Spike cuts to a clip of Jeff Jarrett getting out of a car with Shannon Moore. So apparently Jarrett’s going to be a part of the show. Now I’ve already gone on the record here at the Sledgehammer stating why TNA and Dixie Carter should attempt to do all they can to separate themselves from Jarrett if they want to succeed. Jarrett has no heat, little talent, and has a born to lose aura in the industry of professional wrestling. I have not been watching TNA as of late, or any wrestling show for that matter, but I was under the impression that TNA was phasing Double-J out of their plans, but apparently not. So before the TNA festivities began at 8pm I was already disappointed.

The show begins, and despite the Jarrett nonsense, I was still somewhat excited to see what would be going on for that first hour on TNA before the Bret Hart show (more on that later). Now I want to go on the record here and now stating that at heart I am a WWE fan. I also like to think that when it comes to my analysis of the industry I am impartial and that I truly want TNA to succeed. Because I, like everyone else who is a fan and doesn’t work for McMahon, know that the industry is better when there are options. And on top of all of that I have to say that the WWE has grown successfully and increasingly predictable, boring and dull over the years. Since the departure of Brock Lesnar the WWE has been a poor product – period. So that all being said, I took all the video montages of the fans chanting TNA and stating how it was a new era and they were sick of seeing the kiddie crap on the WWE with a grain of salt – the TNA brass has always wanted to try and insert itself into the niche left open by the disintegration of ECW.

So the first match we get is some multi-wrestler cage match. I will take nothing away from the talent in the ring in that match. Chris Saban and Jay Lethal are two of the better talents in the industry (I love the Macho Man gimmick that Lethal has been running with, even if I think it will ultimately hamper his own career) – but the cage itself was a joke. This was supposed to be a new era? no more kiddie stuff? If the TNA is taking themselves and this direction seriously they need to get rid of whomever it was who designed this cage. The thing looked like something from a playground. It also looked as if the sides were ready to come down if somebody hit it too hard. Homicide couldn’t even exit the thing – it was comical, and not in a good way.

Not a good start.

Jeff Hardy then makes his appearance. We then saw Scott Hall and the 1-2-3 Kid together again. Then of all people The Nasty Boyz, as if they were anyone of any consequence (oh wait, yeah, Knobbs is Hogan’s best friend). Ric Flair even makes a cameo. As it gets to be 9pm I’m getting itchy to change the channel, but I still want to see Hogan make his entrance. He comes out, and he rambles on a little, but I have to admit here it was where the channel flipping began. I will save my commentary for what I saw on the WWE for a follow-up post, but I still kept checking out the TNA show through the evening. Even in those first few opening minutes of RAW coming on the air I kept my eye on TNA. The worst kept secret in TNA’s history was that Eric Bischoff was going to be brought into the fold, which made that limosine gimmick where one guy jumps into another one so juvenile (shades of WCW antics). So the first or second time I flip back to TNA I’m watching Bischoff on the mic whilst in the ring with Hogan, Hall and the Kid. Ok great, it’s a nWo reunion. Again.

It’s just like the old WCW days, wait, what? uh-oh.

It’s fun to see all these old figures back doing what made wrestling so compelling in the mid-90′s here in 2010, but in terms of the TNA, what exactly is it that we’re watching? Bischoff is going around bossing people around like only Bischoff can do, he’s great on camera in that role – but why is he doing it? Who is in charge? Does anyone really know? It’s certainly not Bischoff. When you listen to Hulk Hogan talk, or read his transcripts of interviews he’s giving, he’s saying he’s being brought in as the ‘Vince McMahon of TNA.’ Well, ok, but what does that mean exactly? Is he being brought in to book? Does Hogan now have a financial stake in the company now as well? Is this all simply for show? Well if Hogan has the book, which he clearly does (why else would you see TNA planting seeds for a ridiculous Dudley Bros.-Nasty Boyz program), what makes this any different from 1997?

I like Dixie Carter and I want her to succeed, and I understand everyone wanting to recreate a Monday night war but the timing is wrong and the people she’s bringing in are wrong.

Dixie Carter IS THE Vince McMahon of the TNA and if she really wants to cultivate her product she should go out there and BE the Vince McMahon. Bringing in Hogan…and bringing in Bischoff…and bringing in Hall for the hundreth time….and bringing in Flair…etc, etc, etc…and trying to create the nWo circa 1997 is not going to help her show for a multitude of reasons, but there is one major reason which trumps all others:

TNA HAS YET TO ESTABLISH ITSELF AS A BRAND.

