WCW Worldwide - Saturday, 9/4/99

• Trivia Question: When Barry and Kendall Windham won the WCW World tag team championship in Las Vegas on 8/23, it was Barry's second time to hold the belt since WCW was officially named in 1991. Who was Barry's other championship partner? (answer at the end of the report)

• We will begin the mailbag with responses to our inquiries on the Gambler. Yes, the Gambler.:
  • In one of the all-time great DDT Digest e-mails, Gary Graham fills us in on some of the Gambler's background:

    About our new favorite jobber The Gambler, yes, The Gambler, I know him as I do videotapes for him and here's some info for you. His real name is Jeff Gann and he is from Tennessee. He has wrestled for about 7 years. He even held one half of the old U.S.W.A. Tag Team Titles with Brickhouse Brown in 1995. He idolizes Arn Anderson because a lot of people(me included) say he looks just like him and so he decided to pattern his style in his wrestling. He does it well. Look at his face and tights and boots. And just like Arn, there's nothing fancy about him, he just wrestles. But I do have some bad news for us Gambler fans. He told me about a month ago that his last day for WCW is this coming Tuesday (August 31st).Yes, WCW is releasing him! Hopefully they'll quickly change their minds (what they have anyway). Keep up the great work!

  • Thanks Gary! It is sad to hear about the Gambler's firing, but if it turns out like many past WCW firings, he may received more work from them while not under contract. Due to his Arn fandom endearing him to Bill and his place in the hearts of Chan and Charlie and Matt, I would like to request that The Cubs Fan make the Gambler , yes the Gambler, the Worldwide Poster Child.

  • Also checking in with more Gambler analysis is the always reliable Bill Fluty:

    Gee, a picture of the Gambler two weeks in a row! And I thought I was his only fan. I know just a bit about him, and will share my meager knowledge....I've noticed him mostly in WCW as a TV jobber, although he may have worked the odd house show (even Buddy Lee Parker still works an occasional house show), from about 1994 on. He's won at least one TV match, circa early 1995, a win over Scott Studd (Riggs) on the Saturday morning Power Hour when Gordon Solie was still announcing. He was part of the short-lived working agreement between WCW and USWA out of Memphis in summer of 1995, where WCW sent some low card guys (Gambler, Kenny Kendall, Scott Stud, Chris Kanyon....any others?) in for work at no cost to USWA. In his initial interview in USWA with Dave Brown, they alluded to him having been in that territory before, under a different name, which was not revealed. He was hailed as being from "the Mississippi Riverboats", and his most notable success was teaming with Brickhouse Brown to beat PG-13 for the USWA tag title, which they held for several weeks in May 1995. He most often wrestles in grey trunks with red cards across the rear (early on), or black trunks with "The Gambler" across the rear in white (lately), but occasionally has worn black tights with various gambling paraphenalia -- a grey and black gambler's suit coat and hat with a fake ruffled shirt and black sting tie.

    Don't know if he's affiliated with the Power Plant or not (either as a student or trainer), but he is a veteran; and a capable wrestler who is fun to watch. WCW does have a nice habit of giving their jobbers an occasional TV win (i.e. any of the Luchadores, Barry Horowitz, Disorderly Conduct, Adrian Byrd, Chase Tatum, Mike Tolbert, Horshu --is he still around? etc), so maybe he'll get a 1-2-3 sometime soon.

  • The Gambler was indeed half of the USWA tag team champions from 04/15-05/01/95. Brown and the Gambler defeated and lost the championships to PG-13 (Jaime "J.C. Ice" Dundee and Wolfie D.).

  • Also providing more Gambler information, is In one of the all-time great DDT Digest e-mails, Anthony J. Sullivan:

    From what I know, he's a Power Plant graduate, like you thought. He's been around for at least 5 years and wrestled in the USWA at the time when the WWF and WCW were sending students down there for seasoning. In the USWA, I believe, he even held the tag team title for about a week and feuded with Tekno Team 2000(Erik Watts & Chad Fortune).

