Windy City Wrestling: Power Pro Wrestling 4/8- THE BEGINNING

[thecommish]

Windy City Wrestling: P
Airing 4/8/1988 on Prime Sports Midwest
Taped: 4/6/1988 from the Alumni Gym at Loyala University Chicago
Ring Announcer: Mick Karch
Broadcast Team: Gordon Solie and Paul E. Dangerously

Highlights of the exciting Windy City Wrestling roster play over Iron Maiden’s ‘Run To The Hills’:



(The camera zooms into the Windy City Wrestling studio at the Alumni Gym as Gordon Solie and Paul E. Dangerously stands by)



Gordon Solie: Hello and welcome to the inaugural broadcast for Windy City Wrestling. I’d like to welcome you to Power Pro Wrestling. My name is Gordon Solie, and it’s a true pleasure to be here in Chicago. In all my travels, Chicago is one of my favourite cities in this great country of ours.

Paul E. Dangerously: Are you finished yet?

Gordon Solie: Ah, yes. This rather boisterous young man is one of the more controversial figures in professional wrestling today. Paul E. Dangerously, your reputation precedes you and casts quite a long shadow.

Paul E. Dangerously: And yet here I am in Windy City Wrestling broadcasting on Prime Sports next to the Dean of Professional Wrestling, Gordon Solie. I must be doing something right. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul E. Dangerously and I am here on Power Pro Wrestling because Windy City Wrestling is on the cutting edge of this sport.

Gordon Solie: On that - and perhaps that alone - we can agree, Mr. Dangerously. We will be joining you each Saturday night in Windy City Wrestling. Tonight, we will preview a very special night of wrestling we call Bruiser Bedlam at the Aragon Ballroom, scheduled for Sunday night, April 30. Let’s take a look at what’s in store.

WINDY CITY WRESTLING PRESENTS:
BRUISER BEDLAM ‘88

Sunday night, April 30, 1988
Aragron Ballroom, Chicago Illinois
Bell time is 8pm

UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
TERRY GORDY (CHAMPION) VS. DON MURACO

WINDY CITY WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP
SHANE DOUGLAS (CHAMPION) VS. KENDO NAGASAKI

WINDY CITY WRESTLING TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
DEATH AND DESTRUCTION W/ WOMAN & NITRO VS. THE ROUGEAU BROTHERS

20-MAN OVER-THE-TOP ROPE BATTLE ROYAL:
WINNER RECEIVES $5,000

PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE:
‘ALL-AMERICAN’ RON SIMMONS
THE MIGHTY HERCULES
DOUG FURNAS
RON HARRIS
DON HARRIS
JOE SAVOLDI
MIL MASCARAS
RICK STEINER
NORD THE BARBARIAN
JOE MALENKO
DEAN MALENKO
TERRY TAYLOR
DICK SLATER
THE JUICER
TAZMANIAC
VIC STEAMBOAT
MOTOR CITY MADMAN
HACKSAW BUTCH REED
SCOTT STEINER
PHIL LAFON

- - PLUS MORE BIG MATCHES TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON - -

Gordon Solie: Later this evening, my colleague Lee Marshall will speak with one Terry ‘Bamm Bamm’ Gordy about his defense of the United States Heavyweight Championship against the Magnificent Muraco at Bruiser Bedlam.

Paul E. Dangerously: Never let it be said that Terry Gordy is not a fighting champion. He won this United States Championship from the legendary Sheik and he’s defended it all over this country.

Gordon Solie: We have a quite a lineup in store for you this evening. Later in the broadcast, we will see the ‘All-American’ Ron Simmons in action and the team of Vic Steamboat and Joe Savoldi will join forces against a combination known as Demolition Next.

Paul E. Dangerously: Don’t forget, Gordon, that Windy City Wrestling will also hand me a live microphone and four minutes for a segment I call The Danger Zone. I’m going to speak my mind about the state of professional wrestling! Be afraid!

Gordon Solie: That should be quite an eventful four minutes. It’s time for our very first match here on Windy City Wrestling: Power Pro Wrestling.





HERE COMES WINDY CITY HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION SHANE DOUGLAS!!

WCW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
SHANE DOUGLAS (CHAMPION) VS. JACK ‘THE STRETCHER’ HART

The young Windy City Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas makes his way down the aisle to ‘Perfect Strangers’ by Deep Purple, slapping hands with the fans along the way. Hart bum-rushes the champion as he steps through the ring ropes, but Douglas fights him off. Shane connects with a dropkick, sending Jack Hart out to the floor. Hart tries to slow things when he re-enters the ring, but Douglas is able to dodge a flying leg drop. Douglas hooks Jack Hart into the belly-to-belly suplex and scores the win to retain his championship.

