On Wednesday, WWE suspended the Legends contract of Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and began removing him from WWE.com. The process included removing his profile from the Hall of Fame section.
On Tuesday, the 72-year-old Snuka, one of the most popular pro wrestlers of the 1980s, was charged with third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 1983 death of Nancy Argentino, someone he traveled the Northeast with during the last year of WWF as a Northeast territory.
He posted $100,000 bail. One of his lawyers said Wednesday that Snuka isn’t fit to stand trial due to years of abuse in the ring.
Removing Snuka falls in line with a precedent WWE set recently when Hulk Hogan’s racist comments on the infamous sex tape were released. Hogan’s WWE contract was terminated, and he was removed from WWE.com.
Last week, Matt Hardy demanded a World title shot this week and got it – but there’s a catch. If he loses, Jeff becomes EC3’s assistant. Also, Eric Young won a quick match and now holds legal possession of Chris Melendez’s leg. Tigre Uno retained the X Title in a 3-way, while the Wolves beat Abyss and Manik to retain the tag titles. Brooke retained against Velvet, and Roode won a 4-way to get a shot at PJ Black’s King of the Mountain Title.
In the main event, Drew Galloway used his crimonolgy degree to deduce that Jeff Jarrett was behind the attacks on himself and Bully. Karen came out and said that wasn’t true – she was behind them, and then the TNA roster got their asses handed to them by a lot of the GFW roster, who stood tall. The invasion that isn’t an invasion has now become an invasion – or something.
Matt and Jeff Hardy enter the building “earlier today” and we get a recap of the Jeff-Dixie-Drew stuff from last week. A very green video filter is placed over the show-closing beatdown, making it even harder to tell who’s who in this. Dixie looks like the wicked witch of the west here. The Jarrett and the GFW roster come down while Pope says he’s glad he’s here on Impact to hear his explanation. Jeff says that the GFW-TNA supershow was off the charts successful, and Josh wants him out of the TNA hall of fame.
Speaking of witches, La Bruja Karen says she had Bully taken out to get what Jeff deserved. Mordetsky took out Bully and Drew. Jeff says that he’s here to have a corporate hostile takeover and that he’s out to make another global empire. Mordetsky makes an Adonis open challenge for tonight, leading to Lashley coming out. An ad for One Night Only – Gut Check 2015 airs, with MVP, Samuel Shaw, and a slew of other released guys on it.
Lashley vs. Chris Mordetsky
A “this is war” chant breaks out while a collar and elbow tie-up starts things off. Josh talks about the show trending and Mordetsky gets a side headlock. Josh buries the GFW roster, while Pope puts Kong over all of them. Nice exchange of wrestling moves and holds here in this promotional war. Lashley avoids the full nelson, and gets a full nelson slam. Chris takes him down with a Polish hammer before attacking the spine by jumping onto his back. Adonis chinlock leads to him being backdropped over the top onto the apron and being forearmed into the barricade awkwardly.
Josh says that TNA put GFW on the map. Adonis gets a butterfly suplex alongside a camera angle that makes it look like the whole building just has two rows of people full due to the dimmed house lighting. Josh talks about Mordetsky being the most outspoken member of the GFW roster…in catering. German to Chris leads a corner lariat and corner spear. Delayed suplex sends Mordetsky down, but Chris avoids the spear and gets a spinebuster. Mordetsky stomps around for the Lock, but Lashley avoids it with a rollthrough. Shouldermount powerslam sends Chris down, and he gets the big spear for…a DQ win due to PJ Black and other GFW guys coming in and attacking. The Wolves come down and get beaten up too. Myers hits Lashley with a flatliner while Jeff calls down to Karen to bring down the surprise. Josh throws to a break.
Karen comes down with Feast or Fired case number 3, from whenever the last one of these matches was. Karen says that Magnus gave her the case and it’s time for a TNA Tag Title match with Lee and Myers against the Wolves. Earl Hebner stands up for TNA and PUNCHES JEFF JARRETT, who punches him back and knocks him down very slowly. Scott D’Amore, Lei’D Tapa and her husband come down and bully Brian Stiffler into the ring while burying D’Amore for always eating Twinkies.
Trevor Lee and Bryan Myers vs. The Wolves – TNA Tag Team Titles
Eddie kicks out at 1. Josh is outraged that this is being allowed – well, he’s not wrong. Josh is upset over a ruling from February being held up here and Pope explains that Magnus has left TNA – which has never been said on TNA TV, and gave it to Jeff. Josh puts over Myers being a tag team champion “all over the world”, which I think is just he and Ryder holding them as Edgeheads briefly. Eddie gets the half-crab and Davey gets the cloverleaf, but Sonjay gets involved. Lee hits Eddie with a case and wins. Well, everything about that sucked. However, it’s a chance for Lee and to a lesser extent Myers to be given a chance to shine.
This was too much of a cluster to really care about, and there were several big parts of the story – like Magnus leaving, that needed to be explained for this to mean much of anything. Roode says he doesn’t care about what’s going on – he’s tired of being disrespected by TNA and GFW, and he wants to get gold again tonight. He gets his title shot next.
