WWE Network Conversation

[Cobra Commander]

I watched Clash 4, I didn't realize it'd include the longass Dr. Death vs Italian Stallion match. There's at least good matches on the other parts of the card.

I'm now watching Clash 7 and the crowd of drunk soldiers is red hot from the beginning. A bit of a change from Clash 9 in regards to how the crowd treats the Dynamic Dudes.

[odessasteps]

39 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

I watched Clash 4, I didn't realize it'd include the longass Dr. Death vs Italian Stallion match. There's at least good matches on the other parts of the card.

I'm now watching Clash 7 and the crowd of drunk soldiers is red hot from the beginning. A bit of a change from Clash 9 in regards to how the crowd treats the Dynamic Dudes.

Red hot is a good way to describe the temperature inside that building for the show. 

[Shartnado]

More episodes of 1994 Superstars just added. These go beyond King of the Ring and to the very early build towards SummerSlam.

Wow, Ted Dibiase must feel special to have TWO such classic angles going on simultaneously! Recruiting a broke-ass Nikolai Volkoff for lulz and bringing in the imposter Undertaker within a few episodes. I wonder if the Undertaker thought in the back of his mind that the imposter was actually Kane, before eventually seeing him in the ring and going "phew, it's just Brian Lee!"?

Speaking of King of the Ring, the tournament would have been way different if Scott Steiner, Lex Luger and Quebecer Pierre would have qualified over IRS, Jeff Jarrett and Mabel.

Earthquake's injury robbed us of Owen Hart vs Earthquake qualifying match, which would have been interesting.

I had never seen Razor vs Diesel IC-title match, where Diesel became the champ. Nice foreshadowing the week or two before, when Razor was able to hit Razor's Edge on Adam Bomb (which was impressive) to show that he MAYBE could get Diesel up as well (didn't happen, though).

Razor beating Kwang to qualify was funny as next year Savio Vega kinda took his spot (via late qualifying over IRS) in the King of the Ring tournament.

High Energy explodes? There's a Koko vs Owen match in here!

Edited August 25, 2021 by Shartnado
Watched some of it.

[RIPPA]

Cena will be the next Broken Skull Sessions guest (not until the end of Sept (Sept 26))

[RIPPA]

On 8/28/2021 at 12:31 PM, RIPPA said:

Cena will be the next Broken Skull Sessions guest (not until the end of Sept (Sept 26))

This has now been changed from Cena to Seth Rollins so that will be insufferable 

[odessasteps]

1 minute ago, RIPPA said:

This has now been changed from Cena to Seth Rollins so that will be insufferable 

Baby pictures for an hour.

[Curt McGirt]

Austin probably just requested a list of questions for him to ask Rollins then.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Curt McGirt

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Halloween Havoc 90

This show was in Chicago - I was in college, so why didn't I go? Oh yeah, I was on my newspaper internship in Florida. At least I got to go to Jacksonville for the Clash of the Champions with the all-time awful Sid vs. Nightstalker match.

Even though Sting was defending against Sid, The Black Scorpion popped up to perform a magic trick to remind us that he's still around.

Jerry Sags dressed up as a vendor before hitting Scott Steiner with a tray of drinks. Well, it was Halloween! 

Speaking of Halloween costumes, The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys dressed up as Jim Cornette to help Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich beat the Midnight Express. Cornette got his revenge by helping the Master Blasters beat the Southern Boys.

That match didn't appear on the WWE Network, and neither did Terry Taylor over Bill Irwin, Brad Armstrong over JW Storm, and Junkyard Dog over Moondog Rex. We just saw four tag team matches and the two singles title matches.

Stan Hansen wins the MVP award for beating hometown boy Lex Luger clean with the lariat to win the US title.

The finish of Sting-Sid was confusing. Sid won the title, and then Sting came back in the ring and pinned Sid to retain the title. The fans didn't realize that Barry Windham had the best Halloween costume of all (Sting) and allowed Sid to pin him. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling referee Randy Anderson. He caught Windham sneaking back to the locker room and saw the real Sting at the same time. 

