Wayne's Legends Fed

[wayne]

Card 65 – Kemper Arena:

(One of those shows. It wasn’t that any of the matches were bad. For the most part all pretty entertaining but have 4 out of 6 end in DQ was pretty frustrating and not lost on the fans)

Tag Title match, the Vachons and Valiant Brothers quickly descend into double DQ chaos. The Vachons hang the belts round their necks like oversized dog collars. Excuse the pun but Mad Dog is like a dog with a bone. Refusing to initially relinquish the belt to the announcer’s table. Maybe scared he’ll never see it again. The challengers are the Valiants. Bobby Heenan has had his problems massaging their egos. He was even considering cutting them loose like a couple of strays when he learned of their criticism of him. That all changed when this chance to win the belts came up. He fell back in love with the Valiants and started pampering them. Heenan covets gold more than anything. He’d love nothing more than to bring the big one into his family. A little known fact is he has never won the top belt in any organisation that he has been part of. However the chance to hold 2 out of 3 isn’t bad going and will firmly establish him as the top manager in the LWF. He is barking out instructions but keeps a safe distance from the Vachons. Mad Dog snarled when he got too close and Heenan got on his bike as he remembers the neck injury he sustained recently at the hands of the Killer Bees. He doesn’t want to take another bump so soon. His directing is working perfectly as the Valiants are a well oiled machine controlling the match for a couple of minutes. In no time Jimmy uses his famed SUPER ELBOW on Butcher Vachon and a title switch looks likely. Of course like rabid dogs the Vachons aren’t going to roll over that easily. Mad Dog piles in breaking up the pin. That brings Johnny in and an uncontrollable brawl breaks. When the pint sized ref in the middle of it all gets flung there is no other choice than to call the bell. Heenan cannot believe his Valiants have been denied and calls the Vachons filthy animals not fit to keep the titles. He thinks the LWF should bring class back to the belts and strip them ready to pass onto the Valiants. His complaints get brashly dismissed. The championship committee says if he wants the titles then his team has to win them by pin or submission and not because of a technicality. He is even warned that if he doesn’t stop moaning then the Valiants won’t even be considered for a rematch. That shut him up pretty quick.

Gorgeous George scrapes a win over Brutus by DQ in non-title action. This is the moment Brutus has been waiting for as he breaks free of George’s slave shackles. Trouble is there is a big gulf in class so expectations of him are low. Cherie Dupre is back in George’s corner demanding he is treated like royalty. Brutus wants to bring an end to this show and holds up a can of shaving foam. George smiles and says “go on, I dare you”. Brutus doesn’t need telling twice and squirts it all over George. The shocking moment galavnises Brutus and George struggles to get to grips with him after that. Twice in the next few minutes Brutus nearly pinned him after FLYING KNEE SMASH and then an expertly executed sunset flip. George comes back and rocks Brutus with some rolling hiplocks but he’s not at his best and allows Brutus to build a second wave. George then got himself locked in the sleeper. Up at 5 tokens (to 3 on Brutus) it is amazing George is still standing after that. In desperation George manages to direct Brutus outside the ring and keep the ref distracted. Before Brutus can get to his feet Cherie Dupre strides over and tries to blind him with perfume spray. Thankfully she missed but Brutus doesn’t appreciate it and grabs her by the hair to scold her. She is begging to be let go. George rushes out and drives a knee into the back of Brutus sending him crashing into some tables. Controversially George then gets given the DQ win. All the ref saw was the part where Brutus appeared to be manhandling Cherie Dupre and acted accordingly. Sadly it seems George has outsmarted Brutus again. I’m not sure the feud has anymore legs after this.

Note … Although Bobby Heenan continues to manage Gorgeous George he is not accompanying. Heenan is looking after his business affairs rather than getting his hands dirty at ringside. So Cherie Dupre maintains her valet role and assists in all his illegal chicanery. Heenan has advised Gorgeous George to drop this feud with Brutus now and concentrate on being a great US. champion. Arrogantly saying “guys like Brutus don’t deserve to be in the same ring as you”.

Iron Sheik has the measure of Jim Duggan again this time in a cage match. Rematch from #64. If Duggan lasts a minute he’d have improved on that night. Somehow everyone knew this would be very different. Duggan pledges to bust Iron Sheik up so bad that he won’t be able to show up for his title match with Bobo Brazil coming on #68. Iron Sheik is a man of few words but snaps back “this American scum will lose again. Then I spit on disgusting animal”. Duggan makes a storming entrance. Smashing his 2x4 into the sides to check its sturdiness and then throws himself into the action. He is absolutely on fire to begin hitting Iron Sheik with everything he has got. The crowd are well into this but Iron Sheik soaks it all up. One smash of Duggan’s face into the cage side is all it took to slow him down. Not that Iron Sheik is moving around well after taking that early bombardment. But at least he’s slowed things the pace. In fact Duggan is not breathing too good. That smash might well of broke his nose. He tries his best to keep going but Iron Sheik builds the damage and then puts him in CAMEL CLUTCH. Keeps it locked in and Duggan seems to go limp. Before strolling out the cage door he makes good on his promise to spit on his fallen opponent. Iron Sheik is really hot at the moment having won his last 8 singles matches. Bobo Brazil is going to have a massive problem keeping the Heavyweight belt out of his mitts when they meet.

Don Leo Jonathan overcame Justin Credible by DQ. Quite an entrance from the newbie. Justin taking the mic hostage to tell the crowd, among other things, “I’m not just the coolest, not just the best. I’m incredible”. Don Leo aims to make light of this loud newcomer but finds it tougher than expected. He thought he’d got it done with MORMON SWING at one point but there was a kickout right at the last millisecond. The match continued with Don Leo mainly in control but Justin Credible was always a threat. Ultimately Justin Credible gets the match where he wanted it and that was outside. He delivers a chair shot. Not caring it means a DQ as it was his way of announcing himself to the global wrestling audience.

