WWE Network Conversation

[Mister TV]

On 5/15/2023 at 9:33 PM, Cobra Commander said:

the heat-getting dynamic of Baby Doll being taller than Tully probably wouldn't make it to the 2020s either, instead Baby Doll would have been more of an asskicker while a heel

hell, this might be perspective, but Baby Doll is taller than Abdullah (or close to it), so by today's standards, she'd be booked like Rhea Ripley

 

Also take into account that she normally wore high heels.

[Cobra Commander]

watching MSG 9/26/1977 tonight

Opener is a "little person" (midget) match, Cowboy Lang/Haiti Kid vs Little John/Little Tokyo. If you've seen one of these matches from the 1970s. Excited to find out if this match will make me think the WWWF guys are gigantic, like how CMLL guys working directly after Minis seemed massive back when I watched CMLL in 2019/early 2020. Man Vince sure did like mentioning how muscular Cowboy Lang was. The babyfaces (Haiti/Lang) win in straight falls. WWWF decided "you know those 2 out of 3 falls matches that other territories use for big matches? we're only using it for midgets"

Johnny Rivera vs Professor Toru Tanaka: Tanaka, the famous Wrestler magazine panelist. Much like Masa Saito, Tanaka looks like he'd beat the fuck out of you if the McDonalds was closed and he would be formidable if his friend was fighting the cops. The video quality is choppy. One white dude with an afro is happy to see Toru Tanaka beat Johnny Rivera in 10 minutes.

Baron Mikel Scicluna vs Dynamite Jack Evans: Obviously one of several Jack Evans in wrestling history. Scicluna's hair is majestic. It's like if the Dad from the Waltons (Ralph Waite) was an evil Maltese pro wrestler. This is apparently a heel vs heel JTTS match but I guess Evans is more of a face vs Scicluna. Both of them get disqualified for being counted out while fighting on the ring apron. A fine use of 7 1/2 minutes.

Mr. Fuji vs Lenny Hurst: Lenny Hurst would be the pre-SD Jones West Indies babyface around here? (He's billed from Jamaica, despite what you'd think from his last name). Fred Blassie is directed to go to the back and collect his paycheck for walking out to the ring. We get the salt ceremony after the bell rings. Fuji has "Japan" on his tights in case you were unsure of where he was being billed from.  Fuji wins as evil continues to prevail.

Bob Backlund vs Pretty Boy Larry Sharpe: Bob Backlund, of all people, gets a prematch interview with Vince McMahon. This is a battle of undefeated streaks. Larry Sharpe is throwing roses. Sharpe looks more like a pretty boy than Buddy Rose looked like a playboy. On checking CageMatch, there was one Bob Backlund/Bam Bam Bigelow match in 1993 which I can't imagine being anything less than a styles clash. Vince calls Backlund the quickest wrestler in the WWWF, which might say something for the guys on this roster in the late 70s. There is a little bit of "loveable goof babyface Rick Steiner" to Bob Backlund countering a duckdown by jumping over Sharpe and ducking down next to him. Backlund wins with the deadly Atomic Drop.

Superstar Billy Graham vs Dusty Rhodes: The reason why I'm watching this now. Dusty Rhodes is superover at this time. I guess in the WWWF pantheon of ethnic babyfaces, Dusty was the babyface for native Southerners of any race who've ended up in the Northeast? The prematch graphics spell it "Super-Star Billy Graham" for the record. This is a near all-timer for combined charisma in a WWWF title match, isn't it? Dusty is thinner at this time (of course) and also appears to have spent time tanning. Stomping on the babyface's fingers? evil heelery. Stomping on the heels' fingers? the heel deserved it. Maybe Cody Rhodes needs to get a little rounder before I could really buy him as a champ. Gotta love how the WWWF referees looked and dressed like guys who owned their own auto mechanic shop. Dusty is so ridiculously over with these fans, it's amazing to watch. Dusty got to do his comeback out of two different submission holds within minutes of each other. Pretty sure the last huge wins involving bearhugs involved Mark Henry and also the time that Brock Lesnar beat Hulk Hogan on Smackdown. Update: Dusty's in a 3rd submission hold, escaping a backbreaker and unleashing elbows. Dusty flips Graham over the top rope as the referee counts from the floor instead of the ring. Dusty wins by countout but acts like he won the belt because the babyfaces are idiots about this sort of thing around here. Dusty poses with the belt as Ralph the mechanic/referee eventually tells him to give it up. Dusty gets the MSG mic lowered for a brief comment.

