This Week in Back Then - Week of 3.4.2018

* NOTE: THIS WAS ORIGINALLY FOR SHEETSANDWICH.COM BUT WAS NEVER UPLOADED DUE TO SCHEDULING *

-------------------------------------------------------------

This Week in Back Then

A Retro Podcast Review Column

Before we get started, I would like to give you a brief overview of what this new weekly column is all about. Every week, your Sheet Sandwich cub reporter is sent a menu of retro wrestling podcast episodes by Les Moore for me to choose to review. I will select two or three episodes, depending on how much is on the week’s menu. I’ll highlight the episodes I selected, give brief summaries, likes, dislikes, and then finally tell you whether I will keep or delete the episode from podcast library. If an episode is deleted, it doesn’t mean it was bad necessarily. It might just mean it’s not worth another listen. I only have so much room in my library after all. If I keep an episode, it was good to amazing. At the end of my reviews, I will give you my highlight of the week which is my favorite bit of audio from the podcasts I decided to review. Now, let’s go take a trip!

This place is wonderful! Inspector Ringside told me about the grand opening of Les Moore’s Podcast Cafe about a week ago. He said that Les had a great menu to kick things off, so let’s take a look.

I think I’ll order Between The Sheets, Bryan and Vinny, and Keep It 2000! 

Between The Sheets - Ep. 137: Feb. 28 - Mar. 6, 1996 with Dominic Garrini

I was happy to see that Les Moore put Between The Sheets on the menu. This podcast has been a favorite of mine for a quite some time. I began listening around episode 15 or so. I have went through the entire archive and listened to the ones I missed. Kris Zellner along with his co-host David Bixenspan talk about all the happenings in week that was February 28th to March 6th of 1996. They aren’t always joined by a guest but this week they were in the form of independent wrestler, Dominic Garrini. This episode is roughly 6 and a half hours long, which may sound off putting to some. At first, I felt the same. You can listen to it in whole or listen in parts, like I do. They split up the show by promotions or regions of the world. Kris and Bix go through the week with the aid of dirtsheets that were published at the time. These dirtsheets include the Wrestling Observer and PWTorch. Sometimes they use others.

In this hectic week, Mick Foley was in the middle of suing WCW after losing his EAR in Germany during a match with Vader. An all-time great carny, Kevin Nash, gave his notice to WWF before departing to WCW. Johnny B. Badd is about to leave WCW for the WWF where he would never be the same again. Sid Vicious has his final stand in Memphis and discusses happenings in Mexico and Japan.

Dominic Garrini was a great guest on this show. Kris and Bix ask him questions about possibly going against some of these wrestlers that were prominent at the time. Dom talks about psychology in matches and how some performances don’t age well. He added humor, knowledge, and more personality to this episode. There is nothing bad that I can say about this guest spot. Kris and Bix do a fantastic job of painting the picture for fans like myself who were around at the time to understand what was going on behind the scenes in wrestling.

Kyle’s Verdict: I had a great time listening to this episode. Some are easier than others due to the duration of the podcast along with the topic. Certain weeks are more interesting than others. This was a great week with a great guest. Kris and Bix were entertaining throughout and I gained a ton of knowledge listening. I consumed this show in chunks, two hours at a time. The audio goes out at times, this is my only complaint. In the middle of the show, Kris and Bix play The Amazon Game where Bix tries to guess whether or not Kris purchased an item. It’s a good breather and departure from the main topic. I will definitely KEEP this show in my podcast library. If you’re a fan of dirtsheets and wrestling in 1996, you’ll find this to be an awesome listen! 

Bryan and Vinny Show: 2/27/18 - WCW/RAW Retro Review (March 1,1999)

Bryan and Vinny of the Wrestling Observer continue along on their bumpy journey into the past. They have entered March of 1999 along with their good pal, Craig. The show actually begins with Bryan and Vinny trying to fix their chairs. I don’t have the video version of this episode, so I can only imagine it was hilarious to watch as Bryan Alvarez fell out of his chair. Send me a gif of this please, anyone!

In WCW, David Flair is acting rebellious against his father Ric Flair as he refuses to cut things off with Torrie Wilson. Psicosis has a solid match with Billy Kidman. Psicosis was actually one of the first luchadors I ever saw wrestle, he was so great. Rey Mysterio goes head to head with Bam Bam Bigelow in a match that gets nobody over in the end. Rick Steiner and Goldberg take on Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner in the main event.

