Author: M. Swift

We’re finally in August 1996 and we’ll be caught up for WWE vs. WCW vs. ECW! Let’s dive into ECW The Doctor Is In! Low-Tier Devon Storm is someone I came to appreciate after I saw his work on the indies following the WCW buyout. Even as Crowbar in WCW, he was solid in hardcore matches. When I see him in 1996 ECW, it’s like “Why are you so raw with the audacity to be a flyer?” Some of Storm’s stuff looked incomplete. As if he was working on a speed faster than Mikey’s. If it was a bit shorter, it…

Summer 1996 is pretty much wrapped up as we get into WWE SummerSlam 1996. The main event here is WWE World Champion Shawn Michaels taking on Vader! Low-Tier I dig both Sycho Sid and British Bulldog but I’m not giving them anything beyond low-tier. The match was clean and everything looked good but I just didn’t care about the match at all. Actually, this match would’ve probably hit differently if it was between the Owen vs. Savio opener and the Tag Team title match. I will say that I cared more about this match than Lawler vs. Roberts. Mid-Tier Owen Hart vs. Savio Vega was…

Episodes #111 and #112 of MLW Fusion wrapped up the opening rounds of the 2020 MLW Opera Cup. Let’s look at the semi-final fixtures and get in some predictions. Opera Cup 2020 Semi-Finals Fixtures Semi-Final: Tom Lawlor vs. ACH Semi-Final: Richard Holliday vs. Low Ki From the semi-final picture we see that Tom Lawlor, ACH, and Richard Holliday advanced as expected. The match that was hard to call was the rematch of the 2019 Opera Cup opening round between Low Ki and Davey Boy Smith Jr. Low Ki avenged his loss from last year and will now face off against Richard Holliday. …

We’re still getting through the summer of 1996 with ECW! Let’s check out ECW Heat Wave 1996 and see what kind of party this is! Low-Tier The Samoan Gangsta Party is probably the only Samoan team I didn’t like. They had a no-contest with The Gangstas. Nothing to see here at the moment. If you watched pre-1996 ECW Hardcore TV, Paul “The Giant” Laurie might sound familiar. He had a brief rivalry with Mikey Whipwreck which was pretty exciting. You got to see a lot of that 90s Indy high flying in their matches. Well, Mikey ran through him posthaste. This match tied into the next, more exciting bout. No, it’s not the FBI vs. The Dudleys.…

We were ahead with WWE and WCW in 1996 when I added ECW. It’s catch-up time as we’ve finally hit the summer of 1996 with ECW Hardcore Heaven 1996! Low-Tier Taz beating Paul Varelans wasn’t a match I was clamoring to see. However, it does add to Taz’s badass aura. It’s not meant to be a wrestling match and probably shouldn’t be rated. However, we have a referee and it’s occupying time on the card. Axl and Hack Meyers vs. the Samoan Gangsta Party could’ve had more going on but ended in a no contest. Kind of odd for ECW and we were denied an Axl brawling match! Mid-Tier Shane Douglas taking on Mikey Whipwreck was a rock-solid bout. I’m not surprised these two worked…

So, the National Wrestling Alliance is back—in some form. Thanks to David Marquez’s United Wrestling Network in California, we have the limited series NWA Shockwave! Check out the card below. NWA Shockwave #1 Eli Drake vs. Jordan Cruz Kamille vs. Heather Monroe NWA World Heavyweight Title: Nick Aldis [c] vs. Mike Bennett Low-Tier Eli Drake vs. Jordan Cruz was a bit on the brief side but for the most part, it was well-paced. I’d like to see more of Cruz but Drake looked good here. Even without the crowd he still did his call for a chant. A pandemic couldn’t halt the Gravy Train, it seems. Drake picks up the win in this bout. Mid-Tier …

We’re back with more MLW Fusion and the conclusion of the Opera Cup’s opening round action! Here’s the episode card. MLW Fusion #112 Opera Cup Opening Round: Laredo Kid vs. ACH Mars Krueger vs. Ariel Dominguez Opera Cup Opening Round: Low Ki vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. In This Episode Josef Samael introduces “The Blackhand of Contra” Mads Krügger. Also, Tom Lawlor announces that Dominic Garrini has found a tag partner in Kevin Ku—from my hometown of Birmingham, AL. Yes, I had to announce that as it’s rare. If you don’t remember Ku, he made his on-screen debut during a Pulp Fusion episode where Lawlor was looking for Garrini. Dominic was searching for a partner and said he saw Ku…

Episode #111 of MLW Fusion kicks off the second annual Opera Cup tournament! Here’s the episode card. MLW Fusion #111 Opera Cup Opening Round: TJ Perkins vs. Richard Holliday Calvin Tankman vs. Robert Martyr Opera Cup Opening Round: Rocky Romero vs. Tom Lawlor In This Episode Salina de la Renta threatening Major League Wrestling as she’s been implicated in Contra Unit’s takeover of MLW earlier in the year. The Von Erichs have a Thanksgiving wish to all MLW fans. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and Dominic Garrini are still harassing the Von Erichs but Lawlor is going to need to focus against Rocky Romero. Holliday is still strutting around with the Caribbean Championship he took from Savio Vega earlier in the…

Last month in The Overtimer back channels, our CEO and co-founder posted a video of a WCW music video for “Heavy Metal” Van Hammer. Now, I thought it was badass. He was rocking out and there were chicks—the works for a gimmick based around 80s and early 90s glam metal. Never mind that glam was on the way out in the early 90s, WCW invested in getting people interested in Van Hammer. As a matter of fact, WCW invested a lot into music videos and mini-movies at this time. Unfortunately, Van Hammer didn’t really live up to the investment put into the gimmick. Was there somewhere he could’ve been salvaged? WCW Career This…

We’re looking at more UWF Fury Hour with episode two! The main event in this episode is Billy Jack Haynes vs. Col. DeBeers. Let’s see if this show got better as the first four episodes went on. Low-Tier Oof…I shouldn’t have made that last statement. This episode had a lot of mediocre squashes. Honestly, squash matches are a funny thing. They’re usually brief but sometimes they can feel like they went on longer than expected. Those kinds of squashes can either be a clean one which is neither good nor bad, fun squashes that are just destructive and sometimes funny. …