Put to the music of the #1 song from 1987, "With Or Without You" by U2

Highlites of the 8th Anniversary spectacular from December 17th, 1987 including Vendetta retaining over Steve Disalvo in a bloody steel cage encounter; Baron von Raschke & Buck Zumhoffe taking the tag titles from the Terminators; Hollywood taking the women's title from Madusa; and Chris Champion holding onto his title by cheating his way to victory over Mike Lozansky.

 

 

-Kaminski got a few blows in early but once Arcidi grabbed the advantage it didn't take the "world's strongest man" long to finish off his rookie opponent.

 

Ted Arcidi sputters his way through an interview making it as clear as mud that he is here to get rid of some bad guys, and that he likes to break things. To make his point clear he produces a metal bar which after some talc and warm-up he manages to bend over the back of his neck.

 

Interview:

We immediately bring in another newcomer, this gentleman Mike Jackson, has been toiling in the southern states where he has a great reputation of knowing his way around a mat, but has not yet had a lot of success in the win/loss column. He's here in RCW to change just that.

For some reason this brings out Lethal Larry Cameron who tells Jackson to go back to the south with the rest of the rednecks. He also is of the opinion that Jackson is a brother's name, like Reggie Jackson. Mike tells Cameron to back off or do his talking in the ring which Cameron agrees to do.

 

-during the commercial break as the men went from the interview set to the ring Cameron attacked Jackson from behind. After giving him a beating RCW officials declared the match to no longer be contested, but Mike Jackson insisted on it going forward anyway. It was a brave move but being already banged up he was no match for Cameron.

 

 

Mike Lozansky comes out. He says everyone knows he was cheated by Chris Champion who grabbed a handfull of tights to make the pin at the 8th Spectacular. But he's not going to cry over spilt milk. Lozansky says he's going to go to the ring every chance he gets until he gets the #1 contender spot again, and then he will do everything he can do to win the belt. But before he can leave Ron Strong tells him to hold on, he has an announcement to make from Marty Goldstein. Strong produces a slip of paper and announces that next week Mike Lozansky will once again get a title shot at Chris Champion, and that Goldstein says if Champion can't hold onto that belt fair and square then it will be stripped from him. Strong shakes Lozansky's hand and wishes him luck, saying everyone is rooting for him.

 

-fairly easy match for Kelly although Tustin had his moments

 

The Magnificent One Kevin Kelly informs us that after some soul searching he has decided to stay in RCW for the time beeing. He says he enjoyed kicking around an old cripple like Valiant but that he hopes to take on some less inferior opponents so he can prove that he is the top contender for the RCW Heavyweight title which remains his only goal. He also says that he will no longer suffer under the distraction of the has-been, high maintenance Madusa Micelli, as the two have parted ways after she melted down following her loss of the Women's title at the 8th Spectacular. Kelly says we probably won't be seeing her anytime soon - which means we get to see more of him alone.

 

Chris Champion tells us about another prime suspect in Bounty Hunter Gate; surprisingly the champion Steve Disalvo himself. This line of thinking says that Disalvo was weary of having to face #1 contender after #1 contender that RCW sent after him. He wanted a break, and yet he also wanted bigger recognition and status. There was some thought that he hired these gentlemen himself to come in and give a good show of it, but not to actually hurt him or to take the belt from him. Champion says as one person in the investigation put it, "do you really think that Studd would not have accomplished this goal, and then all of a sudden just left RCW, if he hadn't actually been paid not to actually go ahead with it?". Food for thought says Champion, stay tuned for more.

 

-took a while for the 6'1 220 pound lightweight from Pompano Beach Florida to overcome his bigger but less skilled opponent. This former AWA lightweight champion and tag champion with Jimmy Garvin though made it clear he would do whatever it takes in the ring to win the bout.

 

"Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal doesn't let Ron Strong get a word in edge wise, in fact he takes the mic from him and gives out a 60 second resume of his wrestling accomplishments including being one half of the greatest tag team upset of all time taking the AWA straps from the Road Warriors, and having beaten one half of the current RCW tag champs Buck Zumhoffe from one end of the mid-west to the other. He tells the fans to hold on tight as he is ready to inject 10,000 killowatts of power right into their living room sets.

 

Chris Champion takes us down another path of investigation. He says the shadow of doubt had been thrown onto the Hart family, Stu and/or Owen. The motivation for Stu is partly revenge against RCW because of them operating in Alberta and taking food from his table, and then to add insult to injury using his own boys to do it with. It could also be to pave the way for his son Owen Hart to rise to the top, much like Ben Bassarab the Calgary-style didn't really bode well to beat a monster like Disalvo, so perhaps father and/or son believed this was the only way to the top. Stay tuned for more.

