November 1997

[managermike99]

Roster

Faces
Tito Santana
Ben Bassarab
Devon Storm
Ace Darling
Hysteria
EZ Ryder
Robbie Royce
Darcy McGee
Duncan Duncan (NEW)
Borro The Butcher's Son (NEW)

Heels
Manny Silva
Joe E. Legend (/ Oshean)
Kevin Northcutt
Enigma
Brick Bronsky (/w G.Q. Bronsky)
Bobby Duncum Jr
Nikolai Kishka
Caveman Broda
The Pharaoh (NEW)
Scott D'Amore (NEW)

Ladies
Barbie Wired
Deep Blue
Alexandra Beres
Nikki Kixxx (NEW)
Mercedes (NEW)
Becky Hennig (NEW)

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #702
November 1, 1997
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Another special All-Women's Episode

Hour #1

Bout #1
Pink Demon defeated Oshean by pinfall after a diving elbowdrop at 3:49
**Wow, that has to be the first time in RCW history that any of the coloured Demons has ever won a match straight up. Oshean has no place in a wrestling ring.

Bout #2
Becky Hennig defeated Jane Dirt by pinfall after a Northern lights suplex at 4:57
**premiere of Hennig, who claims to be a cousin of Curt & Jesse. Dirt is a curtain jerker and Hennig got a clean win but didn't exactly dominate her. Becky is not a big girl, coming in at around 5'4 and a medium build.

Bout #3
Nikki Kixxx defeated Daisy Rhodes by pinfall after a spinning heel kick at 6:10
**another premiere, this time Kixxx, who is a good looking, tall, athletic girl, but with a bad attitude. She seemed to be a step ahead of Rhodes.

Bout #4
Deep Blue defeated Mercedes by pinfall after flying headscissors into a cradle at 3:34
**3rd straight match with a premiere, the first one who came out on the losing end. Mercedes is a fairly tall woman (around 5'10), Latino, mid 30's, but seems more like the type to be a glamour valet at ringside then competing in the ring.

Hour #2

Bout #5
The Runaways Jane & Cherie defeated Jeanne Basone & Luna Vachon by countout at 7:00
**The Runaways make their premiere in RCW. They were okay but have their opponents to thank for the upset victory as Basone and Vachon began to argue, it escalated throughout the match, and ended with the two going at it outside the ring.

Bout #6
Mistress Gloom defeated Eternity by pinfall after a piledriver at 6:25
**Gloom is big, but Eternity is even taller. This was a match between two Amazons, with none of the glamour that usually is in place in the RCW women's division. Match could have gone either way but Gloom ended up with a clean win.

Main Event
North American Women's Title Match
Barbie Wired defeated Alexandra Beres by pinfall after the Ape Hanger at 10:56
[Barbie Wired retained the North American Women's Title]
**both women employed a share of wear down holds, with the challenger preferring to work bodyscissors using her strong legs, while the champ worked over the legs and went for a figure four a couple of times. Both women held big advantages. The end came when the champ reversed a whip, and sent Beres into a collision course with the ref. Beres though managed to slam on the breaks, but this made her vulnerable to a dragon leg whip, then an inverted DDT, and finally Wired's finisher. 


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

[managermike99]

BREAKING KAYFABE, looking at the roster


Faces
Tito Santana (I think everyone is aware of who Tito was. He was never one of my favourites, but he was doing the indy circuit squeezing what he could out of his career at this time, so he was a good fit for RCW)

Ben Bassarab (Was a Stampede trained wrestler, in the vane of Dynamite Kid and Chris Benoit. He was before Benoit and I liked him better. He married into the Hart family, didn't get picked up by WWF when they bought Stampede, retired, and is now a truck driver. But I used him extensively both in RCW and other pop up feds I ran in TNM, as he was one of my favs.)

Devon Storm (I think most people are familiar with Storm and Darling who were teaming up at the time as the Extremists. Storm would later become Crowbar in WCW.)
Ace Darling

Hysteria (wrestled as this for a few matches in WWF when they were trying to match WCW's cruiserweight division and luchas. He is actually better known as Super Crazy. I liked what I saw as Hysteria and began to use him, and I liked him even more when he turned into Super Crazy).

EZ Ryder (a local indy guy at the time. Had a biker image, but in the grand scheme of things wasn't that big or tough, so not exactly main event material)
 
Robbie Royce (another local indy guy, more a grappler and some high flying moves. Somehow became a two time tag champion in RCW.)

