Category Archives: Throwback PPVs
WCW Uncensored 1995 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Unsanctioned, Unauthorized, Unbelievable.”
If a tagline ever fit a World Championship Wrestling show, this was it.
Uncensored – WCW’s attempt to bend the rules and present an “extreme” Pay-Per-View with only gimmicked matches, was an experiment in the beginning.
Headlined by a Leather Strap Match between WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Vader in the midst of a hot feud between Hogan and “A Man Possessed,” Ric Flair, it was enough to salvage for the rest of the malarky.
What malarky? Put in a “Boxer Vs. Wrestler” Match, a “King Of The Road” Match and a “Martial Arts” Match.
Oh and because of recent creative changes, no blood was allowed at all.
More below.
WCW Halloween Havoc 1992 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
World Championship Wrestling and the early 1990’s are about as gimmicked as professional wrestling could be.
Check out our review of Starrcade 1991 for an example of this.
With this particular event famous for its “Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal” concept (just imagine Raw Roulette for more current readers), Sting and Jake “The Snake” Roberts would settle their longtime feud with 12 possible “unsanctioned” scenarios.
On top of that, WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude would “compete” in two matches, Flyin’ Brian-Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat would face off in an exceptional match (by early 90’s standards) and there was a moment between Paul E. Dangerously (or Paul Heyman for those current peeps – how ya doin’?) and Madusa that wouldn’t be forgotten.
Coming from Philadelphia, we got snippets of what “hardcore” would soon look like. This crowd helped to make this show more bearable.
WCW Starrcade 1991 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Known as World Championship Wrestling’s proverbial “answer to WrestleMania” from the then-World Wrestling Federation, Starrcade was always about making history and was aptly placed where a “payoff” Pay-Per-View should be – the end of December.
It’s only fitting that all the big storylines would come to a halt here, naturally.
Oh wait – not in 1991. Ha. What were you thinking there?
In Ric Flair’s absence, WCW appeared to put a lot of faith in its biggest draw, the blonde-haired, face-painted babyface Sting, as he sought the World Heavyweight Championship.
As an obstacle, he had to go through not only Lex Luger, but as well as a group called The Dangerous Alliance, consistent of members like Rick Rude, “Stunning” Steve Austin (who had blonde hair of his own, that’s how old this show is) and were led by none other than Paul E. Dangerously, who we now know as Paul Heyman.
The melodrama was certainly there and all stages appeared to go towards a big showdown for the Title between Sting and Luger. Nope, you’re not going to get that match straight up at Starrcade. They’re going to “make history” and introduce a concept never heard before – the “Lethal Lottery.”
Come join us for this 1990’s-tastic journey.
TNA Turning Point 2012 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
So at the end of it all, Turning Point had no Title changes, but the Main Event picture for the next month became well-defined.
A.J. Styles took the ultimate fall and won’t get a chance to compete for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship until Bound For Glory 2013, while James Storm took the #1 Contender spot.
That said, an above-average card delivered an above-average show. Simple as that.
WWE Hell In A Cell 2012 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Hell in a Cell will be best remembered as the night Ryback got screwed by the referee.
Also shockingly enough, it will be remembered for Sheamus and The Big Show.
The rest wasn’t all that special despite some quality matches.
There are only three weeks until Survivor Series (as opposed to Hell in a Cell’s six-week build), so things will pick up fast.
When Hell in a cell was said and done, it wasn’t as newsworthy as you’d expect, but some matches delivered.
TNA Bound For Glory 2012 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Bound For Glory was quite the newsworthy show.
Rob Van Dam, Tara, Chavo Guerrero Jr./Hernandez and Jeff Hardy all became Champions.
Bully Ray didn’t turn on Sting. Devon turned out to be a part of Aces and Eights.
James Storm and Bobby Roode took part in an absolute all-out brawl that arguably stole the show.
There’s plenty of ways TNA can go after this show and with four Championships changing hands, a new direction seems definite.
WWE In Your House 4 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
With the first WWE Pay-Per-View held in Canada since WrestleMania VI five years prior, the “In Your House” series continued to invade the houses of professional wrestling fans in the 90’s, giving us trademark mid-90’s WWE – outlandish characters, strong emphasis on promos and athleticism in the tag team and main event matches.
Compared to some of the past IYH’s, this show ranked up in the better half, with a fast-paced two hours with some riveting matches, nothing ever getting slow or boring, even though some of the overbooked finishes were questionable.
All on that below.
WWE In Your House 3 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
In Your House 3 was mostly known for its unique “Tripleheader” main event, which was the WWE Tag Team Champions Owen Hart/Yokozuna fighting against WWE World Champion Diesel/WWE Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels, with every Title up for grabs, as whoever got pinned would lose their respective belt(s) to the person who pinned them.
The rest of the event was well… very 90’s. We saw glimpses of future failures (Savio Vega’s initial babyface run, Dean Douglas, the list goes on) and we also saw some breakthrough performances from the likes of The British Bulldog, Bam Bam Bigelow and Bret Hart.
WWE SummerSlam 1988 Reaction
Courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Much like the inaugural WrestleMania did three years prior, WWE stormed Madison Square Garden with a night of highs, lows and much in-betweens with the first SummerSlam event.
The magic laid in a “surprise” moment of Ultimate Warrior beating Honky Tonk Man in a mere 30 seconds to win the Intercontinental Championship and Miss Elizabeth wearing a bikini bottom to distract the heels in the main event.
In terms of actual memorable wrestling contests, not quite as magical, despite a strong opener, which ultimately disappointed.
We’ll get to all of that fun stuff below.
WWE In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Those of you who may remember this show best for the “World Premiere” of “Double J” Jeff Jarrett’s “Alone With My Baby Tonight” and surely enough, who could forget that lovely moment in history?
When it comes down to it, there was plenty of Double J on this show to go around. Pretty much dominated the show’s first half.
The best match on the show also involved Jarrett, so it’s a give-and-take situation. The rest of the night was characteristic of what was problematic with WWE in the mid-90’s. We’ll get into it below.
