Episode 141 – Forbidden Door 2023
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In this episode, I discuss a 1918 World Title match between Earl Caddock and Wladek Zbyszko. I finish the episode with a review of Forbidden Door 2023.
News and Update
Judge finds that Vince McMahon and Nick Khan destroyed evidence leading the judge to assume five facts to be materially true.
Earl Caddock in Army uniform while still World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in 1918 (Public Domain)
TKO is not setting the world on fire with their PR lately. I suggest all the executives go into hiding for six months, do not take part in any more interviews, and hope the storm cloud blows over.
Main Content
Earl Caddock had a relatively short but storied professional wrestling career in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Making his professional debut in 1915 after winning three AAU National titles in amateur wrestling, Caddock only wrestled professionally until 1922. However, he would be recognized as world champion after defeating Joe Stecher in April 1917. Caddock’s Army service during World War I, where Caddock saw fighting in France, delayed the rematch with Joe Stecher.
Prior to leaving for France, Caddock defended his title against Wladek Zbyszko on Friday, February 8, 1918 in front of several thousand soldiers in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Caddock was billeted near this town preparing to ship out overseas. The match was scheduled for 2 out of 3 falls with a 2 hours, 30 minutes time-limit.
Recommendations and Reviews
The Wrestling Observer 1984 Yearbook (affiliate link)
AEW Forbidden Door 2023 from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on June 25, 2023
First Match – MJF versus Hiroshi Tanahashi
We aren’t through the introductions of the first match before we have a MJF flipping off the crowd. If you want to be a pro wrestler and were born without a middle finger, you are screwed. You obviously cannot get over. Good, not great match. Tanahashi is not the same wrestler he was ten years earlier. MJF uses dynamite diamond ring to knock out Tanahashi. MJF is a great heel but the constant middle fingers to the crowd gets old quick.
It Was Almost Real podcast art
CM Punk versus Satoshi Kojima in the Owen Hart Tournament – Punk works more as a heel as it is one of his first matches back since beating up the Young Bucks nine months earlier. A good number of fans sided with the Bucks and boo Punk throughout the match. Punk is unphased. I hate the machine gun chops. Kojima is 52 but carries it well. Punk did not have slow up for him and Kojima kept up for the whole match.
Orange Cassidy versus Shibata versus Zack Sabre, Jr. versus Daniel Garcia – No chance I’m watching Orange Cassidy or a 4-way match. Cassidy wins with a roll up on Garcia.
Sanada versus “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry – Okay but least favorite match so far. The “paradise lock” is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in professional wrestling. Commentators trying to sell it was worse.
The Elite vs. Blackpool Combat Club – A twenty-minute ten man tag match. Not a chance. Tomhiro Ishii pinned Wheeler Yuta to win the match for the Elite.
Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale – Good package leading into the match. Toni Storm is an excellent heel. She is not “Timeless” Toni Storm yet for this match. Good match although Toni Storm ended up with a bloody nose.
Will Osprey vs. Kenny Omega – Best modern match I may have seen over the last ten years. Took their time and let things register. Hard-hitting, action packed. Osprey worked as a convincing heel. Osprey wins the match, which goes over forty minutes.
Sting, Darby Allin, Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki – I would have skipped this match but wanted to see Allin, Naito, and Suzuki. Guervara is good but I hated the pairing with Jericho. Nothing special at all. Naito pins Suzuki. Disappointing but to be expected with so many participants well past their prime.
Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada – In a week that I had not seen Osprey versus Omega and the El Grande Americanos mask versus mask match, I would have enjoyed this match much more. It did not really stand out against the other two matches. Danielson wins with an obviously broken arm.
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