A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from an un-named chap asking me if I wanted to review his promotion's latest DVD release. He also sent me a website link.
The link took me to a site called Spotland Scrappers, who as I found out are a group of 18-26 year old men who meet in a private gym in the Manchester area, and they sell DVDs of their wrestling matches to help with their running costs. Their trainer is one Brad Flash. So, having viewed the site, I decided to accept their offer, and the DVD, "Tune in to Brit Pro" fell onto my door mat a few days later.
The DVD, which lasts about seventy minutes, features ten bouts, with wrestlers such as the aforementioned Flash, who spends most of the time looking directly into the camera as if to say "look at how great I am", Young Ady, who competed in his socks, and Pudsey Giant, a fat guy who wrestled in trainers, and who seemed to have a permanent case of builder's bottom. There's no fans in attendance, just those milling around the gym.
I reached my conclusion about this DVD just three matches in. To be brutally honest, it was bloody awful. The matches were poorly put together, and had little, if any, psychology. Those involved in the matches, including the man who had apparently trained them, were rub****. Their selling was awful, their submission holds looked weak, their bumps were dire, and as for their blows, well, my dear old granny could hit harder than these boys, and she died in 1984! And let's not forget about that most basic of wrestling moves, running the ropes. One guy pulled off this move by running into the ropes chest first, and then turning around so he could run to the other side of the ring. Oh, and the ring looked tiny as well, like something a father would build for his child.
It was so bad that I actually considered turning it off halfway through, but I decided to stick with it, hoping that it would get better. It didn't.
I'm left to wonder just who their target audience is. It certainly isn't me, because this is without doubt the worst DVD I've ever reviewed, and I've reviewed some absolute stinkers in my time. Maybe they film these for their own enjoyment, so they can try and impress their friends and trick themselves into believing that they really are professional wrestlers.
These guys have been seriously undertrained, and seem more like a bunch of backyard wrestlers, and that really speaks volumes for their trainer, the aforementioned Brad Flash. I'd be interested to know who actually trained this guy, just so I can tell him what a bad job they've done.
So avoid the Spotland Scrappers DVDs like the plague. Spend your money on something worthwhile.
When you mention the name of Stu Hart, you immediately think of the infamous dungeon in Hart House in Calgary. Now, the great man himself is the subject of a recently released DVD entitled Surviving The Dungeon: The Legacy of Stu Hart.
The brainchild of Blake Norton, writer, musician, and graduate of the Dungeon, this documentary uses archive footage in which Stu and his family talk about how the Dungeon came to be, and of it's numerous famous graduates. It certainly makes for interesting viewing, and as someone who enjoys listening to old wrestling stories, it was great to hear Stu talk about his career.
But it's not all about the interviews, we actually get to see inside the dungeon. We get to see Stu putting several of his students, including a somewhat younger and heavier Blake, through the infamous stretches. Even though he was getting on in years, the old boy was still able to teach the youngsters a thing or two, and I couldn't help but think what would have happened if some of the top mixed martial arts stars had been put through the same tough training regime. It would have certainly added to their game a little.
The main feature is great, and makes for riveting viewing, as do the extras, and there's a ton of them, ranging from interviews with various members of the Hart family, to matches, with a 2001 encounter between Lance Storm & "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels wetting the appetite before you've even seen it.
In conclusion - if, like me, you're a keen student of the history of the professional wrestling business, then this is a must buy. Blake Norton treats his subject matter with the respect it truly deserves, and it's respect and his affection for the Hart family is what makes this documentary great. Blake's done a perfect job, and I hope he gets the plaudits he deserves.
With thanks to Blake Norton for supplying a copy of this release. For more information of this release, visit www.thewrestlingdungeon.com.
We're taking another trip to Ring of Honor territory with my latest review, with a look back at their March 20th show in in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania and Steel City Clash, headlined by a tag team encounter pitting KENTA and El Generico against Nigel Mc****ss and Davey Richards.
