R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Earthquake

Posted on April 22, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. As you can see, we find ourselves once more here at the Rotten Ink Arena with another “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update event that has a true monster heel in the main event and that wrestler is Earthquake, who worked for the WWF as well as companies like WCW, All Japan and CMLL and was a draw for many of them as a top star. The snack bar is packed tonight, and Mr. X has the Old Grave Digger as back up as they are selling some Quakeburgers and I heard they are made out of python meat! So let’s grab a burger and a drink and find our seats as the ground is starting the shake with tremors and the house lights are going down and that must mean the matches are about to start. So let’s grab our snacks and get our seats as this is going to be one heck of an event.

John Tenta started his Pro Wrestling career in 1987 and was trained by Giant Baba, Terry Gordy, Jumbo Tsuruta and Great Kabuki. Due to his past in Sumo Wrestling, he was a Baby Face from the start and for a man his size, he could work quickly around the ring. Tenta would find himself working for All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1987 and would stay with them until 1989 and was a big draw as he was booked strong from the start and would team with names like Giant Baba, Tiger Mask and Great Kabuki and would have matches against names like Tiger Jeet Singh, Jason The Terrible, Brady Boone, The Moondogs and The Road Warriors, to name a few. In 1989 Tenta would sign with the WWF and would become the monster heel known as Earthquake (first called Canadian Earthquake) and would be managed by Jimmy Hart. The Earthquake would also team with Dino Bravo and would quickly rise up the card as one of the company’s monster heels and would have feuds with the likes of Ultimate Warriors, Jake Roberts and Hulk Hogan, even at one point crushing Damien, the snake of Jake Roberts and then cooking it as hamburgers! During this time he would get shots at the WWF Heavyweight Title and would also send many of his opponent’s to the back on stretchers. In 1991 Earthquake would join forces with Typhoon (formerly Tugboat) to become the massive heel tag team called The Natural Disasters that would later turn baby face and would win Tag Team Gold and would have some great matches against teams like The Rockers, Road Warriors and Money Inc. By late 1993 Earthquake would leave WWF for a short time and work briefly for CMLL in Mexico and WAR in Japan before returning again to WWF in 1994 working as a baby face against the likes of Yokozuna, Adam Bomb and Bam Bam Bigelow before leaving once more that year to return to WAR.

Later in 1994 Earthquake would find himself signed to WCW and would go by the named Avalanche and be a member of the heel team The Three Faces Of Fear along with Kevin Sullivan and The Butcher. During this time he would feud with Hulk Hogan, Sting and Randy Savage! He would then become The Shark and be part of the stable called The Dungeon Of Doom whose main goal was to end the career of Hulk Hogan and he would be joined by such names as Kevin Sullivan, Meng, The Zodiac and Kamala to name a few. In 1996, The Shark would be no more and he would go back to work under his real name John Tenta and would become a baby face and would have matches against the likes of The Giant and Big Bubba Rogers. It was clear at this point Tenta’s star was starting to fade as he would find himself sinking lower down the card and losing matches to the companies top and mid-card heels. By 1997, John Tenta would leave WCW and would only wrestle for them one more time in his career in 1999 in a dark match against Lash LeRoux. But in 1998-1999 Tenta would return to the WWF and be the masked wrestler Golga, who was part of the stable called The Oddities that were sideshow performers and would be managed by musicians ICP and he would carry a South Park Eric Cartman plush to ring when the group went from heels to baby faces and would have a feud with the companies heel teams like The Headgbangers. And the reason John Tenta was Golga and not Earthquake during this return is cause he had lost lots of weight. After leaving WWF in 1999, John Tenta would find himself working the indies, and in 2001 he would work two matches for the WWF and would end his in ring career in All Japan Pro Wrestling. During his career he would win some titles and would be a draw as well as a good solid mid-carder as both a baby face and a heel. Plus his star never faded in Japan as all the way up to his retirement he was a main eventer. Sadly John Tenta would pass away on June 7, 2006 at the age of 42 from cancer. And as of this update’s posting John “Earthquake” Tenta is now in the WWE Hall Of Fame class of 2025 and that’s really were he should be.

Earthquake was a great monster heel in the WWF during his first run as his massive size and speed made him seem very dangerous to his opponents that he would squash with his sitting splash. Two things that Earthquake did during his time with the company that stand out is when he crushed Damien who was in a bag and the look of sadness and horror on Jake Roberts face was great story telling. I also remember his feud with Hulk Hogan when he squashed Hogan on the set of the Brother Love show. Oh and let us not also forget when Earthquake attacked Andre The Giant and broke his leg or when he would stomp around his downed opponent and the commentators would call it Tremors…classic stuff! So as you can see, Earthquake was a great heel that was still great when he and Typhoon first started teaming up as the Natural Disasters. I was never a fan of when Earthquake would turn into a baby face as I feel he was just lost in the shuffle of all the big names in the WWF during that time, and let’s be honest his run in WCW as both heel and baby face was a little lacking as I feel they just did not know how to book him right and did not use him to his full potential of being a good heel. In the late 90’s when he would be Golga at first I was wanting to see what they would do with this masked man who was part of a group of misfits, but quickly they turned him into a generic baby face who carried around a doll and was aimed towards kids to cheer as he danced around. I think the WWF also really missed the boat by not having Earthquake feud with The Undertaker as I think it could have been an interesting series of matches, and it would have been cool to see The Dead Man rise after taking an Earthquake Splash. In fact if they had kept The Oddities as heels, it would have also been cool to see them go after The Undertaker as they could become obsessed with him and want him to join them. And I am not the only one that when looking at Earthquake thought he was much older than he was right? When people talk about some of the best Big Men in wrestling names like Vader, Bam Bam Bigelow and Andre The Giant are spoken about, but I feel that Earthquake is often over looked and should be on that list of hard working guys who put asses in the seats and feuded with some of the industry’s top names. I was really bummed when I heard of Earthquake’s passing in 2006, but while he is gone, his matches live on thanks to the WWE Network, Home Media and Grey Market sets.

We are now at the point of this review where we will be taking a look at the DVD set and reviewing some of the matches on the discs, like always between 4 to 8. I want to thank Coliseum Of Wrestling & Boxing for having this set in stock and also want to thank Earthquake for his hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will only be breaking down randomly selected matches from this set and will be breaking down the match and will be rating the matches on a 5 Star rating system. I also only choose from single matches, as I want to break down his matches that showcase his style. Here is what the stars mean ½ Means a really terrible match, * Means a bad match, ** Means a below average match, **1/2 Means a good average entertaining match, *** Means a good match, **** Means a great match, ***** Means an epic match. So if you are ready, let’s step into the ring with Earthquake.

Best Of Earthquake

Match 1: Earthquake vs. Koji Kitao

At the start of the match the two start to lockup in a test of strength but Earthquake is able to grab Koji into a headlock, once out of the hold the two finally lock up in the test of strength that ends with Earthquake getting Koji into a reverse bear hug and then gets him into a takedown move that makes Koji roll out of the ring and throw a table around. Once back into the ring after locking up Koji starts to work on the wrist of Earthquake who breaks the hold by smacking him in the face, tensions are high as they smack off each others move attempts and then just stare at each other both with anger in their eyes. The two then end up throwing kicks and punches at each other before the referee breaks them apart. Koji tries to poke both or Earthquakes eyes and ends up getting kicked in the leg for his troubles before once more they square up ready to start throwing punches, but then stand and stare at each other while Earthquake yells at his opponent. Koji then kicks the referee hard causing him to fall and ring for the bell as Earthquake wins the match by DQ. This is a match that turns into a shoot as Koji starts stiff kicks and tries to go for the eyes of Earthquake who defends himself with some kicks and slaps. This is pretty much a brawl and is more of a contest that falls apart and has two wrestlers in the ring ready to throw down staring daggers at each other, and oddly it is kind of entertaining as it seems like the tow have mega heat with each other and the fans in attendance seem to be really into it. The DQ ending also is fitting as I am sure neither guy would have wanted to loose this shoot.

Grade: **

Match 2: Earthquake vs. Executioner

When the bell rings Executioner hits the ropes and tries a pair of clotheslines that do nothing, Earthquake then hits a clotheslines and sidewalk slam style move that floors Executioner. Earthquake then tries to take the mask off Executioner then pokes Earthquake in the eyes and quickly climbs to the top rope and is then thrown across the ring by Earthquake who then walks over and hits a belly to belly suplex on Executioner and then hits a leg drop on the downed masked man. Earthquake then hits a power slam, a dropping elbow and then his Earthquake Splash finisher to get the win via pin. This is pretty much a squash match as Earthquake tosses and smashes Executioner in the ring as the fans cheer, and while Executioner tries to fight back, he is just over powered and out skilled by his much bigger opponent. Earthquake for his size is very fast moving and hits some big power moves that end this match fast. Over all a good jobber match that entertained me and the fans in the crowd as this really was the execution of the Executioner.

Grade: **1/2

Match 3: Earthquake vs. Yokozuna

The two big man size each other up as the bell rings and then a shoving match breaks out as they each are showing that they are a big man. Earthquake takes the momentum at first with some jumping kicks and then a headlock and then hits a series of clotheslines that knock Yokozuna down to one knee, but Yoko changes the tide quickly with a back elbow and a shoulder tackle that takes Earthquake down to the mat and then hits a leg drop. Earthquake is in big trouble as he struggles to get to his feet and when he does he eats some chops and a big splash in the corner and when Earthquake is down on the mat Yokozuna climbs the ropes and hits the Banzai Drop and gets the win via pin. This is the battle of two of the WWF’s biggest men at the time that was a great way to build up Yokozuna as the monster heel that was climbing the card and heading towards World Title shots. And while clearly Earthquake was being used as an enhancement talent in this match, they still allowed him to take the lead of the match early own showing his power and strength, and I feel Earthquake did a great job of selling the beating from Yokozuna who was able to showcase his size and power. The Banzai Drop at the end is a move that could put any superstar away and this was a match to prove that to the fans and his future opponents. Over all this is a good quick match that both guys did a great job of entertaining the fans as well as telling the story of the rising Yokozuna.

Grade: **1/2

Match 4: Earthquake vs. Tito Santana

As the match starts Earthquake uses his power and size to throw Tito off him every time he tries to lockup and even after getting Earthquake in a headlock he is just picked up and tossed. Tito is finally able to use his speed and fast punches to land some good hits on his more massive opponent and then starts working over his arm. Tito cannot keep up the pressure as Earthquake takes the momentum with a body slam, but a missed elbow drop gives Tito the chance to fight back and once more goes to work on the big mans arm. But Earthquake quickly shakes it off and continues to beat up on Tito and locks him in a massive bear hug, once free the two exchange hits and holds and Tito even hits his Flying Forearm and only gets a one count. Earthquake slams Tito and then drops and elbow and starts to go for the Earthquake Splash but Tugboat comes from the back to stop it and then Dino Bravo, The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine enter the ring and start beating up on the baby faces that is until Hacksaw Jin Duggan comes out with his 2X4 and chases off all the heels. The match ends in a no contest as the match got so out of hand by the end with run-ins. This for the most part was a very slow paced match with lots of rest holds and moments of sizing each other up and both use pretty basic moves. It was nice to see that the match was not a total squash as it was clear they were building Earthquake as that monster heel as he shrugs off many moves and hits, but they still allowed Tito to seem like a contender, even though his signature move the Flying Forearm barely phased the big man and at no point did it seem like he was going to win the match. The finish was a little silly as before Earthquake could hit his finisher Tugboat comes lumbering out to get the match thrown out, but in reality Earthquake should have won by DQ. Over all an ok match that was entertaining but not the best match these guys could have had and because of the terrible finish I have to Grade this match a little lower.

Grade: **

Match 5: Earthquake vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Right as the bell rings and Jake enters the ring Earthquake goes on the attack and only after a knee to the head is Jake able to get distance between them. Every time Jake goes after the arm of Earthquake the big man breaks the hold with a smashing forearm and as Earthquake poses Jake turns him around and lands many punches to the big man’s face and continues his attack with some knees in the corner, but Earthquake uses his size to knock Jake to the mat and then stomps on him until Jake falls out of the ring. Earthquake goes after Jake’s new snake Lucifer and Jake saves his pet with a knee that rocks Earthquake and he continues his attack on the big man once they get back in the ring unleashing lots of knees, but Earthquake is able to take back over the momentum by going after the knee of Jake and works it over for a bit. Earthquake goes for his finisher sit down splash but Jake rolls out of the ring, Earthquake goes back after Lucifer the snake and before he can splash the animal Jake is able to trip him and it causes Earthquake to crash onto the mat hard. Jake then lets the snake out of the bag and Earthquake leaves the ring and the referee give him the win by DQ. This is a true grudge match as this takes place after the killing of the snake Damien and Jake unleashes lots of punches and knees to his opponent, but do to the size of Earthquake the match goes south for the baby face as the big heel works over his knee and keeps him down and weak on the mat. This is pretty much a brawl and the story told in the ring is good as the fans were really into it as Earthquake kept acting as if he was going to squash the new python. It’s strange as no big moves are thrown and lots of selling and staling takes place, but yet it is an entertaining match and ends with a DQ so that the WWF could keep this feud going and it makes sense as the emotions of Jake Roberts would be out of control.

