September 6, 1986
From Providence, RI
Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse Ventura, and Vince McMahon
The show opens with Bruno and Vince wearing red jackets featuring the WWF logo and they have switched the theme song from the instrumentals of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to a generic beat. They also include still photo's of the wrestlers appearing tonight, set to a background that looks cheesy even by 80's standards.
In action will be the Rougeau Brothers, the return of Kamala, the debut of Koko B Ware and a tag partner to take on the Hart Foundation. The featured match will be Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy vs. Corporal Kirchner & S.D. Jones. Also, Roddy Piper appears on the Flower Shop to confront Adrian Adonis and the Federettes make their debut.
Terry Gibbs & Roger Kirby vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat & Sivi Afi
The faces get jumped before the bell but quickly gain the advantage as they try to hit use the same moves in sync but it didn't quite work out that way. Back inside, the faces maintain control until Afi gets backed into the opposing corner and the heels cut off the ring. Afi manages to roll away and tag Steamboat, who beats on both men. Kirby picks up Steamboat, who tags Afi, then Steamboat hits a back suplex and Afi finishes him off with a splash (3:02).
Thoughts: A dull way to start off the new show. I will say that by adding Ventura to the team of Vince & Bruno was an immediate improvement but no one at all cared about Afi. Steamboat was a fan favorite but Afi was never well received by the fans and would shortly start jobbing on TV.
WWF Update with Gene Okerlund, who discusses the return of Superstar Billy Graham. We are then shown Graham doing curls at the gym set to George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone" before he cuts a promo on Big John Studd while a tarantula is on his face. The promo was fine, if not a bit corny.
Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Koko B. Ware & Paul Roma
Koko gets his own entrance and flaps his arms and dances the entire time as Vince is yelling at him to GIT DOWN!!!!!! He then tells us that Koko is a "dropkick specialist." Match starts with Koko rolling away from Neidhart then taking him down with an armdrag. Roma tags but Neidhart knees him down and the Hart Foundation double-teams him as we get an insert promo from Koko, who is holding up a boom box as his theme song is playing and cuts a promo filled with a few racial stereotypes and as that is going on, the Hart Foundation hit Roma with the Hart Attack for the win (1:51). Once again, Vince calls out Danny Davis for his bad officiating as the Hart Foundation attack Roma after the match but Koko makes the save and hits a bunch of dropkicks. Jesse then cracks a joke about Koko, saying if he grew his hair out longer, he would look like Buckwheat.
Thoughts: No idea why they had Koko debut with such little fanfare but his antics did hype up the crowd. This segment seemed a bit odd but I wouldn't call it a total failure.
Ken Resnick runs down tonight's Boston Garden show as Randy Savage comes out and talks about how he won the Intercontinental Title six months ago in Boston and how he is going to go in the ring with a half-wit like George Steele.
We get a promo from the Honky Tonk Man, who calls out Paul Orndorff and says that he is Hogan's friend. Honky as a babyface was very annoying to say the least.
Ron Shaw & Pete Doherty vs. Hillbilly Jim & Cousin Luke
Jim starts the match by getting the best of Shaw. Luke tags and Doherty ends up trapping him in the corner. Luke rolls away and tags Jim, who along with Doherty fuck up a big boot spot. Jim cleans house and tags Luke as they hit a double elbow smash, prompting Jesse to call out Vince and Bruno for their bias and shortly after that, Jim makes Doherty submit to the bearhug (1:46).
Thoughts: This was Jim's return after a four month absence. Luke would be gone very shortly after this. Jim would never reach the level popularity he once had.
Resnick was supposed to interview the British Bulldogs but Freddie Blassie and Slick interrupt. Blassie refers to the Machines as "slanty-eyed idiots" as Slick promises that the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff will win the belts in Boston tonight. Then the Bulldogs come out and cut one of their awful promos.
Tommy Sharpe vs. Kamala w/ King Curtis Iaueka & Kimchee
Kamala goes right after Sharpe and stays on the attack as we get an insert promo from King Curtis in which he screams and it sounds awful as he talks about bringing Kamala back to the United States. Kamala chokes out Sharpe on the mat then chops him down before finishing him off with a splash, that he nearly fell down on in the process after bouncing off of the ropes (2:06).
Thoughts: Kamala makes his return and was built up to face Hogan for a run the following year. Match was fine for what it was.
The Flower Shop with guest Roddy Piper, who walks out holding a and guessing that Adonis has "34 B's." Piper insults everyone then pulls out a piece of paper with the top TV ratings and says that when the Flower Shop airs, it is rated #1 in the world for constipation as everyone is in the bathroom. Piper then gives them a piece of paper before leaving and Hart reads it and it says that Piper's Pit will be returning and replacing the Flower Shop as Adonis goes mental and destroys the set, even knocking down Orton accidentally. Good segment and Adonis was great with his meltdown at the end.
The Rougeau Brothers vs. Bob Bradley & Mike Fever
Bradley and Jacques start off by trading punches. Jacques grabs a headlock then gets the best of Bradley during an Irish whip sequence. Fever comes in and the Rougeau's take him down with a double dropkick. The French commentary team of Edouard Carpentier and Guy Hauray are shown in an insert talking about the Rougeau's. The Rougeau's then take turns beating on Fever until they put him away with an assisted senton for the win (1:56).
Thoughts: The Rougeau's continue to impress in the ring but have yet to show any sort of personality.
We are shown a replay of last week's "Flower Shop" segment with Bobby Heenan confronting Capt. Lou Albano and the machines.
