Weekly Watchlist 059 - July 27 2025 - Hulk Hogan Special

How are things, advocates of artificial altercations?

This weeks post is going to be a rather unique one, to say the least. It will no doubt be one of my most controversial, polarizing, and harshest posts, maybe taking second place to my post-WrestleMania 41 review and goodbye to WWE. I take on the task of memorializing Hulk Hogan. Eulogizing the most important figure in wrestling, while simultaneously pulling no punches in regards to Terry Bollea. 

An incredibly important wrestler. An incredibly awful human being. Today, I walk the line. I thread the needle.

Read on, my friends, about the life of Hulk Hogan.

 

WWE

Weekly Watchlist 058 - July 20 2025

What's new, junkies for janky joint locks?

I'm doing something a little different this week for my review. I'm not going to spoil anything here, you'll need to read on to find out. 

This is a pretty TNA focused post, so if that isn't your cup of tea either, you may want to skip this week. But, if you do, you're missing out on a pair of really great matches reviewed by yours truly!  

Either way, read on my friends and see what happened in the world of wrestling for this week.  

TNA

Three Ring Circus 000 - Pilot

Welcome to episode 000 of Three Ring Circus!

I've had the idea for this podcast for a long time and have been hesitant to pull the trigger on it until I was really ready. I knew that was never going to happen, so I went ahead and made a pilot episode! 

I give a quick rundown of the general concept and format of the show so you know what you're getting into. A once monthly podcast where I go over (ideally) three shows from three of independent wrestling's biggest promotions. 

Let me know what you guys think either in my inbox, cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com or in the Spotify comments feed!

 

Weekly Watchlist 057 - July 13 2025

Whats the craic, enthusiasts of exaggerated elbow-drops?

Back at it again with another Weekly Watchlist! I'm not gonna keep telling you guys "oh sorry for not doing two matches this week." If I'm only doing one a week, assume I'm doing the best I can to pump one out. I'm KT taped so much right now you'd think I'm running an injury angle at home. We're working day-to-day here.

In other news! The newest 5 Star Fridays post is live! Another favourite of mine this month as I go over Sheamus vs. GUNTHER from WWE Clash at the Castle 2022. Certified banger. It'll be at the top of my blog until next month if you're looking for it.

But, enough of that. Onto this months offering! 

 

WWE

GUNTHER vs. Sheamus - WWE Clash At The Castle 2022 - Five Star Fridays

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

WWE Clash At The Castle 2022

09/03/2022

Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales

GUNTHER vs. Sheamus

A stoic staredown before the war. WWE

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Match of the Year Tournament - C Block - June

The year is halfway through already, hard to believe eh? A late edition to the blog but one tht I'm excited to play around with is this "Match of the Year Tournament," a suggestion from a dear friend of mine. It took some thinking for me to figure out how I'm going to structure this and, to be totally honest, it's a running work in progress, but here's hoping this works out well and makes sense to everyone else! Shoot me an email if thinks need to be ironed out and I'll address them next month. 

The Pre-Quarterfinalists

The C Block Pre Quarter-Finals

Weekly Watchlist 056 - July 6 2025

What's the story, obsessives of over-the-top offense?

Well, I did it! I managed to get back to my two match reviews this week! Sure, the second "main event" match is more of an angle, but it's more than worthy of the spot. My first match is full of some pretty controversial opinions, but I don't want to spoil too much, you've gotta read on to find out what I mean!

Hopefully, things have straightened themselves out here at Wrestling Vault HQ. A day spent in the hospital (all good, no need to worry) and a weekend that was as "seat of your pants" as you can get had me questioning whether I could get it done, but I knuckled down and went to work.  

So what's keeping you, dear reader? Read on and see what's on offer this week! 

 

WWF

Match of the Year Tournament - Rules & Regulations

Welcome, one and all, to Cliff Morgan's Wrestling Vault Match of the Year Tournament! (Officially referred to as the Match of the Year Tournament)

At the recommendation of a dear friend, I have started a tournament to determine the very best matches I watched this year! I'm very particular about how I keep track of what I watch and about the matches I enjoy the most from month to month, so it seems only natural that I'd want to know what the very best match from the year was, right?

