Between The Sheets

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week-plus that was January 1-9, 2001. Topics of discussion include:The final ECW PPV, Guilty As Charged 2001, with a full in-depth rundown of everything that happened on the screen and backstage at a volatile time in ECW history being that they were about to close their doors.Rob Van Dam as the big "surprise" on the show and how that was received.ECW leaving TV alltogether and wrestlers still being behind on pay.An update on WCW being for sale and how close they were to an announcement being made regarding finding a buyer.Thunder and Nitro featuring Ric Flair's mysterious masked man and lots of other wackiness.New Japan running Wrestling World 2001 at the Tokyo Dome featuring a stacked card with the IWGP Heavyweight Title tournament featuring Toshiaki Kawada, plus Shinya Hashimoto facing off with Riki Choshu in a "shoot" among other matches.Lots of other news and results from Japan, including DEEP’s debut event.An article about how torn the Ha

Kris & Bix are joined by Ian Riccaboni (@IanRiccaboni) to discuss the week that was December 27, 1991 through January 2, 1992. Ian joined us for the WCW and WWF sections, and it was a blast having him back on. Topics of discussion include:WCW Starrcade ’91 starring BATTLE BOWL: THE LETHAL LOTTERY and all of the wackiness that went on there with the pairings of the tag matches and the angles on the show.Jushin Thunder Liger and Brian Pillman tearing it up on the WCW house shows during Christmas week.P.N. News finds out the hard way about messing with Rick Rude.Tokyo Sports and Super Luchas give out their year-end awards.Abu Wizal promotes a Stampede Wrestling revival without the Hart family seal of approval.Brian Christopher turns heel for the first time in Memphis.One of the greatest TV tapings in Global Wrestling Federation's history, featuring the Lightning Kid vs. Jerry Lynn and Eddie Gilbert vs. Terry Garvin Simms 2/3 falls matches.Portland Wrestling's final TV show on KPTV.WWF's stormy ye

It's a BETWEEN THE SHEETS CHRISTMAS!!!! this week as Kris and David are joined by our dear friends Beau James (@kingofkingsport) & Robert O'Connor (@ghostofquinones) to discuss the week-plus that was December 20-29, 1985. Topics of discussion include:Stan Hansen becoming the AWA World Heavyweight Champion by beating Rick Martel at a Pro Wrestling USA show at the Meadowlands.Problems onscreen between Tully Blanchard and Baby Doll.The greatness of Ric Flair at the time, specifically his amazing match with Ronnie Garvin on the 12/28 episode of World Championship Wrestling.The Christmas week house show schedule for all of the American promotions and how good or bad the shows did at the box office for everyone involved.The short life of Southern All-Star Wrestling in Knoxville.A recap of the Stud Stable vs. the Armstrongs in Continental.The buildup for the second Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee loser leaves town match, which ended with Lawler leaving Memphis.The birth of the Blade Runners on Memphis TV as

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the (almost-)week that was December 13-18, 1997. Topics of discussion include:Fans going completely insane and rioting at WWF house shows in Memphis and Little Rock plus at the live WCW Monday Nitro in Charlotte with far too many fans hitting the ring.Vince McMahon's "Cure for the Common Show" speech on Raw that sort of “officially” kicked off the “Attitude Era.”“Stone Cold” Steve Austin throwing the Intercontinental Title belt off a bridge as part of his initial feud with The RockThe Ken Shamrock vs. Nobuhiko Takada fight that was booked for UFC Ultimate Japan falling apart…if it was ever going to happen in the first place.Tokyo Sports announcing the winners of their 1997 awards, which were as political as ever.The Brennan Brothers drawing a big house for AAA in Mexico.The future of Stevie Richards' career being in serious doubt due to his neck issues.An update on the USWA lawsuits with XL Sports suing everyone else.WCW wrestlers brawl with fans at a

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was December 6-14, 1990. Topics of discussion include:The state of the search for a new booker in WCW, with Dusty Rhodes seemingly being the lead candidate or maybe already secretly having the job.Barry Windham taking control of the dressing room at the TV tapings and how barely anyone caught on to what was likely going on with him serving as Dusty’s proxy.Lots of debuts in WCW at the TV tapings, including Konnan, Larry Cameron, Steve DiSalvo as The Minotaur.Teddy Long taking Ric Flair out for a ride in Flair's limo.AJPW's year ending with the Real World Tag League and how it capped off a great year for the promotion despite the turmoil stemming from the SWS talent raid.NJPW doing big business while pushing Scott Norton.as the newest big foreign monster.The first ever SWS/WWF joint shows.CMLL doing big business with their year-end shows at Arena Mexico.Dick Slater’s stunt work in the climactic scene of Rocky V.The Fabulous Ones reunite in Memphi

