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Jeff Hardy is the next Broken Skull Sessions guest

They announced it for Thanksgiving but given their recent history of announcing things and then never releasing them, who knows

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On 11/2/2021 at 6:03 AM, Brian Fowler said:

Man that Rude/Chono match sucked so much.

I've never seen the Japan match from earlier in the year, but by all accounts it was great, so I have no idea what happened but yikes.

Chono suffered a broken neck when getting tombstoned by Steve Austin (the sitout variant, the same move that Austin got his neck broken with) about a month before the second Rude match.

Edited by Robert s
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Thoughts on Slamboree 93: A Legends Reunion

The Assassin's mask was like the Grinch's heart: three sizes too small. He challenged Dusty Rhodes, who accepted, but we never got that match.

WCW picked up some major pieces in early 1993: Davey Boy Smith, the returning Ric Flair, and the returning Sid Vicious. When WCW rebooted the Four Horsemen on this show, Sid was right there, but they picked Paul Roma instead.

It made sense for Sid's manager, Col. Rob Parker, to call for a stretcher for Sid's opponent, Van Hammer. Sid finished his previous WCW run with a stretcher match against El Gigante two years earlier.

Some of these legends talked about wanting to get back in the ring, but Gene Kiniski did more than talk. He just waltzed right into the Bockwinkel-Dory Funk match, which angered Bock's cornerman, Verne Gagne.

Rude and Orndorff made a great team that could have stuck around longer if Rude weren't pushed so hard as a world title contender. Before beating Dustin & Sasaki, they even did Rude's prematch posing routine back-to-back.

Ricky Steamboat unmasked during Dos Hombres' loss to the Hollywood Blonds in a cage. The other one didn't, and he was allegedly Brad Armstrong under the mask instead of Shane Douglas. Of course Brad, who filled in for his dad earlier in the night, never met a mask he didn't like.

Davey Boy Smith is the MVP for mounting a strong challenge to Vader in a fun power match. Like I said about Davey Boy's title match against Diesel at In Your House 4, I wouldn't have minded DBS winning the big one here. 

 

 

 

Edited by Gorman
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On 11/3/2021 at 10:52 PM, Brian Fowler said:

The role of Shane Douglas was played by Tom Zenk according to everything I've ever read about it.

Watching the match from a Steve Austin compilation, I was able to distinguish Zenk's build under the suit. I think it was a chinlock or an armbar, where one of his arms looked familiar, if you knew what to look for.

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On 1/20/2021 at 5:28 AM, NikoBaltimore said:

I know it was a different time but it really was unnerving seeing episode one and part of the crowd chanting the F word (not fuck, you know what I mean)  But aside from that it was neat to see Challenge from '86.  I grew up with the early 90s versions which were good so it's neat to see how it started.

I ended up walking out of Bash at the Beach '95, because of that chant for Regal and Eaton. Also the lack of seating.

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1 hour ago, Shartnado said:

Watching the match from a Steve Austin compilation, I was able to distinguish Zenk's build under the suit. I think it was a chinlock or an armbar, where one of his arms looked familiar, if you knew what to look for.

I think Brad might've been under the mask on TV the week before Slamboree. Which, I guess they thought the fans wouldn't notice when "Shane's" height was varying wildly from show to show

 

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Thoughts on Beach Blast 93

No Great American Bash PPV this year, as they moved Beach Blast to July.

Why is Ron Simmons jerking the curtain; he's a former World champion! Oh well, at least he's challenging for the TV title. Oops, Simmons was disqualified for throwing Orndorff over the top rope. Later, Orndorff introduced his friend The Equalizer. If he were such a good friend and equalizer, why wasn't he at ringside for the match?

Well, he had better get ready to equalize because fellow heel Lord Steven Regal beat Erik Watts and set his sights on the TV title.

Why did Max Payne wear a giant T-shirt calling himself a "Fashion Victim"? Didn't he get to choose his gear?

