While we're on the subject of the Rockers...
Hey Scott,
Long time reader, yada yada yada
Random question - I've been watching some DVDs, and it seems that the Rockers were super-over back in the day. Why did Vince never give them a major push or a run with the tag team titles. Their match quality was incredible and the fans loved them, so what gives? (I've heard about the title change that was supposed to happen but cancelled, and that just reinforces the question, why was their push scrapped?)
Because Vince thought they were too small, plus both of them were flaky party boys who were often far more concerned with getting high than with showing up for work. I don't think I would have pushed them as a serious top team given all the baggage they came with, either.
In a different era, they definitely would've gotten the titles. But with Demolition ruling the division for so long, it never made sense.
ReplyDeleteI miss Demolition. We need another bad-ass tag team that's loves to destroy.
ReplyDeleteIt really hit me how far tag team wrestling had fallen the night the Rockers had that reunion match on RAW against La Resistance. I realized that one of the greatest tag teams of all time never got an official reign with the titles, while La Resistance already had several reigns at that point due to the lack of tag team competition.
ReplyDeleteCan't the WWE take a couple of muscleheads from FCW, slap some facepaint on them and let them destroy people?
ReplyDeleteRedoing the Demolition/LOD/Powers of Pain gimmick probably falls under the logic of, "it's so old that it's cool again."
Ryberg should just take on the tag division by himself.
ReplyDeleteAh, but they did win the tag titles. ; )
ReplyDeleteThat match is on the HBK DVD, really weird to watch a match with no commentary or audio fixing. You can hear a lot of the spots being called, and hearing Bret and Neidhart flipping out when the rope breaks is pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteKinda strange that the Rockers were too small and too flaky due to drugs/partying for the tag titles but neither of those stopped Shawn from being pushed to the moon on his own.
ReplyDeleteMarty Jannetty is one of the biggest cases of wasted potential in wresting I can think of.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame the British Bulldogs burnt out when they did, can you imagine a Rockers/Bulldogs feud? (the blowoff could have been a "loser leaves their drugs" match)
ReplyDeleteOh absolutely. Take Ryberg and a non-muderous Mason, call them POWERS OF THUNDERKILL or something, name them MACE and DEATH BLOW individually, then let them start mowing people down.
ReplyDeleteI posted a whole fantasy book angle on a Smackdown thread with that premise not long ago. I think it'd be a fun story, although it was a little redolent of Cactus Jack/Mikey Whipwreck from ECW.
ReplyDeletehey he recovered with a nice cushy JOB in wcw.
ReplyDeleteWas he even there all that long though? I remember him having a couple of Nitro matches, but I don't recall seeing him much otherwise. He was never on a WCW PPV that I can recall.
ReplyDeleteYou could them the Legion of Demolition and Pain, or the LDP for short, (you know now that I say it out loud I'm not even sure I'm kidding)
ReplyDelete"Here comes the Ax, here comes the Smasher"
ReplyDeleteI marked out so hard when they came out together to the Rockers music. I thought for sure Shawn would still do his separate entrance.
ReplyDeleteThat was a few years later, though.
ReplyDeletePlus, I have to assume that by that time, Shawn was at least making a concerted effort to show up and work every day (even if he was drugged out, at least he was showing up), while Marty seemed more comfortable just being a mid-carder that could work less hours and put in less effort. Again, just assuming, I have no idea, but that's the vibe I get/got.
There was a reason he started doing steroids.
ReplyDeleteHoly shit, that is actually an awesome name for a team.
ReplyDeleteTalk about something so obvious that you don't even think of it. That's a brilliant idea.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, I did have a similar idea back in 2003 or so, that being a team of Batista and O'Haire. Granted, they wouldn't have had face-paint, but I thought they could have done well as two big psychos that psyched themselves up by headbutting walls or something.
Love it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think the *too small* part is probably what held them back. Shawn started putting on a lot more muscle mass during his singles push. I doubt Shawn was any more or less of a party animal in 1994 than he was in 1989/1990 -- because we all know he was a mess in 1998.