Kris and David are joined by Kevin Lyon a.k.a.TARO (@loknloll) to discuss the week that was November 29-December 5, 2004. Topics of discussion in Part 2 include: Konnan returning to AAA for their Guerra de Titanes show which does mega business.CM Punk and Samoa Joe headlining a very interesting ROH show at the RexPlex.The final show from the original Revolution Pro Wrestling in southern California, with lots of stories from Kevin about why it happened, as well as from the show itself.Paul Heyman's removal from the WWE creative team and all the various stories about why that happened, many of which sounded like Paul was telling them.HHH promoting his book with various interviews where he has some interesting things to say.Randy Orton serving as Raw General Manager for the week and showing off his immense talent as a lingerie contest host.SmackDown featuring the Tough Enough guys dressing up as women to try to seduce Hardcore Holly.That's just the tip of the iceberg, as this is a crazy loaded show that

Kris and David are joined by Kevin Lyon a.k.a.TARO (@loknloll) to discuss the week that was November 29-December 5, 2004. Topics of discussion in Part 1 include: The uncertainty of TNA's existence as there were major problems mounting behind the scenes.An in-depth rundown of TNA's "Turning Point" PPV which, despite the turmoil behind the scenes, was one of the best in-ring PPV's of the era, featuring America's Most Wanted vs. XXX in one of the greatest matches in company history.AJPW's Real World Tag League doing terrible business at the gate.Kenta Kobashi facing off with Mike Awesome in NOAH.The beginning of ZERO-ONE MAX.…and more. Listen to to Part 2 for Latin America, the indies (including Revolution Pro’s final show), and WWE.Timestamps:0:00:00 NWA-TNA1:34:05 Eurasia: AJPW, NJPW, Dragon Gate, Michinoku Pro, Osaka Pro, AtoZ, Riki Pro, ICWA, IWW, & The Wrestling ChannelTo support the show and get access to exclusive rewards like special members-only monthly themed shows, go t

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was November 22-28, 1989. Topics of discussion include:The state of wrestling on Thanksgiving Day and how much it had changed in the back half of the 1980's.Ric Flair officially becoming the chairman of the WCW booking committee and why that was a bad thing for him.The Midnight Express “refusing to wrestle” on TBS.Ric Flair and The Great Muta having a big main event on World Championship Wrestling on the same show where Kevin Sullivan debuts as the new color analyst, albeit not for long.The New York Times spotlighting WCW with a major story.Giant Baba being impressed by the Nasty Boys in AJPW and caving in to the fans’ demands for the return of Rip Rogers.An update on Seiji Sakaguchi's business dealing with WCW.Koji Kitao working under a mask in the AWA to get reps in before his NJPW debut at the Tokyo Dome.Ed Whalen being absent from Stampede TV in its final weeks.Jerry Blackwell's extremely bad luck with his health and in his personal life

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was November 15-21, 1998, a week that was requested by William Lanham with a $25 pledge on our Patreon. Topics of discussion include:A full rundown of Survivor Series 1998: Deadly Game featuring The Rock and Shane McMahon turning heel as part of the tournament that crowned Rock as the new WWF Champion.Vince McMahon and Steve Austin's real life relationship possibly being on the rocks.A wild Raw featuring a cameo from Judge Mills Lane as well as Road Warrior Hawk and Droz climbing the Titantron.Shawn Michaels returning to the WWF as the new on-screen Commissioner.Chris Cruise writing a scathing letter to the Observer about the current state of the WWF.Vader and Stan Hansen raising hell in All Japan’s Real World Tag League.Masahiro Chono's career being in serious jeopardy.Atsushi Onita showing up in New Japan to set up his 1999 appearances.Some of the WCW-contracted luchadores getting ready to work for CMLL against their WWF-contracted counterpart

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was November 8-14, 2000. Topics of discussion include:Updates on the status of the potential sale of WCW and how Jerry Jarrett is possibly playing a role in it.An interesting episode of Thunder featuring the infamous segment where Lenita Erickson interviews Bob Sapp.A wacky Nitro from London, England.The saga of Peter Goldschmidt and Robert Catell, which you have to hear to believe.Shinya Hashimoto getting "fired" by New Japan.Tons of Japanese indie results.El Hijo del Santo gets betrayed by two partners in the same match.Scott Hall making his ECW debut to some mixed reactions from the talent backstage.An update on the health of the Sinister Minister/Jim Mitchell and ECW exploiting his injury for TV ratings.Sabu winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title.WrestleMania X-Seven doing big business on its first day of ticket sales, with a future WWF Superstar visible in the crowd at the ticket onsale press conference.WWFE sues L. Brent Bozell and his Pa

