Hi long time reader of yours, recently found your blog. A query I always had was why did the wwf big up Power and Glory , if memory is correct via a Battle Royal just to job them out straight away.? Also they gave them the rockers injury angle? I was a fan, but they seemed to get pushed then jobbed like mad.
Cheers Gav
Power and Glory were kind of the unfortunate victims of circumstance in that they were seemingly being set up for a title feud against the Rockers in the summer of 1990 (when they did the injury angle) but then the Rockers had their title reign erased and suddenly P&G weren't needed at that position on the card any longer. And with LOD coming into the WWF at the same time, they were #4 on the tag team depth chart (#5 if you're still counting Demolition at that point) and they just kind of lost their spot completely when the Nasty Boys came in shortly after. Just really bad timing for them, I guess.
WWE's tag team depth at that time is just crazy. The Rockers are one of the most popular tag teams of all time and they never held the titles and were never even the top tag team draw.
ReplyDeleteThe Rockers are only one of the most popular tag teams of all times in retrospect. If HBK doesn't succeed as a solo act, they're The Killer Bees.
ReplyDeleteThey've been showing a lot of classic shows from the Rockers peak on demand lately, and the pops they got were massive. How people look back on them nowadays has a lot to do with HBK, but they were extremely popular in 89/90/91.
ReplyDeleteThe Killer Bees were extremely popular in their time too.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you arguing about again?
ReplyDeleteThat people only consider The Rockers as big as they do due to HBK succeeding as a single. Had they just broken up and faded away, they wouldn't have the status that they do today. They got a nice pop but they never had a big time feud, they cut terrible promos and they were never near the top of the card.
ReplyDeleteThat's my whole point. Unless Shawn Michaels fans were time traveling, they were crazy over but never on top of the card.
ReplyDeleteI'm not arguing that the Rockers were some legendary tag team, just using them to illustrate the amazing depth WWE had with tag teams. You transplant the Rockers to the mid-90s or nowadays, and they would be 10 time tag team champs.
The PTPs really need to use the Powerplex.
ReplyDeleteThank you for agreeing with me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for finding the most annoying way possible to repeat what I wrote.
ReplyDeleteYou should know by now that I could've done that way more annoyingly.
ReplyDeleteThe Rockers were sorta like Benoit in WCW, in that the WWF let them tear up the opener or a midcard feud, but they gave them hardly any real meaty angles. It was pretty unfortunate IMO, as the peaked in 1990-1991 in terms of work and popularity and were playing second fiddle to the Nasty Boys and an over the hill LOD. Hell, even the Bushwhackers got more prominent angles.
ReplyDeleteThe Killer Bees line was vintage Dougie.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for a lot of today's fans to imagine that WWF wrestlers and teams could be over and credible without ever winning any titles. Look at Jake Roberts, he never won any titles in the WWF yet he was one of the most over wrestlers throughout his run. These days they give someone a title as soon as someone even gets the slightest response and then wonder why that person/team cannot keep that momentum once they lose that title. The Rockers were definitely over. They mattered so much that when they did the break up angle, it meant something because the fans cared about the Rockers. Yes, the tag team partners breaking up and feuding is such a cliche these days that it lost all effectiveness but back then it was a shocker and exciting. It wouldn't have been as effective if the Rockers as a team wasn't over. Yes they weren't ever World Tag Team Champions but the Rockers have more credibility in the eyes of the fans than a team like Epico and Primo or Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater who did win those titles but it didn't do anything for either team.
ReplyDeleteThey were incredibly popular in Brazil, Borneo, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Bulgaria, and Burkina Faso.
ReplyDeleteRoma was perfect for the Glory role and Hercules was actually improving as a wrestler. Also they had the Doctor of Style with them. Loved the team even though they were heels and I was a 10 year old kid.
ReplyDeleteWhoooooooaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaah!
ReplyDeleteClosest analogy would probably be the Hardys (with Matt being Marty, obv)
ReplyDeleteThe only time I ever enjoyed Hercules was as part of P & G.
ReplyDeleteRoma went on to sleaze up the Horsemen, but whatever happened to Herc?
ReplyDeleteAs were the Rougeau Brothers and The Young Stallions. Shit the WWF had a kick ass tag team division between 86 and 90. Harts, Demos, Dream Team, Bulldogs, Stallions, Rockers, Rougeaus, Powers of Pain, Bolsheviks, Islanders, etc.
