The SmarK Rant for WCW Monday Nitro – 12.11.95
Live from Charlotte, NC
Your hosts are Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan & Mongo
Just as a note, I’m going on vacation for a week (well, to be accurate I’m out of town for a few days and then I fly out for a work conference on Tuesday), so depending on Wi-Fi access where I am there might not be any new rants for a while. Hopefully nothing ridiculously historic happens on next week’s show.
Eddie Guerrero v. The Mysterious Mr. JL
We’re joined in the ring without entrances, as Eddie gets a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and slingshots in with a senton. Backdrop suplex gets two. JL comes back with some gymnastics, but Eddie drops him with an atomic drop. Eddie bails to the floor and comes back in with a flying wristlock, but JL dropkicks him to the floor and follows with a somersault senton. Back in, that gets two. Bobby, meanwhile, is once again talking about the mythical airports where everyone is talking about the triangle match at Starrcade. And Eddie Guerrero. They trade pinfall attempts off a sunset flip and Eddie finishes off that at 4:20. ***
Lex Luger is out to warn Sting that no quarter shall be asked or given at Starrcade.
Disco Inferno v. Mr. Wonderful
Paul’s operatic theme is hilarious, as he was reinventing himself again before his career suddenly ended for good right after this. Disco actually attacks and gets the advantage, but charges and hits an elbow as Orndorff makes the comeback with the Boogie Woogie Elbow and then finishes with a crazy vicious backdrop driver at 2:30. I hope no one got hurt on that one, because Orndorff looked like he was struggling with it and Disco damn near landed on the top of his head. * So this would have been Orndorff’s last match, I guess.
The Four Horsemen are out and Pillman goes off on a wacky rant against the Dungeon of Doom and then Paul Orndorff, really starting to hone the unhinged maniac style of the Loose Cannon. This brings Orndorff out to get into Pillman’s face, as he points out that he turned down a position in the Horsemen and that’s why Pillman got the spot. This prompts a brawl between them and it looks like Arn and Flair are going to play peacekeeper, but then just decide to mug the poor guy and end his career with a spike piledriver on the floor. This was a weird angle in that it was very meta with Orndorff using the real life storyline of him turning down a spot in the Horsemen to set up the angle, which led to an injury angle of Orndorff having a broken neck, but then that turned into real life as he never came back from the injury and retired to become an agent. This was supposed to be a massive heel move by the Horsemen, but it was totally the wrong city for that and literally no one in the crowd appeared to give a shit that Orndorff’s career was possibly over.
Lex Luger v. Hacksaw Jim Duggan
I expect Rusev to run out of the crowd and destroy both guys. Duggan chases Luger out of the ring while the EMTs take Orndorff out on a stretcher. Duggan with a pair of clotheslines, but Jimmy Hart gets involved and the Torture Rack finishes at 2:41. DUD This was a weird pairing, as Duggan was inhabiting his own strange orbit with taped-fist matches against midcard slugs and jobbers and never seemed to cross over with the actual main eventers.
Randy Savage is not a-scared of no Giants next week.
Hulk Hogan & Sting v. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson
The babyfaces double-team Arn and then Flair until a well-timed cheapshot from Flair turns the tide on Hogan. The Horsemen work on Hulk’s arm, but he tags out to Sting, who comes in with a press slam on Flair. Flair slugs him down again and they do the pinfall reversal sequence, but Flair gets an atomic drop to take over. Arn goes up and gets slammed off, but Hogan stupidly distracts the ref and Sting takes a DDT to become face in peril. This brings out Luger to attack Hogan while the Horsemen double-team Sting. Flair goes to work on the knee while Hogan keeps stupidly distracting the ref, and it’s figure-four time for Sting. Sting hulks up out of that as usual and pulls Flair to the corner for a false tag with Hogan while the Horsemen switch off and go back to work on Sting. Flair throws chops and Sting has had enough of that and slams Flair off the top for two. The Horsemen cut the ring off again, but Arn puts his head down and it’s finally hot tag Hogan, although fans hate Hogan in Charlotte and don’t even pop for it. Hulk no-sells the spinebuster and finishes Arn with the legdrop at 13:23. The poor fans in the front row with their planted Hogan merch were so pissed off that you could see them throwing it down in disgust. According to the Observer, security was confiscating Flair signs and merchandise and replacing them with Hogan stuff for TV purposes. And worst of all, Hogan wasn’t even at Starrcade! What the fuck is the point of putting him over here with a hostile crowd when he doesn’t even have a storyline? Especially since Flair is the guy about to get the title! Decent match, but that crowd did NOT want to see Hogan and it killed the finish dead. **1/4 The Horsemen try the beatdown, but chaos erupts with Luger and Savage both trying to make the save and everything going badly. And then we get a long, rambling interview from the babyfaces to artificially stretch this show past the overrun time. This show in particular, combined with the past few weeks, really show how the fanbase was completely rejecting Hogan as the top babyface at this point. And it would only get worse at the start of 1996!
