Opinion

Cook’s Top 5: 1990 Wrestling Memories

2020 marks my thirtieth anniversary of becoming a wrestling fan. I know what you’re thinking right now…

Published

5 years ago

May 7, 2020

Steve Cook

2020 marks my thirtieth anniversary of becoming a wrestling fan. I know what you’re thinking right now…

“Damn, Cook, you’re old!”

Well, you’re not wrong. It’s somewhat amazing and disturbing to think that I’ve been watching pro wrestling in some form or fashion for thirty years, pretty much non-stop. Sure, there were times where my faith was shaken, and I’ve faded in and out on various promotions, but I’ve always answered the “You don’t watch that stuff, do you?” question with “Yes, I watch that stuff”.

Which wasn’t always easy! Sixth grade sucked. The Attitude Era was pretty fun though, and ever since it’s been a fine thing to admit to. I probably shouldn’t have worn quite as many wrestling-related t-shirts when I still had a chance of attracting a mate, but hindsight is 20/20. What can ya do?

I can celebrate thirty years with the one thing that hasn’t let me down as much as most things have.

Cook’s Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration will be a big part of the next thirty weeks here at The Chairshot. Each week, we’ll count down my five biggest wrestling memories from a year that I’ve been a fan. Most of them will be positive memories. Some will probably be negative, as everything isn’t sunshine & butterflies. Some bad memories are impossible to shake. Fortunately, they’re outnumbered by the positive.

You’ll notice some of my watching patterns over the years. 1990, my first year as a fan, is a great example. As a six year old, my viewing options were limited to Saturday morning. WWF Superstars was the A-show that most things happened on, and was on at the most convenient time for me. Wrestling Challenge didn’t feature as many interesting angles, and would often overlap with lunchtime or with my parents taking me out of the house for something or other. I didn’t know there were other wrestling promotions yet, and wouldn’t until 1992.

Here are my top 5 wrestling memories from 1990! These are among the first things I remember about the pro wrestling.

5. Dustin’s 10 Minute Challenge

I just saw Dustin Rhodes in a match last week, and here he is back in 1990 making his “national” debut. Dustin came in to back up his father Dusty, who was having issues with Ted DiBiase, Virgil & Sapphire. The Million Dollar Man didn’t have a whole lot of respect for young Dustin, and declared that he would have no problem beating Dusty’s kid in under ten minutes. It turned not that it wasn’t as easy as DiBiase thought, and Dustin lasted the full ten minutes.

This moment on the November 3 edition of WWF Superstars stood out to me for one main reason: the show didn’t have a lot of ten minute matches!

4. Jake Roberts’ Creepy Looking Eye

Jake The Snake was my first favorite wrestler. Looking back at these early years now it’s easy to see why…he was constantly involved in interesting storylines that engaged viewers. The first one I remember involved Rick “The Model” Martel spraying Jake in the eyes with Arrogance, rendering him blind. This incident involved Jake going on the Brother Love Show and the Model messing with him, presenting him with a cane & yelling at him from both sides of the stage. The end result was Roberts grabbing Brother Love and hitting him with the DDT, which since it was 1990 and it was on carpet, pretty much killed Brother Love.

Jake’s glasses came off during the segment, and they got an up close look at his eye, which was pretty gross and the type of thing that sticks with a kid. This moment on the October 27 edition of WWF Superstars stuck with me.

3. Earthquake Squashing Hulk Hogan

The Hulkster didn’t appear on Saturday morning wrestling too often at this point. Any time he did was a special occasion, but the May 26 edition WWF Superstars wasn’t too special for him. That was when he & Earthquake appeared in a face to face on the Brother Love show and it didn’t go well for the young Hulkamaniacs out there. Earthquake attacked Hogan and hit him with several sit-down splashes, setting up their match at SummerSlam.

I can’t say that Hulk was ever my #1 favorite wrestler, mostly because he didn’t wrestle on the shows I watched. It was certainly put over as a big deal though, especially when Tugboat started asking people to send in “Get Well Hulk” cards in the ensuing weeks. I did not, as my handwriting at the time wasn’t the best.

2. The Undertaker’s Debut

Being six years old in 1990, I was obviously a true believer. Obviously all of this stuff was really happening. Even the stuff that doesn’t look terribly believable can seem so to a six year old. So when I saw The Undertaker for the first time on the December 29 edition of WWF Superstars, it was a pretty scary experience! This gigantic pale guy wearing all black, nothing hurting him, dropping people on their heads, choking them…that’s the kind of stuff that will give kids nightmares.

I don’t remember if I had Undertaker nightmares or not, but I wouldn’t be shocked if I did. Dude was scary.

1. Christmas 1990

My first Christmas as a wrestling fan featured a good number of wrestling-related presents. Two of them immediately pop to mind. One is my Million Dollar Man Wrestling Buddie. I had seen fans with them on television and was insanely jealous, so I was super excited to get one myself. The Million Dollar Man and a stuffed bear that was around the same size were on the receiving end of tons of wrestling moves for the next couple of years.

