Robert S Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 37 minutes ago, Pete said: Wasn't dark, it was (I think) her and Watanabe vs Blayze/ASARI, and it aired on Raw. Kong massacred ASARI with the uraken, legit bloodied her up, and that was it for the division. Of course when Blayze showed up on Nitro with the title the following month, it sort of looked like she was ducking Kong. WWF should have actually run with that angle. But (1) Kong's priority would have been AJW and (2) WWF in late 95 / early 96 was not that much in battle mode. But if that happened 1.5 years later with (a) AJW going bankrupt and (b) WWF using everything they can get in the "war", who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Aja used a package piledriver back THEN? Just how many finishers did Joshi wrestlers invent? Also funny hearing that Vince was going on America Online and would answer any question truthfully haha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 1 hour ago, Robert s said: WWF should have actually run with that angle. But (1) Kong's priority would have been AJW and (2) WWF in late 95 / early 96 was not that much in battle mode. But if that happened 1.5 years later with (a) AJW going bankrupt and (b) WWF using everything they can get in the "war", who knows. With those guys in the Women's division, it could've been WWFs answer to the Cruiserweight division. I didn't know anything about Joshi as a kid watching Survivor Series 95 but that tag match was dope. I'm surprised JR wasn't a bigger proponent of them, especially Aja. WCW brought in Joshi a few months later which I barely remember, I have no memory of Luna in WCW. It's just surprising that neither major companies try to really feature Joshi talent in the 90's. Kong became one of my favorites ever when I discovered Joshi later. It would've been dope to see her every week on national tv 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 On one hand, that would have a good niche for Paul to explore after he lost the luchadors to WCW. But, then again, imagine the chants in the Bingo Hall. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Ooof. Let's not and say we did 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabremike Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) 5 minutes ago, odessasteps said: On one hand, that would have a good niche for Paul to explore after he lost the luchadors to WCW. But, then again, imagine the chants in the Bingo Hall. People always bring up the Philly crowds but the NYC ones were a billion times worse. It feels like half the matches featuring Japanese wrestlers in the Lost Battalion or Elk's Lodge featured chants of "Hiroshima" or "Pork Fried Rice" amongst other things. If Aja Kong killed someone like in the gif above the roof of the ECW Arena would've blown right off. Edited January 30, 2021 by sabremike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) Yeah, the Philly crowd did some bad shit, but it *never* shit on Japanese talent. There was a Women's match with W*ING workers in 93 that was well recieved. Edited January 30, 2021 by Raziel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Honestly I don't remember any backlash against guys like Koji Nakagawa or Minoru Fujita when they worked NYC over the years. Great Sasuke was over like a motherfucker when he worked the Elk's Lodge and the heel heat when he put over Justin Credible was ridiculous. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great ML Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 1 hour ago, sabremike said: People always bring up the Philly crowds but the NYC ones were a billion times worse. It feels like half the matches featuring Japanese wrestlers in the Lost Battalion or Elk's Lodge featured chants of "Hiroshima" or "Pork Fried Rice" amongst other things. If Aja Kong killed someone like in the gif above the roof of the ECW Arena would've blown right off. I can totally see an “Aja’s gonna’ kill you...” type chant becoming a thing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 It's funny this Bull Nakano talk popped up recently, since there was an article on Yahoo Japan where she mentions she was getting paid something like ten times what she was in AJW - specifically saying she got around $9500 for just doing these squash matches (but I think she misspoke, surely, and meant $9.5K for each "tour" she came over for). 12 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said: I just watched that Raw like some weeks back. That match was the final one for Bull in WWF BTW. They basically wrote her off as Rhonda Singh debuts as Bertha Faye in her Monster Ripper gear attacking Alundra after the match, which basically went over like a fart in church. Not only did Bull just completely disappear once she lost the match (IIRC you never see her roll out of the ring or take the loser's walk of shame), but Gorilla or whomever is doing play-by-play goes, "SHE'S EVEN BIGGER THAN BULL NAKANO!" So I was like, "Yeah, Bull is done with the company." Isn't the rumor that they were going to have Bertha and Bull feud, but then Bull got caught with coke so she was fired? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 19 minutes ago, Casey said: Isn't the rumor that they were going to have Bertha and Bull feud, but then Bull got caught with coke so she was fired? As much as I would have loved to Bull as a babyface, I can't imagine anyone but Alundra being the centerpiece. Listening to some of the old STW episodes, based on hearing Bruce speak on why they stopped using the Jumping Bomb Angels years earlier, they clearly wanted their babyface champions to speak English. So I doubt that was going to be the direction they went in. Second, Bull couldn't carry Bertha five years earlier when Monster Ripper came back to AJW. It would have been a very tall task to do it in 1995. Re: Aja I think Aja would have been a valuable asset for WWF to use, but at the same time, there was some legitimacy in her being reckless. We've discussed it in some detail in other threads so I won't go into depth again. I know this is the same company that would sign Vader once he was free and clear of WCW at the end of 1995 so there is obviously hypocrisy there. It's just there is a happy medium between your stuff missing by several inches and really legitimately hurting people. That's why I can't get onboard with Meltzer making it sound ridiculous the notion they wouldn't want her there because of that. Clearly, he doesn't remember a good portion of her AJW run. Add in fact that WWF has always been down on folks who have an injury history or