Josh recaps tonight’s “corporate hostile takeover”, the tag title change, and the Lashley-Mordetsky match. Josh and Pope explain that Magnus, Nick Aldis gave them the case while they talk about the KOTM Title match. Josh says that a Roode win of this meaningless title gives TNA some of its power back. Josh plugs the main event stip and says that if Matt loses, we could see Jeff as EC3’s assistant on the house shows.
JB interviews EC3, who enjoyed the Hardy Boys Mysteries, despite hating the title. He was a bigger fan of Choose Your Own Adventure, and wants to go to page 131 – where Matt Hardy lays broken and defeated. EC3 tells Jeff to get ready to do the work. Dixie Carter comes into the building 42 minutes into the show – did someone just tweet her about the hostile takeover? PJ Black comes down to his Jeff Hardy-sung theme while Roode has his usual one. Roode tells PJ to look around – it’s TNA, he’s a TNA guy, and he’s a TNA Original. He helped build TNA and some hate him, some love him, but he steps foot into this building and this ring, he’s earned their respect. It’s his house, it’s their house, and boy does TNA’s rapid descent just makes every promo about this feud that much funnier.
Bobby Roode vs. PJ Black – Legends/Global/World TV/King of the Mountain Title Match
Roode runs wild with forearms in the corner before hitting a high backdrop. Roode chops and punches away. Josh plugs TNA’s Youtube shows, but PJ eats a superkick. PJ gets a pair of suicide dives and tears up a sign in his honor. Springboard Savage snap lariat hits for an ad break. Roode gets a second rope blockbuster while Josh talks about wanting Roode to be KOTM Champion at BFG. They exchange punches to the face, so I guess that blockbuster didn’t really do much damage.
Roode gets more chops. Roode avoids a springboard and gets a spinebuster for 2. Josh tells Mordetsky to study Roode to learn how to do a spinebuster – well, he’s not wrong. Pope says now it’s getting real, so I guess everything else was fake. PJ gets an inverted DDT for 2. Springboard moonssault gets 2 while they talk about the “hostile corporate takeover” a few more times. Roode gets the crossface, but Sonjay distracts him. Roode gets cradled horribly for 2 and gets the crossface while Drew attacks Sonjay. PJ escapes the crossface, but eats the Roode Bomb for the win. One small child yells “yes” over and over.
Jeff’s theme hits before the tag champs come down and Roode escapes. Jeff says he wants to take back what was stolen from him, leading to Dixie coming down. Jeff buries Dixie for making mistakes, while Dixie says that at least she owns up to hers. Dixie and Jeff Jarrett are having a debate over who has done the most damage to TNA. Amazing. Dixie says that Jeff taught her a lot about wrestling, and he taught her more about ego – and how leading with ego leads to disaster. Then she and Jeff shout over each other.
Jeff talks about having ownership stake and Dixie proposes something to get rid of one of them – a winner takes all match. Jeff says he walks on Earth to serve, not to be served. He stands by his guys because they believe in him and they believe in GFW. He’ll get in the trenches and fight with them – he has a crew behind him, and she has no one. Drew comes down to stand up for Dixie. This feels like yet another part of the story we’ve missed several chapters of. The Wolves come down, then Lashley, while Drew tells them to start making a white flag. Josh resurrects the TNA Front Line name for this group – sure, doom it even further.
The GFW roster celebrates backstage to make a team while Josh rants at them for getting ahead of themselves. Pope and Josh’s room appears to be lit by a single 40 watt bulb, as it’s nearly impossible to see them easily. Josh buries Pope for not getting him a wedding gift, so he gives Pope the knockouts calendar. Kenny King is mid-ring for the first time on TNA in months. He says he has no banner, no mask, or no crew – it’s just him on his two. He wants to be a king that fights fair and is a leader. Kenny King issues an open challenge to mess the rep up. Out comes Bram. So they can edit Hernandez off TV, but Bram VS. Kenny King is essential viewing?
Bram vs. Kenny King
Kenny kicks Bram off the apron and dives onto him on the floor. Pope says that if he was going to get back in the ring, he would team with King – so I guess Pope is officially retired. Bram lands a European uppercut in the corner. Pope says that Bram is the reincarnation of Bram…could they not edit this off, really? Kenny launches himself into the corner with a dropkick for 2 while Josh talks about the “dudes from GFW” and Pope talks about the future of TNA being bleak. Josh buries GFW for not having commentators and Bram wins with the DDT and Josh says “he’s done, he’s outta here”. Okay then, so maybe that’s it for Bram in TNA. Jeff talks about accepting a match with a “super-crazy consequence” while Matt says the thought of Jeff having to work for EC3 fuels him, while the thought of being TNA World Champion fuels him too. Then he says “ha!”. Velvet Sky speaks out next.
