Classic Wrestling Discussion (as in non-current): Part II

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Loosie

The Eternal Optimist
Jun 14, 2011
16,074
3,046
Kitchener, Ontario
Warrior is obviously my fav ever but the Jake the Snake bringing a freaking Cobra snake then to almost kill the Macho Man with it! You can't top that evil, even in the final golden era days!
jake-macho.jpg

The match at This Tuesday in Texas may not have been the greatest and possibly a bit of a let down for a 'blow-off' match, but my goodness the aftermath of that match made up for it all.
 

bruins309

Krejci Fight Club
Sep 17, 2007
4,700
46
To be fair, Savage and Jake had a match at SNME in Feb. 1992 which would technically be the blowoff. But Tuesday in Texas was amazing. So glad I somehow conned my parents into ordering that one.

Tonight I'm watching Clash of the Champions 7 from 1989. A crazy crowd because it's on the Army base at Ft. Bragg and its 100 degrees. Lex Luger heel turn, which was sort of telegraphed on commentary during the show. The debut of the Ding Dongs, and the crowd rightfully crapped on them.
 

bruins309

Krejci Fight Club
Sep 17, 2007
4,700
46
This morning I'm watching an episode of WWF Sunday Night Heat from 01-03-1999.

- Hey, I was there! This is the taping where Mankind wins the world title which aired on RAW the next night.
- Mankind and Road Dogg kind of unite on this show, which makes DX helping him against Rock the next night make more sense.
- It has the hysterical Vince training montage for the Royal Rumble
- Val Venis vs Christian in an all-Canadian battle, which Venis wins clean with his finisher, then gets blood thrown on him with a Brood beatdown.
- Shane McMahon is perhaps THE single worst announcer on any show, ever. At least Angelo Mosca/Juventud/Stevie Ray were funny, and other guys on color in other eras just said nothing. Shane is obnoxious with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
 

CHGoalie27

Don't blame the goalie!
Oct 5, 2009
15,854
2,887
SoFLA
The match at This Tuesday in Texas may not have been the greatest and possibly a bit of a let down for a 'blow-off' match, but my goodness the aftermath of that match made up for it all.

Especially those two guys, but as you said, it didn't matter in the end. A loaded gun or a battalion of black widow spiders are the only things I could think of as a kid to be anywhere near the level of a Cobra snake. A ****ing Cobra snake dude! I lose my mind thinking about losing my mind the first time seeing it.

AND WHO WAS MORE BAD ASS THAN ****ING RANDY MACHO MAN SAVAGE!!!!
 

Loosie

The Eternal Optimist
Jun 14, 2011
16,074
3,046
Kitchener, Ontario
Just watched the episode of RAW with the Higher Power reveal. JR's reaction is still funny and awesome to this day.

*Higher power pulls back the hood to reveal Vince McMahon*
Vince: "It was me Austin!"
JR: "Ahh Son of a *****!"
 

bruins309

Krejci Fight Club
Sep 17, 2007
4,700
46
Over last week, i've watched 4 eps of Superstars from June 1989 and I'll be doing a podcast on one of them next week, but some general observations:

- Jesse Ventura was INCREDIBLE during this time. His banter with Vince is hilarious but he also provides actual analysis too.

- This is the month No Holds Barred was released and these shows have all the promos/clips for it. But the strangest thing is this: whenever a heel does a promo and brings up the movie, they all make sure to say they liked the movie....guys like Savage, Bad News Brown.

- I enjoy Brother Love. I know I might be in the minority on that one.

- Seemed out of line even for 1989 the kind of racial stuff said to Jimmy Snuka to build for the Honky Tonk Man feud.
 

Ozz

Registered User
Oct 25, 2009
9,458
673
Hockeytown
Over last week, i've watched 4 eps of Superstars from June 1989 and I'll be doing a podcast on one of them next week, but some general observations:

- Jesse Ventura was INCREDIBLE during this time. His banter with Vince is hilarious but he also provides actual analysis too.

- This is the month No Holds Barred was released and these shows have all the promos/clips for it. But the strangest thing is this: whenever a heel does a promo and brings up the movie, they all make sure to say they liked the movie....guys like Savage, Bad News Brown.

- I enjoy Brother Love. I know I might be in the minority on that one.

- Seemed out of line even for 1989 the kind of racial stuff said to Jimmy Snuka to build for the Honky Tonk Man feud.

I LOVED Brother Love. I'm not sure there was anyone I wanted to see get the **** kicked out of him every week so badly :laugh: And he was pretty funny to boot!
 

