The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 06.20.14
Sadly, the Network is skipping the COUNTDOWN TO THE CROWNING. So this would place us at the night after King of the Ring.
Live from White Plains, NY, in an arena that at least looks slightly less embarrassing than the last set of tapings.
Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Randy Savage. I miss Vinnie Mac already because this gonna be a fucking trainwreck.
Diesel v. Mark Thomas
So Vince is off getting grilled over steroid distribution and they put Steroid McSteroid out there as a jobber? Dude’s built like Scott Steiner and you can practically see his testicles receding into his scrotum. The jobber gets a couple of shots in and then Diesel tosses him and Shawn beats on him outside. Sideslam, Snake Eyes and we go to a neck vice as this live show is really kicking off with a bang! Big Kev finishes with the Poochiebomb at 4:00. Shawn actually LEAVES HIM HANGING on a high five and Diesel is forced to do the “smoothing his hair” move to compensate before they repeat the spot and get it right. Poor guy.
King of the Ring report with Todd! He lays out the Jim Neidhart heel turn (and why didn’t we just get the Hart Foundation v. Shawn & Diesel?)
The 1-2-3 Kid v. Nikolai Volkoff
Winner of this gets a title shot at Bret Hart to possibly make this the most random #1 contender match ever. Funny bit with Volkoff being announced as hailing from the “servant’s quarters” of Dibiase’s summer residence. Volkoff overpowers the Kid and puts him down with a sort of spinkick. Gorilla: “I bet Dibiase literally bought and paid for this shot at the title.” Savage: “No kidding, how did you figure THAT out?” Gorilla was not good at this point. No wonder they got JR back. Kid fights back with kicks and has his comeback cut off by a butterfly suplex that gets two. Kid with a rollup for two and finally he’s had enough of selling and fires back with a series of kicks for two. How could they be talking about the New Generation while Volkoff was out there lumbering around stuck in 1982? Volkoff with a backbreaker for two, but he picks the Kid up for some reason. Kid appears to blow out his knee on a missed leapfrog, and Volkoff takes too long to put him away and gets pinned at 6:08. *1/2 The Kid was FAKING, you see. Seriously, it was 1994, Sean Waltman should NOT have been fighting from underneath Nikolai Volkoff. The Dibiase crew does a beatdown, but Virgil saves in an interesting bit of storyline that never went anywhere, much like everything else with this deal. They could have had Virgil trying to liberate Volkoff or maybe turning on him and going back to bodyguarding Dibiase again or something.
Yokozuna v. Nick Barbery
Coming back from commercial, Gorilla sums up the show: “We’re live and you haven’t missed a thing!” How true. Yoko slowly beats on the dude while Gorilla points out that Typhoon is returning to get revenge for Earthquake. And don’t forget Bam Bam v. Mabel next week! Belly to belly and legdrop finish at 2:23.
Typhoon v. The Black Phantom
Were we REALLY supposed to buy Typhoon as a serious threat only a few months after Shockmaster? When you’re so terrible that even WCW doesn’t want you, you suck. Typhoon tosses the mysterious masked jobber around with suplexes before finishing with the big splash at 2:33.
The King’s Court with Duke Droese, as Lawler makes reference to Ace Ventura because Droese is smelly. And we never even get an interview, as Lawler continually insults him until he walks off, causing Lawler to attack him with his OWN GARBAGE CAN. The layers of dramatic irony are…oh, wait, it’s a commercial break, never mind, I don’t care anymore.
The Heavenly Bodies v. Russ Greenberg & Jim Powers
And we get ANOTHER pair of super-roided jobbers! Also, I have the same Looney Toons tie as Jim Cornette. So yeah, the Bodies have wings on their robes now, because WCW. Powers holds his own while Cornette is just killing it on commentary, hyping a tag title match against the Headshrinkers that I don’t think ever happened. Powers gets a small package on Dr. Tom and then makes the error of tagging in Greenberg, and he promptly gets killed while Cornette reinforces that the Headshrinkers are STUPID. How stupid are they? Well, he’s got about 15 examples and they’re all funny, but the point is that they’re STUPID. Cornette almost made this god-awful show worth watching all by himself. Del Ray finishes with the moonsault at 4:00.