Grade: **1/2

Match 6: Earthquake vs. Hillbilly Jim

Before the bell rings Earthquake tries to sneak attack Hillbilly Jim who dodges the big man’s charge and lands some hits of his own including ramming his head against the turnbuckles. Earthquake turns the tide when he rakes the eyes of Hillbilly and then lands some punches and shoulders but Hillbilly starts fighting back and this causes Jimmy Hart the manager of Earthquake to distract Hillbilly by trying to steal his lucky horseshoe and this causes Earthquake to be able to hit a big corner splash and then a dropping elbow before hitting the Earthquake Splash and this gives him the win via pin. Even after the match Earthquake keeps hitting splashes and elbows as Jimmy Hart laughs and the referee is powerless to stop the attack, and after the beating stops Hillbilly Jim is taken out on a stretcher. This is a very quick match and does a great job of showcasing Earthquake as a rising heel as he defeats Hillbilly Jim and then after the match destroys him and uses him powerful impact moves. And during the match Hillbilly Jim does not look like a jobber as he takes control of the match throughout its short runtime, and if not for him paying attention to his opponent and being more focused on his horseshoe he was in charge of it’s pace. This is of course more of a brawling match and is by no means a technical masterpiece, but I will say it was a entertaining match that does it’s job of building Earthquake and was one of the final full time matches for Hillbilly Jim.

Grade: **1/2

Match 7: Earthquake vs. Top Gun

The masked man Top Gun rushes Earthquake before the bell rings and hits him with some big forearm smashes, Earthquake shrugs off the attack and makes Top Gun pay for this as Earthquake hits him with an atomic drop, clothesline and then a dropping elbow. Earthquake before he can hit his sit down splash gets distracted for a moment when Big Bubba Rogers and Jimmy Hart try to break his attention from the match, but Earthquake does not take the bait and hits his splash and gets the win after the three count is made. This is a very short squash match that took place in WCW and Earthquake was of course wrestling under his real name John Tenta and hits all his classic moves from the dropping elbow and the sit down splash and he looks like he has gained some weight but is still moving fast. Top Gun does not stand a chance as his forearm smashes are all he is able to fire off and those do no damage and he quickly finds himself counting the lights. This is a short squash match and for some reason I enjoyed as the masked Top Gun is a great jobber and seeing Earthquake being the monster wrestler was cool, so over all this was entertaining for me.

Grade: **1/2

Match 8: Earthquake vs. Ultimate Warrior

Earthquake attacks Warrior before the bell rings and is hitting him in the back with axe handle blows, the Warriors moves around the ring and then tries to run the ropes and clash into Earthquake who does not budge, but after a shoulder tackle Earthquake is taken off his feet and has to roll out of the ring and Warrior follows him as he goes after Jimmy Hart, this gives Earthquake the chance to attack Warrior from behind. Once back in the ring, Earthquake keeps his attack going on Warrior even kicking him in the back and getting him into the corner to choke him as well as knee him and keep him hurt and weakened. Earthquake keeps up the attack and then starts trying to injure the back of Warrior even getting him in a bear hug that he holds for a long time. Earthquake tosses Warrior to the mat and then drops an elbow and then hits his finisher the Earthquake splash and goes for the pin and Warrior kicks out at two and then fires himself up by the cheers of the fans and the power of the warriors. Warrior then hits a series of clotheslines, a shoulder tackle and then body slams Earthquake and is able to get the win via pin after a big splash. This is a standard Ultimate Warrior match that has him getting beat by the heel only to get the power of the warriors to bring him back into the match and this allows him to hit his finishing combo moves the clotheslines, shoulder tackle and splash in order to get the win and while he does a good job of making Earthquake look good he also at the same time ruins the monster heel build of Earthquake as he kicks out of his finisher and then beats him in seconds after doing so. And it was clear at this time that Ultimate Warrior was being built for the top of the card and Earthquake was finding himself as an upper mid-card heel who was slated to help get over Warrior even more. And while this is a paint by numbers Warrior match I for one am a fan and enjoy his matches and while I wish they would have made this match feel a little bigger I still found it entertaining as did the fans in attendance who were 100% behind Warrior and cheered very loudly for him throughout.

Grade: **1/2

Earthquake is one of those wrestlers who really did make his mark on the sport as he had many very high profile matches and feuds and even had a good tag team run with his partner Typhoon and was an icon in Japan. It’s a shame he passed away at such a young age as who knows what he would have gone on to do and where he would have wrestled. And as the house lights come up and the clean up crew are coming out, this marks the end of this update event and also marks the final in our WWE WrestleMania Month. As we make our way out of the arena, I would like to take a few moments to let you know that our next update will take us out of the Squared Circle and into the world of DC Comics as we will be talking about Plastic Man! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. See you next time for a stretchy silly good time.

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Outback Jack

Posted on April 12, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Thanks for joining me once more at the Rotten Ink Arena as today’s R.I.W Wrestling Legends update is about a Superstar that took WWF in the late 80’s by storm but in a short amount of time fell down the card and his career fizzled away like dust in the Australian wind. And now that we have found our seats right here in the front row, I think our subject is in the opening bout and if you have not guessed it yet, we will be talking about the one and only Outback Jack, a grappler who had action figures, trading cards and shirts released by WWF and once he was let go they never spoke of him again. But I can hear his song playing now so let’s sit back and enjoy our time with this Wrestling Legend.

Outback Jack started his wrestling career in1986 after being trained by Les Thornton and started to work for Stampede Wrestling out of Canada and was quickly brought into the WWF that same year, as Vince McMahon wanted to bring the Australian superstar in to capitalize on the popularity of the film Crocodile Dundee and they quickly started airing vignettes of Outback Jack in the Australian Outback and had him doing all types of things from driving a jeep around to claiming he learned wrestling moves from the Aborigines. They brought him in and the fans seemed to love him as he got the cheers and he would get some big match wins over the likes of Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Iron Mike Sharpe and Barry Horowitz. But while he was popular, he started falling down the card and started to be used a jobber to bigger stars as he would loss to the likes of Ron Bass, Killer Khan, Sika and Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, but all the while Outback Jack would still be getting wins over fellow enhancement talent it was clear that his days for WWF was numbered. The WWF was going to put Outback Jack in a tag team with Hillbilly Jim, and they were going to try and give the pair a major push, but they changed their minds as Outback Jack was let go in 1988 and that as well pretty much ended Outback Jack’s career as he would not have another match until 2019 as there has been a rumor he wrestled in a Tag Team match as a surprise for AWL (Australian Wrestling League).

Outback Jack was a wrestler who was over with the fans who was booked strong at the start but it’s clear the company lost interest and faith in him quick as he was starting to be used as a jobber to their Heel superstars in a pretty quick fashion. One would have to guess that Vince had lost interest in the Australian Outback culture that was made famous by the Crocodile Dundee film or that they just did not see the skill or superstar quality in Outback Jack. As a youngster I always remember being entertained by Outback Jack and remember some of his matches, but let’s be honest we wrestling fans remember his character more then we do his in-ring skill. I as well remember having his trading cards from Topps that was apart of the WWF series. I can also remember always wanting his LJN figure as it was a super cool toy and was always trying to trade with a friend on the playground who had it. One thing that I think works against Outback Jack for being a full Wrestling Legend is that he had a very short career and pretty much lasted only two years before retiring. I also have heard rumors that his time with the WWF was cut short due to the fact that he was not well liked by fellow wrestlers who found his personality to rub them the wrong way. He was also said to have been ribbed all the time by the British Bulldogs with many of the pranks being downright mean! While he might not have been the best in ring worker, Outback Jack was a great character in 80’s WWF that even with a very short run is still remembered and has fans to this day.

We are now at the point of this review where we will be taking a look at the DVD set and review some of the matches on the discs like always between 4 to 8. I want to thank Coliseum Of Wrestling & Boxing for having this set in stock and also want to thank Outback Jack for his hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will only be breaking down randomly select matches from this set and will be breaking down the match and will be rating the matches on a 5 Star rating system. I also only choose from Single matches, as I want to break down his matches that showcase his style. Here is what the stars mean ½ Means a really terrible match, * Means a bad match, ** Means a below average match, **1/2 Means a good average entertaining match, *** Means a good match, **** Means a great match, ***** Means an epic match. So if you are ready, let’s step into the ring with Outback Jack.

Best Of Outback Jack

Match 1: Outback Jack vs. Rick Rude

After Rick Rude insults the crowd and posses for the ladies in the crowd the bell rings and he starts beating the hell out of Outback with some punches and forearms. Outback makes a small comeback but eats a boot to the face knocking him to the mat, and then Rude drives his face into the mat a few times before Outback tries once more to make a short comeback, but is cut off and Rick Rude gets Outback Jack into a back breaker submission hold and wins the match when Outback taps. This is a total squash match and Outback Jack is used as an enhancement talent jobber as he barely gets any moves in and when he does Rick Rude shrugs them off and continues to beat him up before easily making him tap out in seconds to a backbreaker. And as always Rick Rude is a great heel who gets great heat from the crowd as he is cocky and always has great insults to the fans. Outback Jack has the fans on his side and when he makes his small comebacks they cheer for him, its clear by this match he was not a major star in the WWF’s eyes but in the fans eyes he was a favorite. Over all a good squash match that highlights just how good Rude was in the ring.

Grade: **1/2

Match 2: Outback Jack vs. Butch Reed

As soon as the bell rings Outback Jack starts paying attention to Butch Reed’s manager Slick and that’s a big mistake as he is attacked from behind with a knee to the back, and then throws him into the ropes and makes him eat a nasty looking elbow, Outback is rocked but makes a small comeback before Butch makes him eat punches again and hits him with some powerful moves, and Outback attempts to fight back but is over powered and finished for the three count after Butch jumps off the top rope and nails him with a clothesline. This is another squash match as Butch Reed destroys Outback Jack and does so in quick fashion. Butch Reed looks like the powerhouse he was and uses big moves and strong looking hits, the fans also hate him and he feeds off that heat. Outback Jack looks like a total jobber as he starts the match paying attention to his opponent’s manager and then gets his butt kicked for the next two minutes before getting pinned. And worse, Outback looks weak as his comebacks are easily shrugged off and he is beaten down for his tiny efforts. A great match for Butch Reed to show his power and a bad one for Outback Jack who looks like a jobber.

Grade: **1/2

Match 3: Outback Jack vs. Frenchy Martin

As the bell rings they size each other up with each testing the water by pulling off small moves on one another. But as the match gets going its clear that the power of Outback is overwhelming Martin who is on the receiving end of some big moves. But Martin is able to make a comeback after he pokes Outback in the eyes and is able to land some big chops that knocks Outback to the mat and allows him to keep on beating on him. But Outback is able to comeback after reversing a whip into the corner and then is able to use his finishing maneuver the boomerang to get the three count. This is a very typical early on the card match that does a great job of building up the crowd by letting them see a fan favorite like Outback Jack as the fans are clearly on his side and are behind his victory. Outback wrestles a very brawling style in the match and plays off the crowd really well with his moves. Frenchy Martin does a great job of selling for Outback as well as does a great job playing the cheating heel when he is needed to get the heat. Over all a simple yet very entertaining match that proves Outback Jack could have been a really good mid-carder if they would have gotten behind him.

Grade: **1/2

Match 4: Outback Jack vs. Steve Lombardi

Hillbilly Jim makes the introduction for his friend Outback Jack as they two had just started to team up with each other, and when the bell rings Outback Jack overpowers Lombardi who gets frustrated over the power difference and takes his anger out by yelling at the referee, and his anger mounts as Outback Jack even out chain wrestles him! No matter what Lombardi does, he can not get the better of Outback who has a response for every move and hit he tries to pull off, that is until he kicks Outback in the gut and then starts biting him on the head and then uses cheap shots and eye pokes to keep the matching going his way. But after taking a beating for a short time Outback Jack takes back over the match and after some clotheslines and a running bulldog Outback gets the pin and wins the match. This is a match that allowed Outback Jack to look like a solid mid-card face as he was able to beat career jobber Steve Lombardi in a mostly one sided match, and Outback even is able to show off his strength by throwing around and over powering his opponent. And while Outback Jack was very limited in skills, he knew how to play off the crowd and did just enough in this match to be entertaining. And Steve Lombardi while a jobber always could get passable to good matches out of limited wrestlers.

