Happ Hazzard

I know Giant Baba was mentioned in the 80s (by Gorilla Monsoon, when Heenan alleged that Giant Machine was clearly Andre the Giant, Monsoon replied that it could be Giant Baba under the mask) but I don't think AJPW ever got namedropped. Maybe NJPW got mentioned very early on in the expansion era when there was still a relationship between the companies. Did Michinoku Pro get a mention during one of the Sasuke/Taka matches? Did they credit IWA when showing footage of Cactus Jack winning the KOTDM '95 tournament?

When Jim Cornette showed up on RAW in 1993 what was just as shocking as Cornette being there, was Vince McMahon on commentary talking about Smoky Mountain Wrestling. This was the first I recall of another promotion being acknowledged on WWF TV. I've heard it said that the NWA was mentioned a couple of times in the 1980s, I think on a Pipers Pit with Greg Valentine on as a guest and possibly Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred talking about Terry Funk. Were there any other notable instances before the late 90s when you had the ECW invasion, AAA being namedropped when they brought Luchadores in, and an occasional mention of WCW by name? I don't believe NWA or WCW were ever specifically named when Flair came in with his "Real World Title" nor was USWA ever brought up in relation to Jerry Lawler even though Vince and others were appearing on USWA TV. Did AJW ever get a mention when they brought in Aja Kong and the other Joshi wrestlers in late '95?

They weren't, Heenan retired as a manager shortly after WM7, "Coach" took over as the manager of Mr Perfect and Haku and Barbarian were managerless. There wasn't really a "Heenan Family" after that, Bobby was the "Financial Adviser" to Ric Flair but Mr Perfect was his de-facto manager aka "Executive Consultant). I'm almost certain Heenan never came to the ring with Flair even in the brief period after Flair debuted but before Hennig returned.

Did any NWA promotions ever have guys cut promos behind a whole section of cage filling the entire screen or was that a WWF innovation?

1994 Courtroom drawing depicting Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan:

Dustin seems to be angling for a 4th fight in the post-match interview. Saying that Conor broke his own leg.

I've never heard that. They made Johnny V drop the Valiant name because Jimmy was so prominent in JCP. Vince was a Graham brothers mark.

The Steiners were there for about the same length of time. And I would would say that the Brain Busters WWF run was more successful even though they only won the belts once compared to three times for the Steiners. Just because they ended Demolition's 16 month title reign.

Killer Bees, Rougeaus and Adonis/Murdoch are the most glaring omissions for me. Demolition should be top 5. Hart Foundation are too high. British Bulldogs too low. There are too many very short-lived tag teams in the list (Rock 'n Sock, Jeri-Show, Batista/Flair, X-Pac Kane, Team Hell No) EDIT: No Brain Busters? That's shocking.

Ron Garvin was a decent enough promo. Probably not as good as Rick Martel though who was phenomenal as the Model and only a few years earlier reportedly could not speak English very well at all. Add Jacques Rougeau to the list as well.

The 90 minute segment on Houston wrestling on the latest Jim Cornette experience is a must-listen.

I can't remember two more exciting games back to back in a major international tournament.

I hope they don't make them come out for about 3 minutes to finish the first half and then go back in again. Just say it was pretty much half time and just play the 2nd half.

I was thinking more like this one:

Some classic bloody magazine covers:

IMO the greatest wrestling photograph of all time: [img[

Schiavone worked a lot better with Ventura and Heenan than JR ever did.

I honestly think Vince and Jesse are the best ever. In particular on SNME. Other great pairings: Gorilla/Jesse Gorilla/Heenan Ross/Lawler Russell/Brown Michael Cole and JBL were very good when they originally were paired on Smackdown, Cole and Tazz were also decent as well. Dutch Mantell was very good in WCW in the early 90s but I forget who he was paired with. I don't like 3 (or 4!) man commentary teams at all.