Gene LeBell may be the most famous judoka of all time. He was also a highly sought-after stuntman and stunt coordinator. And on top of that, he was also a professional wrestler in one of the biggest territories in history, NWA Hollywood. Seth and Train pay tribute to the legendary career of “Judo” Gene LeBell, who in his life may have actually done some of the stuff Chuck Norris jokes were made about because he helped train Chuck NorrisGene LeBell grew up in the Los Angeles area and was born into the sports promotion business. His parents were boxing promoters and his brother Mike ran the WWA (later NWA Hollywood) California territory. LeBell began his wrestling training at the ripe old age of seven at the hands of Ed “Strangler” Lewis, who was one-third of The Gold Dust Trio.He got into wrestling in 1955 and often worked under a mask in undercard matches as The Hangman to put over talent that were moving up the card. Gene wore the mask to hide his identity and protect his status as a world-class Judo champion.One of the “Chuck Norris” type stories happened when Bearcat Wright won the WWA title from Freddie Blassie in 1963. Mike wanted to put the belt on Eduardo Carpentier (who, depending on which territory you followed, was a former NWA champion). When Wright refused to drop the title, Blassie went to the promoters and convinced them that Wright would lose to him, and then he could lose it to Carpentier three days later. Wright shot on his friend Blassie and legitimately knocked him out.Three days later, Bearcat Wright stood in the ring for his title defense against Carpentier. However,  the masked Hangman made his way to the ring in Carpentier’s place. Wright, who at 6’7″ and 275 pounds was an undefeated boxer, turned tail and escaped rather than face LeBell. He jumped in his Cadillac and drove to Arizona.LeBell also competed in what many would call the first-ever MMA Match when he faced a boxer named Milo Savage.He worked in hundreds of movies and TV shows including The Munsters where Herman was a wrestler. The post Vol. 46: Gene LeBell (1933 – 2022) appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>Gene LeBell may be the most famous judoka of all time. He was also a highly sought-after stuntman and stunt coordinator. And on top of that, he was also a professional wrestler in one of the biggest territories in history, NWA Hollywood. Seth and Train pay tribute to the legendary career of “Judo” Gene LeBell, who in his life may have actually done some of the stuff Chuck Norris jokes were made about because he helped train Chuck Norris</p><p>Gene LeBell grew up in the Los Angeles area and was born into the sports promotion business. His parents were boxing promoters and his brother Mike ran the WWA (later NWA Hollywood) California territory. LeBell began his wrestling training at the ripe old age of seven at the hands of Ed “Strangler” Lewis, who was one-third of <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-3-the-gold-dust-trio/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The Gold Dust Trio</a>.</p><p>He got into wrestling in 1955 and often worked under a mask in undercard matches as The Hangman to put over talent that were moving up the card. Gene wore the mask to hide his identity and protect his status as a world-class Judo champion.</p><p>One of the “Chuck Norris” type stories happened when Bearcat Wright won the WWA title from Freddie Blassie in 1963. Mike wanted to put the belt on Eduardo Carpentier (who, depending on which territory you followed, was a former NWA champion). When Wright refused to drop the title, Blassie went to the promoters and convinced them that Wright would lose to him, and then he could lose it to Carpentier three days later. Wright shot on his friend Blassie and legitimately knocked him out.</p><p>Three days later, Bearcat Wright stood in the ring for his title defense against Carpentier. However,  the masked Hangman made his way to the ring in Carpentier’s place. Wright, who at 6’7″ and 275 pounds was an undefeated boxer, turned tail and escaped rather than face LeBell. He jumped in his Cadillac and drove to Arizona.</p><p>LeBell also competed in what many would call the first-ever MMA Match when he faced a boxer named Milo Savage.</p><p>He worked in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0494061/?nmdp=1" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">hundreds of movies and TV shows</a> including The Munsters where Herman was a wrestler. </p><p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-46-gene-lebell-1933-2022/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 46: Gene LeBell (1933 – 2022)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 46: Gene LeBell (1933 – 2022)

October is here and so is our annual episode devoted to WCW’s Halloween Havoc. This year we look at Halloween Havoc 1990 which saw Sting defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Sid Vicious in a match that had one of the craziest finishes in the history of pro wrestling. And that is saying something…4:30 – Pro Wrestling in 1990Both WCW and WWF had new faces as top guys in 1990 in the forms of Sting and The Ultimate Warrior respectively. Coincidentally, Sting and Warrior broke into wrestling as a tag team called The Blade Runners. Other top stars in WCW at the time were Lex Luger, Stan Hansen, The Freebirds, and The Steiner Brothers.10:00 – Storylines and AnglesIt’s worth mentioning that the version on Peacock and WWE Network is the same as the home video release from 1990. This version omits several undercard matches, likely due to videotape time limitations.Express vs. ExpressThe Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) attacked Robert Gibson of The Rock &amp; Roll Express and injured his knee. Gibson injured his knee in real life so this storyline was made to explain his absence. Former NWA World Champion Tommy Rich stepped in to aid Ricky Morton against The Midnights.The Freebirds vs. The Renegade WarriorsNeither team were champions, but usually, the winner of a match on a major PPV would be seen as the next contender for tag team titles.The US Tag Team TitlesThe Steiner Brothers were well on their way to being a top tag team. The two won the NWA US Tag Championship from The Midnight Express.World Tag Team TitlesThe World Tag Champions, Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed) defended the titles against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. This makes for a heel vs. heel match. However, the crowd treated Flair and Arn like babyfacesUS TitleLex Luger as a heel defeated a babyface Michael Hayes for the United States Championship in the summer of 1989 and held the title until this event. At 523 days, it is to this day still the longest US Title reign.  Luger also turned babyface during this reign while Hayes turned heel to reform The Freebirds with Jimmy Garvin.Stan Hansen was working for WCW between stints in All Japan Pro Wrestling.Main Event StorylineSting became the top babyface in 1990 by defeating Ric Flair for the NWA Title at The Great American Bash. He had actually joined The Horsemen in late 1989 when Arn Anderson returned to WCW after a year-long stint in The WWF. However, Arn’s longtime tag partner, Tully Blanchard, failed a drug test while in WWE so WCW refused to hire him. The Horsemen reshuffled their lineup with Ole Anderson taking Blanchard’s place. This was the first time The Horsemen were presented as a babyface faction as they had been the top heels for Jim Crockett Promotions for the past few years.The babyface Horsemen run was short-lived. The Horsemen turned on Sting a few months later because Sting challenged Flair to a match for the NWA Title. Unfortunately, Sting suffered a legitimate knee injury at Clash of the Champions when he ran out during a six-man cage match and tried to climb into the cage. The injury put Sting on the shelf for several months and delayed the match.  Barry Windham returned to WCW around this time and rejoined The Horsemen. Ole retired from in-ring competition in the Spring of 1990 so then up-and-coming monster Sid Vicious joined the group.The Main Event MatchThe Sting/Vicious main event at Halloween Havoc 1990 went down in history as having one of the craziest finishes of all time. The match spilled to the floor where Sid inexplicably seemed to run away. Sting chased after him and disappeared backstage. A few moments later, the two seemingly ran back into the ring where Sting tried to slam Sid. However, he collapsed under the weight of the 6’9″ Sid and got pinned. Sid was even announced as the new champion until the real Sting ran to the ring with his arm tied up with a rope. It turns out The Horsemen had tied Sting up backstage and Barry Windham went to the ring dressed in an identical outfit. The referee promptly restarted the match and Sting rallied to retain the title.1:01:30 – The FalloutThere was no rematch or follow-up between Sting and Vicious after Halloween Havoc 1990. WCW’s next PPV was Starrcade in December 1990. Two teams that won matches at Halloween Havoc (Morton/Rich and The Freebirds) would go on to face each other. Doom would again face The Horsemen, only this time it was a Street Fight against Arn Anderson and Barry Windham due to Flair being allegedly injured before the PPV. Starrcade ’90 saw Sting finally defend the title against The Black Scorpion.JoSx1SqhOtDipM4WmvjJThe post Vol. 45: Halloween Havoc ’90 appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>October is here and so is our annual episode devoted to WCW’s <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/tag/halloween-havoc/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Halloween Havoc</a>. This year we look at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_Havoc_(1990)" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Halloween Havoc 1990</a> which saw<a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/?s=sting" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank"> Sting</a> defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/?s=Sid+Vicious" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Sid Vicious</a> in a match that had one of the craziest finishes in the history of pro wrestling. And that is saying something…</p><h2>4:30 – Pro Wrestling in 1990</h2><p>Both WCW and WWF had new faces as top guys in 1990 in the forms of Sting and The Ultimate Warrior respectively. Coincidentally, Sting and Warrior broke into wrestling as a tag team called The Blade Runners. Other top stars in WCW at the time were Lex Luger, Stan Hansen, The Freebirds, and The Steiner Brothers.</p><h2>10:00 – Storylines and Angles</h2><p>It’s worth mentioning that the version on <a href="https://www.peacocktv.com/watch/asset/sports/halloween-havoc/6509377929926799112" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Peacock</a> and <a href="https://watch.wwe.com/episode/Halloween-Havoc-1990-10234" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">WWE Network</a> is the same as the home video release from 1990. This version omits several undercard matches, likely due to videotape time limitations.</p><h3>Express vs. Express</h3><p>The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) attacked Robert Gibson of The Rock &amp; Roll Express and injured his knee. Gibson injured his knee in real life so this storyline was made to explain his absence. Former NWA World Champion Tommy Rich stepped in to aid Ricky Morton against The Midnights.</p><h3>The Freebirds vs. The Renegade Warriors</h3><p>Neither team were champions, but usually, the winner of a match on a major PPV would be seen as the next contender for tag team titles.</p><h3>The US Tag Team Titles</h3><p>The Steiner Brothers were well on their way to being a top tag team. The two won the NWA US Tag Championship from The Midnight Express.</p><h3>World Tag Team Titles</h3><p>The World Tag Champions, Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed) defended the titles against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. This makes for a heel vs. heel match. However, the crowd treated Flair and Arn like babyfaces</p><h3>US Title</h3><p>Lex Luger as a heel defeated a babyface Michael Hayes for the United States Championship in the summer of 1989 and held the title until this event. At 523 days, it is to this day still the longest US Title reign.  Luger also turned babyface during this reign while Hayes turned heel to reform The Freebirds with Jimmy Garvin.</p><p>Stan Hansen was working for WCW between stints in All Japan Pro Wrestling.</p><h3>Main Event Storyline</h3><p>Sting became the top babyface in 1990 by defeating <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/?s=ric+flair" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Ric Flair</a> for the NWA Title at The Great American Bash. He had actually joined The Horsemen in late 1989 when Arn Anderson returned to WCW after a year-long stint in The WWF. However, Arn’s longtime tag partner, Tully Blanchard, failed a drug test while in WWE so WCW refused to hire him. The Horsemen reshuffled their lineup with Ole Anderson taking Blanchard’s place. This was the first time The Horsemen were presented as a babyface faction as they had been the top heels for Jim Crockett Promotions for the past few years.</p><p>The babyface Horsemen run was short-lived. The Horsemen turned on Sting a few months later because Sting challenged Flair to a match for the NWA Title. Unfortunately, Sting suffered a legitimate knee injury at Clash of the Champions when he ran out during a six-man cage match and tried to climb into the cage. The injury put Sting on the shelf for several months and delayed the match.  Barry Windham returned to WCW around this time and rejoined The Horsemen. Ole retired from in-ring competition in the Spring of 1990 so then up-and-coming monster Sid Vicious joined the group.</p><h3>The Main Event Match</h3><p>The Sting/Vicious main event at Halloween Havoc 1990 went down in history as having one of the craziest finishes of all time. The match spilled to the floor where Sid inexplicably seemed to run away. Sting chased after him and disappeared backstage. A few moments later, the two seemingly ran back into the ring where Sting tried to slam Sid. However, he collapsed under the weight of the 6’9″ Sid and got pinned. Sid was even announced as the new champion until the real Sting ran to the ring with his arm tied up with a rope. It turns out The Horsemen had tied Sting up backstage and Barry Windham went to the ring dressed in an identical outfit. The referee promptly restarted the match and Sting rallied to retain the title.</p><h2>1:01:30 – The Fallout</h2><p>There was no rematch or follow-up between Sting and Vicious after Halloween Havoc 1990. WCW’s next PPV was Starrcade in December 1990. Two teams that won matches at Halloween Havoc (Morton/Rich and The Freebirds) would go on to face each other. Doom would again face The Horsemen, only this time it was a Street Fight against Arn Anderson and Barry Windham due to Flair being allegedly injured before the PPV. Starrcade ’90 saw Sting finally defend the title against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Scorpion_(professional_wrestling)" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The Black Scorpion</a>.</p><p></p><p>JoSx1SqhOtDipM4WmvjJ</p><p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-45-halloween-havoc/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 45: Halloween Havoc ’90</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 45: Halloween Havoc ’90

What’s this? WWE Hall Of Fame 2022? A Classic Wrestling Memories volume devoted to a present-day event? The reason we are talking about this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame inductees is that most of the inductees had long careers prior to our cutoff point of WCW and ECW going out of business. The Steiner Brothers Rick and Scott Steiner sat atop the tag team rankings for a decade before Scott Steiner started developing his Big Poppa Pump persona. Before that, Rick Steiner had seen success as a singles wrestler and as part of The Varsity Club stable. It wasn’t until the brothers split in 1998 that Scott Steiner started developing his Big Popp Pump person, which lead to many memorable promos. Sharmell Sharmell Sullivan-Huffman may not have had the greatest in-ring career, but she was a regular for both WCW and WWE. She is perhaps best remembered for her time as Queen Sharmell alongside her real-life husband Booker T. Outside of the ring she was the 1991 Miss Black America pageant winner. She also has owned and operated several businesses over the years. Shad Gaspard – Warrior Award Gaspard was a fixture on WWE programming during the mid-2000s. He and partner JTG formed the tag team Cryme Tyme. Tragically, he lost his life while swimming with his son when the two were swept up in a current. He pleaded to rescuers that she should save his young son before saving him..   Big Van Vader We talked about Vader’s career more in-depth in Vol. 21. Leon White played for The NFL before getting hired by Verne Gagne for The AWA.He would go on to win world titles in just about every promotion he was in. The Undertaker We’ve stated before that The Undertaker is a perfect example of the right gimmick going to the right guy at the right time. There is literally nobody else who could have been The Undertaker other than Mark Callaway. We discuss his different gimmicks in various territories before going to WWE in 1990. Here is a promo from Memphis with him and The Soultaker, a pre-Godfather Charles Wright. The post Vol. 44: WWE Hall Of Fame Class of 2022 appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>What’s this? WWE Hall Of Fame 2022? A Classic Wrestling Memories volume devoted to a present-day event?</p> <p>The reason we are talking about <a href="https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwe-hall-of-fame/class-of-2022" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame inductees</a> is that most of the inductees had long careers prior to our cutoff point of WCW and ECW going out of business.</p> <h2>The Steiner Brothers</h2> <p>Rick and Scott Steiner sat atop the tag team rankings for a decade before Scott Steiner started developing his Big Poppa Pump persona. Before that, Rick Steiner had seen success as a singles wrestler and as part of The Varsity Club stable. It wasn’t until the brothers split in 1998 that Scott Steiner started developing his Big Popp Pump person, which lead to many memorable promos.</p> <h2>Sharmell</h2> <p>Sharmell Sullivan-Huffman may not have had the greatest in-ring career, but she was a regular for both WCW and WWE. She is perhaps best remembered for her time as Queen Sharmell alongside her real-life husband Booker T. Outside of the ring she was the 1991 Miss Black America pageant winner. She also has owned and operated several businesses over the years.</p> <h2>Shad Gaspard – Warrior Award</h2> <p>Gaspard was a fixture on WWE programming during the mid-2000s. He and partner JTG formed the tag team Cryme Tyme. Tragically, he lost his life while swimming with his son when the two were swept up in a current. He pleaded to rescuers that she should save his young son before saving him..  </p> <h2>Big Van Vader</h2> <p>We talked about Vader’s career more in-depth <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-21-big-van-vader-1955-2018/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">in Vol. 21</a>. Leon White played for The NFL before getting hired by Verne Gagne for The AWA.He would go on to win world titles in just about every promotion he was in.</p> <h2>The Undertaker</h2> <p>We’ve stated before that The Undertaker is a perfect example of the right gimmick going to the right guy at the right time. There is literally nobody else who could have been The Undertaker other than Mark Callaway. We discuss his different gimmicks in various territories before going to WWE in 1990. Here is a promo from Memphis with him and The Soultaker, a pre-Godfather Charles Wright.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-44-wwe-hall-of-fame-class-of-2022/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 44: WWE Hall Of Fame Class of 2022</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 44: WWE Hall Of Fame Class of 2022

Scott Hall during his run as Razor Ramon in early 90s WWF“Hey yo!” Scott Hall made that common greeting a trademark catchphrase. With his signature toothpick and slicked-back hair, Scott Hall was arguably one of the greatest and most influential wrestlers of all time who never held a world championship. He was trained by the legendary Hiro Matsuda, who had also trained the likes of Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, and The Great Muta. BREAKING IN Hall started wrestling for Eddie Graham’s Championship Wrestling from Florida in 1984. He and Dan Spivey formed a tag team called American Starship, with Hall known as Coyote and Spivey as Eagle. Both men had impressive looks but were way too green to connect with the crowd. The team disbanded with Hall going to work for Verne Gagne in The AWA. Gagne repackaged Hall as “Big” Scott Hall and gave him a look similar to Magnum TA. The TV show Magnum PI was a huge hit that made Tom Selleck (and his impressive mustache) a household name. Plus, Magnum TA was already a fan favorite in the Crockett territory. Scott was put in another tag team, this time with Curt Hennig, with the plan being to eventually make him a major singles star. While the duo did win the AWA tag team championship, it was actually Hennig that became the singles star. Hall left the AWA in the late 80s to join Jerry Jarrett’s CWA in Memphis. Hall finally saw success as a singles star in Memphis. However, since he was an outsider, he would only get pushed so far because Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee were the hometown heroes. Around this time, he started doing tours with New Japan Pro Wrestling.Scott Hall cuts a babyface promo in Memphis with a very different vibe than what he would have a few years later as Razor RamonHall finally saw work on a national stage when he signed with WCW. He became a heel called The Diamond Studd and Diamond Dallas Page became his manager. This is also where he met Kevin Nash, who at the time had been using gimmick names like The Great Oz and Vinnie Vegas. While the two were a physically impressive duo, they didn’t see much success in the ring, and both signed with The World Wrestling Federation in the early 90s. RAZOR RAMONOne of Razor Ramon’s promo videos prior to his WWF debutHall made his WWE debut in 1992 as Razor Ramon, a character inspired by Tony Montana from the movie Scarface.  He was an instant hit with the fans and quickly became one of the company’s top stars. This is the look and persona that would stay with him for the rest of his career. It also brought him his first high-profile money feud in the form of “Macho Man” Randy Savage since Ramon claimed to be “Oozing Machismo”.   By the Fall of 1992, Razor was headlining shows against Savage. He also challenged then WWE Champion Bret “The Hitman” Hart for the title at the 1993 Royal Rumble. Razor turned babyface in the summer of 1993. He would go on to hold the WWF Intercontinental Title for a then-record four times. This is also where he gained a reputation backstage along with friends Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Sean “1-2-3 Kid” Waltman, and HHH as a “clique”.  Hall and Nash signed with WCW in the spring of 1996. Their final WWE appearance was with the rest of their fellow clique members. This was the infamous “Curtain Call” incident in Madison Square Garden where they all broke character and embraced in the ring. THE NWOThe iconic moment when Scott Hall started The NWO invasionIn May 1996, Scott Hall shocked the world by appearing on WCW Nitro to start the NWO invasion angle. He interrupted a match between Mike Enos and Steve Dunne and cut a promo that made several references that made some fans think there actually was a WCW vs. WWE program happening. We go into a lot more detail regarding The NWO in Volume 8. The first year or two of The NWO struck gold and put WCW over the top of WWE in The Monday Night War. Unfortunately, it also led to a multitude of financial problems with the company, as well as the personal issues that plagued Hall throughout his career.  LATTER YEARS WCW became a revolving door for Hall in the late 90s due to his personal issues and substance abuse. He finally left the company for good in 2000. After sporadic appearances in ECW and a short-lived WWE return in 2002, he stopped wrestling full-time. He made occasional appearances in different promotions over the next decade.  He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame as Razor in 2014. We at Classic Wrestling Memories extend our deepest condolences, thoughts, and prayers to Scott Hall’s family. REFERENCES MADE The New Breed whose gimmick was that they were time travelersAWA’s WrestleRock Rumble rap video Razor Ramon vs. Ted Dibiase in what was Dibiase’s final match in WWE The post Vol. 43: “The Bad Guy” Scott Hall appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