The TNA, for all its chest-beating still has the fundamental issue of not having its own identity. Now the waters are muddied more than ever because they are trying to mirror themselves after a model which did have success, yes, but ultimately failed horribly, and the wrestling industry has suffered ever since. I’ve mentioned the lack of a brand identity in previous posts early last year, but the one thing I said TNA had for them is the best talent in the industry: Kurt Angle. I suggested that what Dixie Carter and the TNA brass should do is build their brand around Angle, slap the TNA Title around his waist and let him ride them through.

They didn’t do that. Now they are trying to build around the shell of a former industry giant and trying to draw water from a well that’s been visited far too many times since the collapse of WCW already anyway. While interesting for the time, I don’t see this meaning much of anything over the long run for TNA, if anything it’s going to set them back immensely, which is sad.

One of the biggest losers in all of this is in fact Kurt Angle, the company’s top asset. It’s never a good idea to turn your top asset into the biggest loser of a new direction you’re looking to head in. The TNA show should have rolled up their sleeves with Kurt Angle and turn him into a new Hulk Hogan for a new century. But look at what they’re doing now. They are turning the clock back to the 1990s banking on a megastar of the 1980s while Kurt Angle is losing to a good natured guy in AJ Styles in a world title match. AJ Styles is a nice wrestler with talent, and I know he’s been there since 2002, but he is nowhere near the league of a Kurt Angle in ability in and out of the ring. Kurt Angle could main event any arena anywhere in the world under any venue and could sell out. Can anyone say the same about AJ Styles? Afraid not.

I’ve seen Kurt Angle talk in shoots. Angle still has a good relationship with the McMahons. Don’t be surprised now to see Angle going back to the WWE in the next few years if Hogan and his me-first antics start to take their toll with him having the book. In the past I could understand how other wrestlers should make way for Hogan, after all he is The Hulkster. But this isn’t the 1990s anymore, it’s not even the 00s. It’s now 2010 and Hullk Hogan should be remembered for the iconic figure he was, not being put into a position of authority in an effort to create another Monday Night War spearheaded by himself. If Angle ever left the company it would be an unmitigated disaster for the TNA. As I’ve said in the past here at The Sledgehammer, although TNA is an inferior product lacking an identity, what they do have is the top wrestler in the business in one Kurt Angle.

How long is it going to be before Bischoff starts rubbing his colleagues the wrong way? What’s it gonna be like when there is discord in the back? Who are the wrestlers going to go to? Hogan? Carter? someone else?? Is Scott Hall going to be able to keep his act together this time around with TNA?

Aye carumba.

Anyway, with all that said there is still hope. Even if this Hogan venture fails to take off in the way Dixie Carter hopes it will, and I predict it will fail, I don’t see TNA folding like WCW did. I still like Dixie Carter and was encouraged by some changes she made in the past year. This Hogan idea is completely wrong and a few steps in the wrong direction, but even still, I think Dixie is growing increasingly passionate about this TNA company and young enough to learn from these mistakes so that in the next ten years the company will begin to grow into something superior to the WWE as Vince gets on in age. The company still has a cooperative Kurt Angle in the fold and there is nothing set in stone that will say he and Hogan won’t get along. TNA still also has a a working relationship with UFC being partnered on Spike. Hopefully the network will look to exploit this, because that can really bring an added edge to their product in helping to establish a brand. They also still have Bobby Lashley a great, and I’ll repeat: great, talent who although an established player as a WWE wrestler was not with the company long enough for TNA not to start branding themselves with him. Lashley is not Brock Lesnar, but he’s the next best thing.

There is no program the WWE could offer that would be as compelling, dynamic and memorable as a Kurt Angle-Bobby Lashley feud (save for a Vince-Bret on-camera feud, Vince always seems to have an ace in the hole).

Unfortunately I see a TNA show now being about Hogan and his courtiers. It should make for a few interesting moments in the next few weeks, but ultimately not anything that’s going to establish TNA in a place they and wrestling fans world wide want to see them go.

Oh, by the way, Sting is still dwelling in the rafters with a baseball bat.

Irregardless of the chaotic situation with the WWE, and the direction (or lack there-of) they are heading in, I’d like to turn my attention to the TNA.

