Heat 09/13/98 - Ken Shamrock vs Vader

I must have talked about this before. But this is a neat little match in Vader's lame duck WWF run. Shamrock and him do some cool little sequences bouncing off the ropes and Vader was free to lay the blows in harder than normal.

Of course JR and Shane McMahon can't be bothered to discuss the match. Instead talking about things that have nothing to do with Ken Shamrock. This is why nobody cares about wrestling B shows, because the company themselves do not care. As a fan it is insulting since they are telling you "Why are you even watching this. We do not care at all. You should just wait for Raw or the Pay Per View."

Barry Windham vs Mighty Wilbur

This is from NWA Main Event in May of 1988. Barry was just starting his United States Title run. This was when I first got into wrestling, so in my mind Barry is the best U.S Champ ever. I remember so much of 88 NWA clear as a bell. While a lot of WWF from the same period is so foggy.

Probably because so much of the WWF Syndicated stuff bleeds together and I was rarely allowed to watch Prime Time Wrestling. Because Mama put me in bed at Eight PM.

Wilbur is a big dude and an interesting take on the hillbilly gimmick. Instead of the typical ethnic slur hillbilly gimmick. With guys who care barely speak English, dance barefoot and carry pigs. Wilbur is a simple grape picker from California who got into wrestling after stopping a mugger.

His intro was some really good stuff. For months Paul Jones bragged about his latest find. A wrestler called "The Mighty Wilbur". He was a huge mountain of a man and would be the man to lead his army to greatness.

Then Wilbur appears and he is a hillbilly. He is as strong and powerful as Jones claimed. But he has no mean streak. He simply does enough to win. He even shakes the referee and wrestlers hands.

Wilbur finally turns on Jones, after Jones slaps Wilbur. Later Paul Jones explains what happened. That months before, his former tag team partner, Red Bastien called and told him about his protege. He offers him to Paul Jones and Jones accepted. Only to realize Bastien wanted rid of Wilbur and still held a grudge toward Jones (the team had a sour break up).

Wilbur had a solid lower card face spot but broke his leg in a battle royal. Poor dude came back in May and had gained a lot of weight.

He takes on Barry here and it is a great Barry Windham performance. Occasionally people try to slight Barry by saying he never "carried" anyone. I think that is stupid, since if you put together anybodies best of list, it will be with great wrestlers.

Initially Barry bumps around for Wilbur. Until Wilbur gets a hold of him and does this falling suplex. It looked a house of cards falling. He gets Barry in a headlock and Barry hits a side suplex that shakes the ring.

He goes to work on Wilbur, pummeling him and trying to keep him from getting back on offense. Barry takes the time to bodyslam him. Barry had this awesome way of slamming Wilbur that got across how huge he is.

Eventually Barry misses the Yoshi elbow and Wilbur starts tearing into him with these hillbilly forearms.

Until JJ trips him up. Wilbur starts choking him on the outside and Barry locks the Claw on him. They get counted out.

Action Mike Jackson Tribute

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 I first saw Mike Jackson in 1992. He was promoting a show at the Decatur Fairgrounds. He wrestled a big guy called Undertaker #2. To this day I don't know who that guy was. I just know he was able to ape Undertaker's act perfectly.

I did not know who Jackson was then, but I was really impressed that night.

I met Mike Jackson back sixth grade, which would be 1993. He was signing autographs at the Walmart before a free show in the parking lot. There were maybe fifteen people in there but he put on a good show in a rickety ring.

After that I would see him at the County Fair every year. I remember him busting out stuff like Pescados on gravel and doing missile dropkicks.

Years later I found out thru tape trading that Mike Jackson had been a regular on wrestling TV shows for over a decade in the 80s. Like Barry Horowitz I hate to call him a jobber because he was a really good wrestler.

He was at the deep end of the job guy pool. If he was in a match he was guaranteed to get a good bit of offense and even get put over on commentary. If he was in a tag match, he would never take the pin.

Unfortunately he was very small by the standards of the day. One thing about modern wrestling is as guys get bigger and bigger, there is a tolerance for smaller wrestlers. I can't imagine guys like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk even being mid carders in the NWA or WWF in the 80s. Much less World Champions.

Mike Jackson was about thirty years too soon.

Edge & Christian vs The Hardys

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=WWE&tag=planvictblogn-20&index=dvd&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325I remember watching this match when it aired. This was the first time I ever noticed the Hardy Boys. I saw them before as jobbers and remember them beating Kaientai on the Heat episode the night of Breakdown.

