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Marmaduke! posted:Deal Or No Deal could have been so much better. That's it, Ted DiBiase is now the Banker in my headcanon
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Apr 13, 2018 22:38
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Marmaduke! posted:I always thought he looked like Noel Edmunds, and I can only assume that this is the start of Sherri transitioning into Mr. Blobby. Sooo that Survivor Series would have been better with Mr Blobby instead of the Gooker. Or is it instead of The Undertaker?
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Apr 13, 2018 22:42
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Guys, don't make me sad for things that will never exist 
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Apr 13, 2018 22:44
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That's impossible, because Noel Edmonds' sweaters are a literal part of his body and will grow over any other type of clothing he may put on to try and hide them.
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Apr 14, 2018 00:10
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There's a very short recap video for the feud between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter which really doesn't make the most of its material. As in it literally focuses on one promo. That said, the promo it does focus on is a belter as Slaughter and Adnan take one of Hulk's T-shirts out to the stage and burn it. The visual of Hulkamania going up in flames really stands out and once again Slaughter has this fresh edginess that really stands out from the rest of the roster. The one time Seth Rollins's theme would be appropriate In the back Mooney is with Slaughter and General Adnan with Slaughter decked out in full Iraqi uniform. Adnan kicks things off by yelling in foreign while Slaughter calls Mooney “a piece of human waste”. Aww, I thought we were going to get through a whole show without Mooney getting any abuse. Slaughter says he's the new ruler of the WWF and there's nothing Hulk can do about it. He felt good when he hit Hulk with a chair but he'll feel even better when he beats Hulk tonight. Which makes sense cause to beat Hulk he'd have to hit him with a lot of chairs. Oh hey I hope you're not getting too excited for that title match just yet cause we've still got one more throwaway squash to deal with! Evil Jacques w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Tito Santana Man, how sad is it that I see Jacques come out and my mind immediately decides that this is a pissbreak match? Evil Jacques walks out first and he's now upgraded to a full Mountie outfit including the hat, the sunglasses and the jacket. Be careful, Evil Jacques. You don't want to get in trouble with Canada for impersonating a public official. And just as I'm wondering which jobber from the roster is left over to lose to Evil Jacques tonight out comes Tito. Of course. The match begins and Evil Jacques goes for a leapfrog but Tito hits him full on in the gut with a crossbody. Nice! Fair play, that's a spot I've never seen before. I really like that. Tito clashes Evil Jacques's head with Jimmy's then connects with an atomic drop and in one brief shining moment we see the comical Jacques we all know and love. I knew you were still in there! You need to fight this, Jacques! It doesn't have to be this way! But sadly Evil Jacques's programming kicks back into gear as Jimmy passes him the cattle prod and he uses it for a very quick win.  You're still in there somewhere, I know it! Geez, that was ridiculously fast. Has something overrun tonight because they have been blitzing through these squash matches. That said, even though these guys went for less than two minutes they managed to show enough that I'd be interested to see them again in something longer. There was innovation, there were hints that Jacques's not completely morphed into this grumpy loser, that's about as much as we could really ask for here. We make our last visit to the back of the evening where Zombie Mean Gene is with Hulk Hogan. He says that Slaughter may be laughing now but he won't get the last laugh. Even though Slaughter tried to scorch the dreams of the Hulkamaniacs it's not going to happen again. That's strange, I never thought Hulk would pass up an opportunity to draw more heat. Slaughter only knows about ground warfare but Hulk is new technology. He's not wrong. Much like the internet in 1991 Hulk is slow, breaks down easy and is obsessed with pornography. Hulk has secret battle plans that Slaughter doesn't know about and ever since Slaughter assaulted him he feels like a new man so now that he's felt Slaughter's new rules he's done a 360. So he's right back where he's started? Things get intense as Hulk announces Slaughter will have to tear out his heart and America's heart to stay champion and Slaughter will be a victim of “twilight's last gleaming”. Jesus, talk about your graphic imagery.  