Song of the Day - Bastard/Lemonade

BADBADNOTGOOD - Bastard/Lemonade from BBNG2 (2012)

Happy International Jass Day!

Here's some hip-hop:


Last.fm

Match of the Day - Eddie Guerrero's final match

Eddie Guerrero vs. Mr Kennedy - Smackdown! (2005)

This is Eddie Guerrero's last match which aired three days before his death on my birthday, November 13th, 2005. Unknowingly to anyone, Guerrero would wrestle his swan song against Mr. Ken Kennedy where the Latino Heat pulled off his classic "lie, cheat, and steal" diversions to pick up his last win.

I'm not going to dwell on the whole Rey Myserio main event push because of Eddie dying storyline that transpired sometime after the news got out, but I will say that I am mighty glad that they dropped that terrible "I'm Dominick's real father, Rey" storyline and turned Eddie back into a crowd favorite before it was too late and things ended on a sour note. It is a shame that Eddie's life had to come to an abrupt end so soon after recovering from his real-life demons none-the-less.


Theme results:

Final match: Eddie Guerrero. RIP.

Song of the Day - Frazetta

Wizard Rifle - Frazetta from Speak Loud Say Nothing (2012)

Two-piece spazz metal from Portland, Oregon. For fans of Lightning Bolt, Dope Body, Oxbow, The Jesus Lizard, etc.



Last.fm

Match of the Debut - Mordecai's in-ring debut, PPV debut, and final match!

Mordecai vs. Scotty 2 Hotty - Judgement Day (2004)

With a cross between Gangrel and The Undertaker, Mordecai looked like the second coming. But not even the "higher powers" that this mysterious man in white followed could help him get his foot in the WWE door in 2004.

Turns out the man who believed in cleansing yourself of all sins had a little trouble doing so for himself and ended up getting into a real-life fight outside of the ring - which led the WWE to pull the plug on the Mordecai character by sending him back to OVW. Mordecai was only seen about two times. This match against Scotty 2 Hotty was his first and only official PPV or televised event.

At least he had a pure streak.

The man behind Mordecai would eventually resurface in the WWE as Kevin Thorn, a vampire who wrestled for the ECW Brand. Thorn found better luck with this gimmick, but the vampire warrior never really got over as well as previous vampires like Gangrel (who he was rumored to start a new Brood with). Thorn was eventually released from WWE again in 2007.

Theme results:

Final match: the character named Mordecai.

Theme Week - Finals Week

Theme week is coming early this month since it's finals week. I know, I know, it's supposed to be a busy week. But all this studying and cramming gets me inspired to do stuff I like to do when I have a little free time.

So, in honor of school being over and summer right around the corner, this week's theme will be all things final matches... From the final matches of a wrestler's career, to the final match of a wrestler's life, to a company's final match, to a particular wrestlers last match in a company, to a tournament final, etc.

Let the real finals begin.

Song of the Day - Not That Sensitive

Boyfrndz - Not That Sensitive from All Day Pass (2012)

Some nice and noisy math-like rock with vibes reminiscent of Caddywhompus, Pterodactyl, and modern day Tera Melos.



Last.fm

Match of the Day - "Hood" Tracy Smothers wrestles as Shaquille Ali in USWA

Tracy "Shaquille Ali" Smothers w/the Nation of Domination vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler Unified World title match - USWA (1997)

Don't let Corey whats-his-name foul you on commentary, Tracy Smothers might be the name given to him at birth, but Smothers around 1997 was now known as Shaquille Ali, a member of USWA's Nation of Domination. Smothers, known for being a down-home southern boy most of his career decided to join the Nation, led by PG-13 of Faarooq's original WWF stable, and live out the life of "the hood".

While this Nation of Domination was not as well written as WWF's version, USWA had something that could have been really good with the individuals involved. In a way, this Nation was more like the original Full Blooded Italians gimmick that ECW had created where most of the members were not really full blooded just really hot blooded. Most of the Nation were not really from the hood or had any business being in a Malcolm X like stable. I should also point out that Tracy Smothers was in the original Full Blooded Italians stable.

