R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Waylon Mercy

Posted on October 21, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. As you can see, we are once again at the Rotten Ink Arena for another “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update and another in our countdown to Halloween and this one is going to be partly scary as we will be talking about wrestler Dan Spivey but mostly his Waylon Mercy gimmick that had him playing a psychopath who tormented opponents in WWF throughout 1995 and was a great heel. And as you can see, the Rotten Ink Arena is packed to the rafters as everyone wants to see what Waylon Mercy is going to do and also those at ringside want to see if they can get a handshake. So let’s grab something to drink and find our seats as this one is going to be a crazy time as Our Lives Are In The Hands Of Waylon Mercy…well at least our entertainment is.

Dangerous Dan Spivey started his in ring career in 1983. He was trained by Dusty Rhodes and would start working for Championship Wrestling From Florida and would wrestle under the name Eagle as part of the tag team “American Starship” and his partner was Coyote who was really Scott Hall. And this run would be very short as he would leave in 1984 and would find himself working Jim Crockett Promotions and NWA Central States for one year before leaving again this time he would find himself in the WWF and would now be wrestling as Dan Spivey he would take the place of Barry Windham in the tag team The U.S. Express teaming with Mike Rotunda and the two would stay together until 1987. After Rotunda left and the U.S. Express was no more, going under the “Golden Boy” Dan Spivey he would have a short singles run before leaving in 1988 and working All Japan Pro Wrestling that he would off and on until 1995. After his time in WWF he would return to Jim Crocket Promotions who was about to turn into WCW in 1989 and would be apart of The Varsity Club stable along with Steve Williams and Mike Rotunda and later that year he would be in the tag team The Skyscrapers with Sid Vicious and was managed by Teddy Long, the team would stay around for awhile but Sid would get injured and Mean Mark Callous would take his place. During his time in WCW he would also be working matches in All Japan, UWF and a few other NWA territories. Dan would leave WCW in 1992 and would continue working for UWF and would become the companies first and only UWF Americas Champion and he would stay with them until 1995. And during this part of his career he would capture some gold in Tag Team and Single runs.

In 1995 Dan Spivey was starting to show the effects of injuries but returned to WWF as Waylon Mercy, a psycho who would wear Hawaiian shirts, had jet black hair, talked with a calm creepy southern accent, had a dagger tattoo on his forehead was built with vignettes that had him warning the superstars that “Lives Are Gonna Be In Waylon Mercy’s Hands.” And from the start Mercy was fed enhancement talent and fans didn’t know what to make of this demented wrestler who acted like a gentlemen one moment and then would be super sadistic the next. He would use a sleeper hold as his finishing move and would looked wide-eyed and crazy as his opponent would pass out. And after stacking up wins and creeping out fans, he would find himself in bigger matches against the company’s stars and would even have a big match at the In Your House 3 PPV against Savio Vega. As time passed Waylon Mercy was gaining even a fan base as some fans started to cheer this crazed wrestler who would shake hands before the bell rang and acted as if he was a face when he was a total heel. But after a match against then WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel and taking two massive Jackknife Power Bombs Waylon Mercy would not be seen on TV again just like that Dan Spivey aka Waylon Mercy would retire from wrestling due to injuries that had built up over his career. But keep in mind that Dan Spivey did wrestle one match in 2015 for !BANG!.

Growing up, I was a fan of Dan Spivey when he was a member of The Skyscrapers as they are a great tag team that WCW should have pushed way more as they could have been a huge heel team that could have been dominating and been in the leagues of The Road Warriors and Demolition. But for me Waylon Mercy was the main gimmick that made me a fan of Spivey as his “Cape Fear” inspired character was crazy and had a Horror theme to it and was a wrestler that you had to like when he would destroy his opponent’s and shake hands of fans, referees and even his opponent all the while creeping out the fans and given the cameras the most crazed of stares and looks. I can remember when his vignettes aired both my brother and I was hooked as we both liked how he would be all gentlemen like and then all of a sudden he would turn sinister even smashing a worm on his arm in one. His catch phrase of “Lives Are Gonna Be In Waylon Mercy’s Hands.” was great and one, and when at school when talking about wrestling I can remember telling friends that I was a fan of Mercy as he was one wrestler that I was hoping would get a match against the likes of The Undertaker, but sadly that match never happened. And to now thinking about it if The Big Boss Man was still in the WWF in 1995 he would have had a great feud with Mercy as well. I also have to say his theme was also great and weird and was a piano piece that had an edge of insanity to the sound. I was so bummed with Waylon Mercy disappeared off TV and was never seen again in the ring as he was a great character that could have been such a great heel that could have had some great matches with many of the top faces in the company. It’s a shame that his injuries were so piled up that made him have to retire from the ring and end his run in the WWF. In more modern times I think WWE has dropped the ball by not having Waylon Mercy be part of the Wyatt Family and it’s clear that the cult leader with the same look and charm Bray Wyatt was a newer version of the character, and Mercy should have been added as part of the family in a manager role, but nope the creative team for WWE is too lazy for any ideas like that. Really looking forward to watching these matches again as all of these I saw when they aired so re-visiting them in modern times will be very interesting. And like so many other wrestlers we have covered on these R.I.W Wrestling Legends update as of this update he is not in the WWE Hall Of Fame and that’s so silly that they have not respected him with that honor.

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 Waylon Mercy 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 Waylon Mercy.

Best Of Waylon Mercy

Match 1: Waylon Mercy vs. Tony Roy

As the bell rings Waylon goes over to shake the hand of Tony and with a cheap shot he clotheslines him hard and they just starts hitting and kicking Tony and really unloads on him in the corner. Waylon then tosses Tony outside the ring and apologizes for doing so to the referee, but Waylon then goes outside the ring and hits Tony with a DDT knocking him out and he wins the by count out. After the match as Tony Roy is knocked out Waylon Mercy leaves the ring and steps on him by “accident” and once more says he is sorry as you can tell he enjoyed dealing the pain. This is 100% a squash match as Tony Roy was a jobber who never even gets one move off and is beating up and knocked out with ease and this match was a great way to build up and show the craziness of Waylon. The fans you can tell are a little creeped out by Waylon who in the match uses mostly kicks, punches, clothesline and a DDT to win the match in quick fashion. I also love that Waylon does some cheap and mean spirited stuff in the match and acts like he is sorry for his actions when you can see the glee in his face as he hurts poor old Tony. Over all this is a good match that did its job of building Waylon as a heel and buried Tony Roy as a jobber for life when it came to WWF matches. And the reason I am giving it this grade is cause I think in a short time it told a good story of who Waylon Mercy was and what fans and his opponents needed to fear from him.

Grade: **1/2

Match 2: Waylon Mercy vs. Jeff Hardy

As the bell rings, Waylon Mercy charges Hardy and pushes him into the corner and starts rocking him with massive punches and knees and then knocks him to the mat and starts kicking Hardy in the gut. Waylon Mercy dominates the match and uses suplexes and other holds like snake-eyes on the top rope to throw Hardy around and cause him pain, all the while Waylon has a smile on his face and fake apologizes on his lips. He then rubs Hardy’s face into the mat and after a side slam Waylon goes for the pin and then decides to not finish the match as he wanted to torture Hardy a little more, and repeats the big move and then go for a pin only to stop it a few times as he is really getting joy of tormenting Hardy. And finally the match ends when Waylon puts Hardy in a sleeper hold and the young wrestler passes out, as Waylon Mercy looks crazed. This is another squash match but is a fun watch as its one of young Jeff Hardy’s early matches in the WWF when he worked as an enhancement talent. Waylon Mercy once more is totally psycho and aggressive in the match and does not allow Hardy to land one move and just torments his opponent the whole time. The brain buster that Waylon hits looks great and his finisher the Sleepy Hold is great when you add his wide crazed eyes as it helps bring out his madness and adds to the fans fear and hatred for him. Hardy does a great job of selling for Waylon and Waylon does a great job of looking like a major threat to any and all faces that could be stepping in the ring with him. A fun and solid squash match that helped build Waylon and also was a great look at the early career of Jeff Hardy.

Grade: **1/2

Match 3: Waylon Mercy vs. Doink The Clown

At the start of the match Waylon tries to shake the hand of Doink who refuses and when Waylon charges Doink is able to hip toss him to the mat and do so a few times causing Waylon to role out of the ring in frustration, and when he tries to get back in Doink makes sure he knocks him back out and laughs out his psycho opponent. Doink charges to try and keep Waylon outside the ring and he dodges his charge and this causes Doink to fall out of the ring and hit the ground hard. Once back in the ring Doink gets Waylon into the corner and is able to land some kicks and punches before the referee steps in to break up the attack as Waylon is able to get his torso out of the ropes forcing the separation. Waylon is able to land a left hook when Doink was distracted by the referee and then hits a clothesline and takes control of the match making Doink pay for his attack early in the match. And then Waylon is able to lock in the sleeper hold and put Doink to sleep and win the match as many in the crowd cheer for his victory. This match was not a super easy win for Waylon Mercy as Doink The Clown puts up a big fight and also is the first that we have seen that has taken Waylon off his feet and able to land moves on! Doink was a great worker and did a great job in this match being entertaining as well as selling for Mercy and really helped put him over and gave him a bigger win under his belt. Waylon Mercy as well is great in the match and is cold and calculated and is able to beat up Doink all to the delight of the crowd who are on his side as they would rather have this psycho heel win then the goofy clown. Waylon Mercy’s sleeper and crazed eyes is on point again and this makes for a fantastic ending and it was cool to see the fans cheer for him. A great match that had Waylon take some moves, deal some moves out and win a match against a mid-carder that had a name.

Grade: **1/2

Match 4: Waylon Mercy vs. Diesel

This is the battle of two big men and when the bell rings the two shake hands and Diesel pulls Waylon in so that he can stare him down and as the two break the shake its clear that this is going to be a fight. And when the two lock up its Diesel that shows he is the stronger of the two, but the two exchange some punches just to let the other know that they are here to win as Diesel is the WWE World Champion and has been on a losing streak and Waylon could get this big win under his belt and could be in line for a title shot. And after a few hits Diesel dazes Waylon with a big boot to the face and Diesel throws Waylon from corner to corner and lands punches and knees and is rocking his psycho opponent. And while Diesel has the upper hand he is distracted when British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith comes down the aisle and Big Daddy Cool goes crazy and leaves the ring to brawl with Bulldog and gets himself counted out and gives Waylon the win by count out. After the match Diesel who is in a rage gets back into the ring and Jackknife Power Bombs Waylon and then starts punching his down opponent while WWF officials try and break it up. This was a quick match and while the two big men exchange a few moves and hits nothing really happens that sets the match apart from any other and the count out victory was a major letdown and Waylon Mercy seems like a second thought as the match was a way to showcase Diesel and build his upcoming title match against The British Bulldog. Not much more to say besides it was cool to see Waylon in a bigger profile match even if he didn’t get to showcase his crazed persona nor moves. The match is limited and quick with a lackluster finish and could have been so much better then what we got.

Grade: **

Match 5: Waylon Mercy vs. Bret Hart

As the bell rings Waylon Mercy and Bret Hart shake hands and from the start of the match Waylon has the upper hand and starts beating up on Bret and get him trapped in the corner, and Bret is able to make a comeback when Waylon charges into a corner and Bret moves and starts working over Waylon’s arm. But Mercy regains control and is able to start putting a hurting on Bret even landing a massive body slam, but Bret being a skilled technician in the ring takes back control and keeps working on the arm of Mercy. But once out of the move Mercy is able to through Bret out of the ring to get a breather and able to try and take back control of the match and starts pounding on the Bret once he is back in the ring. Waylon even drives Bret’s face into the mat and lands some axe handle hits to his back, and Bret is in trouble and Waylon even starts clawing at the mouth and jaw of Bret with a crazy look in his eyes. After getting beat up for a little longer Bret is able to make a comeback after a boot to the face and a clothesline from the second rope takes Waylon off his feet and gives Bret the time needed to get his breath and figure out a way to win the match. Bret climbs to the second rope and lands his elbow drop and is able to get a two count on Waylon, but the match ends in a DQ when Jean-Pierre LaFitte makes a run in and attacks Bret Hart coasting Waylon Mercy the victory, but also saved him from possibly being pinned as he was on the ropes. This is a really good match and Bret Hart and Waylon Mercy trade moves back and fourth and the fans are very much invested, as they so want Bret to get the win. Bret as always is great and puts on a top-notch performance and even works around the limitations of the injured Waylon Mercy who also works really hard and puts on a great match. The moves landed in the match look very impactful and the back and fourth of the match momentum is well done. This is a great match and shows that Bret Hart was one of the best workers in wrestling history and that Waylon Mercy could have been a major heel if he could have been well during his 1995 run.