  • Nathan Mitchell provides some information on a different kind of Gambler championship history:

    At my e-fed, the World champ for the last month or so has been the Gambler, yes, the Gambler. He just lost it, but he's still one of the top wrestlers in the fed. The addy is members.xoom.com/SWFEfed.

  • In non-Gambler news, Andy Judge gives a stern warning:

    On your 8/28 report, you commented: "I hope that won't start a feud between Bill and myself since I said his woman was beautiful..." I hope not, since, because neither of you are Ernest "The Cat" Miller, Sid will run-in and powerbomb you both.

  • Andy, I appreciate the warning. Sid would destroy me. I feel Bill on the other hand, would fair well against Sid. If he can withstand Ric Flair's figure-four while Arn was assisting with leverage he can take a powerbomb. As long as Sid keeps his scissors to himself...

  • The Eater of Your Children makes an excellent [point regarding the Armstrong brothers tights:

    You noted that Scott Armstrong has his initials done up on his fightin' ensemble. I thought you'd find it interesting that his brother, Steve, does the same thing.

    For some reason, though, it just doesn't do a darn thing for me in terms of telling who's who.

  • Finally, Bill Fluty gives further notes on last week's Worldwide:

    Hey, they actually had a faux belt defense on WorldWide! Even though the Lenny Lane/Scott Armstrong match was taped before Lenny's victory over Rey Mini-Thug, it was a nice touch for Hudson to try and inject some semblance of continuity to the WCW universe. And, the nice touch was his noting they belt was not there because Lenny was having some alterations done to it -- he showed up on Nitro last night (8/30)and the belt had some tassles and a bow attached. Hudson will likely be fired for making the other announcers look inept. He also keeps bringing up Villano IV's injury, even if they do have the time frame wrong. Too bad Raven is history, as I wanted him and Kanyon to have to job to the Villano team when IV came back!