Over on RAW, Mankind goes to war with Undertaker. JR returns to RAW after battling bell's palsy and losing his mother. Sounds like a triumphant return, right? They turn him heel, gotta love Vince Russo. The Rock defends his WWF Championship against Road Dogg in a match that was very not good. Chyna and Kane fight for their job in WWF as Kane takes on Stone Cold in the main event.

Kyle’s Verdict: Bryan, Vinny, and Craig are entertaining. They aren’t really informational and I didn’t gain any knowledge from listening to this one hour episode. They are hilarious, I found myself laughing throughout. The gang does a  great job of critiquing the WCW and RAW. I also enjoy how they compare the two wrestling shows against one another. This was an easy listen for me but it wasn’t there best show. I will DELETE this episode as I’ve heard better from these guys and didn’t find the wrestling shows discussed to be that interesting to me.

Keep It 2000 - Ep. 25: “Rock n Roll, Make-Up, Fire” with Robert Karpeles (June 19, 2000)

Our final podcast of the week comes to us from the POST Wrestling network. Brian Mann and Nate Milton continue their scary adventure into WCW from the year 2000. They are joined by a guest that is former WWE Creative team member Robert Karpeles. He is currently known as the guy who runs the sometimes funny twitter handle, WWECreative_ish. 

The podcast begins with Brian and Nate taking us back in time by telling us what song was on top of the billboard charts during the week of June 19, 2000. On the episode of WCW Nitro they cover, Horace Hogan challenges to Goldberg as he seeks revenge. Kevin Nash goes one on one with Ernest Miller with the goal of gaining Scott Hall’s contract. The love triangle with David Flair, Miss Hancock, and Daffney continues on. Finally, in the main event Scott Steiner takes on Jeff Jarrett where both men are United States Champion and WCW Champion respectively.   

Kyle’s Verdict: The trio talked about Goldberg’s heel run being too soon and unnecessary, which was the most intriguing part of this listen for me. Did Ernest Miller get his comeuppance too soon? Nate gives us his take on that. This podcast episode is about an hour and a half in duration, so it should fit easily in your schedule if you give it a try. Brian narrates everything that happened on this episode of Nitro almost as if he’s reading a book. It’s different, I dig it. Nate brings personality and humor to this podcast, I feel like Brian lacks that at times. Robert didn’t bring me as much knowledge and entertainment as I thought he could have with his prior working experience. It bummed me out.That being said, this was an okay listen. I will DELETE this episode. They have episodes way better than this one, so I still recommend seeking out the podcast itself. You have to be a brave person to willingly watch WCW in year of 2000, Brian and Nate have my condolences!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: My favorite bit of audio comes from the Bryan and Vinny Show where Bryan falls out of his chair while trying to fix it. It was just perfect, I howled for a good ten seconds after picturing it! The perfect way to begin a podcast episode.

That’s the end of our trip. I have to tell Inspector Ringside about what I ordered, it was a great meal. I’ll definitely be returning next week with another menu full of wrestling podcasts. Hopefully, you’ll join me on my next visit to Les Moore’s Podcast Cafe!

Top 5 Most Interesting G1 Climax 27 Matches

Birds are chirping, the sun is relentless, and I am dying from this heat. It's Summer and we are halfway through the year. Feels like just yesterday I was stressing about buying last minute Christmas gifts for my family but here we are. With Summer being here that also means that it is almost time for my favorite tournament in all of professional wrestling. This tournament is called the "G1 Climax" put on by New Japan Pro Wrestling. For those of you unaware of this tournament, I will explain what it is. The "G1 Climax" is round robin style with 20 competitors and split by two blocks. Each win is counted as two points, a draw as one, and loss resulting in zero. The competitor with the most points from each block meet in the finals to decide the winner of the tournament. New Japan runs the tournament every year which has evolved overtime. The name of the tournament wasn't always "G1 Climax" though. It was also called World League, MSG League, International Wrestling Grand Prix, and World Cup Tournament. The first-ever tournament was won in 1974 by Antonio Inoki. The first winner of the tournament under the name "G1 Climax" was Masahiro Chono back in 1991. Since then, changes have been made to the format of G1. Ever since 2012, the winner of the G1 Climax has been rewarded with a contract for the right to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion at Wrestle Kingdom. Hopefully those who were unaware of the history and format of the G1 Climax. Now, let's talk about the five matches I am looking forward to in this year's G1 Climax!