King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd w/Bobby Heenan vs. Corporal Kirchner & S.D. Jones
Studd hammers away on Kirchner in the corner. Kirchner fights back and eventually knocks Studd down on his knees as the crowd goes crazy. Bundy breaks up a slam attempt and that allows Studd to take control of the match. Bundy tags and hits Kirchner with a backbreaker then Kirchner gets double-teamed in the corner. Kirchner fights back and eventually makes the tag. S.D. fires away but Bundy reverses an Irish whip in the corner then puts him away with the Avalanche for the win (2:52).
Thoughts: Another match designed to put over Studd & Bundy as they continue their feud with the Machines.
Resnick is with Super & Big Machine. George Steele interrupts and does his wacky routine before Albano comes out to settle him down.
Final Thoughts: Besides the Piper/Adonis stuff and return of Hillbilly Jim and Kamala, along with the debut of Koko, this show was entirely skippable. Besides the Machine's feud, nothing else was advanced. They are trying to bring back former stars as well as bringing in new guys and for the most part, they did not have instant success. The biggest improvements were the production values and the announcing. Bruno was even quieter than usual, which is not a bad thing, and the lighting was much improved with the bigger arena's giving it a more impressive look.
Here is my schedule for the next seven days:
Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/7/86
Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Bret Hart, Volume 1
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/13/86
Saturday: RoH Glory by Honor 10/5/02
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/14/86
All feedback can be sent to BBayless781@gmail.com
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/mrbayless1982
From Providence, RI
Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse Ventura, and Vince McMahon
The show opens with Bruno and Vince wearing red jackets featuring the WWF logo and they have switched the theme song from the instrumentals of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to a generic beat. They also include still photo's of the wrestlers appearing tonight, set to a background that looks cheesy even by 80's standards.
In action will be the Rougeau Brothers, the return of Kamala, the debut of Koko B Ware and a tag partner to take on the Hart Foundation. The featured match will be Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy vs. Corporal Kirchner & S.D. Jones. Also, Roddy Piper appears on the Flower Shop to confront Adrian Adonis and the Federettes make their debut.
Terry Gibbs & Roger Kirby vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat & Sivi Afi
The faces get jumped before the bell but quickly gain the advantage as they try to hit use the same moves in sync but it didn't quite work out that way. Back inside, the faces maintain control until Afi gets backed into the opposing corner and the heels cut off the ring. Afi manages to roll away and tag Steamboat, who beats on both men. Kirby picks up Steamboat, who tags Afi, then Steamboat hits a back suplex and Afi finishes him off with a splash (3:02).
Thoughts: A dull way to start off the new show. I will say that by adding Ventura to the team of Vince & Bruno was an immediate improvement but no one at all cared about Afi. Steamboat was a fan favorite but Afi was never well received by the fans and would shortly start jobbing on TV.
WWF Update with Gene Okerlund, who discusses the return of Superstar Billy Graham. We are then shown Graham doing curls at the gym set to George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone" before he cuts a promo on Big John Studd while a tarantula is on his face. The promo was fine, if not a bit corny.
Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Koko B. Ware & Paul Roma
Koko gets his own entrance and flaps his arms and dances the entire time as Vince is yelling at him to GIT DOWN!!!!!! He then tells us that Koko is a "dropkick specialist." Match starts with Koko rolling away from Neidhart then taking him down with an armdrag. Roma tags but Neidhart knees him down and the Hart Foundation double-teams him as we get an insert promo from Koko, who is holding up a boom box as his theme song is playing and cuts a promo filled with a few racial stereotypes and as that is going on, the Hart Foundation hit Roma with the Hart Attack for the win (1:51). Once again, Vince calls out Danny Davis for his bad officiating as the Hart Foundation attack Roma after the match but Koko makes the save and hits a bunch of dropkicks. Jesse then cracks a joke about Koko, saying if he grew his hair out longer, he would look like Buckwheat.
Thoughts: No idea why they had Koko debut with such little fanfare but his antics did hype up the crowd. This segment seemed a bit odd but I wouldn't call it a total failure.
Ken Resnick runs down tonight's Boston Garden show as Randy Savage comes out and talks about how he won the Intercontinental Title six months ago in Boston and how he is going to go in the ring with a half-wit like George Steele.
We get a promo from the Honky Tonk Man, who calls out Paul Orndorff and says that he is Hogan's friend. Honky as a babyface was very annoying to say the least.
Ron Shaw & Pete Doherty vs. Hillbilly Jim & Cousin Luke
Jim starts the match by getting the best of Shaw. Luke tags and Doherty ends up trapping him in the corner. Luke rolls away and tags Jim, who along with Doherty fuck up a big boot spot. Jim cleans house and tags Luke as they hit a double elbow smash, prompting Jesse to call out Vince and Bruno for their bias and shortly after that, Jim makes Doherty submit to the bearhug (1:46).
Thoughts: This was Jim's return after a four month absence. Luke would be gone very shortly after this. Jim would never reach the level popularity he once had.
Resnick was supposed to interview the British Bulldogs but Freddie Blassie and Slick interrupt. Blassie refers to the Machines as "slanty-eyed idiots" as Slick promises that the Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff will win the belts in Boston tonight. Then the Bulldogs come out and cut one of their awful promos.
Tommy Sharpe vs. Kamala w/ King Curtis Iaueka & Kimchee
Kamala goes right after Sharpe and stays on the attack as we get an insert promo from King Curtis in which he screams and it sounds awful as he talks about bringing Kamala back to the United States. Kamala chokes out Sharpe on the mat then chops him down before finishing him off with a splash, that he nearly fell down on in the process after bouncing off of the ropes (2:06).
Thoughts: Kamala makes his return and was built up to face Hogan for a run the following year. Match was fine for what it was.