A few months ago I posted a piece pertaining to the TNA (yes, the) where I outlined what it was that TNA had going for them as would-be competition for the WWE. I also illustrated where they could improve. Here it is, five or so months later it would appear that the TNA is doing exactly as I thought they should.

According to the various reports, it appears that Jeff Jarrett is on the outs with Dixie Carter. For people like me, who want to see another wrestling company grow so that they can be viable competition for the stagnant WWE, this is outstanding news.

As I’ve mentioned, and I’ll do so again, when it comes to pro-wrestling as a business, the Jarrett family are failures. The TNA was not going anywhere with Jeff at the helm. It looks like Dixie Carter is consolidating her power within the company and I couldn’t be happier. I don’t expect this to mean that there will be a ratings war anytime soon – but what it does mean is that we might now have the potential to see one in the years ahead. Whereas with Jarrett booking in the company, working in the front office, etc, etc, the TNA was doomed to an eternity of mediocrity. So in the grand scheme of things, this is a more than positive development.

Let’s now turn out attention to the TNA accouncing situation. In past posts I’ve lamented the sad state of the pro-wrestling tv announcing situation. At times I can’t figure out who is worse, is it Mike Tenay? Michael Cole? Don West? Joey Matthews? Jim Ross? – the fact is they are all terrible to bad at best (for my money though, I still can’t think of anyone worse than Cole). In the same piece I also mentioned I have also taken the Tenay-West team to task for how bad it truly was. I am more than pleased to see the TNA tweak their annoucning booth. As a broadcaster Taz is one of the better ones out there. He falls well below my standards of what I am looking for in a wrestling announcer, but he’s as good as it’s going to get. So instead of Tenay-West, we still have Tenay but teamed now with Taz. This is not ideal, Tenay is still there after all and Taz is certainly no Jesse Ventura. He’s also a voice that is associated with the WWE brand, so it still shows us that the TNA has an identity crisis at present – but it’s definitely a move in the right direction. I think Taz will actually fit in well with the TNA. The TNA talent roster is drenched in mediocrity and Taz will be able to sell the angles, booking and talent far better than Don West would ever be able to.

So there is hope. I would also like to point to the fact that, according to the reports, the TNA is actually winning over the UK viewers – they are getting higher ratings than the WWE. This certainly raised my eyebrows and I’m sure it did the same over at Titan Towers.

We are still a long long way away from the WWE-WCW days of 1997, but hey – who knows what can happen.

Thumbs up TNA.

Is it just me or is the concept of a WWE ‘draft’ one of the most insanely retarded concepts that the company has come up with? Does anybody really care? I tried to watch Raw last night, it was however a chore to do so.

To be honest I couldn’t even tell you who was on what show anyway, they all cross-over all of the time as it is, especially prior to Wrestlemania which is what we are just coming off of. The worst part of the show is probably having to listen to the announcers act as if we are witnessing something special, or exciting, or worth anyone’s time just because Melina got switched over from the Monday night show to the Friday night one. It’s ridiculous, really it is.

As I was trying to watch Raw last night, a few things came to mind. I started to think of a few reasons why watching the WWE is such a chore these days. The top four reasons were:

4th- The announcers.

I’ve already done a blog on how great Heenan & Monsoon were, and how bad the announcers of the present are. Last night, however, the viewing audiences was ‘treated’ to all six of the WWE’s announcers. Jerry Lawler, someone whom I initially liked back in the early to mid 1990s is just a farce these days. He’s become unlistenable and predictable. Michael Cole is as drab as it gets, at least Lawler can still manage to be entertaining in isolated spots. I have to be honest, since I don’t watch Smackdown as much as I do Raw, but Cole makes me miss Ross. That’s a hard thing to do. The ECW guys are actually the best of the bunch.

3rd – The use of the word ‘brand’

They keep using the word ‘brand’ on these broadcasts, as if Raw and Smackdown are brands. They are not brands, they are bad television shows and they’re getting worse all the time. ECW is a brand! It is a brand that the WWE has killed, and resurrected simply as another bad television show.

2nd – Watching John Cena and the corporate machine backing him try to do everything he (and they) can to be a posing Rock/Will Smith hybrid.

John Cena is not the Rock and he never will be the Rock. I used to love Rocky Maivia when he turned heel, at first it seemed strange but he took to it and became one of the most entertaining heels ever. When Rock went baby-face what made him unique just made him a boring cartoon. That being said, Rock still had charisma and personality which as translated over into a successful movie career which has allowed him to do something no other wrestler has ever really been able to do: leave wrestling behind. John Cena does not have this appeal, no matter how much the company wants you to think he does. They can make 100 bad movies with Cena as the star, and they can give Cena all of the punchlines and one-liners they can in their staff meetings, etc, etc. It’s not happening. Cena is not funny, he is not entertaining and the whole act is just boring.

