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Legends Roundtable Review: The Soul of Wrestling

My contribution to Black History Month as I, unlike Kurt Angle, am a very big fan of "the black people" and I even decided to marry one of them.

Anyway this panel is in the vault and has been for a long time. Not sure if they moved it to the Black History Month section but you can find it on the Network rather easily.

Originally Aired in February of 2009

JR is your moderator and your esteemed panelists are:

Teddy Long (Definitely black)
Dusty Rhodes (Considered to be close to black by some black wrestlers although he teamed up with an alleged Klansman in Dick Murdoch)
Tony Atlas (Definitely black and half of the first black tag champions with Rocky Johnson)
Bill Watts (Often considered a friend of blacks)

-- JR asks Teddy to tell his story. Teddy got into the business around 1984 or so as a hanger on and someone that could help the new guys coming into the Georgia territory. He met Abdullah the Butcher first and was a gopher for him. He would come with Abdullah and help the guys take their ring gear back from the ring to the dressing room. Ran errands for the guys. Didn’t make any money of course. Eventually he met Dusty and Dusty liked him and gave him his first paying job as part of the ring setup crew, which paid about $75/show. Dusty gave him a job as a referee when the ref didn’t show for an event at Marietta, Georgia. He tells a funny story about reffing a Black Bart-Ron Bass Texas death match and they were bleeding everywhere and he tossed the “foreign object” that Bart was using into the crowd. Bart was pissed but the timekeeper made a mistake and they got mad at him about that and forgot about Teddy.



-- JR talks about Teddy being a manager of Doom. Teddy said he rode with Kevin Sullivan and Eddie Gilbert and he would entertain them using his radio DJ’ing skills while they rode and Sullivan convinced Flair to let him manage. He thanks JR as well for his help in convincing Flair, who was against it. First guy he managed? Norman the Lunatic. Then it was the Skyscrapers and then Doom. That’s a pretty nice upgrade of talent actually.

-- On to Atlas, who was a state champion as an amateur wrestler, power lifter and bodybuilder. Atlas said he’s one of the luckiest people in the profession. Sandy Scott saw an article on Atlas in a newspaper and met him during a show at the YMCA. At the time he was trying to get to the Olympics in weight lifting or wrestling. He describes his career as too much too soon. He was in main events with Tommy Rich and Dusty within six months. He says he was his biggest problem in wrestling. He made $1,500 his first week and $75,000 his first year. He said most of his problems were with black wrestlers because when he came into the territory the other black star had to leave. Pistol Pez Whatley hated him as did Skip Young but they made amends. Tommy Rich told Atlas he wasn’t black or white, he was green -- as in he made money.

(They show a promo he cut with Gordon Solie and they are talking about Ric Flair and…holy shit Atlas is MASSIVE. I could see why everyone wanted him in their territory. He looks like big money and his babyface promo skills were solid. He didn’t come across as a badass but more of a loveable babyface that looked like a dude you did not want to mess with.)

(They show clips of a Flair-Atlas match, probably from the Georgia territory. Flair is bumping like a madman for Atlas and even takes a nasty piledriver.)

- Atlas tells a funny story of a promoter riding him around the black neighborhoods in Virginia with him covered in baby oil and posing while the promoter billed him as the strongest black man in wrestling. He hated it but went to the arena and saw the big crowd and starting buying his own baby oil for future promotions.

-- Dusty talks about growing up in neighborhood of mostly blacks and Hispanics. He said Sailor Art Thomas was one of the first black wrestlers that influenced him. He also mentioned Thunderbolt Patterson and how he crafted his promos. Dusty also got his style from listening to the black preachers that came through town each month for revivals.

(Clips of a Thunderbolt Patterson sit down promo with Missouri Mauler and Dale Lewis. You can easily see the similarities with him and Dusty and exactly where Dusty took some of his style)

-- JR asks Watts about his run with Bobo Brazil. He said he did some things to create a racial atmosphere mostly because he was dumb and ignorant. He talked about being drenched in urine going to the ring to face Bobo and causing a riot after he pinned him.

(Clips of a Bobo Brazil interview when he entered Florida. I kind of like his style.)

-- Watts said Bobo was a classy guy, as was Ernie Ladd. He talked about an incident in Baltimore when his tag partner called Ladd the n-word after Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. Watts expected Ladd to get up from playing cards and knock the guy out but he didn’t knowing that he would probably get fired. Watts said Thunderbolt Patterson’s problem was that he fought the culture because he dealt with so much and was filled with so much animosity. Watts said that when he was in charge of Mid-South he looked at the territory’s demographics and saw the black fans and saw how blacks were dominating other athletics but just token blacks in pro wrestling so he wanted to change that. He talks about Ernie Ladd and Ray Candy as the main event the first Superdome card. JR said he remembered when white bookers would call Watts and ask him if he lost his mind for promoting so many black wrestlers.

