The Natural Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 A new month with the Road to WrestleMania continuing with WWE Elimination Chamber in the hometown of Sami Zayn. Then there's the build towards AEW first PPV of the year, AEW Revolution 2023. Enjoy y'all! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Today Kota Ibushi left NJPW https://www.njpw1972.com/141984 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said: No wonder Heenan had such a low opinion of WCW, imagine walking from Titan's perfectionism straight into that. I am trying to do the week by week comparison and watch the corresponding Raw, Superstars, Challenge, and maybe Mania if it's a special episode and not just a PG version Prime Time Wrestling with all the matches from the past week. You can tell Vince micromanages the shit out of everything. Many times, it works. Sometimes, it doesn't especially when you tape the syndicated shows three or four weeks in advance. For example, the 1994 Royal Rumble just passed and Ludvig Borga obviously got replaced by Bam Bam at the PPV against Tatanka. He got hurt at the MSG show (the same show Kid/Jannetty dropped the tag team titles back to the Quebecers) a week or two before the PPV. They NEVER said this dude was not gonna wrestle. Then, the PPV happens and oh yeah Bam Bam is replacing Borga who has an ankle injury. Guess what? Borga shows up on Superstars in two weeks cause they taped it like a week before he got hurt. Whoops. It's his final TV appearance for the WWF, but you would think they would just not air it. All that said, it's a much tighter ship week to week compared to WCW even with the trial shit going on. I expect it to get interesting though because I don't think we're too far away from Vince hurting his neck and having to miss WWF events for the first time ever. That's how we got Art Donovan and the pile of steaming garbage that was WWF King of the Ring 1994. Also, Hogan signing with WCW is on the horizon. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shartnado Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said: Been watching the start of WCW Saturday Night from around early 1992. The K Allen Frey era shits all over the Bill Watts one from a great height, and yet such a discrepancy in praise. I enjoy a good shitting from a great height every now and again! On Bill Watts? Maybe not. Edited February 1, 2023 by Shartnado Not on the Cowboy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 38 minutes ago, Shartnado said: I enjoy a good shitting from a great height every now and again! On Bill Watts? Maybe not. The top rope rule rears its ugly head yet again. 1 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 I'll throw up a what if. What if Paul Heyman ends up in the WWF in 1993 rather than booking Eastern Championship Wrestling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphman 3000 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 (edited) 49 minutes ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said: I'll throw up a what if. What if Paul Heyman ends up in the WWF in 1993 rather than booking Eastern Championship Wrestling? Heyman manages Bigelow since they're friends in real life Bigelow beats Hogan for the title at King of the Ring 1993 instead of Yokozuna Bret beats Bam Bam at SummerSlam 1993 by countout ECW never goes national, Smoky Mountain instead becomes de facto developmental for WWE Luger never turns face and instead joins Heyman's stable Bret and Perfect defeat Bam Bam and Luger at Survivor Series 1993 Owen never turns heel Bret wins Royal Rumble 1994 Shawn-Razor ladder match never happens since Bret vetoes the idea, but the two still feud over the IC title Bret defeats Bigelow for the title at WrestleMania X after Luger turns on Bam Bam Perfect wins King of the Ring 1994, turns heel Bret retains against Perfect at SummerSlam 1994 in a Ladder Match Edited February 1, 2023 by Dolphman 3000 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinit Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Does anyone subscribe to Fite+? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Imagining the WWE recruitment as being a more upbeat version of the scene where Forrest Gump gets recruited into the military immediately out of college. “Congratulations, son. Have you given any thought to your future?“ 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 24 minutes ago, Infinit said: Does anyone subscribe to Fite+? I do. Can't say I've used it for anything more than AEW (and even then I've never watched Dark). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiztor Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 12 hours ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said: I'll throw up a what if. What if Paul Heyman ends up in the WWF in 1993 rather than booking Eastern Championship Wrestling? ECW never gains any real traction and never becomes the #3 US promotion. probably just becomes another failed regional promotion in a long line of them. is much else majorly changed? probably not to a huge extent. cruiserweights will still make their way to WCW. Benoit, et. all are probably slightly less featured. the more risque stuff still takes place as Bischoff would still have pushed the envelope to be competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 You also wonder what happens to Thomas Edward Gilbert Jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 57 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said: Imagining the WWE recruitment as being a more upbeat version of the scene where Forrest Gump gets recruited into the military immediately out of college. “Congratulations, son. Have you given any thought to your future?“ When I read WWE is doing the opposite: https://youtu.be/CizwH_T7pjg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coletti Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 GUYS IT'S FEBRUARY 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 It's the second month of January, January Two. 