One thing that this Shaquille Ali gimmick lacked was a heel commentator to help drive home the fact that Tracy Smothers was no longer the country boy that he used to be and now known by his nation name, Shaquille Ali. This heel figure could have also strengthened the gimmick by explaining just what the "Nation of Domination" was and what they were all about.

Personally, I find Tracy Smothers to be one of the most underrated wrestlers of his time. He's a great heel, he's capable of playing something other than a cowboy even though he's from the south, he's been named after two of the greatest athletes of all time, and - on top of all that - he once wrestled a bear! An un-muzzled bear!

If that doesn't spell championship material... a don't know what does.

The match: Smothers as Shaq Ali gets a shot at the Unified World title against Jerry "I own this company so I'm King" Lawler. Smothers almost wins the match due to interference by Wolfie D of PG-13, but Brian Christopher, Lawler's son, comes out to stop the 3 count. Unfortunately for Lawler, referee Downtown Bruno (Harvey Wippleman) only sees the interference by Christoper and reverses the discussion of the match. Shaq wins but Lawler retains the title. 

Song of the Day - El Scorcho

Weezer - El Scorcho from Pinkerton (1996)

"Watching Grunge leg drop New Jack through a press table"

Last.fm

Match of the Day - TNA's Hard 10 tournament: where everything's made up and the points don't matter

Hardcore Wednesday

It has come to my attention today that New Jack has retired from wrestling. I guess there's one less liability to worry about.

Rather than posting his retirement match (against Necro Butcher at this years' PWS Super Card), I've decided to just post this match instead for no reason other than I didn't want to post his notorious scaffold match with Vic Grimes yet or any match where he tries to stab his opponent to death.

That's New Jack's thing. Stabbing people to death.

New Jack vs. Sandman - Finals for the Hard 10 championship - NWA:TNA (2003)

Back in '03, TNA decided to add a little hardcore to their menu. So what better way to do this then by making a tournament revolving around a few ECW alumni mixed in with some guys who wrestled a couple times for ECW (Devon Storm, Vampire Warrior, Wolfie D) along with Mike Sanders and Sonny Siaki from WCW's Power Plant. But here's the catch - because this is TNA remember: there's got to be a catch on top of a catch - there was a point system.

A hardcore point system!

Apparently the way to win a match in this tournament was to get 10 points by using the weapons that were strategically placed around the ringside area and held by fans. The weapons that the competitors brought to the ring themselves did not count, however. Also, using a table was 5 big ones alone. So basically this tournament was just an excuse to see wrestlers get hit with random objects for five minutes like WWF's hardcore division circa 2000.

But it had a hardcore point system!

New Jack and Sandman, the two people hardcore enough to make it to the finals, battled it out in a back and forth struggle for points using the weapons they could find just laying around. Towards the end of the match, everyone loses count of the points and New Jack and Sandman make their way to the nearest balcony for New Jack to fall off of.. I mean get pushed off of.

Classic New Jack.

All that's missing is "Natural Born Killaz" being played on repeat throughout the duration of the match.

NFT will miss you, New Jack.

Song of the Day - Thank You

Seahaven - Thank You from Winter Forever (2011)

This was the song featured in the highlights video for the Low Ki/Ibushi/Devitt match posted below. I'm not a huge fan of Seahaven but I do enjoy this song and Winter Forever.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The match where Low Ki wrestles as Agent 47

Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Prince Devitt (c) - IWGP Junior Heavyweight title 3-way match - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome (2013)

English commentary provided by E C Dubs Commentary.

Every year New Japan Pro Wrestling holds the Japanese version of Wrestlemania (sort of) in the Tokyo Dome on the 4th of January. This year was the 7th time it was known as Wrestle Kingdom.

Also this year, Low Ki decided he wanted to be Agent 47 from the Hitman video game series. Apparently the serious mannered NJPW did not take kindly to his attire and found it quite disrespectful. About a month later he was released.

As for the match: it's pretty much what you would expect from a 3-way of this caliber and three of the top junior heavyweights today. Ibushi (from the Japanese promotion, DDT) does his classic combos like the the missing moonsault into a standing moonsault and is always a thrill to watch - while Prince Devitt, who I haven't seen a lot of matches of yet, was also very impressive. 

Bonus:

This is probably the first wrestling highlights video that doesn't feature a really terrible song...

