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch [NXT Takeover 5/20/15]
22.    John Cena/Ryback/Sheamus vs. The Sheild [WWE Elimination Chamber 2/17/13]
23.    Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase [WWF MSG 6/25/88]
24.    El Dandy/Pierroth Jr./Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas/La Fiera/El Supremo [CMLL 10/30/92]
25.    Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H [WWE WrestleMania XXX 4/6/14]
26.    Vader vs. Shinya Hashimoto [NJPW 4/24/89]
27.    La Fiera vs. Babyface [EMLL 8/15/86]
28.    Chris Benoit vs. William Regal [WWE Velocity 10/2/05]
29.    Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit [WWF SmackDown! 5/31/01]
30.    Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart [WWF WrestleMania VIII 4/5/92]
 31.    Brian Pillman/Jushin Liger vs. Chris Benoit/Beef Wellington [WCW Clash of the Champions XIX 6/16/92]
32.    Atsushi Onita/Tarzan Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu/Dragon Master [FMW 4/1/90]
33.    Sasha Banks vs. Bayley [NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 8/22/15]
34.    Mariko Yoshida vs. Hiroumi Yagi [ARSION 2/18/99]
35.    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki [NJPW 10/8/12]
36.    Wild Pegasus vs. Black Tiger [NJPW 6/11/96]
37.    Blue Panther vs. Super Astro [AAA 10/9/92]
38.    Dean Ambrose vs. William Regal [FCW 7/1/12]
39.    Mitsuharu Misawa/Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams/Johnny Ace [AJPW 9/5/96]
40.    Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada [AJPW 10/23/93]
41.    Terry Gordy vs. Steve Williams [UWF 9/28/86]
42.    Nick Bockwinkel/Ray Stevens vs. Red Bastien/Billy Robinson [AWA 12/72]
43.    El Hijo del Santo vs. El Hijo del Perro Aguayo [CMLL 8/26/06]
44.    Lizmark vs. El Satanico [AAA 9/17/93]
45.    Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi [CMLL 3/28/15]
46.    Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns [WWE WrestleMania 31 3/29/15]
47.    Solar I/II vs. Hombre Bala/El Supremo [EMLL 5/4/90]
48.    Sekigun vs. Blonde Outlaws [NJPW 6/26/90]
49.    Vader/John Tenta vs. Gary Albright/Kazou Yamazaki [UWFi 10/8/94]
50.    Steve Williams/Terry Gordy vs. Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes [WCW Saturday Night 10/3/92]

Wrestling First Time Watches of 2015

Since I love doing lists, this seems like a fun one.  I've been chronically the wrestling that I've been watching this year and since the first quarter is over, here's my top matches that I've seen.

1.    The Midnight Express vs. The Fantastics [NWA Worldwide 4/26/88]
2.    Jumbo Tsuruta/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Stan Hansen [AJPW Real World Tag League 12/6/89]
3.    Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan [WWE Extreme Rules 4/29/12]
4.    Kerry Von Erich vs. Jumbo Tsuruta [AJPW 5/22/84]
5.    Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa/Yoshinari Ogawa [AJPW 3/6/99]
6.    The Sheild vs. The Wyatt Family [WWE Elimination Chamber 2/23/14]
7.    John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan [WWE SummerSlam 8/18/13]
8.    Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle [WWF SummerSlam 8/19/01]
9.    John Cena vs. CM Punk [WWE Raw 2/23/13]
10.    La Parka vs. Ultimo Guerrero [CMLL 4/14/04]
11.    Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi [NJPW WrestleKingdom 9 1/4/15]
12.    Ron Garvin vs. Ric Flair [NWA Starrcade 11/26/87]
13.    John Cena/Ryback/Sheamus vs. The Sheild [WWE Elimination Chamber 2/17/13]
14.    Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H [WWE WrestleMania XXX 4/6/14]
15.    Vader vs. Shinya Hashimoto [NJPW 4/24/89]
16.    La Fiera vs. Babyface [EMLL 8/15/86]
17.    Chris Benoit vs. William Regal [WWE Velocity 10/2/05]
18.    Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit [WWF SmackDown! 5/31/01]
19.    Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart [WWF WrestleMania VIII 4/5/92]
20.    Brian Pillman/Jushin Liger vs. Chris Benoit/Beef Wellington [WCW Clash of the Champions XIX 6/16/92]
21.    Mariko Yoshida vs. Hiroumi Yagi [ARSION 2/18/99]
22.    Wild Pegasus vs. Black Tiger [NJPW 6/11/96]
23.    Blue Panther vs. Super Astro [AAA 10/9/92]
24.    Dean Ambrose vs. William Regal [FCW 7/1/12]
25.    Nick Bockwinkel/Ray Stevens vs. Red Bastien/Billy Robinson [AWA 12/72]
26.    El Hijo del Santo vs. El Hijo del Perro Aguayo [CMLL 8/26/06]
27.    Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi [CMLL 3/28/15]
28.    Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns [WWE WrestleMania 31 3/29/15]
29.    Vader/John Tenta vs. Gary Albright/Kazou Yamazaki [UWFi 10/8/94]
30.    Steve Williams/Terry Gordy vs. Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes [WCW Saturday Night 10/3/92]
31.    Buddy Rose vs. Tim Brooks [PNW 6/2/79]
32.    Angel Azteca vs. El Dandy [EMLL 3/23/90]
33.    Roddy Piper vs. Buddy Rose [PNW 5/12/79]
34.    Randy Savage vs. Tito Santana [WWF MSG 4/22/86]
35.    Buddy Rose/Ed Wiskowski/Roddy Piper/Tim Brooks vs. Adrian Adonis/Ron Starr/George Wells/Hector Guerrero [PNW 4/7/79]
36.    Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yammamoto [RINGS 6/24/99]
37.    The Killer Bees vs. Demolition [WWF Houston 10/9/87]
38.    Villano III vs. Rambo [UWA 10/25/87]
39.    Los Guerreros vs. World's Greatest Tag Team [WWE Smackdown! 12/11/03]
40.    The Steiner Brothers vs. Tatsumi Fujinami/Takeshi Iizuka [WCW WrestleWar 5/17/92]

