|
This is a 5-DVD Set that came out a few years back. I picked it up on some good recommendations from my friends but I never really watched it. I figured now would be as good a time as any. As with all 5 discs, you can choose either from the original commentary or the “special insider commentary” done by Dave Meltzer and Jim Cornette. Yeah I think you know which one I picked.
The Main Program (The Matches)
Each match is introduced by Dave and Jim themselves
1) Tommy Rich/Eddie Gilbert vs. Phil Hickerson/The Spoiler in a Tennessee Street Fight
Rich and Gilbert were formerly known as the new Fabulous Ones. We start off right away with both teams slugging away and The New Fabs quickly get beaten up. Tommy Rich is getting pounded on by Hickerson and starts bleeding right away. Eddie Gilbert comes back with some sort of foreign object and klls the Spoiler and Hickerson with it. Hickerson is now split wide open too. The two bloody guys starts punching each other but Tommy Rich is starting to power up. The New Fabs again get knocked down again. Tommy Rich gets pounded on the Spoiler outside but he fights back as Eddie fights back in the ring. Everyone’s bleeding now, except Gilbert but I think he’ll join the club soon. Blood is actually spilled on the ground. Gilbert almost gets piledriven by The Spoiler but Gilbert reverses with a back body drop. The 4 men are back in the ring and Rich’s shirt is covered in blood. Eddie gets hit with the international object and yep, he’s cut open. Hickerson pounds away on Rich with the foreign object so Rich takes off his boot and pounds away. The Spoiler meanwhile gets piledriven on the floor by Gilbert. Hickerson takes over on the two Fabs so Tommy Rich takes the Spoiler’s mask and put it on. It’s loaded of course so he hits a headbutt off the top rope on Hickerson allowing Gilbert to get the pin and the win at: 6:26. Great wild and crazy brawl. **3/4.
2) The Rock N Roll Express vs. Randy Savage/Lanny Poffo
These two fought on disc two but I don’t know if this was the rematch or what. Morton and Savage start off and Morton quickly takes him down so Savage takes a break. They lock up again and Savage knees him and bodyslams. He quickly goes to the top but misses an axehandle off the top so Morton quickly tags Gibson who rolls Savage up for two. Poffo is tagged in and gets pushed off by Gibson. Savage tries to attack from the top but after getting caught he just jumps off. The RnR double team Poffo and bails. Quick clip and Poffo has Morton in a headlock and tags in Savage. He tosses to the outside and hits a double axehandle from the top of the rope. Gibson looks over Morton so Savage runs up behind him and Pearl Harbors Morton. Morton gets back to the ring so Savage dumps him again. Angelo Poffo (at ringside) gets some cheapshots in. Lanny is tagged in who mocks Gibson drawing him in. The ref tosses him as Savage and Poffo double team. Poffo covers but only gets a two. Lanny starts working the arm and tags in Savage. Savage elbows Morton down and they punch. Morton teases a tag but Savage and Poffo hold his leg. They double team Morton and Savage goes for the piledriver but of course, it’s illegal here. Poffo is tagged in but Morton starts making the miracle comback but can’t quite make the tag. Savage runs from behind and drags Gibson to the floor as Morton gets to the corner. Lanny dumps Morton to the outside so Angelo gets some more cheapshots again. Savage again goes for the piledriver on the table but Morton rverses to a back body drop. Morton goes back inside and Lanny misses a dropkick. Morton makes the hot tag to Gibson who cleans house. Pier six ensues as Gibson hits a superplex on Lanny. Savage and Morton brawl outside as Angelo hits Gibson with a boot. This draws in Morton who saves Gibson from certain death and the ref DQ’s Savage and Poffo at 8:20. Great tag match. ***.
3) Dick Slater vs. Dory Funk Jr.
