The Old School Questions thread

[odessasteps 12,728]

I asked Jeff Parker if they considered using the Astin version in the batman 66 comic. He said they never got the rights but did sneak him in one time in a background.

[Tromatagon 8,937]

Man, they got Gorshin back as soon as they could.  They didn't want to pay for him, so they got Astin, then realized "WE FUCKED UP YOU GUYS" and brought Gorshin back for the boxing episode.

Gorshin's Riddler was the most used villain in season one.

[Charlie M. 1,849]

Did anyone turn effectively as often as Randy Savage did? It's pretty amazing that he flip flopped so many times in a relatively short period of time and it always worked. Perhaps it spoke to the insane aspect of his personality where you bought it that he'd gone off the deep end again.

[Kuetsar 1,701]

17 minutes ago, Charlie M. said:

Did anyone turn effectively as often as Randy Savage did? It's pretty amazing that he flip flopped so many times in a relatively short period of time and it always worked. Perhaps it spoke to the insane aspect of his personality where you bought it that he'd gone off the deep end again.

Flair? But with him, fans would cheer him even when he was a "heel" so maybe not. . . .

[RandomAct 2,133]

So I asked Big Dave about this but didn't get an answer.  I was curious if any stories came out about how Lawrence Taylor approached Wrestlemania XI.  Everyone knows that he blew up pretty quickly(which is normal for non-wrestlers, no matter how athletic), but did he take the training seriously? I thought he cut some decent promos leading up to the event at least.

[Happ Hazzard 413]

LT was certainly blown up at the end of the match, Salt 'n Pepa were pretty much holding him upright and he could barely talk.

That was certainly the weirdest WrestleMania main event. I remember being confused when Diesel vs Shawn came on halfway through and literally having no idea what the final match would be. I had literally never heard of Taylor before he appeared on WWE TV, and from what I remember, that match wasn't promoted as the main match in the build up to the show.

[Mr Harms 480]

Oh that pissed me off pretty bad. I had no clue who LT was, didn't care to know who he was, didn't care about American Football, did not appreciate a non-wrestler coming in and fucking a wrestler's shit up. Especially Bam Bam who i thought (as a kid who didnt know shit. knew it wasnt real but also thought it was when it suited them) that he was a legit badass and would no way lay down for some pussy footballer. 

I thought it'd go like this... 

- Football player talks some trash to a wrestler

- wrestler says "lace up my boots and we'll see"

- football player says "oh yeah?"

- wrestler beats piss out of football player. 

- wrestling shows that they're tougher than other sports. 

but instead... as nearly always, a non-wrestler comes in and beats the wrestler in his own back yard because i dunno why. 

[Curt McGirt 10,363]

LT's training probably consisted of hookers and blow.

[PetrolCB 8,645]

So basically, the standard wrestlers training at the time?

[gatling 340]

7 hours ago, RandomAct said:

So I asked Big Dave about this but didn't get an answer.  I was curious if any stories came out about how Lawrence Taylor approached Wrestlemania XI.  Everyone knows that he blew up pretty quickly(which is normal for non-wrestlers, no matter how athletic), but did he take the training seriously? I thought he cut some decent promos leading up to the event at least.

I read Titan Sinking recently and it covered this.  I believe it's ok to quote a small portion of the book, right?(if not, mods please remove)

 

"In the weeks leading up to the Wrestlemania showdown, an increasingly concerned Bigelow confided in Taylor that he didn't want to be embarrassed and told him that it would be in his best interests to take his training for the match seriously.  Taylor had no intention of looking foolish either and he agreed, spedning hours at a time being put through the paces and learning the bare minimum required to put together a semi-decent match.  He worked with Bigelow on desiging spots, listening intently to the veteran wrestler as he was told what to do and how to do it.

Bigelow was more confident in their ability to have a reasonable match when it came to the day of the showdown, but before the bout he still took Taylor to one side and warned him that if he screwed up or tried to make him look bad, he was going to forcibly call an audible(change the finish) while they were in the ring."