Gorilla apologizes profusely for the garbage cans that were used as a weapon earlier, and the Powers That Be have issued a statement CONDEMNING Lawler for using them. Objects will only be used for the thing they were designed to do on this show from now on! Well that was bizarre.
Meanwhile, Ted Dibiase wants to manage Lex Luger. Well that was random.
Next week: Bam Bam Bigelow v. Mabel! And the messed-up dating is back! BE THERE!
You have the same Looney Tunes tie Cornette HAD...in 1994. That's either awful or you're really forward thinking because bad '90s fashion is coming back around again.
ReplyDeleteNo Art Donovan? How could they not book him for more than King of the Ring.
ReplyDeleteWhat in the flying fuck is Typhoon, Nikolai Volkoff, and Virgil doing on Monday Night Raw in the Summer of '94.
ReplyDeleteI also have a Calvin & Hobbes tie. Some things NEVER go out of style.
ReplyDeleteFrom The July 4, 1994 WON:
ReplyDelete"This is the basic explanation as to why they had Jerry Lawler tape an apology which aired on 6/27 after shooting the ankle on 6/20 with Duke "Dumpster" Droese where he destroyed him with a garbage can. Apparently Lawler came up with the angle himself, figuring it would help him get back his heat from doing the job the previous night to Roddy Piper, and didn't clear it with the office. Or if he did, cleared it with the wrong people because everyone freaked out because of the new anti-violence and anti-aggressive behavior standards they and USA network had agreed to, which resulted in the immediate on-air apology by Gorilla Monsoon. If the show hadn't have aired live, the entire segment would have been heavily edited or eliminated., but such are the dangers of doing television live "
I admire your vast collection of cartoon ties. You're like a high school guidance counselor.
ReplyDelete"The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 06.20.14
ReplyDeleteYour hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Randy Savage. I miss Vinnie Mac already because this gonna be a fucking trainwreck."
Good. I look forward to this change.
Ah, the ill-fated stint of Nikolai Volkoff in the Million Dollar Corporation. No reason they should've had that guy on the roster in 1994. Dark ages indeed.
ReplyDeleteThere is a part of me that wished we would have gotten Volkoff vs Bret just to see how great Bret's powers were in 1994.
ReplyDeleteWatterson would not approve.
ReplyDeleteBetter days would be ahead for Nikolai Volkoff. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RwaVfkzJJJ8/UpZ-Wkh6AlI/AAAAAAAAAEU/dtl2BxHTPAo/s1600/Fulton+and+Volkoff.jpg
ReplyDeleteBret's a magician, not a genie.
ReplyDeleteit's his own fault for wanting to do other things with his life. Jerk.
ReplyDeleteI honestly didn't even know Typhoon came back in '94.
ReplyDeleteA true thrill for those kids I'm sure.
ReplyDeletea no ring match? WHY?
ReplyDeleteSerious question. Is the guy in the red shirt and tights...special?
ReplyDeleteOh god. It's one of the Fantastics. That's so much worse.
ReplyDeleteDoes this Phantom Downvoter ever sleep? Is Elvy still lurking?
ReplyDeleteTed DiBiase has followed his career all around the country, buying the rings before his matches as revenge.
ReplyDeleteI love that someone countered that by upvoting EVERYTHING.
ReplyDeleteIts what I do.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of this made me laugh more than it should.
ReplyDeleteI loved Gorilla like the grandfather I never had, but man, did he turn into a whole lot of nothing when Bobby Heenan left the company.
ReplyDeleteHe looks like a boxa!
ReplyDeleteI used to chalk it up to Joey Marellas death, but he died way later than I thought he did. Gorilla was ok as on-screen President though.
ReplyDeleteYeah loved Gorilla as a president too and wish they do that again where a babyface GM starts booking dream matches because it's something fans want to see.