Now in the ring, strictly as a wrestling performer, other than his cartoonish-poser five-knuckle shuffle manuver, or whatever you want to call it, and his denim-short-sneaker combo wrestling garb, Cena is pretty good. But that’s all he is.I’m just wondering how long it will be before he drops the title again so the company can build his match at recapturing it at Summerslam again.

1st – The obnoxious way in which the announcers no longer call the WWE: ‘the WWE,’ they simply refer to it as ‘WWE.’ There is no definite article ‘the’ preceding it.

In the movie The Good Shepherd one of the final scenes as Matt Damon’s character asking his friend, who has just gotten him a position in the newly established CIA “Why don’t we call it the CIA? Why is it just called CIA?’ His friends response was something to the affect of: ‘You don’t call it the God, do you? He’s just God.”

Now I understand that when you wish to use World Wrestling Entertainment in a sentence, there is no need for the use of the article ‘the.’ However, when you use the abbreviation WWE the use of the article is appropriate. The company no longer does this however. You can bet that when the company-wide memo went out explaining that the company should simply be referred to as ‘WWE’ and not ‘the WWE’ that the McMahons had this god-notion in place. It also probably bothered them that nobody really calls TNA, the TNA, for example. I have no problem with TNA being called TNA though, simply because the T stands for total – it’s an adjective, no article necessarily needed. The W in the WWE stands for world, which is a noun, therefore it is more than appropriate to precede it with ‘the.’ Even the C for the CIA (I still use the article for the CIA even if it is considered a faux pax by some) is for central, which is also an adjective… but anyway, enough of the laws of grammar. Fact is, the WWE has been called the WWF or the WWE for far too long for them to be making a conscious effort to simply start referring to themselves as WWE now. It’s a subliminal god-complex thing, and you know that when the kiddie-show Superstars is resurrected again you’ll be hearing more of the same, so that the company can have the next generation be brought up under this concept.

I just can’t wait for the day when I call it “the WWE,” in front of someone, only to have them correct me and say “No you’re wrong, there is no ‘the,’ it’s just WWE.”

The one bright spot of the show this past Monday: Jack Swagger.

I watched Cena’s match with Jack Swagger simply because I like Swagger. One thing the WWE does have going for it is that they are loaded with young talent, including Swagger. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Swagger & Cena aren’t headlining a Wrestlemania sometime in the near future. Jack Swagger looks like he could be that good. (Swagger is going to need some help losing the lisp though, it’s going to hold him back). Even the crowd was chanting for Swagger, which I was happy to hear. I’m sure the powers that be were not, considering he was wrestling Cena.

I still can’t believe Michael Cole makes me miss Jim Ross.

I wasn’t old enough to remember watching the first two Wrestlemanias while they were happening, they had to be rented from the videostore after they were already 1-2 years old respectively. I was old enough to remember Wrestlemania 3 however. In all honesty, Wrestlemania 3 is still the greatest Wrestlemania as far as I’m concerned. It was unlike anything ever before seen. Hulkamania had been running wild for over three years, and it reached its climax on that day the moment Hogand body-slammed Andre (of course Hogan had body-slammed in many matches before, and Andre had been body-slammed by many others before – but I didn’t know that then).

I remember Wrestlemania 4, and the elation I shared with friends in seeing the Macho Man as the new WWF champion. I remember Wrestlemania 5 and the utter disappointment when Macho lost the title back to Hogan. I remember 6, cheering once again as The Ultimate Warrior for the first (and only time). **I liked Hulk Hogan matches, but more often than not rooted against him**

Wrestlemania 8 was spectacular from beginning to end. Wrestlemania 10 was an event stolen by the show that Shawn Michaels and Scott ‘Razor Ramon’ Hall out on during their Ladder Match. Wrestlemania 13 was a landmark event: The Undertaker’s shining moment and the immortal Bret Hart-Steve Austin match. Wrestlemania 18 saw Hogan & Rock meet in what was just an electric atmosphere. The list of great matches at Wrestlemania can go on and on…

Well here we are, Wrestlemania 25, the silver anniversary of the WWE’s showcase event. I have to say say though, I am underwhelmed.