Next week: Randy Savage defends against the Giant! And something else you might have heard about occurs!
This show was a disaster on a lot of levels. Good thing we’ve moved past the dark days of screwing over guys in their hometown out of spite.
Are you talking about Liz debuting? Because I can't remember anything else memorable happening around this time.
ReplyDeleteGoing out of town? I really don't think you have the right to take other people's lives into your hands like that.
ReplyDeleteMadusa. Title belt. Trash can.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't Savage defend against Giant too, or is that the week after? I just remember that show being the only one for months where Hogan actually got a real pop for his face act (and probably because he's mostly throwing chair shots at The Giant). I think Flair/Savage have a good little match coming up.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of the story of Orndorff shoot turning down a spot in the Four Horsemen. Why did he turn it down?
ReplyDeleteIf Orndorff's career suddenly ended for good, then how did he end up hurting himself while giving a piledriver in a match several years later?
ReplyDeleteLives are gonna be In Scotlon Keithy's hands.
ReplyDeleteI read that as "Liz debating". That would have been interesting.
ReplyDeleteAJ dumping the Divas title in a trashcan on Impact would still be pretty damned shocking.
ReplyDeleteI hear she was a master at it.
ReplyDeleteMadusa has been on the website a few times recently and I think she even filmed some talking head stuff for the network. Shane was in Mick's DVD a few years ago. They gave Jeff a shout when his wife died.
ReplyDeleteI actually think Jeff could get get hired in a heartbeat if he wanted it.
They recently gave Jarrett a page on the Alumni section of WWE.com and called him a successful promoter. Seems like any bad blood between Jeff and Vince is water under the bridge now.
ReplyDelete"Paul’s operatic theme is hilarious"
ReplyDeleteI marked out when he came out to it on Raw a few weeks ago. WONDERFUL! THEY CALL HIM MR. WONDERFUL!
Probably HHH's doing. I think Jeff would be a great hire for them. He could be a creative/producer/trainer type and a part time wrestler. He can still go and move up and down the card like a utility guy. Kinda like what RVD does.
ReplyDeleteNah
ReplyDeleteAhmed's nit russian
ReplyDeleteYou mean the forums?
ReplyDeleteClassic or Clusterfuck:
ReplyDeleteLiz vs Warrior (debate)
More likely Vince doesn't read wwe.com.
ReplyDelete"I expect Rusev to run out of the crowd and destroy both guys".
ReplyDeleteThat's a weird theory, there were no black guys in that segment.
That match is awesome for the crowd reactions. The Horsemen beloved, Hogan hated. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't help that that title really does look like a little plastic toy and nobody cared about it anyway.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree that's a stretch. WCW/WWF had already gone through so much legal shit in 96/97 over the nWo stuff that the idea
ReplyDeletethat Bischoff could do that and not be sued out of his job is unlikely.
Even WCW wasn't dumb enough to book that. Although they were dumb enough to let Madusa cut several rambling drunken promos in addition to Scott Hall doing the same thing two years later.
ReplyDeleteAye, there's a stellar "Let's have Savage/Flair fight for the title on Nitro just a few days before they fight on the PPV" thing coming up.
ReplyDeleteThen Giant ends it by squashing Flair in 5 minutes. On a taped Nitro no less.
ReplyDeleteI think if your ONE comeback match ends with you being stretchered out and the match abandoned, it's fair to say your career never really restarted.
ReplyDeleteBarmy - or Australasia.
ReplyDeleteThis genuinely is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone
ReplyDeletecriticise Michaels as a worker. I guess there really are no consensuses in
wrestling at all.
Ahmed unfortunately hadn't really figured out how to speak, which hampered him somewhat.
ReplyDeleteMichaels for me is too narcissistic in the ring to give his opponent enough shine, even if he's the one getting his ass kicked. I can't think of any matches where Michaels has carried a broomstick.
ReplyDeleteHis best matches are against the like of Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Bret Hart. Okay, he had some really good matches with Sid, but they were /despite/ his behaviour during the match, and I'd argue in part at least because of the charisma of Sid.