The Flower Shop with guest Roddy Piper, who walks out holding a and guessing that Adonis has "34 B's." Piper insults everyone then pulls out a piece of paper with the top TV ratings and says that when the Flower Shop airs, it is rated #1 in the world for constipation as everyone is in the bathroom. Piper then gives them a piece of paper before leaving and Hart reads it and it says that Piper's Pit will be returning and replacing the Flower Shop as Adonis goes mental and destroys the set, even knocking down Orton accidentally. Good segment and Adonis was great with his meltdown at the end.
The Rougeau Brothers vs. Bob Bradley & Mike Fever
Bradley and Jacques start off by trading punches. Jacques grabs a headlock then gets the best of Bradley during an Irish whip sequence. Fever comes in and the Rougeau's take him down with a double dropkick. The French commentary team of Edouard Carpentier and Guy Hauray are shown in an insert talking about the Rougeau's. The Rougeau's then take turns beating on Fever until they put him away with an assisted senton for the win (1:56).
Thoughts: The Rougeau's continue to impress in the ring but have yet to show any sort of personality.
We are shown a replay of last week's "Flower Shop" segment with Bobby Heenan confronting Capt. Lou Albano and the machines.
King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd w/Bobby Heenan vs. Corporal Kirchner & S.D. Jones
Studd hammers away on Kirchner in the corner. Kirchner fights back and eventually knocks Studd down on his knees as the crowd goes crazy. Bundy breaks up a slam attempt and that allows Studd to take control of the match. Bundy tags and hits Kirchner with a backbreaker then Kirchner gets double-teamed in the corner. Kirchner fights back and eventually makes the tag. S.D. fires away but Bundy reverses an Irish whip in the corner then puts him away with the Avalanche for the win (2:52).
Thoughts: Another match designed to put over Studd & Bundy as they continue their feud with the Machines.
Resnick is with Super & Big Machine. George Steele interrupts and does his wacky routine before Albano comes out to settle him down.
Final Thoughts: Besides the Piper/Adonis stuff and return of Hillbilly Jim and Kamala, along with the debut of Koko, this show was entirely skippable. Besides the Machine's feud, nothing else was advanced. They are trying to bring back former stars as well as bringing in new guys and for the most part, they did not have instant success. The biggest improvements were the production values and the announcing. Bruno was even quieter than usual, which is not a bad thing, and the lighting was much improved with the bigger arena's giving it a more impressive look.
Here is my schedule for the next seven days:
Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/7/86
Thursday: RF Video Shoot Interview with Bret Hart, Volume 1
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 9/13/86
Saturday: RoH Glory by Honor 10/5/02
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 9/14/86
All feedback can be sent to BBayless781@gmail.com
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/mrbayless1982
Yea he's completely unrecognizable. I saw him a couple of year ago and thought "where's the chubby dork in the yellow jumpsuit?"
ReplyDeleteBig Fish is an amazing movie... the is the only movie I can remember making me so happy I teared up, several times.
ReplyDeleteThis show is better than anything they did in 2006.
ReplyDeleteWhile installing Journey for PS3, my console got fried. Fuck that game up the ass with a spatula.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't surprise me. I've been blowing through all the leftovers of the original era today and now I just have the bastardized modern shows left to do and I'm kind of dreading it. That Jenny McCarthy show in 2008 may have been one of the worst things they ever aired on TV.
ReplyDeleteI would have had slaughter just destroy duggan and put him out of action. Then hogan makes the save to set up wrestlemania.
ReplyDeleteScott skipped all the pandering they did showing clips of Hogan's "USO Tour" where he didn't go anywhere but bases in the US.
ReplyDeleteSo if there wasn't a gulf war, who would hogan have faced? A struggling warrior?
ReplyDeleteIt's not like Duggan did anything at Mania that year anyway.
ReplyDeleteWell, that was better than the Lex Express, which seemed to just drive around in circles and never actually go anywhere.
ReplyDeleteRight? I didn't know a whole lot about it other than that on the first day of my first ever real job at Staples, someone said they said it, and said it was "sad" just real "sad" but in an awesome way.
ReplyDeleteSo it was on and I checked it out and loved every second of it. The whole Spectre thing was wild, and whatever kind of color correction or lighting or digital enhancement they used to make those colors pop deserves someone's first born son at tribute.
He had an obvious tantrum in the main event of the second biggest show of the year. Even if it has been a bit exaggerated, you can hardly blame people for pointing out that its grossly unprofessional.
ReplyDeletejust so "Guardians" two days ago (it doesn't even officially premier here until end of August) and had a blast: such a funny and entertaining movie.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a heel-turned Warrior?
ReplyDeleteIt got even worse as his comeback wore on, eventually I just couldn't take him seriously .
ReplyDeleteTaker even confirmed in an interview he had to threaten Shawn just for him to go out and put over Austin for the title.
ReplyDeleteHe had enough power in the booking to get Hunter of all people on the booking team. When you had Triple H in 1997 giving guys like Bret Hart their match finishes, that's like Curtis Axel going up to John Cena and telling him how his Summerslam match with Lesnar is ending.
ReplyDeleteProbably because as stiff and shit as he was, he was still professional. Hansen knocked his eyeball out for Christ sake and he didn't try get off script revenge.
ReplyDeleteI actually hated HHH more than Shawn at this time (no mean feat). Shawn at least had the talent and star quality to justify his position and ego. HHH had NONE. He was a competent but utterly bland wrestler who was blatantly only in the position he was in because he was pretty much Shawns only friend at the time.
ReplyDeleteThe Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is probably my favorite movie. I was biased until older movies until I watched it.
ReplyDeleteEverything about it is just fantastic. Especially the performances of Eastwood and Wallach.
"Such ingratitude after all the times I've saved your life"
Might watch it right now on Netflix actually.
No...a Warrior who supports Saddam.
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOD THE PROMOS.
True, but I found Shawn almost as laughable. He sounded like a thirteen year old trying to be a tough guy, with that forced "deep" voice of his.
