Happy Saturday Blog O'Doomers
Continuing with the Royal Rumbles. Let's start from the beginning with the 1988 edition as Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura on the call and the first two participants already in the ring. Enjoy.
Continuing with the Royal Rumbles. Let's start from the beginning with the 1988 edition as Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura on the call and the first two participants already in the ring. Enjoy.
So the rules were different for this one? Going over the top rope means you are automatically out no matter if both feet hit the floor?
ReplyDeleteThat was always the rule until Shawn cocked up. He shouldn't have touched the floor when he skinned the cat.
ReplyDeleteSo like landing on the apron would be an elimination?
ReplyDeleteNo. I misread what you meant.
ReplyDeleteWatching this I enjoy how it is just assumed that the heels will work with the heels and the faces will work with the faces. It was a simpler time.
ReplyDeleteThe way Jesse explained it you would think that was the case.
ReplyDeleteYep, I liked early on how Vince was selling the "every man for himself" thing, while Ventura kept pairing the heels and the faces.
ReplyDeleteRock vs. Cena 1 was good and the build was nice. Everything after that was a huge waste.
ReplyDelete1. B. In a vaccuum, you can't argue with the massive buyrates and interest generated for Rock's return. However, I think his best use at WM29 was as full-blown heel Hollywood Rock.
ReplyDelete- The night after winning at WM28, have Rock cut some scathing promo about how last night's win reminded him that he is bigger than WWE, better than their best guy even after seven years of ring rust, and how the "People" aren't even worthy of him anymore. He leaves again to continue being a Hollywood star and tells the fans to piss off. CM Punk responds later that night (or next week or something) and cuts another "pipe bomb" style promo on Rock about how he left without facing the "Best in the World". Punk's smarmy everyman character is his best role and it allows him to stay babyface instead of the weak Memphis heel run. Vince/Johnny promise Rock a title shot if he will return. The company takes issue with that, after everything Rock said. Vince sees $$$ and is the ass-kissing CEO who just wants the bottom line. Johnny & Vince set out to get the belt away from Punk, but he keeps retaining against all challengers. Run another Punk-Cena series in summer/fall where they trade the belt a couple times (with the corporate types stirring the pot). Both stay in their normal characters, no Punk heel turn. Have Punk win the decisive match between them to be champion once again. Vince pulls out every 1999 ratfuck move to make sure The Rock wins the 2013 Royal Rumble match. Punk pretty much leads an uprising as the rest of the "boys" are fed up with the Rock worship. The company threatens a walk-out (building on the 2011 stuff). Cena spearheads a campaign for the boys to "take the company back", with HHH initially supporting it as COO. Cena & Punk agree that it's finally time to give the fans the Wrestlemania they deserve. Head toward Punk vs. Rock for Wrestlemania 29, have Cena challenge Undertaker in the name of giving the fans a dream match. HHH can face Lesnar or whatever. Once Rock loses to Punk at WM29, he can do an eventual face turn and apologize to the fans before going back to his real career.
Orton v cena or even punk vs cena was probably plan b. Punk was feuding with cena just before the rumble before he switched to Orton. I assume he switched to Orton once rock confirmed
ReplyDeleteSam Houston Sighting!!
ReplyDeleteThey stressed the "both feet much touch the floor" rule so often on commentary in 1995 that I think it was a planned story point, not a botch from Michaels. Frankly, the 'both feet' rule might've been instituted that year just to give him a bit of leeway in pulling off a very tricky spot --- that way Shawn could have one foot hit the ground for balance without blowing the entire spot.
ReplyDeleteVery Jobberiffic Rumble this first one was.
ReplyDeletehe looked like he was going to break the rope in that one spot with jake.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking there wasn' much star power in there
ReplyDeleteI am going to spend the rest of the day watching Royal Rumbles in order
ReplyDeleteimagine the neopolitan of drugs this lineup consumed later that night. (minus bret he only indulged in adultery!)
ReplyDeleteha i already hv 89 in que
ReplyDeleteJust started it. Did Ax and Smash ever have a singles match? They were pretty stiff with each other (by 1989 standards)
ReplyDeletenot that im aware, but that is definately a scott question. they were a tag team for a loong time without breaking upi think. of course crush replaced bill eadie bc he was like 10 yrs older than darsow.
