The SmarK Rant for The Main Event #3 – 02.23.90
My original rant was ridiculously bad, so here’s a redo.
Live(ish) from Detroit, MI
Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura
By this time the bloom was definitely coming off the rose as far as the WWF’s relationship with NBC went, and swapping out Mike Tyson for Buster Douglas certainly didn’t help the ratings any. Show still did good, but this was the last one that was a big deal in prime time.
WWF World title: Hulk Hogan v. Randy Savage
James Buster Douglas is the special ref, coming off his 15 minutes of fame as the first guy to knock out Tyson and thus replacing him as the ref. Savage gets the necksnap to start and puts him on the floor with a high knee, but Douglas prevents any followup from Savage. Back in the ring, Randy accidentally puts Sherri down with a high knee and Hulk clotheslines him and slugs away in the corner. Corner elbow and Hulk slugs away, then puts him down with a clothesline before slugging away on the mat. Savage comes back with a back elbow and drops the knee for two. Sherri gets her cheapshots in, resulting in Douglas sending her back to the dressing room. And we take a break. Back with Savage holding a sleeper, but Hulk elbows out and overpowers him. Double clothesline, but Savage is fine and gets two. To the floor for the double axehandle, and back in for another one for two. Jesse notes that Earl Hebner counts like "he's throwing a baseball 200 yards." He's got a point. Savage throws the rights and puts Hogan on the floor, but Douglas gets in the way again. Savage slams Hulk and drops the elbow, but it's Hulk Up Time. Big boot puts Savage on the floor and the ref is bumped as Hogan hits the legdrop, so Douglas counts instead at 9:55, despite Savage kicking out at two. BUSTER DOUGLAS SCREWED RANDY SAVAGE. This was on the shitty end of their never-ending series, although not WCW-bad. ** But really, Savage was booked so bad leading up to this that there was no way anyone would buy him as a legitimate threat to the title, let alone one worthy of a prime time title shot.
Meanwhile, Dino Bravo and Earthquake posit that they have more brains than Ultimate Warrior, and better insurance coverage, and therefore Bravo will walk out with the title tonight. I’m not sure I agree 100% with your detective work there, Lou.
Meanwhile, WARRIOR NEEDS NOT INSURANCE! He’s got brainwaves speaking to him on an unknown frequency. Or something. Spectacular.
Intercontinental title: Ultimate Warrior v. Dino Bravo
Warrior, who has managed to change facepaint between the promo and the match, storms in with a powerslam and chases Bravo out of the ring, but gets clubbed to the floor. Warrior retreats under the ring and pulls Jimmy Hart under there with him, possibly to rape him, but probably not. Queering don’t make the world work. But I should note that Jimmy emerges without his pants. Just saying. If the internet has taught me anything, it’s that you can say whatever horrible things you want about a person living and dead, as long as you finish your rant with “Just saying.” Back in, Bravo with the bearhug and SIDESLAM OF DOOM, but that only gets two and Warrior makes the comeback and finishes destroying the geek of the week with his usual at 4:11. DUD Earthquake comes in for the heel beatdown, and I have to say it’s surprising that they never did the Warrior-Earthquake program in any serious fashion after Warrior won the title. Anyway, Hogan makes the save, which offends the other-dimensional voices in Warrior’s head because there’s like six people up there and he probably felt he had enough backup with just them.
And then we’ve got like 10 minutes left, so let’s go back to Royal Rumble for the Hogan-Warrior showdown, and their following run-ins on SNME, to really sell the shit out of Wrestlemania VI. See, this is what you call THE HARD SELL, which is why they used to do monster buyrates and make money off PPV and stuff.
The Pulse
As a show, this was a total throwaway, with a mediocre Hogan-Savage match and the definition of a forgettable guest in the form James Douglas. Definitely skip it.
ULTIMATE WARRIOR-CLES CARES NOT FOR BEANS
ReplyDeleteWhy would Hogan allow Earl to ref this match? Last time that happened on SNME in prime time, he lost the title.
ReplyDeleteWas there any reason for ditching Tyson beyond Douglas having beaten him? Was this when he went to jail? I'm fuzzy on my history. If not thats pretty shitty to just drop him after his first big loss. Tyson got his in the end though so it all works out.