ReplyDeleteI guess the booking plans for Earthquake were so important they had to use Typhoon in his place. Should have used Mabel instead.
ReplyDeleteI understand Vince was just being nice in hiring him, but did he really need to put him on tv? Couldn't he just work houseshows instead.
ReplyDeleteWell, if the last 16 YEARS have taught us anything, it's that fans sure do love heel authority figures.
ReplyDeleteOh man, now I want to see Hart Foundation vs 2 Dudes With Attitude. Speaking of tag teams, Virgil and Kid would have made a great sympathetic babyface team at this point. Always found it weird Kid wasn't a full time tag wrestler because at the time that was the only division he had credibility in,
ReplyDeleteI agree that Dibiase wanting to buy Luger came out of left field. Anyone know if there was a story behind this where they really wanted to do a Tatanka heel turn because it seemed like they originally wanted to build up Luger v Crush and IRS v Tatanka for Summerslam before plans changed.
ReplyDeleteIRS-Tatanka would be so awesome today, if they worked in some sort of "natives don't pay taxes on all that casino money" angle.
ReplyDeleteWaltman playing Ricky Morton and having Virgil come in as a house afire, with his boxing gimmick and larger size, would have been great.
ReplyDeleteGino's health was already fairly compromised, by a combo of his weight and his long in-ring career. Play-by-play is actually a really taxing job, so its not surprising that he got a bit tired as time went on.
ReplyDeleteI guess that might also be why the camera zooms out when Lawler starts to go crazy with the trash can.
ReplyDeleteYou kind of needed TV shots to build up house show business.
ReplyDeleteThe whole "Vince being nice" thing is such an interesting trend. The guy is universally considered a ruthless businessman, absolutely screws over some people (Kamala is a good example), but then takes hands he likes and who he perceives as loyal, and finds a way to pay them - even if his product suffers. Tony Atlas has said for years that he didn't find the Saba Simba gimmick insulting at all - he said it saved his life.
Similar to Scott's fantasy booking where Tatanka sells out to the Million Dollar Man and becomes a casino owner, they should have done an angle where Tatanka feuded with the Million Dollar Corporation because Tatanka wants reparations for his people and when he finally gets the money, he goes all Peter Griffin with it and keeps it all to himself setting up his heel turn.
ReplyDeleteJim Cornette would totally book this shit. Is Chris Chavis still around somewhere? We know DiBiase will do anything for a buck :-P
ReplyDeletebut I love that ring announcement (they seemed to put a lot more effort in details like this in the past).
ReplyDeleteI want piledrivers, powerbombs and the rest back.
ReplyDeleteHa Tatanka's heel turn was one of the biggest blunders at the time. Not just with the stupid evil Native American gimmick, but he went from being one of the top babyfaces in the company to a JTTS heel.
ReplyDeleteI think in his early days Vince was more ruthless than nice and only did nice things as a rarity, but it seems old age has mellowed him out where he seems more nice now.
ReplyDeleteYeah PBP guys don't get enough recognition for their hard work. Say what you will about Michael Cole, but he seems to be one of the hardest working employees in the company and in all the time Cole has been with the WWE I don't recall him ever taking a week off.
ReplyDeleteVince, for all his changing wrestling from the territorial era to what it is now, is pretty old-school on the loyalty. I think its why he still keeps Hogan relevant, because of how Hogan saved his ass during the steroid trial
ReplyDeleteYeah, I never got that. Tatanka was crazy over, with Road Warrior Pops everywhere. Big, ripped, cool look. I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways I can understand it, even if Tatanka got a great gimmick to work with, it's doubtful he could of got over as he was a limited worker and his offense worked better as a babyface than a heel. Chavis also seems like the type of guy that didn't want to be portrayed a bad guy on tv either as he always talked about wanting to be a positive role model for Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteBut still Tatanka had been one of the top babyfaces for 2 years at that point, so the first time he was going to turn heel was going to a big deal and they just wasted it.