The show opens with Sterling James Keenan taking on the masked man Delirious, accompanied by Daizee Haze. Keenan has completely changed his appearance since the last time I saw him, which was actually quite a while ago on 1PW's debut show. It's the usual quick ROH show opener. It's not bad, but it's not exactly the best ROH match I've ever seen. There's some nice exchanges, but nothing to really set the pulse racing. The masked man came out on top here, getting the pin after finishing Keenan off with a top rope splash.
Tag team action followed, with Kenny King & Rhett Titus facing Erick Stevens & Matt Cross. Before the match began Austin Aries came down to the ring, to apparently apologise to his former protégés Stevens and Cross. The apology wasn't exactly heartfelt, as he quickly joined King and Titus in beating them down, before he was chased off by Roderick Strong. It's another good, strong outing from King and Titus, once again showing just how good a team they are. Cross and Stevens provide some worthy opposition for them, with Cross pulling off some extraordinary moves. But the flashy moves weren't enough to earn them the win, with Titus and King getting the win after taking Cross down with their blockbuster power bomb move thing. Hey, Dave Prazak doesn't even have a name for that move yet. Anyway, nice match.
Then it's onto to Bryan Danielson, going up against Mike Quackenbush. An outstanding encounter here between two technical masters. No heel or baby face battle lines here, just great wrestling with Danielson and Quackenbush matching each other move for move and hold for hold, with either man looking like they could get the win at any time. And you know what was remarkable about this match? There was absolutely no punches, and that's something you just don't see these days. The winner - Danielson with a small package, and ending it with a simple move made sense after the great technical action.
Then it's on two three way action, with Claudio Castagnoli, Brent Albright and Jerry Lynn. Unlike the three way on my previous ROH review, this one is contested under the rules we wrestling fans are more accustomed to. A really enjoyable match with all three men putting in some good performances, and a good storyline which saw Albright more intent on punishing his rival Castagnoli than Lynn. I'm really beginning to like Double C's heel work in ROH, but then again I may be a little biased because he's a fellow European. Plenty of near falls towards the end, and at one point it looked like Albright was going to get the submission win when he locked in his crowbar on Lynn's left arm. It was to no avail though as Castagnoli got back into the ring and dispatched Albright, before finishing off what his rival had started by applying his own version of the crowbar, with Lynn tapping out seconds later. Very good match this.
It was back to tag team action next, a falls count anywhere anything goes brawl with The Age of the Fall team of Jimmy Jacobs and Brodie Lee facing Tyler Black and Necro Butcher. As you can imagine with this sort of match, there's not much actual wrestling, just tons of brawling which takes in most of the arena. There's also quite a bit of chair use, mostly from the Butcher. Performance wise, it's the usual sort of thing from the Butcher, which means that it's not exactly that riveting. Brodie is still your typical big man who doesn't seem able to do much, while Jacobs and Black are clearly the best thing in this match. The bad guys came out on top here. Black was about to take Jacobs down with a top rope move when Lee clobbered him with a chair. Jacobs then applied his guillotine, and with Black unconscious, the referee stopped the match. You know, if they took out the Butcher and Lee, this wouldn't have been that bad.
Thankfully, normal service is resumed with the next match, with Austin Aries and Roderick Strong making their second appearance of the evening. Another great match, almost as good as the Danielson/Quackenbush encounter, between two former tag team partners who know each other so well. The great storyline here was Aries doing everything he could to avoid Strong's powerful chop. Aries couldn't avoid the chop for long though, as Strong soon began to unload with several, turning Aries' chest a deep shade of red. That little storyline aside, this match featured some top notch action, with Strong looking like he was going to get the win with a Boston crab. But then Kenny King and Rhett Titus came down to the ring, and although Strong was able to send them packing, he soon fell to Aries brain buster, with A double getting the pin straight away.
