Greatest under five minute match of all time? Shame it doesn't have a little bit better commentary...
Definitely one of my favorite short matches ever.
Greatest under five minute match of all time? Shame it doesn't have a little bit better commentary...
Definitely one of my favorite short matches ever.
I don't care what anyone says, Art Donovan was so bad it became funny.
ReplyDeleteHe just wanted to make sure that everyone was competing in the proper weight class, that's all. Anyway, other than him, I liked the commentary. Savage has a way of making things seem like a big deal.
ReplyDeleteI love that Gorilla said that 1-2-3 kid was "hammered" earlier that day. How fitting.
ReplyDeleteWrestling is such a singular thing... To think you can just put any body out there on commentary is a HUGE mistake. Unless it is someone who is very into the product, it will never work.
ReplyDeleteThey really did an excellent job in '94 building Owen up.
ReplyDeleteHOW MUCH DOES DIS GUY WEIGH?
ReplyDeleteThe German suplex at 4:47 is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAlways hilarious to hear that comment.
ReplyDeleteI'm just noticing how often they mention that they're in the "New Generation". Reminds me of how often they would mention the word Attitude. The new buzzwords are pretty lame. They don't mention the era at all these days. Just that "universe" nonsense and trending. Though thankfully that seems to be phasing out a little bit.
ReplyDeleteThis may be the first time I can remember when Vince didn't define the era and it was defined for him. PG.
To me the constant "universe" mentioning is way, way more obnoxious and annoying than "attitude" or "new generation" ever was..
ReplyDeleteDepressing to think that 2/3 of the commentary team have passed away.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Wow!!! That really stood out to me too. I've never seen that counter before and it looked amazing. The belly-to-belly that he hit right afterward was pretty sweet too.
ReplyDeleteThey should make everyone on the current roster watch this match. If they're going to book 5-minute matches every Monday, this is how you work them.
ReplyDeleteAnd both are the GOOD thirds.
ReplyDeleteuh oh
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Savage was still around (WWF) in June 1994. When did he last appear on TV for them?
ReplyDeleteFreaking awesome. He basically caught him and walked into position. Never knew Owen was that strong.
ReplyDeleteWaltman's bridging suplex was awesome too.
I'm surprised DBry hasn't tried to replicate this kind of match. Or Angle.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's just stupid. Why call your fans a universe? And are we going to refer to this as the "universe era" in 20 years? I hope not.
ReplyDeleteIf that was the last 5 minutes of a 20 minute match, it would have been match of the year.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting idea, to put someone out there who knew nothing about the product, because that creates a conducting voice for new fans. It appeared that he didn't even know the match results; he doesn't seem like a great actor and I believed he was genuinely surprised by everything that happened. That's kind of how John Hodgeman was on the old ROH show and it made for decent commentary, especially on a new show aimed at a new audience. Hodgeman, though, was a professional commentator and Donovan appeared to lack some basic skills in that department (with the constant interruptions and weird, weight obsessed questions). I actually wouldn't mind seeing them try this again, but they've really got to screen for someone who grasps the fundamental rules either broadcasting or human interaction.
ReplyDeleteIs it wrong of me to think while watching the match, "Wait, Owen's the dead guy?"
ReplyDeleteThat was Mike Hogewood. I've been listening to him for many, many years call ACC football and basketball games. His commentary on the ROH shows was pretty much him, including the over-the-top reactions to everything.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you cleared that up. I was gonna be furious if John Hodgeman had done ROH and I had missed it somehow.
ReplyDeleteFunniest lines from that show:
ReplyDeleteArt: "Who's that guy with the American flag?"
Gorilla: "That is Lex Luger, Art."
During Diesel's entrance:
"Who's Shawn Michaels, is he another wrestler?" (You just know that ol' HBK was THRILLED to hear that!)
For fun! Here's Art's best quips of that evening. "What's that woman screaming about?" The thing is that without Macho Man to play the straight man it wouldn't have been nearly as funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S7w0F7WsZg
ReplyDeleteYeah, Mike was pretty damn good, definitely miles above Caleb Seltzer. Not sure why they didn't just bring Mike back when they took Nigel off commentary.