5.) On July 20 in Korakuen Hall, Kenny Omega and Minoru Suzuki will compete on the B Block side of the G1 Climax. This is a first time meeting between the two. Omega has trashed the prestige and value of the NEVER Openweight Championship which is currently held by Minoru Suzuki, so I expect Minoru to be more aggressive than usual. This would higher on the list but I am a bit skeptical about how this match plays out. Will we get a stupid run-in from Suzuki-Gun? Suzuki has been very underwhelming to me this year but he has a special place in my heart. Kenny Omega recently became the first-ever IWGP United States Champion and is having easily the best year of his career. I think if anyone can get a great match out of Suzuki, it's Omega. He wants to prove that his championship is better than the NEVER Championship and that he is better than Suzuki. Should be a very interesting match that could play a major role in deciding who wins this block.

4.) Also on July 20 in Korakuen Hall, another match peaks my interest. Los Ingobernables de Japon has taken the wrestling world by storm. Their unity is almost unmatched as a group. No sense of dissension has ever been detected from anyone in L.I.J., at least not yet. Last year, two members of the rebellious faction were forced to take on each other as they were both in the same block. Those two were Tetsuya Naito and EVIL. Last time, EVIL was unsuccessful in defeating the leader. This time is very different though. It was actually in the Spring of 2016 where SANADA would make his debut in New Japan and pledge his allegiance to Naito's group joining him, EVIL, and BUSHI. He then would go on to enter the G1 Climax 26 and pick up his most notable victory in the company to this day against Hiroshi Tanahashi on night one. SANADA has yet to challenge anyone of his friends until now. The fans popped with excitement when this match was announced live. SANADA has a bright future to be a top star for years to come. EVIL also does but I worry that his character holds him back from ever being taken that seriously. These two have a lot to prove and I have no doubt that they will go all out to leave a great impression on us. I don't think that this match will play a factor into the end result of the tournament this year but it could be the first possible sense of dissension within the ranks. I have nothing but high hopes for this match.

3.) On August 11 in Ryōgoku Sumo Hall, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito collide for the 3rd time this year. You know a tournament is stacked when this match only comes in at three. This might be my favorite feud this year with all bias aside (I'm a huge Naito and Tanahashi fan). The storytelling within this saga has been incredible. Naito found himself being rejected by the audience not to long ago while Tanahashi was welcomed by the men and women with open arms. Naito returned with a new edge to later be accepted by fans. Jealousy fuels this rivalry and we've seen both men get wins over each other. Naito retained his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 11 only to lose it to him at Dominion. These two had in my eyes the best match of the whole show at Wrestle Kingdom (many say otherwise) and had me invested from the jump. I believe the result of this match will play a major role in deciding who wins the A Block this year. I know this match will be incredible as long as no one walks into it injured.

2.) On August 12 in Ryōgoku Sumo Hall, we get the final encounter of the trilogy that has took the wrestling community by storm. Many are considering this feud of the year. A lot of fans also think that these two men have the best matches in professional wrestling ever with each other. If you haven't figured out who I'm taking about I'll tell you, Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada. A battle of two champions and bitter enemies. Last year, Kenny Omega shocked everyone by winning the G1 Climax 26. He fell short on his quest to capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in what some consider a classic match. Just barely being able to defeat Omega, he would be challenged again by him in a match at Dominion for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Omega fell short of victory again at Dominion when the match resulted in a 60-minute time limit draw. I thought the match was better than the one at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Kenny and Okada have both won me over big time this year. I believe this match will play very much into determining the winner of the B Block. It should be good to very good. That being said, it garners my interest for those two reasons.

1.) On July 17 in Hokkaido, returning Kota Ibushi will take on Tetsuya Naito for the first time in two years. Their last meeting was actually in the G1 Climax 25 where Naito came out on top. Being sidelined by an injury, Kota Ibushi was out for quite some time. In fact, he hasn't wrestled in the promotion under his proper name since late 2015. He has wrestled this year under a mask as a tiger though. He actually had a great match against Okada at the NJPW 45th Anniversary show. This rematch has been a long time coming. Tetsuya Naito isn't the same guy he was two years ago. His character has taken on a life of its own and he's grown as a worker. Ibushi has been doing some freelance work in promotions such as DDT, WRESTLE-1, WWE, and more. His following hasn't decreased since disappearing from New Japan. In fact, the crowd went insane when he was announced in this year's G1. Both men should be fresh as they wrestle on the first night of the G1 Climax. New Japan has recently announced that the first night of G1 will be free to view. I highly suggest giving the product a chance if you haven't because this match will be awesome. I'm thinking this plays a major role in the results for the A Block. I find myself struggling to type out just how much I am looking forward to this match!