I'd say 90s Shawn, at the least, was about as good a worker as Bulldog. But a lot better in his promos and his politicking. Both of them had shitty main event losses challenging for Diesel's world title, both of them had amazing matches with the Harts, neither of them was good enough to build your company around.
But one of them gave Vince a raging clue, and survived his own particular painkiller addiction ordeal.
So Shawn was a better drugs worker at the least.
haha "raging clue". Good one. I think you do a disservice to Michaels in the 90s though, He had decent-good matches with Bundy, Tatanka, Kama, all wrestlers who never had good matches with anybody, carried Jeff Jarrett to the only five star match of his career, had the best non-Hart family matches of Bulldog’s career, he almost never had a bad match, apart from 2004-2007, where I felt he was majorly dogging it at times. That second DX period is the only time I found him unwatchable, but more for the character and the “comedy” than the in-ring.
ReplyDeleteNever heard anything about how HHH and JJ feel about each
ReplyDeleteother. They never feuded, don’t think they ever even wrestled each other.
It isn't a fact.
ReplyDeleteNah.
ReplyDeleteFacts: Before he got hurt, Ahmed was getting as big of a push anybody. He was the IC champion. He was the number one contender for the World title. He was working with Shawn Michaels.
ReplyDeleteSince it seems you just started watching wrestling in the past few years and are unaware of how they used to do things, Ahmed in 1996 was what they always did when they were prepping a guy for the top spot.
And now, the deathmarch to Uncensored 96.
ReplyDeleteIt’s gonna get ugly. I’m looking forward to these rants!
ReplyDeleteHogan single handedly beating up the Horsemen, winning handicap matches in five
minutes, dominating everything and selling nothing but women’s shoes. The death
rattle of Hulkamania was a sight to behold.
Candido kind of reminds me of Rick Martel where he's a good worker and had plenty of good matches, but never had that career defining MOTY type match.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, we believe you, I think the others are just trolling you.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing about Ahmed was that I think the guy could have had some great matches in the WWF had he stayed healthy enough to work with Shawn, Bret and even Undertaker as I have a feeling Undertaker/Ahmed could have had the same type of crazy chemistry as the Undertaker/Batista series.
ReplyDeleteI was a big Ahmed Johnson fan and I totally agree with you... Ahmed was being pushed hard that year and was even included in that Survivor Series match with HBK.
ReplyDeleteWhile he did a great job as a monster heel, Henry wasn't particularly over until they really started pushing him pretty hard, so it wasn't a case of him getting over by sheer force of will.
ReplyDeleteI've aatched wrestling since the 80's. Ahmed was never going to work the politics. Couldn't cut a promo and was very black. He was never ever getting past IC status. You must have thought Steamboat was well on his way to s World Title reign after Mania III. Giving people pushes does not guarantee titles. It sounds like you really liked him. He was never going to be a world champion in the WWF.
ReplyDeleteYep, total silence for the Hogan tag, HUGE pop for the Anderson Spinebuster, Dead silence for the hulk up. OUCH!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of that too, but he would have been a perfect fit when you think about it. And yet Roma got a spot 2 years ealier? Strange.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing that "live", it was incredible. I didn't see it coming for a second, I expected the ol' Brass knucks or DQ run in finish. then, BOOM.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if mantaur sphas a degree from bovine university.
ReplyDeleteThat actually sounds...
ReplyDeletePretty Wonderful.
I vaguely remember Orndorff winning against the Harris Brothers on a Russo Nitro. Why am I not surprised that goof would put out a crippled wrestler?
ReplyDeleteI was asking a legitimate question. I don't know much about end-stage WCW.
ReplyDeleteAnd he gave you a legitimate answer.
ReplyDelete(praying for Bobby Eaton)
ReplyDeleteYeah, that she would willingly join a "dead man walking" company would be VERY shocking, I agree
ReplyDeleteAlthough the match going on for a couple more minutes around Orndorff's body is always good for a "Because WCW".
ReplyDeleteI saw that show live, all I kept thinking was "Damn it Russo, why are you ruining a perfectly fun match with your swerve BS?? "
ReplyDeleteTalk about a "boy who cried wolf" scenario...
