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

[UnrealMachine]

I had to get my mind off not getting a Titus O'Neil match at Wrestlemania 32, so I wrote an epic post about Wrestlemania 3. Like literally emptying the vault of everything I could think of with that card.

http://section309.com/2016/02/11/mania3/

- The one screwup in the Steamboat-Savage match that actually bugs me
- The brilliance of the Danny Davis angle, and how they could have salvaged it better than they did in the aftermath
- Why Bob Uecker might be my favorite celebrity of all time. I swear to God when that guy passes on I am going to be a puddle.
- I covered the build of every match and put a ton of links in as reference. What was fun was seeing stuff like "Dino Bravo attacks Jacques Rougeau at the Pat Patterson brunch". The Francophones from this board will enjoy it even more, I reckon. (I just want Patterson's silver satin jacket. Just take my money)
- Mentioning the build is also the only way Brutus Beefcake's night would make any semblance of sense.

Awesome, awesome job here. Builds to the matches are equally as important as the matches themselves, in my opinion. Thank you for your focus on Danny Davis as well. That whole angle was brilliant. I can still remember crying myself to sleep after Tito lost to Savage and the tears turned to pure hatred after Davis screwed over the Bulldogs, to eventually become a paid employee of the Hart Foundation. I guess being a bad wrestler with terrible ring attire really damaged the overall effect, but as a functional jobber he helped elevate a lot of talent. When Davis had a backstage cameo on Raw within the last year or two (Legends night?) I went straight to markout-city.

 

[Emperoreddy]

What do you guys consider the best raw segments? I know many go straight to many of Austins stuff (and for good reason)

I just rewatched "this is your life" and that might be my favorite.

Vince in the hospital ranks high. Not just the bed pan beating. Foley again was hilarious and I think that was the first appearance of Mr Socko?

 

[bruins309]

What do you guys consider the best raw segments? I know many go straight to many of Austins stuff (and for good reason)

I just rewatched "this is your life" and that might be my favorite.

Vince in the hospital ranks high. Not just the bed pan beating. Foley again was hilarious and I think that was the first appearance of Mr Socko?

First one I think of every time: June 1, 1998 opening segment with Foley in the ring, despondent and wanting to apologize to Vince. Ends up with Mick being fired. This is Vince at the top of his game talking down to Foley for failing to beat Austin.

Foley of course ends up returning as Mankind later. One of my favorite RAWs ever, in general.

Another one is from 09/18/2000 right after Regal returned. He's got a table up and is telling us about proper manners. "Now the napkin is not your enemy, oh no! Oh no! It should not be flung around! It should be placed discreetly on the lap. Now if you need to use your napkin, use it properly. Never wipe or smear....that is for another oriface..." Jericho then interrupts but segment ends with X-Pac beating down Jericho.

Guys I watched wrestling with in college: we also were big marks for the British gimmick guys, even Dave Taylor.

That Regal segment is also how I remember fork placement at the table: start from outside in. Who says you can't learn stuff from wrestling?

 

[Emperoreddy]

First one I think of every time: June 1, 1998 opening segment with Foley in the ring, despondent and wanting to apologize to Vince. Ends up with Mick being fired. This is Vince at the top of his game talking down to Foley for failing to beat Austin.

Foley of course ends up returning as Mankind later. One of my favorite RAWs ever, in general.

Another one is from 09/18/2000 right after Regal returned. He's got a table up and is telling us about proper manners. "Now the napkin is not your enemy, oh no! Oh no! It should not be flung around! It should be placed discreetly on the lap. Now if you need to use your napkin, use it properly. Never wipe or smear....that is for another oriface..." Jericho then interrupts but segment ends with X-Pac beating down Jericho.

Guys I watched wrestling with in college: we also were big marks for the British gimmick guys, even Dave Taylor.

That Regal segment is also how I remember fork placement at the table: start from outside in. Who says you can't learn stuff from wrestling?

That is how you get a guy over. Foley started getting mega over after his return from that.

 

[Engebretson]

This weekend I got around to watching some of the first Survivor Series events from 88-89 when the events were all Survivor Series matches. Some of those were pretty fun and they actually incorporated feuds that were going on all the time between members of each team. It's refreshing to see guys fighting with each other for actual reasons instead of just randomly hating each other because faces and heels aren't supposed to get along.

