Showing posts with label RIP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RIP. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Match of the Day - The One Warrior Nation is now zero.

The Warrior vs. Hollywood Hogan - WCW Halloween Havoc (1998)

By now you may have heard the shocking news that the Ultimate Warrior has passed away. It's a truly bizarre and tragic event that has taken place only mere days after Warrior's inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and only about 24 or so removed from his appearance on Raw last Monday night.

Warrior and his character he left to the wrestling world will forever be remembered.



While I did not grow up during the time of Ultimate Warrior's major run in WWF  or during the peak of Hulkamania, I did grow up in the time that the Ultimate Warrior was making another return to wrestling, and this time it was in a nWo-heavy World Championship Wrestling. I remember renting WCW's Halloween Havoc '98 at Blockbusters (RIP as well) when I was just beginning to really sink my teeth into all this wrestling business, I didn't really know much about the Warrior at the time, but the cover on the box at the store had Hulk Hogan strangling a man with what looked like cake all over his face and the words "The World's Most Terrifying Wrestling Event" labeled above it. I'm not sure why looking at the cover made me want to watch this PPV immediately, maybe it was the fact that I really needed to find out why Warrior had cake all over his face, but it did.

People may give this Hogan/Warrior match at Halloween Havoc a lot of crap, but for someone who had not seen a lot of wrestling at the time this was a huge spectacle to watch. Also, I did not see the build up to this match which included Warrior appearing in the mirror, a lot of smoke, and, of course, profound Warrior promos, so this was really the first time that I was treated to the likes of the One Warrior Nation (that's nWo backwards).

There will never be another Ultimate Warrior. He is simply unrecreatable. Rest in peace.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Song of the Day - Your carpet is my ceiling

K.C. Milian - Your carpet is my ceiling from K.C. Milian EP (2004)

Happy first day of Spring!

Enjoy it with some laid-back post rock that's a little bit screamo with American Football-like trumpets.



Italian Football.

Last.fm



Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Match of the Day - RIP to The World's Largest Love Machine

Viscera vs. Simon Dean - Raw (2005)


Nelson Frazier, Jr., known by countless different names and gimmicks throughout his career, has passed away. Some of his most memorable gimmicks include: Mabel, Viscera, Big Daddy V, or "The World's Largest Love Machine" Big Vis.

Here's a match that depicts the mastodon just prier to his giant pajama run in WWE squashing the fitness guru and seducing Lilian Garcia the ring announcer. It also includes quite the .gif material:


For some, Nelson Frazier, Jr. will forever be remembered as that big guy on a mission that won the King of the Ring and kept hurting people, other people will remember him as that big guy dressed in all black and a white mohawk from the Undertaker's ministry, others will remember him as that big guy who really needed to put a shirt on in WWE's ECW, and others, like me, will forever remember the World's Largest Love Machine with the World's largest pajamas.

RIP

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Match of the Day - RIP Mae Young

Mae Young vs. Fabulous Moolah - WWF Smackdown! (1999)

Today Mae Young passed away after being misreported that she had passed away almost a week ago.


While there is very little footage of Mae Young in her prime, I think it's very appropriate to honor Mae by showing her work that she did with Fabulous Moolah back in 1999 anyway. Mae Young will forever be remembered as that fearless and tough old lady that took bumps off the stage onto tables, called the PG Divas of today sluts, and gave birth to a hand. 

I actually had the chance to see Mae Young wrestle at an indy show when I was younger and I was certain that she was going to wrestle well into her 100's. Still, 90 years old is pretty damn good. 

RIP 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Match of the Day - The one where Diesel tries to use Mad Dog Vachon's fake leg as a weapon

Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels - No Holds Barred match for the WWF Championship - In Your House 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies (1996)


Today, Canadian wrestling legend, Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon passed away at age 84. Maurice, along with being part of the Vachon family, was also a multiple time heavyweight champion in AWA and WWE Hall of Famer. No disrespect to the man what-so-ever, but - despite all these accolades and accomplishments and rivalries with guys like The Crusher or Dick the Bruiser - I will always remember him most for his participation in the Diesel/Michaels match at In Your House 7 in 1996.

The match between Diesel and his former tag team partner, Shawn Michaels is a notable match in of itself as it serves as the last match that Kevin Nash ever played the character of Diesel in WWF before jumping ship to WCW (not counting a couple of years ago where Nash was dressed in the Diesel gear during his Royal Rumble return). The match was also a "No Holds Barred" match for Michaels' WWF championship and the first PPV or televised match Mad Dog Vachon ever got involved in. Well, a part of him got involved at least. See, Mad Dog Vachon was just a spectator in the audience that night until Diesel got out of the ring mid-match and threw the 67 year old man over the guardrail. Diesel then grabbed at Vachon's leg and ripped it off revealing an artificial leg that Vachon had from losing his real leg in a hit-and-run accident. That's when Diesel took Vachon's prosthetic leg and brought it into the ring to use against Michaels.