Main event time, with one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions, El Generico, teaming with Japanese star KENTA against ROH World Champion Nigel Mc****ss and one half of the American Wolves, Davey Richards, accompanied by Sara Del Ray and Shane Hagadorn. They saved the best for last on this show. Four great performances in a match designed to advertise their show in New York the following day. The exchanges between Richards and KENTA were brutal, with neither man holding anything back. Richards continues to impress the hell out of me, but in the end the best thing here were the exchanges between Mc****ss and KENTA. It was great to see two masters of their art in action, and it was these two who ended the match. As Mc****ss went for a second London Dungeon submission, KENTA countered with the go to sleep, getting the pin ahead of their title match the following day. Outstanding, just outstanding.
As well as the usual ROH Video Wire, there's two bonus matches in the extras section, Shiima Xion versus Brandon Morino, and Alex Payne & Grizzly Redwood versus Tony Kozina and Brandon Day.
In conclusion - well, I know I'm going to sound like a stuck record here, but this is another good outing from the Ring of Honor crew, well, if you take out Necro Butcher's match again. The highlight for me was definitely the main event tag team match, which definitely made me eager to see the following day's matches at the Hammerstein Ballroom. But I guess that's another DVD review for another time.
With thanks to the powers that be at Ring of Honor for supplying a copy of this release.
With WWE's Summerslam just a few days away, I'm once again going to revive my tradition of reviewing a past Summerslam. Having reviewed the first show in 1988 last year, I'm now going to take a look back at the 1989 show, headlined by Hulk Hogan & Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake against "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Zeus. Commentary for this one was handled by Tony Schiavone and Jesse "The Body" Ventura.
The show began with The Hart Foundation, Bret "Hitman" Hart & Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart facing WWF Tag Team Champions The Brain Busters, Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard, managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Anderson & Blanchard had defeated Demolition for the titles after this match had been announced, and they subsequently refused to put the titles on the line against the Harts. This for me remains one of my favourite tag team matches of all time, and it's also one of the most underrated tag team matches ever. You've got two teams in their prime putting on a great exhibition of wrestling. The exchanges between Hart and Blanchard early on were great, and they set out the stall for the rest of this great match, with the champions cheating to win. After Neidhart had power slammed Hart onto a fallen Blanchard, Heenan jumped onto the ring apron to argue with the referee. Neidhart tried to chase Heenan away, only to be ushered back to his corner by the referee. While all of this was going on Anderson climbed to the middle rope, came down and clobbered Hart has he covered Blanchard. He then pulled Blanchard out of the way, and covered the Hitman himself, disguising himself so the referee didn't realise that he was the illegal man. Sadly, both Anderson and Blanchard would be gone from the WWF just three months later.
Then it's on to singles action, with Dusty Rhodes, making his WWF pay-per-view debut, going up against the Honky Tonk Man, accompanied by his manager, Colonel Jimmy Hart. I wasn't really a fan of these two when I first saw this match, but as time goes on this one has kind of grown on me. It's well executed, the action is solid, and the interference from Hart is well timed. In short, it's a very good match. Rhodes, who took a hit from the megaphone early on, came out on top here. While the referee was taking a snooze, Hart grabbed Honky's guitar, jumped onto the apron, and swung, only to hit his man instead. A bionic elbow later, and with the referee making a recovery, Rhodes got the three count.
The singles action continued with Mr. Perfect facing the Red Rooster. Hardly one of Terry Taylor's best gimmicks this, and I'm sure that many of you will agree with me. A relatively short match, which saw Perfect maintain his unbeaten record, dominating the match after the Rooster's leg buckled while attempting a body slam. A few minutes later his hand was raised in victory after pinning the Rooster with the perfect-plex. A shame that these two weren't given much longer.
