PLANET WRESTLING
THE DOOMED DUNGEON What is a guilty pleasure? Webster’s dictionary defines it as “something pleasurable that induces a minor feeling of guilt”. It’s like keeping a secret collection of ABBA, listening to their albums when no one else is around, or better yet, still watching Pokemon. Sadly, we all have them, those secret pleasures in life that for one reason or another you should feel downright ashamed of. We’re no different here at Total Wrestling and every month we delve into those moments that were generally panned by everyone else, but we loved them. In 1995 Eric Bischoff and the WCW creative staff devised a faction known as The Dungeon Doom and with this instead of refreshing the Hulk Hogan character, the group consisted of Universal Monster ripoffs and supernatural beings straight out of some Ed Wood science-fiction schlock. As truly putrid and pitiful as the gimmick proved to be, though, there is something about the Dungeon of Doom faction that returned viewers to their youth, allowing them to relive the days when wrestling was more innocent, with over-the-top characters and truly absurd storylines. The Dungeon was the direct result of Kevin Sullivan’s obsession with eliminating Hulkamania from WCW. Motivated by a higher calling that was later revealed to be veteran competitor “King” Curtis Iaukea. Known as “The Master,” he handed Sullivan the role of “Taskmaster,” the leader of the vile group of villains created solely to ensure the demise of all things red and yellow. Which was ironic considering the fact that Sullivan competed wearing the same colors, but who’s counting. One-by-one, WWE rejects emerged from hiding, adopting ridiculous gimmicks such as The Zodiac (Brutus Beefcake), The Shark (John Tenta/Earthquake) and Meng (Haku). Throw in the Ugandan Giant Kamala, newcomer Hugh Morrus and massive rookie The Giant, you have the recipe for the worst faction in wrestling history and, simultaneously, the most ludicrously fun one ever. The formation of the group occurred over several weeks and months, as Sullivan repeatedly visited the cave that housed The Master, listening to his rambling and nonsensical lectures and vowing to do as he was told. Featuring acting 2
TOTAL GUILTY PLEASURES/HIGHS AND LOWS that would make stars of SyFy original pictures like Sharknado cringe, the segments were hot garbage. Considering the fact that the Mabel and Isaac Yankem were headlining shows over on the WWE side of things, the Dungeon of Doom at least was intriguing. Even if it was for all the wrong reasons. The entire ordeal became even more perversely entertaining when The Giant and Hulk Hogan squared off in a monster truck battle. Yes, as if the feud could not become any more comically bad, someone thought it would be a fantastic idea to book them to drive monster trucks, the objective being to force the other off the roof and to the ground far, far below. Hogan won and should have earned himself notoriety as the first wrestler to openly and obviously kill another human being live on television. Alas, The Giant proved immortal, returning later in the Halloween Havoc pay-per-view without a single scratch. Hogan, naturally, absorbed everything thrown at him by the faction to that point, including dangerous and vile villains complete with ridiculous face paint and even worse gimmicks. But on the same night that he nearly taught the little Hulkamaniacs in the crowd how to commit homicide, he failed to see the betrayal of longtime friend and manager Jimmy Hart coming. The heel turn led to Hogan losing the WCW world title to The Giant, bringing an end to Hulkamania as fans had known it. He would stick around, sporting the red and yellow and selling countless, stupid t-shirts well into 1996 but there was clearly a shift in the attitude of the greatest babyface to ever lace a pair of boots. After teaming with Randy Savage to defeat The Dungeon of Doom, Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a huge cage match at Uncensored in March, Hogan disappeared from television.
was not character progression throughout that did, in fact, lead to the death of Hulkamania.
When he returned, he shocked the entire wrestling world, turning heel for the first time in nearly two decades and becoming the leader of the revolutionary New World Order, which begs the question: did The Dungeon of Doom actually win?
Hogan turned darker, more angrier and nastier as he warred with Sullivan and his merry bunch of misfits. That he completely abandoned the red and yellow and eventually donned black and white as one-third of the original nWo suggests that The Taskmaster and The Master achieved their goal of driving the goody two-shoes from the industry.