Antonio Inoki fortunate to emerge from match with Buff Bagwell as DQ winner. Bagwell wrestled with his usual elegance. With a 5-1 record he might just have about the best win-loss ratio in the fed. Cajoled by his manager, Bobby Heenan, he certainly likes to let everyone know about it. Heenan is very excited to be managing Bagwell and sees him as his top guy and the one most capable of delivering the Heavyweight belt. Bagwell is in cruise control for most of it. The problem is he just cannot finish the determined Inoki off. Must of struck BUFF BLOCKBUSTER about 5 or 6 times in all. Inoki then threatens a comeback and locks in a cobra twist. The sight of which has Heenan worried and causes him to rush in and try to attack Inoki. The match as a result lost but at least it maintains Bagwell’s record of not yet having been pinned.

Bobby Eaton upsets George Hackenschmidt. Fine win for Eaton as he shows his singles credentials. Finished with a move Hackenschmidt himself would have been proud of, a scorpion death lock. He does have a lot to thank Jim Cornette for after there was a crucial interference after he’d been clamped in RUSSIAN BEAR HUG. There’s a good chance he would have been toast if not for that. A lot of people criticise these managers and say they do more harm than good but this was a perfect example of how effective they can be.

[wayne]

Card 66 – Kemper Arena:

Mil Mascaras dethrones Gorgeous George as the US. champ. Johnny Valentine didn’t even wait to find out if he’d be given another crack at the George’s belt. He voluntarily steps aside so he can (a) concentrate on rebuilding his relationship with his son and (b) focus attention on other titles. Not clear if that means a raid on the Heavyweight belt or coming together with his son to become a force in the tag division. Only time will tell. Means Mil Mascaras had a clear path to challenge and deservedly so given his excellent win-loss record. He had a recent blip losing to Bruiser Brody but there is no great shame in that. Many had expected George to of dropped this belt long ago but he has continued to punch above his weight and been the champ for 19 cards now. From the bell it’s clear Mil Mascaras means business. He is all over George and hits him with virtually everything in his repertoire. Looking like there can only be one winner but like so many times George hangs on in there and then commits a dastardly act with Cherie Dupre’s hairbrush to give himself renewed hope. Now it’s time for Mil to cling on. George is carefree with what he does. Quite happy to take the DQ if it comes but the ref doesn’t give him the satisfaction. Trouble is it means George can do as he pleases. A vicious chair shot has Mil in trouble and back in the ring feels the excruciating pain of SPINNING TOE HOLD. With the fans willing him on (they love to hate George) Mil grits his teeth and manages to kick George away and into the turnbuckle. The shocked George bounces off the turnbuckle and straight into CROSSBODY ATTACK but escapes the pin as the move over rotates slightly. With the help of the ropes George is back on his feet and straightens his hair but as he turns round gets taken out with FLYING BODYPRESS. This time there is no saving George. The ref over zealously counts the three and George is just too late with the kick out. Of course he doesn’t take the loss of the belt with good grace and admonishes the ref for the fast count. But there is no influencing. The decision is final and Mil Mascaras becomes the new US. champion.

Jimmy Snuka embarrasses Harley Race. Bad night for Race. He thinks he has got it in the bag. In control he decides for no reason to throw Snuka outside. Grabbing Snuka he smashes his head into the ring steps. Big cheer goes up as Snuka no sells it. The bewildered Race is then smashed into the steps himself. Before Race knows where he is Snuka has tossed him back inside the ring and speedily goes for SUPERFLY LEAP (+5) to take a major victory. The crowd will Snuka on to give Race another dose and he obliges by mounting the turnbuckle again. Before he can steady himself Race has roused himself and rolls outside the ring. Snuka is in danger of being thrown off from a great height onto the ring floor but jumps down in the nick of time. Meets Race out on the runway and a brawl to the back breaks out. Cameramen follow and try to beam footage of what is happening back to the video screen inside the arena. They get as far as the toilets but that’s where the camera got smashed and the feed cut out. We never did find out how it ended.

Sushi Surprise pick up a popular win over the Valiant Brothers. Fans hoping for some fun but there were some obstacles in the way. The Valiants hoping to spoil the party and keep themselves highly ranked after their tag team title tilt hit the skids. Baba and Inoki even though not an official team are seen as a big scalp. It’s a pretty slow pace. The Valiants look tired whilst Inoki and Baba are not too fluid having not teamed before. After a few minutes Giant Baba starts to get a head of steam up after averting a double team move. Jimmy had been trying to hold Baba for a running shoulder tackle. Baba uses his great strength to break free and instead Johnny piles into his own partner. Baba in control and soon executes NECKBREAKER DROP. Bobby Heenan orders Johnny to make the pin save but his shoulder is still giving him grief and he cannot get there in time. Baba places his huge right foot for the pin and comically says out loud ‘sayonara Jimmy san’. Gets a great reaction from the crowd.

Bruiser Brody crushed Greg Valentine in about 30 seconds. Huge pop from the crowd for Greg Valentine. His father, Johnny, is in the front row supporting him. Greg is thrust straight into a massive feud match against the wild Bruiser Brody. Rustiness in evidence and Valentine suffers a torrid moment almost immediately as a twisting vertical superplex takes the wind out of him. He has to kickout as Brody goes for an immediate pin. Maybe Valentine was a bit too presumptuous that he could pick up where he left off despite his hard work in the gym. Nothing can prepare you better than real matches. Unfortunately the next move of the match is even worse as Brody lines up JUMPING KNEE DROP and connects violently with the head. Poor Greg is downed in just 3 moves. Sometimes wrestlers have off days but this was a total collapse unfortunately. Johnny Valentine vaults the barrier and everyone expects him to go after Brody but instead all he can think of is the welfare of his son. Luckily Greg soon comes round and the only thing hurt is his pride.