I will update this every month until the end of the year.  It should be a good year for wrasslin' viewing!

Lucha Libre Edition #1

After creating this blog about 4 years or so ago, I had no idea what to do with it so I just forgot about it.  Until recently when I wanted to focus and write about wrestling that I'm interested in.  This will have quite a bit of brawls as I love those and some overall fun wrestling.  Every month, I will cover Lucha Libre, Memphis, Portland and a few Japanese promotions like WAR, FMW and Michinoku Pro.  I will focus one week on each and cycle through every month.

With my Lucha reviews, I was originally going to write a series of primer reviews for another blog so people can become more acquainted with the style.  That didn't go through because of my indecisiveness, I decided to start my own.  This will be a good excuse to watch, write and educate myself on more lucha and hopefully the readers will find this blog at least entertaining.

I will be starting with some of the more well known matches and everything will be either in random fashion or have some kind of themes being written about.

EL HIJO DEL SANTO/OCTAGON VS. LOS GRINGOS LOCOS (EDDY GUERRERO/ART BARR) [AAA 11/6/94]

This was my and many other people’s first real exposure to lucha.  This was the co-main event to AAA’s first pay-per-view that was also co-promoted with WCW that could get aired in the U.S.  This match had a lot of heat going into it as El Hijo del Santo and Eddy Guerrero were both second generation wrestlers and their fathers [El Santo and Gory Guerrero] were tag partners and for a short while, El Hijo del Santo and Eddy were tag partners as well.  Guerrero and Barr were hated in Mexico as they constantly antagonized the audiences and especially in this match where Barr made swimming motions to piss off the fans in the L.A. Sports Arena and made chants of “1-8-7” which was Proposition 187 which was an anti-immigrant legislation in California so it made for perfect rudo behavior.  The crowd had what they would call “nuclear heat” as they were so loud, it shook the building particularly when Santo and Octagon won a fall or on the verge of rioting when Los Gringos Locos won a fall.  This is the only lucha match that got a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer newsletter, I don’t quite think it deserves the full monty as I think there are many other lucha matches that deserve it.  I wish there was a bit more hatred in the actual wrestling with some brawling.  It’s still an incredible watch and a must-see for anyone getting into lucha.

Rating: A-

ATLANTIS VS. VILLANO III [CMLL 3/2/00]

This was also one of the first major lucha matches that I watched as a wrestling fan.  This won Match of the Year for the Wrestling Observer for 2000 and that is how I found out about this match.  This was CMLL’s first PPV and these two veterans put their masks on the line in the main event.  This has everything I love in a big matchup: nuclear hot crowds, great wrestling, copious amount of blood, skull crushing topes, mask ripping, swank submissions and tons of hate throughout the match.  All of this leads to an emotional ending and even more emotional post-match interview and unmasking.  What also sets this match apart from many other lucha matches, in particularly those in CMLL, is that this is a one fall match.  I loved this when I first saw it but as years went by and the more lucha I watched and understood, this stood out as even more important.  This is one of my all time favorite matches, lucha or otherwise.