Darcy McGee (I'm pretty sure this was just a created guy, unless he was a jobber somewhere, but I haven't been able to find any record of that, so am going with the theory I created this jobber)

Duncan Duncan (NEW)
Borro The Butcher's Son (NEW) (these two are based on two NPC's from a D&D campaign I ran. Not sure how they morphed over, kind of comic relief jobbers)

Heels

Manny Silva (one of my favourite created wrestlers who will have a 20 year career in RCW, and is sure Hall of Famer. This Hawaiian has a bit of Manny Fernandez in him, a little Bruiser Brody, but shorter compact. Spoiler alert, he will never soften. His trademark hair (tight afro) and his propensity to pat it down is based on a friend of mine who did the same playing high school basketball. It would lead to Silva's nickname of Poodle that the fans will hang on him.)

Joe E. Legend (/ Oshean) (Legend is of course the Canadian indy wrestler who had a pretty decent career. Oshean is based on a high end local escort who did some porn as well. She had large inflatables that were pretty ridiculous, but then again the 90's were a different time)

Kevin Northcutt (a successful indy wrestler. Kind of crossed over to RCW from the South because I liked the way that Carl Todd/John Fredrickson's WWA/PWA world used him. At the time I don't think I had ever seen him wrestle. I am struggling to keep from him mimicking a more modern day Triple H)

Enigma (lucah. pretty sure he was created, unless he was a jobber somewhere but I can't find any record of that)

Brick Bronsky (/w G.Q. Bronsky) (Brick was a muschle head that I saw in Stampede. His relative, G.Q. I never personally saw but read about)

Bobby Duncum Jr (was always one of my favs, even before he got his WCW run which I loved. Left us too soon.)

Nikolai Kishka (created character, based on a friend's D&D character, name and personality)
 
Caveman Broda (local indy wrestler, jobber)

The Pharaoh (NEW) (real wrestler, not sure the whole story.)

Scott D'Amore (NEW) (real wrestler, was just pretty much an indy name to me, didn't realize that he was a booker and owner of indy feds as well. will only have a short run in RCW.)

Ladies

Barbie Wired (created, based on Barb Wire (Pamela Anderson) movie) 

Deep Blue (created, masked lucha, name comes from the computer that played chess against Kasparov)
 
Alexandra Beres (real Hungarian fitness model and competitor. Very athletic but as far as I know never actually wrestled)
 
Nikki Kixxx (NEW) (created. Based somewhat on pictures of Susanna Spears the adult model, the series where she is wearing green hitting a heavy bag.)

Mercedes (NEW) (created. Based on model of same name who was a glamour model)

Becky Hennig (NEW) (created. Age old ploy of cashing in on someone else's name)

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #703
November 8, 1997
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Hour #1

Opening Bout
The Pharaoh defeated Darcy McGee by pinfall after a moonsault at 4:16
**the premiere of The Pharaoh (5'9" 255 lbs) a muscular but also acrobatic competitor. 

Bout #2
Brick Bronsky (/w G.Q. Bronsky) & Enigma defeated Duncan Duncan & Borro the Butcher's Son at 4:55
**Bronsky and Enigma had never teamed before and had no chemistry but the premiere of their opponents was underwhelming. Duncan and Borro seemed to be more comic relief then a serious challenge.

Bout #3
Jeanne Basone defeated Luna Vachon by submission to the camel clutch at 5:12
**settled differences from last week.

Bout #4
Bobby Duncum and Kevin Northcutt fought to a no-contest at 0:00
**this match did not even officially start, even though the two fought it out for about five minutes, as the two met each other on the way to the ring. Officials tried to break it up so the match could happen but the former tag partners didn't care about wins and losses, just bruises and bones.


Hour #2

Commissioner Jim Brunzell comes out to update the card for the 18th Anniversary show. Based on what we just saw Duncum versus Northcutt has been added in a streetfight, this one needs to be settled. In addition Madusa Micelli will return to RCW to try and get back her tag belt. Right now that bout would be Barbie Wired vs Madusa. Finally, it is announced that the main event will be for the heavyweight title between Manny Silva and Vendetta. However, if Silva should lose the belt between now and then it would change the card, but these two will still meet in a cage match that night to try and settle things.

Bout #5
RCW Television Title Match
Hysteria defeated Joe E. Legend (/w Oshean) by disqualification for outside interference at 8:53
[Joe E. Legend retained the RCW Television Title]
**both Ben Bassarab and Hysteria have been having a hard time getting a clean shot at the title. Hysteria looked on the verge of winning this one when Oshean entered the ring and attacked the luchadore with a high heel shoe earning the DQ.