ReplyDeletebesides retrieving the tv title out of the trash during his janitorial duties win WCW (loved that angle by the way!), this is by far Duggans crowning achievement.
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter
ReplyDeleteFor sure. The match may not have had anything at stake, but he will always be in the record books as the first Rumble winner
ReplyDeleteMan the dead guy count for 1989 is astounding
ReplyDeletevery depressing... loved the andre snake spot though!
ReplyDeleteOr an announcer's table chair.
ReplyDeleteYeah Andre was great in this one... the way everyone went after him right away
ReplyDelete25 years later I am still shocked to see Hogan get cleanly eliminated so easily
ReplyDeleteWell in all fairness, it is now 25 years ago. So it gets a bit easier to digest.
ReplyDeletenot quite there yet, but yea hed recover nicely and wn the next two lol.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Seeing Hogan get cleanly eliminated by Bossman and Akeem is more shocking
ReplyDeletejesus hogan has like 10 eliminations though
ReplyDeleteWell he is still Hogan
ReplyDeleteStudd and Akeem spend like 20 minutes just hanging out in the corner
ReplyDeletealso it planted the first seed i believe in the mega powers exploding??
ReplyDeleteDon't forget beating Haku to be Hacksaw King Duggan!
ReplyDeleteI think so. I was actually surprised when they were both in there that they weren't already feuding... I was like 9 last time I saw this though so my memory is foggy.
ReplyDeleteThe seeds were starting to be planted at SummerSlam and Survivor Series in 1988. Savage was so good with the offside glances whenever Hogan hugged Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteI'm headed towards 1990 :: Puts on MC Hammer Pants ::
ReplyDeleteJust finished watching the 1988 Rumble, and hearing Ventura go on about how this was One Man Gang's type of match because he's from the streets of Chicago, how far has Chicago fallen as a "tough guy" city. In the 1980s, you had the Road Warriors and One Man Gang. The 1990s had Lex Luger (who even Sting joked was from the cushy north side, not the south side, like the LOD). Today, we have CM Punk, who yes is the best in the world, but you wouldn't think of him in the same category as Gang or the LOD.
ReplyDeleteProbably the most TV time in one instance than Houston got all year. His constant brawling with Danny Davis continued a first-hour of Prime Time Wrestling blood feud.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they knew what they had with Warrior yet, and if they were going to push him to the moon. This would have been a great place to give him a big win to start establishing him.
ReplyDeleteHaha, Luger was great in that segment. Kept proudly claiming he was from Chicago, and he was ready for it, then afterwards deadpans to Sting "What's a Chicago Street fight anyway?"
ReplyDeleteHe was great in that role overall, teaming with his best buddy Sting, but being a heel as a singles competitor. It's too bad that got swept under the ring when the nWo started, because they could have milked that for a while longer.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. I watched old 1995 Nitros a while back, and it was incredible, The best part was he actually never did turn on Sting during the storyline. His friendship with Sting was the one thing he was sincere about.
ReplyDelete"he never did turn on Sting"
ReplyDeleteSaid no one else... ever.
i watched 90-92 this week... im jumpin into 93 atm.
ReplyDeleteDAMN IT!
ReplyDeleteMan was Jake's DDT over... all 3 years so far fans are rabid for it
ReplyDeleteJake knew exactly how to play to the fans to set the move up.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I haven't watched 1993 yet this week. Cue it up!
ReplyDeletehahaha i just lost my shit watching 93 when monsoon calls carlos colon a "youngster"
ReplyDeleteI give the Cena/Rock angle: D+. They did a nice little setup before, during, and after WM 27, but then they did very little to execute it. They had a whole year to build up to this EPIC match, but they pretty much did nothing with it. A snip here and there, but nothing else until November. They then put Cena in a feud with Kane that should have turned him heel, but since that didn't happen, the feud ended up being pointless with it's only purpose was to bury Ryder.
ReplyDeleteThen, in the final month before the show, the Rock finally comes back and for the most part, he and Cena are regulated to comedy routines, and personal monologues. They had one or two promos against each other and then the show happens. The end result of match one was still good, but when you give them a year, you think they could have done a nice long build instead of Cena shrugging Rock off until March.
On 29, I don't think they should have made it so obvious. Plus, that one had a smaller buildup than the other one.