ReplyDeleteI remember he was in Japan for a while teaming with Scott Norton as the Jurassic Powers, and sadly he died a few years ago.
ReplyDeletehe had a brief run in WCW as Super Invader and was managed by Harley Race
ReplyDeleteJurassic Powers? hahahaha. That's awesome.
ReplyDeleteGod, Japanese wrestling always provides the best tag team names.
ReplyDeleteI opened this topic to simply state that. Dammit!
ReplyDeleteYou Dougiechised em bro!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletesooooo true
ReplyDeletehercules improving? his body was toast by then. his peak as a worker was easily 88
ReplyDeleteI don't think the company really trusted Marty and Shawn in a lot of ways based on their party lifestyles.
ReplyDeletePower and Glory got a huge push with that win over the Rockers. I know HBK was interested so they had to find a way to keep him out of the match, but the whole thing made P&G look lethal. It was also about the worst reffed match ever as the official let P&G double team the entire match.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how wrestlers or tag teams got built up big just to do the job and become midcarders. Now guys get handed titles without buildup then do the job and become midcarders.
Yeah, I watched him have a mediocre match with the Stinger at a house show in '92 or so. Sting was awesome, but Herc was barely mobile during the match.
ReplyDeleteSame here.
ReplyDeleteThe Rockers are my favorite tag team ever. They were hugely over at their peak, and could've been even moreso if they actually got a title run.
ReplyDeleteFans always responded to them, because their matches were always entertaining.
Certainly, they didn't have the impact on the business that LOD, the Hart Foundation, the Bulldogs, etc. had, but they were way better than the Killer Bees.
Nah.
ReplyDeleteGreat move names too. MIRACLE ECSTASY BOMB!
ReplyDeleteI remember the Bees being hella over, I don't know why that got downvotes.
ReplyDeleteJim Brunzell great athlete from the state of Minnesota. Great vertical leap.
Brian Blair is no good cocksucking jabroni. Worse than Michael Jordan...I mean Michael Jackson
sorry had to do it.
I don't think the Young Stallions were ever over
ReplyDeleteFor those who dont know.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K-wEUCCvE0
That is GLORIOUS! It's like Iron Sheik's greatest hits of semi-coherent inappropriate rage.
ReplyDeletethis is the original, everything since has been imitation. Though his rant on Michael Richards is very funny
ReplyDeleteFAACK, that never stops being funny!
ReplyDeleteBushwackers invading Rhythm and Blues' concert was awesome.
ReplyDeleteRoma was a total jobber they built him up quickly after the Rockers squashed him and some other jabronie (not Powers) I thought that was pretty cool too bad WWE can't do it now.
ReplyDeletePontiac Michigan....
ReplyDeleteI gotta admit, I'm with you on this one. The Rockers mostly appealed to the younger kids (and the teenie booper chicks), but most other folks (and I was around 16 at the time), just saw them as an imitation of the RnRxp. They were over in a "opening curtain jerk team" type, but not main event, one of the best ever, etc. way.
ReplyDeleteand? the Killer Bees were awesome.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he just looked better to me then only having to do the power spots for a tag team.
ReplyDeletewell Herc did change his look. He started slicking his hair back & wearing sunglasses.
ReplyDeleteeven thought it was a total heel move, loved the spot where they put their masks on and switch places mid-match.
ReplyDeleteMaybe only in that SS elimination match that one year. MAYBE.
ReplyDeleteBetter yet, they mattered so much that they flat-out DID a breakup angle, period.
ReplyDeleteIt's cliche, but for me BURNING HAMMER never gets old.
ReplyDeleteTotally, Shawn was a sidekick.
ReplyDeleteMURDER DEATH KILL POWERBOMB!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that era was so stacked for tag teams, it's ridiculous. It's hard to imagine because the tag scene was weaker in every other era (even the TLC era had only 3-4 elite teams with realistic shots at winning the belts), but even the Rockers were never quite as "legit" as they needed to be. Beating the Hart Foundation for the Phantom Title Reign would have likely been treated as a major upset, for example, and the team still jobbed on a fairly regular basis- they have PPV losses to the fucking ORIENT EXPRESS on their record.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Dougster, The Killer Bees were definitely a better and more mature team than The Rockers, but The Can-Am Connection were better than both teams. If Tom Zenk didn't flake out and leave, Demolition would have never gotten a run with the Tag Team belts. The Can-Ams got louder crowd pops than the Rockers and Bees combined and were better in-ring workers to boot. They would have held the straps for two years at least.