ReplyDeleteTop heel going over faces is one thing. Top heel systematically making every face he comes up against look like a complete tool whilst treating everything as a joke is another thing entirely.
ReplyDeleteNetwork TJ:
ReplyDeleteInteresting that looking at next week's programming, they've replaced the "Raw Flashbacks" every morning with "Smackdown Flashbacks", with Episodes 2, 3, 4, etc. So they've stopped with the Raws for the time being, obviously to kick them back up with the Nitros they'll start running.
Monday night will be a special on the Cena-Lesnar rivalry...description sounds like it may be similar to one of those Mayweather 24/7 HBO specials before one of his fights, which would be AWESOME if done right.
Additionally, Tuesday night has a Beyond the Ring premiere of the latest Brock Lesnar DVD documentary from 2012.
This week's "Best of Raw" on Wednesday is the episode with the Nexus debut.
Best of Smackdown is from 7/4/01 (or around there), with Booker T vs DDP for the WCW title. Always find those early-Invasion TVs interesting to look back on.
End Network rant.
"You don't know why, but without a single line of dialog, it reaches out and touches you like that time at Summer Camp."
ReplyDeleteAnd you don't stop believing?
See because Journey... never mind.
I had that joke in there, but figured I'd let someone else make it so they can feel all included and stuff!
ReplyDeleteAlso, Call of the Ktulu (S&M Version) is one of those amazing instrumentals you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteLike the American Express gag in Friday the 13th Part 6?
ReplyDeleteMetallica?
ReplyDeleteAll he said was that if Shawn didn't do his job it "would have been a long night for Shawn Michaels". The story Shawn tells, as told to him by Undertaker, was that Undertaker told Vince if Shawn wouldn't do business he would take care of it, Vince told him Shawn was doing it and that was that.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, Vince wanted him to lose to Austin, he lost to Austin, nobody's ever had to shoot finish a match to get the title off Shawn Michaels.
Looked up Sivi Afi and it looks like he was supposed to be a poor mans Jimmy Snuka.
ReplyDeleteOh it's definitely unprofessional, and I don't defend him for being an asshole, nor does it really bother me. But Shawn being a drug addict dickhead somehow gets mixed up with Shawn refusing to lose and demanding the show center around him, etc, which is highly exaggerated.
ReplyDeleteActually, it might have worked better than in 2001. Rocky was hotter than Austin by the time Austin left for surgery in November 1999 (though they just 6 monthetty damn close) because Rock had been face for just 6 months whereas Austin for 2.5 years (if you count 1997 after WM 13). So if he'd never been injured and just turned in 2000 it might have got a better reception. Instead, fans were dying to see him when he came back from injury after 11 months, so he had become a bit "fresher" and Rock (who by now had been face for 1.5 years) had got staler. So Austin was never gonna get booed, especially because almost everyone wanted his big return from such a badass injury to end in a Wrestlemania 17 win.
ReplyDeleteI remember the first 2006 one being OK. Mostly for the Shawn/Shane main event.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly who he was and the fans were so pissed when he debuted that they booed him throughout the match. He was doomed from the minute he made his debut
ReplyDeleteI think Avengers did a good job managing expectations. They couldn't blow the doors off the place because then every subsequent movie would feel like a let down. There was great interplay, a couple of cool action beats, and some good setup.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about Whedon is that he's a TV guy and nothing if not economical. He didn't need to go over the top to win his audience, and the more he saves in the tank, the better it is for everyone.
Also, The Dark Knight (not rises) is fantastic. Think of it as a heist film with masks and it's awesome.
My top 5:
1. Dark Knight
2. Guardians (not really super hero, but whatever)
3. Superman (70s)
4. Spider-man 2 / The Amazing Spider-man 2
5. X-men 2.
And then it's a big ole list from there.
The Rougeaus might be the only case where one's fortune improves moving from Montreal to Memphis.
ReplyDeleteWait, how can you choose not to see Dark Knight and yet see the third in the trilogy? Hell, why would you choose not to see it when it's honestly the best of the three?
ReplyDeleteI also am very confused by this.
ReplyDeleteOh man, that Piper-Adonis feud was SOOOO great. Piper loses all his friends and gets a broken leg, then just comes out and unleashes all his anger (and by proxy the anger of the fanbase) by laying waste to the Flower Shop single-handedly. It's why I became a fan.
ReplyDelete"I'd rather watch a flawed movie like
ReplyDeleteEnder's Game over something like 'Primal Fear' which is a more profound
movie, but ultimately kind of flat in the visuals department. Big Fish
entertained me more than Good The Bad and The Ugly, even though Ugly is
clearly the more important and 'better' film."
This is what frustrates me with Paul Meekin, Movie Critic. Your angle isn't Movie Critic, it's Movie Guy. You're just some guy who happens to like movies. You want to talk about visuals, but what you really mean is pretty things and effects. Visuals would encompass everything on-screen, from the effects to the framing itself, but that's clearly not what you mean when you talk about stuff like this.
If we're judging "visuals" by an accurate reflection of what that encompasses, Big Fish isn't even The Good The Bad and The Ugly's league. Leone's use of the camera wasn't just good, it was completely mind-blowing for it's time. His influence wasn't just on trash western aficionados like Tarantino, although Tarantino wouldn't have a second half to his career after Jackie Brown if not for shamelessly aping Leone's work, but pretty much the entire western action film as we know it. Directly through filmmakers like John Woo to John Singleton, to even "classic Hollywood" like Sam Peckinpah, the guy has influenced almost every visual aspect of the modern Hollywood. Some were more explicit, like Woo, but we wouldn't be where we are today without his Man With No Name trilogy.