Grade: **1/2

Match 5: Outback Jack vs. Ted DiBiase

Ted attacks Outback before the bell rings and even when it rings he keeps the assault going, but Outback with a massive clothesline turns the table and starts pounding on DiBiase who changes the tide with a boot to the face that rocks Outback. DiBiase then lands a middle rope elbow and then a drop fist to the downed Outback who is clearly in trouble now, as DiBiase drops another fist its clear that Outback is dazed. DiBiase continues to beat up Outback and with the Million Dollar Dream DiBiase gets the win as Outback is put to sleep and after the match gets the money shoved into his mouth. This is another squash match as Ted DiBiase makes short work of Outback Jack and puts him to sleep pretty easy and even makes the downed Aussie eat a hundred dollar bill. DiBiase looks great and hits all his signature moves and even does a good job of making Outback not look like a total jobber. Outback does a great job as the fans love him and by getting his butt kicked he helps get DiBiase even more heat as let’s face it, DiBiase was one of the best wrestling heels in 80’s wrestling. Over all a good match that was entertaining for a squash match.

Grade: **1/2

Outback Jack was a lower mid-carder who was originally brought in with bigger plans but his limited in ring work and the company’s faith in him dropping fast made him a fan favorite who did a great job of putting over the company’s heels, and having one of the companies catchiest songs at the time. But the event is over and I see that Joker and Mr. X, part of the cleanup crew, are coming out to sweep up the spilt popcorn so we should head out before the Rotten Ink Arena doors are locked for the night. But as we make out way out of here, I should tell you that out next update will have us meeting once more here at The Rotten Ink Arena as we will be watching Earthquake in action! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. Do you feel that? The tremors have already started!

Indie Luchador Files: Blue Flame

Posted on March 23, 2025 by bloodlinematt

The Indies are a great way for unsigned young wrestling talent to build a name for themselves and show the world and the majors what they are bringing and why they should be signed andapart of their roster. It’s also a great place for journeymen to entertain the crowds as well as work with the next generation. Tthe indies is also a great place for the legends to wind down their careers and be able to show that they still have it and work with the youngsters as well as bond with their fans. For this update we are going to look at another amazing indie Luchador who was a journeyman who became a legend and who gave so much back to the world of Lucha Libre as he became a trainer to so many of the next generation Luchador stars of the ring. And the amazing talent I am talking about for this Indie Luchador Files update is Flama Azul aka Blue Flame! So let’s enter the Rotten Ink Arena and chat about this iconic Lucha Libre star.

Again, I want to think all the blogs and websites that had information on Flama Azul as not only did they make this update possible but also are keeping the legacy of Flama Azul alive. I also have chosen him to be the second Luchador featured in an Indie Luchador Files update because I feel he really did make a mark in the world of Wrestling, and with that, let’s take a brief look at the one and only Flama Azul.

Flama Azul
Started: 1967 Companies: Indies & CMLL Active: No Seen Live: No

In 1967 Antonio Sanchez Vargas started his wrestling career as Flamer 1 before settling on the name Flama Azul (Blue Flame), and due to his skill and popularity with fans he quickly captured many titles on the indie scene with such titles as National Lightweight Championship, Border Middleweight Championship, Tamaulipas Middleweight Championship and Cd Juarez Couples Championship! During his time on the indies, he really was popular and headlined many events and was capturing not only the fans’ attention but also the respect of his fellow Luchadors for his hard work in the ring and his crowd drawing ability. After working hard on the indies, he would get the call to sign with CMLL and would be part of the group Superlibres at the Pavillob Azteca and would even have some matches against the likes of Blue Panther, Jaguar and Black and would even win the masks and hair of many of his fellow Luchadors! But his luck would run out in 1982 as he found himself on the losing end of a bet match and he himself lost his mask along with Nurse II when they were pinned by the Brazos and worse once unmasked he found himself in a downward spiral in bet matches as he would lose his hair a total of four times. But he would be on track to at least win a few more title belts in the Indies when he captured the AWWA World Title! Flama Azul would even have matches against the likes of El Hijo del Santo and El Solar both of whom would even be ones that took the hair of Flama Azul in bet matches! Flama Azul would wrestle well into the 1990s and would even start training future Luchadors in the art of Lucha Libre! Sadly on March 28, 2018 Antonio Sanchez Vargas aka Flama Azul passed away and the world lost a great Luchador and teacher. Working his career, it looks like Flama Azul would be both a Rudo and a Tecnico and would be masked and unmasked and he would entertain the fans with his Lucha Libre style.

Flama Azul is one of those Luchadors that I feel would have made a great fit for WCW in 1996 when they had the massive boom of cruiserweights coming in to help build their Cruiserweight division. I mean sure he would have been older and at that point unmasked, but I feel he could have been a veteran in the division who could have put over many of the younger talent all the while also teaching them. I am also happy that in what history we know of Flama Azul, he did get a break in Mexico’s biggest company at the time, CMLL ,as it’s great to see hard workers and journeymen like him get a bigger spotlight. Some of his later matches can be found online with his hair losing match against El Solar being on YouTube. Wwith next month being WWF Wrestlemania month, let’s stay in the world of wrestling and in the Rotten Ink Arena for our next update and take a look at Phantasio for a “R.I.W Wrestling Legends” update. So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a movie or two and as always support your local Indie Wrestlers.

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Sara Lee

Posted on February 28, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Surprise! As you can see, we have found ourselves here at the Rotten Ink Arena for a very quick and special “R.W.I Wrestling Legend” bonus update, and as you can see by the match card, our main event star is Sara Lee who won Tough Enough VI and would work for NXT for a very short time. So let’s grab some nachos and a drink and then get to our seats as it’s almost start time to take a look at this short careered WWE Diva. Oh, it looks like the lights are going down and the house music has stopped playing so with that it’s match time!

Sara Lee started her very brief wrestling career in 2015 and was a cast member on the 6^th season of reality TV show Tough Enough and would be trained by Lita, Booker T, Billy Gunn, Sara Del Rey and Team Vision Dojo. Sara Lee was one of the thirteen competitors chosen to compete for a WWE contract as well as prize money, and she had no background in Pro Wrestling. And Sara Lee would find herself on the cutting block many times but fan votes would keep her in the competition. She would make it to the finals where she would have her first official match using the ring name “Hope” she would work against Alicia Fox in a losing effort, but Sara would end up winning the show and the contract once more thanks to fan vote. Sara Lee would start training in NXT, the WWE’s developmental territory in Florida. While in NXT Sara Lee would have mostly tag matches and would face such names as Billie Kay, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Emma, Dana Brooke and Sonya Deville. Sara Lee would win most of her matches, but she would be released from the promotion on September 30, 2016 and would never make it to the main roster and would leave wrestling altogether after this firing. She would end up marrying wrestler Wesley Blake in 2017. Sadly Sara Lee would pass away on October 5, 2022 at the age of 30 by suicide, and while her time in pro wrestling was very short, she still left her mark on the business and it’s sad that she felt that this was her only choice.

I am not going to lie, I was a fan of Sara Lee on that season of Tough Enough and cheered her all the way through until she won the contract, and even got annoyed with Paige as I felt at times she was being a little too harsh on her judgment’s of Sara’s in ring and promo work. Don’t get me wrong, she needed a lot of work in her wrestling and promos but this was just something about her that made me want to cheer her to victory. Plus she was very pretty and if pushed right, she could have been the next Lita in her style. I also feel that if WWE would have kept with her with training, Sara Lee and Paige could have been a good Monday Night Raw match or even a Pre-Show match on a PPV. I think while Sara Lee had the look of a WWE Diva, she just might not of had the personality to become a wrestler, as she just truly seemed like a sweet and nice person. Plus I think that she could have pulled off working as either Sara Lee or Hope. Over all I wish Sara would have made it in wrestling as I would have loved to have seen what she could have done in a WWE ring.

We are now at the point of this review were we will be taking a look at the DVD set and review her one major match. I want to thank B-Videos 101 for having this set in stock and also want to thank Sara Lee for her hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will be breaking down the match and will be rating the match on a 5 Star rating system. Here is what the stars mean ½ Means a really terrible match, * Means a bad match, ** Means a below average match, **1/2 Means a good average entertaining match, *** Means a good match, **** Means a great match, ***** Means an epic match. So if you are ready lets step into the ring with Sara Lee.

Best Of Sara Lee

Match 1: Sara Lee vs. Alicia Fox

As soon as they lock up, Fox with ease shoves Sara down to the mat, Sara gets back up and grabs Fox into a headlock but is then thrown into the ropes were Sara is able to knock Fox down and then gets her into the corner and lands some kicks and then uses her legs to choke Fox. But momentum switches to Fox when she is able to trip Sara and then starts her assault as she slings Sara across the ring by her hair and then keeps up her attack. As Fox shows out for the fans Sara trues to roll her up and gets a two count, she hits another move and gets another two count as the fans are behind Sara. But as Sara charges Fox who is in the ropes and behind the referees back Fox takes a cheap shot on Sara and then hits a scissor kick and Fox gets the win via pin. Let’s start by saying that this by no mean a great match as Sara Lee was a very green rookie and Alicia Fox while a veteran in the ring might not have been the best choice for her to work against. Alicia Fox does a great job of trying to make Sara Lee look good as she even sells well for the rookie, but is clearly struggles at times when Sara starts to botch. Sara Lee does a pretty good job of pulling off basic moves and sells well for Fox showing that her limited training was panning out, but she did not look like a wrestler as she struggled very much in getting the crowd involved. The match is pretty short and that was very smart as it allowed Sara Lee to not become over whelmed with trying to put on a good match. The best way to sum up this match is that Sara Lee really tried here and for being very new and green she did an ok job.

Grade: *

I truly think that if WWE would have put a little more work into Sara Lee and allowed her to grow in not just her in ring work but also build a character she could have went on to become a bigger superstar. It is also very crazy to think that Sara Lee in her season of Tough Enough would beat such names as Mandy Rose, Chelsea Green, Sonya Deville and Raquel to win the WWE Contract. But as you can see our Surprise Bonus R.W.I. update has came to an end as the Arena lights have been turned on bright and the clean up crew is sweeping up all the spilled nachos and popcorn on the floor, but do not worry we will be back on track for the next update as we will be taking a look at the indie comic series Honor Among Thieves, so until next time read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local Indie Wrestlers. See you next one as I really wonder if there is honor among thieves?

The Rest Of The Cincinnati Reds MLB Baseball Mascots

Posted on August 14, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink Stadium. As you know, we are once more here to talk about MLB mascots, and this time around I want to chat about the three other mascots that join Mr. Redlegs at the Great American Ball Park and help entertain all the Cincinnati Reds fans that attend the games. If you remember back to my “The Best Active MLB Mascot Countdown” that was posted in 2021 that Mr. Redlegs ranked in at #5 out of 27 Mascots (Read The Countdown Here), but I really want to also take a few moments to chat about the other mascots that are active for the ball park as well as two real pets that acted as the team’s mascot as they all also make the games so much fun. So I am going to order myself a hotdog, some peanuts and a Pepsi to drink as the game is about to start and that means we need to take our seats and chat about Reds Mascots!

Before we dive into the Reds mascots, I really want to take a few moments to really talk about just how special and amazing sports mascots are, as sporting events are just that, events. They are packed with entertainment and the spirit of competition is such a raw emotion that gets fans buzzing with a fever to cheer and boo. The fact that any sports fan has their favorite team as well as their most hated team adds to the drama of a game. But while sports fans can be rabid, most teams in every type of sport have a jester that brings the laughs and entertains the young fans as well as the young at heart fans with their antics off and on the fields. The mascots also are the ones who help bring young fans to the games as they look forward to meeting them in the stadium for pictures and autographs, and then they get to laugh as they watch them act silly on the field between innings. And for me, the mascots are what brought me into sports at a young age (next to baseball cards by Topps) and are what brought me back into watching baseball as an adult. So as you can see, they serve their purpose and are a great tool for any sports team. And that is why I feel that we now should take a look at the other mascots that help or have helped in some cases the games just a little more fun to watch. And real quick, I have to say that while watching baseball on TV is fun via the MLB Network, nothing beats seeing a game live in person. With that said, let’s start our look at the other Reds mascots.

