LOST IN DAVENPORT 9/15/00
by John Peacock (aka Stardust)

I guess you could say James and myself have been having a contest to see who could go the longest without writing a column (not that we really are or anything, we're just both more worried about getting our AJ tapes). I've won, HA! .........er.......yeah

Well, here I am ready to break my silence here on psychofed.com. Currently, I'm working on a much longer in depth column about the last few months (the Iowa show, last Oshkosh trip, ect) but that will take me a while to finish, so here's a little article to keep things fresh, basically a random thoughts article. I'm at school typing this so I'm just going to type whatever comes into my head. Some stuff about nothing really, some stuff about the pros, whatever I think of....enjoy

-Used CD shops RULE, seriously, they do. Where else could sell a Blink 182 CD (that
you got accidenly from a CD club) for $1, then turn to the $1 CD rack the shop has and pick up a NIN single. Support local CD shops more then the big chain Sam Goody ones, please, I'm begging you people. I was with Tybolt on our last trip there and he picked up a CD of artist from the Quad Cities that he says is really terrible.

-Boy that last paragraph a whole lot of nothing

-Ask me what my favorite period in WWF history was and I'll say it's easily 1997 WWF. Sure there were a few sour spots (LOD, NOD, LB (Los Borquiesreatga.......err....Savio's
Gang, and the DOA) but the entire Michaels-Hart-Undertaker angles were great. I went threw a tape of Raws from the summer of 1997 til November 97 and realized how great it was. I was really into The Patriot to for some reason, always liked the guy. Del didn't
have the biggest moveset or anything, but he fit so perfectly in the USA-Canada feud it isn't funny. It's too bad he destroyed his bicep or whatever it was, because I could really see him as a heel today with Kurt Angle.

The shows also reminded me how much I miss seeing Brian Pillman. I remember sitting at my computer the night of IYH: Badd Blood (I didn't order the PPV, my mistake cause I still haven't seen HITC 1 yet) and hearing on the Free-For-All that Brian had died. In the, at that point, 8 years I had been watching wrestling, this was the first ever death of a performer I enjoyed and cheered for. I'll always miss seeing Brian work, he was a true inspiration to every other wrestler working. It's hard not to think that if he was still with us, Brian would be at the forefront of the more adult and storyline based WWF. Brian Pillman post ankle surgery wasn't the same wrestler, but he evolved into a great twisted heel. He was a great entertainer, performer, and from what I've seen, person. We still miss you Brian

Ok, now we'll get a little less serious I guess. 1997 was such an awesome year, I mean, that was the beginning of the light hea....wait a minutes, the WWF Light Heavyweight
title means NOTHING!! Anyone tell me what happened to the OLD LH title? Wasn't it one of the belts in the J-Crown? If so, guess that WWF LH Title is one of two WWF belts ever to make it on WCW Nitro (when Dragon brought the J-Crown over during his CW Title reign). The other belt of course being the WWF Worthle...........I mean Woman's belt. Then again, the WWF Woman's title used to have a ton of crediblility, because really, Moolah held it 57237 years, a year for ever time Hogan refused to job (sorry, had to put a Hogan slam in there, need one every column).

My point being (IF there is one) is 97 was a fun year, I’m still looking for the first Vader-Shamrock match and a good copy of Badd Blood, feel free to send them to me!

-Next Point: No.....I’m not going to talk about NEXT.....well, ok, I will.
NEXT, once he gets some more training under his belt, is going to become the best destroyer in BYW History. It’s almost too bad his debut was sorta rushed, but his role of p4 enforcer doesn’t require too much workrate. Anyway, there are other things I believe that have NEXT out there in top matches so early, but I like him, and either way I think Rob’s taking it personally to make him a huge star in one year. Good luck!

-In what may be surprised, you could count the number of BYW tapes I own on about one hand, or maybe two if you count tapes I’ve made of pF stuff. I’ve seen mostly SWA,
pF (duh), GEW, and EDW. Oh yeah, and a BECW tape before they became HCW.
I’d like to think that after about 9 years in BYW (it’s true, trust me), that without sounding like i’m boasting, I can think of a few things that make a backyard wrestling match good.

1. Time limit. Gee, this is a HUGE problem with A TON of backyard feds, I’m sorry, but 30 mins should be the limit for most any backyard match! No matter what in
my opinion. The Rob-Rich Ironman match I watched was good, I’ll give it that. The reason for making backyard matches not go past 30 mins (or 20 in a bunch of cases) is because 86.7% of the time, backyard wrestlers don’t have the grasp on in ring psychology or in match storylines to work a 45 or 60 minute match like the pro......used to do! I’m sorry, but spots fest (which many backyard matches turn into) don’t do much for me unless they are short. The thing is at times I’ve seen alright backyarder morph into RVD and take 15 minutes to set up one damn springboard legdrop. That’s just insane. Another reason behind the time issue is actually watching it later, this goes moreso for those who might buy BYW tapes not knowing what to expect. It’s not to fun to see a great opening music video then see a long 45 minute match with two high spots (that were on said music video) that right off the bat can make the person who bought your tape become bored and stop watching.

