Classic Wrestling Discussion: Part III & Wrestler Poll

[Sheppy]

Sir this is a wendy’s

Whoops!

 

[These Are The Days]

Not quite done with Backlash 2001 but I just finished Shane vs Big Show last man standing. Though I'd tell Shane to not quit his day job because he's an overall below average talent, his willingness for "holy shit" moments that would undoubtedly end his life on a botch and his execution of those moments is on par with any all time great. I gotta give him credit. WWF gives him enormous, almost historic spots and he nails them every time with Foley-level consistency.

I don't know how much time he spent practicing but from a guy who once went skydiving, I gotta say even practicing what Shane was asked to do would scare me to death more than jumping out of that plane would

 

[These Are The Days]

End of Backlash 2001 be like

Yeah. The invasion can't happen fast enough. Although the booking with HHH/Austin is infinitely better than the McMahon/Helmsley days. This is actually very, very good. I just REALLY wish I didn't sit through what was basically a year of the same thing as this already in the 2000 McMahon/Helmsley/DX era because I'd have a much more fond appreciation for what I'm seeing.

WWF is so lucky WCW went out of business and are soon afforded to do something different because heel Austin IS a good idea. But unless you're gonna put the strap on Taker, Kane or turn Kurt/HHH babyface you're about out of fresh ideas. BUT 2001 has been tremendous though. 9/10 stars.

Oh well. Onto Raw. This was a solid PPV. I just wish I did not feel like I was watching history repeat itself because this is easily the best WWF has been since 1997

 

[Bondurant]

Bruiser Brody was a recent topic in the draft chat. Figured I would share a favorite Brody video here. This must be one of the first examples of a shoot interview. I would love to have more context as to how this was arranged. This was not the norm in the 80's. Very cool watch and gives you a look into his mind. No doubt his career in pro wrestling would have continued behind the scenes after hanging up the boots.

 

[BruinDust]

Bruiser Brody was a recent topic in the draft chat. Figured I would share a favorite Brody video here. This must be one of the first examples of a shoot interview. I would love to have more context as to how this was arranged. This was not the norm in the 80's. Very cool watch and gives you a look into his mind. No doubt his career in pro wrestling would have continued behind the scenes after hanging up the boots.

He's well-spoken which adds to the intrigue of Bruiser Brody. Seems very intelligent and has a strong mind for the business of pro wrestling, really just business in general.

Had he not passed away I wonder what his takes on pro wrestling would of been moving forward. What would he of thought of the Attitude Era? What would his thoughts on today's product be? He talks about guys 175 lbs. trying to make it in pro wrestling and he doesn't like their chances. Yet here today in 2022 we have smaller guys in very prominent positions across many promotions.

 

[JackSlater]

Bruiser Brody was a recent topic in the draft chat. Figured I would share a favorite Brody video here. This must be one of the first examples of a shoot interview. I would love to have more context as to how this was arranged. This was not the norm in the 80's. Very cool watch and gives you a look into his mind. No doubt his career in pro wrestling would have continued behind the scenes after hanging up the boots.

I like the uniqueness of Brody - a sort of well spoken, eloquent monster figure. I used him in the draft a few years ago where the goal was to present him sort of as Bane (Knightfall arc), super intelligent in addition to being a beast. No other monster type wrestler really fits that archetype.

 

[DaaaaB's]

Thanks for posting the Bruiser interview, really interesting to see. I had no idea he was so well spoken and intelligent. I've always been fascinated by Brody even though I never saw him wrestle when he was alive. His life would make for an interesting movie.

 

[These Are The Days]

Made it to May 2001 and I have 2 thoughts

1. Rikishi just had the most abrupt face turn I think I have ever seen. Probably for the best. It's not that he's not a natural heel. It's just that he got his ass beat the ENTIRE time and that's not how you get over

2. BENOIT!!! YOU GIVE MY OLYMPIC HERO BACK HIS MEDALS NOW! RIGHT NOW! RIGHT NOW! YOU SOB! THAT IS THEFT AND IF THIS WASN'T 21 YEARS AGO I WOULD HAVE YOU REPORTED TO THE AUTHORITIES! MY CHAMPION WILL NOT BE NAKED LIKE THIS!

 

[The Marquis]

Bruiser Brody was a recent topic in the draft chat. Figured I would share a favorite Brody video here. This must be one of the first examples of a shoot interview. I would love to have more context as to how this was arranged. This was not the norm in the 80's. Very cool watch and gives you a look into his mind. No doubt his career in pro wrestling would have continued behind the scenes after hanging up the boots.

I've always been a big Brody fan. His tag team with Stan Hansen is one of the greatest of all-time, but never gets the credit because it happened in All-Japan. Just search it up on youtube. One of the great HOSSES of all-time, unquestionably.