I'm not saying Big Fish isn't a fun movie, but it's a "visual film" in the sense that Burton is more of a photographer than he is a director. He doesn't do things with the camera that genuinely make the film feel real, or intentionally shirk that notion; he simply has a collection of cool images that he strings together loosely into a conventional Western narrative structure. I would also argue that those cool images he creates are more a reflection of the zeitgeist of popular culture in whatever era he works filtered through his own kinks (1950s suburbia, Universal horror films, pop art, etc.), whereas Leone was just doing things that very few people around him were even aware of.
I noticed that as well.....I always wondered if that was intentional, but I think it worked out better that way.....everybody stayed calm until Sting protested.
ReplyDeleteDon't judge the first two films by DKR. DKR is probably one of the worst superhero films, period.
ReplyDeleteAll good points. I didn't see as it happened originally, so that definitely changes my view of it.
ReplyDeleteStrangely, this year's SummerSlam has a main event with a very similar dynamic. A clean cut babyface pushed by the "powers that be" who is popular with women and children (but unpopular with everyone else) fighting a monster heel who desperately needs the win to prove his legitimacy. Hopefully, this year's SummerSlam has a different ending than Summerslam 1996 though.
ReplyDeleteProbably gonna win MOTY
ReplyDeleteNo, he only had to fake knee injuries (world title), get beat up marines, get suspended (IC titles), or walking out because he was a baby (tag titles).
ReplyDeleteThe segment when he gets his leg broken is money. Great stuff
ReplyDeleteBurton also isn't happy unless he has at least one black-and-white striped pole-looking thing somewhere in his movie.
ReplyDeleteThe first Batman, Beetlejuice, Scissorhands and especially Ed Wood are all good-to-great, but he's the most overrated film-maker perhaps ever, usually by people who think that making something e.g. a door-frame a bit slanty is by itself, art.
"Visual films"
ReplyDeleteIn other words, stoner movies. But stoner movies that aren't primarily comedies. Yeahhh..... real deep shit......
Too bad no one vaccinated them against her
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure Bob Remus said he thought it went too far. IDK about Vince himself.
ReplyDeletehttp://bit.ly/1lNryRS
ReplyDeleteCome on, dude. Shawn himself admits that he was once a huge asshole backstage.
ReplyDeleteI think the argument you're making is a semantic one, but at the risk of appearing anti-semantic, I'll dive into this for a second.
ReplyDeleteFor starters, yes, I'm talking about visuals, and yes, I understand how foundational Sergio Leone's work is to all things film and cinema.
But it seems you missed my point. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, is revolutionary, yes, but then again, so was the Model T. Both are important to regard and hold reverence for, both are important to understand if you're a movie person or a car buff, but if you compare the two, it's clear Big Fish, specifically is the more vibrant of the two, and that's what was I 'into' at the time.
I even say Ugly is better in every category, I just found the more 'modern' movie to be more entertaining, because I live in the modern world and grew up watching a lot of 'modern' movies. My dad was 6 when Ugly came out, and movies have changed radically in almost every single way.
If you want....I could happily do some stuff on things like shot composition, how to edit together a sequence in a cool way, and maybe dive a bit into things like lighting and magic hour and all that. In fact i'd enjoy doing it.
Again, I went to school to *make* and write television, and I spent a lot of my education doing that, and happened into the 'film critic' / 'film guy' thing. I'm trying my best here, going through as many movies as I can mostly because I enjoy them, but yes, because I think I should be seeing more and more movies. I research when I can, but if some kid turns on The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly I don't know if he's going to spend a half hour researching the history of the western genre before his modern and shorter attention span wonks out.
To compare it to wrestling, old 80s stuff is important, and foundational, but it's very, very different from today, and is an acquired taste.
I have a reverence for the past, but am also not so steeped in it that I can't say some elements of a movie like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly feel a little dated, I could say the same for Casablanca. That doesn't make those movies less special, just different, like how everyone used to wear suspenders.
You will forever hate Journey.
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a marathon.
ReplyDeletein the 80's, i played journey
ReplyDeleteit was based on the band, and you had to maneuver each band member through their own challenne 1st to get their equipment, then to make it back to base
for steve perry you had to work your way through these gates to get the microphone
for neal schon you had to work your way down a river to get his guitar
for ross valerie you had to jumo on these stilt like things to get his bass
for jonathan cain you had to jump hurdles to get to his keyboard
for steve smith you had to bounce off of snare drum hears to get to his drums
i only ever beat the game with an emulator and not back in the day, so i have no idea what happened sound-wise, but if you did each one correctly, apparently an actual journey song would
play (vs. a digitized rendition) while they showed a concert getting
stormed by fans who steal the instruments.
i also played an atari game called journey that was also based on the band but was the equivalent of an acid trip. it also had the kool-aid man making random appearances
I like how Jack Tunney runs down the top contenders in his promo, much like he did the following year when they announced the #1 contender for Wrestlemania 8. Representing '91, we have Hogan, Warrior, Savage & Duggan. Representing '92, we have Hogan, Savage, Piper, Taker, & Sid. I think the '92 squad gets the nod.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, Scott, any idea why Duggan was left off Wrestlemania 7? I guess I'm assuming an injury. It seems weird that he would beat the champion (by dq, but still), be in a side feud with the champion, and be left off a Mania whose theme was tailor made for his gimmick. (Btw, that's not "Taylor made," b/c Alexandra York's computer said he would have battled to a double countout with The Mountie in 8 minutes and 44 seconds.)
This was better than anything Meekin has ever wrote.
ReplyDeleteAre you jerking off to your upvotes? This kind of negativity and it's positive attention is why people stop posting free content. Get a life, someone enjoyed something and used hyperbole on an editorial blog. Go Fuck yourself.