They should have kept him a face, sort of like Santana. Then you could transition between the mid-card and main event when you needed.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I don't remember the last time Cole took a show off. That's... kind of depressing.
ReplyDeletePlus as a babyface Tatanka was always protected, as he only had a few televised losses at that point, so beating him would always give you credibility.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe it's the show after King of the Ring.
ReplyDeletePiper never bothered to show. anyone know why?
Bret-Diesel build was only two segments.
#1 heel Owen wrestled a jobber and barely beat Doink. He really should be featured here.
Weirdly enough, Lawler is saving these shows by himself.
They had the same restrictions for Ramon/HBK Ladder Match II.
ReplyDeleteCrazy.
Sean Waltman's rant on how hard it was working with Nikolai Volkoff from the KC 1994 Timeline is amazing:
ReplyDelete''I wanted to shoot myself in the fucking head every night.''
I beg to differ. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCX09bT0oq4
ReplyDeleteYeah the Diesel/Bret thing was weird, you'd think that since Diesel would have pinned Bret if it wasn't for Neidhart that he would've wanted a rematch. And the Owen thing was fine, all he needed was a showcase match to introduce his new king of harts gimmick.
ReplyDeleteAnd the kid who impersonated Piper should have shown up instead... "my client, Rowdy Roddy Piper beat the Memphis legend".
Oh wow, they had a houseshow run together? Whose bright idea was that?!
ReplyDeleteTried selling mine a few times on eBay = no buys. Scott kindly listed them all here too a year or so ago and again = no buys. Then again mine were all PAL region, so that probably didn't help.
ReplyDeleteRAW: Where the fat guys fight.
ReplyDeleteWould have been nice for Diesel to get some mic time before or after the match to make his case. I don't remember any of this but I'm sure they just dropped the whole thing.
ReplyDeletei don't know. WCCW had some hot angles but man some of those guys are just awful. Checkmate? Bugsy McGraw? Al Madril? I've watched the first few episodes available on the Network and their heels (all managed by one guy) are just terrible. And the wrestling is pretty poor as well. Just not impressed, although I haven't hit the hot Michael Hayes turn yet.
ReplyDeleteI think it really depends on the individual and not the time period. He has hired Janetty back a ton of times for God knows what reason.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I never liked the whole Bret/Diesel thing to begin with because Diesel was a guy they wanted to protect and Bret was the face of the company so they booked themselves in a corner. Should have given Bret another challenger instead, maybe Luger from the whole WMX deal.
ReplyDeleteYou could still do the same thing where Luger has Bret beat, but Neidhart interferes for the DQ. Luger gets pissed and wants a rematch and Bret is a fighting champion so he'd be like it's on and they can have a big tv match a few weeks later where Bret goes over clean and sews seeds of Luger's heel turn that he choked yet again.
Jannetty seems like a likable guy and haven't heard anyone say a bad word about him so maybe hired him to boost morale in the locker room.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe he just hired him because he was a guy you scored good drugs off.
Found the King's Court segment on youtube. Droese is wearing a Duke Blue Devil hat backwards. Don't know why I find that so funny. Lawler managed to get a cheap shot in on the Hart's too. Why do I get the feeling they ripped that trashcan spot off from Spring Stampede?
ReplyDeleteUntil they release that Tom McGee match, we'll never know for sure.
ReplyDeleteI want my country back!
ReplyDeleteSad.
ReplyDeleteSean Oliver: "How much did you have to work with him?" Waltman: "....enough."
ReplyDeleteBecause they didn't go a gazillion miles per hour every single week at this point, unlike 1997 to the present. This kind of thing happened (or should I say, didn't happen) all the time back then.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone saying that 2013-2014 Raws are horrible... Keep in mind, the 6th best match from pretty much any week is still better than the ONLY non-squash match from several 1994 Raw's. I think we have gotten very very spoiled.