The Sheik too violent for Chris Candido. Plenty of tongues hanging out of male mouths when Tammy Sytch leads Candido. He looks like the cat who got the cream as he slaps her on the bottom. Maybe he should be more alert as the Sheik is a madman who could strike from anywhere. The introduction for the Sheik is made but when he doesn’t show there is confusion. Candido stands by the start of the runway looking towards the curtain. Suddenly chaos as the Sheik jumps at Candido from within the crowd. Tammy Sytch shrieks and runs full pelt to the other side of the ring with her bosoms wobbling like crazy. Looks pretty petrified at what the Sheik is doing. The match hasn’t even started and the Sheik has already drawn blood on her man. Candido never gets to grips with things after this. The Sheik forcing out an easy submission via CAMEL CLUTCH within a few minutes. The Sheik’s nephew, Sabu, then comes into the ring to continue the attack in the aftermath. Tammy Sytch rushes to the back screaming for help. After what felt an eternity but in reality was about a minute Brutus rushes out to the scene with his shears and manages to avert disaster by clearing out the ring. The thought of meeting a demise from the super sharp blades even too much for psychopaths like the Sheik and Sabu to handle.

Killer Kowalski wins a long one over Red Bastien. Kowalski shows Buddy Rogers how it’s done by pinning Red Bastien after Bombs Away. It was tough on Bastien because he wrestled another great match.

[wayne]

Card 67 – Madison Square Garden:

Tag title match, the Vachons against the Valiants ends in an epic time-limit draw. Hastily arranged rematch after the last double DQ carnage. Bobby Heenan should have been happy but he almost bursts a blood vessel when he learns of the clause that doesn’t allow anyone ringside. Struggles to keep a lid on it and complains to the wrestling media that his team has been handicapped and that the championship committee doesn’t want the Valiants to win the belts. The lack of an overall authority figure in the fed means he escapes punishment but he still gets warned not to shoot his mouth off as ‘the Valiants can easily be replaced in this match as there are plenty of other high ranking teams that could be considered’. The other thing that could also go against the Valiants is burn out. Having wrestled tough matches for 2 weeks in a row they must be pretty exhausted. Is very even steven for most of the contest. Both teams having some very close calls and working for each other when a partner is in trouble after finishers are hit. It is clear that fatigue is a problem for the Valiants with Jimmy carrying 6 tokens at it’s highest point. Despite that they give a big final push knowing time is against them but cannot quite do it and the bell goes. The Valiants emerge with honour but their run at the belts is over, for now.

The Grapplers beat the returning Road Warriors by DQ. The Road Warriors are back in the LWF and it sends the fans wild. They try to sign a low key match against a couple of local jobbers but the promoter wants something a bit more tasty. His first choice of Team Extreme didn’t quite come off but the Grapplers said they were willing to show they could hang with the alleged greatest tag team of all-time. Rumour is the LWF cannot get the Road Warriors nailed down to a contract so are signing them on card by card basis at the moment. They have commitments all over the globe and don’t want to be tethered to any single territory at the moment. At least they have Paul Ellering with them this time to help ward off other managers. As brilliant as they are their weakness was they didn’t have anyone to watch their backs when everyone was gunning for them. Obviously Ellering doesn’t need to be getting involved in a match like this so he stands arms folded most of the time observing. He will be relatively pleased with what he saw. Even though the Road Warriors lost by DQ when Animal got too violent they looked very strong and perhaps should of won had Hawk not been so tardy covering Frank Gotch after DOOMSDAY DEVICE. Perhaps they were trying to extend their workout and it backfired.

Buddy Rose shocks Buddy Rogers. The battle of the two Buddys. Rose is making noises about his big return to the LWF which in his eyes is bigger news than the Road Warriors coming back in. Truth be told nobody knew he’d even left. Rogers doesn’t think this will take long and be over in a jiffy but forgets how much his form has deserted him. He is on the ropes for several minutes. When he thwarts a few pin attempts everyone expects him to wake up and go onto win as expected. However Rose smells blood and keeps peppering him with everything he has got. It’s the greatest match of his career as he nails a brainbuster and gets the three count. There is stunned silence. Rose can scarcely believe it himself.

The Sheik and Sabu overcame Brutus and Chris Candido by DQ. Pretty wild stuff. Plenty of failed pin attempts. Candido did his very best with BLONDE BOMB on both the Sheik and Sabu during the tenure of the battle. Even Brutus looked good as he survives two painful stints in the Sheik’s CAMEL CLUTCH and almost comes back to pin him with FLYING KNEE SMASH. The longer it ticked on a DQ outcome perhaps inevitable given the extreme tendencies of 3 of the guys involved. It’s just strange it was the odd one out, Brutus, who transgressed. He kind of panics when caught outside with the Sheik. Thinks he me might get flamed so wards him off with a chair before it can happen. The Sheik goes nuts and turns over tables at the sight of such a threat. Luckily an official well schooled in bringing the Sheik under control shines a bright torch in his direction which causes the distraction. The Sheik follows the dancing light down the runway to restore peace and safety to ringside.

George Hackenschmidt easily handled Ox Baker. Pundits thought Hackenschmidt might struggle and be taken aback by Baker’s aggression. Couldn’t of been further from the truth. Completely controls him and seals victory with an expertly executed waistlock suplex.

Ted DiBiase pretty comfortable against Jim Brunzell. Decent effort from Brunzell but he misses his partner and looks a fish out of water in singles. A couple times he goes for a defensive tag before remembering Blair isn’t there. DiBiase wears him down and locks on MILLION DOLLAR SLEEPER a few times to put Brunzell away.