Unfortunately for Diesel, the leg was snagged away from him by the Heart Break Kid - who ended up using it to tune up the band and harness super "Mad Dog" powers for a devastating Sweet Chin Music. So devastating in fact that Kevin Nash was never seen in the WWE again until 2002. In a way, one could argue that it was the power of Mad Dog Vachon (and his fake leg) that drove Kevin Nash away all along.


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Match of the Day - The unmasking of Tiger Mask II!

Tiger Mask II & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Samson Fuyuki - AJPW (1990)


I was doing a little research on the Tiger Mask character and I came across this gem of a match. It features Tiger Mask II teaming with Toshiaki Kawada against Kawada's former tag team partner, Samson Fuyuki (AKA Ricky or Kudo Fuyuki) and Yoshiaki Yatsu. During the match, Tiger Mask II responds to Fuyuki and Yatsu's strikes and constant headbutts by firing back a more aggressive arsenal on Yatsu, which is followed by Tiger Mask instructing Kawada to remove his mask. The removal of the tiger mask revealed the of face of Mitsuharu Misawa, who then went full-on assault mode on Yatsu, leading to the two men spilling out onto the floor and almost brawling into the crowd!


While the crowd quickly recognized Misawa, who had been under the tiger mask for almost 6 years, Misawa was not the icon of Japanese wrestling that we think of today. Thanks to this match and the unveiling of the tiger mask however, Misawa would go on to shine as one of the greatest wrestlers in Japan with dozens of championships under his belt, multiply matches of the year, and over twenty legitimate 5 star matches.


As for the Tiger Mask legacy, the rights to the character (based of the character from the Manga series) would be picked up by New Japan Pro Wrestling and given to Koji Kanemoto in 1992.


Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Song of the Day - The Last Wiltz

Wiltz - The Last Wiltz from Sea Dog (2013)

Recently broken up instrumental math rock from Ireland.


RIP

Last.fm



Monday, September 23, 2013

Match of the Debut - The man, the myth, The Machine.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Machine - WCW Thunder (2000)


In 2000, WCW debuted one of their least remembered one-hit wonders in the form of a big masked strongman named, The Machine. Apparently, this masked man was brought in as the next big thing by Jimmy Hart... but after one match against the veteran, pre-yoga DDP, he disappeared without a trace.

The man behind the mask was the late Emory Hail, who exactly had a few jobber matches previously in WCW. As for the "Machine" gimmick, Wikipedia says that the mask he wore was apparently inspired by a mask worn by a sadist character in the snuff film mystery flick starring Nicolas Cage, 8MM. Yep, you read that right: a wrestler was based off a Nic Cage film!

Now that's something.


Friday, September 6, 2013

Match of the Day - The Legion of Doom return for the last time

Speaking of Warrior returns...

Rob Van Dam & Kane vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) - World Tag Team titles match - Raw (2003)


Eric Bischoff decides to "raise the bar" on Raw in 2003 by bringing in one of the greatest tag teams of all time - The Road Warriors (referred to as the Legion of Doom in WWF/E) - to face the tag champs at the time, RVD and Kane for one night only.

Unfortunately, this match would not only be LOD's last return match to WWE, but also Hawk and Animal's last Televised match as a team. Hawk passed away after years of battle with his personal demons and alcohol addiction a few months later.

But yes, they did looked a lot better than that last Ultimate Warrior return we just saw.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Song of the Day - Further Up

Caspian - Further Up from You Are The Conductor (2005) (re-released in 2010)

RIP Christ Friedrich, bassist of Beverly, Mass. post rock outfit, Caspian.

Caspian was one of the first "post-rock" bands I ever got into way back when. My support goes out to them and to the family of Chris Friedrich.


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Match of the Day - Now for a real deathmatch...

Jon Moxley vs. Brain Damage - Dining Deathmatch - CZW Tournament of Death 8 (2009)


Remember how I said that last deathmatch wasn't like the kind where the two wrestlers beat each other with fine-china until one has a near-death experience or something like that? Yeah, well this is that match with the china (there probably weren't that "fine") - among other things you would find in dining rooms, like: tables, chairs, grandfather clocks, and skilsaws (I'll get to that later).

But what was for dinner? Thumbtack cake, of course! At least that's what I've heard... and it makes sense really, not only because this is Combat Zone Wrestling, but because they wasted it by throwing it into each other's faces rather than eating it. I guess if they had eaten it, it would have been called a cake eating deathmatch.

I'm on a roll with bad jokes this week. Hah, roll.. like bread.

I'm sorry.

This match between Jon Moxley (Currently the US champ in WWE as Dean Ambrose) and the late Brain Damage is probably one of the best Moxley deathmatches and heavily talked about especially because of the skilsaw spot. There, I got to it.