The main event, despite what the promoter wants to say, is Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker. These two have an interesting and often-overlooked rivalry in the WWF/E If this were any other pay-per-view, this would be a tremendous match. But the fact is, everyone knows how it’s going to turn out. So the air is out of the balloon on that one.

One half of the billed main event, however, is HHH vs Randy Orton. Now I like both of these guys, but come on. HHH vs. Randy Orton? really? again? These two must have faced off against each other in some capacity 200 times in the past five years. So we get it again? for Wrestlemania? Am I supposed to care more now because he RKO’d Stephanie?? The fact is the storylines building this match up were ridiculous (the writers don’t think very much of fans when they stage a ‘home break-in’ that just so happens to have TV cameras all over Orton’s would-be home, it makes me sick – oh, and so now Orton is happily married? Didn’t we just see him dumping Kelly Kelly after a one-night stand? This is what the writers think of the fans). The WWE has been over-using Orton and in the entirely wrong way for years now. Even the ‘Legacy’ angle, which might seem clever and a natural fit, is lame. In Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase, and a lesser degree Cody Rhodes – we have top talents being wasted in storylines that are just absurd. Who is going to win the match? Does it really matter? Whomever it is that wins this time will be the one I’m sure who loses at the next ppv when HHH & Orton face off yet again.

That brings us to the other half of the supposed main event. A Triple Threat (yawn) between Big Show – Edge and Cena. I feel like I’m repeating myself here, but this match is subliminally trying to be billed as a Cena Handicap Match against Big Show and Edge. Haven’t we seen Cena against both of these two many times before? The answer of course, is yes. Talk about horrid build-up to a match, the Vicky Guerrero angle is indescribably ridiculous (I really hope the WWE just cuts ties with Vicky Guerrero, and Chavo for that matter. Chavo does nothing but live off the legacy of his uncle and Vicky just makes for bad television). I’d really like to see Big Show win this one. I’m not a huge fan of Big Show, but he deserves his moment. It’s a shame it couldn’t be a straight-up one-on-one match with either Cena or Edge (or whomever they’d want to have with the strap, its bounced around so many times it doesn’t even matter anymore, just so happens now that it’s Edge). I have a horrible feeling that Cena might win – which if he does, I might have to go on a WWE boycott for a while, because I just can’t take very much more of John Cena. Is the WWE really going to crown him at yet another pay-per-view? How many times are they planning on doing this? Cena stars in the biggest bomb of the decade (12 Round, which you couldn’t pay me to go see) and they crown him – sounds stupid, but it’s just the kind of thing the WWE would do these days.

As for the rest of the show, what really is there? The John Morrison & Miz match against the Colons looks interesting on paper. I guess the WWE has decided to go with only one tag Team Champion – which I have no problem with since the WWE doesn’t really use tag teams anymore anyway – hence the title, even an undisputed tag team title, is all but meaningless. Really, this match is only with watching thanks in part to the Bella sisters (here is too hoping Playboy makes them an offer they can’t refuse, in which they’ll pose together).

The Diva Battle Royal? Well, if Santino is involved somehow, I’m sure they’ll at least be something of an entertainment factor involved.

Chris Jericho against Steamboat-Piper-Snuka. I can’t get into this match. It’s just dumb. I feel bad for Jericho in that this should have been a match against Rourke, which would have given Jericho all kinds of crossover press, but it didn’t pan out. So he’s stuck in this match, eh…nothing really you can say about it.

We have the Hardy Boy match – which is just another who cares match to me. I’ve never been a big Hardy Boys fan (always preferred Edge & Christian), and as single competitors Matt’s matches are always just one-notch above downing a bottle of Nyquil. Jeff, on the otherhand is always fun to watch, but really nothing more than a sideshow. I can’t really get into this match too much. Of all the storylines, this at least has some kind of organic legitimacy to it (I coul dhave lived without the wink*wink Matt burned Jeff’s home down bit though)

I saw somewhere that this show is slated to be four hours long. That better be one hell of a ladder match. All I can say is: wake me when its over.

More and more I long for the halcyon days of the mid 1980s to early 90s when I was treated to Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura, Gorilla Monsoon and the greatest non-wrestler the industry has ever seen, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan (yes I know he was a former wrestler, but I refer here to his work as a heel manager & ‘broadcast journalist’ specifically) do the commentary on a wrestling show.

