Old School - all wrestling until 1994 - includes WWF, NWA, Stampede, AAA, etc

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwe-network-wwfs-unusual-matches/

A look into one of the first VHS releases for the WWF. Featuring legends like Chief Jay Strongbow, Haystacks Calhoun and Ray Stevens in action, plus a hard hitting clash between Tito Santana and Greg Valentine, a pair of battle royals, a ten man tag team contest with Andre the Giant as a centerpiece, a violent brawl with the JYD and Jimmy Snuka fighting Bob Orton and Roddy Piper and other action!
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwe-network-grudge-match86/

Grudge Match '86 is full of feuds, blood and brawls including Terry Funk's troubles with the JYD, Hulk Hogan's tussle with Don Muraco, a pair of hard hitting Greg Valentine and Tito Santana bouts for the IC title, Bruno Sammartino butting heads with Billy Graham and Ivan Koloff, and the Hogan/Piper rivalry coming to a head!
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/from-the-wwe-network-inside-the-steel-cage/

"Inside the Steel Cage" has some classic matches. Randy Savage and Adrian Adonis fighting Bruno Sammartino and Tito Santana is the stand out. Andre vs. Studd is like a monster movie come to life, Piper brawling with Bruno is great fun. The classic endings to Santana against Valentine and Muraco defending the IC title against Snuka are worth the inclusion, plus we get Hogan, Backlund and Bruno title defenses!
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwe-network-grand-slams/

WWF "Grand Slams" is a solid starting point for anyone who wants to see some of the best and most famous moments from the early to mid-80's in the WWF. Clips include: Tito and Greg Valentine ending their long feud, Piper taunting Mr. T, Wendi Richter being screwed out of the Women's title, MIDGETS, World title changes, tag title turmoil, Macho Man stealing the IC title from Santana, Gorilla Monsoon boxes Andre the Giant, Ali confronts Monsoon, the Birth of Hulkamania, 3 battle royals, an irate Andre battering Killer Khan, Snuka's cage dive and more!!
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwe-network-villains-squared-circle/
"Villians of the Squared Circle" sees an early dose of evil Jake the Snake, a bloody fight with Pedro Morales and Animal Steele, Andre squares off with an NFL star nearly as large as he is, Captain Lou takes a beating from Gorilla Monsoon, Don Muraco looks for a porker to screw, highlights from an angle that Mid-South mocked on their TV soon after, Roddy Piper's greatest hits, Macho Man's conniving victory over IC champ Tito Santana, an American hero falls short, Andre falls to Studd and Bundy's assault, and we close with a haircut that spawned months of violence!
 
I have been slowly binge watching the TNT's since they came up on the Network. I recently watched 12 episodes from the Fall of 85:

- The Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy do a sit down with Vince and Alfred. Kid has longer bleach blond hair that I didn't recall. Vince asked the opening question, grabbed Kid's arm before they could answer, played a jobber squash clip, then came back and threw it to commercial to end the interview. They clearly loved the Bulldogs promo ability.

- Twice they put Capt. Lou in Holiday themed costumes and let him rant and ramble in his own segment. It didn't really work. He carved pumpkins and made cracks about how they looked like various heels in one, and played Santa with kids in another. Santa ended up seeing an 80's version of a hot woman and went lecherous.

- The infamous and beloved skits with Fuji and Muraco trying to become actors is typical WWF humor where something is amusing for one segment, so they drive it into the ground over the next 5 or 6 weeks.

- Tiger Chung Lee (a Korean) uses the term "Jap", Fred Blassie calls Tito Santana a "pepper belly".

- Heenan alludes to managing AWA World champ Bockwinkel and Vince calls him out as having never managed a champion he can recall.

- Vince loved slyly making fun of his talent. Mike Sharpe references his conditioning one too many times and Vince makes light of his repetitive promo. Moolah is asked about changing her name after she won the WWF Women's title as "The Spider" and is clearly unprepared and/or annoyed with Vince for asking off the cuff. Then a "fan" asks Moolah how old she is and that throws her off a bit too. Macho Man is cutting a promo on Hogan from the couch, when McMahon asks him why he sticks his tongue out so much. Savage pauses for a long bit, looking around before coming up with an answer of sorts.

