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1 hour ago, KDWI said:

Yeah, he talked about it in his old Ring of Honor shoot. WCW wanted him to be a kid-friendly character, so after he had to stop with Arachnaman, he said something to the effect of "well, you guys own Captain Planet, just make me Captain Planet."

Could have worked. Cut promos saying he'd only work non-smoking arenas.

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2 hours ago, Thomas Bugg said:

What's this thing about a counterfeiting scheme by Barry Windham in the WWF? And speaking of him, did Arn and Larry Z actually fuck up his hand or was that a work? 

When Barry was in the WWF as the Widowmaker (around 1989), his brother and father were arrested by federal authorities for their part in a counterfeiting scheme.  Kendall and Blackjack testified against their partners and got a plea deal, spending a year or two in a minimum security facility.  I don't remember if Barry simply took time off to take care of the family or if Vince asked him to quit because the company didn't want the bad publicity.

The Enforcers didn't break Barry's hand.  That was an angle to write him off that night's match and off tv.  He did have a broken hand, but he had broken it previously in a squash match (forget who the jobber was).

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6 hours ago, Vader does my taxes! said:

When Barry was in the WWF as the Widowmaker (around 1989), his brother and father were arrested by federal authorities for their part in a counterfeiting scheme.  Kendall and Blackjack testified against their partners and got a plea deal, spending a year or two in a minimum security facility.  I don't remember if Barry simply took time off to take care of the family or if Vince asked him to quit because the company didn't want the bad publicity.

The Enforcers didn't break Barry's hand.  That was an angle to write him off that night's match and off tv.  He did have a broken hand, but he had broken it previously in a squash match (forget who the jobber was).

Barry said he quit on his own to take care of his family and he didn't want to bring any unneeded heat and scrutiny on the WWF. He thought that the feds would be up his ass about the whole thing and didn't want any of that to blow back on Vince or anybody else in the WWF. Pretty considerate of him.

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Considering the only two high-profile matches Windham had in the WWF that aired were a countout win over the Red Rooster and a time limit draw with Tito Santana, I doubt Windham would have lasted long in the Survivor Series match anyway.  When you can't even pin the two guys that EVERYBODY beats...  He probably did himself a favor leaving and then going back to WCW.

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8 hours ago, sydneybrown said:

Considering the only two high-profile matches Windham had in the WWF that aired were a countout win over the Red Rooster and a time limit draw with Tito Santana, I doubt Windham would have lasted long in the Survivor Series match anyway.  When you can't even pin the two guys that EVERYBODY beats...  He probably did himself a favor leaving and then going back to WCW.

I thought they had some plans for him. I remember him winning a lot of squash matches and the announcers hyping him up a lot. In any case, here's a recap of the shoot interview I was referencing earlier and the portion where he talks about getting his release in 89

http://www.kayfabememories.com/TapeReviews/shootinterviews/windham-2.htm

Quote

Going to the WWF in 1989- He was one of the last guys to get a guaranteed contract, and Jim Herd didn't want to deal with him. He knew he wasn't making what other people on top were making, and it upset him because he was playing ring general to several sub-par workers. He doesn't name names, but says that some very over guys couldn't work and you could tell it when they faced each other. Talks about how Pat Patterson was living near Tampa at that time and had been talking to him, and had said that Vince had forgiven and forgotten about what happened in 1985 (he says that Vince NEVER forgets, though). He called Vince himself and then gave his notice to Jim Herd, citing that Herd wasn't willing to work with him on a contract.

Becoming the Widowmaker- Vince said he had a spot for him, so he flew him up to Stamford to discuss it. Says that the Widowmaker gimmick was basically his normal self, except his hair was slicked back in a ponytail, and that he was named after a famous bull that had gored a lot of different cowboys, including some fatalities. He says he was in the biggest and best condition of his life at the time, at about 330 pounds, and that was what Vince liked, except the gimmick died a quick death because of his family's legal troubles.