It’s at the point now where I’d almost rather watch an old tape of Ko Ko B. Ware against a jobber like Dale Wolfe or Barry Horowitz over anything on Raw, TNA or Smackdown, simply to listen to Gorilla and Bobby go at it as commentators. Every match these two ever did there are at least 2 or 3 golden nuggets of pure hilarity from Bobby with the help of Gorilla as the exasperated straight-man. Jesse Ventura and Gorilla had some golden moments as well, but they would rarely work together. Jesse was usually Vince’s color guy on the Saturday Night’s Main Event tapings and on the ‘A’ show, Superstars. Jesse & Gorilla only teamed up on the pay-per-views before leaving the company sometime in the summer of 1990 I believe.
But nobody will ever hold a candle to the work Bobby & Gorilla did on Wrestling Challenge and a few of the pay-per-views.

In all the years, and all of the shows, Bobby Heenan & Gorilla Monsoon worked (which I believe spans somewhere from 1986 or 87 to early 1994) I think they reached a high point at Wrestlemania 8. Get a copy of that particular Wrestlemania and just listen to Bobby & Gorilla go… it’s uprorious. You have to remember, at this event, Bobby was the ‘consultant’ to Ric Flair who had a huge world title defense against his hated rival Randy Savage – so Bobby Heenan was playing the role of ‘overly concerned party’ associated to the defending champ Flair to the hilt before the match, and then the ‘devastated sore loser’ for the rest of the show after Flair dropped the strap (the Savage-Flair match occured somewhere in the middle of that Wrestlemania). I’ve never heard Bobby so into commentating during a show – and the results were side-splitting… someone compiled a few of those moments…

…but if you get a chance, watch the whole event again, because there was so much more. Here’s to Bobby & Gorilla, the greatest ever.

When you boil it right down to it, it is essentially a top 10 of the last ten wrestlers I’d ever want to be mad at me.

HONORABLE MENTION, not included in the top 10: RON SIMMONS

The first African-American to ever win the WCW World Championship as well as one half of a world champions recognized tag team on four occasions, three with John Bradshaw Layfield and once with Butch Reed. Simmons was always a tough hard-nosed worker. You got the idea if professional wrestling had more to do with who was toughest, Simmons would have had more of a high-profile career. I originally had him in the top 10 before I realized there was someone else I had forgotten, so Simmons needed to be removed from the official Top 10.

#10 THE CRUSHER
A legend. The man put the the midwest on the wrestling map in his heyday. With Dick the Bruiser he formed one half of the most legendary tag teams in pro wrestling. He really varved his legacy out of the AWA, winning their world title three times, but he also left his mark in various NWA-affiliated territories. The Crusher was not anyone you’d want to provoke.

#9 PAUL ORNDORFF
If the main event of the first Wrestlemania was an every-man-for-himself streetfight shoot, the match would have lasted all but a few moments with Orndorff dusting off Piper, Hogan & Mr. T with more than enough energy to pose for the crowd (much like Hogan would do after all of his staged exhibitions). Orndorff’s toughness behind the scenes is legendary (just ask Big Van Vader). In the 1980s, if you took a secret poll of all the professional wrestlers, asking them to name the one guy they’d least like to get into a brawl with, I’m fairly certain Orndorff would have been the hands down winner.

#8 KILLER KOWALSKI
All you need to know about this man, and what a badass he was, is that when Andre the Giant was first brought over to North America, Kowalski was the first person who was booked to pin him in a match in Quebec City. What is so ironic about Kowalski is as mean and nasty and stiff as he was inside of the ring and in front of an audience is how nice and approachable and gentlemanly he was outside of the ring. But be careful, because he might just rip your ear off.

#7 CHRIS BENOIT
He wasn’t the biggest guy in the ring, but he might have been the toughest. I remember watching him in the ring in the mid 90s back in the WCW days and thinking to myself that thusre wasn’t anyone like him in the business at that time. I have still never seen a guy his size work as stiff as he did. His chops were lethal and he hit hard. He was exactly what they called him, a rabid wolverine.