Grade: ***1/2

Waylon Mercy was awesome and one of my favorite heels from WWF in 1995 as he was a psycho southern gentlemen who got pleasure in hurting his opponent and trying to act as if he was sorry for his actions of brutality. I have to once more say that I would have loved to have seen him have matches against The Undertaker as I think the two could have worked a good program together, and I stick by that I think he should be in the WWE Hall Of Fame and that he should have been brought back to be apart of the Wyatt Family. Well as you can see the Rotten Ink Arena cleanup crew have came out and they are sweeping up all the left behind popcorn so that’s our queue to head out so as we make our way out the doors I want to let you all know that our next update will be about the iconic Pennsylvania Horror Host Dr. Shock and this will be a truly fun one for sure to celebrate Halloween with! So until then, make sure to read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. See you on Halloween for a Spooky Shocking good time.

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: Chief White Owl

Posted on April 12, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. Once more we find ourselves at the Rotten Ink Arena for a very special “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update event as our main event star is a true legend of the sport in Ohio and the Great Lake area and was the master of the Tomahawk Chop who war danced his way into the hearts of fans. I am of course talking about Chief White Owl! A part Native American wrestler who became a true icon in the eyes of fans and is long overdue to get his time to shine in the Rotten Ink Arena! So let’s grab some snacks and a drink and then find our seats as this is going to be a quick update that will showcase his talent and his wrestling story. As you can see, the house lights are dimming and that means it’s time for some wrestling action.

Chief White Owl started his pro wrestling career in 1956. While he worked smaller shows before this, around this time is when he started to make a name for himself in the sport. Working in the NWA Territories he mostly stuck around the Great Lakes area and really became a big draw in his home state of Ohio. Booked as a baby face, his war dance, Tomahawk Chop and brawling style made him a draw, as when fans seen his name on a card they attended. During the early days of his career he would wrestle such names as The Terror, The Iron Russians, The Volkoff Brothers and Sputnik Monroe. With in his early matches Chief White Owl found himself on the losing end, but quickly as his popularity with fans grew he found himself moving up the card. Throughout the 50’s he would work for Midwest Wrestling Association and this made him a true superstar in Ohio. But by the early 1960’s he would have a run for Pennsylvania based company Spectator Sports and would have some big matches against such names as The Destroyer, Gorilla Monsoon, Klondike Bill, Johnny Powers, Gypsy Joe and Baron Gattoni, to name a few. In 1965 Chief White Owl had a run in WWF (then WWWF) and would work for them until around late 1965 and would have matches against big names at the time like Waldo Von Erich, Arnold Skaaland, Johnny Rodz, Dr. Jerry Graham and The Golden Terror. After this The Chief would return working the NWA areas around Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania and by the late 60’s would even work matches in Canada. Throughout the early 1970’s Chief White Owl remained a big star on the indies and would also help put over the up and coming wrestlers, and by 1976 we would wind down his career before retiring in the early 80’s. During his wrestling run he would capture tag team gold alongside partner Luis Martinez around six times in the NWF promotion, would team with Wahoo McDaniel, get a win at Madison Square Garden and is another name that proved you could be a big star and a draw for companies and never needed a title belt to achieve his popularity. Sadly Chief White Owl would pass away from neglect from the nursing home he lived in in 2008 at the age of 72, gone and never forgotten as Chief White Owl was an icon of Pro Wrestling in Ohio. It’s also sad that he has not made it into the WWF Hall Of Fame yet, as I feel he should be.

Chief White Owl is a wrestler that I wish I would have gotten to see live, but sadly he was retired by the time I was old enough to go to events as it would have been awesome to watch him wrestle in the now-gone Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. I first found out about Chief White Owl from my friend Theresa who knew someone in his family and who told me the sad tale of his passing, and after reading about his legacy in wrestling and just how amazing of a person he was said to be, I needed to find and see some of his matches…and sadly, not many are around to be viewed. Seeing the matches and footage I can of White Owl made me a bigger fan, as I like his brawling style, his war dance always got a great pop from the fans, his appearance was awesome as his headdress made him standout and his Tomahawk Chop signature move was well done and looked like a proper finisher for that era of wrestling. When reading about Chief White Owl I also found out that Bobby Fulton of the tag team The Fantastic and fellow Ohioan grew up watching his matches and was a fan himself. On a serious note, it’s very sad when you hear the details of how Chief White Owl passed and those at the nursing home should be ashamed of themselves and be held accountable for what they did, and my thoughts are with his family as they still battle for justice and a change in the way America allows their nursing homes to be run. But while his end was heartbreaking, his legacy in wrestling will live on forever and his name will never fade.

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 HyperDevil for having this set in stock and also want to thank Chief White Owl 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 Chief White Owl.

Best Of Chief White Owl

Match 1: Chief White Owl vs. Steve Stanlee

As the bell rings, Steve is able to land a punch at the top of White Owl’s head dazing him for a second as Steve keeps his attack going landing punches and kicks. After a few moments White Owl lands one big punch that knocks Steve to the mat and White Owl is fired up as he does his war dance and lands a few punches that causes Steve to get out of the ring to stop the attack. Once back in the ring Steve is pushed up against the corner and White Owl hits a big chop, but soon Steve is able to get White Owl in a sleeper hold that is broke when White Owl gets to the ropes but takes a elbow to the back of his neck when Steve lets go. Steve then hits a series of kicks to the stomach of White Owl and then goes for his eyes, but White Owl fights back with a punch to the gut and a standing headlock that backs Steve into the ropes and tangles his arms in them and delivers a chop and even lands another as Steve escapes the ropes. The two exchange hits and holds and battle until the time limit, but the referee decides to give the win to Chief White Owl. This is a classic old school wrestling match filled with brawling punches, basic wrestling moves and signature moments that would pop the fans and while it would be considered bland by todays standards of in ring work this is a very good match for its era. Steve Stanlee does a fantastic job of selling for The Chief and does so many little heel moves that makes the fans just hate him, meanwhile Chief White Owl does his war dance, his tomahawk chops and uses his fired up temper to have the fan eating out of his hands. White Owl’s series of drop kicks look really great and he as well is great seller as he makes Steve as well look good in the ring as its clear the two had good chemistry. The time limit decision win that goes to The Chief was a little confusing, but the live fans seemed to dig it so I guess it worked. The pacing was well done and Steve Stanlee even was able to get in some silly heel comedy moments as well as cheating to help the pace along. Over all this was an entertaining old school match and shows why Chief White Owl was a well loved wrestler.

Grade: ***

The legend of Chief White Owl is still going strong to this day as his family, friends and fans keep his memory alive. And for those wondering, Chief White Owl’s real name was George Dahmer and his mother was part Native American. He was a natural as his gimmick. I really do wish more matches of his would come to the light of day as I would love to see more of his work as I like his fighting spirit as well as his hard hitting brawling style. Well as you can see, the update event is over and the house lights are back up and the cleanup crew is out so that is our cue to head on out of the arena, but before we part I would like to alert you that our next update will have us stay in the world of wrestling as we are still celebrating WWE WrestleMania Month and we will be spending some time with the one and only Uncle Elmer, who was the powerhouse of the Hillbilly Family that took 80’s WWF by storm. So until the next update event, read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. See you back here at the Rotten Ink Arena for the next update, and I wonder if the snack bar will have Friend Pig Parts in stock?

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: Kamala

Posted on October 12, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to the Rotten Ink Arena. As you can see, the Halloween decorations are hanging, the arena is packed to the rafters and the snack bar has candy corn, caramel apples and monster punch in stock as this “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update will be all about our main event monster heel that was from the jungles of Uganda who gave the likes of Hulk Hogan, Kerry Von Erich, The Undertaker and Andre The Giant a run for their money throughout the 80’s and 90’s. A wrestler who was managed by the likes of Skandor Akbar, Freddie Blassie, Slick, Mr. Fuji, The Wizard and Kim Chee and by know I am sure you figured out that it’s Kamala we are talking about one of the best big men in the business and one heck of a monster heel who terrorized his opponents and fans alike as they were all unsure of what he was capable of! So let’s find our seats as this Halloween Countdown R.I.W event is in full swing, and let’s see what Kamala has in store for us this spooky holiday season.

Kamala started wrestling in 1978 and was trained by Bobo Brazil and Tim Hampton and would originally work under the name Sugar Bear Harris and would work the Southern territories and would also work in Germany and England and worked under names like Ugly Bear Harris, Big Jim Harris and The Mississippi Mauler. And in 1982 he would find himself in Continental Wrestling Association and here is were he would become Kamala a Ugandan headhunter and would be managed by JJ Dillon and would go after Jerry Lawler and his AWA Southern Heavyweight Title that he would win and hold for a small amount of time. Late 1982 he would leave Continental and would sign to Mid-South Wrestling and this time would be managed by Skandor Akbar and would be apart of the Devastation Inc. stable and would have a high profile match against Andre The Giant as well a Junkyard Dog. In Mid-South he would be one of the companies heel draws and would also scare younger fans as they thought he was going to get them as he played the Wildman part well and never broke character in public. In 1983 he would head to World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas and would even get a NWA World Heavyweight title shot against Harley Race and would have a long time feud with the Von Erich’s and would have big profile matches against Kerry, Kevin and David. And would even face The Great Kabuki at the David Von Erich Memorial Parade Of Champions in 1984. He would stay around in WCCW until 1985. But while a big heel and draw in WCCW he was still also working other territories and one being WWF were he would be built as a monster heel and would beat names like B. Brian Blair, Chief Jay Strongbow and Salvatore Bellomo and then would have a series of matches against Hulk Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight title! And after his run with Hogan he would have a feud with Andre The Giant and after a battle royal in late 1984 he would be done with the WWF for his first run. After WWF he would head to AWA and would be booked like always as a monster heel and would have matches against the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Jerry Blackwell and Rick Martel. In 1985 Kamala would find himself working for Jim Crockett Promotions and would take on NWA United States Heavyweight Champion Magnum T.A., and from their he would have small runs in All Japan Pro Wrestling and International Wrestling from Canada.

In 1986 Kamala would return to WWF and would be managed by Kim Chee and The Wizard and once more was booked as a major monster heel and would once more go after Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight title, and after not winning the title he would start a feud with Jake “The Snake” Roberts who found out Kamala had a fear of snakes. During 1987 The Wizard would sell Kamala’s contract to Mr. Fuji but shortly after this Kamala would leave the WWF once more. Starting in 1988 Kamala would once more work for WCCW and working with the Von Erich brothers and would stay until 1989 when the company would close for good. He would also head to All Japan again as well as would head to CMLL in Mexico and have big matches against Mil Mascaras, and would also work for other Japanese companies W*ING and Super World Of Sports. In 1990 he would work for USWA and once more would go after Jerry Lawler and this time would challenge him for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight title. Kamala would leave USWA in 1992 and would return to the WWF once more. Kamala would be managed by Kim Chee as well as Harvey Wippleman and would have big matehs against many of the companies top faces including Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart and Texas Tornado Kerry Von Erich. And would have many matches against The Undertaker and would even loose a Coffin Match to the dead man. In 1993 Kamala would turn baby face and would be managed by Reverend Slick who was trying to teach him the ways of the modern world and that kindness was the way. While a face he would have matches against the likes of Bam Bam Bigelow, Mr. Hughes, Kim Chee and Papa Shango. The WWF would start working Kamala mostly on house shows and then would let him go in late 1993. After this WWF run Kamala would go into semi-retirement and become a truck driver and would pick up Indie matches from time to time as well as matches for USWA and would even travel to India to tag with Dusty Wolfe to become the IAW Tag Team champs.

In 1995 Kamala was talked out of retirement and would head to WCW to become a member of the Hulk Hogan hating team “The Dungeon Of Doom” that would be lead by Kevin Sullivan and made up of wrestlers who’s sole purpose was to stop Hulkamania once and for all. Kamala would get wins in WCW over the likes of Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Chris Kanyon and after The Dungeon Of Doom would loose to Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage at Fall Brawl 1995 his small run with the company would be over. After leaving WCW Kamala would find himself back working Indies like USWA, JCW and would even work a few matches back in the WWF as at WWF WrestleMania X-7 in 2001 as apart of the gimmick battle royal and in 2005 on WWF Smackdown Kamala would have a match against Randy Orton. Kamala’s last match would be for JCW as he would team with The Weedman and he would retire from wrestling in 2010. After wrestling Kamala’s health would turn for the worse and he would battle complications from diabetes and would end up loosing his legs. Sadly in 2016 he would be one of many wrestlers on the class action lawsuit over head injuries that was thrown out in 2018 and hurt Kamala into getting into the WWF Hall Of Fame. In 2017 he had to have emergency surgery to clear fluid from around his heart and lungs and was even put on life support at the time, he would recover. Sadly on August 5, 2020 Kamala would pass away from Covid-19 and diabetes at the age of 70.