Theme results

Food: cake!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Match of the Day - The first fans bring the LEGO deathmatch!

Flip vs. Stinky the Homeless Guy - Fans Bring The LEGO Deathmatch - Inter Species Wrestling 4 Years of This?! (2009)


Flip takes on his former Lady and the Tramp tag team partner, the late Stinky the Homeless Guy in a match featuring everyone's favorite childhood building toys, LEGOs!

Before you start rolling your eyes at me internet goers, hear me out: Would you rather not get put through a table, get fluorescent lights smashed over your head, or step on a Lego? I know which one I'd rather not have to deal with... the Lego one, of course! That shit hurts like hell.

Okay, so being slammed on some Legos wouldn't be as painful as, say, a gusset or a kenzan (look it up), but  you gotta at least give it up to these two for going where not a lot of wrestlers had gone before... the toy box.

Also, check out that sweet D'Lo Brown Lego vest! This match touches all my childhood nostalgia buttons.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Match of the Day - Kenta Kobashi takes on the American Bossman

Kenta Kobashi vs. The Big Bossman - AJPW (1993)


One of the greatest Puroresu/Japanese wrestlers of all time, Kenta Kobashi wrestled his retirement match today in Japan. Kobashi has wrestled countless five star matches including almost every All Japan Pro Wrestling match rated five stars by the Roger Ebert of wrestling reviews, Dave Meltzer. 

Kobashi's finest matches may have included the likes of Mitsuharu Misawa (and tagging with Misawa), Stan Hansen, Jun Akiyama, Steve Williams, and Samoa Joe, but my personal favorite Kobashi match currently has to be his AJPW match against The Big Bossman from 1993. Kobashi takes Bossman to the limit and really makes him look unstoppable at first. If anything, this match was Bossman's best thanks to Kobashi.

Enjoy.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Song of the Day - Smith & Jones Forever

Silver Jews - Smith & Jones Forever from American Water (1998)

One of my favorite songs and the last song that Silver Jews ever performed live.


Finals week is finished! 

Match of the Day - Last WCW match on the last Nitro ever!

Ric Flair vs. Sting - last Nitro main event - Monday Nitro (2001)



March 26, 2001: The Night of Champions, AKA the last Nitro of all time marked the end of an era and the dawn of WWF as the ultimate wrestling promotion. Vince had won the war and World Championship Wrestling had run its course. I guess it would only be fitting that the last match on the last Nitro, and the last WCW match (if you don't count the Buff Bagwell/Booker T "WCW" match on Raw) ever, be between the first man to be called the WCW World Heavyweight champion, Ric Flair, and the only big name wrestler to ever not jump ship to WWF, Sting!

Ric Flair versus Sting also just makes sense as the send-off match for Nitro. These two had gone toe-to-toe with each other countless of times including at the main event of the very first Clash of the Champions where they wrestled until the 45 minute time-limit. Flair and Sting even wrestled each other for the US Heavyweight title at the very first Nitro at the Mall of America right before the Hogan/Big Bubba Rogers main event less than six years prior. So yeah, perfect.

Anyways...

RIP WCW.

Theme Results:

Final match: Ric Flair in WCW, Sting in WCW, Nitro, and WCW.


Saturday, May 4, 2013

Match of the Day - Brian Pillman faces his fellow comrade in his last match on Raw

Brian Pillman vs. Owen Hart - Intercontinental title tournament semi finals match - Raw is War (1997)




The Loose Cannon takes on his friend and fellow Hart Foundation comrade, Owen Hart in what would become his last televised match. The match was a semi finals tournament match for the vacant Intercontinental title against the two - who had both won their opening match of the tournament, but Pillman had other plans as he did not want to fight his friend, Owen. So, Pillman came out with a sling on and informed the crowd that he had slipped in the shower and broke his arm while doing non-PG things with Goldust's wife, Marlena (Terri Runnels).

Commissioner Slaughter, however, didn't buy the whole arm injury excuse and forced the two Stampede Wrestling alum to fight it out regardless of their partnership in the Hart Foundation.

Around this time, Brian Pillman was in a heated feud with Goldust, who had beat him at Summerslam with the special stipulation that Pillman had to wear one of Marlena's gold dresses if he lost. Pillman eventually got his revenge on Goldust at In Your House: Ground Zero when the Loose Cannon defeated Goldust to win the services of Marlena for thirty days. This was day 16.

Brian Pillman's next match on WWF TV was scheduled to be against Dude Love at In Your House: Bad Blood, but Pillman did not make it to the event. It was later revealed that Pillman had passed away from an unknown heart condition that day.

Owen Hart would go on to win the Intercontinental title tournament when he defeating Faarooq in the finals at Bad Blood that night.

Theme Results:

Final match: Owen Hart