What's good, patrons of preformative pain?!
This week, I had a hankering. I was hungry for some good 'ol classic tag team wrestling. Some of that old-school, hard hitting, big beefy tag stuff. You know what I mean? Does that ring any bells? No? ... really? Not picking up on any hints?
Ah hell, just keep reading then...
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| SWS |
Weekly Roundup
Here's what I watched for the week;
AEW Dynasty 2026
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| AEW |
The Young Bucks vs. Don Callis Family
What a killer way to open the show. Goddamn this tag match was a lot of fun. I've seen a lot of people online, including the big Davey Meltz, give this match the full 5* treatment and, while I don't necessarily agree, I don't wholeheartedly disagree either. There was a whole lot of fun action in this match from the very beginning to the end, to no surprise when you consider the fact that this is a Young Bucks match against two of the very best singles wrestlers in the world. An incredible way to start a fantastic show. Good stuff all around.
Jericho vs. Ricochet
Y'know, I may talk a lot of shit about Jericho, and I think all of it is much deserved, for this point in his career, but this was a great return match! For not wrestling once since last year's Dynasty, Jericho looked great and wasn't a step behind. Rico has been on a fantastic run in AEW and has yet to miss once through all of his rivalries and matches, and he looked great in this bout. There were hints of comedy with Jericho playing to the crowd a bit, leaning into the whole "Ricochet is bald" thing, but it didn't take away from the action in ring one bit. Fun match! Nice to see Ricochet score a win.
Andrade El Idolo vs. Darby Allin
The battle of the number one contenders was a whole load of fun. Darbs took his usual punishment and Andrade looked like a million bucks wearing down the human crash test dummy. Andrade has been on a fantastic run in AEW lately, with spectacular matches one after another that continue to remind you that he is, in fact, a spectacular wrestler, he just kinda gets in his own way sometimes. This run, however, seems to be an Andrade that is locked in and focused on being one of the best wrestlers in the world. He an Darby pulled out some gnarly moves in this match, taking each other to limits you didn't really think they'd take one another. Darbs getting the win and his guaranteed title match was a huge win for him, with Andrade no doubt close behind Darby in getting a title match himself.
FTR vs. Cage And Cope
Fun fact! I watched this match in the doctors office! I'll be totally honest, and I'm not saying this in a way that detracts from the match itself, but you guys pretty well how this match goes down. Copeland ended up being the babyface in peril most of this match, getting his ass thoroughly dismantled by FTR, but it was some spectacular ass beating. Despite being on in years and not wrestling a lot lately, both Cope and Cage moved well and kept up with the greatest team on God's green, pushing them pretty close to the limit on a few occasions. A wild belt shot caught Copeland and legitimately busted him open wide (source: the camera angle that showed his head erupting like a volcano after the belt shot), leaving him streaming blood for the last third of the contest. It made for an insane visual as this old veteran pissed blood to try and fend off the vicious FTR, but Cash and Dax were able to pull victory from the jaws of defeat, finding an opening to land a Shatter Machine on Cope to retain. Excellent stuff. Really fun match.
Casino Gauntlet Match
What a treat it was, having Ciampa come out at number one in his Silvey inspired gear. What a brutal pick it was, having Rush out at two to beat the snot out of the Psycho Killer. From there, the match descended into chaos, with entrant after entrant adding to the mess. Now, that's not to say this match is bad, far from it! Each entrant added another layer of fun and intrigue to this match, with the feeling that this could end at any moment feeling more and more evident with each passing minute. I really like the concept of this match and liked that they didn't go the whole way with it. I would like for one of these to end mid-entrance one time, with the guy making his entrance feeling jipped of his shot and feuding with the winner, whatever they win. In this case, it was after Kyle Fletcher, RIP (he's not dead, it just feels that way, I'm in mourning) vacated his TNT Championship. Everyone in here felt like a legitimate contender for the title, so there was never a moment of "why is he in here? He can't possibly win this." Great stuff.
Thekla vs. Jamie Hayter
Big fan of Big Thek's as the Women's World Champion, her work has always captivated me since she first rocked up in AEW, with her larger than life presence feeling more than championship worthy from the start. Hayter remaining in title contention all the time is a great feeling too, as she's always been a favourite of mine and I want nothing but the world for her. This match was hard hitting, heavy feeling, and exciting from top to bottom. I love how slippery and unpredictable Thekla is in the ring, really living up to her "Toxic Spider" moniker. Hayter was laying bombs into Thek's, but she wasn't quite able to get the job done. Shame, but Thekla as champion still sounds great to me.
Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay
The battle of the necks! Mr "my neck is permanently fucked" Ospreay vs. "I like to break necks" Moxley. Ospreay came out of the gate swinging for the fucking fences with a Hidden Blade the second the bell rang, setting the tone for this 20 minute blood feud match. Ospreay was determined to take the same time away from Moxley that he robbed him of, wanting to break his neck en route to taking to Continental Championship. The targets were clear and blinking red the entire match for these two men, neither of them letting up the entire time. I wasn't a huge fan of how much they made out of Ospreay taking a piledriver on the stairs, I get he's just come back from neck surgery, but it's like Kenny at this point. Every match revolves around Omega having diverticulitis at this point, so now every Ospreay match is gonna be "how will he survive X with a bad neck?!" They managed to get me back in the final moments of the match, so few points were deducted. Fun still from both!
The Dogs vs. The Conglomeration
Well, there had to be one not great match on this card, didn't there? It's a real shame! I like both of these teams and was so happy to see Kyle O back! But man, this match just wasn't great. The whole trios division in AEW either needs a break, a lengthy, seriously cared about reign, or needs to be dissolved entirely. This turned into a standard tag match once Gabe Kidd suffered an injury (rest up, you maniac) and they took Kyle out to give him the big comeback, all but making the trios formula a moot point. I'm not a fan of The Dogs, a team that should have some serious steam put behind them, getting a "one day" title reign, but there's not much you can do with Kidd coming down with an injury mid match. This was still fun, but could have been a whole lot better.
MJF vs. Kenny Omega
The main event, and far and away the longest match on the card at nearly 40 minutes was a blow-out match. I had a lot of fun with this one. Admittedly, the length kinda started to take me out of it a bit, as I was waiting for that "30 minutes gone by, 30 minutes remaining" call to wake the crowd up even more, but it was still a lot of fun regardless. MJF did not look the least bit out of place standing in the ring with Kenny who, despite his age and wear, can still call himself one of the best wrestlers on the planet. He was doing everything he could to work the match like a Kenny from NJPW circa 2016 would have worked a match, but he's a few steps behind nowadays. The concept of God vs the Devil was fun and wasn't much more than window dressing for a match that was already exciting to begin with, with MJF making sure to dig into his dirty little playbook to pull out the win. A fantastic main event.
Darby Allin Climbs Everest... Twice
Well damn, he did it! The mad lad actually did it! A match that lasted... how long?! 2 minutes, 14 seconds?! Holy hell! What a way to end a show.
As happy as I am for Darby, I can't help but feel having him be the one to take the title off of Moxley would have been the right call to make, if he were still holding onto the title after All In, of course. Their feud felt like it should have had the title on the line, but I wouldn't have wanted to sacrifice Hangman's run just to get the belt onto Darby 8 months earlier. Having said that, I'm happy for Darby! This feels like a much deserved win for someone who has been with the company since the very beginning. It's also refreshing to have a new person hold the title, with Darby being the 10th unique name told the title! The first new reign since Danielson won it in 2024! Just fantastic stuff all around.
I can't help but feel this reign won't go past the summer, with Ospreay more than likely winning it at All In, if I'm reading the tea leaves right, but he'll have a more than exceptional reign and will live on forever as one of AEW's few World Champions.
Congratulations, Darby. Much deserved.
Here’s what we’re reviewing for the Watchlist;
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Genichiro Tenryu & Hulk Hogan vs. The Road Warriors - Iron Men in the Tokyo Dome
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| SWS |
Basic Breakdown
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| SWS |
There's no real background as to why this match is specifically happening, so instead, I'll give you a bit of a breakdown about SWS, and why they're working together with the WWF here for this show.
In April of 1990, All Japan's Genichiro Tenryu leaves the company and decides to become a spokesman for Megane Super, one of the most well-known makers of... eyeglasses... what? Yes, you did not misread that and I did not make a typo. Tenryu became a spokesman for glasses. As a part of this rather odd partnership, the company decided to use Tenryu as a launchpad for another venture. You guessed it! Wrestling! Several All Japan and New Japan wrestlers were signed to the roster, with Tenryu's support of the company giving them the much needed credibility to get things up and running.
Quickly, Megane Super was accused of fans of simply being a "money mark," or a person or company that wants to be associated with wrestlers, using their money to fund a business venture for that explicit purpose. I mean, they probably weren't wrong, as SWS was pretty quick to sign a deal with Vince McMahon and the WWF, allowing for inter-promotional matches to be booked. Surely, there's nothing wrong with any of this, right?