Dusty and Graham would face each other in a Texas Death match the next month (which is also on the Peacock Network). I'll leave the card commentary here and if anything happens in the last 30 minutes of this card, I might edit it into the post.

Edit: the last two matches were Peter Maivia vs George Steele and Jay Strongbow/Garea/Zbyszko vs Stan Stasiak/Ken Patera/Captain Lou Albano. Jay Strongbow vs Lou Albano, a clash of great Italian-Americans.

Somehow Captain Lou looks skeezier in 1977 wrestling shirtless/barefoot in all-black than he looked in the mid-80s when he was even fatter and looked like he smelled of booze constantly

Edit 2: I've decided that 1977 Lou Albano looks very Ron Jeremy-esque, only with more booze and no rape (the Captain is a family man and not a sex pervert, after all)

Edited May 18, 2023 by Cobra Commander

[porksweats]

9 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

On checking CageMatch, there was one Bob Backlund/Bam Bam Bigelow match in 1993 which I can't imagine being anything less than a styles clash. 

It is a clash but good lord do they pull off a helluva story!!!!

 

 

[odessasteps]

There's a clip on the wwe YT of the Graham/Race match in the rain in Miami.  Wonder if they have it as a complete match or, like a lot of Florida stuff, just clips.

[Cobra Commander]

Watching MSG 10/24/1977

First match: Johnny Rodz (The Unpredictable) vs Larry Zbyszko (The Polish Prince?). Rodz did some stalling early (Larry had to learn it from somewhere) and also he mimicking trying to box Zbyszko (I'd take Rodz in a boxing match). Neat Rodz move of turning his back on Zbyszko expecting that he wouldn't be attacked from behind by virtuous babyface Larry Zbyszko. Larry wins after 9 minutes by countering a move into a small package.

Pretty Boy Larry Sharpe vs Johnny Rivera: Sadly we skip right past Tony Garea vs Baron Mikel Scicluna. Larry Sharpe has a neat jumpsuit like he's performing Elvis songs in a small market. "Not a lot of action in this one so far" says Vince, pondering why he's here at this moment. Jack Evans is apparently Larry Sharpe's tag team partner. For whatever tag team action exists outside of the WWWF Tag Team Champions (Fuji and Tanaka) and their current opponents (the next face tag champs would be crowned in March 1978, Dino Bravo and Dominic DeNucci). Fuji and Tanaka won the tag team titles a day after the last MSG show I watched. Larry Sharpe wins in 10 minutes with a suplex.

Butcher Vachon vs Lenny Hurst: Captain Lou is in Butcher Vachon's corner. He has the look of a man permanently banned from a local bowling alley tonight. Even by old wrestling standards, Hurst's stomps/offense doesn't seem that good. I typed that before he almost fucked up a sunset flip into the ring. Vachon wins with a hangman submission hold in 6 minutes. I'm not sure which Vachon was better but Mad Dog probably has more personality than Butcher.

Women's Tag Match: Kitty Adams/Leilani Kai vs Winona Little Heart/Vivian St John. The MSG debut of Leliani Kai. Vince referring to Kitty Adams as "chunky". The 70s!. Vince referring to Vivian St. John as "Vachon" multiple times before correcting himself. St. John is 6 feet tall. Heels win after a doubleteam in almost 11 minutes. I didn't pay much attention to it.

Dusty Rhodes vs Superstar Graham, Texas Death Match: the fans wake up as Dusty appears and he shares a brief comment with Vince. Nice restraint to wait a few minutes before Dusty started bleeding. Graham starts bleeding a minute or two later. This is a no holds barred match but the ref won't let Dusty make a pin with his feet on the ropes. It's not a hold, pal. Graham wins after a collision in 10 minutes and Dusty knocks him to the floor. Nice blood for something that barely went 10 minutes.

