With the recent death of Doug Furnas, I thought it would be as good of a time as any to check out the collection RudoReels has of him teaming with Phil Lafon, or as he was known in All Japan, Dan Kroffat. I’ve seen very little of them aside from their stint in the WWF, and that was largely a failure. Not because they sucked, but rather they just didn’t fit the American style. I didn’t really think much of either when watching them in the WWF, but since I’ve heard so much about their run in All Japan I figured it was worth taking another look at the team.

1. Furnas and Lafon vs. Fuyuki and Kawada. I like AJPW’s ring here, half of its red and the other half is blue. Kind of stands out. Good match with lots of heat, especially towards the end. Furnas did a lot of power stuff and was mostly in the match, though Lafon came in from time to time and showed more technical ability. Lots of neat double team maneuvers too. Furnas picks up the win for his team with a half torture rack I want to say. ***1/2

2. Furnas and Lafon vs. Kikushi and Kobashi. This was the match of the year in 1992 according to the Wrestling Observer. Let’s see if it is… this is a clipped match, but I don’t think that much is clipped out. The footage starts with Furnas throwing Kikuchi to the floor while Lafon keeps Kobashi busy. Furnas then throws Kikuchi past the steel barricade onto a table, which proceeds to not break. I don’t think those Japanese tables ever really do break. Turns into a COMPLETELY AWESOME match with insane crowd heat and both teams just hitting one awesome move after another. The crowd was especially insane for Kobashi who they were chanting for every time he stepped into the ring. Ends up with Kobashi and Lafon having an incredible exchange of moves, including Kobashi hitting a double arm DDT which the announcer goes livid for. Kobashi then hits his moonsault and scores the victory, causing the announcer to have a near heart attack. This is such a great match, and worth the price of the DVD alone, clipped or not. *****

3. Furnas and Lafon vs. Dynamite Kid and Johnny Smith. This too is a clipped match. This lasted like two minutes before Furnas hits a frankensteiner on Smith and pins him. What exactly was the point of adding in a match like this? Oh well.

4. Furnas and Lafon vs. Kobashi and Misawa. Misawa looks YOUNG here. I’ve seen him before during his NOAH run and he looks ancient compared to how he looked here. I guess years of doing this kind of style will do that to you. Most of the match consisted of Kobashi playing babyface in peril, and it worked to perfection as the crowd was completely behind him throughout the match. An excellent series of near falls and false finishes follows before Misawa and Kobashi both hit bridging suplexes and pin both Furnas and Lafon to get the victory. It was a level below the Kikushi and Kobashi match, but really that is not a knock on this match at all because it was really fun. I think the last few minutes actually rivaled that of the aforementioned match. Either way, a super match. ****

5. Furnas and Lafon vs. Taue and Kawada. Another match in progress. I’ve seen a bit of Taue before, but seeing him in red trunks makes him look a lot like Giant Baba. Maybe I’m supposed to think that, or perhaps I’m out of my mind (either might be true) but that’s one of my first thoughts as I saw him enter the ring. Anyway, this was a good match, but not a great one like the last two Kobashi matches. The heat wasn’t as great and the action was pretty good but not all out. Kawada gets the win for his team with a powerbomb. ***1/2

6. Furnas, Lafon and Stan Hansen vs. Johnny Ace, Steve Williams and Johnny Smith. The future GM of Raw’s hair was quite amazing here. That was the only amazing part of the match, to be honest though- I just wasn’t feeling it. Nothing was bad, there were a few things that were good but I just didn’t feel it. There was one dropkick early in the match by Furnas I thought that was cool, and the crowd went all into a tizzy every time Williams and Hansen went to blows or even teased it, but other than that, this really wasn’t much. **1/2

7. Phil Lafon vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. This was a really fun little bout. Since this was a singles bout Kikuchi stood out a lot more, and he was really fun to watch. Lots of neat aerial maneuvers, great counters, and could sell like a mofo to boot. Early on in the match he took a what had to be PAINFUL tiger driver onto the cement floor. Kikuchi tried his best to get the pinfall, but another tiger driver did him in. This was a really great match as it showcased both Lafon and Kikuchi as really great, well-rounded athletes. ****

8. Phil Lafon vs. Rob Van Dam. These two gel REALLY well as this was a damn fine match, completely blew my expectations. RVD might get a lot of flak as a worker, but he defiantly had some flashy moves, and add that in with Lafon’s overall technical ability this turned out to be an incredible match. Things turned up a notch once the end was nearing. RVD scored a number of near falls, including hitting his springboard moonsault, but after failing to execute it for a second time Lafon went into full control, giving him everything that he had to finish the match. First, Lafon gave him the half nelson suplex off the top rope. KICKOUT. Then, he went for the tiger driver. Again, KICKOUT. RVD then tries valiantly to escape another tiger driver, but it’s no use as Lafon hits it, wins the match, and retains the Jr. Heavyweight championship. Incredible match with excellent storytelling. ****1/2