Velvet comes out while we get a recap of Rebel joining the Dollhouse. She says the knockouts division has evolved and so has she. She talks to Taryn and wants her out here now. Taryn says that she’s never crossed paths with Velvet and would destroy Velvet. She’s been in TV shows, movies, and magazines – while Velvet looks like she stumbled out of Hot Topic. The Dolls saunter down while Velvet is apparently trapped by three women in a six-sided ring. They beat her down and Pope brings up how stupid this was. Angelina Love and Madison Rayne come down – so it’s the Dollhouse against the Beautiful People. Angelina and Madison Rayne christen this team the new, badass BPs. In theory, this could be good – except the promo delivery was bad, and Angelina can’t work due to being pregnant. They hug and we get an ECE-Matt Hardy recap video.
Knockouts calendar ad leads to a recap of the Jeff vs. Dixie promo earlier. Drew asks Dixie if she’s sure and she says she has no choice – they need complete control of TNA back. She says this is an investment in the people who have stayed and knows this team won’t let her down. We finally get a graphic explaining that the “one match” will be a Lethal Lockdown match in two weeks for control of TNA. The Hardys come down followed by EC3 and Tyrus. Josh talks about EC3 being unbeaten in nearly two years in TNA.
Matt Hardy vs. EC3 – World Title Match
JB gives this a big match intro and we’re told that Matt is the top contender – but we see no rankings, so the top five is apparently a thing of the past. EC3 kisses the title and clutches it in his hands. Matt gets a collar and elbow tie-up and pushes EC3 into the ropes. Matt takes him down and elbows his back and lands something resembling Muay Thai knees to the face. EC3 is sent to the floor for an ad break.
After the break, EC3 is dominating, but misses a Hardy-pose flying elbow. Matt gets some punches, but is locked in a sleeper. Matt lands some punches and some lariats, including a clotheslines>bulldog combo in the corner. Hardy-pose elbow leads to a side effect for 2. Ref bump and Matt gets the Twist, but there’s no ref. Josh is now a babyface and very much against EC3 now. Tyrus hits a cheapshot, then EC3 gets a belt shot for a 2.9. Hardys cheat and only get 2. Then EC3 gets 2 and Pope brags about how no company delivers like TNA. Tyrus eats a baseball slide and a chair by Jeff. EC3 gets a TKO for 2. EC3 misses a stinger splash and eats a tornado DDT for 2. EC3 avoids a Twist with a lariat. EC3 low blows Matt and wins with a sunset flip – well, that finish was unexpected.
Josh talks about how reality is setting in for Jeff as he now has to be EC3’s assistant. Pope calls this a disappointment. Well, Pope is right in many ways. EC3 asks Jeff to raise his hand, which really does seem like a fairly light punishment. Next week, the Wolves get a title shot while Mordetsky faces Drew to get the man advantage in Lethal Lockdown.
To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
On a personal note, this is my 248th NXT review here on F4WOnline.com, dating back to October 19, 2010. For trivia sake the very first match I reviewed was Kaitlyn vs Maxine, which was voted the 2010 Worst Worked Match Of The Year in the Observer Awards. Two weeks until 250!
-Before the show they aired a commercial saying that Monday night after the Stone Cold Podcast will be a brand new interview with Eric Bischoff to promote the new Monday Night War DVD. So it will air at like 12:15am or so.
The Big News: The Dusty Rhodes Classic began with Baron Corbin & Rhyno, along with Jason Jordan & Chad Gable, advanced.
Show Recap:
1.) Baron Corbin & Rhyno defeated The Ascension in a first round match in the Dusty Rhodes Classic.
Ascension won the tag team titles on September 12, 2013 against Corey Graves & Adrian Neville and did not lose them until September 11, 2014 against the Lucha Dragons. They are not only the longest reigning NXT Tag Team Champions, but the longest title reign of any NXT title. Meanwhile Rhyno and Baron wrestled in May at Takeover in what was Baron’s best match until the Joe match.
In the “Wacky Timing Department”, Konnor’s original partner in Ascension was Kenneth Cameron or, as he’s better known these days, Bram. Fans were really into Ascension and the former champions looked good here, until Baron got the heat on Viktor by throwing him shoulder-first into the ring post. Corbin looked very good while in there with the criminally underrated Viktor.
Konnor got the hot tag and did the flip, flop and fly on Rhyno. The finish saw Rhyno miss a Gore on Konnor, Corbin breaking up an attempt at the Fall of Man and Rhyno hit the Gore on the second attempt for the win.
-Devin Taylor was with Neville & Soloman Crowe. Neville was excited to take part in this tournament to pay tribute to Dusty Rhodes, who helped him so much. Crowe, whose birthday was yesterday, was equally excited to tag with Neville as he is to be in the tournament.
-Nia Jax is debuting soon.
2.) Alexa Bliss pinned Blue Pants
This was taped 10 days before Takeover, which explains why I was the only person in the world blissfully unaware that Blue Pants would be in the Vaudevillians corner. Alexa has pink streaks in her hair, to match her gear, so Pants has blue streaks in her hair. Does that make this the darkest timeline? If so does that make Corey Graves the Jeff Winger? If it does, he may lose his arm. #Andamovie
Alexa took most of the match and Pants looked good on her comeback, leading to a Blue Pants City chant. Unfortunately for the crowd and Ed Loredo, Bliss won with the Sparkle Splash.