Edited September 7, 2021 by Gorman

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Starrcade 90

As soon as Jim Ross said the Z-Man was riding a 35-match winning streak, you knew Bobby Eaton was going to beat him. It's like when the NFL announcers say, "This kicker has made his last 21 field goals ... whoa, he missed!"

WCW made Starrcade a "concept show" with the Pat O'Connor International Tag Team Tournament, just like when it did with the Iron Man and Iron Team tournaments in 1989. WCW didn't always treat Starrcade like its WrestleMania. 

It was strange to hear the intro for Rey Misterio and then see a big, pudgy guy coming to the ring. This was Rey Misterio Sr., uncle of the much more famous Rey Jr.  His partner, Konnan, also looked different because he was wearing a mask.

Sid Vicious was touted as "still a member of the Horsemen" for his one-night-only Skyscrapers reunion match with Danny Spivey. Then Spivey said that maybe it wouldn't be for one night only.

For a makeshift team, Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich were pretty successful. They beat the Freebirds here after defeating the Midnight Express at Halloween Havoc.

The Steiners are the MVPs for winning the tournament by defeating teams from South Africa, Mexico, and Japan. They should have won the Iron Team tournament one year earlier, but that honor went to the Road Warriors - even though the Steiners beat them by pinfall.

Ric Flair tried to hide the fact that he was The Black Scorpion. He wore two masks, used different moves and even fell to the mat differently. But when you've seen everyone on the WCW roster throughout the night, and the masked guy is the same height as Flair in relation to Sting, the jig is up. Even though Flair's ruse as the Black Scorpion was a failure, he still beat Sting to become WCW World champion one month later.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Gorman

[RIPPA]

See... infuriating

[hammerva]

I will give credit that the WWE was able to get Trey Wingo and Tom Ranaldi on the 9/11 Never Forget feature.  If you are going to use someone for the dramatic voice then Tom is the guy.  Helps to have friends at Fox   Also had Robert Horry who was sitting in the front row.

And yes they showed the promotional video but luckily didn't show Stephanie.   They showed JBL but luckily they ignored the anti Muslim comments.  It was a great show as long you don't watch the full 9/11 episode in your memory.

 

[odessasteps]

Didnt realize the legends roundtables were on the network.

[Shartnado]

Any idea if there will be any sort of classic drop in September? I don't think I have noticed any at this point?

[Gorman]

Thoughts on WrestleWar 91

Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton were rewarded for their success by winning the 6-man belts with JYD. They retained here against State Patrol & Big Cat.

Cool to see Itsuki Yamazaki of the Jumping Bomb Angels appearing on PPV three years later in WCW.  She teamed with Mami Kitamura to beat Miki Handa and Miss A. I got to see these ladies at a house show in Chicago two days earlier. They switched the teams, with IY and Handa beating Mami and Miss A.

On the last PPV, Alexandra York correctly predicted that Terry Taylor would lose. On this show, she was managing Taylor. Her computer predicted that he would take twice as long to beat Z-Man, even though it was a no-DQ match and Taylor said Z-Man had no killer instinct. 

Nikita Koloff blasted Lex Luger with the new US title belt, because we was mad that Luger had cheated to beat him for the US title four years earlier. The same thing happened to Luger in the WWF, where he KO'd Mr. Perfect with a steel plate at WM IX and Perfect screwed him out of the WWF title at WM X.

DDP overshadowed The Freebirds by being taller than them, coming to the ring with the Diamond Dolls, and then introducing Oliver Humperdink as the team's "road boss." The Freebirds finally got some shine by winning the World tag team title from Doom, which broke up immediately. Unfortunately, the Freebirds' title reign was over in no time.

Sid Vicious is the MVP for single-handedly winning War Games for the Four Horsemen by powerbombing Brian Pillman into oblivion. El Gigante had to scrape Pillman off the mat since he couldn't surrender.  Too bad Sid's WCW tenure would end with a whimper on the next PPV.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Gorman

[Gorman]

Thoughts on SuperBrawl

WCW kicked off one of its signature PPV series by introducing new characters like Johnny B. Badd (good for WCW), Diamond Studd (good for WWF), and Oz. He was introduced in a horrendous skit involving the Wizard of Oz characters. The show also included two bears (with Big Josh) and a monkey (with The Wizard). The fans rightfully booed the Oz skit out of the building. 

