From my house to yours. I just wanted to wish all my American friends, right HERE, on Scott Keith's Blog of Doom, a Happy Thanksgiving. I also want to wish any non-Americans a happy Thursday, and you shouldn't be reading this while at WORK, SUCKERS!
Ultimate Warrior only spoke for about 10 seconds, and yet he still managed to be incoherent. That's impressive. That was a fun bit of 2 minute nostalgia.
Barney Stinson: Did you just say Canadian Thanksgiving was, and I'm quoting, the "real Thanksgiving"? What do Canadians even have to celebrate "aboot"?
Robin Scherbatsky: Canadian Thanksgiving celebrates explorer Martin Frobisher's valiant yet ultimately unsuccessful attempt to find the northwest passage.
It's little things like this that would help improve wwe. Within 5-10 seconds, each person got to show off their personality and had little touches of why you lived them or not (I'm rich and you're not). Also within 2 minutes, you had 15 wrestlers got to make a promo and you had jobbers to main eventers,
smaller scale and, and this is a small but valid point....Chikara isn't wrestling, it's performance art with some guys showing what wrestling might look like in a ironic, NY's East Village kind of way.
I used to love the quickie promos they did for the early Royal Rumbles as well. Same concept. Quick soundbites to get over characters and remind you who all was in it.
Just an observation. Thanksgiving has taken on more of a secular/ahistoric meaning, though, so I don't think it's on its way to the chopping block (unlike lots of turkeys tomorrow!)
I agree, I just don't think we need to get in a debate over it, which will inevitably fall into the mythical "taking the Christ out of Xmas" BS FoxNews pushes every year to rile up the viewers. It's a holiday to eat food and watch football while tolerating the family.
True. I don't see any problem with Columbus Day personally. None of those people protesting it probably have the balls to jump on a ship heading in a different direction without GPS and with no guarantee you'll find anything on the other side before you die.
I'm thankful for not spending it with my family. There's a few family members that I like but they live far away. I don't have to deal with the annoying ones, the little kids who can't behave, the drama between a few members of the family especially the bigots, politics between liberals and conservatives (both sides can be annoying), and the annoying questions (when are you going to get married, when are you going to have kids).
I always get blasted with "food fascism" at Thanksgiving because I only eat the turkey and a roll. I'm a picky eater, so everyone is always attacking me with food and chastizing me for why I don't like certain things. It gets old fast.
I have family members who are kosher, vegetarian, or gluten free. All 3 groups expect foods to be made specifically for them even when they are the only one wanting them.
WWE Network is stupid. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and they aren't playing ONE Starrcade or Survivor Series. There are so many easy ways they could make this network wrestling nerdvana and the fail at every turn.
I think feuding with Bray would finally make IRS interesting. IRS represents the system that Bray is supposedly rebelling against. Maybe they can say Bray hated his upbringing so much that he changed his name and forged a new identity to free himself from his former slave life. Or something.
I just don't get why they launched a Network if they have no idea how to run one. Even your most basic channels like Hallmark understand the holidays and run their cheesy Thanksgiving or pre-Christmas special films.
I think that's one reason why Lana/Rusev and Real Americans got over. They explained who they are with tons of promo time. If it was just evil-Russian or racist guys with no promos, then they would get no reaction.
Know how the Europeans came over here and turned heel on the Native Americans? That's the same thing Ted Turner tried to do to Vince. Only difference is Vince's story had a happy ending. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Vince was a genius and Raw was redefining Wrestling, but the Ted turner cam along and with his money bought all WWF stars and then bought all ECWs stars but Vince managed to be even more amazing and reinvented the WWF and thus won the Monday Night Raw. ...And that's what I'm thankful for.
Okay, so we get best of shows instead of being able to select content (which sucks). Big question: do Canadian Network viewsers get free PPVs? Because one of the last points of that press release says (and I paraphrase) that the Hetwork is intended to complement other services provided by the WWE, "like existing shows and PPVs". That sounds suspiciously like no free PPVs for Network subscribers.
I'm thankful that Vince McMahon rescued Hulk Hogan (and wrestling) from those smoke filled bars, cleaned it up and made it into something that we can all respect. If not for that, I'm not sure I could ever respect wrestling as a legit form of entertainment.
