Wrestling: Pay-Per-View Players #34 - February 1991

#1 Hulk Hogan [--] (15-3-1) (WWF)
[Royal Rumble 1991]

World Championship Wrestling breaks from the NWA as a new era in pay-per-view begins! WrestleWar '91 plays host to another year of War Games, granting Ric Flair & The Four Horseman the opportunity to dominate the top babyfaces of NWA/WCW! Barry Windham, Sid Vicious & Larry Zbyszko join The Nature Boy in taking out Sting, Brian Pillman & The Steiner Brothers -- A result that elevates Flair to the top of the WCW ranks, bumping down Rick Steiner & Sting!

Enduring United States Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger enters the Top 10. Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich break the Top 10 tag, second to Morton's better known tandem with Robert Gibson! It's the first time since the dawn of the rankings that a wrestler has had two teams rate so well!

Deviating from the NWA models; WCW introduces womens wrestling to their WrestleWar card! Itsuki Yamazaki's win over Mami Kitamura sees the first shift in the women's rankings in a year! A crossover win for WCW who recruit the former WWF starlet!

The major scores are tied as WCW takes a 50/50 stake of the Top 10 Single PPV Players! WWF tag in with the biggest event in wrestling when Wrestlemania VII takes over March! A chance for Hulk Hogan to consolidate the top spot with the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on the line!

 

Top Ten Singles PPV Players

#1 [--] Hulk Hogan (15-3-1) (WWF) [Royal Rumble '91]
#2 [--] Randy Savage (13-9-0) (WWF)
#3 [--] Road Warrior Hawk (12-4-0) (WWF)
#4 [--] Road Warrior Animal (11-5-0) (WWF)
#5 [+2] Ric Flair (11-6-3) (WCW)
#6 [-2] Rick Steiner (11-6-1) (WCW)
#7 [-1] Sting (10-2-2) (WCW)
#8 [--] Ultimate Warrior (9-3-0) (WWF)
#9 [--] Scott Steiner (6-5-0) (WCW)
#10 [RE] Lex Luger (9-7-1) (WCW) [US Heavyweight Champion]
 

Top Ten Tag Team PPV Players

#1 [--] Road Warrior Hawk & Animal (11-3-0) (WWF)
#2 [--] Rick & Scott Steiner (9-4-0) (WCW)
#3 [--] Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane (6-3-0) (NWA)
#4 [--] Ax & Smash (6-4-0) (WWF)
#5 [--] Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart (6-4-0) (WWF) [Tag Team Champions]
#6 [--] Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson (5-1-0) (NWA)
#7 [--] The Samoan Savage & Fatu (4-1-0) (NWA)
#8 [new] Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich (3-0-0) (WCW)
#9 [-1] Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (3-1-1) (WWF)
#10 [-1] Bushwacker Luke & Butch (3-1-0) (WWF)

Top Womens PPV Players
#1 [--] The Fabulous Moolah (2-0-0) (WWF)
#2 [--] Rockin' Robin (2-0-0) (WWF) [Women's Champion]
#3 [+1] Itsuki Yamazaki (2-0-0) (WCW)
#4 [-1] Wendi Richter (1-0-0) (WWF)
#5 [--] Noriyo Tateno (1-0-0) (WWF)

 

Recent Pay-Per-View Event Results
- WCW WrestleWar 1991: WarGames (February 24, 1991)
- WWF Royal Rumble (January 19, 1991)
- NWA Starrcade '90 (December 16, 1990)
- WWF Survivor Series (November 22, 1990)
- WCW Halloween Havoc (October 27, 1990)
- WWF Summerslam (August 27, 1990)

 

The Pay-Per-View Players rankings intend to take into account pay-per-view events promoted by NWA, WWF, WCW, ECW, WWE & TNA wrestling organizations. Only broadcast results contribute to the cumulative tally of win/loss record of wrestlers. Pre-show matches will not be included.

Wrestling: Pay-Per-View Players #32 - December 1990

#1 Hulk Hogan [--] (14-3-1) (WWF)

A tournament of eight nations inducts The Steiner Brothers as the hottest tag team heading into 1991! The US Team defeated South Africa, Mexico and Japan to challenge the might of turncoat #1 tag team: The Road Warriors!