Weekly Watchlist 055 - June 29 2025

What's going on, followers of fictional feuds?!

I wish I had better news for everyone this week, but it seems my streak of one match reviews continues. Not a great way to start year two of the Wrestling Vault, eh? Let me break everything down for you here real quick;

-I'm pretty sure I'm developing carpal tunnel with all of my gaming and writing catching up to me.

-Depression sucks.

-I felt sick early this week and completely unmotivated the next day, so I lost two productive days to lazing around. 

All of this to say, I couldn't muster the energy or desire to crack out two reviews this week. I got all my watching in on the weekend and that was about it. I won't make any promises about when I'll be back to two posts a week again, I'd like to say next week, but with how things have been going I don't want to make that guarantee.

So, without wasting any more time, let's get right into this weeks review. 

 

AJPW

Matches of the Month - June 2025

Well, would ya look at that, we're half way through the year already! Where has all the time gone? I couldn't tell ya, because I was too busy watching wrestling! And these are some of the best matches I watched this month. Make sure to read the whole post because I've included a brand new segment at the bottom. Read on to find out what it is!

Weekly Watchlist 054 - June 22 2025

What's going on, groupies of gimmicky grappling?

We're now in week 3 of one match reviews for the blog! I'll be totally blunt, my wrists have been bugging the hell out of me recently. Probably got a bit of carpal tunnel from all my writing and gaming, not good. That, and I've been prepping for a camping trip this week. So I decided to give myself some grace and take another week to recoup. With any luck, next week will be a two matcher and we'll be back in fighting form for the rest of the year, but I make no promises. 

I try and make sure these one match reviews are as good as your usual two match ones. While this weeks outing may have been a shorter encounter, I enjoyed it quite a bit! Read on, dear friends, and find out what I came across this week. 

 

AJW

Weekly Watchlist 053 - June 15 2025 - 1 Year Special

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, Cliff Morgan's Wrestling Vault proudly brings to you, fellow believers in balletic brawls;

Weekly Watchlist 053, the 1 Year Special! 

Yes folks, you're reading that correctly. This post marks one full year of the Wrestling Vault! My first post was June 18, "Welcome to the Vault" and my first edition of the Weekly Watchlist was June 22! When I was scheduling things out this month, I initially thought post 052 would mark a full year, with their being 52 weeks to a year. But when I went back and checked the dates, I had to push this post ahead a week! Glad I got that all sorted out!

Now some of you may be asking, "what does a one year special look like?" Well, to be honest, not a whole lot different from a regular post! But where this one differs slightly, is that I've decided to deep dive not only one of my favourite matches, but a match considered to be one of the best tag matches of all time! It's another one match special this week but trust me when I tell you, two would be WAY too much this week. 

Also, did you guys check out my Five Star Friday post yesterday? It's post number one of a series I'll be working on from time to time as matches come up and I have the time. Post 1 took me weeks of writing and months of prep, mostly because I wasn't sure how I wanted it formatted,  but I think I'll be able to make them a semi regular post once I get a better feel for them.

Enough talk! Let's get into this weeks review! 

AJPW

Steve Austin vs. Dude Love - WWF Over The Edge 1998 - Five Star Fridays

 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

WWF In Your House 22: Over The Edge 1998

May 31, 1998

Wisconsin Center Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Steve Austin vs. Dude Love - No Disqualification, Falls Count Anywhere Match

A VHS from Cliff Morgan's personal wrestling collection

 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Weekly Watchlist 052 - June 8 2025

Whats the story, acolytes of absurd athleticism?

A slower, less-than-stellar week here. Got busy for a couple days and had a tough time finding the motivation to do much of anything this week. It's a one match special this week but my lord, did I deep dive this match. It's a fun one. Next week is the one year anniversary special along with the debut of a new type of review for the Wrestling Vault. It drops Friday at 0700, with the one year special dropping at the usual date and time, Saturday at 0700.

Stay tuned, and enjoy this weeks review! 