 

[end of first hour]

 

"Hollywood" by Streetheart provides the music while we see clips of new North American Women's champion Hollywood from both River City Wrestling and from G.L.O.W.

 

Nick Mercury comes to the ring carrying an "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Master's Guide" in his hands, and is followed by two other guys (Bert Meijer & Al Dusha) one carrying a "Player's Handbook" and the other "Deities & Demi-Gods". They sit at a table with M&M's and Doritos and Coke at the ready.

 

Mercury] When we last left our heroes you had just climbed down the staircase to the 3rd level of the dungeon and opened the big double set of oak doors, after checking for traps, and not finding any. Your torch illuminates a rough cut octagonal room with 6 huge support pillars, carved by...

 

Meijer] Oh, oh, those aren't pillars those are living statues..I prepare to attack.

 

Mercury] *sounding annoyed* okay then, I guess I will allow that...yes...good call 9th level Ranger....Rogue, you see the statues come to life and the Ranger is already getting ready to do battle, roll a d6 for surprise.

 

Dusha] *rolls*, a 6

 

Mercury] good you are not surprised Rogue. Ranger roll for inititiave. *Mercury also rolls a die* 3

 

Meijer] *rolls* 6 !! We win, I attack two handed, with a longsword and dagger, taking the -2 on the secondary hand...*rolls 2 d20's*...let's see I hit armor class -7 and -15

 

Mercury] hit and hit, damage?

 

Meijer] *rolls more dice* 23 points with the sword and 9 points with the dagger, both on the same opponent please

 

Mercury] It appears badly hurt, but does not bleed, nor does it fall...Rogue what do you do?

 

Dusha] How many others are there?

 

Mercury] 5

 

Dusha] Can I back stab any of them?

 

Mercury] No they see you

 

Dusha] Is my dagger +4 against dragons of use against them?

 

Mercury] Only as a regular dagger, what do you do?

 

Meijer] Did anyone bring any graph paper? Try the doritos they're good.

 

Mercury] Rogue? ROGUE what do you want to do?

 

Dusha] I'm thinking...okay...what color is my backpack?

 

Mercury] *really annoyed* okay i'm going to count down from 3, and if you don't do anything I'm going to assume you are surprised...3, 2,

 

Dusha] I attack

 

Mercury] With what?

 

Suddenly as the fans begin to boo, the cloaked figure "Rogue" hits the ring swinging a blackjack. He nails Dusha in the side of the head, then knocks the table over onto Meijer sending him tumbling. He tries to hit Mercury but his adversary moves out of the way and catches Rogue with a kick to the gut. He goes for the hotshot but Rogue fights back with a knee to the groin. Rogue then starts to kick and punch away at Mercury and apply a boot choke. Meijer recovers and grabs Rogue from behind, trying to suplex him over, but Rogue catches him with an elbow to the head. In the meantime Mercury rolls out of the ring to safety. Rogue grabs one of the books in the ring and starts to tear out pages.

 

-the big man Daill definetly had his moments in this match but not enough to beat the ring savvy veteran Mike Valiant.

 

Mike Valiant makes it clear he is not coming out of retirement but does indeed want one more shot at redemption, one more shot at beating Kevin Kelly.

 

Chris Champion introduces us to one more suspect in the Bounty Hunter-Gate, Steve Disalvo's valet Lisa Caress. As Champion puts it, she could not be ignored in the investigation. Her exact motives may not have been clear but she is a woman and they are impossible to predict, control, or figure-out. So it became clear to me I would have to rule her out before I could rule anyone else in. Champion tells us to stay tuned for more.

 

[The Terminators win the RCW Tag Team Titles]

-the rematch from the 8th Anniversary spectacular and the former champs surprise the new champs by picking up the intensity another notch. They attacked the champs before the opening bell starting a four man brawl. They managed to isolate Zumhoffe early in the match, take some beatings from the Baron and still battle back. Another 4 man brawl at the end with Wolff fighting Baron outside the ring, so when a hurt Zumhoffe finally went for the tag his partner was not available. Riggs nailed the powerslam and picked up the win and the belts.

 

Chris Champion says he has the final two suspects to unveil, none other then Bob Backlund and Dr. D David Schultz. Just before the bounty hunters arrived on the scene to try and take the belt from Disalvo, Schultz had just failed to do the same and lost a loser-leaves town match. Schultz also made it clear that the reason he came back was for redemption from and for his friend Bob Backlund. Champion suggests that when this failed Schultz may have hired a bounty hunter for revenge or perhaps it was Backlund who hired the bounty hunter and had been the one to send Schultz here in the first place. That's it for the suspects, now stay tuned at the end of the show, after the main event when Champion promises to shock us all with the truth.