America The... Beautiful? WWF Title Match Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter For the last few shows I've been very complimentary of this angle they've been working with Slaughter. Unfortunately here's the bit where it all falls flat on its face because as shocking as particular moments have been it was all always going to end with a match between Hulk and Slaughter, neither of whom are decent workers. Even with the potential for smoke and mirrors I just can't see this one matching the tension of Hulk/Warrior or Hulk/Savage and at least Savage/DiBiase was fresh. In other words, this is the least inspiring and most predictable Wrestlemania event in a very long time. But before we can get the action started we cannot forget to pay homage and tribute to the great beings who have made all this possible. I am, of course, talking about the celebrities. There's no surprises here, it's just our trio of Trebek, Marla and Regis who will all be playing roles in this main event. Trebek is the guest ring announcer which is a solid call and he does a good job of it while in a suitable assessments of her talents Marla has been tasked with hitting a bell with a hammer. As for Regis, he's going to be joining Gino and Heenan on commentary which is an absolutely terrible idea. If you need to let a celebrity jerk himself off by spouting poorly scripted jokes from the announce booth just let them do it during one of your throwaway matches. Hopefully the one that runs under a minute. One positive thing I can say about this match is that the crowd is well up for it. There's huge boos for Slaughter as he walks out in his Iraqi outfit which are followed by big cheers for Hulk when he shows up, fully draped in Americana. The crowd launches into instant “USA” chants as they whip themselves into a patriotic frenzy. Sure, they're celebrating a victory that will directly link to increased domestic terrorism, a second war with Saddam, the Iraqi insurgency, ISIS, the rise of the far-right and President Trump but hey, none of these people know that yet. Let them enjoy it while they can.  Oh my god, guys! I just worked who Mr. America was! Before the bell rings Slaughter makes me sad by stripping off his uniform although I can understand why he doesn't want to work a twenty minute match in that thing AND OH MY GOD GINO SHUT UP ABOUT THE PPV AUDIENCE. Seriously, you're doing the opposite of making the company look good here. The match starts with Hulk winning the early tie-up and now I see these two standing off with each other it really highlights how bald they both are. Yet both Saddam and Adnan have full heads of hair. Maybe Slaughter is on to something here. Despite Adnan having done nothing, Hulk decides to leave the ring to chase after him. It's probably the hair thing, isn't it? Slaughter follows him out and smacks him in the back with a chair but Hulk completely no-sells it. It's the same kind of bullshit that he pulls in every big headline match. However, Slaughter still manages to take control after an eye rake. I have to admit that Regis is doing an acceptable job on commentary, mostly by virtue of staying quiet as much as possible. Meanwhile, Heenan has found a way to justify cheering for Slaughter without veering into anti-Americanism by focusing on how Hulk hasn't earned this title shot. It's very smart. The action flows as slow as you'd expect as Hulk nails a clothesline and an atomic drop. This is not very good at all, it's your normal Hulk match and Slaughter's not got much else he can bring to the table. Hulk hits a back body drop and a running knee to Slaughter's back. Ugh, it's a slog to get through. Although I guess Slaughter is putting in a real effort with his selling which I am impressed by. That's about all he's managing though, he's barely getting in any offence here. And then Hulk does something that I've never seen him do before in my life.  Hulk, what the gently caress are you doing? Yes, Hulk climbs the top rope but we never find out what he was thinking because Adnan grabs his leg and Slaughter throws him off to the mat. Now that he's got the advantage Slaughter beats on Hulk with a chair and strangles him with a cable and the ref straight up ignores it. And you know why? Because Dave Hebner hates America. Slaughter keeps up the assault and then locks in... the Walls of Jericho? Ok, sure. Except he's done this way too close to the ropes so Hulk could reach out and grab them at any time and he just chooses not to. Gino and Heenan are very confused by this whole affair. In the end Hulk does grab the ropes and ref breaks the hold and for the second show in a row Slaughter walks off celebrating because he thinks he's won. Dude, you need to speak to Adnan about this because it's a genuine problem for you. Adnan starts giving Slaughter advice which Heenan translates for us because according to him he speaks fluent Iraqi. Hehehe, oh Heenan. Slaughter connects with a flying stomp but for some reason Adnan jumps up on the apron and distracts the ref so his own guy can't get the pin. What the hell you doing, Adnan? Running out of options Slaughter grabs another chair and whacks Hulk dead on in the face and OH GOD THAT BLADEJOB. Jesus, half of Hulk's face is instantly turned into a red mess.  