• From our questions department, this week's question is if anyone knows the date or finish of Ric Flair's Madison Square Garden debut. We know the match occurred between 1976-78 and was against Pete Sanchez. Also our question from last week remains unanswered, so if anyone know the name of Mike Von Erich's wife or the date of the aforementioned Flair match, e-mail Chan.
• This week, we will cover only Worldwide exclusives. It was billed by Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko in the booth as a "double main event."
• Match One: Johnny Attitude vs. Chris Adams (Referee Nick Patrick)
  • Scott Hudson and Mike Tenay served as commentators this week. They have had different studio conbination and different "arena" commentators all three weeks we have covered.
  • Johnny Attitude entered first, wearing black and silver featuring a black robe which read "Attitude is Everything."
  • Attitude is billed from New York City. I would have known that had I checked Wade's ...Hailing From page...
  • Adams was billed as a two-decade veteran. This is true as he began his career in 1978. I wonder if he appreciates that claim since it appears the 44-year old is growing his hair out in an attempt to hide his age.
  • He entered wearing the Union Jack as the announcers discussed his attitude change centering around his partnership with fellow Brits Dave Taylor and Steve Regal. Notice the pun, regarding the opposition.
  • Tenay noted that when you look at Adams' career, this adjustment may be the best move for him. I believe this is in reference to the biggest break of his career coming when he turned on Kevin Von Erich in 1984, making him one of the hottest heels in the business and the lead heel in Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling promotion.
  • Hudson then noted he made his name as a tag team competitor. Where this comes from, I do not know, unless Hudson is recalling tag teams with Gino Hernandez in 1984-5 (WCCW) and Terry Taylor in 1987 (UWF). Still, even then, Adams was predominantly a single. Unfortunately, most of WCW's audience is unfamiliar with either run so Hudson could claim anything he wanted and no one would no the difference.
  • Despite Adams being cast as the heel, Attitude worked that style as well with some early choke holds. With this audience, WCW needed to showcase clearly defined heel and a clearly defined face. Since they did not, they received no heat. In their defense, they probably wouldn't have anyway.
  • Adams did the flip he has done for as long as I can remember. In fact, his entire schtick has changed very little throughout the years.
  • After throwing Attitude into the ring steps, Adams yelled to the cameras, "I do that too every American!" Hudson noted the Revolutionary War implications of such a claim. Evidently Hudson was aware of the ineffectiveness of this angle. Adams can get over without using his British heritage.
  • Adams scored a two-count upon re-entry to the ring.
  • The tide turned when Adams ascended to the top rope and Attitude shook the rpes leaving Adams in an unenviable position.
  • Attitude then whipped Adams into the ropes and they mistimed a power slam, which the announcers attributed to Adams' experience attempting to reverse the hold. Attitude still scored a two-count.
  • Attitude followed with a high vertical suplex for another two-count but did not hook the leg...
  • Attitude turned to plead his case to referee Nick Patrick and was met with the Adams' superkick for the finish at 3:21.
  • The timing on this match was not very good and the chemistry between Hudson and Tenay was equally inefficient. Hudson and Tenay both tried very hard but both are analysts and they need both an analyst and a color man. Where's Dusty Rhodes when you need him?
  • The match was still noteworthy as when was the last time you saw two guys whose last names start with A competing? Hey, it made it interesting for me...
• Match Two: Disorderly Conduct vs. Lenny and Lodi (Referee Billy Silverman)
  • Lodi's signs this week: We Are, Too Cool, Lenny + Lodi Rule (accompanied by a picture of a ruler), and Razen Ratings with Lenny + Lodi.
    • The last sign was a reference to Lodi's original ring name Razen Cain.
    • No comment as to what the previous sign was in reference to...
  • The third straight week of Lenny and Lodi. This is the first tag match though.
  • Lenny and Lodi were sporting neon green this week.
  • Mike Tenay: "Beware of the glitter!" Truer words were never spoken.
  • Both commentators compared Lenny's style to that of the Exotic Adrian Street.
  • Tenay was noting the experience advantage of Disorderly Conduct and then he caught himself by claiming that although Lenny and Lodi are "brothers," they have only teamed professionally a short while.
  • Again, Hudson and Tenay put Lane over as cruiserweight champion while also rationalizing as to why he did not bring the belt with him. No, the pre-taped match theory was not brought up....
  • Disorderly Conduct hit the Hangman's noose, a move in which one comes off the top rope as the other holds the opponent. The Hangman's noose is named as Disorderly Conduct have spent most of their careers under hoods as the Texas Hangmen, Killer and Psycho...
  • There were several impressive double team maneuvers in this match. Lenny and Lodi started out with Lenny punching Tough Tom in the gut and then Lodi hit a knee drop, followed by Lane with a two-count before the duo took time out to do the "Bump." This sequence was far better than my limited writing ability is giving it.
  • They got heat on Tough Tom, including hitting a double suplex. With two blondes in neon green hitting a double suplex, it reminded me of the Dynamic Dudes (Johnny Ace and Shane Douglas, 1989 NWA) "Wipe Out" finisher which was a double slingshot suplex. At least Lenny and Lodi are trying to look gay...
  • They did some nice psychology which was called well by Tenay with the heels cutting off the ring, preventing Tough Tom to make the tag.
  • Tom did hit what Hudson called a Yurinagi suplex which resembled a choke slam at the 5:09 mark and made the hot tag 22 seconds later to build drama. Still, little heat, as Disorderly Conduct are not clearly defined babyfaces. Don't fear! WCW piped in crowd response while the crowd was obviously lethargic. At least theyw ere still there though.
  • Mike and Tom double teamed well, including stacking Lenny and Lodi in the corner and then Miek Irish whipped Tom into them, pancake style. I guess this played into the gay bit as well...
  • Lenny and Lodi recovered quickly and Lodi came off the top rope for a crossbodyblock onto Mean Mike while Lodi was hitting a vertical suplex. It was a nice finish.
  • Lenny pinned Mean Mike at 6:32.
• Next week, The Cubs Fan will return. But for the past three weeks, this has been Chan and Charlie and Matt with help from Bill Fluty watching Worldwide so you don't have to!