You've heard the arguments over the years, most have. who's the greatest this or that. when they had internet chatrooms them arguments by alot of marks with only "monday Night" knowledge were carried out on a dialy basis. On message boards you still can see that but really, again, it's mostly marks who only have a limited knowledge because they became fans because of monday night Raw or Nitro. Real fans, the ones who've been fans before the monday night wars were even dreamed about...Guys like myself. Can come up with a better argument and nine times out of ten, we did.
Me being from the midwest, and after a number of years in New England, back in the midwest, I saw alot of different wrestling promotions growing up in Chicago, for all the boasts that St. Louis was the mecca, Chicago had the more different promotions running shows or had tv clearances, the ratings for that time speak for themselves on how Chicago was a wrestling capital.It was when I moved to NH that I came across the argument of best world champion, tag team, etc. NH was and is known as typical WWF territory and even though I was from chicago and had WWF, Watt's UWF, WCCW, Crockett's NWA, Luce's WWA. it was known as Nick Bockwinkel country...AWA area.
If you're a fan or mark who thinks Randy Orton, John Cena or HHH is the greatest champion ever...this article isn't for you. If you're a fan or mark who thinks Edge is the greatest performer of all time. I suggest you click and go elsewhere because they're not even on the level for real long time fans who know better like myself.
Fans in the south would say that Flair is the greatest, and I can relate very well to that argument because I am a fan of Flair. But I was one of them guys who always thought Harley Race came across better. He had that look that said "don't fuck with him" and I know two indy wrestlers from New England who went to Race's wrestling school. One of them was a HUGE Terry Funk fan(Still is) but he said after learning what Race taught him and after finding out what Race really knows, it solified my long standing argument for Race. I'm a fan of Dory Funk Jr. and have seen some footaqe of him as NWA World champion. Race just appealed to me more in in ring style, promo ability to get a match or angle over(and I've seen footage of Race in Ga, Missouri, WCCW,etc),and how he seemed to get over better. I never seen footage of the Briscos as NWA World Champion so for some who use them as an argument you may have me there. I've seen them as tag team champions and can have an argument for one of the best tag teams ever, but we'll get to that one in a minute.
WWF fans would trout Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund. Bruno? Yeah. Backlund? As good as an in ring performer he was. his promos just never got me excited to see him wrestle. Bret Hart would qualify more for many reasons if you ask me.
This leads up to my argument which comes from the AWA. Verne Gagne? Very very good, of course he owned the company so you know how they plays out. But my argument is for and will always be for Nick Bockwinkel.
Nick Bockwinkel represented Pro Wrestling very well. His in ring style, interviews both with bobby heenan as his manager and with out, as fan favorite or heel, showed that he could and did, put asses in seats. No matter who he faced during his tenures as world champion he proved to be 'our' world champion for us AWA fans. he was a traveling champion as he ventured to Memphis to face Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee and others, he was even managed in memphis by Jimmy Hart, something not many fans knew. he went to Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio Texas as well as Japan and Canada. So he did come across as a 'real' world champion and not once ever have I heard that he refused to 'do a job'. When I worked for acouple indy Groups in New England I was able to ask Sgt. Slaughter and King Kong Bundy(since they both were in the AWA) their opinion of Bockwinkel. After Bundy joked at me that I was 'in the wrong area of the country to be mentioning Bockwinkel'(lol) he said "a true true competitor, a real legend who has alot of respect with his peers". Slaughter, who was trained by Verne Gagne said, "A man who is considered a true world champion and as a fan who's very very knowledgeable about old school territories, your opinion is very valid".
Bockwinkel like Flair, had that ability to make any guy he wrestled, look like a main event guy. Flair may have made Magnum T.A. a Star in the NWA but Bockwinkel did it first in Southwest Championship Wrestling. He also did it with 'Raging Bull' Manny Fernandez in the same area. Matches against Curt Hennig? Absolute classics. Even against a guy who would later become AWA World Champion himself, Larry Zybysko. awesome matches that had alot of heat and excitement to them. Bockwinkel, like Race, and Zybysko, knew the art of 'selling'(which seems to becoming a faded art in WWE and in some ways TNA), of getting something or someone over for the good of the business and always, whether fans hated him or liked him, got over extremely well and helped up attendence anywhere he went. So for me, Nick Bockwinkel will always qualify as one of the greatest world champions of all time..bar none.