(Clips of a hilarious interview between JYD and Gene Okerlund with both of them gawking over Wendi Richter and JYD talking about making enough money to pay the IRS…shoot comments that aren’t meant to be shoot comments?)

-- Watts talks about JYD entering the territory. He said he learned of him from Jake Roberts (“only good thing he’s ever done”). Watts talks about Ladd booking JYD with Super Destroyer and ran him tired for 20 minutes. Watts told Ladd that he sent JYD to him to figure out what he could do, not what he couldn’t do…and fired Ladd and Super Destroyer. But hired them back the next day.

-- Watts continues on how it was tough to book black wrestlers against white wrestlers and how many of the houses in Louisiana still had segregated seating (this is in the late 70s, early 80s BTW). Watts partner, Leroy McGuirk, wasn’t happy about all the color in the crowds and the card but Grizzly Smith reminded him that it’s all about the green. And they made a lot of money.

-- Long talks about Ole Anderson being a big racist jackass (you’re shocked I know) and how Thunderbolt Patterson would side with Ole because he wanted to be the only black on the card. Dusty said Patterson’s biggest problem was himself and he blamed everyone else. The panel agrees. No love for Thunderbolt here (Long really hated him).

-- Watts talks about how far we’ve come but how far we need to go and mentions the lack of black college football head coaches compared to the black players in college football. He tells another funny story about Ladd.

(After a break we return with a clip of Dusty cutting a promo about having soul. He was born with soul and so was Tony Atlas daddy!)

-- JR talks about Butch Reed and Koko B. Ware wrestling at Wrestlemania III with Slick as Reed’s manager and having two black wrestlers against each other on the card was more history.

(Clips of the Reed-Ware match, Reed won with a rollover and a handful of tights.)

-- JR asks Tony about winning the tag championship with Rocky Johnson. Atlas said S.D. Jones said they were the only two guys that held the belt and made no money with it. They hated each other and mostly because they didn’t want to share the spotlight. Atlas said he beat up Rocky after Rocky promised to give him a ride to a show and didn’t do it so he would get heat. They lost the belts the next day and Atlas was fired. Atlas puts over Tommy Rich as his best tag partner and his brother. Atlas tells a funny story about trying to do a 500-lb bench press in the ring with Dusty supposed to spot him but Dusty starts jumping around to get the crowd going and the ring is shaking while he’s trying to lift this large amount of weight.

-- Dusty talks about how proud he is of Teddy Long because he wasn’t necessary going to draw money but he was a good guy and he loved the business and never became part of the problem despite all the shit he took. Long said he had many opportunities to sue based on racial discrimination but he just wanted to do his job and not deal with it.

-- Atlas talked about being protected by the promoter George Scott, who was a father figure to him. He told him to always be on time, do what you are asked and stay away from white girls. Of course Tony married a white lady.

-- Watts said he loved Ron Simmons and he had the pedigree of an All-American athlete. He decided to pull the trigger on Simmons winning the title in Baltimore and the people are crying. Dusty said when you go to the FSU football locker room and see Simmons’ locker enclosed in glass you know he’s the real deal.

(Clips of Simmons beating Vader and it’s a beautiful moment seeing that kid rush to the front of the crowd and almost jump over the railing. Looking around the crowd closely there were lots of pockets of people going apeshit. Very cool)

-- Atlas said he’s rode with guys that have showed him their Klan card (they have cards??) but those same guys would stand by him and fight with him if he needed it. He said if you are looking for racism you are looking in the wrong business. Watts slows him down a bit and tells him he was a different guy and everyone loved him because he was just so dog gone friendly. So he was lucky and well protected (probably because he made everyone a lot of money).

-- Watts said he didn’t care about any backlash to Simmons winning the title. JR said he broke from tradition with the NWA lineage and all the white champions. Teddy Long said that seeing Simmons as the champion during their celebration in Atlanta was great because they were friends and he used to manage him. Watts said that at the end of the day it was too big of a burden for him and he tried too hard to please everyone. Long and JR agree that Simmons struggled with the pressure (I wish Simmons could have been part of the panel to talk about this. Hell the WWE should track him down now to talk about it).

-- Atlas said Harley Race tried to convince the promoters to give him the NWA belt several times, naturally Ole Anderson was against it because god knows if it will make money, Ole is against it. Harley fought Atlas in Florida and when the fans thought Atlas won they rushed the ring and Harley left the ring unnoticed, which told him that this guy was a larger-than-life figure. Harley’s favorite color was money green.

-- JR brings up the Nation of Domination, at least later version with Farooq, D-Lo Brown, The Godfather and The Rock. Teddy said it was good for the black fans of wrestling and Ross says it might have been the first black-based faction on wrestling TV. Teddy said there were a lot of black fans of wrestling but they didn’t come to the events because there weren’t many black stars to support. He talks about Doom having the support of the few black fans that were at live WCW events.

