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PWTorch Buying Guide for March 2005 - Tully Blanchard Shoot, Terry Funk Book, Best of Second City Saints

Mar 1, 2005 - 4:11:00 AM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY


By Derek Burgan, Torch Media Guy

March, 2005 PWTorch Buying Guide

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WWE 2005 Royal Rumble DVD. They better have the commercial for this PPV as an “extra.” And c’mon, besides what was a great Rumble, who can turn down one of the rare moments of Gene Snitsky meeting John Heidenrich? Not me.

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Full Impact Pro: Emergence. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to follow Sean Radican’s FIP news updates as there has been some crazy stuff happening down in sunny Florida. Personally, I can’t wait for the show that has CM Punk riding an electronic bull. This two disc set contains the tournament for the FIP Title and includes wrestlers such as Homicide, CM Punk, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Vordell Walker and AJ Styles. You can’t beat that. I also have to hand it to the boys at FIP for putting out a great DVD cover on their first show. It is amazing how much that area has changed over the last several years and I couldn’t be more thankful. Nothing is worse than a piss poor looking cover to a DVD.

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Best of Second City Saints DVD. I just had to add this on to the list after watching the match with the Second City Saints against Raven & BJ Whitmer at Night of the Grudges. For those of you who don’t follow Ring of Honor, the Second City Saints is a team cut straight out of the mold of the old Fabulous Freebirds. It consists of three men. The first is CM Punk, probably in the top three of anyone’s indie wrestler list because not only does the guy have a lot of talent in the ring, he has unmatched charisma and can shoot a promo like nobody’s business. The second member is “Classic” Colt Cabana, who might just very well be the funniest guy in wrestling right now. Cabana can deliver in the ring as well including doing the best Asai Moonsault in the world for a guy his size. The last member is “Crazy” Ace Steel, who trained both Punk and Cabana. The disc is loaded with great Saints matches including their ROH Tag Team Title win over the Briscoes at Reborn: Stage II and against Tomiaoki Honma & Kazushi Miyamoto at Final Battle 2003.

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Colt Cabana as Twinkie the Kid


Totally Tool Wrestling DVD.. Remember what I wrote earlier about Colt Cabana being the funniest wrestler today? Well here’s one of the reasons why. Cabana wrestles as Twinkie the Kid. Yes, TWINKIE THE KID. How great is that? Here’s the full card:

1. Blacula vs. Dr. Weird
2. First Ever Spotfest - Phat Wang vs. Mexican Lawnmower Boy vs. Rowdy Roddy Stripper
3. Worst Wrestler Alive Title Match - Habib the Egyptian Magician vs. Whylde Sohn
4. Mormon Hardcore Match - Adrian Serrano vs. Norman the Mormon
5. Bruiser Brady vs. Titmala
6. "Delicious" Devin Daniels vs. Mark Kayfabe
7. Chris Hero vs. Trik Davis
8. The "NEW" New Rockers vs. The Atta-Dudes
9. Best Wrestler Ever - Uncle Chester vs. Chris Hero vs. Twinkie the Kid

Norman the Mormon? Uncle Chester (wink wink)? Bruiser Brady? I’m all over this.

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Kevin Nash and Joey Styles enjoy Death of WCW book


Kevin Nash Shoot Interview. Here’s an interesting shoot DVD with the guy who was on the receiving end of Hulk Hogan’s infamous “one finger pin” back in the day. I have to say that Nash seemed like a pretty cool guy when I met him down at WrestleReunion. They better have asked Nash about Teenage Mutant Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze or there will be hell to pay.

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Shoot Interview with Tully Blanchard. Tully was another guy who impressed me at WrestleReunion by looking to be in great shape in his match against Jeff Jarrett. I still can’t believe the story of Tully actually suggesting that Jarrett drop the TNA belt to him, but apparently it’s true. I still won’t forget the look on Tully’s eyes when I asked him to sign my copy of the WWE produced Bloodiest Cage Matches. “I swear to god you are on this” I said. As if there is some sort of cottage industry for autographs of items wrestlers weren’t on. I want to hear what Tully said about the Four Horsemen, Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes on this shoot damn it!

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Gordon Solie…Something Left Behind. This link is to my review of the book and I hope you get a chance to check it out because Solie’s book really sticks out in the world of wrestling media.

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Jim Cornette Shoot Interview. Forget the fact that Jim Cornette is by far and away the most interesting guy to listen to in the entire business. Forget the fact he’s hilarious and goes off on tangents which will have you spellbound. You’re a Torch reader and Cornette has a few choice words for our very own Wade Keller on this DVD and YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO HEAR THAT. Whether or not you agree with Cornette you are going to laugh your ass off throughout this entire shoot along with coming to the realization that he knows his shit when it comes to wrestling. And what does Cornette think of Vince Russo anyway….