Quick, someone tell Tony Blair that Iraq has got weapons of mass destruction With Hulk suitably weakened Slaughter locks in the Camel Clutch to bring things home. Hulk struggles up to his feet so Slaughter shoves him into the turnbuckle and covers his lifeless body with the Iraq flag for the pin. But this is America and we'll be damned if we let the terrorists win so Hulk powers out tears the Iraq flag to pieces. He points the finger, he hits a big boot and the Leg Drop and wins. And on the other side of the world a whole bunch of people take one step closer to being radicalised. Nice job, Vince. Now that Hulk is champion again after a whole year without the belt he celebrates in style with a good classic set of Hulk poses the likes of which we haven't seen for one whole PPV. He even goes and grabs a USA flag because hey, that kid's got a lot of potential and it could use the rub. This drags and drags until Gino calls the whole night A HAPPENING and I mark the gently caress out. Holy poo poo, Gino. It's been, like, five years but you'd never really forgotten. It's always a happening when Gino's concerned. Yeah, that was a rough one. Even with their best efforts to overbook the poo poo out of it this fell far short of the quality I expect from a Wrestlemania main event. Hell, from a Raw main event. The main problem was it was predictable as hell. There was any chance that Slaughter was walking away from this one so it lacked the tension had in previous marquee matches and at the end of the day it's difficult enough getting invested in a thirty year old international conflict with a debatable positive outcome and that's especially true when Hulk and Slaughter were the men involved. Looking back on Slaughter's arc as a whole Hulk feels vaguely ancillary to the whole thing. True, he's talked about loving America before but he was happy for Slaughter to talk poo poo for months and only started to care when the WWF Title got drawn in. Am I suggesting that Hulk would sell out his own patriotism for personal gain. Well actually, yes. Yes I am. Oh boy, this was one rough show. This is a textbook example of a one-match PPV. Almost everything on this show was either a dull snorefest, a pissbreak squash or a clusterfuck of insanity. There were bad matches and bad booking decisions virtually everywhere you looked. But that one match... God drat, that one match was an absolute spitfire. Savage/Warrior was everything I love about wrestling. It was spectacle, it was shocking and at the end of it all it was gut-punchingly emotional. The Savage/Elizabeth reunion made me feel things I wasn't even sure wrestling could make me feel. It was legitimately that beautiful. On the strength of the match and the angle alone this show gets five Kanes. Without that it would be lucky to scrape two.  /10Important Note: Before I close out this edition of the Rarity PPV Retrospective I've got an exciting announcement to make! I've been pumping the statistics and this latest post in the thread has received more views than any other post. And I'm not just talking about posts in this thread or even on the Punchsport Pagoda. This post has received more views than any post in the history of the Something Awful forums! This just shows that the Rarity PPV Retrospective is going from strength to strength and has not been going on a serious slump ever since I had to stop ripping on Jesse Ventura's outfits oh god I'm still relevant right please tell me I'm still relevant DistortedKiwi's got a thread now and those NJPW posts are getting all those 5* ratings don't take this away from me I need this your validation it's the only thing that keeps me from going sterile I NEED THIS.
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Apr 15, 2018 17:16
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McMahon didn't like blading, so I can only imagine that Hogan gigging was to put over the seriousness of the treason.
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Apr 15, 2018 17:56
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The only thing Slaughter really had going for him was that he was bumping like crazy for his age and weight.