-- Dusty said The Rock was going to be a megastar, maybe he was bigger than Austin, maybe not. Dusty goes back to the Nation of Domination and how they took it to the edge.

(Clips of Farooq cutting an in-ring promo with Vince in 1997. I’m a mark for Ron Simmons’ heel promos.)

-- Atlas compared the Rock to Elvis with his unique look and said a guy with that look come along once in a generation. Watts said the Rock had a humbleness about him and always took time to talk to the older guys. He was never too busy to have a conversation with someone like Watts, even though he was no longer a factor in the business.

(Clips of the Rock doing Rock things and making fun of everyone he can find.)

-- They talk about the current black stars (as of 2009) like Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Mark Henry, etc. He said that Pat Patterson introduced JR to the Rock as “Rocky Johnson’s kid”. Ross said he thought he was seeing a mirage, he couldn’t believe this guy was real and the rest is history. Watts says the Rock doesn’t see color and that’s where we all need to evolve.

-- Teddy closes by saying that he’s had a chance to work for everyone on the panel. He wasn’t “the color green” but to sit here with the guys that gave him the opportunity it’s history for him and it’s not just black history, it’s history. Teddy comes across so well in this panel, a super likeable guy.

Bottom Line: Lot of good stuff there. Lot of great stories and definitely worth the hour and 15 minutes of your time if you are interested in such a thing.

Comments

  1. I'm probably gonna watch this but the title already makes me cringe.

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  2. All this leads to New Day.

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  3. I've got in my head that it was a Vince punishment for something, but Vince punishments all blend together with me so I may be wrong

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  4. That's a weird punishment. Here take this gimmick and now be involved in one of the most famous angles of all-time on the Main Event II you fat slob!

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  5. But the fact tghat Bryan is getting booed at all, especially when he says he wants to beat Roman, shows that the angle has backfired. They've created a Mania angle in which the fans aren't really gung ho all in favor about any of the possibilities.

    Compare it to last year when The Authority were set up as the ultimate evil and the fans were dying to see Bryan win the belt. This is nowhere fucking close to that.

    Bryan lost the Rumble, so fans (while sure they'd mostly rather see him win than Reigns, by a big number) don't feel very adamant about Bryan winning the belt. He's been booked as a whiny loser who fair and square lost his chance at the title. Because of that the fan support has been muted.

    And again, if they do a schmozz finish leading to a triple threat then you're just gonna have a mess of a Mania build. Fans will be wishy washy about everyone, all three guys will be getting boo/yeah mixed responses. Yeah Bryan will be the most popular, but the story going into the match will be mixed reaction garbage overall.

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  6. Last week I was more excited for WM13 than WM31.

    I don't think I was the only one.

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  7. The PPV after Wrestlemania always use to be a nice little way to solidify the champ by having him take on a rival in a grudge match and pick up a hard fought victory.

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  8. Matt_INDEED_Was_Bayless'd!February 10, 2015 at 10:30 AM

    They're actually making me work today, damn it!


    I'm a goddamn millennial! I don't have to take this abuse.

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  9. I'd guess just to reinvent OMG so he can be in a semi-main event position again. He'd been beaten a lot by Hogan and Savage as OMG, so the new character freshens him up so he's a new guy (sort of) when they beat him again. I think it worked really well actually.

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  10. I'm fairly sure they'll do the 3-way now because in their eyes it's their best play at doing a match that gets viewed positively. Almost the safest route at this point. Having Bryan beat Reigns at FastLane derails everything with Reigns and leaves him with no potential Mania opponent other than Big Show. On the other hand if they put Reigns over Bryan (probably thinking it'll silence the critics who felt the two should have squared off in the Rumble) then you face a massive backlash by the Bryan fans who are glad he's back in the mix.

    WWE just has no wiggle room with these decisions they make regarding Bryan. Everything they do locks the expectations of the fans in a certain direction. They'd have been so better off to have waited to bring Bryan back til about now, and hype WrestleMania as his first match back. They could have hyped FastLane as his return to make an announcement (like they did on RAW), then brought Sheamus back too and had them say it was time for a *real* Mania match between the two. Fans would have been far less negative towards Reigns, especially if they had Bryan dropping hints like "I hope Roman beats Lesnar for the championship because I think he & I would then meet and have a hell of a match against each other!"

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  11. Matt_INDEED_Was_Bayless'd!February 10, 2015 at 10:31 AM

    Vince also didn't own OMG, clearly by him using the name before and after the WWF.

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  12. Yeah, but Akeem the African dream is hardly a gimmick you'd choose.

    A quick Google suggests Gang missed some dates in '88 and this may have been punishment for that.

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  13. HAHAHAHAAHA yup.