The 3-for-1 streak makes Rick Steiner the highest individual ranked for NWA, with brother Scott Steiner projecting the future from the 9th slot. Rick leaps four places to skip even defending World Heavyweight Champion: Sting! The win was tribute to recently passed former NWA World Champion Pat O'Connor.

The Stinger rocked a Steel Cage in the main event, fending off the advances of The Black Scorpion -- mysterious masked man who turned out to be none other than arch-rival and former champion Ric Flair! The Nature Boy went double masked during the match, but couldn't avoid being exposed as the dirtiest player in the game.

Defending the World Tag Team Champions in a no contest were Ron Simmons & Butch Reed -- unable to rank as the #11 team despite retaining the coveted titles! With Flair slinking his way back into the World title spot - Barry Windham replaced him as partner to fellow challenging Horseman Arn Anderson. The void left by the departing Road Warriors has quickly been filled!

Competing in the Pat O'Connor International Cup Tag Team Tournament are two proud wrestlers of Mexico worthy of note: Konan & Rey Misterio! As the WCW era kicks in both names will come to gain greater significance -- Konnan in his own right, while Misterio's son - the venerable Rey Misterio Jr - embarks on one of the greatest international careers of any US based luchadore!

With their late acquisition of The Road Warriors key - WWF ends 1990 in control of the wrestling Pay-Per-View world! The Road Warrior advantage tips the scales to a 60% majority share of both the singles and tag team PPV rankings! With nary a woman in sight on an NWA card, the women's division is 100% the domain of McMahon's Federation! That control will not go unrivalled in the coming year. Ted Turner's WCW will assume control of the NWA pay-per-view line-up, beginning a process of conversion that will lead to the hottest period in wrestling. We're on the ground floor - we watch with interest!

 

Top Ten Singles PPV Players

#1 [--] Hulk Hogan (14-3-1) (WWF)
#2 [--] Randy Savage (13-8-0) (WWF)
#3 [--] Road Warrior Hawk (12-3-0) (WWF)
#4 [--] Road Warrior Animal (11-4-0) (WWF)
#5 [+4] Rick Steiner (11-5-1) (NWA)
#6 [--] Sting (10-1-2) (NWA) [World Heavyweight Champion]
#7 [-2] "Black Scorpion" Ric Flair (10-6-3) (NWA)
#8 [-1] Ultimate Warrior (9-2-0) (WWF) [World Heavyweight Champion]
#9 [new] Scott Steiner (9-4-0) (NWA)
#10 [-2] Brutus Beefcake (8-2-3) (WWF)
 

Top Ten Tag Team PPV Players

#1 [--] Road Warrior Hawk & Animal (11-3-0) (WWF)
#2 [+1] Rick & Scott Steiner (9-3-0) (NWA)
#3 [-1] Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane (6-3-0) (NWA)
#4 [--] Ax & Smash (6-4-0) (WWF)
#5 [--] Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart (6-4-0) (WWF) [Tag Team Champions]
#6 [--] Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson (5-1-0) (NWA)
#7 [--] The Samoan Savage & Fatu (4-1-0) (NWA)
#8 [--] Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (3-1-1) (WWF)
#9 [--] Bushwacker Luke & Butch (3-1-0) (WWF)
#10 [--] Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid (3-2-1) (WWF)

Top Womens PPV Players
#1 [--] The Fabulous Moolah (2-0-0) (WWF)
#2 [--] Rockin' Robin (2-0-0) (WWF) [Women's Champion]
#3 [--] Wendi Richter (1-0-0) (WWF)
#4 [--] Itsuki Yamazaki (1-0-0) (WWF)
#5 [--] Noriyo Tateno (1-0-0) (WWF)

 

Recent Pay-Per-View Event Results
- NWA Starrcade '90 (December 16, 1990)
- WWF Survivor Series (November 22, 1990)
- WCW Halloween Havoc (October 27, 1990)
- WWF Summerslam (August 27, 1990)
- NWA The Great American Bash (July 7, 1990)
- NWA Capital Combat (May 19, 1990)
- WWF Wrestlemania VI (April 1, 1990)

 

The Pay-Per-View Players rankings intend to take into account pay-per-view events promoted by NWA, WWF, WCW, ECW, WWE & TNA wrestling organizations. Only broadcast results contribute to the cumulative tally of win/loss record of wrestlers. Pre-show matches will not be included.