-William Regal was backstage with Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa, of all people. Suddenly Tyler Breeze stormed in and demanded to be in the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Breeze is demanding that Mr. Regal find him an important partner and enter him. So next week it will be Gargano and Ciampa vs Breeze and Bull Dempsey, of all people.
-They re-aired the botched finish of the 4-way match from last week. Emma cut a promo stating that the Diva’s Revolution began when she faced Paige at NXT Arrival and she is going to remind everyone who she is.
3.) Apollo Crews pinned Martin Stone
They edited out the audio of Jo Jo introducing Crews opponent. You could see her in the background talking, but they removed it.
Like the Dillinger match, Crews took more of a beating than you would expect in this situation. Crews made his comeback with a series of Polish Hammers, a Stinger Splash and a diving clothesline. Apollo improved his record to 2-0 when he hit his Gorilla Press Slam and Standing Moonsault.
-Jason Jordan and Chad Gable are ready for their tournament match with Crowe and Neville. Gable said they are writing their own ticket to the finals. They will make Neville crash to the ground and make people forget Crowe ever existed.
Jordan finally said they are Ready, Willing and Gable.
-Samoa Joe and Finn Balor are teammates for the Dusty Rhodes Classic.
4.) Eva Marie pinned Billie Kay
Billie Kay had the total look of dread on her face because she had to have a match with Eva. Literally her gear is the only good thing about her. Kay became the biggest babyface in the company when she kicked Eva in the face.
Eva looked better in this match than she did last week. Corey Graves wouldn’t shut up that she’ll be champion one day, all but confirming my fears of Bayley’s next foe.
Kay had the match won with a suplex, but Eva forgot to kick out so the referee had to hold up his count. If the same referee from last week was here, we know what would have happened. Anyway Eva won with The Kendrick.
-Enzo, Big Cass, Mojo and Ryder were all happy after winning their 8-man tag last week.They couldn’t agree with where to go after the show, so they left separately.
-Next week: Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs Lucha Dragons
5.) Jason Jordan & Chad Gable defeated Neville & Solomon Crowe in the Dusty Rhodes Classic
I am trying to ignore Corey Graves, but he really is the most obnoxious announcer in WWE. It’s literally getting to the point where I want to mute the tv.
Gable and Crowe did some really good wrestling and then Neville & Jordan tagged in and looked even better. So long story short, these four had a terrific match together. The heels used a waist lock to take down Crowe and gave Solomon the business.
Crowe fought and fought to get the tag and the fans exploded for the hot tag to Neville. The former NXT Champion took apart his foes. He went for the Red Arrow, but Gable pulled Jordan out of the ring. So Neville turned and did an Asai Moonsault to the floor, followed by a Crowe Suicide Dive to Gable.
Neville went for a Springboard WhatAManeuver, but Jordan caught him and threw him across the ring. Crowe tagged himself in and that was the end. Jordan & Gable picked up the surprising win with their finish.
-After the match they showed the brackets and it is a 16-team tournament. But the brackets were up for less than 5 seconds and the show ended right away.
After the show ended I used the pause button but the type was so small I had to walk up to my tv with a notebook to get the brackets, which are…
Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs Lucha Dragons Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady vs Angelo Dawkins & Sawyer Fulton
Dash & Dawson vs Tucker Knight & Elias Sampson Blake & Murphy vs The Vaudevillains
Hype Bros vs Marcus Louis & Alexander Wolfe Jason Jordan & Chad Gable defeating Neville & Solomon Crowe
Rhyno & Baron Corbin defeating The Ascension Tyler Breeze & Bull Dempsey vs Tomasso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano
But that is it for this week. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.
The Monday, August 31 edition of WWE Raw did the best numbers for the show since June 15 of this year — likely due a boost coming from the buzz created by the show the previous Monday.
The show did 3.89 million viewers, up 170,000 from the show the day after SummerSlam. The audience stayed relatively steady throughout the show.
Kansas City at Memorial Hall; Mongolian Stomper beat Bob Brown 2 falls to 1, The Ox (Ox Baker) beat Bob Rader, Pat O’Connor beat Corsica Joe by dq and Betty Nicoli beat Betty Boucher
1968
Waterloo, Iowa; In a Cage match, Dr X beat the Crusher, Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat Tiny Mills & Bill Watts and Billy Red Lyons beat Big K
1974
In Davenport, Iowa; Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Jim Brunzell & Larry Hennig, Baron Von Raschke beat Ivan Putski dq, Buddy Wolff beat Bull Bullinski, Chris Taylor beat Horst Hoffman dq and Paul Perschmann (Buddy Rose) beat Khosrow Vaziri (Iron Shiek)
1976
Kansas City, Kansas; Baron Von Raschke & Mad Dog Vachon defeated Mike George & Pat O’Connor, Skip Young & Rick Gibson defeated Black Gordman & Great Goliath, Ox Baker fought The Super Intern to a double-DQ and Harley Race defeated Bob Brown
1979
Columbia, SC; Title vs Title match, NWA TV Champion Ricky Steamboat beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel dq, Mid Atlantic Champion Ken Patera beat Jim Brunzell, Non Title Match Rufus R Jones beat US Champion Jimmy Snuka, Gene Anderson & Swede Hanson beat Coco Samoa & Pedro Morales, Nick Decarlo beat Tony Russo and Pedro Morales (sub SD Jones) beat Charlie Fulton
Greensboro, NC; Ric Flair & Blackjack Mulligan beat Paul Jones & Baron Von Raschke dq, TV Title Match (AWA Title not on the line) NWA TV Champion Ricky Steamboat beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel, Johnny Weaver & Jay Youngblood beat John Studd & Jimmy Snuka, Jim Brunzell, Tim Woods, Dewey Robertson and Bob Marcus also won their singles matches. Attendance was 5,549
1984
WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan wrestled UWA Champion El Canek to a draw in Mexico City, Mexico.