The '88 Survivor Series match with the Mega Powers was especially good and had so many subtle little hints at the Mega Powers explosion:

-Savage was wearing his "Mega Powers" trunks while Hogan had his usual Yellow and Red gear without any mention of the Mega Powers.
-Hogan runs out of the match to help Liz and leaves Savage all alone to fight Haku and Bossman.
-That look that Savage gives Hogan after he sees Hogan lifting up Liz after the win.
-The post-match interview where Ventura tries to get Savage to snap on Hogan but Savage doesn't bite although you can tell he's fuming.

Seriously, every time I watch that I can't NOT picture Hogan as the heel

 

[M.C.G. 31]

12 years ago today, Eddie Guerrero walked out of No Way Out as WWE champion after defeating Brock Lesnar in an awesome match.

 

[S A W F T*]

12 years ago today, Eddie Guerrero walked out of No Way Out as WWE champion after defeating Brock Lesnar in an awesome match.

Nice! Forgot about that, I'll have to check it out before RAW tonight.

 

[bruins309]

Speaking of 1988, I wrote an epic post about Wrestlemania 4 that is not quite as long as the show itself.

http://section309.com/2016/02/15/trumpmania-wm4/

- Why this show actually matters to me (I could actually say the same things about Survivor Series 1988 too)
- Questions answered about why this ended up in Atlantic City
- An explanation for Jesse Ventura's "Chinaman" remark
- The dead crowd and their lack of appreciation for my hero Rick Martel
- Vanna White's lack of acting ability
- The genius of Bob Uecker as an interviewer of heels

Hilariously some of my pics on the post got posted upside down. I fixed it but that's a fun distress signal on this show.

 

[Loosie]

Man Diesel got some massive heat when he tore Mad Dog Vachon's leg off at IYH Good Friends, Better Enemies. Still an amazing match today, and a nice send off for Diesel.

 

[bruins309]

Finished watching Starrcade 1993 yesterday. Kind of a one match show, but Vader-Flair is really good. Based on matches with Sting, Flair and Japan stuff, I'm satisfied with endorsing Vader for the HOF. Guy was pretty awesome.

- It's so amusing how WCW never could find a "police" gimmick for "The Boss" without running afoul of copyrights. But hey, this show had a crappy blowoff for Rude making fun of his mother from WWF in 1990.

- I can't believe there is a Nasty Boys vs Sting and Hawk match that goes almost 30 minutes....and ends in the weakest DQ ever. Glad I fast forwarded thru much of that.

Trying to watch Starrcade 1994 but the Network feed keeps just stopping on me. As if there was ever a sign from God not to watch a show...

WCW made have made more money when Hogan came in 1994, but they lost their very soul.

 

[Engebretson]

Trying to watch Starrcade 1994 but the Network feed keeps just stopping on me. As if there was ever a sign from God not to watch a show...

WCW made have made more money when Hogan came in 1994, but they lost their very soul.

Oh Lord, was that when Hogan was fighting against Ed Leslie for the World Title?

 

[Loosie]

Oh Lord, was that when Hogan was fighting against Ed Leslie for the World Title?

Which version? Brother Bruti? The Butcher? The Zodiac? The Disciple? The Booty Man?

also at WCW doing what WWF was smart enough never to do. a Hogan/Leslie world title match.

 

[bruins309]

Oh Lord, was that when Hogan was fighting against Ed Leslie for the World Title?

Oh yes. "The Butcher"....I wonder if Ed Leslie and Ray Traylor ever had a match in WCW because those two guys stood out for their gimmick issues. The Leslie ones were sooooo much more ridiculous.

I wrote a thing about Brutus Beefcake in 1989 and figured that if time went along, they might do a turn, but that would mean bye bye to the barber gimmick which worked so well for him. Guy never gets credit for how much better he got as a worker in 1989-90 before the accident, IMO.

Also: Ed Leslie is definitely a Bruins fan. Saw him during the 2009 Bruins-Hurricanes series when he was put on the jumbotron a few times....and he was on my flight to Chicago in 2011 when I went to see the Hawks and Bruins. I doubt he was going to an indy date....and I'm not sure why I'm even pointing this out.

The Booty Man was actually fairly close to the original Brutus gimmick from 1984-86.

 

[Emperoreddy]

How many gimmicks dude Leslie have? Like 16?

That starcade 94 title shot proves why it's worth being Hogan's mate for life.