The company faced several criticisms during it's 2 years in existence, partly due to Japan's economic downturn in the early 90's that made it difficult for another wrestling company to find any real popularity outside of NJPW and AJPW. They also struggled to build any real stars or have a lot of Japanese vs. Japanese matches, a staple and guaranteed draw for the audience they were playing for. Tenryu, their top name, predominantly feuded with Hogan and Flair, as nobody else on the roster was at his level or even built up to be close to his level, making it difficult for any real money draws to be established.
Eventually, Megane Super began to withdraw support from the venture, with key wrestlers Yoshiaki Yatsu and Shinichi Nakano leaving as well. The writing was on the wall from that point on, with SWS holding its final event on June 19 1992, a mere 14 and a half months after their first event. From there, talent split into new promotions, with Tenryu's WAR the only notable promotion to survive the fallout.
🔔 Bell to Bell 🔔
So, I'll be honest, I really, really wanted to watch some Road Warriors/Legion of Doom this week. I've been listening to The Lapsed Fan's Starrcade Memorial Tour lately and they've mentioned toe Road Warriors numerous times, singing the praises of one of the most popular tag teams of all time. But when I went looking for the most popular matches from the team, (on CAGEMATCH) I found it difficult to find two things. One; a match that is just a straight tag team match, aka, not WarGames, and two, a match where they win.
You see, The Road Warriors are famously one of the most dominant tag teams of all time, beating the bricks off of just about every team they stepped in the ring with. But what happens when they go up against a team that the bookers don't want them to beat, for whatever reason? Simple! DQ finish! I really, really wanted to avoid a DQ finish in my review this week, but man was it a struggle. So, I instead decided I'd just review a match of theirs that had some heavy players involved, even if it did result in a DQ finish (spoilers, sorry).
But, I mean, you had to expect that , given the players involved. I mean, who's gonna lay down in this one? Nobody! That's who!
Hawk and Animal come to the ring to their signature song, Black Sabbath's "Iron Man," with Tenryu and Hogan coming out separately. Tenryu did not come out to Masayoshi Takanaka's "Thunderstorm," which is an immediate deduction of 10 points for me, but what can ya do. Them's the rules! Hogan did come out to "Real American" by Rick Derringer, and the WWF World Heavyweight Championship! This would have been his third reign here, 6 days removed from beating Sgt. Slaughter at the 'Maines VII, "Stars and Stripes Forever."
The first thing I noticed was how Hogan was acting a bit heelish here, almost. When he gets to the ring, he ignored the steps and the ropes being held open for him by one of the members of the ring crew, literally shoving the kid to the floor to climb on the apron and get in the ring his own way. Calm down, Terry, it's not that serious, brother. I mean, Hogan was accepted and loved in Japan, so unless something went down in the back that had him feeling some sort of way, I don't really get his behaviour here.
He also seems to be big-brothering Tenryu when they get in the ring, dismissively patting him on the chest. I'll be honest with you, Tenryu is pretty high up on my list of "people I don't want to piss off," but Hogan either doesn't care or this behaviour is just ingrained in him at this point. Tenryu just stands in the ring as Hogan paces and does his routine, silently watching the whole time. Studying, analyzing, like a sniper. God, Tenryu is scary.
Hogan also has a bandage on the side of his head, which I can't remember if he got injured during his Slaughter bout or not, so it could have just been another one of those Sea-Doo injuries. Hogan lets Tenryu start this match off so he climbs out to the apron and... the hell?! He boots the camera?! What is going on here!? Animal is on on the Road Warriors side, which is not to be confused with Hawk. See, Animal has the mohawk, whereas Hawk has no 'hawk. Hawk is 'hawkless, Animal has the 'hawk. Make sense? It all comes down to their hair. I mean, they look completely different, but there's a little cheat sheet for ya. Free of charge.
Animal dumps Tenryu into the corner, who climbs out and goes right back to Animal, snatching a side headlock only to get tossed onto his ass in seconds. Hogan tags in and goes straight for Animal, pushing him into the corner with strong lockups, only for Animal to fire out and lay into Hogan with right hands. They trade shots back and forth in the middle, neither man wanting to give an inch. Animal pushed Hogan to his corner, with Hawk coming in to help and Tenryu joining in to help his teammate.
⚡Move of the Match⚡
There's an impressive moment where Animal and Hawk get Hogan and Tenryu up into a military press, dumping both men into the ring early. Hogan looks to a bit difficult to get up in the air, which shouldn't be an issue for Animal, unless Hogan decided to sandbag a bit, brother.
