AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

In an period where racism has again reared its ugly head in Georgia as the State Legislature passed yet another attempt (echoing Arizona and Utah) to pre-empt ffederal immigration law….its worth remembering what one wrestler did to fight racism many years ago in the American South.

For those of you who haven’t ever heard of him, Rocco Monroe Brumbaugh, better known as Sputnik Monroe was a legendary character in the true oldtime Southern wrestling manner. If that was all Sputnik Monroe was…that would have been more than enough for a few good stories among old friends and students of wrestling.

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This was one of the most famous and controversial matches (actually there was two) to ever take place. Ric Flair went into great detail over his matches in the Dominican Republic with local icon Jack Veneno.

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The Forgotten Supercard: Starrcade 1987
Originally published on April 5, 2004
Written by Eric James Taylor

Note about Photo: “Rugged” Ronnie Garvin, who had wrestled the NWA World Heavyweight title away from Ric Flair just a few months before, went into the event with the championship, and the much-anticipated rematch!

In this day and age, any pay-per-view is considered by those within the business as a “supercard”. Unfortunately for wrestling fans these days, a supercard is rarely all that super. To enlighten the newer fans as to what the term “supercard” once meant, I will analyze perhaps the greatest supercard of them all, in my opinion, the NWA’s Starrcade ’87: Chi-Town Heat event. On November 26th, 1987, Thanksgiving night, a sell-out crowd in the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, IL saw perhaps what is arguably one of the greatest events of all time. This event certainly made an impact on me, as I still have yet to ever see a match that will rival the pops received in even some of the undercard matches on this event. The buildup to the event itself was almost a year long affair. Falling on the heels of Jim Crockett’s purchase of Bill Watt’s UWF, this event promised many great matches, including a few interpromotional matches.

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A Tribute to Puerto Rican Stars
Originally published in 2004
Written by Angel Martinez

If the wrestling universe is a star, Canada, Mexico, United States, Japan and Puerto Rico are the edges. Canada is well know for their scientific skills, great techniques and The Dungeon. Mexico is high flying, over the top gimmicks and great performers. United States is Sport Entertainment, muscular guys and a lot of idolized Gods of Wrestling. Wrestling in Japan is very religious, great sportsmanship and a good dose of craziness. Puerto Rico is Hardcore, Bloody and very passionate.

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The City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia)
Originally published on August 7, 2004
Written by David Frederick

A name that has not really had meaning in just over 300 years when William Penn chartered the city in 1701. Philadelphia, being the former capitol of the United States during the colony years and site of the creation/signing of the Declaration of Independence, also has tons of historical sites. There is just too much to talk about Philadelphia as a part of American history. Philadelphia has also been among the most historical places in professional wrestling history.

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Luke and Butch: Before the Bushwhackers
Originally published on August 6, 2004
Written by Kevin G. Bufton

Many people consider the late eighties and early nineties to have been a Golden Age for tag team wrestling in the WWF. They talk about the likes of the Bulldogs, the Hart Foundation, Demolition, the Rockers and, to a lesser extent, Strike Force, High Energy and the Orient Express. Whilst I wouldn’t dispute this to any great extent, this was also the time of the Bolsheviks, the Powers of Pain, the Twin Towers, Colossal Connection and, perhaps the greatest steaming turd in the cesspool, the Bushwhackers.

The very name of this New Zealander team causes many die-hard wrestling fans to sweat in fear and trepidation. Respected members of the Internet Wrestling Community, including Scott Keith and Smash Wrestling’s Arnold Furious refuse to watch their matches during some of their PPV recaps. There must be a good reason for people so obsessively enamoured of wrestling to ignore more of their favourite sport, but were the Bushwhackers REALLY that bad” -  – - – Well…yes.

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Who’s Hardcore” They’re Hardcore!
Originally published by July 9, 2004
Written by Paul K.

Now I know everyone who has watched wrestling has heard the word HARDCORE thrown around – like the old WWF Hardcore title. But in my humble opinion, I think that title had nothing to do with hardcore. Now promotions such as CZW, XPW, FMW, and even ECW are hardcore. Men like Sabu, Mr. Pogo, Masato Tanaka, Terry Funk, Super Leather, New Jack, Hayabusa and Mick Foley are hardcore. I respect all these men so much for what they do. Let’s go through the top five hardcore men ever in wrestling.

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Time Machine: The Early Years
Originally published on June 10, 2004
Written by Gladiator

Come and step into the pro wrestling time machine, where I will write about each generation of wrestling. And we begin in the early years of pro wrestling.

In the early years, promoters ran their respective territories, as specific federations were not popular at the time. Until July 14, 1948, of course, when promoters from St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Omaha, Des Moines and Columbus fused to form the National Wrestling Alliance. Amongst competition were the World Wrestling Association led by the LeBells, and other territories run by promoters like Jess McMahon, Jules Strongbow and Jim Crockett. But none could top the success of the NWA.

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The Wonderful Brandon Bull
By Dr. Mike Lano
[Wrestling/boxing/MMA photojournalism]

Who’ll ever forget where they were the first time Gordon Solie called Paul that during one of his great GCW squashes?  The Brandon Bull.  He was and remains that and one pretty tough hombre, cancer be damned.
 
I think many of us first came to appreciate what a tremendous athlete Paul was in Bill Watt’s talent-laden Mid South promotion that was the standard of excellence for U.S. wrestling in the late 70’s and early 80’s amidst a crowded field(many of the territories were still great up to and including late 1983).  Others may have first marveled at his work for Ole Anderson in Georgia Championship(always talent-packed as well).
 
As with the faux Paul Ellering wrestling “brother,”  I think Watts/Mid South also had a faux Orndorff brother tagging with him at the time by the name of “Terry”(similar to Watts’ former area boss, Leroy McGuirk who tried to capitalize on the earliest incarnation of Ivan Putsky with a faux brother called Igor Putski.  Oddly,  Ivan was originally a near-carbon-copy of Sheik’s Mighty Igor Vodik(Dick Garza) doing that particular non-speaking, allegedly dim-witted Polish man-child gimmick.

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If you missed Tuesday December 14th edition of the Online World of Wrestling Radio with host Alan Wojcik and contributors Jason Deadrich from ClickWrestle.com & Cauliflower Alley Club, Wrestle Talk Radio/Otaku Talk Radio’s Spug & Mase, here are the highlights:

The group broke down the WWE Slammy Awards, the “go-home” edition of Monday Night Raw including the return of John Cena, gave a preview of Sunday’s TLC PPV event, the TV passing of Paul Bearer, thoughts on Saturday’s Tribute to the Troops event on NBC and John Cena’s granting his 200th wish via the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Our interview guest for the evening was legendary Midnight Express and recent Ring Roast 3 honoree JIM CORNETTE. Mr. Cornette took questions from email inbox & Facebook page as well as our panel on the roast, his time with ROH, WWE, WCW/NWA and OVW. Some of the answers need to be heard to be believed. Log onto www.rohwrestling.com and www.kayfabecommentaries.com for information.

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