Kamala The Ugandan Giant is a wrestler that I have been a fan of sense I was a kid as he was a great big man wrestler who played his gimmick well and when he would pat his belly, groan and even made surprise faces he would make me mark out and even laugh at times when he would run away from things that scared him. Plus his matches against The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan always seemed larger then life and came off as big deal matches, and that’s one other thing I liked is when Kamala would face other similar themed wrestlers like Papa Shango, Andre The Giant, The Great Kabuki, Kendo Nagasaki, Bruiser Brody and George “The Animal” Steele to name a few. And one thing that I think people never gave Kamala credit for is the fact he was very agile for a man his size and was also pretty fast and would not tire as easy as many of the wrestling big men at the time. Plus he was a true journeyman of wrestling as he worked all over the world and for almost every big promotion from WWF to WCW and was a top draw and a star every territory he went and while he was a heel most of his career he could even pull off being a loved baby face. When I was younger I can remember classmates of mine who watched wrestling being scared of Kamala and talking about how he was a cannibal and a savage and to me that fear he struck them with showed that he was doing his job and was great at it. Kamala was also a wrestler who won very little titles during his run, but he never needed them in order to be a draw as his matches always seemed like an attraction and a belt around his waist was not needed. One thing that always annoyed me as well as a kid was all the Kamala knock-off wrestlers who would dress, act and even sometimes steal his name, and no matter how hard they tried none of them could hold a candle to the real Kamala. And while Kamala might be on the bad side of the WWF over joining that lawsuit, it’s a shame that they have not inducted him into their Hall Of Fame as he is one name that should have been in years ago. Say what you will, but for me Kamala The Ugandan Giant will always be one of my favorite wrestlers from the 80’s and was one heck of a heel who played his gimmick well and did his job putting butts in the seats and selling the tickets when his name was on the card.

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 Kamala 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 Kamala.

Best Of Kamala

Match 1: Kamala vs. El Silenico

As the bell rings Kamala goes after El Silenico and just starts hitting him with massive chops to the top of his masked head. Kamala then body slams him and just stays on him not allowing El Silenico to even try and make a comeback. Kamala knocks Silenico to the mat and delivers a series of big splashes to his back, crushing the masked man. He then goes for the pin and gets it. After the match Kamala goes after the mask of El Silenico and gets it off and takes it almost as if it was a trophy. This was a total squash match as El Silenico was there to get beat up by Kamala and in the end even get damasked. Kamala hits big power moves in the match with his chops and splashes being his trademark moves that seem to almost frighten the fans at ringside. El Silenico is a total jobber who does not even get one move off in the match and just gets beaten up and pinned. Over all a good squash match as it did its job to build Kamala up as a monster heel and a major threat to any baby face.

Grade: **1/2

Match 2: Kamala vs. King Cobra

As the bell rings Kamala charges Cobra who dodges his attack twice and even is able to land a dropkick that stumbles the big man. King Cobra tries to unload some punches on Kamala and he shakes it off and gets his hands on him and the beating starts. Kamala lands some of his big chops to the top of King Cobra’s skull hurting him and knocks him to the mat and starts choking him. And as Cobra’s on the mat Kamala lands a series of big splashes and goes for the pin and gets the three count and the win. While this is another quick squash match at least King Cobra tries to fight back and is able to land a few dropkicks that staggered Kamala and is even able to land a few punches even if they had no effect. Plus for enhancement talent you could see that King Cobra was a skilled worker even if he was paid to loose. Kamala like always comes off as a great monster heel as he hits big power moves and shrugs off the attack from his opponent. His splashes look like a finishing move and his aggressive in ring work really does make him a big threat. Over all a great quick squash match that helped build Kamala as a big star.

Grade: **1/2

Match 3: Kamala vs. Hulk Hogan

The start the match off running the ropes and bumping into each other in the middle of the ring and neither man budges, they do this a couple of times and its Kamala who ends up knocking down The Hulkster. The two lock up and Hogan does for a body slam but he is cut off by Kamala who clubs him in the back causing him to drop him and not land the slam and this allows Kamala to use his chops and clubbing hits to keep Hogan down. But Hogan is not down for long as he pops up from the mat and starts landing his big punches on Kamala, but when Hogan is distracted by Kamala’s manager he looses the momentum of the match as Kamala attacks him from behind and get a nerve hold on Hogan that takes him down to the mat. Kamala then breaks the hold and hits a big splash, and Hogan kicks out at one, Kamala keeps on attacking that is until Hogan starts Hulking Up and takes the fight to Kamala and lands a big boot, a body slam and the atomic leg drop! Hogan goes for the pin and gets the three count as well as the win. This is your normal 80’s Hulk Hogan wrestling a big monster heel match that has Hogan selling for the heel only to comeback from the beating and land his finishing move the leg drop and get the victory all the while the fans are loosing their minds as Hulk Hogan was the biggest thing in the world of wrestling. And that’s the thing while Hogan gets the win and at one point when he Hulks Up he no sells for Kamala he still makes the big man look great throughout the match and sells well for him. While the match is very paint by numbers and when I says it’s your normal Hogan match during this time I mean it. Best way to sum this match up is big moves, monster crow pops and Kamala getting a match with the world’s biggest superstar makes this a pretty good entertaining match.

Grade: ***

Match 4: Kamala vs. Yokozunna

This is a battle of two big men and when the bell rings the two charge and crash into each other with neither man moving, but Yoko is a little rocked as Kamala watches the big sumo wrestler rock on his feet, the two crash again and Yoko once more gets rocked and when he tries to hit Kamala he is able to dodge and kick Yoko in the gut. Kamala then uses his chops to attack Yoko who is still feeling the effects of the kick, but Yoko turns the tide when he uses a cheap shot to the throat of Kamala and then starts dealing out his own punishment and even knocks Kamala off his feet. Kamala is able to make a small comeback using his chops to Yoko’s head, but Yoko takes back over with a big splash in the corner and then lands the Banzai Drop and gets the pin and the win. This is a good match that was really just an enhancement match as Kamala was feed to Yokozuna who was the companies biggest heel at the time and it made sense to have him win the match as he was about to have a big match against Hulk Hogan and at this point Kamala was not being pushed at a big superstar. The match is pretty much just big man moves with both men selling for each other and making each other look good, and the fans are behind Kamala who was a baby face at the time. Yokozuna you can tell had respect for Kamala and he does a good job of not making this look like a squash match. And the Banzai Drop looks painful and Kamala sells the effects really good after the match. While the match is nothing special it does have a good pace and was a almost passing of the torch of monster heels. Also it was cool to see Mr. Fuji around as he was the manager of Yokozuna at this time and in the 80’s he managed Kamala.

Grade: **1/2

Match 5: Kamala vs. The Undertaker

As the bell rings Kamala rushes The Undertaker and it was a big mistake as Taker starts landing big shots on him causing him to fall back into the corner and starts choking him. The Undertaker then walks the rope “Old School” and works on the arm of Kamala and keeps up his attack, and at this point Kamala has not be able to get the match momentum going his way that is until he knocks Taker off the top rope. Kamala then starts landing some chops and punches of his own and knocks Undertaker out of the ring, Taker then goes after Kamala’s managers and this causes him to have to exit the ring to save them and Kamala starts beating up Taker around the ringside. Once back in the ring The Undertaker hits Kamala with a choke slam and a flying clothesline and just as he is about to get Kamala in the Tombstone Piledriver one of his managers Kim Chee jumps into the ring and strikes The Undertaker causing the match to be thrown out and The Undertaker wins by DQ. After the match Kamala attacks The Undertaker and hits him with big splashes and when The Undertaker sits up after the attack Kamala gets scared and runs away. This is a great match that features two of the WWF’s best monster style gimmicks against each other in a match that is big man paced and showcases the classic slow moving Undertaker style. And while the match is short under four minutes neither guy looks weak with both having moments to shine and each are able to hit some of their trademark moves. And the stuff after the match that has Kamala beating down The Undertaker and then being scared when the Dead Man sits up is classic Kamala stuff as he gets scared and runs away. While the matches end is a let down as it was a DQ I do understand why as they seen more life in the feud and wanted both men to come out with neither having a pin loss to the other. Great stuff if you are a fan of classic Undertaker matches and if you like the style of Kamala at this stage of his career, and keep in mind this match is not for everyone as it is very slow paced and is a typical big man match from the early 90’s, but I for one enjoyed it.

Grade: **1/2

Match 6: Kamala vs. Tito Santana

Kamala charges Tito as the bell rings but cannot catch him, as he is much faster and is able to dodge his attack, and even when Kamala is able to get his hands on him he is able to use his speed to get away. Tito is able to get Kamala in an arm bar and when the big man gets out of it Tito is able to land some big punches to his head and rocks him for a few moments and allows Tito to get the arm bar back on. Kamala breaks free and misses a big splash and this gives Tito a chance to once more lock in the arm bar. But Kamala is able to take the momentum of the match and starts using his chops to break down Tito and even locks in a massive bear hug that crushes the life out of Tito. Once out of the bear hug Tito tries to make a comeback but it is cut off by Kamala who uses a kick to the face to knock Tito down and then as he is going to big splash for the win he sees The Undertakers manager Paul Bearer wheel down a casket and this causes him to run away from the ring and get counted out, giving Tito the win. This match is filled with lots of rest holds as arm bars and a over long held bear hug brings down the pace of the match and it’s a shame as both super stars are way more skilled then what they show in this match. And the ending of Kamala getting counted out by running into the crowd to escape the casket also does not help the match that was already not that great due to all the rest holds. Kamala does well in the match but does not shine like he normally does, and while Tito Santana starts off with quick moves he quickly falls into using the arm bar for way to long multiple times. Not much to really say about this one besides it was kind of a letdown as I am a big fan of both superstars and they just did not have a good match, and more the most part the crowd as well seemed really dead for this one.

Grade: **

Match 7: Kamala vs. Great Kabuki

As the bell rings Kabuki spits the green mist into the air and Kamala looks unsure of what he has just seen, and as the two lock up its Kamala that gets the upper hand and starts hitting him with big chops. Kamala then grabs Kabuki by his neck and lifts him in the air chocking him and causes Kabuki to spew the green mist and this makes Kamala let him go. But Kamala stays on the attack but Kabuki is able to fight back with a spinning kick to his gut and then to the chin knocking the big man down. The two end up locking up in a test of strength that Kamala wins and turns it into a bear hug on Kabuki and holds the move on tight, and Kanuki is only able to escape when he chops the ears of Kamala at the same time. The two end up trading blows until Kamala once more goes for a nerve hold that takes Kabuki down to the mat. Kabuki is able to use his speed and kicks to escape and land some movies on Kamala hurting the big man. The two once more trade punches back and fourth and Kabuki is able to land a good kick to Kamala’s face rocking him and just then both wrestlers managers (Skandor Akbar and Gary Hart) enter the ring and the match is a double DQ. This was a really good match between two great “monster heel” wrestlers one who uses power moves and one who uses quickness and martial arts and their styles worked well together. Kamala uses his power to try and ground Kabuki and does a great job at keeping his kicks and green mist at bay. While Kabuki uses his kicks to rock and hurt his bigger opponent, and his quick kicks to Kamala’s face are awesome and look good. The crowd is clearly on the side of Kabuki for the match as they pop for some of his moves and in the end when he gets the last shot in the match. The downside is that the match does not have a winner as the managers entering the ring cause it to be thrown out and that stinks, as is the fact they have Gary Hart get a few kicks off on Kamala. A good match for sure that is ruined by a bad finish.

Grade: ***

Match 8: Kamala vs. Andre The Giant

Kamala attacks Andre right as he is entering the ring and is landing big chops to the giant’s skull, and Andre starts fighting back with big chops of his own across the chest of Kamala. Andre then hits a big headbutt that dazes Kamala who exits the ring and does not want to get back in with the angry giant, and when he finally gets back in the ring he second guesses himself and gets right back out. Kamala finally gets the courage and gets back in the ring only to be choked by Andre as well as clubbed on with his massive fists. Kamala once more flees the ring in pain, and when back in the ring Andre continues to beat up on Kamala even landing a big boot to his face. But Kamala is able to make a comeback when he starts landing his chops to the top of Andre’s skull once more knocking the giant into the ropes and causing him to get his arms tangled and this allows Kamala to really unload on him. Once free Andre uses the ropes to choke Kamala and give himself a moment to catch his breath. Andre once more starts beating up on Kamala who once more gets out of the ring and has to be forced back into the ring by his managers. Andre beats Kamala in a test of strength and then steeps on his toes with all his weight, Andre then gets Kamala into the corner and crushes him with his size and weight. Kamala is in trouble and his managers know it so they enter the ring and attack Andre and get Kamala disqualified and this gives Andre The Giant the win. This is a true battle of the Big Men and Andre being the biggest as he even makes Kamala look small! The match is your normal big man fight with no technical moves used and it was all big man brawling power moves that the two threw at each other. Both men look great in the match with Andre of course coming off the stronger of the two and he was being showcased as the man who made Kamala even afraid due to his massive size and power. Andre is slow moving in the match as Kamala is the one who does lots of the bumps and work in the match, and what is really surprising while they took lots of breaks in the Kamala out of the ring bits they did not over use rest holds. And while Andre is clearly the one being pushed in the match they do a great job of still making Kamala look strong and this is a time when a DQ finish is needed so neither man has to take a pin or submission loss. Over all a slow brawl that has two giant going to war with each other and is a good entertaining match that Kamala really does shine in by making Andre look even better in the ring.

