Match of the Debut - The Nexus hijack Raw

John Cena vs. CM Punk - Viewer's Choice WWE Championship match - Raw (2010)

The first big match between the WWE champ, John Cena and then masked CM Punk gets hijacked on Viewer's Choice Raw by The Nexus, an eight man gang featuring young upstarts from WWE's developmental territory, FCW as well as all being original contestants on the first NXT program.

While it was not totally chaos, the NXT rookies of the first season really shook things up for a pretty stale product that was WWE at this point. I remember watching this episode of Raw and thinking that something new was upon us. Of course, nothing really happened. The ring gets stripped, Bryan gets fired for chocking the timekeeper with his own tie, and then for weeks John Cena does that thing he always does; he overcomes the odds.

Still, the damage that the Nexus created from their ambush on Raw was pretty impressive for WWE standards. To bad they were pretty much destined to fail once they started feuding with Super Cena.

Theme results

Ring Destruction: Apron skirts ripped off, mat gets exposed, padding torn loose, and the ring ropes are loosened and taken down.

Match of the Debut - BATTLE KAT!

Battle Kat vs. Bob Bradley - WWF Wrestling Challenge (1990)

I guess you could say that Battle Kat's TV debut against jobber, Bob Bradley was less than purrfect, as Mr. Kat (played by Dean peters) never made if much further than this match and one more on Wrestling Challenge defeating Paul Diamond.

Still, I always wonder what could have been of the almighty Battle Kat.

Fun(ish) fact: Dean Peters previously played Brady Boone, a character that was originally the cousin of Billy Jack Haynes in kayfabe.

Match of the Debut - Epico debuto

Epico vs. Sin Cara - Friday Night Smackdown! (2011)

I'm really curious where Epico went. These new Los Matadores characters could give the Puerto Rican team of Epico and Primo a serious run for their money.

Anyways, here's Epico's 2011 debut against the one and only, Sin Cara.

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.

Match of the Day - It's Time! It's Time! It's... Paul Bearer Time!?!

Kane vs. Vader - Mask vs. Mask - WWF Over The Edge (1998)

Kane and Vader go mask to mask in this match that marks Vader's decline into jobber status. After losing to Kane even after using that wrench that came with a lot of Kane action figures back in the day to wear the big red monster down, Vader gives a very unforgettable speech about making the biggest mistake of his life and then proceeded to call himself "a big fat piece of shit" before storming off into the back.

Since Kane had previous destroyed Vader's face with that very same wrench we see make its return in this match, Vader had to get surgery on his face, therefore giving this who mask versus mask stipulation a little more believability considering Vader usually ditched his mask halfway through every match anyways.

After Vader loses his classic face mask to Kane's tombstone piledriver, Paul Bearer puts the sweaty jockstrap looking face wear and announces into the camera that, "It's Time! It's Time! It's Paul Bearer Time!" after The King jokingly says Paul Bearer's line moments beforehand. The mask was never seen again on Paul Bearer's ugly complexion known as a face again and neither was Paul Bearer Time.

Vader did however reappear wearing his signature face mask again after this match but the lose at the hands of Kane here at Over The Edge 1998 was really a metaphor for losing his career, since, like I mentioned above, this was really Vader's last match before becoming a glorified jobber and losing to all the young up-and-comers from Mark Henry to Bradshaw to Edge on Sunday Night Heat (his last televised match in the WWF).

Match of the Day - Masked Team of Snow/Credible take on Heel 1-2-3 Kid and Sid

Avatar & Aldo Montoya vs. 1-2-3 Kid & Sid - WWF Superstars (1996)

For the first time ever, The Portuguese Man O' War, Aldo Montoya - later Justin Credible - teams up with Avatar, the first airbender - later Al Snow - against The Money Corporation's freshly turned heel, 1-2-3 Kid and not so psych, vicious or justice, Sid.

Both Al Snow and Justin Credible (PJ Polaco) would have very unsuccessful gimmicks at this time in their career which led them to seek success in ECW. Why didn't their masked characters work out, you  ask? Let's just say that while The Portuguese Man O' War sounds kind of badasss, it's actually a name of a jellyfish, a not so badass jellyfish either. Oh yeah, and that their costumes were a little ridiculous at this time. Remember that this was the beginning of the transition period for WWF - when flashy gimmicks and colorfully characters were no longer making it and new, realist, "attitude" characters were soon to be taking over.

They weren't the only characters begging for a realist makeover, though. No, most of the wrestlers in this video were eventually stripped of their ill-fated gimmicks and given a much more real, or at least workable, persona. For example, "The Ringmaster", who was said to appear later in the program, became, of course, Stone Cold; The rooted-teeth dentist, Isaac Yankem D.D.S. who would become the replacement to Diesel ironically as well,  later became The Undertaker's burn-victim brother, Kane; Even Skip from the Bodydonnas would eventually lose the "yeah, I lift" 90's get-up and become himself, Chris Candido, later on in ECW.

Whether or not Aldo Montoya and Avatar were meant to be, I sill think they made a cool tag team. I'm not sure if they made anymore appearances together, but I think it would have kept their characters alive for a little longer if they stuck together...

P.S. Avatar and Aldo's double flipping clothesline was way cool! What a maneuver that was.

Match of the Day - The Protector of the Children, Lazor-Tron!