Scott Hall during his run as Razor Ramon in early 90s WWF<br><p>“Hey yo!” Scott Hall made that common greeting a trademark catchphrase. With his signature toothpick and slicked-back hair, Scott Hall was arguably one of the greatest and most influential wrestlers of all time who never held a world championship. He was trained by the legendary Hiro Matsuda, who had also trained the likes of Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, and The Great Muta.</p> <h2>BREAKING IN</h2> <p>Hall started wrestling for <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-11-championship-wrestling-from-florida/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Eddie Graham’s Championship Wrestling from Florida</a> in 1984. He and Dan Spivey formed a tag team called American Starship, with Hall known as Coyote and Spivey as Eagle. Both men had impressive looks but were way too green to connect with the crowd. The team disbanded with Hall going to work for Verne Gagne in The AWA.</p> <p>Gagne repackaged Hall as “Big” Scott Hall and gave him a look similar to Magnum TA. The TV show <em>Magnum PI</em> was a huge hit that made Tom Selleck (and his impressive mustache) a household name. Plus, Magnum TA was already a fan favorite in the Crockett territory. Scott was put in another tag team, this time with Curt Hennig, with the plan being to eventually make him a major singles star. While the duo did win the AWA tag team championship, it was actually Hennig that became the singles star. Hall left the AWA in the late 80s to join Jerry Jarrett’s CWA in Memphis.</p> <p>Hall finally saw success as a singles star in Memphis. However, since he was an outsider, he would only get pushed so far because Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee were the hometown heroes. Around this time, he started doing tours with New Japan Pro Wrestling.</p>Scott Hall cuts a babyface promo in Memphis with a very different vibe than what he would have a few years later as Razor Ramon<br><p>Hall finally saw work on a national stage when he signed with WCW. He became a heel called The Diamond Studd and Diamond Dallas Page became his manager. This is also where he met Kevin Nash, who at the time had been using gimmick names like The Great Oz and Vinnie Vegas. While the two were a physically impressive duo, they didn’t see much success in the ring, and both signed with The World Wrestling Federation in the early 90s.</p> <h2>RAZOR RAMON</h2>One of Razor Ramon’s promo videos prior to his WWF debut<br><p>Hall made his WWE debut in 1992 as Razor Ramon, a character inspired by Tony Montana from the movie <em>Scarface</em>.  He was an instant hit with the fans and quickly became one of the company’s top stars. This is the look and persona that would stay with him for the rest of his career. It also brought him his first high-profile money feud in the form of “Macho Man” Randy Savage since Ramon claimed to be “Oozing Machismo”.  </p> <p>By the Fall of 1992, Razor was headlining shows against Savage. He also challenged then WWE Champion Bret “The Hitman” Hart for the title at the 1993 Royal Rumble. Razor turned babyface in the summer of 1993. He would go on to hold the WWF Intercontinental Title for a then-record four times. This is also where he gained a reputation backstage along with friends Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Sean “1-2-3 Kid” Waltman, and HHH as a “clique”. </p> <p>Hall and Nash signed with WCW in the spring of 1996. Their final WWE appearance was with the rest of their fellow clique members. This was the infamous <a href="https://www.wwe.com/videos/the-kliq-participates-in-the-infamous-curtain-call-madison-square-garden-live-event-may-19-1996" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">“Curtain Call” incident in Madison Square Garden</a> where they all broke character and embraced in the ring.</p> <h2>THE NWO</h2>The iconic moment when Scott Hall started The NWO invasion<br><p>In May 1996, Scott Hall shocked the world by appearing on WCW Nitro to start the NWO invasion angle. He interrupted a match between Mike Enos and Steve Dunne and cut a promo that made several references that made some fans think there actually was a WCW vs. WWE program happening. We go into a lot more detail regarding The NWO in <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-8-the-nwo/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Volume 8</a>. The first year or two of The NWO struck gold and put WCW over the top of WWE in The Monday Night War. Unfortunately, it also led to a multitude of financial problems with the company, as well as the personal issues that plagued Hall throughout his career. </p> <h2>LATTER YEARS</h2> <p>WCW became a revolving door for Hall in the late 90s due to his personal issues and substance abuse. He finally left the company for good in 2000. After sporadic appearances in ECW and a short-lived WWE return in 2002, he stopped wrestling full-time. He made occasional appearances in different promotions over the next decade.  He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame as Razor in 2014.</p> <p>We at Classic Wrestling Memories extend our deepest condolences, thoughts, and prayers to Scott Hall’s family.</p> <h3>REFERENCES MADE</h3> <ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3xyv28-mRo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The New Breed</a> whose gimmick was that they were time travelers</li><li>AWA’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOSFpzPlO4Q" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">WrestleRock Rumble rap video</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf84if" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Razor Ramon vs. Ted Dibiase</a> in what was Dibiase’s final match in WWE</li></ul> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-43-the-bad-guy-scott-hall/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 43: “The Bad Guy” Scott Hall</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 43: “The Bad Guy” Scott Hall

 It is the return to the Unpopular Opinions format we started in Volume 30, which ironically is one of our most popular episodes. Unpopular Opinion #4: The AWA did NOT go out of business because they didn’t make Hulk Hogan their champion It is common knowledge that Hulkamania was born in Verne Gagne’s AWA. It is also a common belief that Verne refused to put the world title on Hogan, which directly led to Hogan’s jump to the WWF and eventually the folding of the AWA. While losing Hogan definitely was a blow to AWA’s popularity, it is a bit farfetched to say the loss of Hogan is what killed the company, While we may never truly know, it is very likely that even if Hogan did have a run with the AWA title, it would have only delayed the inevitable.Hulk Hogan’s first title shot against AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel in 1982Unpopular Opinion #5: Wrestling does NOT need an on-air Authority Figure Everybody who watched WWE during the Attitude Era remembers Vince McMahon’s on-screen persona of “Mr. McMahon” and how he was a fixture on TV as the evil authority figure. Naturally, such a successful angle will inspire many knockoffs. After all, anybody can relate to working for a boss you hate. The concept of the heel authority figure predates McMahon. Eric Bischoff was revealed to be part of the NWO heel stable the previous year. Even before that, authority figures were regularly used to advance storylines.  However, there have been countless promotions and territories that didn’t use an authority figure. Or even if they did, they did so very rarely. Jack Tunney was billed as the WWF President for years, even though it was purely a fictional title and he simply portrayed an on-air character. He would appear periodically on WWE programming to make rulings on controversial angles or matches. Stanley Blackburn played a similar role for the AWA, as did Jerry Jarrett for Memphis. Though at least with Jarrett, he was the territory’s booker in real life.Jack Tunney, the on-air president of The WWF, announces his ruling on the infamous match where Hulk Hogan lost the WWF Championship to Andre The GiantOther examples include Jim Crockett Promotions, which fell under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. Portland, Florida, World Class in Texas… None of these promotions used an on-air authority figure to advance storylines. And that’s just in the States. Unpopular Opinion #6: The Monday Night War was NOT the greatest period in wrestling history Of course, “greatest” is a subjective term, but many fans who started watching wrestling during the Monday Night War (MNW) herald the late-90s as the best period for wrestling. However, when you look at monetary gains, WWE is making more money now than they ever have before, including the MNW. In the terms of TV ratings, the most-watched wrestling match in US history was when Andre The Giant pinned Hulk Hogan. That match was seen by 30 million people in 1988. It’s human nature to look at the era you grow up in as the best era. There are very logical arguments for the Hulkamania/Rock &amp; Wrestling era as the greatest. There are times when territories were selling out arenas simply based on local television. Jim Crockett Promotions was outselling WWF in ticket sales when they weren’t even looked at as a national promotion.As discussed during this segment, Pat O’Connor vs. Buddy Rogers set attendance and live-gate records in 1961.More Unpopular Opinions are on the way and we are certainly open to suggestions. Do you agree with any of these Unpopular Opinions? Even if you disagree, we’d love to hear what you think. Sound of below or on our Facebook Page! The post Vol. 42: Unpopular Opinions Part II appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p> It is the return to the Unpopular Opinions format we started in <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/30-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Volume 30</a>, which ironically is one of our <strong>most</strong> popular episodes.</p> <h2>Unpopular Opinion #4: The AWA did NOT go out of business because they didn’t make Hulk Hogan their champion</h2> <p>It is common knowledge that Hulkamania was born in Verne Gagne’s <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/category/awa/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">AWA</a>. It is also a common belief that Verne refused to put the world title on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/tag/hulk-hogan/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Hogan</a>, which directly led to Hogan’s jump to the <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/category/wwe/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">WWF</a> and eventually the folding of the AWA. While losing Hogan definitely was a blow to AWA’s popularity, it is a bit farfetched to say the loss of Hogan is what killed the company, While we may never truly know, it is very likely that even if Hogan did have a run with the <a href="https://prowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/AWA_World_Heavyweight_Championship/Champion_history#:~:text=Title%20history%20%20%20%20%23%20%20,%20%20N%2FA%20%2015%20more%20rows%20" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">AWA title</a>, it would have only delayed the inevitable.</p>Hulk Hogan’s first title shot against AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel in 1982<br><h2>Unpopular Opinion #5: Wrestling does NOT need an on-air Authority Figure</h2> <p>Everybody who watched WWE during the <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/?s=attitude+era" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Attitude Era</a> remembers Vince McMahon’s on-screen persona of “Mr. McMahon” and how he was a fixture on TV as the evil authority figure. Naturally, such a successful angle will inspire many knockoffs. After all, anybody can relate to working for a boss you hate.</p> <p>The concept of the heel authority figure predates McMahon. Eric Bischoff was revealed to be part of the NWO heel stable the previous year. Even before that, authority figures were regularly used to advance storylines. </p> <p>However, there have been countless promotions and territories that didn’t use an authority figure. Or even if they did, they did so very rarely.</p> <p>Jack Tunney was billed as the WWF President for years, even though it was purely a fictional title and he simply portrayed an on-air character. He would appear periodically on WWE programming to make rulings on controversial angles or matches. Stanley Blackburn played a similar role for the AWA, as did Jerry Jarrett for Memphis. Though at least with Jarrett, he was the territory’s booker in real life.</p>Jack Tunney, the on-air president of The WWF, announces his ruling on the infamous match where Hulk Hogan lost the WWF Championship to Andre The Giant<br><p>Other examples include <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/tag/jim-crockett-promotions/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Jim Crockett Promotions</a>, which fell under the <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/?s=nwa" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">National Wrestling Alliance</a> banner. Portland, Florida, World Class in Texas… None of these promotions used an on-air authority figure to advance storylines. And that’s just in the States.</p> <h2>Unpopular Opinion #6: The Monday Night War was NOT the greatest period in wrestling history</h2> <p>Of course, “greatest” is a subjective term, but many fans who started watching wrestling during the <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/tag/monday-night-wars/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Monday Night War</a> (MNW) herald the late-90s as the best period for wrestling. However, when you look at monetary gains, WWE is making more money now than they ever have before, including the MNW. In the terms of TV ratings, the most-watched wrestling match in US history was when Andre The Giant pinned Hulk Hogan. That match was seen by 30 million people in 1988.</p> <p>It’s human nature to look at the era you grow up in as the best era. There are very logical arguments for the Hulkamania/Rock &amp; Wrestling era as the greatest. There are times when territories were selling out arenas simply based on local television. Jim Crockett Promotions was outselling WWF in ticket sales when they weren’t even looked at as a national promotion.</p>As discussed during this segment, Pat O’Connor vs. Buddy Rogers set attendance and live-gate records in 1961.<br><p>More Unpopular Opinions are on the way and we are certainly open to suggestions. Do you agree with any of these Unpopular Opinions? Even if you disagree, we’d love to hear what you think. Sound of below or on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/classicwrestlingmemories/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook Page</a>!</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-42-unpopular-opinions-part-ii/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 42: Unpopular Opinions Part II</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 42: Unpopular Opinions Part II

We do an In Memorium tribute at the of every year. Father Time is the ultimate booker and Death is undefeated. Every year we lose so many talents to that great battle royal in the sky. Angelo Mosca – Held titles in multipole territories and is a Canadian Football Hall of FamerBarry Orton – Brother of Bob Orton Jr. and uncle to Randy Orton. We discuss the controversy involving him and Pat Patterson in Volume 36.Bobby Eaton – Legendary territory wrestler and multi-time tag champion.Buddy Colt – Held over a dozen titles in multiple NWA territories.Butch Reed – Held over a dozen titles including NWA tag titles with Ron Simmons.Chris Youngblood – Brother of Mark and Jay Youngblood.Corporal Kirchner – Competed at WrestleMania 2 and in FMW as Leatherface.Daffney Unger – Started in WCW and was a TNA regular.Del Wilkes – aka “The Patriot” and “The Trooper”. We discussed his life in Volume 39.Dominic DeNucci – Italian wrestler who held over a dozen titles worldwide.Don Kernodle – Perhaps best remembered as part of Sgt. Slaughter’s Cobra Corps. We also talked about him in Volume 39.Jack Lanza – WWE Hall of Famer and part of the legendary Blackjacks tag team.Jim Crockett Jr. – Arguably the #2 promotor of all time and the main force behind the popularity of Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s. We detailed his career in Volume 37.Jimmy Rave – Independent wrestler who also worked for TNA.Jody Hamilton – Part of the legendary Assassins tag team. Also an accomplished trainer.New Jack – ECW mainstay and hardcore style veteran.Paul Orndorff – Hall of Famer and headliner of the original WrestleMania. If you think we missed anybody or would like to give your thoughts on any of these talents, sound off below. Or you can post on our Facebook page, or contact us via email. The post Vol. 41: In Memorium 2021 appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>We do an In Memorium tribute at the of every year. Father Time is the ultimate booker and Death is undefeated. Every year we lose so many talents to that great battle royal in the sky.</p> <p><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=1247" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Angelo Mosca</a> – Held titles in multipole territories and is a Canadian Football Hall of Famer<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=3101" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Barry Orton</a> – Brother of Bob Orton Jr. and uncle to Randy Orton. We discuss the controversy involving him and Pat Patterson in <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-36-pat-patterson-1941-2020/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Volume 36</a>.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=1101" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bobby Eaton</a> – Legendary territory wrestler and multi-time tag champion.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=1434" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Buddy Colt</a> – Held over a dozen titles in multiple NWA territories.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=785" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Butch Reed</a> – Held over a dozen titles including NWA tag titles with Ron Simmons.<br/><a href="https://prowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/Chris_Youngblood" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Chris Youngblood</a> – Brother of Mark and Jay Youngblood.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=1520" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Corporal Kirchner</a> – Competed at WrestleMania 2 and in FMW as Leatherface.<br/><a href="https://prowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/Daffney" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Daffney Unger</a> – Started in WCW and was a TNA regular.<br/><a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-39-don-kernodle-the-patriot-del-wilkes/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Del Wilkes</a> – aka “The Patriot” and “The Trooper”. We discussed his life in <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-39-don-kernodle-the-patriot-del-wilkes/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Volume 39</a>.<br/><a href="https://prowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/Dominic_DeNucci" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Dominic DeNucci</a> – Italian wrestler who held over a dozen titles worldwide.<br/><a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-39-don-kernodle-the-patriot-del-wilkes/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Don Kernodle</a> – Perhaps best remembered as part of Sgt. Slaughter’s Cobra Corps. We also talked about him in <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-39-don-kernodle-the-patriot-del-wilkes/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Volume 39</a>.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=491" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Jack Lanza</a> – WWE Hall of Famer and part of the legendary Blackjacks tag team.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=4563" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Jim Crockett Jr.</a> – Arguably the #2 promotor of all time and the main force behind the popularity of Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s. We detailed his career in <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-37-jim-crockett-jr-and-the-story-of-jim-crockett-promotions/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Volume 37</a>.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=568" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Jimmy Rave</a> – Independent wrestler who also worked for TNA.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=1267" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Jody Hamilton</a> – Part of the legendary Assassins tag team. Also an accomplished trainer.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=934" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">New Jack</a> – ECW mainstay and hardcore style veteran.<br/><a href="https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&amp;nr=459" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Orndorff</a> – Hall of Famer and headliner of the original WrestleMania.</p> <p>If you think we missed anybody or would like to give your thoughts on any of these talents, sound off below. Or you can post on our Facebook page, or contact us via email.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-41-in-memorium-2021/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 41: In Memorium 2021</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 41: In Memorium 2021

