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Posted

Just bigging up his athletic background, which was the old regional way of giving someone credentials.

Along these lines, was there a better choice than Ron Simmons to take that upset victory from Vader in 92? It's safe to say that, as important as the win was historically it absolutely bombed, and though Ron Simmons had unmatched athletic credentials charisma-wise and in-ring wise he wasn't the right person for the role.

Posted
1 hour ago, Firebreaker Chip said:

 I don't think there are any other wrestlers where I could tell you what school they went to

I know what school Xavier Woods went to.

Spoiler

Sprayberry High

 

Posted

I could tell you that Sting went to Saugus High School (Yeah, that Saugus High School).  Before a new school opened, I was supposed to go there too, and my principal told me Sting was a student there, knowing I liked wrestling.  Turns out he went to school with a few of my friends' dads.

  • Like 1
Posted
13 minutes ago, AxB said:

I know what school Xavier Woods went to.

  Reveal hidden contents

Sprayberry High

 

Jimmy Rave, too, according to Wiki.

There’s a WAR-level trio for you.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Posted
2 hours ago, Firebreaker Chip said:

Why did early 90s WCW commentators care so much that Marcus Bagwell went to "Sprayberry High School"? It gets mentioned all the time! I don't think there are any other wrestlers where I could tell you what school they went to

My favorite stupid wrestling trivia is that Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, Barry Darsow, Tom Zenk, and John Nord all went to high school together in Minneapolis.

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Posted

I thought Nikita Koloff and Brady Boone did as well?

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Posted
1 hour ago, AxB said:

I thought Nikita Koloff and Brady Boone did as well?

You are correct, I knew I was missing someone.

Posted
3 hours ago, BurningBeard said:

Just bigging up his athletic background, which was the old regional way of giving someone credentials.

Along these lines, was there a better choice than Ron Simmons to take that upset victory from Vader in 92? It's safe to say that, as important as the win was historically it absolutely bombed, and though Ron Simmons had unmatched athletic credentials charisma-wise and in-ring wise he wasn't the right person for the role.

It bombed because the whole thing was badly booked and they still kept Sting as the #1 face. The hot shot angle putting the belt on Simmons was fun but there was no build up and they had him feuding with The Barbarian who was a mid-carder and Cactus Jack who was moving down the heel ladder, either start the feud with Rude early(they were supposed to work Starrcade) or have a feud with Vader.

With the exception of Flair,  WCW/JCP never seemed to book babyface champions right. Simmons should have been booked along the lines of Bruno and Backlund, grateful and humble but will go into raging ass kicker mode when pushed too far. Have Vader and Harley beat up Teddy Long or some rookie Simmons is mentoring and use that as the jumping off point for Halloween Havoc and possibly Starrcade.

  • Like 2
Posted (edited)

I wasn’t sure about my timelines as to whether his run was aborted due to Watts being fired or he just lost faith in him.

I remember it being a huge shock and mark our moment when I saw the highlights of the win on TV, but no real follow up 

Edited by BurningBeard
Posted
7 hours ago, BurningBeard said:

I wasn’t sure about my timelines as to whether his run was aborted due to Watts being fired or he just lost faith in him.

I remember it being a huge shock and mark our moment when I saw the highlights of the win on TV, but no real follow up 

Did the full Simmons/Vader match ever air? I only remember seeing it in clips.

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Zimbra said:

Did the full Simmons/Vader match ever air? I only remember seeing it in clips.

I mean, here is the thing...

I never religiously watched WCW then (WWF kid), so I dunno if this got the same treatment as Hart/Flair at the time.

Edited by PetrolCB
  • Like 1
Posted
12 hours ago, Zimbra said:

My favorite stupid wrestling trivia is that Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, Barry Darsow, Tom Zenk, and John Nord all went to high school together in Minneapolis.

 

11 hours ago, AxB said:

I thought Nikita Koloff and Brady Boone did as well?

I believe there was one more wrestler who wound up a referee as well. And they all graduated in a two year period. Robinsdale High School.

Posted
8 hours ago, Zimbra said:

Did the full Simmons/Vader match ever air? I only remember seeing it in clips.

