Today's Question: Completely random, and I'm pretty sure one that hasn't been done already.....Of all of the wrestling TV shows in the history of the business, Which company/territory's opening TV show theme/credits got you most excited to watch their TV show?
Yesterday's Question: Who would you put on your Mt. Rushmore of all time wrestling managers?
damaverickridesagain:
Okay now, are we talking different styles for managers? If so good because thats how i would built my mount rushmore
for the WWF -no one did it better with tag teams than Captain Lou Albano or Heenan for his work in two promotions (AWA and WWF).
for one stable and the WCW/NWA: its got to be JJ Dillion- the horsemen would be the prototype for every super stable since, although I will concede and admit that Paul heyman could give JJ a run for his money
For women managers and one of the best jobs of promotion of one client, lets give a spot to Elizabeth. Some nansayers are going to say Savage managed himself but I think Liz was brilliant in her WWF run eliciting sympathy while driving male fans to want to defend her against her lunatic of a boyfriend/husband. Runner up has to go to Jim Cornette for taking the midnight express team (all of versions except WWF) to the top and making them more than a team named after a 80s movie
Last how about a manager that was a former wrestler, for this I would say Freddie Blassie, the dude legitimately scared me as a kid with his promos.
A lot of thought into it....Capt. Lou, Liz, Cornette and Blassie...I think this may be the only person who didnt mention Bobby Heenan
parallax1978: Heenan, Heyman, Bearer, Blassie
4 of the best.....thats for sure
BooBoo1782:
Heenan: The best, without question, although if there were a question, it would be how much his commentary work influences our perception of Heenan as a manager. To me, the classic memory of Heenan is him tossing out some completely ridiculous comment and an annoyed Gorilla saying, "WILL YOU STOP?" That having been said, he was never afraid to show ass when the story dictated it - from the Warrior right on down to the Red Rooster - and he was a great mouthpiece for guys who weren't great talkers on their own (Andre being the most obvious example. The other thing about Heenan was that even when he was paired up with a good promo guy - Perfect and Flair come to mind here - he was able to contribute without getting in the way.
Cornette: I'm a bigger fan of Cornette when he's shooting, but the fact remains that his fiery Southern preacher style, loud outfits, and goofy mannerisms made him a blast to watch.
Heyman: The Dangerous Alliance is one of my favorite things that WCW ever did. His promos during the Invasion were one of the only good thing about the whole shebang. And of course, his current WWE run has been wonderful to watch.
Jimmy Hart: The megaphone, the rapid-fire speech, those airbrushed jackets...you wanted to see him get clobbered, and that's the defining characteristic of a successful heel manager.
Devin Harris:
Dillon - He was an actual manager. He didn't order the Horsemen around, he just took care of their business affairs. That's what an actual manager is supposed to do. He did it the best making sure they got the best deals and the best spots on the card.
Heenan- He was more like a pimp than a manager cause he bossed all his clients around. He never managed a world champion so points are deducted. Some of you will want to count Andre but I don't. I want to say he was terrible at his job but he at least got his guys title shots.
Cornette - Points deducted for being bankrolled by his mama but he took all three versions of the Express to the tag titles. Points deducted for never managing a singles champion. Yoko doesn't count. That was Fuji.
Race - Managed two world champions that had pretty long (for the time) title reigns. He did what a manager is supposed to do. He retired on top, unlike his in-ring career. Guy learns fast.
I think someone mentioned it on the blog, but Heenan managing Nick Bockwinkel as AWA Champion for 5 years has to count
Extant1979:
Most evil Mount Rushmore ever - Paul Heyman, Bobby Heenan, Mr. Fuji and JJ Dillon. The image must, however, have Virgil standing behind them all as the bodyguard to the stars.
kbjone:
Old School: Grand Wizard (or Eddie Creatchman)
WWF: Heenan (or Jimmy Hart)
NWA/WCW: Cornette (or J.J. Dillon)
Other: Gary Hart (or Paul Heyman)
The Fuj:
MR. FUCKING FUJI!
Seriously
Right now.
Bobby Davis, Paul Heyman, Bobby Heenan, Jim Cornette
Darren X:
Jim Cornette - The greatest manager of all-time. He took a surefire gimmick (momma's boy/wimp/rich kid who could fight his way out of a wet paper bag) and ran with it
Bobby Heenan - The most talented overall of the managers, in that he could work damn good as well, and sell like nobody's business
Gary Hart - The ultimate shady, cut-throat mafioso type manager
Paul E. Dangerously - So would this make me a Paul Heyman guy? Seriously, his work the last 2 1/2 years with CM Punk and Brock Lesnar has pretty much cemented his legacy. Tough to leave off Paul Ellering, Bill Alfonso, Jimmy Hart, and a few others, but there's my four.