Sure, the story was stupid, the product of a crack staff of bookers who probably had no business running a show. At least at that point in time. But it is hard to argue that there
In hindsight, the company lucked into an angle in which the heels actually won. Whether it was intentional or not is the question that will linger forever. 3
PLANET WRESTLING
Imagine a world in which two all-time greats could face one another at the peak of their careers. Imagine the possibilities as two eras collide, two generations clash and two different philosophies, ideologies and emotions are brought to life. Welcome to TW Fantasy Warfare.
BRUNO SAMMARTINO Strength
BROCK LESNAR Athlete
While maybe not the quickest wrestler in the squared circle there can be no denying that Bruno was one of the strongest. With a huge upper body physique Bruno was capable of squeezing the life out of opponents with his patented Bearhug. The big question is could Bruno do it to someone of Lesnar’ size?
Contrary to what Jim Ross used to say Billy Gunn is not the best pure athlete in WWE history, that distinction belongs to Brock Lesnar. No heavyweight has ever been able to move with the speed and agility that Lesnar does and that makes him a rare breed of wrestler.
Sammartino still holds the record for the longest title reign in WWWF/WWF/ WWE history standing at 2803. Taking into account that his second title run lasted 1237 days and that means Sammartino held the gold for a collective 4040 days. That kind of record gives him a champions aura.
Yes Bruno was used to fighting in championship matches but Lesnar is a prizefighter and that means every fight he has is a big fight. By only appearing sporadically Lesnar maintains that special feeling of when he is around shit is about to go down.
Legitimately Tough
Proven Fighting Background
Champions Aura
While Bruno’ s hard man stories are the stuff of locker room legends Lesnar has proved his fighting credentials on the biggest stage in the world. A former UFC Heavyweight champion Lesnar is 100% legitimate and could hold his own in a fight with nearly any man on the planet.
If held at Madison Square Garden the edge has to go to Bruno for his history at the arena but anywhere else and Lesnar takes it. As strong as Bruno but considerably quicker I fear Bruno would be taking a trip to suplex city before falling to an F5.
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Bruno, as many were throughout the 1950s and 60s, was renowned for being able to legitimately hurt guys if the situation arose. The famous incident of him fighting five men at once, one of whom he knocked out, backstage at a wrestling show is the stuff of legends.
Prizefighter
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WINNER:BROCK LESNAR!
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PLANET WRESTLING
TOTAL ACTION ZONE
PHOTOS BY BRAD MCFARLIN AND KIMM BUCHMANN
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TOTAL ACTION ZONE
RING OF HONOR PRESENTS THE RELOADED TOUR FORD COMMUNITY CENTER DEARBORN 11/09/2015 Bobby Fish defeated Will Ferrara in the opening contest. Moose w/Stokely Hathaway defeated Samson Walker. Kyle O’Reilly defeated Silas Young. Roderick Strong defeated The Kingdom’s Adam Cole. Jay Briscoe defeated Taakaki Watanabe.
Matt Sydal defeated ACH to go up 1-0 in their Best of 5 Series. ROH World Television Championship Defy or Deny Match
ROH World and World Television Champion Jay Lethal w/Truth Martini defeated Cedric Alexander, Dalton Castle and Mark Briscoe.
The Young Bucks defeated reDRagon
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PLANET WRESTLING
presents:
WWW.MERCH - STAND.COM
FOUND YOURSELF COMING INTO CASH? HAVE A CHUNK OF SPARE CHANGE YOU’D LIKE TO TURN INTO SOMETHING COOL?
Total Wrestling gives you the lowdown on the most exciting merchandise currently kicking around online, giving you ideas on where you can turn your cash into collectors items!
The Dudley Boyz have returned to WWE and have made The New Day, The Tag Team Championships and any table in their direction.
