AAA: TripleMania Flops on the U.S. Stage

The Lucha Libre style of professional wrestling has really never been my cup of tea. However, with more and more international wrestling promotions trying to enter the American market, I decided to be supportive by ordering TripleMania 23, an event held by AAA (Asistencia Asesoría y Administración). To say I made a big mistake in ordering this show would be an understatement.

This is AAA’s biggest event of the year and there was a cool video package that was produced with a Mission Impossible theme since the franchise’s newest film installment, Rogue Nation sponsored the event. The thing is, I couldn’t enjoy it because the show was plagued with production problems from the very beginning. Continue reading “AAA: TripleMania Flops on the U.S. Stage” →

RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper 1954 – 2015

The world of professional wrestling received sad news this past Friday as Rowdy Roddy Piper passed away in his home at age 61. I didn’t get into wrestling until 1988, during Piper’s hiatus from the WWF and after his big feuds with Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, and Adrian Adonis. However, my friends always talked about Piper and would fill me in on all of his past shenanigans.

Piper returned to the WWF at WrestleMania 5 in a special edition of Piper’s Pit. His guests were Brother Love and controversial talk show host Morton Downey Jr.

It was my first time seeing this wrestler that had been built up by my friends to legendary proportions. Continue reading “RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper 1954 – 2015” →

Gerweck Report Podcast: nWo Back in Black Series – 1996

The nWo made wrestling cool in the mid to late 90’s. Their gang like mentality and infamous black and white colors resonated with fans all over the world. Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan were the founding members of this revolutionary faction, and other members followed.

On this special edition of the Gerweck Report Podcast, Frank Dee and Atlee Greene take an informative look at 1996 with introduction of the nWo storyline and its influence on the wrestling world. We give a very honest blow by blow take on the New World Order and how it all came to fruition.

Topics include the:

Hulkamania getting booed in WCW

Razor Ramon and Diesel in the WWF

The Outsiders’ debut in WCW

Who the third man originally was supposed to be

The rumored 4th man of the nWo who was in WWF at the time

and so much more in this 2 hour podcast so sit back relax and listen as we take a ride into simpler times with the nWo. Click here to listen and be nWo 4-Life.

My Thoughts on Hulk Hogan’s Racist Comments

On April 1, 1990, I cried profusely as my hero, Hulk Hogan, lost the WWF title to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6. Now that the cold hard sting of reality has reared its ugly head again, I realize that I was the victim of a 25 year April fool’s joke.

I would give anything to hop into Doc Brown’s DeLorean and travel back in time to that now tainted evening.

I’d sit next to my eight-year-old self on the couch, look him right in his watery eyes and give him a big hug while trying to convince him that the red and yellow man on the TV screen isn’t worth our tears.

Late last week, Hulk Hogan was fired from WWE after The National Enquirer, and Radar Online released a transcript of Hogan’s racist comments on the sex tape he is currently suing Gawker Media over. Hogan repeatedly used the N-Word, called to racial stereotypes as fact, and admitted that he is a racist. Continue reading “My Thoughts on Hulk Hogan’s Racist Comments” →

Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger will appear at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger captured my imagination from the moment he emerged from the curtain at WCW Superbrawl II. Liger lost the Light Heavyweight championship to Brian Pillman on that February evening in 1992, but it didn’t matter. The mixture of revolutionary high-flying moves and technical wrestling coupled with his anime inspired ring gear had me at hello.

Liger has wrestled all over the world. You name the promotion, and he has been there. That is, except for WWE. That will finally end as it was announced that Liger will appear at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn on 8/22/15. The event will air live on the WWE Network and spoiler alert, he will square off against Tyler Breeze. Continue reading “Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger will appear at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn” →

Channeling My Inner Jim Ross

I had the pleasure of providing play-by-play commentary, this past Friday, for Northeast Championship Wrestling’s ‘Red, White, & Bruised’ event in Norwood, Massachusetts. I’ve done commentary before in post-production for a few different promotions. This was the first time I would do it live as the show was happening. I was nervous and excited for the opportunity. Continue reading “Channeling My Inner Jim Ross” →

Cesaro is Mid-Card 4-Life

I’m back after taking a long and overdue vacation where my wife and I put our phones on airplane mode and were unplugged from the real world. Now that I’ve caught up on all of the wrestling news, it seems that Cesaro is getting a lot of praise for his stellar matches with John Cena on Monday Night Raw.