The two lock up and break clean. Slater bodyslams Dory and they back off. Dory responds with a bodyslam of his own. They lock up and do some nice chain wrestling leading to to a side headlock by Dory. They cut ahead a bit to Slater breaking the headlock with an atomic drop but Dory gets a quick backslide for two and he goes back to the headlock. Eventually he releases and hits an atomic drop that sends Slater over the top rope onto the apron. He snapmares Slater back into the ring and goes back to the headlock. Slater breaks with a belly to back suplex Slater chops Dory down then drops a knee. He hits a backbreaker and covers for two. He drops an elbow and that only gets a two. Slater gets Dory up and pounds away but Dory comes back with a running fist, snapmares him over and forearms him down. He hits a running forearm and that gets a two. He takes him over again but Slater pokes the eye to break. Slater goes for a piledriver but Dory reverses with a back body drop. They go to the ropes and collide knocking Dory down and Slater out of the ring. The ref counts Slater out as Tully Blanchard comes in to attack Dory. The two double team Dory until Scott Casey comes in to even things out. So call it a DQ win for Dory at about 6:20. Good match if un-spectacular. **.
4) The Sheik vs. Tiger Jeet Singh in a Cage Match
This cage looks a little better than the Savage/Lawler cage from disc two. The lighting here is weird as it looks like non one is in the crowd from some angles. Singh starts off choking The Sheik, who’s only about 102 at this point. Singh calls for the cage to leave but Sheik saves. He tries to leave but Singhstops that from happening. It doesn’t say much for Singh when Meltzer and Cornette call him one of the worst main eventers in history. So they put this on here. Thanks. Sheik breaks out the pencil but Singh steals it and carves him with it and tries to leave out the door but Sheik stops that from happening. They punch and try to leave the cage various times and the Sheik bites Singh. Sheik is now bleeding and tries to exit the door. Cornette says you need to leave through the door only to win. Singh gets the big Cobra Claw, which is a choke basically, and tries to go through the door but Sheik prevents that again. They punch some more and Singh makes the big comeback and punches Sheik so hard he goes “flying” through the door. By flying, I mean that he sort of tumbles out of the ring. Cornette suspects the match may have been fixed. What a bore. DUD.
5) The Fabulous Blonds vs. Al Perez/Manny Fernandez
Eric Embry and Ken Tims are the Blonds Manny and Eric start things off and Manny gets shoulderblocked down only to take Eric down with a headscissors. Eric backs off for a bit and they do a nice reversal sequence leading to an Embry armbar. Manny breaks but Embry leapfrogs him and arm drags him back into the armbar. Manny break but gets back body dropped after being whipped to the corner and we go back to the arm. Manny breaks with a whip to the ropes and leapfrogs Embry twice before hitting a dropkick. He gets arm dragged and hiptossed but Embry takes over by putting Manny between his legs. Manny gets outta that and tags into Perez. Perez hits a chop to the exposed arm of Embry from the second rope and he starts working the arm. Embry breaks and gets whipped to the ropes. He jumps off the second rope into a crossbody but there’s no one there so Perez goes back to the arm. Embry breaks and powerslams Perez but misses the followup elbow drop so Perez takes over. We cut ahead to Perez dropkicking Ken Tims. Must’ve missed the tag. The Blonds get the blind tag and hits a pretty nice flying fist. He pokes Perez in the eye for good measure and tags in Tims. They hit a double back body drop and drops a knifehand into the throat of Perez for two. He hits a pretty nice knee and drops an elbow for two. Embry is tagged back in and drops a fist on Perez. Tims is back in and hits a reverse atomic drop. He goes for the pin but Manny pulls him off. This allows the heels to do some double teaming. Embry is back in but Perez tries to come back before Tims is tagged in. Perez hits a back body drop on Tims but can’t make the tag. Embry is back in but Perez comes back with a dropkick. Embry makes it up for a piledriver but he gets back body dropped. Tims is tagged in but not before Perez makes the hot tag to Manny. Manny is a MAN ON FIRE and absolutely kills Tims. This leads to a brawl where the Blonds are sent into each other. Manny chases Tims around the ring while Embry sets up the piledriver on Perez. Manny chases Tims into the ring and as Manny runs by Embry and clotheslines him down allowing Perez to cover for the pin and the win at: 11:05. This was for the tag titles and Perez/Manny are your new champions. The fun is not over yet as the heels attack the new champs. Manny and Perez dispose of the Blonds but out come the Sheepherders (probably better known to most as the Bushwhackers) and they bust Manny open before some other people save. Fun match and the post-match was fun too. **1/2.
