On The Throne Of The Regal Zone

Steven Regal (c) VS Arn Anderson - WCW Television Championship 10/9/1993

CJD: I know you have a great Regal VS AA match on an Anderson comp you got from Good Ol' Will. But I also know it ain't this one. And I hope you haven't seen this one, because it's a treat. This reminded me of your Rey/Tajiri match in a weird way. These two are such great opponents for each other but it's still almost a pleasant surprise to see them matched up with something substantial to work with like this. There are moments here that I had to rewind, tight hold for hold counters and transitions that are on par with any great UWF match. But with a heavy dose of the jingoistic Americana TV pro wrestling that we know and love. They also talk about your point of the 10 minute VS 15 minute TV title time limit which was a happy coincidence. Watching a match like this makes me think about star ratings and how they're irrelevant when watching pro wrestling purely for what entertains you. I wouldn't call this a five star match but at the same time I think Steven Regal and Arn Anderson were the perfect opponents for each other this Saturday Night.

JJZ: This is the second match I've watched with these two and I wish it was my 22nd. I'm not really surprised that they work so well with each other, I just never would've thought to have them matched up. The first thing I want to highlight is Arn's selling. You'd think he was having internal bleeding with the way he was selling his ribs. All the way till the end even playing into the finish. Second, Regal's facial expressions were fantastic. It looked like he was sucking on something sour for the entire match. Also they were able to take little turns that I didn't see coming. There were times that I thought Arn would get his shine then Regal would pop out with something to cut him off. And then there were times I thought Regal would keep his heat and Anderson would cut him off. Just a great television match.

Also! Sir William added some great heat that pissed you off, but since this match seemed like a one off Arn got his receipt afterwards. I liked that booking. Gotta stay strong brother.

I Used To Be An Iceman, Living In An Iceman Town

Steven Regal (c) VS Dean Malenko - WCW Television Championship 12/23/1996

JJZ: Yumma dum dum. Fun fact about JJZ. I used to fucking HATE Regal. I thought he was flat out boring when I was younger. In this match alone I see how much he influenced Chris Hero. And I fucking LOVE Chris Hero. So this match is exactly what I thought it might be and I'm so happy it was. Ever since Danial Bryan VS Drew Gulak from Elimination Chamber, I've been in the mood for some gritty technical wrestling. And these two bring that in spades. This is a TV title match and at one point they mention it's only a ten minute time limit. Now Chris, wasn't it always a 15 minute time limit? Maybe I'm wrong. Either way, this match was exactly what I was looking for.

CJD: 15 minutes on PPV I'm pretty sure. Heenan sounds like he's on his fifth or sixth scotch of the night, and still gives better insight into this match than Schiavone. And sneaks a choice dick joke in there. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't big on Regal until I was older either, and it's safe to say we both had our heads up our collective teenage asses on that one. I did love Stinko Malenko though, and one of the things I loved about WCW in general in this time period was how the Cruiserweight, Television, and United States titles always produced such under the radar high quality matches. So a Champion VS Champion match between those titles like this would have been right out of my *Prodigy message board fantasy booking playbook, but I have no recollection of this match. And it's not the most memorable, but damn it's good. This is one where they are so similar stylistically I wasn't sure how it would play out. It made for some awkward moments in a good way. It always felt like they were fighting each other for control, even when they were trading flips and cartwheels. They fit a lot into this match and I liked they way they finished it as well. Very nice find.

(SPOILERS below...)

Mr Mysterious Is Serious And Delirious

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ba2bl

Rey Mysterio Jr VS Dean Malenko - WCW 6/21/1997

CJD: You know I have weird wrestling dreams pretty often. And I completely forgot until I was awake for a few hours this morning that I had a dream about a Dean Malenko shoot interview last night where he talked about a match (that I'm sure never took place) he had VS Jerry Lawler once. But the dream came back to me as I sat down to find the Rey match I was going to play forward to you. I don't think we'll ever find that Dean VS Lawler match, but it did motivate me to try to find a great Mysterio VS Malenko match we hadn't seen before. Well sometimes dreams do come true John. This had ups and downs and some of Rey's execution wasn't perfect. Those German ropes and all. But what was perfect was his selling, as he used every inch of his body to tell the story of his heart and spirit refusing to let him quit when Malenko had beaten him well past the point any of us would keep fighting. I love the chemistry these two had (especially with Hildebrand in there with them) and I love that we have footage of this gem of a match.