WCW only aired it in clips, but WWE released it on the Network under Hidden Gems. 

  • Like 1
Posted

What was the story behind Shinya Hashimoto's trip to the US in 2001?  I always thought it was weird that he made his first trip to the US in over a decade to wrestle Steve Corino and Gary Steele a couple of times.

Posted
11 hours ago, Zimbra said:

What was the story behind Shinya Hashimoto's trip to the US in 2001?  I always thought it was weird that he made his first trip to the US in over a decade to wrestle Steve Corino and Gary Steele a couple of times.

i am interested in this too. i always assumed it had something to do with an NWA World title reign, but i have zero basis for that speculation.

Posted

How come Hashimoto never worked WCW during the Nitro years? AFAIK he only ever worked one WCW match, in the NWA tag tournament at GAB'92 where he replaced Akira Nogami. 

Posted
2 hours ago, twiztor said:

i am interested in this too. i always assumed it had something to do with an NWA World title reign, but i have zero basis for that speculation.

Yeah, I think it had to do with the NWA/Zero-One partnership, it's just super odd since as Happ mentioned Hash didn't have a history of working in the US and the NWA in 2000 wasn't exactly drawing the kind of crowds that would justify flying him in.

Posted (edited)

I looked it up and the only place he ever wrestled in the US before that was Memphis on excursion. The other two places were Stampede and WWC. 

And get this, the Three Musketeers (Hash/Chono/Mutoh) were actually formed in Puerto Rico! 

Edited by Curt McGirt
Posted

This is really more of an observation. I rewatched the Savage/Warrior retirement match from WrestleMania VII, and it occurred to me that at the moment in the match where Warrior's gods seem to be urging him to leave the ring, it is actually Jim Hellwig's god telling him he should immediately go to the back and hold up Vince for $50,000 to finish the match. 

  • Haha 4
Posted

Backlund getting the title back in 1994 just seems really odd.

Turns up back in late 92, does nothing of any real note, putting over midcard guys, goes off and has the 6 man run with the Warlord and Putski, then out of nowhere gets pushed to the moon as the big heel......for all of five minutes, gives Bret his win back at Mania in a really unconvincing fashion, and that's it?

Seems really surplus to needs in the context of either continuing the Owen feud, or Diesel winning it over Bret instead, and fast tracking the Shawn program instead?

 

Posted (edited)

I always figured that he was a benefactor of good timing. By the fall, the Owen feud had run for half the year, Lawler was done to death (and they'd return to him later with Bret), Yoko was tied up with the Undertaker, Shawn and Diesel were focused on the tag and IC titles and they were getting ready to turn Diesel, Tatanka was freshly turned and paired with Luger and Double J wasn't established enough. That basically leaves Backlund and Bam Bam as your top heels remaining, with IRS and King Kong Bundy around as well. Bam Bam would have been cool, but if they already had the Taylor match in mind, you probably don't want him beating a former champion at WM. IRS was pretty midcard and had just started promos talking about how you still owe taxes after death, so they were clearly planning on pairing him with the Undertaker after the Yoko feud. Bundy gives you a similar angle as Backlund with a much worse match. Backlund was 45, so why not try and see what you can get out of him before he's done?

I've always assumed that he wasn't originally going to win the title, but once George Foreman won the heavyweight title at 45 at the beginning of November, they decided to pull the trigger. Plus, depending how far in advance they had decided that they were going to throw in with Diesel, Backlund is not someone who would get hurt by a transition reign, since he's not going to be in your long term plans.

Edited by elizium
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Posted

I do think Backlund was supposed to be them biting off of the Foreman win, but generally he was a transitional champion to protect Bret while getting the belt on Diesel. They obviously wanted Nash to win in dominant fashion, and there weren’t a lot of guys in that vulnerable period that could both go over Bret and lose in seconds to Diesel. (Although, I’m pretty sure they jobbed Yoko out to jackknife in seconds too during the Diesel run.) Plus, they got to play into the towel throwing thing from Backlund losing his first title to jumpstart the Owen feud. 

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