Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

October 2021 Wrestling Discussion


Recommended Posts

"Razor Ramon's surname is actually Westerberg, "Razor" Ramon Westerberg, so he wasn't technically portraying a Cuban"

Wikipedia doesn't dive too deep into Scott Hall's early life aside from being an army brat. It might have been said in some shoot interview before but it wouldn't surprise me if Hall moving a bunch due to the Army and Shawn Michaels moving a bunch due to the Air Force gave them something to bond over when they became close friends in the WWF.

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

as someone who got to witness the KU/Mizzou Border War fan antics from up close.. the WWE/AEW fan skirmishes are still pretty minor all things considered.

For those unfamiliar.. KU/Mizzou, until it ended in 2012, was a 'fun' duel where both sides would pick their favorite fighter who was involved in burning down cities in the 1850s. The last decade has mostly involved griping over Mizzou leaving for the SEC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

"Razor Ramon's surname is actually Westerberg, "Razor" Ramon Westerberg, so he wasn't technically portraying a Cuban"

Wikipedia doesn't dive too deep into Scott Hall's early life aside from being an army brat. It might have been said in some shoot interview before but it wouldn't surprise me if Hall moving a bunch due to the Army and Shawn Michaels moving a bunch due to the Air Force gave them something to bond over when they became close friends in the WWF.

For some reason, it kills me that some of the guys from the Kliq hate people from the South. With Nash, I could understand because he's from Detroit and he went to play ball at the University of Tennessee and beat up his coach. That and he was bouncing in Atlanta when he broke into the business. He probably hates the shit of the South.

Hall? One of his gimmicks was Scott "Gator" Hall. I don't think it was his idea unlike Keirn doing the Skinner gimmick because he did that shit in his free time. However, they wouldn't doing that gimmick unless he was from Florida. Plus, John Holmes porno stache rocking, giant goofy looking lunkhead era Scott Hall looked exactly like a dude you see in the infield at a race in Darlington or Daytona.

There was a Raw I wanna say around fall or early winter 94 where Shawn Michaels is doing commentary with Vince. He was making fun of either Henry Godwinn or Sparky Plugg or somebody for being a hick. I get that he's a heel and everything, but at the same time, aren't you from San Antonio? And he wasn't even trying to do this Texas vs. another Southern state. I think it was a failed attempt at trying to be clever among many of his failed attempts. Sidenote: On that same episode or one close to it, when Owen does a promo in reference to Bret and talks about winning the upcoming Rumble in January, Shawn starts doing MST3K commentary under his breath about Owen. If you're a heel who has been supporting heels the entire show, why would you bury another heel in a top program? I get the Rumble thing since it's every man for himself (and he probably had an inclination/insider knowledge that he himself might be one of the guys chosen to win the thing by that point), but he was out of pocket for the rest. Yeah, Shawn was kinda in his own world then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Florida resident Sean Waltman probably doesn't mind the South too much though.

Out of the 1994/95 WWF top guys.. it's no surprise that Nash was never considered to work Smoky (since there weren't good matchups there and his previous experiences in Knoxville)... but I guess Bret Hart never worked Smoky because it just never aligned with his schedule.

Kind of a surprise that Shawn Michaels worked for Cornette for a night but Bret never did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

Florida resident Sean Waltman probably doesn't mind the South too much though.

Out of the 1994/95 WWF top guys.. it's no surprise that Nash was never considered to work Smoky (since there weren't good matchups there and his previous experiences in Knoxville)... but I guess Bret Hart never worked Smoky because it just never aligned with his schedule.

Kind of a surprise that Shawn Michaels worked for Cornette for a night but Bret never did.

When did Cornette start working creative though? I think Cornette's problems with Shawn started at the curtain call and then when there was a like a bump that went wrong when he was working against Shawn. By the time Cornette and Shawn were at odds, Smoky Mountain was done.

Bret was probably filming Lonesome Dove or probably making like 150 personal appearances that had to do (although Bret did do some shots in Memphis while he was feuding with Owen and/or Lawler). With some of the other guys who worked there like an Undertaker, they could probably take a couple days off by that time. Savage was not full timer anymore when he showed up. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Cornette pretty much went directly from SMW to the office in 1996. It wouldn't surprise me if August 1995 Shawn was significantly less fucked up than 1996/1997 Shawn too. Although Shawn apparently had a long-standing grudge with Buddy Landel over something that happened 10 years earlier, so. But I think Cornette didn't get too mad over how Shawn did in that match.

As for Bret, i'm sure he mentions in his book when he was filming Lonesome Dove. But considering that Bret worked Memphis in 93, it's not like he was totally averse to the state of Tennessee. The only real problems would be him not wanting to work on offdays, if he had any, and also the logistics of going from Calgary to Tennessee if he was traveling.