6) Terry Funk vs. Harley Race
Terry is currently the NWA champion and is facing Harley Race. Funk has a bad knee just to set things up. We’re JIP as Funk hits a backbreaker on Race. He covers but only gets a one count. Terry hits a piledriver but the cover only gets a two. He follows up with a swinging neckbreaker and a knee drop. Terry follows up with some Amarillo chops but Race comes back with some headbutts of his own. He snapmares him over and drops a knee to Funk’s face. He covers but only gets a one. He hits a “Billy Robinson” backbreaker and that reference is totally lost on me. He goes for another one but gets headscissored over. We clip ahead a bit with Race tossing Funk out of the ring. Cornette points out that the ring is actually a 24 foot boxing ring with a huge apron area. Race brings him back him and snapmares him over. He goes to the top but Funk catches him and tosses him off. Funk drops a knee on Race’s knee. Funk works in the spinning toe hold but Race punshes him off. Race goes for a suplex but the weakened leg gives out and Funk falls on top for two. Funk goes back to the spinning toe hold and Race taps out. Well, he taps on the mat but the tap out really didn’t come into existence until 1998ish. Funk goes for a headlock but Race lifts him up and drops Funk’s bad knee across his knee and Funk is in pain. Race puts on the Indian Death Lock which works on the knee. Race keeps it on for what seems like forever until Funk has no choice but to submit at 7:13. Really good classic match where everything built up quite nicely. I’ve never seen the full match so I have no idea how long it really is but what was here was gold, WRESTLING GOLD. ***3/4.
Brace yourselves, it’s all down hill from here.
7) Pepper Gomez vs. The Bounty Hunter
They lock up to start and they break clean. They lock up again and the Hunter bails to the apron. Pepper pulls him back in. The spot was so loved by the two that they repeat it again. TBH bails to the outside this time. He makes it back and they lock up which leads to a Gomez armdrag and armbar. He breaks when TBH makes the ropes. He gets up and Gomez works in the headlock. Gomez is the man with the cast iron stomach so TBH’s punches to the stomach has no effect on him. We clip ahead to a wristlock but TBH makes the ropes, but the ref kicks his foot off the rope. TBH breaks and kicks him in the back. Man, this match sucks following up a classic match like Funk and Race. Watching these two is like watching Tugboat vs. Viscera in an Iron Man match. Anyway, TBH goes up top only to get thrown off and get hit with a running knee. He hits a mexican drop (the guy is on the ground, you pick up and spread out his legs and basically drop your ass into his chest) and gets TBH in a pinning combination for the pin and the win at: 4:22. Bad match. ½*.
8) Austin Idol vs. Jim Neidhart
They shove each other to start and Neidhart grabs the headlock. He’s sent to the rope but shoulderblocks Idol down. Neidhart goe s back to the ropes but Idol’s manager, a guy by the name of Jimmy Hart, trips him up. Neidhart goes outside to yell at him. This goes on for an hour or so until Neidhart makes it back to the ring. He gets whipped to the ropes and back body dropped. Idol follows with a bodyslam. He goes for another back body drop but Neidhart forearms him in the back. Neidhart makes this match move along much more quickly with a headlock. He kicks away at Austin and bodyslams him. A cover only gets a two. He bodyslams him again and a cover again only gets a two. He sends Austin off the ropes and his a back body drop. He covers but Idol makes the rope. Neidhart slaps on a bearhug and this match needs SOMETHING to make it interesting. We clip ahead mercifully to Idol punching Neidhart in the head. Idol grabs his own resthold (the sleeper). Hart interferes so the Spoiler comes in and hits Idol with a cane. Neidhart goes for the pin but Hart runs in for the DQ at: 5:53 . Brawl ensues which Hart and Idol win, actually. Speaking of winning, this match didn’t make me feel like much of a winner. ¼*.