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends has an original copy of Rowdy Roddy Pipers Greatest Hits, which he had him sign at one of those meet and greets. Apparently Piper remembered that he was suppose to promote the video and instead got drunk with Don Muraco much to the chagrin of Vince McMahon.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for the MSG show from January 27, 1986 or the Best of WWF Vol. 7 for the Hogan - Savage match. Easily the best match they ever had a complete bloodbath.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll see just about everything on the network as time goes on.
ReplyDeleteAs long as they continue to back it.
Idk, I think I can stomach 1 hour of boring predictable shit over 3 hours of boring predictable shit
ReplyDeletePuro still has little regard for the necks of others!
ReplyDeleteJust ask the person that is holding you at gunpoint forcing you to watch all 3 hours to please stop holding you at gunpoint.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if 4 or 5 ***+ matches every week = shit, then maybe your expectations are a tad too high.
I don't think anyone was clamoring for Nikolai Volkoff at the live events, and I don't recall a show in the New York area ever hyping him. WWE used a tag team called Double Trouble fairly regularly in the northeast just because they sold the Undertaker copyright to Vince. Never promoted them on TV, either, and they looked more marketable than 50 year old Nikolai.. I think it was Val Pucio and his brother, or a guy equally as hefty (400 lbs PLUS, in the immortal words of Gorilla Monsoon).
ReplyDeleteJannetty was good at making people look good. If his personal demons were ever under control, he would've been a hell of a trainer.
ReplyDeleteYeah in pretty sure Meltzer has stopped too.
ReplyDeleteI blocked that out of my mind completely. Bret Hart in a stage adaption of Aladdin as a genie.
ReplyDeletehahaha 4 to 5 *** matches a week. If only,if only. Also I like how you are arguing people don't like good wrestling, they do. Its the meaningless segments, lack of midcard angles/feuds, 50/50 booking, lol Cena wins, that they are tired of.
ReplyDeleteI could see Scott changing careers and advising kids to NOT REPEAT THE SPOT.
ReplyDeleteGino? Is that you Jesse Ventura?
ReplyDeleteDoing their darndest to help the company lose money. Hey, it succeeded!
ReplyDeleteStuff in the states is hard to sell, too, unless they're ultra rare tapes, and even then, you have to hope the market isn't weak. Speaking of crappy WWF tapes: I have that stupid WM 1-13 box set laying around and it's practically worthless. People asking for $30 Buy It Now and no one ever sells. Just taking up a lot of space.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather have squashes. It would make the occasional midcarder vs main eventer or midcarder vs. midcarder matches more special.
ReplyDeleteOr how there are like 3 fresh matchups left in the WWE. Everything has been done before multiple times.
ReplyDeleteI think we can all agree that while the current product offers a lot better quality wrestling on a regular basis, there's a lot more TV time to fill, which makes it a chore to sit through potentially 7 hours of TV to see the 2-3 really good matches that are lost in the meaningless talking segments, squashes, and shills for the App.
ReplyDeleteIts the Vince Jordan way. Argue against a point no one is making. Expand 1994 Raws out to three hours and yup, they would be far worse than Raw today. At one hour though, not too bad.
ReplyDeleteRaw sucked until Bischoff forced them to get rid of squash matches.
ReplyDeleteI've said this a few times, but I tried to marathon raw starting in 1993 but I just couldn't make it through the first few shows. Superstars was still the A show at this point.
ReplyDeleteWatterson refusing to merchandise is so frustrating. The people who make those car stickers where he's peeing on various things (including the Islamic star and crescent to be extra classy) don't get the spirit of the comic and should be sued into oblivion and replaced with proper portrayals, but nope, peeing is all we get. Oh, and angry shirts for tourists who are pretending to not be tourists.
ReplyDeleteYou're giving RAW and the WWE as a whole wayyy to much credit here bud
ReplyDeleteThe King of Harts is one of my all-time favourite wrestling names.
ReplyDeleteDid they bring Typhoon back just to take over for Earthquake? I thought it was weird as a kid that they both disappeared together and then randomly returned, but not together.