Speaking of animals, a masked, feathered wrestler named Fantasia gave the Freebirds another title win on PPV, this time over The Young Pistols. Big Daddy Dink, Brad Armstrong, DDP and the Diamond Dolls also showed up, but nobody got better results than the Dollar Store Gobbledy Gooker.

Nikita Koloff is the MVP. He beat former NWA World champion Tommy Rich to stay in line for a US title shot against Lex Luger. He tried to hit Luger with a chain but accidentally blasted Sting, which led them to brawl into the parking lot. Nikita went from sitting in the crowd at WrestleWar to feuding with WCW's top two heroes. 

Mr. Hughes is often known as a bodyguard, but he always seemed to make some kind of mistake. If HHH or Y2J had watched him knock out his own man, Terrence Taylor, they never would have hired him in the WWF. By way, props to Alexandra York for getting promoted from administrative assistant to executive director of the York Foundation in six months. What glass ceiling?

Bobby Eaton completed his singles push by beating Arn Anderson for the TV title. Ron Simmons also broke out the tag team pack by beating Butch Reed in the ThunderDoom cage match. Of course, WCW couldn't resist putting Teddy Long in the shark cage.

Ric Flair beat Tatsumi Fujinami to resolve the WCW title controversy that most of the fans in attendance didn't seem to care about. This was Flair's last WCW pay-per-view for a couple of years.

WCW began its long, unfortunate history of ignoring its match stipulations. El Gigante beat Sid Vicious in a stretcher match by pinning him with the claw. One Man Gang and Kevin Sullivan immediately attacked Gigante to distract from the fact that Sid was on his way to the WWF. 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Gorman

[John from Cincinnati]

I haven't fully engaged with Seth Rollins stuff in a couple years, so his interview with Austin came across well. Seems like a level-headed dude. I hope my appreciation of his mindset is reflected in my enjoyment of his work whenever I next sample it. 

[Shane]

I am a poor sleeper. I tend to fall asleep with the Network on, because Peacock doesn’t time out on the Xbox like most video apps do and if you find the right wrestling, it’s perfect white noise. 
 

At any rate, I’ve been half listening to 1987 Primetime as I try to settle. While Monsoon and partner tends to be good for that task (not to mention some of the matches being pretty yawn inducing as well), this team with Tom Prichard/Mike McGuirk/Pete Doherty is grating in every way possible. I do enjoy when The Duke laughs hysterically at his own jokes, but it’s otherwise like trying to listen to Gilbert Gottfried do commentary. Had to mute the tv last night!

[Shartnado]

Wow, Seth Rollins, man! He's much better human than wrestler, and he's still not a shitty wrestler, at all! That knee to Cena's face! That was real!

Shit, His idea of getting into the business is pretty much what I would have done! I'm physically better than you, but I want to pay my dues, is 100% what my idea of wrestling was all about!

Edited October 2, 2021 by Shartnado
Rollins is on to something

[Shartnado]

Hey, @paintedbynumbers, that Tatanka vs Kwang match(es) were some good shit, right? I love both of their work!

[paintedbynumbers]

Absolutely loved the match. I was always a big fan of Tatanka as a face. Turning him heel was dumb and he fizzled due to the turn.. 

Kwang was awesome too. Wasn't a bad gimmick but Razor Ramon needed Mr. Boombastic Shaggy (Savio) and WWE needed someone to fill in for every mystery partner match ever (Savio)  so I get it.

Lots of fun hidden gem matches on Superstars and on the Colliseum Home Video shows.  Always love going back and watching random matches.  Makes me wish for them to upload more MSG/Boston Garden House shows. 

[Shartnado]

18 minutes ago, paintedbynumbers said:

Absolutely loved the match. I was always a big fan of Tatanka as a face. Turning him heel was dumb and he fizzled due to the turn.. 

Kwang was awesome too. Wasn't a bad gimmick but Razor Ramon needed Mr. Boombastic Shaggy (Savio) and WWE needed someone to fill in for every mystery partner match ever (Savio)  so I get it.