HTTP://EUROSHOP.WWE.COM
Through both action and candid photographs, personal ephemera, including original Warrior art and detailed journal entries, insider stories and exclusive interviews with WWE legends, and intimate accounts from the Warrior family, this unique biography brings the legacy of The Ultimate Warrior to life like never before. Relive the Warrior’s most intense matches and rivalries, and get to know the man behind the face paint in this one-of-a-kind volume. Filled with intense action and little-known details, Ultimate Warrior: A Life Lived Forever is a celebration of the Superstar who left an inimitable mark on WWE and redefined sports entertainment for generations. 8 HTTPS://WWW.WRESTLINGSHOP.COM
TOTAL MERCH
The first ICW Hoodie, is a perfect message for anyone who will part of the ICW ‘Road to Fear & Loathing Tour’, the tour travels all over the UK from the 8th October to the 1st November, leading onto the 15th November when ICW showcase their biggest show of the year in Glasgow, ‘Fear & Loathing’.
HTTP://INSANECHAMPIONSHIPWRESTLING.BIGCARTEL.COM
What a show this was. Progress Wrestling is one of the best wrestling Promotions the UK has and this event was another fine example of that. The event was sold out under 20 minutes with a capacity crowd of 700 plus fan attending and the DVD shows this. Progress Wrestling DVD’s have fantastic production and now with a two man commentary team, it adds more for the viewer.
HTTP://WWW.PROGRESSWRESTLING.COM/PRODUCT/ CHAPTER21DVD
WWE Money in the Bank Commemorative Briefcase. Modelled after the Money in the Bank briefcase suspended above the ring during the annual ladder match, and used by several Superstars to cash in their Championship contracts, now you can own your very own Money in the Bank briefcase!
HTTP://WWW.WRESTLINGSHOP.COM/WWE-REPLICA-BELTS/WWEMONEY-IN-THE-BANK-COMMEMORATIVE-BRIEFCASE.HTML 9
FEATURES
DIVAS REVOLUTION - JEREMY BORASH
After witnessing the critical acclaim that the women of NXT received, WWE made the decision to call up Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Their arrival to WWE programming coincided with Stephanie McMahon announcing a Divas Revolution, a movement that would see the women treated with the same respect that their male counterparts were. Labelling something a revolution and treating it like one are two different things, however, as the WWE Universe has found out thus far. Erik Beaston takes a look at exactly where WWE has gone wrong to this point, how they can fix their experiment and what the future holds for women’s wrestling under Vince McMahon and sports entertainment’s greatest empire. 10
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INTERVIEW
ON THE SPOT WITH: DEAN AMBROSE
ON THE SPOT WITH:
DEAN AMBROSE WWE superstar Dean Ambrose’s surge in popularity has led to numerous opportunities not only inside the ring, but outside of it. The “Lunatic Fringe” is one of the more than 100 playable characters in the new “WWE 2K16” video game. Ambrose took time out to speak with Scott Fishman to discuss his involvement in the latest release in the popular franchise and other topics. 12
RHYNO
Rhyno has done it all in the wrestling business and was a huge name in ECW, a main stay in WWE and a huge player in TNA. Just earlier this year he made his shocking return to WWE on their NXT brand. Darragh O’Connor managed to catch up with Rhyno to talk about his re-emergence with WWE, thoughts on NXT, TNA and his time in ECW. 13
WELCOME TO PURO
RING OF HONOR IS HEADING TO JAPAN...AGAIN At Sumo Hall on the final day of this year’s G-1 Climax tournament, it was announced that Ring of Honor would run two shows in Japan in early 2016. This announcement was then made for a second time soon after at a ROH TV taping, along with the announcement of the expansion of ROH’s now annual inter-promotional shows with New Japan Pro Wrestling. To some, this may seem like a new idea, but as Phil Clark explains an ROH show in Japan is anything but new. From its very beginning, ROH has made puroresu an integral part of what sets it apart from other American promotions inside the ring, and even outside the ring if you count the awesomeness that is streamers during wrestler introductions. When ROH started, the roster contained wrestlers who were inspired by some of the best in puroresu at the time, some that had been trained in Japan, some that had a history of wrestling in Japan, and some that were creating a history of wrestling in Japan. From there, ROH began to do business with Japanese promotions so those promotions could get their talent some bookings in America. During its 13-year existence, ROH has brought in talent from NJPW, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Dragon Gate, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Zero-1, and DDT. 14