Huh, I thought I had gone to pretty much every event in White Plains, yet I have no recollection of this whatsoever. I was a big fan of the 1-2-3 kid, and the only time i remember him being in White Plains was his music played and then he never made it to the ring. Apparently Diesel, who was on his way to the back, had beaten him up too badly for him to compete or some such nonsense. Either way, it made me a very sad mark. I did see a young man with shiny suspenders named Tommy Dreamer lose to a Brooklyn Brawler neckbreaker though, that was something..
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Piper was off delivering his paycheck to charity.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as how it never happened, I'm going to assume turning Luger was off the table, but it would have made sense - after Bret won the title what was Luger even fighting for? Luger turning and Tatanka being his first sacrifice would have been better.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brethart.com/files/images/bretaladdin1_1.jpg
ReplyDeleteDamn, beat me to it.
ReplyDelete1994 WWF a time where Macho Man Randy Savage is too over the hill to even earn a spot on the roster but one where Bob Backlund main events a PPV and wins the World Title.
ReplyDeleteI feel so bad for Randy Savage watching these shows, as Volkoff is out there stinking up the joint and you can tell Savage wants it SO BAD and could have a million great matches with guys like the Kid and Jarrett and Shawn Michaels. It's really kind of heartbreaking what Vince did to him.
ReplyDeleteWas there a sense of "Savage is better off in WCW" with the IWC at the time? Vince trots out Piper, Volkoff, King Kong Bundy, Bob Backlund, and yet Randy is too old to be worth anything in the ring? Ouch.
ReplyDeleteYep. Typhoon was only hired to fill in Quake's dates. He was gone right before Summerslam, once that specific house show tour was done (headlined by Bret/Owen Marathon matches andTatanka/IRS strap matches)
ReplyDeleteKing of Harts rules but I actually preferred the "Two-Time Slammy Award Winning..." moniker.
ReplyDeleteThe paycheck to the Sick kids at Sick Kid Hospital? WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE (SICK) CHILDREN!
ReplyDeleteI was at one of those shows and the Bret/Owen hour-long match ruled. Especially because it was before WM12 so I didn't even know such a match existed.
ReplyDeleteAnd the real name thing is lame.
ReplyDeleteI'm not talking about this show. I'm talking about any show. I don't remember Piper every showing up for any Raw
ReplyDeleteI've always felt that Savage could have done wonders for one of Bret's first two title reigns. They could have had a match similar to Bret/Piper at WM8. It'd be a babyface match, but during the match Savage could revert back to his old heel ways (as Piper did) but eventually lose cleanly and then endorse Bret.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Waltman say something like Volkoff didn't want to bump for him, either? What sense is there in putting them together when one isn't willing to adapt to the other's style of working, even if it's a minor compromise?
ReplyDeleteHe didn't. He basically Hulk Hogan'ed it (Hogan in '93 was featured in promos on the set of a stupid movie) until making his one in ring appearance at KOTR.
ReplyDeleteI'd say he was either filming a blockbuster movie, or they weren't offering to give enough money to charity on his behalf for him to show up week to week.
ReplyDeletehahaha good work if you can find it. Just seemed like dude would have shown up at least once in person to promote the thing.
ReplyDeleteOk. Just making sure. Didn't the match with Lawler get negative five stars from Scott? Funny it never gets mentioned in the worst ever conversation.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was rated that low, but it was a DUD in my opinion, maybe -* if you take into consideration they worked a style that the advertisement for the New Generation was bashing the entire night. It was slow, featured a lot of playing to the crowd, and just felt like two guys saving their bodies by doing the least amount of physical work.
ReplyDeleteIt's been about 10 years since I watched it. Bout to watch it now just for the hell of it. Let's see if time has been kind to it. Everyone feel free to join in. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3znge_jerry-the-king-lawler-vs-roddy-rodd_sport
ReplyDeleteIt's still bad, made worse by awful commentary. That whole night was just... ugh. Gorilla Monsoon not giving a shit anymore and Art Donovan asking the same 5 questions over and over. Savage could borrow the gun the Kid used during his matches with Volkoff to end his misery, too.