[wayne]

Card 68 – LEGENDS LIVE – Madison Square Garden:

(LEGENDS LIVE back at it’s spiritual home having gone on the road for the last couple of airings. The fans look tense. They are pretty worried that the Iron Sheik is going to get his hands on the big one. Riding an 8 match winning streak means he is the outstanding performer in the fed at the moment. Bobo’s going to have to be at his very best tonight … Newsreel during the show focuses on the upcoming NIGHT OF THE LIVING LEGENDS. A couple of big announcements see confirmation of Johnny and Greg Valentine emotionally coming together as a tag team to take on Bruiser Brody and the Sheik in a Texas Death match. There is also Ted DiBiase facing Virgil again in a strangely named Boot Polish match. It’s all about humiliation where the loser must, as the name suggests, polish the other guys boots)

Heavyweight champ, Bobo Brazil, uncharacteristically loses to Iron Sheik by DQ. Bobo knows the size of the task but he never backs down from a challenge. He also always likes to win without help so his instruction to Lou Albano is to only interfere if something dastardly happens. Lou is not too comfortable with that as naturally wants to keep the belt within the All Americans team but gives his assurance. Bobo is the sort of guy that would give up the belt if he felt he’d won a match unfairly. As ever there is a massive pop for the champ who is introduced first. Conversely the crowd hostility towards Iron Sheik is off the chart. He even gets pelted with paper cups on route to the ring but doesn’t avert his gaze from Bobo once. Itching to get going Bobo comes out the ring and meets him on the runway. It becomes a quick match fought at a frantic pace. Iron Sheik shows exactly why his form is so good with a very early pin attempt and diffuses Bobo’s spirited comebacks several times. The crowd gasps as he then locks Bobo in a Boston Crab. Things look bad but Bobo draws on their clapping to drag himself forwards towards the ropes. Iron Sheik is forced to release and Bobo gratefully flops outside. Unfortunately he gets no respite as Iron Sheik then follows and starts kicking him with a loaded boot. Lou Albano is not going to stand idly by and allow this. This is the kind of dastardly behaviour Bobo would not mind him intervening on. Albano bravely charges at Iron Sheik and although it prompts the bell it buys Bobo the time to get to his feet. Outnumbered Iron Sheik spits at them both before leaving. This isn’t finished by a long shot.

With NOTLL 3 on the horizon I was waiting to see how this played out before booking the main event. If Bobo had lost the belt then he would be given a chance to win it back by challenging in the main event. Of course a successful defence would give me some thinking to do. As it turned out Bobo suffered a DQ loss. At first I was disappointed but actually it did call for a rematch and gave me the impetus to put them together in the main event anyway and to ensure an outright winner I have decided to put them in a cage.

Road Warriors and Paul Ellering annihilated Midnight Express and Jim Cornette. Straight back into this legendary feud with a gimmick flavour to boot as the managers join their teams for 6 man action. Cornette was doing everything possible to stay out of the action. Ellering, who had done remarkably to batter Stan Lane on his own, baits him by saying if he gets in the ring with him then will let Cornette have a free swing with the Tennis racket. Cornette cannot resist but just as he pulls back for a big backhand swing Ellering gets the hot tag. He trips Cornette up as he tries to run back to his own corner. Animal comes in and tears Cornette apart. When he hits Cornette with POWER SLAM Paul Ellering is encouraged to finish the match off. But he doesn’t want to steal Animal’s thunder and lets him get the pin instead. Whilst this was happening Hawk was racing round the apron to clean out both Lane and Eaton so they couldn’t try and disrupt the pin attempt. Big statement from the Road Warriors but Jim Cornette later says the win meant nothing as they chose to beat on a defenceless manager. In a proper tag match the outcome will be different.

Gorgeous George upsets Frank Gotch in a submission match. George takes some time out from his trials and tribulations with the US. belt to take Frank Gotch down a peg or two. Claims his toe hold finisher is superior to Gotch’s version and will prove it here. The token count suggests this should be a 5* match but boy did it drag. George’s early attempts with his finisher weren’t sold. He then found himself in the GOTCH TOEHOLD but Cherie Dupre ruins Gotch’s chance of winning. Later on George cannot believe his luck when Gotch appears to go over on his ankle about a minute before the time limit was reached and applies the SPINNING TOE HOLD to grab a surprising win.

Jimmy Snuka goes over Killer Kowalksi in a Hardcore Texas Death match. The self-proclaimed ‘King of Hardcore’ Kowalski craving blood. Poor Snuka gets really carved up by him in the opening minutes but stays resolute. Kowalski gets more and more agitated as he runs out of ideas. With the fans willing Snuka fights his way into the match and goes SUPERFLY LEAP. At +5 it’s an almost perfect impact. Kowalski is out like a light after hitting his head on the canvas. He’d tried to get up at the point Snuka came back down on him. Kowalski destroys part of the dressing room in his rage once he has come back to his senses. He now knows he will need to face the music from team leader Harley Race.

Sushi Surprise raise the roof by beating Harley Race and Buddy Rogers. With Baba being considered an honorary extra member of the CAC it’s no surprise the Headliners want to take him down. Rogers is under huge pressure to perform after his disaster on the last card. Unfortunately things don’t get much better for him but at least he’s not the one being beaten this time. Rogers had a torrid time at the expense of Giant Baba and felt NECKBREAKER DROP numerous times but a combination of pin saves and dramatic kickouts kept him alive. Instead it was Harley Race who lost the match. He just never got to grips with Antonio Inoki and tapped out to OCTOPUS HOLD.

Johnny Valentine crushed Bruiser Brody. Johnny vowing to teach Brody a lesson for the way his son was humiliated. Nobody could quite believe what they were seeing as Brody is beaten with ATOMIC SKULLCRUSHER in little over a minute. Johnny showed no fear and just went for it. The air of invincibility Brody was building now gone. It will give others, least of all his son, belief against this wildman.

