Listen, I don’t feel like throwing up a banner on short notice, so you’re getting a picture of this here dog. Good enough for me, dammit.
So a buddy of mine forwarded this Grand Slam Collision show my way via DVD-R recording… along with a couple other things that he thought I might like. This was the Grand Slam show from Australia that took place on Valentine’s Day. Out of courtesy, I gave it a watch and…
The show opens with Hulk Hogan beating on Arn Anderson for a bit before run-ins galore, ref is distracted and sees Savage in the ring, and ends up DQ’ing Hogan, which gives Arn another win over Hogan. Wow, would you look at that?
Belfast Bruiser… took me a while to figure out that this was Fit Finlay because I almost didn’t recognize him with the messy long hair and ‘stache… anyway, he beats up on perennial journeyman Brad Armstrong and it’s perfectly acceptable fodder. Unfortunately, we’ve got another Loch Ness match, with Alex Wright being the sad recipient of a large dent. The show ends with Ric Flair retaining his WCW title over Macho Man thanks to another shoe because… sure, why not? That’s our only fucking finish these days.
This show was a bit of a slog and then it dawned on me. We’re on our way to Uncensored and the DOOMSDAY CAGE match. People are going to have to try and convince me that this show is still good while we’re building towards THAT pile of shit. Good luck.
“Did you tell them my mother was weight-challenged?”
“No, I just told them what to write.”
Al Borland and Tim Taylor
Home Improvement Season 6 Episode 14
The Karate Kid Returns
Long story short – if you like weight-challenged wrestlers, this is the Nitro for you. Otherwise, see you next week.
Continue reading “WCW Monday Nitro (Feb. 12th, 1996) – Mrs. Borland’s Favorite Nitro”
A bit of a historical record breaking moment.
Oh, I’m not talking about Nitro, although I will say that this is probably one of the better episodes I’ve seen in a while as far as general interest goes. But with this post, we have officially surpassed the NWA-TNA run from a couple years ago, when I dropped off after 21 weeks due to the debut of “OH SHIT! IT’S VINCE RUSSO!” and that’s when I decided, “Nope. Not for me.” Fortunately, Russo isn’t anywhere to be found here in 1996, but we are a couple months away from the end of the road when Scott Hall shows up and Nitro expands to two hours. I’m still on the fence as to how to proceed beyond that, but we’ll cross that bridge eventually.
Right now, let’s talk about this Nitro show…
Continue reading “WCW Monday Nitro (Feb. 5th, 1996) – A Breeze Monumental Moment”
This is the show with the Ric Flair/Hulk Hogan match where Ric Flair beats Hogan with Elizabeth’s shoe. Yes, a bunch of run-ins and a really stupid finish took place, but let’s not bury the lede here: after four years across two promotions, Flair finally gets a rare win over the Hulkster. That’s pretty much the only thing worth mentioning on this show.
Well, the Road Warriors make their return and there’s some further squabbling between Kevin Sullivan and Brian Pillman also featured Arn Anderson, who left his glock at home and instead issues a challenge.
Not much to this one. Next.
So I wasn’t really planning on watching this show, but an acquaintance of mine did attend the show with some friends – somehow putting up with the frigid temperatures that would kill any human – and told me that it was a genuinely good show worth checking out on the Youtube feed… and that person is someone whom whenever they say a WWE show is actually good, I can generally take their word for it because we have similar tastes.
So I gave the show a watch and… while it’s not selling me on whatever WWE is doing right now, it was a delightful one-night distraction from everything else… and the best part of it all? Not a single lick of Logan Paul anywhere in sight.
So let’s do the abbreviated notes. Macho Man defeats Ric Flair in a good opening match to win his second WCW World title, which leads to sportsman of the century Hulk Hogan congratulating the man and demanding his long-awaited shot… which Macho responds by saying that when he beats Hulk, then Hulk has to shake his hand… good luck with that one, Mach.
Brian Pillman defeated Dean Malenko via Malenko getting his foot caught in the ropes and Pillman taking advantage. I have no idea what that finish was and the match itself was just there. And then Sting and Lex Luger win the tag titles from Harlem Heat after Luger whacks Booker with some coinage for the cheap win. I suppose this makes up for the screwjob finish from last week or something. And then Hulk Hogan beats One Man Gang in a quick match before getting mauled by the Dungeon Of Doom and Horsemen before Macho Man comes out to help or something.
I will say that the Savage/Flair match was the best part of the show and the rest is skippable. Moving right along.
Hey, where’s that guy in the banner?
I don’t know… ask me again when I decide to do NXT or even Smackdown, which I probably never will.
In any event, it’s the first Impact to air on AMC, which is apparently a big deal to have a wrestling show on a channel that primarily focuses on… oh wait, they do more than classic movies now? They have original content? Who doesn’t have original content these days? Why the fuck would they want someone else’s wrestling show when they could just make their own? They’ve got fucking money, no? They’re the Breaking Bad people, the Walking Dead people? Who the fuck said “Goshdarn, we need a fornicating wrestling show!” If they’re that desperate, why not call the Juggalos and get their show on the air? At least they have a guy that… actually, you know what? Never mind.
So I had this on the DVR and I figured… sure, why not give it a watch? New era (so to speak) on a new channel, may as well give it a dive and see if things are looking up or if this is going to be a one and done deal.
Although I gotta be honest… I miss Joe on this show, already.
*waits*
He’s not appearing, is he?
*sigh*
Now I don’t know what to believe…
Continue reading “TNA Impact (Jan. 15th, 2026) – Abandoning Mere Competence”
We’ve got a rather eventful episode of Nitro this week where a couple of significant things happen going forward. And it’s actually a pretty good episode as well.
Continue reading “WCW Monday Nitro (Jan 15th, 1996) – And Then Public Enemy Appeared”
Today’s Nitro offering begins with Chris Benoit making short work of this Alex Wright fella… I’d use some other word to describe the massacre involved, but… yeah, it’s already feeling awkward. This is quickly followed by a pretty fun match between Eddie Guerrero and Lord Steven Regal that saw Eddie win with a backslide pin, which is a nice, sneaky move that fits the man. I’d use some other word, but that’s being too cute shortly after the awkwardness of the Benoit match.
Mean Gene interviews Sting and Lex Luger, where Luger suggests that he and Sting go after the tag titles, even though Luger is somewhat of a spotty individual. This transitions to a match between Sting and DDP (still a scummy heel at this point, for those keeping track) that sees Sting submit Yoda Man with the Scorpion Deathlock. And then we have our main event tag match that sees Hulk Hogan and Macho Man defeated Ric Flair and Arn Anderson via Hogan dropping the leg on Arn for the pin… and then Benoit and Brian Pillman are brawling with some Dungeon of Doom dorks while Giant comes out and chokeslams the babyfaces to close the show.
A nice breezy hour of Nitro; not much happening, but the wrestling was solid and I was entertained. That’s all I ever want out of an entertainment program. Good job.
dtm666 