ReplyDeleteI also have to commend you for not giving in to the false piety bullshit with Warrior. Yeah yeah, don't speak ill of the dead. The guy was still a gigantic tool.
If they really wanted to do a good buyrate, they should have had Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Bravo, Jimmy Hart, Vince, Jesse, Buster Douglas and Mene Gene all mention what a great deal WrestleMania VI would be at a price of $29.95!
ReplyDeleteSo you got Hogan, Savage, Sherri, Bravo, Earthquake, and Warrior.
ReplyDeleteQuite depressing that the only one still alive is Hogan.
Tyson went into his shell and completely withdrew from the public spotlight after the loss and didn't want to do the referee gig at that point, and the show just happened to fall on the two minutes where Douglas was the All American underdog success story (i.e. before he was officially "outed" as the complete fluke champion everyone knew he was).
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's really particularly surprising that they didn't go with Warrior-Quake during Warrior's reign since Quake was basically being put over strongly to get him ready for Hogan, and matches with Warrior would have done neither guy any favours booking-wise.
ReplyDeleteAfter SummerSlam I guess you could do it, but Quake was being kept strong (i.e. only lost on a count-out) so he could keep working with Hogan (Survivor Series and final two in the Rumble being the sort-of blowoffs for the program). By the time Hogan was done with Quake, Warrior wasn't the champion any more and had a new program with Savage.
The alternative is Warrior-Earthquake at SummerSlam and Hogan going for revenge against Rick Rude, and without the hindsight of it all, in Spring '90 I'd have probably argued Rude as a better opponent for Warrior (better match, past history) and Quake for Hogan (monster heel capable of causing the excuse for Hulk to go film Suburban Commando).
Tyson went to a jail a few years after this (he had a couple razor ruddock fights along with 2 others) between douglas loss and jail).
ReplyDeleteThis was only days after Tyson loss and WWF wanted a winner.
Wasn't that Dave?
ReplyDeleteThere was a match on Youtube of Warrior vs Earthquake from Wrestlefest 91, I think. Unfortunately, it appears to have been taken down due to copyright issues. I've seen it before, and it wasn't that good, but Warrior bodyslammed him in the course of the match. I can't even remember the result except that Warrior didn't lose.
ReplyDelete"See, this is what you call THE HARD SELL, which is why they used to do monster buyrates and make money off PPV and stuff."
ReplyDeleteYou mean they didn't waste time with shitty contract signing segments masquerading as main events, while yelling out "PAY-PER-VIEW! ONLY $29.99!" every 30 seconds? What sorcery is this?
Is it wrong that I am SO FUCKING HAPPY that Dino Bravo FINALLY did a very public job, and in a short time, no less? The never-ending "Dino Bravo always wins" series on the PPV DVD sets is possibly the most annoying thing about them. Even more than the "WW(bleep)" effect and changed music.
ReplyDeleteGiven all the roids and coke he probably did, it IS a bit surprising.
ReplyDeleteI disagree to an extent. That feud made Rude and he and Warrior had a built-in program from the year before, so it made sense for Warrior to elevate Rude right alongside him.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I've seen someone suggest that they could have had Earthquake put Hogan out of commission like he did and have that lead to Warrior defending Hogan's honor or whatever.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. Having that many PPV matches with the same two guys was pretty rare for back in the 80's/early 90's. Plus, Warrior had just beaten Rude on an episode of SNME a month before SummerSlam. Rude/Warrior just wasn't going to draw great on top.
ReplyDeleteUh, Hulk only did steroids in the early 1980's when recovering from an injury, brother.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure Tyson was the one who pulled out of the deal.
ReplyDeleteI think the deal with Douglas was that he tried his ass off for the one night where it was absolutely necessary, and outgunned a half-assing Tyson who wasn't giving it his all. He was a career scrub who realized what would happen if he jumped on his one big chance.
ReplyDeleteTHEN Douglas started half-assing it, gained 15 lbs., and got murdered by Evander Holyfield.
That was me, I think. I know I mentioned that on one of Scott's other Rants.