Enjoy!

Song of the Day - VI (Worms Fear God // God Fears Youth)

Code Orange Kids - VI (Worms Fear God // God Fears Youth) from 4-way Split (2013)

New Code Orange Kids is off the chain.

Off the brand new 4-way split featuring Tigers Jaw, Self Defense Family, and The World Is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die. Out now courtesy of Topshelf Records.

Last.fm

Match of the Debut - JBL debuts as JHB on WWF Superstars January '96

Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw vs. Bob "Spark Plug" Holly - WWF Superstars (1996)

Before becoming a wealthy Fox News bigwig with a white cowboy hat, John Layfield was a rough and tough cowboy with Yosemite Sam as a manager. The JBL that I'm referring to is Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, and that Yosemite Sam character I'm referencing would be good ol' Uncle Zeb Cotler.

In Bradshaw's first match in the Fed, the relatively green Texan takes on Bob Holly, who at this point was not called "Sparky" but was no where near "Hardcore". Holly does a good job of getting Bradshaw over while Bradshaw showed that someday, say eight years from this match, he could have a run with the World title.

Bradshaw's time as Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, while short, had a few high points including his eight second match with Fatu, his gimmick of branding his initials into his opponents bodies after matches, and his strap match against Savio Vega. I guess it's also worth noting that both Bradshaw and Jack Swagger have had Zeb (Dutch Mantel) Colter as managers and both had some sort of anti-immigrant gimmick. See: JBLKicksOutIllegalImmigrants.avi.

Song of the Day - You're the Best

Joe Esposito - You're the Best from The Karate Kid Soundtrack (1984)

You're the best around...

Nothing's ever going to keep you down.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - New light heavyweight champion: quoth the flamingo, nevermore!

Scotty Flamingo vs. Flyin' Brian Pillman - Light Heavyweight title match - WCW Beach Blast (1992)

Part 1

In the opening bout of Beach Blast '92, Flyin' Brian defends his Light Heavyweight title against a pre-Raven Scott Levy AKA Scotty Flamingo. It's a solid back and forth match featuring two soon-to-be loose cannons. 

Check it out!

Part 2

Match of the Day - Matt Striker teaches us how to be Sabu in 3PW

Matt Striker as Strikebu vs. Damian Adams - 3PW (2004)

Before Matt Striker was everyone's favorite former-teacher-turned-wrestler-turned announcer/commentator, Striker had a case of missing identity in Blue Meanies short-lived promotion, Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling or 3PW (since the latter doesn't sound like some kind of Hank Hill wet dream promotion). Each match Striker would come out to the ring as a different wrestler - and thus, the shenanigans ensued.

On this particular night in South Philadelphia, Striker dressed up as an all-to-familiar suicidal, homicidal, genocidal maniac to the former ECW arena, Sabu. Striker, err, Strikebu, had it all: the baggy pants, the lights-out entrance, the triple jump moonsault botch. Strikebu even had his whistle blowing manager, Bob Al-Eckos (played by Rob Eckos AKA Robbie E)!

The impersonations don't stop there... Striker would also imitate Rick Rude, Goldberg (as Strikeberg), and even Hakushi, through the course of the match. Unfortunately for Striker, his imitations did not pay off as well as he had hoped and ended up losing the match to Damian Adams after Strikebu's attempted "from parts-unknown" face-buster onto a slanted table went awry.

I always wished that Striker would bring this missing identity gimmick with him to the WWE. Instead he played the teacher gimmick as he really was a high school teacher in New York before making it into the business full-time. Of course, he was fired for taking too many days off to go wrestle because he didn't know the difference between a sick day and a personal day. 

This sort of "different wrestler each week" gimmick was however given to Charlie Haas before his last run in WWE. 

Song of the Day - The Battle of Marathon

Fire Team Charlie - The Battle of Marathon from Discography (2004 - 2008)

At least we can say: today was better than yesterday.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - From mega-man to mega-flop: the brief Tom Magee story

Tom Magee vs. Hiroshi Wajima - AJPW (1988)

Tom Magee seemingly had it all: a great look, super strong, agile, and even a martial arts background right up there with his multiple strongman and powerlifting accomplishments. It only made sense that he would be the next big thing in the WWF.