I always loved that line from Vince. I sure felt bad every time I heard about those evil guys Eddie Graham and Verne Gagne holding wrestling classes for children in those smoky bars.
I bet we see Halloween gone first, kids want to dress up as pirates and cowboys and those kind of people had guns and were violent.
The national holidays are different I think, no one has the balls to go at those. Like, no special interest would ever have the guts to go after the 4th or Memorial Day I think.
Like seriously, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, no one is watching anyway, but don't most of the Networks run marathons of junk on the holidays? SO EASY, run some Survivor Serieses all day. It's the Thanksgiving tradition! Instead its a bunch of Beyond the Rings and a Tribute to the Troops and some awful Total Divas hot garbage.
I knew we were in for hard times when they made it a point to announce that "The concept of doing a day of ECW shows wasn't thought up until two days before it aired."
Concept? That's a concept? That's called standard programming.
Ummm… I don't have much. I used to write back and forth with Jake when I was a kid and he was sober (think 95/96ish but couldn't swear to it). It was super cool of him to do, and probably the reason I stayed a wrestling fan, but I've never actually been in a room with either of them. In the "quadrant" of family trees I'm least connected to (mom's dad's family). But seemed funny to mention in this thread.
There was also a period when Worldwide was on Channel 5 from 7-8pm, Bushido (old UWFi tapes) at 8:30-9pm on Bravo, and old ECW Hardcore TV on Bravo at 10:30-11 or 11-11:30pm nightly).
I also remember one week very specifically when Power Slam magazine had just come out and I got it that Friday, and the 8pm episode of the Simpsons was the Bret Hart episode, to really keep the wrestling theme going. Another time I recall still not having had my fill after Worldwide/Nitro/Thunder/2-4am Raw replay, and ordering Ready to Rumble on PPV. Also, going to sleep at 4am meant you could wake up at noon on Saturday and catch Shotgun on Sky One!
Differences between now and then: the wrestlers could establish their characters in a 20-second promo in '89; now it'd be Cena and Orton talking, and everybody else staring into the camera like a deer in headlights.
Also, the awesome little touches, like Sherri mimicking Savage's hard movements.
The only version of Goldust I liked. Well, the Goldust-Booker combo was funny too, I guess, especially that stuttering segment Goldust had with Triple H where he caused Flair and Triple H to corpse on live TV.
I've actually seen people on Facebook rant about a lot of the holidays. Examples:
Valentine's Day: Needs to be eliminated because its sexist Columbus Day: Well, it speaks for itself as to why, I suppose Halloween: It makes kids fat & hyper. Give them fruits & veggies instead! Thanksgiving: Encourages unhealthy eating & glosses over native abuse Christmas: Too Christian
Did no one else notice the Bushwackers both attempt the face lick at the same time until they realized they were about to shove their tongues down each others throats, then pull away and have a legit lol-worthy freak out?
What "fanbase" though? It's been discussed on this blog and it was mentioned on WWE's website recently as a "dream match", but what part of the larger WWE fanbase has been clamoring for Taker vs. Sting?
I always loved the coliseum home video segments too, driving around in Chicago, showing some of the technical stuff like the production room and the camera men and such.
Ultimate Warrior only spoke for about 10 seconds, and yet he still managed to be incoherent. That's impressive. That was a fun bit of 2 minute nostalgia.
ReplyDeleteI haven't quite decided who was more unintelligible: The Warrior or The Bushwhackers.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else have their mind blown when they first heard Hogan's real voice?
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for my polka dots!
ReplyDeleteBarney Stinson: Did you just say Canadian Thanksgiving was, and I'm quoting, the "real Thanksgiving"? What do Canadians even have to celebrate "aboot"?
ReplyDeleteRobin Scherbatsky: Canadian Thanksgiving celebrates explorer Martin Frobisher's valiant yet ultimately unsuccessful attempt to find the northwest passage.
Barney Stinson: Why are you guys even a country?
