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The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW–08.12.96

The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 08.12.96

I was flipping through the channels at work and noticed that on the guide WWE Network was playing Great American Bash 91 tonight, and I thought “What a world we live in where you can just randomly find Bash 91 on a Sunday night”. 20 year old me would have had his mind BLOWN. 40 year old me is like “No wonder they're losing so many subscribers.”

Taped from Seattle, WA. God, even if they would have switched to a 2-week cycle at this point it would have made these shows so much more bearable and gave them more leeway to deal with stuff like Ahmed blowing out a kidney and basically ending his push.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler.

For those keeping track of the downward spiral, this was one of the lowest rated episodes of RAW in history and Vince pretty much went nuts over it. I think at 2.0, it might have been THE lowest up until that point, although the Germany show eventually beat it out.

Faarooq Asaad v. Skip

So this is Faarooq’s wrestling debut in the WWF, and he just totally no-sells everything from Skip and beats on him in very laid-back manner. The headpiece just looks completely ridiculous for someone who was supposed to be a serious threat. Faarooq with a powerslam and he cuts off a brief Skip comeback with another powerslam, and then finishes with the Dominator at 4:35, which had no name at that point. Just a total squash of poor Candido. I’d say the writing was on the wall at that point, if his girlfriend being higher on the totem pole wasn’t enough of a clue for him. DUD

Savio Vega v. Crush

Our future Nation of Domination theme continues as Crush debuts his jailbird look, many years before ripping off Sons of Anarchy probably would have made him a star with that look. New look aside, this is the same old Brian Adams. He beats on Savio and tosses him outside the ring for a slam into the stairs. Back in, he goes to a lengthy neck vice and we take a break to cool off this crazy train of action. Back with more restholds from Crush as Clarence Mason has a ridiculously inane conversation with Vince on commentary about legal matters and you can practically see the crowd leaving for the bathroom by the dozens. Savio misses his leg lariat and Crush finishes with a full nelson at 7:50. Who the fuck would give this guy a job after that match? -**

Meanwhile, we get a silhouette of Sunny behind a screen, which was hyped up all show long as “The naked truth” as though they were going to have full nudity on the show or something.

Meanwhile, new guy Kevin Kelly has a sitdown interview with Ahmed Johnson at his home following kidney surgery. Now there’s a job I wouldn’t envy. You could literally edit this however you wanted and Ahmed’s responses would probably all sound the same anyway.

The Godwinns v. TL Hopper & Who

2.0 rating, ladies and gentlemen. Bob Backlund joins us on commentary to really ramp up the trainwreck factor here from “mildly offensive” to “coal car full of dynamite running into a fireworks factory and the earth caving in from the explosion.” Just to recap, we have Backlund running for President while Lawler makes jokes about Jake Roberts and Vince does the “Who” routine. When the guy who carries a plunger to the ring is the dignified one, you’re watching some bullshit. Who and Hopper double-team Phineas while Backlund rants about whatever the fuck he’s going on about this week. The highlight is people stopping AIDS with condominiums and even Vince gives up trying to rein him in. The camera just totally ignores the match and watches Backlund yelling at Vince instead. The upshot of this, by the way, is that Backlund is bringing someone into the WWF, which ended up being Fatu repackaged as The Sultan. And then Gorilla pops in to vacate the IC title as everyone just totally pays no attention to the match going on. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Someone finishes someone else with a Slop Drop at 5:40, if anyone gives a fuck. DUD

Meanwhile, Bret Hart chats with Mr. Perfect on the WRESTLE VESSEL, and his career might be over. Or not. Give him a couple of months to make up his mind. I mean, maybe if Vince offered him a 20 year contract or something…