WCW

Weekly Watchlist 051 - June 1 2025

Whats new, connoisseurs of consensual combat?! We're in the 50th week of the Wrestling Vault now, which is insane to think just how close we are to a whole year of this already. Genuinely can't believe it. I've got a big, big post lined up for the one year anniversary of the blog. Post 53 is my One Year Special post but you'll want to keep your eyes on the blog the Friday before. Just sayin'

Anyways, let's talk less about what's coming to the blog, let's focus on what's here right now!

The Human Orchid. NWA

Matches of the Month - May 2025

May is finished as we're rounding third to a year of the WRestrling Vault! Hard to believe it, eh? May was a month of fantastic wrestling, my first full month of not watching modern WWE (roulette matches ruined my perfect month) and I don't regret my decision for a second.

Don't believe me that great wrestling exists outside WWE? Well, a month of amazing matches says otherwise. 

Weekly Watchlist 050 - May 25 2025 - Wrestling Roulette

Wrestling Fans! 

We've reached a pretty big milestone here at the Wrestling Vault! 50 editions of the Weekly Watchlist! Personally, I can't think of a better way to celebrate this special occasion with another edition of...

The Weekly Watchlist Wrestling Roulette!

Let me break this down for any new readers out there real quick. Every 10 posts, I let a random number generator pick what I watch and review for the week (the "and review" is an important qualifier, read on to find out what I mean) and it often leads me to watching matches, promotions, or wrestlers I either have never watched, not watched in forever, or reminded me that I like a certain style more than I remember! It's a lot of fun. So far, my master spreadsheet is rounding the final corner towards 1900 entries. A lot of it is current stuff I've been keeping up with, but I've got a lot of older stuff on there too. Plenty to choose from.

Don't believe me? Well, read on and see for yourself!

 

Weekly Watchlist 049 - May 18 2025

Whats the story, fans of fraudulent fighting?

I wish I had an exciting, groundbreaking week that I could talk about but honestly, I'm just happy to make it through the week right now. The motivation comes and goes but I'm always able to bring myself back to wrestling at some point in the week and ground myself that way. I haven't been branching out as much lately, but I feel like that's going to change soon. Say, next week, maybe?

Until then, I keep marching through the DPW library as well as impromptu journey through GCW's Bloodsport events. Read on, dear friends, let me tell you about these fantastic bouts.

GCW

Weekly Watchlist 048 - May 11 2025 - Sabu Special

Hey hey wrestling fans!

Things have been better at Wrestling Vault HQ the past couple days. The weather is better than ever and adding daily walks to my routine has helped give me the boost I need right about now. It was on one of these walks that I had an idea for what I should watch and review this week. And I was fully content with that idea until I came home and remembered that I was wanting to do some homework with the passing of a recent wrestling icon, Sabu.

So, Bloodsport gets put on the back burner for another week as I give the suicidal, homicidal, genocidal, death–defying maniac the spotlight. 

AJPW

Weekly Watchlist 047 - May 4 2025

Whats happening wrestling fans?

Another month behind us, eh? Hard to believe we're 5 months into 2025 already. Where has the time gone? I certainly don't have the answer! I've been trying to figure that out myself!

Things haven't been the best lately here at Wrestling Vault HQ, this wrestling reviewer has got a lot going on upstairs right now. Wrestling is my biggest escape and one true love, aside from the people closest to me, but even then, it's hard to sit down and focus on something when you don't want to focus on anything at all. It's a constant struggle, but I'm making the right moves to come out of this better than I was before.

That said, I need to keep something consistent in my life and I refused to let a week go by without posting something. So, here it is, another one match review this week. But fear not! It's a blisteringly good 15 minute war.

Wait, why I am I spoiling the match here?! Red on and find out more, ya greedy bastards!

AEW

Matches of the Month - April 2025

With April in the rear view, its time to go over some of my favourite matches from the month that was! I stayed pretty modern this month but feel like going back to the grainy footage for the month of May. Let's see what the tail end of spring does to this friendly neighbourhood reviewer.

Weekly Watchlist 046 - April 26 2025 - DPW Super Battle

Wrestling fans, welcome back! 