9. Phil Lafon vs. Yoshiari Ogawa. There’s a video package of the feud between these two, looks like Ogawa is gunning for Lafon’s Jr. Heavyweight championship. I thought this was a pretty good little bout, though nothing spectacular. Ogawa was a great underdog here, showing a lot of fire and determination to get that win while Lafon was being an arrogant prick and aggressor. But one thing Lafon didn’t count on was missing a dive off the top rope- Ogawa quickly covers Lafon and gets the victory! Nice little win there in a perfectly fine match. ***

10. Furnas and Lafon vs. Stan Hansen and Johnny Smith. This was way too short and clipped to boot. Match itself wasn’t too interesting either so I don’t know why it’s here.

11. Doug Furnas vs. Mitsuaru Misawa. I thought this would be an interesting match, but really it wasn’t. They were both fine here, and Misawa looked pretty great actually, but this was pretty short. **1/2

12. Doug Furnas vs. Phil Lafon. No idea why they’re having a match against one another. Weird. They grapple for a bit before Furnas accidentally pulls down Lafon’s trunks, exposing his backside. Lafon is completely unaware of this for a bit, then when re realizes, suckers in Lafon and the match commences. It was pretty good while it lasted, but like the last couple of matches this was pretty short. Furnas captures the win with a release German suplex. **1/2

OVERALL: I really enjoyed this collection. There are a few short matches, but there’s some good stuff here, and you should go out of your way to see the Lafon/RVD match and of course the Kikuchi/Kobashi match. Ring wise Furnas and Lafon are really up there as one of the better teams I’ve seen in the ring and this DVD helped me come to that conclusion tremendously.

First up is All Together 2, which took place a little under a month ago on 2/19. This is the second show benefiting people who were affected by the huge earthquake that struck Japan on 3/11 (holy Toledo, that’s actually one day removed from when I’m writing this…must be some sort of conspiracy). AJPW, NJPW, DDT, NOAH, and practically every other major Japanese promotion teamed up to promote a dream card that could only happen once (or in this case, twice) in a lifetime. Tanahashi? CHECK. Kobashi? CHECK. Keiji Mutoh? CHECK. All the major stars of Japan are here to chop one another to death for the benefit of Japan. That’s the kind of show we truly can All Get Together for.

Three announcers show up to run down the card for tonight’s program. All have wacky subtitles which I shall note as I go down the card myself.

1. Great Sasuke, Tiger Mask, Ryuske Taguchi and Taiji Ishimori vs. Jado, Gedo, Kenou and Taro Noashi. Subtitle is CHEER UP NIPPON. They need a lot of cheering up, to be honest. But the six men here do a fine job of trying to cheer upJapan, as it as a hot contest throughout the match and never slowed down a bit. Taguchi I thought was an excellent babyface in peril and shows a lot of charisma; I hope to see a lot more of him in the future. I know he teams a lot with Prince Devitt so I guess I shall get my wish soon enough! Taiji Ishimori showed a lot of athleticism as well, at one point doing a sick flip to the outside without even falling to the floor- very impressive. Everyone here looked pretty good with the exception of Tiger Mask, who at one point fell flat on his face, causing the match to stop for a couple of seconds. It was really weird. Taguchi hits a glam slam (probably not the name he calls it but hey, Beth Phoenix uses the move a lot okay?) and Sasuke covers Taro for the pinfall. A really great opener to kick off the show. ***1/2

2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Kentaro Shiga vs. Captain New Japan, Captain All Japan, and Captain NOAH. Since this contains a bunch of superheroes, the subtitle for this match is obviously HERO IS COMING. You’ll have to buy the DVD here on RudoReels to see the secret identities of Captain All Japan and NOAH (plug, plug) but let’s just say Captain All Japan is enormous with a big belly. This was purely a comedy match with all the Captains spending most of the match playing with their wings on top of their masks, but there were a few great moves here, mostly by Kojima and Tenzan. Shiga was alright, but compared to Tenzan and Kojima he didn’t really stand out all that much. The Captains tried their best, with a couple of times during the match attempting to combine their powers (at least, that’s what I assumed they were doing) but the opposition managed to thwart them at every opportunity. Captain New Japan tried his very best to secure a heroic win, but it wasn’t his night. After a stiff lariat by Kojima and a headbutt by Tenzan, CNJPW tapped out to the anaconda vice by Tenzan. Match quality wise it was nothing to write home about, but I found it to be a pretty entertaining bout. **

