Tag Archives: Wrestling

My Holy Grail, Electronic WCW Monday Nitro Arena Found

Everyone has that one piece that is missing from their personal collection. You might have seen it once or twice in the wild or maybe it’s overpriced… For me that was the Electronic WCW Monday Nitro Arena from ToyBiz.

I got this wrestling ring for Christmas back in 2001, if I recall correctly. I remember using it as my main ring for my BCA figs. I just loved the whole look to the stage and if you had a Sting figure you could lower him in the ring.

Like some things from childhood they just disappear, sold at an yard sale, or thrown away. I have no idea what happened to my original ring.

When I started to seriously collect some of my favorite childhood wrestling merch the WCW Monday Nitro Arena was on the top of my list. And when I came searching the price everyone wanted for a complete in box was around $300-$400 and an incomplete or loose ring juggled in price from $100-$150 those online prices was to pricy for me and I didn’t want to hunt around trying to complete it.

While going through my saved searches on eBay and buying WWF Hasbro figs I came across a listing for the Nitro Arena – complete in box for under $200 and I couldn’t pass this opportunity up to have this ring in my collection.

Three weeks later… Thanks to the doofus taking his time shipping it out, I can now put this white whale to rest.

As the listing said, it’s complete in box. The box itself has minor damage but I’m fine with that and it did come with every piece. I’m so happy to have this wrestling ring in my collection, it brings back so many fun memories when I used to play with my figs in the living room.

With all that being said, checkout my unboxing…

AEW: Double or Nothing the Aftermath

A lot of this PPV was hit and miss for me. I loved the near perfect match between Cody and Dustin Rhodes, it was a bloody mess that reminded me of Austin-Hart from WrestleMania 13. Cody got the win but he had help by Brandi and a couple cheap shots to throw Dustin off his game.

The whole match was a emotional rollercoaster. Dustin hit Cody with Cody’s own finisher and having him kick out at two made the crowd go bananas. Earl Hebner was officiating said match and that kinda brought me out of the match at times. He still has that swinging arm when counting to three and he is up there in age and he seemed to be stumbling around too.

Hangman Page won the Casino Battle Royale and you talk about WWE type booking. Put over your own company guy that’s friends with bookers. Also, I’m not all that sad that PAC cancelled his match. I wanted MJF to win the battle royale, he’s the best on the mic and one heck of a worker. Put him against Jericho or Omega and said match would get five stars.

Young Buck and Lucha Bros. probably had match of the night outside of Cody-Dustin. The Bucks went over but Penta & Fenix never gave it. Sure it was a spot fest at times but I enjoyed every bit of the Bucks fighting from underneath.

Jericho-Omega was good, I liked this match better than their first in New Japan. This match felt like there was something to lose, where in New Japan it just a hardcore match seeing who can last the longest. Jericho won and he and Hangman Page will face off for the AEW World Championship in the future… But! the surprise from tonight came after the Jericho-Omega match when Jon Moxley came from the crowd and took out Jericho and a referee with a double arm DDT. He then had his sights on Omega, but Kenny fought back until they both wound up on the Double or Nothing stage where Moxley hit a double arm knocking him out.

What is Causing All This? AEW

Rumors are running rampant online with every major and copy and paste wrestling news site putting their input on all theses AEW “signings” or “in talks” rumors, I’m just getting tired of it.

Best part about all this is the memes coming from Facebook groups. Like, AEW is just a T-shirt company or my favorite, Hope AEW signs Triple H. As of wrestling this a picture of Chris Jerchio and Batista was posted online and those sites says Batista in talks with AEW… Got all that by a picture…

When’s Double or Nothing is said and done and none of these big names sign with AEW… and I told you so! Oh! and to who Cody will be facing at Double or Nothing, it’s CM Punk and you can bank on that.

Wrestling Playset Type B

Last year for my birthday I received Wrestling Playset (Style B), you may have seen these in your locale dollar store. Mine has been sitting in my closet since I got it but tonight I pulled it out and opened it.

You get two figures, four accessories like a guardrail, ladder, trash can, and construction cone. Even the ring has a center logo that says Extreme Championship Wrestlers. The turnbuckles are kinda small and ring posts have that cheap plastic, it may break if you put too much tension on it.