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Apr 15, 2018 18:04
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Going from PPV to PPV, it hits me how long a stretch there is in-between WrestleMania 7 and Summerslam. Five months, to be exact. A LOT happens and Rarity will surely react to it soon enough, but here are two major incidents/feuds that happen in that time that have no bearing on the PPVs at all: - Earthquake murders Jake's snake Damien in front of him (by butt-splashing the bag while Jake is tied in the ropes) and later feeds Bobby Heenan some burgers made out of the carcass. Jake peeking into the bag and becoming immediately distraught saddened the hell out of me as a kid. - Undertaker tries to outright murder the Ultimate Warrior by stuffing him into an airtight coffin to the point that Randy Savage on commentary goes from, "Haha, serves you right!" to "Uh, seriously, this is hosed up. Somebody help him!" But anyway, now I can finally talk about this... Gavok posted:I'm going to talk about it as it goes on to add extra context to the shows and angles, but there's this very specific style of storytelling that WWF does starting from the end of WrestleMania 7 and ending at WrestleMania 8 that I always found interesting. It's something I've never seen anyone call out, but Vince definitely had a set concept of how to get people invested in his main event angles until the concept crashed hard and he moved on. So back in the early 90's, there were mainly three shows: Superstars, Wrestling Challenge and Prime Time Wrestling. Superstars and Challenge were where storylines developed, albeit to a limited extent, and Prime Time was a two-hour show that was mostly host segments (Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan, mainly) peppered with taped house show bouts between midcarders that ultimately meant nothing. Like, I don't know, Texas Tornado vs. Haku. Very rarely did Prime Time actually develop the stories, which was kind of funny, since it had the Raw timeslot. Hogan's defeated Slaughter and it ends WM7 on a very happy ending. Now, the angle isn't over just yet, so they need to build towards the next step. These days, they'd have Hogan show up in the opening of Raw, cut a promo, then he'd get interrupted and they'd do some situation to keep the Hogan/Slaughter conflict going. But he'd at least have that 24 hour window to be on top of the world. In 1991, that was too long a window for Vince McMahon. For the next year, he would be obsessed with keeping the soap opera going so there would be no resting happy point for the fans. The stories were continuous and his major events would include angle stingers. Think of them as post-credit scenes that we wouldn't know about until after the fact. It starts with WM7. With Prime Time airing the following night, you'd expect the show to begin with Bobby Heenan eating crow over the fact that Hulk Hogan is WWF Champion. You'd see him get his comeuppance in a way, right? Instead, the show began with him looking more smug than ever. When Hogan's win is brought up, he makes a crack about Hogan being the toast of the town, which annoys McMahon. A fan watching would be wondering what the hell is going on. Soon enough, we'd get to see this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ6TBYkcTcU Hogan wasn't even five minutes out of the ring before getting his poo poo hosed up. Despite winning so decisively, there's immediate reason for the storyline to continue at the cost of refusing to let a conclusion linger.
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Apr 15, 2018 19:58
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It should be pointed out that Slaughter was in fact, once considered a really great in-ring worker, it's just that his prime was about 7-10 years before this point. His Boot Camp match against Pat Patterson is considered one of the very best pre-PPV (W)WWF matches.
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Apr 15, 2018 20:09
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Jesus 
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Apr 15, 2018 20:13
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Rarity posted:Jesus And here is Earthquake being the biggest jerk ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CTlgEKO5Z4
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Apr 15, 2018 20:27
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Also of note were the MSG shows, which were still center of the WWF's House Show market, and would only be seen on TV in the local New York market (although the WWE Network has been showing many of them recently). The MSG shows were pretty odd compared to the typical WWF booking (as in, they were generally much better and more unpredictable). Building off the Earthquake/Jake feud, the MSG show in July was actually Earthquake's first televised pinfall loss in the WWF (to Jake). Of note was the January 1991 show held just 2 days after the 91 Royal Rumble, where Randy Savage beat the Ultimate Warrior in a steel cage match, Tito Santana beat Koko B. Ware in a pretty good 10 minute match where Koko nearly turned heel, the LOD/Demolition feud being blown off in a 3-minute squash, and just for fun, have this ending to a Paul Roma/Shane Douglas match which was hilariously botched and poo poo over by Bobby Heenan on commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNHyzFhVLBA
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Apr 15, 2018 20:54
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Shiki Dan posted:It should be pointed out that Slaughter was in fact, once considered a really great in-ring worker, it's just that his prime was about 7-10 years before this point. Yeah Slaughter was one of those guys the WWF had whose prime had been before the WWF as we know it got going. And what I've seen he wrestled a slower style than the WWF pushed to begin with.
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Apr 15, 2018 21:09
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Maxwell Lord posted:Yeah Slaughter was one of those guys the WWF had whose prime had been before the WWF as we know it got going. And what I've seen he wrestled a slower style than the WWF pushed to begin with. Greg Valentine is another big "really good but peaked way before the PPV era" guy.
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Apr 15, 2018 21:17
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Feels Villeneuve posted:Greg Valentine is another big "really good but peaked way before the PPV era" guy. He had a great (and extremely bloody) feud with Roddy Piper in JCP including a great match on Starrcade 83
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Apr 16, 2018 01:07
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His feud with Tito Santana is tremendous and one of the cage matches is an all-time MSG match.