2. Movesets! Let’s be honest, backyards aren’t the best in the world with lucha counterholds and rollups and crap, or Malenko-Guerrero exchanges, we’re not supposed to be good at that yet. Some try :P but oh well. But if there’s one thing about BYW I’ve always enjoyed it’s the fact that many backyarders, while maybe not being the best at sequence work, have good movesets. Falcon Arrows, Michiwhatever Drivers, Blue Thunders, ect ect Hell, a bunch of moves that you don’t see in the big two
too often can really make a backyard match look 100 times better, if only for the fact that the pros don’t do those moves a lot (unless it’s Japan or something, but that’s besides the point).

3. Announcing: This is a short one
Bad backyard announcing : “oh wow, what a move.......hey dude, pass me my cola.......what time is it?” Good backyard announcing: “spine destroying chokeslam by Dr. X! I don’t think Pez Whatley is going to get up from that!”

Point being, announcers should know the moves and actually like
wrestling.......but what is Pez Whatley doing in BYW? Oh well, I’m a Dr. X mark!

Just a few brainless points there.

-Well on pF’s page the early MOTYC have been put up (make sure to vote! smackdown the vote.....) I won’t say which match I voted for, but keep the picks coming in.

After seeing that I thought about what would be the DWF matches of the year, here we go:

1. Rocky Relentless vs Soilent Green (In Your House, Really In Your House): At that time, the best brawl in the DWF history. The first meeting between these two in six or seven months. Some good spots in this that still hold up today (pedigree on the roof of Rocky’s house, and Rocky’s dive down the stairs). Only drawback is the real lack of build up or background story. Still a really good 2 out of 3 falls, contradicts the 30 minute rule I put up above (clocking in at around 45 mins) but still, very very good. Possibly Rocky’s breakout match and even though a loss (his first EVER!) the beginning of Soilent's World Title quest.

2. Rocky Relentless vs Papa Fly (CoC 2000, chairs match): first of it’s kind for the DWF. Nice pacing in this and some good spots. Brutal Tomakaze onto a chair from Papa Fly and sweet Open Fly to end it. Rocky gets in some good chair shots. Very good match on what was considered the first good DWF show of 2000, and best match that day. These two just work great togeather.

3. Stardust vs Rocky Relentless (Wars End): if only for the heat in this one. Though this occured a week or so after things had cooled down between me and Rocky,we went in there hoping to make it look like we legit still hated each other. Another good match, and brawl. Camera problems really hurt getting some spots on the tape, but oh well. At this point, my best DWF match, and in my opinion Rocky’s best match at this point. One problem was the messed finished with a way to late run in, but that aside, very good.

4. Tybolt Lemur vs Angel of Death vs Papa Fly (Panic in Davenport): SPOT, REST, SPOT! HA! A good outing that started the quickly ended hardcore trend hehe, just kidding. A good match, some good spots for us. One of Tybolt’s better matches with his A++ character shining though. One of my favorite DWF match endings ever. Good match to establish the QC Title as a real belt.

5. IYH 2: Soilent vs Rocky vs Stardust vs Reckless (August Conflict): Very good second In Your House match, half as long as the first one almost (25 mins) but some great spots. Stiffness is turned up a bit and Rocky’s Fire Thunder Powerbomb on Rich INTO a pool with a sick landing by Rich is one of the top DWF Highlights of the year. Pefect match to set up Soilent vs Rocky at the next show. Rich gets elevated in this match. Very very good.

6. Stardust vs Shane Hunt (MT 2000): Simply said, I consider this my best match ever and Shane as my best opponent ever. We work really well together. I won’t go into it much because I hate talking about my own matches a lot of times. Crappy ending spot, but it was my idea :) it was gonna suck. Really good, but I don’t think MOTY if only because it’s not all-DWF

7. Papa Fly vs Justin Sane vs Psycho Rob (MT 2000): Papa Fly takes it to another level and rocks in this match. Usual great stuff from Rob and “Justun Over” hehe. Some great spots, Double German Suplex Spot stands out, powerbomb from a table, ect. Really great pF Title match.

8. Rob/NEXT/Stardust/Static vs Papa Fly/Shane/Justin/Madman: The DWF money match of the show. Great psychology, great spots, great heel and face work. Damn near
perfect 8 man. Right up there with the SC Showdown eightman, if not a little bit better because the match storyline ROCKED! Death of Ricky Highspots were great, and the ending of “Madman Kills Stardust DEAD” is my favorite DWF match ending ever.

And there they are... the eight MOTYC so far. We have a few more coming in the next few months with the Madman-Stardust match about 30 days from happening, another Rocky-Papa Fly match, and the always improving Rich Reckless vs Soilent feud. We’re on a terrific hot streak, I can only hope it keeps up and live it up while it’s going.

Well, that’s all for right now, catch you all later.

-Stardust