Dalton

p { margin:0; padding:0; line-height: 1.5em; } WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING SATURDAY WEEK 1, JANUARY 1992 WCW MAIN EVENT 1. Vinnie Vegas def. Van Hammer 2. Ron Simmons def. George South 3. Larry Zbysko def. Marcus Alexander Bagwell The first episode of WCW Saturday Night kicked off for 1992 from Atlanta, GA with hot matchups building to Clash of the Champions in nine days, and SuperBrawl II just a couple of weeks away. The biggest news coming out of the show was the Sting vs. Abdullah the Butcher feud heating up. Sting defeated Abdullah’s ally Cactus Jack in the main event, leading to the big man taking out “The Franchise” right after the bell. Eventually, Sting was able to fight off Abby and send his two rivals packing, standing tall to end the episode. Barry Windham challenged WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude to a match at Clash of the Champions, which Paul E. Dangerously accepted on Rude’s behalf on one condition: Windham must defeat the Dangerous Alliance in a six-man tag team match next week. Paul E. named Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton and Larry Zbyszko as his team, and said that he’d see Windham and “friends, whoever they are” next week. Dustin Rhodes, one-half of the WCW World Tag Team Champions alongside Ricky Steamboat, took on and defeated Bobby Eaton by disqualification in the opener, as Arn Anderson hit the ring as Rhodes was close to putting Eaton anyway. Steamboat attempted to help his friend, but Anderson and Eaton were too much for them. A promo aired for Harley Race and Big Van Vader. Vader was holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, a title he won from Masa Saito at NJPW Wrestling World on Thursday. Race hyped up his brute, and said the big man would be defending the title across the globe. Elsewhere on the card, Steve Austin made his eleventh defense of the WCW World Television Championship against the young charismatic Marcus Alexander Bagwell, putting him away in short order. Brian Pillman also beat Rip Rogers in just a few minutes. There was also a short video highlighting WCW World Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger and his successes so far. 1. Dustin Rhodes def. Bobby Eaton by disqualification 2. Brian Pillman def. Rip Rogers 3. WCW WORLD TELEVISION: Steve Austin © def. Marcus Alexander Bagwell (11th defense) 4. Sting def. Cactus Jack

p { margin:0; padding:0; line-height: 1.5em; } WCW SCHEDULE - 1992 TUESDAY WEEK 3, JANUARY 1992 - WCW CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS XVIII SUNDAY WEEK 4, FEBRUARY 1992 - WCW SUPERBRAWL II SUNDAY WEEK 2, MAY 1992 - WCW WRESTLEWAR TUESDAY WEEK 3, JUNE 1992 - WCW CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS XIX SUNDAY WEEK 3, JUNE 1992 - WCW GREAT AMERICAN BASH SUNDAY WEEK 3, JULY 1992 - WCW BEACH BLAST TUESDAY WEEK 3, SEPTEMBER 1992 - WCW CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS XX SUNDAY WEEK 4, OCTOBER 1992 - WCW HALLOWEEN HAVOC TUESDAY WEEK 3, NOVEMBER 1992 - WCW CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS XXI SUNDAY WEEK 3, DECEMBER 1992 - WCW STARRCADE

p { margin:0; padding:0; line-height: 1.5em; } STARTING CHAMPIONS JANUARY 1992

ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING JANUARY 1992 - OCTOBER 1996 TRIPLE CROWN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Kenta Kobashi (def. Hiroshi Hase, June 1996) AJPW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: Stan Hansen & Steve Williams (def. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada, January 1996) ALL ASIA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Kensuke Sasaki (def. Dan Severn, September 1996) ALL ASIA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori (def. Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers, June 1996) AJPW WORLD JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Hayabusa (def. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, September 1996) CHAMPION CARNIVAL: Kenta Kobashi (April 1996) REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE: Stan Hansen & Steve Williams (December 1996)

I'd like to see a tweak to the contract system where a worker can be "exclusive" to a promotion in area, while being free to work for companies in other. A real-world example of this would be Stan Hansen being exclusive to AJPW in Japan, while taking bookings from various American promotions. Another is Shun Skywalker being exclusive to DG in Japan, while working for whomever in America. The same goes for lots of talent in NJPW.