I can see this as a good alternative and at a dollar store price, I’m guessing $5 or $10 isn’t bad. I may have to visit my dollar stores more often for these kind of wrestling playsets.

Remembering Dynamite Kid

It’s being reported that Tom Billington better known as the Dynamite Kid has passed away today on his 60th birthday.

Dynamite was one half of the tag team duo the British Bulldogs along with Davey Boy Smith. The Bulldogs won tag team gold at WrestleMania 2 defeating The Dream Team (Valentine and Beefcake).

My favorite memories of Dynamite came from the Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation from the 80’s. Their tag matches were stiff and brutal. It wasn’t until later in life when I watched Dynamite in Japan. His bouts with Tiger Mask were legendary.

Back in 2013 Highlights got the opportunity to sit down with Billington to talk about his career and his thoughts on the Benoit murderers.

WWE WrestleMania 34 Predictions

It’s WrestleMania week and sure enough I’m still not hyped for Mania. Something about this years build isn’t getting my blood flowing like past years. Back in January when Shinsuke Nakamura won the Royal Rumble and announced he wanted to face AJ Styles I was onboard. But in the past few weeks Style was and or is injured and may miss his Mania match… And look at Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns story, the whole no show, showing up when your suspended and still get distorted, I’m not buying it. But it’s WrestleMania this Sunday and of course I’ll be watching it and like every year past, here are my predictions.

I do believe it’s time for Reigns to go over and win the WWE Universal Championship.

Cena will call out the Undertaker at Mania and they’ll have their match. Cena did a lot of trash talking in the lead up and it’s time for Undertaker to shut him up. Hopefully we see American Badass gimmick return.

Daniel Bryan announced his in ring return… Don’t see him losing at Mania. As for Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle facing Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, I’m giving to the Authority. But we all know Rousey and Angle are going over… as for the other matches…

AJ Styles

Fin Balor

Bobby Roode

Nia Jax

Charlotte Flair

Braun Strowman

Living the #FigLife Top 5 WWE LJN Figures

I been really enjoying writing about wrestling figures and I’m gonna finish this series with the LJN line. Big chunks of rubber and paint crashing into each other! They are really indestructible sometimes. What makes the LJN figs playable are the poses the superstars come in. And you can forget about Rick Rude making this list. Worst LJN ever!

5. Greg Valentine

Valentine was a figure I got much later in life from a family friend. I didn’t use him much since Hasbro was popular at the time. He mostly stood on a shelf.

4. George Steele

Talk about a brick of rubber. Maybe a bulldog or Japanese arm drag but in all reality he could splash a laying opponent. I liked Steele growing up so this fig has a lot of sentimental value.

3. S.D. Jones

The longest IC Champion when I was booking my fantasy league. SD could do it all. I gave him a chokeslam finisher.

2. Ricky Steamboat

Perfect hand for an iron claw submission or something simple as a drop kick.

1. Hulk Hogan

From leg drops, diving elbow to an hurricanrana. The Hogan fig could do it all.

The one LJN that never crossed my path was Randy Savage. Never saw one in a store or yard sale. What are some of your favorite WWF LJN figures?

Living the #FigLife Top 5 WWE Mattel Action Figures

I been buying and collecting wrestling action figures since the LJN era. My collection of JAKKS I’m very proud of but backed off when I found out Mattel took over the WWE license and thought I might as well stop with JAKKS because I really don’t want to rebuy all these figures over again… Until I bought my first Mattel and I was hooked once again. My first figure came from WWE Legends Series 5 with Macho Man Randy Savage. JAKKS never had a Savage figure and I couldn’t pass him up!

These are my Top Five favorite WWE Mattel action figures.

5. Becky Lynch (Elite 49)

I’ve always been 50/50 on Lynch but came around a year ago. I picked up her Elite 49 figure on clearance, it just looks good. She has her steampunk top hat, goggles and duster.

4. Razor Ramon (WrestleMania 32 Basic)

When I was looking for a Razor there’s a Defining Moments figure with purple ring gear, but I wasn’t looking to get anything fancy. So I found a basic with black and gold ring gear which to me is the classic Razor look. Sure he didn’t come with a vest but still a nice figure to add to my Kliq/New Generation Era collection.