My other major present: a wrestling ring for my action figures! I had already started collecting action figures like every six year old does, and the ring was exactly what I needed to take things to the next level. My action figure wrestling federation would be an ongoing obsession until the size of the figures changed & the ring got too small. I had another fed during the early part of the Jakks era, but then things got too expensive & intricate. Lord knows my parents had already spent enough on action figures, and I needed their money for other things.

There’s some of my best memories from my first year as a wrestling fan. Join me next week when we look back at 1991! If you’re feeling nostalgic, feel free to chime in with some of your own favorite memories in the comment section or on the social media!

About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Money In The Bank

Extra, extra read all about it… Chairshot Staff picks are in!!!

Published

2 weeks ago

June 6, 2025

PC Tunney

Sing it with me… money money money money moneeeeeeeeeyeeeeee… everybody’s got a price! MONEY IN THE BANK is here!!! How money will our staff picks be?!?

AJ – Roxanne Perez
Andrew – Stephanie Vaquer – *Bubba Sparxxx Impression* I don’t tell stories, I let them tell theyself.
Dave – Guilia – A stacked field but I just like her here.
DJ – Naomi
DPP – Roxanne Perez
Jason – Alexa Bliss
Patrick – Roxanne Perez
Rey – Naomi – If Naomi loses, we riot!
Rob – Naomi
Greg – Alexa Bliss – Bliss has had huge reactions since returning and is moving a ton of merch. While I can see them wanting to build Roxanne Perez, Giulia, or Stephanie Vaquer, I think Alexa Bliss.

Tunney’s Take: Rhea Ripley – I’ll make my case short and sweet… Mami in the Bank! You can’t leave that money on the table.

Chairshot Pick – Tie – Naomi 3 & Roxanne Perez 3 (Alexa Bliss 2, Giulia 1, Rhea Ripley 1, Stephanie Vaquer 1)

AJ – LA Knight
Andrew – El Grande Americano – Feels correct given his push and the fact he’s over.
Dave – Seth Rollins – Got to push that new faction.
DJ – LA Knight
DPP – El Grande Americano
Jason – LA Knight
Patrick – Solo Sikoa
Rey – LA Knight – Looks like another push, and he does have history with Cena.
Rob – Solo Sikoa
Greg – Seth Rollins – This company is extremely high in the El Grande Americano gimmick, but this match comes down to Seth Rollins or LA Knight. Given the Rollins storyline, it’s his briefcase to win.

Tunney’s Take: El Grande Americano – Picture this: Chad Gable wins the AAA Mega Championship and El Grande Americano wins MITB! WHAT A SATURDAY in LA!!!

Chairshot Pick – LA Knight 4 (El Grande Americano 3, Seth Rollins 2, Solo Sikoa 2)

AJ – Becky Lynch – Sadly
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I still don’t care about Lyra.
Dave – Lyra Valkyria – Starting to warm up to her and Becky has a lot to do with that.
DJ – Lyra Valkyria
DPP – Becky Lynch
Jason – Becky Lynch
Patrick – Lyra Valkyria
Rey – Becky Lynch – Put some fire on the Irish Beef.
Rob – Becky Lynch
Greg – Becky Lynch – I don’t think you do a rematch here just to have Becky lose again. Unless Bayley shows up to help Lyra.

Tunney’s Take: Becky Lynch – A big part of me feels that winning this title checks off a major box for Becks in her HOF career.

Chairshot Pick – Becky Lynch 8-3

AJ – Cena & Paul
Andrew – Rhodes & Uso – Easy way for Cena to lose without eating the pinfall.
Dave – Rhodes & Uso – Get the QB back on the winning track.
DJ – Rhodes & Uso
DPP – Rhodes & Uso
Jason – Cena & Paul
Patrick – Cena & Paul
Rey – Rhodes & Uso – Heels usually lose these kinds of matches. Logan takes the pin.
Rob – Cena & Paul
Greg – Rhodes & Uso – I hope Jey isn’t an afterthought here like Cody was last fall when he was paired up with Roman. I think Cody pins Cena to set up Cody-Cena 2 at SummerSlam.

Tunney’s Take: Cena & Paul – I don’t think Cena is involved in another loss until he loses the WWE Championship. I also think Logan Paul is NOT done trying to capture Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Championship. …Travis Scott in the house?

Chairshot Pick – 6-5 Rhodes & Uso

In closing I want to thank everyone on the panel for participating with their picks! You can follow each prognosticator/podcaster on X @ the handles below. We all enjoy Pro Wrestling so remember three things… be respectful of others, comparison is the thief of joy and HAVE FUN!