Grade: ***

Kamala really was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up and was one that I knew I had to cover on one of these “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” updates as I had to share is story and matches with you readers and friends. As you can see, he was a wrestler who could work his gimmick and have some good to great matches with many of the times top wrestlers. But as you can see, the lights are going out and the clean up crew is coming out here at the Rotten Ink Arena and the staff knows that I could talk Kamala for many more paragraphs, but I won’t as I am sure they are wanting to leave and you guys as well have things to do, so as we make our way to the exit I would like to take a few moments to let you know that the next update will be another spooky themed one as our Countdown to Halloween continues with a look at a Horror Host that made his home in the basement of the Grand Ole Opry House and I am talking about Sir Cecil Creape! So until next time read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. So you next time for a spooky good time.

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.

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Corporal Kirchner

Posted on July 4, 2023 by bloodlinematt

The doors of the Rotten Ink Arena are open as it’s time to celebrate July 4^th, the American holiday that allows us to celebrate our independence, and that is why the R.I.W has decided to hold this “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” holiday update event special! And of course the wrestler we will be taking a look at has to be an American Hero and that is why the real life military veteran and popular mid-card babyface Corporal Kirchner is in our main event! So as you can see, the snack bar is selling hotdogs and burgers and they have many beers on tap so let’s grab our seats and before the night’s fireworks let’s watch Corporal Kirchner enter the squared circle and do so for America.

Corporal Kirchner was trained by Verne Gagne and started his in ring career in 1980 and by 1984 was signed to WWF and worked under the name RT Reynolds. He was used as a jobber and enhancement talent and would be beat up by names like Jimmy Snuka and David Sammartino. By 1985 he would have a name change and be called The Axe and was still being used to put over bigger stars. But by late 1985 he would be Corporal Kirchner the military hero who loved America and would feud with heels that cheated and put down our nation, he was a true veteran and served in the Army when he was a young man. He also filled the void that Sgt. Slaughter left when he left the WWF and they needed a flag-waving hero and Corporal Kirchner was the man for the job as fans got behind him. To help build up Corporal Kirchner the WWF would shoot some vignettes and have him interviewed by Mean Gene Okerlund to get across his message and showcase his skills. They would also start having him wrestler matches against lower card heels like Steve Lombardi, Terry Gibbs and Mr. X but they would also put him over bigger named heels as well like Don Muraco, Moondog Spot and The Spoiler. He would however also take a few losses to Randy Savage at this time. His major feuds would be with Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff and this feud would see him loosing many of the matches as the feuds dragged on. He would have a series of Boot Camp matches against Volkoff and would come out on top. By 1986 Corporal Kirchner would start falling down the card and would be used as enhancement talent to put over the companies rising and established heels, as he was getting a bad reputation of being really stiff to work with in the ring. He would be involved in a match at WrestleMania II as he would beat Volkoff in a flag match and this being his biggest match during his WWF run. By 1987 the writing was on the wall as Corporal Kirchner would start pilling up the losses as he would be defeated by names like Rick Rude, Killer Khan, King Kong Bundy and Harley Race, and after failing a drug test he was suspended and Corporal Kirchner would not return to the company and just as fast as Corporal Kirchner came he was gone from the WWF.

After leaving WWF he would have a very small run in Stampede that would only be through 1987. And on a side note he also had a few matches for UWF in 1991. He then would start working in Japan and would have two short runs for New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1989 and 1990 before landing in W*ING in 1992 and dropped being Corporal Kirchner and would become Leatherface who was inspired by the villain in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series and would become a Hardcore/Death Match wrestler and would have many bloody matches against such names as Jason The Terrible, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Mr. Pogo and Crash The Terminator. During his run in Japan Leatherface would get into a fight with a fan and this would cause him to be locked up in jail for six months as he hurt the man pretty bad, and W*ING would have wrestler Rick Patterson become Leatherface in order to keep the character alive as it was a big draw for them. And when returning Original Leatherface would team with the current Leatherface and would be called Leatherfaces and would wrestle in IWA Japan that is until late 1994 when he would leave the promotion after shooting on Shoji Nakamaki and Hiroshi Ono in a Double Hell Deathmatch when Original Leatherface placed a bed of nails on the neck of Ono and stomped on it and then powerbombed him then on the nails his time was up for the company. And in 1995 Leatherface would become Super Leather and would sign with FMW in Japan and this is were he would really make a name for himself in Hardcore Wrestling and would become a major draw for the promotion and would have high profile matches against many of the companies top stars like Mike Awesome, Mr. Pogo, Masato Tanaka, Hayabusa and Ricky Fuiji to name a few. Super Leather would work for FMW till around 1999 and still would make random appearances for them in 2001 and 2002. In the 2000’s once more going just as Leatherface he would take matches in American companies like JCW and XWF and his final major match came in 2009 for PWR as he would win over Joey Vengeance. Sadly Corporal Kirchner passed away on December 22, 2021 from a heart attack at the age of 64.

Growing up Corporal Kirchner was a wrestler I remember as he was on TV at the time of my youth and most kids I knew had the LJN figure of him, and that is the odd thing he was never a wrestler that was super popular with my friends who watched wrestling and yet we all had his figure…strange looking back at it now as every kid who had the WWF LJN figures I knew really did have him. Corporal Kirchner was clearly a wrestler that WWF at first had faith in as they booked him pretty strong and would give him some solid wins over mid-card and lower card heels, but you can tell when they soured on him and his losses started to pile up and he was given the jobber treatment. But even when being booked on the loosing end of matches it was clear that he was well loved by fans as he would get good cheers, and during the time it was clear that he was not only in the WWF to take the place of Sgt. Slaughter but also because the Rambo films was super popular at the time and Kirchner was the perfect choice to fill that role as he had not only the background but also the look. And while I liked Kirchner I was a fan of his when he turned into the brutal Leatherface as I was a big watcher of FMW that I would buy the DVD and VHS releases as well as had a few tapes from the grey market and Leatherface was one I always enjoyed and when I found out it was Kirchner behind the mask it made him even cooler as who would have ever thought that the Pro-American Hero was the same guy wearing the Leatherface mask and throwing opponents into barbwire. Plus for those of you who didn’t know Kirchner got into wrestling after meeting and befriending Hulk Hogan who was raising as a superstar at a gym and the two spent time chatting about the fame of being a pro wrestler and Kirchner was hooked and knew he wanted to become one. I also find it interesting that during his time in the WWF many of his opponents complained about Kirchner being to rough and stiff and with many of them not wanting to work with him is why he fell down the card, and is why he became enhancement talent much like many names before him…looking at you Outback Jack. And imagine what could have been for Kirchner if he would have stayed in WWF instead of quitting way back in 1987 and I think that when Sgt. Slaughter came back to WWF in 1990 the two would have had a small feud. But also kind of glad he did leave, as then the world of hardcore wrestling would not have had Leatherface! While Kirchner was never one of my favorites I did find him entertaining and a good babyface for the federation at the time when American heroes was a big theme in wrestling. Oh I should also note once he walked around from full time in ring work he became a truck driver.

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 Corporal Kirchner 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 Corporal Kirchner.

Best Of Corporal Kirchner

Match 1: Corporal Kirchner vs. Paul Orndorff

As the bell rings Kirchner and Orndorff lock up and its shown that while the two are strong it’s Orndorff who is the stronger as he keeps backing Kirchner into the ropes, and after doing so three times when the pair break apart Orndorff slaps Kirchner across the face. This fires up Kirchner who ends up pushing Orndorff against the ropes, and for doing so Kirchner takes a cheap shot as the referee breaks them up. And Orndorff then starts beating the hell out of Kirchner with hits, kicks, knees and moves all done super aggressive as the fans boo. Kirchner changes the tide with a hip toss and a series of dropkicks that even knocks Orndorff out of the ring. But Orndorff takes back over the match and delivers a powerful suplex as well as a knee to the head of the downed Kirchner, Orndorff places on a chin lock and when Kirchner tries to get out of the hold he is beatdown for making the attempt he is even thrown outside the ring and has his neck dropped on the railing. Once back in the ring Kirchner makes a small comeback but is pined when Orndorff hits him with a piledriver. This is a really good match as the top heel Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff does a great job of wrestling dirty, getting the fans fired up with boos and is able to showcase his strongman style in the ring all the while proving why he was one of the best heels at that time to step foot into a WWF ring. And while he comes off the true star and attraction of the match he does not bury Kirchner and does make him look strong in spots. It’s clear that Kirchner was being used as a upper card enhancement talent as he is able to get some great moves in before finally taking the loss. Orndorff’s piledriver is on point and in the 80’s he was the master of the move for me as the impact that his version just seemed always so brutal, I also have to say the series of dropkicks by Kirchner was also very well done and looked good. A solid match and both guys looked good and for the most part they had really good chemistry together.

Grade: ***

Match 2: Corporal Kirchner vs. Kamala

Before the bell rings Kirchner gets the fans cheering for him and America, and when the bell finally rings the two run the ropes and Kamala knocks Kirchner down on the mat and this happens twice. And every time Kirchner tries to attack he is taken down by Kamala who is using massive head butts, ripping at Kirchner’s face and even uses chops. Kirchner makes a comeback and uses his punches and headbutts to try and rock the Ugandan Giant. But after missing a dropkick Kirchner is crushed by Kamala who lands two big splashes and gets the pin victory. After the bell Kamala climbs to the top rope and lands a big splash that makes Kirchner twitch in pain, and he keeps splashing him over and over. This match was a squash one and while Kirchner tries to fight off Kamala he is easily taken down and defeated and then continues to get his butt kicked after the bell and is made to look like a total jobber. Kamala is clearly the main star of the match and uses chops and his splashes to win and as always Kamala looks like a monster heel threat. Kirchner at times over sells and even when landing moves he flip’s around and at time it looks silly. The fans are for Kirchner and they boo Kamala and this is a good quick match that is clearly a way to build him as one of the companies top heels. This is a good squash match that was super quick and did its job of telling its story.

Grade: **1/2

Match 3: Corporal Kirchner vs. King Harley Race

Kirchner makes his way to the ring waving the American Flag and getting the fans cheering for him and the nation he loves. But before the bell rings with his back turned Race attacks and unloads on him with punches, moves and well placed knees. Race continues just beating the hell out of Kirchner who tries to make a quick comeback landing some big hits, but Kirchner climbs to the top rope and tries to land a flying elbow drop and misses and this gives Race the chance to climb the top rope and hit a clothesline, Race then hits a cradle suplex and gets the three count and the win. This is another match that is clearly to put over the heel King Harley Race as the match is short and Harley is able to defeat Kirchner cleanly in the center of the ring, and while Kirchner is able to get some moves in it’s clear that he is the enhancement talent in the match. And while the fans are behind Kirchner its clear he is not near the upper card. And while he gets fired up and lands some great punches he does not really get to showcase much of his talent at all. Race however looks great and his moves are pulled off flawless and his aggressive nature really did make him look like a major heel threat to any baby face. Not much to say besides a good enhancement match for Race and a match that proved that Kirchner while liked by fans was not climbing the card.

Grade: **1/2

Match 4: Corporal Kirchner vs. Iron Sheik

As soon as the bell rings Kirchner takes the action to Iron Sheik and unloads on him as the fans go crazy. But when Nikolai Volkoff comes to ringside Kirchner gets distracted and this allows Iron Sheik to attack and take over the momentum of the match and when getting Kirchner down he even spits on him. Iron Sheik then gets Kirchner in a abdominal stretch and cranks it in, but Kirchner is able to break the hold and lands a knees but misses a dropping elbow. Iron Sheik then drapes Kirchner over the ropes and then jumps on him chocking him on the ropes, after being tossed out of the ring and beat up on a little more Kirchner tries to roll up Iron Sheik to get a pin but it fails. In the end after they both go back and fourth its Kirchner that gets the win by DQ when Volkoff enters the ring to stop a pin and they two beat Kirchner up. As the two beat up Kirchner more it’s the Killer Bees that run in and make the save. This is a good match between two brawling style wrestlers that allows both to go back and fourth and each come out of the match looking good with Iron Sheik looking like the heel that he is and Kirchner looking like the American hero that WWF was building him up to be. While none of the moves in the match are overly impressive they get the job done and they get the right pop from the fans. It was nice seeing Kirchner get the win as Iron Sheik had to cheat in order not to be pinned and this was the right move to help build the feud they were in. Over all I enjoyed this match even if it was by no means a Five Star match as the two told a story in the ring even if it was a sloppy brawl style.

Grade: **1/2

Match 5: Corporal Kirchner vs. Mike Miller

This match takes place in the indie’s and Kirchner is the heel in the match! The two start the match locking up and it ends in a stalemate as neither gain the momentum, they need walk around the ring sizing each other up looking for the right time to strike. And when he can Kirchner does his best to take a few cheap shots at Miller who is getting fired up. And they two then exchange arm drags and this makes the fans pop as Miller is clearly now frustrating Kirchner. And Miller then gets Kirchner into an arm bar that is only broke when Kirchner is able to get his foot on the ropes. The two then get moves and escape moves on each other with Kirchner missing a big elbow drop causing him to be in pain. During a test of strength it looks as if Kirchner will be getting the upper hand that is until he takes several kicks to the gut from Miller who then takes over the match, that is until Kirchner stalls again slowing down the pace and gives him time to take charge. After going back and fourth Kirchner charges Miller in the corner who moves and this causes Kirchner to hit hard the turnbuckle and Miller is able to backslide and get the pin over Kirchner. This match is just ok as I feel that while both Kirchner and Miller are trying to tell a story in the ring you can tell neither are given 100% and that the match is plagued with lots of stalling and rest holds. And while I found it to be kind of boring the fans in the crowd seemed to be into the match as Mike Miller was clearly a big face for the OWF an indie promotion and its puzzling as he did not offer much in this match besides very basic movies and a limited brawling style. Kirchner did not look good either as being the heel he stalled and used rest holds way to much and never pushed the pace of the match and just really helped make the match kind of boring. Not much more to say besides it was cool seeing Kirchner as a heel and that the match just did not bring the entertainment to me.