ReplyDeleteSame here. Slick could make anyone good, even The Bolsheviks.
ReplyDeleteI have long forgotten about the Super Invader until you guys brought it up but I now remember seeing a hideous match he had with Van Hammer at a house show in the summer of '92. It would have been voted Worst Match Of The Year if it weren't for the fact that only about 600 people saw it.
ReplyDeleteThe Time Splitters would agree.
ReplyDeletecheck it out--very Tensai. There is so much wrong here, but I'm gonna start with that ridiculous outfit with what look like white tennis shoes. Why is he from Thailand instead of Parts Unknown?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ER-4uVAgho
Wow, Herc's embarrassing gimmick vs. ECW's future "Sexiest Man On Earth", great find. Myself being a big fan of 1990's B-movies, I can tell you that the reason he's billed as being from Thailand is because almost every kickboxing film from that time period would be set in Thailand and this character is basically a caricature of the standard villain of those aforementioned kickboxing movies.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty huge crowd for a 1992 WCW taping, but having gotten free tickets to many WCW shows, I can tell you there is no way in hell that place wasn't heavily papered.
yeah man--plus Heyman on commentary & Bill Alfonso as ref. EC-DUB EC-DUB
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the gimmick explanation, but he looks so damn awkward out there. That flying kneedrop for instance. I mean you've gotta slap the gimmick on someone who can play the part.
Yeah, Herc was so not the right person for that role. They needed to put someone that knew Karate in that role and now that I think about it, Tracey Smothers would have been a great choice for that role.
ReplyDeleteAnd to believe this wasn't even the worst worker Harley Race got paired up with considering that he also had Mr. Hughes as well as a very short-lived pairing with Vinnie Vegas.
I'm a little disappointed nobody brought up their role on one of the greatest Survivor Series teams of all time, The Visionaries. Led by team captain Rick "The Model" Martel they were the first team to have all four members survive intact. Power and Glory, The Warlord, and The Model. What a team. They had it all, strength, speed, arrogance, power, and technical ability. Very underrated team.
ReplyDeleteit was like they slow burnt the Paul Roma heel turn for almost a year, before turning Hercules and him by a simple promo vignette. i didn't mind Roma turning, but I was still a mark and liked Hercules as the chain swinging babyface. Him turning heel, without warning or reason just made me feel bad for being a Hercules mark.
ReplyDeleteI think Shawn and Marty were better than Jumping Jim and B. Brian Blair. Sadly, some guys are meant to be tag wreslters. The Killer Fleas were tag only wrestlers. The Rougeau Brothers were tag only wrestlers. The Road Warriors were tag only wrestlers. Jim Neidhart was a tag team wrestler, and it was funny because he had great mic skills. Bret really didn't, but when you pushed Bret even with Bad News in 1988 - you liked him. When you built him to be the IC champ with Perfect -you liked him. I never thought until about three years into the New Generation/Pre-Attitude era/Attitude era he should have even been near the top of the card. He was a great plunky midcard worker. Of course, the says of Hogan were over and Bret was a good wrestler - so he belonged up there.
ReplyDeleteOwen was someone too, who should have been a better singles wrestler. If it wasn't for the whole Bret Hart debacle - he might have ended up in a better spot. i think he made the right choice staying in the WWF, because Neidhart, and Bulldog went and Bischoff and Hogan weren't going to let a "Hart Foundation" kill the nWo's heat. (Kind of sad, because a Hart Foundation vs. nWo angle - which they hinted at doing - would have actually been cool. Hindsight being 20/20 Bret wasn't going to fit in the Attitude era, and WCW just wanted to 'own' him and not much else. They had instant feud with Hogan, and Hogan ducked him like the plague and created pseudo-storylines to make it look like Bret would get his revenge on Hogan. (I think Hogan and Bret wrestled three times at WCW events - not PPVs - but the rare house show appearance Hogan would do)