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt925 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 1 hour ago, christopher.annino said: GUYS IT'S FEBRUARY 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 would Paul have been on the WWF radar for the "we need an American spokesman for Yokozuna" gig? because that's a scenario which changes things for Paul, ECW, and also maybe for Cornette and Smoky (unless the Bodies get to be in the WWF no matter what) Considering how meh Dibiase was as a manger, would Paul E have done much more with the Million Dollar Corporation realm of talent? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka-to Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 17 hours ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said: I'll throw up a what if. What if Paul Heyman ends up in the WWF in 1993 rather than booking Eastern Championship Wrestling? I'm still going to the ECW arena every 3 or 4 weeks and JT Smith's championships rival Lawler's Southern title numbers. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 14 hours ago, Cobra Commander said: would Paul have been on the WWF radar for the "we need an American spokesman for Yokozuna" gig? because that's a scenario which changes things for Paul, ECW, and also maybe for Cornette and Smoky (unless the Bodies get to be in the WWF no matter what) Considering how meh Dibiase was as a manger, would Paul E have done much more with the Million Dollar Corporation realm of talent? DiBiase was in a weird place, which is why I am surprised it took him until 1996 to wave the white flag. The MDC was basically the job squad save for the 5 weeks Sid was part of the group and the Million Dollar Man character had basically run its course. He notoriously didn't work as a color man in WWF and later on in WCW. Weirdly enough, and I am thinking cause he was a star in the 80s WWF glory days, he got sent to a lot in the charity events they would do. They would send either the Bushwhackers (which would explain why they stuck around forever) or DiBiase or worst case scenario pull one of the boys off the road. Heyman would have lifted up to where it didn't feel like a dollar store version of what Jimmy Hart was doing in Memphis w/ the Hart Family. The Million Dollar Corporation felt like if the Hart Family was just Apocalypse (I still need someone to explain wtf he was wearing) and pre MX Bobby Eaton who had to do promos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 I just need to know if this hypothetical scenario has 1997/1998 implications for my favorite bad angle: the NWA invasion of WWF. I mean, if ECW doesn’t happen or have Heyman, then the title being thrown away by Douglas probably doesn’t happen, right? NWA would never be as big as it was, but that effectively killed them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Based on his history w/ WCW and later on with WWE, I think Heyman manages to find a way to get himself fired from WWF. So you might have a weird butterfly effect where ECW doesn't get hot for awhile and then by the time if takes off, the MNW is in full effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Does the MNW even happen if there's not a significant third promotion for most of these guys? Does Austin end up on the radar without the ECW stint? Does Foley continue working Japan/money mark independents instead? Does WCW have the roster to justify the second hour of Nitro without Benoit/Guerrero/Malenko/Jericho/Rey/Psicosis being as well known as they were? Is there that much of a counter-culture that actively protests against the Hogan superhero babyface that warrants the need for Hogan to turn heel? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 I think for me it'd be cool seeing a Dangerous Alliance rip off in the role of Jim Cornette's SMW invasion crew, but as a pseudo-WCW invasion instead. Heyman turns up after WM 9 with Lex Luger, Vinnie Vegas, Scotty the Body, the Taylor Made Man and El Gigante could have been fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 35 minutes ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said: Does the MNW even happen if there's not a significant third promotion for most of these guys? Yes, but I feel that someone would have picked up the slack. There was just too much talent out there. Quote Does Austin end up on the radar without the ECW stint? Does Foley continue working Japan/money mark independents instead? Does WCW have the roster to justify the second hour of Nitro without Benoit/Guerrero/Malenko/Jericho/Rey/Psicosis being as well known as they were? Is there that much of a counter-culture that actively protests against the Hogan superhero babyface that warrants the need for Hogan to turn heel? Austin was supposedly already on WWF's radar by the time he got to ECW, which is why his run did not last more than a few months. Yeah, Foley does indies/Japan but JR/Cornette would have eventually brought him in or at least worn Vince down enough into bringing him. As for the other guys, the guys from Mexico probably end up going up in American indies if someone doesn't snatch them up right away. Going back to first point, if AAA doesn't expand outside of SoCal/San Jose/Chicago for the run of shows they did in 93/94, someone eventually does it with that crew. Art Barr dying throws a monkey wrench into no matter what. So does the peso crashing, but you can still do a heavily skewed Latin market based super indy. Jericho was already on the American radar. So was Benoit, who already worked in WCW multiple times prior to ECW and had great showings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Would they have been as reliable as Heyman and willing to promote a product that catered to numerous demographics? Everyone else at the time were the erratic cokeheads like Herb Abrams, Joel Goodhart etc, or guys like Cornette and Corraluzzo who just wanted to produce throwback shows for their own enjoyment. Throw in between a series of money marks who didn't have the connections or expertise to run shows frequently enough or sustainably. Also difficult to consider where Memphis fits in here, given they were propped up by Vince just as much as Heyman and Cornette were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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