Grade: *1/2

Match 6: Corporal Kirchner vs. Ricky Santana

This is another match that has Kirchner as the heel and is for OWF again. When the bell rings Kirchner hits Ricky with a knee to the gut and this drops him causing him almost to fall out of the ring. But Ricky uses his speed to land some hip tosses and a dropkick and the fans start going crazy with cheers. Both guys start working over each others arms when finally Ricky is able to get Kirchner to the mat still working his arm and even driving knees into it causing pain and damage, and even when Kirchner gets out of the hold he is quickly put right back into it. But Kirchner truly escapes with a jawbreaker and starts unleasing a beating on Ricky as the crowd tries to cheer to give their fan favorite a boost. Kirchner hits a suplex and goes for the pin but Ricky kicks out, Ricky then hits a flying back elbow and takes the tide until Kirchner tosses him out of the ring. Ricky is able to then roll up Kirchner and get the pin and the win, but Kirchner beats up Ricky after the bell. This match started out entertaining as Ricky Santana used his speed to take on and down the brawling Kirchner, but sadly it travels the route of rest holds and the pace is slowed so down that it starts to drag. But when it once more gets on pace the match picks back up and is a good TV Match that has both guys trying to tell a story in the ring even though its very basic and the fans in attendance are eating it up. Ricky Santana is good and reminded me of a mix of Tito Santana and Marty Jannetty as his moves and speed reminded me of them, while he was not as good as those two he had potential. Kirchner is the total heel as he is rough, gives cheap shots and uses his brawling style to try and beat up Ricky. Again no move stands out in the match as its not a fantastic one it’s just an enjoyable one that is clearly building Kirchner as a top heel as he attacks and even bags up Ricky after the match. Over all not bad and if you like mid-card matches from the indies in the 80’s this one is for you.

Grade: **1/2

Match 7: Corporal Kirchner vs. Adrian Adonis

Kirchner is able to get Adonis in the corner after the two lock up and from there is able to showcase his power to Adonis even knocking him out of the ring. Once back in the ring Adonis tries to take the action to Kirchner, but its stopped as Kirchner once more starts beating up Adonis to the fans delight. Jimmy Hart who is the manager of Adonis keeps trying to distract Kirchner to buy his man some time to recover. Kirchner gets Adonis is a headlock, but Adonis gets out of the hold with a side suplex and with that Adonis climbs the ropes and with a splash landed he gets the win via pin. This is a very quick match and while Kirchner is in charge most of the match using his brawling style he is done in with a suplex and a splash showing at this time he was 100% being booked as enhancement talent as the match was clearly to put over Adonis who has a big match against Roddy Pipper shortly at WrestleMania III. The down side being is that Adonis did not look all that great as he mostly got beat up by Kirchner who was being very limited in the moves he was trying to pull off. Over all this was pretty much a squash match that was booked oddly and did a good job of at least showing that Kirchner was a fighter.

Grade: **

Match 8: Corporal Kirchner vs. J.T. Southern

This match takes place in OWF and once more Kirchner is the heel. The two start the match squaring up and Southern is able to take Kirchner down as the fans go crazy. And Kirchner keeps getting beat up and rolls out of the ring. Kirchner’s leg is hurting and when he gets back in the ring the two have a test of strength and Kirchner gets the upper hand with a cheap shot kick and goes for the pin that Southern kicks out and delivers a nut shot that crumples Kirchner to the mat as the fans cheer like crazy. Southern goes crazy and unloads big punches on Kirchner who is still down, and even as Kirchner tries to get away Southern just continues to unload on him. Kirchner begs for timeout but Southern keeps up his attack and stomps him in the corner and then locks him into a chin lock. Once out of the hold Kirchner is able to take over the momentum and even hits a powerful clothesline from behind. Kirchner hits a few power moves and goes for the pin, but each time Sothern kicks out and this frustrates him as he wants to end the match. But Southern is able to get a small package rollup and get the pin and win. After the bell Kirchner attacks Southern as he was angered over loosing. He also puts Southern in the body bag and drops a top rope knee on him. This is a fun mid-card match and both tell a pretty good story in the ring as both throughout the match look good and have their time to shine. J.T. Southern is the ultimate baby face as he plays to the fans, gets fired up and really takes it to the heel. While Southern does nothing to impressive move wise in the match he is so over with the fans that it helps draw you into the match and look past any limitations he has in the ring. He is also the typical Rock N Roll wrestler who is complete with long hair and tiger striped tights. Kirchner in the match is a total chicken shit heel who begs for mercy, tries to cheat and gets the fans worked up with his ego and smirks. Kirchner hits a few really great looking impact moves and I do like his gimmick of putting his opponents in military body bags after the match has ended. Over all this is a good match that was entertaining.

Grade: **1/2

Corporal Kirchner is a wrestler who went from an American Hero to a chainsaw-swinging madman based on a Horror Movie character. The thing with Corporal Kirchner is that when he was in the WWF he was a popular mid-carder that got the fans to chant for America and as well always did his best to bring down the heels that he had to face. He was in the military and this helped him seem legit in the character he was playing in the ring. Well as you can see, just across the street at the Rotten Ink Staduim they are going to be setting off fireworks soon for the holiday and I am sure were ever you are from the fireworks will be going off soon so I think its time to head on out, and with that I would like to thank you for spending apart of your 4^th of July with me here and I would also like to let you know that our next update will take us to the land of Monster Bash Convention and we will be taking a look at the 2010 remake of the George Romero film The Crazies! 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 crazy spooky good time!

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Ox Baker

Posted on June 13, 2023 by bloodlinematt

The doors of the Rotten Ink Arena are open, and this “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update is one that comes with a warning as the main event star is a heel who struck fear into not only his opponents’ hearts but also the fans as he was the master of the heart punch, the one and only Ox Baker who was one of the meanest wrestlers in the business whose legend is still spoken about among the world of wrestling fans. I mean who else has the legacy of “killing” two of his opponents with his finishing move, and then went on to star in movies including one by director John Carpenter? So let’s get to the snack bar and grab some nachos and a drink and find our seats as this one is going to be one menacing event. Also make sure to watch out for a rogue Heart Punch as Ox Baker is a mean, mean man.

Ox Baker started his Pro Wrestling career in 1964 and was trained by Bob Geigel, Pat O’Connor and “Killer” Buddy Austin, and while he started out as a baby face he soon would be the world of wrestling’s most feared heels. Like all wrestlers of his time, he started working many of the NWA territories like World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and Central States Wrestling (CSW) and would even find himself in title matches against the likes of Fritz Von Erich. With Ox standing 6’3” tall and weighing over 300 pounds, he got attention and started finding himself being a draw as fans wanted to see him in action. In 1967 Ox would find himself working for the WWF and would have big matches against such names as Smasher Sloan, Dr. Jerry Graham, Gorilla Monsoon, Toru Tanaka and Woody Farmer. Once his short run was done, he headed back to touring around and building his name bigger and bigger as most places he was being booked would have him win most of his matches. By 1968 he would find himself working in Canada for Stampede and would work matches against The Mongolian Stomper and would even win the NWA Calgary Canadian Heavyweight belt from him but he would lose the belt a few days later to Waldo Von Erich. Throughout the rest of the 60’s, he would travel around working matches in many promotions in America, Canada and Japan and would work matches against names like Bill Watts, Bulldog Brower, Rocky Johnson, Ivan Koloff, Terry Funk, Dick Murdoch, Cowboy Bob Ellis, Blackjack Lanza, Lou Thesz and Strong Kobayashi to name a few. He would also capture and lose the NWA North American Tag Team Belts during the late 60’s. Ox was becoming such a big attraction as his finishing move the Heart Punch was gaining fear as fans worried about their favorites being it by it.

The 1970’s continued for Ox as he would work Japan as well a run in the AWA, and in 1971 during a tag match Alberto Torres was teaming with Cowboy Bob Ellis and after taking a Heart Punch by Baker, Torres passed away three days later. 1972 his heart punch finisher once more was blamed for the death of wrestler Ray Gunkel who died in the locker room after the match and these two deaths added to his feared reputation. And during the early 70’s, Ox would also be collecting belts and while he would not hold many of them for long times he still was winning them. In 1974 while in Cleveland, Ohio a match between Ox Baker and Ernie Ladd caused a riot when Ox kept hitting Ladd with the heart punch after the bell rang, and fans got so mad that they went after Ox to save Ladd. Like before, Ox would spend the rest of the 1970’s as a journeyman wrestler working for promotions all over the world and along the way would still be winning belts as well as tormenting the fans with his wins over popular baby faces. During the 70’s he would have matches against such names as Andre The Giant, Sailor Art Thomas, Pampero Firpo, Pepper Gomez, Bobo Brazil, Dusty Rhodes, Ivan Putski, Giant Baba, Bob Backlund and Haystacks Calhoun. Some of those were high profile feuds for Ox. During this decade he built himself as one of the world’s biggest heels, secured that he was a draw for promotions and made his finisher The Heart Punch the scariest finisher in the sport at the time.

Besides working for the NWA, in the 80s Ox Baker would also work for New Japan Pro Wrestling and would have matches with Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami and would even team with Tiger Jeet Singh while in Japan. He also would have a blink and he was gone return to the WWF as he was managed by The Grand Wizard and after doing one TV taping he was gone. Throughout the 80’s he would work matches for the territories and would start winding down his full time in ring career by the end of the decade. And even as he was getting older, he still was a main event star and the fans by this point loved to hate him. In many promotions he was the kind of heel it was all right to cheer for. After working some matches with the AWA he would retire from in ring work in late 1988 and would go on to do commentary for companies as well as would open his own wrestling training school. Ox Baker would have a few matches in 2008 for UCW as he took on Moonshine McCoy and in 2013 once more he would wrestle this time for CCW and would even become the CCW Champion after winning a battle royal. In 2014 he would once more say he was retired and by late 2014 he sadly passed away from a heart attack at the age of 80. While gone from this Earth, his legacy of being one of the sports most feared and epic heels will live on forever.

When I was growing up, Ox Baker was always showcased as a very dangerous heel in all the wrestling magazines and books I was reading and it all came down to his finisher the Heart Punch! Plus I knew of him for his acting roles in such films as “Escape From New York” and can remember seeing clips of him on the game show “The Price Is Right” on grey market tapes, not to mention seeing some of his matches as a kid and hearing about his legacy made him seem truly like the meanest of all wrestling heels. Besides his massive size and his killer finishing move, his long mustache and the devil point eyebrows made him stand out and look super mean and even evil to a point. With his appearance and brawling style I think that is why he really is one of that era’s best heels as he really did standout from the others and fans really did believe that he was a bad man. And of course the deaths that his Heart Punch was connected to had nothing to do with the move and were really natural causes and an injury, but man these allegations really did help his legacy and made him a bigger star as fans did not know what to expect and he just seemed so dangerous. And I would say that Ox was smart for being a traveling Heel as it made him feel like an attraction when he came to town and would wrestler the territories main faces. And I do think that if he was younger in the 1980’s he would have made a great roster member for the WWF and could have been a big match heel for Hulk Hogan. And I also need to say it’s crazy that Ox Baker is not in the WWF Hall Of Fame as of this update’s posting.

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 Wild Ox Baker 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 Ox Baker.

Best Of Ox Baker

Match 1: Ox Baker vs. Blackie Guzman

Ox and Guzman lock up, and it’s clear that the power is with Ox as he backs his opponent into the ropes and breaks the hold clean, and the fans are behind Ox in the match from the start and Ox then starts working on the arm and shoulder of Guzman and really focuses on them with holds, smashes and locks keeping Guzman injured and his momentum down the whole time. And every time Guzman tries to make a comeback Ox cuts him off and keeps working on his shoulders. After smashing him a few times with clubbing forearms Ox tosses Guzman out of the ring, and once back in the ring Ox hits the Heart Punch and pins and wins the match. This is a one sided match and shows the mean streak as well as the power of Ox Baker as he works nerve holds and beats the hell out of the shoulder of Blackie Guzman before hitting him with the Heart Punch for an easy win. Poor Blackie Guzman tries to fight back but his attempts fall flat, as Ox does not even flinch and just keeps on beating him up! This is a squash match that is entertaining as seeing Ox hit the Heart Punch is cool to see as always.

