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Art Donovan RIP

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Yes, not one of WWE's finer moments, but still...


RIP, Art...

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Odd that two people sent me this within five minutes of each other.  I guess KOTR really made an impression that year.

Comments

  1. mikeAugust 5, 2013 at 3:11 PM

    Who is going to drum up business for the carnival weight-guessers now?

    Shit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ScottyflamingoAugust 5, 2013 at 3:39 PM

    I came THIS close to emailing Scott too... Guy seemed nice enough, just didn't have a clue about wrestling.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Johnny PoloAugust 5, 2013 at 3:40 PM

    Art and Macho Man should have hosted the Saturday morning show instead of Todd Pettengill

    ReplyDelete
  4. TimeandtheRaniAugust 5, 2013 at 3:45 PM

    He shouldn't have been there, but I always thought Gorilla was hideously unprofessional during this show, ignoring him, failing to engage him and by the halfway point literally turning completely away from him. Never a great announcer outside of his arguing with the Brain, I thought this show was his low point.

    ReplyDelete
  5. kbjoneAugust 5, 2013 at 3:51 PM

    While I disagree with your overall assessment of him... yeah, this show wasn't a shining moment for Gorilla.

    ReplyDelete
  6. daveschletAugust 5, 2013 at 3:54 PM

    How much does this blog weigh?

    ReplyDelete
  7. TenGermansAugust 5, 2013 at 3:57 PM

    Best moment came during Diesel vs. Bret:


    "Dis is like David and Goliath!"
    "And we all know how that story went."
    "Yeah! He hit 'im with a rock!"

    ReplyDelete
  8. Chris HirschAugust 5, 2013 at 3:58 PM

    How much did dis guy weigh at time of death?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Chris HirschAugust 5, 2013 at 3:58 PM

    Will you stop!?!

    ReplyDelete
  10. johntcoleAugust 5, 2013 at 4:17 PM

    Gorilla wasn't the best announcer in the world but he sure as hell didn't deserve to win the "Worst TV announcer" catagory by the WON voters 6 freaking times.
    Neither did Mr. Fuji deserve so many Worst manager awards.

    ReplyDelete
  11. BeardMoneyAugust 5, 2013 at 4:19 PM

    Macho Man, on the other hand, came off like an absolute saint. The way he handled the situation made Donovan look like a guy who was totally new to the sport and very curious about it...particularly the weight of its participants. At any rate, if Macho Man hadn't been so accommodating, Donovan would have looked like an idiot and the WWE would have looked like snobs (and who would have ever expected that impression to be created). Instead he humored Donovan's enthusiasm and it added a nice touch to the commentary, at least in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  12. BeardMoneyAugust 5, 2013 at 4:21 PM

    I usually enjoyed Gorilla's commentary, particularly in tandem with Heenan. Lord Alfred Hayes was my go-to guy for commentary hatred.

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  13. Justin HenryAugust 5, 2013 at 4:22 PM

    Is this the first three man commentary booth of the modern era (whatever that is) where all three men are deceased?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Johnny PoloAugust 5, 2013 at 4:32 PM

    I totally agree. Actually, I've always liked Macho Man on commentary. That JR/Brain/Macho team that was together for part of 1993 was easily my favorite three-man commentary team.

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  15. BobbyAugust 5, 2013 at 4:41 PM

    I'm just like Art, only my thing is heights instead of weights. No joke.



    RIP Art.

    ReplyDelete
  16. kbjoneAugust 5, 2013 at 5:03 PM

    You're getting a +1 just for the username.

    ReplyDelete
  17. daveschletAugust 5, 2013 at 5:06 PM

    How much does Yokozuna, the big show, tatanka, Luger, IRS, the kid, razor, bam bam, Vader, Andre, Bundy, Zeus, Akeem, Bossman, Rhodes, weigh????

    ReplyDelete
  18. daveschletAugust 5, 2013 at 5:09 PM

    That video is hilarious.

    ReplyDelete
  19. jdg9August 5, 2013 at 6:07 PM

    Art Donovan was a very entertaining guy - he was a regular on talk shows talking about the formative years of the NFL. And he was often funny. But he was just completely in the wrong place and had no business being there.

    ReplyDelete
  20. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryAugust 5, 2013 at 6:12 PM

    Yeah, I think Macho Man was a trooper throughout, because I'm sure both men were exasperated.


    Art: "I can't watch this anymore!"
    Macho Man: "IT'LL BE OK, JUST HOOOOOLD MY HAAAAND!"

    ReplyDelete
  21. VintageGamerAugust 5, 2013 at 7:57 PM

    Not that this is any less sad, but I thought for a second there that we lost the Wrestlecrap writer, Art O'DONNELL. My mistake.


    RIP Art Donovan

    ReplyDelete
  22. Jarty MannettyAugust 5, 2013 at 10:44 PM

    The biggest shock for me was the fact that he was only 88, which would make him 69 at the 94 KOTR. I guess football really does do a number on a brain.

    ReplyDelete
  23. jabronivilleAugust 5, 2013 at 11:01 PM

    I think those were just Meltzer being an elitist snob at the time, and going anti-WWF.

    ReplyDelete
  24. WaylonMercy24August 6, 2013 at 4:04 AM

    I think so. And it's definitely right up there with the UFC 2 trio of Jim Brown, Ben Perry and future Fox News douchebag Brian Kilmeade on the "Oddest Announce Teams Of All Time" list.

    ReplyDelete
  25. The CoolerAugust 6, 2013 at 4:09 AM

    Art would have been justified in giving Gorilla a whack on his external occipital protuberance, and busting him WIDE open.

    ReplyDelete
  26. WaylonMercy24August 6, 2013 at 4:10 AM

    Yeah, it's quite illogical that Gorilla won that award at a time when Lee Marshall, Herb Abrams and Eric Bischoff were doing commentary. Even the biggest Gino hater would have to admit that Gorilla was better than all three of those guys combined.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Buster AbbottAugust 9, 2013 at 4:13 AM

    Firstly, I'll say that Donovan was clearly a terrible wrestling announcer and whomever decided to have him out there for the entire PPV was a fool. That said, at least Art seemed to treat wrestling with respect and his relative naivety made some of his praise seem genuine. I remember one of his comments about the 1-2-3 Kid ("he's built like a boxer!") make the Kid seem like more of a wiry threat than just as a lucky jobber. Art at least seemed to understand that he should be building the wrestlers up.....whereas it seems like half of Cole's commentary today is geared towards pointing out wrestlers' flaws or pulling ribs.

    ReplyDelete

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