But the man they called "MegaMan" became mega-flop just after a couple of years in the business. As legend has it, Tom Magee had everything going for him and more that he was going to the next Hulk Hogan in no time. But as time went by, it was clear that Magee had what was called Warren Harding Syndrome in that Blink book I had to read in high school - he had the look but just wasn't a good president, or in Magee's case, a good professional wrestler.

In this match from All Japan in 1988, Tom Magee shows us that cartwheels and being ripped to the moon doesn't make you a good worker. Magee eventually finds himself in a Boston crab by his opponent Hiroshi Wajima that he can not bear and calls it quits. Less than three minutes into the match.

Song of the Day - The Tide

Mallory - The Tide from Strange Homes (2010)

The opening lyrics of this wild folk punk number are by Mogli, a singer-songwriter from Halifax. The song the lyrics are taken from is called, "Back to You" off Mogli's I Miss You EP.



Last.fm

Match of the Debut - Shark Boy gets over at his debut in XPW

Shark Boy vs. Chris Chetti - XPW Exit Sandman (2002)

Tale of the tape:

Taz's first cousin and ECW alum, Chris Chetti takes on the only wrestler from 2000 leagues under the sea* in Shark Boy's first match for Xtreme Pro Wrestler. The match itself is a little slow but as it progresses the crowd really starts to get behind the finned superstar who would eventually defeat Chetti using his top rope stunner. The crowd did not stop cheering for Shark Boy once this match was over, however, and in a sequence that is documented on Botchamania - the crowd demanded "We Want Shark Boy!" clap clap clap-clap-clap and even, "Holy Shark!" "Holy Shark!" "Holy Shark!" for the rest of the night.

Sound familiar?

Song of the Day - Bored

Deftones - Bored from Adrenaline (1995)

RIP bassist Chi Cheng.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - Chris Jericho vs Fandango of the 90's, Disco Inferno

Chris Jericho vs. Disco Inferno - WCW World Television Championship match - Monday Night Nitro (1998)

Fifteen years before Chris Jericho lost to Fandango in the ball-room dancer-turned-professional wrestler's debut match (at WrestleMania, no less), Chris Jericho had no trouble putting away the "disco never died" enthusiast, Disco Inferno here in this match on Nitro for the TV title.

Looking into it, I checked to see if there was ever a time that Disco upset Jericho just as Johnny "Fandango" Curtis had at WrestleMania this year. I was unsuccessful at finding such match, so I decided that this match above was the closest that Disco ever got to defeating the brash and arrogant World TV champ.

The video above also features the Nitro Girls, a high school gym teacher throwing a Nitro Party for his students, Mike Tenay unaware of what was going on and unable to answer The Brains simple question of who his (Tenay's) role model growing up was, and Jericho speaking in German for a split second.

Remember: Disco Inferno vs. Fandango WMXXX. I got a lot of money riding on it. It's going to happen.

Other WrestleMania XXX prodictions: Antonio Cesaro vs. Bork Lesnar vs. Steel Steps.

Song of the Day - Tiffany Sucks

Summer Vacation - Tiffany Sucks from Condition (2011)

Punk rock tribute to 80's pop star, Tiffany and her remake of "I think We're Alone Now".



Related but unrelated:

These people don't think Tiffany sucks:

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The Marty Garner Pedigree incident

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Marty Garner - WWF Superstars (1996)

Everything was going well and dandy in this 1996 Hunter Hearst Helmsley match against a ham & egger named Marty Garner to promote Helmsley's match against Jake Roberts in the opening round for the King of the Ring tournament. That was until the "Conneticut Blueblood" delivered his trademark finisher still used on a part-time wrestling basis, the pedigree to put away poor Marty Garner. Garner being the inexperienced  rookie that he was mistook the pedigree as something else (like a double underhook suplex or powerbomb) and therefore jumped as if he was going to be lifted up and flipped over. The result: the deadliest looking pedigree of all time!

Marty Garner "fun" facts: He is good friends with Matt and Jeff Hardy as he got his start with them in their North Carolina wrestling promotion, OMEGA as "Cham Pain". He also wrestled as one of the Dupp Brothers in ECW as Puck Dupp and was The Rock's assistant in Walking Tall according to IMDB.