constantly stay on the shelf. The solution would be to you know...not hire folks who would put them on said shelf. IDK. If she could have dialed it back a bit from like a 12 to like 8 or 9, she would have been an awesome get for them. As is, I can see why they only used her sparingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabremike Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 2 hours ago, Pete said: Honestly I don't remember any backlash against guys like Koji Nakagawa or Minoru Fujita when they worked NYC over the years. Great Sasuke was over like a motherfucker when he worked the Elk's Lodge and the heel heat when he put over Justin Credible was ridiculous. It was more certain fans for ECW who did stuff like that. There are a couple of matches that featured Japanese guys where they were really good but were never put on TV because of really offensive crowd chants (Tiger Mask vs (iirc) Antifaz del Norte being the one that really sticks out. Saw it on the fancam and watching these mutants chant shit while they were having a real good match was like WTF?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 I've got an old WWF magazine at home that features a preview of Alundra vs Aja Kong booked for Rumble 96. So, yeah, things de-escalated quickly for the division. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 14 hours ago, Six String Orchestra said: Make that his gimmick. The man who knows how to pull you apart - and put you back together. Needs Steve Austin involvement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 10 minutes ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said: Needs Steve Austin involvement. Liking the name change, @GuerrillaMonsoon. Will take getting used to having know you by RolandTHTG for so long. Best wishes, bud. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 15 hours ago, Six String Orchestra said: Make that his gimmick. The man who knows how to pull you apart - and put you back together. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Complete non-sequitur: Scott Steiner is the Teddy Hart of promos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Moving stuff. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shartnado Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 3 hours ago, Jiji said: Complete non-sequitur: Scott Steiner is the Teddy Hart of promos. Please show your work on this equation. It fascinates me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReiseReise Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 A friend of mine recently watched the Royal Rumble match of 1995 for the first time. I was sure it was the worst Rumble match ever, but then I saw 2017's Rumble match yesterday, now I'm not so sure anymore. That part with Lesnar, Goldberg and a near immobile Undertaker destroying everyone in short order was my least favorite thing about it, but even stuff like Jericho being in it forever while being out most of the time was just awful. Goodness, I hated that Rumble. (I really needed to vent here, I'm sorry) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 2 hours ago, ReiseReise said: A friend of mine recently watched the Royal Rumble match of 1995 for the first time. I was sure it was the worst Rumble match ever, but then I saw 2017's Rumble match yesterday, now I'm not so sure anymore. That part with Lesnar, Goldberg and a near immobile Undertaker destroying everyone in short order was my least favorite thing about it, but even stuff like Jericho being in it forever while being out most of the time was just awful. Goodness, I hated that Rumble. (I really needed to vent here, I'm sorry) Out of those two, I think I'd watch 1995 again. My top ten Royal Rumble matches: 1. Ric Flair, 1992. 2. Steve Austin, 2001. 3. The Undertaker, 2007. 4. John Cena, 2008. 5. Triple H, 2002. 6. Asuka, 2018. 7. Shinsuke Nakamura, 2018. 8. Chris Benoit, 2004. 9. Edge, 2010. 10. Drew McIntyre, 2020. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 3 hours ago, ReiseReise said: A friend of mine recently watched the Royal Rumble match of 1995 for the first time. I was sure it was the worst Rumble match ever, but then I saw 2017's Rumble match yesterday, now I'm not so sure anymore. That part with Lesnar, Goldberg and a near immobile Undertaker destroying everyone in short order was my least favorite thing about it, but even stuff like Jericho being in it forever while being out most of the time was just awful. Goodness, I hated that Rumble. (I really needed to vent here, I'm sorry) As a Kid, it was probably the Rumble I watched the most. I watched that whole show several times growing up. As an adult I probably watched that Rumble match one time. It went by way too quick and knowing that they wanted Shawn to be the Ric Flair of that Rumble the length of the match ruins it. The finish was cool as a kid and I was a big mark for both Davey and Shawn and that's probably why I wouldn't say it was the worst. I wish they got more out of Shawn vs Davey coming out of that match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DangerMark Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 9 hours ago, The Natural said: Liking the name change, @GuerrillaMonsoon. Will take getting used to having know you by RolandTHTG for so long. Best wishes, bud. Patti Hearst must have finally bought him out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReiseReise Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 @Ziggy I think 95 is probably a Rumble that just shows how severely thinly spread the roster was at that point. It may hold up way better today, although the minute intervals were never my favourite, it may have been the right choice given who they had. Davey and Michaels as the Final guys were good choices, the finish was really good. I probably should give it another go. Just to give you a bit of a perspective, the first WWF PPV I bought (on Colosseum Home Video) was King of the Ring 1995 and I watched it over and over again. So yeah... @The Natural Liking the list, I'd probably put 2001 over 1992 solely because I'm giant Kane fan. I was a bit underwhelmed with 2002 when it actually happened, but it holds up well upon re-watch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 16 hours ago, RIPPA said: It was a singles match so Pete wasn't right either God, Lawler has always been shit, hasn't he? I'm surprised he exercised restraint with a Japanese woman named "Chaparita". Was Human Beat Box the rapper he kept calling "Fat Boy"? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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