Paul Roma's first test as a member of the Four Horsemen was to win the WCW tag team title with Arn Anderson. Everyone can do that, right? Nope. Arn hit a DDT, but Roma had the ref distracted. Later, The Hollywood Blonds used the Surprise Partner Smash to pin Roma. 

Beach Blast again featured an Iron Man match, this time between Rick Rude and Dustin Rhodes for the US title. Not only did it end in a 1-1 tie, but nobody was the champion going into the match, so the belt was still vacant. It all seemed like a waste of time.

Sting dove into the ring to make a spectacular save after Vader hit the moonsault on Davey Boy Smith. The heroes won when Smith pinned Vader, so the Bulldog got another title shot at Clash XXIV (which he lost)

Ric Flair won the NWA World title by pinning Barry Windham with the figure-4, which seemed to surprise both men. Flair was touted as a 10-time World champion, so they counted both of his WWF titles. For coming back and beating a bigger, younger opponent to get right back on top, Flair is the MVP.

 

 

Edited by Gorman
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Thoughts on Fall Brawl 93

Michael Buffer began his lucrative WCW announcing career on this show. He introduced the TV, tag, and World title matches. He didn't even have to announce the winners! Gary Michael Cappetta handled those duties.

Ricky Steamboat entered his TV title defense with injured ribs and predictably lost the belt to Lord Steven Regal.

When Charlie Norris came down the aisle, it was impossible not to think, "Here's WCW trying to have its own Tatanka." It wasn't his fault.

Missy Hyatt was The Nasty Boys' surprise manager as they won the WCW tag team belts from Anderson & Roma, but one fan totally guessed the surprise and came to the show with a sign for them.

Others making their PPV debuts included Big Sky, Ice Train, and the obviously-not-Asian Yoshi Kwan. Of course, the highest-profile PPV debutants were Shockmaster and Harlem Heat. It was strange to see them thrown right into a giant grudge match like War Games. Road Warrior Animal was in the babyfaces' corner for some reason. Shockmaster overcame his Three Stooges-like TV debut and beat Kole (Booker T) with the bearhug.

I loved the psychology of Cactus Jack explaining that the whole "Lost in Cleveland" bit was a ruse that would only fool (Redacted Redacted) Vader and Harley Race, not because they were stupid, because they wanted to believe it.

Rick Rude turned the tables on Ric Flair with the same "I'm gonna steal your girl" ploy that Flair used on Randy Savage one year earlier. At the time, Fifi was only Flair's maid, although they actually got married 25 years later. Although Rude took his eye off the ball by trying to kiss Fifi, he ended beating Flair at his own game by using brass knuckles to win his first World title and the MVP award.

 

Edited by Gorman
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I find it hilarious that they literally reused the start to that War Games they had done just two years earlier, with the younger injured face running into the ring first even though his team didn't want him to.

Sadly, that was the only thing similar to the 91 classic.

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Another seemingly huge dump of '94 Superstars just dropped on Network. This goes all the way to Nov '94. Anecdotally, this batch also includes the one episode that aired on Euro Sport in late-ish fall of '94. Then, that episode ran as a rerun for a few weeks and then we started getting the New Japan reruns all of a sudden. So, I missed Bushwhackers vs Well Dunn, but got Eddie (as Black Tiger) vs Jushin Liger. Looking back on it, sure seems like a fair trade. No regrets, there!

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Thoughts on Halloween Havoc 93

Ricky Steamboat was supposed to fight Yoshi Kwan, but due to an injury to Kwan, he had a great battle with Paul Orndorff. Steamboat got counted out after The Assassin gave him the loaded headbutt OF DOOM.

I remembered that Scorpio & Bagwell had a one-day title reign, but I forgot that Teddy Long joined them to counter the interference of Missy Hyatt. The Nasty Boys won the belts back using the Surprise Partner Smash (with a boot).

Sting and Sid had their "Franchise" battle three years after their infamous match where Barry Windham dressed up as Sting. Sid lost after Col. Rob Parker accidentally grabbed Sid's foot from the outside. 