JJZ: This match was very different for a WCW cruiserweight match but not in a negative way. Usually it's a fantastic car crash but not this match. I think they knew the crowd wouldn't get bored with the layering and build to Rey's hope spots. I don't think Dean was a heel around this time but he wrestled with such aggressiveness that it came across that way. He didn't do anything underhanded but just worked like the baddest mfer in the room. I can't imagine someone watching this and not pulling for Mysterio when he sprung to life. The commentators mixed with the way it was filmed made for a hidden gem feel indeed. Loved the pick baby. Excited to see where this takes me.

Would You Kick Me In The Face, Please?

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ims4n

Rey Mysterio Jr (c) VS Tajiri - WWE Cruiserweight Championship 9/4/2003

JJZ: Staying with the shorties. Staying in 2003. Staying with Smackdown. Staying in the Ruthless Aggression era. This was the first match I watched for our new MDTSOCWWKD Champion, then I watched about 7 more matches and nothing was this good and highlighted how well Tajiri could hang with the greats. This car crash of a match kept the crowd on the edge of their seats and made you feel like you got your moneys worth. For me there was a couple "I've never seen that before!" moments which still shocks me with the amount of wrestling I've watched in my lifetime. These last 3 matches have really shown the art of having a great TV match. And damn, Tajiri was over. His spots got huge pops. He'd be worth a deep dive during this time. Excited to see where you take us next.

CJD: Something about this match existing puts a huge smile on my face. I was watching blue trunks Yoshihiro Tajiri in BJW in the late 90s thinking "this guy is going to be great," and Rey wasn't exactly a diamond in the rough but to go from the Filthy Animals to this in less than 5 years is remarkable. We've pretty much covered the blueprint for how to have a great 10 minute TV match in the past few weeks and it's no surprise considering we've had 3 of the best TV wrestlers of all-time between Eddie, Tajiri, and Rey. I'm sure one of those spots that popped you here was that tope Rey uncorked. Jesus. Sometimes I feel like calling a match "fun" is a cop-out because you don't have to get any deeper than that, but what can I say, this match was really fun. If every week could be a Cruiserweight Championship match between Rey Mysterio Jr and Tajiri the world would be a better place.

Got A Average Of Being Excellent, The Median Just Dope

Eddie Guerrero (c) VS Tajiri - WWE US Championship Match 7/31/2003

CJD: We're sticking with the short and sweet theme this week. It's refreshing after featuring some big, violent, plunder-filled matches recently. As with most Eddie matches, there's so much to love here. One of the qualities that made him an all-timer was that he was much more than the sum of his parts. There's great character, there's great action, things that surprise you, things that play out exactly how you're hoping. I didn't want to stop watching him wrestle and pick a match, but as soon as I saw how this one started, and that it was given a chance to shine, I knew it was going to win out in the end. But man do I hope we double back this trail on our journey. When it comes to Ruthless Aggression these guys might not be the names you first associate with it. But this Smackdown crew was absolutely the reason WWE was still worth watching in this time period.

JJZ: Hot start with Eddie getting a taste of his own medicine. Loving all these refs with the early 2000s blonde highlights. Tajiri had some great matches in WWE. Well, again Eddie shows why he is among the greatest. A complete story with flawless psychology, a call back to the beginning of the match, and a great finish. All under 10 minutes. Jesus. And Tajiri adds great high spots and excellent strikes that made me believe he could win the match beating Eddie at his own game. Loved this match. No matter if anyone is in the seats I wish Smackdown would produce this kind of stuff today.

Editor's note: This match has been taken down since we originally shared it. We'll check back periodically to see if we can find a new link. We apologize for the inconvenience!