#6 TERRY ‘BAMM BAMM’ GORDY
What can I really say that hasn’t been said before? Terry Gordy truly earned his nickname. This man’s work personified smashmouth. If it weren’t for Gordy, there was no way the Fabulous Freebirds would have ever taken off, with or without Michael Hayes. When you look at him you saw that he was just bred for brawling and beating people up in and outside of the ring. Terry Gordy is a legend

#5 HAKU
Well, I did say earlier that if you took a secret poll of the wrestlers in the 1980s on who’d they least like to get into a real fight with, the winner would be Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff. In all reality it should be Haku, and it still might be. Everyone respected this man in the back, knowing what he was capable of. Working primarily in the WWF in 80s to early 90s, where stiff work was typically frowned upon, unless your name was The Ultimate Warrior – Haku was still a fairy stiff worker in a lot of uncompelling matches. Goldberg would tiptoe around him in the WCW days when he went by the name of Meng. When Bobby Heenan calls you the toughest man he’s ever met, then you know your not dealing with just any old stack of dimes. The man would literally take out 2 or 3 men at a time on semi-regular basis, and this is outside of the ring. If he wasn’t gouging out Jimmy Jack Funk’s eye or biting off your nose, he was typicall buried in the undercard of a wrestling show. Either way, King Tonga was not anyone you’d want to get into a physical altercation with – because you were not going to win. In fact, if this was simply a list of guys I think would win a fight, from what I’ve heard, Haku would probably be one.

#4 BROCK LESNAR
Brock Lesnar still has a lot to prove in his UFC career, but he could be doing worse. But as a pro wrestler Lesnar certainly brought that bigtime smashmouth showmanship that had been lacking in the WWE for longtime before he got there and has been missing ever since he left. The impact of his moves left impressions. As low-a-risk the F5 finisher was, if Brock was laying you out with it, you certainly wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of one. Oh, by the way, he’s kind of strong too.

#3 BRUISER BRODY
Talk about a stiff worker and a tough s.o.b. Wrestling Observer newsletter named their ‘Best Brawler Award’ the Bruiser Brody Memorial Award. Brody’s status as a tough badass has almost reached mythic levels and rightly so. When you listen to Tony Atlas talk about the horrific events of what went down in Puerto Rico when Brody was murdered, even after having been stabbed and sliced open by some piddly scumbag, with chunks of his intestines hanging off of the knife of his assassin, Brody still was going to pull through. It was only after doctors were ordered by ‘persons unknown’ to stop operating that Brody died. As a worker he was mean, he was stiff, he was bloodthirsty, utterly uncontrollable and unpredictable, Bruiser Brody was certainly unforgettable.

#2 DICK THE BRUISER
When Bruiser Brody went to go work for Verne Gagne and the AWA he took the name King Kong Brodie out of respect to Dick the Bruiser. He was the Brock Lesnar of his day. The man is famous for starting barfights with patrons at bars between wrestling matches. And these patrons at the bars were not just any ham and egger either, they were professional football players, and when the police were called in and finally arrived, Dick the Bruiser was the one who was still standing.

#1 STAN HANSEN
He wasn’t the prettiest or most talented man to watch in the ring. Pound for pound I’d even say he’s probably not even the single toughest man on this list either, but man, sometimes you just wince watching him hit others while working a match. His larriot is quite simply the most brutal clothesline the induestry has ever seen. He took over Japan on that finisher alone. When you’d see him making his way to a ring before a match began with his black leather cowboy vest with the skull & bone symbol on the back, you’d think on another wrestler that vest would look silly. Yet on Hansen it somehow seemed just right. The man was a thick, tough, wreckingball of a wrestler. I think Bruno Sammartino is still bleeding and aching from his collisions with a young Hanson back in 1976. Stan Hansen, like a Bruiser Brody, has also achieved something of a mythic reputation in that he pretty much wrestled in the modern age, but rarely in a territory or companywhere he’d receive mass exposure.

During a match Flair would always have his trademark face fall. I must have seen him do it a million times and I loved it each time. Watching him climb the turnbuckles to go to the top rope only to be press-slammed was another staple in the Flair program. What made it funny is that you knew how it was always going to end. I remember one time while watching RAW Flair had gone up only to be press-slammed causing Ross to quip (in a rare moment of Ross wit) “Well at least Flair’s perfect record remains in tact.”

With Mickey Rourke bowing out of Wrestlemania as a billed part of the show, Jericho was pretty much left out of the show. The concept of Jericho taking on three old men seemed to have no appeal for me. But the Flair segment sold me (at least sort of anyway). As I watched Jericho undressing Flair I couldn’t help but crack up. The more the landscape of professional wrestling the more Flair stays the same.

Chris Jericho’s homage to the Ric Flair-Ricky Steamboat feud of old.