 

 

Vendetta (champion)  v  Strangler Steve Disalvo (/w Lisa Caress)

 

It was never really explained why Disalvo would receive another title shot after losing in the cage, but here we are anyway, one more time.

Disalvo did not hesitate to go right after Vendetta, who by now was prepared for the attack. The two banged away with fists and kicks in a wild brawl that favored Disalvo at first with his power, but then was overcome by Vendetta's tenacity and heart. Disalvo then played a little decoy hidding behind Caress and then pushing her at the champ, and then following up with a sucker clothesline. He then rammed the champs back into the announce table a couple of times. Back inside the ring it was two belly to belly suplexes followed by a bearhug clinch first on the mat, then on their feet. Vendetta summoned the power of his fans before finally breaking out with an earringer. He hammered the challenger with forearms, and an impressive vertical suplex for a 2 count. A series of side kicks, a spinnning heel kick, and then a back body drop yielded another 2 count. The champ went for the DDT finisher but he was pushed off by the challenger and then collided with referee Buddy Lane. With Lane out Disalvo called for Caress to hand him the title belt, which she did, but the whole process took too long. By the time Disalvo tried to come off the top rope with the belt the champ had already signalled to the fans he was playing possum and stuck up a boot which nailed the belt and hit Disalvo in the head. Vendetta kicked the belt out of the ring, and then as Lane recovered he hit the challenger with a DDT, and got the decisive victory.

 

[Vendetta retained the RCW Heavyweight Title]

 

Vendetta held the title high at all four corners as it is obvious that he is the most popular champion since The Destroyer, surpassing the kind of ovations that even Jim Brunzell and Bob Backlund have received.

 

Chris Champion thanks the fans for their patience. He wanted to make sure they all understood that he exhausted all leads before settling on a primary suspect. He has done that now. All the suspects he ran down during the show, are all innocent, none of them in fact sent the bounty hunter. However, while he knows who sent the bounty hunter he is waiting for one more crucial piece of evidence to arrive and he will have that by next week. So the fans will have to wait for next week to find out who was at the head of Bounty-Gate. So tune in next week for not only a very special edition of "Championship Material" that will change the face of River City Wrestling forever, but also will be his FINAL episode of "Championship Material" ever.

 

That's it for another edition of River City Wrestling.

 

See ya next week!!

 

 

Back at the 8th Anniversary spectacular, Buck Zumhoffe and his new partner Baron von Raschke defeated the Terminators for the RCW Tag Team Title belts. However, last week in the rematch the Terminators were able to take those belts back.

Tonight will be the rubber match. It will be the last time these two teams face each other for the belts before another #1 contender is named. Tonight it will be the Terminators trying to do what they could not do at the 8th Spectacular, hold onto the tag titles against Buck Zumhoffe & Baron von Raschke. And just to make sure the best team wins; we're making it two out of three falls! That will be your main event of the evening.

 

Opening Bout:

-squash match

 

Vendetta gives a brief interview thanking the fans for their support and also raising their awareness about poverty in the 3rd world, especially in his home country Haiti.

 

Marty Goldstein announces an 8 man tournament to name a #1 contender for the RCW Heavyweight title to face Vendetta. The opening round will occur tonight with the semi-finals and finals to go next week. This week's match-ups will be as follows;

  * Ted Arcidi  v  Steve Regal

  * Mike Jackson  v  Larry Cameron

  * Mike Lozansky v Chris Champion

  * Mike Valiant  v  Kevin Kelly

The Lozansky versus Champion tussle will be the already scheduled return bout for the TV title. The match will serve two purposes tonight, TV title match and tournament quarterfinal.

 

-squash match. Dusha was one of the two guys who was in the ring with Nick Mercury last week, mocking Rogue with a game of dungeons and dragons. Rogue removed his cloak to reveal a pasty body covered with many tattoos of cryptic writing and medieval warfare. His trunks appeared to be made of brown leather as were his boots, and he also wore cloth bracers on his forearms which were carefully checked by the ref before the opening bell. Immediately after the match Rogue put the cloak back on.

 

Rogue summons a surprised looking Ron Strong to the ring. Strong puts a microphone in front of the enigmatic newcomer and asks if he has something to say about himself and his problems with Nick Mercury. After a short delay he speaks in a heavily accented English, in a raspy voice.