Shawn Michaels v. Owen Hart

By this point the crowd is noticeably emptying out on the wide shots and the canned heat is ridiculously overdubbed. Shawn dominates with his wacky babyface offense to start and works a headlock, as I check the Observer and find this week’s notable newsbite: “There's nothing at all to the rumors of negotiations with Too Cold Scorpio. Simply a story that had no truth to it, not that it couldn't happen someday.” Didn’t he debut as Flash Funk like two or three weeks after this? It was pretty soon because he was at Survivor Series. Shawn controls with an armbar while Vince stresses that Vader is a MASTODON so many times that I wonder why he didn’t just change the name like he wanted to. Shawn reverses Owen into the turnbuckles, but walks into a belly to belly and Owen takes over as we take a break. Back with Owen working on the back and hitting the leg lariat for two. We take another break and return with Shawn making his comeback with the flying elbow before Vader runs in, at which point Shawn pins Owen with two superkicks anyway at 13:41. The overdubbed cheering for the messed up finish is just ludicrous and sounds so fake. Usual Shawn TV match. **1/2 I have to say, if Shawn was going over at Summerslam on Sunday anyway and getting beat up by Vader after this match, why not just have him do a job to Owen? I mean, I KNOW why, but no wonder fans were turning on Shawn in droves at this point.

The Pulse

Well, next week the IC title tournament starts, and you know how I feel about tournaments. Unfortunately we’re getting close to some dark, DARK times for this promotion. This show was a completely throwaway hour of junk.

Comments

  1. Mickey Yarber just wanted everyone to know he was friends with Buddy Landel.

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  2. Why when you have no star power do you have a guy with an actual name and some credibility as a Hart running around in a mask?

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  3. If Hart had stuck around, today he'd still be under than twenty year contract for one more year.

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  4. > I have to say, if Shawn was going over at Summerslam on Sunday anyway and getting beat up by Vader after this match, why not just have him do a job to Owen? I mean, I KNOW why, but no wonder fans were turning on Shawn in droves at this point.


    Because that's a stupid idea since there's no reason for Owen to be going over HBK at this point in their career? It's not like Owen was going to get another main event run at this point.

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  5. >There's nothing at all to the rumors of negotiations with Too Cold Scorpio. Simply a story that had no truth to it, not that it couldn't happen someday.”


    You win this round, Dougie.

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  6. How shitty a wrestler do you have to be that the only guy at the blog to give you a eulogy is some guy who randomly has posting privleges who no one has ever heard of?

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  7. "Yep Mode" Abeyance Brown ©June 22, 2015 at 9:22 PM

    I may be down, but I'm never out. I will always be ready to fight.

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  8. I don't understand Scott's reasoning on why Shawn should have jobbed to Owen here. Shawn was world champion and Owen didn't have much momentum or credibility around this time where fans would have wanted Owen to go over. I do agree that Owen should have gone over Shawn at various points during their careers, but doing it here would have been stupid.

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  9. Fans were turning on Shawn because he didn't lose to Owen? Because the top face played crazy politics to avoid losing to a midcard heel they never intended to push as a main eventer?

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  10. What the heck was the Wrestle Vessel? I have no recollection of that, and I was watching RAW pretty religiously at this point. (Evidently one of the few! We had no Nitro, as has been discussed.). I think I remember this show, in fact. I was hyped to see Ron Simmons in the WWF, but what a dud that turned out to be.

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  11. My guess was that they wanted to protect Neidhart here so fans wouldn't see the guy as a jobber once he took off the mask.

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  12. Or Neidhart didn't want to be jobbing as himself. I'm guessing he was on a per-show deal and was probably making his money on the indies at the time.

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  13. Technically, I'd date it the 25 due to this was when we all knew it had happened. If we believe Chavo, and some on here say we shouldn't, Beniot was still alive Saturday while Nancy and Daniel probably weren't. He was probably dead by Sunday though. Ironicly one of his old tag partners had died within days and you hoped his absence from the ring was due to that. Sadly, I was convinced of murder/sucide within the first five minutes I learned of his death - which was one minute after Raw came on.

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  14. Yeah that was a weird statement.

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  15. It was one of those cruises fans could go on with the wrestlers.