The G1 Climax 27 begins on July 17, you don't want to miss it. Sign up on NJPWWorld.com and catch all the action. The streaming service costs less than $10. There is no better time to get into the New Japan promotion than now.


Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

NJPW United States Tournament

New Japan has officially made it's debut in the United States and a successful one at that. We've heard rumblings of this wrestling promotion wanting to put on their own show in the United States for quite some time before announcing it just months ago. New Japan created a new championship to help this expansion, IWGP United States Championship. My initial thought on this announcement was something along the line of "oh great, a championship that was designed to do exactly what the IWGP Intercontinental Championship was made for', glad my thoughts changed. In addition to announcing this brand new championship, we learned that the winner would be crowned from a two-day tournament between eight different competitors. It should also be noted that this was a single elimination tournament. The first day of the tour would have the quarter finals with the second day having the semi and grand finals. I wasn't too thrilled about the tournament heading in but was won over with a majority of the matches that came out of it. Which brings me to this blog post. I decided to do quick thoughts about these matches we saw during this Long Beach Tour. 

I will rate these matches using the Meltzer scale. This scale determines the quality of match I thought it was. The scale goes from 0 star to 5 stars. That means 0 being the worst and 5 being the best. I'm not Meltzer so I won't break the scale like he has for publicity stunts.

Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page - Quarter Finals

I wasn't a fan of New Japan putting on a show with a lot of ROH and CMLL talent on the card but whatever. The fans came to see a New Japan show. That's what the draw was for this event. So what do we get in the first round of this history making tournament? An ROH match. The match was built around Hangman Page working on Lethal's already injured ribs. It didn't add to the match for me, it took away from it. This match felt so slow and too long. Hangman Page does that Shooting Star Press Shoulder Block off the apron to Lethal that just looks stupid. Lethal botches the also dumb Lethal Injection in here. He did sell his ribs after the botch making it seem like he couldn't get all of it because he was hurting too bad. He eventually does connect with it and picks up the win to move on to the next round. It was a match and nothing more. (**1/4) 

Juice Robinson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - Quarter Finals

Heading into this event, this was one of the more intriguing matches for me. Juice has really had a good year in New Japan. Zack has been on fire for quite some time now on the indies and New Japan. Juice is someone who was doing pretty much nothing in WWE's NXT, so he left and risked it all. He went to Japan where he would work his way from the bottom hoping to rise above all. A risk that has paid off quite well if you ask me. Sabre uses his technical wrestling and arm manipulation tactics to create the base for this match. He works on one of Juice's arms through out the entirety. Robinson has some great timing, he knows when to turn it up and slow it down. Zack is a fan favorite in California as he's a big name in the PWG promotion where he currently their World Champion. The crowd was more behind him in the beginning of this bout. His heel work was so well in this that he ended up getting the crowd behind Juice a lot. Robinson's selling was great. The match ends with Sabre making Juice submit after trying his hardest to reach the ropes. Zack heads to the second round of this tournament. This was a very good match and a coming out party for Juice Robinson. (****) 

Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii - Quarter Finals

I knew this one would deliver for the fans, glad I wasn't wrong. Naito messes around with Ishii a lot at first. He dictates the pace early on. The thing I love about Naito is that he works his gimmick of being calm into his matches without overdoing it. Naito knows when it's time to go into that second gear. Ishii is as hard hitting as always. He does headbutts per usual which make me cringe so much. Naito botches a Tornado DDT twice in a row but didn't hinder the match quality. The fans were really into Naito and Ishii. Very good near falls and a great finish with Ishii connecting with an awesome Brainbuster. Ishii gets the win and moves on to the second round. This match was well put together and the timing was nearly perfect. (****1/4)

 Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega - Quarter Finals

I was very excited for this match heading in. These two have had several matches with each other prior to this that were pretty damn good. One was a ladder match that was alright. The interesting thing to me was how different they would make this as opposed to their prior meetings. How was this one set apart from the rest? The crowd. It was very obvious that the fans were going to be a very pro-Omega bunch. He is in Japan too but not to the extent he was on these shows. This forced Michael Elgin to play a tweener role which isn't something we see often nowadays. He adjusted to this role perfectly. Elgin did his big man spots to perfection. Omega had to resort to heelish moves in order to gain the upper-hand on Big Mike. We get some insane spots in this. Elgin does a German Suplex on the apron to Omega. He also does a Crucifix Powerbomb from the second rope which was just awesome. Kenny does like a million knees in this which got a bit redundant over time. Omega connects with the One Winged Angel. He pins Elgin and moves on to the second round. This was absolutely match of the night. (****1/2)