The Destroyer beats Red Bastien in a match for a spot on the CAC team. Good back and forth action which concludes with Destroyer’s FIGURE FOUR LEGLOCK. He had to do it twice to eventually force the submission. Red Bastien has no problem with the outcome “I could do with a rest anyway, he just wanted it more and beat me fair and square. Good luck to him. I will be back at some point in the future”.

King Kong Bundy squashed Koko B. Ware. Poor Koko given zero chance. Still sporting bandages on his ribs and looking totally out of his depth. Worse still Bobby Heenan is skulking around at ringside. He claims not to be Bundy’s manager (yet) but is there in advisory capacity. As if the odds weren’t stacked enough. Despite all of that Koko did tremendous. Had a real go but inevitably falls to an elbow drop off the ropes. Bundy thinks about administering a few more but security guys are primed and lurking nearby so thinks better of it.

[wayne]

LWF REPORT (CARDS 65 TO 68)

Champions

*LWF Heavyweight Champ: Bobo Brazil
*Top Contender: Iron Sheik

*LWF Tag Team Champs: The Vachons
*Top Contenders: Sushi Surprise

*LWF US. Champ: Mil Mascaras
*Top Contender: Gorgeous George

Latest News:

Fans got behind Greg Valentine on his return match despite the quick loss. He might, for the moment at least, be even more popular than Bobo Brazil. He topped a recent online poll in that respect. He is appreciative of their support and wants revenge on Bruiser Brody as soon as possible. If he can follow his father’s lead that would be perfect because Johnny showed everyone how it is done and easily beat the wild Brody.

The Destroyer managed to earn his spot on the CAC team and the first thing he has done is challenge Masked Superstar to a mask versus mask match. The calm giant quietly accepts.

The Sheik and real life nephew Sabu team up as the New Team Extreme (brings an end to the successful Sabu and Sandman team). Even though they are on different team rosters. They are set to start a feud with members of Old School and also the Midnight Express. Cornette pledges to bring a fire extinguisher to ringside to counter those fireballs. Is Cornette biting off more than he can chew by pitching his team into this feud on top of the long standing rivalry with the returning Road Warriors?

Bobby Heenan rumoured to of held secret meetings with Nick Bockwinkel. Plan gets scuppered when one intrepid reporter tracked them down and stuck a mic in his face about it to which Bobby replied “get that thing out of my face humanoid. Nick is an old friend, we go back a long way and had some catching up to do”. Bockwinkel will have some work to do after this to get in the good books of the fans. They don’t like to see the supposed CAC leader fraternising with enemies.

The Vachons are already keeping close eyes on the returning Road Warriors. As long as they hold the belts a future feud not beyond the realms of possibility. Mad Dog says in an interview “the Road Warriors better not start getting above their station and coming after our titles like it’s their god given right. It's dog eat dog and we will tear them apart. They’ve been warned”. The Road Warriors declined to comment. Their immediate attention is on the Midnight Express.

Complaints of dodgy officiating being used as a tool by Gorgeous George and Bobby Heenan to inspire a rematch with Mil Mascaras for the US. belt. Senior officials in the LWF reviewed the footage and admitted it was a fast count. So they’ve leaned heavily on the championship committee to put George in the #1 contender spot. Some wrestling journals run a story that there was even blackmail involved after George sent Cherie Dupre to a restaurant to seduce a high ranking official. Some incriminating photos of this unnamed and married man with Cherie made persuading things much easier.

Frank Gotch is upset by his recent defeat to Gorgeous George. He was of the firm belief nobody could beat him in a submission match. He did suffer an injury and had to weather interference from Cherie Dupre but doesn’t use those as excuses. Instead he is getting straight back on the saddle and has challenged George to a rematch. With George’s eyes on reclaiming the US. belt there are doubts on whether he will accept this and give himself a distraction. We will soon find out how much of a man he is based on whether it happens or not. Certainly Bobby Heenan will be in his ear advising him to ignore it.

Internal heat within the Headliners. Harley Race considers himself the leader and doesn’t like Killer Kowalski’s bragging that he is the ‘King of Hardcore’ and then going and losing important matches. Race says “I’m the only King in the LWF”. He also reads Buddy Rogers the riot act for losing to Buddy Rose. The result being seen as a total embarrassment. Will such big names as Kowalski and Rogers accept being spoken to in such a manner, almost as if they are being treated like naughty children? Race better watch his step.

Speaking of Rose. He thinks after that massive win that he is hot property and waits for the offers to come flooding in. Nothing happens as everyone seems to view it as a fluke. Rose is annoyed at this but vows to make them regret not taking him up by marching towards belt glory. He is aiming high as his next match is against the current US. champ, Mil Mascaras. Non-title of course.

With many teams in the tag division embroiled in personal feuds and nobody really stomping their authority Sushi Surprise has been fast tracked and offered a shock shot at the belts. They are not even supposed to be a permanent team and Giant Baba only wrestles sporadically as a special attraction. They were given 24 hours to think it over and in a massively popular move have agreed to take it on. Not sure at the moment when the match will be booked but there has been a huge surge in interest from the Land of the Rising Sun ever since this story broke.