It’s time to do the annual episode devoted to WCW Halloween Havoc. This time we go all the way back to where it began in 1989.0:30 – Pro Wrestling in 1989The entire wrestling business was in a bit of a transitional phase. Ted Turner had bought out Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988 so this was the first full-fledged year under his ownership. It was also the year Ric Flair was pushed as the top babyface with no Horsemen backing him up due to Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard signing with WWE. Not only that, PPV was still a relatively new concept and wasn’t nearly as established as it became in the 1990s. Thus, the inaugural Halloween Havoc helped set the stage for Sting’s rise to main event status in 1990.9:00 – Storylines and AnglesThe Main EventFlair was in his seventh reign as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. He had successfully regained the title from Ricky Steamboat at WrestleWar. Terry Funk, fresh off a stint as an actor, made his return to wrestling that night and challenged Flair for the title. Flair declined, believing Funk had been away from wrestling too long to be considered a top challenger. This enraged Funk, who immediately attacked Flair and piledrove him through a table. This put Flair on the shelf for several weeks, but the two faced off at The Great American Bash with Flair beating Funk to retain the title.Meanwhile, Keiji Mutoh, aka The Great Muta, was on an excursion to the United States. Muta was at this point undefeated and had beaten Sting for the NWA World Television Championship. The villainous Gary Hart became the manager for both Funk and Muta.After Flair retained the title at the Great American Bash, Funk and Muta ambushed Flair. Sting ran out for the save and a wild brawl ensued. This solidified Flair and Sting as the top babyfaces and aligned them against Funk, Muta, and Hart.Tag TeamsJim Cornette and The Midnight Express of Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane were turned babyface after being attacked by the original Midnight Express of Randy Rose and Dennis Condrey managed by Paul E. Dangerously. However, all three heels were either let go or fired soon afterwards and The Samoan SWAT Team (later The Headshrinkers in WWE) were brought in to take their place in the feud. Oliver Humperdink also joined WCW as The SST’s manager.The Varsity Club of Mike Rotunda, Steve Williams, and Rick Steiner had disbanded with Williams and Steiner going babyface. Steiner had become infatuated with a “nerdy girl” in the audience. That turned out to be a ruse because the girl in question became Woman. She brought in a masked tag team called “Woman’s tag team of Doom”. Rick’s younger brother Scott joined the company to help him in the feud.There were also several famous tag teams either starting out or entering their primes at this event.The Fabulous Freebirds went through a change as Terry Gordy quit the team to go to Japan. Buddy Jack retired, leaving Michael Hayes without a partner. Longtime friend Jimmy Garvin then joined Hayes as a new incarnation of The Freebirds. The Rest of the CardJohnny Ace and Shane Douglas formed the tag The Dynamic Dudes and given Jim Cornette as their manager.The Skyscrapers formed because Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey were the last two men in a battle royal. Teddy Long (years before becoming the general manager of Smackdown) convinced them to team rather than face off.Of course, the legendary Road Warriors were at their peak during this time.Rounding out the talent on the card were Tommy Rich, who likely was brought in due to his history in Georgia, a young Brian Pillman, and Z-Man Tom Zenk who worked well as white meat babyface.Under the Turner banner, WCW had the use of names and media licensed to TBS and TNT. Commercials aired on Turner programming with people like Elvira for the PPV.30:35 – The EventOpening MatchesZ-Man p. “Captain” Mike Rotunda after rolling through a bodypress – This was a few years before Rotunda re-joined WWE and got the IRS gimmick name.The Samoan Swat Team &amp; The Samoan Savage (w/Oliver Humperdink) b. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and The Midnight Express (“Beautiful” Bobby Eaton &amp; Stan Lane w/Jim Cornette) when Samu pinned Lane – Williams was the only one that had the toughness of the SST. Bobby had to rely on his mat technique and Stan had to use his educated feet. The finish saw Stan kick Samu and get a visual pin. Cornette hit Humperdink but then Samu hit Stan with a flying forearm from behind and Stan collided with Cornette. These days it would have just been a distraction and a roll-up.“Wildfire” Tommy Rich p. Cuban Assassin with a Thesz Press UndercardThe Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hays &amp; Jimmy Garvin) b. The Dynamic Dudes (Johnny Ace &amp; Shane Douglas w/Jim Cornette) when Garvin pinned Douglas – The Dudes tried their finishing move The Wipeout but Hayes pulled Shane’s leg out from under him causing him to collapse and Garvin to reverse onto Ace.Doom (w/Woman) b. The Steiner Bros. when Butch Reed pinned Rick with a headbutt -. Steiners had hit their suplex when Woman loaded Butch Reed’s mask and he headbutted ScottUS Champion “The Total Package” Lex Luger p. Brian Pillman with a Stun Gun – Pillman went for a top turnbuckle dropkick. Luger seemed to sell it even though Pillman missed by a mile. The announcers covered by saying Luger was ducking to avoid the dropkick. Luger then dropped Pillman’s neck on the top rope to get the pin.The Road Warriors (Hawk &amp; Animal w/Paul Ellering) b. The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious &amp; Dan Spivey w/Teddy Long) by DQ when Spivey hit Hawk with a heavy metal key – The Warriors looked to have the upper hand when the metal object was brought into play. The match fell apart afterward because a brawl broke out. The Main EventNWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair &amp; Sting b. Terry Funk &amp; The Great Muta w/Gary Hart when Gary Hart dropped the towel – Bruno Sammartino served as the special guest referee. The only way to win the match was to have one team’s manager throw in the towel. Muta awesomely put out an unexpected fire by spitting his mist onto the flames. Even though the cage was said to be electrified, all the men still climbed around on it. Flair and Sting even swung around like Tarzan. Flair had Funk in the Figure Four while Sting delivered splashes on him. Gary Hart tried to get in the ring but was punched by Ole Anderson. This caused Hart to drop his towel. Bruno saw the towel on the mat and awarded the match to the babyfaces.Halloween Havoc would continue to be an annual PPV attraction until WCW closed in 2001. The post Vol. 40: WCW Halloween Havoc 1989 appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>It’s time to do the annual episode devoted to <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/category/wcw/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">WCW</a> Halloween Havoc. This time we go all the way back to where it began in 1989.</p><h2>0:30 – Pro Wrestling in 1989</h2><p>The entire wrestling business was in a bit of a transitional phase. Ted Turner had bought out <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/tag/jim-crockett-promotions/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Jim Crockett Promotions</a> in 1988 so this was the first full-fledged year under his ownership. It was also the year <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/tag/ric-flair/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Ric Flair</a> was pushed as the top babyface with no Horsemen backing him up due to Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard signing with WWE. Not only that, PPV was still a relatively new concept and wasn’t nearly as established as it became in the 1990s. Thus, the inaugural Halloween Havoc helped set the stage for Sting’s rise to main event status in 1990.</p><h2>9:00 – Storylines and Angles</h2><h2>The Main Event</h2><p>Flair was in his seventh reign as the <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/category/nwa/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">NWA</a> World Heavyweight Champion. He had successfully regained the title from Ricky Steamboat at WrestleWar. Terry Funk, fresh off a stint as an actor, made his return to wrestling that night and challenged Flair for the title. Flair declined, believing Funk had been away from wrestling too long to be considered a top challenger. This enraged Funk, who immediately attacked Flair and piledrove him through a table. This put Flair on the shelf for several weeks, but the two faced off at The Great American Bash with Flair beating Funk to retain the title.</p><p>Meanwhile, Keiji Mutoh, aka The Great Muta, was on an excursion to the United States. Muta was at this point undefeated and had beaten Sting for the NWA World Television Championship. The villainous Gary Hart became the manager for both Funk and Muta.</p><p>After Flair retained the title at the Great American Bash, Funk and Muta ambushed Flair. Sting ran out for the save and a wild brawl ensued. This solidified Flair and Sting as the top babyfaces and aligned them against Funk, Muta, and Hart.</p><h2>Tag Teams</h2><p>Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express of Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane were turned babyface after being attacked by the <em>original</em> Midnight Express of Randy Rose and Dennis Condrey managed by Paul E. Dangerously. However, all three heels were either let go or fired soon afterwards and The Samoan SWAT Team (later The Headshrinkers in WWE) were brought in to take their place in the feud. Oliver Humperdink also joined WCW as The SST’s manager.</p><p>The Varsity Club of Mike Rotunda, Steve Williams, and Rick Steiner had disbanded with Williams and Steiner going babyface. Steiner had become infatuated with a “nerdy girl” in the audience. That turned out to be a ruse because the girl in question became Woman. She brought in a masked tag team called “Woman’s tag team of Doom”. Rick’s younger brother Scott joined the company to help him in the feud.</p><p>There were also several famous tag teams either starting out or entering their primes at this event.</p><p>The Fabulous Freebirds went through a change as Terry Gordy quit the team to go to Japan. Buddy Jack retired, leaving Michael Hayes without a partner. Longtime friend Jimmy Garvin then joined Hayes as a new incarnation of The Freebirds. </p><h2>The Rest of the Card</h2><p>Johnny Ace and Shane Douglas formed the tag The Dynamic Dudes and given Jim Cornette as their manager.</p><p>The Skyscrapers formed because Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey were the last two men in a battle royal. Teddy Long (years before becoming the general manager of Smackdown) convinced them to team rather than face off.</p><p>Of course, the legendary Road Warriors were at their peak during this time.</p><p>Rounding out the talent on the card were Tommy Rich, who likely was brought in due to his history in Georgia, a young Brian Pillman, and Z-Man Tom Zenk who worked well as white meat babyface.</p><p>Under the Turner banner, WCW had the use of names and media licensed to TBS and TNT. Commercials aired on Turner programming with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJl77Y-nZL4" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">people like Elvira for the PPV</a>.</p><h2>30:35 – The Event</h2><h2>Opening Matches</h2><p><strong>Z-Man p. “Captain” Mike Rotunda after rolling through a bodypress</strong> – This was a few years before Rotunda re-joined WWE and got the IRS gimmick name.</p><p><strong>The Samoan Swat Team &amp; The Samoan Savage (w/Oliver Humperdink) b. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and The Midnight Express (“Beautiful” Bobby Eaton &amp; Stan Lane w/Jim Cornette) when Samu pinned Lane</strong> – Williams was the only one that had the toughness of the SST. Bobby had to rely on his mat technique and Stan had to use his educated feet. The finish saw Stan kick Samu and get a visual pin. Cornette hit Humperdink but then Samu hit Stan with a flying forearm from behind and Stan collided with Cornette. These days it would have just been a distraction and a roll-up.</p><p><strong>“Wildfire” Tommy Rich p. Cuban Assassin with a Thesz Press</strong> </p><h2>Undercard</h2><p><strong>The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hays &amp; Jimmy Garvin) b. The Dynamic Dudes (Johnny Ace &amp; Shane Douglas w/Jim Cornette) when Garvin pinned Douglas</strong> – The Dudes tried their finishing move The Wipeout but Hayes pulled Shane’s leg out from under him causing him to collapse and Garvin to reverse onto Ace.</p><p><strong>Doom (w/Woman) b. The Steiner Bros. when Butch Reed pinned Rick with a headbutt</strong> -. Steiners had hit their suplex when Woman loaded Butch Reed’s mask and he headbutted Scott</p><p><strong>US Champion “The Total Package” Lex Luger p. Brian Pillman with a Stun Gu</strong>n – Pillman went for a top turnbuckle dropkick. Luger seemed to sell it even though Pillman missed by a mile. The announcers covered by saying Luger was ducking to avoid the dropkick. Luger then dropped Pillman’s neck on the top rope to get the pin.</p><p><strong>The Road Warriors (Hawk &amp; Animal w/Paul Ellering) b. The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious &amp; Dan Spivey w/Teddy Long) by DQ when Spivey hit Hawk with a heavy metal key</strong> – The Warriors looked to have the upper hand when the metal object was brought into play. The match fell apart afterward because a brawl broke out. </p><h2>The Main Event</h2><p><strong>NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair &amp; Sting b. Terry Funk &amp; The Great Muta w/Gary Hart when Gary Hart dropped the towel</strong> – Bruno Sammartino served as the special guest referee. The only way to win the match was to have one team’s manager throw in the towel. Muta awesomely put out an unexpected fire by spitting his mist onto the flames. Even though the cage was said to be electrified, all the men still climbed around on it. Flair and Sting even swung around like Tarzan. Flair had Funk in the Figure Four while Sting delivered splashes on him. Gary Hart tried to get in the ring but was punched by Ole Anderson. This caused Hart to drop his towel. Bruno saw the towel on the mat and awarded the match to the babyfaces.</p><p>Halloween Havoc would continue to be an annual PPV attraction until WCW closed in 2001. </p><p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-40-wcw-halloween-havoc-1989/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 40: WCW Halloween Havoc 1989</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 40: WCW Halloween Havoc 1989

Don Kernodle

It’s a double-shot of tributes on this volume of CWM. Today, we talk about two men who had similarities but also had very different careers, Don Kernodle and Del Wilkes. While they never met each other in the ring, Don Kernodle and Del Wilkes had characters that would have easily made them longtime rivals. Kernodle spent most of his career as a heel while Wilkes was primarily a patriotic babyface.1:45 – Dark Side of the Ring ThoughtsTrain gives his thoughts on the new season of Dark Side of the Ring, which recently aired its famous “Plane Ride From Hell” episode. He also looks forward to the episodes on Chris Kanyon and Luna Vachon because he knew both of those people.15:00 – Don Kernodle (1950-2021)Don Kernodle, a North Carolina native, was probably best known for teaming with Sgt. Slaughter in the early 1980s. The story goes that he began wrestling professionally after he accepted a challenge by Bob Roop for a legitimate match. Roop always dominated these challenges and would beat his opponents in seconds. While Roop still won the match, it took him eight minutes to do so. Kernodle was still offered training by Gene and Ole Anderson.He spent some time as the traveling partner of Ric Flair, who was still a rising star at the time. Kernodle first made his name as part of Sgt. Slaughter’s Cobra Corps stable alongside Jim Nelson (a pre-WWF Boris Zhukoff). The duo won the NWA Mid-Atlantic tag team championship and feuded with the likes of Porkchop Cash, King Parsons, and Jay Youngblood. After Slaughter and Kernodle turned on Nelson, they went on to win the NWA World tag titles in a fictional tournament. They claimed to have beaten Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki in the finals, which of course is a ludicrous claim. and feuded with Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood over them. That feud ended with a famous steel cage match in 1983.He did compete for The World Wrestling Federation in 1983 as well. He mainly won enhancement matches on regular TV but didn’t see much success against opponents that were higher on the card. Kernodle returned to Jim Crockett Promotions and formed a team with Bob Orton Jr. under the management of Gary Hart. Shortly after, he began teaming with Ivan Koloff in an anti-American stable. They would soon be joined by Nikita Koloff. This means he is at least partly responsible for Nikita Koloff’s rise to prominence. After losing the NWA Tag titles, the evil Russians turned on Kernodle. This began Kernodle’s only major babyface run. He was in The Rock and Roll Express’s corner when they won the NWA Tag Titles from the Russians at Starrcade 85. There was a time when Kernodle hoped to reunite with Slaughter to face the Russians, as Slaughter was at the height of his GI Joe babyface run. But by the time Slaughter had left WWF, Dusty Rhodes had taken over as booker for the Crocketts.He went into semi-retirement and made sporadic wrestling appearances for independent promotions. Over the last three decades, Kernodle had a career in law enforcement.58:00 – Del Wilkes (1961-2021)Del Wiles was an All-American football player in college at the University of South Carolina. He appeared on the Bob Hope Christmas special with the rest of his All-American teammates. Trained by Moolah in the 1980s, Wilkes won his first major title in 1990 as The Trooper when he and DJ Peterson defeated the Destruction Crew (Mike Enos &amp; Wayne Bloome) for the AWA tag titles. They would hold the belts until the promotion folded in early 1991. From there, Wilkes began what would become his most famous gimmick when he joined Global Championship Wrestling in Texas and donned a mask as The Patriot. The gimmick was taken from comics drawn by Jerry Lawler in the 70s. He won a tournament to become the inaugural GWF Television Champion. Towards the end of 1991, another masked man (Doug Gilbert) appeared claiming to be The Dark Patriot. The two feuded over the title, which saw Wilkes lose the title and leave the promotion.Wilkes made a few appearances for the then World Wrestling Federation before going to Giant Baba’s All Japan Pro Wrestling. He formed a tag team with The Eagle (Jackie Fulton) and won the tag titles and feuded with Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat.The Patriot saw his first national exposure when he signed with World Championship Wrestling in 1994. His WCW run consisted mainly of teaming with Buff Bagwell (then Marcus Alexander Bagwell) as Stars and Stripes. The duo briefly held the tag titles twice before quietly splitting in 1995. Wilkes quit WCW and returned to All Japan shortly thereafter.His return to All Japan again saw him form a pair of tag teams. One with Johnny Ace and one with Kenta Kobashi. The first half of 1997 had all of them in a three-man team.In the latter half of 1997, Wilkes returned to The WWF as The Patriot and began his highest-profile run in a feud against Bret Hart. The red, white, and blue Patriot was a natural babyface against the anti-American Hart, who had formed a new heel version of The Hart Foundation. The run was short-lived, as he suffered a torn tricep that sidelined him and he was released from WWE in early 1998. Wilkes quietly retired that year.Del was very open about his drug abuse history and claimed to take 100 pills a day while working for WWE. He also admitted to a long history of cocaine use dating back to his college days. Del Wilkes passed away on July 1st, 2021 from a heart attack.Do you have any memories of Don Kernodle and Del wilkes? Sound off below!The post Vol. 39: Don Kernodle &amp; “The Patriot” Del Wilkes appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>It’s a double-shot of tributes on this volume of CWM. Today, we talk about two men who had similarities but also had very different careers, Don Kernodle and Del Wilkes. While they never met each other in the ring, Don Kernodle and Del Wilkes had characters that would have easily made them longtime rivals. Kernodle spent most of his career as a heel while Wilkes was primarily a patriotic babyface.</p><h2>1:45 – Dark Side of the Ring Thoughts</h2><p>Train gives his thoughts on the new season of <em>Dark Side of the Ring</em>, which recently aired its famous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGgYahBuZi4" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">“Plane Ride From Hell”</a> episode. He also looks forward to the episodes on Chris Kanyon and Luna Vachon because he knew both of those people.</p><h2>15:00 – Don Kernodle (1950-2021)</h2><p>Don Kernodle, a North Carolina native, was probably best known for teaming with Sgt. Slaughter in the early 1980s. The story goes that he began wrestling professionally after he accepted a challenge by Bob Roop for a legitimate match. Roop always dominated these challenges and would beat his opponents in seconds. While Roop still won the match, it took him eight minutes to do so. Kernodle was still offered training by Gene and Ole Anderson.</p><p>He spent some time as the traveling partner of Ric Flair, who was still a rising star at the time. </p><p>Kernodle first made his name as part of Sgt. Slaughter’s Cobra Corps stable alongside Jim Nelson (a pre-WWF Boris Zhukoff). The duo won the <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/category/nwa/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">NWA</a> <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/category/nwa/mid-atlantic/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mid-Atlantic</a> tag team championship and feuded with the likes of Porkchop Cash, King Parsons, and Jay Youngblood. After Slaughter and Kernodle turned on Nelson, they went on to win the NWA World tag titles in a fictional tournament. They claimed to have beaten Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki in the finals, which of course is a ludicrous claim. and feuded with Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood over them. That feud ended with a famous steel cage match in 1983.</p><p>He did compete for <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/category/wwe/wwf/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The World Wrestling Federation</a> in 1983 as well. He mainly won enhancement matches on regular TV but didn’t see much success against opponents that were higher on the card. </p><p>Kernodle returned to Jim Crockett Promotions and formed a team with Bob Orton Jr. under the management of Gary Hart. Shortly after, he began teaming with Ivan Koloff in an anti-American stable. They would soon be joined by Nikita Koloff. This means he is at least partly responsible for Nikita Koloff’s rise to prominence. After losing the NWA Tag titles, the evil Russians turned on Kernodle. This began Kernodle’s only major babyface run. He was in The Rock and Roll Express’s corner when they won the NWA Tag Titles from the Russians at Starrcade 85. </p><p>There was a time when Kernodle hoped to reunite with Slaughter to face the Russians, as Slaughter was at the height of his GI Joe babyface run. But by the time Slaughter had left WWF, Dusty Rhodes had taken over as booker for the Crocketts.</p><p>He went into semi-retirement and made sporadic wrestling appearances for independent promotions. Over the last three decades, Kernodle had a career in law enforcement.</p><h2>58:00 – Del Wilkes (1961-2021)</h2><p>Del Wiles was an All-American football player in college at the University of South Carolina. He appeared on the Bob Hope Christmas special with the rest of his All-American teammates. </p><p>Trained by Moolah in the 1980s, Wilkes won his first major title in 1990 as The Trooper when he and DJ Peterson defeated the Destruction Crew (Mike Enos &amp; Wayne Bloome) for the AWA tag titles. They would hold the belts until the promotion folded in early 1991. </p><p>From there, Wilkes began what would become his most famous gimmick when he joined Global Championship Wrestling in Texas and donned a mask as The Patriot. The gimmick was taken from comics drawn by Jerry Lawler in the 70s. He won a tournament to become the inaugural GWF Television Champion. Towards the end of 1991, another masked man (Doug Gilbert) appeared claiming to be The Dark Patriot. The two feuded over the title, which saw Wilkes lose the title and leave the promotion.</p><p>Wilkes made a few appearances for the then World Wrestling Federation before going to Giant Baba’s All Japan Pro Wrestling. He formed a tag team with The Eagle (Jackie Fulton) and won the tag titles and feuded with Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat.</p><p>The Patriot saw his first national exposure when he signed with World Championship Wrestling in 1994. His WCW run consisted mainly of teaming with Buff Bagwell (then Marcus Alexander Bagwell) as Stars and Stripes. The duo briefly held the tag titles twice before quietly splitting in 1995. Wilkes quit WCW and returned to All Japan shortly thereafter.</p><p>His return to All Japan again saw him form a pair of tag teams. One with Johnny Ace and one with Kenta Kobashi. The first half of 1997 had all of them in a three-man team.</p><p>In the latter half of 1997, Wilkes returned to The WWF as The Patriot and began his highest-profile run in a feud against Bret Hart. The red, white, and blue Patriot was a natural babyface against the anti-American Hart, who had formed a new heel version of The Hart Foundation. The run was short-lived, as he suffered a torn tricep that sidelined him and he was released from WWE in early 1998. Wilkes quietly retired that year.</p><p>Del was very open about his drug abuse history and claimed to take 100 pills a day while working for WWE. He also admitted to a long history of cocaine use dating back to his college days. Del Wilkes passed away on July 1st, 2021 from a heart attack.</p><p>Do you have any memories of Don Kernodle and Del wilkes? Sound off below!</p><p><strong><code></code></strong></p><p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-39-don-kernodle-the-patriot-del-wilkes/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 39: Don Kernodle &amp; “The Patriot” Del Wilkes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 39: Don Kernodle & “The Patriot” Del Wilkes

