– Oh my. I’ve been waiting forever for this territory and era to debut on 24/7.
– Taped from Calgary…dramatic pause…Alberta Canada.
Vladimir Krupov v. Tom Kavitis.
Not sure on the spelling, I barely remember these guys. Krupov is a generic Russian with hair. Joined around 10 minutes, according to Ed Whalen, as Kavitis breaks free from a surfboard and then slams Krupov off the top before getting a few near-falls from backbreakers. Tombstone piledriver gets two. Krupov comes back with a hiptoss and a backdrop suplex into a handful of tights for the pin.
– Jim Davies gets to interview heel manager Drago Zhivago, while Ed Whalen interviews Calgary Stampeder football star Brian Pillman, who is prepping for his debut the following week. And who is clearly jacked up on steroids beyond all sanity.
Ted Arcidi v. Brad Foster
Oh man, Arcidi, the Chris Masters of the 80s. Arcidi presses Foster into the turnbuckles, nearly killing him, and then drops an elbow so stiff that even Ed Whalen cringes verbally. In the BAD way. Clothesline out of the corner (and he can barely get his arm up) and we get more posing. Consider this: Arcidi, even with a body like HHH times 10, was so bad that he bombed in the WWF. Body vice finishes, mercifully.
– Makhan Singh accuses bill Kazmaier of doing steroids and calls Arcidi “Mr. Natural”. See, even then it was a running joke in wrestling. Speaking of jokes, Singh then swoops in and congratulates Kazmaier for best Halloween costume: Dressing like a wrestler. He used to rule before all the stupid gimmicks in WCW and the WWF killed his heel spirit.
– Owen Hart, who now has Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight title, is ready for all challengers. And he’s challenging Makhan Singh for the heavyweight title later tonight, as well.
Bill Kazmaier & Mr. Hito v. Adolph Barbee & The Cuban Assassin.
Hey, that’s jobber David Barbee from the MSG shows on 24/7! Awesome, you make the craziest connections on his channel. Poor Mr. Hito, the ultimate jobber to the stars in Stampede, gets slammed around by Barbee and Cuban goes to a surfboard. Barbee comes in and works on Hito’s shoulder with kneedrops, and it’s back to Cuban, who misses a flying splash. Barbee comes back in with a bearhug, but Hito elbows out of it. Cuban cuts off the tag, but Hito chops him down and it’s hot tag Kazmaier. He’s pretty thin compared to his later ballooning in WCW. Kaz slams both heels and presses the Cuban onto Barbee and out of the ring, then powerslams Barbee to finish. Kazmaier and Arcidi, both doing weightlifter gimmicks (since they both are) were programmed to collide like matter and anti-matter, exploding in a universe-ending vortex of suck.
Ben Bassarab v. Les Thornton
Joined with Thornton working on the arm and pounding him with elbows. Bassarab dumps him to escape, and they collide. Bassarab was a Hart family in-law and early partner for Chris Benoit, and even though he ended up getting involved with Davey Boy Smith’s drug-dealing buddies and doing hard time in prison to end his wrestling career as a result, he STILL ended up better than Benoit. Yikes. Bassarab fights back with dropkicks, but Thornton blocks a sunset flip and works a facelock. Bassarab’s wrestling style and look is actually eerily reminiscent of Benoit. Thornton gets a gutwrench suplex for two, but Bassarab comes back with a backbreaker into a kneedrop for two. They fight to the floor and Bassarab hits Thornton with a pescado, but JR Foley hits Thornton by mistake with the cane and Bassarab beats the count back in to win it. Good, hard-hitting action here.
The Viet Cong Express v. Johnny Smith & Keith Hart.
The Viet Congs (Hiro Hase and a far less famous Fumihiro Niikura) were the tag champions, but this is non-title. Joined with the Express working on the leg with various stuff, even a Sharpshooter. Slam gets two for #2. Keith comes back with a sunset flip for two, but they hit him with a double-clothesline. Gut-wrench from #2, but an elbow misses and Hart makes the hot tag to Johnny Smith. Backbreaker gets two. Gut wrench gets two. Running powerslam ala brother/cousin Davey Boy gets two. Slam gets two. The referee has LOST CONTROL and everyone brawls, but Smith’s pin of #2 is interrupted by an elbow from the top by #1, and a piledriver finishes Smith. The Viet Congs were way ahead of their time.
– Drago Zhivago and Miss Honey interview on behalf of the Express.
North American title: Makhan Singh v. Owen Hart
Singh pounds on him with the clubbing forearms and goes to a rear chinlock before pounding Owen down again and adding a legdrop for two. Bearhug, but Owen bell claps out of it, so Singh goes right back to it. Makhan takes him into the corner and pounds away with shoulderblocks, but a blind charge hits Owen’s boots, and Owen follows with a missile dropkick and flying kneedrop for two. He fires away with chops in the corner and ties Singh up in the ropes, then hits him with a bodypress, but a fan in a Halloween mask jumps out of the crowd and pulls Owen out, then sends him into the post for the countout. Owen does a huge bladejob and the “fan” reveals himself to be Great Gama, paying off a gag where the fans in that row had been holding up anti-Gama signs all night, which supposedly offended him. The Karachi Vice celebrates the win to end the show, disgusting Ed Whalen.
So in the meantime, and in between time, that’s it for another edition of Stampede Wrestling! Hope they keep showing these, although it’s tough to show much from the months following this because of all the editing needed.