"Oi, by George, da mobility wants to know what Rogue 'as gigged. Well prick up dem ears cause I admit a man who frequented da ken and partook of da rot gut. But I 'ave also been a knight of the road, and a resurrection man. Mercury, a fancy pants he is, and to speak plain a lully prigger and a no good napper of naps. Now i tell you fair bene cove, an aunt 'e is, some air and exercise should fair him well.  

Half a fortnight get us a bandog and i will make this vowel, it will be a wry neck day for Mercury. I am no cull, that is not my gamon, Mercury will 'have the hempen fever, that is my salmon."

With that Rogue turns and walks away.

Ron Strong says "hey that rhymed".

 

Video:

"Gods of War" by Def Leppard provides the music as we see highlites of the 8th Anniversary Spectacular

 

-"Mr. Electricity Steve Regal started strong, with a stick and move attack, and taking advantage of Arcidi's inexperience by using stalling tactics to frustrate him. However, when he was unable to keep Arcidi down all those tactics came back to haunt him as the "World's strongest man" came back with a vengeance. After applying a reverse bearhug he hit the suplex for the win.

 

A frustrated and flustered "Mr Electricity" Steve Regal tries to explain away his loss to Arcidi, saying he shouldn't have to wrestle against circus freaks. Besides he doesn't care about the Heavyweight title, he's aiming to start with the Television title. Then he utters the precious line, "I'm no heavyweight for crying out loud, I'm a lightweight..wait..I didn't mean.." but Ron Strong laughs and says "and with that, we're all out of time."

 

-This time, unlike last week Jackson comes into the match at full health, not having been beaten down before the opening bell. Jackson used his superior wrestling skills to control the first half of this match, grounding and frustrating Cameron, but not doing enough damage to put him away. When Cameron took over though he was able to use his size to inflict a  great deal of damage to his opponent and take the match.

 

Coming to River City Wrestling, from the land down under, next week will be none other then Outback Jack!

 

[end of first hour]

 

Chris Champion begins in the ring on his set alone. He again runs down all the avenues his investigation went, before settling on the final. The last piece of documentation he needed to prove it was a credit card slip for Big John Studd and The Great Wojo's travel to RCW. He now has that and is prepared to announce just who was responsible for putting the bounty on Steve Disalvo.

But first Chris Champion reminds the fans that this will be his last episode of "Championship Material" and more on that later. He also reminds the fans that in mere minutes, later this hour, he will be defending his Television title one more time against Mike Lozansky.

Chris calls out Steve Disalvo to the ring and he brings along Lisa Caress. Before Champion can get too far into it though Lisa tears a strip off of him for suspecting her, in fact she only stops berating Champion when Disalvo finally says "shut-up Lisa", which draws cheers from the crowd. He reminds Champion what he told him several months ago, if he doesnt figure out who hired the hitman then he would take his wrath out on Champion. This makes the host somewhat uncomfortable looking.

Champion though stalls some more by calling out matchmaker and commissioner Marty Goldstein, saying that the front office will want to act immediately on the information he has acquired. Goldstein comes to the ring but does not look happy to be there at all.

Finally Champion gets into again his investigation, and how he had no leads until he was going through the office one day ~ this prompts Marty Goldstein to come to his feet to object about the larceny of Champion's acts. But Champion tells him to sit down because RCW should have been doing this job on there own but failed to act. Champion says he took a look over the files of Big John Studd and Great Wojo and then put them back, finding nothing unusual. He then continued his investigation into other people. It was not until later after talking to some other talent that came and went from RCW that Champion came to the conclusion that there was something off from the file. Marty Goldstein had paid the travel vouchers of Studd and Wojo. Goldstein says thats not unusual for RCW to pay for performers travel into the territory. Yes says Champion, except for two things. First, Studd and Wojo were not signed to come into the territory, they came on their own, as outlaws. Secondly, and he verified this with a second trip through the office, usually RCW pays the expenses with a company cheque. Goldstein says that sometimes he pays expenses, as he did with their plane tickets, and RCW reimburses him. Champion stands to his feet and yells at Goldstein, don't lie, I've talked to Gene Kiniski, I've talked to Bulldog Bob Brown, and I've even talked to Big John Studd, and he says he didn't know who put the bounty on the head of Disalvo, but was promised by you Goldstein, that if collected it would be paid the same as his travel. You told him by RCW, but thats not how he was paid on his travel, and no one at RCW executive that spoke knew anything about it. Champion turns to Disalvo and says, "it was him, it was Goldstein".

Disalvo stands up in anger, but looks in shock. He goes to grab Goldstein but the matchmaker takes a step away and warns Disalvo that Champion is lying and if he touches him he will be sued and suspended. Disalvo pauses long enough for Goldstein to leave the ring and walk away.

