September 1996

[managermike99]

Roster

Faces
Greg Valentine
Jesse Hennig
David Jericho
Todd Bullett
Rad Radford
Mike Wildside
Elmwood Brawler
Stan Lane 

Heels
Lewis O'Day
Manny Silva
Stan Baker
Wolfgang Haessler (/wBezzlerr)
Untermenschen (/w Bezzlerr)
Vance Nevada
Waylon Mercy
Guy Incognito
Gothic Knight 

Ladies
Jeanne Basone
Cynthia Rothrock
Emma Bezzlerr
Nikita Nikolishin
Mistress Gloom
Tami Kim


African Bulldogs
Pariah & Temple

Massive Damage

Injured
Robbie Royce

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #633
September 7, 1996
Winnipeg, Manitoba

3 Hour Labour Day Weekend Special

Annual Battle Royal & Tag Team Turmoil

20 man battle royale featuring 16 wrestlers who will be part of randomly drawn tag team matches, and 4 special guests, one team from South Africa (African Bulldogs) and one from Ontario (Massive Damage).

Hour #1

Opening Bout
Stan Lane & Gothic Knight defeated Greg Valentine & David Jericho by pinfall when Lane pinned Valentine after a superkick at 11:24
**Knight seemed to bring out the worst in Lane, and he and Valentine had some moments of fireworks. We'll see if anything comes out of this.

Bout #2
Jesse Hennig & Guy Incognito defeated Elmwood Brawler & Mike Wildside by pinfall when Hennig pinned Wildside after a running necksnap at 6:45
**blah

Bout #3
Wolfgang Haessler & Rad Radford defeated Todd Bullett & Lewis O'Day by pinfall when Haessler pinned O'Day after a piledriver at 9:09
**O'Day felt let down by Bullett, and was pretty pissed off about getting pinned. He took his anger out on Bullett by attacking him after the bout.

Hour #2

Bout #4
Stan Baker & Untermenschen defeated Manny Silva & Vance Nevada by pinfall when Untermenschen pinned Nevada after a release powerbomb at 7:33
**maybe the worst position in wrestling is to be put into the position as un unwilling tag partner with the maniac Manny Silva. Silva didn't play well with Nevada and did his usual and walked out on him.

Bout #5
#1 contenders Tag Team Bout
African Bulldogs: Pariah and Temple defeated Massive Damage (Steve Rivers & Sean Dunster) by pinfall when Temple pinned Dunster after a Doomsday device at 8:20
**The Bulldogs were the superior team by far. They are the current SAWF Tag Team Champions. Next week they will be back to face the Germans.

Bout #6
North American Women's Title Match
Jeanne Basone defeated Cynthia Rothrock by pinfall after a Frankensteiner (and with a handful of tights) at 9:11
[Jeanne Basone retained the North American Women's Title]
**this was Rothrock's return match after losing the belt last week, but she was unable to get past Basone. One note of interest was that Basone came out dressed as her "Hollywood" character from GLOW. Whether this was an indication of how her attitude has turned back to her rulebreaker days or just a bit of nostalgia for the fans was not made clear.


Hour #3
 
Main Event
Annual 20 Man Over The Top Battle Royale
Winner Gets Heavyweight Title Shot Next Week

Order of Elimination (time eliminated) (who eliminated them)
20. Vance Nevada (0:58) (Silva)
19. Todd Bullett (1:23) (O'Day)
18. Mike Wildside (4:44) (Pariah, Temple)
17. David Jericho (5:18) (Baker, Lane, Valentine)
16. Guy Incognito (5:46) (Rivers, Dunster)
15. Elmwood Brawler (6:09) (Pariah, Dunster)
14. Rad Radford (8:21) (Baker, Hennig)
13. Stan Baker (8:32) (Hennig, Silva, Untermenschen)
12. Sean Dunster (10:56) (Pariah, Lane)
11. Pariah (11:12) (Lane, Valentine)
10. Wolfgang Haessler (13:46) (Hennig, O'Day)
9.  Steve Rivers (15:57) (Knight, Valentine, Untermenschen)
8.  Temple (16:30) (Knight)
7.  Jesse Hennig (18:02) (Valentine, O'Day)
6.  Gothic Knight (20:14) (Lane)
5.  Manny Silva (22:39) (O'Day, Untermenschen)
4.  Lewis O'Day (25:04) (Untermenschen)
3.  Greg Valentine (25:10) (Lane)
2.  Untermenschen (29:55) (Lane)

