90s Lightning Round

A few quickies for you, re: early-90s WWF...

1. Why did Papa Shango, who was heavily featured in a number of 'top spots' in the early-90s WWF, work so few actual matches on PPV?  He seemed to be involved in potential programs with Warrior, Hogan, and the like--even running in during the Wrestlemania VIII main event. We never got a Hogan-Shango, Undertaker-Shango, Warrior-Shango match on PPV, but he worked throwaway dark matches on numerous cards.  Any idea why?

2. Was there a long-term plan for Sid Eudy in '91-'92 WWF?  It seemed Vince went to great lengths to sign him away from WCW and the WMVIII main event vs. Hogan was as high as he could go in terms of spotlight, but was that as far as 'plans' could extend because of Sid's flaky nature?  Was there more in store for Sid if he had not bailed by the summer of '92?

3. After the Rockers' split, was Marty Jannetty out with an injury or rehab stint?  It seemed the Michaels-Jannetty clash would have made good sense for WMVIII or SummerSlam '92, but they did not meet until early '93.  What was the hold-up?

4. What was the story with Nailz, circa '92?  Is there truth to the talk that he threatened Vince?  Nailz seemed like a guy who could have gone somewhere around that time.  Were there any plans for him?

1. Papa Shango did all kinds of house show main events against Warrior at that point.  I had to sit through one of them.  It was terrible.  PPV wasn’t really the be-all and end-all of the business at that point anyway, and Shango wasn’t going to be a top guy and everyone knew it. 

2.  Yup, they absolutely had a long-term plan for him, and as noted he flaked out and left instead.  I reviewed a Sid shoot interview a long time ago where he actually talked about the stuff they pitched to him.  Keep in mind, however, that the steroid scandals hit right around that time, and Sid was going to be toast no matter what.  There was no way he was going to be on top in 1992 with everything that was going down. 

3.  He got into some legal trouble after they shot the Barbershop angle and WWF didn’t want to touch him until long after he was done his sentence. 

4.  He was actually programmed with Warrior following Survivor Series, but of course Warrior was gone and they had nothing for Nailz as a result.  No big loss, at any rate, and clearly there was no truth to his accusations against Vince.