My march through the DPW library brings me closer and closer to current day with each passing week, with this edition of the Weekly Watchlist being all about DPW's biggest event, Super Battle. I go into this event and why it was picked for the spotlight later on in this review, but just know, this show is special.

That, and I have a few other updates some of you may be interested in. Want to find out what those are? Well, you know what to do. Read on and find out!

DPW

Weekly Watchlist 045 - April 20 2025 - WWE & Wrestlemania 41

Welcome everyone, to Cliff Morgan's Wrestlemania Special!

This was a real spur of the moment decision for me, but after publishing last week's edition of the Watchlist, I dove right into this one, deciding that I should lay out this entire post for coverage of Wrestlemania 41. I didn't think I'd want to, as this is probably going to be my last WWE show for a while, but with everything going on surrounding this show and how saturated my social feeds have been, I can't help it. I need to give this show the coverage that it deser- no, needs.

I've formatted things a bit different this week to cover things the way I want to, so some of my "Weekly Roundup" has been moved to the very end of this Watchlist. I've got a lot I want to cover this week.

So, let's not delay any further. Place your blinds, check your hands, and warm up those dice, because this week, the 'Manes goes to Vegas.

 

Viva las Vegas baby! WWE

Weekly Watchlist 044 - April 13 2025

What's good 'rasslin amigo's?!

Happy Wrestlemania Week! (if you happen to be reading this on release day/week)

The biggest week in wrestling is here! I can't say that my Wrestlemania hype is as high as it has been previous years, and that's for a combination of reasons (some of which I'll talk about here, I'll probably get right into it next week) but I'll still be watching and doing my best to enjoy the show of shows. 

Let's get right into things.

WWE

Weekly Watchlist 043 - April 6 2025

Welcome back, sport of kings fans!

 The blog keeps chugging along as we get down to the last 10 weeks before the Wrestling Vault turns a year old! Crazy to think, eh? Almost 365 days of writing about wrestling. If anyone could do it, it was me. 

I branched out a bit more this week and played around in the dirt a bit to find some matches worth talking about, and I think I found two pretty decent ones, y'know? Go on, click and scroll through, see if anything catches your eye. I'm sure something will. ;)

 

CMLL

Weekly Watchlist 042 - March 30 2025

Welcome back wrestling fans!

I wish I had better news this week, but I'm afraid I don't. It's been a rough go of things lately, a whole lot of life has happened all at once and it's hard to keep on top of things. As a result, I've only got one review for you guys this week. It's a really fun match, but it's all I could manage this week. Hopefully things will be back on track next week, but I just needed some time to look after myself this week. 

I hope you'll understand. 

CZW

Matches of the Month - March 2025

3 months into 2025 already! Where has the time gone? March has come and gone, which means its time for another look back at the month that was and remember the best matches that I came across. This was a mix bag month, we got roulette, had some days where I did nothing but watch wrestling and others where I couldn't be asked. 

But, it was a good month overall for wrestling, with one of the best wrestling shows of the entire year to boot! Why don't we go over those matches, eh?

Weekly Watchlist 41 - March 23 2025

Back again wrestling fans!

We've crossed another milestone with Roulette number 4 coming and going, meaning we are a mere 9 weeks away from post 50! How did we get here? Almost a full year of this blog. Unreal, honestly. 

I was actually able to use the roulette as intended this week, using it to broaden my horizons for this week and explore what else was out there for me to review. There were some last minute changes but I am very pleased with my picks this week.

Not, what are those, you may ask? You know the drill, keep a'readin and see!

 

NJPW

Weekly Watchlist 040 - March 16 2025 - Wrestling Roulette

Wrestling fans! Welcome to another exciting Weekly Watchlist

It's review 40, you know what that means...

The Weekly Watchlist Wrestling Roulette!

 For those not in the know, Wrestling Roulette is done every 10 posts. I let a random number generator pick a random match from my ever expanding spreadsheet of matches (just passed 1700 entries) to watch/have watched. I have a few rules to make sure I'm not only picking stuff I want to watch for the week, but for the most part, its totally random what I'm watching. 