The inaugural edition of The Great American Bash was held on July 6, 1985, at The American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Much like the early Starrcades and the first WrestleMania, the show was carried on Closed Circuit television because Pay-Per-View TV was still largely a new concept.2:15 – The EventJim Crockett Promotions had great success with Starrcade. Shortly after they bought the 6:05 PM timeslot Dusty convinced them to run a second major show, this time in the summer. After all, JCP still had their own territory in The Carolinas and now they had control of a Georgia territory as well. It only made sense to use talent from both territories under the GAB banner. On top of that, The Crocketts already owned a baseball stadium so they had a large venue to hold it in. As for the programming, it is worth mentioning that wrestlers, especially heels, would have multiple feuds at once. So when going over these storylines and feuds, other names will be involved that might not make the card.12:15 – The AnglesJJ Dillon was the manager of Ron Bass. Approximately one month prior to the event, Bass unsuccessfully challenged Ron Garvin for the NWA National Championship. Shortly after that, Dillon started courting Landell as a new protege over Bass. This caused Bass to turn on his manager.Ole and Arn Anderson were the third incarnation of The Minnesota Wrecking Crew. Buzz Sawyer and Dick Slater had been feuding with them over the titles. The Andersons had tried to blind Buzz Sawyer and even attacked Buzz’s brother Brett. Paul Jones had his Army, which consisted of Superstar Billy Graham, The Barbarian, and Abdullah The Butcher. Manny Fernandez, Sam Houston, and Buzz Tyler were all relatively new to the scene. Houston scored several victories that garnered a lot of fan attention on television.  Paul Jones and his Army also had an enemy in “The Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant. They attacked Valiant and struck him in the neck with a cane. The blow caused so much damage to his throat that he was unable to speak. As a result, Valiant had to write his thoughts on a chalkboard instead of talking. Valiant challenged Jones to a match to get revenge. Jones promptly accepted the challenge. What Jones did not realize was Valiant specifically asked for a Dog Collar Match instead of a standard match. Once jones learned of the match stipulation, he desperately wanted out of the match. Both men were allowed a second man to be in their corner as a compromise. Valiant chose Buzz Tyler while Jones picked Abdullah The Butcher.The Russians (Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff, and Krusher Kruschev) held both the NWA World Tag Team Titles and the NWA World Six-Man Tag Titles. They also had the advantage of The Freebird Rule where any two of the three could defend the Tag Team Championships. The Road Warriors were the AWA tag team champions and were effectively making their in-ring debuts for Crockett on this show. AWA promotor Verne Gagne sent tapes of Road Warrior highlights and promos to set up a title-for-title match.Another up-and-coming superstar was Magnum TA. He was gaining popularity very quickly because he would often win his matches in under a minute. This made him a “dragon slayer” of sorts because he would take on all comers. “The Ugandan Giant” Kamala was one of those dragons.Ric Flair and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship were in the US Champion Magnum TA’s sights. Koloff wanted to capture the NWA World Title from Ric Flair for the glory of The Soviet Union. A series of vignettes aired that showed Koloff vigorously training. Nikita even knocked out David Crockett on television. Flair petitioned that Koloff not be suspended or fired for the incident because he wanted to get revenge for David in the ring. Flair put the title on the line against Nikita in a match with Crockett as the special guest referee. So Flair was a babyface in the Carolinas and in the context of this match, even though he was a heel just about everywhere else.Dusty was a constant presence on Crockett programming, often cutting multiple promos during a single episode. On the 6/8 edition of WCW, Dusty was part of the commentary with Tony and David. He had suffered cracked ribs at the hands of Abdullah The Butcher. Blanchard, knowing Dusty was injured, would taunt him from the ring during matches. Dusty eventually hit the ring to go after Tully. Baby Doll scratched Dusty in the eyes with her nails and Blanchard attacked the ribs. Afterward, Tully would question how Dusty could deal with him if he got stopped so easily by a woman. Dusty managed to up the ante and added a stipulation that if he won the title, he would get Baby Doll as a valet for 30 days. It’s a pretty safe bet this angle probably couldn’t be done today.1:03:45 – The Card“Nature Boy” Buddy Landell d. “Cowboy” Ron Bass –  Most of the match saw Landell Bass smack around Bass and Dillon attacking him when Landell would throw him to the outside. Bass fired up and was making a fiery comeback when the bell sounded to signify the time limit expiring. After the match, Bass got a measure of revenge by putting Dillon in The Claw.NWA National Tag Team Champions The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Ole &amp; Arn Anderson) b. “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer &amp; Dick Slater when Ole pinned Sawyer – All four men brawled before the match began. The babyfaces dominated the opening minutes. The heels managed to cut off Slater and got the heat on him. Sawyer eventually got the hot tag and twice seemingly had the pin on Arn. Ole broke the pin with an elbowdrop behind the referee’s back. He and Arn then switched places before the referee turned around. Unfortunately, the ref did not see that the illegal man was making the cover and counted the fall anyway.“The Raging Bull” Manny Fernandez, “Avalanche” Buzz Tyler, &amp; Sam Houston b.”Superstar” Billy Graham, The Barbarian, &amp; Abdullah The Butcher when Houston pinned Graham with a roll-up – Going by the names involved it would seem that Fernandez was the most experienced guy on the babyface team. The heels got the heat on Houston, who looked like he weighed 160 pounds. However, unlike the last match, there was no hot tag. Houston hit a body press on Graham. The heels broke the pin, leading to all six men getting into the ring and brawling. During the melee, Houston managed to roll up Graham and get the pin.“The Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant p. Paul Jones in a Dog Collar Match – Jones tried to put the collar on Abdullah rather than wear it himself. While the referee was trying to keep Jones and Tyler apart, Abdullah hit Valiant with a spike before the match even started, putting Jones at an advantage when the bell finally sounded. Jones dominated the early part of the match until Valiant made a comeback and caused Jones to collide with an interfering Butcher. Valiant managed to follow up with an elbow drop to get the pin.AWA World Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors (Hawk &amp; Animal w/ Paul Ellering) d. NWA World Tag Team Champions The Russians (Ivan Koloff &amp; Krusher Kruschev) in a double-disqualification – The Russians got the heat on Animal until Hawk got the hot tag, and ran wild. The Road Warriors lifted Koloff for a top rope powerslam when Kruschev struck Animal from behind with a chair. Hawk managed to wrest the chair away from Kruschev and used it himself.  The bell rang while The Road Warriors cleared the ring of the Russians, signifying a double-disqualification. NWA United States Champion Magnum TA b. Kamala (w/Skandor Ackbar) via disqualification – The challenger brutalized the champion from the outset. A bloodied Magnum made his comeback and hit a series of dropkicks. Ackbar broke a pin attempt, causing a disqualification. While Magnum did not get the pin, he still was able to bodyslam Kamala and hit the Belly-To-Belly Suplex. NWA World Heavyweight Champion “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair p. Nikita Koloff to retain the title – Koloff dominated much of the match with Flair getting occasional bursts of offense. Ivan tried to help Nikita hit a spike piledriver on Flair. It looked like Ivan missed. A fan ran into the ring but security quickly intervened to break it up. Nikita lifted Flair for a slam only for Flair to fall on him for a quick pinfall.After the match, Kruschev ran out and helped triple-teamed Flair. Other wrestlers unsuccessfully tried to make the save.“The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes p. NWA Television ChampionTully Blanchard (w/Baby Doll) in a Steel Cage Match to win the title and the services of Baby Doll for 30 days – The men battled back and forth with both of them getting bloodied. Dusty pinned Tully with a piledriver. That is notable because, at the time, the piledriver was a banned move. However, since this was an unsanctioned cage match, moves that were normally illegal could be used. The post Vol. 38: The Great American Bash ’85: Freedom Challenge appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>The inaugural edition of The Great American Bash was held on July 6, 1985, at The American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Much like the early Starrcades and <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-32-wrestlemania-1985/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">the first WrestleMania</a>, the show was carried on Closed Circuit television because Pay-Per-View TV was still largely a new concept.</p><h1>2:15 – The Event</h1><p><a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-37-jim-crockett-jr-and-the-story-of-jim-crockett-promotions/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Jim Crockett Promotions</a> had great success with <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-1-starrcade-83/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Starrcade</a>. Shortly after they bought the 6:05 PM timeslot Dusty convinced them to run a second major show, this time in the summer. After all, JCP still had their own territory in The Carolinas and now they had control of a Georgia territory as well. It only made sense to use talent from both territories under the GAB banner. On top of that, The Crocketts already owned a baseball stadium so they had a large venue to hold it in. As for the programming, it is worth mentioning that wrestlers, especially heels, would have multiple feuds at once. So when going over these storylines and feuds, other names will be involved that might not make the card.</p><h1>12:15 – The Angles</h1><p>JJ Dillon was the manager of Ron Bass. Approximately one month prior to the event, Bass unsuccessfully challenged Ron Garvin for the NWA National Championship. Shortly after that, Dillon started courting Landell as a new protege over Bass. This caused Bass to turn on his manager.</p><p>Ole and Arn Anderson were the third incarnation of The Minnesota Wrecking Crew. Buzz Sawyer and Dick Slater had been feuding with them over the titles. The Andersons had tried to blind Buzz Sawyer and even attacked Buzz’s brother Brett. </p><p><a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-19-number-one-paul-jones-1942-2018/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Jones</a> had his Army, which consisted of Superstar Billy Graham, The Barbarian, and Abdullah The Butcher. Manny Fernandez, Sam Houston, and Buzz Tyler were all relatively new to the scene. Houston scored several victories that garnered a lot of fan attention on television.  </p><p>Paul Jones and his Army also had an enemy in “The Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant. They attacked Valiant and struck him in the neck with a cane. The blow caused so much damage to his throat that he was unable to speak. As a result, Valiant had to write his thoughts on a chalkboard instead of talking. Valiant challenged Jones to a match to get revenge. Jones promptly accepted the challenge. What Jones did not realize was Valiant specifically asked for a Dog Collar Match instead of a standard match. Once jones learned of the match stipulation, he desperately wanted out of the match. Both men were allowed a second man to be in their corner as a compromise. Valiant chose Buzz Tyler while Jones picked Abdullah The Butcher.</p><p>The Russians (Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff, and Krusher Kruschev) held both the NWA World Tag Team Titles and the NWA World Six-Man Tag Titles. They also had the advantage of The Freebird Rule where any two of the three could defend the Tag Team Championships. The Road Warriors were the AWA tag team champions and were effectively making their in-ring debuts for Crockett on this show. AWA promotor Verne Gagne sent tapes of Road Warrior highlights and promos to set up a title-for-title match.</p><p>Another up-and-coming superstar was Magnum TA. He was gaining popularity very quickly because he would often win his matches in under a minute. This made him a “dragon slayer” of sorts because he would take on all comers. “The Ugandan Giant” Kamala was one of those dragons.</p><p>Ric Flair and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NWA_Worlds_Heavyweight_Championship" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">NWA World Heavyweight Championship</a> were in the US Champion Magnum TA’s sights. Koloff wanted to capture the NWA World Title from Ric Flair for the glory of The Soviet Union. A series of vignettes aired that showed Koloff vigorously training. Nikita even knocked out David Crockett on television. Flair petitioned that Koloff not be suspended or fired for the incident because he wanted to get revenge for David in the ring. Flair put the title on the line against Nikita in a match with Crockett as the special guest referee. So Flair was a babyface in the Carolinas and in the context of this match, even though he was a heel just about everywhere else.</p><p>Dusty was a constant presence on Crockett programming, often cutting multiple promos during a single episode. On the 6/8 edition of WCW, Dusty was part of the commentary with Tony and David. He had suffered cracked ribs at the hands of Abdullah The Butcher. Blanchard, knowing Dusty was injured, would taunt him from the ring during matches. Dusty eventually hit the ring to go after Tully. Baby Doll scratched Dusty in the eyes with her nails and Blanchard attacked the ribs. Afterward, Tully would question how Dusty could deal with him if he got stopped so easily by a woman. Dusty managed to up the ante and added a stipulation that if he won the title, he would get Baby Doll as a valet for 30 days. It’s a pretty safe bet this angle probably couldn’t be done today.</p><h1>1:03:45 – The Card</h1><p><strong>“Nature Boy” Buddy Landell d. “Cowboy” Ron Bass</strong> –  Most of the match saw Landell Bass smack around Bass and Dillon attacking him when Landell would throw him to the outside. Bass fired up and was making a fiery comeback when the bell sounded to signify the time limit expiring. After the match, Bass got a measure of revenge by putting Dillon in The Claw.</p><p><strong>NWA National Tag Team Champions The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Ole &amp; Arn Anderson) b. “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer &amp; Dick Slater when Ole pinned Sawyer</strong> – All four men brawled before the match began. The babyfaces dominated the opening minutes. The heels managed to cut off Slater and got the heat on him. Sawyer eventually got the hot tag and twice seemingly had the pin on Arn. Ole broke the pin with an elbowdrop behind the referee’s back. He and Arn then switched places before the referee turned around. Unfortunately, the ref did not see that the illegal man was making the cover and counted the fall anyway.</p><p><strong>“The Raging Bull” Manny Fernandez, “Avalanche” Buzz Tyler, &amp; Sam Houston b.”Superstar” Billy Graham, The Barbarian, &amp; Abdullah The Butcher when Houston pinned Graham with a roll-up</strong> – Going by the names involved it would seem that Fernandez was the most experienced guy on the babyface team. The heels got the heat on Houston, who looked like he weighed 160 pounds. However, unlike the last match, there was no hot tag. Houston hit a body press on Graham. The heels broke the pin, leading to all six men getting into the ring and brawling. During the melee, Houston managed to roll up Graham and get the pin.</p><p><strong>“The Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant p. Paul Jones in a Dog Collar Match</strong> – Jones tried to put the collar on Abdullah rather than wear it himself. While the referee was trying to keep Jones and Tyler apart, Abdullah hit Valiant with a spike before the match even started, putting Jones at an advantage when the bell finally sounded. Jones dominated the early part of the match until Valiant made a comeback and caused Jones to collide with an interfering Butcher. Valiant managed to follow up with an elbow drop to get the pin.</p><p><strong>AWA World Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors (Hawk &amp; Animal w/ Paul Ellering) d. NWA World Tag Team Champions The Russians (Ivan Koloff &amp; Krusher Kruschev) in a double-disqualification</strong> – The Russians got the heat on Animal until Hawk got the hot tag, and ran wild. The Road Warriors lifted Koloff for a top rope powerslam when Kruschev struck Animal from behind with a chair. Hawk managed to wrest the chair away from Kruschev and used it himself.  The bell rang while The Road Warriors cleared the ring of the Russians, signifying a double-disqualification. </p><p><strong>NWA United States Champion Magnum TA b. Kamala (w/Skandor Ackbar) via disqualification</strong> – The challenger brutalized the champion from the outset. A bloodied Magnum made his comeback and hit a series of dropkicks. Ackbar broke a pin attempt, causing a disqualification. While Magnum did not get the pin, he still was able to bodyslam Kamala and hit the Belly-To-Belly Suplex. </p><p><strong>NWA World Heavyweight Champion “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair p. Nikita Koloff to retain the title</strong> – Koloff dominated much of the match with Flair getting occasional bursts of offense. Ivan tried to help Nikita hit a spike piledriver on Flair. It looked like Ivan missed. A fan ran into the ring but security quickly intervened to break it up. Nikita lifted Flair for a slam only for Flair to fall on him for a quick pinfall.</p><p>After the match, Kruschev ran out and helped triple-teamed Flair. Other wrestlers unsuccessfully tried to make the save.</p><p><strong>“The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes p. NWA Television ChampionTully Blanchard (w/Baby Doll) in a Steel Cage Match to win the title and the services of Baby Doll for 30 days</strong> – The men battled back and forth with both of them getting bloodied. Dusty pinned Tully with a piledriver. That is notable because, at the time, the piledriver was a banned move. However, since this was an unsanctioned cage match, moves that were normally illegal could be used. </p><p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-38-the-great-american-bash-85-freedom-challenge/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 38: The Great American Bash ’85: Freedom Challenge</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 38: The Great American Bash ’85: Freedom Challenge

Jim Crockett

Jim Crockett Promotions To tell the story of Jim Crockett Jr. (or “Jimmy”) we first have to look at the family and the business at the time. Jim Crockett Sr. (aka “Big Jim”) was a promoter of many sports and entertainment genres, including pro wrestling. Vince McMahon talked about how much his dad respected Big Jim, and that he was a good promoter and a good man. Big Jim ran Jim Crocket Promotions from 1935 until his sudden untimely death of a heart attack in 1973 at the age of 63. The company was originally meant to go to John Ringley. who was married to the oldest sibling, Frances Crockett. However, he got caught cheating on her and the reigns were handed over to Jim Jr.  It’s worth noting that even in the 1970s a woman owning and running a business was still uncommon.  It’s also worth noting that Ann Gunkel also tried running a wrestling promotion after her husband Roy passed away and was not very successful. Rise to Prominance One of the changes Jimmy made after taking over the promotion was to bring in George Scott as head booker. He focused on singles feuds for shows in larger arenas. Jimmy is also credited with creating the NWA Mid-Atlantic US Title, which is still recognized by WWE to this day. He also helped forge what would become a vital part of wrestling, the major show PPV like Starrcade. When you look at it from a per capita standpoint, Jimmy ran the #1 territory for a while. He famously bought the 6:05 PM on TBS to replace a WWF show on Saturday Nights. The first two or three years after that were some of the best years of any wrestling promotion ever. While JCP still was running in the southeastern part of the US (Georgia, The Carolinas, Virginia, and Florida), they still managed to sell more tickets to wrestling events than Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation, which had expanded nationally. Unfortunately, despite outselling WWE in ticket sales in 1986, Jim Crockett Promotions wound up over one million dollars in debt in 1988. The family had no choice but to sell the company to Ted Turner’s media company. As mentioned during the show, Crazy Train was a guest on The Willis Show. The post Vol. 37: Jim Crockett Jr. and the Story of Jim Crockett Promotions Rise to National Popularity appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<h2>Jim Crockett Promotions</h2> <p>To tell the story of Jim Crockett Jr. (or “Jimmy”) we first have to look at the family and the business at the time. Jim Crockett Sr. (aka “Big Jim”) was a promoter of many sports and entertainment genres, including pro wrestling. Vince McMahon talked about how much his dad respected Big Jim, and that he was a good promoter and a good man.</p> <p>Big Jim ran Jim Crocket Promotions from 1935 until his sudden untimely death of a heart attack in 1973 at the age of 63. The company was originally meant to go to John Ringley. who was married to the oldest sibling, Frances Crockett. However, he got caught cheating on her and the reigns were handed over to Jim Jr. </p> <p>It’s worth noting that even in the 1970s a woman owning and running a business was still uncommon.  It’s also worth noting that Ann Gunkel also tried running a wrestling promotion after her husband Roy passed away and was not very successful.</p> <h2>Rise to Prominance</h2> <p>One of the changes Jimmy made after taking over the promotion was to bring in George Scott as head booker. He focused on singles feuds for shows in larger arenas. Jimmy is also credited with creating the NWA Mid-Atlantic US Title, which is still <a href="https://www.wwe.com/titlehistory/united-states-championship" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">recognized by WWE to this day</a>. He also helped forge what would become a vital part of wrestling, the major show PPV <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-1-starrcade-83/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">like Starrcade</a>.</p> <p>When you look at it from a per capita standpoint, Jimmy ran the #1 territory for a while. He famously bought the 6:05 PM on TBS to replace a WWF show on Saturday Nights. The first two or three years after that were some of the best years of any wrestling promotion ever. While JCP still was running in the southeastern part of the US (Georgia, The Carolinas, Virginia, and Florida), they still managed to sell more tickets to wrestling events than Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation, which had expanded nationally.</p> <p>Unfortunately, despite outselling WWE in ticket sales in 1986, Jim Crockett Promotions wound up over one million dollars in debt in 1988. The family had no choice but to sell the company to Ted Turner’s media company.</p> <p>As mentioned during the show, Crazy Train was a guest on <a href="https://youtu.be/1jqQVyW30rM" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The Willis Show</a>.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-37-jim-crockett-jr-and-the-story-of-jim-crockett-promotions/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 37: Jim Crockett Jr. and the Story of Jim Crockett Promotions Rise to National Popularity</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 37: Jim Crockett Jr. and the Story of Jim Crockett Promotions Rise to National Popularity

Tons of insight while providing a solid foundation of start to finish bio info that many wrestling podcasts gloss over.