Carolinas Identity*

I'm a bad troll...
Jun 18, 2011
31,250
1,298
Calgary, AB
Just watched the episode of RAW with the Higher Power reveal. JR's reaction is still funny and awesome to this day.

*Higher power pulls back the hood to reveal Vince McMahon*
Vince: "It was me Austin!"
JR: "Ahh Son of a *****!"

That is still one of the stupidest things WWE ever did. The Ministry was gret, they could have done so many more and better angles with "The Higher Power"

I am a big fan of WhatCulture's take on it.

 

les Habs

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
22,236
3,964
Wisconsin
I am a big fan of WhatCulture's take on it.

I remember watching Raw when Austin saved Stephanie. That was a great moment.

Big problem with his take for me is why exactly would the Undertaker be subservient to a guy like Roberts though? Ditto for the Ministry. HHH swerve is fine, but it would make more sense with Vince as the Higher Power.
 

Guardian17

Strong & Free
Aug 29, 2010
15,994
23,161
Winnipeg
Over last week, i've watched 4 eps of Superstars from June 1989 and I'll be doing a podcast on one of them next week, but some general observations:

- Jesse Ventura was INCREDIBLE during this time. His banter with Vince is hilarious but he also provides actual analysis too.

- This is the month No Holds Barred was released and these shows have all the promos/clips for it. But the strangest thing is this: whenever a heel does a promo and brings up the movie, they all make sure to say they liked the movie....guys like Savage, Bad News Brown.

- I enjoy Brother Love. I know I might be in the minority on that one.

- Seemed out of line even for 1989 the kind of racial stuff said to Jimmy Snuka to build for the Honky Tonk Man feud.

I really miss Jesse Ventura on commentary as well.
 

Loosie

The Eternal Optimist
Jun 14, 2011
16,074
3,046
Kitchener, Ontario
:laugh: Who moved the damn briefcase!

I still remember that being an issue and many people thinking it was another swerve with Bossman being the one to do it as the most popular theory (Bossman was kicked out of the Corporate Ministry the RAW before King of the Ring because he lost to Austin in a 'winner picks the final stipulation for the ladder match' match)
 
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joshyhockey26

Registered User
Dec 6, 2015
2,698
62
st louis
Two new collections up on the network today. One for ladder matches(both WWE and non) and another true gem based on Bruno Sammartino.
 

bruins309

Krejci Fight Club
Sep 17, 2007
4,700
46
Yesterday, a bunch of Boston Garden house shows from 1986 were added to WWE Network....though I liked them better on YouTube when they didn't have a trillion edits and kept the original theme. Did watch most of the October 1986 show.

Been watching a lot of Prime Time Wrestling from summer 1988, which while they dont have episodes of Superstars on the network, there is a ton of overlap between the shows. The Rockers debut from 6-18-88 Superstars is on 6-20-88 PTW. And the side benefit as always is the Gorilla/Heenan banter between matches.

I always wondered how those random "Weasel Suit" matches between Heenan and Ultimate Warrior happened in 1988. There was a bit where Heenan was bragging out an open contract after beating Koko B. Ware and it turned out he didnt look at the back and it was Warrior that he would be facing. It all plays out on one of the PTWs.
 

Shoalzie

Trust me!
May 16, 2003
16,904
180
Portland, MI
I watched ECW up until their original demise. My new binge watching is WWF back to King of the Ring 96 for the birth of Austin 3:16. Watching all the RAWs and PPVs. I'm up to Fake Razor and Diesel and heel JR plus the reveal of Jesse James as the real Double J.

I remember watching back then but I appreciate the cheesiness of that era.

I forgot that In Your House was a generic PPV name with different taglines. Buried Alive is up next.

Short episodes of RAW is great...no episodes of SuperStars from that era on the network. Loved seeing the early influence of the internet at that time.

Stone Cold was awesome from day 1. So great on the mic. His in ring work got better over time.

All the heels made all the drunk jokes imaginable towards Jake the Snake.

Owen Hart was such a great heel. I see his influence on Kevin Owens.

Goldust and Marlena was a great tandem. Heels with valets is the best.

Marc Mero was a better wrestler than what I remembered.

Never knew Aldo Montoya was Justin Credible.

Heel Jerry was perfect for that era but he needs to be off TV now.

Racism and sexism was rampant in commentary and promos.

Loved the involvement of managers...Cornette, Sunny, et al.
 
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Shoalzie

Trust me!
May 16, 2003
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Portland, MI
I'm up to the Raw with the Austin-Pillman encounter in Cincinnati. It's was a crazy angle but the intensity of the stories ramped up big time after 'Buried Alive'. Solid build to everything coming up for Survivor Series.