It's little things like this that would help improve wwe. Within 5-10 seconds, each person got to show off their personality and had little touches of why you lived them or not (I'm rich and you're not). Also within 2 minutes, you had 15 wrestlers got to make a promo and you had jobbers to main eventers,
ReplyDeleteSometimes you forget how much talent the WWF had in their roster back in the late 80s. And WCW still had a ton too...
ReplyDeletesmaller scale and, and this is a small but valid point....Chikara isn't wrestling, it's performance art with some guys showing what wrestling might look like in a ironic, NY's East Village kind of way.
ReplyDeleteThat's another thing I hate about the current product. 3 hour RAW and hardly anyone gets promo time not named Cena or the Authority.
ReplyDeleteThe best opening to any PPV ever was Survivor Series 1989. Thanks for posting, and happy thanksgiving
ReplyDeleteI'm honestly surprised political activists haven't taken aim at Thanksgiving since the Puritans eventually wiped out the natives and all.
ReplyDeleteI used to love the quickie promos they did for the early Royal Rumbles as well. Same concept. Quick soundbites to get over characters and remind you who all was in it.
ReplyDeletereally? Is that where we are going to go in this thread?
ReplyDeleteJust an observation. Thanksgiving has taken on more of a secular/ahistoric meaning, though, so I don't think it's on its way to the chopping block (unlike lots of turkeys tomorrow!)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of that piece was the Warrior losing his shit at the end and then they like paused it as he screamed "WWAAAARRRRR!!!!"
ReplyDeleteI agree, I just don't think we need to get in a debate over it, which will inevitably fall into the mythical "taking the Christ out of Xmas" BS FoxNews pushes every year to rile up the viewers. It's a holiday to eat food and watch football while tolerating the family.
ReplyDeleteTrue. I don't see any problem with Columbus Day personally. None of those people protesting it probably have the balls to jump on a ship heading in a different direction without GPS and with no guarantee you'll find anything on the other side before you die.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for not spending it with my family. There's a few family members that I like but they live far away. I don't have to deal with the annoying ones, the little kids who can't behave, the drama between a few members of the family especially the bigots, politics between liberals and conservatives (both sides can be annoying), and the annoying questions (when are you going to get married, when are you going to have kids).
ReplyDeleteI always get blasted with "food fascism" at Thanksgiving because I only eat the turkey and a roll. I'm a picky eater, so everyone is always attacking me with food and chastizing me for why I don't like certain things. It gets old fast.
ReplyDeleteThat's because it's not exactly legitimate.
ReplyDeleteI have family members who are kosher, vegetarian, or gluten free. All 3 groups expect foods to be made specifically for them even when they are the only one wanting them.
ReplyDeleteIf you told me Randy and Sherri were brother and sister I'd have believed it.
ReplyDeleteThat'd be one high energy, freaky family.
ReplyDeleteI pity the guy who had to find that line in Dusty's 20-minute promo.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for the WWE Network posting a few new episodes of Raw from when Goldust had the creepy turned all the way up to 11.
ReplyDeleteI get it because I'm vegetarian. I either get a pizza or some veggie sausage and cook for myself. Then I eat pie.
ReplyDeleteGive us some gossip Talbot
ReplyDeleteWWE Network is stupid. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and they aren't playing ONE Starrcade or Survivor Series. There are so many easy ways they could make this network wrestling nerdvana and the fail at every turn.
ReplyDeleteI think feuding with Bray would finally make IRS interesting. IRS represents the system that Bray is supposedly rebelling against. Maybe they can say Bray hated his upbringing so much that he changed his name and forged a new identity to free himself from his former slave life. Or something.
ReplyDeleteI just don't get why they launched a Network if they have no idea how to run one. Even your most basic channels like Hallmark understand the holidays and run their cheesy Thanksgiving or pre-Christmas special films.
ReplyDeleteI think that's one reason why Lana/Rusev and Real Americans got over. They explained who they are with tons of promo time. If it was just evil-Russian or racist guys with no promos, then they would get no reaction.
ReplyDeleteAnd IRS could be like "you need to pay taxes on that lantern".
ReplyDeleteKnow how the Europeans came over here and turned heel on the Native Americans? That's the same thing Ted Turner tried to do to Vince. Only difference is Vince's story had a happy ending. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
ReplyDeleteVince was a genius and Raw was redefining Wrestling, but the Ted turner cam along and with his money bought all WWF stars and then bought all ECWs stars but Vince managed to be even more amazing and reinvented the WWF and thus won the Monday Night Raw.