    And it makes the least sense for someone like Rusev because he's just this perfect wrestling cartoon character that was ACTUALLY WORKING. Again, put a shitbag like BNB in that spot then as the avatar for John Cena's subconcious, and let Rusev have a heated angle with someone else.

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  14. You mean he doesn't go by the legendary Akeem on the indys?

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  15. I'm more interested in the FX Now app, but Verizon Fios doesn't support it yet so I can't use it to watch old episodes on demand.

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  16. You can tell OMG was having a great time playing the Akeem character.

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  17. I see what you're saying, but to me, therefore, you book to who still has the strongest crowd response, and that means Reigns should beat Bryan with a chair after losing at Fast Lane.

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  18. Zbyszko in the hall is something I thought Id never see.

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  19. Matt_INDEED_Was_Bayless'd!February 10, 2015 at 10:33 AM

    Jive Soul Bros are B+ Indy Geeks.

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  20. Well, when you have an ability to make fun of Dusty Rhodes AND make Vince do the belly laugh, you gotta do it.

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  21. Honestly, they'd be better off having Brock "injure" Bryan putting him out for WM. Set up some situation where Roman tries to help, the Authority prevents it, Brock kills Bryan dead and he's out for 60 days or whatever, Roman is left as the virtuous face to not only beat the now super heel (AGAIN) Brock Lesnar but also pay him back for laying out the fan favorite.

    Eh, just an idea. But Worst is right, the storyline now is beyond fucked.

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  22. He got punished right to the main event of Survivor Series and a push against Savage on TV.

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  23. How should they have booked it to save the show somewhat? There were some STRANGE pairings on that card. And the arena.. Something feels bushy about it.

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  24. Maybe Macho Man is coming to tell his side of the story after all??? http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/2015/02/the-ghost-of-macho-man-randy-savage-is-allegedly-haunting-a-florida-wrestling-promotion/

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  25. Probably. They don't seem to want anyone to get over anymore. Hell, they're probably having Big Show win it by dumping Kane after the two had agreed to split the win, then Show turns on him.

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  26. It's not weird at all. Have you watched WWE in the past ten years?

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  27. Cena vs Orton,one more timeFebruary 10, 2015 at 10:36 AM

    Upvote for " Polytechnic College Video Design Course Graduate Sting."Brilliant.

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  28. Problem is if you go Roman solo, then you're left with HIS response, which is beyond bad. I don't see any scenario to try to get Bryan's fans to support Roman that they'd go for and not reject on sight as "they're trying to manipulate us into backing the corporate choice, BOOOOO."

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  29. Maybe they're booing Bryan cause he isn't winning that match against Reigns.

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  30. Oh man I'd watch a ghost film with them trying to get rid of Ghost Randy Savage.

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  31. That's true, jesus they're really in a corner.

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  32. It would be cool if they changed the May PPV name to Off Ramp.

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  33. Yup, exactly. They've done nothing so far but kill off a ton of Bryan's heat since bringing him back simply as a loser. You know what could have been a heated angle? Bryan coming out to say he'd be in the Rumble, then Sheamus immediately coming out to injure Bryan even worse. Bryan misses the Rumble, Sheamus gets all the heat, and then Bryan comes back for his first match against Sheamus at mania.

    This right now though is a fucking mess that's gonna turn everyone into a quasi heel/face. I wish they'd just drop the whole "reality era" "working the internet" bullshit and just focus on booking some decent, strong wrestling angles. Again look at how well Rusev's stuff worked all year. That was about as old fashioned wrestling as it gets and it was over huge.

    Now of course they need to drop that in favor of phony "reality era" meta-booking with cena's age, and you'll end up there too with the typical mixed crowd response because instead of a wrestling angle it's gonna be all about a worked-shoot referendum on John cena.

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  34. Late at night you hear this faint whisper..."freak out...freak out!" First ya say it, then you do it!

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  35. You'd be surprised how many fans back then didn't even realize Akeem and OMG were the same guy. So many big fat guys came and went...

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  36. The more I read about him, the more I believe Big Show is as much of a primadonna as he's rumored to be.

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  37. They mentioned him when talking about the Butch Reed/Koko B. Ware WM III match.

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  38. Is there anything the main shows are doing right or well at the moment? Since Bryan got injured last year I've been cherry picking bits to watch, but honestly, for the last three months the only thing I've seen is the last few minutes of the Kane/Bryan casket match.

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  39. Miz. Miz is motherfucking awesome right now.

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  40. The Love-Matic Grampa!February 10, 2015 at 10:40 AM

    Vince didn't create or own the One Man Gang gimmick, so he rebranded him into Akeem. It's actually a brilliant business strategy, because most guys are never quite the same when they leave their WWF/WWE gimmicks behind and try to get over under their own name or a new persona.