WINNER: WCW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION SHANE DOUGLAS



Gordon Solie: An impressive win for one Shane Douglas. Right now, let’s take a look at a man who will be coming to Windy City Wrestling next week. He has cut quite a path across the south and now he’s headed here to Chicago. This is Lord Humongous:



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COMMERCIAL BREAK

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(Lee Marshall is standing by with Windy City Tag Team Champions Death and Destruction, their manager Woman and her bodyguard Nitro)



Lee Marshall: Hello fans, Lee Marshall standing by with the Windy City Tag Team Champions and their manager Woman. Very few teams in the sport of professional wrestling are as dangerous, as ruthless and as hard-hitting as the current Windy City Tag Team Champions Death and Destruction. However Woman, their skills will be put to the test against current Canadian Tag Team Champions Jacques and Raymond Rougeau at Bruiser Bedlam.

Woman: Does it look like Death and Destruction are intimidated of the Rougeau Brothers? I don’t think so.

Lee Marshall: I think you might be underestimating the Rougeau brothers. They’ve defeated the Freebirds, the Vachon brothers, the Samoan Swat Team and many more.

Woman: All great teams, but none of them as powerful and as vicious as Death and Destruction. What Woman wants, Woman gets. And what Woman wants is the complete obliteration of Jacques and Raymond Rougeau. I won’t be satisfied until the Rougeaus are broken and bloody. Death and Destruction - and my bodyguard Nitron - know what happens when Woman isn’t satisfied!

Lee Marshall: I’d suggest the Rougeau Brothers increase that training because Death and Destruction are perhaps the single most powerful combination in professional wrestling today. Let’s send it back to ring announcer Mick Karch in the ring.





THE CAN-AM EXPRESS ARE ON THEIR WAY TO THE RING!!

THE CAN-AM EXPRESS VS. MOTLEY CRUZ AND MR. ELECTRICITY STEVE REGAL

Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon have one of the most innovative offensive styles in the sport of professional wrestling today. Lafon can go aerial, while Furnas currently holds the title of the World’s Strongest Man and is a master of the suplex. In the final minutes, Furnas back-drops Motley Cruz right into Furnas’s arms. Incredibly, Phil Lafon drives Motley into the canvas with a sit-out powerbomb. Lafon with the cover for the easy three count. What an impressive display from the Can-Am Express.

WINNERS: THE CAN-AM EXPRESS


Gordon Solie: Let's now take a look another strong man on his way to Windy City - The Mighty Hercules:



WELCOME TO THE DANGER ZONE:



Paul E. Dangerously: My name is Paul E. Dangerously and this is the Danger Zone. That sound you hear right now is wrestling promoters across the country chattering their teeth in fear of what’s going to happen in the next four minutes. Let me tell you a story. What professional wrestling promoters fear most in this sport is another man with a vision. They see that man as a rival, and a potential threat to their power.

That’s exactly why I have been blackballed in every major promotion in this country. In two short years, Paul E. Dangerously has managed to alienate the feeble-minded men in charge of the World Wrestling Federation, the CWA and the AWA. I began my career on national television as the lead color commentator of the World Wrestling Federation. I called it like I saw it, and soon, Paul E. Dangerously was the talk of the wrestling world. But my brutal honesty, my refusal to kiss the behind of WWF owner Vince McMahon with his ugly rug, led to Paul E. Dangerously being fired from his multi-million dollar contract. Can you really blame me for rolling my eyes when I heard ‘WHAT A MANEUVER’ ten times in a single show?

So I left the bright lights of New York City for… Memphis, Tennessee .... to work for Jerry Jarrett and the CWA. What I learned very quickly is that the only thing Jerry Jarrett is qualified to do is order a chicken salad. Jarrett and all of his other minions are under the thumb of one Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler. Fans of the Memphis area have seen Jerry Lawler defeat a who’s who of professional wrestling over the years, but do you ever stop to think about why that's the case? I’ll tell you why: a side from being a wrestler, Jerry The King Lawler is also the financial backer of the CWA. And because Lawler puts up the money, he also consistently has the rules changed in his favour to make sure he stays a big fish in a very small pond. An insecure under-achiever like Jerry Lawler would never allow a man like Paul E. Dangerously - who is smarter and just a little bit more devious - to threaten his territory?