1985
In Ft. Worth, Texas; Kerry Von Erich, Kevin Von Erich & Brian Adidas defeated One Man Gang, Mark Lewin & Jack Victory to win the World Class Six Man Tag Team Title. Gino Hernandez defeated Brian Adidas to win the World Class Texas Heavyweight Title and Kevin Von Erich defeated Chris Adams
Tampa, Florida; CWF promoted a card called “Battle of the Belts.” NWA Champion Ric Flair beat Wahoo McDaniel in a 2 out of 3 falls match, Nick Bockwinkel (sub Rick Martel) beat Frank Lang, AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors double countout Stan Hansen & Harley Race, Rick Rude beat Billy Jack Haynes, Kendall Windham beat Jack Hart to win the Florida Title, Coco Samoa beat Rip Rogers and Hector Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero beat Rip Oliver & The Grappler
1987
Terry Taylor defeated Shane Douglas to win the UWF Television championship.
1989
Clinton, Iowa; Destruction Crew Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom beat Paul Diamond & Tommy Jammer, AWA Champion Larry Zbyszko beat Baron Von Raschke dq, Derrick Dukes beat Colonel DeBeers, Mighty Thor no contest Jonnie Stewart and Mike George beat TC Carter
1991
Jerry Lawler defeated The Dragon Master to win the USWA Unified championship in Memphis, TN. On the same show, Danny Davis defeated Bill Dundee to win the USWA Junior Heavyweight championship.
1992
WCW broadcast Clash of the Champions XX from Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia. Ricky Steamboat defeated Steve Austin in a No-DQ Match to win the WCW World Television championship, Ron Simmons defeated Cactus Jack to retain the WCW World championship and Rick Rude & Jake Roberts & The Super Invader (Hercules Hernandez), & Big Van Vader defeated Sting & Nikita Koloff & Rick Steiner, & Scott Steiner in an Elimination Tag Team Bout.
1996
Jerry Lawler defeated Sid Vicious to win the USWA Unified championship
2002
During an edition of Raw, Eric Bischoff created a new World Heavyweight Title and awarded it to Triple H.
I learned three things from watching this episode. Hulk Hogan was phenomenal in 1985. Bobby “The Brain” Heenan is one of the greatest talkers in the history of the business. King Curtis Iaukea has a disgusting forehead.
Let’s start there. I love pro wrestling blood. As we all learned from watching 20/20 in 1984, the blood is often self-induced. But there was something thrilling to see Ric Flair get pounded and then lift his head and see the crimson mask. You knew the guys who bled were a bit tougher than the guys who didn’t. Ever see The Miz bleed? Exactly.
But I think I have changed my mind a bit on that after seeing Iaukea on this week’s episode of TNT. We’ll get to him in a moment, and it won’t be pretty.
*****
The show begins with Lord Alfred Hayes shouting, “From the World Wrestling Federation it’s TNT.”
The first guests are Heenan and “strongman” Ken Patera. Patera was one of the most uncharismatic wrestlers ever. He absolutely needed a manager. They tried to dress him up a bit with some shiny clothes, but it didn’t really work. Patera talked at you, not to you. And why did he disappear for awhile, skipping WrestleMania?
McMahon is in full instigator mode, reminding Heenan that the last time he was here it was an embarrassing situation. He’s referring to Paul Orndorff firing him. I don’t remember this and have never seen it because this episode for some reason is not on the WWE network. But we will take McMahon’ word for it.
Heenan says he’s not the kind of man who gets embarrassed. “If I had done something wrong and I had been the average 8-to-5, clock-punching humanoid I could be embarrassed,” Heenan said.
Heenan was so great at being dismissive. Rather than show us the clip of Orndorff firing Heenan, we go to an episode of Piper’s Pit, where Heenan reveals to Piper that Orndorff canned him.
Piper introduces Heenan with some respect. “We have with us the greatest wrestling manager I have ever seen in my entire life,” Piper says.
Paul Heyman is certainly giving The Brain a run for his money, but in 1985 Piper’s statement was 100 percent true. Heenan reveals what happened like he’s in some sort of confessional with his priest. There’s an air of guilt and shame in his words.
“The world’s biggest no-good, lowlife ingrate, Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff has fired me,” Heenan says.