And You're Like A 90s Jesus, And You Revel In Your Psicosis

Eddie Guerrero VS Psicosis - WCW Nitro 8/07/1996

JJZ: You always hear wrestlers today talk about how the WCW cruiserweight division made them want to become a wrestler. And when you hear that so much it becomes white noise and people can forget just how incredible these guys were. This match is under ten minutes and is PERFECT for what it was trying to and supposed to do. Psychology, drama, high spots, limb work, falsies. It really shows what you can accomplish in such a short amount of time. One thing I miss about WCW is the interesting venues. The malls, the outdoor shows. Wish WWE would do that once in a while.

CJD: Hell I wish AEW would do it (once we are living in a post COVID-19 world). They have those serious WCW vibes anyway, embrace it completely. You nailed it, this match took us on a ride in a short amount of time. You played forward another TV match not too long ago that I thought did a similarly great job, Steamboat VS Cactus Jack.  WCW would go on to be the butt end of so many jokes but as a kid growing up on this style of TV pro wrestling, these were the types of matches that shaped my fandom. The personality of WWF captured my imagination but the action of WCW was what I always went back to. In a perfect world they would be combined, and Psicosis would have had a run where he was a literal monster brujo that drove his opponents insane with his terrifying black magic, undefeated in the division for months before an unlikely babyface got a career defining win over him in a match like this. I can always dream. Even without the pomp and circumstance this had me smiling the whole way through, Zybyszko's best Bobby Heenan was pretty good for once, and there's not much you need to analyze here. Just watch the match. This caliber of pro wrestling in such an easily digestible package is chicken soup for the soul and we could all use a serving right now.

Beef Most Distinctive

Nick Gage VS Pagano VS Psicosis VS Joe Lider - EMW DeathMatch 7/12/2019

CJD: Well this isn't where I expected to take you next. Especially after just playing a wild 4 way gimmick match for my last pick. But an important lesson in life is sometimes you have to play the hand you're dealt. My favorite part of this match is how well Psicosis and Gage work together. Psicosis/Rey was the feud that introduced me to the concept of what a great touring match is in the '90s, and here in 2019 he's pulling Gage's GCW shirt over his head like it's a hockey fight and smashing him through lighttubes. If we were watching wrestling all night long (as we have many times before) this would be the match I'd put on while we ordered mediocre Chinese food or while it was about to arrive. It doesn't need your undivided attention by any means but it's still a wild ride.

JJZ: I couldn't have predicted this in 100 guesses. My first thought is, is Pagano PCO? Is it just me or does he look a lot like him? Loving this dollar store barbedwire and how it keeps getting stuck on the wrestlers. The fan cam aspect to a death match makes it feel so much more grimeier (I know I spelled that wrong) than they already are. I like to call these matches junk food matches and yes it would be perfect for some 2AM Chinese food and a few beers. Gage and Psicosis are the stars of the match but Pagano and Lider keep adding holy shit moments. Is Pagano PCO? Seriously the camera isn't helping figure this out. This match was fantastic. Fun easy watch, with jaw dropping spots.

Mason-Dixon Tri-state Outercontinental WWKD Champions #91-100

A little late getting this MDTSOWWKD Champion recap up than normal, but it was such a wild ride to our 100th Champ that it took some time to recover from all the celebrating! And in the meantime the world is going to hell in a handbasket, but that won't stop PIF from keeping the pro wrestling positivity perpetually moving!

91. Tommy End
No Black Masks to be seen in these two matches. Instead we ventured into End's prolific tag work and one hell of an AAW title match over in the UK!

92. Sami Callihan
Always polarizing, the Death Machine had a pair of matches I really enjoyed here at PIF, showing his range as a performer.

93. Darby Allin
Allin is a hot name in pro wrestling these days and rightfully so. He's certainly among my favorite MDTSOWWKD Champions we've ever had on the blog, as I couldn't take my eyes off his two matches we featured here.

94. Ace Romero
95. "The Bulldozer" Matt Tremont
Who would have thought that Tremont would start with a deathmatch VS Romero, but then transition away into a run of more typical indy matches VS Bailey??

96. "Speedball" Mike Bailey
97. Matt Riddle
These two had a match that got a lot of eyes on the the blog and had a lot of people talking. I didn't love it, John did, and when all was said and done the important thing is it was a match well worth watching!

