Author: M. Swift

In this Wrestling Salvage Yard we’re looking at a WCW gimmick with the best gear design and a talented wrestler behind the mask: Mortis! Mortis: Chris Kanyon’s WCW Ascension Before taking on the Mortis persona, Chris Kanyon had a construction worker gimmick in the Men At Work Team—or the Beverly Brothers of WCW. Men at Work was an act going nowhere so you usually saw them on B-shows or getting eaten alive on a major TV show. There just wasn’t anything here and it was honestly a WWE gimmick that got on the wrong plane and decided to chill in Atlanta. However, Chris Kanyon wasn’t a wrestler going nowhere. When Glacier needed some mortal enemies to combat, WCW came…

We’ve caught up on NWA Shockwave with episode three! Allyson Kay is back in NWA action while Da Pope—yes, Elijah Burke—makes his in-ring return! Also, Aron Stevens defends the NWA National title against his foe Trevor Murdoch. Here’s the card! NWA Shockwave #3 Allysin Kay vs. Nicole Savoy Da Pope & Watts vs. Zicky Dice & Effy NWA National Title: Aron Stevens (c) vs. Trevor Murdoch Mid-Tier Allysin Kay vs. Nicole Savoy was a nice, brief technical bout where “The Queen of Suplexes” Savoy made the former Women’s World champion work for that win. Fun match that wouldn’t be out of place on NWA Power and would’ve been dope with more…

It’s time to look at the 1996 edition of one of my favorite PPV series: WCW Halloween Havoc 1996! We have a big World title bout between Hollywood Hogan and Randy Savage as well the Outsiders challenging for the World Tag Team titles. Let’s dive in! Mid-Tier The Giant vs. Jeff Jarrett wasn’t too bad. Jarrett worked well with a very green Giant and while 1996 ECW has kind of soured me on PPV matches ending in DQ, they made it work. Andre’s son was totally about to splatter Double J. Syxx’s bout against Chris Jericho definitely would’ve floated over into exotic-tier territory if…

We’ve floated into October 1996 and WWE is presenting another IYH with a spooky main event. Let’s dive into WWE In Your House 11. I love looking at these older promotional posters and this one wasn’t bad for 1996. I mean, it would sell the appeal of the PPV even if neither guy ended up facing each other. Low-Tier Sycho Sid vs. Vader is a match I would’ve loved to see on paper. I dig both wrestlers but this match was in mediocre waters. Something just didn’t really click. Vader rocks when doing his thing depending on the size of his opponent and what kind of party the match is. With Sid, it really…

We’re catching up with NWA Shockwave with episode two. Featured here is a Women’s World title bout as Priscilla Kelly challenges champion—at the time of the taping—Thunder Rosa. We also have Kamille in action and a friendly match between friends Eli Drake and Erik Watts. We have an interesting promo from Aron Stevens which seems like a persona change or just adding to it. Let’s dive in! NWA Shockwave #2 Kamille vs. Simone Sherie Eli Drake vs. Watts NWA Women’s World Title: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Priscilla Kelly Mid-Tier The opener with Kamille taking on Simone Sherie was a good bout. This wasn’t another Kamille Destruction Tour match where she just plows through an opponent. These women wrestlers based out West are…

Episode number 113 of MLW Fusion features a double main event with Low Ki facing Richard Holliday in an Opera Cup semi-final showdown. There’s also CONTRA Unit challenging the Von Erichs for the World Tag Team titles. Here’s the card. MLW Fusion #113 Calvin Tankman vs. Zenshi Violence Is Forever vs. Jason Dugan & Robert Martyr Opera Cup Semi-Final: Low Ki vs. Richard Holliday MLW World Tag Team Title: The Von Erichs (c) vs. CONTRA Unit (Jacob Fatu & Simon Gotch) In This Episode There were three important things that didn’t happen in the ring. First, we have Lio Rush saying he won’t face Myron Reed for the MLW World Middleweight title on Reed’s time but at MLW King of Colosseum 2021 in January. Alexander Hammerstone has…

So, I recently found out that the Beverly Brothers were supposed to spoiled brats. I thought they were just two rough ass blondes who wore capes. As you know, when we visit the Wrestling Salvage Yard, we break down their career in a brief fashion and see if the gimmick could’ve worked or if there was something else that could’ve been done with the wrestlers. Let’s look at the Beverly Bros. The Beverly Brothers First off, I dig the grape soda drip of the Beverly Brothers. Very nice. Second, they’re spoiled rich kids from Shaker Heights, Ohio. Seriously? This might be corny—the gimmick was corny already—but…

Every week we’ve been going into the vault and going through the wrestling shows from what would become the Big 3 in 1996. At the bat for WWE first is WWE In Your House 10: Mind Games. Before we really dive in, I’m looking at the promo poster for this show and SummerSlam and Shawn Michaels’ grit and determination face wasn’t really selling me. Sure, he delivers in his match but we might need to get back to HBK action shots from the match instead. Now let’s get into the show! Low-Tier I don’t know if I should even rate Jose Lothario vs. Jim Cornette.…

We’re looking at the first episode of WWE SmackDown from April 29, 1999. We have Michael Cole and Jim Cornette on commentary with this episode being treated as a WWE TV special. Cornette has mentioned this as a pilot which I can see. Usually, pilots are followed by a short run of the show in the following week. The first official episode of WWE SmackDown is listed as August 26, 1999. This is going to be an interesting one as the real attraction of this show is the promos. As usual, when I review TV shows, matches are rated as a show from that period. PPV expectations are higher as expected. …

It’s the end of the summer with Into the Vault 1996. Extreme Champion Wrestling has the honors of closing out the season with ECW Natural Born Killaz from August 24, 1996. Low-Tier Louie Spicolli continues to impress against Devon Storm. Honestly, Storm should’ve been a bit of a squirrelly opponent for Spicolli was they delivered something decent. Neither smack “Must see match” or “Blazing hot up-and-comer” but if you saw this match on ECW Hardcore TV, it would’ve been a mid-tier match at most. Mid-Tier Mikey Whipwreck defending the EWA European Jr. Heavyweight title against Little Guido was a really solid match. Just looking at Guido’s recent matches from 1996…