ReplyDelete...And that's what I'm thankful for.
Okay, so we get best of shows instead of being able to select content (which sucks). Big question: do Canadian Network viewsers get free PPVs? Because one of the last points of that press release says (and I paraphrase) that the Hetwork is intended to complement other services provided by the WWE, "like existing shows and PPVs". That sounds suspiciously like no free PPVs for Network subscribers.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually not the internet guy that thinks he could book better or write a storyline better, frankly I think I'd suck at that stuff.
ReplyDeleteBut I, and really half this blog, could absolutely run the programming side of the Network better.
Totally alone this year the whole family went to AZ and I stayed to work.
ReplyDeleteI'm stoked, going to the gym tomorrow where it will be EMPTY.
I'm thankful that Vince McMahon rescued Hulk Hogan (and wrestling) from those smoke filled bars, cleaned it up and made it into something that we can all respect. If not for that, I'm not sure I could ever respect wrestling as a legit form of entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI always loved that line from Vince. I sure felt bad every time I heard about those evil guys Eddie Graham and Verne Gagne holding wrestling classes for children in those smoky bars.
ReplyDeleteI bet we see Halloween gone first, kids want to dress up as pirates and cowboys and those kind of people had guns and were violent.
ReplyDeleteThe national holidays are different I think, no one has the balls to go at those. Like, no special interest would ever have the guts to go after the 4th or Memorial Day I think.
NOW BARK LIKE A DOG TRISH
ReplyDelete(in a respectful manner)
ReplyDeleteHOW HARD WOULD IT BE?
ReplyDeleteLike seriously, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, no one is watching anyway, but don't most of the Networks run marathons of junk on the holidays? SO EASY, run some Survivor Serieses all day. It's the Thanksgiving tradition! Instead its a bunch of Beyond the Rings and a Tribute to the Troops and some awful Total Divas hot garbage.
So you're Stephanie McMahon then.
ReplyDeleteI knew we were in for hard times when they made it a point to announce that "The concept of doing a day of ECW shows wasn't thought up until two days before it aired."
ReplyDeleteConcept? That's a concept? That's called standard programming.
I am America!
ReplyDeleteI’m watching the very first Starrcade, just like the pilgrims did on the first Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteUmmm… I don't have much. I used to write back and forth with Jake when I was a kid and he was sober (think 95/96ish but couldn't swear to it). It was super cool of him to do, and probably the reason I stayed a wrestling fan, but I've never actually been in a room with either of them. In the "quadrant" of family trees I'm least connected to (mom's dad's family). But seemed funny to mention in this thread.
ReplyDeleteThat would be awesome though. Bray does all that rambling crap and IRS never breaks character. All the guy knows is busting tax cheats.
ReplyDeleteI switched to Starrcade 85 because I'd rather watch a Flair/Rhodes match.
ReplyDeletegotcha.
ReplyDeleteI love the story of Harley Race of Edinburgh almost no-showing to put over John Smith for the Nottingham Heavyweight Title
ReplyDeleteAs a citizen of Houma, Louisiana: Welcome, and enjoy the various methods we use to cook seafood. None of them healthy, of course...
ReplyDeleteCan't beat shrimp and grits in the Quarter
ReplyDeleteBoiling things in butter has an affect on health, so I'd definitely call it health-related, if not downright healthy.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a citizen of Lafayette, LA, you can enjoy the Avery Island tour anytime you want. I am jealous..
ReplyDeleteI love Honky vs Jake the Snake at Mania III. Really fun little match. Put Honky over huge.
ReplyDeleteThey should book Sheamus more like Zangief and less like Ken.
ReplyDeleteSee? There goes all this BS about Vince trying to embarass Dusty!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd he made them watch all the wrasslin shows and he quizzed'em on it at dinner time. (according to an Apter mag interview)
ReplyDeleteThere was also a period when Worldwide was on Channel 5 from 7-8pm, Bushido (old UWFi tapes) at 8:30-9pm on Bravo, and old ECW Hardcore TV on Bravo at 10:30-11 or 11-11:30pm nightly).
