Author: M. Swift

We’re back for the fourteenth installment of one of my favorite classic WWE institutions. WWE In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker took place April 20th from the Rochester Community War Memorial. We have a double main event as The Undertaker defends his WWE Championship against Mankind and a number one contender match featuring Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin! WWE In Your House 14: The Best The first banger on this card is the WWE Championship match between defending champ The Undertaker and Mankind. I always liked how announcer-period Vince would say “Mankind” during promo packages. Just thought I’d throw that out…

It’s time for more Heels as we get into episode three “Cheap Heat”. This episode comes in hot and goes hard at the final stretch. Let’s get into it! The Fastest-Paced Episode So Far “Cheap Heat” opens with Tom “King” Spade’s suicide. Ace was at home asleep and he’s the one who found his body after hearing the gunshot. Jack is sorting things out for the next show and has friend and former DWL wrestler CM Punk (CM Punk) come through for a World title match. He is also attempting to reconcile with Ace by going into his promo and letting him know…

When the OVW 4—Randy Orton, John Cena, Brock Lesnar, and Batista—are discussed, it’s often mentioned that they were in Ohio Valley Wrestling. Only Jim Cornette truly goes into detail about their time there as far as their potential and personalities in the short time they were being polished. I like to look at the time and trips back down there—or up there given my location—of Ruthless Aggression-period stars. This time, we’re looking at Orton’s “final” match in Ohio Valley Wrestling as he faces career rival John Cena: Prototype. Randy Orton vs. Prototype (OVW TV 1/16/2002) Context is key here. Looking…

Let’s dive into MLW Fusion ALPHA #6 with two Opera Cup 2021 matches, Mads Krugger in action, and a scheduled Tankman bout. They’re really pushing that kid as he’s been featured on several episodes in a row so far. The Sizzle Really nice opening segment to MLW Fusion ALPHA as Cesar Duran caresses the MLW National Openweight title. He says that on Thanksgiving, fans will give thanks to him as he’s blessing us with a new champion on that night. Following this up is King Muertes—the new Caribbean champion. He tells Duran that he handled his end of the deal and now Duran must honor his end. …

Reviewing 1996 Extreme Championship Wrestling was a bit of an endeavor since there were no actual PPVs and plenty of supercards. However, 1997 is an important year for the company as we get its first pay-per-view in ECW Barely Legal 1997. After trouble scoring PPV the year before in part because of the company’s content and also the Mass Transit incident from November 1996, ECW managed to strike up things up with Request TV—granted the provider was given a script for the show, the start time was pushed back, and the show wasn’t a bloodbath. ECW Barely Legal 1997: The Best RVD…

I’ve been looking at some wrestling television shows to see if the debut episodes could be found. Guess who stumbled upon all of Lucha Underground on Tubi, folks. It’s “First Month Fire” and we’re taking it back with episode one, season one: “Welcome to the Temple”! The Sizzle In the opening, we have an unnamed luchador saving a youngster from beat down using the skills of lucha libre. He then tells him about lucha libre’s roots in Aztec warfare and tradition before offering to train him. That feeds into the roots of Lucha Underground with Dario Cuerto showing up at AAA TripleMania XII. He announces that everyone is welcome to fight in…

We’ve finally caught up on this MLW Fusion ALPHA binge, folks! It’s episode five which features more Opera Cup 2021 action as well as Holiday defending his Caribbean championship against King Muertes! MLW Fusion ALPHA #5 IWA/MLW Caribbean Title:Richard Holliday vs. KingMuertes Nicole Savoy vs. Holidead Opera Cup – Opening Round: Matt Cross vs. Calvin Tankman The Sizzle Holiday is slated to defend his IWA/MLW Caribbean Championship to start the show. Unfortunately, he is ambushed by CONTRA Unit! Alexander Hammerstone is late on the save and the title defense is in jeopardy. It’s speculated that Cesar Duran had something to do with the…

We’re almost done catching up on MLW Fusion ALPHA with episode four. The full show is available on YouTube and will be dropped below for your viewing enjoyment. This is the episode following MLW Fightland on Vice with Hammerstone beginning his reign as World Heavyweight champion. Check out the card from this episode. MLW Fusion ALPHA #4 Calvin Tankman vs. Lee Moriarty Delmi Exo vs. Brittany Blake Opera Cup – Opening Round: Tom Lawlor vs. Davey Richards The Sizzle Following the opener, Hammerstone shows up in matchmaker Cesar Duran’s office to relinquish the MLW National Openweight title. He says his proudest moment was winning the belt but the World title…

We’re back with episode two of Heels: “Dusty Finish”. This episode continues to the dissent between the Spade brothers while properly introducing the Duffy Wrestling League’s competition. Life Away from the Ring In the opening scenes, we get a glimpse at Jack Spade’s day job as a lawnmower and lawnmower accessories salesman. At the DWL Dome, the guys—Rooster, Apocalypse, and Diego—are working out. Young Bobby Pin is still trying to find his gimmick and had a movie shoot. They all shoot down his suggestion of “Turquoise”. While Willie is there tending to a smoke alarm that none of them bothered…

It took a while but we finally got to the most highly anticipated Major League Wrestling main event on MLW Fightland on Vice! Alexander Hammerstone has been the top contender on Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Top 10 for MLW for years now. The guy held the MLW National Openweight title for the majority of his time as his name was announced right below long-tenured MLW World Heavyweight champion Jacob Fatu of CONTRA Unit. This was a match we should’ve gotten last year but MLW is a tapings-centered company and COVID-14 threw them off their stride significantly. MLW Fightland on Vice Card MLW World Middleweight Title:Myron Reed (c) vs. Arez vs. Aramis…