Some truly great moments in ROH’s history have been supplied by Japanese wrestlers. Such moments include Tokyo Sports 2002 tag team of the year Shinjiro Ohtani & Masato Tanaka’s appearance during ROH’s first year, The Great Muta’s appearance to finish up 2003, the stars of Dragon Gate giving their promotion a famous American introduction in 2006, and Samoa Joe having classic brawls at the Manhattan Center against Kenta Kobashi in 2005 and Takeshi Morishima in 2007. Along with those moments has been an almost constant Japanese presence in ROH with talent swap and other such arrangements with Dragon Gate, NOAH, and NJPW combining to last for nearly all of ROH’s existence. And since ROH has never had a problem pushing Japanese talent (including title wins) no matter the booker, it seemed like a natural progression that ROH would end up running shows in Japan. They ended up journeying to Japan for the first time in the summer of 2007. A QUICK TRIP BACK IN TIME With Dragon Gate and NOAH being the two Japanese promotions ROH had arrangements with in 2007 and 2008, these two promotions would collectively supply the Japanese talent for all four shows ROH have ever run in Japan. The first two took place on back-to-back nights in July 2007. The first show was held in Tokyo and ROH made
TOTAL REVIEW
TOTAL REVIEW TWO FALLS TO A FINISH NUMBER OF DISCS: 1 PRICE: £9.99 WEB: WWW.FIGUREFOURFILMS.COM
There is no doubt that the rise, fall and rise again of British wrestling is a fascinating story to be told and in that sense “Two falls to a finish” really does go in depth on the history. Detailing the era just after World War 2 where the scene had got more violent it nicely moves onto the likes of Jackie Pallo and Mick McManus emphasising just how big their popularity was. That era coincided with ITV introducing World Of Sport which showcased wrestling to millions of people every Saturday at 4pm. Charting through when Max Crabtree took charge of promotion in 1975 and looking at the Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks feud made for interesting comments from various talking heads. While some realised it was just entertainment and fun others seemed genuinely upset and even referred to it as killing the art of wrestling. Maybe their sentiments are justified or just bitter, both Daddy and Haystacks were hugely successful despite their lack of ring prowess, but at least the opinions are honest. Of course this being wrestling there seems to be one or two embellishments as Marty Jones claims he and Rollerball Rocco used to legitimately hurt each other, surely the opposite of what pro wrestling is? Brian Dixon’s claim that supermarkets used to shut early because the wrestling was on would have fitted nicely on the Arsenio Hall show but this being wrestling we can forgive them for a trifle or two of exaggeration. Recalling the cancellation of wrestling from British TV in 1988 it’s clear to see that for some this is still very much a sore point. At the time ITV had acquired the rights to football for four years and thus something had to make way and Greg Dyke decided that was to be wrestling. Maybe that was a precursor for the lack of understanding surrounding TV among British wrestling as the documentary
covers the FWA, Wrestling Channel and UWA all of which fell to the trap holes that is making television. The documentary does at least acknowledge that while these promotions fell by the wayside they were also the gelling of US and UK wrestling which at the time had not been seen or attempted. While others had run tribute shows these guys were the first to have British and US talent competing on the same shows. That brings us nicely into the modern era where we get glimpses of PROGRESS, New Generation Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling and Insane Championship Wrestling. Maybe they could have covered many more but they had to draw the line somewhere and the ones they did showcase are as good as any. The, somewhat, main stream coverage that TNA’s British Boot Camp brought to the UK is pointed out though it does mean that Hulk Hogan gets to have his two pence worth in. Not completely sure what Hogan adds to the overall documentary as it seems strange to mention him in the same breath as a promotion he now refuses to talk about. The rest of the people commenting are all relevant and have a great deal of experience on the British wrestling circuit which adds credence to what they are saying and thus the documentary. Over all this is a worthwhile look at how British wrestling was immensely popular then seemingly fell off a cliff only to be, now, working its way back to the top. Traditionalists and new fans will enjoy as there is enough great content from matches and interesting comments to keep ones interest throughout. Mark Moore 15
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