Brian Damage
He began his wrestling career getting trained in OVW. He was used as a bodyguard, interviewer, manager, authority figure and a wrestler. Today on the blog, we ask…’Whatever Happened to’ Armando Alejandro Estrada?
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Brian Damage
Back in the 80’s and 90’s, it was very common to see some no name wrestler go up against a proven star of a promotion. Whether that be from the WWF, NWA/WCW, AWA or elsewhere, these nomads of professional wrestling were there to make the stars look great. They were known as enhancement talent, preliminary wrestlers or as many fans have come to know them…”jobbers.” While fans were clamoring to see big time match ups, these “squash matches” served a very important purpose. While perhaps not appreciated at the time, they were just as important as the stars themselves.
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Brian Damage
Most fans today know about how Triple H transformed WWE’s developmental promotion NXT, by bringing in and pushing top indie talent starting in 2014. Years before Triple H’s version of NXT emerged, there was Ohio Valley Wrestling. Paul Heyman would attempt the same type of philosophy in OVW starting in 2005. This is the story about how Heyman transformed a southern based WWE developmental territory into something much different.
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Brian Damage
Back in the 80’s and 90’s, it was very common to see some no name wrestler go up against a proven star of a promotion. Whether that be from the WWF, NWA/WCW, AWA or elsewhere, these nomads of professional wrestling were there to make the stars look great. They were known as enhancement talent, preliminary wrestlers or as many fans have come to know them…”jobbers.” While fans were clamoring to see big time match ups, these “squash matches” served a very important purpose. While perhaps not appreciated at the time, they were just as important as the stars themselves.
Continue reading
Brian Damage
This is the 349th installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involve such subjects as sex, drugs, greed and in some cases even murder! As with every single story in the Sin series, I do not condone or condemn the alleged participants. We simply retell their stories by researching interviews, newspapers, magazines and various other sources of media.
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Brian Damage
Back in the 80’s and 90’s, it was very common to see some no name wrestler go up against a proven star of a promotion. Whether that be from the WWF, NWA/WCW, AWA or elsewhere, these nomads of professional wrestling were there to make the stars look great. They were known as enhancement talent, preliminary wrestlers or as many fans have come to know them…”jobbers.” While fans were clamoring to see big time match ups, these “squash matches” served a very important purpose. While perhaps not appreciated at the time, they were just as important as the stars themselves.
Continue reading
Brian Damage
There is the old saying…”If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” but when it pertains to some professional wrestling gimmicks…”If at first you don’t succeed…KILL IT WITH FIRE!” Today’s piece is all about some of your favorite well known wrestling stars and the early gimmicks they once had. Sure, we know all about Steve Austin changing from The Ringmaster to Stone Cold and Kane was the fake Diesel and Isaac Yankem DDS. There are others that were a bit more obscure. Perhaps, they might want to forget these gems from long ago. In many cases, I wouldn’t blame them at all.
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Brian Damage
This is the 347th installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involve such subjects as sex, drugs, greed and in some cases even murder! As with every single story in the Sin series, I do not condone or condemn the alleged participants. We simply retell their stories by researching interviews, newspapers, magazines and various other sources of media.
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Lowlife Louie Ramos, B Dangerous and Brian Damage
This week’s top five is inspired by the recent success of Matt (Don’t call me Zack Ryder) Cardona and his venture into the world of death matches. We look at wrestlers who may or may not have had great success under a certain gimmick or character…but have had a long career with the ability to reinvent themselves and adapt to the ever changing world of professional wrestling.
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