Bout #6
RCW Tag Team Title Match
Ace Darling & Devon Storm and African Bulldogs: Pariah & Temple battled to a no-contest at 6:45
[Ace Darling & Devon Storm retained the RCW Tag Team Titles]
**the former SAWF tag champions travelled from South Africa to take a shot at the titles and acquitted themselves quite well. In the end tempers flared and the ring could not contain the animosity.

Main Event
RCW Heavyweight Title Match
Manny Silva defeated Ben Bassarab by pinfall after a wheelbarrow suplex at 9:30
[Manny Silva retained the RCW Heavyweight Title]
**Bassarab always puts up a good fight but never seems to be able to take home the big one.


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


18th Anniversary Show
December 13, 1997
Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba

RCW Heavyweight Title Match: Manny Silva (C) vs Vendetta 
SAWF Heavyweight Title Match: Vendetta II vs to be announced
North American Women's Title Match: Barbie Wired vs Madusa Micelli
Gary Goodridge vs Oleg Taktarov
Dan Severn vs Mark Coleman
Streetfight: Kevin Northcutt vs Bobby Duncum Jr

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #704
November 15, 1997
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Hour #1

Bout #1
Nikki Kixxx defeated Becky Hennig by pinfall after a spinning heel hick at 4:30
**solid win for Kixxx, but Hennig lived up to her family name and wouldn't let it go, attacking Kixxx after the bout.

Bout #2
The Pharaoh defeated EZ Ryder by pinfall after a moonsault at 3:24
**it's the second straight week we saw the Pharaoh win a bout with the moonsault, but it still looks strange, and impressive, to see someone with his build pull it off.

Bout #3
Alexandra Beres defeated Mercedes after a powerslam at 3:09
**another quick bout, and Beres looks quite a step higher than Mercedes.

Bout #4
Vendetta defeated Enigma by pinfall after a jumping DDT at 1:58
**speaking of quick wins. The popular Haitian is looking forward to his title match at the Anniversary show.


Hour #2

Bout #5
#1 Contender Match for TV Title
Hysteria and Ben Bassarab battled to a double countout at 5:50
**both these guys were having trouble getting a fair shot at Legend's TV title, so Jim Brunzell set up this bout with the winner getting a title shot at the Anniversary show. The bout was fast paced and alternated between chain wrestling and high flying impact moves. In the end Hysteria nailed Bassarab with a head tope, but neither man was able to get to their feet and into the ring to beat the 10 count. So Jim Brunzell came out to announce that both men would get a title shot at the year end show, it would be a Bermuda Triangle bout.

Bout #6
RCW Tag Team Title Match
African Bulldogs: Pariah & Temple defeated The Extremists: Ace Darling & Devon Storm by pinfall when Temple pinned Storm after a doomsday device at 7:23
[African Bulldogs Won the RCW Tag Team Title]
**this was a bit of an upset as the Extremists had looked so dominating, but the Bulldogs have fantastic teamwork as well. The Extremists seemed to give their opponents full due after the bout, giving them a congratulatory nod, and receiving one in return. 

Commissioner Jim Brunzell came to the ring and announced that the Extremists would get their rematch at the Anniversary show. In addition Greg Valentine and Stan Lane will return to RCW at that show facing each other in a tag match, with both men brining in a very special tag partner, which will be revealed next week. In addition, former RCW competitor Chi Chi Cruz has won the SAWF Heavyweight Title, so as of right now that bout at the Anniversary show is now Chic Chi Cruz defending against Vendetta II.

Main Event
RCW Heavyweight Title Match
Manny Silva defeated Joe E. Legend (/w Oshean) by pinfall after a wheelbarrow suplex at 12:30
[Manny Silva retained the RCW Heavyweight Title]
**a champion versus champion bout that had huge ramifications for the Anniversary show. If Legend was able to win the belt then he would end up getting Vendetta at the big show, while likely Bassarab and Hysteria would meet for the vacant TV title. At least that was what Brunzell was saying doing guest commentary during the bout. Legend did surprisingly well and the one time he got into trouble his valet Oshean helped him out. However, that was costly as Silva had no qualms taking out a woman, and he threw her head first into the ringsteps, and she was helped to the back by security as the match continued. Legend made one more short comeback but Silva kept coming on. In desperation Legend went for a cutter, too early, and Silva slammed him to the mat, then nailed his own finisher for the win.