3. D’Lo Brown (Elite 52)

D’Lo was my favorite wrestler in the Nation and he’s a bit underrated, he’s one of a few people in the Attitude Era that wasn’t named Hardy doing high flying moves. The Elite 52 figure is spot on, down to the protective vest.

2. Dusty Rhodes (Target Exclusive)

I skipped on buying WWE Legends Series 1 Dusty Rhodes to buy Randy Savage, years later when Target had Rhodes packaged with the WCW ring I couldn’t pass it up. Rhodes was in his NWA era ring attire with the big gold belt and by this time I was already three rings deep and having one more couldn’t hurt. But it’s the classic Dusty that I like about the figure. Cowboy ring boots, birthmark and one elbow pad. Classic!

1. Bret Hart (Defining Moments 5)

I gotta have my all time favorite wrestler. This figure is from In Your House: Canadian Stampede. Everything about this figure is awesome, he comes with a Canadian flag, sunglasses, and a leather jacket with the Hitman skull logo on the back. Everything you need to make a perfect Bret Hart figure.

Who’s Next? At this point Mattel is making everyone, as of this year X-PAC has four figures floating around and one of them is Syxx from his WCW run. But I really want to see a Gorilla Monsoon figure because Bobby Heenan has a figure out and one on the way, and I need a Prime Time Wrestling duo. Another figure I would buy is Haku in his King of the Ring attire.

And now a word from Lawrence of The Awesome 80’s Podcast on his top 3 favorite wrestling action figures.

Thanks Doiner for including me in this column. I was a hardcore collector from 1990-2005. Although I do have some of the early WWF figures they didn’t capture my heart at the time. After I was collecting for a few years I stopped opening all figures and kept them in their packaging. If I really wanted to open one I would buy doubles but even then I found I would have a tough time allowing myself to open the package. I found I got more joy out of holding the unopened package and looking at them than I did playing with an opened one.

If anyone is looking for gift ideas I have always regretted opening the 1990 WCW set and am willing to take donations of any of those figures. Enjoy my Top 3 list below and feel free to comment about your favorites. My favorites are all about sentimental value and not which ones looked the coolest or had the best moves.

3. Shawn Michaels (Road to WrestleMania 22 – Series 1)

Shawn Michaels as Hulk. This figure makes me laugh and reminds me of the promo HBK delivered right before their 2005 Summer Slam match where Shawn over sold everything and made Hulk look like an asshole. If you haven’t watched this match or haven’t watched it in a while as a wrestling fan you owe it to yourself to check it out.

2. Mick Foley’s Triple Threat

I was a huge Foley mark since his 1991 WCW run. So I was the worst to be around when he was at his peak in WWF from 1998-2002. I loved everything Foley did and I wasn’t shy about telling everyone I saw. When this set got released I was full on mark mode. It is of course still sitting in my collection, unopened.

1. Jim Ross (Ringside Collection Series 2)

I was also a big JR mark. This is my #1 because I searched for over 6 months to find this figure. Every Wal*Mart or Toys R Us I passed I had to stop to try to find it. The fleeting moment of joy I had when I found it and held it in my hands was a euphoric feeling for all of 10 seconds. I have four of this figures currently sitting in my basement you guessed it all unopened. Special shout out to my college girlfriend who also had to stop at everyone of those Wal*Mart’s, Toys R Us and oh ya I forgot we also stopped at every K B Toy stores.

Honorable mention to the WCW 1990 set. This was the first set that I hardcore collected. I still have the entire set in my collection but I opened them all to book shows using the WCW ring I had. Special shout out to the spring loaded ring platform.

WWE Royal Rumble Aftermath

The women’s Royal Rumble match went on last and what a match it was. Asuka eliminated Nikki Bella to become the first woman to win said match. Before she could choose which champion she wants to face at WrestleMania, Ronda Rousey made her appearance staring down Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka. She event had a stare down and handshake with Stephanie McMahon.

