Survivor Series 1988 Review

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas | +PuroWAVE  | @purowavepodcast | +Sledgecorp Productions 

Once again, that time of year rolls around.  And of course that means a gratuitous amount of food... for most people.  I'm of course broker than I've ever been, and MY Thanksgiving is in danger.  But I still have the Internet!  So even though I'm in desperate need of food, I'm going to write something 15 people MIGHT read.  So without further ado and with GREAT HUNGER... I present Survivor Series 1988!

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What I liked about last Monday's Hall of Fame segment...

I have been loving how old school WWE has been with this John Cena and Brock Lesnar.

I'm not just talking about the Hall of Famers themselves, or the retro SummerSlam Report (which I LOVED)...


I mean old school in the sense that this feud is about one guy trying to beat another. No kidnapped girlfriends, no twin referees...

This is simply about one guy beating up another guy and now he's pissed.

Simplicity is brilliance, folks. Simplicity is brilliance.

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Hulk Hogan vs. Vader from Superbrawl V... and why I think it's a good one!

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

It took me many years before I had the chance to see this match... I believe this match was broadcast during a time when I had NO cable and relied SOLELY on air TV (remember THAT?) and Fidonet groups on BBS's. I had read about it, I'm sure, but I don't remember a thing about what I read or thought at the time. I was just getting out of my childhood Hulkamaniac phase, and was just starting to look into wrestling from sources other than the WWF. However, I was just not interested enough.

Then came the late 90's, and I was ALL about Vader!

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Abby vs. Andre? Abby vs. Hogan??? ABBY???

In what can only be called a bizzare mixing of worlds for me, here we have Abdullah the Buthcer, famous for his vicious bloody matches, tieing up with two grapplers better known for their child friendly careers (at least publicly) in the WWF.



Abby vs. Andre the Giant (WWC, First Anniversary, 1983)


I'd like to find the build up to this someday. Because Andre is just letting the Butcher HAVE IT in this match from the WWC organization in Puerto Rico. Abby always had a rich history in PR, and this match is just one in a litany of legendary matches, most notably against Carlos Colon.





Abby vs. Hulk Hogan (New Japan Pro-Wrestling, World Pro-Wrestling, 1980s)


Now we have the man who would end up being the very image of kid-friendly professional wrestling in the 80's taking on the Madman from Sudan.



When I was a pro-wrestling neophite in the early 90's, I had only heard of the Butcher from the Apter mags. I never really had a chance to see him in action until the tape-trading days of the mid to late 90's. So seeing a guy with his very distinct style taking on guys I was VERY well acquainted with was hell of a trip.

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Antonio Inoki's Most Interesting Matches

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

Antonio Inoki is rather prolific.

Before his official retirement, Antonio Inoki was an IMMENSELY popular Japanese wrestler. So popular, in fact, that he has faced almost EVERYONE in the wrestling business from his generation!

From Hulk Hogan to Ric Flair, to Vader and even Muhammad Ali, Inoki has been quite successful, pretty much fitting the 'hero' mold that Hulk Hogan did here in the US. He is so well known in Japan it's absolutely amazing. In fact, when I was teaching English in Japan, my students did this skit where "Inoki" (a student in Inoki facade, replete with the trademark oversized chin) would slap some inspiration into the attendees.

Here, in no particular order, I'd like to present the most interesting opponents (from an American perspective) that Antonio Inoki has ever had.

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PRIXEL DERP WRESTLEGAME REVIEW - WWF Superstars (1989, Technos Japan)

  Technos Japan, 1989




One of the first major license arcade wrestling games to hit the streets did so in 1989 when Technos Japan released WWF Superstars. While not an immensely deep game, it did offer its share of action and enjoyment to those who had enough quarters (it ate quarters like nothing else, save WWF Wrestlefest).
Read On...

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Match Review: WWF/SWS Wrestlefest 1991: Road Warriors vs. Genichiro Tenryu and Hulk Hogan

Road Warriors vs. Hogan/Tenryu

A few points:

- Holy shit Hogan is an ass here!  First, he knocks over a camera man as he's walking down the aisle.  Then, he knocks a ringboy off the apron.  A ringboy whose great offense was OPENING THE ROPES FOR HIM!  Then, ON TOP OF ALL THAT, he BOOTS the ringside camera right on the lense! What are you doing this for?  At the very least, that last point gave us an impressive visual.

Oh, yeah. He also casually tosses his belt (THAT'S WHAT IT IS, WWE! NOT A TITLE! THE PHYSICAL OBJECT THAT REPRESENTS THE TITLE IS THE BELT!) to the ref Hebner like it was garbage. To anyone who complains about championships meaning nothing, there's a visual for you!


- Great power shown by the Road Warriors, as Hawk lifts Tenryu and Animal (after some struggling) lifts Hogan in a very impressive power display.

- Tenryu with stereo ENZUIGIRIS... that look like they lightly grazed their targets.

- Hogan going NUTS with chairs! Sure, this is 1991 and the headshots are protected, but still.

All in all, a fun and unusual match! It's like a bizzarre mismash... Tenryu doesn't have his usual thunderstorm entrance theme and the Road Warriors come out to their NWA/Japan Iron Man theme... but Hogan comes out to 'Real American.'

Oh yeah, and a fun pull apart at the end!

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