9) Junkyard Dog vs. Butch Reed
Butch Reed was known as “Hacksaw” Butch Reed at this time. This was a Ghetto Brawl of some sort sez Cornette. JYD kicks away at Reed who bails to the outside. Reed gets to the apron and since this is the 80’s, JYD slingshots him in. JYD astonishes me with punching Reed some more. He goes down to the kneeling headbutt and sends Reed outside. Reed gets onto the apron amazingly so JYD drops his throat on the top rope. JYD continues with the brutalization of the pre-natural one. JYD works over Reed in the corner until the ref has to separate them. Reed of course cheapshots JYD with a CLOSED FIST. Reed punches JYD but JYD starts no-selling. They both hit clotheslines on each other and this is JUST what this match needed, a double DQ spot. Punch, punch, punch, choke, punch, clips, headlock, rest. I can hardly keep up with the hectic pace these two are setting. This is racing quickly towards negative stars. JYD manages to fight back and atomic drops Reed. He pounds away on Reed, hiptosses him and hits the JYD thump (basically a powerslam) on him. That gets the pin and the win at 7:43. I don’t know why this was put on the disc but it’s there. DUD.
10) Rick Rude/Jim Neidhart/Ox Baker/Japanese Assassin vs. Robert Reed/Tiger Mask/Keith Eric/Mad Dog
Way too many people here as the heels pound on Keith Eric. Rick Rude is wearing a dress years before Pillman and Goldust had that angle. Meltzer says he looks like Chyna a bit. Well, without the 80’s porn star mustache. Keith Eric is killed by the heels. Mad Dog is tagged in and same thing happens to him. Tiger Mask is looking very un-oriental and Meltzer says it’s Ken Wayne. Wayne gets murdered by Rude. Neidhart is tagged in and he bodyslams him. Robert Reed is tagged in and he doesn’t fare much better than the other three jobbers did. Keith Eric is back in and The Japanese Assassin kicks him. He’s probably the worse Japanese Assassin I’ve ever seen. Neidhart powerslams him but picks him up at two. He hits the rude awakening and drops an elbow for the pin and the win at: 3:14. Basic squash match but the heels looked pretty energetic. ½*.
11) King Kong Bundy vs. Jerry Lawler
Bundy gets a big splash on Lawler to start then stomps on Lawler’s crown. He kills Lawler and covers but Lawler’s foot makes the ropes. He shoulderblocks him down then drops on him but Lawler is up at two. Lawler is making Bundy look amazing with his selling here. Cornette reminds us that the stipulation for this match is that Lawler gets $1,000 for every minute in the ring with Bundy. Lawler bails to the outside so Bundy follows and posts him. He sends him back in and drops an elbow for two. He grabs Lawler in a bearhug. He drops an elbow but Lawler moves and bails to the outside. Lawler goads Bundy to the outside so Bundy goes outside. Lawler keeps running away so Bundy just goes back to the ring. Lawler rolls in to break the count and just as quickly exits. He does this almost a half dozen times as we go down stall lane with no signs of going back. Bundy finally catches up to Lawler and brings him back inside. This is six minutes in so that’s six grand for Jerry. Bundy misses a big splash so Lawler powers up and off comes the strap. Rick Rude runs down to ringside to distract Lawler so Bundy wallops him with a chain on his hand and splashes Lawler for the FIVE count at 7:18. Cornette and Meltzer note that might be the only time Lawler got pinned with a 5 count. The stalling had a reason to the match but it made it suck so what can I do? ½*.