Next up is Peter Maivia/Chief Jay Strongbow vs Fuji and Tanaka, 2 out of 3 falls. Eh, if anything interesting happens for the rest of the card, i'll edit this post.

"Jay Strongbow, the honorary Indian Chief" (because he's Italian) is teaming with the High Chief here. (edit: later on Vince noted that Strongbow was 40% Indian and the rest was "a combination" yeah i'd say)

man, Maivia's traditional Samoan tattoos really are something. The Maivia/Tanaka matchup would a battle between the Bond movie that Maivia was in and the action movies that Toru Tanaka did. I'd never ever bet against a Samoan in a fight, so I think Maivia could have handled Tanaka "in a shoot" (bro bro) but it would have been close. Got two Japanese guys from Hawaii, an Italian, and a Samoan in this one.

Maivia and Strongbow win the first fall (la primera caida).

The second fall ends quickly after Maivia bled too much and some fans chant "Bullshit" and somebody who looks like a Warriors gang member gets into the ring and the cops have to get off their asses for a moment. Strongbow eventually comes back for the 3rd fall. Maivia comes out to clean house and apparently the match is now over "due to outside interference by Peter Maivia", who was in the match a few minutes ago. What a bunch of bullshit to not have to do any kind of fall in this one.

Of course all this built up to....

Fuji and Tanaka vs Garea and Zbyszko and Graham/Maivia next month at the Garden. Were the October ahd November cards booked by the same person?

And now we get Stan Stasiak vs Ivan Putski in an Iron Curtain heritage feature match. Croatia/Serbia vs Poland. Ivan Putski's hair makes him sorta look like a 5'5" Dr. Death Steve Williams at this time. Except that there was a wider market for Polish Power than Sooner Football. Stasiak walks off quickly. What's the kayfabe payoff for working a curfew draw vs losing by countout because Stasiak could have just held out a few more minutes until the union workers couldn't work any more.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Cobra Commander

[Curt McGirt]

12 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

I think Maivia could have handled Tanaka "in a shoot"

If you haven't seen it, the Tales from the Territories about Hawaii has Billy Robinson telling Peter to eat with a fork and not his hands "like a savage". Peter rips his eye out and throws him through the restaurant window. So... yeah.

[Cobra Commander]

10 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

If you haven't seen it, the Tales from the Territories about Hawaii has Billy Robinson telling Peter to eat with a fork and not his hands "like a savage". Peter rips his eye out and throws him through the restaurant window. So... yeah.

yeah, i'm taking a Samoan dude with his lower body tattooed over a wide judoka in a fight

If they had a Brawl For All of 1977 WWF guys, I'd think that the Puerto Rican enhancement guys would be more formidable than their booking lot in life, and that they have to gimmick the rules hard to prevent Peter Maivia from ripping some dude's face off.

Also the results mention Maivia using the "Samoan Stump Puller"... would that just be a Stump Puller or do they do that move differently in Samoa?

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Big Apple Blizzard Blast

Woman, who had defected to WCW, showed up at ECW and dared anyone to throw her out of the building. So 2 Cold Scorpio did just that. Missy Hyatt later showed up to replace Woman as Sandman's valet. Missy showed up after Stevie Richards accused her of sexual harassment. 

Raven drove a wedge between Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck, causing them to lose the tag team belts to the Eliminators. Cactus again wore the best T-shirt of the night (WW F'N F). Well, he was tied with Stevie Richards, who taunted Shane Douglas by sporting the yellow Razor Ramon shirt with the huge face on it (I have that shirt!)

Buh-Buh Ray Dudley made the entire clan popular with his stuttering and dancing antics. He destroyed JT Smith, whose gimmick was to show up, act Italian, and lose.

Sabu survived a bunch of power moves from Mr. Hughes before putting him away with a springboard chairshot.

Sandman & Scorpio won the main event over the Gangstas. Scorpio didn't rely on high flying to win the match, as he sprayed Mustafa in the eyes with hairspray.

Rey Misterio Jr. is the MVP for training the audience to appreciate Lucha Libre. His eye-popping moves resulted in an ECW chant, which was always reserved for something hardcore. Not only that, but stood up to Taz and said he wasn't afraid of him. This was after Tod Gordon came out and curiously implied that 911 was afraid of Taz and left the building.