Straight into the headlines as the Road Warriors and Midnight Express will square off on NIGHT OF THE LIVING LEGENDS 3 (coming #70) with Paul Ellering and Jim Cornette handcuffed to eachother to prevent interference. In the gigantic main event Bobo Brazil headlines again (he is to NOTLL what Hogan was to WM in it’s early years). He faces current nemesis Iron Sheik in a cage match. The Heavyweight belt on the line of course. Can he keep his winning streak at the event going? Remember Iron Sheik is now on a run of 9 straight wins which is probably the greatest run anyone has managed since the fed’s inception. Something has got to give. Bobo is defiant and says of Iron Sheik “he is living in cloud cuckoo land if he thinks he can beat me. For the sake of Americans everywhere, I will prevail”. Some of the remaining matches booked are as follows … US. Belt match, Mil Mascaras-Gorgeous George … Ted DiBiase-Virgil in a Boot Polish match … The Valentines-Bruiser Brody and the Sheik in a Texas Death match … The Destroyer-Masked Superstar in an unmasking match … PLUS FOUR MORE


Updated Roster/Teams:
HEENAN FAMILY (Buff Bagwell, Gorgeous George, Valiant Brothers); ALBANO’S ALL AMERICANS (Bobo Brazil, Jim Duggan, Killer Bees); PURE MUSCLE (Chris Candido, Johnny Valentine, Greg Valentine, Brutus Beefcake); ODD SQUAD (Mad Dog Vachon, Butcher Vachon, The Sheik, Bruiser Brody); CAC (Nick Bockwinkel, Antonio Inoki, Jimmy Snuka, the Destroyer); THE HEADLINERS (Harley Race, Killer Kowalski, Masked Superstar, Buddy Rogers); CAMP CORNETTE (Midnight Express, Ted DiBiaise, Cowboy Bob Orton); LEGION OF DOOM (Road Warriors, Virgil, Mil Mascaras); TEAM EXTREME (Sabu, the Sandman, Ox Baker, Justin Credible); OLD SCHOOL (Frank Gotch, Dick Hutton, George Hackenschmidt, Don Leo Jonathan); INDEPENDENT FEUD (Koko B. Ware, King Kong Bundy); SOLO (Iron Sheik, Buddy Rose)

[wayne]

Card 69 – Kiel Auditorium:

Tag champs, the Vachons, lost to Sushi Surprise by DQ. This was too hot to hold off until NOTLL. The LWF wants to puncture the Japanese market ASAP so here we are. There are plenty of tourists in the crowd willing their heroes on and taking pictures. The constant camera flashing is pretty blinding. One goes off near Mad Dog which gets him annoyed. Grabs the camera off the frightened woman and stomps all over it breaking it into a thousand pieces. The normally placid Giant Baba sees red when this happens. He walks straight over to the Vachons and smashes their heads together. What a start. The momentum should have been with Sushi Surprise after this but the Vachons recover very quickly and put a lot of pressure on Inoki. Racking up 3 tokens on him very quickly. He is cut off for a long time but the Vachons cannot keep Baba out of the action forever. Eventually he gets in there and makes a huge difference. The excited fans are willing on what would be a very popular title switch. Sadly it all ends in heartbreak as Butcher Vachon loses the plot and takes hold of a chair with which to viciously beat on Baba. He gets a couple of shots in drawing blood but then Baba gets an arm up and rips it from his grasp. He slings it across the ring and it nearly hits the poor ref. The Vachons now run off like a couple of pathetic scalded dogs. They don’t even hear the verdict which is a win for Sushi Surprise by DQ. Disappointment as this means the belts stay with the Vachons. But there is better news the next day. The LWF championship committee make a last minute change to the NIGHT OF THE LIVING LEGENDS show and rule that the Vachons must give Baba and Inoki a rematch for the belts there. The Vachons are pretty bummed about that but maybe they should of stood and fought rather than purposefully causing the DQ to save the belts.

Mil Mascaras just about edges Buddy Rose in a non-title match. Rose’s one-time partner Gorgeous George hoping he can do some damage to Mil Mascaras. He certainly gives Mascaras an almighty scare. Some incredible dice rolls. Rose hitting BOMBS AWAY early, seems unlikely to win the match as needs a 2 to succeed. So close when a 3 is rolled. Mascaras recovers but then puts himself back in trouble with a missed deathjump. Rose fails with the subsequent pin but goes for his finisher again straight afterwards. This time needing a 4, amazingly its so close again when a 5 comes up. Mascaras is walking a tightrope but the latest near miss is the wake up call needed. Gets himself composed and batters Rose from this point on. Rose accumulating 5 tokens before Mascaras comes at him with FLYING BODYPRESS and finishes things off. Banana skin avoided but only just.

Hawk wins a singles match over Bobby Eaton. NOTLL warm up. Paul Ellering and Jim Cornette take centre stage and have a right old barney right in the middle of the ring. Ellering then drives the fans nuts as he clobbers Cornette with the Wall Street journal. Hawk loves it and shouts “what a rush” before piling into a shocked looking Eaton. However if anyone thought Eaton, stricken of Cornette’s interference, would be a walkover then think again. Two attempts with ALABAMA JAM leave Ellering smashing his newspaper onto the ring apron in frustration. However he resists stooping to Cornette’s level and assisting. Places trust in Hawk to eventually get the job done and so it proves. Hawk took all the wind out of Eaton with a gorilla press slam and gets the pin from it.

Gorgeous George beats Frank Gotch again in a submission match. Whaddya know. George doesn’t duck the rematch challenge. It is about 10 minutes of really physical action. George just continues to punch well above his weight and locks in SPINNING TOE HOLD (second attempt). Gotch tries to grin and bear it but George is twisting for all he is worth. Gotch desperately reaches for a rope. He is about to brush it with his fingers when Cherie Dupre squirts perfume in his face. The ref either missed or let it go (hopefully the former). Gotch is in agony and taps out immediately. Will this be the end of all this? It is a tainted win but there is no doubting George has had the measure of Gotch in their rivalry.

Justin Credible beat George Hackenschmidt by DQ. Ever since arriving in the LWF Hackenschmidt has been setting a new gold standard for technical mat wrestling. Allied to his power he is very effective at submission moves. He carries on his impressive form straight away here with 2 pin attempts in the first 3 moves. On the next move Justin bails outside and starts looking for his cane. George manages to find it first and in a move that shocks strikes Justin with it to draw the DQ. George later remarks “I am not proud of myself but I wanted to show Team Extreme that we can’t be pushed around. Think they’ve got the message now”.