The first of two six man tag team matches followed, with the Rockers & Tito Santana facing Rick Martel and the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, accompanied by their respective managers, "The Doctor of Style" Slick and "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart. Both sides were embroiled in various feuds with each other at the time, Santana with Martel following the break-up of their Strike Force team, and the Rockers and the Rougeaus for....well, they were just feuding. This is a classic. I loved this match when I first saw, and I still love it now, it holds up that well. Six great performances here, with Santana playing the role of the punching bag here, with the three Canadians proving to be quite the unit. It was also a great reminder of just how good a team Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty were. Yet more underhanded tactics saw Martel and the Rougeaus come out on top. As Janetty had Jacques rolled up, Martel came in and clothes lined Janetty, getting the pin for his team as all about his continued to brawl. Great stuff.
Grudge match time next, and the first title match of the evening, with the Ultimate Warrior challenging "Ravishing" Rick Rude for the Intercontinental Championship. This was the culmination of their feud, which dated back to the Royal Rumble the previous January when Rude attacked the Warrior during a pose down. This was a hell of a lot better than their Wrestlemania encounter, and this was the match where I really became a fan of the Warrior. It's a tremendous encounter, a hard hitting, back and forth affair between two guys who were made for each other, with plenty of false finishes, a referee hit, and a guest appearance by none other than "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. With the Warrior down and out in the middle of the ring, Piper came down to ringside, and after Rude posed in front of him, Piper once again proved that there is only one thing a Scotsman wears under his shoes. This gave the Warrior time to recover, and it wasn't long before the Warrior had taken rude down with the gorilla press/big splash combination, getting the title retaining pin immediately afterwards. You know, this may even be better than Warrior's match against Randy Savage at Wrestlemania VII
The second six man tag team match followed, with Demolition and King Duggan against the Twin Towers and Andre the Giant, accompanied by Slick and Bobby Heenan. There was a nice touch at the beginning of this one, with Duggan coming down to the ring with a mask on, taking it off revealing the American flag painted onto his face. This was more of a brawl than a wrestling match, but it was still damn entertaining. The thing that amazed me about this one were the bumps that Akeem was taken, amazing for a man of his size. Duggan and Demolition came out on top here. After Akeem had come off the second rope with a big splash of Smash, Duggan clobbered him with his trusty two by four while the referee was trying to usher Andre out of the ring. The referee turned around to see Smash covering Akeem, and made the three count. Nice stuff.
Next up, Hercules facing Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, accompanied by Jimmy Hart. This one had a special ring announcer, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin, who had been retired by Valentine, although he had just been reinstated. The way he introduced Valentine was classic. If you can find it on Youtube, then do so, you won't be disappointed. Another short match, with Valentine constantly occupied by Garvin's presence at ringside, but it wasn't long before the Hammer was able to gain the upper hand, getting the pin with his feet on the ropes. Garvin then came into the ring, and announced, in his opinion, that Hercules was the winner. After a brief conversation with the referee, Garvin then announced Hercules was the winner, by disqualification. Needless to say that this didn't sit too well with Valentine, who clobbered Garvin, sending him out of the ring. He then began to brawl with Herc, until Garvin took off his dinner jacket, got back into the ring, and got his own back for what Valentine did to him. Nice stuff, and if you want to see a great blow off match, watch their match at the 1990 Royal Rumble. It's a classic.
Then it's on to the Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase, accompanied by his loyal bodyguard Virgil, taking on "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. Before the match, Dibiase continued his boast about ending Jake Roberts' career. It's another of those short and sweet matches, apart from the slight mishap halfway through when Snuka botched a leapfrog and landed on top of Dibiase as he came off the ropes. Apart from that, some nice exchanges here, with Dibiase getting the win via count out. Just as Snuka was about to finish Dibiase off with the superfly splash, Virgil jumped onto the ring apron. Snuka went after the bodyguard, only to be attacked from behind by Dibiase, who finished off his attack by ramming Snuka into the ring post. The Million Dollar Man then made it back into the ring as the referee counted Snuka out. Enraged by the decision, Snuka returned to the ring, attacked Dibiase, and then took down Virgil with the aforementioned superfly splash.