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  41. Oh my God, people- have you actually watched the Starrcade match? I never, until this year, thought Sting looked bad in that match. With the stupid (un)fast count, THIS is your takeaway from that match?! Unbelievable.

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  42. Ok, no need to be a wise-ass. You explain the change from killer heel gimmick to fat guy dressed like an idiot gimmick then

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  43. I got choked up a bit from this Curtis Axel tweet.

    https://twitter.com/RealCurtisAxel/status/565162879574233089

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  44. Sure, I think that's a way to go to. All I'm saying is the Rumble decision completely fucked up their chance of getting the best possible angle/response for Mania. The "Bryan as beloved righteous superhero underdog" story is pretty fucked, because well Bryan lost clean and is now just a whiner.

    But yeah, Bryan beating Roman clean would help that. The main thing I'd say is they absolutely need a clear finish at fast Lane and put one guy in that match against Brock. A triple threat build would just be ridiculous and get everyone less over.

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  45. The only way out of this corner is Roman going heel, in my view. The Bryan contingent, which is bigger than the Roman contingent, will never back Roman, while the Roman contingent being markier will support Bryan if Reigns blows a gasket following a loss at Fast Lane.

    That way, heel Roman gets more time for seasoning, more time to learn, and if in a year's time heel Roman is getting the crowd back behind him as the bad dude he once was, then you switch him back WHILE NOT SWITCHING HIM BACK TO FAIRY TALES, lol.

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  46. Yeah, but he's a primadonna with huge hands that you need to see live just to appreciate how big he is.

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  47. Wow, yeah that's sad. Good news is he'll have plenty of time in his career to look up at his dad.

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  48. Did he and Mizdow break up?

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  49. No, Miz is just being the greatest heel in like...years and years.

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  50. It's gonna be so ridiculous to even have or hype the battle royal this year, considering how last year's winner was basically buried for a year straight.

    I wouldn't be surprised if that was a one year gimmick, and any Mania battle royal would just go back to being an Andre-less pre-show deal.

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  51. How is Rollinsgate not a daily update item?

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  52. Caliber doesn't do the updates.

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  53. Excellent question, Shelton!

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  54. If only he could back it up in the ring. And learnt to catch people.

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  55. Goddammit.


    ...........upvote.

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  56. Weigh Station. Of course Big Show will be in the main event.

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  57. Vince thought he had signed Dusty and given him the Akeem gimmick. Dusty had some excellent questions in the talent meetings, though.
    Seriously, what was Vince's obsession with making fun of Dusty? Between this and Virgil and giving him the polka dots, it seems like half his ideas in the 80s were about getting one over on the guy.

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  58. Anyone else notice last night that when they showed JYD's HoF induction, they showed a prominent shot of someone who asks excellent questions?

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  59. Legitimate question: Will Larry Zbyszko's speech be the longest in Hall of Fame history?

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  60. But he wrestled as The One Man Gang in high profile matches in the WWF so that seems pointless. SS87 main event, RR88 (last man eliminated), WM5 semi-final.

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  61. Yeah, I haven't understood why we've had the Andre Battle Royal so heavily rumored for this year. I thought it was just a one-off thing to celebrate reaching the 30th WrestleMania.

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  62. DON'T BELIEVE ME JUST WATCH

    http://i.imgur.com/hS0wiEC.jpg

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  63. Oscar winner for sure!

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  64. ....but you didn't upvote him.

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  65. Right now I'd really say nope, nothing. The Bryan/Reigns stuff is hot garbage that's making everyone look bad and is just filled with Kane and Big Show matches.
    Rollins has zero program or direction right now.
    Rusev— the one thing that they got right this year that was getting big heat— is now just the latest heel who gets to stand there and be a non-entity in a John Cena Soap Opera feud.
    Again, lots of Big Show and Kane matches.
    Ziggler is a joke jobber.
    Bray is winning matches but all to build up to him jobbing to CrippleTaker.
    Cesaro is ina tag team with Kidd but really not in a position to matter at all.
    Divas division is at maybe the least over and least watchable point they've ever been.

    HHH & Sting? I guess that's not the worst thing ever?

    I dunno man, this shit is awful.

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  66. Yes I did. I'm literally looking at a blue arrow right now.

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  67. I look back at it and kinda feel bad that I was so numb to all these wrestlers dying in the mid 00s. Outside of Eddie and Benoit none of them really freaked me out. Can't believe its been that long.

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  68. THIS JUST IN:

    Seth Rollins feud with Randy Orton scrapped, will instead be placed in a blood mustard and ketchup feud with the Wiener guy from the Rosebuds.

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  69. I love that they really think "in a match ordered by The Authority" is a selling point.

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  70. They broke the trophy last year, the winner is a complete joke, yeah--- there's zero point to having it again.

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  71. I see nothing here!

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  72. That's what's awesome, he's such an effective heel no face can EVER trust him.