AJ – @PhenomenalAJB
Andrew – @IWCWarChief
Dave – @AttitudeAgg
DJ – @TheMindlessPod
DPP – @itsmeDPP
Jason – @JediFett
Patrick – @WrestlngRealist
Rey – @itsreycash
Rob – @rbonne1
Greg – @gregdemarco44
PC – @PCTunney
TheChairshot.com – @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – a PLETHORA of GREAT designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY – Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY – 4 Corners Podcast (sports)

WEDNESDAY – The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY – POD is WAR (Los Tres Friends)

FRIDAY – DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY – The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY – Keeping the news ridiculous… The Oddity / The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

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About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Backlash St. Louis

Chairshot Staff picks!!!

Published

1 month ago

May 9, 2025

PC Tunney

May is upon us and with that, so is Backlash from St. Louis! What does the first PLE after WrestleMania have in store for the WWE Universe? Let’s see if the Chairshot Staff can properly interpret the crystal ball of rasslin’ future.

AJ – Pat MacAfee – Gunther has to start losing control and who better than an announcer.
Andrew – Pat MacAfee – Goldberg getting involved does seem correct here.
Dave – Gunther – He’s not losing to a broadcaster.
DJ – Gunther – Pat is sent to the shadow realm until football season is over.
DPP – Gunther – Post match beat down leads to Pat time off.
Jason – Gunther – One massive spot and or bump from Pat.
Patrick – Gunther
Rey – Gunther – RIP MacAfee, t’was a good life.
Rob – Gunther
Greg – Pat MacAfee – Why? Goooooldbeeerrrrrgggggg!

Tunney’s Take: Gunther – Seems like the right pick here. Pat may be getting some time off and Gunther needs more heat.

Chairshot Pick – GUNTHER 8-3

AJ – Lyra Valkyria – Becky’s hopefully putting her over, still mad about Dakota.
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I have no real interest in Lyra currently.
Dave – Becky Lynch – Lyra is boring AF!
DJ – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley interferes.
DPP – Becky Lynch – Becky cheats and steals the title.
Jason – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley costs Becks.
Patrick – Becky Lynch
Rey – Becky Lynch – Story needs to jump up a bit, Becky Charlotte’s Lyra.
Rob – Lyra Valkyria
Greg – Becky Lynch – It’s been fun, Lyra. (It kinda hasn’t)

Tunney’s Take: Lyra Valkyria – Bayley’s interference should set up some type of program with Becky as we head towards Summer(Slam).

Chairshot Pick – BECKY LYNCH 6-5

AJ – Jacob Fatu – Great way to put him over w/ two former WHCs and LA Knight.
Andrew – Jacob Fatu – He’s Jacob Fatu!
Dave – Jacob Fatu – Too soon to pull the belt off him.
DJ – Jacob Fatu – Priest and LA can’t decide who’s is bigger.
DPP – Jacob Fatu – Your hardcore match, tables and chairs involved.
Jason – Jacob Fatu – The Champ retains due to or in spite of Solo.
Patrick – Jacob Fatu
Rey – Jacob Fatu – All gas. No brakes. Ain’t losing.
Rob – Jacob Fatu
Greg – Jacob Fatu – Someone from The Samoan Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Jacob Fatu – Uncle Mo is on Fatu’s side and other than Knight, I don’t see Drew or Priest holding the US title in the current circumstances of this title’s landscape.

Chairshot Pick – JACOB FATU 11-0

AJ – Dominic Mysterio – Judgement Day shenanigans just leading up to Finn turning on Dom later.
Andrew – Penta – Dom’s fine having a short reign, could also work for pushing AAA.
Dave – Dominic Mysterio – He’s probably more over than Penta.
DJ – Dominic Mysterio – Dirty Dom takes home the gold and the girl.
DPP – Dominic Mysterio – Big Head helps Dom pull out the win.
Jason – Dominic Mysterio – By hook and crook.
Patrick – Dominic Mysterio
Rey – Dominic Mysterio – Latino Heat keeps burning. Finn gets closer to the edge.
Rob – Dominic Mysterio
Greg – Dominic Mysterio – Someone from The Guerrero Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Dominic Mysterio – That belt looks good with the king of chicken tendys. I can see Penta and Rey reforming as a tag team sooner than later.

Chairshot Pick – DOMINIC MYSTERIO 10-1

AJ – John Cena – Why? Cena wins, lol.
Andrew – John Cena – Shenanigans ensue so it’s not a clean win.
Dave – John Cena – The last time is now.
DJ – John Cena – Randy hears voices telling him he needs an Attitude Adjustment.
DPP – John Cena – Cena tries to cheat but the ref doesn’t call for a DQ.
Jason – John Cena – Nefarious means, Randy not ready for Evil John Cena.
Patrick – John Cena
Rey – John Cena – Cena just counting down the dates. Should be fun though.
Rob – John Cena
Greg – John Cena – You know they want Cody to be the hero in the end.

Tunney’s Take: Randy Orton – Once upon a time Randy got himself intentionally disqualified and it cost John. Saturday, history repeats itself with a 180-degree twist. Cena retains via Orton DQ victory. This time, Travis Scott’s appearance takes care of that task.

Chairshot Pick – JOHN CENA 10-1