You know, yesterday, I did a write-up on Summerslam 98. My first Summerslam. Man, that was a fun show. That got me in a good mood… And then my birthday happened… and everything went to shit.
So my misery is your misery… let’s look at Summerslam 2010… because I hate you all.
Well… we’d have to hit a Summerslam at some point. Might as well get it out of the way… on my birthday no less.
Fun fact; two Summerslams took place on my birthday. The 2004 edition, which featured Randy Orton defeating Chris Benoit for his first World title, and the 2010 edition, which featured John Cena single-handedly burying the Nexus and thus killing off any chance of making them seem like a credible threat. Since neither option was worth revisiting, I opted to go back to 1998, which would’ve been my first live Summerslam… on Pay-Per-View. This took place from the old MSG; somewhat appropriate considering the big news involving the current MSG just last week.
Anyway, on with the show… which used AC/DC’s Highway To Hell song as the theme for this show and they even teased the build to the main event as the highway to hell. Unfortunately, you’re not getting that song on the WWE Network, as it’s been scrubbed due to licensing issues. This isn’t a Network thing, as I had this on VHS once upon a time and they scrubbed it from there too. So, I guess we’re sticking with this truncated show that’s missing bits here and there or using shitty redubbed music.
“You’re my bitch and everyone out here can fight for sloppy seconds.”
When you have a line like that coming from the madness of the Macho Man Randy Savage in a match with Dennis Rodman where a portapotty comes into play, you’re on to something.
So, this is the Road Wild PPV, which would eminate from Sturgis at a biker rally of sorts. So what you have is this setting where you have a bunch of bikers watching this WCW wrestling show headlined by a literal cartoon character as played by Father Time himself. Much like the Bash At The Beach at an actual beach, there was no money made from live attendance and the crowd didn’t seem to be into the show all that much. So, from some business standpoint, this was a stupid idea… but because Eric Bischoff likes bikes, WCW held an annual event in Sturgis for FOUR YEARS.
I’ll give them this much credit; as bad as it might’ve been for business, at the very least, WCW holding a live Pay-Per-View broadcast from a biker rally made for a very distinct and unique atmosphere. And you remember that sort of shit. Please point to the last time you saw a unique WWE arena set-up at a pay-per-view event that is NOT a Wrestlemania or Overseas show.
You know… Summerslam is coming up this weekend as I write this and I’m not really looking forward to a ten-hour PPV marathon with about one or two matches that I’d be interested in. So you know what? I decided to spend the ten hours plus watching a couple PPVs that are set during the summer. They’re not even Summerslam PPVs, just summer events.
Let’s kick things off with WCW Bash At The Beach 1995, which took place on an actual, honest-to-god BEACH. Yes, despite having a number of Beach Blast and Bash At The Beach shows, this is the first time that WCW had the gall to hold the event at an actual beach. And you want to know something, folks? You can say that this was a dumb move since they made no money off the show, but at the very least, it was a unique setting with a unique vibe and atmosphere. And perhaps most importantly, it stood out. You watch a show like that and it sticks with you. Compared to the current WWE PPV landscape where every show looks the same and blends in with the rest.
In any event, let us begin.
The American Wrestling Association was on its last legs.
Superclash III is perhaps best known for two things; for being the AWA’s one and only attempt at a pay-per-view event that drew dismal numbers and also for the title unification match between AWA champion Jerry “The King” Lawler and WCCW champion Kerry Von Erich. That match has been featured on a number of DVD compilations – most notably the Spectacular Legacy of the AWA set that is worth checking out if you can find a copy – but I’ve never seen the full show until recently, with the show being readily available on the WWE Network.
This event was a joint venture between Verne Gagne’s AWA, Jerry Jarrett’s CWA based in Memphis, and the Von Erich’s World Class promotion. Several years later, the CWA and WCCW would be merged into the USWA and AWA would go out of business… so, I’m guessing the show didn’t turn out so well.
And if you need an even less subtle hit, this is being posted on a day where I follow an annual tradition of reviewing a bad game. Said review is coming later today for those who care.
But enough about that. Let’s get on with the show!
So I thought we’d have a change of pace and watch an ECW PPV instead. I’ve decided to go with Anarchy Rulz 1999 for a couple reasons. The first and perhaps most significant reason is that this was the first ECW PPV to air in Canada and as such, the first time I had been exposed to that particular product. Up until that point, ECW was a thing that I read about in wrestling magazines (or as some would prefer to call them, the “Apter Mags”) and only knew the basic bits through third hand accounts. So this was a good starting point to jump on.
The other reason I went with this and one that is more relevant to today’s mentality is that I was curious to see how well a ECW show had aged between my initial (and possibly only) viewing and today. While I could go back and pick any of the so-called “better” ECW shows from the promotion’s prime years, those wouldn’t provide much of a context since, outside of maybe one or two shows, that would be new territory. Going back to ECW, I opted for the first ECW show I’ve watched and I’m genuinely curious to see if I could enjoy this now as much as I did back then… at least, I assume I enjoyed it back then since I do recall watching the subsequent PPVs before ECW’s eventual closure in 2001.
So let’s cause some ruling anarchy or something… I don’t know.
So here’s the deal. I skipped out on this PPV recently and only caught a couple snippets that convinced me that this show wasn’t worth the effort. And then I wrote this piece on Monday that you can read on there if you want.
Anyway, while doing a clean-up around Wednesday or Thursday, I ended up loading up a replay of the show at the behest of a friend who suggested I give the show a watch; mostly the main event, which he claimed was the best thing he ever saw. And… well, I’m only half-glad I saw the show; in hindsight, I should’ve stuck with the main even, but regardless, let us begin this journey into the lack of extreme in this Extreme Rules PPV.
So I had something else planned for tonight, but I’ve decided to hold it off so I can work on this other video I have planned for tomorrow, so in lieu of that, I want to offer some brief thoughts on the Black Label Pro Wrestling BLP Jam event that took place this past Saturday. It’s not something that I would’ve gone for normally, but this card had a particular hook that piqued my interest; a marquee match between legendary tag-team the Rock N Roll Express and the tag-team of UFC/MMA fighter guy “Filthy” Tom Lawlor (he of the Shockmaster entrance on that one MMA show) and Mr. Minus Five Stars himself, Bryan Alvarez. So I decided, “Huh. This sounds interesting.” And thus, I signed up for a Powerbomb.TV subscription that I might keep for the first month at the very least and look for other stuff to talk about. And thus… here we are.
As per usual with these musings, I’m not going into super-detailed recaps or anything like that, nor am I providing anything in terms of “star ratings” or whatver the case may be. A trillion stars for the one match and another trillion or two for the rest is all I can spare and that’s about all I will touch on in that matter.
Continue reading “Black Label Pro’s BLP Jam Event (July 14, 2018)”
Spoiler: This show fucking sucks. Who would’ve guessed?
This is the final King Of The Ring PPV… oh, they’d eventually have other King Of The Ring tournaments every once in a while, but this would take place on TV and it’s usually an excuse to give some a royalty gimmick or have them wear a silly crown or something. The subsequent King Of The Rings were so important and so vital that I can hardly remember any of them… I don’t even remember the last King Of The Ring winner and that was a couple years ago, I think.
But I digress… let’s get on with the show, shall we?
So WCW was bought out by Vince a few months ago… and the Invasion has begun bit by bit before going full swing. In the meantime, we have a King Of The Ring to crown and that’s something we’ll be taking care and promptly forgetting about. Anyway, moving right along…
dtm666 