ReplyDeleteI also remember one week very specifically when Power Slam magazine had just come out and I got it that Friday, and the 8pm episode of the Simpsons was the Bret Hart episode, to really keep the wrestling theme going. Another time I recall still not having had my fill after Worldwide/Nitro/Thunder/2-4am Raw replay, and ordering Ready to Rumble on PPV. Also, going to sleep at 4am meant you could wake up at noon on Saturday and catch Shotgun on Sky One!
Reading this sounds like my diary entry. Quit copying me from 15 years ago Howwrestling!
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, UWFi was some amazing stuff and a little ahead of it's time and wish WWE would incorporate stuff of their stuff in their product.
+++PWG -- I just got 10 DVDs from their "5 for $40" sale. I'm mostly caught up since 2010.
ReplyDeleteAnd they just added the latest shows (BOLA and Untitled II) to the sale -- looks like I need to make another order.
Differences between now and then: the wrestlers could establish their characters in a 20-second promo in '89; now it'd be Cena and Orton talking, and everybody else staring into the camera like a deer in headlights.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the awesome little touches, like Sherri mimicking Savage's hard movements.
SAY IT!!! *THUNK*
ReplyDeleteYou should just put out a bowl of peanuts and be like "What? Protein."
ReplyDeleteNo seriously fuck those people, bring your own shit if you're gonna be so picky.
And so can you!
ReplyDeleteAnd that talking would take 10-15 minutes instead of this quick 2 minute clip.
ReplyDeleteYou mean John Winthrop? John Smith isn't a Puritan!
ReplyDeleteSquanto refused to do the j-o-b on the p-p-v.
ReplyDeleteSome of Gagne's trainees probably wished they were in a bar room instead of freezing their ass off in that Minnesota barn getting trained.
ReplyDeleteThe only version of Goldust I liked. Well, the Goldust-Booker combo was funny too, I guess, especially that stuttering segment Goldust had with Triple H where he caused Flair and Triple H to corpse on live TV.
ReplyDeleteI've actually seen people on Facebook rant about a lot of the holidays. Examples:
ReplyDeleteValentine's Day: Needs to be eliminated because its sexist
Columbus Day: Well, it speaks for itself as to why, I suppose
Halloween: It makes kids fat & hyper. Give them fruits & veggies instead!
Thanksgiving: Encourages unhealthy eating & glosses over native abuse
Christmas: Too Christian
So basically, let's just not celebrate anything!
Even when Fandango got over for a while he got a few minutes of mic time.
ReplyDeleteDid no one else notice the Bushwackers both attempt the face lick at the same time until they realized they were about to shove their tongues down each others throats, then pull away and have a legit lol-worthy freak out?
ReplyDeleteDeep down in the COCK COCK COCK COCK COCKLES
ReplyDeleteGood catch
ReplyDelete"And the Game-UH is thankful-UH for pie-UH!"
ReplyDelete"NO!"
ReplyDeleteSherri = The original Mizdow?
ReplyDeleteTesla was a criminally underrated band.
ReplyDeleteWhat "fanbase" though? It's been discussed on this blog and it was mentioned on WWE's website recently as a "dream match", but what part of the larger WWE fanbase has been clamoring for Taker vs. Sting?
ReplyDeleteLOL such an awesome video. I never noticed how obviously Hogan is reading some of those lines, but that was a pretty long monologue.
ReplyDeleteI like the Demolition one, sort of a call back to Royal Rumble 1989 and them drawing #1 and #2.
ReplyDelete"I'm thankful because I'm rich, and you're not! MUHAHAHAHA"
ReplyDeleteI always loved the coliseum home video segments too, driving around in Chicago, showing some of the technical stuff like the production room and the camera men and such.
ReplyDeleteNice. BOLA was a hell of a tournament, all great shows, especially Night 2. Gotta watch Untitled II still.
ReplyDeleteNow, a week later, do you still feel this way?
ReplyDeleteSo a week later... And no Sting explanation.
ReplyDeleteStill can't really say since Sting didn't show up on RAW.
ReplyDeleteHe's a good digger.
ReplyDelete