Lazor-Tron vs. Tommy Angel - NWA: Jim Crockett Promotions (mid-80's)

Lazor-Tron (also spelled Lazortron or Lazer-Tron or Lazertron or Laser Tron) was a supreme laser-tag fighting machine from another planet (preferably one where laser-tag was much more of a way of life than a recreational activity) who would just so happen to beam himself down to Jim Crockett promotions in the mid-80's.

Of course, today we know that this masked Lazor-Tron was actually Hector Guerrero, Brother of Eddie, Mando, and Chavo Classic, in disguise. Back then though people didn't have a clue who Lazor-Tron was - but they loved him. Despite being a pretty terrible-looking gimmick, Lazor-Tron was actually a huge fan-favorite and crowd pleaser for the most part. Plus, Hector Guerrero was actually one hell of a wrestler; probably the only reason he survived as well as he did.

Unfortunately for Hector and his natural gift of wrestling, it always seemed like promotions just wanted to put a terrible gimmick on him like his Guerrero name wasn't enough. Gees, look at The Gobbledy Gooker... that giant turkey could of actually been a damn good competitor in the ring if Hector and his bird suit weren't canned just after his first night in WWF at the 1990 Survivor Series for having the worst gimmick in the history of worst gimmicks.

Poor Hector. It's okay though, he works for TNA now.

Ouch.

Overall reaction to the match: Oh yeah the match... well other than the fact that everything about this match is trying to put me to sleep and that we are supposed to believe that Lazor-Trons' finisher using his special space-technology arm pads to the chest renders his opponent unconscious, I think this is a fairly decent example of Hector doing the best he could with what he had.

PS: I have no idea what "the protector of the children" business that Tony Schiavone was talking about in the match... maybe when Lazor-Tron was not wrestling, he would play laser-tag with kids from rough neighbors in space! That's the kind of shit heroes are made out of right there...

PSS: Lazor-Tron would have kicked Max Moon's ass. End of story.

Match of the Day - Mysterio takes on Pscosis at Super J Cup 1995

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis - Super J Cup (1995)

Today's match is probably the best example of a Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis match out of the hundreds, maybe thousands, that have taken place. It comes from the second Super J Cup hosted by Wrestle Association R as an exhibition match to show the Japanese crowd just what these two young athletes were capable of.

I definitely believe it's the best example of both the technical and high-flying wrestling skills these two could easily bring to the table when they faced each other as well as the fact that Rey and Psicosis brought their show to a very quiet and respectable crowd which put pressure on every single move and hold they would make.

As the match picks up and Rey and Psicosis start to really pull out some high risk maneuvers such as Psicosis's scary-looking suicide dive to the outside or Rey Mysterio's super-high top-rope asai moonsault, the crowd starts to show some true excitement towards this little match before the Super J Cup tournament (won by Jushin Liger). You can tell that the audience had not seen such lucha libre, fast-paced style wrestling before and were really eating it up.

After watching multiple Rey Myserio Jr./Psicosis duels they soon begin to look like a choreographer dance by two long time opponents. I'm not saying this good or bad but you can tell just by watching these two masked stars from Mexico go at it that they have had a lot of matches together and complement each other's styles like no one else. It probably also helps that both Rey Mysterio Jr. and Psicosis were trained by the same person... Rey's uncle and original bearer of the Rey Misterio name, Rey Misterio Sr.

Match of the Day - "The Original Screwjob"

Wendi Richter (c) vs. The Spider - WWF Madison Square Garden (1985)

In what was scheduled to be a regular title defense by the Women's champ at the time, Wendi Richter against The Spider Lady at MSG turned out to be the very first (recorded at least) "Screwjob" in WWF history. As the story goes, Wendi Richter was unhappy about her pay at the time in the company and Vince McMahon, being the true villain he is I guess, decided he would just screw Richter out of her title that she had just won back from Leilani Kai at the first Wrestlemania in March of that year. You know, because that's easier than just paying a female the same as the boys.

The screwing was done by dressing the former champion of 28 years, Fabulous Moolah up as The masked Spider Lady (usually played by Glenn Dean according to Richter in her shoot interview in 2005) and having her win after a fast count by the referee that was "not in the script". Despite the blatant  kick out, the bell is rung and The Spider is announced the winner.

Wendi Richter was so genially upset by the decision of the match that she continued to wrestle with The Spider Lady, removing her mask to reveal Fabulous Moolah and then proceeded to hit Moolah with the belt  until she (Richter) walked out of the arena "wrestling gear and all". Richter would never return to the WWF or speak to Vince McMahon until she was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. I don't think she ever spoke to or reconciled with Fabulous Moolah again as Moolah passed on in November of 2007.

To cover up this incident, Fabulous Moolah told Mean Gene Okerlund in an interview on WWF TV that Wendi Richter was dodging her out of a title shot so she disguised herself as The Spider to get back what was rightfully hers.

Similar incidents where superstars have come back under masks to wrestle for one reason or another like Moolah include: The Miz as The Calgary Kid to defeat the returning Eugene in a contract on a pole match after he was fire for some reason due to John Cena on Raw one time... another incident would be  when Edge & Christian brought back Los Conquistadores in their feud with The Hardy Boyz where Edge & Christian lost a championship match to The Hardyz and could no longer wrestle for titles again as long as The Hardyz were champs. So, E&C dressed up as Los Conquistadores and defeated The Hardyz at No Mercy for the titles. One of the doubles that played Los Conquistadores during scenes with E&C was played by Christopher Daniels who also dressed under a mask to return to action after being fired in TNA as Curryman.

The list just goes on and on - but the real story behind this match is definitely the undeserving screwjob that Wendi Richter received during her time in the WWF.