Wrestling: Pay-Per-View Players #21 - October 1989

#1 Randy Savage [--] (11-5-0) (WWF)

The collapse of The Mega Powers continues to work in the favour of Hulk Hogan -- the WWF Heavyweight Champion victorious in a Summerslam tag team main event against Randy Savage and the No Holds Barred film-inspired nemesis: Zeus! Hogan teamed with Brutus Beefcake, who once again reached the Top 10!

Promotion lines continue to be crossed as Dusty Rhodes makes his first pay-per-view appearance for WWF! The former NWA World Heavyweight Champion defeated The Honky Tonk Man to secure a Top 10 spot for the Federation. In another mid-card bout, Demolition picked up a win in a six-man match, spurring them into the Top 3 tags. Individually, Smash is a step closer to the authentic ticket - Road Warrior Hawk. While the Road Warriors remain unchallenged as the #1 tag team - Animal teeters on the edge of the Top 10.

A big name lurking just outside the top ranks is The Ultimate Warrior! He regained his Intercontinental Championship from the man who defeated him - himself a recent Top 10 name: Rick Rude. The Warrior makes for the perfect WWF rival to rising NWA star Sting! The painted star will have a shot to surpass his rivals when NWA/WCW return in October with Halloween Havoc!

 

Top Ten Singles PPV Players

#1 [--] Randy Savage (11-5-0) (WWF)
#2 [--] Hulk Hogan (8-2-1) (WWF) [World Heavyweight Champion]
#3 [--] Ric Flair (8-3-1) (NWA) [World Heavyweight Champion]
#4 [+1] Road Warrior Hawk (7-2-0) (NWA)
#5 [-1] Ricky Steamboat (7-5-0) (NWA)
#6 [--] Smash (6-3-0) (WWF)
#7 [+3] Road Warrior Animal (6-3-0) (NWA)
#8 [RE] Sting (5-0-2) (NWA) [World Television Champion]
#9 [-2] Brutus Beefcake (5-2-2) (WWF)
#10 [-2] Dynamite Kid (5-3-1) (WWF)
 

Top Ten Tag Team PPV Players

#1 [--] Road Warrior Hawk & Animal (6-2-0) (NWA)
#2 [--] Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane (4-1-0) (NWA)
#3 [--] Ax & Smash (4-2-0) (WWF)
#4 [--] Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart (4-3-0) (WWF)
#5 [--] Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson (3-0-0) (NWA)
#6 [--] Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (3-1-1) (WWF)
#7 [--] Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid (3-2-1) (WWF)
#8 [--] Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik (2-0-0) (WWF)
#9 [--] Paul Roma & Jim Powers (2-0-0) (WWF)
#10 [--] Andre the Giant & Rick Rude (2-0-0) (WWF)

Top Womens PPV Players
#1 [--] The Fabulous Moolah (2-0-0) (WWF)
#2 [--] Rockin' Robin (2-0-0) (WWF) [Women's Champion]
#3 [--] Wendi Richter (1-0-0) (WWF)
#4 [--] Itsuki Yamazaki (1-0-0) (WWF)
#5 [--] Noriyo Tateno (1-0-0) (WWF)

 

Recent Pay-Per-View Event Results
- WCW Halloween Havoc (October 28, 1989)
- WWF Summerslam (August 28, 1989)
- NWA The Great American Bash '89 (July 23, 1989)
- NWA WrestleWar (May 7, 1989)
- WWF Wrestlemania V (April 2, 1989)
- NWA Chi-Town Rumble (February 20, 1989)

 

The Pay-Per-View Players rankings intend to take into account pay-per-view events promoted by NWA, WWF, WCW, ECW, WWE & TNA wrestling organizations. Only broadcast results contribute to the cumulative tally of win/loss record of wrestlers. Pre-show matches will not be included.