The blog is on hiatus for a couple of days (I have to be in a wedding) but I will be back with a new topic on Monday
Yesterday's Question: Who would you put on your Mt. Rushmore of all time wrestling managers?
damaverickridesagain:
Okay now, are we talking different styles for managers? If so good because thats how i would built my mount rushmore
for the WWF -no one did it better with tag teams than Captain Lou Albano or Heenan for his work in two promotions (AWA and WWF).
for one stable and the WCW/NWA: its got to be JJ Dillion- the horsemen would be the prototype for every super stable since, although I will concede and admit that Paul heyman could give JJ a run for his money
For women managers and one of the best jobs of promotion of one client, lets give a spot to Elizabeth. Some nansayers are going to say Savage managed himself but I think Liz was brilliant in her WWF run eliciting sympathy while driving male fans to want to defend her against her lunatic of a boyfriend/husband. Runner up has to go to Jim Cornette for taking the midnight express team (all of versions except WWF) to the top and making them more than a team named after a 80s movie
Last how about a manager that was a former wrestler, for this I would say Freddie Blassie, the dude legitimately scared me as a kid with his promos.
A lot of thought into it....Capt. Lou, Liz, Cornette and Blassie...I think this may be the only person who didnt mention Bobby Heenan
parallax1978: Heenan, Heyman, Bearer, Blassie
4 of the best.....thats for sure
BooBoo1782:
Heenan: The best, without question, although if there were a question, it would be how much his commentary work influences our perception of Heenan as a manager. To me, the classic memory of Heenan is him tossing out some completely ridiculous comment and an annoyed Gorilla saying, "WILL YOU STOP?" That having been said, he was never afraid to show ass when the story dictated it - from the Warrior right on down to the Red Rooster - and he was a great mouthpiece for guys who weren't great talkers on their own (Andre being the most obvious example. The other thing about Heenan was that even when he was paired up with a good promo guy - Perfect and Flair come to mind here - he was able to contribute without getting in the way.
Cornette: I'm a bigger fan of Cornette when he's shooting, but the fact remains that his fiery Southern preacher style, loud outfits, and goofy mannerisms made him a blast to watch.
Heyman: The Dangerous Alliance is one of my favorite things that WCW ever did. His promos during the Invasion were one of the only good thing about the whole shebang. And of course, his current WWE run has been wonderful to watch.
Jimmy Hart: The megaphone, the rapid-fire speech, those airbrushed jackets...you wanted to see him get clobbered, and that's the defining characteristic of a successful heel manager.
Devin Harris:
Dillon - He was an actual manager. He didn't order the Horsemen around, he just took care of their business affairs. That's what an actual manager is supposed to do. He did it the best making sure they got the best deals and the best spots on the card.
Heenan- He was more like a pimp than a manager cause he bossed all his clients around. He never managed a world champion so points are deducted. Some of you will want to count Andre but I don't. I want to say he was terrible at his job but he at least got his guys title shots.
Cornette - Points deducted for being bankrolled by his mama but he took all three versions of the Express to the tag titles. Points deducted for never managing a singles champion. Yoko doesn't count. That was Fuji.
Race - Managed two world champions that had pretty long (for the time) title reigns. He did what a manager is supposed to do. He retired on top, unlike his in-ring career. Guy learns fast.
I think someone mentioned it on the blog, but Heenan managing Nick Bockwinkel as AWA Champion for 5 years has to count
Extant1979:
Most evil Mount Rushmore ever - Paul Heyman, Bobby Heenan, Mr. Fuji and JJ Dillon. The image must, however, have Virgil standing behind them all as the bodyguard to the stars.
kbjone:
Old School: Grand Wizard (or Eddie Creatchman)
WWF: Heenan (or Jimmy Hart)
NWA/WCW: Cornette (or J.J. Dillon)
Other: Gary Hart (or Paul Heyman)
The Fuj:
MR. FUCKING FUJI!
Seriously
Right now.