3. KAI, Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru Tanaka and Kotaro Suzuki vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Kaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo and Katsuhiko Nakajima. SHINE ON TOMORROW, the subtitle says. Liger’s music is the best ever, without a doubt. Even myself, sitting at home, I want to cheer madly whenever I hear that opening. TREMENDOUS. Liger was doing a bunch of Hogan mannerisms, which was weird, but whatever! I thought out of everyone here Shuji Kondo stood out the most- he was more of a power guy throughout this match and that stood out to me, thought he was really impressive. Not that everyone here sucked, though- Kaz Hayashi was good in WCW, but he’s really great now as he showed a ton of athleticism during the match. Everyone else here was pretty good too. Kondo whacks KAI with a wicked lariat to secure the victory for his team. There were one or two hiccups early in the bout (the KAI/Kanemaru stuff was…meh) but overall this was a fine bout, lots of hot action throughout. ***

After the match, everyone shakes hands as everyone just wanted to have a fun bout. Well, except one person. Liger goes to shake Nakajima’s hand, but he responds by slapping the taste right out of Liger’s mouth. That wasn’t nice at all. DOWN WITH BAD SPORTSMANSHIP.
4. Togi Makabe and Manabu Soya vs. Takashi Sugiura and Yujiro Takahashi. BRAVE NEW WORLD is the subtitle, I guess that’s because anyone who wants to face these four has to be very brave and face a new world of PAIN. Or something like that. All four of these guys are brawlers, so most of the match consisted of chops, elbows, slaps and the like. I didn’t find it particularly interesting at the start, but it started to pick up towards the end with some sweet moves. Takahashi in particular gave a really impressive German suplex by taking the guy from his belly on the floor all the way to his back in one quick motion. In the end, everyone here was pretty ok though Soya didn’t do much for me. He fell to an Angle slam by Sugiura for the loss. **1/2
This was the point where they did the intermission. There were a bunch of ads, Tiger Mask talking to the announcers about something, and a woman who looked like a racecar driver talking to the crowd. Later I learned she was actually Meiko Satomura from the Sendai Girls Gym who promised that the local gyms damaged by the earthquake would be rebuilt. So she’s not a racecar driver. I think. This all doesn’t seem that long but this all took at least a half hour.

5. Kensuke Sasaki, Yuji Nagata, Akebono and Naomichi Marufuji vs. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshihiro Takayama, Taichi, Masayuki Kono. Subtitle is SUN PLAZA QUARREL FESTIVAL. Please don’t ask me what that’s supposed to mean because I have no earthly idea. Maybe they were all quarrelling in the sun before the match, I dunno. A standard match that had some alright action, but nothing really stood out aside from Taichi, who I thought was a awesome cowardly heel, avoiding the babyfaces like the plague then getting the tar kicked out of him when failing. The heels don’t fare well in the end, with the babyfaces all hitting their respective finishers EXCEPT for Taichi who blocks Akebono’s chokeslam and attempts a comeback, but Akebono stops him cold with a big splash for the pinfall victory. It was an alright match, but nothing too particularly interesting or noteworthy. **1/4

6. Hirooki Goto, Akitoshi Saito and Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka. BE STRONG JAPAN is the subtitle. I guess after cheering upJapanneeds to be strong, so that’s sound advice. The minute Iizuka comes out to the ring it turns into a wild brawl with everyone fighting outside the ring. Iizuka is a WILD MAN, an entertaining one at that by bringing out a row of chairs to the ring. Yes, a ROW. He also abuses a poor announcer by ripping off his shirt and scaring the bejeezus out of him. Didn’t say he was a nice crazy man. Eventually it gets back to the ring and there’s a ton of punching and kicking, a lot of it between Yano and Saito. Eventually Shinzaki gets tagged in and hits a flurry of offense, looking very impressive while doing so. I’ve seen him as Hakushi and I thought he looked better here to be perfectly honest- he hasn’t skipped a beat. Eventually this turns out to be another satisfactory match with everyone looking pretty good. Goto hits the Shouten Kai (he holds his opponent into a jackhammer position, and then slams him down like an urnage) for the win. ***

Iizuka is none too happy about the loss following the match. He runs into the crowd, throws some chairs around then sits down, wondering what to do next. He then decides to get up and throw some more chairs around. GREAT.