You get a major main event when you absolutely don't deserve it. (StarCade wasn't a B PPV or something)

 

[Kimi]

 

[weastern bias]

Rounding out the 98 Raws, and it is getting real eerie

The Owen Hart Blue Blazer angle is going full bore

Meanwhile, the probably too-real story of Hawk's personal problems culminating with him falling off the Titantron. . . it's been painful to watch at times in retrospect

 

[bruins309]

Speaking of Blue Blazer, been doing a writeup on WM5 and watched the 1st half last night. Love that match with Perfect, wish it had more time.

Also from WM5, here is a GIF of the greatest clothesline in WM history.

 

[Guardian17]

Zodiak was awesome!

 

[bruins309]

TrumpMania 2 / Wrestlemania 5 is now up.

I have got to get back to shorter shows, because these marathons are killing me. Thank God for Jesse Ventura on commentary. I should do a top 5 of just my favorite lines of his from the show:

1. The Body losing his mind when the No Holds Barred trailer is shown
2. Jesse openly marking out for Rude winning the IC title
3. The rant after Hogan beat Savage
4. Jesse calling Pat Patterson a relic
5. "I think he irritated Akeem" - Jesse's reaction to the clothesline two posts up

Probably forgetting some off hand.

 

[bruins309]

True story, tried watching Starrcade 1994 AGAIN last night after getting home from a night on the town.

- Vader-Duggan is dare I say... good? Like really good, and its an opener! I didn't think I could enjoy a Duggan match after 1988 but here we are. Even I can be surprised.

- Then I fell asleep during Alex Wright vs Proto-HHH. And I like Alex Wright, in fact he should get the title shot at Mania. He's 4-0 against Triple H!

- I woke up at 2 in the morning and Hogan-Butcher was starting. Not wanting to have any nightmares, I turned it off.

- Something is wrong with the Network upload of the 'Cade 94 show, since it doesn't save the place I left off. To be honest, I dont care. I've been watching these to follow along with the Lapsed Fan podcast series on Starrcades and I am ok skipping that one.

- Started watching 1995 Starrcade, which I've never seen....and the first match is Liger vs Benoit. Very excited about digging into this. What's funny is that the "doesn't reflect our corporate views" warning did NOT come on before this show in spite of Benoit being on here.

 

[Ensane]

TrumpMania 2 / Wrestlemania 5 is now up.

I have got to get back to shorter shows, because these marathons are killing me. Thank God for Jesse Ventura on commentary. I should do a top 5 of just my favorite lines of his from the show:

1. The Body losing his mind when the No Holds Barred trailer is shown
2. Jesse openly marking out for Rude winning the IC title
3. The rant after Hogan beat Savage
4. Jesse calling Pat Patterson a relic
5. "I think he irritated Akeem" - Jesse's reaction to the clothesline two posts up

Probably forgetting some off hand.

The RJR Nabisco LBO reference therein made my day.

 

[Engebretson]

TrumpMania 2 / Wrestlemania 5 is now up

WrestleMania V, the actual first time a heel walked out of WrestleMania with the World Title. Nobody will ever be able to tell me different.

It was a simple fact that the Macho Man couldn’t be the man that all my Hulkamaniacs wanted him to be, brother. He couldn’t handle the load! He couldn’t handle the pressue! But what really tore us apart was the way he was so jealous of Hulkamania. The way he put Elizabeth between us. The way he manipulated her. The way he twisted this whole beautiful thing around!

Seriously, that's a pretty standard heel promo.

Also, Hogan was almost Warrior-like with his promos at Trump Plaza. Must've been something in the Atlantic City air that compelled Hogan to be just a little bit more insane on the mic.

But just like Donald Trump, Macho Man, I hope you’re ready, brother. Because Donald Trump has questions in his own mind. He sent a whole team of seismologists out here to check the foundation of the Trump Towers because when the Megapowers explode off the launching pad brother, as we erupt over the whole Atlantic City, he was worried about the foundation. He was worried that the thousands of people in the arenas might become unseated and swallowed up by the earth. Donald Trump: don’t worry about my Hulkamaniacs! They’re survivors. They’re ready!

 

[Loosie]

Hulk Hogan was more or less a heel in every single 'Former Friend of Hogan' feud, but this one was blatantly obvious.

 

[Loosie]

The post Wrestlemania tour in 1996 was called the Attitude Adjustment tour...

 

[CycloneLaunch]

What do you guys consider the best raw segments? I know many go straight to many of Austins stuff (and for good reason)

I just rewatched "this is your life" and that might be my favorite.

Vince in the hospital ranks high. Not just the bed pan beating. Foley again was hilarious and I think that was the first appearance of Mr Socko?

The segment that spawned one of my favourite internet videos