Bobby Davis, Paul Heyman, Bobby Heenan, Jim Cornette
Darren X:
Jim Cornette - The greatest manager of all-time. He took a surefire gimmick (momma's boy/wimp/rich kid who could fight his way out of a wet paper bag) and ran with it
Bobby Heenan - The most talented overall of the managers, in that he could work damn good as well, and sell like nobody's business
Gary Hart - The ultimate shady, cut-throat mafioso type manager
Paul E. Dangerously - So would this make me a Paul Heyman guy? Seriously, his work the last 2 1/2 years with CM Punk and Brock Lesnar has pretty much cemented his legacy. Tough to leave off Paul Ellering, Bill Alfonso, Jimmy Hart, and a few others, but there's my four.
The blog is on hiatus for a couple of days (I have to be in a wedding) but I will be back with a new topic on Monday
Extreeeeeme.
ReplyDeleteCham-pi-on-ship.
WRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRESTLIIIIING!!!!
As much as a Nitro mark I claim to be... their music sucked ass.
ReplyDeleteIt was really the siren-era RAW is WAR theme that got me the most hyped.
That or the Beautiful People theme
http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x31h1c_nitroe_world-class-championship-wrestling/1#video=x1yu253
ReplyDeleteThunder Kiss 65 is the correct answer.
ReplyDeleteThe ECW TV music has to be a hands-down winner here. Always loved hearing that at 2AM on MSG.
ReplyDeleteRaw 1997 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISMTPxCLmfg
ReplyDeleteThe classic themes for PPVs still stick with me Rumble, WM, and SummerSlam. They should really bring those back for a year.
ReplyDeleteAgree with many here that the Nine Inch Nails/White Zombie ECW theme was amazing.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it's second only to the original Animotion opening for Saturday Night's Main Event.
I think, for both of them, it has a lot to do with them being on very late at night and having a kind of "forbidden" quality to them as a kid.
Beautiful People was good whenit was initially used for Raw but by time they used it for Smackdown it was just meh
ReplyDeleteNXT's current is my favorite right now:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfHh9QLr_jE
That is heartbreaking seeing that again
ReplyDeleteWatching the old SNMEs reminded me of how much I loved the theme music for the show. Just an awesome instrumental piece to get things going.
ReplyDeleteSecond runner-up? The smooth jazz of the old Wrestling Challenge syndicated show. When the dot com was showing old episodes of that, I always watched, despite the series of really short squashes.
A close third was the cybernetic arm on WCW Saturday Night.
Recently discovered the World Class theme on the Network. Sounds very Olympian, and proceeds to let us know that some sportsmanship is going down. Except when that cheating bastard Jimmy Garvin is on.
ReplyDeleteOG Monday night raw intro
ReplyDeleteI loved the World Class music. Made it seem like a legit sports show almost.
ReplyDeleteAlso, can't go wrong with some of the old JCP disco sounding intros.
Raw during 1998 got me pumped. And the music they played after the intro where the showed the fans and the fireworks going off was even better.
ReplyDeleteNickelback made not want to watch.
Yep, beat me to this one.
ReplyDeleteAlways loved the Prime Time Wrestling theme from the Gorilla/Bobby era. Perfect theme that fit the feel of the show.
ReplyDeleteI was also a big fan of the Nitro theme they used during the Monday Night Wars. I honestly couldn't tell you the theme they used after that. I just watched that last Nitro and still can't remember.
ReplyDeleteI always made sure to catch the intro to NWA/WCW Main Event on Sunday Nights.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO9oi0gMoCs
Loved the close ups of the belts flying by.
The old NBA on NBC theme!!! it was fucking AWESOME!! and I hope NBC gets the NBA rights in 2 years when the contract is up. Fuck ESPN.
ReplyDeleteI'll throw out a couple of WCW B-shows from the late 80's/early 90s:
ReplyDeleteNWA/WCW Power Hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XlH7QNruec
WCW Main Event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO9oi0gMoCs (Bonus for the Clash-style intro with the belts.)
And as long as we're on the Clash of the Champions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgFLVHZsrVE (Clash 1 with the belts and lightning is simply awesome.)
ECW theme/credits FTW (see what I did there?). Seriously, though, that was really well put together, with some great highlights (including the chair-throwing match). Really captured what the promotion was all about.
ReplyDeleteNot the opening theme of a TV show, but I rented the old WWF coliseum home videos so often, that they were almost like a TV show to me. Nothing got me pumped like the opening video: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8irhz_coliseum-video-intro_news
ReplyDeleteWho's getting married? QotD is getting married to page break?