ReplyDeleteThat's probably what I was thinking of, yeah.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding? On the "McMahon" DVD everyone else (including HHH) complains about Katie Vick but Vince still insists it was a funny bit to do.
ReplyDeleteMust have been an injury. Even Dino Bravo got a payoff, for pete's sake.
ReplyDeletePorn causes you to feel abstract emotions? Just what kind of porn are you watching there, Cool Breeze? Rhetorical question. Never mind. I sort of enjoyed your opinions of Guardians and Big Fish. Gunn seems to possess a talent that is rare among modern filmmakers. Heart. He gives Guardians heart. Whedon, Apatow, Linklater, John Hughes, Thomas McCarthy all infuse their works with something genuinely sweet that doesn't come across as sentimental drivel. Burton did it with Big Fish, a spectacular movie. Cameron Crowe is also among this group. Snyder, Bay, Ratner, Goyer, Nolan and many others just aren't capable of instilling their creations with the type of warmth the folks I mentioned above do. Movies like Searching for Bobby Fischer, Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Way Way Back, Things We Lost in The Fire, A Prairie Home Companion, and Paul, among many others, have the undefinable yet unmistakable quality I'm talking about. At least in my opinion. And wouldn't it kick ass if Billy Crudup showed up in Guardians 2 as Adam Worlock and Peter Dinklage plays his sidekick Pip the Troll?
ReplyDeleteActually they turned semi-face with the Suzuki-gun fued in early 2013.
ReplyDeleteI started watching around the build up to Hogan-Andre and Bruno pretty much didn't say anything except for the recap of the replay. I often wonder if he didn't just add his lines in post-production.
ReplyDeleteOk Yano is part of Chaos. A few years back Yano was in a heel stable with Makabe and Honma and a few others called Great Bash Heel. Then IIRC in 2008 during a Nakamura vs Makabe match Yano turned on Makabe and Nakamura and Yano left to form Chaos basically taking all the other GBH guys cept Honma with them.
ReplyDeleteOf suck. Sorry. Fucking loathe Journey...
ReplyDeleteYeah only Tanahashi has ever kicked out of he Rainmaker. And even that was because Tanahashi spent the whole match working Okada's arm that he couldn't cover for a bit after hitting the Rainmaker due to pain.
ReplyDeleteMy amusement largely comes from his utter refusal to ever respond, as though I'll be disheartened from continuing to fairly comment on what he has decided that we should read. No.
ReplyDeleteIf you read it, hardly any of it is about Journey.
ReplyDeletePaul, some people here are commenting having only read the intro. I read all of it. You can't trust them. You can trust me.
Oddly enough I do trust you; and wish to subscribe to your newsletter...
ReplyDeleteWas this the last NBC version of the series?
ReplyDeleteSo for those you will watched a lit of the tourney, give it's your too five matches, I don't have time to watch it all sadly.
ReplyDeleteI think I remember that battle royale. Wasn't Shawn and Perfect two of the last guys or something?
ReplyDeleteFrom a 10 year old mark perspective this wasn't a bad show. This had the big names plus a title match. It lacks a big angle but this is passable otherwise.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read, one or two less payoffs and he may have lived longer.
ReplyDelete"Queering don't make the world work... Rape rooms do!"
ReplyDeleteI have seen and enjoyed the last three movies on this list.
ReplyDeleteWell sure it was a mistake! They had to move the show to a different venue because of all the bomb threats!
ReplyDeleteI imagine that editing Wikipedia articles on the history of wrestling is an utterly thankless and frustrating daily horror, because of stories (lies) like that.
Nicely to the point, a solid B+.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to say something nice, or nothing at all, in Meekin posts.
ReplyDeletePlus you did a pretty good job down below, I couldn't follow that.
The is the last episode of The Main Event, April has the last NBC episode of SNME until the 2006 reboot. In between that there's two episodes on FOX.
ReplyDeleteThe answer was right there all along. Do a miscommunication in a tag match and have Tugboat turn on Hogan. The old 'betrayed by his best friend' formula was a sure fire main-event every time. Imagine the drama when Vince poses the question, "But can Hogan slam the Tugboat?" to his commentary partners.
ReplyDeleteExactly right. Perfect won the battle royal on the last SNME in the SNL timeslot on NBC, after which it moved to Fox.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's only because I was just getting into my fandom in 91/92, but I feel like those Fox SNMEs weren't too bad. Sure, they varied wildly from the originally successful format, but they were good shows, no?
First Smackdown I attended.
ReplyDeleteI started and ended mine with nice points because I really felt bad for how terrible his article was, and how adamantly he refuses to acknowledge this.
ReplyDeleteI liked them. 2-92 has Hogan/Sid v. Taker/Flair and Savage v. Roberts, and 11-92 has 3 title matches, including Ultimate Maniacs v. Money Inc. and Shawn's 1st IC Title win vs. Davey Boy.
ReplyDeleteIF you look at it, the only "names" not on the Mania 7 card were Duggan, Tugboat, and the Bushwhackers. I guess you could say Koko and the JTTS Express, but that's digging real deep.
ReplyDeleteHorniness is an emotion. We can get deeper into the subject depending on what porn you're watching, but yeah horniness is an emotion.
ReplyDeleteAnd when you're searching for "chubby amateur anal orgasm" you start feeling many many more emotions. Not all good. Actually, very few good.
Hell, Hogan was still milking that formula well into his WCW run.
ReplyDeleteSee, when you people congratulate him for managing to eat like a human being for awhile it encourages him and then you get stuff like this. I blame you all.
ReplyDeleteAnd the public school system.
"and how he adamantly refuses to acknowledge this" - For some inexplicable reason I can't help but imagine Meekin's computer taunting him to respond to you in the voice of HAL from 2001 "he's making fun of us Paul. Acknowledge him Paul. Dean Andrews sank your battleships Paul." And Meekin just sits there with arms crossed violently shaking his head in defiance in an adamant act of refusal...