Winner: Stan Lane (29:55)

**some more serious fireworks between Greg Valentine and Stan Lane. Great showing for Untermenschen, perhaps he has a singles career ahead. 


That's it for a special 3 hour edition of River City Wrestling. See ya next week!!

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #634
September 14, 1996
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Hour #1

Opening Bout
Manny Silva defeated Elmwood Brawler by pinfall after a wheelbarrow suplex at 5:22
**glorified squash match

Bout #2
Gothic Knight defeated Greg Valentine with a big boot at 6:34
**huge upset that puts Knight on the map. Valentine actually controlled most of the bout, Knight had his moments, but after a reverse to the ropes Knight caught the former heavyweight champion with a boot to the chest and knocked him out.

Post-Match: Knight continued to pound on Valentine and then rag dolled him with a full nelson until security broke it up.


Bout #3
10 Woman Battle Royale - Winner Becomes #1 contender 
Order of elimination (time) (who eliminated them)
10. Pink Demon (1:10) (Purple Demon)
9.  Purple Demon (1:13) (Eternity)
8.  Tammy Rief (3:33) (Kim. Nikolishin)
7.  Eternity (4:14) (Gloom)
6.  Desiree Petersen (6:19) (Houston, Bezzlerr)
5.  Nikita Nikolishin (6:56) (Kim, Gloom)
4.  K.C. Houston (8:11) (Bezzlerr)
3.  Tami Kim (8:40) (Bezzlerr, Gloom)
2.  Mistress Gloom (10:14)

Winner  Emma Bezzlerr 10:14 

Hour #2

Bout #4
RCW Television Title Match
Lewis O'Day defeated Todd Bullett by pinfall after a running kneesmash at 6:19
[Lewis O'Day retained the RCW Television Title]
**the only problem was that Bullett managed to drape his foot over the bottom rope during the pin but the ref missed it. Thus pretty much guaranteeing a rematch.

Bout #5
RCW Tag Team Title Match
Wolfgang Haessler & Untermenschen defeated African Bulldogs: Temple & Pariah by pinfall when Untermenschen pinned Pariah after a release powerbomb at 10:43
[Wolfgang Haessler & Untermenschen retained the RCW Tag Team Titles]
**good match featuring the South African champions against the RCW champions for the RCW gold. Interestingly, before the bout could being Haessler sent their usual valet/manager Emma Bezzlerr to the back, telling her not to stay at ringside. It seem's like her effectiveness lately has been lacking. The match went back and forth with Haessler playing Ricky Morton for a long stretch in the middle but Untermenschen broke up two pin attempts to keep the match alive. The Bulldogs had Untermenschen set up for a doomsday device but Haessler managed to slam Pariah off the top rope to the mat below. Untermenschen then nailed both Bulldogs with his finisher and pinned Pariah.

Main Event
RCW Heavyweight Title Match
Stan Lane defeated Waylon Mercy by pinfall after a superkick at 8:32
[Stan Lane wins the RCW Heavyweight Title]
**This was the title shot that Lane won last week in the battle royale. He didn't waste the opportunity. Mercy started strong but Lane soon took over the bout. The champ saw an opportunity after a ref bump and left the ring to get a steel chair. From the back though came Greg Valentine who wrestled the chair away from Mercy. Everyone smelled something funny coming but it didn't. Valentine left the ring with the chair. Lane and the ref woke up, the match resumed, Lane grabbed control, hit his finisher and became a 3-time RCW Heavyweight Champion!!