 

 

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Cyber Slam 96

Brian Pillman's performance defined the Attitude Era. Showing up unexpectedly and insulting the last company he worked for was one thing, but when he threatened to use the ring as a porta-potty, ECW officials and wrestlers rushed to the ring to stop him. It's too bad that Pillman's body failed him just when he found a money-making character. For being too extreme for ECW, Pillman is the MVP.

Tommy Dreamer brought in the Bruise Brothers as his backup for his feud with Raven, but they immediately stabbed him in the back and joined Raven. Later, they helped Raven beat Sandman to retain the ECW title.

ECW was like an alternate reality in which 2 Cold Scorpio is a major singles star. He successfully defended the ECW TV title (his fourth!) in a 30-minute draw with Sabu in a match that was almost wall-to-wall action. In WWF and WCW, Scorpio was typecast as "that guy who does flips."

Mr. Hughes should not have antagonized Big Dick Dudley, who walloped him with a crutch and caused him to lose in less than a minute to Buh-Buh Ray Dudley.

Stevie Richards was paired up with Francine in a 6-person dog collar match involving the Pitbulls and Eliminators. This was like Stevie getting put in a steel cage with Luna Vachon. But by the time ECW made it to pay-per-view, Stevie had become a World title contender.

Brian Hildebrand served as referee for the Shane Douglas-Cactus Jack match, which was appropriate since they were all trainees of Dominic DeNucci. I didn't expect him to give Douglas a foreign object and allow the Franchise to handcuff Cactus and blast him with chairshots like The Rock did three years later.  Cactus called for help from Vince McMahon (no answer) and then Mikey Whipwreck (who gave him another chairshot and caused him to lose). 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Gorman

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Big Ass Extreme Bash

This was a double-shot weekend in New York City and Philadelphia. Brian Pillman bought a ticket to the NYC show, but he antagonized Shane Douglas so much that he got kicked out of the building.

Cactus Jack lost to Chris Jericho in NYC but won his final ECW match in Philly over Mikey Whipwreck. Cactus then called out the two men without whom ECW could not exist - Stevie and Meanie, for a kick line and Fargo Strut.

Juventud Guerrera beat Rey Jr. in a best-of-three falls match in NYC, but Misterio won the rematch in Philly, even though he got powerbombed on a car.

Mustafa had to face the Headhunters alone in New York, but New Jack was sprung from jail in time to join him to win the main event in Philly over the Headhunters and Sandman & Scorpio.

Raven is the MVP for successfully defending the title twice (Sandman and Douglas) despite suffering from gout. Sure, he had help from Stevie, Meanie, Kimona, and the Bruise Brothers, but Ric Flair got a lot of help from the Four Horsemen, too.

Edited June 1, 2023 by Gorman

[SirSmUgly]

I don't think I'll ever get over Jim Ross or whomever saying WHERE DOES THIS MADMAN SAVAGE KAMALA COME FROM?! LET'S TAKE A LOOK! and then they play that video where Kamala takes off his mask and stares into the camera looking just like a typical black uncle from the American South, except playing dress-up. 

I don't really understand why Watts took the route with the North American title that he did. That Brad Armstrong transitional title reign wasn't necessary. Other than Butch Reed, I'm not looking forward to anyone on the babyface side doing anything at that level. I'm dreading what is almost surely going to be a Terry Taylor title reign. Dude is so bland and boring. 

[odessasteps]

It's amazing how many mistakes he made in hindsight with the North American title. 

[SirSmUgly]

22 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

It's amazing how many mistakes he made in hindsight with the North American title. 

He's somewhat handicapped by simply not having enough babyfaces. He took the title off TA, but I'm not quite sure why! TA's still kicking around for a few months after that. 

The funny thing is that at the beginning of 1984, I felt great about where that side was at. He'd cycled JYD slightly down the card to push TA and had Hacksaw right there, too. He also had Dr. Death and Terry Taylor.