ReplyDeleteI remember cheering Perfect so hard in that battle royal and thinking he was the coolest guy in the world for those athletic near-eliminations.
ReplyDeleteDude was awesome.
I watch my fair share of porn Mr. Jake. And emotions are felt. But I don't know if they are abstract emotions. They are too immaterial to define...
ReplyDeleteI guess they really needed him to do commentary while Bobby Heenan was occupied to start the show at WM7.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the WWF Magazine at the time (I think that's where it was mentioned) Tugboat vs Undertaker was originally a thing, although I suppose that probably changed when plans for Tugboat to go heel were hatched and he continued getting a push.
ReplyDeleteOh it is. I tried to correct some of the ratings on the Monday Night Wars page once and some of the more ridiculous things mentioned on another page (with sources) and both of them were reverted in like 10 minutes -- back to their non-sourced or "the WWE said it on a DVD!" versions.
ReplyDeleteWasn't the whole Slaughter getting DQ'ed here supposed to setup the idea that he might get DQ'ed at WrestleMania to keep his title? I guess that was their best effort to give the outcome any sliver of doubt.
ReplyDelete>>I think the argument you're making is a semantic one, but at the risk of appearing anti-semantic, >>
ReplyDeleteYou're going to keep making that joke until someone laughs at it, aren't you?
The next SNME post WrestleMania VII is one of my faves -- you've got that awesome little battle royal where someone unexpected actually walks out with the win, Savage as a heel on commentary, another solid Bret vs Dibiase outing to get Bret's singles run rolling and
ReplyDeleteand the Undertaker bit where Paul Bearer rolls out the casket to ringside during the Slaughter/Warrior rematch.
You're fucking drunk. This is the most asinine thing I've ever read. All your credibility is shot, go kill yourself.
ReplyDeleteDon't Stop Believing (isn't that the game we are playing?)
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of this is a failing of yours as a critic. Your explanation, that you enjoy a modern movie more because you live in the modern world, doesn't hold water, especially when we're living in an era of post-modernist expression where the past literally rules over the modern in Hollywood with every other blockbuster being a remake, reboot or reimagining. Pop culture is recycling itself, so any argument that something can be "dated" is almost ludicrous at this point. And the criteria on which you base your judgments, just being entertained, is basically anathema to the very idea of criticism because it reduces the concept to a base-level judgment that any rando off the street could do. A critic isn't there to just tell you a movie is entertaining, or which movie is more entertaining; that is precisely what separates Roger Ebert from a hack like Mick Lasalle. A critic is there to evaluate, contextualize, and open the reader up to new possibilities. You don't do that. You ramble around a point, shoehorn in "clever analogies," and try to show off.
ReplyDeleteFor example, quickly skimming over your Guardians review I found this paragraph:
"A little thing about action movies;
Generally speaking you'll have 2-3 'set pieces' per action flick. Iron
Man 1: The escape from prison, the Iron Man flying around taking care of
business bit, and then the big fight with Iron Monger. The Incredible
Hulk: The fight in the factory, the fight outside of the university, and
then the big showdown with Abomination. This is the language of action
cinema, and while Marvel is many things, they are not in the business of
breaking the mold regarding how action movies are structured and
escalate."
It's superfluous to the paragraphs before and after it. They would read just as well without this bridging them, but it's there to put over your knowledge at the expense of the review. This goes to the larger point I was making about visuals. You may know a lot about shot composition, you could have been a DP on a bunch of films for all I know; none of that matters. You're approaching your job as a critic from the wrong perspective. I'm not even angry you go for the bright and shiny, easy things over everything else. What bothered me about the situation was that you couldn't even explain why one is better beyond the easy "entertaining" cop-out. If you want to be Roger Ebert, learn that from him. Read Pauline Kael, or hell, even Armond White. For as much shit as that dude gets, he can at least put his often irrational views into a context that appears rational or just approaching sane.
Also, cut out the folksy jargon (fellah, getcyha, etc.), the cutesy analogies, and so on. You definitely need a unique voice but you don't want to read like something off Buzzfeed, unless your goal is to write for a meme generator that will eventually be gobbled up by some media conglomerate and turned into a factory for cute kitteh pics.
I've seen this mentioned by others before, but it's distracting to regularly see the improper use of apostrophes when describing something plural, such as the "Rougeau's" and " arena's ".
ReplyDeleteI'm really not trying to be a grammar Nazi, and I largely enjoy your recaps and reviews, but hope this might help: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp
I keep harping on this but that's exactly how Miz should have been booked during his first title reign. Just constantly cheat and get DQed ever title defense leading to Cena finally winning clean at Mania. I know most here can't stand chickenshit heels but Miz is perfect for that character. Go all out with it.
ReplyDeleteSo I wonder if even Hogan/Warrior II could have brought decent numbers to the Memorial Coliseum. I think it was really the first time they tried selling tickets to the show a year in advance -- I wonder at what point they realized they had a huge bomb on their hands? WrestleMania VI tickets went on sale in February 1990 I think and they moved like 20,000 tickets in one day.
ReplyDeleteI was always a bit bummed they never did the show at the Coliseum though. Obviously it would have looked like WCW 1999 in the TWA Dome, but you think they could have given enough tickets away to make it look respectable at least. It's such an unusual looking venue -- actually it looks like an oversized version of the WrestleMania IX, Caesars Palace setup.
Ed Wood is his only legitimately great film, but that's more because of Martin Landau than Burton himself. The rest are all just good. So yes, I'll agree he's highly overrated, if that's not something you didn't pick up from my previous comment.
ReplyDeleteBut who else could come out dressed like a drunk Uncle Sam??
