By Derek Burgan, Torch Media Guy

WrestleReunion’s Wrestling Event
January 29, 2005
Tampa, Fla. at the Double Tree Hotel



Click Here to read Part ONE of WrestleReunion’s Event.

(6) Ron Bass & Larry Zybsko beat the U.S. Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo). Before the match Zybsko told Windham he still had the Western States Heritage Championship and in one of those you-had-to-be-there moments, everyone knew what he was talking about. Rotundo was wearing a sharp looking Michael Vick jersey and the most god awful, yellow based, camouflage pants. If New Jack ever came out of the closet, this is what he would wear. Windham was in a black t-shirt and jeans. He had a knee pad on the outside of the jeans and I still think that looks stupid. In a nice spot early in the match Ron Bass was aggravated after Larry missed a tag because he was busy encouraging the crowd to chant “Larry!” Windham said, “It has been 15 years out of the ring. I can tell”, as a slam towards Bass.

Mike Rotundo (a/k/a IRS)

The Outlaw Ron Bass with a chinlock on Rotundo

The match went outside the ring as all four men fought on the floor and me and Fritz figured out there must be an oxygen tank under the ring they were fighting over. Okay, the finish came after Rotundo hit Bass with a DDT and Windham nailed Larry with an elbow drop. But, GET THIS, the ref overturned the ruling by saying Windham wasn’t the legal man and instead gave the win to Bass. This was the WTF-moment of all WTF-moments. The time is also a guess as we found out Fritz wasn’t reading his watch correctly. Only in wrestling kids. (6:50)

***Jimmy Hart asked the fans to give a standing ovation for Sabu. Hart than introduced Joey Styles. “OH MY GOD” chant. Joey said he was here to do color commentary with Lance Russell and apologize for being late as he was “ice’d in” back in Atlanta. Who knew the effects of the Red Sox winning the World Series and subsequent act of Hell freezing over are still being felt today?

Joey Styles

The Masked Superstar

(7) The Masked Superstar beat The Grappler in a Mask vs. Mask match. I know I’ve told this story a thousand times, but it was a Masked Superstar match against Sgt. Slaughter that got me hooked on wrestling, so I’ll always have a soft spot for him. The finish to this match was insane as Superstar untied one of Grappler’s boots and tried to pull it off and the BOOT RIPPED IN HALF. True story, the bottom part of the boot just came off, completely separated from the top. Never seen that before. Superstar then hit Grappler with the boot and then ripped off his mask. The guy didn’t even try to hide his face afterwards, which is a first for me after watching a mask vs. mask match. (5:50)

(8) America’s Most Wanted beat Terry & Dory Funk by DQ to retain the TNA Tag Team Titles. Okay, here’s one of the reasons the crowd was on ring announcer Mark Nulty’s case all night. Throughout the event Nulty would seemingly read off every belt a wrestler had won when doing introductions. This got old, fast. Especially old to a crowd that already knew the histories of all the wrestlers. So, in this case, Nulty read off god knows how many belts the Funks had one, and honestly who gives a shit, but DID NOT announce they were from the DoubleCross Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. That’s just absurd. I don’t know if it’s his gimmick or his true personality, but Nulty comes across as an aloof, know-it-all type of guy and it comes across to the crowd. I will admit that Nulty is doing much better in his commentating for Ring of Honor. (Note: My photo boy, Jimmy Olsen, says that Nulty did indeed bring up the Double Cross Ranch so we'll have to see the DVD to confirm that)

Dory and Terry Funk

Dory Funk with a chinlock on one of those AMW guys

Terry Funk shot a promo to start the match saying he was pissed off at promoter Sal Cornette because AMW was making more than the Funks. This was because Sal apparently has “his nose up Dusty Rhodes’ fat, sweaty ass.” They are nowhere near my favorite team, but AMW looked really good before the match. Like night and day when comparing the wrestlers of the past to today’s grapplers. One of the AMW guys did a fantastic impersonation of a stumbling Terry Funk. Good match that came to a finish after Terry grabbed a belt and clocked both members of AMW and the ref, for good measure. Dory pinned one member of AMW and Terry counted the pin. That was great. (10:10)

***Nulty pointed out Harley Race, Ted DiBiase, Hector Guerrero, Nick Bockwinkle and Buddy Colt in the crowd. Nulty then asked for Dr. Death Steve Williams to come to the ring and he got a standing ovation. Dr. Death talked about his love for wrestling and the fans and in an emotional, strong moment said, “You put your mind to it, you can do anything and I will be back in this ring.”