Now Hacksaw's back off TV for whatever reason, JYD is gone, TA is about to go, Dr. Death is a heel, and Taylor is a zero. It's Butch Reed and that's about it. He didn't rest on his laurels and only focus on JYD as a potential top babyface, but circumstance and bad luck have put him in this position in early '85.

I cannot believe I'm typing this, but this show desperately needs Hacksaw Duggan, and in retrospect, maybe Watts shouldn't have been so enamored with his need for a JYD replacement down to skin color and just rode Duggan at the top. Duggan's the guy. 

I'm disgusted that I typed that, but it's true.

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by SirSmUgly

[clintthecrippler]

On 5/31/2023 at 12:53 PM, SirSmUgly said:

I cannot believe I'm typing this, but this show desperately needs Hacksaw Duggan, and in retrospect, maybe Watts shouldn't have been so enamored with his need for a JYD replacement down to skin color and just rode Duggan at the top. Duggan's the guy. 

 

I am in September 1985 and Duggan has been off TV for a month and his absence feels even more pronounced then. It's still a great week-to-week watch but the wheels are getting a little rickety and the engine is sputtering a little bit, most notably with the tag team scene.

Spoiler

Ted Dibiase and Steve Williams beat the Rock N Roll Express for the Mid-South Tag Team Title, with the latter packing off for even bigger stardom with Jim Crockett Promotions.

A very fun feud begins between Dibiase/Williams and Jake Roberts/The Barbarian, who become defacto babyfaces since they had been organically becoming crowd favorites within the Irish McNeill Boys Club every week any way. Fans are itching for Jake/Barbarian to win the championships, but because Dibiase has to go to Japan, a convoluted angle occurs where that fat rotting-in-hell piece-of-shit Bob Sweetan is appointed to take Dibiase's place.

A pre-match promo occurs where Williams/Sweetan accept a title match challenge "next week" to defend against Jake/Barbarian on TV, only to lose the belts in their previously scheduled defense to the newly-formed team of Al Perez and Wendell Cooley.

The Perez/Cooley tag team is often written about in very dismissive terms, and at first when watching the TV week-to-week it actually doesn't come as out of nowhere as historical writing makes it out to be. Perez debuted a few months earlier getting the "Magnum TA/Belly-to-Belly" flash finisher push with his German Suplex, including a match where he would have beaten Dr. Death one-on-one if not for outside interference, and Cooley has been getting a slow-burn push as a potential future star getting consistent wins over other job guys.

But man, once the tag title win comes, it becomes apparent quickly that Perez and Cooley are not up to the task of being the new "good looking guys" to lead the tag team division. An absolutely AWFUL promo airs the week after that where it's immediately apparent Perez and Cooley don't have the ability to connect in that medium, and despite a well-meaning "overcome the odds"-style win over the behemoth tag team of Kareem Muhammad and One Man Gang, the makeshift team seems destined to flatline fairly quickly, and I haven't even hit the phase yet where they begin dressing in bandana-accessorized long black trunks like a certain team that just left used to wear.

And to add to the booking disorientation on top of that, they turned The Barbarian heel on Jake Roberts and had him join Oliver Humperdink's stable alongside the recently-debuted Lord Humongous, whose first appearance was genuinely booked awesomely, even if he has been around for a few weeks now and the normally well-buttoned up "rules" side of Mid-South hasn't explained why he can wear a hockey mask during his matches yet.

The fans were so primed for a Jake/Barbarian Mid-South Tag Team Title reign. I think they would have been really fun champions, and you have freedom to book them as tweeners, especially since it's been a while at this point since there was badass babyface brawler tag team champions. And even if you wanted to play devil's advocate and say another pair of good looking guys be the tag champs, THE FANTASTICS ARE STILL THERE.

P.S. not all doom-and-gloom in the tag division though, as The Fantastics have an incredible on-air feud with Bill Dundee/Dutch Mantel that has one helluva angle payoff if you've never seen it.

And as far as the North American Title is concerned, the less said about The Nightmare (aka "The Champion"), the better.

 

[odessasteps]

Two things:

I never get tired of the story about the Fantastics using Shoo Baby against Dutch, I think in Houston. 

Plug for Jeff Vam Camp on our pod discussing his debut in Mid-South and his brief time there. 