Lastly there’s the AWA, or All the World's A-holes as I like to call it. A territory that was until very recently run by an old man who believes the fans still want to his wrinkly body climbing in the ring with the biggest stars of professional wrestling. News flash Verne, this isn’t 1954 and the Dumont Network doesn’t exist anymore, old man. But Verne’s a cake walk compared to the AWA’s new man in charge, Cowboy Bill Watts. Watts is a self-obsessed head-case taken with his own ego and good ol’ boy mentality. Watts also wants to be the star of the show even though he’d be eaten alive if he stepped into the ring with the stars of today. Watts didn’t like a man like Paul E. Dangerously saying so and suddenly I was out in the cold. But really - can you blame Bill Watts for not wanting a man like Paul E. Dangerously turning his TV viewers against him?

The professional wrestling world is threatened by genius. Make no mistake, Paul E Dangerously is a genius. A mad genius maybe, but a genius. That’s the beauty of Windy City Wrestling. Here in Windy City, we don’t have to answer to corporate overlords or out-of-touch oligarchs from a bygone era. The good news for Windy City Wrestling is that it’s a place where Paul E. Dangerously can run wild. The bad news for Windy City Wrestling is that it’s a place where Paul E. Dangerously can run wild. The Dangerous Alliance is here and we’re taking over. Next week, I’ll introduce you to them. This has been The Danger Zone… you’re welcome.

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COMMERCIAL BREAK

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Gordon Solie: I would like to stress on behalf of Windy City Wrestling that we do not condone or endorse the words spoken by Paul E. Dangerously - but we do provide our stars the freedom to speak their minds. Right now, we’re going to take a look at a former Heisman Trophy finalist and one of the most promising athletes in the sport today, this is All-American Ron Simmons!





HERE COMES THE ALL-AMERICAN RON SIMMONS!

ALL-AMERICAN RON SIMMONS VS. RAGIN’ BULL RANDY BARBER

Gordon Solie describes Ron Simmons as perhaps the most impressive physical specimen of professional wrestling today. He sees this young man as a future World Heavyweight Champion, and is very close to putting it all together. Barber is a rough and rugged individual, but he can’t take Simmons off her feet. Ron Simmons press-slams Barber, and then connects with a big elbow drop. Ron Simmons shoots the Ragin’ Bull off the ropes and connects with a spinebuster for the win. Gordon Solie mentions that Ron Simmons must be considered a favourite to win the Battle Royal at Bruiser Bedlam.

WINNER: ALL-AMERICAN RON SIMMONS

VTR: THE STEINER BROTHERS ARE COMING SOON TO WINDY CITY WRESTLING:



(We go to a taped interview with Ronnie P. Gossett, Nord the Barbarian and Kendo Nagasaki)



Ronnie P. Gossett: Well hello there. I’m Ronnie P. Gossett the Third, the greatest manager in rasslin today. But you already knew that, didn’t ya? These two gentleman with me are my Monster Factory. I got me a lot of money, so I’ve traveled the world collecting beasts of burden. From the wilds of Norwegia, I found this hulking nightmare called Nord the Barbarian. He’s so scary that Bruiser Brody quakes in his boots whenever he sees Nord, and Andre the Giant ducks for cover.

Nord the Barbarian: Huss! Huss! Huss! Huss! Huss! Huss! Huss!

Ronnie P. Gossett: And this man, take your mask off Kendo! Take a look at this man. I found him in Hiroshima - his name is Kendo Nagasaki. Kendo was born in the aftermath of the nuclear bombin', and he ain’t quite right! He’s the master of the mist - and he’ll use it anytime I tell him to!

Nord the Barbarian: Huss! Huss! Huss! Huss! Huss! Huss! Huss!

Ronnie P. Gossett: Now listen up, Shane Douglas. I admit, you’ve got a good look but you can’t rassle boy! When my man Kendo Nagasaki in the ring at Bruiser Bedlam, he’ll rip you limb from limb. The he’ll hand me that big gold belt you carry. One more thing, I don’t ever want to hear any of you low-budgets in the crowd call me fat! I might be a little overweight, but I ain’t fat! If I hear anyone callin’ me fat, I might just sicc Nord the Barbarian or Kendo Nagasaki on you! This is your one and only warning!

Nord the Barbarian: Huss! Huss! Huss!

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COMMERCIAL BREAK

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VTR: THESE MEN WILL CHALLENGE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION FOR THE WCW TAG TEAM TITLES! IT’S JACQUES AND RAYMOND… THE ROUGEAU BROTHERS!