Me & my best friend watched this somewhat recently - he's less of a wrestling nerd than I am, so he had no idea who won. He jokingly (I think?) said he was pulling for Hacksaw, and I had to stifle myself so as not to give the result away. It's fun watching a grown adult mark out to a match that's decades old.
ReplyDeleteThings that ruled: Bret's SWEET piledriver on Santana.
ReplyDeleteIt is really weird in these old ones having them come out with out any music.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, with a tear in my eye, I start the 1992 Rumble
ReplyDeleteRight but Austin was trying to beat Rock on the mic as the character Steve Austin not the performer himself trying to prove something
ReplyDeleteJust to my further my point Re: Punk, note that Punk now is as over as a face as he has been since MITB, because he's showing intensity within the context of his feuds instead of sitting back and smirk/shooting like during some of his championship face run. He can still drop little shots in but it's not the basis of his promos
ReplyDeleteBolo Mongol vs. Repo Man is a main event anywhere in the country!
ReplyDeleteThe build immediately prior to the match was good, but using WM27 almost entirely as a commercial for WM28 sucked it big and hard.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of the heat sink is just EVERYONE knowing exactly what was happening. Nobody wants to walk through a completely predictable, completely lukewarm storyline.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about Rock being a mega-heel that the entire roster hates, but 100% agree that Punk should have done what Cena couldn't. WM28 was for the big dream-match and massive buy-rate, but they should have used that momentum to go forward (cement another star) instead of just returning the job for no betterment.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I understand that the point is to make money, and I have no way of proving this, but I definitely think that Rock/Punk would have drawn every bit as well as Rock/Cena II.
1) financially yes, creatively no. Was it worth it? I think Wrestlemania can be at it's worst and still pop a million, so no i could have done without the sequel (29) or the buildup (27)...Rock never put anyone over nor did he even bring anything ring or mic wise, it was a nostalgia trip that went by way too long, and after injuring himself and finding out he's one of the most successful movie stars in hollywood right now (likely going to continue if rumours are true that he's playing green lantern) it's best the guy stays away...It would have been real nice if he put someone over that actually needed it on the way out though.
ReplyDelete2) It's the finale for a show that goes on weekly, for a company thats been running for decades, the name has been an integral part of pop culture even after the public perception of wrestling turned sour, it's the main event of an entire industry. I don't think any entertainment event brings so many people on a worldwide basis like Wrestlemania does, You'd have to look for the real big shots like the champions league, world cup final or the olympics (and to a lesser extent the superbowl) to find something bigger...point being, they could likely have it the card comprise entirely of midcard talent and it will likely be the highest grossing wrestling event of the year, but creative wise...I'd say it works as long as they don't go overboard or they do it in a way that benefits the people that will have to pick up the pieces once said part timer/special attraction leaves. Take this year for example, i have no problem with batista, lesnar, hogan, taker or HHH being in matches as long as in some way it benefits those that need it. If they really want to push Reigns and Bray Wyatt to the top, now would be the perfect time to put them in a program with one of these guys, even in a losing effort, the mere association with them at the big dance would mean a lot. Punk and Bryan? sure pair them up with HHH and or taker...because once they go back off the active roster, we need to believe the guys left behind are just as important.
2.) I've mentioned it before in other threads, but I think the current Wrestlemania model of relying heavily on part-timers for the "special attraction" match is a bad business model. The M.O. for years now has been to build Wrestlemania around special attraction main events that outweigh the title match in terms of importance. It's either the Rock or a Streak match or making something like Undertaker-HHH part III seem like a bigger deal than the championship match. While you might pop a huge buyrate for the one show (Wrestlemania), I think it conditions fans to think every other PPV is a throw-away show. If you get the fanbase to think that a show isn't truly important unless the Undertaker's Streak is being threatened or if Cena is facing a "Legend", then fans become fully aware that something like, say, "Battleground" or "Payback" is just another show. Wrestlemania absolutely should be their biggest show. However, their current way of promoting WM is for it to be the biggest show only because of the "Legends" and retreads, not their current "regulars" (outside of Cena). So basically you create a model where only 1 out of 12 ppvs actually seems important enough to buy. I'm not so sure that's worth it.
ReplyDeleteBret looks more like Neidhart in this match
ReplyDelete