7. Keiji Mutoh and Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama and Takao Omori. When did Akiyama go bald? Anyway, subtitle is THIS IS PROWRESTLING. I guess that means they are pro wrestlers and are going to have a five star match. That didn’t happen. Kobashi really should retire at his point because it’s fairly obvious he’s bogged down with injuries, but he did do the moonsault (which had to suck for whoever took it because his knees landed right on their face) and a nice superplex, but other than that his main offense was mostly chops, and even then some of his chops didn’t look all that good. I’ve heard about Muto being bogged down too but I thought he was perfectly fine here too, though it looked like he could probably do without hitting that moonsault. Since Kobashi couldn’t do that much, part of the match was taken outside of the ring, where both veterans were introduced to steel guardrails. They prevail in the end though, when Mutoh hits his moonsualt on Akiyama for the three count. Nice build to their upcoming 3/20 Triple Crown title match. Alright match I guess, nothing too terrible but Kobashi has seen better days. **1/2

8. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Suwama and Takeshi Morishima vs. Testuya Naito, Seiya Sanada and Go Shiozaki. FIGHT TOGETHER NOW is the final subtitle for the evening. They’re all together now…to FIGHT together now. See what I did there? These are all the top young stars of AJPW (Sanada and Suwama), NJPW (Naito and Tanahashi) and NOAH (Morishima and Shiozaki) and I thought they all were pretty damn impressive. Tanahashi is clearly above all of them in terms of popularity and work rate, so no wonder he was the 2011 Wrestler of the Year (as rated by the Wrestling Observer). Morishima looks a bit slimmer than his ROH days and was pretty good as well. Sanada looks like someone who can be really good in due time. Naito is really impressive as well, not only here but in his recent title match against Okada (which I gave ****3/4- SEE IT if you haven’t). The match itself was hot all throughout and was probably the best match of the night. Nothing off the charts awesome, but it was heated enough and good enough to make it a perfectly fine main event. Tanahashi, Suwama and Morishima all hit their finishers on their respective rivals, and Morishima pins Shiozaki for the victory. ***3/4

After the main event, a band comes out and all the babyfaces come out to sing the All Together Now theme song, which is called All Together Now, surprisingly. Everyone in the ring is happy and sings with the band, and while some of the audience is clapping along, all of them seem bored. Everyone comes alive when the wrestlers start throwing out balls to the crowd, so I guess everyone inJapanloves colored balls. Don’t quote me on that. Everyone takes their sweet time to leave, with Tanahashi being the last one to leave, as they cut to interviews with Tanahashi, Morishima, and Suwama. I have no idea what any of them said, but Tanahashi was rather emotional during his so I guess they were talking about the earthquake. They then cut back to the announcers who talk to Liger and Nagata for a bit before finally signing off.

OVERALL: This was a great first show to review on this site, mainly because it gives me an idea of what to expect in each promotion. I know New Japan has some great stuff, but I haven’t checked out All Japan or NOAH all that much. I’ll try and do that as time goes by, but I also want to see some compilations of some of the older stars of Japan and lucha libre, so we’ll see where this goes. As for the show itself, nothing was off the charts great, but nothing was terrible either. A perfectly fine, inoffensive show that I recommend for anyone who’s trying to get into puro.

The general atmosphere at the gym is a unique one. The establishment I attend has the machines positioned in circle around three, non-HD – yes they do still exist, widescreen TV’s that have the MTV logo burned into the top left corner. You have the weight and rowing machines as an inner circle then a mixture of cardiovascular, bigger weight machines (such as a leg press), a stretching area and the dreaded free-weight training area as an outer circle. This positioning does help make the gym seem like a less intimidating place because it forces everyone to face in at each other but the fact remains that everyone, and I mean everyone, who is in the gym never looks like they’re enjoying themselves. I feel that exercise should be fun which is why I came up with a cunning plan that meant I can enjoy myself while at the same time working out, thus ‘killing two birds with one stone’ as the saying goes.

What I am able to do is all thanks to the brand of gym equipment named TECHNO GYM (note –  it’s not as great as it sounds) who, on a variety of their cardiovascular machines such as the cross-trainer and treadmill, have installed an iPhone/iPod dock. This enables me to plug in my iPhone so I can not only listen to music through the on-board interface that also combines television, radio & in some cases games and even then internet), but to watch videos. This is when I had a light bulb moment. I could watch any program I want to, as oppose to the dross of stations like MTV Dance that plagues the multiple TV channels available, while working out! An excellent plan!

As a note. To put this out there now, I have a very diverse taste in entertainment. I’ll no doubt be exploring a variety of these tastes in due course but for the purposes of this story, Japanese professional wrestling and Japanese anime are the focus.