Vader didn't defend the WCW title for the third PPV in a row, and the next month at Battlebowl, it became four. A lot more emphasis was put on the WCW International World title, which was contested between Ric Flair and Rick Rude. Terry Taylor was the second referee in that match, and because he was wearing a referee's shirt, he became totally incapactitated by taking one bump.

Even though he lost, Cactus Jack is the MVP for reaching the main event in his own style of bloody brawl. Too bad he got Tasered by Harley Race but in a Texas death match, it was a legal as a wristlock.

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On 11/17/2021 at 1:40 PM, Gorman said:

Thoughts on Fall Brawl 93

Of course, the highest-profile PPV debutants were Shockmaster and Harlem Heat. It was strange to see them thrown right into a giant grudge match like War Games. Road Warrior Animal was in the babyfaces' corner for some reason. Shockmaster overcame his Three Stooges-like TV debut and beat Kole (Booker T) with the bearhug

 

Hawk was on the babyface team in the print ads so Animal was probably already booked too.  Harlem Heat were pictured draped in chains too so their TV build probably got dropped with the gimmick change.  The entirety of the War Games build seemed to be entirely on that one Flair For The Gold segment.

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Thoughts on Battlebowl

WCW had the great idea to give Battlebowl its own pay-per-view, so it wouldn't dominate large portions of Starrcade like it did the previous two years. There were some bad wrestling performances and bad partner performances on this show.

BAD WRESTLING PERFORMANCES

  • The Colossal Kongs did not look good in the ring at all. The fans actually cheered when it was time for them to fight each other, but they wouldn't do it! At least Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce fought each other.
  • Keith Cole should not have been on this show. He barely knew any wrestling moves except an armbar. His partner, Ron Simmons, attacked him after Cole repeatedly squandered their chances of advancing to Battlebowl.

BAD PARTNER PERFORMANCES (all by WCW babyfaces)

  • Johnny B. Badd knocked himself out a previous Battlebowl by attacking his own partner, Cactus Jack. Here, he sulked in the corner and refused to cooperate with Brian Knobbs and Missy Hyatt. Give Knobbs credit for beating Paul Roma & Erik Watts all by himself.
  • Ricky Steamboat was still salty over losing the TV title to Lord Steven Regal, so he KO'd Regal with Sir William's umbrella and knocked himself out of Battlebowl.
  • Hawk was annoyed that Rip Rogers was happy to be teaming with him, so Hawk attacked him. 
  • Worst of all, Davey Boy Smith wouldn't help Kole (Booker T) and spent the whole match cheering for their opponent, Hawk, even though he was cheering for himself to lose, which he did. If Davey Boy didn't want to win Battlebowl, why was he there?

Wait, let's not forget ...

BAD ANNOUNCING PERFORMANCES

  • Mean Gene Okerlund spent his entire first WCW PPV doing the "creepy old man" shtick with Fifi as they were drawing the names out of the tumbler. He should have stayed in the WWF for one more month.

On the positive side, Ric Flair & Steve Austin put their past differences aside just long enough to win their match and advance to Battlebowl. See, was that so hard? 

Vader is the MVP for winning Battlebowl and continuing his dominant 1993. He incapacitated Flair outside the ring to soften up his Starrcade challenger, and then came back to eliminate Sting to win the ring.

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I'm planning on subbing to Peacock for Macgruber, so I figured I'd watch some of the WWE content while I have it. I'm out of the loop but what are the best documentaries they have, specifically with behind the scenes stuff? I saw a preview of the new RA2 season and that looked fun.

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On 11/22/2021 at 7:49 PM, Gorman said:

BAD ANNOUNCING PERFORMANCES

  • Mean Gene Okerlund spent his entire first WCW PPV doing the "creepy old man" shtick with Fifi as they were drawing the names out of the tumbler. He should have stayed in the WWF for one more month.

The best line of the night came from Jesse Ventura on commentary when he told Tony "things could be worse, you could be indicted or something."  This event took place days after Vince was indicted. 