Mr. Red
Team: Cincinnati Reds Debut: 1972 World Series Wins: 5

A true legend of The Reds is the iconic Mr. Red, who first appeared with the ball club in 1952 and was even featured as patches on their uniforms. Sometimes he was even called “The Running Man” and was well loved by fans who loved seeing him in the stands as well as on the field. While the original version of Mr. Red was very limited in his antics, over the years he has had upgrades and has truly found his stride in the ways of the mascot. Off and on through the years, the Reds have retired Mr. Red with the first time being in the late 1980’s only to keep bringing him back as he is a very popular mascot among fans and is such a big part of the ball club’s history. In fact Mr. Red was the first MLB mascot I ever seen live in person when I attended my first ever Reds game as a kid, with of course Captain Clipper being the first baseball mascot I ever seen in person from the Columbus Clippers. Mr. Red was also the mascot that was on shirts, patches and pennants when I was growing up, and he was also very popular at school as I can remember kids talking about him on the playground and hallways and even drawing him for art class. And I am going to say it: I find him way cooler than Mr. Met and the other baseball headed mascots that are or have been around in baseball, and Mr. Red will always have a special place in my heart because he was the first in MLB I got to meet and see in action.

So let’s go from the Legend Mr. Red to the silly and lovable Gapper, who is hands down one of the younger fans’ all time favorite mascots to grace the Great American Ball Park.

Gapper
Team: Cincinnati Reds Debut: 2002 World Series Wins: 5

Gapper is the lovable red furred monster who has been entertaining Reds fans since 2002 and is a odd dog like creature who is named after the gap in the stadiums bleachers and was given this name by a young fan who summited it to win a contest to win free game tickets. Gapper is super silly and has no issues making a fool of himself in order to get a laugh from the fans. He is well liked by the younger ones, but sadly not as much by the older ones who rank him the lowest on a popularity list. Gapper is known for his dancing as well as taking part in the mascot races. I have seen Gapper live while attending a Reds game, and he is good at getting fans involved in his antics and I truly do not understand the hate he gets from some fans as well as just the baseball mascot fans in general. Gapper is still active to this daym and the Reds merchandise him well as he has been on ball cards, dolls, shirts, hats, toys and even kids books. Say what you will about Gapperm but I like him and he is lots of fun to watch when you attend a Reds game.

Now let’s take a look at the newest mascot to join the Cincinnati Reds family. She is the only female mascot in Reds history!

Rosie Red
Team: Cincinnati Reds Debut: 2008 World Series Wins: 5

Rosie Red is the female mascot of the bunch and is well loved by fans as she holds her own with Mr. Red and Mr. Redlegs when it comes to antics on and off the field. She, like them, sports a baseball head and is well liked by both young and older fans who line up to get pictures with her and who cheer her on when she does her shtick for their entertainment. Rosie is also one of the team’s mascots that is sent to many public appearances as well as charity events as she is one of the ballpark’s favorite mascots as fans just have a big connection to her. Rosie Red is known for her racing as well as dancing, and sadly because she has the baseball head, she is slightly limited in some of her antics, but still has that classic mascot appeal and she always brings the cheers and the laughs to the game when she appears.

Back a few years ago Cincinnati Reds fans got polled on who was their favorite team mascot was, and Mr. Redlegs won with 47% and the rest goes as follows: Rosie Red with 34%, Mr. Red with 23% and Gapper only got 6%. But I also feel the need to quickly talk about two more mascots from the Reds history, and these two were living animals!

Schottzie & Schottzie (2)
Team: Cincinnati Reds Debut: 1985 World Series Wins: 5

Schottzie was the pet Saint Bernard dog of then owner Marge Schott and acted as the team’s mascot as it was always present at the games and was very popular with the fans that loved seeing this lovable dog. Even the players and staff would say he was a good luck charm, but they did dislike that Marge would allow him to potty on the field. The original Schottzie would pass away in 1991. Schottzie (2) would come that year to take the place of the original, and these two dogs in their life times had very big influence in the ball club. But in reality while the team loved the goofy dogs, they were also very much annoyed by them being forced on them by the owner who cared more them then for the team itself. Schottzie (2) was banned from running loose on the field when MLB stepped in and banned live animals from running loose on the fields in 1993. While Schottzie and Schottzie (2) might have caused chaos for the team, fans did sure love the silly dogs and their antics, and yepm I did also get to see the original Schottzie at a Reds game when I was a kid!

In these modern times it’s hard to be a Reds fan as they have continued to be on losing streaks as well as being mismanaged, but while they are losing, my faith in them and their mascots past and present will forever live on being truly iconic for me and mark many of the first Major League Baseball mascots that I saw live in person. For those wondering, my favorite baseball team has been the Blue Jays for the past few years with the Reds, Oriels and Diamondbacks also being teams I cheer for. As I have gotten older, I have come to be a big fan of baseball and truly find myself cheering for my teams and always looking for the mascots on and off the field in the stands during a game, and if you are a MLB Mascot fan like myself, you know just how great The Reds Mascots are and know that they have entertained fans for decades.

I think our time at the Rotten Ink Stadium and with the Reds Mascots has come to an end, and I promise I have a few more ideas for future updates to keep these sports mascot updates going as I have been having a blast doing them. With the next update we are leaving sports behind and will be heading to the world of horror as we will be chatting about the film Revealer and the comic based on it! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a sports game or two and as always support your local horror host! See you next update as we will be trying to stay alive during the end of the world!

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Uncle Elmer

Posted on April 22, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to the Rotten Ink Arena. As you can tell, this “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update has a theme as the bales of hay are being used as seats and the fried pig parts are at the snack bar and all the people in overalls are square dancing. It’s not the Arena’s normal look, but it’s a perfect atmosphere for tonight’s main event star as the one and only Uncle Elmer will be making his way to the ring and will show us all a good old hillbilly good time! So I am not sure about you, but I think I am going to go buy some fried pig parts as well as a Mountain Dew to drink and then will find our seats as this is clearly one of those themed events that you have to take part in as where else can one eat such a great cuisine? The house lights are going down and the music has started, so let’s get to our seats and see what Uncle Elmer has in store for us.

Uncle Elmer started his in ring pro career in 1960 and would mostly work the Southern territories as the Country Plowboy and would be booked strong as he stood over 6’10” and weighed almost 500 pounds! Early on he worked for many NWA promotions and would not only wrestle as Plowboy but would also wear a mask and a stripped uniform and call himself The Convict and would work as a heel. And during this journeyman routine he wrestled many big names like Bobo Brazil, Gentle Ben The Wrestling Bear and The Satan Medics before having a good run as The Convict for NWA Hollywood and tangling with names like Ernie Ladd, Mil Mascaras and Chief White Eagle. He found his next big run in 1976 working for NWA Mid-America where he would team with Jerry Lawler as Plowboy Frazier and would be used by Lawer as a hired muscle. He would first be a heel until he found out he was being used and would turn baby face and feud with Lawler. In 1977 he would start working for CWA still as Plowboy Frazier and would stick around until 1980 before having a run in GCW (Georgia Championship Wrestling) before returning to CWA in 1981. Once in CWA again he would work under many names like Stan Frazier, Plowboy Frazier as well as Kamala II, The Giant Rebel and The Lone Ranger with the latter having him dress as a out of shape mask wearing hero. He would stick around CWA up until 1985 and would have matches against names like Tom Prichard, The Rock N Roll Express, Jerry Lawler, The Phantom, Mr. Onita and Gypsy Joe to name a few. He even got to wrestle in Japan as The Convict character. But being a man of many gimmicks and being over with fans and a big attraction wrestler due to his size and weight, it was only a matter of time before New York came calling. But keep in mind during his run in the NWA territories, he would win many Tag Titles!

Starting in 1985 and now going by Uncle Elmer, he would work in the WWF as a member of the stable called The Hillbillies that included Hillbilly Jim, Cousin Luke and Cousin Junior and he would wrestle the company’s top heels, dance in the ring and even eat from a giant bucket that read “Uncle Elmer’s Fried Pig Parts” and was well loved by fans who could not get enough of this mountain of a man. He would work the house shows at the start and would get wins over names like Tiger Chung Lee, The Spoiler, Moondog Spot and even Big John Studd! He would make it to TV as well and would be featured in matches as well as segments including getting married on “Saturday Night’s Main Event II” that aired in 1985. And during the marriage angle he would be made fun of by Jesse Ventura and as well Roddy Piper and this would find Elmer on the loosing end of many of the matches. He would then go on to have a match against Adrian Adonis at “WrestleMania II” in a losing effort and shortly after he would have his final match for then in early 1986 against King Kong Bundy on “Saturday Night’s Main Event VI”. During his WWF run he would have matches against the likes of Greg Valentine, Brutus Beefcake, Rene Goulet, The Hart Foundation, Iron Sheik, Iron Mike Sharpe and Bon Orton Jr. to name a few. While in the WWF he was a super popular baby face whose good nature and big man brawling style made the fans cheer.

After leaving the WWF in 1986 Uncle Elmer would head back to Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) and would change his name to Giant Hillbilly Elmer and team with Jerry Lawler and would even win Tag Titles with him. He would stick around CWA until around 1988. While working in CWA he would be featured in some big matches but was not an upper-card draw as his health was starting to fade. He would however have matches against names like Austin Idol, The Red Demons, Bam Bam Bigelow and The Mod Squad. He would then start working for USWA after CWA and it merged and would stick around until 1989 before fully retiring from wrestling in 1991. And in the end of his career, he also had his own small promotion and would have a hand in training Bob Holly. Uncle Elmer who suffered from lots of health issues due to his weight as well as diabetes and on July 1, 1992 he would pas away from kidney failure at the age of 54. Over his career, Uncle Elmer would win many titles including the CWA World Heavyweight Title twice. He is not as of this updates posting put into the WWE Hall Of Fame.

Uncle Elmer is a wrestler I remember as a kid and was never a big fan of as I found him to be boring in the ring as he wrestled a very slow and sloppy big man style and besides Hillbilly Jim I just was not much into the whole mountain folk country boy gimmicks that took place in that time in the WWF. But I should say that I did however enjoy Uncle Elmer and his Hillbilly family’s antics as their simple nature made for cartoonish good times. And while I do still laugh about his Fried Pig Parts bucket of food, I still could never get past just how very below average he was in the ring and yet some how he was booked strong and was beating guys way more talented then him! And I get that his massive sized made him limited in the ring and that he was more of a character then a worker, I just could never imagine why he was a bigger mid-card worker for awhile in companies like the WWF. While I mostly know him as Uncle Elmer his work as Lone Ranger, Kamala II and even one of his many Plowboy names is just as silly and as limited in his move set showing that he never made a effort to try and get better over his many years in the business and never learned how to use his size to his advantage to at least have good matches. There is also lots of bad stories about Elmer that include him selling bootleg products to even treating some different race workers badly, and it was also said that many of his opponents hated working with him because he was to sloppy and hard to work with. And while I was never a fan, Uncle Elmer had his fans and was a memorable Superstar who helped make the 80’s WWF what we all know and love, as I mean come on he got married on TV and the fans ate it up!

We are now at the point of this review were we will be taking a look at the DVD set and review some of the matches on the discs like always between 4 to 8. I want to thank Coliseum Of Wrestling & Boxing for having this set in stock and also want to thank Uncle Elmer for his hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will only be breaking down randomly select matches from this set and will be breaking down the match and will be rating the matches on a 5 Star rating system. I also only choose from Single matches, as I want to break down his matches that showcase his style. Here is what the stars mean ½ Means a really terrible match, * Means a bad match, ** Means a below average match, **1/2 Means a good average entertaining match, *** Means a good match, **** Means a great match, ***** Means an epic match. So if you are ready lets step into the ring with Uncle Elmer.

Best Of Uncle Elmer

Match 1: Uncle Elmer vs. King Kong Bundy

As soon as the bell rings the two lock up and neither get the advantage and they keep locking up and then breaking apart as Elmer flexes up. Bundy then hits the ropes and tries to shoulder tackle Elmer but it has no effect as he is just to heavy to move like that. Bundy tries again to hit the ropes and shoulder tackle him, but like before Elmer does not move. Bundy then racks the eyes of Elmer and this drops the big man and Bundy then starts pounding on him as well as chokes him…keeping Elmer on the mat. Bundy kicks Elmer in the face and the big country boy is hurt, he does try and make a comeback as he fires off some punches and his butt corner bumps but Bundy cuts it off after Elmer misses a corner splash. Bundy then hits a dropping elbow and gets the win via a three count. This is a hoss fight as Bundy does his best to work with the very massive, limited and slow Uncle Elmer who mostly just throws a few punches and hits his big butt bumps in the corner. Bundy’s elbow drop looks good and packs an impact and really Bundy carries the match and has to even work a slower move set than normal. The fans in attendance are kind of into the match as they pop for Elmer’s silly antics as well as his corner butt bumps, but over all they are not overly loud throughout. The match is what it is and if you like matches that are slow that pit two massive men against one another then this one is for you, for me it was just kind of around and an attraction match that was to showcase the power of Bundy and the size of Elmer.