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  16. Poor fucking Jim Neidhart.


    All the other theme jobbers were career jobbers (Aldo, Battle Kat), career indie guys (Hopper), WCW has beens (Smothers) or never will bes (Pug). Jim Neidhart was in important matches two years ago. That is hilarious that he fell that far in such an undignified way.

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  17. I think since the Hart Foundation broke us his career was basically fucking up, getting fired, Bret getting him another job, fucking up, getting fired, repeat.

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  18. Vince must have had a lot of faith in Bret returning, because I remember him being a bit of a presence during his absence. They talked about him, he had his column in WWF Magazine, they didn't just pretend he didn't exist until he re-signed.

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  19. I'm shocked Vince continued to give the guy jobs after screwing Vince over on money from Bret's book so maybe Vince just wanted to humilate the guy to get his own back in typical Vince fashion.

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  20. You know it's bad when me and Screamer agree

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  21. The only time Shawn should have jobbed to Owen in 96 was at IYH6.

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  22. I don't know if jobbing Shawn to a midcarder a month before Wrestlemania is a good move, but setting Owen up to be in Bulldog's spot after Wrestlemania would have been better.

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  23. No, he shouldn't have.

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  24. It was different situation compared to Hogan after KOTR93 where Hogan became persona non grata. I think Vince trusted him to be somewhat loyal and preofessional.

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  25. [Interstate 70, Biscuit and his duffel are out thumbing a ride]


    Camp Cleveland just doesn't seem to appreciate fine American craftsmanship. Two classic autos cruelly destroyed in their primes. Mar and Matt are their own men and they'll find their own way to the next show. This is how I started making shows, with a thumb and a dream. I earned that old Buick through blood, sweat and tears.


    You didn't destroy a car, Camp Cleveland; you attempted to destroy a livelihood, a career, a life. Judging from your clothing and actions, it seems like you are worried about the exploits of your local sports teams. You can't control these outcomes. You generally shouldn't worry too much about what is outside your locus of control.


    I say usually because you, Camp Cleveland need to worry very much about something you can't control: me. As I previously mentioned, you attempted to destroy my life. You didn't. You should have just killed me.

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  26. I think they even started Austin challenging him before he officially agreed to return too. I wonder if Vince trusting him all along only to have to outbid WCW at the last minute soured Vince on Bret?

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  27. I just pulled up the Hopper/Who vs Godwinns match and Backlund is hilarious. I am in tears at his commentary. *****

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  28. I just pulled up the Hopper/Who vs Godwinns match and Backlund is hilarious. I am in tears at his commentary. *****

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  29. Well I'm not saying he should have won exactly, but if WWF wanted to go that route it wouldn't have been the worst idea in the world as Owen did have quite a bit of momentum around this time and it would have made Shawn into a better underdog heading into WM12.

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  30. I think all the heels were basically challenging Bret around this time. Even Sal Sincere once challenged Bret. It just so happened Austin was the guy Bret chose to face.

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  31. With a mystery partner like Jimmy Snuka, how could anyone forget about Flash Funk's debut match?

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  32. Racism has existed for centuries - years before Darwin and his book. Though people used the book to justify racism, evolutionary theory easily disproves it now. "Race" in only a function of where people happened to live compared to the equator.

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  33. Backlund could have unprotected sex with a bunch of homeless Africans and the AIDs still wouldn't go in.

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  34. And he'd be almost as boring and played out as the big show or kane

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  35. cause he'd be penetrating them with a condominium?

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  36. I only remember him from Starrcade 1985 when he got a well-deserved duke over The Rooster with help from JJ Dillon. Guess he no showed shortly after that, Dusty fired him (why oh why did Dusty have that kind of power) and he never really was main-event level again. RIP Buddy.

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  37. Did people really refer to Brody as "frank?"

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  38. I've been told mixing blood and special brew has some weird side effects.