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  73. They're stuck carrying the 3-way over to Mania now. Well they could put Bryan over Reigns, but then you kill Reigns dead. Have Reigns face Big Show at Mania? I suppose he could squash Rollins now that Seth has screwed the pooch.

    Every move they make with Bryan ends up limiting their options. Putting him in the FastLane match with Reigns now locks them into him being in the Mania main event. To do otherwise just increases the fan shitstorm.

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  74. Yeah, they might as well do some kind of big Tag Team Turmoil style match as their token "get everyone on the card" thing.

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  75. What hit home for me with Perfect was that the dude could still go. Hell, I don't think he aged a day from 1990 to the day they buried him. It just felt inherently unfair that he was snatched away from us so soon. Maybe he didn't have a main event run in him, but the guy could have been around for years helping new talent learn and get over.

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  76. The Love-Matic Grampa!February 10, 2015 at 10:50 AM

    It's like when Tito Santana suddenly became El Matador or when Tony Atlas transformed into Saba Simba: Vince probably figured new gimmick = new merchandise to sell. Plus, if the gimmick gets over and the guy decides to leave, he can't take it with him to make some other promoter money,

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  77. DAMMIT, ART, I'M A DOCTOR NOT AN UPVOTE DETECTIVE!

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  78. Shit, that's much better.


    Stand Back 2.0.


    If nothing else, this is proof that Hunter was destined to take Vince's spot.

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  79. I wouldn't say he could still go. Outside of that Rumble in 2002 he was pretty awful in the rest of his appearances. With all due respect to the man.

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  80. There's no reason to watch the current TV product. Just watch the PPVs and you get the... best?.. the company has to offer.

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  81. I like that fake Sting #3 didn't beat the lights up to the ring, so he got caught sliding in like a chump

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  82. I thought he had a pretty solid match with RVD on Heat, and got a surprisingly decent match out of The Big Show (in which he hit him with a PERFECTPLEX, of all goddamn things).

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  83. I think it's canon at this point that Vince will step down when someone can strut at his level.
    Soon enough, Hunter. Soon enough.

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  84. I'll remember that in case we ever need a doctor. I'll know there's one in the house. But goddammit if I need an upvote detective I know to look elsewhere.

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  85. He might get the Mr. T. treatment.

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  86. Jeff Farmer wouldn't have let that shit happen.

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  87. Oh come on it was right there.

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  88. Simmons would have been a better choice than Atlas. I saw this a few years ago and I have to say that Teddy is a better man than I am.

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  89. Triple H announced on the NXT conference call that NXT will be a touring brand by the end of the year running small venues.

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  90. Agreed. Sometimes they just like to repackage guys who don't need it. Even if those guys were fixtures on the card like Santana. Like when they made Ricky Steamboat do the over-the-top Dragon stuff.

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  91. I'm not actually a doctor, I'm doing a Star Trek thing. If I were actually a doctor and spending a sizable chunk of my day posting on the BoD, American healthcare would be fucked.


    Like, more so.

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  92. The Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA perhaps? A guy can dream, right?

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  93. Dixie Carter: "Pfft, like that'll work."

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  94. How'd they get a hologram of Mongo McMichael dressed as Sting?

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  95. U-ti-ca! U-ti-ca!

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  96. Well shit partner you're referencing HEAT matches. FROM 2002. You're busting out the big guns from your wrestling memory.


    I refuse to believe the Big Show one though. You had me until you said Big Show.

    ReplyDelete
  97. I'm getting my wrestling fill from New Japan and NXT, thankfully, because even reading the Raw/Smackdown recaps is a depressing test of endurance. That Rollins doesn't have a feud coming off Rumble is ridiculous.

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  98. Plus Roman as The Authority's man makes a lot more sense than skunkhead, plus Roman swiping the MITB case as it's a lot easier to beat Bryan or anybody after he's already had a match than straight up as he learned at Fast Lane...I'm on board, turn Roman! lol

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  99. Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. In the round.

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  100. Better question: How long with Zbyszko stall before beginning his speech?

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  101. Hellooooooooo, Manhattan Center!

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  102. I guess it could end up being pretty long but I imagine if he goes too long he'll just get cut off. I don't know for sure what the longest actually is. Bret's, maybe?

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  103. I always remember the weirdest things from wrestling memory. Like Alex "The Pug" Porteau's debut on Superstars, or APA showing Just Joe how to use their door. I have no idea how this happens.

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  104. Realityfabe! Why *would* a heel catch an opponent?

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  105. The last doctor we had tried to perform self-surgery with the front end of a bus.

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  106. And he'll never inadvertently turn himself face with stunning ring performances either(not a diss but heels these days get cheered by being amazing in ring)

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  107. I like how he says he's the real Curtis Axel like that's actually his name. What about the guy that is legitimately named Curtis Axel?

