Ric Flair

From The highest Highs To The Lowest Lows

As I have written before when mom would take me to the store I use to run to the magazine rack read the wrestling magazines. I often read about world class championship wrestling. World Class was based in Dallas Texas and featured the Von Erich family.

While world class wrestling was syndicated around the country (and world) it was not available in the north west. The first time I saw the Von Erich's on T.V. was when they appeared on the George Michael sports machine.

The George Michael Sports machine was an NBC show that showed sports highlights on Sunday nights. They would often show highlights of Pro wrestling and have an occasional feature. They would always cover wrestling as if it was real.

Here are the Von Erich's on the George Michael sports machine in 1985


World Class Championship wrestling was HUGE from 82-86. As is stated in this clip The show was opposite Saturday Night Live in Dallas and almost double Snl's ratings in the Dallas Fort Worth market. I have also read that the syndicate version of the show was out drawing Hulk Hogan and the WWF in several markets including some of the WWF's home bases such as Boston and Philadelphia.

Drug use began to take it's toll on WCCW. several of the performers would end up dying at a Young age.

The biggest toll was paid by the Von Erich boys. They were the stars of the promotion and the son of Fritz. Fritz was a big star in wrestling in the 50's and 60's. Fritz owned the promotion and ran it with the goal of making his sons huge stars. They became matinee idols. Then it all went wrong.

Fritz had five sons who got into wrestling. Tragically four of them died young. The sad story of the Von Erich's led to the death Of world class wrestling.

Personally I can relate to this clip after going to the Portland Sports Arena last year and seeing that the arena that used to hold my childhood T.V. show was now a community center for a church.

We start by seeing the surviving brother Kevin going to the Sportatorium (wrestling arena) just before it was torn down



Here we have wrestling manager Jim Cornette with his view of World Class Wrestling

Boxing then and now: Joe Frazier and David Haye

Has I was watching the title unification bout between David Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli it occurred to me that the the cruiser weights (under 199lbs) of today are physically larger than the Heavyweights from boxing's glory days.

Haye weighed in at 198lbs while Maccarinelli weighed in at 199lbs the day before the fight. What you have to realize is that fighter regularly cut 10 to 15 pounds to make weight and then rehydrate for the fight. When David Haye fought at heavyweight a couple bouts back he stepped on the scale at a lean 217lbs.

Here is the Haye VS Maccarinelli fight from March 8th in England. I really enjoy the British fans here. They make an average fight seem far more exciting by virtue of their energy



Here we have a 1969 heavyweight title fight between Joe Frazier and Jerry Quarry. Joe Frazier weighed in at 203 lbs while Quarry weighed 198lbs.

Six Hours Of Boxing and MMA Saturday march 8th

If you live on the west coast and have HBO and Showtime you'll be able to watch a six hour block of boxing and mixed martial arts.

HBO
6:30-9:00 Juan Diaz vs Nate Campbel lightweight title fight
Sam Peter Oleg Maskaev Heavyweight title fight

Showtime

9:00-10:30 David Haye vs Enzo Macernelli cruiserweight title fight

10:30-12:30 MMA from England featuring Ken Shamrock

Vazquez vs Marquez On Showtime

Saturday night Showtime has the third match in the Vazquez/Marquez trilogy. Bout #2
was voted fight of the year by most publications.

I couldn't promote the stinker of a heavyweight fight last week and then not mention this show. These two are incapable of having a dull fight.

Krav Maga part II and III

Some really nice technique as well as cool excercises are displayed here and it's more entertaining show then the Klitschko vs Ibragimov bout turned out to be.

Part I is available at Walla Walla Barer

E 9 b
by eMMA-TV

E 9 c
by eMMA-TV

Klitchko, Pavlik and Louis Saturday Night On HBO

Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov in 2008


Joe Louis and Billy Conn 1946


You Look like you just went twelve rounds with "insert heavyweight champion here"

Wait a minute who is the heavyweight champion?
Wladimir Klitschko, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chaegaev, Oleg Maskaev

Well they all hold versions of the heavyweight title.

For the first time in 9 years we are going to see a unification bout. Wladidmir Klitschko will meet Sultan Ibragimov Saturday night on HBO.

It has become cool to make fun of the current state of the heavyweight division.
With that said, no one can make fun of the physical skills of Wladimir Kitschko.
Klitschko may be one of the most physically gifted boxers in the history of the sport. He is 6'6" tall 240 lb with solid technique, athleticism, intelligence and punching power.
He just seems to be missing that intangible.. that abillity to find a way to win when things get tough. The greats have had that ability ( Ali in Ziar) Mr. Klitschko has not displayed "it" to this point in his career. He has lost to inferior fighters such as Lamon Brewster and Corey Sanders.