Eh, I think his loss to Diesel is a really good, interesting match, and the best reason to not like it has more to do with behind-the-scenes stuff than the actual match itself, which tells a story and entertains.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he wasn't the best in the world in 93, but saying he can't put a match together is ludicrous. The guy's had ***** (or borderline *****) matches with more opponents than anybody except maybe Flair, and suggesting that's any kind of a coincidence is ridiculous. Just off the top of my head, Shawn's broken four snowflakes with all of the following (many of whom stink):
Jarrett (IYH)
Diesel (Good Friends)
Bret (I actually love the Iron Man Match)
Bulldog
Angle (arguably twice)
Benoit (only in three ways, but both their singles matches started great before screwjob finishes)
HHH (twice, plus twice in 3 ways)
Cena (arguably twice)
Jannetty (twice)
Jericho (I dunno, like, seven times? Eight? They fought a lot and it was usually great)
Taker (3-4x)
Foley (Mind Games)
Edge (RAW Street Fight)
Orton (the match where SCM is banned, Shawn does all the storytelling and it's great)
Savage (European Tour)
Razor (twice, obvious)
Austin (KoTR)
Owen (couple times IIRC)
Vader
Flair
He also had maybe Goldberg's best match ever, though sadly it ended with a Batista run-in instead of a real finish.
I mean Jesus, a couple of those guys aren't exactly known for their mastery of in ring storytelling. Saying Shawn never learned how to put a match together is like saying Austin never learned to promo; you may not like the style, but the guy definitely knew what he was doing and got results with 99% of the people who saw him do it.
"I've watched wrestling since the 80's. Ahmed was never going to work the politics."
ReplyDeleteWrestlers don't have to go around campaigning for votes to become World Champ, If Vince decides you're the guy, you're the guy.
"Couldn't cut a promo and was very black. He was never ever getting past IC status."
Some that is some straight bullshit about not being able to cut promos. Didn't let modern 20 minute monologues warp what a promo actually is. He had charisma in spades. And he got past IC status twice and injuries derailed him both times.
"You must have thought Steamboat was well on his way to s World title reign after Mania III. Giving people pushes doesn't guarantee titles."
You couldn't have picked a worse comp that Steamer. I don't know why I'm bothering after that but if you want a comparison look at Warrior, Bret, Nash, and HBK. Their pushes were almost exactly like Ahmed's.
How did you get your hands on "The Definitive List of Wrestlers Better Than HHH" by Bret Hart?
ReplyDeleteAdd me to the "Ahmed was the next big thing before his injuries" camp. The guy was monster over.
ReplyDeleteNothing in that interview contradicts anything I've said.
ReplyDeleteI posted the article where Ahmed says he was told "WWF was not ready for a black champion." His promos are shit. And you do have to campaign to be a world champion. You're wrong about all of those things. FACT.
ReplyDeleteThis should be getting more love.
ReplyDeleteHe says he was told he wouldn't be made champion.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am legitimately grateful for that.
ReplyDeleteU mad bro?
ReplyDeleteYou lucky sod. :)
ReplyDeleteMany centuries ago, I attended a TV taping where the WWF taped a month's worth of Superstars shows. It was about 5 hours of squash matches. My two biggest memories of that event are:
ReplyDelete1) realizing that holy shit, Diesel really is that tall, and
2) Ahmed Johnson looking like he was chiseled from stone and getting the biggest pops of the night every time he went to the ring. dude was over like Rover in clover.
When did I say he would be made champion?
ReplyDeleteNo
ReplyDeleteNo
Maybe as Tugboat?
Who?
No
No
Beefcake was in a decent match or two before his face was broken.
See One Above
See Two Above
No
Sheepherders were okay, especially against the Fantastics.
You said before injuries he was a legit works title choice for 13.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely fantastic.
ReplyDeleteYep I thought Ahmed had World Champion written all over him when he debuted.
ReplyDeleteYeah I absolutely agree and thought he was being groomed to be champion until the injuries started piling up.
ReplyDeleteIs that your wAifu in your profile picture, or do you prefer to touch yourself to cartoon chicks because they'll "never say no" to kbjone eternal Virgin?
ReplyDelete"saying he can't put a match together is ludicrous."
ReplyDelete"Saying Shawn never learned how to put a match together is like saying Austin never learned to promo"
"The guy's had ***** (or borderline *****) matches with more opponents than anybody except maybe Flair, and suggesting that's any kind of a coincidence is ridiculous."
I didn't in fact at any time say that, Mister Straw.
"Eh, I think his loss to Diesel is a really good, interesting match"
It's Shawn doing all he can to put himself over at the expense of everyone else, including the shittiest taking of a powerbomb (his close friend and current world champion's finisher) ever. That's bad working.