ReplyDeleteGorilla's first line. "This is the new generation. This is what it's all about..."
ReplyDeleteI'll pray for you.
ReplyDeleteMan, I'm digging this stuff now. I guess in an ironic sort of way. Lawler is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteArt Donavan: Lawler should have been a preacher. He missed his vocation.
Lawler making fun of a political figure from Baltimore for saying HULK HOGAN is his favorite wrestler = Priceless. The match isn't too bad until the bell rings. The pre-match promos are fine.
ReplyDeleteSurprised at how much Piper overshadowed the entire roster. Dude got the Jesus pop
ReplyDeleteMakes sense why he didn't show up for tv now. Guess they wanted to make people pay to see him. I take back what I said.
ReplyDeleteWhite Plain's Westchester County Civic Center is a decent smaller venue, actually. Always recognizable by that red/orange-ish metal framing of the balcony that goes around the arena.
ReplyDeleteECW ran there in late 1999 with a taping (it's actually depicted on the Hardcore Revolution video game cover, where RVD Van-Daminates Lynn). It's funny how many times Heyman took ECW to an old WWF TV taping venue for his events (O'Neal Center in Danbury, CT, Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, Fieldhouse in Hamburg, PA), just because he probably remembers them as an underaged photographer for the company in the early 1980s. The nostalgic fan in me smiles at that.
"How could they be talking about the New Generation while Volkoff was out there lumbering around stuck in 1982?"
ReplyDeleteWasn't that part of the joke? Here's a guy from the 80s hay day and he's getting his butt kicked by the stars of the New Generation!
I don't get it either. Savage would have been awesome in the "Babe Ruth" role he was always promising to guys like Bret (in 95/97) or Hogan (in 93).
ReplyDeleteAbout 10 years ago I started selling my (extensive) wrestling tape collection via Amazon and eBay, and for a while I was making big bucks because a lot of them (in particular the ECW and WCW tapes) were long out of print and unavailable in shops.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got down to the Wrestlemanias and more recent shows that had been issued on DVD, sales died completely and I couldn't get rid of them for pennies, even.
I wish they were still taping house shows for msg at this time so i could see one of these iron man matches.
ReplyDeleteI'll take a 3 minute squash match with someone they are trying to get over, over a random 15 minute heatless boring match between Sheamus and Sandow any day of the week.
ReplyDeleteVince has this pesky habit of being completely ass-wrong about things sometimes all the time.
ReplyDeleteThat absolutely needs to happen.
ReplyDeleteGive Bo Dallas the gimmick of IRS jr. And give Santino a Native American repackaging.
Tatanka should have aped everything from DiBiase once he turned. Black $$$ trunks, Million $ Dream finisher, going by his real name, the works. The same things that doomed York Foundation member Ricky Morton doomed TTTTTTT TATANKA.
ReplyDeleteWasn't as bad as I remembered it but I'll never watch this again.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fucking waste of eye space these posts are. Calling them worthless gives it too much credit. So now 1 equals four or five? Its more fun to see someone built up and pushed than to watch a bland 15 minute match (cut up by commercials) with two heatless guys that don't matter. Volkoff had a better angle going than 90% of the roster has now.
ReplyDeleteDerp
ReplyDeleteThank you. If you want to use wrestlers that aren't doing anything give them matches against jobbers so at least when the pop up to get squashed by Vince's latest pet project we at least know who they are.
ReplyDeleteI was there that night, and all the WWF 93-94-95 tapings their. I remember the fans being in shock when we arrived in August 93 and saw an actual WWF superstars taping being done. Everyone figures if their taping here, a place the c shows barely got, then they are in big trouble financially from the upcoming trial. People actually were talking about how Mania 10 would be the last. It was a dark time
ReplyDeleteSo, was it just a thing where Vince thought Savage was done in the ring?