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  39. Poor Chris Candido. He got stuck with a lame gimmick, his hot girlfriend becomes over and she ends up with Shawn and fucks god knows who else while he ends up jobbing to Barry Horowitz of all people and being stuck in a heatless jobbing babyface tag team.

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  40. The lesson here is never go out with a hot girl. They're nothing but trouble. That's why Eddy probably married Vickie.

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  41. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONJune 22, 2015 at 10:04 PM

    Anybody seen that bag of 100's I use to wipe my ass with? Can't find the damn thing anywhere.

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  42. He reported Doug Furnas' s death as well. Maybe that's his thing.

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  43. That poem was profound!

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  44. Mar Solo, leader of The Brewed.

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  45. Are you confusing him with "nature boy" Buddy Rogers? Cuz I know I did.

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  46. I seem to recall that the Dominator was called the Tiger Bite when Faarooq was a gladiator. Am I remembering wrong?

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  47. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonJune 22, 2015 at 10:09 PM

    **BoD Exclusive - at the Mayweather Gym Floyd Sr. is holding the mitts for for his Valet as Jef Vinson and Floyd Jr. have a conversation.**

    I don't know why Broner is trying to contact me either. I thought I blocked his number. This is why I don't do that "Save the Children" sh*BEEP* anymore.

    Floyd: "Yeah, I see now what you mean about cutting these Stans off when they get out of pocket."

    Yeah, you gotta put them in their place, my dude.

    Floyd: "True. I'm about to play this bet. See you at the Big Boy Mansion."

    *Vinson nods and turns to the camera*

    You know Abby, while I was watching the paramedics pop your shoulder back in its socket and pull the baby carrots out of your ears I had an epiphany.

    You don't hate me because I'm the champ. You hate me because I picked HER over YOU!

    I cut your dumb ass off because you are inadequate. I told you I am allergic to average and you were less than that. So I...or should I say SHE kicked you out and sent you back to obscurity where you belong. And during your exile you sat at home crying and listening to slow jams you HOPED that I would ask you to come back. And when you saw that I picked her...you couldn't deal with that.

    All you had to be was my lackey and do my bidding, but you got greedy and got exposed for what you are. You're a STAN that is trying to be me and take what I have. I should be flattered but you need to see that you seek the impossible.

    It hurts, doesn't it? You can't BE me, you can't stand NEXT to me, and you can't be WITH me. Let that burn slow in your mind.

    But don't worry, Abby I will let you share the ring with me one last time....when you get your own...

    *Pulls out brush and brushes hair*

    BRUSH with greatness.

    *Phone rings*

    Hello? NO Adrien, Floyd ain't here. Stop calling me.

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  48. Stranger In The AlpsJune 22, 2015 at 10:12 PM

    God damn BoD Network! Why don't these geniuses upload the QOTD archives? I wanna see some fucking otters commit polygamous acts!


    This contract gets worse every day.

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  49. Virgil's Gimmick TableJune 22, 2015 at 10:15 PM

    No it's just crazy how old the bleached blond hair made him look. I'm only 22 and it blows my mind that fee started wrestling at an even younger age than I am now. It still blows my mind that Paige is younger than me. Like, she's a wrestler on national TV who would have been the hot leggy goth chick at my school 5 years ago. Fucking surreal.

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  50. #PARALLAXWINSLOL

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  51. Virgil's Gimmick TableJune 22, 2015 at 10:17 PM

    Yeah but Vicki would be fun to fuck from behind. As long as you have headphones and some good tunes on.

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  52. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONJune 22, 2015 at 10:18 PM

    If Vader was debuting 10 years later, he WOULD have insisted on renaming him MASTODON. And if it was today, it would be Vader again with Maggle spouting "MASTODON! MASTODON!" every 6 seconds during his matches.

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  53. Virgil's Gimmick TableJune 22, 2015 at 10:18 PM

    BUT HE WOULDN'T BE EATING A MARIJUANA!

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  54. Virgil's Gimmick TableJune 22, 2015 at 10:19 PM

    Unfortunately he was very Paleofessional instead. And that end... Downright JURASSIC.