Insightful

Classic Wrestling Memories

There are a lot of cliched names for all-time greats, and many of them apply to Harley Race. A Man’s Man. A Champion’s Champion. A Hall Of Famer’s Hall Of Famer. And so on. There’s a reason why on The Wrestling Brethren shows the term “WWHD” (What Would Harley Do?) comes up from time to time. Harley Race was one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling during the 1970s. He won the NWA World Championship A total of four times during that decade, and with the exception of a few short-term losses he held it for over four years.  The Beginning Unlike a lot of other wrestlers, Harley Race was not a stage name. It was his genuine birth name. Many fans may not know that Harley had a bout with Polio as a child. Fortunately, he was able to make a recovery. The stories of how tough he was date back to his childhood. He may not have ever truly finished a high school education. In fact, Harley was expelled from High School for getting into a fight. When the principal tried to break up the fight, Harley attacked him too. Early Career Harley found training with the Zbyzsko brothers, Stanislaus and Wladek. If that last name sounds familiar, these were the men Larry Zbyzsko took the last name of as a tribute. Harley also worked as a chauffeur for Happy Humphrey, a well-known wrestler at the time who weighed approximately 600 pounds. His first matches were in Missouri under the name Jack Long for promoter Gust Karras where he worked tag matches with an onscreen brother John Long. Harley was involved in a serious and tragic auto accident that killed his newlywed wife and unborn child in 1960. Doctors believed Harley’s injuries were so severe they required amputation of his leg. Karras visited the hospital and convinced the doctors not to amputate the leg. Harley was told he would not walk again, let alone wrestle. After many long months of training and physical therapy, Harley returned to the ring under the name The Great Mortimer in 1963. Shortly after this, Harley went to Texas to work for Dory Funk, Sr. There he permanently started using his real name because “Harley Race” was a much better name than “Jack Long”. This was also where he met Larry Hennig and formed a friendship. AWA Race and Hennig started working for Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association (AWA) where they were known as Handsome Harley Race and Pretty Boy Larry Hennig. Of course, neither man was thought of as particularly good looking so it was a perfect gimmick for a heel tag team. They won the AWA Tag Team Titles on three occasions and had a memorable feud with fan favorites Bruiser and Crusher. In fact, they frequently wrestled Verne Gagne himself, who would team with various partners.  The NWA Territories Harley Race is regarded as one of the greatest NWA Champions of all time. What is ironic us his first run with the title was not planned in advance. It came about due to friction between then Champion Dory Funk Jr. and top contender Jack Brisco. In the early 1970s, Dory Funk Jr. was the NWA World Champion and had been for many years. Jack Brisco, who was then an up-and-coming babyface challenger, faced Junior for the title in multiple territories. Paul Bosch in Houston, Eddie Graham in Florida, and Sam Muchnick in Missouri all drew major crowds with a Dory Jr. vs. Jack Brisco main event. And they all knew that sooner or later there had to be the payoff of Jack finally winning the title. The plan was for Dory to lose the title to Jack Brisco on March 2nd, 1973 in Houston. However, one week prior to the event, Funk contacted the office and claimed to have been in a farming accident and would be unable to wrestle for six weeks. This upset a lot of people, including the promoters and Jack himself, because it came across as Dory simply didn’t want to lose the title. Rise To The Championship Since the highly-anticipated Junior vs. Brisco match wasn’t going to happen, The NWA board picked Harley as the man to win the title since Race had the reputation as a legitimate tough guy. The match happened on May 24, 1973 and Harley defeated Funk to win his first NWA Title. He would hold the title for approximately two months before dropping it to Jack Brisco on July 20th. Race would not see another NWA World Championship reign until four years later. He spent those years traveling from territory to territory and winning several regional titles. Among those titles was the inaugural NWA Mid-Atlantic United States Championship, now known as the WWE US Championship. Finally, on February 6th, 1977, Harley would finally regain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Terry Funk in Toronto Canada. This began the reign that he is probably best remembered for because outside of a handful of title losses that lasted less than a week each, Harley effectively had the title until the early 1980s. All but one of those losses were business. The one exception was the loss to Tommy Rich in Augusta Georgia on April 27th, 1981. Depending on who you listen to, it was either an accident or a power play by promotors.  Starrcade and return to AWA Perhaps the most famous match of Harley’s career happened on November 26th, 1983 when Ric Flair defeated him in the main event of the original Starrcade. Harley cut the iconic “Take the damn money!” promo during the buildup to that match. Vince McMahon, who had recently purchased The World Wrestling Federation from his father, actually approached Harley with an offer to no-show the event and jump to WWF. Race refused the offer because he gave his word that he would pass the torch to Flair at Starrcade.  Race actually regained the title briefly in New Zealand and lost it back to Flair a few days later. That short reign went unrecognized for several years due to the change happening without the approval of the NWA.  Harley returned to the AWA after his final NWA Title run. There he faced the likes of Curt Hennig but never achieved the success he had in the 1970s. Within a few years, he would begin his final run as a full-time in-ring competitor. The WWF Vince McMahon was finally able to sign Harley to work for him in 1986. For the first several months Race worked as Handsome Harley. He won the second-ever King Of The Ring tournament and began wearing a crown and scepter to the ring. Some fans found it very odd that a wrestler who took himself so seriously would start using an over-the-top gimmick like a “King”. This run was also notable for the familiar entrance music (“The Great Gates Of Kyiv”) that Jerry “The King” Lawler would use years later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se3measKxGQ Race had his first of two WrestleMania matches at WrestleMania III where he defeated The Junkyard Dog. After that, he began a feud with Hulk Hogan over The WWF Championship. He suffered an injury during Saturday Night’s Main Event when he tried to hit Hogan with a diving headbutt on a table. Hogan moved and Harley crashed into the table. This was long before ECW made table bumps a common occurrence. Retirement and WCW Manager run Harley showed up in WCW around 1990 and began a new run as a manager. His first major program as a manager was working with Lex Luger during Luger’s first reign as WCW World Champion. He also had a successful run managing Big Van Vader to several WCW title reigns. He was inducted into the WCW Hall Of Fame in w994 and the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2004. The post Vol. 29: Harley Race, The Greatest Wrestler On God’s Green Earth appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>There are a lot of cliched names for all-time greats, and many of them apply to Harley Race. A Man’s Man. A Champion’s Champion. A Hall Of Famer’s Hall Of Famer. And so on. There’s a reason why on The Wrestling Brethren shows the term “WWHD” (What Would Harley Do?) comes up from time to time. Harley Race was one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling during the 1970s. He won the NWA World Championship A total of four times during that decade, and with the exception of a few short-term losses he held it for over four years. </p> <h1>The Beginning</h1> <p>Unlike a lot of other wrestlers, Harley Race was not a stage name. It was his genuine birth name. Many fans may not know that Harley had a bout with Polio as a child. Fortunately, he was able to make a recovery. The stories of how tough he was date back to his childhood. He may not have ever truly finished a high school education. In fact, Harley was expelled from High School for getting into a fight. When the principal tried to break up the fight, Harley attacked him too.</p> <h1>Early Career</h1> <p>Harley found training with the Zbyzsko brothers, Stanislaus and Wladek. If that last name sounds familiar, these were the men Larry Zbyzsko took the last name of as a tribute. Harley also worked as a chauffeur for Happy Humphrey, a well-known wrestler at the time who weighed approximately 600 pounds. His first matches were in Missouri under the name Jack Long for promoter Gust Karras where he worked tag matches with an onscreen brother John Long. Harley was involved in a serious and tragic auto accident that killed his newlywed wife and unborn child in 1960. Doctors believed Harley’s injuries were so severe they required amputation of his leg. Karras visited the hospital and convinced the doctors not to amputate the leg. Harley was told he would not walk again, let alone wrestle. After many long months of training and physical therapy, Harley returned to the ring under the name The Great Mortimer in 1963. Shortly after this, Harley went to Texas to work for Dory Funk, Sr. There he permanently started using his real name because “Harley Race” was a much better name than “Jack Long”. This was also where he met Larry Hennig and formed a friendship.</p> <h1>AWA</h1> <p>Race and Hennig started working for Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association (AWA) where they were known as Handsome Harley Race and Pretty Boy Larry Hennig. Of course, neither man was thought of as particularly good looking so it was a perfect gimmick for a heel tag team. They won the AWA Tag Team Titles on three occasions and had a memorable feud with fan favorites Bruiser and Crusher. In fact, they frequently wrestled Verne Gagne himself, who would team with various partners. </p> <h1>The NWA Territories</h1> <p>Harley Race is regarded as one of the greatest NWA Champions of all time. What is ironic us his first run with the title was not planned in advance. It came about due to friction between then Champion Dory Funk Jr. and top contender Jack Brisco. In the early 1970s, Dory Funk Jr. was the NWA World Champion and had been for many years. Jack Brisco, who was then an up-and-coming babyface challenger, faced Junior for the title in multiple territories. Paul Bosch in Houston, Eddie Graham in Florida, and Sam Muchnick in Missouri all drew major crowds with a Dory Jr. vs. Jack Brisco main event. And they all knew that sooner or later there had to be the payoff of Jack finally winning the title. The plan was for Dory to lose the title to Jack Brisco on March 2nd, 1973 in Houston. However, one week prior to the event, Funk contacted the office and claimed to have been in a farming accident and would be unable to wrestle for six weeks. This upset a lot of people, including the promoters and Jack himself, because it came across as Dory simply didn’t want to lose the title.</p> <h1>Rise To The Championship</h1> <p>Since the highly-anticipated Junior vs. Brisco match wasn’t going to happen, The NWA board picked Harley as the man to win the title since Race had the reputation as a legitimate tough guy. The match happened on May 24, 1973 and Harley defeated Funk to win his first NWA Title. He would hold the title for approximately two months before dropping it to Jack Brisco on July 20th.</p> <p>Race would not see another NWA World Championship reign until four years later. He spent those years traveling from territory to territory and winning several regional titles. Among those titles was the inaugural NWA Mid-Atlantic United States Championship, now known as the WWE US Championship.</p> <p>Finally, on February 6th, 1977, Harley would finally regain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Terry Funk in Toronto Canada. This began the reign that he is probably best remembered for because outside of a handful of title losses that lasted less than a week each, Harley effectively had the title until the early 1980s. All but one of those losses were business. The one exception was the loss to Tommy Rich in Augusta Georgia on April 27th, 1981. Depending on who you listen to, it was either an accident or a power play by promotors. </p> <h1>Starrcade and return to AWA</h1> <p>Perhaps the most famous match of Harley’s career happened on November 26th, 1983 when Ric Flair defeated him in the main event of the original Starrcade. Harley cut the iconic “Take the damn money!” promo during the buildup to that match.</p> <p>Vince McMahon, who had recently purchased The World Wrestling Federation from his father, actually approached Harley with an offer to no-show the event and jump to WWF. Race refused the offer because he gave his word that he would pass the torch to Flair at Starrcade. </p> <p>Race actually regained the title briefly in New Zealand and lost it back to Flair a few days later. That short reign went unrecognized for several years due to the change happening without the approval of the NWA. </p> <p>Harley returned to the AWA after his final NWA Title run. There he faced the likes of Curt Hennig but never achieved the success he had in the 1970s. Within a few years, he would begin his final run as a full-time in-ring competitor.</p> <h1>The WWF</h1> <p>Vince McMahon was finally able to sign Harley to work for him in 1986. For the first several months Race worked as Handsome Harley. He won the second-ever King Of The Ring tournament and began wearing a crown and scepter to the ring. Some fans found it very odd that a wrestler who took himself so seriously would start using an over-the-top gimmick like a “King”. This run was also notable for the familiar entrance music (“The Great Gates Of Kyiv”) that Jerry “The King” Lawler would use years later.</p> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se3measKxGQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se3measKxGQ</a> <p>Race had his first of two WrestleMania matches at WrestleMania III where he defeated The Junkyard Dog. After that, he began a feud with Hulk Hogan over The WWF Championship. He suffered an injury during Saturday Night’s Main Event when he tried to hit Hogan with a diving headbutt on a table. Hogan moved and Harley crashed into the table. This was long before ECW made table bumps a common occurrence.</p> <h1>Retirement and WCW Manager run</h1> <p>Harley showed up in WCW around 1990 and began a new run as a manager. His first major program as a manager was working with Lex Luger during Luger’s first reign as WCW World Champion. He also had a successful run managing Big Van Vader to several WCW title reigns. He was inducted into the WCW Hall Of Fame in w994 and the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2004.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-29-harley-race-the-greatest-wrestler-on-gods-green-earth/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 29: Harley Race, The Greatest Wrestler On God’s Green Earth</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 29: Harley Race, The Greatest Wrestler On God’s Green Earth

Randy Savage

Ted DiBiase

This episode of Classic Wrestling Memories focuses on the rise of “Macho Man” Randy Savage to Main Event Status, and his feud with “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase over the WWF Championship. The story of Savage turning babyface and allying with top hero Hulk Hogan can be considered the apex of the company’s national popularity during the “Rock and Wrestling” Era.  Prologue: Macho Madness After the legendary Intercontinental Championship match with Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat at WrestleMania III, Savage finished his year long feud with George “The Animal” Steele. In June, The Honky Tonk Man defeated Steamboat for the IC strap. Honky then began referring to himself as the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. Since Savage was at that time the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion, he took offense at this claim.  October 3rd, 1987 – Savage challenged Honky for the IC Title. Rumors over the years claim that Honky refused to drop the title to Savage. Whether this was true or not, it was one of the biggest angles at the time. During the match, Savage landed the Elbow, but Bret Hart ran in and broke the count. The Hart Foundation and Honky triple-teamed Savage until Elizabeth ran backstage and brought Hogan in to save the day.  The Set Up: Everybody Has A Price December 1987 – Ted Dibiase boldly proclaimed that he will buy the WWF Heavyweight Championship from Hulk Hogan. Hogan considered this offer but then gives a resounding “Hell No”. If Dibiase wants the championship, he can win it in the ring like everybody else.  January 1988 – Dibiase, frustrated at not being able to purchase the championship, reveals to the world that the WWF Championship will still be delivered to him. He then introduced the man that will do it, Andre The Giant.  Act One: The Pin Heard Round The World February 5th, 1988 – One of the most famous angles of all time, and also the most-watched wrestling match of all time in the US, saw Hulk Hogan lose the WWF Championship to Andre The Giant after a crooked referee made a bad count. The match scored a 15.2 rating and 33 million viewers. To put that into perspective, that’s like “America Idol in its prime” type numbers. In real life, WWE had quietly hired Earl Hebner, the twin brother of referee Dave Hebner. Earl had actually been working in the Carolina territories. Since this was 1988, long before the internet was commonplace, almost nobody knew who he was. In fact, Earl had been working for the Crocketts as late as the previous week. So Earl counted a pinfall for Andre, even though Hogan’s left shoulder was clearly up. Andre then immediately relinquished the belt to Dibiase. The plan had worked!  Fans were bewildered! A world without Hulk Hogan as the champion? Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer newsletter dated February 15th, “All I can say is that I hope whoever came up with that finish got a nice bonus in this week’s paycheck”. What some fans may not know, Dibiase was billed as the WWF Champion for a few weeks. Act Two: WrestleMania IV Jack Tunney made the decision a few weeks later to vacate the WWF Championship since none of the three major players had a valid claim to the title. He then declared a new champion would be crowned at WrestleMania IV in a 14-man tournament. Hogan and Andre drew automatic byes into the second round due to them both being former champions. Andre’s mission this time around wasn’t to win the tournament, but to ensure Hogan did not advance. Andre accomplished this by causing the match to end in a double-disqualification. This also caused Dibiase to draw a bye into the finals. Savage was not so lucky. He had to defeat three opponents to secure his spot in the finals. In the end, Hogan stood in Savage’s corner to keep Andre at bay so Savage could finally pin Dibiase to win the title. Act Three: The Mega Powers vs. The Megabucks The next several months saw Savage defend the title on the house show circuit against Dibiase. Hogan took time off after four years on the road to be with his family for the birth of his daughter Brooke. He also filmed No Holds Barred during this time. Then in August of 1988, Savage and Hogan headlined the inaugural SummerSlam event against Dibiase and Andre. Heel commentator Jesse “The Body” Ventura served as guest referee. Despite the obvious payoff of Ventura to be a biased referee, the babyfaces secured the win to end the feud. The post Vol. 22: Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase for the WWF Championship appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>This episode of Classic Wrestling Memories focuses on the rise of “Macho Man” Randy Savage to Main Event Status, and his feud with “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase over the WWF Championship. The story of Savage turning babyface and allying with top hero Hulk Hogan can be considered the apex of the company’s national popularity during the “Rock and Wrestling” Era. </p> <h4>Prologue: Macho Madness</h4> <p>After the legendary Intercontinental Championship match with Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat at WrestleMania III, Savage finished his year long feud with George “The Animal” Steele. In June, The Honky Tonk Man defeated Steamboat for the IC strap. Honky then began referring to himself as the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. Since Savage was at that time the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion, he took offense at this claim. </p> <p><strong>October 3rd, 1987 </strong>– Savage challenged Honky for the IC Title. Rumors over the years claim that Honky refused to drop the title to Savage. Whether this was true or not, it was one of the biggest angles at the time. During the match, Savage landed the Elbow, but Bret Hart ran in and broke the count. The Hart Foundation and Honky triple-teamed Savage until Elizabeth ran backstage and brought Hogan in to save the day. </p> <h4>The Set Up: Everybody Has A Price</h4> <p><strong>December 1987</strong> – Ted Dibiase boldly proclaimed that he will buy the WWF Heavyweight Championship from Hulk Hogan. Hogan considered this offer but then gives a resounding “Hell No”. If Dibiase wants the championship, he can win it in the ring like everybody else. </p> <p><strong>January 1988</strong> – Dibiase, frustrated at not being able to purchase the championship, reveals to the world that the WWF Championship will still be delivered to him. He then introduced the man that will do it, Andre The Giant. </p> <h4>Act One: The Pin Heard Round The World</h4> <p>February 5th, 1988 – One of the most famous angles of all time, and also the most-watched wrestling match of all time in the US, saw Hulk Hogan lose the WWF Championship to Andre The Giant after a crooked referee made a bad count. The match scored a 15.2 rating and 33 million viewers. To put that into perspective, that’s like “America Idol in its prime” type numbers. In real life, WWE had quietly hired Earl Hebner, the twin brother of referee Dave Hebner. Earl had actually been working in the Carolina territories. Since this was 1988, long before the internet was commonplace, almost nobody knew who he was. In fact, Earl had been working for the Crocketts as late as the previous week. So Earl counted a pinfall for Andre, even though Hogan’s left shoulder was clearly up. Andre then immediately relinquished the belt to Dibiase. The plan had worked! </p> <p>Fans were bewildered! A world without Hulk Hogan as the champion? Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer newsletter dated February 15th, “All I can say is that I hope whoever came up with that finish got a nice bonus in this week’s paycheck”.</p> <p>What some fans may not know, Dibiase was billed as the WWF Champion for a few weeks.</p> <h4>Act Two: WrestleMania IV</h4> <p>Jack Tunney made the decision a few weeks later to vacate the WWF Championship since none of the three major players had a valid claim to the title. He then declared a new champion would be crowned at WrestleMania IV in a 14-man tournament. Hogan and Andre drew automatic byes into the second round due to them both being former champions.</p> <p>Andre’s mission this time around wasn’t to win the tournament, but to ensure Hogan did not advance. Andre accomplished this by causing the match to end in a double-disqualification. This also caused Dibiase to draw a bye into the finals. Savage was not so lucky. He had to defeat three opponents to secure his spot in the finals. In the end, Hogan stood in Savage’s corner to keep Andre at bay so Savage could finally pin Dibiase to win the title.</p> <h4>Act Three: The Mega Powers vs. The Megabucks</h4> <p>The next several months saw Savage defend the title on the house show circuit against Dibiase. Hogan took time off after four years on the road to be with his family for the birth of his daughter Brooke. He also filmed <em>No Holds Barred</em> during this time. Then in August of 1988, Savage and Hogan headlined the inaugural SummerSlam event against Dibiase and Andre. Heel commentator Jesse “The Body” Ventura served as guest referee. Despite the obvious payoff of Ventura to be a biased referee, the babyfaces secured the win to end the feud.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-22-randy-savage-vs-ted-dibiase-for-the-wwf-championship/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 22: Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase for the WWF Championship</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 22: Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase for the WWF Championship

