Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

July 2022 Wrestling Discussion


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, Log said:

There are a bunch of dignitaries from Ghana touring my workplace today.  No sign of Prince Nana, though.

Did you have shrimp cocktail out for them, eh?

  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Technico Support said:

I finally got a chance to catch up on some old wrestling in my 80s WWF chronological nostalgia kick, starting SummerSlam 88.  I remember this as the last PPV before I started high school, as I am old.

What I remember most about this show, even watching it when I was 14, was how most of these matches were one-offs, completely unrelated to ongoing storylines.  As I think we discussed when I posted about Mania 1, this was clearly because house shows were still king as far as money was concerned, so you needed to save Rude/Roberts, for example, for the houses.  Aside from that example, I can barely recall who was in programs with who back then.

Because Jesse is reffing tonight's main, we have to suffer through Superstart Graham on commentary.  Take a shot every time he says BROTHAHHH and you won't make the last third of the show.

Rougeaus vs Bulldogs: am I right in my recall that somehow this match started the real life beef between these teams?  Like maybe the Bulldogs wanted to go over but the Rougeaus weren't having that and then we were off to the races?  See more in the Dark Side of the Ring thread as some people argued that Jacques was an immature shit while I argued under the legal precedent of "don't want none don't start none."  Anyway, when I think of "do a hot opener to start the show," my mind doesn't immediately go to "20 minute tag team draw."  I know this is MSG but did Vince really need to do a callback to those 80s house shows where Tony Garea and Mike Sharpe would kick off the show with a draw?  Fuck.  Honestly, the match isn't horrible and the heat segment, with Dynamite playing scumbag in peril, is good.  Just...a 20 minute draw?  Really?

Bad News vs Ken Patera: I assume Patera was using the Olympics Theme at this time and that's what was dubbed out.  Fun little brawl.  Brown is clearly angry about Patera's cultural appropriation of the afro.  Bad News wins with THE GHETTO BLASTER, which suffers from an awful, Dunn-esque camera cut at the point of impact, as I laugh to myself about how nobody under 40 watching this today knows what a ghetto blaster is.

Rude vs JYD: Every time I see him work, I'm struck by how damn good Rude was.  JYD, as I probably mentioned on the last show I watched, has fallen off considerably.  He still loves taking that "falling tree" style bump, though.  I legit LOL in my living room at Rude's JYD tights.  DQ finish as Rude strips to reveal Cheryl Roberts' face on his cock and ass and it's too much for consummate family man Jake to abide.  

Powers of Pain vs The Bolsheviks:  I remember when the PoP were put together as Paul Jones' answer to the Road Warriors, kicking off a hot feud that saw them break Animal's orbital bone during a power lifting contest, culminating in a scheduled series of scaffold matches.  PoP noped the fuck out of JCP rather than take scaffold bumps a few days a week, as one does.  Maybe that last part was kayfabe?  Who knows anymore?  Hey, remember when Baby Doll managed Warlord?  Weird.  Anyway, this is just a 5 minute squash to heat PoP up for something with Demolition and the upcoming double turn at Survivor Series.  Vince should have put Warlord and Barbarian back together for a brief run against Men on a Mission, as MoM vs PoP would have been a really relatable feud for kids from broken homes like me!

That's where I stopped during this session.  Honky Tonk has an open challenge next for the IC title!

88-91 WWF is a fun period.  I loved Jacques and Raymond and wish they would have done more with the Rockers. Obviously as both were heel I wouldn't have minded A Rougeou-Orient Express match either for shits and giggles.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Greggulator said:

Is Darby right now as good as Rey Mysterio at his peak in the “smaller dude with insane moves getting wrecked by a bigger dude” category?

there is a difference. Rey had a wicked offense and had a lucha crispness to his move set where as Darby doesn't give a F about his body and will do some insane stunts. He isn't at Rey level yet but if he can stay healthy he damn sure will get there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Technico Support said:

I finally got a chance to catch up on some old wrestling in my 80s WWF chronological nostalgia kick, starting SummerSlam 88.  I remember this as the last PPV before I started high school, as I am old.

What I remember most about this show, even watching it when I was 14, was how most of these matches were one-offs, completely unrelated to ongoing storylines.  As I think we discussed when I posted about Mania 1, this was clearly because house shows were still king as far as money was concerned, so you needed to save Rude/Roberts, for example, for the houses.  Aside from that example, I can barely recall who was in programs with who back then.

Because Jesse is reffing tonight's main, we have to suffer through Superstart Graham on commentary.  Take a shot every time he says BROTHAHHH and you won't make the last third of the show.

Rougeaus vs Bulldogs: am I right in my recall that somehow this match started the real life beef between these teams?  Like maybe the Bulldogs wanted to go over but the Rougeaus weren't having that and then we were off to the races?  See more in the Dark Side of the Ring thread as some people argued that Jacques was an immature shit while I argued under the legal precedent of "don't want none don't start none."  Anyway, when I think of "do a hot opener to start the show," my mind doesn't immediately go to "20 minute tag team draw."  I know this is MSG but did Vince really need to do a callback to those 80s house shows where Tony Garea and Mike Sharpe would kick off the show with a draw?  Fuck.  Honestly, the match isn't horrible and the heat segment, with Dynamite playing scumbag in peril, is good.  Just...a 20 minute draw?  Really?