I don't know if Sultan Ibragimov is the guy who is going to push Klitschko. Ibragimov at 6'1 218 pounds is tiny by 2008 heavyweight standards. Other then being a south paw and having fairly fast hands Ibragimov doesn't seem to pose a whole lot of problem for Wladimir. Although Mr. Ibragimov is far more talented then Corey Sanders or Lamon Breaster.

This bout is worth watching for several reasons

1. It's a unification bout. I believe fans should support unification bouts when ever posible.

2. Wladimir Klitchko is one of the most gifted boxers the sport has ever seen.

3. Wladimir as talented as he is is never a lock to win any fight due to his history of a glass jaw and fading stamina.

4. The bout is on regular HBO, not on PPV. It has become a trend in recent years to put every bout that can draw 2 bits on PPV. This is horible for fans and bad for the sport. When I get the chance to watch a quality title bout with out having to buy it on PPV I try to take advantage of the opportunity.


Also on Saturday night HBO will air a replay of Pavlik/Taylor II. Kelly Pavlik Is one of the most exciting performers in the sport and the man recognized as the best middle weight in the world. So if you want to see the best 160 pounder in the sport tune in Saturday night.

Along with with the heavyweight title fight and the replay of the Pavlik fight. HBO will debut a new documentary on the life of legendary boxer Joe Louis. HBO documentaries are usually excellent so I have I hopes for this program.

All in all this look like a great line up. I am looking forward to Saturday night.

The Most Exciting Nine Minutes In Boxing History

Awesome footage from Portland

Butch Miller cuts a five star promo.

25 Year Ago This Month

I've listened to several good wrestling announcers over the years, but Frank Bonnemma was the best

I finally did it .......you tube

Funny 1985 promo with Buddy Rose and Ed Wiskowski

Calzaghe vs Kessler

I was a huuuge boxing fan growing up. I would go to Fleenors with my mother and while she grocery shopped I would read ring magazine. I memorized all the champions in each division and would day dream about what would happen if fighter A fought fighter B. The great thing about that time period was that great fights were shown on network T.V. So you new from experience that when Alexis Arguello fought Aaron Pryor or when Ray Leonard fought Thomas Hearns that you were likely to witness something special.

I was out of the loop when it came to boxing for about twelve years. In the early nineties boxing began to disappear from network T.V. and basic cable featured no names and has beens. To be knowledgeable about the sport you have to have premium cable(Showtime and HBO) and I never bothered to get either until about a year ago.

I decided to in invest in the movie tier on our cable package because Dawn Loves watching Movies and I Like watching good fights. This has turned out well as Dawn has indeed enjoyed the movie selection and I have seen some excellent boxing matches.

The story of boxing in 2007 is a double edged sword, the heavyweight division is horrible, but the lighter divisions are filled with fighters who are both talented and crowd pleasing. I have had the pleasure of watching gifted young stars like Chad Dawson, Paul William, Mikkel Kessler and Kelly Pavlik with my HBO and Showtime package.

The highlight of the year so far was last months Taylor vs Pavlik middleweight title fight. This bout really encompassed everything you watch sports for. Two competitors from different backgrounds and vastly different styles bring out the best in each other and providing the fans with a compelling fight that took fans on a roller coaster ride of action and emotion. Taylor dominated the first two round using his superior athleticism and quickness flooring Pavlik 90 second into the second round. The last 90 second of round two resembled a Rocky movie as Pavlik fought on instinctand heart while the champ got carried away and blew his chance to finish the fight. Over the next four rounds the tide turned with Pavlik gaining confidence and the Champion Taylor slowly fading. Finally in the seventh round it happened Pavlik landed a three punch combination that floored the champ making Pavlik the new middle weight champion of the world.

It might get even better this weekend!

The two best fighters I have seen in the last year in my opinion are Mikkel Kessler and Joe Calzaghe. Much to my delight they are going to square off this weekend in a Super middle weight title unification bout. As with Pavlik and Taylor as well as Hearns and Leonard 26 years ago I am expecting something really special. All the elements are in place to provide a memorable event, two great undefeated champions in their prime competing in a soccer stadium in Cardiff Wales in front of 50,000 fans. The icing on the cake is that this is not a pay per view it on regular HBO.

If you are interested in seeing what is right with boxing. Why it has endured through 100+ years of shenanigans and corruption, why in days gone buy everyone who was anyone was seen at the big fight and people would gather around the radio to hear the action, I would highly recommend you watch the Kessler vs Calzaghe bout this Saturday November 3rd at 6pm pacific on HBO.