Van Vader

The wrestling world has lost another legend with the passing of multi-time World Champion Big Van Vader, aka Leon White. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they pay tribute to arguably the greatest “Big Man” to step foot into the squared Circle. White was born on May 14, 1955, in Lynwood California. He was a two-time All-American football player for the University Of Colorado. After college, he was drafted into the NFL by the Los Angeles Rams where he played Center for two years. He was part of the NFC Championship team that played in Super Bowl XIV. Shortly after that, he was forced to retire from the NFL due to injury White began his professional wrestling career in 1985 for Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association. There he was given the name “Baby Bull” Leon White, a babyface who eventually challenged Stan Hansen for the AWA World Championship.  It was his time in Japan where White truly gained his stardom. In New Japan Pro Wrestling, he was christened “Big Van Vader”, and given the now-famous mask and headgear that would become a definitive look for the rest of his career.  On April 24th, 1989, Vader became the first “gaijin” (foreigner) to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship by winning a tournament, defeating Shinya Hashimoto in the finals.  Vader would win the title on two more occasions, in 1989 and 1991. During this time, he also wrestled for Otto Wanz’s Catch Wrestling Association in Austria, and Universal Wrestling Association in Mexico. With World Title wins in all three promotions, Vader became a world champion on three continents simultaneously. He and fellow gaijin Bam Bam Bigelow won the IWGP Tag Team Championship under the name Big, Bad, And Dangerous.  Upon losing the tag titles to The Steiner Brothers in 1992, Vader began wrestling full time for World Championship Wrestling. There he defeated Sting for the WCW Title at The Great American Bash and feuded with top stars such as Ric Flair, Ron Simmons, and Mick Foley. Vader would hold the WCW Title on three occasions, with reigns totaling 377 days. After a successful run in WCW, Vader was hired by Vince McMahon to work for the then World Wrestling Federation, where he was given a much-hyped debut at the 1996 Royal Rumble.  While he did not win any championships in the WWF, he did have high-profile feuds against The Undertaker and World Champion Shawn Michaels. The post Vol. 21: Big Van Vader (1955-2018) appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>The wrestling world has lost another legend with the passing of multi-time World Champion Big Van Vader, aka Leon White. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they pay tribute to arguably the greatest “Big Man” to step foot into the squared Circle. White was born on May 14, 1955, in Lynwood California. He was a two-time All-American football player for the University Of Colorado. After college, he was drafted into the NFL by the Los Angeles Rams where he played Center for two years. He was part of the NFC Championship team that played in Super Bowl XIV. Shortly after that, he was forced to retire from the NFL due to injury White began his professional wrestling career in 1985 for Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association. There he was given the name “Baby Bull” Leon White, a babyface who eventually challenged Stan Hansen for the AWA World Championship. </p> <p>It was his time in Japan where White truly gained his stardom. In New Japan Pro Wrestling, he was christened “Big Van Vader”, and given the now-famous mask and headgear that would become a definitive look for the rest of his career.  On April 24th, 1989, Vader became the first “gaijin” (foreigner) to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship by winning a tournament, defeating Shinya Hashimoto in the finals.  Vader would win the title on two more occasions, in 1989 and 1991. During this time, he also wrestled for Otto Wanz’s Catch Wrestling Association in Austria, and Universal Wrestling Association in Mexico. With World Title wins in all three promotions, Vader became a world champion on three continents simultaneously. He and fellow gaijin Bam Bam Bigelow won the IWGP Tag Team Championship under the name Big, Bad, And Dangerous. </p> <p>Upon losing the tag titles to The Steiner Brothers in 1992, Vader began wrestling full time for World Championship Wrestling. There he defeated Sting for the WCW Title at The Great American Bash and feuded with top stars such as Ric Flair, Ron Simmons, and Mick Foley. Vader would hold the WCW Title on three occasions, with reigns totaling 377 days. After a successful run in WCW, Vader was hired by Vince McMahon to work for the then World Wrestling Federation, where he was given a much-hyped debut at the 1996 Royal Rumble.  While he did not win any championships in the WWF, he did have high-profile feuds against The Undertaker and World Champion Shawn Michaels.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-21-big-van-vader-1955-2018/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 21: Big Van Vader (1955-2018)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 21: Big Van Vader (1955-2018)

Al Getz

This volume of Classic Wrestling Memories is formatted a little differently. In the first part of the show, Seth and Train discuss the passing of three prominent people in pro wrestling, and the territories they worked in.  Dick Slater – A regular in several territories during the 70s and 80s, Dick Slater had success as both a singles and tag team star. He first broke in wrestling via Eddie Graham’s CWF before having runs in such territories as Mid-Atlantic for The Crocketts, Mid-South for Bill Watts, and Amarillo for Joe Blanchard. Perhaps his best-remembered run would be with Cowboy Bob Orton Jr. (father of Randy Orton) and their appearance in the original Starrcade. While he did have runs as a babyface, Slater spent the majority of his career as a heel.  Jose Lothario – Modern fans likely remember Lothario as the man who trained Shawn Michaels. That is of course true, but Jose had a very successful career in the 1960s Texas territories. Unlike Slater, Lothario spent almost his entire career as a babyface. His popularity was so great that the conventional wisdom of a veteran turning heel was not used with him. Instead, the young up-and-coming stars like Gino Hernandez would be the ones turning heel, and Lothario would be the grizzled veteran trying to teach the disrespectful rookies a lesson.  Larry Matysik – Larry was not an in-ring wrestler, but he was certainly successful in the business. He perhaps most notably promoted in the St. Louis area where he hosted Wrestling From The Chase for over 20 years.  In the latter half of the show, Al Getz joins Seth and Train to talk about his project Charting The Territories. As the name implies, Al gives historical looks at specific territories in certain eras. If you’re a fan of the territory days, Al has a show for you! As mentioned in the end of the show, Train has a new Crooner’s Playlist on Spotify The post Vol. 24: Charting The Territories with Al Getz appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>This volume of Classic Wrestling Memories is formatted a little differently. In the first part of the show, Seth and Train discuss the passing of three prominent people in pro wrestling, and the territories they worked in. </p> <p>Dick Slater – A regular in several territories during the 70s and 80s, Dick Slater had success as both a singles and tag team star. He first broke in wrestling via Eddie Graham’s CWF before having runs in such territories as Mid-Atlantic for The Crocketts, Mid-South for Bill Watts, and Amarillo for Joe Blanchard. Perhaps his best-remembered run would be with Cowboy Bob Orton Jr. (father of Randy Orton) and their appearance in the original Starrcade. While he did have runs as a babyface, Slater spent the majority of his career as a heel. </p> <p>Jose Lothario – Modern fans likely remember Lothario as the man who trained Shawn Michaels. That is of course true, but Jose had a very successful career in the 1960s Texas territories. Unlike Slater, Lothario spent almost his entire career as a babyface. His popularity was so great that the conventional wisdom of a veteran turning heel was not used with him. Instead, the young up-and-coming stars like Gino Hernandez would be the ones turning heel, and Lothario would be the grizzled veteran trying to teach the disrespectful rookies a lesson. </p> <p>Larry Matysik – Larry was not an in-ring wrestler, but he was certainly successful in the business. He perhaps most notably promoted in the St. Louis area where he hosted Wrestling From The Chase for over 20 years. </p> <p>In the latter half of the show, Al Getz joins Seth and Train to talk about his project <a href="http://www.chartingtheterritories.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Charting The Territories</a>. As the name implies, Al gives historical looks at specific territories in certain eras. If you’re a fan of the territory days, Al has a show for you!</p> <p>As mentioned in the end of the show, Train has a new Crooner’s Playlist on Spotify</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-24-charting-the-territories-with-al-getz/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 24: Charting The Territories with Al Getz</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 24: Charting The Territories with Al Getz

This volume of CWM is a bit of a departure from the norm. Instead of talking about a specific territory, person, or event, we will talk about three common beliefs from wrestling fans throughout the years. Beliefs that can be disputed, despite them being so common. They may not be popular to disagree with, so that’s why this episode is called Unpopular Opinions.  Unpopular Opinion #1: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III is not the greatest WrestleMania match of all time  Many fans over the years have stated that the greatest WrestleMania match of all time is Savage vs. Steamboat from WrestleMania III. However, when the story of such a bitter rivalry is factored in, the tone of the match becomes illogical. Let us be clear. THIS IS A GREAT MATCH! Anybody that knows Seth knows that Randy Savage is his favorite wrestler. Steamboat is arguably the greatest white meat babyface of all time. So this is no disrespect to either man, but both Steamboat and Savage have let it be known that even they didn’t believe it was their best match. Plus, it’s no secret that Steamboat and Savage had radically different approaches with how they wrestle.  Unpopular Opinion #2: Vince McMahon did not kill the territories New-School fans and even many old-school fans blame WWE Chairman Vince Mcmahon for the death of the territory system. But when you look at the actual history of the territories in the 1980s, it becomes apparent that the territories were as much a danger to themselves as Vince was. From trying to sign away talent to overreaching their realistic bounds. As Seth states, even if Vince DID do it all himself, somebody else would have if he didn’t. The territories had their chance with Pro Wrestling USA, which held the inaugural Superclash event at Comiskey Park in 1985. But in the end, it folded before it even got off the ground. Unpopular Opinion #3: Ronnie Garvin’s NWA World Title Win in 1987 was a good idea Ronnie Garvin’s 1987 NWA Title reign is often mocked by fans and historians, many of whom did not experience the territory firsthand. Fans who saw him on Crockett Television know just how over Ronnie was at the time. And we don’t mean watching the TV that’s available on the WWE Network, we mean living in the territory at the time. One of the reasons Starrcade ’87 was moved to Chicago was to ensure that Garvin would NOT be favored by a heel-friendly crowd when Flair won the title back. As always, let us know what you think. Do you have any Unpopular Opinions about wrestling? Sound off in the comments below or on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Since we’re talking about a lot of wrestling that came from the 1980s, what better accompanying playlist than Crazy Train’s 80s One Hit Wonders! The post Vol. 30: Unpopular Opinions appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>This volume of CWM is a bit of a departure from the norm. Instead of talking about a specific territory, person, or event, we will talk about three common beliefs from wrestling fans throughout the years. Beliefs that can be disputed, despite them being so common. They may not be popular to disagree with, so that’s why this episode is called Unpopular Opinions. </p> <h1><strong>Unpopular Opinion #1:</strong> Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III is not the greatest WrestleMania match of all time</h1> <p> Many fans over the years have stated that the greatest WrestleMania match of all time is Savage vs. Steamboat from WrestleMania III. However, when the story of such a bitter rivalry is factored in, the tone of the match becomes illogical. Let us be clear. THIS IS A GREAT MATCH! Anybody that knows Seth knows that Randy Savage is his favorite wrestler. Steamboat is arguably the greatest white meat babyface of all time. So this is no disrespect to either man, but both Steamboat and Savage have let it be known that even they didn’t believe it was their best match. Plus, it’s no secret that Steamboat and Savage had radically different approaches with how they wrestle. </p> <h1>Unpopular Opinion #2: Vince McMahon did not kill the territories</h1> <p>New-School fans and even many old-school fans blame WWE Chairman Vince Mcmahon for the death of the territory system. But when you look at the actual history of the territories in the 1980s, it becomes apparent that the territories were as much a danger to themselves as Vince was. From trying to sign away talent to overreaching their realistic bounds. As Seth states, even if Vince DID do it all himself, somebody else would have if he didn’t. The territories had their chance with Pro Wrestling USA, which held the inaugural Superclash event at Comiskey Park in 1985. But in the end, it folded before it even got off the ground.</p> <h1><strong>Unpopular Opinion #3:</strong> Ronnie Garvin’s NWA World Title Win in 1987 was a good idea</h1> <p>Ronnie Garvin’s 1987 NWA Title reign is often mocked by fans and historians, many of whom did not experience the territory firsthand. Fans who saw him on Crockett Television know just how over Ronnie was at the time. And we don’t mean watching the TV that’s available on the WWE Network, we mean living in the territory at the time. One of the reasons Starrcade ’87 was moved to Chicago was to ensure that Garvin would NOT be favored by a heel-friendly crowd when Flair won the title back. As always, let us know what you think. Do you have any Unpopular Opinions about wrestling? Sound off in the comments below or on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Since we’re talking about a lot of wrestling that came from the 1980s, what better accompanying playlist than Crazy Train’s 80s One Hit Wonders!</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/30-2/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 30: Unpopular Opinions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 30: Unpopular Opinions

Pedro Morales

Classic Wrestling Memories Vol. 26: Pedro MoralesIf Bruno Sammartino was the greatest WWE Champion in company history, there is a strong argument that Pedro Morales wouldn’t be very far behind. Pedro, who passed away earlier this month, held the WWWF (now WWE) championship for 1,079 days from February of 1971 to December of 1973. Only Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund, and Bruno himself can claim longer reigns. Join Seth “Zandrax” Zillmann and “Crazy Train” Jonathan Bolick as they pay tribute to one of the biggest Puerto Rican stars in wrestling history.  Pedro Morales was born on Culebra, an island off the main coast of Puerto Rico. He moved to New York at a young age and was competing in amateur wrestling by the age of 13. Baseball was also one of Pedro’s sports, but somewhere around this time was when he found pro wrestling. Morales trained for the ring under Barba Rojas and made his in-ring debut at the age of 17. While it has not been confirmed as of this writing, he may have been part of the initial roster when Capitol Wrestling broke from the NWA and rebranded into The World Wide Wrestling Federation. He would also work in the Carolinas, as well as the Los Angeles-based World Wrestling Associates, not to be confused with the Indiana WWA.  In 1965, Pedro defeated The Destroyer Dick Beyer for the WWA title in what was surely at that point his biggest win to date. He also unsuccessfully challenged Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. By this time, Morales had established himself as a reliable draw at the top of the card. When you look at the people he worked with (NWA World Champions, Pat Patterson, Dick Beyer, etc…) it was clear that Pedro was drawing money as an ethnic hero babyface. Just the type of babyface Vincent J. McMahon would like in the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).  WWWF World Title Run In 1970, Pedro Morales debuted full-time for WWWF full time. He won the WWWF United States Title (not to be confused with the current WWE US Title) in January of 1971. Approximately one month later, he famously challenged Ivan Koloff, the man who defeated Bruno Sammartino, for the WWWF Title. When Morales defeated Koloff for the title, he became only the fourth man in history to hold that championship. It may be said, even though Pedro was the champion, that Bruno was still the #1 babyface. While that may be true, that still made Pedro the #2 babyface. And the #2 babyface under Bruno Sammartino was not a bad place to be. He feuded with the likes of Blackjack Mulligan, Freddie Blassie, and Stan Stasiak. He teamed with Bruno for superstar tag team main events. And he would sell out Madison Square Garden over 20 times. A feat second only to Bruno. We do talk more about Bruno in Vol. 18.  One of the biggest matches in the history of WWE happened in 1972 at the first-ever Showdown At Shea. Bruno Sammartino challenged Pedro for the title in a near unheard-of babyface vs. babyface main event. That match made headlines and lasted 75 minutes. But in the end, the match ended in a draw due to the City Of New York’s curfew of 11 PM at the time. While the two heroes would shake hands and embrace to bring an end to their feud, the crowd did not seem happy that there was no declared winner. But the most telling part of all was the disappointing attendance at the gate. The WWWF would not run another babyface vs. babyface main event under Vincent J McMahon again.  The following year, Morales lost the WWWF Title to Stan Stasiak, who almost immediately lost it back to Bruno. Pedro would continue to wrestle for the WWWF for the next 15 months, leaving in the Spring of 1975.  Big Time Wrestling and Florida Run Over the next few years, Pedro worked in San Francisco for Roy Shire’s Big Time Wrestling. He also worked for Eddie Graham in Florida where he faced Harley Race for the NWA World Title and teamed with “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. Return to WWF Pedro returned to work for Vince Sr. in 1980. By this time, the promotion’s name had been shortened from The World Wide Federation to simply The World Wrestling Federation. In the second Showdown At Shea, Morales teamed with WWWF Champion Bob Backlund to defeat The Wild Samoans for The WWF Tag Team Titles. Their title reign was nullified due to Backlund already being a singles champion. A short time later, he defeated Ken Patera to become the third Intercontinental Champion. That made him WWE’s first-ever Triple Crown Champion (World, IC, and Tag Team Champion). Final in-ring years After a few years in Puerto Rico, Morales returned again to WWF to compete during Vince McMahon’s national expansion. While he did not achieve the success of the years prior, he did have the place on the card of a respected veteran. He also spent years as a color commentator for Spanish broadcasts after retiring from the ring. The post Vol. 26: Pedro Morales (1942-2019) appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

