WRESTLING 20 YEARS AGO PODCAST

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Dan's First Pick: The Island Boys vs Kwee Wee & Johnny The Bull - Heartland Wrestling Association

I have decided to pick a tag team match between Kwee Wee and Johnny The Bull against The Island Boys (Kimo & OG Ekmo) in WWF developmental territory HWA.  I am picking this one as I quite liked Johnny The Bull back in WCW and it is interesting to see where some of the WCW talent ended  up when their contracts were bought up by WWF but they were not involved much in the Invasion storyline. Another reason for picking this is to see the early careers of the Island Boys who would go on to become 3 Minute Warning on Raw, then later Rosey and Umaga, the latter becoming quite a big name a few years later.  
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Adam's First Pick: Molly Holly vs Kat LaRue - IPW Hardcore

Looking around this month I discovered a Florida TV show, belonging to local promotion IPW Hardcore, that had just started airing at this time. A number of people who would become better known dropped in and out appearing on shows against their local talent. One that jumped out at me was current WWF superstar (well between filming and airing she switched to the Alliance, where was that on the September show Rory?) Molly Holly who showed up to face one of her latter day WCW opponents in Kat LeRue/Dee Dee Venturi in a match that show the level of worker Molly would come to be recognised as following her turn on the Hurricane at Mania 18.
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Billy's First Pick: Magnum Tokyo v Masaaki Mochizuki v Dragon Kid v CIMA v Darkness Drago - Toryumon

So here is my first pick for the month of September as I’m choosing this match from Ultimo Dragons Toryumon promotion in Japan. It features the silly stipulation of mask vs hair inside a steel cage. It’s a bit of mess and in no way am I trying to steal Dans gimmick but at least all five men work hard in this one even if the match itself is a complete clusterfuck.
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​Adam's Second Pick: Johnny Storm vs Stevie Knight - EWW

After 3 months of FWA matches I thought I'd look elsewhere in the UK for matches this month and went to Oxfordshire for EWW. A promotion that often worked with the FWA promoting matches. This match is an example of that as it features FWA names (and referee) but doing an extreme style match more in keeping with what EWW was promoting at the time.
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​Billy's Second Pick: Sabu vs Tracey Smothers vs CM Punk

My second pick of the month goes to a 3 way from night 2 of IWA Mid South’s annual sweet science sixteen tournament featuring Sabu with Bill Alfonso and ICP taking on Tracey Smothers and some guy called CM Punk. A tournament devised for technical wrestling featuring two let’s say not so technical wrestlers taking on a very young and talented technical wrestler in CM Punk  who along with Chris Hero and Colt Cabana was getting quiet a big push in Ian Rottens primarily blood and guts promotion.

Listeners Match (Adam's Suggestion): Scott Hall vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW vs NJPW

Last month I mentioned that in 2001 there were arguably two stand out stars. Steve Austin in WWF and Great Muta in All Japan. Following on from this I looked into what else he was doing and found this. At the time Hall was in TEAM 2000 which had been the stable to defeat and disband Muto's NWO Japan stable the year before. Hall had been challenging Muto for a few weeks and it all lead to this, a showdown for the All Japan Triple Crown in what would end up being Hall's last appearance for New Japan.

Dan's Second Pick: Scott Hall vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

On face value, going by the title of the video, I was already intrigued as I have been interested in finding big WWF and WCW names working in random places at this time, so finding a Scott Hall match was great. Scott hadn't really been in WCW for the past year due to his lalcohol issues so him turning up in Japan was a bit of a surprise to me.

Then watching the introductions, it's revealed that the 'Japanese Young Boy' is none other than Hiroshi Tanahashi! Now, I don't know much about New Japan, but I know who Tanahashi is! So finding a match of his before he became a star facing someone of Scott Hall's calibre was a bit of a gem.

August 2001 brings us more ex-ECW, more big names from OVW and another trip from Dan for the NWA title.

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Steve Corino vs Buck Q - NW Florida (Dan's first pick)

As mentioned throughout the podcast so far, I am attempting to keep track of the NWA before it becomes part of TNA in June 2002. After a bit of searching i managed to find this match from August 2001 which has the champion from the start of this podcast series Steve Corino defending against NWA Florida champion Buck Q (otherwise known as Buck Quartermain - someone I am familiar with as an enhancement talent rom WWF). Harking back to the territory days, Corino toured regional NWA promotions in North America, facing their champions etc.
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Alex Shane vs Guy Thunder - FWA (Adam's First Pick)

I chose this match based solely on the promo at the start of the episode. Having watched the TV series up to this point the feud has been well built and the match overall is a good showcase of what the FWA was delivering at this point in time.
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Sabu & Jason Lazie vs Rob Black & A Mystery Partner - XPW (Billy's First Pick)

Sabu and porn star Jason Lazie Vs porn King pin Rob Black and a mystery partner. Blacks original partner was going to be the messiah but black not in the storyline discovered Messiah was should we say fucking his then girlfriend Lizzy Borden and black balled his Champion from all future events and also but this is not proven to have sent some masked men to chop off Messiah gentlemen sausage they were unsuccessful and only was able to cut off his pinky. Black would declare the title vacant and cut a shoot promo on messiah before the match also his partner ended up being local indie wrestler Johnny Webb.
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Listener Match: Buff Bagwell vs Jack Victory (Dan's suggestion)

Combining the write ups for the next two as they were on the same show.  I first picked this show as it felt like it followed on last month's ECW tribute which we covered with Lacey, and being held at the ECW arena was other reason for picking this as I keen to see how the crowd would be 6+ months after ECW's last show. Speaking of the crowd I picked Bagwell vs Victory as I was intrigued to see how someone like Bagwell would fare; especially so soon after his unceremonious release from WWF the previous month. I can't say that Jack Victory was a huge draw for me, but knowing that Steve Corino was here too and his pre-match promo was worthwhile enough.

