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Repost: MSG 10.27.91

(Indeed, for most of the early stuff they post to the Network, I’ll already have it done from when it was up on Classics on Demand, so here’s the MSG show currently in the Old School section of the vault).

The SmarK 24/7 Rant for MSG - October 28 1991

- Taped from New York

- Your hosts are Gorilla & Bobby & Alfred

Kerry Von Erich v. Big Bully Busick

Busick stays away to start and they trade headlocks, which goes nowhere. They do the test of strength and Kerry misses a blind charge, hitting the post as a result. Bully can't capitalize and gets caught with the claw, but manages to block the discus punch. And we go to the bearhug before Bully elbows him down. Another try at the discus punch finishes for the Tornado, however. Kerry was absolutely awful at this point and obviously didn't give a shit any longer. 1/2* Halfway notable for a young Billy Silverman as the referee. Maybe a quarter of a way notable. It's not an exact science.

IRS v. The British Bulldog

Irwin gets the slam to start, but Bulldog hiptosses him and gets his own slam. IRS bails and starts working the arm back in the ring. Bulldog overpowers him and we get a couple of stalling sequences before IRS bails off a dropkick. More stalling follows. I should note the funny conversation between Bobby and Gorilla about the quality of the upcoming Survivor Series teams featuring Flair, as Gorilla runs down Flair's team, finishing by noting that Warlord is "only interested in Domino's Pizza". You get the craziest references on these shows sometimes. IRS works a headscissors on the mat and uses the ropes as this thing drags on, then bails and stalls when the ref calls him on it. Back in, Bulldog gets dumped. Back in, Gorilla notes that IRS has "pulled out all the stops", which in this case is stomping him a couple of times and going to the abdominal stretch. I'd hate to see him being lazy, then. Seriously, what happened to Mike Rotundo between his WCW stint and his WWF one? He was an awesome, if unspectacular, worker for most of the 80s and then once he got the shirt and tie it was like he was killed and replaced with Larry Zbyszko or something. IRS works on the legs and gets two, and we hit the chinlock. Bulldog fights up, but gets backdropped and it's MORE stalling. IRS drops an elbow for two, and it's back to the chinlock. Bulldog powers up, but IRS gets a good shoulderblock to put him down again and drops a leg for two. Blind charge misses and Irwin hits the floor. For more stalling. This is so obviously leading to a 20-minute draw that they might as well have advertised it in the program. Back in, they slug it out and Bulldog catches him for the powerslam, but IRS falls on top for two. Bulldog comes back with a backdrop for two. IRS bails for the millionth time and finds a tag rope under the ring, which he uses to choke Bulldog out with. Bulldog retreats to the floor and finds his own rope, but IRS goes low. Bulldog gets a small package for two, but the time limit expires at 20:00. Well shucks. It had moments of good stuff, but every step forward was negated by IRS ducking out of the ring for cheap heat. **

Jim Neidhart v. The Mountie

Big stall from Mountie to start, and Anvil slams him three times to set up more stalling. Back in, Mountie fails to overpower Neidhart, hits the floor and stalls, comes back in, goes out again and does more stalling. Have I mentioned this was a pretty awful period for the company? Back in, Neidhart gets three clotheslines with enough white space showing to paint a picture of the countryside, and SURPRISE, Mountie runs away again. Jesus, just skip to the obvious finish and zap him with the shock stick already. Neidhart misses a charge and goes after Jimmy Hart, and that double-whammy allows Mountie to gain the advantage on the floor. Back in, a back elbow sets up the chinlock to really ramp up the pace. Mountie rams him into the turnbuckle, but Neidhart makes the comeback with a backdrop and another awful clothesline for two. Neidhart misses a charge, however, and Mountie pins him with two handfuls of tights at 11:22. WEAK. *

