NWA Into the Fire (December 14, 2019)

I think this year I’m going to just work on clearing out the random hard drive of assorted wrestling crap I’ve accumulated over the years but never actually watched. I don’t plan on watching too much new stuff or using YouTube for wrestling crap. If I feel like watching wrestling I’m going to have to find something on that there hard drive to watch. Today I’m kicking things off with NWA Into the Fire from back in 2019.

When NWA first came back I was honestly pretty high on it. I dug that there was a wrestling promotion that was going for the studio wrestling vibe and focused more on promos than in-ring acumen. I loved the weird, at times almost Adult Swim-esque nature of some of the stuff that happened and I even was into the roster but then COVID happened and they lost a lot of momentum and then most of the folks I liked in the NWA got signed to AEW or IMPACT. They eventually came back but Billy Corgan got up his own ass about stuff and now a barely mobile Brodus Clay is the NWA World Heavyweight Champion for no goddamn reason and Nick Aldis is a free agent. But that’s now. This show…this show is their first PPV from when I still thought they were pretty good so let’s check it out.

NWA World Championship Wrestling (May 17, 1986)

There’s not really any reason that I watched this particular episode of NWA World Championship Wrestling other than the fact that I went looking for a random hour long studio wrestling show on YouTube and this one came up and had a pretty funny thumbnail so I went ahead and checked it out. Don’t really know what we’ll get here besides a bunch of squash matches and dudes with scarred up foreheads screaming hot bullshit at each other which is really all anyone needs in pro-wrestling anyway so let’s get to it.

WWF Raw Is War (March 23, 1998)

Welcome back to another installment of my absolutely pointless journey through the year 1998 in the WWF. This week we find ourselves six days out from WrestleMania XIV which ended up being a pretty big turning point for the company. Let’s see what the go home show ahead of that massive event had in store for us!

WWF Raw Is War (March 17, 1998)

It’s time for a special Tuesday edition of Raw Is War. I had to go and figure out why this episode aired on a Tuesday night since the dog show had already happened and the French Open (which I also recall preempting Raw back in the day) was still months away. Turns out that the USA Network was airing the second night of that Patrick Stewart version of Moby Dick and so Raw got pushed back to Tuesday which happened to be St. Patrick’s Day…the one night of the year the bulk of WWF’s key demographic is pretty much guaranteed not to be home watching wrestling. I’m guessing we’re going to get a lot of wheel spinning so let’s check it out!

WWF Raw Is War (March 2, 1998)

Last week on Raw Is War they were like, “Hey guys, we know this episode sucks but next week is going to be a real banger.” It’s a week later so let’s see how good they actually make good on this promise and also if they finally manage to get out of Texas.

WWF Raw Is War (February 23, 1998)

After being preempted because of dogs last week, Raw Is War returns to Monday night this week as we continue down the road to WrestleMania. Apparently this week we’ll find out about another major sports star that’s going to be added to WrestleMania XIV and get an update on whether or not DX is going to sue Stone Cold or something. Also the Legion of Doom will get a shot at the tag team titles so let’s get down to it.

WWF Raw Is War (February 21, 1998)

If the date of this episode has you wondering, no, I did not skip an episode. This past Monday, Raw Is War was preempted due to the Westminster Dog Show so we ended up getting a special Saturday night episode.  What sort of fallout from No Way Out of Texas will there be? Let’s find out!

WWF Raw Is War (February 9, 1998)

Last week on Raw Is War we got one of those big Attitude Era moments everyone remembers as saw the New Age Outlaws attempt to murder Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie by hurling a dumpster off a stage with them inside it. Unfortunately in rewatching the episode I was reminded of the bullshit that followed up that memorable spot including Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie recovering from being dead in order to make a run-in during the main event. In a lot of ways it was a perfect example of everything that’s wrong with Vince Russo’s style of booking but it’s a new week so let’s see what decent idea Russo and the Boys spend too much time on and ultimately rush through this time!

WWF Raw Is War (February 2, 1998)

So the first month of reviewing Raw Is War episodes from 1998 has gone swimmingly. I’ve seen the NWA return and cheat to win ever match they’ve been involved in, Mike Tyson bellow a homophobic slur on national television, Goldust in blackface, a never ending series of Gang Warz related tag team matches, so many references to South Park, and DX talk about their penises more times than I can count. Somehow this wasn’t enough to drive me away screaming and today we press on checking out the February 2, 1998 episode.

WWF Raw Is War (January 26, 1998)

It’s time for another review of a 23 year old episode Raw Is War. How will the WWF follow up what was easily one of the biggest WWF television segments not just of 1998 but probably all time when Mike Tyson shoved Stone Cold and bellowed a homophobic slur on live TV? Let’s find out!