 

"Bigelow knew the pace needed to slow further in order for Taylor to survive the encounter without losing his wind.  Even though Taylor was a world class athlete and had been at the top of his profession, Bigelow was well aware from talking to other ex-footballers turned fulltime wrestlers that bein in ring shape was very different to any other form of conditioning.  "Let's take it easy," he whispered, before turning Taylor over into a double leg hook submission hold known as the Boston Crab."

From that, it sounds like he worked hard at it, but it doesn't go into any detail into how long he trained.

[HumanChessgame 2,366]

I remember there was a full page add in the USA Today sports section for Wrestlemania with Bigelow/Taylor clearly being made the centerpiece.  They also mentioned the mach on the evening news the night after Mania.  Granted I didn't follow any other sports at the time but I remember it was basically unheard of for wrestling to get any coverage from mainstream sports shows and publications at the time.  Didn't they also show that match and the Michaels/Diesel match on fox a few weeks later?

[PetrolCB 8,645]

Yeah, although I don't know if it was a few weeks later. I could be wrong though, but I feel like it was around September, to coincide with football season starting. 

**edit** 

Hey, I was right... 

[RandomAct 2,133]

Thanks for the replies, guys!  I always found it a little disappointing that they put all of this effort into Bigelow in 95, only for him to be gone at the end of the year.  In the short term, it at least seemed like they wanted him to be a top tier babyface.

[Skeeball Wizard 617]

15 minutes ago, RandomAct said:

Thanks for the replies, guys!  I always found it a little disappointing that they put all of this effort into Bigelow in 95, only for him to be gone at the end of the year.  In the short term, it at least seemed like they wanted him to be a top tier babyface.

He was slotted to move into the main events, but he ran afoul of the Kliq, and that was about the end of it

[RandomAct 2,133]

Weird that they would turn him baby for a main event run, when they were so top heavy on the babyface side after Shawn's turn.  Was there even a main event heel that summer besides Sid and Mabel?

[mattdangerously 6,596]

8 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

LT's training probably consisted of underaged hookers and blow.

FTFY

[PetrolCB 8,645]

You just had to go there. 

[mattdangerously 6,596]

When someone floats a pitch down the center of the plate like that, you gotta swing for the fences.

[Happ Hazzard 413]

How long did Slick manage Rick Martel for in 1989?

[PetrolCB 8,645]

I feel like it was until around Survivor Series. Which is funny, since he'd team up with Slick's Power & Glory and the Warlord, to become the first(?) in-tact team to survive a match, eventually teaming up with DiBiase at the end. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 21,365]

2 hours ago, PetrolCB said:

I feel like it was until around Survivor Series. Which is funny, since he'd team up with Slick's Power & Glory and the Warlord, to become the first(?) in-tact team to survive a match, eventually teaming up with DiBiase at the end. 

That was Survivor Series '90. Slick was in Martel's corner at Summerslam '89 where he teamed with the Rougeau's against The Rockers and Chico Santana. By Survivor Series '89, Martel was no longer with Slick, although he was on the Boss Man's team, The Enforcers.

[sydneybrown 2,295]

Martel was with Slick until the Warlord/Barbarian split-up when Slick went with Warlord.  I think he was kinda with Slick at Survivor Series.  It seemed like some weeks he was there and others he wasn't.

As an aside, and I never knew this until this moment but apparently Slick had house show matches with Sapphire in early 1990.   Those had to be the worst matches ever.

[PetrolCB 8,645]

4 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

That was Survivor Series '90. Slick was in Martel's corner at Summerslam '89 where he teamed with the Rougeau's against The Rockers and Chico Santana. By Survivor Series '89, Martel was no longer with Slick, although he was on the Boss Man's team, The Enforcers.

Damn it. I knew that and totally forgot to include that to my post. But yeah, Sydney covered it. 

Why in gods name would he be facing Sapphire?

[J.T. 10,030]

Dusty got a count-out victory over Akeem OMG on one of the B-Shows after Sapphire (a planted fan at the time) started jawing with Slick and got Akeem to come out to the ring floor.  I think that Sapphire became Dusty's valet / manager shortly after that.

That is probably what led to the Sapphire vs. Slick comedy intergender thing.

[PetrolCB 8,645]

Ahh. Sounds about right. Funny they had Dusty basically fight himself. It's like when the Demos eventually squared up with LOD.