I thought why don’t I just put videos of Japanese wrestling matches and anime episodes (that I’m intending to watch at some point in the comfort of my own home anyway) on my iPhone and watch them while working out! I’ve adopted this method of craftiness for some time now and it has brought me great joy while seemingly partaking in what I loathe the most. Just last week I was watching a program that legit made me laugh so much I nearly fell of the cross-trainer. But yesterday, Wednesday 18th January, for the first time felt I awkward doing this.

I had two videos I was planning to watch. A wrestling match and an episode of anime. However so that my time on the cross-trainer would last a substantial amount of time – an hour or so, I began my workout with about fifteen minutes of the Metallica album Master Of Puppets blaring into my ears. About 10 minutes in a woman got the on the machine next to me and began her workout. Nothing out of the ordinary, that is until you added a mirror into the equation. I got an odd look from her. Could well have been because of my excessive height and I may have looked a bit like Godzilla to her. Nonetheless it was quite the odd look. Five minutes later I switched from Metallica to the first of my two videos, a tag team wrestling match from Japan. It was this match that brought her workout to a a complete standstill for a good few moments. She saw I was starting a video, was (obviously) curious as to what it would be and this was the first image she saw on my screen…

The large duo of Akebono (left) & Ryoto Hama (right) known collectively as SMOP

...when the video then transitioned into the wrestling ring. She was completely fixated to this video...

This ladies and gentleman is the very large duo of Akebono, who is actually a very well known Sumo wrestler, and Ryoto Hama. These two (and their girth) were about to compete in a tag team match. The video starts with these two giving a few comments before the match and it was this sight that made the woman next to me seemingly grind to a halt. I looked in the mirror to see what can best described as a state of shock at what I was watching. This look was then escalated when the video then transitioned into the wrestling ring. She was completely fixated to this video so much It felt really awkward. So I glanced over and at that point, realising that she had stopped completely, attempted to continue her workout as though nothing had happened, but thanks to the mirror in front of us, I could see she was still glancing at the video. There was me still cross-trainer-ing away (if that’s even a phrase,) enjoying some Japanese wrestling action and her still looking befuddled at what was going on on my screen. It was a fun match but all the way through I could sense these eyes constantly glancing. I was tempted to say something but I just thought there is no point.

Her look when I then selected to watch an episode of the Iron Man anime series, a very good show by the way, said it all. I think at that point her brain couldn’t take anymore as about a minute later she pressed the stop button and walked away. She worked off more calories getting off the machine and walking away than she did actually working out.

I know I shouldn’t have felt awkward during this, but it almost feels like you’re being judged when something like this occurs. At the end of the day I still think it’s very cunning of me to have thought of this idea in the first place but obviously this was too much for a little lady to handle. If there was a way of having a screen either side of me I would use it believe me.

In closing I’m happy to report I exceeded my target of sixty minutes on the cross trainer by two whole minutes! Did I feel good after this? Yes! Do I feel good after it a day later? No, my legs are a stiff as hell.

From 1/19/95, the All Japan Triple Crown Champ Toshiaki Kawada defends against Kenta Kobashi! So pop some popcorn, sit back, relax, and ENJOY the show.

Finlay fought like a ravenous beast, putting me on the defensive for the whole match, which lasted 15:58 before the Irishman was able to put me away and pin me following his jumping tombstone piledriver.  The Japanese crowd responded in shock as Dave Finlay was announced as the new champion.

There are very few men in the wrestling business who are as brutal and remorseless in that ring as Finlay.  The man is a legend in this sport, and I brought my A-game, but it just wasn’t enough on the night of November 24, 2011 in Tokyo.

Many are already calling my match with Finlay as the match of the year in SMASH, which is saying a lot, as there have been numerous great matches throughout the year.  For a fantastic look at the action from the SMASH.23 title match, check out the ringside photos here.

I was also given the opportunity to face one of my all-time favorite wrestlers in Keiji Mutoh (aka The Great Muta) in Tokyo the night before SMASH.23 at All-Japan Pro Wrestling‘s event, as I teamed with SMASH compatriots Akira Nogami and Yoshihiro Tajiri to face the trio of Mutoh, Kondo and Bushi from AJPW.  I pinned Bushi in 13:48 of a hot match following my trademark spike piledriver.  Check out the photos from that match here.

On a separate note, I heard the sad news about the passing of American superstar Bison Smith (found dead on Nov. 22 in Puerto Rico) while I was in the dressing room at the AJPW event.  Bison was a big star in Japan, and his death at 38 – the same age as I am – is indeed an early passing.  The cause was deemed to be heart failure.

photo by SMASH (from SportsNavi Japan online)

Finlay fought like a ravenous beast, putting me on the defensive for the whole match, which lasted 15:58 before the Irishman was able to put me away and pin me following his jumping tombstone piledriver.  The Japanese crowd responded in shock as Dave Finlay was announced as the new champion.

