This Week in 90’s Wrestling: March 15th – 21st

MARCH 16

1990

EMLL held a card at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City where Atlantis, Villano III and El Satanico faced Pirata Morgan, Jerry Estrada and Emilio Charles Jr. in a ***1/4 match.

1992

One of the most fascinating hours of television a wrestling fan is ever likely to see occurred when Phil Donahue decided to dive into the WWF’s sex and steroid scandals. Vince McMahon, Dave Meltzer, John Arezzi, Barry Orton and Bruno Sammartino were part of a panel of guests, and we also got a cameo from legendary con-man, former WWF announcer Murray Hodgson, who brought a bogus sexual harassment charge against the company.

1993

Michinoku Pro debuted as Japan’s first ever regional promotion in Mahaba in front of a sellout 1,200 fans. The show had strong publicity, as all four television networks ran stories about the Michinoku family (Great Sasuke’s family) that would be running the company. In the main event, The Great Sasuke and Gran Hamada faced El Signo and El Rudo in a *** match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTIO3bMhDRA

1996

Michinoku Pro held a card at the Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo in front of a sellout 4,800 fans. In the main event, The Great Sasuke teamed with Tiger Mask IV and Shiryu (the future Kaz Hayashi) to face Taka Michinoku, Super Delphin and Gran Naniwa in a **** match.

AAA held a card in Tijuana in front of a sellout 4,000 fans. The second match is legendary in some circles, as Rey Misterio Jr. faced Juventud Guerrera in a ***3/4 match, which received an excellent write-up from John Williams in the Pro Wrestling Torch. In the main event, Psicosis faced Ultraman in a ***3/4 mask match which Psicosis won by disqualification.

Mick Foley made an appearance on USWA television as Mankind The Mutilator, which was the original name assigned to his gimmick. Foley had not yet debuted the gimmick in the WWF when he made this appearance.

1997

Michinoku Pro held a card in Yahaba before a sellout 1,014 fans. The main event was one of the great ten-man tags on which Michinoku Pro made their name, as Taka Michinoku, Mens Teoh, Masayoshi Motegi, Dick Togo and Shoichi Funaki faced the Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gran Naniwa, Gran Hamada and Masato Yakushiji in a ****1/4 match.

WCW Uncensored aired live on pay-per-view from Charleston, SC, in front of 9,295 fans. In the opener and best match on the show, Dean Malenko defeated Eddy Guerrero in a ***1/4 No DQ match to win the WCW U.S. title while the Diamond Dallas Page-Randy Savage feud kicked off with Savage flashing pictures of DDP’s wife Kimberly in Playboy. Kimberly then appeared before the crowd crying with NWO spray paint all over her before Savage ambushed a distracted Page. In the main event, Hulk Hogan teamed with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Randy Savage in a three-way match against Lex Luger, The Giant and Scott Steiner; and Roddy Piper, Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael and Jeff Jarrett. The stipulations were that if the NWO won, they could challenge for any title any time while if WCW won, all NWO members would lose their titles. Benoit was originally booked to be the savior and win the entire thing, but Hogan nixed that, perhaps because of Dennis Rodman’s involvement in the event. Rodman was in the corner of the NWO and all the NWOers made sure they were photographed next to Rodman during the match. The NWO won the match and clips of Rodman paintbrushing Luger after the match were played repeatedly on mainstream news outlets. The WWF originally wanted Rodman to face Goldust at Wrestlemania, but WCW offered a better deal. The show was capped off by a great angle, as Sting made his loyalties known, finally attacking the NWO to a gigantic pop. The show did just over 312,000 buys, and you can watch it on the WWE Network.

1998

WCW Monday Nitro aired live from Club La Vela in Panama City, FL, for the second year in a row. In the main event, Sting and Lex Luger faced Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in a match most remembered for Sting’s helicopter entrance. Also on the show, The Giant threw Scott Hall into the pool surrounding the ring. The show was unopposed and did a strong 5.6 rating.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqx3e1_sting-lex-luger-vs-hollywood-hogan-randy-savage_sport

In The “To Watch” Queue:

Rick Rude vs Hiroshi Hase (NJPW 03/16/94)