Mankind-Undertaker is always going to be one of the great blood feuds of all time. Them having another match at Survivor Series but it still feels fresh.

Bret Hart returned after 'Buried Alive' and accepts Austin's challenge. What's great about that build is that Austin had that secondary angle with Pillman to put Austin over as one of the baddest dudes on the planet.

I miss seeing being multiple stories crossing over and it made the build to the PPVs a lot of better when you weren't getting beaten over the head with the two opponents just having throwaway matches. Hart-Austin's interviews reminds me of the Joe-Brock build with some elements of that booking where you don't have the matches but you have different ways they interact.

So much was done with a 1-hour Raw every week but at that time but they also used Superstars and Live Wire to further stories. The Pillman attack from Austin happened on Superstars. I wish they had those episodes on the Network.

What a great roster at this time with some of the top guys of the Attitude Era just starting out...Austin is ramping up his Stone Cold persona, Hunter Hearst Hemsley showed his first sign of being the 'cerebral assassin' by using a fake feud with Mr. Perfect to win the IC title off Marc Mero and a rookie Rocky Maivia is on the babyface team for Survivor Series.
 

Loosie

The Eternal Optimist
Jun 14, 2011
16,074
3,046
Kitchener, Ontario
Ahh...the lead up to Summerslam 1999 was Attitude era at it's um...'best?'

HHH beat the Rock at Fully Loaded in a Strap Match to be the #1 contender, two weeks before Summerslam there was a triple threat match with Undertaker, Chyna and HHH to determine the #1 contender (it was added as a stipulation due to HHH supposedly attacking Austin with a cinder block), Chyna wins thanks to Austin's interfernce.

Next week (the Monday before the PPV), Chyna and HHH had a rematch, which leads to Mankind's return. Mankind and Chyna then have a #1 contender's match which Mankind wins.

Then at the end of the night Mankind and HHH have 'one last' #1 contenders match in which there was a double pin to make it a Triple Threat at SummerSlam.

Mankind wins the belt off of Austin at SummerSlam.

Next night on RAW (which was also Lillian Garcia's debut....and boy was she green at that point), HHH breaks JR's arm which leads to a title match, in which HHH wins his first ever title.
 

alko

Registered User
Oct 20, 2004
9,348
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Slovakia
www.slovakhockey.sk
Watched Wrestling in 90s. And you have to imagine, that it was a little difficult here in Slovakia. I depended to German TV over Satellite. TELE 5 was the broadcaster. They had rights for WWF. The other company WCW, was i think on some Sport channel. Every main event they broadcasted with one week delay. But that wasn't a issue for me at that time.

And you have also to consider, that i had to fight with other people in my family to watch Wrestlemania, Summer Slam, Survivor Series and my favorite Royal Rumble. It was every Sunday in prime time.
After some time i found better solution. Visited my Grandmother, and watched it there. She was lucky to have his grandson in visit. I was lucky to watch Wrestling. It didnt matter, that she had only monochrome TV.
And around 1994 bought a Video-recorder. That was in the middle of my High School. Worked in Summer with this target.
That was life changer. You could watch other channels and recorder other one. I started to record this shows. But still visited Grandmother with my Videorecorder.
 

Shoalzie

Trust me!
May 16, 2003
16,904
180
Portland, MI
I'm through Rumble '97 and I was wondering when Raw went to 2 hours because this was very much in the Monday Night Wars era. Royal Rumble Raw at Skydome appears to be the first 2-hour episode of Raw. They follow up with a 2-hour show after 'In Your House'.

I've been debating over watching WWF, WCW and ECW chronologically and I think I'm where I want to start doing it.

I remember the Shawn "losing his smile" angle but forgot how and when it went down. On a Thursday Raw right before 'In Your House'. It made that Final Four match with Austin-Undertaker-Bret-Vader for the title.

That '97 Rumble was a strange match with Austin winning after being eliminated but it furthered the storyline with Austin and Bret and it lead to that 4-way match. It's long been a WWF/E move to have a goofy ending to a match but it's all to set up a bigger match down the road.
 

JackSlater

Registered User
Apr 27, 2010
18,041
12,661
Watched Wrestling in 90s. And you have to imagine, that it was a little difficult here in Slovakia. I depended to German TV over Satellite. TELE 5 was the broadcaster. They had rights for WWF. The other company WCW, was i think on some Sport channel. Every main event they broadcasted with one week delay. But that wasn't a issue for me at that time.