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  55. Not uploading the QOTD is a real shoot.

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  56. That actually sounds very familiar.

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  57. Virgil's Gimmick TableJune 22, 2015 at 10:23 PM

    Jesus, I would be so embarrassed about anyone finding out I was on something called the "Wrestle Vessel". Luckily the type of person who participates in that sort of thing has no shame.

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  58. This Cornette story has got me wondering that if WWE still has anybody employed that could talk some sense into Vince when he goes into retard mode.

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  59. Virgil's Gimmick TableJune 22, 2015 at 10:24 PM

    They should have just had Ron Simmons have a gimmick where he's a dreamy teen idol and call his finisher the "Tiger Beat".

    God, if only this world was so perfect.

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  60. I had hot chicks and average chicks in my life and the hotter the chick the bigger the headache. Hot chicks are only good if they don't realize they are hot.

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  61. Progressive booking, BoD RAW has it.

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  62. And then team him up with Brodus Clay as the Jurassic Giants, or the Jurassic Connection. But they would end up be known as the Jurassic Jobbers.

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  63. Faarooq the Roman Gladiator, Jailbird Crush, TL Hopper, Who, and the Godwinns. There was absolutely no reason to watch Raw anymore, and I remember taking a sabbatical from watching it from SummerSlam until the Raw after Buried Alive.

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  64. Not just the bad gimmicks, but the product was pretty bad during this period with everyone going through the motions. I mean you have Shawn and Owen that can have a ***1/2 match in their sleep, yet they're having a **1/2 match here.

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  65. I'd like to see teen idol Ron cut this promo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q_loRhqrU4

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  66. Nothing could be as boring as 16 years of Big Show. Kane didn't start bothering me until a couple of years ago.

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  67. I SEEM TO REMEMBER TUNING OUT BY THIS POINT. WEIRD BECAUSE I WAS A HBK MARK BUT I BLAME THAT ON NICKELODEON'S SUPERIOR MONDAY LINE UP AT THAT TIME. I THINK HEY ARNOLD! AND COUSIN SKEETER HAD JUST STARTED OR SOME SHIT.


    I DIDN'T TUNE BACK TO WWF UNTIL I ACCIDENTALLY CAME ACROSS A SHOW WHERE ALL THE WRESTLERS WERE WEARING NFL JERSEYS FOR SOME REASON. I JUST MAINLY REMEMBER SID AND HOW PISSED HE WAS. ANYONE KNOW WHAT SHOW IM TALKING ABOUT? I REMEMBER THEM SHOWING IT ON A TUESDAY.... I THINK

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  68. It wasn't often we got a quality match on paper like Michaels vs. Owen. When that's unremarkable, it's a bad night. If I recall, we soon have an aged, out of shape Barry Windham being on TV a lot to look forward to, along with the collection of midcard gimmicks without any heat.

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  69. FWIW (which isn't much) I think Scott pretty badly underrated this. It's not their best match together but it's a darn good one.

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  70. WCW also had such a better roster it wasn't even funny. Plus you had a storyline better than anything WWF could imagine.

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  71. Agreed. Your champion should be a *champion*, especially if he's a babyface. That doesn't mean he can never eat a pinfall but when he does, it should mean something.

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  72. "What's Turner doing? I know what we need to turn things around... I just saw it on something called Albert and Costello."

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  73. It also didn't help that Benjamin Button was such a blatant ripoff of Forrest Gump that it even stole specific dialogue from that movie but Brad Pitt at least did a different accent to fit the role unlike in Troy where he was rocking a California surfer accent in a movie that was set in Roman times.

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  74. Thought he was talking about the real World's Strongest Man, Doug Furnas.

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  75. If' you're Bret, would you rather face Stone Cold Steve Austin or Salvatore Sincere?

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  76. Sure WCW had more better workers, but WWF still had a good roster. The booking just needed to hide the weaknesses of the roster (like less Godwinn matches) and accentuate the positives (like more Austin matches).