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| Let me down, brother! SWS |
Animal pins, but Hogan escapes, getting right back to his feet seconds later. He gets whipped in the corner and catches a charging Animal with a boot and a lariat on his way out of the corner, taking Hawk off his feet with one as well when he gets in the ring. Honestly, they're closer to forearms than lariat's, knowing hogan, but it's that awkward middle stage. Dealers choice for that one. Tenryu gets in quick and catches Animal and Hawk with kicks to the back of the head, sending both men to the floor in an instant. They're back in quick, all four men squaring up in the centre, with referee Earl Hebner trying to restore some order.
Eventually, we're back to just legal competitors, with Hawk and Tenryu going at it now. Hawk sends Tenryu into the ropes and catches him under the jaw with a big 'ol dropkick, taking him down with the quickness. Chops and a headlock to call spots next, with Animal catching his rebounding partner into a military press, tossing Hawk into Tenryu as he turns around. Hawk holds him down for a pin, but Hogan is in the ring to break the pin up at two.
Sending Hawk to the floor, Animal and Tenryu stay in the ring, with, what I can only assume was a powerslam as the camera caught only the last half second of the move, takes Tenryu down for a pin. Hebner is sufficiently distracted by Hogan and Hawk on the floor, so he gives Tenryu a solid three count to recover before counting the actual three count. Tenryu gets free in time, to the shock of none, with the ringside brawl continuing past the barricade now.
We have another moment of "Hogan doesn't want to play ball, brother," as Hawk tries to clobber Hogan with a piece of the outer, secondary barricade, but Hogan just holds it like a scared little brother trying to fend off his older brother, trying to crack him with his skateboard. It's kinda funny to witness, actually, this big beefy bastard looking scared of a (almost certainly, let's be honest) coked out Hawk trying to clobber Hogan with the barricade. He kinda catches his wrist, but nothing major comes of the interaction. Unless you count my snickering as something major, then it was a huge spot.
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| Get that shit away from me, dude! SWS |
Tenryu and Animal are outside now, not wanting Hogan and Hawk to have all the fun. Hebner is utterly powerless to do anything about this, and he just lets everything go! A chairshot from Animal? Whatever! An incredibly blatant bladejob from Hogan? Sure! Hell, you even see Hogan dump the blade back in his trunks after the fact. hilarious. Back inside the ring, Tenryu is in a rear chinlock from Animal, holding him down on the canvas as he struggles to his knees, and eventually his feet. Animal is able to pull him to his corner, with Hawk coming in to shoot Tenryu into the ropes and crush him with a shoulder tackle.
At some point that I definitely missed in two viewings of this match, hawk is busted open as well, the left side of his face more crimson than his war paint usually has him. Tenryu fights back with chops, able to push Hawk to Hogan as he tags in. A whip and a forearm/lariat drops Hawk to his hands and knees, allowing Hogan to get Hawk up for a backbreaker and a pin, but Hawk gets free. The pair of bleeders are in the middle now, with Hogan holding Hawk down with a chinlock, who slowly but surely breaks the grip of Hogan. Hawk gets a boot in the back for his efforts, and... a back rake?! Hogan! You naughty boy!
Animal tags in now, shooting off Hogan and taking him down with a big flying shoulder tackle, even if Hogan hit the opposing ropes with the most ginger rebound I may have ever seen out of him. It looked like he thought the things were scalding hot, he barely hit them to shoot back off into Animal. A cover is made, but Hogan is out, and into another... rear chinlock. This one has enough space for a bus to drive through, with Animal bending down to call more sports with Hogan. Trying to be less obvious, Hogan lifts a hand and covers his lips, making it look like he's trying to fight off Animal, but he's just calling stuff right back. The stuff you notice after being chronically tapped into wrestling.
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| Can't get me, brother! SWS |
Hogan fights to his feet, but Animal shoots him into the ropes, only for Hogan to duck a back elbow and a 'line, rebounding to take Animal down with a clothesline of his own. But, surprise! Animal goes for one too! It's a double down! Both are down and worn out, with Animal crawling to Hawk as he seizes on Hogan, whipping and powerslamming him. A fist drop leads to... another chinlock! Wow! Crazy scenes here! This may be the worst of the bunch, with Hawk just standing behind Hogan as he cups his chin. Just lift your head like, half an inch Hogan you're free!