UFC 74

Before I get to UFC 74.

I never did do a blog entry about my UFC 73 party back in July. I have been purchasing occasional UFC PPV's for the last four years, but I had never had A PPV party until UFC 73 . We put out a great food spread and were joined by four of our neighbors as well as two of Dawn's brothers. It turned out to be enjoyable evening.

For UFC 74 I went back to my normal PPV habit of just enjoying the show with Dawn.

This show was a good example of why I enjoy the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as the fights provided a good combination of athleticism, technique and fast paced action.

The highlight of the night was Randy Couture. He will be 45 in a couple of months and continues to perform at a ridiculously high level.

The story of Randy Couture in the sport of MMA has been two steps forward and one step back. Couture started in the UFC 10 years ago in his mid thirties as a one dimensional Greco Roman wrestler. For every step couture has lost to father time he has added two steps forword by continually improving his technique and fight IQ.

Couture has continually refined his greco roman skills so that they are effective in the octagon while at the same time adding boxing, kickboxing, judo, and jujitsu skills to his arsenal.

Couture's continued improvement is an example of a true martial artist. Continually refining your old technique while you gradually adding new skills.

Portland Wresling 1970's PBS Documentary

I have found a lot of cool old wrestling stuff on you tube, but these clips may win the prize. These are from a PBS documentary in the 1970's featuring Jimmy Snuka, Dutch Savage, Jesse Ventura, Iron Sheik, and Apachee Bull Ramos.

The Dutch savage promos are terrific, The Jesse Ventura interview is interesting.
and the interviews with the crowd members are priceless.

Part 1

part 2

part 3

here's an article that talks about the glory days of Portland wrestling

here

The Benoit Tragedy

Pro Wrestler Chris Benoit murdered his wife and seven year old son and then killed himself. This horrfic tragedy is hard for anyone to wrap their brain around. It's almost impossible if you're a wrestling fan.

I have been a pro wrestling fan since I was a preschooler spending weekends at my grandparents house(I will be 36 this month). I have watched a genre that I love to follow evolve (or devolve) into a T.V. product that I find virtually unwatchable.

Dawn Marie enjoys watching a show call Top Chef. I often see challenges where they ask the competitors to take a traditional dish, reinterpret it, put a modern spin on it and make it even better. This is how I viewed Chris Benoit. Benoit captured the essence of the pro wrestling I watched as a kid while at the same time performing the
"nifty" modern high flying, high impact moves that are prevalent today. Benoit could do it all in a ring and he did it with an intensity and authenticity that no one else could match. Benoit was the best in ring performer I have seen in all my years of watching pro wrestling.

What caused one of the most respected men in the industry to snap?

I believe The drive that led Benoit to be a pro wrestling virtuoso also led to his downfall. Years of taking prescription drugs to enhance his physique and to reduce pain along with multiple head injuries, deaths to many of his close friends a deteriorating marriage and numerous other factors caused Benoit to drift into insanity. I am not absolving Chris Benoit, because ultimately he is responsible for what happened. I do think that the pro wrestling lifestyle helped create the perfect storm that led Chris Benoit to commit these heinous acts.

Can anything good come of this?

I do believe that the WWE cares. I just don't think they get it. They have done some good things adding drug testing and a wellness program as well as reduced the number of days on the road. Yet, in the last week I have tuned into their programming and I've seen that the most hyped performer is a body builder that has virtually no ability in the ring or behind a microphone. This send a dangerous message and shows to me they truly don't get it.

A couple of days after the tragedy Vince McMahon was on the today show. Meridith Vierra asked him about the high mortality rate (she mentioned 40 deaths If I remember correctly) of pro wrestlers before the age of 45 in the last 25 years. McMahon said he could only talk about those that died while under contract to him (which was 5) and that Vierra's numbers might have been excessive (in reality her numbers were low). McMahon went on to say that these events were so far remove from what the WWE was about which was "putting smiles on peoples faces".

My reaction?

Over the years I have acquired over 50 hours of classic Portland Wrestling 1977-85 If I am sad or mad I put in those DVD's and they instantly put a smile on my face. If I need something to put a smile on my face in the future I will reach for my Portland collection and I will stay away from WWE programming. From this point forward I will not spend another minute or dollar on the WWE. As far as my blogs Walla Walla Barer and TV Time Limit I will no longer have WWE content.

Vincent K. McMahon as far as I am concerned,,,,You're Fired!

