Al

One thought that did just occur to me however. Might Owen Hart have spent time and maybe gotten a title run in TNA?

It's a shame that things worked out the way they did, but there's no booking rationale on earth that could've given the belt to Owen before Wrestlemania XIV. The Austin program was in full swing and it would've hurt to hotshot the belt.

I think stitches is the more likely term. Easy slip.

I disagree. If Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero received title runs, it's inevitable that Owen Hart does as well. Provided he had the desire to stick around in the business. 1999 it's highly unlikely yes.

Kennedy's in the wrong era. If he were in the '70s, he could be three-quarters a manager and one quarter a wrestler, ala Lou Albano.

That's crazy. It did happen though. WWF @ Hartford, CT - Civic Center - November 23, 1984 Steel Cage Turmoil: WWF IC Champion Greg Valentine defeated SD Jones WWF IC Champion Greg Valentine defeated Angelo Mosca Tony Atlas defeated WWF IC Champion Greg Valentine Tony Atlas defeated Bob Orton David Schultz defeated Tony Atlas Tito Santana defeated David Schultz Tito Santana defeated Moondog Rex Tito Santana defeated Bobby Heenan Tito Santana defeated Moondog Spot Ken Patera defeated Tito Santana Ken Patera defeated David Sammartino Ken Patera defeated Swede Hanson Ken Patera defeated Mario Mancini Ken Patera defeated Mr. Fuji Ken Patera defeated Jose Luis Rivera Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Ken Patera Big John Studd defeated Chief Jay Strongbow Big John Studd defeated Salvatore Bellomo Finals: Big John Studd defeated Rocky Johnson Non Cage Matches: David Sammartino defeated Mr. Fuji The Tonga Kid defeated Roddy Piper via disqualification Tito Santana defeated Moondog Rex Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson defeated WWF IC Champion Greg Valentine & David Schultz via disqualification

According to Cawthon's site, it was advertised as Kamala vs. Andre. Big John Studd subbed.

Match of the Year from that era should be taken with a grain of salt. Remember they didn't have the internet, tape trading was extremely limited and there wasn't a huge level of national saturation. So most fans were aware of their local promotion and whatever was hyped in the Apter mags. Flair/Race was the biggest match on the biggest card of the year.

Considering the widespread abuse of gambling and game fixing in baseball and professional boxing in the early 20th century, I'd have a hard time believing wrestling was clean competition. In fact, tracing worked wrestling matches would probably be as easy as tracing the origins of sports gambling. The only question is what percentage was real versus fixed.

No Heyman. I'm tired of the crash booking concept in general. We need an alternative.

Indeed. I've been loving the Oliver/Johnson series of books, since they really cover wrestlers I never would have heard of otherwise.

Heck, at this point the Undertaker has main evented more PPVs than any other wrestler.

Great point, and really even Youtube has made it ridiculously easy. I want to check out that MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana match that Loss loved? Available on demand.

There's also a halo effect at work. People will swear up and down that Brian Piccolo was great, Nick Adenhart would have been a 20 game winner, Len Bias was an awesome basketball prospect, etc. We never found out, so people who remember them assume the best.

I think highly of Ramon/Michaels of Wrestlemania X, and I think its strength is that it had a strong storyline going into the show. Most ladder matches seem to lack that.

Can you imagine what a Stu Hart might do to a guy like this?

The one point I might see in David's favor is that he worked heel in other places. I've not seen enough of his work to make a full judgment. He might have the potential. After all, how many wrestlers had their greatest matches before they turned 25?

Man, Dave O'Neill was an incredible nincompoop.

It's tricky. Less programming time means less wrestlers needed, and positions are thin as it is. On the other hand, territories had the balance of only being regional, so you only saw 1-2 programs. Maybe if it were wall-to-wall on Saturdays, it'd be easier to digest.

It's odd that wrestling is a bit more open than most other sports. I've only come across two baseball players who were openly gay, and one of those after his cup of coffee career.

I'd go a notch above terrible. It was dull, but decently worked. Still, I'd rather see this kind of stuff from WWE Legacy than yet another re-airing of Wrestlemania matches.

It's on WWE Legacy. Has this match ever aired before? Cawthon's site says that Shea Stadium bouts aired in its place.

In fairness, that started long before Vince Jr. Look at Haystacks Calhoun. Bill Watts made the Junkyard Dog a huge star around 1980 or so. The strange thing about this is that Backlund ran a pretty good string of sellouts at Madison Square Garden. It's hard to look back and come to the conclusion that Vince Sr. made the wrong choice.

I don't get the "Vince is so delusional..." angle when he's never even claimed (at least openly) what we're accusing him of believing.

Koko's just odd because he's never really been featured at any point in the last 15 years. Came completely out of nowhere.