Don Leo Jonathan defeated Virgil by DQ. A rare face against face match. But in these situations someone almost always ends up playing the heel role. Given his past Virgil becomes the villain. Gets absolutely dominated as there is such a gulf in class. But Don Leo cannot get him pinned even after MORMON SWING. Out of nowhere Ox Baker runs into the ring and attacks Don Leo with his rope leading to the final outcome. Virgil wins back the fans by coming to the rescue with a chair and together they fight Baker off.

[wayne]

NIGHT OF THE LIVING LEGENDS 3 FROM THE LA GRAND OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM COMING NEXT. FULL LINE UP CONFIRMED AS FOLLOWS:

MAIN EVENT - Heavyweight Belt, Bobo Brazil-Iron Sheik in a cage match … Tag Belts, the Vachons-Sushi Surprise … US. Belt, Mil Mascaras-Gorgeous George … Road Warriors-Midnight Express (Ellering and Cornette handcuffed) … Nick Bockwinkel-Harley Race in a leaders battle … The Valentines-Bruiser Brody and the Sheik in a Texas Death match ... Ted DiBiase-Virgil in a Boot Polish match … The Destroyer-Masked Superstar in an unmasking match … Don Leo Jonathan-Ox Baker, winner gets to kick the loser in the backside … Jim Duggan-Buff Bagwell

[wayne]

Card 70 – NIGHT OF THE LIVING LEGENDS 3 – LA Grand Olympic Auditorium:

Heavyweight champ, Bobo Brazil, does it for America and blows Iron Sheik away in a cage match. It’s been mentioned a million times in the build up but Iron Sheik rides a major winning streak coming into this. The threat to Bobo’s belt is very real. Despite this Bobo is feeling very patriotic and comes to the ring wearing an Uncle Sam top hat. He wants to have a party befitting the grand occasion. Of course he is not underplaying the importance of things. Once he enters the cage the smiling stops and becomes deadly serious. Even though managers aren’t traditionally ringside for cage matches Lou Albano creeps down to offer his guy support. He doesn’t get sent away. Spends his time working the crowd and passionately waving the American flag that Jim Duggan has specially given him. Iron Sheik tries to spit through the bars onto it. This act makes Bobo’s blood boil and he runs at Iron Sheik like a locomotive. It heralds the start of an incredible performance by Bobo. One of his greatest ever. He doesn’t give Iron Sheik a moment’s breathing space. Never had a glove laid on him. There was an immediate pin attempt after just 1 move. Of course Bobo needed to lay more damage than that which he dutifully does. Constant level 3 moves and smashes into the cage. The only thing that can be said of Iron Sheik is he can sure take some punishment. He gets as far as accumulating 6 tokens before Bobo is finally able to finish him for good and it was with the good old COCO BUTT. Bobo could of pinned him or walked out the door but he wanted to do it in style. Hauls his large frame up the cage side with the help of a turnbuckle to push off. Once reaching the top he straddles the cage and calls down to Lou for the flag. He reaches for it and proudly waves it for all to see. The fans are on their feet and witnessing a memorable moment. Bobo then remembers he better actually climb down and get this thing officially won. He needn’t of worried though as the Iron Sheik was still sparko. Bobo could of gone back in, had a cup of tea, read the newspaper and he would still of had plenty of time. When his huge feet finally touchdown the cheer from the crowd, that I didn’t think could get any louder, goes up a few decibels. Bobo had proved all the doubters wrong that thought this would be the night his glorious reign would end. He continues to dominate the biggest show of the year having now headlined and won in the main event of all three of them. Also his run with the belt now reaches 30 cards which is well over a year. Just a truly incredible wrestler.

Sushi Surprise makes history by beating the Vachons to become tag champs. Japan is gripped by this. The nation almost comes to a standstill to watch their heroes get another crack at the tag belts. Giant Baba has a torrid start. The Vachons had done their homework and noticed his lack of comfort using the ropes. Putting him under a lot of pressure. However he gets the hot tag and Antonio Inoki picks up the baton admirably. They become a lot more competitive after this. The Vachons try lots of heel tricks. A pin save when Butcher was down resulted in a reversal but Inoki soon wrestles back control. In a dramatic finish he has Mad Dog in peril. So much so that Mad Dog bails outside and tries to force a count-out loss which would keep the belts safe. The ref counts slow but gets as far as 9 when Giant Baba comes up behind and throws him powerfully into the ring. This draws Butcher onto Baba and they start brawling. Little does he know that inside the ring Inoki has smothered Mad Dog with OCTOPUS HOLD. The bell ringing comes as a genuine surprise. When he sees his partner down and Inoki leaping about excitedly worst fears are realised. Sushi Surprise have come from nowhere to become tag champions. There will be parties in Japan late into the night after this. Baba and Inoki speak through interpreters and say how honoured they are to be champions. Their great dream would be the chance to now defend the titles in their homeland.

US. champ, Mil Mascaras, sees off Gorgeous George. Quick recap is that when George lost the belt accusations were made that the ref made a fast count. Then Cherie Dupre duped a senior ranking LWF official into a date and threatened to tell his wife. So between George, Dupre and their manager Bobby Heenan they have blackmailed their way into this title match. Unfortunately all that work goes to waste as Mil Mascaras wrestles a blinder. He kept peppering George with FLYING BODYPRESS and then spectacularly finished him with a Cobra Clutch Suplex. Cherie Dupre throws a tantrum right in the middle of the ring which causes some sniggers.