Piper looks outraged and says “he cannot do that. He’s a coward. He’s Mr. Blunderful. He’s not worth wasting your time on.” Heenan is flustered and freaking out. “He was nothing until I took over,” he says, flinging his arms.
Orndorff did the job at WrestleMania and his reward for that was probably a big singles push as a good guy, and eventually a money-making run as Hulk Hogan’s No. 1 opponent.
Back in the TNT studios, Patera says Orndorff has “a lot of class, but it is low class.”
He claimed Orndorff’s career was mediocre until Heenan started managing him. Orndorff was cursed with a bit of what plagued Patera. Orndorff was a boring. He was a natural heel, and way better as a heel. He was way more unlikable than likable, so him turning on Heenan totally had to be carried by Heenan, who could make fruit salad look daring.
Heenan is pulling this whole segment off perfectly, a combination of paranoia, disappointment and unbridled rage.
“The day is going to come when I am going to be soaking my hands in epson salt to bring down the swelling because I am going to smack you so hard I am going to knock the taste out of your mouth,” Heenan says. Nothing like the little guy promising to destroy the musclehead.
Heenan says he remembers Orndorff, “out at Madison Square Garden like a cheap light bulb.”
Heenan then gets back to Patera, his new focus. He called Patera an Olympic Gold Medalist, which isn’t true, unless they had a category for best blonde curly perm. Heenan also claims Patera is undefeated, which isn’t true either.
We go to the ring with Patera pounding on some guy named Ronny Dee. Patera is 100 percent owning this guy, taking time to flex during the match, a move that would excite announcer Jesse “The Body” Ventura.
“Another little pose for the crowd: We like it Kenny,” Ventura says. Jack Reynolds is doing play-by-bay and asks why a man as strong as Patera needs to resort to choking his opponent.
Ventura says Patera needs to cut off the ring and take away the man’s air. “Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat,” Ventura says.
Patera pins him with a swinging full Nelson that would excite Cesaro. He puts one foot on his chest like he just retired Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
Back in the TNT studios Patera says he is putting Orndorff and the Hulkster on notice.
“I want that World Wrestling Federation belt around my waste. I am undefeated and everyone knows this,” Patera says. Patera would have needed to purchase one of those $250 replica belts that didn’t exist in 1985 if he wanted to be champion.
McMahon seems less interested in Patera and goes back to talking about Heenan. He asks Heenan if he is doubting himself and his abilities after Orndorff canned him. Heenan seems committed to ruining Orndorff.
“I am going to financially and physically make sure the Paul Orndorff’s living in some doorway of skid row,” Heenan says.
Heenan portrayed a genuine sense of betrayal here. This wasn’t just a wrestler firing his manager. This was a son turning on his father and moving out of the house. Heenan was hurt and it showed.
Up next is King Curtis Iaukea. I used to think Abdullah The Butcher had the most disgusting forehead in the business. Iaukea gives him a run for his money. I have to admit that I didn’t take a lot of notes during the Iaukea segment. I was too busy staring at his forehead. How and why did McMahon even allow this guy on television?
McMahon says “You look fabulous,” almost like he was trying to be sarcastic. He looked anything, but fabulous. He was an abrupt reminder that maybe it’s not such a bad thing that we don’t see a lot of blood anymore in wrestling.
Iaukea’s forehead is simply disgusting. He didn’t seem to mind though. He seemed fairly happy.
Since it’s wrestling, of course, we had to sit through a gazillion cultural stereotypes, and listen to Iaukea talk about life in Hawaii and the surfer, care-free attitude. I guess all people from Hawaii just hang around at the beach all-day.
Then we get some bizarre promotional video of Hawaii, which featured lots of scenic shots of the ocean, mountains — and skin.
Iaukea says “you can’t miss me. I am the fattest Hawaiian on the island.” Points to McMahon for saying that he thought he spotted a Kielbasa tree during the video. Hayes also deserves credit for saying one of the men surfing looks like Don Muraco.
When they show the girls in bikinis, McMahon tells Hayes to “watch your heart.”
From the stereotypes of Hawaii we go to the squared circle to see some vintage footage of Iaukea teaming up with Baron Mikel Scicluna against Chief Jay Strongbow and Sonny King.
When the segment was over, Iaukea shook McMahon’s hand: “It is a great honor and privilege to be a professional wrestler. Thank you for having me here and please come my way so I can make you comfortable.”
A lot of these old-timers really seemed to treat TNT like it were a real talk show. They seemed genuine to be there and tried to answer McMahon’s questions with legitimacy. That was another great thing about TNT. It was a total unscripted work on many occasions, but some some of the guys didn’t seem to be in on the joke. McMahon, of course, was eating up all of it, perhaps the only guy on the set, who wasn’t guessing.
From there we go to Hulk Hogan, the man who 30 years ago was one of the biggest stars in the world. It’s sad to see how far this guy has fallen. Since he’s Hogan though, I don’t doubt that he will rise again. He always seems to do so.