Ron Strong at the announce table suggests that Goldstein will have time to clear his name, that he was being intidmidated by Disalvo and Champion and was in a no win situation. Mike Stone says that he might as well resign because he'll never get this stink off of him.

 

-this was a rematch from the 8th Spectacular, and Valiant once again brought out every dirty trick in the book and had Kelly rocking and reeling. Kelly had his moments though, nailing a powerslam after catching Valiant going for a bodypress, and nailing a bodypress of his own off the top rope, but neither big move got him the 3 count. The match turned into a brawl outside the ring where dispite giving up a lot of height and weight Valiant outbrawled his opponent. However, as Kelly went to enter the ring to follow Valiant back in he pulled out a pair of brass knuckles. Valiant turned back to try and bounce Kelly's neck off the top rope but the Magnificent One caught him by surprise with a swift jab with the brass knuckles. Referee Buddy Lane was shielded from the shot and didn't see a thing, but that was enough to pick up the tainted win.

 

Kevin Kelly bores the women and infuriates the men by posing a lot and then talking a lot about himself.

 

"Hollywood" by Streetheart provides the music while RCW and GLOW provides highlites of Hollywood's career and her win to become the North American Women's Champion.

 

Footage:

Hollywood v Sally the Farmer's Daughter, courtesy of GLOW wrestling.

 

[Mike Lozansky wins the RCW Television Title]

Lozansky started strong and had Champion on the defensive early and often. However, Champion managed to slow things down for a while and work a side headlock, a sleeperhold which slipped into a choke, and mixed in some martial arts kicks for good measure. Lozansky though fired back with fists of fury, dropkicks, and a nice faceplant after a crisscross segment. But a whip to the buckle segment was reversed several times before Champion sent Lozansky straight into referee Jurgen Hermann. Champion put his hands on his knees to recover while watching Lozansky down and Hermann down.

Suddenly Rogue hit the ring with a steel chair. He motioned Champion to pull Lozansky to his feet and hold him, which Champion did. But Rogue in a clear double cross took the chair and smacked Champion over the head instead. He left the ring and Hermann was the first on his feet. He slowly counted to 10, but broke it off as Lozansky managed to crawl over to Champion and cover, for the 1, 2, 3 !!

New champion, and he gets a big ovation from the crowd.

 

A very happy Mike Lozansky thanks RCW and the fans for having faith in him in his rookie season and giving him this opportunity. He is then told about what happened and it seems to dampen his mood. He promises that Chris Champion will get a fair rematch as soon as possible. He denies having any involvement with Rogue, and has no idea why he did what he did.

 

 

The Terminators (champions)  v  Buck Zumhoffe & Baron von Raschke

 

The Baron and Rock 'n Roll started strong with quick tags and the Baron controlled the match. But the Terminators set the tone for the match with some double teams and using their superior power to take down Buck. However Buck made a spirited comeback and tagged in the Baron who knocked Riggs down, sent Wolff to the floor, then put the claw back on Riggs to get the submission.

 

Raschke & Zumhoffe 1 - 0 Terminators

 

The Terminators raced into their opponents corner when it was supposed to be a one minute break between falls. They knocked Zumhoffe off the ring apron and then double teamed Baron. They then controlled the match, and the Baron for a couple minutes before he chopped his way out of it and tagged out to Buck. Zumhoffe went to town but chrisscrossed the ropes one too many times and took a boot from the illegal man standing on the apron. The Terminators then hit Zumhoffe with the doomsday device. They went for the pin but the Baron came in to break it up. The Terminators attacked him 2 on 1, and the Baron fought for his life lashing out and hitting and kicking everything in site. Unfortunately in the mayhem one of those people he hit was Buddy Lane, who when he got to his feet called for the disqualification.

 

Raschke & Zumhoffe 1 - 1 Terminators

 

The final fall was punctuated by several four man brawls, and once again the Terminators were able to hit Buck with the doomsday device, but once again the Baron came in to break up the tag. This time he was able to put a double clawhold on both Terminators. However the tag champs were able to power their way out of it with a double kick to the Baron's gut, then a double clothesline. They threw Baron out of the ring, but when they turned around Zumhoffe flew off the top buckle at Riggs. However, Riggs was able to withstand the impact of the attempted top rope flying body press, and turn it into a powerslam. He picked up the 1, 2, 3.

 

Terminators 2 - 1 Raschke & Zumhoffe

[The Terminators retained the RCW Tag Team Titles]

 

That's it for another edition of River City Wrestling.

 

See ya next week!!