ReplyDeletePlus Rude was the one guy who was able to say he beat warrior.
ReplyDeleteYears later he would job to some bullets.
ReplyDeleteToo soon?
I think the only real benefit to Rude being in that spot was that he was proven to be able to get a decent match out of the Champ. That makes it a BIT worth it, but I still couldn't believe it when I was younger. To young me, it was like The Miz getting a Title Sho--- oh wait.
ReplyDeleteThat murderer is just lucky Bravo couldn't get his Side Slam thing.
ReplyDeleteHonestly if it was me, and I knew it was a fluke, I may have considered retiring after the match
ReplyDeleteNope Earl was the one who screwed him.
ReplyDeleteYou just compared Rick Rude to The Miz. I believe the man just rolled over in his grave.
ReplyDeleteBeside Slaughter... I'm drawing a blank on there being anyone else in the WWF.
ReplyDeletePlus his mom died like 3 weeks before the Tyson fight.
ReplyDeleteWWF: we go to maniacs yelling about their matches
ReplyDeleteWWE: we go to three saps with forced grins recapping recent events.
It's... not really the same, is it? One of the biggest things I miss.
Rude is, of course, a much greater talent, but I'm talking cred-wise here. To me, as a young man, Rude didn't have much.
ReplyDeleteOh no- he smartly chose a big-name opponent in Holyfield for his first defense, knowing he could charge an ASTRONIMICAL fee for it, made millions, and basically got the shit beaten out of him. It was a smart move.
ReplyDeleteAndre pinned him clean in Italy in 89 but can't think of anyone else
ReplyDeleteAgreed. He took that once-in-a-million chance against Tyson, smartened up that he probably would never reached those heights again, and shopped for the best deal he could make.
ReplyDeleteSlaughter though was after Rude. So at the time Rude was the only one to have beaten him on TV
ReplyDeleteStill don't understand why you hate on Warrior's promos so much. I think this was the "LOOGAT ME HOKE KOGAN" promo and Gene looked legit pissed. It sold the fact that this wasn't Hogan's usual opponent and that Hulk better bring it at the ppv. Or Warrior could have bored talking about he was going to end Hulkamania just like Hogan's previous 3954354 feuds.
ReplyDeletePerfectly great and simple idea. Warrior has Quake beat at Summerslam and the rest of the Hart stable runs in for the group beatdown, and then Hogan returns to a huge pop to help Warrior clean out the ring. Easy as pie.
ReplyDeleteAt the time, sure, but it's interesting to think how few times he ever jobbed throughout his career.
ReplyDeleteThis show did a better rating than the year before when Savage turned on Hogan.
ReplyDeleteThis. Real Promos are not about what you say, but HOW you say it. Ric Flair can say that he will go to Space Mountain and it's still better than when today someone tries to explain why he bores us so much.
ReplyDeleteMan Dino Bravo was horrible. Bad look, couldn't talk, and he always had a shitty match. Yet he was always on all the PPVs and big shows. I'll ask you guys what I always ask my friends when they say he was OK: name me a WWF Dino bravo match that was good.
ReplyDeleteBad look? He was jacked!
ReplyDeleteFor the gazillionth time, especially in the 80's/early 90's, star ratingz was not the most important thing in wrestling. It probably wasn't even in the top 5 most important things.
ReplyDelete712 lbs bench press!
ReplyDelete"But really, Savage was booked so bad leading up to this that there was
ReplyDeleteno way anyone would buy him as a legitimate threat to the title, let
alone one worthy of a prime time title shot."
Same for his title feud against Warrior the next year. I felt like Paul Roma would have had a better chance of taking the title.
Up to that point, the story of his career had been great talent, low motivation. He poured everything he had into training for Tyson, got himself into insane shape, and then took it to a guy who took him lightly.
ReplyDeleteOnce he got everything he wanted--money, fame--his motivation went out the window again. He stepped in the ring with Holyfield, who wanted to beat him as much as he wanted to beat Tyson, and the rest is history.
I love Rude and think he could have made a good world champion, but I don't know, his 1990 push just seemed....forced. I don't know what WWF could have done to fix it, but Rude would have made a better April's IYH title challenger rather than a Summerslam title challenger.