There are very few men in the wrestling business who are as brutal and remorseless in that ring as Finlay.  The man is a legend in this sport, and I brought my A-game, but it just wasn’t enough on the night of November 24, 2011 in Tokyo.

photo by SMASH (from SportsNavi Japan online)

Many are already calling my match with Finlay as the match of the year in SMASH, which is saying a lot, as there have been numerous great matches throughout the year.  For a fantastic look at the action from the SMASH.23 title match, check out the ringside photos here.

photo by SMASH (from SportsNavi Japan online)

I was also given the opportunity to face one of my all-time favorite wrestlers in Keiji Mutoh (aka The Great Muta) in Tokyo the night before SMASH.23 at All-Japan Pro Wrestling‘s event, as I teamed with SMASH compatriots Akira Nogami and Yoshihiro Tajiri to face the trio of Mutoh, Kondo and Bushi from AJPW.  I pinned Bushi in 13:48 of a hot match following my trademark spike piledriver.  Check out the photos from that match here.

photo by AJPW (from SportsNavi Japan online)

On a separate note, I heard the sad news about the passing of American superstar Bison Smith (found dead on Nov. 22 in Puerto Rico) while I was in the dressing room at the AJPW event.  Bison was a big star in Japan, and his death at 38 – the same age as I am – is indeed an early passing.  The cause was deemed to be heart failure.

Cow Palace

Located on the outer edges of San Francisco, this venue was completed in 1941, but the first wrestling event would not be held here until the early 1960s. Roy Shire became the first promoter to hold a show at the Cow Palace, when he started up his own wrestling promotion, “National All-Star Wrestling,” in Northern California, and made stops at the Palace his “crown jewel” shows (kind of like ppvs today). These shows were the jewels,because the Palace housed 15,000 in attendance. There was doubt that Shire could fill the building up, due to the fact that wrestling had been on a popularity decline in the region and the company was an upstart, but on March 4, 1961, when National All-Star Wrestling ran it’s first show there, over 16,000 fans attended the event. The top draw was the then United States Heavyweight Champion, Ray Stevens.

Around the same time, the American Wrestling Association broke away from the National Wrestling Alliance. The Cow Palace was crucial to the organization’s expansion, as it was in traditional NWA territory, and was in an important wrestling region. They held countless events at the arena, including SuperClash II, where Curt Hennig pinned Nick Bockwinkel to capture the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. I’m sure if you ever watch the AWA on ESPN Classic’s, you’ll see a show emanating from the Palace.

Much like the AWA, when Vince McMahon wanted to expand the WWF out of it’s Northeast territory, he looked to the Cow Palace. The venue housed some of the company’s first West Coast events. A more recent event, that you’re probably familiar with, held at the Palace, was No Way Out 2004. This is most notably when Eddie Guerrero won his first WWE Championship. Even more recently, Ring of Honor has held shows at the famed venue, as well as several other independent organizations, and companies throughout history.

It may not be Madison Square Garden, but the Cow Palace holds it own in wrestling history.

Dallas Sportatorium 

It may not look like much, but the Dallas Sportatorium historically ranks right up there with the Cow Palace. The building was originally constructed in 1935, in an octagonal shape, and could then house 10,000. The first wrestling card to be held in the arena, took place that same year, and was promoted by Burt Wiloughby. He promoted wrestling cards there until 1940, when a man by the name of Ed McLemore bought out Wiloughby. Unfortunately, but adding further wrestling history to it, the original octagon building was partially burned down in 1953, supposedly by a rival wrestling promoter. After that, it was only able to house about 4,500 in seating.

McLemore would form a very significant partnership in 1966, when wrestler Jack Adkisson was brought into the business fold. Adkisson is better known as Fritz von Erich. Two years later, McLemore would begin suffering a series of heart-attacks, and a year later would pass away, leaving the company to Von Erich. Under Von Erich, the promotion would become known as World Class Championship Wrestling; easily the most successful and famous organization to run shows out of the Sportatorium.

Times were tumultuous in the mid and late 1980s, with the World Wrestling Federation quickly expanding their reach into other territories, and making business hard for smaller companies. A few promotions tried to combat the spread by making their own company larger, WCCW being one of them.
In 1986, WCCW split away from the National Wrestling Alliance, for the second time in the organizations history (the first time was in 1953). A bigger reason WCCW left the NWA banner, though, was due to then NWA President, Jim Crockett Jr, making the decision to no longer book World Champion, Ric Flair, in the state of Texas.