IIRC, Undertaker was living in Nashville in the mid-90s, so he was able to make Smoky towns as a result.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd think the travel plan would involve flying from Calgary to Atlanta and then getting to East TN in some other way, but that might be slumming it a little for Bret Hart. Sorta like how Cornette's routes to get from East TN to WWF dates involved driving to Charlotte or Atlanta instead of bothering with a connecting flight from Knoxville (also, Cornette hates flying, so i'd guess if he had to fly, he wants to minimize the details)

As for Nash in East TN... it's not like he could get a televised endorsement from his former coach. But much like how he claims to have been more over in Montreal than Pierre.. he probably has stories about how loved he was in Knoxville in WCW.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Charlotte was a hub even back then, I think. So def better to drive a couple hours for a direct flight. 

When I still flew, I figured it was often better to drive to National and get a direct flight than go to BWI, even though it's at least 30-45 minutes closer. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

I think Cornette pretty much went directly from SMW to the office in 1996. It wouldn't surprise me if August 1995 Shawn was significantly less fucked up than 1996/1997 Shawn too. Although Shawn apparently had a long-standing grudge with Buddy Landel over something that happened 10 years earlier, so. But I think Cornette didn't get too mad over how Shawn did in that match.

Per OSW, this was the house show he missed* to do that show:

Quote

4th August 1995: Emmitsburg, MD
Bam Bam Bigelow was scheduled to face King Mabel in the main event, but missed the show due to a knee injury.
Skip beat Nick Barberry; Jean Pierre Lafitte bested Duke Droese; Bob Backlund dropped Man Mountain Rock; Hakushi toppled Aldo Montoya; The Smoking Gunns overcame Jacob and Eli Blu; Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Doink; Savio Vega rolled over King Mabel by DQ.

That was probably some high school benefit show. Shawn probably was getting more money to work Smoky Mountain than that show.

*not saying he missed as in he no showed because he probably never scheduled to work that show in the first place

Quote

As for Bret, i'm sure he mentions in his book when he was filming Lonesome Dove. But considering that Bret worked Memphis in 93, it's not like he was totally averse to the state of Tennessee. The only real problems would be him not wanting to work on offdays, if he had any, and also the logistics of going from Calgary to Tennessee if he was traveling.

2 minutes ago, Infinit said:

Gosh, flying from Calgary to Knoxville must have been a mission and a half. I could understand why he wouldn't have done it lol

Didn't Bret have a bunch of young kids at the time? I know I would see Blade (Hart) around a lot during that time. I'm pretty sure he loved Cornette, but working Pikeville, KY or Warrensville, NC when you can finally see your wife and kids after being on the road forever doesn't make much sense.

Quote

IIRC, Undertaker was living in Nashville in the mid-90s, so he was able to make Smoky towns as a result.

He was also friends with Primetime Brian Lee who was likely living nearby.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd imagine wrestling fans living in Pikeville thought it was a big fucking deal that the Undertaker was showing up there. But yeah, I wouldn't think they could talk Bret Hart into doing anything more than Knoxville/Johnson City. Randy Savage, who was probably hungry enough to work, was only Knoxville and then Marietta as part of Smoky having friends in Cobb County to work in WCW's backyard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Cobra Commander said:

"Razor Ramon's surname is actually Westerberg, "Razor" Ramon Westerberg, so he wasn't technically portraying a Cuban"

Wikipedia doesn't dive too deep into Scott Hall's early life aside from being an army brat. It might have been said in some shoot interview before but it wouldn't surprise me if Hall moving a bunch due to the Army and Shawn Michaels moving a bunch due to the Air Force gave them something to bond over when they became close friends in the WWF.

Fun fact; my mom and Scott were close when both their families were stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Cobra Commander said:

I'd imagine wrestling fans living in Pikeville thought it was a big fucking deal that the Undertaker was showing up there. But yeah, I wouldn't think they could talk Bret Hart into doing anything more than Knoxville/Johnson City. Randy Savage, who was probably hungry enough to work, was only Knoxville and then Marietta as part of Smoky having friends in Cobb County to work in WCW's backyard.

I'm sure they absolutely loved seeing Taker, which obviously is the reason he was requested to be there. Probably goes for the other guys as well. At the same time, the tippity top guys probably won't looking to add dates if they could help it.

By the way, the New Generation/early Attitude era is a wild time for WWF because no way would they (WWE) allow those guys to be doing what essentially Tony Khan is doing now by having people randomly work elsewhere.

Hell, one of my favorite memories is going to see Cactus Jack and Abdullah headlining some random indy show circa 96/97 at the Washington County Convention Center in Greenville, Mississippi. They had this wild ass brawl that spilled into the crowd and backstage with folks slipping and sliding everywhere and busting their ass because a mop bucket got knocked over in all the madness and water was everywhere. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You did have them doing 3rd party bookings late into the 90s.

That was one of JC's jobs, along with booking enhancement talent for TV tapings. 

Admittedly, that was likely for the likes of the Hardy Boys and not folks like Austin and taker. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

WCW tried that, didn't they? How'd it work out for them?

Alternatively: I'm sure Vince likes the idea of booking John Gruden, but surely now is not the time?

Edited by AxB
  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

watching one of the 1984 MSG shows added to the Network today.

Unfortunately they typoed the Sheik/Slaughter Boot Camp match into a Boot Strap match... which still has some potential as a gimmick provided the strap was long enough and didn't come off of the foot easily

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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