Marty Jannetty and George Royal

(9) Marty Jannetty beat Gary Royal. I thought Gary Royal was wearing a dress, but apparently it was just some flashy gold ring gear. I think I was also the only one in the crowd who didn’t know who the hell Gary Royal was. This match had winners from WrestleReunion contests as guest timekeeper, ring announcer and manager for Jannety. The manager was a kid whose name was “T squared.” Like I could make that up. The ring announcer was better than Nulty. SCANDALOUS! This match was GREAT because about four minutes in Tom Pritchard, the agent for all the matches tonight, was sending his message to “go home” by putting his pen in his mouth. Neither wrestler or the ref ever looked over. By the way, the ref looked just like a young Adam Sandler.

You can't tell me this ref doesn't look like a goofy Adam Sandler

Anyhoo, Pritchard would make a point to take his pen out and quickly put it back in when he thought someone in the match would look over, and they never did. This was truly hilarious. There was a ref standing behind Pritchard doing the throat-slash motion to get the ref inside the ring to end the match and that was ignored too. This was possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen in wrestling. Jannetty finally won with a superkick. (9:00)

(10) Greg Valentine won a 17 man Battle Royal to win the IWA Heavyweight Champion. Who has 17 men in a battle royal? Here’s the order of eliminations. 1) Norman Smiley 2) The Bullet Bob Armstrong 3) Hands of Stone Ronnie Garvin 4) Brad Armstrong 5) Jake “The Snake” Roberts 6) Shane Douglas 7) Virgil 8)Thunderfoot #2 9) Thunderfoot #1 10) Hack Myers 11) Samu 12) Scott Armstrong 13) Adrian Street 14) Chavo Guerrero Sr. 15) Warlord 16) Bugsy Magraw

The Bullet Bob Armstrong and Jake "The Snake" Roberts

Bugsy Magraw and The Warlord

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

Bugsy Magraw looks like A-Train’s dad in that he is old, out of shape and has a TON of back hair. I was convinced Warlord would win before the match as he is still HUMONGOUS and reminded me of Nathan Jones in the WWE. The crowd cheered just about everyone and even did the “SHAW!” chants when Hack Myers was on offense. (8:15)

Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

Jim Cornette shooting a promo

(11) Rock & Roll Express & TheFantastics (w/Bobby Heenan) beat The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton, Dennis Condrey & Stan Lane w/Jim Cornette). Heenan basically threw the microphone at Cornette to start the match and Jim responded by shooting a promo saying Heenan was big before electricity but now it was his turn to shine. This was a really fun match to watch even though Stan Lane looked to be the only one anywhere close to being in shape. Can you imagine what this match would have done in business 20 years ago? Outside the ring at one point all the babyfaces got a shot in on Cornette, including Heenan. HOLY SHIT, Cornette actually body slammed one of the Fantastics! I can’t believe I just saw that. Finish came after Cornette was given a double clothesline and pinned by three men. (15:00)

Immediately after the pin Heenan threw Cornette’s racket into the ring and it hit ref Mickey Jay right on the head. Heenan then had the microphone and put over the Fantastics and the Rock & Roll Express as the best teams in the 70’s and 80’s.

***Nulty announced that A.J. Styles could not make the show tonight as he was held up in Atlanta. They said Styles would be booked at a future card.

Christopher Daniels locking up with Pat Tanaka

(12) The Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels beat Pat Tanaka. Daniels got the biggest reaction of the night and he looked great. Four minutes into the match Tom Pritchard had his pen in his mouth. A minute later Daniels hit the Last Rites for the win. (6:25)

Wait a second, for years I’ve been reading in the Torch and the Observer that when a replacement wrestler is brought in he always goes over to make the fans happy. This was a blatant breach in the “unwritten” rules of wrestling!