Grade: **

Match 2: Uncle Elmer vs. A.J. Petruzzi

Before the match Uncle Elmer dances around the ring with Hillbilly Jim and the fans are eating it up, and once the bell rings A.J. hits the ring ropes and runs into Elmer and bounces off him. Elmer and A.J. then lock up and Elmer is able to turn the lock up into a headlock and he keeps the move on and works it. Elmer breaks the hold and bonk’s A.J. on top the head and also rams his head against his belly. Elmer then drops a leg drop and then goes for the pin and gets the three count and the win. This is pretty much a squash match and yet it was kind of entertaining as Elmer even with his limited moves as able to hit some moves that looked impactful like his leg drop and headlock and A.J. does a fantastic job of selling for his massive opponent. The fans seem to be into the match and on the side of Elmer. The bad in the match is Elmer’s hits and belly bump look very off and cartoonish in a cringe way. But while the match is not perfect it still did its job of entertaining me.

Grade: **

Match 3: Uncle Elmer vs. Bigfoot

When Elmer gets into the ring he chases Bigfoot out of it as the bell rings, Bigfoot gets back into the ring and they lock up and Elmer wins and knocks him to the ground. They next do a test of strength and Elmer shows he is the stronger of the two and even pulls Bigfoot into his belly and Foot ends up bumping. Elmer gets Bigfoot then into the corner and lands some big splashes, and Elmer even does a backdrop on Bigfoot. As Bigfoot is down on the mat Elmer drops a leg drop and gets the win via pin. This is another squash match that allows Uncle Elmer to use his power moves and brawling style to make quick work of Bigfoot who by the way is better known as Rip Morgan to wrestling fans. Elmer uses his size to hit moves like splashes, belly bump and leg drop. While Bigfoot gets no time to shine as he throughout the match just gets beat up and beat. This is a silly and goofy match that was used to promote and push Uncle Elmer and the fans really did get behind Elmer throughout it. I really think that they should have had Bigfoot join the Hillbilly Family as he would have fit in! Over all an ok match that is booked well to work around the limitations of Elmer.

Grade: **

Match 4: Uncle Elmer vs. Jerry Valiant

The Hillbilly Family come down to the ring and all dance around as the fans cheer, as the bell rings Jerry charges in and Elmer catches him and slams him to the mat and then goes for the pin and gets the win! This is 100% the definition of a squash match as Uncle Elmer gets the win in seconds and only hits one move a body slam in order to get the win, the fan in attendance loved this super quick match. The bodyslam while sloppy was effective from Elmer and we see nothing that Jerry brings to the table as he is able to do nothing. The fans love the quick win and the pop for his win making the match effective for the most part. This match did a great job of showing the power of Elmer as well as mask his limited in ring moves. Nothing special here but did its job for sure.

Grade: *1/2

Uncle Elmer was a massive man both in weight and height and because of this it made him very limited in the ring. He was like the second coming of Haystacks Calhoun when it came to his in ring work, but I feel Elmer did not have the personality of Haystacks who I think should have been part of the Hillbilly Family in WWF at the time as he could have been a cousin and the patriarch of the family. And with Uncle Elmer, you knew you were never going to get 3-5 Star matches out of him, but you did know that you would at least be entertained by his matches. Well this R.I.W Wrestling Legend update event is over and this also wraps WWF WrestleMania Month 2024 up so as we make our way to the exit doors, I would like to tell you that our next update will bring us back to the world of Horror Comic Books as well as Silent Horror Cinema as I will be talking about the 1925 film Wolf Blood: A Tale Of The Forest and the Blood Scream Comics adaptation of it! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers! See you next update for a spooky good time with a Canadian Werewolf!

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Haystacks Calhoun

Posted on December 5, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink Arena. The night’s wrestling card looks to be a good one. As you can see, we have a sellout crowd as the main eventer that will be the topic of this “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update is considered by many to be one of the greatest Big Men of wrestling of all time, and when I say Big I mean Big! As tonight’s wrestler will be Haystacks Calhoun, the massive country boy who packed in fans and entertained them for decades. This massive hillbilly would be booked as an attraction and was a household name when active. To this day fans speak of his legacy. So in honor of Haystacks, grab some popcorn, some hot dogs and a double fist some soda and let’s talk about Calhoun!

Haystacks Calhoun started his pro wrestling career in 1955 working for a small indie promotion that was run by Orville Brown in Texas. Haystacks would turn pro in 1956, and he was an attraction out the gate as he stood at 6’4” tall, was a hillbilly weighing around 600 pounds and would travel the territories like Texas, Kansas and Canada and would even at this early part of his career would be featured on the variety TV Show “House Party” and amazed viewers as he could toss full bales of hay high into the loft of barns. Hence why he was called Haystacks almost his whole career. The fans loved Haystacks as the massive lovable hillbilly was always standing up for what was right and was a brawler who entertained them in matches. Promoters at the time would not book Haystacks into title bouts as he was used more as an attraction wrestler who would enter battle royals, fight in handicap matches and would be pitted against other massive wrestlers who was going at the time. While a very large man in weight, and somewhat limited in his skills Haystacks Calhoun worked past his limitations and proved to be one of NWA’s biggest draws at the time. While working for the WWF (then known as WWWF) in the early 1960’s, he would be booked into matches at Madison Square Garden against Happy Humphrey who weighed over 750 pounds and the two big men would put on some real slobber knockers, and over the many matches they had Haystacks would come out the winner of most matches, mostly wins by count out.

Haystack Calhoun would not stay in one territory for very long as he knew that he need to keep on the move in order to become a major attraction and not overstay his welcome with promoters and fans. In the early 1960’s he would have a feud with Nature Boy Buddy Rogers for the NWA United States Heavyweight Title and would try for the belt many times, but could never take it off Rogers. In one match Rogers dropkicked Calhoun into the ropes and the middle rope broke from his weight causing the massive Haystacks to fall out of the ring and be counted out. Also during this time, while he mostly would wrestle in America, he would make trips to Canada as well as Australia in order to compete in matches and entertain the fans. During this time he would also find himself winning some Tag Team Gold with partners like Don Leo Jonathan and Amazing Zuma. In the late 1960’s the WWF was having issues, as they were having a very rough time and the money was not coming in, but thanks to the returning Haystacks Calhoun and a handful of others they helped bring in the business and helped make the WWF one of the biggest and best territories. Haystacks would stick around WWF until 1979 and after leaving we would go back wrestling around the territories before retiring in 1980, and during his career he would win a few belts but was another example of a true icon of the sport that didn’t need a title to draw money and become one of the biggest well loved wrestlers of all time. And I should also note he did have some runs as a heel. Haystacks retired in 1980 due to his health declining bad and his weight was getting out of control, in 1986 he even lost his left leg from diabetes and sadly he would pass away on December 7, 1989 at the age of 55. After his death in 2017 the WWE (WWF) would put him into the Hall Of Fame.

Growing up a wrestling fan I knew the name Haystack Calhoun not just because of the old wrestling magazines and books my brother and I had, but because I remember by dad talking about him! And whenever fans who make lists of top big men of wrestling Haystacks is almost always on them, and help keeping his memory alive as well as making him be apart of my fandom. For me as well Haystacks Calhoun is one of the best Hillbilly characters to step in a WWF ring only rivaled by Hillbilly Jim and I loved that Haystacks would wear a horseshoe on a chain around his neck and Jim would do that same thing later in his career. Haystacks really was a larger then life wrestler who weighed over 600 pounds and was so massive that he was a sight to behold and he was smart as he knew he was limited and his style would wear thin fast if he stayed to long in one area so he made himself an attraction that fans would pay to see in action. Plus promoters and Haystacks was super smart as he would hardly loose matches cleanly and he was protected in order to keep his stock high in wrestling, and this also once more made him seem like a big deal in fans eyes. And during his career he would also only hold Tag Team Titles in the territories, as they never felt he could be the face that runs the place in any territory. One other cool thing about Haystacks was that he played himself in the 1962 film “Requiem For A Heavyweight” that was written by Rod Serling and starred Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Jack Dempsey and Muhammad Ali! And that’s one other thing about Haystacks as besides wrestling his appearances on TV Shows, Movies as well as other forms of media made him an even bigger star. While Haystacks might have been very slow, not technical in the ring, a massive human being and a over all a attraction wrestler he hands down is a true legend and icon of the sport and I think all wrestling fans would agree with me on that.

We are now at the point of this review were we will be taking a look at the DVD set and review some of the matches on the discs like always between 4 to 8. I want to thank Coliseum Of Wrestling & Boxing for having this set in stock and also want to thank Haystack Calhoun for his hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will only be breaking down randomly select matches from this set and will be breaking down the match and will be rating the matches on a 5 Star rating system. I also only choose from Single matches, as I want to break down his matches that showcase his style. Here is what the stars mean ½ Means a really terrible match, * Means a bad match, ** Means a below average match, **1/2 Means a good average entertaining match, *** Means a good match, **** Means a great match, ***** Means an epic match. So if you are ready lets step into the ring with Haystack Calhoun.

Best Of Haystacks Calhoun

Match 1: Haystacks Calhoun vs. Buddy Rogers

Before the bell rings Haystacks is upset that Roger’s manager is in the ring and makes the referee kick him out of the ring so the match can start. Once the bell rings Haystacks shows that he has the power, but Rogers shows that he has the skills and even angers Haystacks when he out maneuvers the big man. But once Haystacks gets Rogers into a headlock its hard for him to escape the bigger mans grip, he is finally able to break free once he stops on Haystacks bare foot. And then after some moving around Rogers is able to get Haystacks into a chin lock and tries to wear the big man down buy putting as much pressure as he can. When the referee is not looking Rogers will change the chin lock into fully chocking Haystacks as the crowd works themselves up over the cheating. And even when Haystacks tries to fight out of the lock, Rogers quickly gets the move back on him. Once the hold is broke both Rogers and Haystacks attack each other’s eyes, with Haystacks getting the better of the exchange and almost getting a couple of pin falls that are only broken up thanks to Rogers getting his foot on the ropes. In the end Rogers is able to dropkick Haystacks who falls into the ropes breaking the middle rope and getting counted out. This is a great match as both are very entertaining, and Rogers is able to work around the limitations of Haystacks and is able to make the big man look good as well as himself. This match is one of the most legendary of Haystacks career and while he lumbers around the ring and lands your typical big man moves, he still shows that fans loved him and that he was really an attraction in the ring that you paid to look at and his wrestling ability was secondary to his larger then life appearance. This is a solid match mostly due to the work of Rogers and because Rogers this match will get three stars.

Grade: ***

Match 2: Haystacks Calhoun vs. George Cannon

This is the battle of two big really big men as Gorge Cannon himself weighs almost 400 pounds making this a pure attraction as it becomes a “Big Splash” match and the pair exchange words in the ring and then a coin is tossed to see who splashes first with Haystacks winning the coin toss and as Cannon goes down to the mat for the splash he is attacked by Haystacks to drops a lumbering knee to his neck and then uses his horseshow chain to beat up his opponent. He then delivers two terrible looking splashes to Cannon and leaves the ring as this match is thrown out. This is TERRIBLE as the “match” is more of just a jumping and the moves that Haystacks uses look bad and his splashes are awkward and very poorly done. It’s clear that Haystacks is the heel in this match up and this is so bad that I am done righting about it. Nothing really good to say about this “match” at all besides Cannon is slightly good on the mic. and that Haystacks is clearly way past his prime as he looks bad and his in ring work is even super sloppy.

Grade: ½

Match 3: Haystacks Calhoun vs. Dick Cole

This match starts with Haystacks getting booed by the fans and when the bell rings he gets Cole tied up into the ropes and unloads kicks and punches on him knocking him silly. He then untangles Cole and bounces him off the ropes and hits him with a standing elbow, once Cole hits the mat Haystacks lands a big splash and gets the three count in this 100% one sides squash match. This is another match that clearly Haystacks is way out of shape and is having a very hard time moving around the ring as all of his kicks, punches and even his big splash just look really bad, so bad that at one point the commentator makes a remark that all his moves look like they are being done in slow motion. Dick Cole is clearly just a jobber who does his job well as he gets beat up and pinned. It’s a shame that this match I selected is another bad example of this classic big mans work.

Grade: ½

Match 4: Haystacks Calhoun vs. Bill Steele

Steele tries to start the match off by charging and then body slamming Haystacks and this does not work in his favor as Haystacks just goes off on Steele and starts pummeling him with kicks and punches. Haystacks then knocks Steele to the mat and sits on him causing the much smaller man much pain, and then Haystacks ends the match with his massive big splash for the pin. This is once more a total one sided quick squash match that is ended fast in order to save Haystocks the stress of a longer match as he was clearly not in the best of health and shape. But unlike the last two matches I reviewed he does seem to be getting around better and is able to make his moves and punches look more strong and powerful. I give Bill Steele some credits as he tried to do his best to put on a good TV match with Haystacks that was clearly just a throw away opening contest.