98. Chris Hero
The GOAT? Certainly one of the greatest. A personal favorite of both me and JJZ and what a pair of wildly different matches to back his greatness up VS Riddle and VS Necro.

99. Necro Butcher
100. Jun Kasai
I'm more than happy with how we closed out our first 100 Champions and 100+ matches here at PIF. We certainly cover a lot more than just deathmatches, but we've featured our fair share of greats in that regard as well, and these are two of the greatest to lace up a pair of deathmatch boots for certain. Or to regularly take them back off  in the case of Necro.

Man, when you line them up like that, what a run of 10 imaginary Champs that was! And what a run of matches! Thank god for pro wrestling in these troubled times.

And Justice For All

Nick Gage (c) VS Matthew Justice - AIW Absolute Championship 3/23/2018

JJZ: So as soon as I saw a Nick Gage match I said "Yup!" If someone asked me to describe this match knowing nothing about AIW I'd say it's the most ECW match I've seen in years. Gage is a mad man that I would be very afraid to meet in a dark alley. Justice has a goddamn death wish. The stuff he takes in this match makes me feel a little bad that I get entertainment out of it. He can give it back as good as he gets but in this match I wouldn't be surprised if he had to take a trip to the hopbital after it was over. These two could have an insane long term feud if they haven't already. Heyman could've put some asses in seats with these boys. The home stretch got a little sloppy joe but the best sandwhiches are a little messy.

CJD: Ooof! What a fight. This definitely would have made a young CJD yell out in a drunken stupor "they need to go to the hopbital!!" It's been said before but AIW is the only promotion that actually captures a little of that ECW magic. I would credit it to them always being inspired by ECW but never exactly trying to emulate it. Gage is a great example. They booked him as a tough as nails fighting Champion instead of just a deathmatch guy, which is a stroke of Heyman genius like you said. That sort unexpected depth is exactly what made ECW special, but when people try to recreate it most of the time they just focus on the violence. This match had that too, and had it in spades. Something I loved about Necro/Kasai that I forgot to mention is what a lost art good crowd brawling is. Most use it as filler, but in that match and this one it actually drives the story and feels warranted. The intensity of the collar & elbows on the outside set the tone for this one right off the bat and they never took their foot off the gas.

Burning Bridges Is So 1999

Matthew Justice VS Stockade VS Demarcus Kane VS G-Raver - Blackcraft Wrestling Ladder Match 8/24/2018

CJD: You were on the fence about the match you played forward last week but I really enjoyed it. I hope that's the case this week with my match for you. There's a lot here I like, there's a lot here I don't. This is the opening match of the first Blackcraft show, and I don't think it'll come as a big surprise that they apparently closed the promotion three shows later. I'd hate to have been the second match that followed this up. On the positive side, Matthew Justice is an absolute lunatic in this match, Demarcus Kane is a revelation (apparently a decade+ vet who wrestles under Napalm Bomb normally?), and our boy G-Raver dare I say steals the show. Last week against Kasai I thought he brought some cool spots but lacked in some other areas. Here he's the complete package, and really stands out in a crowded busy match. I also liked seeing what he brought to the table in a less deathmatch focused environment. Very curious to hear your thoughts on this one!

JJZ: That's a lot of names. Loving this pick CJD. I'm familiar with Justice and G-Raver but Stockade and Kane are brand new to me. Correct me if I'm wrong baby, but isn't this our first ladder match featured on PIF? Loving this venue considering the promotion is Blackcraft. You can definitely tell the seniors from the freshmen in this match but that creates an exciting dynamic. Some long "FUCKKKKKKK" moments early. You didn't mention Stockade but I really liked his role in this match. I think all four guys brought different ingredients that worked well together. Booking this match to open the show is a terrible idea though, this was a main event you can't follow this for fucks sake what is happening match. Super entertaining. Hope no one got seriously hurt.

CJD: I liked some of what Stockade brought to the table. On a whole though I thought he spent too much time setting up spots or rushing into them. But he played his role in the match well. This one really stuck with me. As an opener it made no sense whatsoever but I was thoroughly entertained. I'm glad you were too!