I've played a TON of DiabloX and will always be a fan of new updates! I started a FORCE game just to get accustomed to the world again and noticed these alerts, namely the roster and production ones: I also noticed that BB-8 needs a language to speak otherwise he'll get the language barrier morale hit. Not sure if that is intentional due to it being BB-8 but worth mentioning.

HGC HOLLYWEIRD TV #10 WEDNESDAY WEEK 1, MARCH 1997 - ANAHEIM, CA Sam Strong opened the show hyping the main event six-man tag match. Not much to write home about, other than the crowd not quite being as hot on Strong as they were a month ago. This will be an interesting dynamic to track. 1. Monty Walker def. Silver Shark - A good match for what it was. Walker is continuing to get over. (44) 2. Ricky Dale Johnson def Joel Bryant - RDJ takes down a member of The Agency. The rest of the crew was at ringside, and Rip Chord was on commentary. (37) After RDJ scored the pin, Chord stood up and told the group to rush the ring, but RDJ was able to slip away before any damage could be done to him. 3. BLZ Bubb def. Jason Jackson - Another squash for Bubb. This one was a bit better and put him over as a true monster; something that the previous two were missing. It actually had some heat as well. (42) Backstage, Emma Chase was with Jack Bruce once again. Bruce was staring at Emma and smiling as she rolled her eyes. She asked him about his win last week over Jason Jackson, but before he could answer, HGC International Champion Liberty came into the picture and walked up into Bruce's face. Bruce looked at the title on Liberty's shoulder, and Liberty simply said "next week." Well, looks like a match was made? 4. Sam Strong & The Blazing Flames def. Flapjack Flanagan & Black Serpent Cult - First off, I just want to point out that the total age in this match is 288, meaning the average age is 48! Old men. Once again, HGC is supposed to be the alternative, yet every man in this main event had a long run in SWF. Anyway, the match was fine. But the crowd isn't nearly as hot on Strong's antics now. He'll need some tweaking if he wishes to continue doing the superhero babyface routine. (75) The bigger news coming out of the main event was the post-match. Sam Strong stayed in the ring to hot dog to the fans, but as he was looking out to the crowd, BLZ Bubb snuck into the ring and laid him out. He put a foot on Strong's chest and held a fist high to the sky as the show ended. So there's the next title program. I've been complaining about how Bubb hasn’t put it all together yet, but his squash on this show couldn’t have come at a better time. He finally looked like the beast he should be, and now he's being thrown to the fire to feud with the biggest star in the world. Sink or swim. 1. Monty Walker def. Silver Shark 2. Ricky Dale Johnson def. Joel Bryant 3. BLZ Bubb def. Jason Jackson 4 . Sam Strong & The Blazing Flames def. Flapjack Flanagan & Black Serpent Cult

Albright vs Takada (for a title?) is the clear main event program, so building to that through Kazuo Yamazaki makes sense. Good card, good show. Fascinated by Ken Patera because this is WAY past his prime, but I could see him mixing it up in UWFi around this time, if he could get into Japan 😆