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #635
September 21, 1996
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Opening Bout
Handicap Match
Untermenschen defeated Mike Wildside & Elmwood Brawler by pinfall when he pinned Wildside after a release powerbomb at 4:43
**typical Handicap match where one man is dominant over his opponents. The tag champion actually nailed both opponents with his finisher but chose to pin Wildside.

Bout #2
Jesse Hennig defeated Wolfgang Haessler by pinfall after a jumping neck snap at 6:57
**not sure if this one would be classified as an upset or not. But the turning point came when the Germans' sometimes partner/valet/manager/cohort Emma Bezzlerr came down to ringside in the middle of the bout to take the corner of Haessler. She uncharacteristically was wearing heels, a leather skirt, and a pound of makeup. Supposedly she was trying to get back into the good graces of Haessler who had sent her to the back last week, as she seems to be a bit of a bad luck charm as of late. Her plan didn't work though as she distracted her own man who was taken out from behind by Hennig, which set up his finisher.

Bout #3
Mistress Gloom defeated Nikita Nikolishin by pinfall after an avalanche at 5:00
**Gloom is just too much for Nikita, who is just glorified eye candy

Bout #4
Greg Valentine defeated Gothic Knight by pinfall after a piledriver at 6:34
**Valentine avenges his upset loss last week. He had a bit of help though when Knight was edging toward disqualification with some chokeholds and ignoring the ref's requests. This brought RCW champion Stan Lane down to the ring, and up to the apron. He jawed with Knight and told the ref to do his job. Knight and Lane then exchanged punches from the apron. Lane left, and Knight was still on his feet, but so was Valentine. The veteran nailed a kick to the gut, forearm upper, a pair of his patented elbowsmashes, and then a piledriver to pick up the win. It was unclear if Lane and Valentine are back on the same page and helping each other out, or if both men are just pissed off at each other for interfering in their business. 

Hour #2

Bout #5
North American Women's Title Match
Jeanne Basone defeated Emma Bezzlerr by countout at 6:42
[Jeanne Basone retained the North American Women's Title]
**The former champion started strong, then "Hollywood" took over, then the challenger took control once again. Bezzlerr nailed Basone with her Gorilla press slam finisher and it looked like it might be over. But Wolfgang Haessler came down to ringside and pulled Bezzlerr out of the ring by her feet. He started to yell at her (In German) and point to the back. She argued back (in German). Basone then nailed a baseball slide sending Bezzlerr colliding with Haessler, and the ref counted the challenger out.

Bout #6
RCW Television Title Match
Lewis O'Day defeated Todd Bullett by disqualification for outside interference at 8:16
[Lewis O'Day retained the RCW Television Title]
**Bullett was showing well against O'Day, but the champion used a pair of hidden brass knuckles to turn the tide of the match. Before he could pin the knocked out challenger though, Bullett's tag partner Robbie Royce who had been injured as of late, came out to make the save. However, he got his man disqualified as a result.

Main Event
RCW Heavyweight Title Match
Stan Lane defeated Waylon Mercy by pinfall after a superkick at 7:50
[Stan Lane retained the RCW Heavyweight Title]
**not a very good showing for Mercy in his return bout after losing the belt to Lane. The new champion was dominant, and like Valentine has that air of a champion.

Post-Match:
As Lane had his hand raised in victory and was handed the heavyweight title, Manny Silva entered the ring and attacked Lane from behind. The mad Hawaiian laid in a beating, including a wheelbarrow suplex and then wrapping the ring ropes around his throat until security came out to make the save. I guess we know what the main event will be for next week!




That's it for another edition of River City Wrestling. See ya next week!!

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #636
September 28, 1996
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Hour #1

Opening Bout
Stan Baker defeated Elmwood Brawler by pinfall after the Heart Punch at 5:03
**glorified squash match. After the heart punch Brawler was not able to waken and the EMT's had to come into the ring. This was done to reestablish how dangerous the heart punch is, gave the announcers time to talk about how Stan's uncle Ox actually killed someone in the ring with it. Of course Brawler is a cigar smoking, beer drinking, hell raiser so his cardio vascular health is already quite suspect.

