648. Wrestling isn't Fixed, it never was Broken! (book review)

                This is such a great book that every fan should have it in their library.  It is mostly pure fun by the great Bill Apter.

The Road Warriors - There's Gonna Be A Rumble Tonight!

                  I tried to find the original video of this.  I know it was on YouTube at some point, but alas, it is nowhere to be found.

Xenorama #58

 

Here is the cover for the newest Xenorama!  It should be on sale shortly.  There will be a black and white version on the way as well.  The Road Warriors became a team forty years ago in Georgia Championship Wrestling on TBS.  To say they changed the business might be a bit of an understatement.  They were part of the Legion of Doom, until Black Saturday.  Then they went to the AWA and got so popular they turned babyface against the hated Russian team.

The Road Warriors on VHS

 

This was one of the first videotapes I ever purchased.  The AWA was on top of releasing affordable VHS tapes in the 80s, which is kind of surprising.  They had several which featured their top stars.  The tapes were all about 30 minutes long, and released by Kids Klassics.  There were 8 tapes in the series, and two of them featured the Road Warriors.  The first one was when they were heels, and the second one was when they were ostensible faces.  The tapes usually featured three matches.  It was a fun way to see the team more than once.  I got the second one several years later, in the 90s, which featured the LOD losing the AWA titles.  The other tapes sometimes had the stars fighting the Roadies, but these were the only ones that had their names in the titles.

RIP Adrian Street: I'm in Love with Me

           

Danhausen figure

 

With a Xenorama issue about toys in the near future, I have been looking at what I still own.  This is brand new to me, though.  Pro Wrestler Danhausen broke his leg during a match, and these dolls were part of a plan to help the very nice, very evil wrestler with his medical bills.  They are after all, working as independent contractors.  Since I enjoy his youtube channel, I thought I would help out, and get a cool keepsake.  It was released in the second quarter of 2022, but I just got it last month.  I had to send them a reminder, but then they got it right out to me.  No muss, no fuss.  It even comes with a bag of human monies, a jar of teeth and extra hands to hold them.  It is very nice and very evil!

HOTW- El Santo

 

From Wikipedia- Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), known professionally as El Santo or in English The Saint, was a Mexican luchador enmascarado (Spanish for "masked professional wrestler"), actor and folk hero. He is one of the most famous and iconic Mexican luchadores, and has been referred to as one of "the greatest legends in Mexican sports". His wrestling career spanned nearly five decades, during which he became a folk hero and a symbol of justice for the common man through his appearances in lucha films and comic books telling fictionalized stories of El Santo fighting for justice.^[2][3] He starred or co-starred in at least 54 movies between 1958 and 1982.^[4]

Rev. Billy C. Wirtz - "Grandma vs Da Crusher" - 4-11-2014

                     

Batwoman/Panther Women

 

This Blu Ray was certainly a surprise to see released.  I received it yesterday  After years of a washed out picture for La Mujer Murcielago, seeing a restored version was incredible.  VCI has somehow found a great print and restored it.  Oddly, they commissioned an English dub for the movie, and don't have the original Spanish language with English subtitles.  I am happy to say the dub is presented as straight forward as possible, and while I haven't seen the dubbing cast, it sounds like they might all be of Latino descent.  At least, I hope they are, since the accents sound legit.  I have only watched about half of the Batwoman, and it is gorgeous.  I could live without the English voiceover every time a sign in Spanish shows up.  Heck, we even hear him say "Reptilicus".

La Mano Del Destino

 

 La Mano Del Destino (the Hand of Destiny, and shouldn't it be E: Mano?) returns to the squared circle to avenge his betrayal at the hands of his enemies and friends.  This group is led by El Jefe, who has some unknown power over most of the luchadores.  Mano is told he must defeat each wrestler individually before he can take on El Jefe.  All of this is set in Mexico in the 60s, when the wrestling was still real to many people in the country. 

Billy Ass and the Assboys (Official Video Copyright 2022 ) [Made by Danhausen]

     Yes, I know that I am posting another video, but damn this made me laugh far too much.  Praisehausen to Danhausen!  Music by Two Minutes to Late Night.  it's all very nice and very evil!

WCW Midnight Express vs Midnight Express

                                              This is 15 minutes of tag team greatness.  Listen to how hot the crowd is for the formerly hated Jim Cornette and his Midnight Express.  Jim Ross and Bob Caudle really put Beautiful Bobby over during this match.

RIP Beautiful Bobby Eaton

 

Bobby Eaton passed on today at the age of 62.  His wife had passed on the month before.  I did not properly appreciate Bobby when I first watched wrestling, but that's a tribute to how well he (and his partners and managers) did his job.  Since then I have learned far more about him.  By all accounts he was a wonderful person as well as a great wrestler.  I got to see an Express vs Express (Midnights and Rock and Rolls) in the mid-80s, and it was great.  Thank you for all the great memories, Bobby.

Exotic Adrian Street and the Pile Drivers - Imagine What I Could Do To Y...

  

Adrian Street is even more amazing than this song, and that is saying something!

Danhausen Theme Song by Two Minutes to Late Night Host Gwarsenio Hall

 

This is the very nice and very evil theme song to a wrestler I enjoy watching on YouTube. The music may sound a bit familiar, though.

Road Warriors vs Russians

I'd never realized the Road Warriors had battled Russians all over the wrestling world- I'd seen them in the NWA taking on the Koloffs, but here's a match I'd never seen with another Russian team. I think this is after they lost the AWA titles and were working both territories. So to celebrate the 4th of July here's the match.

The Resurrection of Jake the Snake (2015)

I'd been watching Jake's story for a while.  He was one of the first heels I ever appreciated as to how he could cause such a riot by speaking slightly above a whisper.  His ring psychology was right up there with Jerry Lawler- did those two ever feud? that might have been amazing- and he was a gifted performer as well.  He also was a troubled soul, and this funny and sometimes intense documentary shows it, no holds barred.

The King of New Orleans

Nice quick bio of the legendary Junkyard Dog.  I never got to see the JYD in his prime, which sadly lasted only about five years due to a wide variety of personal issues, which this book does go into as well.  It's a sad thing to see this idol of millions descend into addiction, but it's sadly not an unusual thing.  Still, this is more of a celebration of his career, rather than a tell all about his life.

Badstreet USA

Man, I hated the Freebirds. I wasn't introduced to them via Georgia, Mid-South, or WCCW, it was their run in the AWA that brought them into my life. They had feuded with Rick Martel and Jerry Blackwell but when they ran into the Road Warriors and cost them their World Tag titles (took all five heels to do it) was when they got my attention.

RIP Nick Bockwinkel

Nick passed away earlier today.  As I was in the AWA territory until it passed away, I saw a lot of Nick on TV, though I only ever saw him wrestle once or twice, and that was after his face turn against Larry Zbyszco, which led to one of the most memorable little old lady quotes I've ever heard "I hope that Zbyszco gets the shit stomped out of him!".  I never realized how great Nick was back then, which makes me sad, as I would have gone to loads more matches back then.