HGC HOLLYWEIRD TV #9 WEDNESDAY WEEK 1, MARCH 1997 - ANAHEIM, CA After a successful pay-per-view on Sunday, making them two-for-two so far, HGC Hollyweird TV opened with Rip Chord coming to the ring, along with his new faction he dubbed "The Agency" at the PPV. The group consists of Chord, the immobile waste-of-space Peter Valentine, and the Untouchables trio: Joel Bryant, Paul Steadyfast and Robert Oxford. As I stated in my PPV review, giving Chord a crew of bad guys to do his dirty work for him is a great idea. It gives purpose to the Untouchables and more importantly to Peter Valentine. Valentine, as bad as he is, at least looks good being a muscle for a star like Chord. As for the promo itself here, Chord gave his mission statement: to take over HGC and win the World Heavyweight title currently held by Sam Strong. It was a pretty basic promo, but Chord's delivery was excellent and the crowd was hot for it. 1. Golden Fox def. Dark EAGLE - Dark EAGLE remains winless in HGC, which just so happened to be the story here. EAGLE became more and more desperate to pick up the win, but his aggression led to Fox rolling up him for three count. EAGLE was visibly frustrated afterward and stormed to the back. Fox gestured at his waist, likely signaling that he wants a shot at the HGC Cruiserweight title and its new holder, Yosuke Narita. (66) In a weird backstage segment, Pat Deacon was interviewing HGC tag champs Bryan & Larry Vessey when the Nation of Filth interrupted and challenged them to a tag title match in the main event? Vesseys accepted. Why is this happening? 2. Jack Bruce def. Jason Jackson - Fresh off losing to Dusty Streets for a second PPV in a row, Bruce regained some momentum with a win over resident job guy Jason Jackson. He showed renewed viciousness here, but that's really it. Unexciting. (28) Emma Chase was backstage with Richie Pangrazzio Jr. She asked him about his actions following his victory over Monty Walker at The War To Settle The Score (he sucker punched Walker after offering a handshake). RPJ, with a flat expression, just walked away. I like this! No BS fake-anger promos, just let the turn sizzle a bit. 3. BLZ Bubb def. The Danger Kid - A squash, and a bad one at that. Bubb is a highly-touted prospect and we know he can go for a man of his size, but he hasn’t quite put it all together in HGC yet. This is two sloppy matches for him so far. He clearly has all the potential, but needs to click before he can rise. (28) Jason Azaria & Kyle Rhodes announced a "star-studded six man tag team match" for next week's main event: Sam Strong & The Blazing Flames vs. Flapjack Flanagan & Black Serpent Cult. Despite this match having Flanagan in it, I have a feeling this will be building to the future somehow. It's kind of out of nowhere, so some storyline advancement is likely. But unless Strong is running back a rematch with Flanagan (please no), I'm curious how it leads to Strong's next challenger. As always, I'll reserve judgment. 4. HGC WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Vessey Brothers © def. The Nation of Filth - I ask again: why? Grunt and Stink stink. They lost in the first round of the tag title tournament, aren't seen in two months then come back and get a title match? I know it goes against wrestling philosophy and how babyfaces act, but the Vesseys should have laughed in their faces when they challenged them. Of course, Vesseys win quickly. BUT, they are then attacked by the returning Demons of Rage. Anger & Spite laid them out and held the titles in the air. The announcers did a good job explaining that the duo had to pull out of the title tournament where they would have faced the Vesseys in the semifinal. With the Vesseys eventually winning it all, the Demons have a valid reason to go after the titles. I like this! Sound booking! (63) 1. Golden Fox def. Dark EAGLE 2. Jack Bruce def. Jason Jackson 3. BLZ Bubb def. The Danger Kid 4. HGC WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Vessey Brothers © def. The Nation of Filth (2nd defense)

BREAKING NEWS - TRIBAL WARRIOR OUT OF HGC TotalExtremeWrestling has learned that Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods has pulled Tribal Warrior from future HGC bookings. This is off the heels of Tribal Warrior's long-time tag team partner Java being hired by HGC and the Savage Fury team reforming. For those unaware, Warrior's contract with HGC was per-date, with BHOTWG having control over his bookings. BHOTWG was unhappy with Java's signing, as he is also signed to Pride Glory Honor Wrestling, the new promotion that is competing with BHOTWG in Japan. From what we have gathered, a deal was brokered where BHOTWG allowed HGC use of Warrior through their last PPV, due to an on-screen storyline with Savage Fury challenging the Vessey Brothers for the HGC World Tag Team titles. It would be a bad look for HGC to debut a new act, reforming a tag team in the process, start a title program and then never mention it again. We don't know the details behind the deal, but it's said that there is no lingering animosity between BHOTWG and HGC. Savage Fury lost the title match to the Vesseys at The War To Settle The Score. With Tribal Warrior gone, that leaves Java partner-less. The duo had just linked up with Professor Nero on-screen, but we have no knowledge on if this managerial relationship with continue, or if an audible will be called following this news.