Some of my favorite highlights was seeing Beth Phoenix wrestling again, I miss her in ring work so bad. Natalya Neidhart eliminated Phoenix. Another person I was surprised to see was the number thirty entrance, Trish Stratus and she still can go. She and Mickie James faced off reuniting their feud. A couple other names appeared was Molly Holly and Lita. Lita got some ring rust. Torrie Wilson and Michelle McCool were good. And entering at number nineteen was Kelly Kelly… What a joke!

Let me get this out there… Jason Jordan is the Marty Jannetty in every tag team he is in. The Bar defeated Seth Rollins to win the RAW Tag Team Championships. Jordan got taken out early by Cesaro by slamming him face first into the ring post. The match was basically a two on one match and Rollins worked his tail off.

The men’s Royal Rumble match was good but it was a bit fast. Shinsuke Nakamura eliminated Roman Reigns to win the match. I and everyone watching the Rumble was happy Reigns didn’t win. A one point it could’ve came down to Cena-Reigns and if that have happened everyone in the crowd would’ve rioted.

Rey Mysterio, Adam Cole and Andrade Cien Almas made surprise appearances. Mysterio shocked me the most since he’s been in Lucha Underground and the way he left the E wasn’t on good terms.

Brock Lesnar retained the Universal Championship in a brutal match with Braun Strowman and Kane. Strowman kneed Lesnar in the head and got a punch in the face receipt for it. Strowman looked a bit shaken by it. This match was spot heavy, from getting hit by chairs and destroying three announce tables and two additional tables. Just watch the match it’s worth it.

AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn to retain the WWE Championship.

The Usos defeated Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

Royal Rumble (2018) was good but I still say NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia was a better show when it comes to in ring work.

Rhodes Turns On Omega At New Beginning

Last night at New Japan Pro Wrestling: The New Beginning event in Sapporo saw Cody Rhodes turn on Kenny Omega after he lost his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship to Jay White. After Cody hit the Cross Rhodes on Omega and anymore damage could be done Kota Ibushi made the save. Reuniting the Golden Lovers once again!

Omega getting kicked out of the Bullet Club has people saying he may appear in tonight’s Royal Rumble match. I don’t see that happening. Omega is a face now and with the help of Ibushi, I see them trying to destroy the Bullet Club. Maybe a Omega-Cody match is in the works, love to see that in a year long build and at Wrestle Kingdom 13.

https://youtu.be/6BUMbq5rBZE

WWE Royal Rumble Predictions (2018)

The road to WrestleMania starts at the Royal Rumble. One man and one woman will go on to headline WrestleMania 34.

Dirt sheets are saying John Cena will win the rumble but face Undertaker at Mania and not go for a world championship title shot. Cena has won in the past and I really don’t like repeat winners and if Cena wins there still needs to be someone going for the SmackDown or RAW world championship. I’m predicting Bray Wyatt to win.

The women’s rumble match I’m really looking forward to but let’s not have Ronda Rousey win the match, just have her as a surprise entrant. I can’t wait to see who’s all going to be in this rumble, hopefully some past WWE superstars pull a one shot. Right now I’m high on Nia Jax and want her to win the rumble.

Triple threat match for the WWE Universal Championship… Brock has been champion for awhile now and Kane is kinda busy on the political scene and then there’s Braun Strowman. The man who tipped over an semi truck! He’s so over with the crowd and Wrestle Twitter, it’s time for him to win gold and I hope he does.

Handicap match for the WWE Championship… AJ Styles will face Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. I like the direction where Owens and Zayn is going but I can see Owens turn on Zayn if they win the championship. Keep it on AJ and give him his WrestleMania moment in a singles match that has nothing to do with Shane McMahon.

Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin over the Usos to become the new SmackDown Tag Champs.

Cedric Alexander is going for the Cruiserweight Championship facing Enzo Amore and it’s time for Alexander to get gold. He’s a great performer and the Lumbar Check is a sick finisher.

Update: Enzo Amore got future endeavored. So he won’t be making it to the Royal Rumble.

Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan vs Cesaro and Sheamus… Not a fan of Jason Jordan and Kurt Angle’s family storyline and ever since I’ve been sour on Jordan. The Bar has already seen tag team gold, Jordan and Rollins will hold the belts a little longer.