ReplyDeleteAll 3 of them are awesome in this clip.
ReplyDeleteCreepy vision into the future with Warrior refusing insurance. It's just a good idea to #getcovered, Jim!
ReplyDeleteI'm in for the renewal, but I still don't understand the lack of customer service. I signed up using an alternate email (because my main email wouldn't process) that I rarely check. When I do, there's almost never a WWE Network email in there.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I never get Netflix emails asking how I like the product either. So, maybe this is the new digital age paradigm.
All they would offer is a $25 gift certificate to WWE Shop. I don't want a $25 gift certificate to WWE Shop.
ReplyDeleteDId Vince have bigger plans for Tyson? I feel like he did, a la what he later did in 1998.
ReplyDeleteYeah that SNME match was the bigger issue there, I think.
ReplyDeleteor have two guys wrestle for free twice, trading losses, then putting it on PPV ...then showing a free rematch The Next Night On Raw?
ReplyDeleteThat was weird to have the match, yep. I guess their angle was, "this is a straight match, but Rude now has a cage match, so maybe he can win that one?"
ReplyDeleteor trading wins? Talk about "Glass half empty"!!
ReplyDeleteDo you think the average fan/viewer even cares or realizes that the production crew no longer gets to stay at the hotel or whatever the heck that particular budget cut was?
ReplyDeleteNo wonder he had to leave AWA. That bad influence Greg Gagne was gonna get him on the gas.
ReplyDeleteTyson took Douglas so lightly that his corner team forget to even bring one of those En-Swell metal presses that you use to keep swelling on your face down. Also, he was apparently dropped in sparring rounds a few days before.
ReplyDeleteThere is actually a great HBO Legendary Nights doc on this fight where they point out Douglas was actually a pretty talented fighter who uniquely matched up well with Tyson given how long his arms were. Now, he should have been KO'd in 5 but he got himself right for one night and Tyson never took him seriously.
Im sticking with it no matter what...
ReplyDeletetoo much of a steal to not renew.
Fuck Dino Bravo.
ReplyDeleteYeah but he wasn't good at the other things either. He couldn't talk. He was big but it looked like "fat guy muscular" instead of a normal late-80s strongman or monstrous like a Mark Henry type. And his finisher fucking sucked.
ReplyDeleteDid he steal your dad's cigarettes or something?
ReplyDeleteIf so, he got what was coming to him.
ReplyDeleteYup. We discussed this last month: http://www.rspwfaq.net/2014/07/mike-tyson-changing-history-of-pro.html
ReplyDeleteIn short, McMahon and Don King were working on a Hogan vs. Tyson PPV. Buster Douglas beating Tyson ruined those plans, although nothing was set in stone.
8/7/95 episode of RAW has been uploaded. Razor Ramon & Savio Vega vs. Yokozuna & Owen Hart for the tag team championship; Gorilla Monsoon changes the Summerslam IC title match from HBK vs. Sid to HBK vs. Razor in a ladder match; Makin' a Difference Fatu in action; Kama in action; Diesel vs. Sir Mo; Monsoon announces HBK vs. Lawler in an IC title match the following week.
ReplyDeleteReplacing Tyson with Douglas here was absolutely necessary, considering how heavily I remembered them pushing that Tyson was going to be there, but it's still a disappointing step down from what could have been.
ReplyDeleteTyson getting knocked out by Tyson in February 1990 was an apt metaphor for what would happen to the WWF over the next 18 months until Flair's arrival and the rise of Bret Hart made everything interesting again... for about a year, at least.
ReplyDeleteEh, doubt it.
ReplyDeleteShow of hands, who here is re-upping? Thought so.
I see what you did there. Brock vs Cena was in 2012 though. :)
ReplyDeleteYou'd have to be either one cheap ass bastard or one super broke ass motherfucker to not have the network if you frequent this blog.
ReplyDeleteI think it would have been better if Savage had gotten a Rematch against Hogan at Summer Slam 89 with regaining the title. Then Savage vs Warrior at Wrestlemania VI OR another Rematch with Hogan. More likely Savage vs Warrior with Warrior winning. Then you have a strong Warrior, still a strong Hogan (he was like Cena today ;-) AND a strong Randy Savage.