Thanks for the feedback! It's fun finding a balance between critiquing myself and purposely doing bad things in order to progress the narrative. It's up for the reader to decide which is which 😜

Hoo boy, so much to unpack here I'll break it down line-by-line to not miss anything. This match had "little to no build?" This was about as strong as a two-week build can be. It popped a number too if that matters to you, so there was enough of a build to make people care. He also saved face by passing out and not submitting, if you're someone who cares about that. "Momentum squandered" by losing to the dominant monster heel world champion? HOOK at this very moment is the hottest he has been since his debut. The rest of the roster should be begging for their momentum to be squandered, if that's the case. Also, who says Joe is a transitional champion? I'm not following this at all? ??? "Surprise title shot" that he asked for two weeks ago? Also, at least have him win? What?? You think HOOK should have won? That would be disastrous for so many reasons I can't even list them all. Sudden change of plans? From what? What were the original plans? What are you talking about? The last sentence here is so absurd I'm starting to think I got baited by a troll post.

Fleisch's 1992 is second-to-none in quality and has FMW in an interesting time period.

Excellent show. Eddie Gilbert is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time (and should have been the booker of WCW around this time, but alas) and will absolutely deliver for you. Jake popping up in the Texas Death was cool, hopefully he stays clean along with Gilbert. The main event put a bow on Pillman's turn, and linking him to Heyman and his crew will get him over for you. Sting's world title being the only piece missing from the Dangerous Alliance is good booking, and with a short turnaround to the next PPV I expect some good stuff coming up!

@Scottie 6/8 @newbiezness 6/8 @TLLK 5/8 Thanks as always!