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  77. I think all the heels bad mouthing and challenging Bret was just a way for Bret to have some ready made programs for when he came back.

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  78. "20 year old me would have had his mind BLOWN."


    I think about stuff like that a dozen times a week. Everything from the Network showing every PPV ever made to WWE's media presence. When I was a kid the best it got was getting my mom to drive across town (no easy task) to a drug store called Phar-Mor to rent old wrestling tapes, my favorites being Starrcade 1989 and any WrestleFest or Survivor Series. I would have never left the house, except for school and eventually girls, if I had WWE Network as a kid.


    Also, I used to shit myself with excitement when WebTV would work (33.6k modem, folks) and I found a good Angelfire or Tripod webpage that had themes. Compare that to now... literally any theme ever made available instantly. Aside from just jamming to them, I'd put on my own events using action figures (the figures of my day vs. the Mattel "Elites" of today is a whole other rant in itself) and whatever household objects for entrance stage decorations. The main thing I used were VHS tapes, and the best I had back then for lighting were Christmas lights and generic flashlights. Today you can get three super-bright LED's at the dollar store for a buck. Combine that with tablets and smart phones for video walls. I would have been in heaven.

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  79. At least they aren't showing Heroes of Wrestling or December To Dismember.

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  80. This has been quite the year for wrestling deaths after the past few years had been thankfully slow in that department.

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  81. I watched Bash 91 not that long ago and it wasn't a good show by any means, but it was watchable. It was a weird, fucked up show that became entertaining because of how fucked up it was.

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  82. I feel sorry for the millennials today. In my day when we wanted to watch some old or obscure shit, we had to work for it and when we got what we wanted we felt we achieved something, now you kids today have the Youtubes and the Myspaces and don't appreciate what you got.

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  83. Jimmy Snuka's reveal as the mystery partner was probably the biggest let-down possible for such a hyped surprise... then we got Savio Vega as Shawn's suitable replacement at NWO '98.

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  84. Wait until December. They might show December To Dismember back to back with Armaggeddon 2006 (or as Jim Ross called the show in one of his many on-air flubs from that era, "Armagreddon")

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  85. If I watch anything of lower than EX VQ, I have to explain it. Back in my day, we had to watch tapes from 4th or 5th generation sources, and we were happy! All the colors melding together into a pile of washed out vomit.

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  86. Didn't all WWF December PPVs suck?

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  87. I know the Snuka thing often gets mentioned as lousy surprises, but I didn't think it was that bad. It was just a midcard match afterall and it's not like the surprise partner was the big selling point of the show. Plus when Snuka came out, he got a good pop from the crowd.

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  88. Would anyone admit to owning the rights to Heroes of Wrestling? I wouldn't.

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  89. I was 11 and wanted someone like Hogan or Savage (or on that level of relevant). Snuka was always my least favorite wrestler. When my parents bought me his Hasbro figure, I jobbed him out before I even knew the term "jobbed him out".

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  90. Whenever anyone complains about anything WWE related, I am now going to point them to the fact we never had teen idol Ron Simmons, because it makes every other disappointment seem minimal in retrospect. And I mean that sincerely.

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  91. Armaggeddon 2000 was pretty good. In Your House 5 was okay as far as one match cards go. And I remember Armaggeddon 2008 being a solid show too.

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  92. I don't know, I think you needed to drop your expectations on who the surprise partner was in a match featuring Savio Vega, a 900lbs Yokozuna and the Fakes. And you may have hated Snuka, which is fine, but WWF have always treated the guy as one of the top legends in the business.

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  93. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 10:53 PM

    It's not as bad as people make it out to be. Boring as all hell, yes, but not the crime against humanity that it's talked about as. Any 2000 WCW show and a lot of 1995 WWF shows are far worse.

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  94. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 10:53 PM

    TLC12 was really good.

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  95. The Scaffold match killed the show out of the gate, but the Rock and Roll express exploding was the most boring shit ever.