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


18th Anniversary Show
December 13, 1997
Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba

RCW Heavyweight Title Match: Manny Silva (C) vs Vendetta
SAWF Heavyweight Title Match: Chi Chi Cruz (C) vs Vendetta II
North American Women's Title Match: Barbie Wired vs Madusa Micelli
Gary Goodridge vs Oleg Taktarov
Dan Severn vs Mark Coleman
Streetfight: Kevin Northcutt vs Bobby Duncum Jr
RCW Heritage Title Match: Joe E. Legend vs Ben Bassarab vs Hysteria
RCW Tag Team Title Match: African Bulldogs vs The Extremists
Stan Lane & mystery partner vs  Greg Valentine & mystery partner

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #705
November 22, 1997
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Hour #1

Opening Bout
Pariah defeated Ace Darling by pinfall after a sitout powerbomb at 5:50
**one half of the tag champs beat one half of the former champs.

Bout #2
Devon Storm defeated Temple by countout at 4:57
**the other half of the challengers beat the other half of the champions, evening the score. Storm hit a plancha knocking Temple out and rolled back in to beat the count.
Post-Match: Pariah came out to help his partner to his feet, and Darling came out to back up his partner. The champs challenged the Extremists to come get them, and they did, and a four man brawl occurred.

Bout #3
Nikki Kixxx defeated Alexandra Beres by pinfall after a spinning heel kick (and her feet on the ropes) at 3:44
**Beres was fuming after the bout. Kixxx' finisher only partly connected and she would never have won if it were not for the cheat. After the bout Beres attacked Kixxx until security broke it up.

Bout #4
Tito Santana defeated Nikolai Kishka by disqualification for use of a foreign object at 7:07
**Kishka started strong, in fact he controlled most of the first 5 minutes. But the veteran Tito made a good comeback. Kishka didn't want to lose so after he rolled out of the ring, and Santana was reaching out to pull him back in, he grabbed a steel chair and while the ref was tied up with Tito, Kishka nailed him with the chair. He then rolled back into the ring with the chair and nailed Santana a half dozen times more in the back and head.

Hour #2

Commissioner Jim Brunzell comes out with more news for the 18th Anniversary show. First of all, with what just happened those two are going to get at it again, Tito vs Kishka. Next Greg Valentine has picked his partner for the anniversary show and it is great Japanese star Masa Chono!! Stan Lane will have to announce his partner next week. In addition we are going to have a Fatal Five Way Women's match; Beres vs Kixxx vs vs Blue vs Hennig vs Mercedes; with the winner to get a women's title shot in 1998. 

Bout #5
Duncan Duncan & Borro the Butcher's Son defeated Joe E. Legend & Oshean by pinfall when Duncan Duncan pinned Legend after a hot shot at 5:55
**kind of a big upset, but it was basically a handicap match as Legend did not want Oshean involved and she was willing to stay out of it. However, she did tag in at one point to save Legend from a Boston crab. She got beat up pretty good but managed to tag out to Legend. Duncan lifted Legend straight up, and fell backward, while Borro snapped Legend's neck off the top rope which set up the pin.

Bout #6
Ben Bassaab & Hysteria defeated Brick Bronsky & The Pharaoh by pinfall when Bassarab pinned Bronsky after a flying crossbody block at 8:29
**There was no animosity between Bassarab and Hysteria, which is bad news for Legend for the Bermuda Triangle match at the anniversary show. Pharaoh acquitted himself quite well and Bronsky took the fall.

Main Event
Vendetta & Kevin Northcutt defeated Manny Silva & Bobby Duncum Jr by pinfall when Vendetta pinned Silva after a jumping DDT at 10:18
**All four men took turns in control, and all four took their beatings. In the end though Silva and Duncum were not on the same page, and when Silva was in trouble instead of helping him Duncum went after Northcutt. This gave Vendetta a clear shot to hit a running forearm smash, and then his finisher.


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


18th Anniversary Show
December 13, 1997
Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba

11 matches so far

RCW Heavyweight Title Match: Manny Silva (C) vs Vendetta
SAWF Heavyweight Title Match: Chi Chi Cruz (C) vs Vendetta II
North American Women's Title Match: Barbie Wired vs Madusa Micelli
Gary Goodridge vs Oleg Taktarov
Dan Severn vs Mark Coleman
Streetfight: Kevin Northcutt vs Bobby Duncum Jr
RCW Heritage Title Match: Joe E. Legend vs Ben Bassarab vs Hysteria
RCW Tag Team Title Match: African Bulldogs vs The Extremists
Stan Lane & mystery partner vs Greg Valentine & Masa Chono
Tito Santana vs Nikolai Kishka
Fatal Five Way #1 Contender: Alexandra Beres vs Nikki Kixxx vs Mercedes vs Deep Blue vs Becky Hennig

[managermike99]

River City Wrestling #706
November 29, 1997
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Hour #1

Opening Bout
Scotty D'Amore defeated Robbie Royce by submission to the cobra clutch at 4:18
**successful premiere of the arrogant D'Amore who comes to RCW from out east.