Grade: *1/2

Match 5: Haystacks Calhoun vs. Nicolai Volkoff

Before the bell even rings Volkoff tries to attack Haystacks and this only angers the big man as the bell rings Volkoff who is the faster of the two goes on the attack and the both of them exchange hits and brawler moves. And even though Haystacks is the way bigger man Volkoff is able to hold his own and even able to land some hits that rock the 600-pound hillbilly. But of course during the match Haystacks would use his weight to gain the advantage. In the end Volkoff backs Haystacks into the corner and hits him with punches and kicks to the face, but Haystacks dodges a charging knee strike and as Volkoff falls to the mat Haystacks lands a big splash and gets the three count. This is a pure brawling match that allowed both men to throw massive hits and neither looked super weak in the fight and Volkoff’s style masked the limitations of Haystacks ability. Most of the match is Volkoff working, but Haystacks does what he needs to do in order to draw the fans into the match. Over all while it was just a sloppy brawl it was very entertaining and was a fun watch.

Grade: **1/2

Haystacks Calhoun was a massive man who had a larger then life personality and was a perfect attraction for the Golden Age of wrestling, while he was not super skilled in the ring and by the end of his career was a shell of the superstar of his early day he still was a draw and fans loved to see him in action. He was loved as a baby face and was hated as a heel when he had a brief run as one and while if Haystacks Calhoun was around today he would be booed out of the building for his sloppy and limited move set, he is a great throwback attraction wrestler who was a star in the simpler days of wrestling. But the matches are over and the clean up crew have started their jobs so I think it’s time for us to leave the arena, but before we do I would like to let you know that for the next update we will be travel to the world of Marvel Comics and Tyco Toys and take a look at the super underrated Dino Riders! So until next time read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. See you next time as the war machines of dinosaurs will be coming our way as we countdown to Christmas Eve.

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Hillbilly Jim

Posted on November 15, 2023 by bloodlinematt

The doors to the Rotten Ink Arena are open, and today’s “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update is going to be a great one as our main event features a good old country boy who wore a horseshoe on a chain around his neck, would dance around the ring, was great friends with Hulk Hogan and Little Beaver, brought his family into wrestling, would promote the WWF Ice Cream bars, would sing his own iconic theme song and would also become a manager for a pair of hog farmers. And of course, I am talking about the one and only Hillbilly Jim, a true classic wrestler from the 1980’s WWF! So as you can see, they are serving some good old Kentucky Bar-Be-Que sandwiches and coleslaw at the snack bar so go grab yourself some as the matches are about to start.

Hillbilly Jim was trained by Bob Orton and started his pro career in 1975 and would work for Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) as a biker gimmick and went by Harley Davidson and teamed with Dirty Rhodes. He would stay with CWA as well as work for a few other NWA territories until around late 1984 when he would head to WWF and be Big Jim, a fan in the crowd who was a fan of champion Hulk Hogan, and decided that he wanted to be a wrestler and would be “trained” by the Hulkster after he turned down Roddy Piper who offered. And this is when Big Jim would become Hillybilly Jim, a goofy man from Mud Lick, Kentucky who was loved from the start by fans and would even have several tag team matches teaming with Hogan against the companies biggest heels. But Hillbilly Jim would get injured in early 1985 and this would cause him to bring in his family Uncle Elmer, Cousin Luke and Cousin Junior and become their manager while he heeled his messed up knee. Once he returned to in-ring action, he would team with his family members and sometimes Andre The Giant and have matches against the likes of Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. His big feud at this time was with Mr. Fuji and while a major fan favorite, WWF would keep him out of the title shots as well as would not give him any serious storylines. His Family would seen also disappear from WWF, and he would find himself in a few big matches with one being Wrestlemania II and the other Survivor Series ’88, and while more of a comedy spot wrestler at this time, his fanbase kept growing as young and young at heart loved this dancing Hillbilly. By 1990 Hillbilly Jim’s push in WWF was coming to an end and even he lost a squash match to Earthquake at a Saturday Night’s Main Event, and by mid 1990, he would retire from full time in ring work. During his main WWF run he would have some big matches with names like Iron Sheik, Jesse Ventura, Roddy Piper, Adrian Adonis, Randy Savage and Dino Bravo to name a few. He also was part of the short lived cartoon “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” as well as did a ton of commercials for stuff like Chevy trucks.

While no longer wrestling, Hillbilly Jim would stick around and would even be a host on the show “WWF Prime Time Wrestling” until the show was cancelled in 1993. He would be gone for a while and would return in 1995 as a special guest referee and then would also become the manager of The Godwinns (Henry O. and Phineas I.) and that was until 1997 when the teamed turned heel and they fired Hillbilly Jim from being their manager. He would then show up in 2001 at WrestleMania X-Seven as he was in the Gimmick Battle Royal, and he lost. From here he would travel around the WWF Axxess and public appearances. And from here Hillbilly Jim would only show up from time to time and was even a cast member of the reality show “WWE Legend’s House” and was put into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2018.

Growing up I can remember being a fan of Hillbilly Jim as were many of the kids at school as almost every kid I knew had the LJN figure of Hillbilly Jim. Being Hulk Hogan’s good friend, he was just a ready to cheer superstar who also was played off as a good hearted person and this made him a draw who never needed to win a title to become a legend and one of the most loved and remembered WWE Superstars. I can always remember that Hillbilly Jim was never an overly flashy wrestler nor did he have a look that set him apart from all the other Hillbilly gimmicks of the 80’s wrestling world, but what made him stand out from the pack was his massive size and just his over all character and attitude as he was always getting fans invested into his matches no matter how limited they were in spots. I also think its great that clearly Vince McMahon loved Hillbilly themed wrestlers as over the years he has created and booked so many, and I am wondering if that love came from the legend Haystacks Calhoun who his father use to book back in the Golden Age. It’s also clear that Hillbilly Jim would wear the horseshoe to pay respects to Haystacks, and as a kid I can always remember him kissing it for good luck. One thing that is crazy to think is that Hillbilly Jim’s career was not that long and that his WWF main run as a wrestler only lasted around six years and that he never even one a single belt during this time. And let’s be honest, out of the Hillbilly stable that was working in WWF in the 1980’s, Jim was the only one that had the talent and persona to pull it off and be remembered. To sum it up, growing up I liked Hillbilly Jim and even in these modern times and long removed from the ring he is remembered and well loved by fans, as he is generally a great person to his fans when they meet him in person.

We are now at the point of this review where we will be taking a look at the DVD set and review some of the matches on the discs like always between 4 to 8. I want to thank Coliseum Of Wrestling & Boxing for having this set in stock and also want to thank Hillbilly Jim for his hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will only be breaking down randomly select matches from this set and will be breaking down the match and will be rating the matches on a 5 Star rating system. I also only chose from Single matches, as I want to break down his matches that showcase his style. Here is what the stars mean ½ Means a really terrible match, * Means a bad match, ** Means a below average match, **1/2 Means a good average entertaining match, *** Means a good match, **** Means a great match, ***** Means an epic match. So if you are ready let’s step into the ring with Hillbilly Jim.

Best Of Hillbilly Jim

Match 1: Hillbilly Jim vs. Jim Neidhart

As the bell rings, Hillbilly gets the crowd cheering and even tries to shake Neidhart’s hand, that the he rejects of course. And Neidhart soon learns that Hillbilly is just as strong as he is, and that these two are going to be evenly matched. And it’s a chop to the head that gets the crowd roaring and gets Hillbilly Jim in charge of the match for a second that is until Neidhart takes a cheap shot and the two powerhouses exchange hits and holds. Neidhart shows his power and drops Hillbilly throat first onto the ropes and this takes the breath out of him and allows Neidhart to beat up on him for a bit and even cheats and starts biting him on the face. Hillbilly Jim is able to make a comeback when he is able to big boot the face of Neidhart and then is able to even drop a powerful elbow on him and get a two count from it. Neidhart snaps and starts beating up Hillbilly Jim and also gets rough with the referee that gets him disqualified and gives the win to Hillbilly. After the bell rings Neidhart and Hillbilly keep fighting as the crowd erupts for the action. This is a great hoss fight that has two powerhouses beating the hell out of each other and telling a great story in the ring. Both men do not look weak in the match and both are shown to be super strong and their styles mesh well as both have a brawling mixed with classic style. I also like that both of these guys play off the fans and get them invested into the match and even add a dash of comedy to the match. Big Moves, Big Brawlers make for a fun match that is highly entertaining.

Grade: ***

Match 2: Hillbilly Jim vs. Boris Zhukov

Boris attacks Hillbilly Jim from behind and once for doing so Boris gets mule kicked and rolls out of the ring as Hillbilly gets the fans to cheer USA! The two trade punches and are trying to show that they are not going to go down as both want this win. Throughout the match Hillbilly keeps pulling off classic moves on Boris and the Russian is getting more and more frustrated and even when Boris goes on the attack Hillbilly is able to shrug it off and then starts working on Boris’s leg. And after a big boot to the face Hillbilly Jim is able to get the pin and the win. This match is entertaining and has Hillbilly Jim not only do some power moves but also does so classic movies in order to spice things up, he also adds a touch of comedy to the match and that helps bring the fans alive who really do love him and made him a big Superstar of his time. Boris Zhukov is a pure brawler heel in the match and does a great job off playing off the antics of Jim and while he looses the match and most of the time he is getting thrown around he don’t come off as a complete jobber. Over all the two have pretty good chemistry in the match and while it’s clearly an enhancement match it feels a little bigger then that.

Grade: **1/2

Match 3: Hillbilly Jim vs. One Man Gang

Before the bell rings, Hillbilly Jim has little person wrestler Little Beaver in his corner and they still One Man Gang’s manager Slick’s hat and once the bell rings Gang shows Hillbilly that he is the stronger of the two, but he also comes back to show that he is strong as well! And One Man Gang then goes for a massive headlock and his able to have the hold on for a while as every time Hillbilly is about to escape Gang pulls his hair and back into the lock. Finally Little Beaver has seen enough and comes in and punches Gang and the hold is broken, but this only buys Hillbilly a moment of rest as Gang is back on him with a test of strength that is draining his energy even more. And like before Little Beaver comes in and helps break up the move, Hillbilly makes a small comeback but soon is once more getting beaten up by Gang who is angered over the antics of Little Beaver. As the referee is distracted Slick as well now is cheating and landing cheap shots on the downed Hillbilly Jim. And after a few avalanche splashes and a falling elbow drop Gang goes for the pin, and once more Little Beaver enters the ring and breaks up the pin. Both men find themselves outside the ring fighting and with the help of Little Beaver One Man Gang is counted out and looses the match. After the match Gang beats up Hillbilly and then even big slashes Little Beaver. While this is a fun big man fight it’s also a very slow one as it has many long moments of rest holds and not a lot of even basic wrestling holds. While One Man Gang is shown to be the big threat and has Hillbilly Jim beaten down almost the whole match, it’s the comedy aspect of Little Beaver who keeps entering the ring and cheating right in front of the referee that will annoy almost an wrestling fan, in other words the over use Little Beaver in this already way to long match. While Gang looks good Hillbilly doesn’t, as he needs outside help to stay alive throughout the match. Over all a sluggish match with way to much interference from Little Beaver that brings the star rating down, but I do like in the end when Gang gets his revenge and crushes Little Beaver with a splash.

Grade: **

Match 4: Hillbilly Jim vs. Fuller Stevens

From the start Fuller Stevens tries to tackle Hillbilly Jim and learns that running into him is like hitting a brick wall as he crashes to the mat from the impact. Fuller then tries to body slam Hillbilly and cant, but Hillbilly slams him with ease. And from here on Hillbilly Jim toys with and beats up on Fuller Stevens who is angry that he looks like a total jobber. And after a big boot to the face Fuller falls to the mat and is pinned and this was a easy win for Hillbilly Jim! This is a total squash match as Fuller Stevens can not pull off one move and looks like a total jobber as he is thrown around, booted in the fast and then pinned without Jim even breaking a sweat. Not much to say besides Hillbilly Jim comes off looking great and strong as his opponent Fuller looks like a goof. And yes this match like most of Hillbilly Jim’s matches has a touch of humor.

Grade: **1/2

Hillbilly Jim was a perfect wrestler for the 80’s as he was a great sidekick to Hulk Hogan and was a wrestler that kids loved as he was a jolly mountain of a man who would dance around and do funny spots in his match. And while many of his matches was the same formula and even featured the same spots Hillbilly Jim is a true legend in and out of the sport. But as you can see the Rotten Ink Arena is closing down for the update so it’s our cue to head on out, but before we leave I would like to tell you that our next update will be our big Thanksgiving one and we will be having turkey with that B-Movie icon The Giant Gila Monster! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. See you next time for some Hot Rods and Big Creatures!