Rating: A

LOS BRAZOS VS. LOS INFERANALES [EMLL 11/22/91]

This is my favorite and what I consider the quintessential trios match.  I know a problem for people in trios matches when they first start watching lucha is trying to make out who is who.  In this match, it’s a bit easy as in with Los Infernales, watch out for Pirata Morgan who has the eye patch (which is a real patch over an empty eye socket) and with Los Brazos, watch out for Brazo de Plata who I have heard described as “the human volleyball.”  Los Infernales is my favorite trio as in this match they are comprised of El Satanico, MS-1 and Pirata Morgan.  It is the second version of the team but the team people most recognize with birth of the trios style.  I consider this the quintessential match of this style as it has everything that one would associate with this match up.  The match is very well paced in that there is no down time and they are constantly moving, you also have great team moves, particularly the classic star submission that the Inferanales put on the Brazos.  There is also great mat/counter/chain wrestling for those that enjoy that as well some incredible bumping by everyone involved and of course some wonderful dives throughout.  Watch out for the show stealing dive by Brazo de Plata who was easily the most over in the match with the crowd.  Who says big guys can’t move well?  There is so much to get out of this match and I think anyone can love this.  I certainly do.

Rating: A-

MS-1 vs. SANGRE CHICANA [EMLL 9/23/83]

This is the odds on favorite to be voted #1 on the DVDVR 80s Lucha set.  A lot of the times, the best way to book a wrestling match is to be as simple as you can be and this is that to a T.  This match is centered on a ton of punching, bleeding, amazing selling by Chicana, a couple bone crunching dives and one actual wrestling move that plays into the conclusion.  The match gets off the an amazing start with MS-1, who looks like a mix between Paul Orndorff and Terry Taylor, jumping Chicana right from the start, busting him open and dominating the first fall.  Chicana’s selling is a major part of this match as he’s barely able to stand up even after winning the second fall by count out and when he’s able to find a window of opportunity to fire back at MS-1.  The third fall really sums up what this match is, a war of attrition.  Every dive, punch and near fall brings a high amount of drama as everything means something in this match as any move can be a match ender and the crowd is eating out of these luchadores hands.  This is one of the greatest brawls in wrestling history.  It’s right up there with Magnum/Tully, Slaughter/Sheik, Lawler/Mantel and Duggan/DiBiase.

Rating: A+ 

EL SATANICO vs. PIRATA MORGAN [AAA 11/19/93]

This is a very different kind of match that AAA is known for.  AAA is typically known for its more aerial and high-flying wrestling and this match has none of that.  What this match does have is hate, blood, great punching and more hate.  I wanted to include this match for this primer not just because it’s an amazing brawl, which it is, but it shows that the promotion ran different kinds of matches.  Also, I figured since I had an Los Infernales match with both men in the same corner, might as well watch them brutalize each other.  Pirata Morgan was one of lucha’s greatest bladers/bleeders and this is a great example.  Morgan was never a great mat worker nor a great high flyer but what he could do better than most other wrestlers was brawl and punch people really well.  He took some insane bumps and also started to bleed immediately in this match as Satanico jumped him by blading himself just above his empty eye socket.  Both men end up bleeding and taking turns biting each other’s foreheads and spraying blood into the air like Great Muta.  This is just a straight forward, hate-filled brawl with no chaser.  Just the way I like it.  Apparently, so did Jake the Snake Roberts who was sitting in the front row for this who looked quite amused/stoned throughout. 

Rating: B+

EL HIJO DEL SANTO/REY MYSTERIO JR./LA PARKA/OCTAGON VS. BLUE PANTHER/FUERZA GUERRERA/PSICOSIS/PENTAGON [AAA 6/18/95]

This takes place during the TripleMania III-B show.  TripleMania was AAA’s major show of the year, basically the lucha WrestleMania.  This was one of many great eight-man tags that Santo and Mysterio had against Psicosis and various partners.  I think this is also a great example of the AAA style of lucha in which high-flying and speed is a main component.  What I love about these multi-man matches is that you get a lot of great interactions and pairings such as Santo/Psicosis, Mysterio/Psicosis, Santo/Fuerza, etc.  Santo in AAA is interesting as while he does have his own style and works it here as he did everywhere else, but in AAA he seemed to have sped up his pacing as he seemed to have gone full throttle in many of the matches I’ve seen him in instead of more of the slow build that he may have done in EMLL or UWA.  On top of that, you get a great dance sequence from La Parka who both frustrates and mystifies his opponents.  While control sections in lucha is very different than any other kind of wrestling, I think the rudo [heel] control section, particularly in the third fall is really awesome.

Rating: B+

PSICOSIS VS. REY MYSTERIO JR. [AAA 9/22/95]

This was one of the more famous rivalries in the 90s as these two toured their match all over the world from ECW to WCW to WAR in Japan.  This is my favorite match of their rivalry and while their other bouts elsewhere were great, those were more exhibition matches and this had more going on in it.  In other matches, it was more of a highlight reel of what they could do with dives and springboards, this had more mat wrestling and great counters.  This does have some incredible dives and Psicosis is one of my favorite reckless bumpers ever but I loved the buildup with what they could do with counters and submissions and then busting out the swank dives.  This is my favorite singles Rey match in Mexico and he was quite incredible in the tags that he was involved in.

Rating: A-

Next week, I will be reviewing Disc 1 of the Death Valley Driver Video Review Best of Memphis in the 80s compilation!