Regardless! Hawk sends Hogan into his corner, tagging Animal in as both whip the big orange bastard and catch him with a pair of back elbows for a pin. He gets free, and Animal stays on him. He has him in some sort of standing armlock, only for Hogan to prove he can, in fact, wrestle, taking Animal down with a drop toe hold! Tenryu finally tags in, laying into Animal with chops and a lariat after a rope rebound, but Hawk is in to break up the pin by sending Tenryu to the floor.
A bodyslam on the floor wounds Tenryu more, with Hogan storming around ringside with a chair, wholloping Hawk as Animal sends Tenryu into the announcers area. It's bedlam at ringside again, with Hawk using a table as a weapon against Hogan as Tenryu struggles to get in the ring, with Animal playing keep away. Hogan is back on the apron, leaving Tenryu for dead as Hawk tosses him back inside the ring for Animal to tear into him. Some teammate you are, Hulkie.
A belly to belly takes Tenryu down in the ring for another pin, with Animal pulling an escaping Tenryu to his feet. Big mistake, as Tenryu finds it in him to rip Animal off his feet and over with a big back suplex! Animal keeps a grip on the waist of Tenryu, making sure Hogan can't tag in, with Hawk darting across the ring to clobber Hogan. Eating the shot, Hogan stands straight up, staring through Hawk as he climbs inside the ring. Finally, Hebner decides to restore order, telling Hogan to get back to the apron, with Animal sending Tenryu to the floor for Hawk to maul him. Hebner, of course, lets this go.
Tenryu rolls back inside, with Hawk tagging in to continue his assault. A whip allows Tenryu to counter, catching a bent over Hawk with a powerbomb! He stands after the bomb, catching his breath, which proves to be a big mistake, with Animal darting in to crash into Tenryu with a lariat. Hogan is in quick to even the odds, but goes back to the apron just as quick. Guess Animal was too far away to do anything, eh brother? Tenryu tags in, and so does Animal, with Hogan eating a running knee to send Animal into the ropes.
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| Don't breathe! SWS |
A big boot (to the space beside his head, the camera clearly captures), a bodyslam, and a leg drop for the cover, but Hawk breaks it up, brother! Hogan is sent outside as Tenryu gets in now, getting bumrushed by Animal as Hawk goes to the apron. Pulling Tenryu onto his shoulders, Animal stands ready in the centre, with Hawk ascending to the top rope. Suddenly, doomsday is upon Tenryu, with Hawk flying to crush him with the Doomsday Device! Animal goes for the cover, btu Hogan cracks him with a chair before Hebs can register a one!
We're all back on the floor again, with Hogan with Animal and Hawk beating Tenryu with a chair. Suddenly, the bell rings, with Hawk and Animal celebrating in the ring? They... win? I suppose? Is it because of the Hogan chair shot? The brawling on the floor? They were hardly out there 5 seconds, let alone a 10 count, so I'm not sure what caused the DQ finish, but that's the finish!
Wasn't that exciting!
Match Time: 14:03
Hogan and Tenryu continue to fight with the pair after the bell, with Hogan and Tenryu clearing house so they can get time alone in the ring for a moment. It doesn't last long, as Animal and Hawk get back in the ring and lay into Hebs, as well as some ringside attendees with stiff kicks and chair shots. Hogan and Tenryu just stand there like goofs watching the Road Warriors beat up civilians, eventually clearing out to let them have their little rampage. Hogan does bring a chair in the ring as an equalizer, but Hebner and some other staff are holding everyone back to make sure things don't go further south.
Eventually, the Road Warriors decide to call it quits, leaving the ring and heading for the back, leaving Hogan and Tenryu to... celebrate? I dunno man, these old wrestling shows were weird. Hogan, no matter wether he won or lost, always had to be the last thing you saw. Crazy times.
Overview & Final Rating
🟡 - Watchable, but not remarkable.
This match is fun for all the wrong reasons. If you watch it with the "let's have some fun" attitude instead of the "I want to see a mat classic" attitude, this match is great! Hogan looking like a cowardly lion for the first half, the repetitive chinlocks, and the occasional heavy offence makes this match fun, but the complete lack of consistent rules and tagging really, really drags this match down to earth. It's honestly not great for anyone involved, especially not the legendary Road Warriors. Maybe I needed to do some more digging to find a real hidden gem of theirs, but I was not able to do a lot of serious sleuthing this week, so this had to do. I'm not mad, not even really that disappointed, just kinda shocked that it's this hard to find a quality match from them as a tandem, not as a group.
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Until next week. Be well, stay safe, and love one another.
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
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