Let's see what the wheel spun up this week, shall we?

Weekly Watchlist 039 - March 9 2025

What's new wrestling fans?

What a week of wrestling this was. And I know, I say that pretty often, but man, do I mean it this week. I get more in depth about just how good AEW Revolution was, but for those that read and scroll, it was the best show of the year. Full stop. Everyone else doesn't even need to try, the winner has been declared. 

And why, exactly, is that the case? Read on, dear reader, and let me tell you why!

The End. AEW

Weekly Watchlist 038 - March 2 2025

What's the story wrestling fans?!

Welcome to March! Man, does it feel good to look outside my window and see some green grass poking up through the horrible white stuff. I feel like we're gonna make it, like this dreary season is almost behind us. I'm starting to get some drive and desire back after weeks of feeling terrible. Bring on the sun!

This is a pretty big week in wrestling for the major companies. Elimination Chamber is in the rear view and Revolution is set for tonight (at time of publishing). The Chamber was... a show, I'll go deeper into what I mean by that in my weekly roundup, and Revolution's card has me well hyped. My week got ate up unexpectedly at the eleventh hour but luckily I watched some noteworthy matches on the weekend that are absolutely worth talking about!

Let's get into those, shall we?

 

Matches of the Month - February 2025

2 months into 2025 already? I'm finding that hard to believe but I guess it's hard to deny the slow march of time, eh? February was a slower month for yours truly, but I still managed to watch some really great matches even if I had almost no desire to watch wrestling for a good portion of the month. 

Let's go over the matches I like the most!

Weekly Watchlist 037 - February 23 2025

Whats the story this week wrestling fans?

It's been a weird one, this month of February. Complete lack of motivation, a body that decided "yeah I'm just gonna make it difficult as hell to do any reviews this week, sound good?" and a backlog that refused to go away. But, better late than never, my motivation and drive is back! Caught up on some shows this week, got back on the DPW train, and feel good about March with the Chamber coming up this weekend (today if you are reading this on release!) and 'Mania right around the corner!

So, let's not waste any more precious time and get right into this weeks reviews!

NJPW

Weekly Watchlist 036 - February 16 2025

What's new, sports entertainment enthusiasts? 

This weeks watchlist is going to be a bit "modified," I guess is the best way to put it. As you guys know, I tend to review two matches along with anything else I watched in the week that I feel should get some recognition. This week, however, I've had to cut back. My desire to watch wrestling just wasn't there on the weekend, and I didn't really watch anything until the start of the week. I'm drafting this review much later in the week than normal so I'm already on the back foot in that sense. 

For those that keep track of, or live in the great white north like yours truly, you'll know that I got a whole heap of snow dumped on me this past weekend. I spent around 3 hours combined shovelling on Sunday, and it knocked me on my ass really bad. So bad, that my right wrist was bothering me for about a day and a half. It's much better now but I'm also mindful that it could be aggravated easily by typing too much. So I've opted to cut back for this week. But fear not, this weeks match is an all-timer. 

Buckle up! It's time to venture back to the rings of All Japan!

Weekly Watchlist 035 - February 9 2025

What's up, friends?

Another watchlist, as promised, which means another week of exciting wrestling action, right? Well, not entirely. I was kinda burnt out this week, didn't really know what I was going to watch. Usually, I get the bulk of my watching done Saturday and Sunday, followed by Monday and Tuesday. I usually know what I'm going to review by the start of the week and I start drafting these posts by Tuesday or Wednesday night. 

This week, however, I didn't watch a single match until Monday. I just wasn't feeling it. While I was at work Monday, trying to think about what I should watch so I don't fall behind, I remembered I had a whole other list of matches sitting on my phone of stuff I've been meaning to check out. So, that was my point of reference for the week, a pseudo-roulette. Some matches I'd seen before, others were brand new, but almost all of them were excellent. 

So, without further delay, let's get into it, shall we?

Weekly Watchlist 034 - February 2 2024

What's new, grappling fans?!

