LOW - Legends of Wrestling

[bookerbill]

Great win for the Midnight Express who seem refocused and ready to make a move up the rankings. James over Rude was huge as was the win by Sullivan and Zoltan. Loved the post match action of Duggan. Another big victory with Firpo going over clean. Koloff is not pleased and looks to be parting way with the Captain. Referee stoppable in the Garden was awesome and classic Dillon. The strap on the Giant . . . . yikes!

[aceldamas]

Andre with the belt... WOW. Time for LOW to OBEY!

PWI Invitational is such a strong field that I couldn't begin to pick a winner!

[markyhitch]

Only a brave man would put the belt on Andre. He just may be champion for a very, very long time (unless you book him in a 3-way dance).

[cruefan68]

Well guys it finally happened and it wasn't pretty. Andre the Giant pretty much dominated that cage match and not only took the title from Johnny Valentine but sent him packing. It will be interesting to see just how long Andre can hold the gold and what will be very cool is that whoever beats him for it will also end his undefeated streak so someone is going to make some serious history in my fed.

I can think of a word other than brave, markyhitch, perhaps crazy would be suffice. Andre did hold the LOW Tex-Arkana Television title a one time but lost it on an injury forfeit. I don't see that scenario repeating itself here so someone is going to have some luck with those dice or you are correct in that he could be champion for a long time.

Thanks very much for the comments Pariah, Gabe72, Crimson, Bookerbill, Aceldamas and Markyhitch. I have a lot of fun rolling out the MSG cards and this one was no exception. I am also psyched for the PWI Invitational qualifying matches which will kick off with my next show from PCW. Crimson, I never thought of splitting up Power Surge for singles bouts but I may have to try that and maybe build them up for the event next year. Thanks again guys your comments are greatly appreciated.

[cruefan68]

Next up is action from Pacific Coast Wrestling featuring the start of the qualifying round for the PWI Cup tournament. I will be following up this post with a special PWI Newswire which I hope you will enjoy reading. After that will be the return of the wild and wacky world of 8MW. Thanks as always for following along...

LOW Pacific Coast Wrestling - McNichols Arena - Denver, CO (Card #1066)

1) Rockin Robin, Amber O’Neal & Trinity Denucci vs. Jazz, April Hunter & Lacey was a DDQ:
Ring Angels action opened the show with Rockin Robin, Amber O’Neal & Trinity Denucci taking on Jazz, April Hunter & Lacey. The veteran Robin took the lead for her team and set up Jazz for an inverted DDT by O’Neal for a two count. The double tough Jazz battled back before Denucci hit a running bulldog for a near fall. This one built up to a wild finish as a save attempt by Hunter for Jazz led to a six-way brawl with the referee calling for a double disqualification.

2) Ray Stevens defeated Brad Armstrong:
The popular Brad Armstrong out of Marietta, GA, took on veteran star Ray “The Crippler” Stevens who was accompanied by his manager Sir Oliver Humperdink. This was a highly competitive bout with some fast paced action and terrific exchanges. The two traded counters building to a strong finish with Stevens scoring a two count with a double underhook suplex. Stevens then quickly followed up hitting the Bombs Away to score the pin making Humperdink a happy man.

3) The Mountie, Tom Prichard & Texas Hangmen defeated PG-13 & Heartbreak Express by DQ:
Atomicos action saw the ASW team of PG-13 (J.C. Ice & Wolfie D) and the Heartbreak Express (Fabulous Phil Davis & Superstar Sean Davis) take on Sherri Martel and her SSA, Inc. crew of The Mountie, Dr. Tom Prichard & Texas Hangmen (Killer & Psycho). This one came about after an altercation between the two sides on the last edition of LOW All-Star Wrestling with the Heartbreak Express saving PG-13 from a gang attack by the SSA, Inc. members. SSA, Inc. was in top form here as they controlled the action for a good stretch. The Mountie used his controversial Shock Stick on Wolfie D for what could have been a pin but Phil Davis made the save. This bout eventually went to the floor where a frustrated Wolfie D went wild swinging a hubcap at The Mountie drawing the disqualification decision. Ice grabbed his own hubcap going after Prichard while the Express duked it out with the Hangmen bringing the grudge match to a wild conclusion

4) Roddy Piper defeated Tony Atlas by DQ:
The powerful “Mr. USA” Tony Atlas locked up with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper who was accompanied by his bodyguard “The Ace” Cowboy Bob Orton. Piper and Orton tried to intimidate the ring announcer prompting Atlas to jump in. Atlas exploded on offense early tossing Piper from pillar to post. A big dropkick resulted in a two count before Piper took over on the outside. Piper worked over Atlas scoring a two count with a bulldog before locking on the Sleeper Hold. It looked like Atlas was going to go under when suddenly Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka hit the ring attacking Piper. The referee awarded Piper the win by disqualification but he paid the price of a double-team attack by Snuka and Atlas. Orton managed to pull Piper out of the ring to safety but then Snuka dragged him into the ring. Atlas took over with a Press Slam on Orton before Snuka flattened him with the Superfly Leap from the top rope. The crowd erupted in cheers as Snuka, returning from a neck injury inflicted on him by Piper, made a huge statement to his rival.