In this segment we go to Madison Square Garden where Hogan is the ringmaster for the circus. Hogan’s “Real American” music plays over clips of him beating up guys like the Iron Sheik.
From there we see Hogan interviewed by Bruce Beck on the MSG network. Beck is pointing out that Hogan is making a difference in the lives of 18,000 “handicapped youngsters.”
Hogan at one point puts two kids on his shoulders and smiles, looking genuinely happy. Beck asks him what it feels like to help the youngsters. Hogan says that initially he was a bit sad, but once he got to meet all the kids he realized that the were “full of life.”
Beck asked Hogan if he felt it was important for an athlete to give back.
“You’ve got to,” Hogan said. “These are the people who support you. It makes you realize where you stand. I don’t know how to explain it. It just make you feel really good.”
Hogan came across super genuine here.
Back in the studio McMahon introduces Hogan, who gives him a huge handshake. With the big smile on his face, McMahon doesn’t seem to interested in figuring out who was responsible for the wrestling boom of the 1980s, he or Hogan. It looks like he is just happy to be cashing those checks.
Hogan turns the focus to wrestling and says Patera and Studd are the types of challengers that the WWF doesn’t need. He praises Orndorff for dropping Heenan.
“The first good move he did was firing Bobby “The Brain” Heenan,” Hogan says. “Since then I have seen a lot of good change in the man. I think Mr. Wonderful is right on the right track.”
As we would find out later, Orndorff’s firing of Heenan was all a ruse, a set-up for one of the greatest turns in history, leading to one of the best house show runs in history. But for now, Orndorff and Hogan are buddies. Ever notice how everyone Hogan hangs out with eventually turns on him? Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Orndorff, Bubba “The Love Sponge?” Jimmy Hart apparently is the only guy who has figured out how to get along with Hogan for more than two decades.
Hogan stays on the couch as McMahon introduces “Mean” Gene Okerlund, another guy McMahon stole from the AWA.
Okerlund was one of the faces of the WWF in the 1980s. He’s one of those guys everybody 35 and older remembers. Gene was funny and whipsmart. They show a clip of him interviewing WWF Women’s Champion Richter. During the interview Richter says: “I am not about to lay down on my back and let some woman cover me.”
Okerlund starts laughing on camera, while Richter plays serious refusing to break character. Okerlund was famous for his reactions during live broadcasts, infamously dropping the F-Bomb when a part of the set fell down behind him during an interview.
He’s in a good mood during this episode, however. He’s wearing a what dress hat. McMahon asks him where he got it and Okerlund responds that it is the last thing that Truman Capote gave him before he left.
Okerlund starts talking about the good days when he and Hayes would “cavort with an occasional maiden.” Hayes reminds us that they were maidens, not wenches, prompting Okerlund to say “not that we didn’t try, but it just didn’t work out that way.”
McMahon and Hogan make fun of Okerlund wearing dress pants and dress shoes, but no socks, but Okerlund is proud to show of his legs.
This segment was going great until McMahon had to show us the video — for the third time in TNT history — of Hogan training Okerlund. This is footage of Hogan forcing Okerlund to run, lift weights and eat raw eggs. It was funny the first two times.
Back on the set Hogan says he need to train Okerlund because he found out that he had seven maidens lined up and had to get Gene into shape.
McMahon asks Okerlund how he got the name “Mean Gene.” Okerlund admits that it was given to him by Ventura, a declaration that probably had Hogan quietly using colorful language in his head, since Ventura was another guy Hogan couldn’t get along with.
The show ends with McMahon, Hayes, Hogan and Okerlund heading to the band and Okerlund to play a few songs on the piano as the credits rolled.
TNT this week offered a great mix of past, present and future, with great jokes and humor from Heenan and Okerlund. It’s amazing to see Hogan in his prime, just oozing charisma without even trying. Had he played his cards right, he could have been an announcer, a voice of the WWE, rather than persona non grata. He’s a good reminder that no matter how big of a superstar you become, it is still McMahon’s world.s
The UFC announced Tuesday at a press conference in Brazil that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has retired as a fighter and has taken an Athlete Relations Ambassador position in UFC Brazil.
Nogueira, the first holder of the Pride world heavyweight championship and who also held the UFC interim heavyweight title, will serve as a liaison for the promotion between athletes, sponsors, media and governing bodies, as well as act as a mentor in developing young athletes. He will also serve as a scout for UFC in looking for new fighters in Brazil.
Nogueira and his brother, current UFC fighter Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, own a chain of Team Nogueira gyms that have 33 locations worldwide with more than 10,000 total students.
On Tuesday, ROH announced that the ROH World Champion/TV Champion Jay Lethal vs. Stevie Richards match that was set up at this past Saturday’s Atlanta, GA, house show will happen on 9/26 in Lockport, NY at the Kenan Center.
At this point, it has not been announced if either of Lethal’s titles are on the line as he defends both the TV and ROH titles on the 9/18 PPV show in San Antonio, facing Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, respectively, in the same angle predating what WWE is doing for its show two nights later at WWE Night Of Champions.
1868 – Homer Lane defeated James H. McLaughlin for the American Collar-and-Elbow Title in Utica, New York.