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Massacre on Queens Blvd.

The opening tag match featured new family members on both sides. JT Smith said that Damien Stone was actually a member of his Italian family named Little Guido. The Dudley Boyz got 10 times more serious when D-Von showed up. He single-handedly turned Dudleys from goofy clan to destructive force. Even though he attacked the ref and got his brothers disqualified, D-Von is the MVP.

A mystery woman jumped into the ring, started making out with Blue Meanie, and squirted whipped cream on him. When Kimona put a stop to the festivities, Raven and Stevie attacked her. 

Shane Douglas added Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon to the list of "wrestlers I'm gonna call out who don't work here." He said he wanted to fight the toughest SOB in wrestling ... so Meanie came back out. Axl Rotten ran him off, and though he lost, Shane showed Axl respect.

Similarly, Sabu showed respect to Mikey Whipwreck after beating him in the co-main event.

Taz beat Chris Jericho in an "extreme hardcore shoot fight" after Fonzie paid off the referee. Bribery is hardcore!

Dreamer & Pitbulls vs. Bruise Brothers & Brian Lee took the show's title literally and featured a brawl on Queens Blvd. Raven interfered and caused Dreamer to lose, so Tommy got his revenge by allowing the Pitbulls to superbomb him onto Raven through a table.

The Gangstas bounced back from being arrested to win the three-way dance main event over The Headhunters and Sandman & Scorpio. They must have hijacked the police car because when they returned to the ECW Arena, they were still handcuffed!

Edited June 16, 2023 by Gorman

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Hostle City Showdown 96

When Super Nova showed up in a goofy blue superhero outfit, you knew that he would eventually team up with Stevie and Meanie.

Buh-Buh Ray & D-Von Dudley got off to a slow start when they lost to The Pitbulls. But the real loser was referee Paul Richards, who suffered a chairshot from D-Von and a superbomb from the Pitbulls.

Devon Storm came out and tried to wrestle like Sabu. Taz put a stop to that by suplexing him out of the ring and winning by countout.

Speaking of people who wrestle like Sabu, Rob Van Dam came out and tried to match Sabu in aerial, furniture-assisted offense. Sabu won, and the match showed that these two would make great opponents and partners.

Brian Lee pledged allegiance to Raven, which meant that his first order of business was to destroy Tommy Dreamer -- which he did by placing a cinderblock on Dreamer's groin and blasting it with a chair. That will teach Dreamer to steal Raven's girlfriend ...

... Or will it? Dreamer came out later in the night and stole Kimona Wanalaya as well. He gallantly looked past the facts that Beulah McGillicutty was ...

A. Not really pregnant

B. Also in a relationship with Kimona

For stealing BOTH of his archenenemy's girlfriends, Dreamer is the MVP, which of course, stands for Most Valuable Player.

Shane Douglas tried to win the psychological battle over Raven by revealing this scandalous news, but Raven said, "I'll see your psychological warfare and raise you interference by Stevie, Meanie, Brian Lee, and the Bruise Brothers, as well as using a loaded boot." So Raven escaped with the ECW title.

 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Gorman

[Gorman]

Thoughts on A Matter of Respect

Damien and El Puerto Ricano showed their respect for Sabu by wrestling like him. Sabu showed his appreciation by putting them through a table.

Buh-Buh Ray & D-Von Dudley still couldn't get a win, even against Devon Storm & Damien Kane. D-Von destroyed referee Paul Richards again, earning a rare disqualification in ECW.

Early Chris Jericho and Prime Mikey Whipwreck were very evenly matched. Jericho won and showed respect to Mikey.

RVD won his rematch with Sabu. It was a respect match because RVD had refused to shake hands after their first bout. Sabu muttered "Respect," but RVD refused to shake hands again, establishing himself as a heel. What is this, ROH?

Shane Douglas beat 2 Cold Scorpio to win the TV title, which the Franchise said he didn't even want. He lived up to the title of the show by calling 2 Cold better than even himself, winning the MVP award. But when he asked for the former champ to present the belt to him, 2 Cold blasted him with the belt and a piledriver. To paraphrase Bugs Bunny, "What did you expect from ECW? A happy ending?"