Here they get a lot of offense in and they are already a damn good tag team. Edge, Christian give them a lot and even do masked confusion with Gangrel on the floor.

A few months later they were WWF Tag Champs and had a fun one month reign.

Dr Death Steve Williams vs The Hardy Boyz

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So the WWF did understand how to book Dr.Death? This is kick ass for two minutes. Hardyz try to clubber Doc and it fails.

They try Poetry In Motion and Doc catches Jeff. Clotheslines Matt out of his boots. German suplexes Jeff and hits the Stampede for 3.

Albert vs Kane

Albert recently returned as Lord Tensai. After watching the Albert/Hugh Morrus match, I came across this match from 2001.

This match is for the Intercontinental title and is non stop action from bell to bell. Albert does the best DDT to chokeslam counter I have ever seen. Then Kane does a great counter to the Baldo bomb. BTW Baldo is a great wrestling name.

Albert eats the chokeslam and loses cleanly. But he ends up looking like a million bucks. Better than he did when he actually beat Kane for the IC Belt.

Albert vs Bill Demott

Fun power match from an early Velocity. Albert just recently started wrestling in trunks and Hugh was one of the WCW guys brought back from the Invasion.

Just some good old fashion demolition derby power wrestling. Both guys keep running into each other until one side gives. Hugh hits a beautiful flying elbow and misses the moonsault.

Its amazing the height and distance he gets on that moonsault. Fat guy moonsaults tend to have terrible calibration. I mean it is a big fat guy turning a backward flip. Most of his energy is spent not dieing. But Hugh always hits perfectly.

Mark Henry vs Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy is still a high level jobber and Mark Henry just became a full time wrestler. He started in 96, but was injured during training. He came back shortly before the 98 Rumble as Rock's recruit into the Nation of Domination.


Really from his rookie year, Henry showed loads of potential. Here he has some great looking power offense. Like the multiple back breakers on Jeff Hardy. The one armed power slam.

Finally hitting his big splash. Which in 98, Henry has the best big splash ever. He gets a lot of height on it. Almost a standing frog splash.

Henry's problem for years was more a booking problem than anything being wrong with his work.

The Boss (Big Bossman) WCW Debut vs Rick Rude

This is a borderline great match. I would be fine using this as a spotlight on why Bossman and Rick Rude were great wrestlers.

Bossman comes in as a dominating monster. Throwing Rude around the ring, dismantling him. Then later, Bossman plays the underdog babyface despite being a lot bigger than Rude.

Rude does a great job playing heel in peril. Getting his ass kicked by Bossman and the fans eating it up. Then he does this fantastic offensive flurry. As if he is desperate, even busting out the Original Rude Awakening DDT.

He then gets control and it works perfectly because Rick Rude is the best heel ever.

Best thing is, this match has a clean finish. Of course in true pro wrestling fashion, the PPV rematch was not nearly as good.

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La Parka & Psycosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera

I love WCW, but also sorta really hate it. They would provide so much genuinely great and awesome stuff. But then never follow thru on it.



This match is a perfect example. You have La Parka who is always super over. Psicosis who is over as a foil to Rey and sidekick to Parka.



Juvi who works as a sidekick to Rey and Rey who is always awesome. They go out and have a match that blows the crowd away. Even Tony Schiavonie is losing his shit.

And there is no follow up. Rey and Juvi do not team again til late 2000. The tag belts are in purgatory.

But this match is pretty damn good. Makes me wish the Michinoku Pro guys had landed in WCW.

Mortis & Wrath vs. Glacier & Ernest "The Cat" Miller

I'll just say it, Ernest Miller was kinda awesome. Before he learned he could get by on schtick. When he was karate fighter Ernest Miller, he had some fun as hell offense.

Glacier is not really a bad work guy, he had a good look. But he never figured out how to integrate the karate into pro wrestling, like Jerry Flynn or Miller or even Steve Blackman.

Anyway Glacier and Miller are facing Mortis and Wrath in the opener to Bash At The Beach 97.

Miller and Glacier bust out fun double teams on Mortis and Wrath. Miller has about a million good looking kick variations.

Wrath gets in and I really don't know if he actually knows any actual martial arts. But he does a great job bullshitting it. Love him overpowering Miller and Glacier, flinging them into each other. They respond with a double dropkick.

Wrath does this odd looking Boston Crab variation. He does not go full pendulum on him, which is a shame.


Love the finishing sequence. Vandenberg (Mortis and Wrath's manager) puts a chain on Mortis's foot. He takes one for the team, eating the Cryonic kick from Glacier. But he turns around and takes the chain assisted super kick.