You guys ever have a week where you just end up down a rabbit hole of google searches and YouTube videos and you're not too sure how you ended up there? I mean, I know exactly how I got where I ended up this week, just trying to be relatable, y'know?

This week is an unintentional one promotion double-feature, after going on a binge of UWF-I. I did watch the Royal Rumble from this past weekend and go over some of my thoughts, and trust me, I have a few. 

So, without any further delay, let's get on with the review, shall we?

UWF-I

Matches of the Month - January 2025

Here we are, the end of another month! The first month of 2025 is officially behind us so it's time to go over the best of the best from the Wrestling Vault this month. I think this month may have had the most "Match of the Month" contenders yet, and I'm not saying that with any certainty because I haven't counted, but this list felt like it was never going to end.

Weekly Watchlist 033 - Januray 26 2024

Whats good wrestling fans?! 

This is a bit of a special review this week. One I wasn't sure I'd ever get to at times and can't believe is here already. I'm once again breaking the format this week, giving one match the spotlight because, honestly, it's a pretty important match in the history of the blog. 

Why? You may ask? Join me on this journey, dear reader. Come along for the ride.

Weekly Watchlist 032 - January 19 2025

Whats happening wrestling fans?! 

The review train just keeps chugging along here, even if it seemed like I'd be struggling to find matches to review this week. All it takes is one bad show to kill your vibe for the entire week. Combine that with feeling under the weather (again, I know) and it makes for a tough week of deciding on stuff to review.

But fear not, dear reader! Have I ever let you down before? Wait... don't answer that question, actually.

Weekly Watchlist 031 - January 12 2025

What's new, wrestling fans?!

Coming off the heels of a fairly light week of Roulette, I decided to go all in this week and watch, quite frankly, an insane amount of wrestling. Like, not since I was sick for a week have I watched this much. I'm on some sort of stupid juice this week to watch as much as I did and still keep up with the reviews. That's just the cross I'm forced to bear as the overseer of the Wrestling Vault.

Now, what matches did I watch and review this week? You'll just need to read more and find out!

NJPW

Weekly Watchlist 030 - January 5 2025 - Wrestling Roulette

Wrestling fans! Welcome back and happy 2025!

Review 30 means it's time for another instalment of...

The Weekly Watchlist Wrestling Roulette!

For those who haven't seen my 2 previous editions of Wreslting Roulette, every 10 weeks/reviews, I let a random number generator pick a match from my master spreadsheet (almost 1600 entries!) Whatever number it picks (with some exceptions) I watch and review for the week! It's a fun way to shake things up and get me to watch stuff I've had sitting around for a while. Ideally, it'll spur me on to check out some more stuff like what I watched this week! 

Let's see what was on offer this week, shall we?

Weekly Watchlist 029 - December 29 2024

What's the story, phony fighting fanatics?!

Welcome to the final post of 2024 and, somehow, the first Weekly Watchlist of 2025! Make that make sense! It's been a busy time here at the end of 2024 for your favourite wrestling blogger, but I'll always carve out some time to give the people exactly what they want. So, without further delay, let's dive into this weeks watchlist!

Cliff Morgan's Wrestling Vault 2024 Year in Review

 Happy New Year wrestling fans!

2024 was a big year for this blogger. I've been busy as hell, challenged myself to start something new, and have learned a lot about myself. I won't get into the weeds about what this year meant to me, as I'm sure a lot of you don't need to read some sob story or emotional, pointless rambling, so I'll get right to business. 

This post is a review of the first year in the Wrestling Vault's history. I wanted to go over some general blog stats, as I'm still blown away by some of the numbers and stats, as well as some more personal stats. As many of you know, I keep a spreadsheet where I add every match I watch in the order I watch them. I'm going to be keeping a spreadsheet for each year the Vault is active, so I can keep track of how much I watched each year. 

I'm excited to see these numbers, so let's not waste any more time!

Matches of the Month - December 2024

Here it is! The final Matches of the Month for 2024! December has come and gone (hard to believe, eh?) and it was full of great matches. A real treat for the holiday season. You could almost include the whole Continental Classic in this list, as it was a fantastic tournament all around, but these matches in particular stood out amongst the pack.