Bad News vs Ken Patera: I assume Patera was using the Olympics Theme at this time and that's what was dubbed out.  Fun little brawl.  Brown is clearly angry about Patera's cultural appropriation of the afro.  Bad News wins with THE GHETTO BLASTER, which suffers from an awful, Dunn-esque camera cut at the point of impact, as I laugh to myself about how nobody under 40 watching this today knows what a ghetto blaster is.

Rude vs JYD: Every time I see him work, I'm struck by how damn good Rude was.  JYD, as I probably mentioned on the last show I watched, has fallen off considerably.  He still loves taking that "falling tree" style bump, though.  I legit LOL in my living room at Rude's JYD tights.  DQ finish as Rude strips to reveal Cheryl Roberts' face on his cock and ass and it's too much for consummate family man Jake to abide.  

Powers of Pain vs The Bolsheviks:  I remember when the PoP were put together as Paul Jones' answer to the Road Warriors, kicking off a hot feud that saw them break Animal's orbital bone during a power lifting contest, culminating in a scheduled series of scaffold matches.  PoP noped the fuck out of JCP rather than take scaffold bumps a few days a week, as one does.  Maybe that last part was kayfabe?  Who knows anymore?  Hey, remember when Baby Doll managed Warlord?  Weird.  Anyway, this is just a 5 minute squash to heat PoP up for something with Demolition and the upcoming double turn at Survivor Series.  Vince should have put Warlord and Barbarian back together for a brief run against Men on a Mission, as MoM vs PoP would have been a really relatable feud for kids from broken homes like me!

That's where I stopped during this session.  Honky Tonk has an open challenge next for the IC title!

I tried to give someone the ghetto blaster when I was in 7th grade and broke my wrist and arm in 3 places. I did this while in school and had to go to the ER.  Long story short my friend came at me in the hall to throw a clothesline and I put my foot up jokingly, he caught it and I went to do the ghetto blaster/enziguri and landed on my wrist/arm.   Missed Basketball season, pissed off my coach, and mom.  Never tried to do the move again. 

Bad News made it look so good it's criminal. 

  • Like 8
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/25/2022 at 7:59 PM, Tarheel Moneghetti said:

Twitter sez WWE put out a press release naming Triple H as head of creative.

Skeptical this is a great job for a guy with a heart condition.

Is scripting 2 weekly shows really that difficult, especially with all the writers and support staff? They aren't trying to find a cure for cancer lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Infinit said:

Is scripting 2 weekly shows really that difficult, especially with all the writers and support staff? They aren't trying to find a cure for cancer lol

And stress is all set by having unrealistic expectations without the resources to back it up. Dial it back a notch and have the scripts be finished more than a week in advance and don’t have people feel like they are walking on eggshells. Every corporate culture comes from the top. 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I'm still working through old WWF in order (I'm on Summerslam 88) and I just watched HTM/Warrior.  The match was what it was, not much to really comment on it here, but the whole big picture and the inside history that's been sort of accepted just doesn't add up here.

We're talking about apocryphal wrestling tales like the alleged Mania 6 Piper rib where (insert wrestler here) did something to his body dye and he had to go home half black.  But what about the whole HTM/Vince/DiBiase/Savage story?  I'm not so sure I'm down with the accepted narrative.  From what's been said in a few places, Vince wanted HTM to drop the IC title to Savage in late 87/early 88ish (maybe the September 87 SNME?) and DiBiase was supposed to be the winner of the Mania 4 tournament.  But HTM refused (because he figured he'd be done after jobbing) and, as the story goes, Vince went with Savage as the World champ.  I have many questions:

  • So was DiBiase going to be the champ from Mania 4 to Mania 5, then lose it to Hogan?  Or was Savage going to win it before Mania 5 to set up the Mega Powers angle?  I mean was the plan for Savage to chase DiBiase on house shows?
  • Were they seriously going to end Mania with a heel victory? 
  • Why would HTM guard his spot against Savage, only to agree to a much more damaging job, a squash, later?
  • Why would a traditionally babyface champion territory go with a heel champion for any length of time?
  • How does the original bracket for Mania 4 figure into all this?  What the hell was the plan with that bracket, anyway?

I just don't see it, especially the stuff about HTM steadfastly refusing to job to Macho, only to allow himself to be squashed less than a year after that.  But I would have loved seeing WWE go full Crockett with Savage and other babyfaces chasing DiBiase throughout 1988.  Thoughts?

Another thing on the show: I FFWD'd through the Brother Love show with Duggan because who needs to watch that?  One weird historic tidbit, though..while WWF was setting up Summerslam the angle was "WHO WILL RANDY GET AS A PARTNER TO FIGHT THE MEGABUCKS?"  I don't know how long it lasted but everybody knew it would be Hogan.  But I do specifically remember watching Superstars and seeing Duggan volunteer, since he'd had a program with Andre.  I can't remember how long they went with that angle before just announcing Hogan.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In one of HTMs shoots, he mentioned that Savage, Elizabeth, Vince and Dick Ebersol had a meeting at Ebersol's home about the Main Event primetime special, focusing on having Savage win the IC belt from HTM.

HTM said he was told by Vince at Titan Towers about the Main Event plan after the Ebersol meeting, and was told that his character would be "rebuilt" after the title loss. He took this that he would be lost in the shuffle and, at worst, out of a job. So he fought the decision -- he said Savage supported him -- and the ending was changed to HTM keeping the title.

In regards to Warrior, HTM said in the same shoot (I believe) that he was OK with dropping the title because Vince was direct with him about plans for the IC belt-- that he would get rematches on house shows with Warrior, etc.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...