And you have also to consider, that i had to fight with other people in my family to watch Wrestlemania, Summer Slam, Survivor Series and my favorite Royal Rumble. It was every Sunday in prime time.
After some time i found better solution. Visited my Grandmother, and watched it there. She was lucky to have his grandson in visit. I was lucky to watch Wrestling. It didnt matter, that she had only monochrome TV.
And around 1994 bought a Video-recorder. That was in the middle of my High School. Worked in Summer with this target.
That was life changer. You could watch other channels and recorder other one. I started to record this shows. But still visited Grandmother with my Videorecorder.

Nice story. I remember having to go to some lengths to see ECW in the 90s (it wasn't easily available in Canada until the late 90s) but I mostly failed.
 

Loosie

The Eternal Optimist
Jun 14, 2011
16,074
3,046
Kitchener, Ontario
I'm through Rumble '97 and I was wondering when Raw went to 2 hours because this was very much in the Monday Night Wars era. Royal Rumble Raw at Skydome appears to be the first 2-hour episode of Raw. They follow up with a 2-hour show after 'In Your House'.

I've been debating over watching WWF, WCW and ECW chronologically and I think I'm where I want to start doing it.

I remember the Shawn "losing his smile" angle but forgot how and when it went down. On a Thursday Raw right before 'In Your House'. It made that Final Four match with Austin-Undertaker-Bret-Vader for the title.

That '97 Rumble was a strange match with Austin winning after being eliminated but it furthered the storyline with Austin and Bret and it lead to that 4-way match. It's long been a WWF/E move to have a goofy ending to a match but it's all to set up a bigger match down the road.

You are almost at the permanent switch to the 2-hour RAW, it was in early March '97, it was also when they switched the theme song.
 

Kimi

Registered User
Jun 24, 2004
9,890
636
Newcastle upon Tyne
I'm through Rumble '97 and I was wondering when Raw went to 2 hours because this was very much in the Monday Night Wars era. Royal Rumble Raw at Skydome appears to be the first 2-hour episode of Raw. They follow up with a 2-hour show after 'In Your House'.

I've been debating over watching WWF, WCW and ECW chronologically and I think I'm where I want to start doing it.

I remember the Shawn "losing his smile" angle but forgot how and when it went down. On a Thursday Raw right before 'In Your House'. It made that Final Four match with Austin-Undertaker-Bret-Vader for the title.

That '97 Rumble was a strange match with Austin winning after being eliminated but it furthered the storyline with Austin and Bret and it lead to that 4-way match. It's long been a WWF/E move to have a goofy ending to a match but it's all to set up a bigger match down the road.
I can't say it enough when I tell people to not watch the old weekly shows.

I've been following along with Alvarez's show (with Vinny and Craig), watching shows from 19 years ago each week, and it really is terrible. And not terrible in a good way, terrible in a terrible way. Wrestling was big when it was big despite it's self.

At least 1997 WWF is really good, mostly the main event guys as the undercard is full of crap, but 1998 is really bad. Austin is great, but you're into the Russo era of trash. The bits with Austin are still great, but hardly anything else is worth watching. Watching Rock over these years is also great, as he really takes off from trash to Rock.

WCW is just a complete mess of a show, and never gets better. There are random good matches, but there is nothing to actually watch for outside that. You don't have an Austin or Rock to watch, you have a stale NWO to endure. Goldberg is around, but he isn't anything like Austin. He doesn't have 'must watch' segments, just a squash match. When he's actually on the show. Oh, and Nitro is three hours of trash each week that make current Raw a breeze

ECW I never watched as it was never my thing.



But If you really do want to go back to watch everything, I recommend skipping a lot of each show. Most of the show really. It's not worth the suffering.

I will, however, recommend watching late 80s WCW. That stuff is awesome.
 

Shoalzie

Trust me!
May 16, 2003
16,904
180
Portland, MI
I watched both shows on Monday nights back in the day...I didn't really take sides in the battle. If one show was good, I wouldn't flip over to the other show other than on commercial breaks.

That show following 'In Your House: Final Four'...you have crazy Austin spoiling the start to Bret-Sid twice and interfering during the actual match. Ultimately costing Bret the title and continuing that great feud between Austin and Bret. Chyna debuts by ragdolling Marlena. Rocky is getting over as the IC champ. I love the tension between Bulldog and Owen as they tenuously hang onto the tag titles. And you had a quiet debut of the Hardy Boys against the Headbangers...the Headbangers going over.

Plus, the irony was kinda funny with Lawler starting his crusade against ECW. He was ripping their fans and wrestlers...meanwhile, it was during a match featuring Flash Funk (formerly 2 Cold Scorpio).
 
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