Side Notes: Wrestle Twitter is saying Daniel Bryan will make his in ring return at the Royal Rumble. I would like to see D-Bry back in the ring but not to win the rumble. If he does have a come back, let’s get that Lesnar match out of him and put Reigns to the side. Or Bryan-Miz would be a match I see Bryan wrestling in because the storyline is there if you watched Talking Smack in 2016.

Top 10 Monday Night RAW Moments

WWE is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Monday Night RAW this Monday night by having a simulcast, part of show will take place at the Manhattan Center while the other half will go down at the Barclays Center. And the WWE is bringing back some of their heavy hitters like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, Scott Hall, and even… She’s so bad they named her twice, it’s Kelly Kelly!

And I’m here tonight to give all of y’all my top ten favorite Monday Night RAW moments!

10. Chris Jericho’s RAW debut (8-9-99)

9. Shane McMahon buys WCW (3-26-01)

8. Brian Pillman – Pillman’s got a gun (11-4-96)

7. Lita and Trish Stratus main event RAW for the WWE Women’s Championship (12-6-04)

6. Lightning Kid defeats Razor Ramon (5-17-93)

5. Brock Lesnar returned and destroyed John Cena (4-2-12)

4. DX reunites on Raw’s 1,000th episode (7-23-12)

3. CM Punk’s pipe bomb promo (6-27-11)

2. Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian received a standing ovation (10-18-99)

1. Bret Hart returns (1-4-10)

There you have it my top ten RAW moments! Now let’s see what special guest Lawrence from the Awesome 80’s Pod have to say about some of his favorite RAW moment.

1. RAW is Owen: Nothing will ever rank higher than me than the night after Owen died. The emotions were high and every superstar was vulnerable and real. Best moment for me was the Road Dogg and Godfather deciding to go smoke a fatty and swap Owen stories instead of wrestling each other. (5-24-99)

2. Formation of the Union: Foley, Test, Shamrock and Big Show. The group only lasted a few weeks but their gimmick was perfect for the time and place. (5-3-99)

Their hokey entrance music just added to the legend.

3. Steven Regal – Real Man, unfortunately Mr. Regals substance abuse issues led to this gimmick lasting only a short time but this theme and gimmick made me pop every time I saw it and is too often forgotten. (10-24-98)

https://youtu.be/4NOzIVWefgo

Honorable Mention: Ric Flair had the best retirement in the history of wresting from his last match to the next night on RAW. This would be my number one if he didn’t screw it up by wresting for TNA. (3-31-08)

Survivor Series (2017) Aftermath

After two nights of wrestling, give me more. I’m calling it now. Survivor Series (2017) was the best PPV, special event, whatever you wanna call it from the WWE. NXT TakeOver: War Games is just a notch below.

The five on five Survivor Series style match’s were awesome! The face off between Snuka-Jax was something I been waiting on for awhile. And I popped when Snuka said, I’m a real samoan. That five on five ladies match was great. Hated to see Becky Lynch get eliminated so early and Asuka cleaning house I didn’t expect anything less.

As for the men’s match. I knew someone was gonna double cross their teammates but thought it was going to be SDLive who did it but it all started with Joe and Balor and it all went down hill from there. Strowman getting taken out early was expected. Having a power house like him, he could take out all of Team Blue. Cena made a return, I guess he is Team Cena unless you count his blue jean shorts. Angle, glad to see he’s back in the E but he can’t go like he used to, a bit slower in the ring and his match up with Cena was a letdown. The ending with Triple H turning on Angle wasn’t a big surprise but Strowman dominating Hunter was nice. It even happened twice. Team RAW won the night beating Team SmackDown Live four to three.

Styles and Lesnar put on a great match. Hated to see Styles ragdolled around the ring but once he got his comeback it was on he took Lesnar to the limits. Styles should’ve won but they gotta keep Lesnar strong. Styles can’t put on a bad match and he brought out a lot in Brock tonight.

SHIELD beat New Day… Also Miz-Corbin was good, it became my match of the night. Corbin won. And Usos best the Bar.

Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair did not disappoint… Woo! I can see these two ladies having a program together very soon. Bliss had the upper hand most of the match but Flair walked out the victor, but she had to work for it.

Tomorrow is Monday Night RAW and the fallout of Survivor Series… What did you think of Survivor Series? Comment below.