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Yeti (AAA)

Posted on September 23, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to the Rotten Ink Arena. As you can see, the doors are open and this is a very special “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update as this one is a part of our countdown to Halloween 2023 and the arena is filled with cool terrifying decorations and the snack bar has Baron Von Porkchop Pizza via the Pizza Bandit for sale. For those wondering it has bacon, salted peanuts, provolone cheese, apple butter sauce and candy corn on it! And today’s headliner is a Luchador who worked under many different gimmicks, several of them being Horror themed. The one we will be looking at is Yeti who worked for AAA in the early 90’s. And during the late 80’s and early 90’s Mexico was filled with amazing monster themed wrestlers who brought the fear as well as the action to the rings. Well a chill has filled the air and I can hear the music starting, so let’s grab a slice of pizza and a Witch’s Punch to drink and find our seats as this one is going to be a spooky good time.

Masakre started his pro wrestling career in 1983 and worked the indies in Mexico and very quickly would find himself working for CMLL and would also work under the name MS-2 and was paired with MS-1 and the two were a very popular team. He would then go on to join the group Los Infernales and with MS-1 and El Satanico and during this time as well he would win the Mexican National Tag Team Belts and would keep them until around 1988. The group would split and Masakre would feud with MS-1 and this would end in a hair vs. hair match and Masakre would lose, but this would lead him into join the group Los Intocables with Pierroth Jr. and Jaque Mate. And these three would win the CMLL World Trios Belts. For a brief time from 1993 to 1994 Masakre was the booker for CMLL, but things turned sour between he and the company and he would leave them by 1994. During his time in CMLL he would have some big matches against such names as Lizmark, Atlantis, El Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Villano III, Blue Demon Jr., El Texano, El Dandy, Konan and Vampiro to name a very few. Masakre built his name in CMLL and was considered a great worker and would be apart of very big and entertaining matches. And for those wondering Masarke would lose his mask in a match in the early 80’s to Kiss (who was based around the band Kiss).

In 1994 Masakre would head to AAA and would become the vampire Luchador named Drakula who was a feared Rudo who would team with the likes of El Hijo del Espectro, Karis La Momia and Quasimodo. And while Drakula was not a main eventer, he did work some matches with some big stars like El Hijo del Santo and La Parka. But in 1995 Drakula was no more and in his place was Yeti, a white furry suited monster and a masked Luchador who rampaged throughout AAA and was an odd attraction in Lucha Libre for the time as the fans did not know what to make of this superstar. Yeti would mostly be involved in trios matches and would not make his way to the main event or even title shots. The Yeti would stick around AAA until around 1997 and would find himself mostly on the losing end of matches. During his run Yeti would work matches against Perro Aguayo, Cibernetico, Tinieblas Jr., Super Calo, Heavy Metal and El Pantera. And just as fast as he came Yeti was gone and no one knows really what Masakre did for a few years but in 2000-2004 he would work as a evil clown gimmick called Coco Rosa for both AAA as well as the Indies in Mexico, and he is said to have worked as Yeti, MS-2 and Masakre in the indies around this time as well. But sadly in 2012 Masakre would pass away on April 12 at the age of 57 from cancer. While he was never the main star for CMLL or AAA, he was still a well respected Luchador who worked under many masks and gimmicks in order to entertain and along his journey in the ring he was able to at least capture some tag team titles.

Masakre was a wrestler that I knew more as Drakula as I can remember seeing some of his matches on grey market tapes as well as later on sites like YouTube and I truly enjoyed the monster themed Luchador. In fact I am also positive that I had seen him on a mix tape that had weird clips cut together from back in the early 2000’s. While I do think his work as Drakula is great and showcased his in-ring skill for me, his short time as Yeti is what stands out as the fuzzy bodysuit, the strange looking mask with blood red teeth makes you do a double take and wonder what this brawling monster was all about. And while it must have been really hard to work in that costume and mask, somehow Masakre made it work and was able to work the gimmick well. From what I have seen and read Yeti did not go over very well with the fans as well as his fellow Luchadors as many felt he was way to cartoonish and the gimmicks and costumes made for many limitations during the matches featuring them. Over the years many also have complained about the monster themed wrestlers being featured in the early days of AAA and did not understand why then owner and booker Antonio Pena would heavily feature them on the TV Shows, live events and “Pay Per View” events, and it’s simple as Horror was very big in Mexico at the time and Pena himself came from a legacy of Horror Themed Luchadors with he himself working as Espectro Jr. and his father being Ponzona and his uncle being the original Espectro. And what is cool also about Masakre is that he would change with time and would work as many different wrestlers both masked and unmasked and would also work for both CMLL and AAA and would be a part of Mexico’s Horror Luchador legacy.

We are now at the point of this review where we will be taking a look at the DVD set and review some of the matches on the discs like always between 4 to 8. Sadly I only have one match to cover for this “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update. I want to thank B-Videos 101 for having this set in stock and also want to thank Yeti for his hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will only be breaking down randomly select matches from this set and will be breaking down the match and will be rating the matches on a 5 Star rating system. I also only choose from Single matches, as I want to break down his matches that showcase his style. Here is what the stars mean ½ Means a really terrible match, * Means a bad match, ** Means a below average match, **1/2 Means a good average entertaining match, *** Means a good match, **** Means a great match, ***** Means an epic match. So if you are ready, let’s step into the ring with Yeti. Oh and I also need to alert you that this match is also a Six Man Tag Team match so it will be a little different than our normal R.I.W Wrestling Legend update.

Best Of Yeti

Match 1: Yeti & Karis la Momia & Espectro vs. Principe Zafiro & Torero & Ludxor

Before the bell even rings, Yeti and his teammates attack their opponents with Yeti going after Ludxor and even hits a spinning kick to his gut. Yeti then knocks Ludxor out of the ring and continues his attack outside with ramming his head into the steel post and then does it again as the fans are going wild as the Rudos keep up their attack. As the match goes on, Yeti attacks those who fall outside the ring and unleashes a series of hits on Principe Zafiro as his teammates watch the monster attack. Once back in the ring Principe Zafiro is attacked by Karis and Epesctro and a few moments later Yeti as they stomp him into the mat. The Yeti then gets back out of the ring and once more goes on the attack of Ludxor by ramming him into the railing as Karis tosses Torero into the fans, while in the ring Espectro keeps up his attack on Principe hitting a leaping leg drop to the back of his neck and knocking him hard to the mat. After a few moments all six men once more start brawling with each other with Yeti once more going after Ludxor and he and Karis even land a couple of double team moves on the injured Tecnico. And with that, the Rudos keep up their attack and for some reason it appears that the referee gives Ludxor and his teammates the first win and the Rudos just keep up their attack as Yeti just stands on Torero in the corner. And then Yeti once more exits the ring and goes after Ludxor even starts to choke him with a chair and places it around his neck and drags him around outside the ring and then once more starts ramming his head into the steel posts. The Yeti then joins Karis and Espectro in the ring and they all start beating up on Principe Zafiro but he is saved when Torero enters the ring and goes after Yeti and rams his head into the turnbuckle dazing the furry Rudo. But Karis saves him and once they toss Torero out of the ring they join Espectro once more in beating up Principe. All men once more are in the ring and Yeti hits a cannon ball on Ludxor, but this just fires him up as Ludxor then grabs a chair from outside the ring and bashes it over the head of the Yeti. In the end Espectro uses a chair in the ring on the head of Principe and the referees give the second win to the Tecnicos and they win the match, but the Rudos keep up the attack even after the bell. This six man tag match is crazy and is all over the place as its clearly a tornado tag as all six guys are battling all in and around the ring with our boy Yeti going crazy on Ludxor almost the whole match as he lands a few cannon balls, stomps, punches and chair attacks throughout it. It’s clear that he was not doing any truly high flying moves as he was more of a brawler then a flyer. The main workers of the match as Espectro and Principe Zafiro who work well together and work hard with Espectro doing some pretty cool moves. Yeti also takes a pretty stiff chair shot in this match that looks like it might have staggered him for a moment, but I have to give him credit as he fought on. While this match was chaos it was very entertaining and I feel that Yeti did a great job in the match as his brawling style was needed to make moves look impactful and to help toss and drag around his opponents, plus he was part of a couple double team moves that looked impressive over all a good solid match featuring mid-carders from AAA at that time. On a side note I would like to see some more matches featuring Principe Zafiro and maybe do an update on him.

Grade: **1/2

As you can see, Yeti was by no means a high flyer and while he would do some basic aerial moves, he was mostly a brawler who enjoyed beating his opponents up. And you had to feel for him in that suit as you know that he had to be burning up as most of those arenas he worked did not have air conditioning and the temperatures had to be super high. And with that it looks like Xmortis has turned on the house lights and Mr. X is bringing out the push broom so that is our sign that this event update has came to an end, and before we make our way out I would like to say that I hope in the future I am able to hunt down some more matches of the Yeti and will add them to this very update if I do and I would also like to tell you that our next update will bring us to the land of Horror Movies as we will be heading to Stanley Hotel and be chatting with Jack about axes, that’s right we will be talking about The Shinning! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local Wrestlers. See you next update as we kick off October 2023 right!

R.I.W. Wrestling Legend: Bobo Brazil

Posted on August 14, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink as well as the Rotten Ink Arena. As you can see, it’s another sell out house as fans have come from all over the world to see this “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” in action as he is a trailblazer and one of the biggest African American Superstars in the world of wrestling, a man who paved the way for many who followed in his footsteps. Of course this wrestling icon is Bobo Brazil, a man who worked for decades and was a huge draw for every promotion he worked for. So let’s head to the snack bar and grab a beverage and some popcorn and find our seats as I think this update event is going to be a great one.

Bobo Brazil started his pro wrestling career in 1951 and was trained by Joe Savoldi and would spend time working in Canada for MLW and was a big star from the start as people paid to watch him. He was a baby face that all races got behind. But before this run in MLW, he did have a few matches in small territories starting in the late 1940’s. Bobo would travel around the NWA territories and would wind up working for such companies as AWA, MLW, NWA St. Louis, CSW, WWF and many more and every place he worked, he was a big draw and would be placed in high profile matches and even at this time when racial tensions were still a thing, Bobo was so good that white wrestlers wanted to get into the ring with him as they knew they would have a great match as well as a big gate which meant a good payday. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, he would have matches against such names as Firpo Zbyszko, Yukon Eric, Great Togo, Killer Kowalski, Gorgeous George, Lou Thesz, Hans Schmidt, Mike Sharpe, John Tolos, The Sheik, Ernie Ladd and so many more. And also during this time Bobo would cement himself as being a main eventer both as in singles and as a tag team worker. And during this time as well Bobo would start winning belts including the WWF United States Title and would become one of the biggest baby faces in wrestling as fans got behind him as he worked big matches. And he would spend much of the 1960’s in matches against and for The Sheik and his Big Time Wrestling (BTW) promotion. And in the late 60’s, he would find himself in matches in Japan against Giant Baba among many other top stars. From the start of his career Bobo was a natural and a true wrestling star.

In the 1970’s Bobo continued his success and continued being a journeyman working for the NWA Territories in America and Canada. At this time he would also wrestle in Japan but it was clear that Big Time Wrestling was his home base as he worked many top matches for the promotion. And in 1973 he had a small run in All Japan Pro Wrestling and also started taking more work in the WWF, all the while still having small runs in other promotions like the AWA, but during the 70’s he would also fully become a huge star in Japan as he would be brought over for many tours and always found himself in main and big attraction matches. And starting in the 1980’s he still working hard and traveling, and while he found himself losing more matches, he still was always brought in as a main eventer and both fans and promoters respected his work. And in 1984 his last big run took place as he worked for the WWF and would have matches with such names as Roddy Pipper, Mr. Fuji, Greg Valentine, Big John Studd and Bob Orton. He would work for a few indies as well as once more would appear for WWF in 1987 as part of a Battle Royal at a house show that featured all legends including names like Killer Kowalski, Nick Bockwinkel, Chief Jay Strongbow and Sailor Art Thomas. Bobo Brazil would retire from wrestling in 1993 and in 1994 he would be inducted into the WWF Hall Of Fame. Bobo also ran a restaurant called “Bobo’s Grill” and it was in business for over 20 years, but sadly on January 20, 1998 Bobo passed away at the age of 73 after suffering a series of strokes. Even after his passing the legacy of Bobo Brazil lives on in the sport of wrestling and still to this day he is talked about fondly from fans and fellow workers.