ReplyDeleteHell, at least lure Dan Masters away from David McLane's promotion, he's also better than most wrestling announcers today.
Not sure. But he was at Summerslam 94 as a kind of an informal "host" of sorts and his contract ran out in November. He debuted in WCW in Dec of 94
ReplyDeleteUgh, yeah John Hodgeman's the actor. I remembered the hodge part and my haphazard google search screwed me over on the rest. I do remember " slap the porpoise", which is 100x greater than anything Michael Cole has ever said.
ReplyDeleteHe was around until late October. I don't remember which episode but it was either the last Monday in October or the first Monday in November when Vince gave his explanation as to why Randy wasn't going to be on commentary anymore. Vince had a noticeably pissed off look on his face during that segment, although considering how Randy left, I can't really blame Vince for being mad.
ReplyDeleteAnd by all accounts Cole is a bright, charming, funny guy, so it just goes to show how much of a negative impact Vince has on him.
ReplyDeleteI am very disappointed that "howmuchdoesthisguyweigh" hasn't weighed in with some comments here. Much like how Eddie and Rey showed what you could do in 15 minutes or less (Havoc 97), these two showed what you could do in 5 minutes or less.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think this is almost a microcosm of Owen's career. Too short due to booking and his untimely passing. We, as fans, were robbed of greatness and of so many opportunities to witness the true art of wrestling.
We were robbed of classic matches for most of 1995 and 96 because they needed him for the barren tag division. We were robbed of a proper Bulldog feud (after that 5 star Euro championship tourney). We were robbed of a great Austin match after the piledriver mistake. We were robbed of a proper HBK feud after their Dec 97 Raw match that had volcanic heat to it. Lastly, we were robbed of seeing the moment where the anti-attitude Blue Blazer gimmick inexplicably got over as an upper mid card act because it WAS happening.
Yet, his extremely versatile run from 1993-99 is still the the stuff of legend.
"How he left"? By not signing a contract because he wanted to continue his in-ring career instead of being an ambassador?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I ended up Wikipedia-ing it. A Raw taping in Burlington VT. He was in Backlund's cross-face chicken wing.
ReplyDeleteHe left without giving Vince advance notice and thus give Vince enough time to find a replacement for his job which explains the weird period when Shawn Michaels was doing commentary after Randy walked out on Vince.
ReplyDeleteI felt like after everything Vince did for Randy that Randy could have left in a more professional manner.
Why doesn't Vince just do the commentary himself if he hates his announcers so much? Jesse Ventura said recently that he would return to commentary if the money was right so just spend some money and lure him back and put him and Vince back together. The commentary would immediately improve and ratings would go up to boot.
ReplyDeleteWe'll probably need another judge or ref here to decide what really happened, but Vince wasn't pissed off that Randy left. He was emotional and kind of sad (not angry) with that on-air sendoff, which hadn't really been done before or since.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Vince was really pissed when Randy appeared on WCW Saturday Night with barely any notice (there may have been a drunken answering machine message or quick phone call involved).
Apparently he is still rewriting Raw during the whole show...
ReplyDeleteHe outright refused to let Waltman help with that one. Not a dick move, it made them both look awesome.
ReplyDeleteHe was unsigned...Vince not having a backup plan knowing his Plan A wasn't set in stone is Vince's problem. You can't walk out when you're not contractually obligated to be there.
ReplyDeleteThat's like getting mad at a starting WR for signing with another team during free agency when his previous team didn't already have his replacement.
That powerbomb is wicked. I also love that Gorilla and Savage have NO idea what to call the northern lights suplex, so they keep finding ways to get around calling it anything.
ReplyDeleteDAT POWERBOMB!
ReplyDeleteI wish they utilized Adam West-style sound balloons, just so I could see SPLAT!
Was thinking the exact same thing. Don't complain about "only" being given five minutes, this stuff is possible.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the suplexes were great. But that drop kick man! THAT DROP KICK!
ReplyDeleteFrom that angle, it looked like he kicked his head right off his...head.