ReplyDeleteIf you listen carefully to some of these shows, randy actually ribs McMahon about if Bret is a fighting champion then how bout jack tunney give the macho man a title shot with the hitman...McMahon always just laughed him off...until he actually left months later.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Some fans have this notion that squash matches are inherently a bad thing, and that's just rubbish. There's nothing wrong with taking a few minutes to get a guy's character and moveset over.
ReplyDeleteJust wait. After this raw they actually sensor the can shot and claim it will never be shown on TV ever again. Lol seriously.
ReplyDeleteDid you freak out when they brought out a genuine blue bar cage for Shawn and Marty? I figure that'd make it more jarring.
ReplyDeletePiper was thin and ripped too
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think they would be better off going back to something resembling the old format. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying three hours of squash matches are good, but I do think they need to keep thee upper-mid card and upper-card guys separate. I've been saying this for a couple of months, but people need a reason to buy the network for the Special Events.
ReplyDeleteYeah, at the end of his, Gorilla was awful, and hurts to say that, because I loved him early on.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading at the time that this storyline was actually all about the upcoming trial as everyone figured Luger was the bad guy to the public (I.e. Vince) but in the end its proven that he was telling the truth all along and was innocent. Haha seriously.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure there ever was one at MSG. I know Bret had a few in the summer of '94 against Owen and one against Flair in early '93 at Boston Garden. But I'm not sure if there was ever a marathon match at MSG in the 90's. I may be wrong though.
ReplyDeleteLol yes. They finished 4 hours of taping with that match and it took 20 minutes for set up-- so the match didn't start until 1145 on a Monday night. Some smarks in my section somehow knew the ending (maybe from other shows) and started telling everyone how the ending would go. Sure enough they were right lol.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't even give your venue the award for worst taping venue from a "wrestling should be larger than life" standpoint. Check out 94-95, with the Liberty High School Raw tapings (end of 1994) and the Canton, OH tapings in August 1995 (where Shawn faced Sid). You can almost see pencil-written graffiti on the walls across the hard camera
ReplyDeleteHaha I know but our first taping was august 93 and way before their standard gym tapings started. Bad either way. Casual fans must have horrified turning on.their TV and seeing how low things got
ReplyDeleteIt sure seems so, but then he's got Jerry Lawler,Roddy Piper & Bob Backlund headlining PPV's all year.
ReplyDeleteDidn't make sense then, sure as hell doesn't 20 years later.
His matches were fairly competitive, though, and then he just vanished. There was never "see, he's not good enough to compete with these new stars" comments. it was all "he's poor, Dibiase is giving him food for his families."
ReplyDeleteLiberty, NY, you say? 10 mile drive from my homeyown of Monticello. What a fucking DUMP.
ReplyDeleteThey skipped MSG for that round of shows (The Marathon Tour, as it was promoted on Live Event News). MSGs next show after the 5/20 Revenge Tour was in August, headlined by Bret/Razor vs. Owen/Anvil and HBK/Diesel vs. Headshrinkers.
ReplyDeletewait about a month, month and a half when those episodes show up on the Network. You're going to wonder how WWE survived, and then thrived, just a few years later.
ReplyDeleteIf you take all the violence and aggressive behaviour out of wrestling you get only the interviews, because wrestling itself is violence and aggressive, or what are the wrestlingmoves, kicks and punches in the first place?
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad time, indeed. When WWE has resorted to coming to a shithole like Liberty, NY in as High School Gym, they are in fucking serious trouble. It was poorly promoted and wouldn't be surprised if the whole show was papered.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Shawn and Hall convinced them to do it as a rib on the Kid.
ReplyDeleteThe real Bret Hart moved old Barry so much he had to convert to Judaism and take a Hebrew name.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that WM 1-13 box set actually the best one out of all the WM VHS collections? I thought it was supposed to have had less editing than the WM 1-14 and 1-15 box sets and far less editing than the original individual Coliseum Video releases?
ReplyDelete"Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) then goes on to say that he doesn't give a damn".
ReplyDeleteAt least it's better than The Young And The Wrestling.
ReplyDelete