As for how many good matches he's had in his career, well, it's been a long one.
Bret had his career ended in what, 2001? Owen was dead by 1999, Bulldog was dead by 2002, which is when Shawn came back. Part of how many good matches he has had is down to his longevity. Most of his peers died young. That kind of puts him in a category of one regardless of merit.
You say that many of the wrestlers on that long list of Shawn's most famous opponents, stink. Who? The only crappy worker I see there is Diesel, whom seemingly only Bret and Taker could ever get a good match out of.
Your list rather validates what I'm saying. You've got a bunch of great workers there. Shawn had good matches with them, did he? Shocker.
That's not me saying he was going to to be made champion. That's me saying he was getting a monster push that in the past, led to a title win at the following Mania.
ReplyDeleteYou ever hear the phrase "strapping a rocket to a guy"? That was in Ahmed in the summer of 96.
Now, what I actually said was that I feel he has been too selfish to properly make the OTHER guy in the ring with him, whilst getting himself over.
ReplyDeleteAlso, nah. Goldberg's best match was the DDP one still, for my money.
See everyone, SEE? you really DO have to see in person just to appreciate how big they really are!!
ReplyDeleteShawn vs Sid is the definition of a broomstick match. And it's a broomstick match that flirts with 5 stars.
ReplyDeleteWell, my apologies then. I took "world title choice" to mean you actually thought he would get the title. To which I responded, nah. To which you patronizingly responded asking if I didn't like facts.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Ahmed was crazy over before injuries ruined his career. He was just never getting the world title.
You saying things like, "world title choice" and telling me Vince will make whoever he wants champion all led me to believe you actually thought he would be made champion. He wasn't. If your only point was that he was getting a big push then I retract my "nah" and replace it with a "yep."
I've never seen Shawn's matches versus Bundy or Kama. His WM9 match against Tatanka gets overrated because it's such a shit card, I think that there's some weird knee-jerk reaction to try and find *something* to talk up on the card.
ReplyDeleteYou say he carried Jeff, others (such as Scott in his recap I want to say...) see it the other way around. He was a solid worker. I'm not saying he was BAD. I'm not insane.
But, he gets hugely overrated in my opinion, as though Marty Jannetty was just some stiff who stood on the outside to make up the numbers, and seemingly forgetting that EVERY ONE of his classic matches was against an amazing worker. Most of whom he was selfish with in the ring.
I assume you mean their SS '96 match?
ReplyDeleteSid's on his game that night, the MSG card are eager to see Shawn lose, he spends the match petulant and disagreeable. The match is good despite him, I'd say. Witness his big return match at the Royal Rumble. It's in his home town, it's his 'big moment', and the match sucks.
Why? Because Sid wasn't as motivated that night. Whereas at Survivor Series, Sid giving a shit cancelled out Shawn being an unprofessional bitch, and as a result, we had a great match.
I've actually fried an egg in Big Shows frying pan sized hands.
ReplyDeleteNot to say that i physically took an egg and fried it in his frying pan hands, but saying that he has frying pan sized hands.
although I disagree, the last sentence had me laughing out loud.
ReplyDeleteThe Molester of Boys AND Miz's Personal Cock Gobbler both respond to my post. I'd say I'm honored... but I'm not.
ReplyDeleteI am still always surprised about mails like this. I guess I just assume everyone posting and reading here is a weird fanatic who has seen all of the major things of the last twentyfive or thirty years.
ReplyDelete(for example, I was stunned at a discussion a few months ago in which a lot of posters wrote that they had not seen every WrestleMania)
which to be fair also often has a lot to do with the spots those kind of guys are being given. I mean how many **** or ***** mid/undercard matches are there anyway, especially in the WWE/WWF? (and those that were, like the Michaels/Ramon matches, got enough time, hype etc.)
ReplyDeleteLook, just because I said I've fried an egg in Big Show's frying pan sized hands doesn't mean that I did. It just means he has frying pan sized hands.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I like the Big Show's hands/frying egg analogy, didn't Cole also compare his headbutts to being hit in the head with a typewriter? Because that's a whole new level of surreal hilarity.
ReplyDeleteYou're confusing Yoko with Taka there I think.
ReplyDeleteYou've gotta see him live to believe it! His hands are like frying pans! His head is the size of a type writer! His feet are like two alligators beyond infancy, but nowhere near reaching full maturity! He is one Big Show.
