January 1996

[managermike99]

Roster

Faces
Sgt. Keywon Grant
Stan Lane
Steve Keirn
Phillip Navarre
Man Mountain Rock
Robbie Royce
Chi Chi Cruz
Mike Wildside
Waylon Mercy (NEW)
Wahoo McDaniel (NEW)
Tom Zenk (NEW)


Heels
Greg Valentine
Manny Silva
Rick Martel
Jesse Hennig
Stan Baker
A.C. Crual
The Actuary
Vance Nevada
Repo Man (NEW)
Lewis O'Day (NEW)


Ladies
Madusa Micelli
Pamela Principal
April Cummings
Cory Everson
Emma Bezzlerr

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #594
January 1, 1996
Sun City, South Africa

The Annual tradition of RCW taking its stars on a working vacation continues, as they also increase their ties to the SAWF in South Africa with this joint production.

Opening Bout
Man Mountain Rock defeated Vance Nevada by pinfall after a Samoan drop at 7:53
**fairly easy match for Rock

Bout #2
AC Crual & The Actuary defeated Chi Chi Cruz & Armand Rougeau Jr by pinfall when Crual pinned Cruz after a double underhook piledriver at 9:28
**Cruz and Rougeau looked decent, using their speed, but it was their first time tagging together; Cruz from RCW, Rougeau from SAWF. Ultimately the team work of the Germans (Even without their valet Emma Bezzlerr on hand) proved to be too much for their opponents.

Bout #3
Rick Martel defeated Duane van Staden by disqualification for use of a foreign object at 10:50
**fairly even match as Staden seemed out classed and young, but he made up for it with speed and determination. In the end though Martel used a ref bump and a foreign object, but when the ref came awake he saw Staden with the chair after having taken it away from Martel and called for the DQ.

Bout #4
Vendetta & Vendetta II defeated Dennis Cale & Hank Armstrong by countout at 12:22
**very interesting match as Vendetta came out of retirement to team with the SAWF version Vendetta II. Together they proved too much for the former SAWF tag champions Cale & Armstrong (who just lost their belts to the African Bulldogs last night). The former champs decided to take the countout and fight another day.

Bout #5
Linley Tolbert defeated Phillip Navarre by pinfall after a piledriver at 15:34
**very good match as Tolbert actually wrestled instead of turning it into a track meet. This was a rematch from the 16th Anniversary show last month, and this time Tolbert won on home turf.

Bout #6
RCW Heritage Title Match
Sgt. Keywon Grant defeated Frans van der Heever by disqualification for abuse of official at 14:00
[Keywon Grant retained the RCW Heritage Title]
**Heever is a top contender for Harley Tragger's SAWF title so this was a very good match. Heever though took the easy way out by tossing the ref out of the ring to get DQ'd and avoid getting pinned.

Bout #7
SAWF Tag Team Title Match
African Bulldogs: Temple & Pariah defeated Thrillseekers:Chris Jericho & Lance Storm by pinfall when Temple pinned Jericho after a Hangman Neck Breaker at 11:53
[African Bulldogs retained the SAWF Tag Team Titles]
**another good match between these two teams, but not as good as the one they had at the 16th anniversary shoe. The Bulldogs though got their revenge on home turf and managed to retain the tag titles they won the day before.
 
Bout #8
RCW Tag Team Title Match
Fabulous Ones: Steve Keirn & Stan Lane and Jesse Hennig & Stan Baker battled to a no-contest at 15:06
[Fabulous Ones retained their RCW Tag Team Titles]
**Hennig was isolated early, but then it was Keirn's turn to play Ricky Morton for an extended period of time. But when the Fabs got rolling again the bad guys took the match outside and it stayed there with all 4 men fighting until the match was thrown out.

Main Event
SAWF Heavyweight Title Match
Harley Tragger defeated Greg Valentine by pinfall after a powerbomb at 19:35
[Harley Tragger retained the SAWF Heavyweight Title]
**with the RCW Heavyweight title vacant, the card relied on the SAWF champion to provide the main event. The veteran Valentine gave Tragger all he could handle, frustrating the champ and the referee and controlling most of the bout. In fact Tragger got busted open outside the ring around the 10 minute mark and by the end of the bout was a mess. However at the end it was a short 2 minute rally consisting of punches, kicks, a bodyslam, a big boot, an elbowdrop, and then his finisher to come up with an impressive win in front of the pro-South African crowd.

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #595
January 8, 1996
Bridgeport, Barbados

Opening Bout
Ape defeated Tony Brewster by pinfall after an avalanche at 6:47
**two locals going at it, and you got to love a guy who goes only by the name Ape.

Bout #2
Chi Chi Cruz defeated Vance Nevada by pinfall after a reverse neckbreaker at 8:49
**these two have hooked up more often then Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton, and always put on nearly as good a show. As usual Chi Chi came out on top making the fans happy.

Bout #3
Cory Everson & Emma Bezzlerr defeated Pamela Principal & April Cummings by pinfall when Bezzlerr pinned Principal after a gorilla press slam at 12:22
**this was an excellent match, well fought by all four ladies, each getting a chance to shine. The difference in this bout and some others in the past is that Bezzlerr and Everson actually worked well together, seemingly on the same page as they poured out their hatred on their opponents.