Barbarian vs Jerry Flynn

Came across this looking for Jerry Flynn matches and it kicks ass. Flynn has just started getting an actual TV push. Winning a feud with Ernest Miller and is now a protege of the monster Meng. This has made him a target of Jimmy Hart'/s revived First Family. Which is a combination of the Dungeon of Doom and his old WWF Hart Foundation.

Flynn goes right on the attack, hitting Barbarian with flurries of kicks. Barbarian fights back by being tough as hell and commences clubbering. Good intense, back and forth action. Flynn actually wins by DQ, when Hugh Morrus runs in. It was a golden age for the Jerry Flynn fan. One which never ended.

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Jerry Flynn in a Japanese Deathmatch

Speaking of Jerry Flynn, I came across this and it fucking rules. They are doing karate fighters vs deathmatch wrestlers.

Karate fighters are avoiding the wire and kicking the shit out of Goto and Onita. Deathmatch wrestlers are using headbutts and lariats.

Karate guys kick Onita into the wire and his arm is bleeding bad. He is struggling to get up and before long the karate guys Gis are covered in Onita's blood.

Onita turns a kick into a backdrop driver and this rules.

The Cat Ernest Miller vs Jerry Flynn

Jerry Flynn has become my favorite underused late 90's WCW guy. I was a big fan in 97/98 and I was right to be.

Ernest Miller is a guy I liked early on, before he realized he could get by doing Sctick. Athletically he was impressive. Using some neat Spider-Man offense.

Him and Flynn have a fun match with tons of karate bullshit and Flynn integrating mat based stuff. Miller got lost one time during a kick sequence, but recovered from it. Winning with a sweet springboard kick to the face.

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WCW ICP vs Public Enemy

I remember this match from 99. I felt bad from Public Enemy, they went from tag title contenders in the WWF to jobbing to Sid in a handicap match on Thunder to jobbing to ICP on Nitro. It is so weird seeing Violent J and Johnny Grunge next to each other.Only think weirder would be Kevin Smith meeting Violent J.

Honestly as far money mark wannabe wrestlers go, Insane Clown Posse are way better than Shane McMahon.

They have a good grasp of ring psychology, decent strikes and bump ok.

Here they do not dominate Public Enemy. P.E dominate using greater experience, with ICP only getting by on luck and outside interference from Vampiro and Raven.

Eventually P.E put Shaggy 2 Dope thru two tables. Good thing is both J and Shaggy are down for the count.

A ref bumps and Vampiro takes out Grunge with a sweet spinning heel kick. So ICP get the cheap win.

If this happened today, ICP would pin the Colons in five minutes clean with the reasoning the celeb has to win.

I'm not gonna say this is good. But for a money mark county fair main event, it is perfectly fine.

Konan vs the One Man Gang

Came across this match months ago. One Man Gang is a guy that was criminally underused in the 90s. The dude could still flat out go. Now his first two matches with Konan did not go well. Too great a styles clash. But here he finally figured out how to get a good match out of him.

At first I was not expecting much when Konan tried to initiate a criss cross spot with Gang. But Gang eventually did what he does best. Bumping huge for all of Konan's offense.

Konan is disliked, and rightfully so in some respects. But I really liked him before the heel turn. Partly because at that point in my life, I had not seen lucha or much wrestling outside the American mainstream.

So a lot of his stuff was new to me. Here Gang gets the most out of it, bumping big off everything. Konan knocks him to the floor, but Gang gets the advantage and starts wailing on him.

Back in the ring and he controls with leg and elbow drops. Konan does a good job throwing fired up punches.

I should add Heenan and Schiavonie were on fire here. Heenan got off some funny one liners and Tony did a good job playing straight man.

I don't know why WCW did not sign Gang up. He worked cheap, had a great unique look, was willing to bump big and job to anyone.

Jerry Flynn vs Goldberg (Thunder 26.3.1998)

This is the rematch on Thunder. Story is Goldberg asked for the rematch. Flynn comes in trying to work the same style as before, but gets over powered. Flynn goes for the arm breaker again and Goldberg powers out.

Cool moment is when Goldberg applies his own arm breaker and Flynn tries to power out but fails. So he has to use finesse and turn it into a leglock.

Later he starts using speed, hitting him with fast kicks. He finally stuns Goldberg with a spinning heel kick in the corner. He comes back in and starts kicking him again and gets Speared point blank.

Jerry Flynn was pretty damn good. I can't say he was misused, because WCW had such a deep roster. But he definitely could have been more in wrestling.