ReplyDeletethat whole angle was great. I especially love that it ends on such a "sad" note, with the announcing not being overly "excited" but more speechless and calm.
ReplyDeletenot sure about the amount of truth in this interview though:
ReplyDelete"Ahmed, we need you to stop doing the high flying moves. Here you are doing these one half-gainer moonsaults, stuff that we can't even do but then when we get out there at 180 pounds it makes us look bad because you've already done it at 380 pounds."
Shawn Michaels said this? and really, what were the supposed high flying moves that Johnson could do and Michaels couldn't?!
Is this a meltdown?
ReplyDeleteWait...you dont think Vince makes whoever he wants champion?
ReplyDeletewell, butter can melt down in frying pans... so if you mean a butter melt down, that could definitely happen.
ReplyDeleteIf Great Khali could be champ... Ahmed could.
ReplyDeleteNo. Yoko only had good matches when his hair was short.
ReplyDeleteDanimalCrossing has melted butter Big Show's frying pan sized hands. By which I mean, DanimalCrossing is aware that the Big Show has big hands.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, I've anally inseminated Nikki Minaj. In the sense that I saw on TV that she has a fat ass.
Ahmed could only DREAM of being as incomphrensible and as intimidating Yet frail as Khali!
ReplyDeleteUsing that as a means to say Ahmed Johnson would be champion is a crazy thing to say, but you didn't say he would be champion just a world title choice so it's irrelevent really. Of course Vince makes who he wants champion, but there are still politics involved and Ahmed would have never been made champ. Seeing as how he was only a "world title choice" it doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and they made a huge deal of him being the first African American IC champ. So who knows, maybe he would have eventually made more history.
ReplyDeleteHe says he wasn't going to be made champion. Was he also lying about that and now he just wants to call everyone racist? Sure people embellish in wrestling, but they usually don't say they wouldn't be made champion when they would have.
ReplyDeleteIt totally is. Someone should post it to the forums so no one will ever read it.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you call people virgins all the time? It’s
ReplyDeletereally lame.
And the deadly chairshots! How ever did Hogan not even make an appearance for ECW?
ReplyDeleteScott's leaving Saskatoon.....and vacationing in Moose Jaw. Or is it Medicine Hat? Or Head-Smashed-in-Buffalo Jump? Or Kamloops? Skookumchuck?
ReplyDelete*Saskatchatoon.
ReplyDeleteIt probably could have happened when Ole was booking in 1990, had they not made him a Dude with Attitude.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to rewatch it, but is Sid/Shawn at SS96 really a great match? Or is just a hot crowd making up for it? I remember the crowd for almost everything being dead at that Rumble, mainly due to them being in some ridiculously oversized venue with tens of thousands of papered tickets.
ReplyDeleteAge of Forgiveness~!
ReplyDeleteSasquatchewan.
ReplyDeleteForget it. Jarrett already has a hollywood movie star career to look forward to #SpringBreakers
ReplyDelete“His head is the size of a type writer” made me laugh at
ReplyDeleteloud at work. I need to be more covert with my work-place procrastination.
Have you ever been hit in the head with a typewriter? No, probably not. But let me tell you something, Cole was in journalism before he was announcing for WWE. And as obnoxious as he is, someone probably HAS hit him in the head with a typewriter.
ReplyDeleteI think it was Kobra Khan...
ReplyDeleteIf someone here hasn't watched every single WrestleMania, they should be kicked off these boards immediately! Send them to the forum to train until they know better!
ReplyDeleteThey didn't want to infringe on Santino's gimmick.
ReplyDeleteOkay. I'm not involved with the forums though dude, so you're barking up the wrong guy.
ReplyDeleteThey were in Madison Square Garden.
ReplyDeleteCome on now, where's your sense of challenge?
ReplyDeleteAnd good idea...what about: Who, TL Hopper, Tekno Team 2000, Sir Mo?
That was a great one. Michaels was The Man in the ring in terms of quality. MSG was BIG into Sid that night. He was popping the crowd big time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know. I meant the Rumble for the oversized venue bit.
ReplyDeleteYeah I am pretty sure typewriter made its way in there.
ReplyDeleteA typewriter ... smh
Oh, I'm with you! Yeah, the San Antonio Alamodome. I remember on the 1996 WWF Timeline with Jim Cornette, he mentions that it was booked way in advance so as to give Sean a 'big moment' there winning back the belt, but that it was as you say, heavily papered. They had an arena, but no show, as he put it.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I just told the Supreme Judge! Hi-yo!