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was November 1-7, 1987. Topics of discussion include:Strike Force winning the WWF Tag Team Titles from The Hart Foundation on the first Superstars of Wrestling of November Sweeps.Billy Jack Haynes passing out at the Nassau Coliseum.Ivan Putski getting screwed by a Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission referee at the Spectrum in Philly.Genichiro Tenryu and Hiroshi Wajima having their first singles battle.Horny Ed Whalen eyeballing Miss Honey.Corporal Kirchner and The Zodiac cutting some incredibly bizarre promos on Stampede TV.Bob Backlund of all people cutting an amazing promo on ICW TV of all places.Nick Gulas hooking up with WOW in Alabama.Carl Styles doing his standard glass eye angle in Memphis.Lots of territories struggling at the gate.Dave Meltzer not feeling the current state of Jim Crockett Promotions.The greatness of Mighty Wilbur and his babyface turn on “Puddin’ Head” Paul Jones.All of this and so much more on yet another extremely fun 80

With this year's rule changes and neither Kris or David having done any podcasts about the 2023 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ballot, we decided to do this one! We go over everyone on the ballot and weigh their candidacies in varying levels of detail, including who we think are no-brainers. Enjoy!To support the show and get access to exclusive rewards like special members-only monthly themed shows, go to our Patreon page at Patreon.com/BetweenTheSheets and become an ongoing Patron. Becoming a Between the Sheets Patron will also get you exclusive access to not only the monthly themed episode of Between the Sheets, but also access to our new mailbag segment, a Patron-only chat room on Slack, and anything else we do outside of the main shows!If you’re looking for the best deal on a VPN service—short for Virtual Private Network, it helps you get around regional restrictions as well as browse the internet more securely—then Private Internet Access is what you’ve been looking for. Not only will usi

Kris and David are joined by Robert O'Connor (@ghostofquinones) to discuss the week that was October 25-31, 1984. Topics of discussion include:World Class running their first ever Cotton Bowl show featuring the return of Sunshine, Chris Adams cementing his heel turn on Kevin Von Erich, and lots more.World Class ramping up the use of blood for the first time since the promotion started booming, which could be causing problems at the gate.A wild and wacky group of foreigners on tour with All Japan.Dave Meltzer's thoughts on Pro Wrestling USA and how valid they were.J.J. Dillon and the Long Riders making things hard for Vic Steamboat and the crew at his brother’s Mid-Atlantic Gym.Jimmy Hart making his debut on TBS for Ole's group and turning it on it's ear.Jay Youngblood giving Ric Flair a run for his money in Florida.An amazing Korstia Korchenko video airing in Memphis.Mid-South TV being the best in the country at the time with plenty of examples.The WWF going to war with Bob Geigel in St. Louis

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the (almost-)week that was October 18-23, 2001, a Patreon pick requested by Brian Peterson, who threw down the $25 to select this week. Topics of discussion include:The state of wrestling as the WWF is trending downward across multiple business metrics.The tragic end of Hayabusa's career and how it changed Japanese wrestling forever.Keiji Muto winning yet another AJPW belt as he is getting more comfortable there.Major problems within Team 2000 in New JapanNOAH crowning their first-ever set of GHC Tag Champions.Andrew McManus’s World Wrestling All-Stars having an…interesting debut show in Perth.WrestleExpress finally runs a show in England.La Parka turning on El Hijo del Santo in Tijuana.Just who was the money man behind the XWF?Mikey Whipwreck's "retirement" show on Long Island.The beginning of the end end of Main Event Championship WrestlinginDemand wanting to get more pro wrestling on the pay-per-view schedule to make up for revenue lost from variou

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the (almost-)week was October 12-17, 1996. Topics of discussion include:Bret Hart making the final decision about his future and talks about it in his Calgary Sun column.Uncertainty about Curt Hennig's in-ring future.Vader's match for his second episode of Boy Meets World being taped at an Anaheim house show.Crush having an issue with a "fan" who may or may not be a future world champion.“The Real Double J” Jesse Jammess talking about his singing background.All sorts of news and results from Japan, featuring Giant Baba and Seiji Sakaguchi arguing over Hiroshi HaseKonnan officially splitting from Antonio Peña and AAA as the bad blood starts boiling over.Dennis Coralluzzo having issues with scrutiny of his fundraisers in New Jersey.Jerry Lawler being pissed off that Nitro is in MemphisAll kinds of fun clips from Paul Alperstein's American Wrestling FederationRandy Savage and Sting's WCW contracts being up soon.Nitro in Memphis featuring an aweso