Classic Wrestling Memories Vol. 26: Pedro Morales<br><p>If Bruno Sammartino was the greatest WWE Champion in company history, there is a strong argument that Pedro Morales wouldn’t be very far behind. Pedro, who passed away earlier this month, held the WWWF (now WWE) championship for 1,079 days from February of 1971 to December of 1973. Only Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund, and Bruno himself can claim longer reigns. Join Seth “Zandrax” Zillmann and “Crazy Train” Jonathan Bolick as they pay tribute to one of the biggest Puerto Rican stars in wrestling history. </p> <p>Pedro Morales was born on Culebra, an island off the main coast of Puerto Rico. He moved to New York at a young age and was competing in amateur wrestling by the age of 13. Baseball was also one of Pedro’s sports, but somewhere around this time was when he found pro wrestling. Morales trained for the ring under Barba Rojas and made his in-ring debut at the age of 17. While it has not been confirmed as of this writing, he may have been part of the initial roster when Capitol Wrestling broke from the NWA and rebranded into The World Wide Wrestling Federation. He would also work in the Carolinas, as well as the Los Angeles-based World Wrestling Associates, not to be confused with the Indiana WWA. </p> <p>In 1965, Pedro defeated The Destroyer Dick Beyer for the WWA title in what was surely at that point his biggest win to date. He also unsuccessfully challenged Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. By this time, Morales had established himself as a reliable draw at the top of the card. When you look at the people he worked with (NWA World Champions, Pat Patterson, Dick Beyer, etc…) it was clear that Pedro was drawing money as an ethnic hero babyface. Just the type of babyface Vincent J. McMahon would like in the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). </p> <h4>WWWF World Title Run</h4> <p>In 1970, Pedro Morales debuted full-time for WWWF full time. He won the WWWF United States Title (not to be confused with the current WWE US Title) in January of 1971. Approximately one month later, he famously challenged Ivan Koloff, the man who defeated Bruno Sammartino, for the WWWF Title. When Morales defeated Koloff for the title, he became only the fourth man in history to hold that championship. It may be said, even though Pedro was the champion, that Bruno was still the #1 babyface. While that may be true, that still made Pedro the #2 babyface. And the #2 babyface under Bruno Sammartino was not a bad place to be. He feuded with the likes of Blackjack Mulligan, Freddie Blassie, and Stan Stasiak. He teamed with Bruno for superstar tag team main events. And he would sell out Madison Square Garden over 20 times. A feat second only to Bruno. We do talk more about Bruno <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-18-bruno-sammartino/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">in Vol. 18</a>. </p> <p>One of the biggest matches in the history of WWE happened in 1972 at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showdown_at_Shea#1972" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">first-ever Showdown At Shea</a>. Bruno Sammartino challenged Pedro for the title in a near unheard-of babyface vs. babyface main event. That match made headlines and lasted 75 minutes. But in the end, the match ended in a draw due to the City Of New York’s curfew of 11 PM at the time. While the two heroes would shake hands and embrace to bring an end to their feud, the crowd did not seem happy that there was no declared winner. But the most telling part of all was the disappointing attendance at the gate. The WWWF would not run another babyface vs. babyface main event under Vincent J McMahon again. </p> <p>The following year, Morales lost the WWWF Title to Stan Stasiak, who almost immediately lost it back to Bruno. Pedro would continue to wrestle for the WWWF for the next 15 months, leaving in the Spring of 1975. </p> <h4>Big Time Wrestling and Florida Run</h4> <p>Over the next few years, Pedro worked in San Francisco for Roy Shire’s Big Time Wrestling. He also worked for Eddie Graham in Florida where he faced Harley Race for the NWA World Title and teamed with “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes.</p> <h4>Return to WWF</h4> <p>Pedro returned to work for Vince Sr. in 1980. By this time, the promotion’s name had been shortened from The World Wide Federation to simply The World Wrestling Federation. In the second Showdown At Shea, Morales teamed with WWWF Champion Bob Backlund to defeat The Wild Samoans for The WWF Tag Team Titles. Their title reign was nullified due to Backlund already being a singles champion. A short time later, he defeated Ken Patera to become the third Intercontinental Champion. That made him WWE’s first-ever Triple Crown Champion (World, IC, and Tag Team Champion).</p> <h4>Final in-ring years</h4> <p>After a few years in Puerto Rico, Morales returned again to WWF to compete during Vince McMahon’s national expansion. While he did not achieve the success of the years prior, he did have the place on the card of a respected veteran. He also spent years as a color commentator for Spanish broadcasts after retiring from the ring.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-26-pedro-morales-1942-2019/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 26: Pedro Morales (1942-2019)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 26: Pedro Morales (1942-2019)

Dick Beyer

There are wrestlers, and there are champions. Then there are champions, and then there are Legends. Finally, there are Legends, and then there are people like “The Destroyer” Dick Beyer. “They say never meet your idols because you’ll end up being disappointed. Whoever said that never met Dick Beyer.” – Mike Tenay Early Life Dick Beyer was born July 11th, 1930 in Buffalo New York. He attended college at Syracuse University, where he was a varsity football player, as well as a wrestler. He co-captained the Syracuse Orange football team in 1952 and played in the Orange Bowl that year. Also in that same year, Beyer made the Eastern Regional Second Team. Those accomplishments helped with Syracuse University’s Athlete Of The Year. Beyer graduated with a degree in education and spent years as a teacher. Beyer coached several sports, including swimming and football. Fellow Syracuse Orangeman Jim Brown was on a team that Beyer coached during this time. Some call Jim Brown the greatest running back in history. Breaking Into Wrestling Beyer began what would become a 40 year pro wrestling career in 1954. He wrestled as an athletic babyface, who often would wear a Syracuse jacket to the ring. Rookie Of The Year in The readers of Wrestling Life magazine voted him Rookie Of The Year In 1955. One of the first territories he worked was Hawaii, where he met and helped train Harry Fujiwara. There he got noticed by WWE Hall Of Famer Freddie Blassie, who was a top heel in the Worldwide Wrestling Associates in California. Blassie contacted the WWA office and told them he saw greatest babyface in the country. Blassie returned to Hawaii for a match against Neff Maivia, and Beyer was in his corner for that match. After the match, Blassie contacted California again, and told them he just saw the best heel in the country. As if that wasn’t enough, Don Owen was at the match as well. Owen was the promoter for Pacific Northwest Wrestling in Portland Oregon. Owen offered Beyer a job when his time in Hawaii was done. A little while later, WWA promoter Jules Strongbow contacted Dick and also offered him a job in California. This put him in an awkward spot, as he had previously agreed to work for Owen and didn’t want to back down from his word. In the end, Beyer agreed to work in California, and promised Owen he would come to Portland when his time in WWA was done. Donning The Mask Beyer came to Los Angeles to work for WWA. Strongbow told him that he would be a masked heel under the name “Destroyer”. Beyer hated the idea and refused to do it, believing that his status as a sports star got him over and he didn’t want to use a different gimmick. Whether it was Strongbow, Blassie, or some mixture of them and other promoters that convinced him, Beyer eventually agreed to be The Destroyer. On his first night (4/27/62) as The Destroyer, Beyer wrestled Seymour Koenig in San Bernadino California. According to Meltzer, there were 773 fans in attendance. Beyer found the mask to be uncomfortable, and difficult to work with as it restricted his vision and head movement. After the match, Beyer said he would never wear a mask again. Ox Anderson, another wrestler Beyer knew from Texas, gave him a more proper wrestling mask. This one was much more comfortable and did no restrict his movement. Beyer and Strongbow agreed that he would continue wrestling as The Destroyer for four weeks. After that, he would be free to do what he wanted. Rise Of The Destroyer Over the next few weeks, The Destroyer wrestled several matches, with one of his notable opponents being a young Johnny Walker. By the end of May, the attendance had skyrocketed, and Beyer was making more money than he ever had before in wrestling. He then told Strongbow that we would continue wearing the mask. As The Destroyer, Beyer would sometimes refuse to wrestle until he was introduced as The Sensational Intelligent Destroyer. He.claimed that nobody could escape the Figure Four, and that nobody could unmask him. If somebody managed to get out of the hold, Destroyer would claim that he hadn’t fully applied it yet/ If somebody unmasked him, he would be wearing a second mask underneath.  In just under eight weeks, attendance had risen from under 700 to over 10,000, The Destroyer had become so popular that masks and T-Shirts were sold to fans. It was around this time that Mike Tenay, as a young boy, saw Dick Beyer for the first time. To this day, Tenay calls The Destroyer his favorite wrestler. Japan and Superstardom Blassie defeated top babyface Rikidozan on July 25th, 1962 to win his second WWA Title. In real life, this was done because Rikidozan was traveling back to Japan and needed to drop the belt. A mere two days later, Destroyer submitted Blassie with a Figure Four to win the title. He would continue to hold the title for ten months and wrestle the likes of Dick Hutton, Lou Thesz, and Giant Baba. Even the returning Rikidozan was unable to defeat The Destroyer. Blassie finally won the title back in May of 1963. The next few years were exceptionally big for Destroyer. His success in California and Hawaii spread around the world. The Destroyer traveled to Japan to wrestle. Despite losing the title to Blassie, he was still billed as WWA Champion. He faced names like Giant Baba and Rikidozan, who undoubtedly were the most popular wrestlers in Japan at the time. The Rikidozan match was watched by 70 million people. To this day it is one of the most-watched broadcasts of all time, let alone wrestling matches. He became a true megastar. So much so that the word “Destroyer” got incorporated into the Japanese language. Pacific Northwest By Summer 1963, Strongbow believed the time had come for The Destroyer to be unmasked. Beyer, on the other hand, was now against unmasking since the gimmick was still drawing well. Still, Strongbow booked Destroyer against Herculez Cortez in a Lumberjack Match in August of 1963. Rather than follow through with the finish, Beyer faked an injury when he was thrown to the outside, and when the other wrestlers stopped to see if he was OK, he sprinted to the back and rode off in a getaway car. Through a previous phone call, Beyer arranged to finally fulfill his promise to work for Don Owen in Portland. He held several Pacific Northwest titles and faced the likes of Mad Dog Vachon and Danny Hodge. A few months later, Strongbow contacted Beyer and asked him to return to work in Los Angeles, and that he was wrong to suggest losing the mask. Tragedy Strikes However, November of 1963 brought very bad fortune. Destroyer faced Rikidozan in a pair of high profiles matches while on another tour of Japan, . Riki had asked Beyer to stay for a day and join him for some parties. Beyer refused and boarded a plane for home. By the time Beyer made it back to his home, he was notified that Rikidozan had been stabbed in a nightclub the previous evening. Beyer took this very hard, because he knew Riki wanted him to stay. One week later, Riki passed away from his injuries. Some time later, Strongbow called Beyer to reconcile, and apologized for wanting to unmask him. The Destroyer returned to California and had another run with the WWA Title. Dr. X After the superstar treatment in California and Japan, the next stage in Dick Beyer’s career was an unexpected one. Beyer was approached by Verne Gagne, owner and promoter of The AWA (American Wrestling Association). Gagne offered Beyer a top heel run in the territory, but with a catch: He wouldn’t be The Destroyer. Gagne believed everybody knew The Destroyer was Dick Beyer, even though virtually no fan did. Still, Gagne billed Beyer as “Dr. X” instead of The Destroyer, with the belief that he’d be seen as a different person. To his credit, Beyer furthered that gimmick by switching to a brawling based stye as Dr. X, instead of the scientific based style of The Destroyer. In The AWA, Dr. X feuded with top babyfaces Might Igor, Bruiser, Crusher, and others. He even beat Gagne for the AWA Title in 1968. Wrestling magazines had ads for Dr. X masks and T-shirts. Perhaps you saw one of the infamous pictures of Deborah Harry of Blondie sporting a Dr. X shirt in the 70s.Debbie Harry of Blondie fame wearing a Dr. X t-shirtUnmasking and Semi-Retirement By the time the 1970s Dick Beyer/The Destroyer/Dr. X had achieved all the success that could be expected. He had won three of the top five world titles (AWA, WWA, and IWA), and the remaining two (NWA and WWWF) couldn’t be won by masked men. Though Blue Demon Jr. would break that NWA rule in the early 2000s. Dr. X got unmasked after losing a match to Blackjack Lanza in the 1970s. “Dr. X” revealed his name to be Bruce Marshall. Of course that was a pseudonym since Dr. X was supposed to be a different person than The Destroyer anyway. Beyer dedicated the next year touring the world with his family. He used his name as a wrestler to craft a custom championship belt that he would defend in other countries. He took his family to Mexico, Japan, Australia, Europe, etc… Return To Teaching and Retirement Beyer would spend the rest of his life mainly as a teacher and sports coach. He still wrestled on occasions going to the 1990s. He also became a regular at the Cauliflower Alley Club. It became an annual tradition where Mike Tenay would address the gathering, and state how much of a privilege it was to have the greatest masked wrestler in the world. Destroyer would start to stand and act proud, only to scowl when Tenay would say “…and Mil Mascaras will be joining us shortly” The post Vol. 28: “The Destroyer” Dick Beyer appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>There are wrestlers, and there are champions. Then there are champions, and then there are Legends. Finally, there are Legends, and then there are people like <a href="http://www.classicwrestlingmemories.com/tag/dick-beyer/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">“The Destroyer” Dick Beyer</a>.</p> <blockquote><p>“<em>They say never meet your idols because you’ll end up being disappointed. Whoever said that never met Dick Beyer.” – Mike Tenay</em></p></blockquote> <h2><strong>Early Life</strong></h2> <p>Dick Beyer was born July 11th, 1930 in Buffalo New York. He attended college at Syracuse University, where he was a varsity football player, as well as a wrestler. He co-captained the Syracuse Orange football team in 1952 and played in the Orange Bowl that year. Also in that same year, Beyer made the Eastern Regional Second Team. Those accomplishments helped with Syracuse University’s Athlete Of The Year. Beyer graduated with a degree in education and spent years as a teacher. Beyer coached several sports, including swimming and football. Fellow Syracuse Orangeman Jim Brown was on a team that Beyer coached during this time. Some call Jim Brown the greatest running back in history.</p> <h2><strong>Breaking Into Wrestling</strong></h2> <p>Beyer began what would become a 40 year pro wrestling career in 1954. He wrestled as an athletic babyface, who often would wear a Syracuse jacket to the ring. Rookie Of The Year in The readers of Wrestling Life magazine voted him Rookie Of The Year In 1955.</p> <p>One of the first territories he worked was Hawaii, where he met and helped train Harry Fujiwara. There he got noticed by WWE Hall Of Famer Freddie Blassie, who was a top heel in the Worldwide Wrestling Associates in California. Blassie contacted the WWA office and told them he saw greatest babyface in the country. Blassie returned to Hawaii for a match against Neff Maivia, and Beyer was in his corner for that match. After the match, Blassie contacted California again, and told them he just saw the best heel in the country.</p> <p>As if that wasn’t enough, Don Owen was at the match as well. Owen was the promoter for Pacific Northwest Wrestling in Portland Oregon. Owen offered Beyer a job when his time in Hawaii was done. A little while later, WWA promoter Jules Strongbow contacted Dick and also offered him a job in California. This put him in an awkward spot, as he had previously agreed to work for Owen and didn’t want to back down from his word. In the end, Beyer agreed to work in California, and promised Owen he would come to Portland when his time in WWA was done.</p> <h2><strong>Donning The Mask</strong></h2> <p>Beyer came to Los Angeles to work for WWA. Strongbow told him that he would be a masked heel under the name “Destroyer”. Beyer hated the idea and refused to do it, believing that his status as a sports star got him over and he didn’t want to use a different gimmick. Whether it was Strongbow, Blassie, or some mixture of them and other promoters that convinced him, Beyer eventually agreed to be The Destroyer.</p> <p>On his first night (4/27/62) as The Destroyer, Beyer<a href="https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&amp;show=132137" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank"> wrestled Seymour Koenig</a> in San Bernadino California. According to Meltzer, there were 773 fans in attendance. Beyer found the mask to be uncomfortable, and difficult to work with as it restricted his vision and head movement. After the match, Beyer said he would never wear a mask again.</p> <p>Ox Anderson, another wrestler Beyer knew from Texas, gave him a more proper wrestling mask. This one was much more comfortable and did no restrict his movement. Beyer and Strongbow agreed that he would continue wrestling as The Destroyer for four weeks. After that, he would be free to do what he wanted.</p> <h2>Rise Of The Destroyer</h2> <p>Over the next few weeks, The Destroyer wrestled several matches, with one of his notable opponents being <a href="https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&amp;show=311647" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">a young Johnny Walker</a>. By the end of May, <a href="https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&amp;show=277610" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">the attendance had skyrocketed</a>, and Beyer was making more money than he ever had before in wrestling. He then told Strongbow that we would continue wearing the mask.</p> <p>As The Destroyer, Beyer would sometimes refuse to wrestle until he was introduced as The Sensational Intelligent Destroyer. He.claimed that nobody could escape the Figure Four, and that nobody could unmask him. If somebody managed to get out of the hold, Destroyer would claim that he hadn’t fully applied it yet/ If somebody unmasked him, he would be wearing a second mask underneath.  In just under eight weeks, attendance had risen from under 700 <a href="https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&amp;show=311625" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">to over 10,000</a>, The Destroyer had become so popular that masks and T-Shirts were sold to fans. It was around this time that Mike Tenay, as a young boy, saw Dick Beyer for the first time. To this day, Tenay calls The Destroyer his favorite wrestler.</p> <h2>Japan and Superstardom</h2> <p>Blassie defeated top babyface Rikidozan <a href="https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&amp;show=311623" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">on July 25th, 1962</a> to win his second WWA Title. In real life, this was done because Rikidozan was traveling back to Japan and needed to drop the belt. A mere <a href="https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&amp;show=132130" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">two days later, Destroyer submitted Blassie</a> with a Figure Four to win the title. He would continue to hold the title for ten months and wrestle the likes of Dick Hutton, Lou Thesz, and Giant Baba. Even the returning Rikidozan was unable to defeat The Destroyer. Blassie finally <a href="https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=shows&amp;show=278724" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">won the title back in May of 1963</a>.</p> <p>The next few years were exceptionally big for Destroyer. His success in California and Hawaii spread around the world. The Destroyer traveled to Japan to wrestle. Despite losing the title to Blassie, he was still billed as WWA Champion. He faced names like Giant Baba and Rikidozan, who undoubtedly were the most popular wrestlers in Japan at the time. The Rikidozan match was watched by 70 million people. To this day it is one of the most-watched broadcasts of all time, let alone wrestling matches. He became a true megastar. So much so that the word “Destroyer” got incorporated into the Japanese language.</p> <h2>Pacific Northwest</h2> <p>By Summer 1963, Strongbow believed the time had come for The Destroyer to be unmasked. Beyer, on the other hand, was now against unmasking since the gimmick was still drawing well. Still, Strongbow booked Destroyer against Herculez Cortez in a Lumberjack Match in August of 1963. Rather than follow through with the finish, Beyer faked an injury when he was thrown to the outside, and when the other wrestlers stopped to see if he was OK, he sprinted to the back and rode off in a getaway car.</p> <p>Through a previous phone call, Beyer arranged to finally fulfill his promise to work for Don Owen in Portland. He held several Pacific Northwest titles and faced the likes of Mad Dog Vachon and Danny Hodge. A few months later, Strongbow contacted Beyer and asked him to return to work in Los Angeles, and that he was wrong to suggest losing the mask.</p> <h2>Tragedy Strikes</h2> <p>However, November of 1963 brought very bad fortune. Destroyer faced Rikidozan in a pair of high profiles matches while on another tour of Japan, . Riki had asked Beyer to stay for a day and join him for some parties. Beyer refused and boarded a plane for home.</p> <p>By the time Beyer made it back to his home, he was notified that Rikidozan had been stabbed in a nightclub the previous evening. Beyer took this very hard, because he knew Riki wanted him to stay. One week later, Riki passed away from his injuries.</p> <p>Some time later, Strongbow called Beyer to reconcile, and apologized for wanting to unmask him. The Destroyer returned to California and had another run with the WWA Title.</p> <h2><strong>Dr. X</strong></h2> <p>After the superstar treatment in California and Japan, the next stage in Dick Beyer’s career was an unexpected one. Beyer was approached by Verne Gagne, owner and promoter of The AWA (American Wrestling Association). Gagne offered Beyer a top heel run in the territory, but with a catch: He wouldn’t be The Destroyer. Gagne believed everybody knew The Destroyer was Dick Beyer, even though virtually no fan did. Still, Gagne billed Beyer as “Dr. X” instead of The Destroyer, with the belief that he’d be seen as a different person. To his credit, Beyer furthered that gimmick by switching to a brawling based stye as Dr. X, instead of the scientific based style of The Destroyer.</p> <p>In The AWA, Dr. X feuded with top babyfaces Might Igor, Bruiser, Crusher, and others. He even beat Gagne for the AWA Title in 1968. Wrestling magazines had ads for Dr. X masks and T-shirts. Perhaps you saw one of the infamous pictures of Deborah Harry of Blondie sporting a Dr. X shirt in the 70s.</p>Debbie Harry of Blondie fame wearing a Dr. X t-shirt<br><h2>Unmasking and Semi-Retirement</h2> <p>By the time the 1970s Dick Beyer/The Destroyer/Dr. X had achieved all the success that could be expected. He had won three of the top five world titles (AWA, WWA, and IWA), and the remaining two (NWA and WWWF) couldn’t be won by masked men. Though Blue Demon Jr. would break that NWA rule in the early 2000s.</p> <p>Dr. X got unmasked after losing a match to Blackjack Lanza in the 1970s. “Dr. X” revealed his name to be Bruce Marshall. Of course that was a pseudonym since Dr. X was supposed to be a different person than The Destroyer anyway.</p> <p>Beyer dedicated the next year touring the world with his family. He used his name as a wrestler to craft a custom championship belt that he would defend in other countries. He took his family to Mexico, Japan, Australia, Europe, etc…</p> <h2><strong>Return To Teaching and Retirement</strong></h2> <p>Beyer would spend the rest of his life mainly as a teacher and sports coach. He still wrestled on occasions going to the 1990s. He also became a regular at the Cauliflower Alley Club. It became an annual tradition where Mike Tenay would address the gathering, and state how much of a privilege it was to have the greatest masked wrestler in the world. Destroyer would start to stand and act proud, only to scowl when Tenay would say “…and Mil Mascaras will be joining us shortly”</p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-28-the-destroyer-dick-beyer/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 28: “The Destroyer” Dick Beyer</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 28: “The Destroyer” Dick Beyer