12) Terry Funk vs. Mark Lewin
This is from Detroit, Michigan in the late 70’s and the ring is really small. Lewin works a hammerlock to start and kicks away at Funk. Funk chops to try to break but headbutts Lewin, but I guess Lewin has an iron skull since Funk gets knocked down. Funk breaks and sends Lewin to the ropes but misses a clothesline and gets armdragged down. Lewin goes back to working the arm and they tumble around for a bit. Cornette tells us that most promoters are evil, vile and greedy. Funk misses an elbow drop so Lewin, you guessed it, goes back to the arm. Funk breaks and dumps Lewin outside. Funk kicks him from the apron then bashes his head into the apron. It looks like there are about 35 people in the stands. They continue brawling and Lewin takes a shard of a wood chair and pounds Funk with it. Lewin grabs Funk in a sleeper. Walter Johnson saves, yes, NFL Walter Johnson, and Funk chokes Lewin with another shard of wood. Big schmoz that was about 7 minutes long or so. Match was really boring before they started brawling, funny enough. ¾*.
13) Tommy Rich vs. Masato Ito
We’re JIP and Rich has a side headlock on Ito. Ito comes back with a bodyslam and they stand off. He works in his martial arts chops but Rich snapmares him over into a headlock but Ito breaks free. He chops some more, since he’s Oriental and all. Ito goes for a bodyslam but Rich flips out and tries for a sunset flip only to get pushed off. He comes right back with a hiptoss and they stand there. Ito finally attacks and chops Rich down and drops a head on him. He starts with the nerve pinch and then legdrops him for two. Rich makes the big comeback but Ito chops him in the neck and does a horrible jump kick and puts the nerve pinch back on Rich. He chops Rich down but Rich again makes the big babyface comeback. Ito bodyslams Rich to quell that storm and goes to the second rope. He misses a headbutt so Rich goes to the second rope and hits an elbow. He whips him to the ropes and hits a Lou Thesz press. He covers but some guy interferes so Jimmy Hart cheap shots Rich and Ito covers for two. Rich starts with comeback number 3 for the match and he back body drops Ito. The ref again is distracted so Jimmy Hart throws salt in his eyes. Ito covers and again only gets a two. Tojo Yamamoto, Rich’s manager, gives Rich some salt and when Jimmy Hart distracts the ref Rich throws it in Ito’s eyes. Rich hits a flying cross body block and that’s enough for the pin and the win AND the International Heavyweigh title at: 8:02. The start was slow and plodding but the ending was pretty hot. **.
14) Jerry Lawler vs. Kamala
Kamala starts off right away pounding away on Lawler. Kamala is looking a lot trimmer here than he would in his later WWF Days. He’s still fat but not AS fat. Lawler bails and we quickly cut to the two locking up and Lawler taking more of a beating. Lawler tries to comeback but Kamala no sells and Lawler is awed at this. He again throws a big right but Kamala no-sells. Kamala wants a test of strength but Lawler kicks him. Kamala no sells THAT and again goes after Lawler. He puts the nerve pinch on Lawler. We never see Lawler escape as we cut ahead a bit. Kamala splashes the back of Lawler and covers but Lawler BARELY kicks out. Kamala slams Lawler down and drops some chops on the prone Lawler. He hits another bodyslam and another splash for two. Kamala chops away and Lawler makes the big comeback and takes the strap off. Lawler with the KINGLY comeback and pounds away on Kamala, knocking him down. Meanwhile, Cornette and Meltzer say Hogan is a direct descendant of Popeye and stole his gimmick from him. Kamala makes a comeback on King’s comeback and knocks Lawler outside. He slams him headfirst onto the table. Kamala continues the savage beating. Lawler grabs a chair and whacks Kamala with it and Lawler goes into the ring. The referee bgins the count on Kamala and Kamala can’t make it back in time. The match was 10:19 and wasn’t too bad. The psychology was there and it made for a decent enough match. *3/4.