Wrestling: Pay-Per-View Players #18 - May 1989

#1 Randy Savage [--] (11-4-0) (WWF)

The Varsity Club contests the NWA World & US Tag Team Championships in a surprising double header at the close of the first WCW produced WrestleWar! More pertinent to the top of the rankings was the NWA World Heavyweight Championship match that saw Ric Flair reclaim the title belt from Ricky Steamboat! The battle included special guest judges: Terry Funk, Pat O'Connor and Lou Thesz!

The Road Warriors emerge victorious against Mike Rotunda & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, but fail to capture the World Tag Team Championships via the disqualification finish. Fellow Varsity Club members Kevin Sullivan & Dan Spivey were unsuccessful in their attempts to take the US Tag Team titles from the combination of Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner.

With their DQ win, The Road Warriors become the top ranked NWA Tag Team, surpassing The Rock 'n' Roll Express in their absence from pay-per-view. "Dynamic Dudes" Shane Douglas & Johnny Ace debut as Pay-Per-View Players with a win over The Samoan Swat Team. The rise of Sting continues with another win -- this time defending the NWA World Television Championship against The Iron Sheik. The United States Heavyweight title changed hands, leaving Lex Luger with another loss courtesy of Michael Hayes.

The NWA has the inside track as the pay-per-view countdown heads toward the summer! The Great American Bash comes around for another year in July, with WWF's Summerslam the following August. The momentum is NWA's to seize! Let's see how it unfolds!

 

Top Ten Singles PPV Players

#1 [--] Randy Savage (11-4-0) (WWF)
#2 [--] Hulk Hogan (7-2-1) (WWF) [World Heavyweight Champion]
#3 [--] Ricky Steamboat (7-4-0) (NWA)
#4 [--] Ric Flair (6-3-1) (NWA) [World Heavyweight Champion]
#5 [+5] Road Warrior Hawk (5-2-0) (NWA)
#6 [-1] Dynamite Kid (5-3-1) (WWF)
#7 [-1] Smash (5-3-0) (WWF) [Tag Team Champion]
#8 [-1] Rick Rude (4-1-1) (WWF) [Intercontinental Champion]
#9 [-1] Brutus Beefcake (4-2-2) (WWF)
#10 [-1] Davey Boy Smith (4-2-1) (WWF)
 

Top Ten Tag Team PPV Players

#1 [--] Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart (4-2-0) (WWF)
#2 [+4] Road Warrior Hawk & Animal (4-2-0) (NWA)
#3 [-1] Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson (3-0-0) (NWA)
#4 [-1] Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane (3-0-0) (NWA)
#5 [-1] Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid (3-2-1) (WWF)
#6 [-1] Ax & Smash (3-2-0) (WWF) [Tag Team Champions]
#7 [--] Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik (2-0-0) (WWF)
#8 [--] Paul Roma & Jim Powers (2-0-0) (WWF)
#9 [--] Andre the Giant & Rick Rude (2-0-0) (WWF)
#10 [--] Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage (2-0-0) (WWF)

Top Womens PPV Players
#1 [--] The Fabulous Moolah (2-0-0) (WWF)
#2 [--] Rockin' Robin (2-0-0) (WWF) [Women's Champion]
#3 [--] Wendi Richter (1-0-0) (WWF)
#4 [--] Itsuki Yamazaki (1-0-0) (WWF)
#5 [--] Noriyo Tateno (1-0-0) (WWF)

 

Recent Pay-Per-View Event Results
- NWA WrestleWar (May 7, 1989)
- WWF Wrestlemania V (April 2, 1989)
- NWA Chi-Town Rumble (February 20, 1989)
- WWF Royal Rumble (January 15, 1989)
- NWA Starrcade '88 (December 26, 1988)
- WWF Survivor Series (November 24, 1988)

 

The Pay-Per-View Players rankings intend to take into account pay-per-view events promoted by NWA, WWF, WCW, ECW, WWE & TNA wrestling organizations. Only broadcast results contribute to the cumulative tally of win/loss record of wrestlers. Pre-show matches will not be included.

AdVantage Point: WWF Royal Rumble (1993)

Give an idiot a scanner and a comic book and let him pick out all the advertisements for video games.
This is AdVantage Point -- a chance to document the winding timeline of comics/gaming history as it was canonized by the adverts. Musings, rantings, observations, stream of consciousness.