Cesaro is truly one of the most talented wrestlers on the planet today.

He can have a good match with anyone and often has a great match with most. Due to Cesaro’s performance over the last three weeks, die-hard fans are waiting with bated breath and both fingers crossed, hoping this will be the time that WWE finally pushes the ‘Swiss Superman’ as the main event player he deserves to be.

Unfortunately, this shall not come to pass.

Continue reading “Cesaro is Mid-Card 4-Life” →

The Impact of Global Force Wrestling

Hell froze over last Wednesday when Jeff Jarrett entered the ring on Impact Wrestling while wearing a t-shirt of his own start-up promotion, Global Force Wrestling. The TNA founder announced his participation in the King of the Mountain match to be held at the Slammiversary, which he ended up winning.

This is all very intriguing considering Jeff Jarrett left the company on poor terms.

Continue reading “The Impact of Global Force Wrestling” →

Brutal Bob Evans Talks, Ring of Honor, Lethal vs. Briscoe, Micheal Bennett, & More

I recently interviewed Brutal Bob Evans at What Culture.com where he shares his thoughts on topics such as Destination America, the success of Micheal Bennett, putting Cheeseburger through a table, and his initial criticism of the company. Here some highlights:

On Being an ROH Critic: The line I use is that I used to hate this company, now it’s the only place I want to be. I think it was the change in philosophy on both our parts. In other words, I think we needed to be a little more open-minded, and I wasn’t open-minded.

Will Briscoe vs. Lethal Deliver: I’ve actually pulled both guys aside and told them there are people who don’t think you’re going to have the match that Ring Of Honor is promising. I think both guys are looking at it as a challenge to really step up their game and compete at that kind of level where they’re going to have that type of match.

I personally want to thank Bob for taking the time to talk to me. You can check out the entire interview here at What Culture.com

Randy Savage vs. Jushin Liger: I Never Knew This Happened!

One of the fun things that comes with being a fan of any genre are the undiscovered gems you stumble upon. That wow factor kicks into overdrive because it sounds too good to be true when you find something that you never knew existed.

‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage and Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger are two of my favorite professional wrestlers. Up until this past weekend, I would’ve called you a liar if you said they actually wrestled each other. Well, they did in fact tango in the squared circle.

Their one and only encounter took place on July 17, 1996, in Sapporo, Japan, during a New Japan Pro Wrestling tour. Savage was one of four wrestlers representing WCW and hurt his leg on a dive the night before in a losing effort to Ric Flair.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a sellout crowd 6,400 fans filled the Makomanai Ice Arena as Savage hobbled to the ring for his showdown with the esteemed junior heavyweight. Liger entered next with his usual flash and energy as an admirer handed him a bouquet.

While the match was only eight minutes and really nothing special, it was a nice novelty to see two of the all-time greats dance one time. It was odd seeing Savage being the bigger of the two wrestlers since he was often the smallest guy in the ring.

Despite winning the match with his patented flying elbow drop, Savage really worked to put Liger over as a serious threat. He played defense most of the time due to his leg injury, sold like a champ for the palm strike, and took a Liger Bomb.

Wrestlers have always been expected to wear their working shoes when traveling to Japan. However, looking at the landscape of superstar American heavyweights at the time, I don’t think that many of them would have gone out of their way to make a wrestler in a weight class below look like credible.

It was fun to see Savage out of his element and with Liger. Again, the match is nothing to write home about, but this one time encounter is worth a gander if you a fan of these colorful titans of the mat. The Madness versus The Thunder, Ooh Yeah!