Four Hours of Fisticuffs

I watched the Hatton vs Castillo fight on HBO Saturday night. Then I watched the finals of the Ultimate Fighter 5 on Spike T.V. Here are some thoughts on the participants.

Ricky Hatton: Hatton is a charismatic fighter. I would love to see him fight Miguel Cotto. Which means it will probably never happen. Hatton would be a good for Floyd Mayweather style wise. So that match up is more likely.

Jose Luis Castillo: Catillo looked like a shot fighter. It was interesting he weighed
in at 140 the day before the fight and 153 the day of the fight.
Which means he weighed three pounds more than Floyd Mayweather did when he won the junior middle weight title which is two weight
divisions higher.

B.J. Penn: Penn is considered one of the most talented fighters in the sport of MMA,
The UFC would like him to fight for the title at 155 , but Penn wants to go back up to 170. If Penn does go back up to 170 I want to see
him against either Karo Parysian or Diego Sanchez.

Season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter: This season was good for the UFC in that it gave
exposure to several guys who will be around for a while. Lauzon, Miller, Diaz, Maynard, Wiman, and Emerson are all solid fighters who can add some excitement to a card. All of them are at a gate keeper status, good enough to be their but not ready to beat top contenders.It's a young group so they all have time to improve. Manvel Gamburyan is the most talented right now, but his shoulder injury might end his career. Corey Hill has the most potential of the group and could be a top contender in a couple years.

More Hidden You Tube Gems: Roddy Piper

Roddy Piper Takes on one of the Northwest's biggest stars from the sixties"Tough" Tony Borne. This is a fun little match. My favorite part is Frank Bonnemma talking about all the Elks club members from Milwaukie Or who were in attendance to cheer on Tony. CLICK HERE

Roddy Piper in 1978 promoting a big match at the Cow palace in San Francisco vs Lonnie Mayne. Mayne and Tony Borne were arguably the two biggest draws on the northwest circuit in the late sixties and into the early 70's. Classic "Rowdy" Roddy HERE

YouTube Classic Pro Wrestling and Boxing 77-78

Portland Big Time Wrestling battle royal from October 1977 HERE

One of the best final rounds in heavyweight boxing history 1978
Larry Holmes vs Kenny Norton here

RIP "Dandy" Sandy Barr

Sandy Barr was the the referee On Portland big time wrestling through the 70's and 80's.
Sandy played his part well.

I found a nice article About Sandy Barr here

UFC 71

I watched UFC 71 this Saturday night.
here are my thoughts

Kalib Starnes/ Chris Leben: Leben has the willingness but is a bit flintstonian in his skills and Starnes is much more technical but sometimes you wonder if he really wants to be fighting. These are two good, but not great fighter who had a good but not great fight. They are both what I would call gate keepers. A top contender should be able to handle either one these two.

Terry martin: Terry Martin defeated Ivan Salaverry. Martin dropped down from 205 and still looks chubby. You get the feeling this guy easily could make 170 and maybe 155.
He obviously has punching power and wrestling skills. It will be interesting to see how far that will take him in the 185 pound weight class.

Karo: Karo has been my favorite fighter to watch since I first saw him at UFC 44. Karo has added to his game by greatly improving his striking. When you add his striking skill too his sambo infused judo stylings he can be competitive against anyone at 170. Karo asked for a title shot after the bout.. he is going to have to be patient With
Serra fighting Hughes at the end of the year and the winner facing the winner of the Koscheck/ ST Pierre bout, Karo will be lucky to see a title shot by the fall of 08.

Houston Alexander: Some people have ko power Mr. Alexander has it, wether he has the other skills to be successful in the UFC over the long hall we will have to wait and see.

Chuck liddell: DON'T BACK UP WITHOUT COVERING UP. Liddell moved back dropped his hands and left his chin sticking out. Quinton Jackson's right hand connected with Lidell chin and ended Liddell's title reign. Chuck needs to realized that their are some fighters you can't fight with your hands down at your waist.

Quinton Jackson: Quinton Jackson fought everyone at 205 in pride and was fading towards the end of his time in japan. It's cool to seem him regroup and become champion. He's put in the blood sweat and tears in the sport and he fought a smart fight.

Down the road:

Quinton Jackson VS Dan Henderson: Styles make fights and these two have styles that complement each other. Jackoson like to dominate his opponents with ground and pound but Dan although smaller is a far superior wrestler. Jackson is technically a better striker but has problems when people take the fight to him when standing.. which is Dan's style. So the bout between these two has the potential to be very good.

Karo: Has is not going to be getting a title shot any time soon, Hopefully he doesn't let that bother him. He can have exciting bouts with any of the top contenders in the division