5) Masked Superstar & Brent Albright defeated Scott Casey & Sam Houston:
Grudge tag team action featured “Cowboy” Scott Casey & Sam Houston taking on the Masked Superstar & “The Shooter” Brent Albright. It was Albright, formerly of Kings Road United, making a surprise debut on the last PCW card helping the Superstar, also formerly of KRU, attack Houston who had just upset the masked man. It led to Casey coming to the aid of Houston and set up this feature tag team bout. The Superstar was dominant early thrashing Casey including dropping him with the Superstar Clothesline. That helped set up an extended offensive by Superstar and Albright as they got the heat on Casey. A fired up Houston was frustrated watching from the ring apron and hoping for a tag. He got in briefly but it wasn’t enough as in the end Albright took advantage of a downed Casey and trapped him in the Crowbar resulting in a submission victory.

6) PWI Invitational Cup Tournament – Qualifying Match: George Hackenschmidt defeated Sabu:
The qualifying round of the ninth annual PWI Invitational Cup Tournament opened up with the death defying Sabu of the CWA, who was accompanied by his manager Abdullah Farouk, taking on the “Russian Lion” George Hackenschmidt of Golden Age Wrestling. This was a real contrast of styles and credit Sabu for taking the fight to his much stronger opponent including battling him ferociously on the outside of the ring. There was even a ref bump at one point as Sabu dove off of the top rope hitting both Hackenschmidt and the official. Sabu later hit the Triple Jump Moonsault on Hackenschmidt resulting in a big near fall. However it was that risky move that would lead to his downfall. When Sabu missed his second attempt at the Triple Jump Moonsault it was Hackenschmidt trapping him in the Russian Bearhug. Sabu tried to fight out of it but Hackenschmidt cinched it on and rode him to the mat getting a submission victory. As a result Hackenschmidt advances to the tournament being held during WrestleCade 11 weekend.

7) PWI Invitational Cup Tournament – Qualifying Match: Jushin Liger defeated The French Angel:
Popular KRU star Jushin “Thunder” Liger, a record seven-time LOW Junior Heavyweight champion, took on the feared French Angel of World of Sport in qualifying round action. This was another battle of speed against size as the Angel outweighed by over sixty pounds. The Angel was very aggressive in the early going including biting and clawing away at the mask of Liger. He executed a bodyslam and press and backbreaker scoring a pair of two counts. Liger was in trouble but he showed great fire in mounting a comeback. He brawled with the Angel on the outside several times and used the back suplex to shake him up. After hitting a Liger Dive the masked man impressively lifted the Angel up for the Fisherman’s Buster to score the pin. It was a huge win for Liger who joined George Hackenschmidt in advancing to the tournament at WrestleCade 11 weekend.

8) No DQ Match: Fred Blassie defeated John Tolos:
The main event was held under No DQ rules with the “King of Men” Fred Blassie facing his arch rival the “Golden Greek” John Tolos. These two have been at each others throats for some time and that was on full display here. Tolos struck quickly using the thumb to the throat on Blassie which nearly resulted in a pin (Promoter’s Note: The roll was snake eyes on Blassie’s pin rating of “1”). He followed up with the punishing corkscrew and had Blassie in serious trouble early. Blassie managed to take control on the outside and began hammering away at Tolos eventually busting him open. Blassie used his vampire like filed teeth to bite the bloody Tolos and then hit the Southern Neckbreaker for a big near fall. Tolos managed to barely get his shoulder up before the three count. An attempted backdrop by Blassie was countered with a piledriver by Tolos. That led to a strong offensive by the bloody “Golden Greek” but he was unable to put Blassie away. The finish saw Blassie avoid a corner charge by Tolos countering with a Roll-Up to score the pin. The crowd cheered the victory by Blassie as an angry and bloody Tolos bailed out of the ring. Tolos tossed several chairs into the ring at Blassie before storming off indicating that this war is likely far from being over.