ReplyDeleteI just wish they would have taken the time to make them better costumes.
ReplyDeleteBulldogs vs. Demolition, Bulldogs vs. Brainbusters, Bulldogs vs. LOD. Oh, what could have been (drool, sob).
ReplyDeleteNot to mention if Dynamite had stayed healthy and had a singles feud with Bret in the early 90s. And Perfect. And HBK.
I'll always remember Marty's stay in WCW for him being the guy Jericho beat before he delivered the "Man of 1,004 Holds" speech.
ReplyDeleteWow, was he? I don't even remember that. I'm going to have to pull up my old tape for that, I haven't seen that in years.
ReplyDeleteHowever many matches he was in wouldn't have mattered in the age of WCW's guaranteed contracts. He probably was paid a good bit for not being used at all... and he probably blew it all on drugs anyway.
ReplyDeleteEverybody was in WCW for years, they just never wrestled and mainly hung around Orlando doing Worldwide tapings and autograph sessions on the side. Not a bad way to make a living if you don't care anymore.
ReplyDeleteI'd just go with Legion of Demoltion... I get what you're going for there by the reality of the PoP is they were such obvious copies and were never really any good. Demos started out as obvious LOD clones but became great anyway.
ReplyDeletePerhaps! Was everyone getting guaranteed contracts though? I mean, I know a lot of the big-time guys had them and some seemed to get them as favors to Hogan, but was it really across the board? It's one of those details I often see painted in very broad strokes, but I don't think any of that data has ever been made publicly available (which is a shame, because I'd love to see how much guys were making in 1998-1999 WCW)
ReplyDeleteSame here. I thought it was awesome when the old Rockers music hit and they came down together.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I could find online, he was in WCW from January 1998 till March 1999 contractually. It looks like he got hurt in during a match in early September 1998 and sat out injured until Bischoff released him in March.
ReplyDeleteBulldogs vs Brainbusters(!). I never thought about that pairing before, I can only imagine how mind blowingly good those matches would have been.
ReplyDeletesounds like something out of am image comic book circa 93.
ReplyDeleteif youre talkin tag wrestling and not put MX in there, meh.
ReplyDeleteMX owns all. until 98.
Yeah easy to forget. Marty was such a bland and forgettable jobber in WCW unfortunately. He may as well have been called "The Man Who Used to be Marty Jannetty"
ReplyDeleteI have a theory. Everyone says Dolph Ziggler is the new Perfect or the new Flair. I disagree: he's the one-man Midnight Express. He has the selling, low key but well executed moveset, and featureless blonde face of Eaton with the cocky, laid back demeanor of Lane.
ReplyDeleteTag team wrestling was truly great in the late 80's & early nineties, in both feds.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the Midnights, Steiners, Skyscrapers, Doom, Rock n Rolls, Southern Boys, Freebirds, even superteams like Dusty & Magnum, Flair & Anderson, Luger & Sting etc etc etc
Imagine one huge WWE-like promotion with all these tag teams and the ones you mentioned. Ho.Ly.Shit
If that was the stip, expect 5 years of draws and No Contests
ReplyDeleteLOL. I like that. It's too bad WCW didn't give him Seven's floating entrance as a rib on the 1994 Royal Rumble.
ReplyDeleteI was a huge mark for the MVC when I was a kid for some reason. I remember being pumped up to see them go against my favorite team at the time, the Steiner Brothers.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about WWF teams in those days, but yeah, there were tons of great NWA teams as well. If we could have had Bulldogs vs. MX, good lord, the universe might have not been able to handle that level of awesome.
ReplyDeleteHave them come in and destroy people right off the bat -- Have the announcers and other wrestlers make fun of them for being out of touch and looking for cheap heat and subsequently get beat to shit as well -- But then Vince would have to build a tag division to keep the interest up...
ReplyDeleteYeah, but they'd never get over because they'd ship late ALL the time...