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  108. If anything, that Shield Summerslam documentary showed that Rollins was the polar opposite of what the Authority wanted. They wanted him to work their style and stay in line, and he was fighting them at every turn. Rollins had to fight to be anointed as a top guy. For Reigns, it was basically decided he was going to be a top guy before he ever set foot on the main roster.

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  109. You're a bastard man.

    ReplyDelete
  110. "And now we arrive at 1996, when I bravely battled against the New World Odor..."

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  111. funny that is the way WWE is headed too.

    ReplyDelete
  112. You definitely wrote this one.

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  113. No, they said it would be a yearly tradition, to which everyone at the time replied "uh-huh, sure it will."

    But in theory it a way to cram a bunch more people on the card so they can be "rewarded" by being part of WrestleMania.

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  114. I remember Just Joe! My problem with the attitude era was less the goofy shit they would do and more with the lack of payoffs for much of these goofy things.

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  115. I don't have Sky (UK), so would have to "seek out" the shows if I wanted to watch them. Truth is, I don't even care enough to check the minute-long Youtube highlights videos.

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  116. The ECW Arena in South Philly? If so, will Hack Meyers be there? Shah!

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  117. Nobody is cruel enough to name their kid Curtis Axel. That's a Vince thing.

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  118. It was really interesting that based on the documentary, Rollins was really close to being cut loose for his attitude. Now he's by far the most successful of the three, which no one saw coming.

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  119. Matt_INDEED_Was_Bayless'd!February 10, 2015 at 11:00 AM

    Excellent question, Shelton!

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  120. Matt_INDEED_Was_Bayless'd!February 10, 2015 at 11:01 AM

    This would be the perfect year to begin the "music plays the winner off" award show bit.

    ReplyDelete
  121. My theory is Dusty accidentally brushed up against him in a hallway back when he did the MSG matches against Superstar Graham in the late 70's.

    ReplyDelete
  122. Did Just Joe ever even have a match? I feel like he was supposed to be a shit-stirrer, but creative never got around to having him do any shit-stirring.

    ReplyDelete
  123. Mr. Perfect vs. Koko B Ware. Truly a Main Event on any Saturday Night of the year.

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  124. Anywhere within a 1,000 miles of Seattle would be nice.

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  125. He stirred some shit but his shit stirring never actually made within the confines of the squared circle. That was one of those things like GTV that existed for a few weeks then just disappeared with little consequence.

    ReplyDelete
  126. So why would anyone date/get engaged/marry a pro wrestler and expect them to be faithful? It's one thing if you are a Lana or Bella and on the road with your significant other on a daily basis but if not you have to figure a few things. 1. he is on the road for long stretches of time away from you bouncing from city to city. 2. he is a celebrity with lots of fans and that includes women. 3. if you get into Pro wrestling, or music or whatever..chances are you get off on the love, acceptance, and ovation of others. These are not things that make for a high percentage chance for monogamy.

    ReplyDelete
  127. NXT sold out the LC Pavilion at the Arnold Classic and that seats 2200.


    They could definitely draw that in various places in the Northeast with a touring show. Not sure about the middle of the country or west coast.

    ReplyDelete
  128. Excellent news article Shelton.

    ReplyDelete
  129. Jeter had the right idea with his career - "I'll date and fuck around as long as I'm playing, marriage and kids are for afterwards."

    ReplyDelete
  130. The big question is if they start doing TV tapings away from Full Sail.

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  131. This is far too creative and exciting for RAW. Try again.

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  132. It's no different if you're an actor, actress, music group, etc. Problem is we're influenced to 'trade up' what we have and do what we need to for self gratification, committment be damned.

    ReplyDelete
  133. Like I'm sure there are plenty of people who are on the road and can stay faithful....but they probably aren't the types who agree to let other people beat them up on a nightly basis in order to get a reaction out of a large group of people.

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  134. If you have played Grand Theft Auto V here is the real life version of Sandy Shores.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTOD1xKmyOM

    It's crazy how much detail Rockstar put into this game.

    ReplyDelete
  135. I support this brand 100%.

    I really hope it succeeds.

    ReplyDelete
  136. "HE GETS A SUPLEX!!!"

    ReplyDelete
  137. "The Ghost Of Macho Man Randy Savage Is Allegedly Haunting A Florida Wrestling Promotion"

    http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/2015/02/the-ghost-of-macho-man-randy-savage-is-allegedly-haunting-a-florida-wrestling-promotion/

    ReplyDelete
  138. "First guy he
    managed? Norman the Lunatic. Then it was the Skyscrapers and then Doom. That’s
    a pretty nice upgrade of talent actually."

    That's a little unfair. Mike Shaw aka Norman was actually a pretty awesome worker. He just got saddled with stupid gimmicks in NWA and WWF. He was really good as Makhan Singh back in Stampede and GWF.