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by Gorman

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Hardcore Heaven 96

Bob Artese returned as ring announcer after Sandman caned a guy doing a Michael Buffer impression. I don't condone violence against ring announcers.

Shane Douglas went from not caring about the TV title to caring about it a lot, after losing it to Pitbull 2. Shane beat Mikey Whipwreck to stay in contention. Then, during Pitbull 2's match with Chris Jericho, he tried to steal the belt and Francine. Jericho reversed a superbomb into a huracanrana to win the title.

When Blue Meanie came out as Bluedust, I bet he didn't think he'd get to wrestle the real Goldust on a WWF PPV three years later. We never got to see Baron von Stevie vs. Baron von Raschke.

The Dudleys lost yet again, this time to the FBI, even though they left D-Von at home. He showed up anyway and destroyed both teams with chairshots.

Taz went up against UFC fighter Paul Varelans and won after Saturn interfered with a dropkick. Taz then mocked the fans for thinking they were going to see a real fight.

Raven tried to get inside Sandman's head by bringing out his ex-wife, Peaches. It didn't work. But Raven raised the stakes by bringing out Sandman's son, Tyler, who said, "Daddy, you're a drunk. I worship Raven now." That worked. For taking psychological warfare to the EXTREME~!, Raven is the MVP.

Tommy Dreamer faced Brian Lee in a weapons match. Isn't every ECW bout a weapons match? It should have been a street fight since it went outside the building. When Dreamer was in trouble, Beulah and Kimona sprung into action by using a hubcap and stripping, respectively. The distractions worked, and Dreamer won. Lee got the last laugh by chokeslamming Tommy off the balcony through three tables.

Kimona's entertainment skills were needed as the crew fixed the ring before the RVD-Sabu main event. When the match started, the ring broke again, but Sabu lived up to his hype (homicidal, suicidal...) by jumping off the wobbly top rope to win the rubber match of his series with RVD.

 

 

[zendragon]

@Gormanhave you read Hardcore History? I’m currently re reading it and they just covered the Raven v Sandman angle

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

1 hour ago, Gorman said:

Thoughts on Hardcore Heaven 96

Bob Artese returned as ring announcer after Sandman caned a guy doing a Michael Buffer impression. I don't condone violence against ring announcers.

But do you condone violence against Joel Gertner?

[Gorman]

13 hours ago, zendragon said:

@Gormanhave you read Hardcore History? I’m currently re reading it and they just covered the Raven v Sandman angle

No - I will have to check that out.

[Gorman]

13 hours ago, Sparkleface said:

But do you condone violence against Joel Gertner?

Depends on whether he has a mic in his hand - he was actually pretty good as a "regular" ring announcer before Bob Artese came back.

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Heat Wave 96

Little Guido introduced his little brother, who of course was a giant named Big Guido. The Dudleys fought their own brother D-Von throughout the match, but they managed to score a win over the FBI.

Taz bragged about choking out stars from WWE (Bigelow), WCW (Devon Storm), and UFC (Varelans). He and Fonzie tried to fire Joey Styles and replace him with Joel Gertner. 911 came out to help. Even though 911 hit a chokeslam, Taz bounced back to choke him out, too.

Shane Douglas is the MVP for convincing Francine to turn on the Pitbulls and help him recapture the TV title. 

The main event was like three matches at once: Raven-Sandman in the cage, Dreamer-Brian Lee in the crowd, and Gordy-Stevie on the stage. Stevie was defending the ECW title for Raven, so when Sandman pinned Raven to win the match, Raven hung onto the title.

[Greggulator]

No idea how I never watched it, but I just checked out New Day vs. Pretty Deadly from NXT: Deadline. Did that make any MOTYC lists? That was spectacular.

It had everything I could want in a wrestling match:

A twerk-off

Heels begging off

Heel cheapshots

Awesome hot tags (Xavier Woods might be the best to ever do it)

The four-way Eddie tribute

False finish after a belt shot

Really fun offense from both teams — that weird springboard splash from Kofi and the Back Assisted Codebreaker. 

Beloved babyfaces overcoming the cunning heels and celebrating in the crowd.

That was a perfect wrestling match.