After a poem from The Genius, it's main event time, with WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, accompanied by Miss Elizabeth, squaring off against "Macho Man" Randy Savage and "The Human Wrecking Machine" Zeus, accompanied by Sensational Sherri. This one had a long history behind it. You should all know about the Hogan/Savage rivalry. Savage brought Beefcake into the equation by cutting his hair, and Vince McMahon came up with the bright idea of bringing Hogan's movie rivalry with Zeus into the ring. Given the limitations of Tiny Lister as a wrestler, it made sense to put him in a tag team match. There was also some speculation about the possibility of Miss Elizabeth doing a no show. As a spectacle, it's great. The atmosphere surrounding this match was electric. But when you get down to the brass tacks, you realise just how limited Zeus was, with only a bear hug and a big choke the only moves in his arsenal. Thankfully the other three men in this match made up for his short comings, and that's what made this match work. Of course, we had the usual Hogan act, with the Hulkster springing to his feet after taking the Macho Man's elbow, before getting the pin on Zeus after hitting him with Sherri's loaded purse, finishing him off with the leg drop of doom. It didn't end there though, as the Barber concluded the evening's proceedings by cutting off Sherri's hair extensions.
In conclusion - this was only my second WWF pay-per-view, and my first Summerslam. I thought the show was great then, and my opinion hasn't changed one bit in the last twenty years. This was back when you'd get PPV matches that didn't have extensive back stories, and back then we didn't care. You certainly couldn't get away with that sort of thing today.
But I digress. Every match here was good in it's own way, with the opening match between the Harts and the Brain Busters still my favourite. If you're a keen student of the game, of if, like me, you just want to relive some happy memories, then why not sit back, open a couple of cold ones and watch this classic again.
Over the past few years there have been quite a few British television documentaries about professional wrestling, including Louis Theroux's visit to WCW and his infamous confrontation with the Sarge, and Anna Nolan's attempt to portray every aspect of women's wrestling as sleazy.
Comedian Justin Lee Collins is the latest to cast his eye over the grappling game, in the first of his new series for Sky One, entitled Justin Lee Collins: The Wrestler.
It was obvious from the outset that Justin was going to treat the wrestling business with the respect it deserved. Unlike many before him he obviously knew what he was talking about. His intention was to become a luchadore, so he could compete on the Luhca Libre London show.
His journey began in Ipswich, attending an All Star Wrestling show, witnessing the likes of James Mason against former WCW star P.N. News, as well as being slightly intimidated by my erstwhile friend Sweet Saraya. Backstage, Justin chats with Mason, before Saraya offers to train Justin.
Justin doesn't take her up on her offer, instead deciding to go to the LDN training school for a days tutelage under Jon Ritchie. Although he receives some good advice, it doesn't really prepare him for what he's about to receive in Mexico City.
Once there he's taken under the wing of exotico wrestler Cassandro. For those of you who don't know, Cassandro is a transvestite wrestler, and someone who certainly knows his game. He puts Justin through ten days worth of hard training. His body aches all over, he almost cries at times, and considers quitting, but he carries on.
But Justin doesn't just spend time training while in Mexico. He visits a wrestling shop to be outfitted, learns about the rich history of Lucha Libre, as well as visiting the home of the legendary El Hijo del Santo. He also comes up with his ring name, El Gloriouso.
His training complete, he finds out that he's earned his place on the London show, where he competes in an angle with Cassandro, and loses his mask, the crowd finding out that this new rudo is in fact a well known British television star.
I'm not really a big fan of Justin Lee Collins, but I really enjoyed this programme. He treated the wrestling business and the people he encountered with a tremendous degree of respect, and for that I have to give him kudos. I also have to give him kudos for not giving up, and for stepping into the ring and putting on a good show, not bad considering he'd only had eleven days worth of training. I've known people who have trained for over ten years that still can't put on a good match. Justin put those people to shame, and did himself proud. This was a really good look at the world of professional wrestling, and one of the best British-made documentaries I've ever seen.