Lots of fun hidden gem matches on Superstars and on the Colliseum Home Video shows.  Always love going back and watching random matches.  Makes me wish for them to upload more MSG/Boston Garden House shows. 

Other than Mr Boombastic being the only super Shaggy track in history, you are spot on in everything! Colliseum Videos ruled!

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Great American Bash 91

Losing WCW champion Ric Flair sent the entire company into a tailspin, from the bookers (PN News in a scaffold match? Missy Hyatt in a cage match?) to the seamstress (Diamond "Stud," "Rickey" Morton) to the graphics guy (Barry "Windam") to the fans (chanting for Flair during the Luger-Windham main event). 

Opening the show with a scaffold match between two non-teams (PN News & Eaton vs. Austin & Taylor) was the beginning of a long night. Missy didn't even compete in the main event. She was carried away by the Hardline Collection Agency, which was probably a better name than someone else might have chosen for the team of Dirty Dick Slater and Dirty Dick Murdoch.

Oz dialed back the stupidity of his entrance, but he lost to Ron Simmons, whose star was rising quickly.

Nobody wanted to see the Rock & Roll Express beat each other up, especially with Richard Morton working on Robert Gibson's knee for an eternity. Morton won after hitting Gibson with the computer, which should have said, "USE ME AT THE 5-MINUTE MARK."

Dustin Rhodes finished the 6-man match with Young Pistols vs. The Freebirds in spectacular fashion. He hit a bulldog on Badstreet while kicking Big Daddy Dink out of the ring at the same time. Dustin also helped Big Josh win the lumberjack match over Black Blood.

As impressive as Dustin was, Lex Luger wins the MVP award for finally capturing the World title. The fans didn't like it, and he didn't win the belt from Flair. But he got a fresh coat of paint with Harley Race and Mr. Hughes. Race said "Give him the heater, Ricky!"  "Now's the time!" and Luger won the title with a piledriver.

 

 

[Matt D]

21 minutes ago, Gorman said:

Thoughts on Great American Bash 91

 

 

 

GAB 91 was the only tape I had as a kid so it had a special place in my heart.

http://placetobenation.com/the-great-american-bash-1991-matt-d-in-the-world-of-spartacus/

[odessasteps]

That could explain so much.

[Gorman]

Thoughts on Halloween Havoc 91

The Chamber of Horrors match should have been the main event. It was a crazy, Halloween-themed cage match with an electrifying finish. The match had a lot of star power too (Sting, Steiners & Gigante over Cactus, Abby, Diamond Studd & Vader).

Bobby Eaton continued his great 1991 with a win over Terrance Taylor. Eaton's year would have been even better if Steve Austin and Dustin Rhodes hadn't emerged, as they battled later in the night for the TV title that Eaton held briefly.

Chattanooga fans must love the Atlanta Braves, because they went crazy for the Freebirds wearing Braves gear and doing the Tomahawk chop. Of course, if they were real Braves fans, they would have stayed home to watch Game 7 of the World Series, which the Braves lost to the Minnesota Twins.

Oz turned down the stupidity even more by ditching the old-man mask and Wizard hat, so Bill Kazmaier made up for it by carrying a "globe" beach ball on his back. Since Lex Luger had switched his finisher to the piledriver, Kazmaier quickly adopted the Human Torture Rack OF DOOM to beat Oz.

WCW kept piling on the gimmicks in 1991, with a rocker (Van Hammer), a fireman (Firebreaker Chip) and a soldier (Todd Champion).

Tom Zenk should have stayed in the WWF, and he lost PPV matches in 1991 to Eaton, Vader, Diamond Studd, and here to The WCW Halloween Phantom (Rick Rude). Rude was just the opposite, as he was a main eventer throughout this run in WCW after only a cup of coffee at that level in the WWF.

Brian Pillman is the MVP for becoming the first WCW light heavyweight champion. He worked hard all year and was the perfect choice to kick off the division as its champion. The WWF didn't crown its first light heavyweight champion until 1996 (Taka Michinoku).

Lex Luger and Ron Simmons both looked great in the main event. Simmons proved himself by pinning the World champion in the middle of the ring in the first fall, and Luger pinned Simmons cleanly with the piledriver in the third fall.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Gorman