Survivor Series Predictions And Thoughts On NXT TakeOver: War Games

Tonight is the WWE Survivor Series and it’s RAW vs. SmackDown Live in a battle for brand supremacy. And after last nights NXT TakeOver War Games match I’m totally looking forward to Team RAW taking on Team SmackDown in a five on five Survivor Series match and after looking over who’s on who’s team I gotta say Team RAW with Angle, Triple H, Strowman, Bálor, and Samoa Joe will walk out as victors.

I can see Team SDLive fall apart mid match with someone turning on their partner, maybe Orton attacking Nakamura or even Roode doing so.

In a non-title match Universal Champion Brock Lesnar is taking on WWE Champion AJ Styles. I really want Styles to go over because Lesnar is getting old in the ring with Suplex City. But the E likes to book Lesnar strong and he’ll go over, not in a matter of minutes or seconds because Styles will put up a fight.

In another five on five Survivor Series match Team SDLive with Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Snuka and Neidhart will go over Team RAW. SDLive have the strongest women wrestlers out of the ten.

In a match between Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss should be a classic. And the amount of momentum Flair has behind her, I see Bliss going over. WWE loves a good story but they also like to turn everything upside down.

SHIELD is facing New Day and SHIELD will go over to keep Roman Reigns strong.

Lastly… Miz, Enzo, and Uso’s will win their matches.

NXT TakeOver: War Games was a fantastic show. I never seen Kassius Ohno get man handled before. He and Lars Sullivan put on a good short match with Sullivan going over via pinfall.

The fatal four way women’s match for the NXT Women’s Championship was match of the night for myself and I’m so happy Ember Moon won and became the new NXT Women’s Champion. I’ve been following her career since Shimmer. She’s a great athlete and what she is doing with the Ember Moon character is awesome.

As for the NXT War Games match I loved every bit of it, but I could’ve done without bringing weapons into the match and I didn’t have a problem that the cage didn’t have a top on it. Having a ceiling on the cage is more restrictive.

Hulk Hogan: The Missing Matches

When a buddy comes up to you at work and hands you a VHS tape that says, Hulk Hogan: The Missing Matches still sealed. You gotta ask where did you find this gem. I was told at our locale thrift store and there’s like ten copies. Told him to get me another because I need one opened and sealed.

Cut to a few weeks later I finally sat down and watched said VHS tape and it’s gold. The first match is Hogan-Lawler, and the tag line is “The match that Hulk did not want you to see!” Yea, it’s basically highlights from a match from the 80’s in Memphis. The video quality is okay.

The next two matches are pure gold to me. The next match is Nick Bockwinkel facing Manny Fernandez in a classic Tv taping match. And the last match is a looser leaves town between Mark Lewin vs. The Sheik. I haven’t seen much from the Sheik but what I saw was so brutal. The Sheik did win the match and Sheik U.S. Title. The video quality for the last two matches are good.

This release has nothing to do with at the time WWF, it’s kinda a bootleg tape with some awesome matches on it. 3-G Home Video is who put it out and they did a great job putting this collection together.

ESPN 30 for 30: Nature Boy Gets Its Premiere Date And Trailer

ESPN announced that its 30 for 30 documentary “Nature Boy,” on wrestling legend Ric Flair, will premiere on Tuesday, November 7th, at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. You can watch the trailer below.

Geek Nerdery Podcast: GLOW and Spider-Man Homecoming

A few weeks ago (I got busy) I rounded up a crew and we sat down to discuss not only the new Netflix series GLOW but also the recently released Spider-Man Homecoming.  Joining me is Doug from The Last Horrorcast, Noah from Hero Unabridged, Michael from The Awesome 80’s Podcast, and Mike Patterson of being Mike fame.  There is a spoilery section but we denote it in the show so feel free to listen without worry.

Music provided by The Fantastic Plastics.

Jared Followill Vs The IWC

If you been following along on Twitter today, Kings of Leon’s Jared Followill made a huge mistake by tweeting out “Hey, adults. Let’s maybe not watch professional wrestling. Ya know?” Since that tweet the IWC has been on a rampage… For the full story visit Pro Wrestling Sheet