Crazy as it sounds, I think having Donovan doing commentary that night could have been a good thing. But it would have had to have been only for one or two matches. Here's my reasoning.
ReplyDeleteThis was back when they still tried to make the matches, along with the commentary, appear to mean something in terms of the result. Like an athletic contest. Now here we got a guy who, in spite of his "poke fun at myself" persona, is in the NFL Hall of Fame. You don't get there simply for being round. Just the sort of guy who brings a legitimacy to something sold as an athletic contest.
So now you have this Hall of Famer stating, repeatedly, that these wrestlers are big, tough, and really good athletes. He's even showing awe at what these guys can do. Like a great mark. Now you have someone like that putting the wrestlers and their matches over, for the casual fan, or even a non-viewer, that can give your product some pretty solid athletic legitimacy.
Unfortunately, they left him out there for three hours, and the results weren't pretty. If they could have only had him announcing two matches, say the title match and the KOTR final, due to how "important" they were to the promotion (and yes I know the logistical problems as they were not back-to-back), you could have had called it a positive, overall.
It's actually kind of touching how Savage never loses his patience with him. Gorilla seems a little annoyed but Savage keeps right on answering his questions and making the most of his comments. Really classy move.
ReplyDeleteI also have to say that I appreciated the way Donovan kept putting over pro-wrestling. As inept as he was, he showed a lot of respect for them competitors and drew from his football background to express the legitimacy of both the wrestlers and the sport. A great example is where he could have taken a shot at the 123-Kid for his size--maybe made a meat-head comment like "where's the rest of that guy, I've played with guys who've had forearms bigger than him"--but instead he said "He looks like a boxer." He also talked about what a terrifying line-backer Tatanka would have been and what a cutie Jarrett was (???). He may have been confused, but he was very gracious.
Man, that opening baseball slide was just vicious, not to mention that powerbomb. The Kid/Jarrett from earlier in the night is pretty good too. In fact, this whole PPV is kind of underrated, but for the love of God, stop after the Owen/Razor match.
ReplyDeleteShawn was doing commentary because he was hurt and they wanted to keep the Nash/HBK feud going on tv.
ReplyDeleteThat commentary sucked, but it was still better than the WWE commentary today. At least they kept their attention on what's in front of them.
ReplyDeleteI can never stop laughing at "I think he's bleedin', there's some red stuff on his pants."
ReplyDeleteStill a shame that due to whatever, we didn't get HBK vs. Owen in late 1997. At least to headline the DX PPV.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Bulldog-Owen thing, I've long thought they should have done the rematch at WrestleMania which really causes them to break up, then Bret has to come in and unite them. Imagine WrestleMania 13 with Bret-Austin and Owen-Bulldog. And Vader-Taker for the title just to finish the thought.
Hey, the Ravens are in the Super Bowl - is it too soon to petition the NFL to let Art D. be on the commentary team?
ReplyDeleteWhat was the purpose of Art on commentary?
ReplyDeleteHe was a sort-of famous guy, from numerous appearances on Letterman, and was an institution in the Baltimore area. And he probably worked for cheap. Good enough for Vince, I guess. The steroid trial, going on at that time, must have really been working his brain over. Or the brain of whomever made that decision.
ReplyDeletewhere did you read this about Jesse? interesting!
ReplyDeleteJesse's very recent RF Video shoot interview.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jesse was mentioning how he was a better negotiatior than everyone else in the wrestling business when it came to money, he admitted that he would return to announcing if he was offered the right amount of money.
Maybe this is the missing 15 minute match beginning?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBzAHru5kyc#!
It's so depressing counting the dead wrestlers when watching old events.
ReplyDeleteAlong that line of thinking, Bob Uecker was possibly their best guest commentator ever, no? I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone else that came close. Regis wasn't bad either I guess.
ReplyDelete"Dat's not fair! Da other guy, da other fella only weighs half da amount!!!"
ReplyDeleteYeah it was the last Raw of October...31st I believe, without checking. The Vince announcement was 11/6 or whenever the week after was.
ReplyDelete