UXW: Genesis. This is new name of Frank Goodman’s old USAPro promotion. Apparently someone must have got Goodman the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD as a gift because he immediately changed the name of his promotion to blah blah blah EXTREME blah blah. Truly sickening. However, UXW shows are stacked and the Torch’s own James Guttman went to this particular event and gave it a big thumbs up. Here’s the lineup:

1. Poppalicious vs. Blade Michaels vs. Sugar vs. Envy vs. Burn vs. Johnny TNT vs. Malta The Damager vs. Danny Demanto vs. Bison Bravado vs. Boris (9-Way Match)
2. Crazy Ivan & Chucky vs. Christopher Street Connection
3. Chris Candido vs. Mike Kruel vs. Jay Lethal (3-Way Vacant UXW United States Championship Match)
4. The Dynamite Kid vs. Travis Blackchurch vs. Candy vs. Heavy Metal vs. Mercenary vs. Little Greatness (6-Way Hardcore Match)
5. Simon Diamond vs. Matt Striker
6. Dr. Zero vs. Mike Tobin
7. Elix Skipper vs. Xavier vs. Deranged vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Azraiel (Fatal 5-Way Match for vacated UXW Extreme Championship)
8. Tony Lo vs. The Masked Maniac
9. Axl Rotten vs. Mana
10. Special Appearance by Mick Foley
11. Balls Mahoney vs. Raven (UXW Heavyweight Championship Match)
12. Low Life Louie Ramos vs. Corporal Robinson (Hardcore Match)
13. The Sandman vs. Justin Credible
14. The Solution vs. The Outcast Killahz
15. Al Snow vs. Steve Corino

I can’t recommend highly enough trying out new indie promotions and who knows, you may find one you absolutely become addicted to. I know that’s what happened to me and ROH. Here’s a review I did recently of an AWA Show which had Jay Lethal headlining.

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Eddie Guerrero Shirt in Grand Theft Auto design. How the hell does Eddie keep getting the best WWE shirt? His Tabisco shirt was good and his Scarface one was great. Meanwhile John Cena gets a stupid “Ruck Fules” shirt.

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WWE Are We There Yet? Book. This latest offering from the WWE is a collection of road stories, unfortunately 100% ‘rat free. I’d like to get a book from the girl Amy who just quit after getting a mixed drink dumped on her during a plane trip among other “ribs.” The book also promises entries from Stevie Richards and Shannon Moore, two of my favorite guys, so that’s reason enough to plunk down some cash for it.

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Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore book. No less an authority than Dave Meltzer himself has been gushing over how good this book is going to be. The Melt is so high on this book you’d think it was about Bob Sapp. Personally I hope it does tremendous business because the Funker is one of wrestling’s greatest guys. I wonder if he’ll talk about Jimmy Jack Funk? Don’t laugh, back in the days when guys like Cpl. Kirshner were running around in the WWE, Jimmy Jack Funk was my favorite guy from the Double Cross Ranch. Yes, I know, I was the KING OF MARKS.

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Paradise Alley DVD. Here’s a good compliment for the Terry Funk book, Paradise Alley, a Sylvester Stallone movie about wrestling that heavily features the Funker.

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What is better than a shoot with Raven? What is better than a shoot with Sandman? Well, a Straight Shootin’ with Raven AND Sandman of course. We get to listen to both guys talk about the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD, Raven talk about Blue Meanie and Dancin’ Stevie Richards as well as Sandman’s infamous night getting naked down in Tampa.

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Mysteries of Wrestling: Solved. This is a new book by one of the cohosts of the “Get in the Ring” radio show. That’s the one with “The Phantom.” Anyhoo, his name is Adam Kleinberg and he can’t be that bad as he lives in Baltimore, Maryland, home of my beloved Orioles. I haven’t read this book yet, but here’s the product description and it sounds interesting: This hysterical and informative look at the sports entertainment industry, written by the hosts of the longest-running professional wrestling radio show in history, reveals the answers to wrestling's deepest, darkest mysteries. Enlisting the help of some of the sport's biggest stars, including Steve Austin, Kamala, Chyna, and Sid Vicious, this wealth of insider information leaves no turnbuckle unsearched and no foreign object left behind. Who was the toughest wrestler outside of the ring? Just how much influence has Hulk Hogan exerted in getting jobs for his buddies? Did the Kliq really run wrestling? The answers to these and other important questions are revealed in this no-holds-barred tell-all.

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Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: The Musical DVD.. You can never get enough PWG in my book. Check out this review by Kevin George and try to fathom how much greatness is on this disc.