Rowdy Roddy Piper v. Ric Flair

This is Flair's MSG "debut" (actually not, but we'll play along) and the reaction to his entrance is REALLY interesting, with pure WWF marks booing him, and everyone else giving him a crazy loud standing ovation. Piper also gets a mega-reaction so this will have heat if nothing else. They do the trash talk to start and Flair gives him a rare clean break, so Piper spits on him. Flair gives another clean break, and Piper bitchslaps him this time. Flair tries the headlock and Piper reverses out of it and smacks him down again. Piper knocks him down, so Flair comes back with the chop in the corner, but Piper slugs back and puts him down. We get a Flair Flop off that and he bails, so Piper chases and rams him into the railing. Back in, Piper knocks him down again and they criss-cross, but Piper wins that by punching him down and slugs away in the corner. Flair uses the ref to get a cheapshot in, however, and takes over. He works the headlock and they do the pinfall reversal sequence, as Piper gets a backslide for two. You don't see that from Piper very often! Flair tosses him three times and he keeps popping back in, so Flair takes him to the floor and throws chops in the aisle to put him down. Back in, Flair gets the necksnap on the way in. Piper throws down with own chops, however, and puts Flair down with a huge kneelift, which sends them back to the floor again. Back in, Piper slugs him in the corner, but the ref gets bumped. Flair attacks from behind and gets rolled up as a result, but there's no ref. Another ref comes in and Piper gets the rollup again, for two. Flair Flip and Piper clotheslines him on the apron, but Flair grabs a chair and clobbers Piper with it…for two. Piper comes back with the sleeper, but Flair quickly escapes with a backdrop suplex and goes up. Piper slams him off and fires away, then catches Flair with his down and gets a neckbreaker. He retrieves a chair of his own, but the ref prevents him and Flair takes him down and pins him with his feet on the ropes at 12:00. Wow, Piper does a semi-clean job? That's pretty high praise from him. Tremendous stuff, the only thing on the show to have any life to it. ***1/2

Meanwhile, Flair cuts a crazed victory promo against Hulk Hogan, which should have set up a PPV match and yet never did.

Big Bossman v. Col. Mustafa

IRS accuses Bossman of being a tax cheat, which has Bossman so preoccupied that he clotheslines Mustafa down and then runs off to chase him. Back in, Bossman slams Mustafa and slugs away in the corner. Mustafa gets a cheapshot and pounds away to take over, then hits a gut wrench suplex. Bossman reverses another suplex attempt and takes Mustafa down with a spinebuster for the pin at 4:45. That was the finish? DUD

Intercontinental title: Bret Hart v. The Berzerker

Berzerker attacks to start and chokes away in the corner, but misses a kneedrop, which allows Bret to slug away and dropkick him out of the ring. He pops back in, so Bret clotheslines him out again and then follows with an atomic drop to put him out again. Back in, Berzerker goes low and stomps away, then tosses Bret and lays him out on the floor. Back in, Bret falls on top for two during a slam attempt, but runs into a knee, as we hit the chinlock. Piledriver gets two. And after that burst of wrestling ability, we go back to the chinlock. Bret fights up, but Berzerker gets a powerslam for two. Bret manages to drop him on the top rope, however, and a legsweep gets two. Small package gets two. Backbreaker and elbow get two. Sharpshooter is blocked, but a crucifix finishes at 10:12. Dull stuff. *1/2

Hercules v. Tito Santana

Tito debuts as El Matador in MSG here. I liked the gimmick change solely because it got him to start wearing those damn Strike Force tights two years after the team broke up. Kind of a funny spot to start as Tito uses the cape to evade a charging Hercules, then wins a slugfest. Hercules bails, and then grabs a headlock back in the ring. Tito works on the arm and slugs away in the corner, which gets two. Herc comes back with an atomic drop, then slugs away in the corner and goes to a bearhug. That lasts an insane amount of time. Tito fights out and hits the flying forearm, but it only gets two. Luckily, he has his new finisher, the PACE WITH EXTRA PICANTE, and it finishes at 9:10. Not a thrilling start for the new gimmick. *

WWF tag titles: The Legion of Doom v. The Natural Disasters

Typhoon tries to overpower Hawk, but gets caught with a shoulderblock out of the corner for his troubles. Animal comes against Earthquake and puts him down with a shoulderblock of his own, but can't get the slam. Disasters take over and Quake goes to the bearhug, then they double-team in the corner and a powerslam gets two for Quake. Animal fights out of the corner with a boot and a clothesline to set up the hot tag to Hawk, who dropkicks Quake and gets a shoulderblock for two. Disasters catch Animal alone, however, and splash him into oblivion, but they toss the ref for no adequately explored reason and it's a DQ at 8:00. Man, they were booking the Disasters super-strong here, as they basically had the champs beat at will and only lost because they were stupid. Match itself was pretty shitty stuff. 1/2*

Yikes, track down Piper v. Flair on YouTube or something, avoid the rest like the plague, much like audiences did in 1991 anyway.