ReplyDeleteSounds like Lex's career
ReplyDeleteIt ain't queering, it's humbling!
ReplyDeleteHe was dubbed Replay Bruno for a reason
ReplyDeleteDon't forget he returned again in 88 all tatted replacing an awol Tama for the islanders
ReplyDeleteKoko's a Dropkick Specialist with a Master's Degree in Looking at the Ceiling.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense, considering they were working fairly regularly in the months before Mania. To all Taker fans and Tugger haters, Taker did crush him like an ant on the PTW Special leading up to Mania.
ReplyDeletePerfect and Valentine.
ReplyDeleteI take it you're one of those people who actually bothered to watch Godfather II instead of skipping straight to Godfather III.
ReplyDeleteI'd say ***1/2
ReplyDeleteTwo thoughts:
1)The armbar reversal of the Rainmaker was the greatest shit ever.
2) I know it's part of the gimmick but how many dropkicks does Okada gotta throw?
Jake Roberts clothesline didn't look like it had homicide capabilities.
ReplyDeleteOkada's does.
This is nothing that is beyond what US wrestling is capable. In fact, the moves aren't anything we haven't seen. The big difference is selling. Every move is sold as a big deal that could change the course of the match.
ReplyDeleteThe announcer was losing shit over DROPKICKS.
it's refreshing. I like the whole way NJPW is presented. A touch of old school, a touch of MMA/legitimate sports vibe.
I still can't see myself regularly following unless we start getting English commentary and promo subtitles so I can follow the stories.
That all gonna be on one dvd?
ReplyDeleteWhen Rob Feinstein got busted as a pedophile TNA ended their relationship with ROH.
ReplyDeleteJoe should be in no worse a relationship then Styles, and he's working ROH main events
To his credit. Nakamura sold the tombstone *in the moment of impact* better then just about anyone I've ever seen.
ReplyDeletemy father made that joke today and I nearly punched him
ReplyDeletewell that was certainly...long.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the entry for Black Saturday has been repeatedly changed. The first episode of the new Monday Night Wars series continues this whole charade of how Vince wasn't happy and ended the deal, with none of it due to how shitty his programming was.
ReplyDeleteThe first of those has the most hilariously homoerotic promo ever, after Sid turns on Hogan, with Beefcake talking about how when he woke after his accident he saw Hogan lying in bed with him, and felt Hulkamania pumping inside of him. I can't do it justice.
ReplyDeleteHogan has slammed MEN before - but can he slam AN ENTIRE BOAT?
ReplyDeleteThat's money.
Slow clap.
ReplyDeletePaul, O Brother, Where Art Thou? was a decent movie (mediocre by Coen Bros. standards, BTW) and wasn't worth the litany of useless words, never mind the undeserved praise. You're like James Lipton, but fat.
ReplyDeleteHe wasn't supposed to hit that first one, only due to his great athletic ability did he actually nail that.. If you rewatch it he takes a Flat Back Bump, which you only take when you MISS a drop kick. Nakamura comes off the rope either not hearing the spot called or more likely not thinking it's time to go through the finishing sequence (which seemingly begins with the missed dropkick). 30 seconds later, Irish whip, Okada misses a drop kick, flat back bump. Nak goes through his schtick, sets up a Bomaye, eats the Too Awesome Drop Kick.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah it was supposed to be 1 miss, minute later nail it off a Bomaye attempt. But goddamn, when they do that first one and Shinsuke mistakenly comes off the ropes Okada stays in mid air for a Jordan-esq amount of time. The fact he actually adjusted in midair and hit it shows why they have him penciled in as the guy for the next decade.
I haven't seen any of the Godfathers, honestly, but I wouldn't skip it if. I'd still go from 1, to 2, to 3. Also, you didn't answer my question. Why purposely avoid the one that everyone talked about the most?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a "Meekin hater" but this was still pretty glorious.
ReplyDeleteThis should be a weekly column.
ReplyDeleteReally? Immaterial? Like...as in abstract?
ReplyDeleteYour review made me like Guardians less somehow
ReplyDeleteI saw Begins, didn't like it. Skipped DK because of hype and because I didn't like Begins. I skipped DKR as well until late last year where I decided to watch it to laugh at Bane.
ReplyDeleteI never saw Begins or DKR in theaters, nor did I wanted to.
I don't particularly love/hate Nolan, but I did like Inception a lot.
I finally saw Godfather in it's entirety a few weeks ago. Good movie, but slow like a lot of 70s movies (Superman was slow, Rocky was slow).
ReplyDeleteI've seen Godfather 2 in it's entirety before, and I thought that was a better movie overall.
From what I've read and heard, Godfather is more loved than Godfather 2, but only by the tiniest margins. Godfather 3 is a decent movie, but of course it's trashed for all sorts of reasons (some legit, others not so much).
Somewhat similarly, I never hated X-Men Last Stand, but it was just a weaker movie than X2. Unlike FF and FF: Surfer, where they were just weak/bad from the start. The themes in FF were fine, but the acting, the plot, and the deviations from lore combined were too much for fans to accept (Doom's story/origin is terrible, McMahon wasn't terrible, merely bad).
It's a three day tournament so I assume 3 dvds
ReplyDeleteExactly, not the other way around. Obviously, Ambrose is a good worker but Nakamura basically fucking trained the Bullet club.
ReplyDeleteYour Father and I both have likely seen the first season of House MD.
ReplyDeleteIs this the quality they are in on the livestream? It looks hideous splashed across my 22" work monitor.
ReplyDeleteI wish this was on real TV with US commentary and better VQ :/
It's seems like this genuine thing, where Flair didn't want to be pushed to throw Sting out and was going to be the cool and calm collected one and then out of nowhere "BAM!!" Flair just snaps.
ReplyDelete