March 1994

[managermike99]

March 1994
Roster

Faces
Harley Tragger
Jim Brunzell
Brad Rheingans
Ben Bassarab
Jerry Lynn
The Trooper
Alonzo Highsmith
Tommy Jammer 
Caveman Broda (NEW)
Vance Nevada (NEW)

Heels
Stan Lane
Road Warrior Hawk
Derrick Dukes
Sebastien Rikard
Lenny Tompson
Jon Paul Demans
Johnny Saddlebags
Vampiro Canadienese 
Texas Hangman Psycho (NEW)
Texas Hangman Killer (NEW)
Mike Enos (NEW)
Wayne Bloom (NEW)

Ladies
Sherri Martel
Jennifer Brazil
Bull Nakano (NEW)

Injured
Mike Lozansky

Hall of Fame Announcement


River City Wrestling #540
March 12, 1994
Winnipeg, MB

St. Patrick's Week Shenanigans

Opening Bout
Caveman Broda defeated Johnny Saddlebags by pinfall after an overhead suplex at 4:35
**battle of the jobbers

Bout #2
Vance Nevada defeated Alonzo Highsmith by disqualification at 6:27
**Fairly even match but Highsmith seemed to just run out of patience with his lot in life, and when he couldn't win clean he began to attack Nevada with chokes, punches, etc, ignoring the referee's instructions until he was disqualified. The one man carnage didn't end there however as Highsmith threw the ref out of the ring and then continued to attack Nevada. Ben Bassarab came out to try and calm Highsmith down, but received a football tackle for his trouble.

Bout #3
Vampiro Canadienese defeated Jerry Lynn by pinfall after a chokeslam at 10:30
**last time these two locked up nothing was decided. This time they fought it out, tooth and nail. Vampiro climbed to the top and came off but Lynn moved out of the way. Lynn then tried to return the favour but suffered the same fate. This time instead of going to the top Vampiro just nailed a chokeslam and picked up the win.

Bout #4
Derrick Dukes defeated Jon Paul Demans by pinfall after a discus punch at 8:24
**The relationship between these two started as both were tags ons to Stan Lane, but there was always tension between the two. One on one Dukes was superior to Demans, whose only advantages came from cheating. Dukes nailed a flying dropkick then a discus punch finisher.

Bout #5
North American Women's Title Match
Sherri Martel defeated Jennifer Brazil by pinfall after a diving splash at 6:51
[Sherri Martel retained the North American Women's Title]
**the veteran Martel was just way too much for the rookie Brazil, even though Brazil had a much more athletic figure.

Bout #6
Non-Title Match
Texas Tornado Match
The Trooper & Tommy Jammer defeated Sebastien Rikard & Lenny Thompson by countout at 11:12
**Texas Tornado match is when all 4 men are legal. Other then that the rules should be the same, including count outs, disqualifications, and pinfalls. Jammer got hurt early and Trooper then fell prey to an extended 2 on 1 beating with Jammer trying to help but kept getting kicked down. However the good guys battled back and when the action spilled to the floor they took over the match. Inside things evened out and we had Rikard putting Jammer in a figure-four at the same time that the Trooper had the double neck pinch on Thompson. The ref had to keep checking on both men. Finally Thompson managed to grab on to the legs of Jammer to break his own hold but it also broke the figure-four. The good guys were on a roll now though and they beat the champs from pillar to post. After Rikard was thrown over the top rope, Thompson followed him and the two left the premises. 

Bout #7
RCW Heritage Title Match
Ben Bassarab defeated Road Warrior Hawk by pinfall after outside interference (Vampiro Canadienese) at 9:39
[Ben Bassarab retained the RCW Heritage Title]
**Bassarab was already favouring his back after the attack by Alonzo Highsmith earlier in the night. The veteran Hawk wasted no time going after the back, working it with punches, kicks, bearhugs, and backbreakers. Twice he locked on a Boston crab but the smaller champ managed to survive both. Bassarab made a comeback after an inside cradle, and tried his best to keep Hawk on the mat, negating his size advantage. This lasted a couple minutes until Hawk managed to get to his feet and nailed the champ with a back suplex. Hawk looked close to the win, much to the displeasure of the crowd, but after a reverse whip, Hawk collided with the ref knocking him out. Bassarab nailed a kick to the gut, then a DDT..but there was no ref to count. Vampiro rolled into the ring and clotheslined Bassarab from behind. He then nailed him with a Michinoku driver!! The champ was out cold. Vampiro rolled out of the ring and came back with a steel chair. By now Hawk was back on his feet. Vampiro pointed to the downed Bassarab and tossed the chair to Hawk. Before Hawk could use it though Vampiro nailed him with a spinning heel kick, driving the chair straight into his face. Vampiro left the ring, the ref woke up, counted both men down, got to the count of 6, Bassarab threw an arm across Hawk...counted 1, 2, 3!!