ReplyDeleteIf Faarooq didn't hurt Ahmed and he kept his momentum going, he certainly could have been a champion.
ReplyDeleteIs it bad that my first thought is "Too bad they didn't hit him harder"?
ReplyDeleteEspecially in the Attitude "Title change every 1-2 weeks" Era. Nobody's saying Ahmed would have been a long (or even medium) term champ, but he'd have held the belt once.
ReplyDeleteYou can could have would have plenty in hindsight, but it isn't fact.
ReplyDeleteNo fucking way did he "carry" Jarrett. I know it's easy to dump on Jarrett and he had no business being pushed as hard as he was from 2000 onward, but at least at one time (can't speak for TNA) he was a hell of a worker.
ReplyDeleteI DO think Shawn could carry a broomstick, because he had the Shawn Show in his back pocket and there are worse options for when you wrestle a guy like Bundy. Still, all of Shawn's carry-jobs tended to be just that: the Shawn Show. To a degree that was even greater than Ric Flair, who had more variety than he gets credit for. But Bret could carry people and actually make them look like world-class workers. He did it with a very green Diesel, and he made Jean-Pierre LaFitte (who was no stiff by any means) look world-class.
You forgot "Cowboy" Brett Hart
ReplyDeleteIts legend seems to have grown to an absurd degree. It's a good match, which makes it probably Sid's best ever, but that's where it tops out. "5 stars" is ridiculous, though I admit to being quite the star-ratings snob who thinks the WWF probably hasn't had ten 5-star matches in its history, and that at least two of those have come in the past 5 years (Punk/Cena and Punk/Lesnar).
ReplyDeleteDoesn't character work factor into working, too? Well before the Cena Era and "shades of grey," the #1 babyface and supposed face of the company was getting booed out of the building. To me, that's a demerit on Shawn, not a positive. It's a demerit to the WWF and Vince too and for their awful, awful push, but Shawn was pretty intolerable at this point with a lot of the same flaws Cena had (no-selling heinous actions or losses a week later and going back to Smily, Happy Stripper Shawn).
ReplyDeleteCena at least gets boo we dont like your character heat. Hogan here was getting boo we dont like YOU heat. They were apathetic to everything here.
ReplyDeleteMichaels only received a overly negative response at Survivor Series 1996. Cena gets booed out of the arena basically everywhere he goes. Only recently in the more PG era of the WWE has he managed to get actual face reactions. Michaels as a babyface did OK but money Shawn was DX Shawn. Even though he wasn't cut out to play a white-meat baby face his saving grace was that he always delivered you a good/great match. Michaels in ring stuff in 1996 was always a layup.
ReplyDeleteI didn't say he did carry Jarrett.
ReplyDelete"You say he carried Jeff, others (such as Scott in his recap I want to say...) see it the other way around."
I think you need to re-read my comments. You're arguing a point that I already agree on.
Great call. You're absolutely right.
ReplyDeleteOnly kbjone. Besides the fact he couldn't get laid at the bunny ranch with a fistful of hundreds? Look for his equally lame response and you'll understand.
ReplyDeleteThat's because you've sadly never touched a boob outside of your family, and won't because you are a socially repulsive fedora wearing douchebag.
ReplyDeleteGood point, in 96 I was TOTALLY on the Ahmed bandwagon, shame injuries derailed his career.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I don't wear hats. That's not the only incorrect thing you say, but I feel it's the only one worth a response, you worthless Molester of Boys.
ReplyDeleteNo, I was agreeing with you. I was arguing with the other guy.
ReplyDeleteNot once in my life have I liked or given a fuck about anything Jim Duggan has done. I kind of pitied him for a while when I was a kid because I thought he was retarded, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteWhen did Orndorff turn down the Horsemen? This version? Because him and Roma as a tag team with Arn and Flair wouldn't have been so bad.
He was in a match against whatever the young guy faction was around the end and suffered a stinger. So that would be his official last match I believe.
ReplyDeleteIf Watts had stuck around, he probably would have made history by doing just that: crowning the first Black WWF Champion. I mean, the guy was willing to push Mabel as a top heel, so I have to believe that he had plans for Ahmed.
ReplyDeleteI'm by Feb 96 on the Nitros and Mr. Wonderful actually returns and basically told the commentators that he was gunning for payback.
ReplyDeleteJannetty was on fire in 1993. What great matches did HBK really have?
ReplyDeleteImpact is a second rate Busch league promotion that never had Uncle Ted 's money or advertising .