Grade: **1/2

Match 2: Ox Baker vs. Rev. Tiny Hampton

Tiny is able to get the first hit off and this angers Ox who stalks him around the ring as Tiny tries to talk his way out of being attacked, but it does not work as Ox hits a kick and a forearm smash that causes Tiny to crash to the mat. Tiny gets some advise from his manager but it does not help as Ox continues to smash him into the mat and even chokes him on the ropes. But Tiny is able to even the match when he hits Ox in the throat a few times and the two end up exchanging punches back and fourth and like before Ox gets the advantage, that is until Tiny’s manger districts the referee and Tiny then throws powder into the eyes of Ox blinding him and allows him to unload on him. Once Ox is able to see better he fights back and beats down Tiny and even goes after his manager, and when Tiny goes out after him he is beaten up so bad that he gets counted out and Ox wins the match. When this match starts it looks as if it’s going to be a very easy and quick win for Ox Baker as he just beats the heck out of Tiny, but after powder to the eyes the match becomes a true contest. These two have great chemistry together as they are both brawling heels and both just use brute moves and punches to try and win. Ox does a great job of not only looking like a badass when its needed but also sells really well for Tiny throughout making him look like a contender. No grand moves are thrown in this bout as it really is just mostly smashing, punching and stomping it has a real hoss fight to it, and the fan in attendance are really into it as it’s clear they are behind Ox Baker the man the fans loved and hated at the same time. Over all a good entertaining match.

Grade: **1/2

Match 3: Ox Baker vs. Brusier Brody

The two lock up and move around the ring with finally Ox being able to back Brody into the ropes and lands a massive hit to his chest and then the two start trading hits and Ox keeps trying to choke Brody who does his best to not allow that. The two trade hit for hit and even both kick each other in the gut, but neither man is going down as this is truly a battle between two big men heels. Both men get the momentum on their side for brief moments but each cut each other off as the fans seem to be in awe of watching this brawling battle. Ox ends up getting Brody into a bear hug, but Brody breaks the hold and makes Ox pay by landing some smashing hits and tosses Ox out of the ring and goes out after him and once back in the ring Ox goes for the Heart Punch and misses and hits a steel chair hurting his hand and this allows Brody to hit Ox with the chair and get the win via pin. This is the match I was most looking forward to watching as this truly had the making of two brutal brawling masters slugging it out in the ring, and for the most part it lived up to what I wanted from it and that’s to be entertained and watching two big monster heels trading punches. Both guys look good in the match and both guys get their moments to shine as well as sell well for each other, and while 99% of the match is punches, kicks and forearm smashes and both heels stand toe to toe and just try and beat the hell out of each other. The fans are really into it and the finish of Ox missing his punch and then getting clobbered with a chair was a fitting ending for this hoss fight. Over all a good match that throws technic out the widow and just brings a hard hitting brawl to entertain.

Grade: ***

Match 4: Ox Baker vs. Hercules Ayala

The two big men lock up and this leads to Ox being able to get Hercules into an arm bar and keeps working it over and when breaking the hold he even uses the ropes in order to get the referee to hold back Hercules, as Ox is playing mind games with his opponent. Ox keeps up this attack the arm and play mind games for a while as the fans seem to be loosing interest in this tactic. They come alive when the two have a test of strength and Ox keeps cheating in order to get the leverage, that is till Hercules’s power kicks in and he takes Ox to the mat and delivers some big stomps and then gets him into the corner and lands some smashing forearms. Ox pokes Hercules in the eyes and this gives him a few minutes to catch his breath and land some hits, but Hercules bounces back fast and knocks him to the mat and this time drops some knees. The two end up exchanging hits and after failing to hit the Heart Punch three times, Ox is rolled up and Hercules gets the win via pin. This is a very odd match that is short, filled with lots of rest holds, at times both men seem to be moving in very slow motion, lots of miss cues, they lost the fans at the start but do bring them in at the end and is just kind of a bland match and that’s odd as I am a fan of both wrestlers. No real big moves are thrown in the match and it’s your basic brawling big man style, at one point a fan is so annoyed with the match that he gives Ox the middle finger! Not much to say about this one besides it was a letdown and that at times it seemed as if Ox was having some mobility issues.

Grade: *1/2

Match 5: Ox Baker vs. Austin Idol

Austin Idol starts the match on the microphone yelling at Ox Baker and as soon as the bell rings Ox is on Idol and rams his face into the turnbuckle a few times, but when Ox goes for an early Heart Punch and misses this gives Idol and chance to make a comeback with an atomic drop and Idol then goes for the figure four, but Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin enter the ring and break the hold and attack Idol and the referee throws out the match and gives the DQ win to Austin Idol. After the bell rings Ox even takes a towel and starts choking the referee with it as all hell breaks loose in the ring. This is a very quick match that does not have much moves, holds or punches and goes from a promo being cut on Ox to the two barely locking up to having outside interference make for a DQ ending that is very much disappointing as I would have liked to seen Idol and Ox have a big brawl. The match is not much of a match, but it is cool to see Austin Idol pick up Ox Baker for an atomic drop even if he is shaky and does not hold him up for long. And it was great seeing Ox Baker super aggressive as soon as the bell rang and even went for his finisher quick. A throwaway match that has some good brawling at the end even if Ox Baker is not in the end brawl.

Grade: *1/2

As you can see, Ox Barker was a big man wrestler who traveled the world and was a heel draw in every territory and for his time really was one of the scariest workers in the business. And really he was a wrestler from my childhood that was working that I remember and was a fan of do to his legacy in and out of the ring, and he was one that I would have loved to see wrestle live. And what is crazy is that Ox wrestled into his 80’s showing that wrestling was in his blood. But as you can see, the event is over and the fans are heading out, and that is our sign to also leave and while we make our way out let me tell you that our next update is going to be a fun epic one as we will be joining Indiana Jones on a epic adventure thanks to Marvel Comics! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always make sure to support your local wrestlers. See you soon as this next one update really will be epic and action packed.

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Demolition

Posted on April 22, 2023 by bloodlinematt

The doors of the Rotten Ink Arena are open and this “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update event is going to be a big one as our main event star tag team love Pain And Destruction and even claim that it’s their middle names! And of course we are talking about Demolition whose members in the WWF were Ax, Smash and Crush and was one of the companies biggest heel teams as well as baby face when they made the turn. And if you look around this is a packed house for sure and almost all of the fans in attendance are wearing Demolition t-shirts and are even holding up signs to show them support. And over at the snack bar Mr. X is selling some cheap beer and popcorn and I say we grab some snacks and find out seats as this is one wrestling tag team that I have been waiting to cover here at Rotten Ink Arena and as you hear their theme has started so let’s get ready to cheer for this iconic team.

Demolition was a tag team that started in 1987 for the WWF and the members were Ax (Masked Superstar) and Smash (Moondog Rex) and they were managed by Luscious Johnny V and were major heels who wrestled a very still wrestling style. They wore leather-studded outfits and hockey masks and when the masks came off they reveled face paint, and they had a rough attitude of dealing out destruction on the ring. And fans at the start of their tag career was very intimidated by them and kids even where a little scared as they would beat down their opponents and seemed to love doing so. But soon Moondog Rex was replaced by Barry Darsow, and the Smash we all know became the gimmick, as the fans seen through the face paint and knew it was Rex and WWF didn’t like this so the switch was made. Demolition would find themselves working House Shows as well as would be in Battle Royals and would be getting wins against teams like The Can-Am Connection, The Rougeau Brothers, The Killer Bees and The Islanders. And quickly Demolition would rack up the wins and even at this time the fans would be mixed as many would boo them as they were heels others would cheer them as they found them to be one of the companies best tag teams at the time and they stayed very busy in ’87 and would even get chances to work bigger teams like The British Bulldogs and The Hart Foundation. Their first major feud was against the team of Ken Patera and Billy Jack Hayes, and the two would trade victors with the end going to Demolition. At the 1987 Survivor Series Demolition would be apart of a 5 Heel Tag Team side and would be eliminated by DQ after the shoved the referee. In 1988 Demolition would win the WWF World Tag Team Titles from Strike Force (Tito Santana & Rick Martel) at WrestleMania IV and this would be the first of three title runs.

Demolition throughout 1988 would defend the titles successfully against many top teams like Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, Strike Force and The Brain Busters. Their next major feud was with The Powers Of Pain (Warlord & Barbarian) that would end up having Demolition turn baby face when there then manager Mr. Fuji would turn on them at the 1988 Survivor Series and instead join the Powers Of Pain that would turn heel. After a long run and defending the titles against Powers Of Pain the moved onto having a series of matches against The Twin Towers (Big Boss Man & Akeem) and as well would hold them off. But in 1989 on WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event 22 they would loose the titles to Arn Andersaon and Tully Blanchard known as The Brain Busters. And the two teams would go to war with each other and they would finally win the belts back on an episode of WWF Superstar and this would lead to them having matches against members of the Heenan Family that included members Andre The Giant, Arn Anderson and Haku and they would end up loosing the titles this time to Andre and Haku. And during this time as well Demolition had been in Survivor Series matches as well as have been on many other WWF pay-per views. In 1990 Demolition would win their titles back after a ling feud with Andre and Haku at WrestleMania VI.

After getting the titles back Demolition would turn heel again and would add a third member to the team Crush (Brian Adams) and this shocked the fans as the team had been one of the companies most popular babyface teams and now they were cheating to win and turned their backs on the fans. The three would use the Freebird Rule when defending the belt and that means that any two members could be the ones in the match and this made it hard for opponents to prepare for the matches. And they would defend and retain the titles against The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) but would loose them to the Hart Foundation at the 1990 SummerSlam, and this would start a feud with The Legion Of Doom (Hawk & Animal) and this would also have them back to being managed by Mr. Fuji, but later that year Ax would leave the company and this would leave Smash and Crush as Demolition and their spot on the card started to drop as they were used to put over other teams. They would also work for Super World Of Sports out of Japan as the WWF and them had a talent exchange. And in 1991 the team would end for the time being and their final match for WWF was on September 18, 1991 as they lost to George and Shunji Takano. Demolition started out being WWF’s biggest and baddest team, but sadly after adding Crush and the company signing the Legion Of Doom their time was up as they started to be booked to loose and even fans started to turn on them. But one thing about Demolition is that they for the longest time held the company’s longest total reign as champions 478 days a record they held until New Day broke it with a 483 days reign in 2015.

After Demolition was no more in the WWF they all went on to do different things like Ax would change his name to Axis The Demolisher and would work the indies with two new partners Smash (Moondog Rex) and Blast (Richard Charland) and he tried to use the Demolition name on the indies only to be shut down by the WWF. Smash would go on to become Repo Man in the WWF before leaving and working for WCW under names like The Black Top Bully and his real name Barry Darsow. Crush would end up staying in WWF for a while and would first turn into a babyface Hawaiian beach guy, then he would turn heel and paint his face again and be managed by Mr. Fuji, he then would join the teams Nation of Domination and the DOA before leaving the company in 1997. Crush under his real name Brian Adams would then sign with WCW and become a member of the NOW as well as later team with Bryan Clark to become KroniK. Sadly Brian Adams aka Crush would pass away on August 13, 2007 of an accidental overdose, he was only 43 years old.

Demolition Ax and Smash (Darsow) would come back together on the Indies starting in 2007 and once more captured the fans cheers as they became draws for the companies and would even start to capture Tag Team Gold again. They would work for companies like Chikara, IWC, KSWA, TWA and PWX and would also be making appearances at Wrestling, Comic and Horror conventions and proved that they still were one of the biggest and most loved tag teams in history. The reunion would end in 2017 when they wrestled their final match as a team at a NCWA event when they also teamed with George South and lost to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express and Bobby Fulton. And a little latter after that match Ax would retire for in ring work and Smash would shortly follow him into retirement. Say what you will but Demolition was a tag team that often got compared to The Legion Of Doom, but they broke that notion and proved that they as well were a dominating tag team who fans loved to cheer or boo depending on being a Heel or Baby Face team.

Demolition was a tag team that I was a fan of from the start as they were awesome brawlers who had a cool look of spiked out ring attire and standout face paint with Smash mostly rocking a flame theme and Ax using lots of silver. I always liked them better as a heel team and liked when Mr. Fuji was their manager and watching them cheat in matches and seeing the fans get fired up with anger was awesome, plus they in matches seemed like they were always ready for a fight and would be so happy to beat up their opponents. The feud in the WWF that I enjoyed the most was with the Powers Of Pain as it was two power brawling teams beating the hell out of each other, but I also always liked watching them work with The Rockers as their styles clashed and yet worked really well together. Ax was always the team leader in my eyes and Smash and Crush were the ones that followed his orders as Ax just always had that vibe of being the mastermind behind their path of destruction, Smash was always the more popular one on the playground as my fellow classmates who watched wrestling always seemed to have his Hasbro action figure and he would be the one they talked about. Speaking of Hasbro figures I can remember when I got Demolition I thought the toys were so cool and I can remember bringing them to school to have them wrestle with other figures during recesses. One thing that has been said about Demolition over the decades was that they were the WWF’s answer to the Road Warriors (Legion Of Doom) as they could not signed them so Vince created his own, and I find this to be insulting to Demolition as they where more then just a clone and they created their own style and own mark on the world of wrestling. And I also have to say while I liked Ax and Smash better when it was just Smash and Crush they still were pretty dang cool. Back in 2016 while at a HorrorHound Weekend with Baron Von Porkchop I even had the honor of meeting Ax and Smash of Demolition and they were both awesome guys and even took a moment to take a picture with me. To sum it up, Demolition is awesome and if you have never watched any of their matches make sure to do so.