In one of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling World Wide Wrestling TV tapings one of the all-time classic moments was seeing Flair get undressed by current ally Ricky Steamboat. If you haven’t seen it before, check it out. This is classic Ric Flair.

Here is part 1, showing the lead up to what it was that caused Steamboat to go off on Flair.

At 60 years old and having not aged very well I no longer want to see Flair wrestling anymore. But Flair will always remain one of the more entertaining wrestlers of all-time.

Let’s be honest, at any given arena show or television taping, when a wrestler was announced to the crowd, has there ever been anyone as over as RVD?

Anyone who knows me would tell you that since I started watching professional wrestling on TV, of any and all the wrestlers I’ve seen I can honestly say that Rob Van Dam is my second favorite of all-time. It may sound funny to say he is second, and not first, but I consider it high praise. The only reason why he is probably not first, is because I was really young when I caught on to the WWF and one of their wrestlers always stood out to me as my favorite for years (He’ll go unnamed for now, but it shouldn’t be hard to figure out whom it is).

As always, Rob quite simply says it how is. I love listening to Rob talk, he doesn’t come off as bitter or ego-centered or anything else a lot of other wrestlers tend to when you hear them shoot after being out of the business a few years. We miss you Rob.

The night Rob Van Dam took the belt from John Cena was one of the great shows ever on WWE TV. Here is the opening to the match which Rob alludes to with Jeff. The old school ECW fans were representing in New York that night, it was beautiful.

He wasn’t called the ‘Whole F’N Show’ for nothing. Since Rob’s departure from any of the mainstream wrestling shows the industry has been a far duller place ever since.

If you haven’t already, you have to check out Rob’s website: robvandam.com

So it was Steve Doll’s cup of coffee in the WWF that I know him from.

But prior to arriving on the east coast with Vince McMahon’s WWF, Doll was making waves on the west coast with Don Owen.

Steve Doll left his mark in professional wrestling back in Don Owen’s NWA-affiliated Pacific Northwest Wrestling. He was paired with Scott Peterson as Don Owen’s answer to the popularity of teams like the Midnight Rockers and The Rock N’ Roll Express. They were known as The Southern Rockers. Later on Doll’s partner was Rex King, with the team still known as The Southern Rockers. The Souther Rockers were over big time in that territory. While a member of The Southern Rockers, Steve Doll won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championships eleven times (seven with Petersen and four with King).

In total, Steve Doll wound up winning this tag team title eighteen times with a variety of other partners, which would include a young Brian Adams and Jimmy Jack Funk.

Steve Doll is one of the great American tag wrestlers that nobody ever really knew, including myself. I didn’t realize it until consulting the archives only after hearing of his passing.

THE SENSATIONAL SOUTHERN ROCKERS VS THE GRAPPLER AND A YOUNG BRIAN ADAMS FOR THE NWA PACIFIC NORTHWEST TAG TEAM TITLES

Steve and Rex moved on to do their thing in Lawler’s USWA, winning the USWA World Tag Team Championship eight times.

Doll and King had a good look, and they were not stiffs in the ring. Had they arrived in the WWF before The Rockers, wrestling history as we know it may have been vastly different. The similarities between the two teams is striking.

Ironically, Steve Doll may be known to wrestling fans mostly as one of the two men in the ring on WCW’s Monday Nitro when Scott Hall made his debut, coming through the crowd and grabbing the mic right in the middle of his match against Mike Enos (Compliments to Wikipedia for bringing this fact to light).

R.I.P. Steve Doll.

When AAA and the WWF began their working relationship Abismo Negro was one of the talents who wrestled before the Royal Rumble during the free for all. Abismo also had a few stint in TNA, specifically in 2004 – competing in the NWA/TNA X-Cup Tournament. Mexico will forever remember Abismo as a founding member of Los Vipers and his many meetings with the legendary luchadore La Parka. As a wrestler who worked in the big Mexican promotions, you knew Abismo had to be talanted. Los luchadores have a hard job, trying to compete against American companies by developing a style unique to Mexican professional wrestling.

AAA has never been for performers who are faint of heart.

Abismo’s won a handful of titles in Mexico, including the Mexican National Middleweight Championship (one of North America’s oldest championships) after AAA took control of booking matches involved with that title. However, Abismo’s crowning moment had to have been winning AAA’s Rey de Reyes (King of King’s, a tournament quite similar in its concept to the WWF’s King of the Ring) in 2000, defeating El Alebrije, Charly Manson and Cibernético.

R.I.P. Abismo Negro.