15) Ray Stevens/Blackjack Mulligan/Baron Von Raschke vs. The Crusher/Dick The Bruiser/Sailor Art Thomas
Ray Stevens and The Crusher start and Stevens pounds away until the Crusher makes the comeback. Stevens tags in Raschke who himself get pounded on. We cut ahead and Mulligan is in the ring with the Bruiser. Bruiser sends him to the turnbuckles then whips him to the ropes and hits a back body drop. The heels interfere and we clip to Bruiser working Mulligan’s arm. The heels pull him into the heel corner for some good ol’ triple teamin. Man the average age of the people in this match look about 55. The faces keep trying to break up the chicanery and the ref is quickly losing control of this match. We clip to Bruiser tagging in Crusher to beat on Raschke. Bruiser and Stevens are now in the ring. Stevens pounds away and he starts no selling. He stomps a mudhole on Stevens in the corner and dumps him over the top. He flips in hin and for no reason throws him into the heel corner. He gets killed of course but starts no selling. All hell breaks loose as Mulligan and Raschke get whipped into each other. Bruiser does the double noggin knocker with Mulligan and Raschke. Bruiser and Crusher hit a double back drop on Raschke and then Bruiser goes to the top and stomps on him off the top for the pin and the win at 6:54. Good clean fun. **.
DVD Features
A) Extras
1) Check This Out
Three stills shown for Wrestling Observer, eYada.com, and VCI Home Video
2) Chapter Menu
You know what it is!
3) Select Audio
Allows you to select from the original commentary or Daves and Jims.
B) Audio/Visual
It’s presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. It doesn't really come into play since most of the main source is Jim and Dave speaking. The video is about the best you'll find. It varies by match but since some of this stuff will be almost impossible to get in quality like this.
C) Liner Notes
Sadly, no liner notes were issued. It would’ve been nice to have a booklet of some sort saying when the matches took place, when they first aired etc but this isn’t a major release with loads of money to put into it so I can understand
Wrestling Gold Disc Three: We Like To Hurt People Rundown
1) Tommy Rich/Eddie Gilbert vs. Phil Hickerson/The Spoiler in a Tennessee Street Fight (***)
2) The Rock N Roll Express vs. Randy Savage/Lanny Poffo (***)
3) Dick Slater vs. Dory Funk Jr. (**)
4) The Sheik vs. Tiger Jeet Singh in a Cage Match (DUD)
5) The Fabulous Blonds vs. Al Perez/Manny Fernandez (**1/2)
6) Terry Funk vs. Harley Race (***3/4)
7) Pepper Gomez vs. The Bounty Hunter (1/2*)
8) Austin Idol vs. Jim Neidhart (1/4*)
9) Junkyard Dog vs. Butch Reed (DUD)
10) Rick Rude/Jim Neidhart/Ox Baker/Japanese Assassin vs. Robert Reed/Tiger Mask/Keith Eric/Mad Dog (1/2*)
11) King Kong Bundy vs. Jerry Lawler (1/2*)
12) Terry Funk vs. Mark Lewin (3/4*)
13) Tommy Rich vs. Masato Ito (**)
14) Jerry Lawler vs. Kamala (*3/4)
15) Ray Stevens/Blackjack Mulligan/Baron Von Raschke vs. The Crusher/Dick The Bruiser/Sailor Art Thomas (**)
Overall Review
The beginning of this disc was cruising ahead towards awesome but then we hit the Gomez/Bounty Hunter Match and the disc went down in a HURRY. Still, some great stuff near the top makes this a very good DVD. The average match rating was about 1.5 placing it fourth out of the 5 mathematically, but that’s only because of the crap near the middle and end.
8.0
|