 

[These Are The Days]

I like the post Mania X7 heel turn by Austin. It was a good idea. He needed it. He's ruthless, he's calculating, he takes guys out every time he's in the ring. It's perfect psychology. But his dialogue? Freaking WAAAHHHttlesnake. My God in 2003 I lamented how poor Lesnar's heel turn was. Bonafide monster baby turns into a sniveling suck up. The whole "I'M THE DUBYA DUBYA EFF CHAMPION! I DON'T DESERVE THIS!!!!" every 20 seconds is profoundly annoying. I really wish they had made it more akin to how he was in 1997.

It sucks to say this but this SHOULD have been the heel run that displaced Bret Hart as my favorite of the AE.




Unrelated thought: I could barely ever hear Rikishi's "Bad Man" track when he came out and it's a shame because it's genuinely one of THE best heel tracks I've ever heard. I swear I could hear it 10 times in a row and not get tired of it. But now he's back to stink facing people to crazy loud pops. Hard to complain. The man OOZES natural charisma and I give WWF huge props for how they tried to push him as a monster heel. It just didn't go well

 

[These Are The Days]

Kurt Angle just kissed his gold medals after they spent the day in Benoit's pants and is straight up acting like Gollum after getting The One Ring back. Then he taps out clean to put Benoit over. This is absolutely amazing

I love my Olympic Hero. To the death

 

[JackSlater]

I like the post Mania X7 heel turn by Austin. It was a good idea. He needed it. He's ruthless, he's calculating, he takes guys out every time he's in the ring. It's perfect psychology. But his dialogue? Freaking WAAAHHHttlesnake. My God in 2003 I lamented how poor Lesnar's heel turn was. Bonafide monster baby turns into a sniveling suck up. The whole "I'M THE DUBYA DUBYA EFF CHAMPION! I DON'T DESERVE THIS!!!!" every 20 seconds is profoundly annoying. I really wish they had made it more akin to how he was in 1997.

It sucks to say this but this SHOULD have been the heel run that displaced Bret Hart as my favorite of the AE.




Unrelated thought: I could barely ever hear Rikishi's "Bad Man" track when he came out and it's a shame because it's genuinely one of THE best heel tracks I've ever heard. I swear I could hear it 10 times in a row and not get tired of it. But now he's back to stink facing people to crazy loud pops. Hard to complain. The man OOZES natural charisma and I give WWF huge props for how they tried to push him as a monster heel. It just didn't go well

I agree that Austin's heel turn was a good idea and needed. Won't find many who do agree. Could have been handled better. I would have enjoyed a situation where Austin has gotten a bit soft and entitled from years of being the absolute top of the wrestling pyramid, gets taken down a few pegs, comes back more in line with 96 or 97 Austin as he sort of re-finds himself. Even then though, heel Austin as actually existed was perfectly fine.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I like the post Mania X7 heel turn by Austin. It was a good idea. He needed it. He's ruthless, he's calculating, he takes guys out every time he's in the ring. It's perfect psychology. But his dialogue? Freaking WAAAHHHttlesnake. My God in 2003 I lamented how poor Lesnar's heel turn was. Bonafide monster baby turns into a sniveling suck up. The whole "I'M THE DUBYA DUBYA EFF CHAMPION! I DON'T DESERVE THIS!!!!" every 20 seconds is profoundly annoying. I really wish they had made it more akin to how he was in 1997.

It sucks to say this but this SHOULD have been the heel run that displaced Bret Hart as my favorite of the AE.




Unrelated thought: I could barely ever hear Rikishi's "Bad Man" track when he came out and it's a shame because it's genuinely one of THE best heel tracks I've ever heard. I swear I could hear it 10 times in a row and not get tired of it. But now he's back to stink facing people to crazy loud pops. Hard to complain. The man OOZES natural charisma and I give WWF huge props for how they tried to push him as a monster heel. It just didn't go well

Problem too was people really didnt want to boo Austin. Anything you'd normally do to turn a guy heel would just get Austin more pops. His character as the anti hero made it so traditionally heel actions would've just made him an even bigger face. The only way they could get any heat with him was to go the opposite. Make him soft, sniveling, bitching. That's the only way people would boo him.

I will say 1 tweak they should've done was to turn up the conceitedness and self importance to 11. Make him insufferably self important and have him lecture about how much better he is than all the fans. Have him do things like forfeit matches because "you dont deserve to see someone as great as me", act disgusted if a fan touches him, etc.

 

[DaaaaB's]

I've always been a big Brody fan. His tag team with Stan Hansen is one of the greatest of all-time, but never gets the credit because it happened in All-Japan. Just search it up on youtube. One of the great HOSSES of all-time, unquestionably.

There were some great Gaijin tag team in Japan in the 80s and 90s. Besides Brody, Hansen had successful teams with Terry Gordy, Ted Dibiase and Vader. Gordy and Steve Williams were a great team who did have some success in North America. Vader and Bam Bam was another great team while it lasted.

