Author: M. Swift

We’re still in September 1995 as we revisit the In Your House series. Just in time as NXT TakeOver: In Your House was announced for a June 7 date. NXT should just use In Your House as in-between shows to its TakeOver shows. WWE did well with SummerSlam 1995, so let’s see if they follow up that moment with WWE In Your House 3!  Low-Tier  So, In Your House is basically where WWE just dropped a bunch of matches that could’ve been on TV but gave them a little more time to cook. Savio Vega vs. Waylon Mercy wasn’t a match you’d even run on a discount PPV. Savio should’ve had a better opponent but here we are.   Sid…

It’s September 17, 1995 and WCW are in Asheville, North Carolina for WCW Fall Brawl 1995. This is the second Fall Brawl in the company’s history. Is it the best one and can WCW reignite its streak of better than WWE’s pay-per-views? SummerSlam 1995 picked up a 6 out of 10, matching WCW’s highest-rated event from 1995 Bash at the Beach. Let’s see what the company has for its fall season kickoff!  Low-Tier  Now, I did say I’d stop telling our readers which matches to skip. Instead, I rank them according to the action and interest in the match by name-value involved and the storyline leading…

If there’s one thing that this pandemic should show it’s the importance of a company having its own home base. A few indies have a wrestling school or venue they call home and they can continue running their shows. Just like NWA is able to for Powerrr.   In Japan, most promotions have a home base venue for their larger shows. Lately, they’ve taken the studio wrestling approach with 2AW’s home base being a venue many companies are using.  Down in Mexico, Lucha Libre AAA’s Lucha Fighter show is taking a studio approach. The thing with the studio approach is that you need a regular venue.  Prediction: WWE and Others Will Invest In A Home Base  This brings…

Remember back at WrestleMania XIV when Mike Tyson was the guest referee for the Stone Cold vs. HBK WWE World Title match? Of course you do, it was one of the pivotal matches of the Attitude Era. It was announced last week that Iron Mike would be presenting the TNT Championship at AEW Double or Nothing. Yeah, All Elite Wrestling wants the title match to be special.  Now Mike Tyson Has To Pause His Training and Feeding His Pigeons To Travel It’s not a matter of All Elite Wrestling bringing in Mike Tyson or any celebrity period. It’s the current climate with the pandemic. That said, it’s…

Lio Rush was released from WWE a few weeks back with a slew of other talents. This brings us to Mark Henry who is threatening to bring down the law on Rush for “slander.”  Lio Rush Slandered Mark Henry?! What?!  I’m more surprised someone had anything bad to say about Mark Henry. The worst I heard was Cornette complaining that Mark broke the ropes in OVW—and that was only because WWE insisted that they not use cable ropes. There’s also his molasses-slow development into his Silverback/World Strongest Man period.  So, what did Lio Rush say? If we go back some, Mark…

I swear that the production for the MLW vs. AAA Super Series has been varied for MLW Fusion. I’m guessing the venue in Tijuana has its own filming crew like Korakuen Hall does or something because these last few MLW Fusion episodes have looked five years dated or something. Major League Wrestling looks to have a better card for this episode.  MLW Fusion #107 No DQ – IWA Puerto Rico Caribbean Title: Richard Holliday [c] vs. Chessman Hart Foundation vs. Los Mercenarios  Two matches, expect a ton of promos if you’re watching this one. Let’s dive on in.  No DQ – IWA Puerto Rico Caribbean Title: Richard Holliday “[c]” vs.…

Major League Wrestling still had some matches and promos in the can thanks to the Super Show/challenge series with AAA. Check out the card for MLW Fusion #106.  MLW Fusion #106 Card Douglas James vs. Averno Team Filthy vs. Puma King & Xtreme Tiger MLW Fusion opened with a recap of Hammerstone costing Ol’ Mancer and Savio Vega their street fight against Pagano and Mortiz. We then get an interview with Mance Warner saying that the National Openweight champion and his belt are now in his sights! The Meat Castle had better watch out! Next, Douglas James hypes his match against Averno—which is next!  Douglas James vs. Averno  This was a pretty base match. It…

If you’ve been a wrestling fan for even a short amount of time, you’ve heard about Jim Cornette. In the 80s and 90s, he was the manager for a couple of wrestlers but mainly managed tag teams such as the Midnight Express and the Heavenly Bodies. During this period, he was involved in booking being heavily influenced by Bill Watts and Jerry Jarrett. He’s been on the creative team of national promotions and booked two promotions he co-founded.   Jim Cornette Winds Up  All of that in a career spanning over 40 years. Since the 2000s, Jim Cornette has been heavily involved in podcasting…

I need a palette cleanser after WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea. August 27, 1995 was the eighth anniversary of WWE’s summer spectacular SummerSlam! On Into the Vault, we’ve been going through the 1995 PPVs for WCW and WWE. I have to say, it has been looking good for WWE. With the In Your House events still dragging and the company running Diesel against other big men, this is no good for the main event scene.  Good thing we have Bret, Shawn, Razor, and Double J to keep the match quality up. Hold on, this just in: I forgot the Undertaker. Oof. The Undertaker too, I suppose. Oh, something…

In going through 1995, I’ve been going in chronological order with the pay-per-views. WCW gave me trouble with two things: first, should I include the Clash of the Champions shows. I decided not to but then we started to get WWE’s In Your House events which are pretty much the same as Clash of the Champions—minus the quality so far. The other was if we should go Into the Vault on WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea.  WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea: A Rarity  This event was taped in April 1995 and aired in August. It continued none of the storylines in WCW at the time. I mean, if…