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Apr 16, 2018 01:11
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It's a good thing for my father that Hogan won the match. My mom was so concerned about the fate of America being tied up to the conclusion of this match that she started prepping our boat for a Dunkirk style evacuation of the American population before the evil Iraqis could get there (the understanding was that most of the population would be carried on Hogan's back as he swam across the ocean). However, just before the main event she was distraught to see the boat go up in flames, and when we ran outside we discovered my father had set fire to it. She demanded to know why he had done it, and this was his only reply: These were dark times for the Lil' Jerusalem family
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Apr 16, 2018 02:03
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Literally just spent a day blitzing through this thread and reliving the memories of a very tiny gC (I think we're about the same age, Rarity). Thank you for this!
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Apr 16, 2018 03:00
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Rarity posted:There's a very short recap video for the feud between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter which really doesn't make the most of its material. As in it literally focuses on one promo. That said, the promo it does focus on is a belter as Slaughter and Adnan take one of Hulk's T-shirts out to the stage and burn it. The visual of Hulkamania going up in flames really stands out and once again Slaughter has this fresh edginess that really stands out from the rest of the roster. Jesse Ventura apparently lobbied for this to be an American flag because it was recently ruled that burning the flag was indeed protected speech (but according to Meltzer, would do a complete 180 on the idea and call it 'disgusting' later on.) Vince, unsurprisingly, said no.
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Apr 16, 2018 04:13
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Jerusalem posted:As somebody who was watching at the time, I was super into the idea of Virgil beating up Ted Dibiase... and that was it. I loved A THING THAT HASN'T HAPPENED YET (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) Mod Edit: No spoilers! Somebody fucked around with this message at 07:31 on Apr 16, 2018 |
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Apr 16, 2018 04:21
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come on dude
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Apr 16, 2018 05:00
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Rarity posted:oh god I'm still relevant right please tell me I'm still relevant DistortedKiwi's got a thread now and those NJPW posts are getting all those 5* ratings don't take this away from me I need this your validation it's the only thing that keeps me from going sterile I NEED THIS. No, Distorted Kiwi HAD a thread. Then you challenged him to review New Blood Rising. Now he never wants to review wrestling ever again. (But probably will now the Commenwealth Games and all 17 hours of Wrestlemania 34 are over) God have mercy on my soul.
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Apr 16, 2018 06:05
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Jerusalem posted:It's a good thing for my father that Hogan won the match. My mom was so concerned about the fate of America being tied up to the conclusion of this match that she started prepping our boat for a Dunkirk style evacuation of the American population before the evil Iraqis could get there (the understanding was that most of the population would be carried on Hogan's back as he swam across the ocean). However, just before the main event she was distraught to see the boat go up in flames, and when we ran outside we discovered my father had set fire to it. She demanded to know why he had done it, and this was his only reply: That dude owns
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Apr 16, 2018 08:54
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Gavok posted:And here is Earthquake being the biggest jerk ever. Oh look, Earthquake was finally involved in a thing I found interesting. Way to go, dude! Shiki Dan posted:have this ending to a Paul Roma/Shane Douglas match which was hilariously botched and poo poo over by Bobby Heenan on commentary: Shane Douglas is bad at wrestling Jerusalem posted:It's a good thing for my father that Hogan won the match. My mom was so concerned about the fate of America being tied up to the conclusion of this match that she started prepping our boat for a Dunkirk style evacuation of the American population before the evil Iraqis could get there (the understanding was that most of the population would be carried on Hogan's back as he swam across the ocean). However, just before the main event she was distraught to see the boat go up in flames, and when we ran outside we discovered my father had set fire to it. She demanded to know why he had done it, and this was his only reply: I hope your parents survived Muhammad Hassan's run  Distorted Kiwi posted:No, Distorted Kiwi HAD a thread. You gotta give the fans what they want 
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Apr 17, 2018 21:39
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Summerslam 1991: A Brutal Exposé on the Private Prison System by Jacques Rougeau What I Think I Know