- Blaisse brings out Hercules, and Vince asks why he chose an American, since his stable is usually foreigners. Fred says Hercules "Hernandez" is a Latin star. Herc looks on from the couch bemused.

- Blaisse later manages Moondog Spot of all people. He comes out and thinks he's an actual dog, so he tries to pee on Alfred.

- They give Jimmy Hart a lot of screen time around the release of the "Wrestling Album". He even performs his song, while Bret and the Anvil do swimming motions in lieu of dancing in front of him.

- They spent several weeks doing silly balloon and egg toss games, among others with the talent and fans.

-Uncle Elmer talks about his sow having 15 piglets. He and Vince then talk about hog "tits" as Vince smirks.
Elmer then shows off his wedding gift from his wife: a rolex. This is a total inside rib as Elmer was known for selling wrestlers cheap replica watches.
 
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http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwe-network-wrestlings-superheroes/

"Wrestling's Superheroes" is a mix of MSG gems like Roddy Piper facing Rick Rude in a really good cage match, as well as the Ultimate Warrior battling Randy Savage in a champion vs. champion bout where Savage pinballs for his beastly foe. Other than that we see PPV and SNME repeats with Hogan butting heads with Hercules, the Powers of Pain knocking around Demolition, and Jimmy Snuka tangling with the Hammer.
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwe-network-supertape/

"Supertape" sees former AWA and NWA champions squaring off in a WWF ring, "No Holds Barred" comes to life as Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan battle the Macho King and Zeus in a steel cage, The Million Dollar Man tangles with Jake the Snake, Tito Santana grapples with "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Tugboat debuts, and the Bushwackers face off with 3 different teams who can't match the Wackers technical wizardry in the ring.
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/from-the-wwe-network-wwf-world-tour-1990/

"World Tour '90' sees a loaded compilation of solid wrestling and amusing action. Hulk Hogan batters Sherri Martel almost as much as the Macho Man in their encounter. Even the announcers struggle to justify Hogan's actions. Jim Duggan and the Honky Tonk Man have a "so bad it's good" encounter with lazy, sloppy action and a super hot crowd, Ted Dibiase battles the Ultimate Warrior with a "bizarro world" crowd as the Japanese audience embraces the Million Dollar Man, The Rockers and Rougeaus engage in a fun affair, Bret Hart suffers a legit injury - yet still gets a good match out of Dino Bravo, plus Jimmy Snuka is the featured superstar in the "profile" segment, giving us the gift of mat classics with Boris Zhukov and the Honky Tonk Man!!
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/from-the-wwe-network-wrestlefest-1990/

Wrestlefest 90:
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper clashes with the Macho King in a rare encounter between two of the biggest stars ever... Mr. Perfect plays pinball for the Hulkster....The Earthquake and Dino Bravo try to maul the Ultimate Warrior....a spotlight on the Hart Foundation sees them face off with the Powers of Pain, The Rockers and members of Jimmy Hart's entourage....Beefcake attempts to give the Model a new hairstyle...plus Jake the Snake partners with the Ultimate Warrior to face Akeem and the Million Dollar Man!
 
Rewatching Misawa vs Hansen 8/22/92, what an amazing match.

 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/from-the-wwe-network-super-tape-2/

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan gives the Macho King all he can handle in a battle for the crown, The Rockers are given a "profile" section that ends in an unexpected manner, Demolition battles the WWF's new heel tandem, Roddy Piper and Rick Rude brawl, Rick Martel and Bret Hart tangle in a technical battle, Akeem dances in the face of Greek Mythos, and the Hulkster partners with the Barber to try and put a hurting on Mr. Perfect and the Genius!
 
Random post: I used to tape Saturday Night's Main Event (it was on too late) and then I would watch them over and over again. One of the first matches I remember from that time period was Hogan vs. Nikolai Volkoff in a flag match (just a regular match where the winner got to waive his flag at the end). Spoiler alert: Hogan won. He then ripped the Soviet flag off the flag pole and used it to shine his boots. I was almost 6 when the match happened, and I remember legitimately thinking that the Hulkster's actions degrading the Soviet flag would lead to them bombing us and starting World War 3.

Not old school, but I did that all through the attitude era. Tape raw and watch it every day until Thursday then tape smackdown and watch it every day until the next raw.
 
Blackjack mulligan was/is a big sumbitch.