Bout #2
Nikki Kixxx & Becky Hennig defeated Deep Blue & Alexandra Beres by pinfall when Kixxx pinned Beres after a spinning heel kick at 6:49
**a bit of an upset, but Kixxx has done quite well in her run so far in RCW.

Bout #3
Bermuda Triangle Match
Ace Darling defeated Ben Bassarab and Brick Bronsky by pinfall when Darling pinned Bronsky after a five star splash at 6:46
**All 3 competitors for the TV title Bermuda Triangle Match at the anniversary show will have a warm up 3 way match tonight. Bassarab looked like he had Bronsky beat, but Darling broke up the pin with a boot to the head and then threw Bassarab over the top rope. Darling went to the top and landed the splash on Bronsky and picked up the win.

Bout #4
Bermuda Triangle Match
The Pharaoh defeated Hysteria and Devon Storm when Pharaoh pinned Hysteria after a moonsault at 5:29
**match pretty much mirrored the previous one, except in this one Storm tried to finish off Hysteria with flying headscissors while walking the ropes, but Pharaoh hit the ropes causing Storm to crotch himself and fall out of the ring. Pharaoh hit Hysteria with a belly to back suplex then the moonsault and picked up the upset win.


Hour #2

Manny Silva came out to make an announcement. He has signed Nick Bockwinkel to be his manager, for one night only, at the 18th Anniversary show. The veteran will be there to make sure that the refs call it right down the middle, and that Vendetta doesn't cheat his way to the title.

Jim Brunzell comes out to counter Silva by saying that Vendetta will be allowed to bring his own manager then, and should announce that next week. Speaking of announcements, Stan Lane has announced that his partner for the Anniversary Show will be Telia Tuli, the Samoan sumo wrestler who competed at UFC 1. So it will be Lane & Tuli against Valentine & Chono. Finally a 12th and final match has been added to the card and it will feature former SAWF Tag champions Hank Armstrong & Bryce Armstrong against former Thug Life members Sexton Hardcastle & Christian Cage. Speaking of the SAWF their heavyweight title has changed hands again, with Cobra having won the belt from Chi Chi Cruz. Cobra will defend that belt at the anniversary show against the #1 contender who will be announced next week.

Bout #5
Non-Title Match
Duncan Duncan defeated Joe E. Legend (/w Oshean) and Borro the Butchers Son by pinfall when Duncan pinned Legend after a superplex at 4:29
**this had to be considered a major upset, although Duncan and Borro worked together pretty much the whole match, never turning on each other. In fact Borro helped Duncan set up Legend for the superplex and didn't try and break up the pin. So none of the 3 competitors in the Triangle match at the Anniversary show won their warmup.

Bout #6
Vendetta defeated Bobby Duncum Jr by pinfall after a jumping DDT at 8:15
**Vendetta controlled the first four minutes, tried to get a submisison with the cloverleaf to no avail. Duncum then controlled the next four minutes working over mostly the lower back of Vendetta. The end though came when Duncum went for his running bulldog, but Vendetta pushed him off into the corner, turned him around, hit his finisher, and got a pretty quick count from the ref.

Main Event
Non-Title Match
Manny Silva defeated Kevin Northcutt by pinfall after a wheelbarrow suplex at 6:05
**this match alternated between in and out of the ring, with neither man holding an advantage for more than a minute. The end came when Silva caught Northcutt climbing back into the ring with a knee, then a hotshot off the ropes, a spinebuster slam, and then his finisher.


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


18th Anniversary Show
December 13, 1997
Winnipeg Convention Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba

12 matches in total

RCW Heavyweight Title Match: Manny Silva (C) (/w Nick Bockwinkel) vs Vendetta (/w to be announced)
SAWF Heavyweight Title Match: Cobra (C) vs to be announced
North American Women's Title Match: Barbie Wired vs Madusa Micelli
Gary Goodridge vs Oleg Taktarov
Dan Severn vs Mark Coleman
Streetfight: Kevin Northcutt vs Bobby Duncum Jr
RCW Heritage Title Match: Joe E. Legend vs Ben Bassarab vs Hysteria
RCW Tag Team Title Match: African Bulldogs vs The Extremists
Stan Lane & mystery partner vs Greg Valentine & Masa Chono
Tito Santana vs Nikolai Kishka
Fatal Five Way #1 Contender: Alexandra Beres vs Nikki Kixxx vs Mercedes vs Deep Blue vs Becky Hennig
Hank & Bryce Armstrong vs Sexton Hardcastle & Christian Cage