Now let’s let our good friend Keith Lipinski, Mr. JAPAN here at the Torch, let us know what is on his Must Buy list…

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The good folks at ROHwrestling.com took a little trip to the land of the rising sun last month. They brought back at least two ROH leer jets worth of fine silks, spices, kimonos and most importantly Japanese wrestling swag. Up first, new IWGP (New Japan) and Triple Crown Champion (All Japan) is a target now more then ever as he is the first man to hold two of Japan's biggest championships at the same time. Eat your heart out Rick Springfield Chris Jericho! Therefore he's quite the target, and what better to show your support for the quadruple champion then with this fine Satoshi Kojima ’Kill Bull’ T-Shirt. Unless you're in Japan you can't enjoy a t-shirt this fine, or heed the caution to beware the Golden Right Arm Clothesline. Also from All Japan (which for some reason I've been enjoying a lot more lately) is a shirt from their top heel stable, which holds both sets of their tag team belts and their light heavyweight title. Bow before Taka, D'Lo, Buchanian (B-Squared), Kea, and Jamal's "flying sausage" with this lovely RO&D 'Comic' T-Shirt. RO&D stands for "Roughly Obsess and Destroy" which doesn't sound all that heelish when you think about it. Sadly, this would have been a perfect Valentines Day gift at the Lipinski household. Speaking of awesome gifts, who wouldn't enjoy the Christy Hemme Autographed Carmella Falsie from Taboo Tuesday? Not only would it make an interesting piece of conversation at Nitro parties, it doubles as a great paperweight at the office and a vital piece of WWE history.

You know, Ohio Valley Wrestling has not only provided us with some of the greatest superstars of the last few years (John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, Eugene, Shelton Benjamin, somedude named Brock Lesnar, and Chad f****** Toland) but their TV program always amazes me because no matter how many guys get called up to the WWE, its (well at least 97% of the time) always entertaining and features some great storylines and wonderful old school characters. Last months January 2005 OVW TV Showcase (#67) is no exception as it features two of the newest and greatest tag teams in America today. The dynamic combination of MNM (Joey Matthews & Johnny Nitro with Melina) and the Mo' Green led team of the Heartbreakers. Also this month, meet Bolin Services Blaster Lasheley and his $100-a-minute "cover your greenness" challenge, and the first OVW Television Champion is crowned with the champion earning $1,000 per defense. Old school and awesome. Since we're talking about old school and awesome, lets talk about middle aged and crazy, lets talk about a true legend in this business (besides Jim Cornette). I'm counting the days until Terry Funk -
More Than Just Hardcore
(Editor’s Note: Could we have any more plugs for this book?)

DVD's this month to pick up include the following. Celebrate twenty years of Keiji "Great Muta" Muto, with the All Japan Pro Wrestling 10/31/2004 PPV 2 DVD set which features his 20th anniversary match. Muto tags with "dream tag partener" (it wasn't billed as that but I always love that) NOAH's Mitsuharu Misawa against former IWGP tag team champions Hase & Sasaki in a historic tag team match. Also Hayashi vs. AKIRA for the Jr. Title, and Kawada defends the Triple Crown against Kea. All Japan might not be Baba's company, and the glory days of the 90s might be gone, but the product isn't all that bad. Another awesome double DVD set is Best Of Owen Hart. Yes, four hours of some of his greatest Stampede, TWA, and New Japan matches from the legend himself. Included are FIVE matches with Jushin Thunder Liger, including with with Liger pre-mask. Also matches with the Great Muta, Koshinaka and Chris Benoit are included. At 6.99, that’s almost a dollar for each Liger match along with adding an extra dollar for the maskless Liger match. Also worth your money and time is NOAH 1/8/05 Budokan Hall show featuring the fantastic NOAH debut of Genichiro Tenryu tagging with Shiro Koshinaka against Misawa & Takeshi Rikio in a tremendous tag team match. You must get this to see the Misawa & Tenryu chop/punch/elbow war! Also Kenta Kobashi defends the Global Honored Crown against "The Worst Man Ever" Minoru Suzuki, and my choice for match of the month for January; Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa. At $3.99 it’s a fantastic deal. Finally, two independent shows to recommend from Smart Mark Video. First, you have the CZW ''Only the Strong: Sixth Anniversary Show" DVD from February 5, 2005. The show features a show steeling Super Dragon & Excalibur vs. Blackout (Eddie Kingston & Sabian) match as well as a tremendous four way featuring Alex $helley, Sexxxy Eddy, Mike Quakenbush and the Arsenal. Also direct from Indiana, you have the IWA-MS February 4, 2005 ''Indiana State Title Tournament'' including a tournament for the first ever NWA Indiana State champion featuring Alex Shelley, Petey Williams, Matt Sydal, Trik Davis, Ian Rotten, and two up-and-comers named Josh Abercrombie and Brandon Thomaselli you should really keep your eyes on. Also a STRONG STYLE CHALLENGE between Samoa Joe and Brad Bradley, CM Punk vs. Danny Daniels baby for the IWA-MS heavyweight title, and Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious in an outstanding steel cage showdown.

That’s it for March, see you next month! If there is anything you would like to see in this space, send us a note!

Derek Burgan desperately wants to watch Goldberg in Santa’s Slay. You can reach Derek by clicking here! (derek@gumgod.com)


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