HGC THE WAR TO SETTLE THE SCORE SUNDAY WEEK 4, FEBRUARY 1997 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA Two HGC pay-per-views in, I think it's safe to say that they deliver. A solid show from top to bottom with no true weak points (outside of, surprisingly, the cruiserweight title match that was designed to just get the title off the injured Mr. Lucha). I've received reports that XFW regular Frankie Future worked a dark match, scoring a win over Jason Jackson. I've yet to confirm if Frankie is signed or not, but getting a win over a signed talent points in that direction. Frankie is extremely talented and has been earmarked for future success by many. 1. Golden Fox def. Ramon Paez - A crowd-pleasing opener, nothing more. Golden Fox is really good, by the way. 2. Richie Pangrazzio Jr. def. Monty Walker - RPJ gets the victory on PPV over a young hotshot in Walker. A good decision; Walker isn’t ready and RPJ's story is that he is aiming for the world title so his kids can see their father on top of the world. But after the match, RPJ offered his hand to Walker, but just punched him in the mouth. A swerve out of nowhere. I will reserve judgment until I see where it goes, since this wasn't quite a heel turn, but booking a storyline about a father trying to make his children proud only to do this is a debatable move. 3. Rip Chord & Peter Valentine def. Ricky Dale Johnson & Whistler - A lot going on here. Whenever Chord and RDJ locked up, the match was great. Whenever Valentine or Whistler tagged in, the quality (and the reactions) immediately dipped. The Untouchables (Joel Bryant/Paul Steadyfast/Robert Oxford) came to the ring, leading to Bryant grabbing Whistler's foot on an Irish Whip (while the other two distracted the referee) and Chord hitting a Rip Chord DDT for the victory. After the match, Chord directed traffic and led a beatdown on Whistler and RDJ. He then grabbed a microphone and announced the formation of The Agency: Chord, Valentine, Bryant, Steadyfast, Oxford. I like this a lot; giving Chord a crew of guys to do his dirty work while getting them over is good stuff. 4. HGC CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Yosuke Narita def. Mr. Lucha © - I noted on my recap of last week's Hollyweird TV that the structure and result of this match would tell us a lot about Mr. Lucha's injury. Narita had the offense for almost the entire match, and Mr. Lucha did not really take any major bumps. He didn't even take Narita's finisher in the Thunder Shock, but instead his secondary finisher: Lighting Splash (frog splash). Narita is the new champion, and if Lucha is out of action for a while, this is the right choice. Narita can easily carry the division. It's too bad that this match didn’t have a true build, since this was a dream match for a lot of fans, but their inevitable rematch will surely be a big one. 5. HGC INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Liberty def. Romeo Heartthrob © - Two title changes in two matches. Due to Romeo being Liberty last month, this match had the stipulation that if Liberty lost, he would never be able to challenge for the International title ever again, so the winner was a bit telegraphed. That being said, a good match with the right winner. A course correction of sorts as well, since Liberty has quickly gotten over to the HGC audiences, and I'm willing to bet that if HGC could run back the last PPV, Liberty would have defeated Romeo there. Nevertheless, a solid match here. Liberty now is a titleholder, and is the clear leader of the next generation of wrestlers honing their craft in HGC. 6. Dusty Streets def. Jack Bruce - For the second pay-per-view in a row, Dusty Streets beats Jack Bruce. I thought Jack would win here, to either set up a rubber match or at least get over the young guy, but nope. Streets wins clean again. The match was also a clear step down from their last's; something just wasn't clicking. 7. HGC WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Vessey Brothers © def. Savage Fury - A really good match that played to the strengths of all parties. Bryan Vessey was the hero in peril here, with Larry getting the hot tag and running roughshod over the big heels. Professor Nero and Coach P also bickered at ringside throughout in some entertaining moments. Bryan got the pin after a Vessey Driver to Java. 8. HGC WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Sam Strong © def. Flapjack Flanagan - A match ripped straight from 1989. If I need to find a positive, at least these two are both good at the style. Flanagan beat down Strong for nearly thirteen minutes before Strong staged a comeback and pinned the big man after three Strong Arm Tactics. I understand that Sam Strong is Sam Strong, but this is the same stuff we saw a decade ago in SWF; there is no need to have this stuff here. I'm hoping that it's a temporary thing to get lapsed fans (and SWF fans, for that matter) to tune in to see familiar faces doing familiar things. The roster is talented enough to do something new, so let's get going. A pretty damn good show. I may have my own reservations with the tired stuff on top, but I understand I may be in the minority. New champions, solid matches, and clear direction for both the vets and the young guns. 0. Frankie Future defeated Jason Jackson in 5:56 by pinfall with a Futureshock. 1. Golden Fox defeated Ramon Paez in 8:17 by pinfall with a Flying Fox. (58) 2. Richie Pangrazzio Jr. defeated Monty Walker in 11:26 by pinfall with a Grand Slam. (60) 3. Rip Chord and Peter Valentine defeated Ricky Dale Johnson and Whistler in 12:14 when Rip Chord pinned Whistler with a Rip Chord DDT following interference from Joel Bryant. (61) 4. HGC CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Yosuke Narita defeated Mr. Lucha in 9:33 by pinfall with a Lightning Splash. (57) (NEW CHAMPION!) 5. HGC INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Liberty defeated Romeo Heartthrob in 14:35 by pinfall with a Liberation Slam. (59) (NEW CHAMPION!) 6. Dusty Streets defeated Jack Bruce in 18:23 by pinfall with The Dust-Off. (53) 7. HGC WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Vessey Brothers defeated Savage Fury in 14:31 when Bryan Vessey pinned Java with a Vessey Driver. (64) (1st defense) 8. HGC WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Sam Strong defeated Flapjack Flanagan in 15:07 by pinfall with a Strong Arm Tactic. (73) (1st defense)

ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING JANUARY 1992 - MAY 1995 TRIPLE CROWN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Mitsuhara Misawa (def. Steve Williams, June 1993) AJPW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: Stan Hansen & Vader (won in Real World Tag League, December 1994) ALL ASIA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Jun Akiyama (won in tournament following reinstatement at Baba's retirement show, February 1995) ALL ASIA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: Masanobu Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa (def. Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner, October 1994) CHAMPION CARNIVAL: Kenta Kobashi (April 1995) REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE: Stan Hansen & Vader (December 1994)

It's not ceremonial at all. Tanahashi will absolutely be heavily involved with the goings-on for NJPW. He just isn't the booker. A president can have duties with a promotion without booking the matches. Nick Khan is the President of WWE and isn't the booker.