The argument for greatest tag team always seems to center around, Team 3-D, Hardys, Road Warriors(which I can understand and respect), stieners, Midnight Express and rock n roll express. Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs,But you know, there's other tag teams out there that to me could be right up there as well. Based on not just what tag titles they won, but how they got over with fans. Examples you ask? Ok, here you go.
Dick Slater and Bob Orton Jr. They were NWA world tag champs, had a battle w/ Ric Flair in an angle where Harley Race hired them to take him out. I remember that because during a match where Slater and Orton were facing prelim guys(another one of them lost art things) Flair came to the ring with a baseball bat and chased Slater all around the arena. How these two get surpassed is a question I can't get an answer to.
Stan Hansen and Ted Dibiase..Ok the argument will come that they only teamed in Japan. So what? Look at who fans over there consider for legendary teams and this team always comes up. Ask a mark of today about this team and they'll say "who"?
Hansen and Terry Gordy..Yes they only teamed in japan but they were the team to beat for a long time. Imagine if a promoter in the states had the balls to book them as a team? Lost chances to shake things up.
Gordy and Dr. Death Steve Williams..Bill Watts did the smart thing and booked them as a team in WCW. They came in as champs even held two different set of tag titles at once for those who want to use titles as their measuring stick.
Slater & Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer, Sawyer and Jim Duggan, Hansen and Ole Anderson. even the original midnight express managed by paul heyman. all these teams got over, put asses in seats, etc but why is it they're overshadowed. How about some answers, huh.
Greatest lost chances I've seen? Lost chances, things that could've gone further but didn't, things like that is what I'll talk about now....
Years ago I got to see the at the time rare teaming of Bret Hart and Curt Hennig. they did the WWF house show run and came to what was known then as the Rosemont Horizon. Why McMahon didn't give them a run with the tag titles is a mystery, there's a dream team right there. They would've made the tag titles look real important.
One wrestling show I loved more than any was "Pro Wrestling This Week". Anyone remember that show? Gordon Solie, Joe Pedicino, Bill Apter all hosted it. Showed matches, angles, etc from many different promotions. If you lived in Chicago and wanted to know about wrestling in the Pacific Northwest, this show showed you. If you lived in New England and wanted to see a sample of Memphis style wrestling, you got it here. Why this show was ever cancelled, or why nobody else had tried to do it after really, this was a show that did alot of good for showing fans other wrestling promotions.
Why don't they do slamberee anymore? oh I know why, cause it's something that Vince McMahon and the WWE didn't create. They don't create it they usually shit all over it, one look at how they screwed the name ECW over says it all.
Tully Blanchard in ECW, he had acouple matches and one run in against Shane Douglas, I remember that I also remember Tully not having very much interview time. So much could've been done there.
The following is going to be the greatest matches, etc I saw when working for Sousa's AWF, WWA New England and EWA(when they were based in Maine).
This first one wasn't in a group I was working for but it stands out. I went to Danbury,CT for a Northeast Wrestling show(promoted by Mike O'Brien). I was looking to see if I could get them in NH and drove 5 1/2 hours to see this show. The one match that'll always stand out from that one show was a singles match between Reckless Kid and Tommy Rogers.
Just like I always thought Robert Gibson was the better wrestler in the Rock n Roll Express I always liked Tommy Rogers more than Bobby Fulton, so watching this was awesome because Reckless Kid knew how to play to the crowd(once a certain someone who's writing this got chants going of "Reckless sucks reckless sucks"). Back and forth acvtion, selling from both, it got over with the fans and it was the best match on that show. Even though this show had Jake Roberts and George Steele on it, the tommy rogers/reckless kid match was the stand out match of the night. If I could find it on Youtube I'd post a link for it because it was just that good.
My first Experience with Sivano Sousa's AWF was in Manchester, NH at St, Cecelia's Hall. This show had Killer Kowalski making an appearance, Rick Martel as the 'name' guy, had the late steve bradley, the now known as Giant Bernard in New Japan(Prince Albert in WWE). The match that stood out was actually, the opening match (how often does that happen). Kidd USA vs Luis Ortiz put on an awesome wrestling clinic of a technical match. these two had the caliber of match that would be on the level of say, Dean Malenko/Eddie Guerrero. yes these two in the ring, Ortiz and Kidd USA performed that well, that good, move for move, no tables, no chairs, just two great guys with great talent going all out. That was the match that made me realize that the column i was gona write(at the time) had to be changed because they set the tempo which showed me that not all indy groups put on shit shows like I had seen in the past. I wish they could've had a feud because I never got to see them have a rematch.