Song of the Day - Hungover Tehran

Mylets - Hungover Tehran from Colossal Grin (2011)



Mylets is a one man sort-of-math-rock-sort-of-what-ever band from Southern Indiana. That one man is named Henry Kohen. He was recently signed to Sargent House, a big name math rock record label.

Basically he's the next big thing in math rock world.

Be on the look out for his new album coming to ears near you.

Soundcloud
Last.fm

Match of the Day - Johnny Saint's retirement match

Johnny Saint vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa - Johnny Saint's retirement match - Michinoku Pro's These Days (1996)

While not a household name here in the States, Johnny Saint is a super icon in the UK where he performed for the World of Sport-era wrestling company, Big Time Wrestling. Saint is well known for his superb realist approach to the sport of professional wrestling and his uncanny reversals. He may not look like much, especially for American wrestling, "bigger is better" standards, but Saint is one hell of showmen with the mat skills to back it up. 

In 1996, Saint took on Naohiro Hoshikawa in his first ever match in Japan at Michinoku Pro Wrestling's event known as These Days. Along with his debut in Japan this would also be his last match for about 10 years. Saint would not return to in-ring action again until 2007 when he competed against another World of Sport-era wrestler, Johnny Kid in the British wrestling company, LDN.

Johnny Saint also wrestled for the first time in the States in 2009, teaming up with Jorge "Skayde" Rivera and Mike Quackenbush at Chikara's 2009 King of Trios Tournament. 

Take a look at this match and many others by Johnny Saint. They are usually a bit longer and contested under World of Sport rules with rounds and little breathers to give the matches a more sport-like feel. Because, you know, wrestling was/is a sport.

Song of the Day - Get Along Well

Safe - Get Along Well from Safe EP (2010)

Safe is Christopher F. Edley III playing some kind of minimal pop stuff.

Safe EP was "recorded in a secret way in a secret basement".

This same 'Safe' is also playing a show in Portland on April 19th with Conjjjecture, Altered Gee, Glass Fingers, and Duey Meadows at the Darkmouth Castle (on Dartmouth Street where my old dentist office was). Rumor has it this will be Glass Fingers (AKA Jesse Gertz) last show as Glass Fingers. Dundundun!

There may also be a new Safe album at said show as well.

Lasercave
Last.fm

Match of the Debut - lol cena debuts

Kurt Angle vs. John Cena - Smackdown! (2002)

Since I posted The Rock's debut match the night after beating CM Punk for The World Championship at Royal Rumble a few months back, I guess it's only fair that I do the same for our new champion, John Cena.

For the haters: he's not wrestling in short shorts, he's not sporting his wrist bands or a hustle/loyalty/respect shirt, he doesn't do his signature run to the ring or his Cenation salute, he doesn't say "you can't see me" or even "word life", he loses, and Kurt Angle doesn't shake his hand.

Love him or hate him (it's the internet, so the latter), Cena's still gonna be a babyface carrying the WWE flag 50 years from now...

PS: I actually watched WrestleMania live for the first time since WrestleMania 24. Let's just say that last night's Raw was much more exciting.

Match of the Day - Ultimo Dragon trips, slips, and doesn't win the Cruiserweight title at WM20

Cruiserweight Open featuring: Ultimo Dragon, Jamie Noble, Shannon Moore, Rey Mysterio, Funaki, Nunzio, Chavo Guerrero, Billy Kidman, Tajiri, and Akio* - Cruiserweight title match - Wrestlemania XX (2004)

Before introducing the WrestleMania match mentioned above, I would first like to introduce Ultimo Dragon to anyone who may not now of him.

This is Ultimo Dragon:

Yep, that's him, and yes, that's ten titles. Do I need to say more?

So, when WWE picked up Ultimo Dragon in 2003, it seemed like a no-brainer that Dragon would make a huge impact on the Smackdown! brand and have great success in their cruiserweight division, a division that Ultimo Dragon revolutionized in the 90's (those ten titles above are all middleweight/lightweight/cruiserweight championships). It also makes sense that Ultimo Dragon would get his chance to shine at pro-wrestling's version of the Super Bowl, WrestleMania!