TNA Champion Jeff Jarrett

Kevin Von Erich (note the bare feet)

(13) Jeff Jarrett (w/Baby Doll) beat Tully Blanchard (w/J.J. Dillon) to retain the TNA championship. Kevin Von Erich was the guest referee. Jeff Jarrett shot a promo from Planet Jarrett and said he had an equalizer for Dillon by bringing out Baby Doll. At this point it was 11:30, the time listed in the program that the show would be over. Obviously the booker of the show was Frank Goodman of USAPro.

Tully looked in GREAT shape here. I was impressed and the two guys had a good match. Seven minutes into the match Dillon handed an item to Blanchard, but it was knocked out. Baby Doll ran over and Von Erich went outside the ring as well. Inside the ring Tully clocked Jarrett and made the pin. Von Erich got back in the ring, pulled Blanchard off Jarret, and applied the CLAW! I always mark out for that one. Jarrett then hit a back suplex and made the pin. 1..2..3. (7:45)

***It was announced that due to “logistics of the building” that the low ceiling would prevent the scheduled cage match from taking place. Instead each team would be given a “mystery” partner.

(14) Dusty Rhodes & Dustin Rhodes & Mike Graham beat C.M. Punk & Abdullah the Butcher & Kevin Sullivan (w/Sir Oliver Humperdink & Harley Race & Honest John) with Mick Foley as the special guest ref. Foley said before the match that the promoters of the show wanted a ref who was the greatest, most hardcore wrestler today…”but Triple H wasn’t available.” Crowd loved that. Punk was a bump machine throughout the match and looked great. At one point Abdullah grabbed a beer bottle and broke it on the ringpost. I told Fritz, “that sound you just heard was the manager of the Double Tree Hotel having a heart attack.” Abdullah used the bottle on Dustin Rhodes and soon the artist formally known as GoldDust was bleeding like a stuck pig. The finish came after Punk turned around to be on the receiving end of SOCKO, courtesy of Mick Foley, and given an elbow drop by Dusty Rhodes before the pin. (7:30)

Mick Foley celebrates with the babyfaces

Dusty Rhodes helps out his son Dustin

Overall thoughts: Obviously the matches on this card weren’t of ROH quality, but I think that most of the fans had a great time as the charisma of the wrestlers was off the charts. I know the woman next to Fritz, whose voice was so loud it was almost deafening, had one hell of a time. The only downside was all the delays to change the tapes in the cameras, but obviously that will be eliminated once the show comes to DVD.

***Okay, now let me clear up a little confusion from an earlier WrestleReunion report. I wrote that the name “Dr. Mike Lano” brings my blood to a boil, and it does, but – to throw in an insider term here - I actually don’t have any heat with the guy whatsoever. Here’s the story. I had heard than name Mike Lano here and there for seemingly the last 10 years. Usually every year he popped up as “Fanboy Oddity Mike Lano” in Bruce Mitchell’s annual quiz on the Torch and I had also seen his name appear on various wrestling sites. As most of you know, I had also seen his pictures in several wrestling books. Well, it all came to a head when I read Dave Meltzer’s Tributes II.

You see, I loved that book. How could you not? Dave Meltzer, wrestling’s unofficial historian, giving in-depth obituaries that were just fascinating to read. The book was also littered with pictures, something which I think just about all wrestling books could use more of. Only this book had a “photo courtesy of Dr. Mike Lano” on EVERY F---ING PAGE. At first I was like, “WTF? This has to be a rib.” But it kept going. Then I literally starting laughing when I turned the page and say one of those credits. Finally I began to become irritated and despise the name. It became my trigger word, something like a wrestling version of the Manchurian Candidate. It was not the person I hated, but the very name itself. Yes, I know it sounds insane.

I was actually looking forward to meeting Lano because in my mind I had already created what I “knew” he would be like. Actually I figured it was one of two things. The first was that he would be some gigantic pompous ass, totally full of himself. The other was a severely mentally handicapped man, who I pictured to be a doppelganger of Roland Alexander in Beyond the Mat. But when I met Lano, he wasn’t any of those things. He wasn’t a jerk. He wasn’t retarded. He didn’t look like that fat oaf Roland Alexander. Lano was just a wrestling fan. One with an obvious passion for photography. So I actually think the man Mike Lano is a decent enough guy. The name, thanks to Tributes II, will always drive me nuts though.

Check out WrestleReunion for details.

Derek Burgan reviews all sorts of media for the Torch. He can be reached at derek@gumgod.com

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