Wittman, Mass at the Armory for the WWA New England was a show that had a WWE Training Dojo. It featured Kurt Angle managed by Dory Funk Jr.,the 'new' midnight express managed by Cornette, Droz and Fatu as a tag team, Vampire Warrior(Gangrel for you Monday Night marks), the late andrew martin, Brandi Alexander vs Brittany Brown(which is something I'll be talking about after this).The main event was a match that unbelieveably, was great. Jeff Jarrett vs All American Mike Hollow.
Mike Hollow was known as one of the trainers at Killer Kowalski's school and I believe he's doing it now for Chaotic Wrestling(a group that swore they were gonna run shows in Maine after the EWA was sold and nolonger ran there, Chaotic hasn't really followed thru on that promise, imagine that). He and I once had coffee at a place in Rochester, NH where I lived(He had relatives who lived there and he knew I was trying to get a WWA show in the area). He gave me some real good advice on bringing a show there, what happened when the last company to try got shut down the day of the show(they never got a permit from the city, which to get it takes a long process I later went thru to get for the WWA). What he told me that day meant alot.
The match itself was before Jarrett went on to copying the wayne ferris use of guitars..If you don't know who Wayne Ferris is, well, like I said before, this article isn't for you then because you're obviously under qualified knowledge wise.
Mike Hollow vs Jeff Jarrett was incredible, old school move for move, fan interaction, Hollow getting the chants up to a louder level. over 500 paid fans(legit paid attendence) cheered for Hollow to win and they went out of the ring into the guard rail and back in the ring, it was such a classic feeling to it and seeing a local guy get such a spot to face a name like Jarrett, it's one of them long time classic decisions of like letting the local guy challenge for the world title.
Brandi Alexander vs Brittany Brown was the long going feud in the WWA, no real angles from one show to the next but these two always faced each other and unlike what you see mostly in WWE, women who look good but can't work a lick in the ring(except for gail kim and a select few others) Brittany and Brandi showed that women wrestling in the united states could get over for actual wrestling and not just a tits and ass show. It was a shame the WWA couldn't(or wouldn't) book Malia Hosaka, who's worked many different indy groups here in the states because she'd bring an awesome level of excellence to a match w/brandi or brittany. Brittany and Brandi showed that women who look good, and trained properly, could put on a great match. I myself had seen some of JWP wrestling, a womens fed that was in Japan that really showcased some awesome awesome matches, so my level of expectation because of that and knowing women like candi devine and sherri martel laid the ground work for great matches(in my eyes) had my level of expectation way up. Thankfully Brittany and Brandi always surpassed my expectations.
One of the best 'missed opportunities' by the major feds was Rick Fuller. Some fans may remember as a prelim guy in WCW but see him in indy feds like the EWA and you could see that Fuller had it. EWA actually did a nice job building him from show to show. He had one solid match against Mike Hollow in WWA New England but WWA never had storylines so they missed the boat. Where they missed the boat the EWA picked it up and ran with it. Especially in Portland he got over thanks to a certain someone who started a "Fuller's gonna kill you" chant and the fans after that did it every time he appeared there. There was a fan on the other side of the ring who started bringing a sign that said that after I did the chant.
Another great guy to watch was Chris Venom. one of the best heels on the mic you could find. Was able to get the heat needed with such ease.
The best tag team in my opinion that New England had to offer was without a doubt, was indeed, The Damned. Now some people may remember a punk/metal band by the same name and had the wrestling team The Damned actually used something from say, the Phantasmagoria album(which is a pretty errie album) but that's to me just a minor moot point.
These guys were it when it came to tag teams, they were the Road Warriors, The Freebirds, name any tag team you think is great and The Damned was on that level and then some. Mad Dog was the power guy and Draven was the high flyer and together, from their ring entrance that was always in synch, to how the matches worked out, was simply fluid in motion.
When internet chatrooms were popular I'd go in to especially the Yahoo wrestling one and plug the New England Groups I worked for. After the marks chimed in with the usual "Yeah sure you work for them" and got proven wrong thanks to links that proved I did, I'd plug the EWA site and The Damn's site. The Damned wrestled all over, from Maine to Penn. so a surprise came to me when i entered a chatroom and someone in there popped a side message to me that said "I saw that team you like, The Damned. They appeared at a show here in Penn". So if one person wound up buying a ticket, the effort was worth it. And if someone tried to be a smart ass and say "what's so great about them"? I'd say, "go buy a ticket and see for yourself moron". needless to say, I was kicked out of alot of chatrooms because of my wonderful personality, LOL!