Curt Hennig vs Chris Harris (Dan's Second Pick)

I then picked Curt Hennig vs Chris Harris as I'm a Curt Hennig fan so getting to see a match of his before his WWF return in January 2002 (spoilers for those in the time machine!) and one against someone in Chris Harris who's career is in it's infancy. To have this overlapping of careers is interesting to me as it doesn't quite seem possible that Mr Perfect would have a match against someone from one of the most successful tag teams in TNA situated in the ECW Arena.
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Randy Orton vs Prototype (John Cena) - Brian Pillman Memorial 4 (Adam's Second Pick)

Highspots link

This show has a number of things that stand out from the last indy appearance of Edge, to the last NWA title match with a Flair (not that one), to the last (but one) match of Dean Malenko. One other thing that this show has going on its undercard is a match between 2 lesser known guys (at the time) in Randy Orton and Prototype John Cena. I can only find one previous match between them, from OVW TV earlier that summer, so this is an interesting early look at 2 guys whose rivalry would go on to define the next 15 or so years of pro wrestling.

Keiji Mutoh vs Yuji Nagata - NJPW G1 Climax (Billy's Second Pick)

​It’s the G1 final match between Keiji Mutoh Vs Yuji Nagata. I’m picking this match because Mutoh had only become a freelancer earlier on in year and had left new japan to go to rival all japan and immediately upon arrival won the all japan triple crown title. Mutoh returned for the G1 and sensationally as an outsider went all the way to the final to face new japans new hand picked successors to Mutoh Yujj Nagata. A pretty historic match

July's Indy show brings us the biggest Indies 20 Years Ago Podcast to date with *eight* matches - including some very familiar names and the first, but certainly not the last, ECW throwback show. 

Subscribe to the podcast via: iTunes | Spotify | Google | Youtube. And follow @IndyWres20Yrs
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Billy's First Match: Keiji Mutoh Vs Dr Death Steve Williams - AJPW 

These two had meet any times before in new japan in a number of different matches but never a singles match. This was Mutoh first defence of his newly won AJPW triple crown title on the final day of a gruelling 14 day tour. Dr death who had a dismal run in the fed and wcw was back to his best here and both showed glimpses of there former selfs even if it was for one night only.
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Dan's First Match: Kurrgan vs Buddy Lane

My first choice is closer to the Atlas vs Barbarian end of the spectrum, albeit with not as stellar cast. Going from stars of the 80s last month to one of the biggest (well, tallest) "stars" of the Attitude Era with this match from Real Action Wrestling. That's right it's the one and only Kurrgan vs Buddy Lane (he was trained by Verne Gagne, so that's gotta mean something right?)

Adam's First Match: Doug Williams vs Scott Parker from FWA Frontier Wrestling Episode 6

The last two episodes I've mentioned the FWA title tournament that ran over the first few episodes of FWA tv so I though it was only fitting that I included the final. It features a classic story of a heel receiving a bye up against a face who has sustained an injury. The match itself is a great showing from Doug Williams who as the FWA would grow to national status would be one of the major faces of the promotion. For those who remember this time will also find the ending of the match an interesting precursor to times to come.

​Special: ECW Reuunion Show (focussing on Tommy Dreamer vs CW Anderson)

Link: Highspots Network

Following the closure of ECW the whole scene changed, one of those changes was RF video had no new ECW fan cam footage to hawk online. For one day this summer a group of the remaining ECW alumni put together this, one more show as a goodbye to the fans. While the card is not the most stand out we bust out the main event here as it is an interesting look at where the company was when they slid into bankruptcy and we discuss Dreamer 24 hours before he shocks the wrestling world.
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Dan's Second Match: My second match for the month is a return to the NWA World's Title after no joy last month. This month's match is reigning champion Steve Corino defending the title as part of the ECCW (two C's) Summer of Insanity Tour vs fellow ECW (one C) alum Sabu. As mentioned in show one, I'm hoping to track the NWA title through 2001 into 2002, so i'm glad this popped up online.  
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Listener Match

​Once again we put you in charge of one of the matches for the month (Billy posted this in the aftermath of England losing to Italy in the Euros!) - and once again there was an obvious candidate!

Brock Lesnar vs Leviathan (Batista) - OVW

This is a match that has only happened one other time (a house show in early 2003) and there is no known footage available of that. All we have is this match between 2 greenhorns as a sign of what could maybe have been had the stars aligned differently.


Billy's Second Match: War Games - NWA Wildside

Link: IndependentWrestling.tv

My second match selection for the month is from NWA Wildside as the team of AJ Styles, Air Paris, Onyx and Stone Mountain take on Adam Jacobs, Jon Phoenix, Jason Cross and Prince Justice (the future Abyss). I’ve selected this match due to it being one of Bob's favourites a war games match and also it features a number of guys who would be big names in TNA and Wildside was  essentially the x division before the x division was a thing.
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Adam's Second Match: Bryan Danielson vs Low Ki w/ Special Guest Referee Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - ECWA

In all honesty I as soon as I found this match I took it sight unseen that I would be covering it. Bryan Danielson and Ricky Steamboat are arguably the best of their respective generations and this is the closest they got to being in the same ring together. Throw in Low Ki and I thought regardless of what went down it would be worth covering.