So, WWE booked Ultimo Dragon in a match for the Cruiserweight title at Wrestlemania XX, right? Ehh, sort of. Rather than just having Ultimo Dragon take on the Cruiserweight champion of that time - which wasn't Rey Mysterio for some reason - we were given a ten man elimination-type match featuring the who's-who of the undercard.

Unfortunately for Ultimo Dragon, it just gets worse from there.

Take a look:

Yep, that's the same guy from above holding ten titles, eight from winning the prodigious J-Crown tournament, the NWA Middlewight title and the WCW World Cruiserwight title, Sin Cara-botching his WrestleMania debut.

Ultimo Dragon trips on his way out to the ring and then slips on the ropes as he poses to the crowd at Madison Square Garden, all before the match starts.

The Match:

As it seems that Ultimo Dragon's (who has to start the open) luck is turned around after defeating Shannon Moore with the Asai DDT, Ultimo Dragon takes on Jamie Noble (a former dragon himself) only to get choked out and sent to the back, ending Dragon's chances at becoming champion at 'Mania, just like that.

Other "highlights": Rey Mysterio dressed as Flash, Funaki gets pinned in record time if this was a real match, Nunzio gets counted out, Billy Kidman's cringe-worthy springboard shooting star press, *Akio gets Tajiri mist sprayed in his face so he never actually wrestled in this match, Chavo Classic catches Rey Rey before splatting on the floor via senton over the top rope, and, after eleven minutes of plugging all the cruiserweights Smackdown! had for this match, Chavo Guerrero retains his title.

All in all, if it wasn't for Ultimo Dragon's failed WrestleMania debut, this match would be forgotten forever. Thank you based dragon!

Theme Results:

Wrestlemania: WMXX

Song of the Day - Witches

Blackbird Raum - Witches from Swidden (2008)

Blackbird Raum are an anarchopunk band with acoustic instruments ranging from accordions and banjos to washboards and singing saws.

Blackbird Raum will be playing a really sweet show this Friday with equally unique folk punk acts, Speaker for the Dead and Portland, Maine's finest, Butcher Boy at The Oak & The Ax in Biddeford!

It'll be something special for sure!

Blackbird Raum also have a new album called, False Weavers out now! You can stream it on Spotify if you're into that sort of thing.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - X-Punk whips Shane-O-Mac and HHH & Chyna join the dark side at WM15

X-Pac vs. Shane McMahon - European title match - WrestleMania XV (1999)

As a much younger, full time mark, I had a special best of WrestleMania DVD (one of the first DVDs I ever owned) that chronicled some of the best matches and events at the grandest stage of them all from WMI to WMXV. Whether it was the fact that my attention spend gave out right before the end of the video and I was getting antsy or that this particular WrestleMania was just the most exciting to my young brain, I remember always getting really amped up when this match was being recapped! 

And then there's the swerve: As X-Pac laid out Shane McMahon via the X-Factor and was about to cover him for the won, Triple H and Chyna come down to ringside and pulled Test out of the ring. Then Chyna distracted the ref while Triple H climbed into the ring and does the unthinkable. Triple H pedigrees X-Pac and drapes Shane-O-Mac over his unconscious friend, signifying that Triple H and Chyna had turned on their own team/stable and gone to the dark side: The Corporation.

Just one year before this, Triple H introduced the returning X-Pac as the new member of D-Generation X on Raw the night after WMXIV!

Theme results:

WrestleMania: WMXV

Match of the Day - Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie take out the trash at WM14!

Here's another great gimmick match from 90's era WrestleMania:

Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie vs. The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg) - first ever Dumpster match for the WWF tag team championship - WrestleMania XIV (1998)

Oh yes, the dumpster match!

After Chainsaw Charlie AKA 53 year old Terry Funk and his tag team partner, Cactus Jack were sent for a ride in a dumpster courtesy of the New Age Outlaws on Raw, the hardcore legends were certainly looking for revenge. So, what better way to get their revenge than by taking on the two young punks, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, in a special match featuring the very same type of trash container that Foley and Funk almost had their careers come to a crashing end in when they were pushed off the ramp on Raw 2 months prier. Despite the titles being on the line in this match, this wasn't about winning the gold for the hardcore legends. No, it was all about punishing Gunn and Road Dogg and then taking out the trash...