HERE COME DEMOLITION NEXT WITH THEIR MANAGER SCOTTY THE BODY!

TV MAIN EVENT:
DEMOLITION NEXT W/ SCOTTY THE BODY VS. VIC STEAMBOAT & JOE SAVOLDI

Gordon Solie mentions that the team of Savoldi and Steamboat have a great legacy in this sport. Vic Steamboat is the younger brother of Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat and Joe Savoldi’s father Angelo held the NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion five times. Opposing them are a veritable brick wall known as Demolition - a team that their manager Scotty the Body has claimed are widely ripped off all across the wrestling world. Savoldi and Steamboat use their speed to their advantage, but Savoldi runs into a vicious clothesline from Demolition Rex with vicious lariat. He scoops Savoldi onto his shoulders and then Demolition Crush comes off the top rope with a flying clothesline. Paul E. Dangerously mentions that this devastating move is called the Demolition Device. Crush with the cover for the three count!

WINNERS: DEMOLITION NEXT



Gordon Solie: Reservations about the so-called Scotty the Body aside, one must admit that Demolition Next are one of the most intimidating tag teams in the world today. Perhaps the most intimidating singles wrestling in the world today is the main joining me right now. This is man needs no introduction to wrestling, but I’ll give him one anyway. This is the United States Heavyweight Champion Freebird Terry Gordy! Terry, it’s been a long time!

Terry Gordy: Gordon Solie, you were there when the Freebirds took over Georgia Championship Rasslin. You gave me credit when a lot of my people wrote me and my brothers off. It sure is good to see ya again, especially here in the Windy City!

Gordon Solie: In the time since we last met, you’ve held so many major championships all across the world. Of course, you won the Triple Crown Championship in All-Japan as well as the WWA World Heavyweight Champion. Most recently you won that United States Champion from the legendary Sheik in Cobo Hall on Christmas night!

Terry Gordy: I went into the belly of the beast, Gordon Solie, and faced that nasty Sheik man-to-man. Nobody ever beat The Sheik in Cobo Hall… until he faced me! This belt means I’m the best rassler in the United States today, and I’m ready to prove that anytime, any place.

Gordon Solie: We will see footage from that brutal championship match in the weeks to come, but the challenge awaiting you now is Don Muraco at Bruiser Bedlam. Like yourself, Don Muraco has headlined every major venue in the country, including the Omni and Madison Square. He also possesses perhaps the most dangerous maneuver in the sport of professional wrestling, the reverse piledriver.

Terry Gordy: That piledriver put a lot of men down! Muraco, you and me aren’t so different! We’re big, nasty and mean inside that ring. You got that reverse piledriver and I got the Oriental Spike! We’ll see which one comes out on top at Bruiser Bedlam. You’re looking at 290 pounds of rompin’ stompin’ graveyard destruction and I’m coming for you!

Gordon Solie: There you have it, fans! Next week, we’ll see Mr. Muraco in action so I suspect you’ll be watching, Terry. We’re almost out of time but join us next week, fans, to meet the Dangerous Alliance and see a preview of the Bruiser Bedlam as WCW Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas teams with a very… unique… individual known as The Juicer to face Nord the Barbarian and Kendo Nagasaki. In the meantime, so long from the Prairie State!

© 1988, WINDY CITY WRESTLING

[tlyne]

Very good debut. I can say, I never saw a real life episode of Windy City, but you have put together a top roster. I've always been a Can Am fan, so I'm looking forward to seeing them. I also like Douglas in this position. I am looking forward to where you go from here.

[wattsfan]

I agree you are off to a great start. Best of luck.

[thecommish]

Thanks guys. Despite the fact that Windy City Wrestling was around for close to 15 years, there seems to be very little footage of it online. There's a little bit from '88 on YouTube and it was a bit like the Savoldi's ICW/IWCCW promotion on the East Coast (which is why I brought in ICW mainstays Vic Steamboat, Tony Rumble and Joe Savoldis). Paul E. was actually a key figure in the real Windy City in 1988, as was Jonnie Stewart (who'll pop up here in future weeks).

But, I took my influence more from mid-80s Mid-South with a dash of '88 Continental and '89 NWA. Hopefully the result will be fun to follow, especially as I introduce more of the characters over the next three shows leading to Bruiser Bedlam.

[Mickey Yarber]

I really like the Demolition Next team. I hope to see them dominate for a while here.