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 Demolition for there 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. 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 Demolition.

Best Of Demolition

Match 1: Demolition vs. British Bulldogs

Smash starts the match for Demolition and Davey Boy for the British Bulldogs and they two lock up and Smash ends up using ax handle smashes to beat Davey up, but Davey is able to tag in Dynamite Kid who takes the lead and starts beating up on Smash with lots of fast paced power moves as the two go back and fourth. Smash is able to tag in Ax who starts pounding on Dynamite and Ax starts working over his arm and Dynamite reverses the arm hold and makes the tag to Davey and the Bulldogs make quick tags as they work on Ax’s arm, but Smash comes in and cheap shots Dynamite from behind and the two start working over the injured wrestler with Smash even locking in a big bear hug. Dynamite is finally able to get a tag when he is able to boot Smash in the face and leap to Davey who comes into the match a house of fire and but weird enough Dynamite tags back in and quickly starts getting beat up again and tossed out of the ring. Once out of the ring Demolition’s manager Mr. Fuji starts kicking Dynamite, and this angers Davey and along with Dynamite they chase Fuji to the back. When the Bulldogs return they have a broken cane and start hitting Demolition with it, they also shove down the referee and this causes Demolition to win by DQ. This is a fun and yet clunky match that has The Bulldogs making lots of silly decisions in the ring, like Dynamite tagging back into the match seconds after being beat up, rushing the ring with a broken cane to attack and as well knocking down the referee makes them come off as dumb. Demolition pretty much dominate the match with a brawling style and are in control for most of it with both Ax and Smash beating up Dynamite Kid. The fans are into the match and are behind The Bulldogs, but you can also hear some cheers for Demolition who clearly was the team being pushed in the match as they were the Tag Team Champions. Smash works most of the match with Ax being his backup and they both look good in the match. Davey is the powerhouse of the Bulldogs with Dynamite being the one who takes the beating for the most part. Over all a good TV match that was quick and to the point and gave Demolition a win.

Grade: **1/2

Match 2: Demolition vs. Powers Of Pain

As soon as the bell rings Demolition and the Powers Of Pain start beating the hell out of each other, and in this match Demolition are the baby faces and Mr. Fuji is now the manager of Powers Of Pain! Once order is restored Smash and Warlord start the match and Warlord is in trouble as Demolition keep tagging in and out keeping him down and away from tagging his partner. Smash misses a corner splash and this allows Warlord to make the tag to Barbarian who exchanges moves with Smash who is able to get a tag to Ax who uses ax handle smashes to take Barbarian down to the mat, but behind the referees back Mr. Fuji uses his cane on Ax’s knee and this allows the Powers Of Pain to take control of the match, Barbarian even hits a massive shoulder breaker, and they continue to beat up Ax who finally is able to fight back and gets the tag to Smash who rushes in and starts punching both Warlord and Barbarian, but the Powers end up double teaming Smash and even hit him with the Doomsday Device! But Ax makes the save and while the referee is distracted by Mr. Fuji he takes the cane and hits the Powers Of Pain with it, but Fuji then enters the ring and throws powder into the eyes of Ax and the referee has had enough and decides to DQ Powers of Pain and give the match to Demolition. This is a 100% a Hoss fight as both Demolition and Powers Of Pain are going out to try and hurt one another buy using big brawling power moves, and both teams look strong during the match as its 50/50 throughout it with both teams showing that they want to win! The Doomsday Device that the Powers Of Pain hit looks really good and impactful, and its clear that the fans want Demolition to win as they cheer for them loudly throughout the match. The DQ finish is a little of a letdown as it’s odd that the referee ended up giving Demolition the win after the salt in the eyes, but the referee before that seen Ax several times hit Barbarian with the cane and did nothing about it. This was a fun brawl match that entertained the fans and did a good job of keeping the feud between these two teams going.

Grade: **1/2

Match 3: Demolition vs. The Rockers

Ax starts the match for Demolition as Shawn Michaels does for the Rockers and from the start its clear that Ax is the strongest of the two and he starts dealing out some damage to Shawn, but Shawn uses his speed to frustrate Ax who tags in Smash and this is Shawn’s cue to tag in Marty Jannetty and it goes the same as Smash uses his power to try to take the tide its Marty’s speed that keeps it from going one sided. Demolition is so frustrated they try and get advice from their manager Mr. Fuji on what to do all the while the fans are loving it. And the speed of the Rockers still keep Demolition off guard with them doing quick tags and even quicker strikes on the much bigger opponents. But Ax turns the tide when he hits a headbutt on Marty that rocks him, and then it’s Demolition’s turn to hit big power moves as well as kick tag in and out. Marty hits a back elbow on Smash and tags in Shawn who once more uses his speed to get big punches landed on Smash’s head, and as Shawn hits the ropes Ax pulls it down and causes Shawn to fall out of the ring. Once back in the ring Shawn is injured and Smash tries to get him to quit by placing him in a Boston Crab, Shawn will not give up and Ax is tagged in and he starts working over the back of Shawn, and they tag in and out just tormenting Shawn who is finally able to make a small comeback and get the tag to Marty who unleashes on Smash as series of punches and moves. Marty almost gets the three count after landing a top rope splash to Smash that is broken up by Ax. And the match ends when Ax cheap shots Marty and Smash is able to get the win via pin. This was a match that had the live fans cheering like crazy for The Rockers and booing Demolition as they cheated their way to a victory. Both teams looked great in this match and they told a great story of a smaller team using their speed to stand toe to toe with the much larger opponents. Both teams also make the other look like a million bucks as they both sell for one another and they both show that they are masters of the art of tag team as they psychology that both teams show is fantastic. The energy of the fans really helps bring out the excitement of this match and once more the match was used to put over Demolition but also used to help build The Rockers as Marty and Shawn work hard. A good match the mixed speed and power and these two teams work really well together.

Grade: ***1/2

Match 4: Demolition vs. Andre The Giant & Giant Baba

This match takes place in Japan and the fans are hot and cheering so loud and Smash starts the match off with Giant Baba who drops his opponent with a massive chop! Baba keeps the heat on Smash and tags in Andre who chops, kicks and steps on him. Smash escapes the attack when Andre misses sitting on him and give him a chance to tag in Ax. The match tide changes for a moment as Ax keeps pounding on Andre and Demolition makes quick tags and keep just punching and keeping him down on the mat. Andre is able to choke Ax and at the same time roll to tag in Baba who stomps on the gut of Ax as the fans cheer. Demolition then starts double teaming Baba who fights his way out of their corner and hits Smash with a swinging neck breaker, Ax breaks up the pin attempt and Baba then tags in Andre who beats up both Demolition with chokes and punches. But when Demolition start double teaming Andre this makes Baba also enter the ring and all four men start brawling. In the end Baba hits Smash with a big boot and then Andre drops an elbow on him and gets the pin and the win. Demolition carry this match as both Andre The Giant and Giant Baba seem to be moving in slow motion as they both are not in great physical shape. It’s Demolition who do most of the selling and moving around the ring and they come off strong and make the two aging Giants look like powerhouses still. The fans are so into this match as they are 100% behind The Giants as they cheer for all they do, and when they win the places roof comes off. Andre and Baba mostly lumber around the ring and punch, kick, chop and choke and while they are limited in the ring they still are still true superstars. This is more of an attraction match as its not technical at all but the story the four men tell in the ring and the energy of the fans make this match feel big.

Grade: **1/2

Match 5: Demolition vs. S.D. Jones & B. Brian Blair

For this match S.D. Jones is a temporary member of the Killer Bees and Blair and Ax start the match off and it’s clear that Ax is the stronger of the two but it’s Blair’s speed that allows him to take Ax down to the mat. And when Smash and Jones get into the ring they also find that Jones is fast as well as strong and he shows his skills as the fans are behind Special Delivery. The Bees move fast and hit moves and quick tag as they work over Smash who is cut off from his corner and land an atomic drop on him as well as elbows. But Ax cheats and knees Blair in the back and turns the tide of the match as he also gets tagged in and gets a chin lock on Blair and this slows down his speed, and they also keep him away from Jones and tag in and out just beating him up. Finally Blair is able to tag in Jones who starts fighting off Demolition, but Ax hits Jones with a cheap shot to the back of the head and Smash is able to get the win by pin. This is a pretty one sided match as it was clear that the WWF was building up Demolition as most of the match they just beat the hell out of Brian Blair and its mostly S.D. Jones who is the one who gets the offense on the Killer Bees side. Demolition look very strong in the match and while they do sell for the Killer Bees it was clear that the heels were going over. It was great seeing the fans cheer for S.D. Jones and even at times you can hear some fans cheer for Demolition. Over all a good enhancement match that just showcases the early brawling style of Demolition and just how far the Killer Bees had fallen down the card.

Grade: **1/2

Match 6: Demolition vs. Tito Santana & Mil Mascaras

Ax and Tito start off the match and Tito’s speed comes in handy, as he is able to fire off and land some strikes before Ax himself fires off some ax handle hits. Tito is able to hit a flying body press on Ax and gets a one count. Ax tags in Smash who starts to unload on Tito who in turn tags in Mil who starts working over the arm of Smash and even lands his trademark dropkick before tagging back in Tito who starts off good but quickly finds himself on a beating at the hands of Demolition. And when Tito finally can make the tag to Mil he as well starts off good but soon finds himself being double teamed by Demolition and they even toss him out of the ring, and Ax even behind the referee’s back uses the cane of Mr. Fuji to choke Mil. Demolition continues to tag in and out and keep Mil from getting the tag to Tito and they cut off many of his comeback attempts. But when Mil is able to make the tag he and Tito hit a double drop kick on Ax and knock him to the ground, Mil tags back in and locks in a Camel Clutch that is broken by Smash. In the end the referee watches Mr. Fuji trip Tito and he gives he and Mil the win by DQ. What a strange and very entertaining match as its Lucha Libre meets the Brawling Big Man WWF Style in a match that should have had a better finish then a DQ ending. Demolition comes off strong and much of the match has them in control of the match, but yet Tito and Mil as well come off as major opponents who when they turn the tide in the match give Demolition a run for their money. The fans in attendance where very much into the match as they wanted to see Mil and Tito pick up the victory and even cheer when the team does win with the lame DQ finish. Mil’s dropkicks look great, Demolition look strong and the fans were into the match what more could you ask for. While not a Five Star match it was an entertaining one.

Grade: ***

Match 7: Demolition vs. The Gladiator & Dave Pullman

Ax starts the match off just beating the hell out of Pullman and then tags in Smash who does the same thing by just punching him over and over again. Ax tags back in and rams Pullman’s face into the boot of Smash who tags back in and allows Pullman to tag in his partner Gladiator who does no fare well as Smash and Ax just tag in and out and beat him up, with Smash dropping Gladiator throat first onto the top rope and tags in Ax and they hit The Demolition Decapitation on Gladiator and get the win via pin. This was 100% a one sided squash match as Demolition just dominate and destroy Pullman and Gladiator who never even get to land a hit. The match does its job of making Demolition look like a powerful tag team who where rough and mean brawlers even though they were the baby faces in the match. The Gladiator is a masked wearing worker and he cracked me up as he from the moment he gets into the match is just beat up and pinned fast. This was a fun and one sided squash match that was entertaining because Demolition are awesome and the jobbers are awesomely cheesy.

Grade: **

Match 8: Demolition vs. The Intruder & Tim Patterson

Smash and Tim start the match and things don’t go well for Tim who is backed into the corner and Smash lands some big punches. When Ax tags in they place Tim on the ropes and they both just land some big forearm smashes on him, and then Ax puts his boot on the neck of Tim and starts trying to cut off his air and even starts working on his neck causing him lots of pain. When Smash tags in he allows Tim to tag in The Intruder who tries to hit Smash with no effect and is then thrown out of the ring for effort. Once back in the ring Ax tags in and Intruder is beat up on with some stiff clothesline and then hit with The Demolition Decapitation and they win the match. This is yet another squash match and Demolition just destroy and demolish these jobbers with Tim not even getting a hit off with The Intruder at least throwing a few punches that have no effect at all. Demolition look vicious in the match as they double team and even stomp put boots to neck. This is pretty much a normal squash match that is a fast easy win for the star team, and the losers are purely being used as enhancement. The Demolition Decapitation looks great in the match and masked wrestler The Intruder is super short and does not look like a pro wrestler from that time, but with that said I would love to see more matches of his! Over all a squash match that is entertaining.

Grade: **1/2

Demolition is one of the greatest Tag Teams from the WWF in the 80’s and early 90’s as they had a great look and could brawl and beat up with the best of them. But as you can see, the event is over and the lights have been turned on so that is our cue to head out and as we make our way to the doors I want to say that I hope that you readers are enjoying these wrestling updates as much as I am writing them. And I should also note that our next update will take us away from the squared circle and to the world of home video game consoles as I will breakdown the Best Horror Games for the Atari 2600! 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 8-Bit Terror brought to us all by Atari.