The NJPW President is not the booker

HGC THE WAR TO SETTLE THE SCORE PREVIEW - FEBRUARY 1997 Heading into the second ever pay-per-view for HGC, things are looking up. While the week-to-week television has been spotty, mainly due to a very clear distinction between the top few "stars" and the rest of the roster. Sam Strong and Rip Chord are just on a different level of popularity than the likes of Liberty, Ricky Dale Johnson and Jack Bruce, no matter how much I enjoy the latter three's work so far. It seems that the company realizes this as well, and that is why they brought in a washed-up SWF castoff in Flapjack Flanagan to be Strong's PPV challenger. Running back an angle from eight years ago is one of those things that a pro wrestling fan will hate, but the lapsed fan will likely check out because of how successful. However, this argument is the antithesis of what HGC should be. HGC should be focusing on future stars, with guys like Strong and Chord working with the young talent to set them up for success in the next millennium. Sure, that means there will be some short-term sacrifice, but let's be honest, it's not like JK Stallings Jr. is hurting for money and needs to turn a profit in year one. Chord, to his credit, is doing just that; working with guys lower down on the roster. Peter Valentine is really, really bad, but as a meathead muscle seconding Rip Chord? That works for me. Whistler also isn't my cup of tea, but he is clearly the second in his team as well. The star of that duo is Ricky Dale Johnson, and I'll talk more about that matchup in the match preview. The match card lists the opener as Golden Fox vs. Ramon Paez. This is just a high-flying opener to get the crowd going, which is another thing HGC has been taking advantage of. No other major American company can pull this off. HGC's connections to junior-focused promotions and their own production values lends to matches like this. It may not have a storyline behind it, but who cares? This isn't a match that requires one. The Monty Walker vs. Richie Pangrazzio Jr. match is interesting for a couple reasons. I've been talking about how the top names in HGC should be building the future, and I do believe RPJ is doing that here, but I also believe he should win. Walker is a great young wrestler at just twenty-five years old, but I think he may get more out of losing here to RPJ than scoring a big upset. If handled with care, Walker could be a top name in five years or so. He lost to Charlie Homicide at the first PPV but was put into a feud with a respected vet right after, so he is clearly someone Stallings and co. have high hopes for. At the same time, RPJ, despite being forty-one years old, feels like someone who never reached his full potential in SWF. In his limited appearances so far, RPJ feels like one of the veterans who has benefited the most from HGC existing. I am very interested to see where he goes, because the clock is ticking. Rip Chord working with the younger HGC talent is good. Rip Chord working with Peter Valentine is bad. I can't for the life of me watch Peter Valentine and think that it's not a waste of my time. On the other hand, Ricky Dale Johnson is another future star at HGC's disposal, and throwing him into the deep end working with a legend like Chord and a hunk of garbage like Valentine is a great way to see what he can do. Whistler is clearly the tacked on tag partner of RDJ so as to not burn another singles match between Chord and Johnson, but he isn't terrible. He's just not what HGC really should be about, if that makes sense. I expect some good work here mixed with some of the worst in HGC so far. This Chord/RDJ feud has legs, so seeing where it goes from here will be fun to analyze. I expect this feud to be something we look back on in fifteen years as a great launching pad for RDJ. The fourth is for the HGC Cruiserweight Championship between Mr. Lucha and Yosuke Narita. I've written about this match on the TV reviews heading into this show. We know Mr. Lucha was injured his shoulder a couple weeks ago but it is working through it. This is the biggest match HGC has in the cruiserweight division, so booking it with almost no build makes it seem to me that the title will be coming off of Lucha and onto the uber-talented Narita. Due to the injury, this match has the potential to be anywhere from being an angle more than a match, to being a match of the year contender. Next we have a rematch from Malice In Wonderland: Romeo Heartthrob vs. Liberty for the HGC International Championship. Romeo beat Liberty by grabbing the tights to win in the first encounter. A rematch a month later between an aging vet and a young hotshot makes me believe that Liberty will get his win back and even up their record at 1-1, potentially building to a rubber match, but if Liberty wins here, what was the point of putting the title on