Bout #4
Rick Martel defeated Phillip Navarre by submission to the Boston Crab at 10:04
**No way did Navarre submit, but after a fairly even match Martel caught Navarre on the way back into the ring with a shot of the ringbell to the lower back. This set up the finisher, with Navarre's arm being lifted and falling three times.

Bout #5
AC Crual & The Actuary defeated Robbie Royce & Mike Wildside by pinfall when the Actuary pinned Wildside after a side suplex at 7:56
**The Germans have been rolling through early opponents, getting in line for a title shot.

Bout #6
Greg Valentine defeated Man Mountain Rock by submission to the figure-four at 8:37
**Big win for Valentine, bounce back after losing his title shot at Brunzell. Rock had his moments but Valentine showed veteran presence. 

Bout #7
Bikini Battle
Tammy Rief & Tami Kim defeated Julie Fulkerson & Kele Ward when Kim pinned Ward after a diving legdrop at 10:52
**It seemed that Barbados had no problem, and quite enjoyed an openly sexist match between these four bikini competitors. The action went far beyond what happens in North America and was very adult in nature. In the end Rief delivered a powerbomb to Ward while Kim climbed to the top rope and came off with a big legdrop for the win.

Bout #8
RCW Tag Team Title Match
Fabulous Ones: Steve Keirn & Stan Lane battled Jesse Hennig & Stan Baker to a no-contest at 9:30
[Fabulous Ones retained the RCW Tag Team Titles]
**pretty much the same match as they had in South Africa. Just shorter.

Round #9
SAWF Heavyweight Title Match
Harley Tragger defeated Linley Tolbert by pinfall after a powerbomb at 16:53
[Harley Tragger retained the SAWF Heavyweight Title]
**these two SAWF starts joined the RCW event in Barbados. Former champion Tolbert managed to stretch 6 minutes of action into almost 17 minutes but in the end the power of the champion took over the bout.

Main Event
CAGE MATCH
RCW Heritage Title Match
Keywon Grant defeated Manny Silva by pinfall after a superplex at 15:47
[Keywon Grant retained the RCW Heritage Title]
**the cage match seemed to favour Silva and for the most part it seemed to as he bloodied the champ early. However Grant showed why his star is rising as he never gave up, kept fighting back, bloodied Silva in return. The two fought on top of the buckle and Silva tried to hang on to the cage wall but Grant took him down to the mat with a superplex and picked up a big title win.

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #596
January 20, 1996
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Eight Man Tournament For the Vacant RCW Heavyweight Title

Quarter-Final Match
RCW Heritage Title Match
Keywon Grant defeated Manny Silva by disqualification for use of a foreign object at 8:44
[Keywon Grant retained the RCW Heritage Title]
**this match doubled as a quarter final match as well as Silva's rematch from the anniversary show. It was another hard fought match but given an opponent who was willing to get down and dirty and match him shot for shot he escalated it outside the ring and got himself disqualified.

Quarter-Final Match
Greg Valentine defeated Man Mountain Rock by submission to the figure-four at 6:50
**Rock did well for himself but Valentine was just too experienced and underhanded.

Quarter-Final Match
Rick Martel defeated Phillip Navarre by submission to the Boston crab at 10:04
**Hard fought match but its about time to say that Martel has got the better of Navarre in this mini-feud.

Quarter-Final Match
Waylon Mercy defeated Repo Man by pinfall after a bulldog at 7:11
**Two newcomers to RCW, two former WWF stars, and Mercy gets to the pay window.

Women's Tag Team Match
Cory Everson & Emma Bezzlerr defeated Pamela Principal & April Cummings by pinfall when Everson pinned Cummings after a powerbomb at 10:39

Semi-Final Match
Non-Title Match
Greg Valentine defeated Keywon Grant by pinfall after a second rope elbowdrop at 11:04
**Grant's impressive run in RCW came to a stop when he got bested by the veteran.

Semi-Final Match
Waylon Mercy defeated Rick Martel by pinfall after a bulldog at 5:56
**surprisingly short match and Mercy moves on to the final.

RCW Tag Team Title Match
Fabulous Ones: Steve Keirn & Stan Lane defeated Jesse Hennig & Stan Baker by disqualification when Baker hit Lane with a steel chair at 13:45
[Fabulous Ones retained the RCW tag team titles]
**Fabs had the match in control. So the challengers tossed Keirn out of the ring, double teamed Lane and when he successfully fought back against both men they hit him with a steel chair.

Main Event
RCW Heavyweight Title Tournament Final
Greg Valentine defeated Waylon Mercy by pinfall after an inside cradle at 10:17
[Greg Valentine wins the RCW Heavyweight Title]
**Valentine started strong but Mercy soon took the match over with his power, and his methodical but relentless attack. Mercy got nearfalls after a sidewalk slam and after a hanging vertcial suplex. Then he went for his finisher bulldog but Valentine was able to push off at the last second, drive Mercy hard into the buckle, then roll him up on the rebound for 1, 2, handful of tights for 3! New champion albeit a tainted victory, and the start of Valentine's second reign as champions.