ReplyDeleteExactly. If you're spending any amount of time on a wrestling blog discussing current WWE wrestling and you don't wanna spend $10 a month to see the PPVs and get the archives (even as shittily as it's being rolled out, there's still more on there now than you could watch in a year), then you're poor as shit.
ReplyDeleteI just don't get the low subscription numbers. They have a 4 million people in the US alone watching Raw weekly and you mean to tell me only not even a 1/4 of them bothered to subscribe?
ReplyDeleteThat they met at the SNME prior to SummerSlam didn't help matters. If they HAD to meet there, why not have Rude get a short title-reign or at least steal the title or something. Instead he got run over.
ReplyDeleteYes. That was WEIRD.
ReplyDeleteForget it, this was far away from the attitude Era. a 1 year reign was considered "short" at the time.
ReplyDeleteExcept for Andre and Sheiky Baby.
ReplyDeleteI'm still confused about the new pricing plan: Is it still $9.99 a month going forward for those who originally signed up, or are they subjecting all to the one time $60 fee every 6 months (unless you want the one time $19.99 month pay option)?
ReplyDeleteNot sure either, but they absolutely should have been making it a one-time $60 payment from the start. There's precedent for it from lots of subscription-based services where there's a multi-month commitment, and for them it eliminates the whole problem of people's credit cards expiring before the payment plan is done. That always should have been their payment method.
ReplyDeleteIs this post in lieu of a network update column? Or are you just trying to make a difference like Fatu back in '95?
ReplyDeleteAnd he was Canadian featured on a Canadian stadium show. 'Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteBoth. I didn't want to waste the blog space on an update of one episode of RAW being added....and no other updates. Also, stay in school and don't do drugs. And wear lots of FUBU.
ReplyDeleteAre you Buff Bagwell in disguise? >:\
ReplyDeleteEarl has a habit of screwing around in big-time title matches.
ReplyDeleteHe sells himself for money like Bagwell as well.
ReplyDeleteGenius you are.
ReplyDeleteAgree with this. It even allows you to do a Hogan+Warrior superteam at Survivor Series to take on Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Rick Rude, someone. Then the WariorManiacs explode and you have your WrestleMania 7 main event.
ReplyDeleteShitty black market cigarette salesman to.
ReplyDeleteGotta wonder how many of them are kids whose parents won't let them subscribe or a similar situation.
ReplyDeleteI know if I were 10, I think it'd be difficult to convince my parents to pay $9.99 per month out of their pocket for pro wrestling, especially if it meant getting devices not already in the household. Chances are the latter wouldn't be an issue because a lot of kids are already online with Playstations or Xbox's, but still.
Do you think Vince and Linda lie in bed on a night watching the Network on Shane's 360?
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with gettin' paid. That's your theme of the day.
ReplyDeleteAh, Buster Douglas, the Stan Stasiak of boxing...
ReplyDeleteAnd Slaughter had to crack Warrior's skull open with the Macho King's scepter. Rude pinned Warrior with Bobby Heenan grabbing his ankles. Advantage: The Ravishing One.
ReplyDeleteGreg Gagne would have botched the needle stick and wound up shooting into his right nut.
ReplyDeleteEh, the only reason I even know this blog exists is because I've been reading free recaps of shows for almost twenty years.
ReplyDeleteI just don't have enough time in my life to dedicate three solid hours to anything...except work of course, which I think for a lot of people is the time they most use the blog as a means of innocent distraction.
Halfway through the Dice show and decided to subscribe, funny as hell, I hope he stays focused this could be a really big deal.
ReplyDeleteUpvote for a pretty perfect analogy.
ReplyDeleteSo he has a son who secretly tapes locker room conversations? (ok, i ruined the joke.)
ReplyDeleteUmm...Honky Tonk Man has a 14-month IC reign where they made a big deal out of him being the "longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all-time." The tag belts seemed to change hands every 6 months or fewer. Iron Sheik and Andre both hot-shotted the heavyweight belt, and Slaughter would basically do the same the next year.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, you're right on the money.