Hall of Fame Announcement
In what is normally an exciting announcement, this year it was much more somber. Commissioner Baron von Raschke came into the ring to announce that the Hall of Fame committee had decided on this year's entry into the Hall of Fame. Unlike in previous years when a short list of candidates was announced this year there will be only one. 
Former RCW Heavyweight Champion, Lethal Larry Cameron, may have been one of the most hated men to the fans but he always gave them every penny's worth of the admission price. He was one of the toughest competitors to ever step into an RCW ring. Cameron won the 1991 Wrestler of the Year Award. He held the Heavyweight title from March 44, 1991 to September 28, 1991. Tragically though Cameron passed away December 13th 1993 at the age of 41 after suffering a heart attack during a match in Germany. He will be further honoured in April when he is inducted as the 7th member of the River City Wrestling Hall of Fame.


Main Event
Six-Man Elimination Match
Stan Lane & Texas Hangmen  vs  Jim Brunzell, Brad Rheingans, & Harley Tragger
**Lane needed a couple hired hands so he brought in former tag champions and tag team of the year Psycho & Killer the Hangmen. The mayhem seemed to favour the masked killers but once it was sorted out the scientific skill of Brunzell and Rheingans took the match over. It was then Tragger who eliminated Psycho after an impressive powerbomb.
[Texas Hangman Psycho eliminated by Harley Tragger by pinfall after a powerbomb at 4:26]
The bad guys took the match over once again thanks to some cheating and Rheingans had to take a long stretch off after hurting his back. Finally Brunzell and Tragger took the match back and Brunzell nailed a beautiful dropkick to the chin on Killer. He tried to get the pin but Killer kicked out. Brunzell though did a couple spinning toe holds and then locked on a figure-four. Lane tried to interfere but was headed off by Tragger. Killer tapped out after only about 20 seconds in the hold.
[Texas Hangman Killer eliminated by Jim Brunzell by submission in a figure-four leglock at 8:09]
Things didn't look good for Lane but Tragger telegraphed a backbody drop just seconds into the next fall, and Lane took him down with a legdrop across the back of the neck, driving him into the mat. Tragger got up, only to eat a superkick and get pinned.
[Harley Tragger eliminated by Stan Lane by pinfall after a superkick at 9:05]
Lane tried to get a time out, then played in and out of the ring, avoiding contact. He then tried to goad Rheingans into the ring as he was still trying to stretch out his back. Finally after a couple rakes of Brunzell's eyes Rheingans tagged in off of Brunzell. Rheingans went after Lane and grounded him with a double leg takedown. He then worked a side headlock, and then a body scissors. Finally after a front facelock Lane managed to get to his feet, send Rheingans to the buckle and knee him in the back. Lane worked over the back and when Brunzell stepped into the ring Lane caught him with another rake of the eyes, and then threw him over the top rope. Rheingans tried to clotheslines Lane but the RCW champion ducked under, then took him down with a belly to back suplex and got the pin.
[Brad Rheingans eliminated by Stan Lane by pinfall after a belly to back suplex at 11:56]
One on one Lane and Brunzell went at it, tooth and nail, fist to fist, in and out of the ring. Brunzell worked a couple attempts at a sleeperhold, both times it ended up being countered by Lane who put on his own sleeperhold. Brunzell then went after the legs with an Indian deathlock, and then a figure-four, but Lane managed to get to the ropes to break both holds. Lane left the ring and after a couple false entries pulled Brunzell by the legs out of the ring, and threw him shoulder first into the ringpost. Back inside the ring Lane went right after the shoulder with an armbreaker, and then a series of knees, followed by a shoulderbreaker for a 2 count. Now it was Brunzell's turn to take a break outside the ring and work his arm out. Back inside Lane went for the shoulder and Brunzell caught him with a forearm shiver. He then whipped him one armed into the corner, and then back dropped him. He then went for another whip, but Lane reversed it and then dropkicked him in the shoulder. Lane nailed a pair of belly to back suplex to get a 2 count. Brunzell went for one more sleeperhold but Lane countered with a jawbreaker, and when Brunzell staggered up he ducked away from a superkick, rolled up the champ and got a surprise win.
[Stan Lane eliminated by Jim Brunzell after a victory roll at 18:45]
[Jim Brunzell was the sole survivor in the Six Man Tag Match]

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #541
March 26, 1994
Winnipeg, MB

Opening Bout
Alonzo Highsmith defeated Vance Nevada by pinfall after a football tackle at 6:31
**Highsmith showed off his new "bad" attitude and although this time Nevada saw it coming he could still not stop it.

Bout #2
Jerry Lynn defeated Jon Paul Demans by countout at 8:20
**Demans was overmatched in this one. Cheating prolonged the inevitable. Instead of taking a clean loss however Demans suspiciously came up lame after landing outside the ring and took the countout loss.