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Thoughts on Starrcade 93: The 10th Anniversary

Mean Gene was miscast as Flair's longtime friend on the limo ride to the arena. Of course, Arn Anderson would have been the best candidate, but the stabbing incident with Sid ruined that. Another great choice would have been Tony Schiavone, who debuted at the first Starrcade, where Flair won the title from Harley Race. But Tony was busy doing play-by-play. Later in the show, Mean Gene interviewed Greek musician Yanni NASCAR driver Kyle Petty.

Teddy Long won the Manager of the Year award, but he failed to stop The Assassin from using the loaded headbutt OF DEATH to help Pretty Wonderful beat Bagwell & Scorpio.

The Colossal Kongs were terrible again. Double teaming Shockmaster before the match didn't work, and then King Kong wrestled (and lost) the match, even though Awesome Kong was supposed to be in the match.

Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne made a fun and popular team. I was wrong when I said Payne never won a title, because he and Cactus won the WCW tag team titles in 1994. 

Tony Schiavone touted Steve Austin and Dustin Rhodes as two wrestlers who would dominate WCW in the 90s. But by 1995, they were both in the WWF. I wonder what happened in the mid-90s that would cause these promising young wrestlers to jump ship?

The Boss was fired up to face Rick Rude and finally get revenge for Rude's insults to his mother three years earlier in the WWF. But Rude pinned him right in the middle of the ring to retain the WCW International World title.

Ric Flair is the obvious MVP for putting his career on the line and beating Vader to win the WCW title. It was a nice touch to have his wife and kids with him after the match, and Sting and Ricky Steamboat showing up to congratulate him. I'm still not sure why Sid was supposed to win the title, when this super-feel-good ending was right there all along.

 

Edited by Gorman
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Thoughts on SuperBrawl IV

Bobby Heenan announced his first WCW PPV, and it was jarring to hear him immediately predict that Ric Flair would lose the WCW title to Vader.

Tony Schiavone helpfully explained that Thundercage is different from a regular cage in that it goes around the ringside area, so you have to go outside the ring to use the cage.

Ricky Steamboat participated in an awkward interview with Ric Flair about how if Flair got by Vader, Steamboat would get the next title shot. The awkward part came when Hulk Hogan was said to be watching the show, with Hogan being presented as a much more formidable challenger than Steamboat.

WCW threw some more green talent onto PPV with Thunder & Lightning and Jungle Jim Steele. At least they were an upgrade from the Colossal Kongs and the Cole Twins.

Diamond Dallas Page came out for his match with Terry Taylor with a Diamond Doll. At Spring Stampede, he would have THE Diamond Doll (Kimberly). DDP looked great but couldn't put Taylor away and lost. If only DDP could find a great finisher ...

Speaking of great finishers, Jimmy Garvin is the MVP for inventing the Stone Cold Stunner. Garvin wasn't even supposed to wrestle. He pushed Michael Hayes to the ring in a wheelchair and was forced into the ring after Nick Bockwinkel accepted Hayes' spurious doctor's note. Garvin protested, "I'm retired!" I'm an airline pilot!" But he still lasted more than 10 minutes with Johnny B. Badd and laid him out after the match with the 911 (Stunner). I can picture Garvin flying a plane, thinking, "You know what would make a great finisher ... ?"

Ric Flair didn't seem to have much of a chance of beating Vader in Thundercage, but Vader and Race made the mistake of antagonizing special referee The Boss, who called for the bell even though Vader didn't submit to the figure-four leglock. "You can do that?" thought Earl Hebner, watching at home.

 

Edited by Gorman
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Holy crap! Watching some '94 Superstars and Jim Powers only took a year off steroids, as he's back in a ridiculous shape and size in '94 as compared to his '93 shape. I knew he got huge by '95, but this was a surprise! Was it @twiztor who liked Jim Powers? He was looking fantastic here, but already wearing a singlet, just as he did in WCW!

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2 minutes ago, twiztor said:

it is indeed! i really need to go back and watch that period of wwf again. so many colors and paper-thin characters, but also some really great stuff

That was a short squash match, but Powers looked like a literal million bucks, physically!

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