 It's summer 1991, little Rarity is throwing a tantrum because her Mum is refusing to buy her ice cream because little Rarity was naughty and across the Atlantic the sound of church bells are in the air. We've got a match made in Heaven, a match made in Hell and at least three matches made in Purgatory, it's Summerslam 1991! A sloppy greenscreen intro that would have looked out of place three years ago plays as Vince McMahon shouts “it's summer time and the living is anything but easy!” The Ultimate Warrior rises out of CGI flames squatting down with his fists clenched like he's trying to squeeze out a very tiny poo. Hulk Hogan flexes next to him with his eyes fixed in the cold, empty stare of a sociopath.  Hulk's just found out Warrior is co-main eventing and he's trying not to kill him We are live from the mecca of sports entertainment itself, Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY. I don't think we've been here since the first Wrestlemania and it's great to be back. MSG just has a vibe of intimacy despite being a huge arena, events always feel special here. And for the first time the WWF are experimenting with a three-man booth on commentary as Gorilla Monsoon is joined by both Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bobby Heenan. Ok, first impression is that this could work as a really good combo. Heenan provides the heel commentary and Piper provides the insanity, I'm up for it. They discuss the big events of the evening and the wedding is indeed a goer as Heenan says Savage will “tie the knot... around the noose around his neck”. Meanwhile, Piper reckons that in the main event “there's more turmoil than they got there in Russia”. This is of course happening when all the minor Soviet states where leaving a once-great institution to go independent. Just imagine WCW in the year 2000 and that should about cover it. All right, I guess it's time to get things underway as we get ready for the first match and...  WHAT?  WHAT? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! The Warlord and Power and Glory w/ Slick vs. Ricky Steamboat, The British Bulldog and The Texas Tornado Oh my loving god you guys Steamboat is back! How did I never know about this? I really thought he was done. And holy poo poo, he's dressed up as an actual dragon and he comes out and he's BREATHING FIRE this is loving incredible. This is a huge step forward in terms of staging and production, wow. So obviously Steamboat is back and that's really exciting and all but I am going to preface it with a huge but. Here's the thing, Steamboat was great and all but this was back in '87 that he was kicking rear end. Things have come on a lot since then with guys like Bret, Hennig and Rude setting new standards for what I consider high level ringwork. I don't know if Steamboat is going to be able to rise to that level or has he dropped off the pace of progress? I don't know yet but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him. WORST HAIR  Oh man, this one's going to take more than a pithy one-liner to break down God drat, Herc' what have you done? I wasn't even sure that this was actually Herc' when I first saw him. Not only has he ballooned up in size all over again he's shaved off the stubble for an awful pornstache and grown his hair out a bunch as well. He looks like Jake's brother who really loves McDonalds. Wow, Fat Herc' is back with a vengeance. So the heel team here makes sense being Slick's dudes but this trio of faces is such a random combination. There doesn't seem to be any story basis for this match so why are these guys teaming together? And even more importantly, why doesn't Bulldog come out with noted Good Dog, Winston? Boooooo. The bell rings to get as started with Steamboat kicking things off for the faces so he's right back into the thick of things. Roma jumps off the top rope but Steamboat catches him into an armdrag. Aw yeah, that's the good stuff right there. Fatter Herc' and Kerry switch in to exchange some wristlocks which I think is about as technical as Fatter Herc' can get. Bulldog and the Warlord take their turn and they don't even bother trying to wrestle as Bulldog just knocks the Warlord down with a couple of clotheslines. So everyone's performing at their own level here. Steamboat comes back in and he still looks really cool and crisp in the ring. While my wider concerns remain he's definitely got the most to show out of the guys in this match so that's a positive sign. Aw, don't ever leave us again dude. Steamboat gets in a rollup on Roma but the referee gets distracted by Fatter Herc', probably from trying to work out how he doubled his body mass in the space one PPV. With the ref's eyes diverted the Warlord jumps in to take out Steamboat. Roma follows up with a snap suplex and Fatter Herc' gets in on the action as well with a Gorilla press slam as the heels work on isolating Steamboat. Roma sets Steamboat up in the ropes and then leaps dick first into his kidneys. Now I'm not a wrestler but I reckon crushing your meat and veg like that probably hurts you a lot more than your opponent. After a promising opening this match has got very one note as Steamboat continues to take the punishment. He tries to get back into it but Fatter Herc' cuts him off with a necksnap. The Warlord tags in and I guess he wants to prove that anything his old buddy the Barbarian can do he can do better because he goes to the second rope. Except when he jumps off Steamboat catches him and is able to reach his corner. Don't worry Warlord, there's no need to feel inferior. You and the Barbarian both an equally good job of sucking.  