Bout #2
Mistress Gloom defeated Tami Kim by pinfall after a running splash at 4:46
**a pecking order match, and maybe a bit of a surprise that Gloom got the win over Kim, using her size advantage to maximum effect.

Bout #3
Inter-Gender Match
Emma Bezzlerr defeated Vance Nevada by disqualification for abuse of official at 6:29
**an extremely rate inter-gender singles match in RCW. Bezzlerr wanted the match because she wants to prove herself and is going after some revenge on Wolfgang Haessler. It also looks like Bezzlerr has made the unusual move from rulebreaker to fan favourite. Bezzlerr started strong, but soon Nevada took over the bout, and it looked like he would just embarrass the former women's champion. However, Bezzlerr changed the tone of the bout from a brawl to an actual grappling match and took control back. This was too much for the pride of Nevada who pulled the ref into the way of a Bezzlerr dropkick and thus got himself disqualified.

Bout #4
Lewis O'Day & Greg Valentine defeated Todd Bullett & Gothic Knight by pinfall when O'Day pinned Bullett after a running kneesmash at 9:54
**interesting "mixed" tag match, pairing a fan favourite and a rulebreaker together on each side. The reason it wasn't drawn along party lines was because O'Day and Valentine have had some interesting history lately of helping each other out. In fact their chemistry was much superior to Bullet & Knight who did not seem on the same page. Valentine set up the win with a pair of his patented elbowsmashes between the eyes, made the tag and O'Day used his finisher to pick up the win. Gothic Knight tried to break up the pin attempt but was cut off at the pass by Valetine. After the pin Valentine and Knight continued to brawl, and O'Day decided to put some more punishment on Bullett. This brought out Robbie Royce from the back (Bullet's partner, still on the injured list) to make the save. Valentine disposed of Knight, turned around and saw Royce going after O'Day, so Valentine nailed Royce, and then tossed him over the top rope to the floor below. Very interesting dynamics in this bout.
 
Hour #2

Bout #5
North American Women's Title Match
Ladder Match
Cynthia Rothrock defeated Jeanne Basone when she retrieved the title belt at 8:01
[Cynthia Rothrock wins the North American Women's Title]
**and thus ends a very short 3rd title reign for Basone, a month, and begins the 6th title reign for Rothrock. Typical ladder match spots. But Rothrock put her own spin on it by ducking away from a swinging ladder shot by doing a backward bridge, and then kipping back up and catching the champ with a spinning heel kick driving the ladder into her face. She then climbed the ladder and took back the belt.

Bout #6
RCW Tag Team Title Match
Wolfgang Haessler & Untermenschen defeated Jesse Hennig & David Jericho by pinfall when Haessler pinned Jericho after a piledriver at 9:07
[Wolfgang Haessler & Untermenschen retained the RCW Tag Team Titles]
**not much to report here. Decent match and Hennig and Jericho are game competitors. But this bout mostly came out of Hennig's tainted victory over Haessler, and Hennig and Jericho are not regular tag partners. Emma Bezzlerr did come out at one point, hanging back, watching, but was told to leave ringside by security.

Main Event
RCW Heavyweight Title Match
Stan Lane and Manny Silva battled to a no-contest at 6:15
[Stan Lane retained the RCW Heavyweight Title]
**in retaliation for his sneak attack at the end of last week's show, Lane jumped Silva before this bout could even start. It was a pier 6 brawl, inside and outside of the ring. One would assume that kind of match would favour Silva but Lane is no slouch and is experienced fighting the world's toughest opponents including the likes of the Road Warriors. Finally when both men refused to settle down and wrestle inside the ring, when the match poured into the stands, the ref threw it out. The brawl of course continued as we went off the air.


That's it for another edition of River City Wrestling. See ya next week!!