Bout #3
Vampiro Canadiense and Derrick Dukes battled to a no-contest at 8:08
**If Vampiro thought that Dukes was just going to take a beating laying down he was surprised. Dukes fired back at Vampiro matching all the dirty tactics. When the action spilled outside the ring Dukes was willing to break the rules and risk DQ to fight fire with fire. Finally when both men brought steel chairs into the ring and started to smack them together the ref called for the bell.
Post-Match: Vampiro managed to step on Dukes' chair lowering him to the mat, then laid his chair on the back of Duke's head and deliver a legdrop simultaneously, knocking him out.

Bout #4
Destruction Crew: Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom defeated Brad Rheingans & Harley Tragger by pinfall when Bloom pinned Tragger after the wrecking ball (diving clothesline/electric chair) at 12:09
**This match was originally advertised as the Texas Hangmen, following up from the Six Man tag last card. However, The Destruction Crew came in to sub for the Hangmen instead. It was a pretty even match, all four men were quite capable, but the Destruction Crew have many years as a tag team, including RCW Tag Titles, and relied on their chemistry to cheat to victory. 

Bout #5
RCW Tag Team Title Match
Tommy Jammer & The Trooper defeated Sebastien Rikard & Lenny Thompson by disqualification for abuse of official at 17:45
[Rikard & Thompson retained the RCW Tag Team Titles]
**Long drawn out match, with lots of rest holds, double teams, and cutting the ring in half. Both teams had their fair share of advantages. However, in the end after Jammer nailed Rikard with the Jammer Slam, then tagged in Trooper who locked Rikard in the Big Pinch (two handed neck claw). The writing was on the wall and Rikard yelled for Thompson who entered the ring and clotheslined the ref from behind. Mayhem ensued and it looked like Jammer was set to pin Rikard, but when the ref revived he called for the DQ.

Bout #6
RCW Heritage Title Match
Special Enforcers at Ringside Baron von Raschke & Larry Hennig
Ben Bassarab defeated Road Warrior Hawk by disqualification for use of a foreign object (steel chair) at 9:42
[Ben Bassarab retained the RCW Heritage Title]
**Larry "the axe" Hennig was brought in, and received a great ovation from the crowd, to serve along with the commissioner as special guest enforcers. A stern warning was given to all wrestlers, especially Vampiro, Paul Demans, and Derrick Dukes to stay out of the title matches tonight. Bassarab started strong with a hit and move attack. He kept Hawk off balance but never really hurt him. Then around 4 minutes in Hawk nailed him with a clothesline and took over the match. He picked up the champ by the throat, applied an elevated choke, and then a double chokeslam to the mat. A series of elbowsmashes, knee drops, a fist drop, reverse chinlock, and some bodyslams followed. He couldnt finish him off so he took the match outside the ring. Hennig and Raschke were not happy with the tactics but didn't interfere. Back inside Hawk continued to punish Bassarab. Finally the champ made a short comeback until Hawk nailed a knee to the gut and then threw the champ over the top rope. Back outside this time Hennig had words with Hawk, and frustrated by not getting the pinfall he took his frustrations out on Hennig, and then Raschke. He then grabbed a steel chair and ~waffled~ the champ to earn his disqualification. 

Main Event
RCW Heavyweight Title Match
Stan Lane defeated Jim Brunzell after a slingshot suplex (and outside interference) at 10:20
[Stan Lane retained the RCW Heavyweight Title]
**Brunzell started strong, showing off his scientific repertoire, using leverage to keep Lane off his feet or fighting against the weight of Brunzell. Lane tried several times to gain space but Brunzell kept close. Finally Lane risked DQ by nailing a knee to the groin of Brunzell, unseen by the ref, and gained his space. Lane picked up the pace of the match and after wearing down Brunzell he put on a figure-four which Brunzell had to inch his way to the ropes to get the break. Lane went right to work on the legs of Brunzell, and then put another figure-four on. Brunzell made a comeback and had Lane reeling when Jon Paul Demans came down to the ring area. He was accosted there by Derrick Dukes who chased him away, but it was enough to distract Brunzell and give the advantage back to Lane. A minute later there was a series of whips to the ropes and reverses, that resulted in a ref bump. Vampiro Canadienese then made his appearance sliding into the ring. Both Lane and Brunzell turned on Vampiro taking turns hitting him. Brunzell then held Vampiro and Lane nailed a superkick...but Vampiro moved out of the way and Lane nailed Brunzell. Vampiro then tried to set Lane up for a DDT but Lane took him over with a snap suplex instead. Lane grabbed Brunzell and nailed a slingshot suplex while he was waiting for the ref to wake up. When that happened he covered and got the pin.