The result: Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack do end up taking out the trash big time with the help of the trusty forklift! But because they used a dumpster in the backstage area rather than the designated one for the match, the New Age Outlaws lobbied for the titles to be dropped. So, the next night on Raw the titles were contested in a cage match with the two teams from the dumpster match facing off one last time. The match ended with the New Age Outlaws getting their titles back thanks to the help of their new brotherhood: D-Generation X!

And yes, Mick Foley does take a huge bump, this time in the form of a ladder spot into the dumpster. There was no need for the ladder in this match other than for Foley to take a nasty bump from a high place once again.

Theme results:

WrestleMania: WMXIV

Song of the Day - Kowboyz&Indians

Gonjasufi - Kowboyz&Indians from A Sufi And A Killer (2010)

Heard this song for the first time today and thought it was pretty interesting. Reminds me of David Liebe Hart for some reason. Maybe if he (DLH) was really into dub and yoga...

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The WM7 Blindfold Match

"We always do it better in the dark" - Jake Roberts

Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. "The Model" Rick Martel - Blindfold match - WrestleMania VII (1991)

Many consider this little gimmick match at the All-American/Undertaker streak debut WrestleMania to be a pretty crappy match. Yes, it does feature two athletes who could wrestle the hell out of each other with bags over their heads, but that's looking at the whole scheme of things out of context. Without the knowledge of the feud these two had between each other in 1991 and the back story, a back story literally built months in advance, one should not assume this match was picked from a raw roulette wheel in the back featuring two guys Vinny Mac forgot to put on the card that year. 

Okay then... the back story: 

Some time after "The Model" Rick Martel introduced his very own line of cologne - properly named: "Arrogance", which was kept in a large atomizer, Martel began using it arrogantly on his opponents by spraying it into their eyes. One night during The Brother Love show with special guest, Jake Roberts, Martel sneaked up behind Roberts while he was dropping a stunning promo about love or something and sprayed his pet snake, Damien with the perfume. Before Roberts could retaliate he was sprayed directly into his eyes, blinding him! Eventually Roberts appeared to be healed, but only to reveal that he had snake eyes! Dun dun dun. Roberts and Martel would feud with one another all throughout 1991, including facing off at Survivor Series with their own respective teams (Robert's team was called The Vapors and Martel's team was called The Visionaries, a rib on Roberts and his blindness). Eventually, the two would settle their differences once and for all at the WM in a match right up Roberts alley. Seeing as Roberts now had an extra sense because he was some sort of blind snake metaphor, it was only fitting that he challenge Martel in a blindfold match where The Model would have to experience the darkness that Roberts was living in for months. 

Now don't get me wrong, this is a silly match for WrestleMania. If you look at the events leading up to this match, however, it really does make sense. Hell, I think it would have been even more interesting if the whole arena was pitch black so everyone could see what it was like to be blind. Image that: a blindfold lights out match. Genius! 

Theme results:

WreslteMania: WM IV

Match of the Day - The match that really started it all!

Tito Santana vs. The Executioner - WrestleMania I (1985)

What better way to open WrassleMania week than with the match that started it all. I'm not talking that Hulk Hogan and Mr. T/Rowdy Roddy piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff match - uh uh -I'm talking Chico Santana versus The Executioner! The first ever WrestleMania match!

Any smart mark will tell you that this bout between the masked and very unknown Executioner (not to be confused with Terry Gordy's Executioner) and Tito Santana was really what started "the Grandest Stage of Them All", making it more than just "the Okay Stage for Some".

Don't believe me? Just listen to comments that these two athletes were echoing through Madison Square Garden at each other that night! 

Tito Santana would go on to wrestle in the next seven WM's until WM IX when he competed in the dark match before the show.

Theme results:

Wrestlemania: WMI

Theme of the Week - RassleMania!

In honor of WrestleMania week/weekend, this weeks "theme" will be WrestleMania matches. Pretty self explanatory...

This week each year will now be reserved for WrestleMania matches and WrestleMania matches only. No other week will feature WrestleMania matches anymore, I promise.

Enjoy.