ReplyDeleteI totally missed that as a kid as I was a WWF mark but yeah, I would think anyone who appreciated tag team wrestling in that era would have loved MVS & The Steiners
ReplyDeleteYeah me too mostly. I pretty much discovered WCW just as things were getting awesome again in the post-Flair era. I have an old tape of Clash 15 that I taped back then, which I can never recall having seen, but I distinctly remember much of the buildup to GAB 1991. I can remember actually being pretty excited to watch Great American Bash 1991 on scramblevision haha. It ended up not working out, which is probably for the better as I would have probably missed all the great stuff that came in later 1991 and 1992.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the MVC -- it was sort of an odd choice for me, as a youngster because I typically liked the flashier teams and they were such a no nonsense, no frills kinda team. Something about them really appealed to me though, and they did a great job within that framework.
How about an LSD match then? It's exactly the same as a TLC match except instead of title belts hanging above the ring you have...well you know.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why I know that off hand. I've seen it so many times. One of my favorite promo's. That along with Jericho's hilarious intros at Slamboree 98.
ReplyDeleteMake sure they never go over 5 minutes and just WRECK SHIT!
ReplyDeleteIf he had Eaton's mullet, he'd be a superstar.
ReplyDeletePretty sure all those guys were in the awesome tag team Survivor Series match back in 87 or 88.
ReplyDeleteHow did they get the name Miracle Violence Connection? In WCW they were just referred to as Dr. Death and Terry Gordy
ReplyDeleteYeah, the 88 match had those guys, save for LOD. Unfortunately, by then, Dynamite was a shell of his former self, physically and psychologically. Great as that match was (as was the 87 Survivor tag match), I can't help but think what might have been.
ReplyDeleteGood question -- I always assumed it was their team name in Japan prior to their WCW stint and I don't think WCW had a working relationship with AJPW by 1992, so I don't think they had permission to use the name.
ReplyDeleteMiracle Violence Connection was their name in AJPW. But WCW probably wouldn't have used the MVC name even if they could have. Even translated into English it sounds very "Japanese", which wasn't quite the image they were going for with them.
ReplyDeleteSadly, the MVC-Steiners feud was horribly mishandled. I think they only had a couple matches, without any proper blow-off.
ReplyDeleteWow! Yeah that's a great comparison. I had never thought about that before but that's dead on.
ReplyDeleteDidn't they represent Japan in the convoluted NWA Tag Title tournament? I think it would've made sense for that reason.
ReplyDeleteDude definitely "bulked up" in the early '90s. Not sure if it was adding muscle mass or the partying catching up with him, though, because he just looked bloated. Around his second I-C Title run he started leaning out again until he hit his mid '90s look.
ReplyDeleteFuck. I've been saying this for years. It's such an easy way to get two immobile goons over. You'd have to do some modernizing so it wouldn't look too campy but you have guys like Ryback just sitting there waiting for this. Thing is, they'd need a manager. Can't let them talk, just grunt a lot and yell words like KILL or DESTROY.
ReplyDeleteShawn said his Weight-Gain-1993 was due to traveling with Diesel and attempting to keep up with his eating. I always wondered why Shawn got wicked fat in 1993.
ReplyDeleteAnd the cameras wouldn't be able to show their feet
ReplyDeleteDidn't Scott Steiner suffer a bad injury that sort of derailed the whole plan for the thing?
ReplyDeleteYeah he definitely gained some weight around the abdomen too. He definitely put on some muscle mass in his upper chest and arms though around the same time.
ReplyDeleteThis led to the RSPW in joke of calling the oft seen team of Tito Santana and Virgil the "Miracle Jobber Connection"
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I think that that team was responsible for the even more popular term "Jobber to the stars"
Thank you for mentioning this. All of the people posting are talking about his muscle mass and steroids. First of all, late Rockers Shawn was in better shape than 1993 Shawn, and had more muscle mass.
ReplyDeleteSecond of all, 1993 Shawn had more mass, but it wasn't muscle. Yeah, his arms and shoulders looked bigger...because they had extra layers of fat on them! Shawn was just plain tubby and I don't think steroids had anything to do with it.
"
ReplyDeleteYou could them the Legion of Demolition and Pain, or the LDP for short"
I like this one better: the Powers of Demolition and Doom!