It's ok, Steamboat. I'm sure WCW would take you back if you asked nicely With the tag made Kerry comes in and cleans house until the Warlord nails a sunset flip. However, Kerry's close enough to tag in Bulldog who goes up top only for the Warlord to catch him out of the air. Except Kerry connects with the Tornado Punch and Bulldog falls on top as the Warlord drops to the mat. Bulldog and Kerry run interference on Roma and Fatter Herc' while Steamboat follows up with a smooth flying crossbody to the Warlord to get the faces the win. That was a perfunctory ending sequence there. It was like everyone realised they'd run out of time so dealt with the finish as fast as they could. This was an unexciting match and a poor start to the show. While I'll reiterate how fun it was to see Steamboat back in action this match was way too clustered for anyone to stand out and it's difficult to judge how he's stacking up when there was very little demand placed on him. This would have made so much sense to just give him a singles spotlight so that he can really make an impact. Everyone else in this match just seemed like driftwood with nothing to add and nothing to offer.  He flies through the air with the greatest of ease Addendum: Oh boy, we're saying goodbye to a bunch of people with this one. First up taking his bow is Paul Roma and I'm surprised that I'm actually going to miss him a little. His run in the Young Stallions was terrible but once him and Fatter Herc' formed Power and Glory they brought something a little different to the tag division. They didn't fit any of the standard tag team archetypes and were one of those teams which added up to more than the sum of their parts. Certainly more interesting than Fatter Herc's jobber singles run. And also waving a farewell is their manager, Slick. I feel like he doesn't quite get the praise that he deserved. He spent most of his career being lumped with the jobbers but whenever he was called upon to have a big moment he was entertaining. He was the good part of the Twin Towers' main event run and was rewarded for that by getting the Warlord. Oh well, at least he can start working on that marriage license now. But we're not done with our goodbyes just yet. The biggest name taking his departure here is Ricky Steamboat who it seems was only stopping over for a flying visit. I didn't really get a chance to sum up Steamboat the first time so this is a good opportunity for me to do that. While I don't think he would get into my top 5 wrestlers of this era, his presence was absolutely vital in those first few years of the timeline. Steamboat was a reason to be interested, a reason to keep me watching and somebody I could get invested in. He's been surpassed now but for a while his style was the biggest highlight on the show. If he'd not been around there's a real chance this thread would have died out before it hit double figures. I don't want to get into watching old WCW PPVs right now because if I ever do it I want to be able to do a thread for them but knowing that Steamboat gets a real main event run there is a powerful motivating factor for me to get stuck in.
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Apr 18, 2018 08:35
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Yeah, it sure is nice that at this time WWF has some healthy national competition to help give guys like Steamboat and Rick Rude their proper due.
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Apr 18, 2018 09:25
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Hercules looks like an old book that got left out in the rain and then dried in the sun
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Apr 18, 2018 09:37
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Jerusalem posted:Hercules looks like an old book that got left out in the rain and then dried in the sun He looks like an indy Jake Roberts.
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Apr 18, 2018 09:40
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My favorite story about Slick is how, when shooting backstage promos, they would require him to crouch down so he wouldn't appear to tower over all the people he managed. It was also at this time that for a short period, WWE was dropping wrestler's names and only going by their nicknames. It wasn't "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich, he was simply "The Texas Tornado", and Ricky Steamboat was simply "The Dragon". They also didn't know if they wanted to treat Steamboat as someone with a legacy, or pretend he was just a brand new guy
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Apr 18, 2018 13:51
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For years I thought Hercules died in like 93 or 94. Only now do I discover that he died in the mid-00's and it's genuinely shocking to me.Rarity posted:Addendum: Oh boy, we're saying goodbye to a bunch of people with this one. First up taking his bow is Paul Roma and I'm surprised that I'm actually going to miss him a little. His run in the Young Stallions was terrible but once him and Fatter Herc' formed Power and Glory they brought something a little different to the tag division. They didn't fit any of the standard tag team archetypes and were one of those teams which added up to more than the sum of their parts. Certainly more interesting than Fatter Herc's jobber singles run. Paul Roma would move on to WCW where he became remembered for two things. 1) They brought back the Four Horsemen and decided that instead of bringing back Tully, they would use Roma. It was...not a popular decision. It would be like if WWE decided, "No, really, Roman, Rollins and Jason Jordan are officially the Shield from now on!" 2) A few years later, WCW had a new prospect in Alex Wright. Think of him as Finn Balor, only German and instead of dramatically stretching his arms, he'd fashion a dance out of trying to smell his armpits. Roma was told to put him over. Roma instead decided to no-sell, work stiff, regularly kick out at 1 and even kick out of Wright's finish. That ended up being Roma's last match with the company.