What’s this? A Classic Wrestling Memories episode about a 2019 event? What gives?  Well, yes. Classic Wrestling Memories exists for fans of the previous generations of wrestling. But so do Halls Of Fame. We consider anything before the end of the Monday Night War in 2001 to be fair game. And everybody listed in a WWE Hall Of Fame so far had some semblance of a career before that. Basically, it is our look at the careers of the people who are entering the highest-profile wrestling hall of fame.  LEGACY INDUCTEES Bruiser Brody – Brody was legitimately one of the toughest men in and out of the ring in his day. His career could easily fill up multiple volumes. Jim Barnett – “Mah boy…” Barnett was a successful promoter in three different territories, including Australia. In fact, he promoted the original World Championship Wrestling before The Crocketts used the name for the TBS broadcasts. Hisashi Shinma – Shinma was a former booker for New Japan. He was also the on-screen president of WWF from the late 70s until the National Expansion when Jack Tunney took over the role. He is probably most famous for arranging the legendary match between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki, Shinma was President during the 1979 World Wrestling Federation tour of Japan, where Antonio Inoki beat then WWF Champion Bob Backlund for the title. That reign is of course not officially recognized in WWE history. Luna Vachon – One of the staples in the early Attitude Era programming, and arguably should have been inducted years ago. Train knew Luna and gives look at who the woman was behind the character. Buddy Rose – A one-time superstar of Portland, Buddy Rose was an underrated performer in mainstream wrestling. WWE fans may recognize the “Blow Away” diet, or the role he played in the original WrestleMania as The Executioner. Primo Carnera – Primo was a professional boxer with an 89-14 record, who had a high-profile match with Joe Loui. He also wrestled and had matches with then NWA World Champion Lou Thesz. “Professor” Toru Tanaka – Tanaka and Mr. Fuji were a hated and feared tag team in the mid-1970s. However, Tanaka’s list of championships more than makes the argument for a Hall Of Fame career. Special Delivery Jones – Jones was a charismatic performer who had good success in territories before having the infamous Squash Match with King Kong Bundy. If you have the WWE Network, check out his speech inducting Tony Atlas into the Hall Of Fame in 2006. Wahoo McDaniel – We devoted Vol. 20 of Classic Wrestling Memories to Wahoo. You can find out a lot about his career in that show, as he was a man Crazy Train knew very well. Joseph Cohen – One of the men responsible for creating The MSG Network and The USA Network. 2019 Inductees Sue Aitcheson – Warrior Award winner for organizing a lot of charity work for WWE including Make A Wish Foundation appearancesTorrie Wilson – Part of the WCW InvasionHonky Tonk Man – The greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time.The Hart Foundation – Two-time WWF Tag Team Champions. Bret Hart and Nattie Neidhart gave speeches. Hart’s was interrupted by an assault that was blocked out on any broadcast.Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake – Former WWF Tag Team Champion and at one time the #2 Babyface under HoganHarlem Heat – 10x WCW Tag Team ChampionsDegeneration X – Top Heel and Babyface Stable for the WWF Attitude Era. The post Vol. 27: WWE Hall Of Fame 2019 appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>What’s this? A Classic Wrestling Memories episode about a 2019 event? What gives? </p> <p>Well, yes. Classic Wrestling Memories exists for fans of the previous generations of wrestling. But so do Halls Of Fame. We consider anything before the end of the Monday Night War in 2001 to be fair game. And everybody listed in a WWE Hall Of Fame so far had some semblance of a career before that. Basically, it is our look at the careers of the people who are entering the highest-profile wrestling hall of fame. </p> <h4>LEGACY INDUCTEES</h4> <ul><li><strong>Bruiser Brody</strong> – Brody was legitimately one of the toughest men in and out of the ring in his day. His career could easily fill up multiple volumes. </li><li><strong>Jim Barnett</strong> – “Mah boy…” Barnett was a successful promoter in three different territories, including Australia. In fact, he promoted the original World Championship Wrestling before The Crocketts used the name for the TBS broadcasts. </li><li><strong>Hisashi Shinma</strong> – Shinma was a former booker for New Japan. He was also the on-screen president of WWF from the late 70s until the National Expansion when Jack Tunney took over the role. He is probably most famous for arranging the legendary match between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki, Shinma was President during the 1979 World Wrestling Federation tour of Japan, where Antonio Inoki beat then WWF Champion Bob Backlund for the title. That reign is of course not officially recognized in WWE history. </li><li><strong>Luna Vachon</strong> – One of the staples in the early Attitude Era programming, and arguably should have been inducted years ago. Train knew Luna and gives look at who the woman was behind the character. </li><li><strong>Buddy Rose</strong> – A one-time superstar of Portland, Buddy Rose was an underrated performer in mainstream wrestling. WWE fans may recognize the “Blow Away” diet, or the role he played in the original WrestleMania as The Executioner. </li><li><strong>Primo Carnera</strong> – Primo was a professional boxer with an 89-14 record, who had a high-profile match with Joe Loui. He also wrestled and had matches with then NWA World Champion Lou Thesz. </li><li><strong>“Professor” Toru Tanaka</strong> – Tanaka and Mr. Fuji were a hated and feared tag team in the mid-1970s. However, Tanaka’s list of championships more than makes the argument for a Hall Of Fame career. </li><li><strong>Special Delivery Jones</strong> – Jones was a charismatic performer who had good success in territories before having the infamous Squash Match with King Kong Bundy. If you have the WWE Network, check out his speech inducting Tony Atlas into the Hall Of Fame in 2006. </li><li><strong>Wahoo McDaniel</strong> – We devoted <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-20-chief-wahoo-mcdaniel-1938-2002/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 20 of Classic Wrestling Memories to Wahoo</a>. You can find out a lot about his career in that show, as he was a man Crazy Train knew very well. </li><li><strong>Joseph Cohen</strong> – One of the men responsible for creating The MSG Network and The USA Network.</li></ul> <h4>2019 Inductees</h4> <ul><li><strong>Sue Aitcheson</strong> – Warrior Award winner for organizing a lot of charity work for WWE including Make A Wish Foundation appearances</li><li><strong>Torrie Wilson</strong> – Part of the WCW Invasion</li><li><strong>Honky Tonk Man</strong> – The greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time.</li><li><strong>The Hart Foundation</strong> – Two-time WWF Tag Team Champions. Bret Hart and Nattie Neidhart gave speeches. Hart’s was interrupted by an assault that was blocked out on any broadcast.</li><li><strong>Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake</strong> – Former WWF Tag Team Champion and at one time the #2 Babyface under Hogan</li><li><strong>Harlem Heat</strong> – 10x WCW Tag Team Champions</li><li><strong>Degeneration X</strong> – Top Heel and Babyface Stable for the WWF Attitude Era.</li></ul> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-27-wwe-hall-of-fame-2019/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 27: WWE Hall Of Fame 2019</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 27: WWE Hall Of Fame 2019

Bruno Sammartino

We lost a true legend this week with the passing of “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they pay tribute to the life and career of The Hall of Famer from his amazing and tragic beginnings in Italy during World War II to his two record-setting reigns as WWWF (now WWE) Champion. Not only that, you’ll hear why Bruno Sammartino’s character was just as strong as his in-ring accomplishments. Plus you’ll understand why Bruno was an all-time great babyface. If you are a fan of Bruno Sammartino or even a fan of the 1970’s World Wide Wrestling Federation, this is a fun must-listen show. Do you have any favorite Bruno memories or stories? Sound off below, or tweet the show @twbpshow. Co-host Crazy Train can be found @crazytrain_jb. We would love to hear from you!The post Vol. 18: “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino (1935-2018) appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>We lost a true legend this week with the passing of “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they pay tribute to the life and career of The Hall of Famer from his amazing and tragic beginnings in Italy during World War II to his two record-setting reigns as WWWF (now WWE) Champion. Not only that, you’ll hear why Bruno Sammartino’s character was just as strong as his in-ring accomplishments. Plus you’ll understand why Bruno was an all-time great babyface. If you are a fan of Bruno Sammartino or even a fan of the 1970’s World Wide Wrestling Federation, this is a fun must-listen show. Do you have any favorite Bruno memories or stories? Sound off below, or tweet the show @twbpshow. Co-host Crazy Train can be found @crazytrain_jb. We would love to hear from you!</p><p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-18-bruno-sammartino/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 18: “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino (1935-2018)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 18: “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino (1935-2018)

This episode of Classic Wrestling Memories is devoted to a true legend. In fact, a legend that other legends look up to. Wahoo McDaniel was a trailblazer in the 1960s as a star in both Pro Wrestling and The NFL. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they discuss the in-ring and football career of the NWA Hall Of Famer. Wahoo was a star in the NFL, playing on four different teams from 1960-1968. During this time, he wrestled in the offseason due to NFL players not having nearly as large of a salary as they do today. After 1968, McDaniel was making more money wrestling in the off-season than he was playing professional football the rest of the year. During his in-ring run, Wahoo was a star in every territory he wrestled in. He held the NWA United States Championship (now recognized as the WWE United States Championship) on five separate occasions. During those reigns, he feuded with up-and-coming stars like Ric Flair and Greg Valentine. This is a show with content you won’t hear in many other podcasts because Train opens up about knowing and working with McDaniel throughout the years and shares some personal stories from behind the curtain. All this and more in a must-hear edition of Classic Wrestling Memories!The post Vol. 20: Chief Wahoo McDaniel (1938-2002) appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>This episode of Classic Wrestling Memories is devoted to a true legend. In fact, a legend that other legends look up to. Wahoo McDaniel was a trailblazer in the 1960s as a star in both Pro Wrestling and The NFL. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they discuss the in-ring and football career of the NWA Hall Of Famer. Wahoo was a star in the NFL, playing on four different teams from 1960-1968. During this time, he wrestled in the offseason due to NFL players not having nearly as large of a salary as they do today. </p><p>After 1968, McDaniel was making more money wrestling in the off-season than he was playing professional football the rest of the year. During his in-ring run, Wahoo was a star in every territory he wrestled in. He held the NWA United States Championship (now recognized as the WWE United States Championship) on five separate occasions. During those reigns, he feuded with up-and-coming stars like Ric Flair and Greg Valentine. This is a show with content you won’t hear in many other podcasts because Train opens up about knowing and working with McDaniel throughout the years and shares some personal stories from behind the curtain. All this and more in a must-hear edition of Classic Wrestling Memories!</p><p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-20-chief-wahoo-mcdaniel-1938-2002/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 20: Chief Wahoo McDaniel (1938-2002)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 20: Chief Wahoo McDaniel (1938-2002)

Paul Jones

Paul Jones may not be the first name that rolls off a wrestling fan’s tongue, but his contributions to the wrestling world were quite substantial. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they pay tribute to the man who had a 20+ year in-ring career, as well as a memorable run as a villainous manager. Paul Jones’ career lasted over thirty years in five decades. He had worked both babyface and heel as a wrestler and worked almost exclusively as a heel during his manager run in the 1980s. Arguably his most memorable run as a wrestler was in the 1970s as a babyface in Mid-Atlantic for Jim Crockett Promotions. There he held numerous tag team titles with a young Ricky Steamboat. However, he also had a successful run in Florida where he held the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, a title that has been held by far too many Hall Of Famers to list here. In fact, he held the Florida Heavyweight Championship, the NWA Florida Television Championship, and the NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Championship at the same time. Perhaps his most known role to fans who grew up in the 80s was as a heel manager where he was the head of The Paul Jones Army. There he again managed several legends and Hall Of Famers. And of course had that legendary years-long feud with “Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant, which lead to a lot of head shaving, and a lot of BALD HEADED GEEKS! Do you have any memories or stories of Paul Jones? We’d love to hear them. Sound off below or on Twitter @twbpshow!The post Vol. 19: “Number One” Paul Jones (1942-2018) appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>Paul Jones may not be the first name that rolls off a wrestling fan’s tongue, but his contributions to the wrestling world were quite substantial. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they pay tribute to the man who had a 20+ year in-ring career, as well as a memorable run as a villainous manager. Paul Jones’ career lasted over thirty years in five decades. He had worked both babyface and heel as a wrestler and worked almost exclusively as a heel during his manager run in the 1980s. </p><p>Arguably his most memorable run as a wrestler was in the 1970s as a babyface in Mid-Atlantic for Jim Crockett Promotions. There he held numerous tag team titles with a young Ricky Steamboat. However, he also had a successful run in Florida where he held the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, a title that has been held by far too many Hall Of Famers to list here. In fact, he held the Florida Heavyweight Championship, the NWA Florida Television Championship, and the NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Championship at the same time. </p><p>Perhaps his most known role to fans who grew up in the 80s was as a heel manager where he was the head of The Paul Jones Army. There he again managed several legends and Hall Of Famers. And of course had that legendary years-long feud with “Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant, which lead to a lot of head shaving, and a lot of BALD HEADED GEEKS! Do you have any memories or stories of Paul Jones? We’d love to hear them. Sound off below or on Twitter @twbpshow!</p><p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-19-number-one-paul-jones-1942-2018/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 19: “Number One” Paul Jones (1942-2018)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 19: “Number One” Paul Jones (1942-2018)

The wrestling world mourns the loss of another great. Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart passed away earlier this week at the age of 63. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they cover Neidhart’s career from its beginnings in Stu Hart‘s Stampede Wrestling up through his multiple stints in the then World Wrestling Federation in the Monday Night Wars. Neidhart was born in Florida but went to high school and college in California. He held a shot put state record for over a decade. When you think of the size and population of California, that is quite an accomplishment.  Jim initially sought to play in the NFL. While he participated in several pre-season activities with The Oakland Raiders and The Dallas Cowboys, he never formally made an NFL roster. However, his athleticism caught the eye of the legendary Stu Hart. Neidhart began training at the Hart Dungeon for a wrestling career in the late 1970s. He also met and married Elizabeth Hart around this time. After completing training, Neidhart wrestled for Stu’s Stampede Wrestling in Calgary. He then worked in Georgia Championship Wrestling, Bill Watts‘ Mid-South, Jerry Jarrett‘s CWA, and Eddie Graham‘s Florida territory before getting work in Vince McMahon‘s World Wrestling Federation.  At first, Neidhart was paired with Mr. Fuji as a singles wrestler and worked matches against his now brother-in-law Bret Hart. Shortly afterward, the plan changed and the two were paired together with Jimmy Hart as The Hart Foundation, where they were staples in the WWF tag division for the rest of the 1980s. The Anvil would have several memorable, and maybe not so memorable, runs with the WWF for the next decade, and would make indie appearances into the 2000s. We here at Classic Wrestling Memories extend our deepest condolences to the Hart and Neidhart family  The post Vol. 23: Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart (1955-2018) appeared first on Classic Wrestling Memories.

<p>The wrestling world mourns the loss of another great. Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart passed away earlier this week at the age of 63. Join Seth and Crazy Train as they cover Neidhart’s career from its beginnings in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stu_Hart" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Stu Hart‘s</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede_Wrestling" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Stampede Wrestling</a> up through his multiple stints in the then World Wrestling Federation in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Night_Wars" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Monday Night Wars</a>.</p> <p>Neidhart was born in Florida but went to high school and college in California. He held a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_put" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">shot put</a> state record for over a decade. When you think of the size and population of California, that is quite an accomplishment. </p> <p>Jim initially sought to play in the NFL. While he participated in several pre-season activities with The Oakland Raiders and The Dallas Cowboys, he never formally made an NFL roster. However, his athleticism caught the eye of the legendary Stu Hart. Neidhart began training at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_Dungeon" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Hart Dungeon</a> for a wrestling career in the late 1970s. He also met and married Elizabeth Hart around this time. After completing training, Neidhart wrestled for Stu’s Stampede Wrestling in Calgary. He then worked in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Championship_Wrestling" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Georgia Championship Wrestling</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Watts" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Bill Watts</a>‘ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Wrestling_Federation_(Bill_Watts)" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mid-South</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Jarrett" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Jerry Jarrett</a>‘s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Wrestling_Association" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">CWA</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Graham" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Eddie Graham</a>‘s <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-11-championship-wrestling-from-florida/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Florida territory</a> before getting work in Vince McMahon‘s World Wrestling Federation. </p> <p>At first, Neidhart was paired with Mr. Fuji as a singles wrestler and worked matches against his now brother-in-law Bret Hart. Shortly afterward, the plan changed and the two were paired together with Jimmy Hart as The Hart Foundation, where they were staples in the WWF tag division for the rest of the 1980s.</p> <p>The Anvil would have several memorable, and maybe not so memorable, runs with the WWF for the next decade, and would make indie appearances into the 2000s. We here at Classic Wrestling Memories extend our deepest condolences to the Hart and Neidhart family </p> <p>The post <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com/vol-23-jim-the-anvil-neidhart-1955-2018/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vol. 23: Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart (1955-2018)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://classicwrestlingmemories.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Classic Wrestling Memories</a>.</p>

Vol. 23: Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart (1955-2018)

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