The picture for this article is of The Damned, giving a beatdown in the ring. If you look on the bottom left, the guy wearing the bandana..That's yours truly. Just to let you know.
New England also had one of the best stables in the Hardcore Institute, which the Damned were members of for a time. Dr. Everett Payne (no not his real name) went from being a bell ringer and after some training to be a manager and the formation of this stable started. "Mr. Muscles" Frankie Armadillo was always a fun guy to watch as he was one of them annoying heels you'd just wish you could go up and smack, right in the face. I've seen fans wanting to do that or fans sitting near me during shows say "I'm gonna wait for that prick after the show and then we'll what he can do". Frankie and Payne would also work for acouple other indy groups in New England but they were an EWA original.
One of the greatest annoyances for me, was always trying to kayfabe the fans at these shows, make it seem like I'm right with them in their hate or like for guys. or teying to explain storylines in kayfabe. "Well see the Damned came to the EWA to join the Hardcore Institute and along with Payne and Armadillo they're gonna take over the EWA". Ugh some nights I swear I just didn't want to do that or some who knew I was a 'regular' and figured out I was 'plugged in' somehow( of course seeing me at my tape table before, at intermission and after shows would make it pretty damn obvious I was, lol).They'd try to get results out of me before the matches happened. Now I could've gone back to the dressing room and found out the results at anytime so I'd know ahead of time, and just say them in my little tape recorder I had. Some may have thought that would be a great idea, and while I always did go into the locker room at EWA shows, I never bothered to ask for results. I preferred to just have it play out before me as the fan inside me would want it. That way my own reaction as well as the fans reactions would help shape how I would write a column. So I'd just say to the ones who asked, "They never tell me anything, Every time I try asking they tell me to go sell my tapes and shut up". Not true at all but hey, can't give away the results at shows, come on, even for a jerk like me that ranks as pretty cheesy.
The other heel stable in the EWA was Josh Shea and the Partners in Crime. With Precious Lucy, Mark Jaguar Nugara and others before I showed up. Josh in his role as manager was good as well. he was good at fan interaction and I remember many times if someone (Not just me) yelled something, he'd go, all the way around the ring to that guy and give him shit. Chris Grande who was in Sousa's AWF and WWA New England was like that too but a totally different style than Everett Payne or Josh Shea. While WWE doesn't think managers are vital, they are, and fans appreciate that reactions because they'll want to come back to the next show in hopes they see that heel manager "get his" for what he did at the last show. Managers have always played a vital part to a wrestling company and you can go all the way back to when Bobby Heenan did it in the AWA and later WWF(E). J. J. Dillon, Oliver Humpewrdink, Jimmy Hart, Gary hart, Percy Pringle, all have played great parts in getting wrestlers, angles and/or storylines over. Josh Shea and Everett payne, same thing and if the fans got hot at what they said or did, well guess what, goal achieved, they did their job correctly. They did it correctly more times than not.
Now...Here's one of them great missed chances I wish I could've seen..This to me would've been a 'natural' booking wise. Pit the Partners in Crime against the Hardcore Institute, especially..in Portland where they ran monthly, man, that would've gotten over. After I left the EWA they may have done this, I don't know. When i left I was having a very severe case of burnout, professionally and personally everywhere in my life and when i left the EWA I stopped watching wrestling as a whole for awhile. I always felt that could've been a well talked about feud had it gone down.
On a funny note and this is for my own personal entertainment in talking about it. One of the funniest things I saw working indies had nothing to do with a match or a storyline, or even a promo. It was when Jimmy Snuka and the Metal Maniac appeared for Sousa's AWF in Manchester, NH. I had always said that the Metal Manic wasn't really 'over' with anyone, said it openly in columns and in many conversations. Proof of that was when during intermission, Snuka had a long line for photos, The late Killer Kowalkski had a nice line, and Metal Maniac? nobody...Zero, zip, and nada one in line. he wound up walking around St. Cecelia's hall trying to give photos away, and nobody wanted them. He was the guy who drove Snuka so for a few years he'd be added to shows all over the northeast(even if a promoter really didn't want him, it was a package deal, you want Snuka, you have to book this bum too). I'm sure that had to hurt.
Well that'll end this piece of memories. Until next time, thanks for the memories.