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  96. Was Starrcade 97 the only PPV that did good PPV numbers during Christmas?

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  97. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 10:55 PM

    The Raw Bowl?

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  98. I was still a few years away from smartening up to how things worked (wrestlers under contract for example), and didn't factor in the placement of the card as the measuring stick. I was hoping for something fun, and I got a rock in my trick-or-treat basket. At least these days with the Royal Rumble, 4 out of 5 times, surprise participants aren't let-downs (excluding 2011).

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  99. The Sunny "naked truth" segment was meant to be Vince's "witty" jab at a Tea Leoni show that was around at the time called "The Naked Truth" that was mainly notable for Tim Curry's typically great performance as the owner of the tabloid paper that Tea Leoni's character worked for.

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  100. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 10:56 PM

    98 did big numbers too.

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  101. Whatever that one was with the 4-way ladder match where Joey Mercury's face exploded. Show was worth it for that match alone, But then, I'm a Regal mark.

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  102. I do agree with No Way Out Of Texas though. It was a main event match and Shawn was one of the biggest draws in the company, so WWF really had to go all out and sign the biggest name that wasn't under contract to WCW at the time.

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  103. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 10:59 PM

    Of yeah, that Morton-Gibson was fucking brutal. Went on for God damned ever too, think it was over 20 minutes. The 6 man tag was pretty good though, and the main wasn't too bad if you just ignore the whole Flair deal.

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  104. Armaggeddon 2006!

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  105. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 11:00 PM

    Wasn't that on Smackdown?

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  106. Yeah. The Sting vs Koloff chain match could have been better, but it was watchable too.

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  107. Some politico once said that Pennsylvania is basically Pittsburgh on one end, Philadelphia on the other end, and Alabama in the middle.


    Having lived in this state all my life, I can safely say that statement is a horrible insult.....to Alabama.

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  108. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 11:02 PM

    Mero-Pillman was decent too. "Johnny B. Badd? More like Johnny B. Gay!"

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  109. 20 minutes of boring knee work. Almost makes me want to rewatch the Capture the Flag Scafold Match. Why hasn't TNA brought that one out of obscurity?

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  110. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 11:04 PM

    Wasn't Elevation X a variation of it?

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  111. Yeah, why would two guys that supposedly hate and want to seriously hurt each other spend 95% of the match laying around in rest holds?

    EVERY blood feud that does that has failed miserably and for the life of me, I don't get the logic behind it: "I hate you so much I'm going to put you in a collar-and-elbow tie-up!"

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  112. (searches google)
    I stand corrected. (shakes head)

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  113. I was a loyal Shawn/WWF guy but even I thought these were boring. I loved wrestling and was finally getting Raw I'm Canada and it was a chore to watch. It really just felt like late night Superstars, nothing important ever seemed to happen.

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  114. The Yellow Dog! Mero and Pillman tore the house down 4 years later at Fall Brawl.

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  115. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 11:07 PM

    I've never seen it, just heard of it.

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  116. Russo booked it, that's all you need to know.

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  117. One of the best matches from WWE or WCW that year. I loved reading in the WON archives that the match only went long as a backward-ass attempt to expose both men as not being worthy of their contracts.

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  118. You want a hot chick who used to be fat, or blossomed late. One that doesn't know she's hot.

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  119. It was also especially hard watching WWF around this time because the shows that would air in England often had technical glitches that didn't get fixed until 97 so it seemed like WWF didn't care during this period whether it came to the booking or the backstage technical stuff.

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  120. It's basically an Ultimate X match without a title belt.

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  121. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 11:10 PM

    The 4 week taping schedules and terrible roster made it really hard to sit through, especially with Nitro being red hot.

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  122. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 11:10 PM

    Why do think I've never watched it?

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  123. Smart man. Don West's commentary was literally the only good thing about TNA during that period so you missed nothing.