Nick Bockwinkel defeated Harley Race in a dull DQ outcome. The leaders of the CAC and Headliners meet. Both under some amount of pressure after some poor personal results. Becomes a real tough one to roll. Severely lacking in any meaningful action. The only time it threatens to get slightly interesting Race rolls outside to break momentum. Bockwinkel follows and meets the thick end of a chair. It seems Race would rather take the DQ than lose cleanly at an event of this magnitude. The decision was met with disdain by the crowd. Feeling they’d been short changed with such a poor match. Some of them criticised the ref but mostly it was Race’s fault. He didn’t give much choice with his actions.

Midnight Express crush the Road Warriors. Ellering and Cornette were handcuffed to each other. The Road Warriors burn to the ring on motorbikes for a dramatic and memorable entrance. All past meetings deemed irrelevant. This is what matters. With both managers detained they can get on with grappling with the best team winning. Of course Ellering and Cornette make themselves heard but cannot do a lot. They end up trying to strangle each other and then rolling around on the floor brawling. It’s all pretty comical really. Ellering gets the upper hand but inside the ring it becomes a disaster for the Road Warriors. Hawk gets outfoxed immediately by Lane. Maybe still some rustiness. Before he really knows what’s happening the Midnights execute ROCKET LAUNCHER (only fourth move of the match) and Eaton goes for the cover. Animal tries to get in to save his partner but got slugged by Lane with Cornette’s racket before he can get through the ropes. Hawk fails to kick out in time. Everyone is in shock. The Midnights quickly free Jim Cornette who hugs them and promises a wild night to celebrate. Fans urge the Road Warriors to retaliate but they look too shellshocked to do anything,

The Valentines prevail against Bruiser Brody and the Sheik in a Texas Death match. Johnny bristling with pride to be teaming with his son despite the danger of what lies ahead. The Sheik not cottoned on to the fact you just cannot blatantly bring a toolbox full of weapons even though it’s a Texas Death match. The poor security guy tasked with confiscating it from him nearly gets bitten in the process. Brody is a bit more subtle. He’s smuggled some brass knuckles inside his wrestling trunks. It’s all very haphazard at the start. Johnny does well to get the knuckles off Brody early and tosses them into the crowd. He then engages in a long battle with the Sheik but it’s actually the other two guys that take centre stage. Greg shakes off the hoodoo associated with him facing Brody. Very back and forth until Valentine gets his FIGURE-FOUR LEGLOCK on. Brody survives it but is left hobbling. Greg tags in Johnny to finish off which he expertly does with ATOMIC SKULLCRUSHER. Big win for the Valentines.

Ted DiBiase overcame Virgil by DQ in a Boot Polish match. Decent match. Virgil wrestles with great heart but DiBiase eventually gets on top. Virgil bails out under pressure and in a split decision takes hold of DiBiase’s Million Dollar belt which is being looked after by a lackey. He strikes the pursuing DiBiase with it and he goes down like a ton of bricks. Virgil drags him in the ring and pins him. When the ref taps him on the shoulder he starts leaping about with excitement but then his world comes crashing down. He actually loses by DQ. Not realising these were still possible in this match type. The consequences are bad for Virgil as he must now polish DiBiase’s boots. As groggy as he is DiBiase still insists the humiliating routine happens. Just when Virgil finishes up DiBiase kicks him hard in the throat, retrieves his belt and leaves to a chorus of boos.

The Destroyer gets the better of Masked Superstar in an unmasking match. Great start for the Destroyer since joining the CAC line up. He deals with the powerful Masked Superstar expertly and puts him away with his FIGURE FOUR LEGLOCK. Masked Superstar tries to resist the mask coming off but the Destroyer doesn’t give up and eventually rips it off. He then gives it to a fan in the front row. Masked Superstar growls and babbles some incoherent vulgarisms before stomping off whilst covering his face as much as possible.

Ox Baker defeated Don Leo Jonathan by DQ. Strange stipulation added as winner gets to boot the loser up the backside in a humiliating gesture. LWF trying to inject some gimmick matches into the event. After a strong start Don Leo fades. Not looking good as Baker nails the feared HEART PUNCH. However Don Leo’s chest is so powerful he is able to take it and wrestle on. Baker is riled by this and now keeps taking the match out of the ring. Don Leo picked up a chair, more in self defence than anything, which leads to him being disqualified. Unfortunately Don Leo must now take the boot. Being a man of his word Don Leo goes through with the act. Baker really gives it some welly. Poor Don Leo couldn’t sit down for days afterwards

Buff Bagwell controversially pinned Jim Duggan. With one eye on the huge main event later, featuring the despised Iron Sheik, Duggan comes to the ring holding aloft a ‘Go Bobo’ banner. Buff Bagwell is irritated that Duggan isn’t showing more respect to him by his showing of support to another match. Heenan is trying to keep Bagwell calm and points to his head in a ‘use your brain’ gesture. Settles into an exciting match. Bagwell superior in first few minutes but Duggan growing in stature. All leads into a dramatic finish. Duggan knocked Bagwell silly with FLYING SPEAR. Heenan shows quick thinking to ring the timekeeper’s bell causing confusion. The ref argues with the other officials, Albano and Duggan over what happened. It allows Bagwell to recover and blast the unsuspecting Duggan with BUFF BLOCKBUSTER and steal the pin. A travesty of justice which irritates Duggan. He doesn’t give Heenan and Bagwell any time to celebrate. Grabs his 2x4 and chases them both down the runway and out of sight. We never did learn whether he caught up to them. Disappointment for Albano and he will hope it’s not a sign of things to come tonight.

[Swarm]

I often wish the Roadies were stronger. I think I’m probably alone on an island there but I think they should be the Andre of tag teams. To read they got crushed (even by the Midnights who are obviously elite) is disappointing.

[wayne]

Yeah they are really hit and miss in my fed. I am 100% using the black and white online card versions. I cannot remember off hand if their colour cards are stronger. It'll probably take another 50-100 cards to make full transition to colour. I am kind of trying to play in order of editions when they came out. Much like my GWF fed I am way, way behind!