 

[The Marquis]

There were some great Gaijin tag team in Japan in the 80s and 90s. Besides Brody, Hansen had successful teams with Terry Gordy, Ted Dibiase and Vader. Gordy and Steve Williams were a great team who did have some success in North America. Vader and Bam Bam was another great team while it lasted.

Miracle Violence Connection! Not only were Gordy and Williams one of the greatest tag teams ever, but that is a super cool name.

I’ll admit though, regarding my enjoyment of the Brody-Hansen pair (as well as my Hansen-Anybody pair) my pro-Stan Hansen bias is substantial. Not many wrestlers ever entertained me more than Stan Hansen.

 

[These Are The Days]

Just finished Judgment Day 2001. Very good PPV but dear God did it have the stupidest ending I've ever seen. Taker gets ambushed by HHH at a point, eats a stunner at another point, McMahon stops a sure 3 count, confusion ensues, Take gets clobbered with the sledge. Austin covers. The ref starts counting and THEN Kane decides to show up.

Again it WAS a very good PPV but what the HELL was that? How does Takers backup arrive that late?

 

[These Are The Days]

Benoit and Jericho's win over HHH and Austin for the tag titles is one of the best tag team matches I've seen in a while. Easily on par with any of the TLC's. Well done to keep me repeatedly guessing over and over with years of "lol DX wins" booking making me think "well this is over now" more than once


Edit: I just realized this is the infamous "HHH blew out his quad" match. f***in kudos to Paul Levasque to keep on going with an injury that severe. I thought he went down hard and was hobbling pretty good for a moment there before taking The Walls on the announce table but he's physically exerting himself. He's hobbled around a bit before. I can't even imagine how much pain he was in to still do the spot and finish the match regardless of it being just a few minutes. It's a minor miracle he was able to even stand up. Jesus Christ man. Fighting through THAT MUCH pain for a script is like being willingly stoned half to death.

If there was ever a man who gave everything to the business, it was Paul Levasque. Much respect regardless of how much I could not stand your character's booking in the year 2000.

 

[These Are The Days]

I don't know when the Rock is gonna decide to come back but dear God it's gonna be something else. Hard to imagine that I'm gonna be seeing less and less of him now as time goes on because he went on to make movies. As far as I'm concerned, good for him.


Late edit: Holy f*** they put a 4 team TLC match the following Smackdown! ?? Oh my God. My inner fan boii is breathless


Another edit: this might be the GOAT Smackdown! match. Oh my God

 

[These Are The Days]

I remember saying something about having seen Perry Saturn and "Moppy" back in the day some time ago and vaguely remembering it and I'm convinced I'm about a week or 2 away from him doing some crazy shit like this

 

[These Are The Days]

Omg I forgot that WWF made that cringe AF angle with DDP stalking Undertaker's wife. Now if we can go back to 2001 historically, this must be near the time I started glancing at what was going on with WWF every now and again. All I can say is when it became WWE I was a more regular viewer.

This time travel stuff is fun




PS- Heyman is so bad on commentary that it's actually amazing. I don't ever want him to leave. Not trying to actually be racist, I think it's his sense of humor and self deprecation that I like so much and it's clearly brought in part by his cultural upbringing -if you know what I man. I could hear him yell "GORE!!" at the top of his lungs for an hour.

Thank you Paul Heyman for being a GOAT of the business

 

[These Are The Days]

Haven't said it yet but Big Show running the hardcore division might be one of the best things about WWF 2001. I wish he was booked more dominantly but it works for him and the matches are always fun

Eddie's thing with the Hardy's is straight up weird man. It feels like weeks up build up for more "GOTCHA!!" for the sake of "GOTCHA!" and I honestly just prefer outright heel Eddie without the games like this.

Also the HHH return promos are already starting. I have to imagine it was immediately decided upon learning the extent of the injury (maybe even that night on Raw) that Austin should completely crap on him for it in order to keep with his character. And if you're going to do that you might as well turn HHH babyface. I gotta say, I'm REALLY looking forward to it. This is gonna be f***ing AMAZING

This right here is a case study of why McMahon is a genius. Something cataclysmic can happen and his company delivers something even better than what they probably had devised.

 

[The Marquis]

Heyman bad on commentary is something that never happened. I'm not a fan of the guy, but I sure liked him on commentary, particularly with Jim Ross. He's drive him legit crazy and it was awesome.

 

[These Are The Days]

On the June 4th 2001 episode of Raw. Foley just named himself the troubleshooting official or whatever the hell. Austin is defending his title vs Jericho.



Jericho is gonna win isn't he? I'd love to be surprised. I haven't looked forward to a match this much in a while

 

[These Are The Days]

And Austin wins. Meh whatever. KOTR will probably be great like always. A few random thoughts

Bubba Ray oversells pain like a motherf***er. Wow

What did Perry Saturn do to deserve the "completely screwed up from concussions" gimmick cross dressing and "you're welcome" nonsense

 

[Megahab]

@These Are The Days wait until you see Angle vs. Shane at KOTR. Some disturbing moments in that match.