R.I.W Wrestling Legend: Killer Khan

Posted on April 12, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink Arena, the place that we come to talk about Pro Wrestling and enjoy celebrating the legends of the sport that we all love. Today’s “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update is going to be killer, and by that I mean it will be about one of the biggest, meanest foreign heels in wrestling through the 1980’s, the one and only Killer Khan, a man who broke the ankle of a giant and would challenge for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship several times terrorizing opponents and fans from America, Canada, Mexico and Japan. So let’s find our seats and order a drink or two as this update might get crazy and who knows what Killer Khan will do, and here he comes now so let’s get this update and matches started.

Killer Khan started his pro wrestling career in 1971 and was working for Japan Wrestling Association as well as New Japan Pro Wrestling and was going under the name Masashi Ozawa and was making a name for himself as he was booked strong and was becoming a draw for New Japan as he was put into many big matched with many names that would go on to become legends of the sport. He would leave Japan in 1978 and headed Mexico for a brief sting and would have matches against the likes of El Santo and Mil Mascaras. During his time in Mexico, he was going by the name Temojin El Mongol. In 1979 he would head to America and work for Championship Wrestling From Florida and start using the name Killer Khan, and he would be put in a tag team with Pak Song, the two would even win the companies tag team titles. Khan was also being booked as a singles wrestler and was racking up the wins, gaining attention and was hated by the fans becoming one of CWF’s top heels. After his run in CWF he would head to Georgia Championship Wrestling and Universal Wresting Federation and would have good quick runs at each, and while in GCW he would have his first run in with Andre The Giant. In early 1980 he would also do a run in Mid-South Wrestling circuit and by now Killer Khan was one of the top most hated heels in wrestling as he would have wins over many popular heels and his aggressive style made fans fear and hate him. In late 1980 Killer Khan was brought into the WWF for the first time and was made a monster heel that from the start was getting wins over names like Dominic DeNucci and Rick McGraw. By early 1981, he was already getting a WWF World Heavyweight Title shot against champion Bob Backlund and would even make an attempt at the WWF Intercontinental title held by Pedro Morales. And from there his first major long feud in WWF was against Bob Backlund as the pair would square off a number of times in title matches as well as stipulation matches like a Texas Death Match. After his feud with Backlund ended, Killer Khan would stick around striking fear and gaining wins and having a match even against the likes of Bruno Sammartino and Dusty Rhodes. But in late 1981 he set his sights on Andre The Giant and the biggest feud of his career was about to start as this was a legendary as Killer Khan would break the ankle of Andre and take him out of wrestling for a short time, the heat from the fans that Khan got locked him in as one of the companies top heels at the time. And once Andre The Giant returned from his injury the two would have an epic feud and would have even a “Mongolian Stretcher Match” and in the end Andre The Giant was the winner of the feud and it was so epic that in 1981 it won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s feud of the year!

After his feud with Andre The Giant came to an end, Killer Khan would stick around the WWF and have matches with names like Tony Atlas and would still try in failing attempts to capture the WWF Heavyweight and Intercontinental Gold. And in 1982 he would leave the WWF and head back to New Japan Pro Wrestling for a stint and then would end up back in America working for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling as well as Houston Wrestling and Mid-South Wrestling once again. In 1983 he would head back to New Japan Pro Wrestling before heading to Stampede Wrestling in Canada where he would have a feud with The Mongolian Stomper, and then he would head to World Class Championship Wrestling out of Texas and work against The Von Erichs as well as The Freebirds, that later he would later team with and teach member Terry Gordy the Oriental Spike finishing move. In 1985 Killer Khan would spread terror back in Japan this time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling and would have matches against Giant Baba as well as Giant Haystacks and The Road Warriors. Killer Khan would stick around in All Japan until 1987 and then would return back to America and work once more for WWF for a short run and this time around he was managed by Mr. Fuji and would be pushed once more as a major heel and would even take on WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan for the title at House Shows. His run in 1987 would be over by the end of that same year and while booked as a big heel he never was as big of a threat as he was his last run. During this stink in WWF he would have matches against many of the companies top baby faces including Outback Jack, SD Jones, Ken Patera, Tito Santana, Hillbilly Jim, Junkyard Dog, Paul Orndorff and George “The Animal” Steele to name a few. And after this run Killer Khan would quietly step away from full time work in wrestling and would retire from the sport shortly after and would open his own restaurant in Japan that he is still running to this day.

Update: Sadly Killer Khan passed away on December 29, 2023, this is very sad news.

Growing up Killer Khan was one of wrestling’s greatest foreign heels at the time as he always seemed like a major threat to any baby face that was in the ring with him, and I mean the guy broke Andre The Giants ankle! And yes I know that Andre really broke his own ankle by accident and they used Khan’s attack to write him off TV in order for the injury to heal. And in 1987 when he made his return to the WWF I can remember thinking it was a bigger deal then it really was as I always looked at Killer Khan with the notion in my head that he would one day be a major threat to Hulk Hogan and would try and take his world title away, plus adding the sneaky Mr. Fuji as his manager just made him even more of a heel in my young eyes. Something about Killer Khan made him scary to younger fans at the time, as you never seemed to know what he was going to do and if he was going to take out your favorite wrestler. It’s also very odd that Killer Khan never got a LJN WWF action figure in 1987 as apart of Series 4 as it would have been a cool one to get, but he did make it to the Topps WWF Trading cards at that time. Plus his move the Oriental Spike always seemed so devastating and was a great finishing maneuver for that time and era. And for kids of the 1990’s they might know Killer Khan for playing Ishikawa the bodyguard to Konga in the 1994 film “3 Ninjas Kick Back” and in 2006 he had a cameo on the Japanese series “Lion-Maru G”. And for fans of Killer Khan who travel he owns and runs a restaurant in Japan that is called “Killer Khan No Mise Izakaya Kanchan” and its said to be amazing food and that Killer Khan will take pictures with fans as well as sign autographs, and if I ever get the chance this would be one must stop for me if I ever get the chance to visit Japan. To sum this up I have been a fan of Killer Khan sense I was a kid and I am very much looking forward to watching his matches again as I want to see his brutal style again or see if its as brutal as I remember.

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 Killer Khan 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 Killer Khan.

Best Of Killer Khan

Match 1: Killer Khan vs. Ray Candy

Killer Khan starts the match off in charge as he knees Candy in the stomach and then body slams the big man before using his knees more to knock Candy into the corner and continues the assault on Candy who is not given a chance to fight back yet as Khan is super aggressive and wants to hurt Candy as its clear as he take him to the ground and drops several jumping knees on him over and over as well as axe handle hits. And then he puts the Iron Claw onto Ray Candy’s stomach and forces him to quite the match and Kahn wins by submission. This is a total squash match as Ray Candy is destroyed by Killer Khan who beats the hell out of him, lands some brutal movies like the dropping knee over and over and then finishes him off with a claw to his stomach. Killer Khan looks just like his name says a killer as he is super aggressive and is looking to destroy his opponent. Meanwhile on the other hand Ray Candy looks like a total jobber and does a good job of selling for Khan and being enhancement talent. Not much else to say besides Khan really is a killer in this quick squash match.

Grade: **1/2

Match 2: Killer Khan vs. Andre The Giant

This is a stretcher match were to win your opponent must be carried out on a stretcher. As the bell rings Andre stalks Khan and once he gets his hands on him he nails a big head butt and then starts unloading massive clubbing hits. Even as Khan gets out of the ring to try and escape the beating he is grabbed by the hair by Andre and forced back into the ring and his beating continues as Andre is fired up and is a very angry giant. Andre then takes Khan down with a big boot and then sits on him with his massive weight, crushing Khan, the referee calls for the stretcher and Khan shoves it away and the match continues and Andre hits Khan with a piledriver! But Andre misses a falling headbutt and this gives Khan a chance to stomp on the head of Andre over and over, and then gets Andre’s ankle the same one he broke tied up into the ropes and starts working it over. Khan then drops a knee on the head of Andre and the referee calls for the stretcher, and Andre pushes it away and then picks it up and hits Khan over the head with it and then starts beating on and sitting on Khan again causing the hated heel lots of pain and Khan once more fights off being placed on the stretcher. Andre then starts his attack once more of sitting on Khan over and over, and like before Khan fights off being put on the stretcher. Andre this time suplexes Khan before squashing him again with his sitting assault and then lands a big splash and then Killer Khan is placed on the stretcher and taken away given the win to Andre The Giant. This was a true battle between two big men and it was mostly a one sided fight as Andre dominated most of the fight and just pounded and squashed Killer Khan throughout the match. Andre is winded pretty early one and mostly just sits on and uses clubbing hits to take down Khan who does a great job of selling for The Giant. Andre does do some moves that later in his career he could not pull off like the piledriver and suplex and while limited even at this point the fans loved Andre and I found myself as well enjoying him in this match. Killer Khan pretty much only gets off one brief moment of taking the lead in the match and he gets the crowd hot as he goes after the ankle that he had broken some months back. While not a great technical match nor even really that great of a brawling one, the stipulation, the big match feel and the story telling of Andre wanting revenge is what made this a very entertaining match.

Grade: **1/2

Match 3: Killer Khan vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

As the bell rings both men show off and try intimidating one another and once they lock up its Bigelow that backs Khan into the corner, and once they break apart Bigelow stares down Khan. They lock up again and this time Khan backs Bigelow into the corner and this time when they break apart Killer Khan punches Bigelow in the gut and starts hammering him with punches, and then the two bounce off the ropes and clash in the middle and then they start slapping each other across the face and then Bigelow hits Khan with an atomic drop. Khan roles out of the ring to shake off the move and once back in the ring tries to shake the hand of Bigelow but of course this is a trick and Khan attacks him and even chokes him on the rope and this allows Mr. Fuji the manager of Killer Khan to hit Bigelow with his cane and Khan continues his attack and even gets a two count with a pin attempt. And Khan and Fuji continue to cheat behind the referees back. Bigelow is able to make a comeback and pull off a big clothesline, hits a body slam as well as a diving headbutt and gets a two count on Khan. As the match continues Khan is able to kick Bigelow in the face and goes for the green mist and it misses allowing Bigelow to hit him with a dropkick and a big splash and get the three count and the win. This is a match between to big guys that was just an ok match as Khan was on and hit many of his big moves and even went for the green mist spit, it was Bigelow who seemed a little off and was sluggish, looked like he was in a cocky mood and was just mediocre at best in the match. While Bigelow’s splash looked great as did a few of his moves it was clear he was not fully into the match. While Khan on the other hand tried to make the best of it and sold well for Bigelow and did what he could to get the match over. The fans in the arena seemed to enjoy it so that counts for something as Bam Bam Bigelow was a big baby face for the WWF at the time, for me though this was just an ok match between two wrestlers who have done better. And to be honest the more I think about it, Bam Bam seems like he is more worried coming off as a badass then he was getting a good match with Khan.

Grade: **

Match 4: Killer Khan vs. Randy Savage

As the match starts its Killer Khan who takes the lead and starts hitting Savage with big hits, but Savage is able to take over when Khan misses a knee in the corner and bounces off the turnbuckle allowing Savage to start landing some punches of his own and even hits a back elbow that hurts Khan, but Khan is able to land some knees to Savage’s gut when he backs him into the corner, and as Khan distracts the referee Mr. Fuji starts choking Savage with his cane and even hits him in the small of the back. Savage falls out of the ring and almost gets counted out, but makes it back just in time and Khan continues his attack working on the back of Savage and gets him into a backbreaker. Savage is able to get out of the hold by kicking himself off the ropes and then starts punching Khan in the face and drops him with a running elbow to the head. The Savage runs to the top rope and lands an axe handle hit and then goes for the pin, but Khan kicks out and uses his kicks to knock down Savage, and when Savage stands up Khan goes to spit the green mist in his eyes and misses as Savage dodges and then rolls up Khan to get the pin. This was a good match between these two as their styles work well together and while Savage gets the win Khan does not look weak in defeat as he puts a good beating on Savage throughout the match. The backbreaker that Khan puts on Savage looks painful and while it would have been nice to see Savage land is classic elbow drop finisher on Khan, the rollup win does protect Khan in defeat. This is a good match between two top notch WWF Superstars and their styles worked well together.

Grade: ***

Killer Khan is an awesome heel from the 1980’s wrestling scene and was one that has always stuck with me mostly due to his feud with Andre The Giant and his brawling style always made him standout from the other heels of the time in the WWF. I think the greatest thing about Killer Khan is that he could have a great match against any company’s top stars from Hulk Hogan to Kerry Von Erick to El Santo and every baby face in-between. But as you can see, the Rotten Ink Arena is closing for the night as the matches are over and the cleanup crew is out cleaning up all the thrown popcorn so before we leave these arena doors I would like to let you all know that my next update will have us coming back to the Rotten Ink Arena and this time we will be taking a look at one of the WWF’s biggest tag teams from the 80’s and early 90’s and I am talking about Demolition! So let’s head on out and let the crew clean up and until next time watch a wrestling match or three, read a comic or two and as always support your local indie wrestlers. See you next time as Demolition shows us destruction in the ring.