Comments

  1. With my way he could then be advertised to be in the main event thus building some goodwill with the fans.

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  2. None of that is going to happen other than "Cesaro on the card and the WWE champion fights someone."

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  3. the curtain call wasn't taped for MSG. That was fan cam footage. MSG shows were taped from the 70s to about 1992, with one or two taped in 1997 for some random reason.

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  4. Blech to that. 40 year old men should never be heard saying "You were always dad's favorite." Goldust should never say anything remotely like that either.


    I'm ok with them wrestling each other eventually.

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  5. I think that ship sailed two weeks ago, if not on the night of the Network announcement.

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  6. "track down Piper v. Flair on YouTube or something" The cool thing that is that you can just track it down on the Network! And they have these cool dots on the timeline so you can skip to any match with ease! The bad part is that the following dot spoils the ending if you've never seen it. Doh!

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  7. Aah, good commentry, those were the days. It's night and day from the garbage we have to listen to nowadays.

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  8. The mighty HHH doesn't wrestle on free TV, you have to pay for the privilege of seeing him wrestle.

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  9. In all seriousness, that makes his matches more of a big deal. It really hurts the appeal of top guys when they wrestle on free TV at least once a week.

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  10. I was at this show and, even at two weeks shy of my 12th birthday, I was up in the cheap seats cheering Flair when he made his entrance.

    "Meanwhile, Flair cuts a crazed victory promo against Hulk Hogan, which should have set up a PPV match and yet never did."



    It did, though, set up a couple of Hogan-Flair matches at MSG, which is what I think the point of the interview was.

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  11. I wonder what the reaction of Monday's crowd would be to Taker and Hogan. It seems like Monday is going to be an ANGRY crowd, one that probably isn't going to react normally to much of anything besides Daniel Bryan. Would Hogan and Taker get boos and "same old shit" chants? I kinda think so, Hogan especially.

    Does Stephanie appear in front the crowd? Probably not, the chants at her could get pretty harsh.

    Batista? Yeah, they've turned him heel so I guess now it fits his character. Same for HHH, though I wonder how he'll be able to smirk his way through it if the chants are less "boo" and "Daniel Bryan" and more of the "this show sucks", "Fuck the network" and "Change the channel" variety.

    Really interesting to see how vicious the crowd gets. The Raw-after-Mania vibe was a bit angry, but mostly fun. I feel like this will be wayyyyy angrier than that.

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  12. That's true. They should be keeping Orton out of the ring, it doesn't fit that the Authority would have their prized asset wrestle on every show. It'd build more heat on him too:
    "You people don't deserve to see me wrestle!"

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  13. Yep, I'd love a heel gimmick where he wins a secondary title and INSISTS on wrestling only once every 30 days. Aka, the absolute minimum requirement. So if he retains his title by fluke at one PPV, guess what... You have to tolerate his bragging interviews for at least 1 more month!

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  14. "John Cena & Batista vs. Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt"


    Will we get our first double duel chant?


    "LET'S GO CENA! CENA SUCKS! YOU CAN'T WRESTLE! BOO-TISTA!"

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  15. Except against Curtis Axel for some stupid reason.

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  16. Bray Wyatt will be the only person getting cheered in that match.

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  17. You could get around Lesnar's limited dates and make him champion that way, just have Heyman build up the match on the mic. It'd get tired after a while, so that's when you switch the title.

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  18. Say what you want about wwe creative but they've done a great job of making both members of Rhodes scholars bigger stars than they were before the split. Wouldn't be surprised if we get Cody vs Sandow at summerslam for the main event.

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  19. Hahaha, so you're suggesting they actually do something INTERESTING with Brock Lesnar? That's rich!

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  20. We already endured Hollywood Hogan.

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  21. WHAT?


    Sandow hasn't done shit since that Cena match in October.

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  22. Makes perfect sense. Bray teaming with Orton, who called him a "Duck Dynasty reject" at the Rumble.

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  23. Yes he has, getting shoved head first into a toilet by Henry.

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  24. 40 year old men shouldn't be wearing spandex and pretend fighting each other in the ring either but, you know, it happens.

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  25. Get,the,popcorn,ready!

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  26. Wait...you're seriously trying to tell me that stripping Sandow of his gimmick, jobbing him out, and taking him off TV, and taking Cody off TV and giving his spot to the new age outlaws hasn't made them bigger stars? Lol OK smark

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  27. Watching Raw and paying for a cable subscription is more expensive than a WWE Network subscription.