 

The observant and thorough among you might recognise me from my brief tenure as a writer earlier in the decade for Prowrestling.com. If this revelation somehow startles you, it shouldn't. The appeal of professional wrestling isn't so different from any instance of comics, movies, or video games.
The latter, and principle concern of 1up.com, is particularly relevant since the mid-nineties, when gaming and wrestling become powerful allies. For me, this was never about the adolescent power fantasy, as much as it was the chance to download and interact with even more of the distinct characters and extravagant storylines that elevated pro wrestling to sports entertainment.

In that respect, American pro wrestling isn't so different to plonking down in front of Street Fighter II.
[Before the advent of UFC and MMA in the mainstream]; American wrestlers were instantly recognisable characters of limited, but vivid dimension, defined by their explosive friendships and rivalries, key concerns, and the trademarked moves through which they dispersed their passionate resolve for both.

Like a blue and yellow qipao, a battle earned chest scar, or an unmistakable rising dragon punch, prowrestlers wore their character boldly for all to see. Occasionally, they even did so with the same supernatural spirit of any hadou-ki wielding world warrior, defiantly shaking off the blows of a villainous rival, or striking down with a vengeful bolt of pulsating blue lightning.

Clearly I'm not the first person to realise this, past, or present.

In the early nineties, the power of pro wrestling was captured in sprites through a spate of 8 and 16 bit arcade-style brawlers. While Acclaim were rolling out the licensed smackdown of WWF Royal Rumble; Capcom took their Final Fight wrestler-turned-mayor, "Macho" Mike Haggar, and threw him back into his native environment as part of the line-up of the fictional CWA promotion in,  Saturday Night Slam Masters.

Slam Masters added a plane of movement akin to Final Fight's street roaming, confining the action to the squared circle, but with the extra illusion of depth absent from Street Fighter's side-to-side fisticuffs. The emphasis on styles of grappling (and lucha libre) also meant the action was more immediately engaging, speeding up the cumbersome balance of Zangief's lumbering holds to let the slams, bombs, and presses fly at rapid speed!

These days, the simulative emphasis of wrestling games is far more indepth.
Since their 2001 buy-out of competition, World Championship Wrestling; WWE have been the undisputed title holder of American pro wrestling games. Newest rivals, TNA Wrestling [Impact!], and the likes of legendary fan-favourite industry simulator, Fire Pro Wrestling, have taken shots at the top, but none have been able to dethrone the definitive grip of the annual Smackdown! (vs RAW) series [2009], or the recent nostalgia expansion, Legends of Wrestlemania.

Yes, there are other wrestling games out there. Some of them, probably pretty good, too.
None, however, have had the penetration of the examples listed, which is exactly why I think it's long overdue for Capcom to dust-off the early nineties classic and give it the old college puroresu ganbaru!

For me, a simple update to the classic 2D wrestler won't do.
Where Street Fighter IV was able to capitalize on conservative nostalgia, I want Slam Masters to be an opportunity to invent something fondly familiar, but new. I want the structure of the game to flirt with a hybrid of arcade fighters and pro wrestling simulators, whilst more boldly drawing upon the history of the company to truly represent a "Capcom Wrestling Association" (CWA).

The trick would be to never lose sight of the directive of the game.
Like the original Slam Masters; a retro revival should recapture the over-the-top action that made the series individual at the time, following on from the same exaggerated ethic that made Street Fighter's martial artists household names. Yet -- it would be imperative that it not veer too far from the basic structure of a professional wrestling organization, employing only suitable fighters, and applying that to a setting and context familiar to the sport (and entertainment).

Since I wasn't able to find an advert for Slam Masters from the time, I might cut it off here.
Taking (further) inspiration from "BigMex," perhaps we'll come back tomorrow to talk more about how Capcom's extensive history with pro wrestling could facilitate such a game. Characters, concepts, gameplay, and whatever else tickles the fancy.

If you haven't already, you simply must check out his series of Based on a True Story... reposts, discussing and detailing some of the real-life inspirations for Capcom characters, and how they've come to adapt to twenty years of gaming, wrestling, and MMA. Parts 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, 7 & 8, 9 & 10, and Final, are required reading for any fans of indulging in the fiction of these classic games.

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8992512