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Apr 18, 2018 17:13
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Davros1 posted:Ricky Steamboat was simply "The Dragon". They also didn't know if they wanted to treat Steamboat as someone with a legacy, or pretend he was just a brand new guy It was definitely the latter, which was a contributing factor for him to go back quite soon after this. I'm guessing this was the time where Kevin Dunn came into full power. Here's Jim Cornette explaining the Modus Operandi of Kevin Dunn from this point for decades to come. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLrtQpfPnBY Shiki Dan fucked around with this message at 17:24 on Apr 18, 2018 |
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Apr 18, 2018 17:17
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Shiki Dan posted:It was definitely the latter, which was a contributing factor for him to go back quite soon after this. Yeah according to OSWReview they only wanted to use him as a jobber so he said 'see ya' as soon as he could
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Apr 18, 2018 17:20
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Gavok posted:For years I thought Hercules died in like 93 or 94. Only now do I discover that he died in the mid-00's and it's genuinely shocking to me. I always got Roma confused with someone who hasn’t made their appearance in the thread yet and IMO one of the best heels of the era. So I never really missed him growing up after Power and Glory broke up. Shiki Dan posted:It was definitely the latter, which was a contributing factor for him to go back quite soon after this. I always mark Steamboat and Atlas’s repacking as the height of the cartoon gimmick era of 90s WWF.
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Apr 18, 2018 17:25
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Nystral posted:
Not wanting to give specifics but 1991 is a weird combination of the WWF simultaneously going more cartoony and more edgy.
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Apr 18, 2018 17:40
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Feels Villeneuve posted:Not wanting to give specifics but 1991 is a weird combination of the WWF simultaneously going more cartoony and more edgy. 1991, the year they went anime.
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Apr 18, 2018 17:42
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I remember him being referred to as Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. For the longest time, I thought he always had "The Dragon" as part of his name. However brief this run was, he got a bad rear end action figure out of it. I used to pretend he could fly and breathe fire.
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Apr 19, 2018 01:00
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Feels Villeneuve posted:Not wanting to give specifics but 1991 is a weird combination of the WWF simultaneously going more cartoony and more edgy. I never thought about it that way, but that's spot on. Even certain segments (ie. Undertaker trying to asphyxiate Warrior) are both silly and unnerving at the same time. I was going to note how excited I was to read Rarity's next update after seeing what match is next, but honestly, every remaining Summerslam match is incredibly interesting in one way or another. It doesn't have the filler of WM7 and the only match that comes off as throwaway promises to include a great WTF reaction from Rarity over who's involved. Not to mention how important Heenan's commentary is.
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Apr 19, 2018 17:27
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1991 is honestly one of my favorite years for "classic: WWF storytelling ever, with the glaring exception of the Gulf War angle. That weird combo of cartoony and edgy/mature gives it a weird feel that they never matched again imo. Two of my favorite ever WWF feuds are in 1991.
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Apr 19, 2018 22:43
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I hadn't watched anything except the Rumbles from '91-'93 in at least a decade, but Rarity inspired me to re-watch some other PPV's and see what was coming up. We have SUCH sights to show you, Rarity. (In other news, finished the New Blood Rising review. Still have to get screen-grabs and spellcheck, which may take a while as it's turned into a small novella, of which half the words are just me screaming profanities.)
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Apr 20, 2018 03:32
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 15:48 |
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Nystral posted:I always mark Steamboat and Atlas’s repacking as the height of the cartoon gimmick era of 90s WWF. I disagree with this, Doink exists (but that's a discussion for further down the line)
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Apr 20, 2018 05:43
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