Blackjack and Kendall's counterfeiting bust- They got arrested in 1989 or early 1990 while Kendall was wrestling for WCW and Blackjack was a road agent there. Barry went to Vince and convinced him to give him a release to save the company face when the Secret Service started trying to tie him into it. Says that Blackjack and Kendall had made a mistake in judgement and had trusted the wrong people, and got a minimum sentence out of it, but the authorities kept trying to tie him into it. Claims it was like being under house arrest because he was constantly harrassed over it, but the grand jury didn't indict him, but that the shadow of it was over him for about 4 years. He says about how he normally doesn't like to talk about it, but that he's being honest and that he only discussed it because it was connected to certain career decisions he made.

 

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I don't think Windham was there long enough during the "Widowmaker" period to establish feuds and the like. I recall in early interview insets during his TV squashes, he was quick to challenge Hogan, and the heel announcers would praise him for knowing what he wanted, and focusing on the top dog.

Given the plans post-WM6 (Warrior vacating the IC title), I could see Windham being a challenger for the IC title in the spring/summer of 1990 if he stayed, and possibly get a house show run (or even an SNME match) with Warrior for the World title.

IIRC, Windham was listed as one of the competitors for Royal Rumble 90 early on -- even appeared on posters promoting the show -- but the announcers stopped referring to him after a week or two. I could honestly see him either get one of the longer runs in the match, or be one of the guys with the most eliminations.

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Windham would've defo had a main event run as Widowmaker, or at least been at the Macho Man level of upper midcard. Absolutely sucked he had to leave

Seeing Barry in WWF was the only reason I picked up the Collosium video of SS89 way back when and I'll never forgive them for keeping that team pic on the back knowing full well he wasn't on the show :angry:
 

He's says something quite honest in that shoot interview when he's asked who is the most overrated wrestler and answers himself - had all the ability but none of the desire

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23 hours ago, RolandTHTG said:

http://wwfoldschool.com/hulk-hogan-vs-giant-gonzalez-almost-happened/

First I've heard of this (how's the weird photo of the two staring each other down at a house show before Hogan left in 93....with the Smoking Gunns of all people in the background). Instead of Bret, he tried fucking over Taker instead.

 

FWIW, it was the dark match at a TV taping (no way would a house show ever be lit up like that) and the Smoking Gunns were there because the Hogan match was a lumberjack match.  I gotta think that article is pure "What If?" because Hogan was pretty much done after KOTR and seemed to have only stuck around afterwards to headline the European tour a few weeks later.  That dark match is the only TV he did.

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I've been watching a lot of NWA WCW circa 1985 today... a lot of this stuff I forgot about... how Ronnie Garvin got himself into the title picture, etc... how bad ass Magnum TA really was... how good on the mic Road Warrior Hawk was...

And I'm incredibly impressed by Kent Glover... he had some good psychology and could sell... if he had a body he could have been something.

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On 6/2/2016 at 10:09 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

What an awful mess '93 Hogan vs. Giant Gonzalez would have been.

It almost happened again when WCW tried to bring him in for the Dungeon of Doom. It didn't work out, so we got the YET-TAY!

Forget how scary that match is - according to that article, we almost got Gonzalez vs. Lex Luger.

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1 hour ago, Michael Sweetser said:

Forget how scary that match is - according to that article, we almost got Gonzalez vs. Lex Luger.

Either one would have been the stuff of Wrestlecrap legend. 

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Not so much a question, but everyone loves to point out Hulk subtly stealing the spotlight from Warrior at WM6 by handing the belt over and all that when his actions at the end of WM4 are a much worse example of that... yet no one ever seems to bring it up. Is it because it wasn't as momentous/viewed as a passing of the torch?

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All things considered, Savage got a 1 year title reign out of that vacation Hogan took with plenty of memorable feuds set up on TV. I never missed a Savage MSG title defense whereas I always felt I could skip Hogan's defenses depending on the opponent (i.e. Kamala or some such). Seeing both Bad new s Brown v. Savage matches made me a very happy teenager.

James  

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