Wrestling > Other Old School Wrestling (Week 3) Posted by Jared "JHawk" Hawkins on May 6, 2006, 12:29

As always, thanks for all the great feedback you've been sending me on this little project.  I think it's been going quite well so far, and I haven't even begun digging into the older legends and foreign superstars yet.

Old School Wrestling Superstar Challenge (May 6, 2006)
Thomas & Mack Center
Las Vegas, NV

10:00pm:  Gordon Solie welcomes us to the show, then recaps the highlights of Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant's wins in the World Title tournament last week.  He then hypes the two tournament matches coming up later on, plus hypes the debut of the newest tag team, set to debut right now.

10:02pm:  One fall with a 10:00 time limit:  The Yakuza {Akio & Sakoda} (w/Tajiri and "Classy" Freddie Blassie) vs. The Hart Brothers {Bret "The Hitman" Hart & "The Rocket" Owen Hart}

The Hart Brothers use some precision double teaming to take advantage in the early going, but a double team whip into the corner backfires when Tajiri reaches in and shoves Akio out of the corner, sending Owen chest-first into the corner.  This is followed by plenty of double teaming (and frequent interference from Tajiri), as Owen kicks out of cover after cover after cover.  Finally, Akio misses the corkscrew senton, and Owen makes the hot tag to his brother Bret.  Bret is on fire, taking care of both men until Tajiri trips him up from the outside.  Tajiri hops onto the apron, ready to spray Bret with green mist to the face, when Ultimo Dragon pulls Tajiri off the apron.  Dragon and Tajiri brawl on the floor, and that distracts Sakoda for Bret to take him over with the rolling cradle for the pin.

Winners:  The Hart Brothers via Bret Hart pinning Sakoda with the rolling cradle in 8:26.

10:12pm:  Solie interviews Butch Reed, who talks at length about his tournament match next week with Randy Savage before going off on a verbal tirade about Paul Heyman fining him last week as "merely a way of preventing himself from bankrupting a sure-fire profit-making company."  Gordon quickly takes the microphone away from him as he shows the up-to-date brackets:

Jamie Noble
Hulk Hogan----------Hulk Hogan

Andre the Giant-----Andre the Giant
Billy Kidman

Ted DiBiase
Jim Duggan

Dino Bravo
Don Muraco

Greg Valentine
Paul London

Butch Reed
Randy Savage

Sakoda
Bam Bam Bigelow

Rick Rude
Jake Roberts

10:15pm:  World Title Tournament First Round Match (one fall with a 15:00 time limit):  "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase vs. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

DiBiase tries to putwrestle Duggan early, but is caught completely off-guard by a constant barrage of rights, lefts, clotheslines, and elbows.  Duggan ducks his head after an Irish ship, and DiBiase is quick to take Duggan down with a swinging neckbreaker.  DiBiase focuses the rest of his attack primarily on Duggan's neck and maintains control until he goes for a blind elbowdrop off the turnbuckle and misses horribly.  Duggan is quick to fire off another series of punches, then whips DiBiase into the turnbuckle.  He charges, but misses and hits the corner, and DiBiase catches Duggan with a fistdrop almost instantaneously to Duggan hitting the mat.  DiBiase covers and uses the ropes for the pin.

Winner:  DiBiase via pinfall at 5:20.

10:22pm:  Gordon interviews the newest member of OSW, Henry Godwinn, and his manager, Hillbilly Jim.  Jim does most of the talking, saying he expects big things from Hank with his roughneck style.

10:25pm:  One fall with a 10:00 time limit:  Henry Godwinn (w/Hillbilly Jim) vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan)

The match is almost a carbon copy of the previous Duggan-DiBiase encounter.  During Godwinn's comeback, he makes a mistake a man his shouldn't make:  He leaves his feet, draping his own neck across the top rope with a missed tackle.  Rude immediately spins Godwinn around into a Rude Awakening for the victory.

Winner:  Rude via pinfall in 4:51.

10:32pm:  Gordon Solie interviews Greg Valentine nad Jimmy Hart regarding Valentine's upcoming tournament match next week with Paul London.  Valentine and Hart put London's athleticism over but vow that one mistake from London will lead to his downfall.

10:35pm:  World Title Tournament First Round Match with a 15:00 time limit:  "Canadian Strongman" Dino Bravo (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. "Magnificent" Don Muraco

A classic battle of power and brawn, with neither man gaining any sort of real advantage.  Muraco's the crowd favorite, despite neither man exactly playing within the rules.  Finally, Bravo traps Muraco in the corner and begins throwing a barrage of right hands, refusing to stop before referee Earl Hebner completes his five count.

Winner:  Muraco via disqualification at 5:44.

The battle, however, is not over, as Bravo dumps Muraco to the outside.  Bravo goes to piledrive the "Magnificent One" to the floor, but Muraco counters with a backdrop.  Bravo quickly heads back to the locker room, with Muraco following on his heels.

10:45pm:  With the brawl done, Gordon Solie shows us the updated brackets.

Jamie Noble
Hulk Hogan----------Hulk Hogan

Andre the Giant-----Andre the Giant
Billy Kidman

Ted DiBiase---------Ted DiBiase
Jim Duggan

Dino Bravo
Don Muraco---------Don Muraco

Greg Valentine
Paul London

Butch Reed
Randy Savage

Sakoda
Bam Bam Bigelow

Rick Rude
Jake Roberts

10:46pm:  Commissioner Paul Heyman makes his way to the interview area, and while he puts over the action we've seen in the tournament so far, he also announces next week's main event:  All three members of The Yakuza vs. The Hart Brothers and Ultimo Dragon.

10:49pm:  One fall with TV time remaining:  Jamie Noble (w/Nidia) vs. Billy Kidman

A very solid way to end the show.  Kidman controls the opening couple of minutes before he tweaks his knee attempting a dropkick.  Smelling blood, Noble goes right to work on the injured knee, attempting to set up the Trailer Hitch.  Three times he goes for the Trailer Hitch, and three times Kidman finds a way to avoid having it locked in.  Kidman finally gains control, but he's only able to do a move at a time without furthering injuring the knee.  Somehow Kidman gets Noble down with the Rydien Bomb and slowly heads up top for a shooting star press.  Noble goes up the buckle and counters, taking Kidman down with a superplex.  He covers...but the bell rings just before the referee hits his second count.

Result:  TV time limit draw at 10:13, and we fade out just seconds after the announcement.

As always, feedback goes to the hotmail account.  Please note I've been having computer issues that I'm not going into here, so if this comes up a day or two late, I'll apologize in advance.