Growing up in Texas my outside family (cousins, etc) loved Kerry Von Erich. Although seemingly unreliable, it didnt matter - they were huge in that territory. Wonder what would have happened had he joined WWF earlier (early-mid 80s)


WCCW was legit. I was too young to remember, but my older brother and my parents watched that and Mid South and I watch now from time to time. Incredible stuff.
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-march-to-wrestlemania-9/

WWE should really put the old USA specials up before their corresponding PPVs one of these years. Here's a passive aggressive look at the "March to WM 9" with a lot of talent that was not part of the show or even with the WWF by the time this special aired. Macho Man is over HUGE even without a Mania program, Hulk Hogan cuts a promo about mermaids, Taker and Bam Bam Bigelow have a fun battle, Kamala is the Christian Cannibal, plus more fun!
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/from-the-wwf-network-wrestlings-tough-guys/

Wrestling's Tough Guys is a ROUGH tape to watch! Tito Santana can't get much out of the muscle bound Dino Bravo, Hacksaw Duggan butts heads with Boris Zhukov, The Powers of Pain and the Bushwackers have a true stinker, Hercules and Akeem have a comedic clash of titans, and in the only truly redeeming part of the tape sees Haku and Ronnie Garvin tossing stiff shots at one another in a true battle of legit badasses.
 
Nothing beats the old school Memphis Wresting where Jerry Lawler was the King. I loved when he threw fire on other wrestlers.

 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/from-the-wwe-network-the-wwfs-hottest-matches/

"The WWF's Hottest matches" is a pretty solid release. Tito Santana and Rick Martel put forth a nice battle, Jake the Snake's psychologically strong style is on display in matches with Akeem and the Million Dollar Man, The Rockers tangle with the Orient Express, and Dusty Rhodes faces Greg Valentine in one on one action, then teams with Sapphire for a crowd pleaser against the Macho King and Queen Sherri, who are joined by Brother Love. Plus the Barber has a stinker against Haku and a young Shawn Michaels gets an early chance at singles success as he grapples with Ted Dibiase.
 
I'm watching TNT from Jan. 86 and Capt. Lou described Animal Steele as "homicidal, suicidal!!" etc etc and very much sounded like proto-Paul E putting over Sabu a decade later.

Later in the show "Candice Purdue" comes out to talk about her weight lifting training and wrestling career (She's from Moolah's camp). Vince brings a geek with small arms out of the audience to arm wrestle her - and the dude wins. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

The show also sees a great botch as a jobber gets up the wrong way against Davey Boy Smith and he hits a crossbody on the guy anyway.

This also seems to be the debut of Adonis' full on gay gimmick. No more teasing the "Relax with Trudy" briefcase. In 2018 this is a babyface promo as Adonis proudly yells about going to the places he wants go to be with the people he wants to be with and "yes, I'm gay!". Vince brings out a flamingly gay makeup artist but McMahon won't even shake the guy's hand, apparently afraid of cooties.

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http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/from-the-wwe-network-supertape-3/

"SuperTape 3" sees Kerry Von Erich in a possibly impaired state as he grapples with Mr. Perfect, Jimmy Snuka sets some kind of record for bad wrestling as he and the Barbarian have a stinker, Jake the Snake shows off his psychology talents as he tangles with Curt Hennig, Paul Roma does his best to have a poor match with Marty Jannetty, the Legion of Doom and Demolition collide twice to establish tag team dominance, Tugboat and the Earthquake test the weight limit of the ring, and the Big Bossman and Ted Dibiase outshine the rest of pack with their efforts in one on one action.
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/from-the-wwe-network-wwf-mega-matches/

WWF's Mega Matches is loaded with stars. They jam in a really fun Randy Savage vs Jim Duggan encounter, the Macho King faces the wrath of the Ultimate Warrior in a cage (featuring Sherri getting stripped), Hulk Hogan out muscling Dino Bravo, Earthquake clashing with Tito Santana, Hacksaw Duggan defending America against Sgt. Slaughter, The Hitman tangling with the Barbarian, a little fun with the Bushwackers and Rhythm and Blues, the Big Bossman getting his hands on the Brain and the British Bulldog's return to MSG after being away for several years. Plus a hilarious bit with the Macho Man on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"!!
 
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