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  124. Loved Phar Mor cheap rentals for movies and video games. And I did a wrestling figure federation also. Used cds amd tapes and had both Toy Biz WCW and Jakks WWF wrestlers. Good times

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  125. WWF Hasbro vs. TMNT Playmates. The Invasion done right! :P

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  126. I thought it was a botch?

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  127. Oh my God Prime Time Wrestling 11/10/86.... The Hart Foundation to the British Bulldogs, "You gotta take orders from a bitch!"

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  128. Eh, this stuff isn't an exact science. Sometimes stream of consciousness observations yield gold, sometimes not so much.

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  129. I used to live near a Rose's department store that had 99 cent rentals for movies, wrestling tapes and video games and the store was next door to a movie theater that only charged $2 per ticket because the movies had been released for a few weeks by the time that theater got ahold of them.

    And both were bought out and shut down in the span of two months in 1999, that was quite the sad period.

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  130. Also, Rotundo vs Brunzell and Iron Sheik vs Jacques Rougeau are pretty good, and Valentine vs Davey Boy is very good.

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  131. "I didn't know Landel as a wrestler, but I did know him as a table. Sturdy, all four legs the same length."

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  132. I know you love Owen and all, but be objective Mr Keith or your integrity as a wrestling recapper might be brought into question.

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  133. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 11:24 PM

    I used to have one of those $2 movie theaters around the corner from my dad's house, they got shut down by the FBI because the owner was putting cameras in the women's toilets.

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  134. Scott couldn't handle my brand of gritty gonzo journalism.

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  135. Adam "Colorado" CurryJune 22, 2015 at 11:26 PM

    That's nothing, I watched BATB96 live on Scramblevision.

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  136. Boy does reading this thread make me appreciate having the America One network on satellite when I was younger even more.

    I was shocked to discover that network just recently shut down (mainly because I didn't know they had lasted as long as they did, I figured it shut down at least a decade ago) and the last wrestling show to ever be televised on America One was (I kid you not) Wrestlelicious Takedown.

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  137. Jeezus, the owner was taking his Chuck Berry fandom just a little too far.

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  138. I watched all the WWF PPVs on Scramblevision. I even recorded it so I could watch it again.

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  139. Scramblevision was my only option when it came to shows my parents didn't want to waste money on in the early 90's... and yet the bought every fucking PPV in 1995?!

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  140. Extaint1979 is a lot of things, a solid B+ player aint one of em....

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  141. Always remember him as one of the good "never was". Always had a job, always an opportunity, but saddled with a low rent Flair knockoff gimmick and demons. Can't say if he ever could a been bigger but seemed to have the potential. RIP Buddy.

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  142. "I'm gonna cut to the point. I'm gonna make this short and sweet. The Elimination Chamber was a chance to get my career back on track. My injuries are healed, I've taken the time off I need, and I come back taking Petuka to the limit. You all saw it. Kbjone, you thought you were being clever getting in the brain of your old tag team partner, but you made a mistake when you dragged me into it. So let me make this perfectly clear. If I'm not allowed in the Chamber, I'll make sure you're not either. You got on my bad side. And when you get there... there are no survivors."

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  143. Can't argue with that.


    Primarily because I have no idea what it means, but still. You can't.

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  144. :: Curbstomps you ::

    That's my apprentice motherfucker!

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  145. Man, it's funny enough that you get stuck on certain movies and, even though you probably own them on disc and have seen them a hundred times, you HAVE to watch them, even if they are censored all to hell. But what really gets is me that two of the three you mentioned are ones I can't turn away from, either... especially Shawshank. I own two copies of it, have it downloaded to my PC and I *still* program the DVR whenever it pops up on AMC. Other ones are the Blade trilogy, Pulp Fiction and Se7en.

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  146. I liked Slumdog, but Dark Knight was the movie from that year that best stands the test of time, in my opinion.

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  147. Did you know that you can make cash by locking special sections of your blog / site?
    Simply join AdscendMedia and use their Content Locking plugin.

    ReplyDelete

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