WCCW would fold in 1990, due to the changing times, and would be marred by numerous tragedies involving several top stars. The Dallas Sportatorium’s doors remained open, however. The Global Wrestling Federation found a home in it, but the organization only lasted until 1994. After that, various independent companies ran some shows in the arena, but they never drew many fans, and eventually the companies turned to smaller venues. In 2001, the building would once again be stricken by fire, this time causing much more damage than the previous. Two years later, the building would finally be torn down.

Just brainstorm some of the names who came through the region, and you’ll understand the historical significance of the Dallas Sportatorium. Names like Gorgeous George, Shawn Michaels, the Von Erichs, Bruiser Brody, the Fabulous Freebirds, the Midnight Express, Jake Roberts, Gino Hernandez….they and others all graced the Sportatorium’s hallowed halls.

Kōrakuen Hall 

Time to add some international flavor to this article.

Constructed in 1962, in Tokyo, this arena is not only one of Japan’s most famous venues, but the World’s. Though it can only seat 1,800 spectators, it’s hailed as the Japanese Madison Square Garden, for good reason. From All Japan Pro Wrestling to New Japan Pro Wrestling, all of Japan’s major promotions, have run shows in this venue. Smaller promotions, including those now defunct, have also all been showcased at the Kōrakuen Hall. Yes, that means every Japanese promotion, has held at least one show in this arena.

The fans also make this venue special. While the crowds are the traditional, respectful Japanese audience, it’s all but guaranteed that the crowd will be hot, night in and night out. These fans simply love puroresu, which is a good thing considering how many promotions hold shows here.

For wrestlers,  Kōrakuen Hall is one of the premier places you want to compete, whether you be Japanese, or foreign to the country. International legends have been born, and have died, here.

Kiel Auditorium 

While maybe not as famous as the previous three arenas,  the Kiel Auditorium, located in St. Louis, Missouri,  still has much significant wrestling history behind it.

Built in 1934, the Kiel is most notable here, for holding countless NWA events from the 1950s up until it’s closure in 1991, the most famous event being Starrcade ’90. It’s also worth noting that the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the famous “10 pounds of gold,” changed hands on three separate occasions, in this venue. This venue, was also in stark contrast to the other prominent arena in St. Louis- The Chase Hotel. While the Chase presented wrestling in a ballroom lit by chandeliers, accommodated patrons, who dressed in high-fashion, with only the very best food and beverage, the Kiel sold hotdogs, to raucous fans, dressed like…well, wrestling fans. Going to the Kiel meant one thing; you were going to a wrestling event. It wasn’t just any random wrestling card you were going to see, though.

St. Louis was not  it’s own territory, nor was there a dominant promotion controlling the area, like how the WWF claimed the Northeast or how WCCW had Texas. Now, you might assume that this was a bad thing for residents in the region, however, the region’s centralized location, and abundant monetary funds, drew in pretty much every wrestler you can name. Legends such as Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino, Buddy Rogers, the Von Erichs, the Funks, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Billy Graham, Gene Kiniski, Dick Murdoch, and many, many more, all competed in front of Kiel Auditorium crowds. It would be faster, yet more difficult, to name performers who haven’t competed at the Kiel, than it would be to name those that did. Therefore, you were pretty much always certain the card would be a good one.

Similar to the Cow Palace, the Kiel Auditorium was the first major arena the WWF began running shows out of, outside the Northeast territory. This would lead to competition between promotions, who wanted to book the Kiel.

The Kiel Auditorium would be demolished in 1991, when the city of St. Louis decided to build a new hockey arena. The last show ever held at the building, was a WCW event.

Comiskey Park

Ok, so, while not quite an arena per say, Comiskey Park has held a good number of wrestling events, especially for a baseball diamond.  I’m not sure why wrestling promoters like this field so much more than others, but to each their own. Personally, I’d prefer they held events at Chicago’s other ballpark, Wrigley Field; go Cubs, go! Anyway, back to the wrestling…

The first wrestling event held at Comiskey Park, saw Frank Gotch and Georg Hackenschimdt, pitted against one another for the World Heavyweight Championship, for their second and final encounter, in 1911. Besides for the mega-stars involved (and make no mistake, these two are right up there with Hogan, Austin, Rock, etc), and the championship being on the line, this match is remembered for the controversy stemming from it. You see, Frank Gotch may be hailed as the father of American professional wrestling, which he deserves, but let’s just say he was the original “Dirtiest Player in the Game.” In their first bout, Gotch oiled himself up, to avoid Hackenschmidt’s patented move, the Bearhug. In this match, Gotch resorted to paying a Hooker(not what you think it means…) to injure his opponent during a training session before their match. Nonetheless,the match drew 30,000 fans, for a record gate of $87,000. I’m not a math whiz, but I’m sure you can imagine how that figure would relate to today monetarily.