Bobo Brazil is a true legend and icon in the world of Pro Wrestling and is a wrestler that I have been a fan of since I started watching wrestling as I can remember reading about him in the magazines as well as books and he always just seemed like a main event star even in his old age. And when you think about it, Bobo has wrestled almost every big name that worked in the 1960’s all the way to early 1990’s and worked in almost every big promotion going from the NWA-WWF and was a huge star in each and every one of them, and to be fair Bobo Brazil was really the first African American to win the NWA Heavyweight Title (before Ron Simmons who is credited as the first) as they did an angle that had Bobo win the title after an accidental low blow and he refused to win the belt that way and would lose in the rematch against Buddy Rogers. The thing about Bobo is that he was a great worker in the ring and his moves looked great and impactful and he turned a normal head butt into an opponent feared and crowd-popping move he would call the Coco Butt and when he would land them they looked like he was about to cave in the skull of the heel and truly the fans would cheer to see this. I would love for you readers to go and read more about Bobo and even look up some of his matches on YouTube as while I am proud of this update it does not fully do justice to this man’s career. And you cannot downplay how much of a positive impact he also had in the world of wrestling when it comes to African America superstars, and he really did break down race issues in the sport when he started. He was a trailblazer and a superstar that proved wrestling is for everyone no matter what their race, religious beliefs and gender is…in other words, wrestling is awesome.

We are now at the point of this review were we will be taking a look at the DVD set and review some of the matches on the discs like always between 4 to 8. I want to thank Coliseum Of Wrestling & Boxing for having this set in stock and also want to thank Bobo Brazil for his hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will only be breaking down randomly select matches from this set and will be breaking down the match and will be rating the matches on a 5 Star rating system. I also only choose from Single matches, as I want to break down his matches that showcase his style. Here is what the stars mean ½ Means a really terrible match, * Means a bad match, ** Means a below average match, **1/2 Means a good average entertaining match, *** Means a good match, **** Means a great match, ***** Means an epic match. So if you are ready let’s step into the ring with Bobo Brazil.

Best Of Bobo Brazil

Match 1: Bobo Brazil vs. Moose Cholak

This is two out of three falls match and as the bell rings the two lock up and Bono shows that he is the stronger of the two as he backs him into the corner, but quickly Moose and Bobo end up trading punches and each get the upper hand as they just really start brawling. Finally Bobo takes Moose down and starts working on his face trying to crush it, but Moose is able to break free and land some big hits on his opponent before Bobo once more takes over and starts putting pressure on Moose’s face. But Moose then gets free and starts landing some head butts that rock Bobo who in turn lands one of his own. Moose is finally able to shoot in and take down Bobo and starts working on his leg, but when Bobo breaks the hold he returns the favor and works over the arm of Moose. But after going back and fourth Moose ends up getting the pin and the first fall after a big splash. As soon as the second round begins the two start throwing punches again and exchanging holds and after a back flip Bobo gets the second fall by pin. The third fall starts with Moose being aggressive and even getting a wrist lock on Bobo and then locks him in leg scissors keeping him on the mat and trying to drain his energy. But once Bobo is back up he starts beating the heck out of Moose and the two go back and fourth again trading holds and hits. But the third fall goes to a time limit draw making the whole match end in one as each man had one fall each. This was a pure hoss fight and had two big men just brawling and exchanging hits and holds as the live crowd loved every second and clearly they wanted Bobo Brazil to win the match. Both men looked good throughout the three falls and they both sold for each other well with them also playing the gimmick of Moose wearing headgear to protect himself from Bobo’s famous head butts. Very good old school match and Bobo looks great in the match and his Coco Butts are awesome and I think ending the match was a good idea as they could get more matches out of this feud.

Grade: ***

Match 2: Bobo Brazil vs. David Price

As the bell rings the two lock up and Bobo shows that he is stronger and backs David into the ropes and from there lands some chops and moves that keeps David injured and with no momentum. Bobo locks in a chin lock and David is clearly in trouble, but racks the eyes of Bobo and continues to do so to keep the stronger man blinded. David’s attack does not last long as Bobo regains the match and floors David with an elbow and a knee lift and then Bobo starts working over his arm and it’s clear that David is just no match for Bobo as every time he tries to make a comeback its cut off and Bobo just makes him pay for it landing big hits and powerful moves. But David will bot give up as Bobo hits two side suplexes and each time he kicks out of the pin attempt, but when Bobo hits the Coco Butt he is able to keep David down for the pin. This is pretty much a one sided match that shows the power and skill of Bobo Brazil who dominates most of the match and lands some big hits and even uses his Coco Butt to keep his opponent down, and while it is one sided for the most part it is nice to see Bobo sell and let David Price at least attempt to turn the tide several times throughout. And I had to pop when Bobo busted out his finisher the Coco Butt to put his opponent away. Over all a good TV Match that pitted a legend against a young enhancement talent.

Match: **1/2

Match 3: Bobo Brazil vs. Ric Flair

From the start Flair does not want to lock up with Bobo and when he finally does he is able to back Bobo into the corner, and does so again before Bobo has had enough and unloads some punches on Flair who tries to get away and finally Flair gets out of the ring in order to get his barring’s. Once back in the ring Flair finds himself in a headlock, Flair breaks the hold with a punch to the gut and then throws Bobo into the ropes but instead of getting the match going his way he ends up eating a dropkick from Bobo and gets placed in a headlock again. Flair breaks the hold this time by hitting Bobo in the gut and both men are hurt, Flair drops a knee on the head of Bobo and injuries himself and this allows Bobo to regain the momentum and even hits a Coco Butt knocking Flair out of the ring. Once back in Flair takes back over with some punches and then keeps Bobo on the mat working on his arm as the fans are starting to get mad as Flair keeps injuring his arm, and even hits a big standing suplex and is unable to get a pin. Flair then body slams Bobo and goes to the top rope and takes to long as Bobo is able to get up and toss Flair across the ring. Bobo then goes on a move and punches rampage trying to keep Flair down, and finally Bobo is able to get the three count and wins by pin. This match has some parts missing as you can tell its via the master tape, but for the most part its all there and is a good match between Bobo and Flair that does a great job of building up Bobo as a massive Baby Face and that Flair is a Heel who tries his best to cheat to win. Both wrestlers look great in the match and Flair hits all of his trademark moves and bumps and the live fans was very much into the match. And Flair’s selling for Bobo’s Coco Butt is top notch as he flops himself out of the ring. Over all a good match and I wish the master tape flaws were fixed but over all very cool match and shows just how big of a star Bobo Brazil was in wrestling as he gets a pinfall win over Ric Flair.

Grade: ***1/2

Match 4: Bobo Brazil vs. Killer Karl Kox

As soon as the bell rings Bobo goes right after Kox with punches and even some Coco Butts and then whips him into the turnbuckles knocking him silly, it’s clear that Bobo does not like Kox and wants to hurt him before bringing an end to the match. Kox roles out of the ring as his bell has been rung by the turnbuckles and he needs a break, and out of anger Kox starts throwing chairs into the ring. Once back in the ring Kox cheats and pokes Bobo in the eyes and lands some massive punches, but he makes a mistake when he rolls out of the ring to grab a chair that allows Bobo to recover and atomic drop Kox on the chair, Bobo then hits Kox over the head with the chair. Bobo then lands a series of Coco Butts on Kox who is out on his feet swing wildly at the air. Bobo then starts choking Kox on the top rope and unloading more big hits on him, but Kox makes a comeback and hits a brainbuster on Bobo but only gets a two count. The two exchange hits and finally Bobo snaps and pushes the referee and lands a series of big Coco Butts on Kox who is really dazed, and the match is ruled a DQ win for Killer Karl Kox. This match is a brawl and a grudge match as it’s clear that both of these men do not like each other and just want to destroy one another and break the rules, cheat and in the end Bobo’s anger even gets him to loose the match. Bobo looks great in the match and his moves look impactful and he does a great job of selling for his opponent as well, and I like that Bobo even uses a metal chair in the match to try and scramble the brain of his opponent. Killer Karl Kox is a heat magnet and the fans hate him and so want to see him get beat up and hate when he wins the match, and while he is a great worker the only thing that I was against is how many Coco Butts he would take before he would hit the mat as it was almost as if he was downplaying the move at times. Over all this was great match that was clearly just a big brawl between two big names in wrestling at the time with one being loved and the other being hated.

Grade: **1/2

Match 5: Bobo Brazil vs. Crusher Blackwell

As the bell rings Blackwell refuses to lock up and makes the referee get Bobo away from him as he goes to the ropes, but once they do lock up Bobo is shown to be the stronger of the two. But Blackwell cheats and get the upper hand and even starts choking Bobo behind the referee’s back, but even when caught Blackwell keeps up the attack of choking, punching and even biting Bobo while he is down and injured. And even when Bobo tries to get up he is hit back down with clubbing smashes from Blackwell who has dominated the match this far. But when Bobo gets fired up he goes on the attack and smashes and rams Blackwell’s face into the turnbuckle and keeps ripping at his nose. Bobo gets Blackwell to the mat after beating up on him and places him into a sleeper hold, and once he lets go Bobo goes for the pin and gets a 2.5 before Blackwell kicks out. Blackwell then cheats and hits Bobo with a foreign object and then once more hammers away at the now groggy Bobo as well goes back to chocking him. But Bobo makes a comeback and lands a Coco Butt that floors Blackwell and Bobo is able to get the win via pin. This is a pretty slow paced match as it is clear that Bobo was working around the limitations of Blackwell as this match is filled with rest holds and just brawling moves over and over again as far as the action goes. The match goes back and fourth with lots of clubbing style smashes going on before Bobo ends the thing with his famous Coco Butt that makes Blackwell fall over like a chopped down tree. Blackwell is a good heel in the match as he cheats several times and the fans seem to dislike him, even though honestly they seem a little more quiet in this match then your normal Madison Squared Garden fans and only really come alive when Bobo lands his finishing move and gets the win, I am guessing they just could not get behind this brawling slow paced match. Over all it was entertaining but is one of the more lackluster matches on this set.

Grade: **1/2

Match 6: Bobo Brazil vs. Doug Gilbert

Doug attacks Bobo before he can fully get into the ring and as the announcer is given names, but once the bell rings Bobo goes crazy and starts smashing Doug who he has now forced into the ropes by his face and even Doug’s attempt at a comeback falls short as he backs away from the charging Bobo who hits two Coco Butts that cause Doug to fall out of the ring and he gives up and walks to the back as he has had enough and gets counted out and Bobo wins the match. This is a very quick pretty much squash match that has heel Doug Gilbert attacking Bobo before the match and ends up paying for it with a one sided butt kicking before running out of the match and causing himself to loose. Bobo looks like a true superstar as he beats the heck out of Doug and the fans are cheering for him like crazy, and of course his Coco Butts as always look good. Doug Gilbert does not get much time to shine and comes off as a very low carder as he does one of the biggest chicken shit heel moves of all time and that’s running for the match he is loosing. Over all a fun squash match that does a good job of showing why Bobo was a superstar and a draw.

Grade: ** 1/2

Match 7: Bobo Brazil vs. Big John Studd

As Studd pushes Bobo into the corner he shows that he is the stronger of the two, but Bobo unleashes some punches and this backs Studd into the opposite corner. The two exchange punches and Bobo even rams Studd chest first into the turnbuckle a few times hurting the big man. Studd fights back and even locks in the bear hug, but Bobo reverses the hold and locks in his own bear hug before Studd breaks it with an eye rack. Bobo then turns up the heat and lands a Coco Butt that knocks Studd off his feet and causes him to even roll out of the ring to shake off the effects. Once back in Studd and Bobo once more exchange hits and holds with Bobo hitting two Coco Butts, but Studd ends the match when he drops an elbow on Bobo and gets this win via pin. This was a great big man fight as both hit big punches, do some powerful moves on one another to try and get the advantage and win the match. Big John Studd even works in his bear hug and sells really well for Bobo and both look really great in the match. Bobo has the fans on his side and they pop every time he makes a comeback and really erupt when he hits his classic head butts. The match is very much a powerbase match and is more slow in pace, but it had the big match feel and both guys worked really well together and I for one enjoyed it lots as both wrestlers I am fans of.

Grade: ***1/2

Bobo Brazil is one of the all time greats when in comes to Pro Wrestling and over the decades he still is remembered and talked about as he is just such a memorial in ring worker who just had a way of connecting with the fans. And again I will say make sure to check out his matches and while it’s a brawler slower paces style it just has such a charm as the live fans and his ability to draw people in just make the matches great. But as you can see the matches are over and the staff at the Rotten Ink Arena are starting to clean up so that’s our queue to make our way to the exit, and as we do so I should take this moment to alert you that our next update will be about a Horror Hostess that was the talk of Manayunk and the Daughter of Desire as of course I am talking about Stella Desire! And for this update I will be turning Rotten Ink over to Juliet! So until we meat again read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. This next update should be a spooky good time.