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  28. I'm well aware of this. However, 5 months ago, this seemed like a likely card. Somethings were out of WWE's control. HBK may not want to wrestle again, but what was the point of the storyline then? How the fuck did they fuck up so much so quickly?

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  29. And while we're at it, Bryan wins via running knee in 18 seconds.

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  30. Sooo.... now we know what CM Punk has been doing this week...

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  31. Undertaker is usually pretty bullet-proof against that stuff.

    I would imagine Hogan would be as well, since he's not being shoved down our throats; he's just kinda there.

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  32. Damnit, my sarcasm detector broke again.

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  33. Yeah, Hogan got a hero's welcome wrestling in front of Philly fans at Bound for Glory. So I imagine Chicago would treat him the same.


    It's guys like Batista and Orton that are going to be feeling the worst of it.

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  34. Thread-jacka, lacking around....


    I need some laptop vs ipad advice, as I'm going to be buying one or the other soon.


    Can I download torrents on an ipad? I download music a lot, I'm going to be going back to school in September so I'll need to do projects/papers, and I like to come on here and type Bret Hart jokes. It seems like a laptop would suit my needs better but I haven't had an ipad before so I'm not sure what it's capable of doing.

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  35. But what would that do to all of their other side businesses?

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  36. I'd say it's a stretch to go from 'no food' to 'Ahmed had boiling water poured over his stomach, didn't go to hospital, and somehow wound up becoming a professional wrestler who took bumps on skin that had been peeled off with boiling water.'

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  37. People actually cheered Batista's return for a bit though.

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  38. That's what I said.

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  39. No Hogan for an MSG show? Was he already working a part-time schedule at this point?

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  40. Since we're talking Ahmed Johnson, I might as well post this pic I took with him back around 1997. We were at the Marriott Marquis in NYC at the WWF Hall Of Fame ceremony. He came to the bar after the show and hung out with me and a few of my wrestling buddies. He spend half the time trying to screw my female friend, but I can't really blame him. Really cool dude..

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/zyud6myi7nbvufq/CAM00288.jpg

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  41. Purposely withholding food to starve a child, beating the child if they find another source of food, and then flipping out even further isn't that far of a jump. He wasn't taking bumps immediately after he was burned.

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  42. A laptop is probably the better choice. I have both and I find I'm more productive with the laptop, although I've never tried Apple's productivity apps (which are free now with new devices).

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  43. That was part of a 2011 Punk idea I had, that by winning the title, whether or not he was a contracted employee, he agreed to the 30 day stipulation.

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  44. http://bit.ly/TqQdw1

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  45. Don't know much about ipad, but as long as safari will let you download files from the browser, you can always use a seedbox to download and store your torrents. I use justseed.it You can paste a torrent magnet link in and their servers do the work and you never get a warning letter from your isp about copyrighted material.

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  46. Bray Wyatt shouldn't really be teaming with anyone not named Luke Harper or Erick Rowan right now.

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  47. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryFebruary 27, 2014 at 3:35 PM

    Try a Chromebook, I love mine, though to be honest I have no idea if you can download torrents on it, I use the big laptop for that shit.

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  48. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryFebruary 27, 2014 at 3:36 PM

    Man, that shit about his dad was one of those things I wish I could un-read. What a piece of shit, hope he burns in hell.

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  49. There's nothing in there that's particularly crazy for a nutcase parent. Not to be 'that guy' but the boiling hotdog story where his dad burns him? My mom did the same thing to me, except she cut out the water and just slammed my hand down on the burner. Some people are nuts and have hair triggers, they don't always process things the normal way.

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  50. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryFebruary 27, 2014 at 3:38 PM

    From what I've heard Watts isn't really racist himself, he just has no problem with other people being racist, if that makes sense. He's a old guy from the South, that's just how they roll.

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  51. How did I not know this existed:


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUWWkLNTrno

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  52. I was confirming that. I agree with you.

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  53. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryFebruary 27, 2014 at 3:57 PM

    Think so. Either there or WM13.

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  54. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryFebruary 27, 2014 at 4:05 PM

    Yeah, I've never heard any stories of Owen that involves getting in the shower with a rookie.

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  55. Ahmed had the same problem Farooq did. He talked like he had marbles in his mouth and you couldn't understand him half the time.