Fast forward to 1961, and another legend in the making, “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers has been voted into a NWA World Heavyweight Championship match, by the NWA booking committee.Rogers defeated Pat O’Connor (who had originally won the belt two years earlier in the Kiel Auditorium) in the bout at Comiskey Park, to win his first World Championship, in front of over 38,000 fans. An attendance record, that stood for over two decades, until WrestleMania III would shatter it.  This moment is one of the most significant in wrestling history, as it’s the dawn of a new age for the sport. It marks the change from legitimately good in-ring competitors, to the showman wrestler.

The AWA was fond of holding shows at fields and parks. The company’s most favorite, by far, though, was Comiskey Park. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, several AWA shows emanated from here, including the first SuperClash event, in 1985.

I must express, it seems kind of odd to me to end this article about historic arenas, with a baseball field. That’s not what I originally intended, but once I get going, I can’t stop, and thus had to split this thing into two articles. Plus, these venues truly do have a ton of history behind them, that deserves to be recognized. So, be sure to check back here next week, when the next and final installment of this two-part series drops.

Thanks for Reading,

J.

@J712v2

Reminder: Check out this week’s “J Classic,” featuring a classic Survivor Series match-up.

This coming week on Thursday, November 24th in Tokyo, I will face European ring general and legend Dave “Fit” Finlay at SMASH.23.  Finlay will surely be one of the toughest, sternest challenges I have met to date in my entire active ring career, as I’m set to defend the SMASH Championship against the Irishman at Korakuen Hall in the main event of the aforementioned card.

Finlay is perhaps best known from his latest tenure in WWE, where he was the United States Champion in 2006, defeating Bobby Lashley for the honors.  Finlay was a road agent and trainer for WWE, particularly coaching the WWE Divas over the years, improving their game considerably.  Prior to his stint in WWE, Finlay was the TV Champion in WCW, defeating Booker T in 1998 for the strap, in addition to a multi-time champion around Europe.

Finlay is largely considered one of the toughest SOB’s out of Europe to ever lace up a pair of boots, and he has hurt of a lot of people in the wrestling business inside of that ring.  Believe me when I say that I have the highest respect for Finlay as a professional wrestler, and I am taking my SMASH Championship defense against him at SMASH.23 very seriously.  Anything less would be foolhardy, and StarBuck is nobody’s fool.

In addition, I will be facing one of my favorite wrestlers of all-time in Keiji Mutoh at the All-Japan Pro Wrestling event at Korakuen Hall on Wednesday, November 23, as I team with SMASH superstars “The Japanese Buzzsaw” Tajiri and Akira Nogami to face the All-Japan trio of Mutoh, Shuji Kondo and Bushi.  Many fans will recall Mutoh as The Great Muta from the NWA in 1989-1990 and WCW periodically throughout the 1990′s.

Dave "Fit" Finlay

This coming week on Thursday, November 24th in Tokyo, I will face European ring general and legend Dave “Fit” Finlay at SMASH.23.  Finlay will surely be one of the toughest, sternest challenges I have met to date in my entire active ring career, as I’m set to defend the SMASH Championship against the Irishman at Korakuen Hall in the main event of the aforementioned card.

Finlay is perhaps best known from his latest tenure in WWE, where he was the United States Champion in 2006, defeating Bobby Lashley for the honors.  Finlay was a road agent and trainer for WWE, particularly coaching the WWE Divas over the years, improving their game considerably.  Prior to his stint in WWE, Finlay was the TV Champion in WCW, defeating Booker T in 1998 for the strap, in addition to a multi-time champion around Europe.

Finlay is largely considered one of the toughest SOB’s out of Europe to ever lace up a pair of boots, and he has hurt of a lot of people in the wrestling business inside of that ring.  Believe me when I say that I have the highest respect for Finlay as a professional wrestler, and I am taking my SMASH Championship defense against him at SMASH.23 very seriously.  Anything less would be foolhardy, and StarBuck is nobody’s fool.

In addition, I will be facing one of my favorite wrestlers of all-time in Keiji Mutoh at the All-Japan Pro Wrestling event at Korakuen Hall on Wednesday, November 23, as I team with SMASH superstars “The Japanese Buzzsaw” Tajiri and Akira Nogami to face the All-Japan trio of Mutoh, Shuji Kondo and Bushi.  Many fans will recall Mutoh as The Great Muta from the NWA in 1989-1990 and WCW periodically throughout the 1990′s.