The Geeks Come Out At Night: Remembering the WCW All Nighter Specials

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Brian Damage

After Ted Turner purchased Jim Crockett’s promotion and rechristened it World Championship Wrestling, the company looked for new and different ways to garner interest into the promotion. One of those ideas was to air a bunch of old matches from both the NWA and WCW late at night. Add a few hosts like Tony Schiavone, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan and ‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund and you’ve got a show. It was an insomniac wrestling fan’s ultimate dream. The show was called ‘WCW All Nighter.’ Continue reading →

WWE Clash Of Champions 2019 Preview and Predictions

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Lowlife Louie Ramos and Earl Marx

Universal Championship — Seth Rollins (c) vs. Braun Strowman

Earl: I think this could be pretty good! Braun has done an “ok” job of making believe he wants Seth’s title. If he were a little more heel-ish (akin to his time feuding with Roman) I could believe it a little more. Doesn’t mean he isn’t doing ok. I think these two have styles that could play off each other well. Not sure if this is a “one and done”, but I think the champ fires the first successful shot.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Louie: I see Seth retaining not cleanly. Some outside interference to set up Strowmans and maybe the champs next feud as well.

Winner: Seth Rollins

WWE Championship — Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Randy Orton

Earl: Kofi BAY-BEEEEEE!!!!! This feud. Hmmm. There a few undertones that are slightly uncomfortable for me, but I’m going to credit that to Orton doing what he should have done years ago – being the foe that Kofi needs to escalate himself to be a bigger star. Too many “stupid” chants give me awkward tastes, but I think this feud definitely has life. Seeing as how Orton was unsuccessful last time, I think we get a wonky finish that leaves Kofi with the belt and takes us into HIAC.

Winner: Randy Orton (but he won’t leave with the strap)

Louie: No doubt here Kofi with the W…I see Kofi dropping the strap on the 1st episode on FOX. So he retains clean here.

Winner: Kofi

Raw Women’s Championship — Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks

Earl: Well, this one certainly caught me by surprise. The NewPrint..The BluePrint…Sasha Banks returned to take out The Man? Sign me up. For some reason, my spidey sense is telling me that Sasha is definitely getting the belt, but not yet….not now. We have to keep this feuding going a little bit longer. The twitter exchange is bound to get a little more interesting.

Winner: Becky Lynch

Louie: although she is still over huge, I’m quickly tiring of the “Man’ shtick.. I think Becky retains..just on the simple fact Sasha took that sabbatical.

Winner: Becky Lynch

SmackDown Women’s Championship — Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair

Earl: The Bayley heel turned happened. In the middle of this feud. I mean, I definitely didn’t see that one coming haha. I mean, I saw the heel turn, but..you know what I mean. What interesting timing. Does Bayley cheat now? That’s something to consider. The larger consideration goes to Fox – is Charlotte who we want to be champ going into Fox? I think that answer is yes.

Winner: (and new Smackdown Woman’s Champion) Charlotte Flair

Louie: Tough to call..Bayley’s new character flip warrants a continuing run, but in my opinion Charlotte is the best…I’m going to say Bayley with a hand from Sasha Banks.

Winner: Bayley

Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan

Earl: The lone match on the card without a title involved. Or, if we felt ambitious, we could assign the “Big Dawg” title to this match. Yeah…”Big Dawg” title on the line here. Although I am impressed with Rowan a little bit, this is such a pivotal match for him that I can’t see him winning. Just…no.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Louie: I’m glad Rowan had gotten a chance to cut promos and develop a character. That being said I hope his in ring skill have gotten a bit better. This could be a sleeper match. You can build a new monster heel with a Rowan win..but WWE will always bet on the big dog..Roman in this one.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Intercontinental Championship — Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. The Miz

Earl: True confessions time. I haven’t cared about The Miz since he’s turned face. I occasionally forget Shinsuke exists. Then…Sami Zayn was added. My interest bubbled. Didn’t overflow, but it did bubble.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

Louie: Miz can talk work and entertain…he is 1 IC title away from catching Jericho. Miz wins the title here to spite AEW. Lol..this one should also be a good one.

Winner: The Miz

SmackDown Tag Team Championship — The New Day (c) vs. The Revival

Earl: I forgot New Day were the tag champs! That’s my fault though. If we give these guys 15 mins, we could get match of the night here. Not seeing a need to take the titles off the champs.

Winner: The New Day

Louie: New day always shine when they need to..that being said..this match may be used to push the Orton Kingston title affair…Revival for the upset win

Winner: The Revival

Raw Tag Team Championship — Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode

Earl: If we want the main event to be more interesting, we need to get the titles off Seth and Braun. That in mind, what do we do with Roode and Ziggler though? I guess we find out in time because I do not see Robert and Dolph leaving title-less.

Winner: (and new Raw Tag Team Champions) Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode

Louie: 2 great workers lost in the mix vs 2 guys that will battle later on the show.. toss up..but the build up to the univers title match makes no sense if Roode and Ziggler win..the again..sometimes things dont make sense..Roode and Ziggler another upset

Winner: Roode and Ziggler

Women’s Tag Team Championship — Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) vs. Fire & Desire:

Earl: Is it creepy to admit that I am quite the fan of Fire and Desire? HA! Yes…like they interest me quite a bit….each…hot…in their own way. But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re talking about the titles. Alexa and Nikki bring attention to the titles. I think I could see Fire and Desire leaving with the champs, but I’m going to go against my initial instinct and go with the champs retaining. But “Fire and Desire” remains one of my favorite Rick James’ songs…bih. I kid I kid!

Winner: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross

Louie: I haven’t been invested in any of these participants..I’m going to say the champs retain

Winner: Bliss and Cross

Cruiserweight Championship — Drew Gulak (c) vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Lince Dorado

Earl: As I admit I am not a 205 watcher, I do plan on trying to catch this one. Drew Gulak tends to deliver when called upon. If we’re about to switch 205 over to NXT, I’d like to see him carry the strap into the new era.

Winner: Drew Gulak.

Louie: I’m going Gulak to retain..Lince Dorado is a.lost in the shuffle guy and not overly familiar with Humberto..this will surely be relegated to opening the pre show…

Winner: Drew Gulak

Overall Thoughts about the Show

Earl: I can’t say the cards looks like a guaranteed win, but if you’ve read any of my past work….you know I don’t mind something like this! That means the pressure gets lowered just a bit and we can sit back and be more pleasantly surprised than expectedly disappointed. I’m keeping my eye on that Seth/Braun matchup.

***Note***

United States Championship — AJ Styles (c) versus Cedric Alexander

This match was added after all predictions were submitted.

Quick prediction — AJ Styles retains due to outside interference from the OC.

E-C-Dud! E-C-Dud! The Match ECW Never Wanted You To See (And Probably Never Will)

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Brian Damage

There is a long line of pro wrestling matches that were booked that seemed great on paper, but never delivered when executed. I immediately think back to such “classics” as the Dog Kennel match in the WWE or how about WCW’s Chamber of Horrors match. There are several others that we could easily name from the big promotions, but what about ECW? Continue reading →