ReplyDeleteI never get the lumping of Jannetty into the pile of forgettable workers. The dude could fucking work and make a crowd care about his comebacks and take beatings like nobody else. Too bad his personal demons fucked his career up. He wasn't anything better than IC Level, but sometimes that's all you need to be to succeed.
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt that. The fact that you felt the need to refute anything shows now more than ever that you're a sensitive well mannered young man who's only brush with woman hood was hiding in his sisters closet as a young boy hoping to watch her change. Wear your fedora proudly young sexless one, society is proud of you.
ReplyDeleteThis was a rough period for WCW. I was a naive kid - so I was still very pro-Hogan - but when Saturday night did their year in view and I could hear Hogan getting booed out of the building in Georgia - I knew it was a far cry from the Hogan chants he got in wwe again years later.
ReplyDeleteI know I'll get heat for this, but I kind of liked the Jan-April 2000 period in WCW as everyone rebooted like it was 1995. Even Jimmy Hart was a babyface again and managing Hogan. All was right with the world and they fired Bill Busch and brought Russo back. In hindsight, I wish they kept with the 1995 redux. It wouldn't have beaten Raw, but it was better than Russo turfing the politicians and pushing unestablished guys.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a work because of that and figured because Russo.
ReplyDeleteIf they had just put the title back on a Hogan in 2000 - WCW would have never gone out of business.
ReplyDeleteBoy if you thought Hogan had Xpac heat in Charlotte. . .
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Mantaur, holy shit I had no idea he was in the Truth Commission for two matches as "Tank' in 1997.
ReplyDeleteMan I went to one of those in 89. Got to see two different Conquistador Uno & Brooklyn Brawler (tag team) matches (0-2). Also got to see Randy Rose's cousin, Pat, always a treat. And Ted Dibiase defeated Jerry Monti, who, let's not forget, was a Vancouver Pacific Coast Tag Team Champion in 1973. It was amazing. OH AND THEY RECORDED THE FUCKING NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH AT THE END.
ReplyDeleteI so want someone to challenge him to a Frying Pan Match.
ReplyDeleteI was at this Nitro. The Hogan hate was unbelievable. It was a crowd ticked off about Flair getting run around for a year and a half getting a chance to vent on live TV. The "Hogan sucks!" chant was LOUD... and of course WCW didn't give the fans anything close to what they wanted.
ReplyDeleteFirst: sorry for the delay in responding. Unlike you, I have a job, and sometimes it pulls me away.
ReplyDeleteSecond. NOBODY gives a fuck about your life story, so take it to NAMBLA's website. They'll appreciate you much more than anybody here.
Bill Busch didn't get fired, Kevin Sullivan did
ReplyDeleteA Hogan?
ReplyDeleteYou mean like Horace?
That was a good move though. It's a 96 equivalent of Brock suplexing Cena around the ring.
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure I understand what you're saying. Would you please go get laid and then come back to talk to me? It might help end your fascination with the molestation of little boys if you actually had sex with a grown woman and not that sex doll you built out of rubber sand and elmers glue in your mothers basement.
ReplyDeleteI hear that John Wilks Booth Shot Lincoln because he was mad that Honest Abe freed Virgil.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget LOCH NESS
ReplyDeleteRusso should have brought back one of his old gimmicks ala GI Bro, like Hulk Boulder with the moosehead shaped chest hair.
ReplyDeleteThe Sullivan era with Stacy Kiebler managing El Dandy and Silver King as 'Mexico's Most Eligible Men" and "The American Nightmare" Dustin Rhodes? Yeah, I actually liked that stuff. Nice to see really simple booking after so much Russo.
ReplyDeleteIs he leaving it with the WWE title around his waist though?
ReplyDeleteWait until Hogan actually jobs to Arn Anderson twice in 2 weeks! Woohoo!
ReplyDeleteI could see the 1200 or so people who regularly attended those shows walking out when Hogan begins with "Well, ya know something, Joey Styles..."
ReplyDeleteJoey Style working under the radar.
ReplyDeleteI did forget that! I believe that was in direct response to the Billionaire Ted segments bashing Hogan for never losing ever.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was, in Scott's phrase, "entertaining crap", but business dropped even faster than under Russo. That was the period of the infamous 0.1 buyrates they did for Flair/Hogan at Uncensored.
ReplyDeletePaul Hogan from Crocodile Dundee? He could've beaten Arquette for it.
ReplyDeleteKamloops represent!! :)
ReplyDelete