Not a subscriber here but WWE don't have streaming issues now either do they? Also, I'm guessing UFC don't have anywhere close to WWE's number of subs that probably makes it easier.
ReplyDeleteThey do still pay a cut to MLB and to Roku/Apple/etc.
ReplyDeleteThank you..:-)
ReplyDeleteIt'll tell on the product eventually. If it doesn't make a jot of difference to the viewer why didn't they do this a long time ago and it would have saved them millions already?
ReplyDeleteHad* needed*
ReplyDeleteThere's no chance of it failing now that break even is 500k.
ReplyDeleteAlready have done. Hence the constant free week trials. The free week's usually ask for credit card details, it was only the last free week promo they did that didn't require CC details.
ReplyDeleteIf 130k have managed to cancel during a period you shouldn't even be able to cancel in then I'm guessing A LOT of people have already unticked the auto renew button.
Scott, any chance we could have a poll on the site and see how many current subs are gonna cancel?
I remember this really was a big deal, little 10 year old me stayed up SUPER late to watch it. Especially since this was like 8 months after I started watching wrestling religiously, so catching a Hogan/Savage match after I *just* missed out on WrestleMania V was a big deal indeed. Plus I was Team WOYAH, all the way.
ReplyDeleteI have the network, but I'm unsubscribing because I've already seen all on it I wanted to see. The current product sucks, so the PPVs hold no appeal to me, and watching RAW from 1994 or old PPVs doesn't exactly set my world on fire -- I'd rather spend the money on PWG, Chikara, or ROH.
ReplyDeleteI'm a software engineer, so the money isn't causing any issues, but why spend money on something you don't use? I haven't watched the network for more than 15 minutes in about 2 months.
Yeah that was soooooooo funny. I still haven't heard yesterday or today's shows but I'm just going to let it build up a bit so I can listen to them anytime. I think it could be a big hit and 21k subs on day 1 is way better than I thought he'd do
ReplyDeleteJust keep it in case theres a ppv on you want to see
ReplyDeleteWow. That's just... dumb.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Plus I'm sure the credit card fees are a ton cheaper for one $60 fees than 6 $10 fees.
ReplyDeleteNot 50% though.
ReplyDeleteBecause they didn't have to. They wre making tons of money and really still are. They were one of the few stocks that was paying a dividend and then had millions of cash on hand. They probably could have just absorbed these loses, but you have to perform for Wall Street so that stock price goes up.
ReplyDeleteI saw that this morning and thought, "That's IT?"
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I'm waited with baited breath for the Bulldog heel turn that's coming up.
That's a huge rumor though. I don't think they were going to get Tyson in the ring. I mean, when Tyson was A LOT more desperate in 1998 he was just a ringside enforcer.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Dino's best match was with Bret Hart, and afterwards Dino thank Bret with a tear in his eye.
ReplyDeleteHe looked like he'd deflate if you pricked him with a pin, he couldn't move and his tights were Quebec's flag. Pretty fucking generic for the time.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Rude beats Warrior for the belt at the SNME before Summerslam, then drops it back to Warrior?
ReplyDeleteI don't know, Rude should have been put over someone bigger than Jimmy Snuka at WrestleMania VI to make him a more legitimate threat, but I don't know who that would have been.
Then THE HARD SELL should work for the network, too!
ReplyDeleteDiesel versus MO? Network SOLD.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree with that, I think Tyson just took him so lightly as to not really train for the fight and Douglas was basically that fighter who would peak once (as opposed to a Tyson who could sustain his peak), and it just happened to be *his* night.
ReplyDeleteI kinda feel like the magazine covers, press coverage and endorsement deals probably went to his head a little too (and who could blame him?)
You lost me at Linda in bed...
ReplyDelete#nineninetynine
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
Uh, wasn't this on in Prime Time at like 8pm EST?
ReplyDeleteEh you can't unbook that WM6 main event.
ReplyDeleteApple's cut is 50% according to Meltzer. That's why they aren't pushing people towards that method.
ReplyDeleteIt could have been a great Summer Slam Main Event too. :-) You can only have a strong Savage or Warrior winning from Hogan. Both is hard to accomplish if you have only 4 PPVs or so. ;-)
ReplyDelete