ReplyDeleteBut as far as an actual TV show goes: There was nothing like Saturday Night Main Event to this 12 year old kid to make him NEED to stay up till 1:00am: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnTlgxhuexc
ReplyDeleteThe streak of page break days ended at... ONE.
ReplyDeleteThe World Class theme tops the list. The old SNME themes are second and third.
ReplyDeleteDuring the Attitude Era Raw had that generic metal music with all the guys fighting in the flaming ring. When you heard that music you knew shit was on.
ReplyDeleteThe White Zombie song was great.
ReplyDeleteThanksss!
ReplyDeleteForgot about this one! Add this to #3 on my list behind NWA World Wide and SNME.
ReplyDeleteOnce they debuted the new god awful WCW logo, didn't they quit with music intros all together for Nitro?
ReplyDeleteThe All-American Wrestling theme, the Prime Time Wrestling theme, the NWA: WCW theme, the WCW Saturday Night theme, the original Nitro theme and the Raw theme during the Attitude Era.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the sax-heavy theme that was introduced in 1987 for World Championship Wrestling?
ReplyDeleteThe NBA on NBC theme OWNS. I also liked NBC's MLB theme in 1999/2000.
ReplyDeleteI love the 1990-1994 SummerSlam theme.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful People for RAW is War in 97, the original Smackdown theme.
ReplyDeleteThorn in Your Eye
ReplyDelete2002-03 SD, with Beautiful People for the former and whatever in-house theme they did for the latter (the one with the B&W intro seen in HCTP)
ReplyDeleteYou don't need an excuse to rave about the NBA on NBC theme. Hell, that's the reason I own the NBA Jam sequel NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC.
ReplyDeleteReally torn. From a nostalgia standpoint, I loved both the World Class and Mid-South intros. But, and it's total cheese, the NWA Saturday Night 80's theme was pretty awesome. Everything from the wrestler's hair, the Ric Flair interviews, and the video tape vibe was totally accentuated with the synth music, the star field background, and the video clips flying in and out of the picture.
ReplyDeletei like that show that started with a page break
ReplyDelete/trollface
SNME Obsession
ReplyDeleteSmackdown Beautiful People
WCCW
World Class. I loved the drums.
ReplyDeleteThe 97/98 version of Thorn In Your Eye is basically the ideal wrestling theme. Every time I hear it I want to break stuff and powerbomb somebody through a table.
ReplyDeleteHE IS TRYING TO SEE WHAT LOOKS BETTER!!!
ReplyDeleteEcw hardcore tv demonic theme. It was so low budget but the awesome music and awesome spots in the video made it really cool
ReplyDeleteThere wasn't much to it, but music playing almost quietly in the background over promos before Saturday Night's Main Event always added a great tension to the storytelling. It just got you a little more hyped and made those opening promos more intense.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, could you please put all the answers and such behind a "Read More" cut or something. Every other long article on the site has it and this should, too.
But I thought you were going to stop this with all your superpowers and bitching?!
ReplyDeleteDon't tell me you've decided to give up on the people, WE NEED YOU.
No, I disagree. I loved the original Nitro theme. Still do.
ReplyDeleteYou bastard, don't you understand what you're doing to us? I HAD TO SCROLL DOWN YOU SELFISH PRICK.
ReplyDeleteThis is Extreme, inferior, Thunderkiss '65, superior.
ReplyDeleteThe only theme that particularly stands out to me is the 97(ish) era one where the guys were all fighting in the flaming ring.
ReplyDeleteSuperstars of Wrestling filmreel version (1987-1989)
ReplyDeleteNWA/WCW Main Event (think 1988-1994/5?)
GWF Supercard (1992-1993...the show sucked but the music was awesome)
ECW Closer/Thunderkiss '65 (It's no coincidence that the music change accompanied the moment I felt ECW jumped the shark, i.e. the start of the PPV era)
DRSMOOV FTW!
ReplyDeleteThis is now reaching Otters levels.
ReplyDeleteThe original Nitro theme was fucking awesome man!
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/_EuiLN2sR8A
That and the tag team of Thorn in your Eye/Altogether Now are the best.
Smackdown during the Beautiful People era, I've aways loved that song and it worked so perfectly for that time period where Brock and Eddie and Angle and the rest of the six were ripping the house into shreds every night.
ReplyDeleteThis is becoming the worst installment of QOTD. Everyone can make a justifiable claim why those beforehand was inferior, though at least they used a page-break that made it easier to skip over.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's who you'll be from now on, Kup...Shitpiece!
ReplyDeletedude, use a fucking page break
ReplyDelete