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  56. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryFebruary 27, 2014 at 4:10 PM

    I'm kind of surprised that WWE hasn't given Darren Young a push. He's black AND gay, that's 2 demographics! Though treating his sexual orientation as a non-issue is the way to go.

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  57. Ftw. The natural disasters were a solid gimmick to oppose faces. Two huge fat guys who sit on people. What's not to.love. Maybe Kevin Steen can reenact Tenta.

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  58. JUICE MAKE SUGAR

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  59. Why doesn't WWE run TV or PPVs at MSG often?


    I mean, it's one thing to not want to run it yearly, but they haven't had a PPV in what? 3 years?

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  60. Austin also had daniel cormier on his podcast and seems to love the guy.

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  61. I wonder why no one uses the pearl river plunge as a finisher.

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  62. I'm on board for same old shitting Taker. I'm fine with the once a year spectacle and the streak but put some thought in it, please

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  63. The last one was the Survivor Series with Rock/Cena taking on Awesome Truth, which was, what? 2011?


    The building has been undergoing a lot of construction over the last few years, and it's hindered the ability to run shows, because outside of basketball/hockey season, the place gets shut down for renovations.


    I'd love for them to do more shows at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the building is really nice and tickets are usually a little cheaper.

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  64. Seriously dude, I have an ipad and a host laptop. They both have different functionality. When I bought them I literally went to 3 different electronic stores and jusy bombarded them with questions for 40 minutes. There are so many options out there. People at like best buy are so much better equipped to help you (no offense to anyone here.)

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  65. I understand the concept of someone being "as racist as their time" and do agree to an extent. HOWEVER, in 1996 writing that on somebody's car (or saying it to their face) makes you a racist asshole. The standard for being a racist isn't being a member of the KKK.

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  66. The Love-Matic Grampa!February 27, 2014 at 6:24 PM

    Don't get me wrong, if Austin really did that then he is a racist dickhead. However, it is possible to be ignorant and backwards about racial issues and yet be appalled by and opposed to racial violence and oppression. Not excusing casual racism or those who thoughtlessly toss out epithets (hello Paula Deen!) but I try to temper my reactions according to the degrees of severity of the situation. Name-calling and property damage is terrible, but not that long ago in the South, numerous black people were routinely taken from their homes and beaten, assaulted sexually in the cases of women, and frequently killed for little or no valid reason other than to keep the community for getting too "uppity".

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  67. Does Hayes have that rep other than the Mark Henry thing which I always took to be not malicious in intent?

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  68. Loved that team when I was a kid.

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  69. You mean bugger off and die from cancer?

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  70. Rock's half black, and they hated each other half the time, so now it all makes sense.

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  71. So, because he changed his story about Vince (not his opinion, his STORY, big difference), that somehow makes it more likely that he's telling the truth about a story he's been telling for longer? Your "logic" is exhausting to follow. Also, I never said that lying about one thing means he lies about everything. I said it makes it a lot harder to take anything else he says at face value. I'm not sure how that's even arguable. Someone who tells one big lie is probably not telling just one. That's not opinion, that's fact.

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  72. Does Steve Austin have any black friends?


    There's only two times I know Ahmed's lying, and he might not be. I know from Foley's 1st book that he said he wasn't going to let a bitch hit him in reference to Chyna, and he doesn't really deny saying it, but "I was in character" is a popular excuse for wrestlers. The other is that Foley again confirms that Ahmed refused to job to Kurrgan, but losing to Kurrgan and being hung by the Truth Commission may have been all one angle he turned down...the only thing that makes me question that is that hanging Ahmed Johnson would be a pretty big angle and makes me think they'd have plans for the Truth Commission. Wouldn't they just do it with someone else?

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  73. I think so, Faarooq got DQ'd, Ahmed went ape-shit on random Nation henchmen.

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  74. Yeah, but it's wrestling, their thousands of dollars is like our hundreds of dollars. Until they retire.

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  75. "You told me I had the best goddam punches in the business, you whore!" - Bret Hart

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  76. I don't know where you come from but hundreds of dollars is a lot of money to waste too.

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  77. They're not touching it because it's bullshit.

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  78. I love that video too, but maybe I'm just gifted with Ahmed-ese or something - I actually don't hear "juicemakesugar" and hear the "just make sure...you have plenty of insurance, punk"

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