[cruefan68]

Pro Wrestling Illustrated Newswire

PWI Editor Bill Apter filed this exclusive report from the home offices of Pro Wrestling Illustrated in Blue Bell, PA:

“Hello wrestling fans it’s been a long time since I filed one of these reports, mainly due to a very busy travel and work schedule, but my good friend LOW Commissioner Charlie Cox has asked me to help get some news items out to the loyal fans around the world. Well of course the biggest news to take place recently was Andre the Giant defeating Johnny Valentine to win the LOW World Heavyweight title in a Steel Cage Match at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Many fans and promoters are concerned with Andre holding the world title as the undefeated giant just may prove impossible to take down. It becomes even more concerning when you realize that he also employs a very shrewd and successful manager in one Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. The fact that the LOW World Heavyweight title is now controlled by those two men means that all contenders will have to formulate a game plan accounting for both Andre and Heenan, a task that will not be easy.

Perhaps even bigger news coming out of Andre’s title win is the fact that Valentine has to leave LOW for the remainder of the year due to an agreed upon stipulation. That means no immediate rematch will be forthcoming for the rugged star from Seattle, WA. I have it on good authority having spoken directly to his son Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, who currently teams with Brutus Beefcake as the Dream Team in the CWA, that he is not a happy camper right about now and that when he does return it could be very dangerous for any opponent that signs a contract to face him.

As for Andre, and this has not yet been made official by LOW, I have been told that his first LOW World Heavyweight title defense will be against the inaugural champion Frank Gotch on an upcoming Golden Age Wrestling card. Gotch has been both a teammate and rival of Valentine over the years so likely will have some emotional investment in facing Andre. Gotch is also set to compete in the ongoing qualifying round of the ninth annual PWI Invitational Cup Tournament but should he win the world title a suitable replacement will be named for him by the LOW Board of Directors.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to reigning LOW International Heavyweight champion Rikidozan via telephone from Kings Road United headquarters located in Tokyo, Japan. We went over a number of topics including his recent successful title defense against Bruiser Brody in Yokohama. He called Brody one of the toughest men he has ever faced and he considered himself fortunate to have retained the title. We also went over some of his promotional work with KRU and he said that he is very proud of the success of KRU and some of the things that he has worked on behind-the-scenes such as helping to create the Ring Angels division along with Sumie Sakai. He noted that current Ring Angels champion Mildred Burke is a fine representative of the championship.

Finally he revealed some major exclusive news that KRU is going to be sponsoring a Real World Tag League tournament which will start on the next Tokyo Dome card and run through the mid-year card at the Seibu Dome. It is an ambitious undertaking but he said that he has already received cooperation from LOW and all affiliated territory promotions to run tournament matches outside of KRU building to the finals. The goal is to invite sixteen teams to compete, including teams on independent circuits like Ring of Honor and Evolve, with match results linked to a points based system. The teams will be split up into an A Block and a B Block with the respective points leaders meeting in the final round at the Seibu Dome.

He added that the PWI Invitational Cup Tournament was an inspiration to KRU in formulating the tag league and he thanked PWI for including KRU stars in the annual event. I noted that it was a pleasure to work with KRU in including stars like Giant Baba and Bullet Club leader AJ Styles in the ninth annual tournament. Well that’s all for this edition of PWI Newswire and if I don’t report back here soon I will be sure to see all of you out at the matches…”

[Pariah]

Ouch! Looks like one of my favorites will not be competing for the PWI Invitational Cup in the upcoming tourney... Unfortunate that Sabu could not get past Hack, but it makes my job easier on who to support going forward... This is one of my favorite events on the entire board and I cannot wait to see who qualifies...

Fun times in Denver... Always a surprised when Piper actually wins a match via DQ... Triumphant return for Superfly and it will be cool to see his next encounter with the Hot Rod... Also enjoyed watching SSA, Inc. in eight man tag action... The Mountie's Shock Stick comes into play as he uses it to teach Wolfie D a lesson in manners...

Huge main event with the King of Men emerging triumphant... Even though Gotch has already been announced as Andre's first challenger for the World title, I've gotta think that Blassie must be pretty high on the list of top contenders...

Really looking forward to the Real World Tag Tournament being put on by KRU... Hopefully, some measures will be put in place to keep the Bullet Club in check during the prestigious competition... Can only imagine what kind of mayhem that group might be planning - Especially if the Young Bucks are taking part...

Awesome stuff, as always!

[bookerbill]

Another solid event. Looks like Blassie was fortunate to pull that one out and rematch is certainly in order. I am liking Hackenschmidt to go deep in the tournament.

Psyched for Tag Team Tournament already.

[Crimson Cross]

My favorite time in your LOW is the PWiT and I'm liking that George Hackenschmidt & Jushin Liger advance, plus that KRU tag team tournament will be stellar. I really like Ray Stevens winning over Brad Armstrong, plus the Masked Superstar & Brent Albright winning is top stuff...

[jobber83]

What card are you using for Andre? The one I have...he looks nearly unbeatable. Curious if you have one of the originals or a bootleg card.