    ReplyDelete
  139. I wonder if the crowd will start a LARRY LARRY chant.

    It would be cool to have him come face to face with Bruno.

    Not that anyone would know what the hell it's all about, but still.

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  140. A friend of mine mentioned recently that Radio Shack has one of the largest varieties of cell phones, outside of maybe Best Buy -- except you never see/hear of Radio Shack advertising themselves as a cell phone carrier.

    ReplyDelete
  141. Agreed and I bet a lot of those guys said those things to him b/c he's a small guy. Can't imagine anyone dumb enough to say some of that shit to Ron Simmons or Butch Reed.

    ReplyDelete
  142. The new, Two Tone Records-referencing, t-shirt for Sami Zayn. Much better.


    http://shop.wwe.com/Sami-Zayn-%22Underdog-From-The-Underground%22-Authentic-T-Shirt/W09069,default,pd.html?dwvar_W09069_color=Miltary%20Green&start=3&cgid=samiZayn

    ReplyDelete
  143. "EVERYTHING'S FINE!"

    ReplyDelete
  144. Did WWF ever do live shows there? I know they never taped RAWs there in the early days. I think they always did Hershey, PA or Newark, DE

    ReplyDelete
  145. it's just the ghost of jay lethal's career

    ReplyDelete
  146. I didn't mind Atlas because he presented the side of a black wrestler that drew money everywhere he went and how different his perspective was on the business as compared to someone that didn't.

    But I would have liked to have heard from Simmons too. As much as I love Dusty he was probably the least useful on this panel.

    ReplyDelete
  147. it's just the ghost of jay lethal's career.

    ReplyDelete
  148. I know I didn't recognize much of Los Santos from GTA5 since I haven't lived there since 89. But I did notice GTA San Andreas Los Santos reminded me of what I recalled LA being a lot more.

    ReplyDelete
  149. Jesus that faction is terrible.

    ReplyDelete
  150. Pro athletes probably have it worse. Sure wrestlers have ring rats and such, but people like LeBron, Kobe, etc. have women thrown themselves at them constantly.


    That's how Magic got HIV. He loved women. He admitted on camera an orgy with at least 7, if not 9.

    ReplyDelete
  151. No. The old Spectrum and the Wells Fargo Center are/were less than two miles away. It would've looked real busch league to come to philly and not play one of the bigger venues down the road.

    ReplyDelete
  152. The two shows that they were heels I kind of enjoyed them. But yeah, just an uninspired group. Kofi was at least over as a mid-card solo act.

    ReplyDelete
  153. OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK DID UMA THURMAN DO TO HER FAAAAAAACE

    http://www.rickey.org/uma-thurman-new-face-photos/276278/

    ReplyDelete
  154. Off topic..premier league tv right in the uk go for 5.1 billion...fuk me..hope ticket prices can fall a bit now

    ReplyDelete
  155. They are so terrible. Kofi Kingston should be bigger than he is though his athleticism and Rumble spots show what he is capable of. Damn that Orton.

    ReplyDelete
  156. People probably did talk shit to Ron Simmons. It's just that nobody's heard from them since.

    ReplyDelete
  157. ok...hold out your hands. In your left hand you have Mike Shaw at the peak of his skills whenever that was...in your right hand you have Dan Spivey and Sid Or Dan Spivey and some redhead called Mark Callous that will surely never amount to anything.

    Now which one of those options do you think you could make more money with in the wrestling world?

    No offense to Shaw at all, but the tag teams were major upgrades if we're talking about guys that give you the best chances to make maximum dollars a show.

    ReplyDelete
  158. Throw Kofi back into the mid-card where he can occasionally make an I-C run.


    Team Big E and Titus, give them Teddy Long as a manager. Don't call them "The New Doom" or something silly but the same general premise. Invest a month in them destroying jobbers on Smackdown and Superstars with cool power moves and voila.

    ReplyDelete
  159. I would pay an additional $9.99 just to watch Michael Hayes host a black history in wrestling special on the network.

    ReplyDelete
  160. Yeah but Ron Simmons and Butch Reed are head and shoulders above him....

    ReplyDelete
  161. No offense, but doing a gimmick spot during a battle royal doesn't show what anyone is capable of. He never delivered a major promo (nor was he ever really given the chance) and he never had any depth to his previous character (again, never really given the chance). I just never agree when people say "Push him, just look at his Royal Rumble spots."

    ReplyDelete
  162. NEVER use "New" anything for a team. Copyright Mick Foley.

    ReplyDelete
  163. The Rumble/Battle Royal spots were examples of his unique athleticism. He got put with Orton and got himself massively over. One blown finish and it was back to the midcard for KofI. Unfair.

    ReplyDelete
  164. Kurt Angle is a fan of some black people. Sometimes they make him want to "beastiality sex!"

    ReplyDelete

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