Kris and David are joined by Dr. Keith Lipinski (@KeithLipinski) to discuss the week that was October 4-10, 1998. Topics of discussion include:How the peak popularity of the Monday Night War are adversely affecting the Nielsen ratings of Monday Night Football.Brian Hildebrand getting the worst possible news about his health and how he planned to deal with it.One of the absolute wildest episodes of WCW Monday Nitro that ever aired on TNT, featuring the birth of the Latino World Order, Judy Bagwell going off on her son for the first time, Hulk Hogan seeing The Ultimate Warrior in the mirror, Mike Tenay & The Wolfpack’s bar crawl to find Scott Hall, Reid Flair’s TV debut, Sonny Onoo abandoning Kaz Hayashi for Ernest Miller, and tons more. (And a wacky episode of Thunder, as well.)Bob Backlund returning to Japan to work for BattlARTS in the B-Cup tournament.Alexander Karelin signs with RINGS for a match with the retiring Akira Maeda.In The Readers’ Pages of the Observer, Howard Brody tees off on ECW with rega

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was September 27-October 2, 1991. Topics of discussion include:Hulk Hogan giving quite the interview to the St. Petersburg Times on his “Suburban Commando” media tour, where he talks about steroid use and other interesting topics.The WWF adding a new PPV the week after Survivor Series and changing their road schedule as a well to help ease their financial problems.Sgt. Slaughter wanting his country back.Vince McMahon getting nailed with a chair by Roddy Piper in one of the wildest angles ever to air on WWF television.Tsuruta-gun vs. Super Generation Army feud raging hot and heavy in AJPW.An update on the luchadores’ strike, including the possible timeline for when it could end.Jerry Lawler cutting a classic promo about how wrestling changed thanks to cable television.An update on who The Boss was originally supposed to be in the GWF, including how WCW screwed everything up.Scott Steiner getting injured in “a chainsaw accident.”All of this and a lot more

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the (almost-)week that was September 20-24, 1992, a Patron-requested show. Matthew Finnie laid down the $25 on our Patreon page for this week because he was at some of the WWF TV tapings in Manitoba, and you can pick your own week by doing the same thing. Topics of discussion include:The state of the cable TV wrestling ratings and house show attendance, which were both hitting all-time lows around this time.“Cowboy” Bill Watts speaking very candidly to Dave Meltzer about a number of topics in WCW, including Brian Pillman's status, the top rope rule, and lots more in a tremendous look into his psyche at this time.A major New Japan show in Yokohama that’s unfortunately best-remembered for the major injuries suffered by Rick Steiner and especially Masahiro Chono.The NJPW vs. WAR feud heating up.An update on the status of the Takano brothers and the details they gave the media about SWS splitting into WAR and NOW, with SWS owner Hachiro Tanaka providing start-up cost

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the (almost-)week of September 13-18, 1987. Topics of discussion include:“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan making his return to the WWF after his firing for the New Jersey Turnpike arrest and how he was presented.“Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase's hatred of children.Randy Savage being upset at The Honky Tonk Man as his babyface turn is kicking into gear.Richard Belzer officially filing his famous personal injury lawsuit against Hulk Hogan and the WWF.NEW Leaders vs. NOW Leaders is going strong in New Japan even though Akira Maeda is being phased own.Corporal Kirchner debuts in Stampede.Big hair and mask matches in Mexico.Robert Fuller becoming the new Tennessee Stud in Continental.Week Two of WHEEL OF TORTURE in Memphis.The Iron Sheik debuting in a desolate World Class territory.Buddy Landel debuting in the AWA and lasting exactly one TV taping before quitting.The main Jim Crockett Promotions roster takes the week off for a company trip to St. Martin for the annual NWA conven

Kris and David are guestless as we discuss the week that was September 6-12, 1992. Topics of discussion include:Major drama behind the scenes at World Championship Wrestling involving Bill Watts and his "budget cuts,” specifically involving his attempts to renegotiate the contracts of Brian Pillman, Rick Rude, and Sting. We have stories from all sides of the situation, including an explosive Torch Talk that Watts did with Wade Keller about the contract talks.WCW rescinding the top rope rule or at least starting to, WCW house show business issues, Erik Watts making his first TV appearance, and tons more in a FANTASTIC section.The greatness of the Toshiaki Kawada vs. Akira Taue feud in AJPW.Heisei Ishingun picking up steam in NJPW.The AAA vs. CMLL war raging big in Mexico as people are jumping ship left and right.The Rock ’n’ Roll Express on the local segments of Jerry Lewis telethon on a station in West VirginiaMike Samples and Eddie Marlin fighting over “ownership” of the USWA on TV.The complete INSANITY