Romeo in the first place. This is his first match overall since the last PPV, let alone his first title defense. Either way, the last match was pretty good, so I expect them to build on it here and continue the rise of Liberty. Another rematch is next, this one between Dusty Streets and Jack Bruce. The feud has been pretty good, but having two rematches in a row just two PPVs into HGC's existence is a decision I don't agree with. My logic to Romeo vs. Liberty also applies here, just sans title. Jack Bruce is another future megastar (and the one I believe has the most potential out of the RDJ/Liberty/Bruce trio that I speak of often) but Dusty Streets is still over and trying to embark on a strong singles run in America for the first time. Sam Strong needs a championship program after tonight, with Chord preoccupied with RDJ, and since I strongly believe he will beat Flanagan and I refuse to believe that feud will extend past this show. Unless they risk splitting the audience in a face vs. face match between Strong and Streets, I can see Jack Bruce being thrust into the main event immediately as Strong's first feud against an HGC "homegrown." The Vessey Brothers have been a highlight of HGC so far. I love everything they've been doing, and I see major success in Bryan's future specifically. They are making their first defense of their tag titles against Savage Fury, Java and Tribal Warrior. The duo was brought by Professor Nero in Nero's debut a couple weeks ago, and won a squash match over Jason Jackson and The Danger Kid. This is a weird booking decision in my opinion, since I don't believe Savage Fury will be losing, but having the monster duo lose their first feud potentially ruins their future. I guess they could win their next feud over a babyface team, but that would lead them right back into another title match. Maybe this discussion is all for naught and they score the win here in a big upset. The Vessey Brothers can handle a loss, and Savage Fury would instantly be a made team if they win here. And that brings us to the main event. I sincerely hope HGC recognizes what they are doing here and pivot immediately. Throwing Sam Strong against monster-of-the-month heels, especially ones from last decade, is exactly HGC should be avoiding. Leave that philosophy for SWF. Be something different. Be the alternative! This company is a chance for Sam Strong to prove he is more than just the cartoon superhero who defies the odds to beat the hulking behemoths in his path. I'm hoping that this is a one-time "test run" of sorts to see if they bring in any lapsed fans. If this becomes the norm, just like it was for SWF in the 80s, then I am already disappointed in HGC and will again be looking to Japan for good wrestling. 8. HGC WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Sam Strong © vs. Flapjack Flanagan (1st defense) 7. HGC WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Vessey Brothers © vs. Savage Fury (1st defense) 6. Jack Bruce vs. Dusty Streets 5. HGC INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Romeo Heartthrob © vs. Liberty 4. HGC CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Mr. Lucha © vs. Yosuke Narita (2nd defense) 3. Rip Chord & Peter Valentine vs. Ricky Dale Johnson & Whistler 2. Monty Walker vs. Richie Pangrazzio Jr. 1. Golden Fox vs. Ramon Paez

So....no one gets disqualified, unless the referee is able to recognize that the person doing the run-in is buddies with one of the competitors, but only if they can identify that they're buddies? And if the intruder can't be identified as a friend then the match continues if possible (which would mean that the match is.........no disqualification by the way)? That is an arbitrary set of circumstances that moves the goalposts so far that it proves my argument that it isn't possible lol. Sure, if we uproot the rules and logic of WWE and wrestling as a whole (and leave them up for interpretation rather than having actual rules I guess?) then of course, you can do literally anything you want. You could make every match submission or surrender if you'd like to. You could make everyone have one rope break. You could make suplexes illegal. Remember, your original statement was that three ways are "no DQ, for reasons [you] don't fully understand," so I mentioned the main reason that is the case. Ideally there'd never be interference in any match ever but that wasn't the topic at hand.

? that doesn't answer the question of who gets disqualified

Nope. If someone runs into the ring and attacks one of the three wrestlers, who gets disqualified?

Dangerous Alliance being a force in WCW will be fun! Liger vs Pillman is always money (Pillman is always megastar by 1994), and Vader vs. Inoki getting an 81 in the main of COTC is both wild and expected.

Three way matches are no disqualification because there is no way for them not to be.