Kenny Omega vs. Jay Lethal - Semi Finals

After night one, I needed Jay Lethal to have a good match here. The first night I thought he was pretty underwhelming which seems to be his overall run as of late. Omega was coming off a killer match with Big Mike the night previous so I was curious to see how much he had left in the tank with less than a day of rest. Lethal has a very good performance here. He does several suicide dives to Omega to which the guardrails decide to take the night off and protect nobody. Lethal remembers to sell those ribs after just about every move he does which is great. Kenny turns it up. He drives his knees into the injured ribs of Lethal almost in a Nakamura tribute. He gets Lethal with the One Winged Angel and picks up the win here in a good match. Omega moves on to the Grand Finals. Great to see Lethal step it up in this one, hope he can keep it up. (***1/2)

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii - Semi Finals

This was an interesting dynamic here. A technical wizard taking on a hard hitting lunatic. I have to say, this had Rev Pro written all over it though. Zack tries to go toe to toe with Ishii with strikes and kicks, doesn't work well for him. He decides to work the arm of Ishii in which was great. I thought several times that Ishii might actually submit. Ishii is the type of person who would no sell that a body part is hurting him too. So when he sold Sabre's limb work, it made Zack come off that much stronger. Ishii does some great stuff in this per usual. I'm convinced Ishii can work with anyone. Sabre does a PK which made me want Ishii to carry that on in honor of Katsuyori Shibata and the classic they had. Ishii does an insane lariat and finishes Zack off with a Brainbuster. Ishii moves on to the Grand Finals. I thought that match was very good. (****)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kenny Omega - Grand Finals

These two have had a great match before, this was great as expected. Ishii and Omega went all out in this. The crowd was absolutely on fire for the second half of this. Omega does his beautiful Tope Con Hilo. Ishii lands on the back of head here and I'm concerned this guy has internal brain bleeding. This dude is made of steel, there is no other explanation on how he can take all these bumps. There is a table set up on the outside by the Young Bucks who accompanied Omega to the ring. We get this wonderful visual of Ishii biting onto the top rope to keep Kenny from doing a Dragon Suplex onto the table. Omega does the Dragon Suplex from the apron to the outside where I'm convinced Ishii is just dead now. These two continue though, which is just incredible. Omega and Ishii return to the ring. Kenny does his a Brainbuster for a near fall. The crowd really bought that this was the finish. Ishii gets the upper-hand again and does a One Winged Angel. I jumped out of my very uncomfortable chair for this one, absolutely lost my mind! Omega kicks out of it, crowd is turned up to 110% at this point. I couldn't even imagine what the atmosphere felt like in that venue. Omega gets the advantage back. He does a V-Trigger and Reverse Hurricanrana. He gets Ishii up for the One Winged Angel and while on his shoulders, Ishii tries to fight out of it. Unable to escape, Omega connects with the One Winged Angel and gets the pinfall victory over Tomohiro Ishii. (*****)

Your winner and first IWGP United States Champion, Kenny Omega. This was a very successful tournament and did what it was made to do, establish Kenny Omega as the top guy in America for this promotion. Outside of one very dull match, this was a tremendous tournament. Ishii and Omega were easily the MVPs of this US Tour. I can't tell people enough just how great Tomohiro Ishii is. The man is 41 years old and has great matches like it's a daily routine. Kenny Omega's timing in matches might be one of his most overlooked strong points. The conditioning of these men to put go out and have three very good matches in two days is something else. I had absolutely no idea who would win this tournament heading in and still thought Ishii was going to win in the Grand Finals. I was glad to be out of the know and just soak in the matches in front of me. The tournament matches were the strong points of both nights. Thankfully the second night I could watch with the Japanese Commentary because JR and Barnett were pretty dreadful on night one. They kind of hurt the matches. 

I would highly recommend you watch the tournament matches outside of Hangman Page vs. Jay Lethal as it wasn't good. 

Kenny Omega said on the post-show press conference that he is scouting all competitors from every promotion to seek his first challenger. He says he is focused on the G1 Climax now and his match with Okada. He does add that he hasn't forgot about Kota Ibushi and that them having a match in the finals is destiny.

I hope you all enjoyed my rundown of New Japan's IWGP United States Championship Tournament. I will be back with something new soon. Thanks for reading!