1923 – Clarence Weber defeated Billy Meeske in Melbourne, Australia to win the Australian Heavyweight Title
1941 – Wild Red Berry defeated Danny McShain for the World Light Heavyweight Title in Hollywood, California
1946 – George Becker defeated Babe Sharkey in Portland, Oregon to win the Pacific Northwest (later Los Angeles) World Heavyweight Title.
1958 – Eddie and Jerry Graham defeated Don Curtis and Mark Lewin in Washington, DC to win the Northeast NWA United States Tag Team Title.
1967 – Killer Kowalski defeated Bearcat Wright in Melbourne, Australia for the International Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title.
1972 – At Soldier Field (Home of the Bears) in Chicago, Illinois; AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Ivan Koloff, Steel Cage Match, Special Ref Jersey Joe Walcott, Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher beat Blackjack Lanza & Blackjack Mulligan, AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Billy Robinson & Wilbur Snyder, Dusty Rhodes beat Wahoo McDaniel Handicap Match: Andre Rousimoff beat Larry Hennig & Butcher Vachon, Baron Von Raschke beat Billy Red Cloud, Sailor Art Thomas beat Hans Hermann, Ramon Torres beat Angelo Poffo and Rene Goulet beat Don Muraco. Attendance was 12,000: Johnny Valentine defeated Johnny Powers to win the National Wrestling Federation North American Heavyweight Title in Cleveland, Ohio
1977 – Don Leo Jonathan defeated Otto Wanz for the Catch Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title in Johannesburg, South Africa; Dory Funk, Jr. defeated Ciclón Negro in Amarillo, Texas to win the Amarillo NWA International Heavyweight Title
1978 – Pak Choo and Roddy Piper defeated Ryuma Go and Black Gordman to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Title; Paddy Ryan defeated Mr. Sakurada for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title in Calgary, Alberta.
1979 – Pat Patterson was introduced as the first WWF Intercontinental Champion.
1979 – Jimmy Snuka defeated Ricky Steamboat to win vacant Mid-Atlantic NWA United States Heavyweight Title during a one night tournament held in Charlotte, NC.
1980 – Tommy Rich defeated Jimmy Valiant for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee.
1982 – Paul Jones defeated Jack Brisco to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title in Charlotte, North Carolina
1985 – American Force (Paul Diamond and Shawn Michaels) are awarded the TASW Texas Tag Team TItle in San Antonio, Texas.
1985 – In Orlando, Florida; Wahoo McDaniel & Billy Jack Haynes beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors dq, Rick Rude beat Frank Lane, Rip Oliver & Grappler beat Coco Samoa & Kendall Windham and Hector Guerrero drew Jack Hart
1986
Championship Wrestling from Florida hosted the Battle of the Belts III card at Daytona Beach, Florida. The White Ninja (Keiji Muto) defeated NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Champion Tim Horner to win the title and Barry Windham defeated NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion Ron Bass to win the title. Also, NWA World Champion Ric Flair wrestled Lex Luger to a time limit draw. Attendance was 8,000.
Matt Borne and WCWA Texas Heavyweight Champion Buzz Sawyer defeated WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Chris Adams and WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Lance Von Erich to become the first WCWA World Tag Team Champions during the Labor Day Star Wars event in Fort Worth, Texas. Also, WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Chris Adams defeated Rick Rude by disqualification to retain the title and Abdullah the Butcher defeated Bruiser Brody by disqualification.
Tarzan Goto and Akio Sato defeated Jeff Jarrett and Pat Tanaka for the CWA International Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee. At the same show, Don Bass and Dirty Rhodes (Roger Smith) defeat Cousin Junior and Giant Hillbilly Elmer to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Title; Denny Brown defeated Steve Regal to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title in Greenville, South Carolina
1990 – Fit Finlay defeated Steve Wright in Vienna, Austria to win the CWA World Middleweight Title.
1991 – The Grappler and Don Harris defeated Demolition Crush and Steve Doll for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title in Seaside, Oregon.
1993 – Los Cowboys (Silver King and El Texano) won the WWA World Tag Team Championship in Tlanepantla, Mexico, by defeating Corazón de León (Chris Jericho) and El Dandy.
1994 – Hiromichi Fuyuki, Gedo and Jado defeated Bob Backlund, Scott Putski and Warlord to win the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Title in Saku, Japan.
2004 – In Nashville, Tennessee; NWA World Tag Team Champions The Naturals (Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens) defeated America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) and Triple X (Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper) in a three-way match to retain the title and TNA X Division Champion Petey Williams (with Coach D’Amore) defeated Sonjay Dutt to retain the title.
2011 – Mickie James defeated Winter to become TNA Knockout Champion in Huntsville, Alabama. Also, TNA World Champion Kurt Angle retained the title over Sting and Christopher Daniels defeated AJ Styles.
Hulk Hogan’s attempt to get back into the WWE going on Good Morning America today at this point hasn’t resulted in a change in comapny deicision making.
“At this time the WWE remains steadfast in its decision,” was the company’s response to Hogan’s appearance today.
