Smack2k

1996 was when it STARTED its DOWN FALL and NOSE DIVED... Did it have era's afterward when the belt was good? Sure (Orton in 04, but the belt wasn't really the focus, his length was, his biggest feud was with Foley, which really wasn't focused on the belt at all / Rock in 1998 and the HHH feud), but it never had that "BIG" feel to it anymore.. Anyone near 40 or older remembers HOW IMPORTANT that title was before then…the early 90's the title started to slip a little but hadn't NOSE DIVED as the topic says yet. In the 80's and into early 90's, the title was either made to put on a guy that they had earmarked for stardom, and the feuds were about that belt and winning it….is some of it nostalgia for us? Sure…but NO FEUD post 96 for that title (except for MAYBE Rock / HHH) were about THAT title and between two guys that the WWF had marked for stardom…It started to become that "lets put it on this guy and see if it will help (Mero / HHH (in 96) / Maivia (in 97 when he was not over at all) / Austins win was done to show how "bad ass" Austin was and how he didn't care, not about the belt)…it had a little blip back up in 98 with Rock / HHH but once HHH was hurt, it went right back down and never came close to getting near its former glory.. Has it gotten worse over the years? Sure, but every title is like that now (I HATE that you can show up after a match for the WORLD TITLE (the biggest prize in the game) and quickly pin the guy and take the belt..I fuckin hate it…but that isn't what this is about.. I can't think of one (outside Rock / HHH) feud post 96 that had that "Wow, this is for the IC Title…this is BIG" feel to it…if that makes sense.. 1996 when Ahmed got hurt, the belt began is NOSE DIVE and by the end of 96, it wasn't the same belt (in terms of meaning) anymore...

Couple thoughts.. 1. These articles fuckin rock....period...fuckin rock...lookin forward to them each week....if others havent read them, START NOW...if you didnt know about certain parts of the era, you can now...if you did know about it, this will put you back there and give you some shit to rewatch... 2. Interesting that the Fingerpoke of Doom happens and Nitro pulls its best rating since September the next week..Makes you think that maybe the Fingerpoke itself wasnt the start of the fall, but how they handled it in the upcoming weeks... 3. I had no idea Hogan sent out feelers to the WWF in late 98 / early 99 to get more from WCW....if Vince would have responded, could he have jumped? I wonder if (just for saying) the WWF offered more money, same schedule but he had to not THE MAN and be one of the main guys only...would he have done it or would the ego say no? I am guessing he'd stay, but curious what others think...money or ego for him?

From the 70's forward, who booked NJPW / AJPW / NOAH and what were the years of their tenures? AJPW: Baba - Until Death? Misawa - Until leaves for NOAH? NJPW: Inoki? Choshu - 90's - 2002 ???? Jedo - Gedo - ?? - Current NOAH Misawa - ?? - ?? Akiyama - ? - 2005 - ?

Sucks as there looked to have been a LOT of good stuff from early 90's Memphis that isnt in full or even pro shot outside ringside cameras.. Loss, my wife hates you now as my Friday night was spent watching various 1/4 NJPW shows from the 90s instead of doing what I was supposed to!!

LOVING These bro... Please keep em up.....this is the best new feature for wrestling I have found... Couple questions: 1. When and why did Memphis stop filming the Colliseum shows from the main pro camera like so many of the earlier 80's bouts that are on the Memphis set and other TV episodes / etc...? Was it due to smaller crowds and not wanting to show empty seats?

THAT is a great clipped match....I forgot about that...that match is great from what we get...and it is / was one of the 5 biggest dream matches for me

This is one I have wanted in full forever...but I also agree this match hasnt been going long as the commentary even mentions things happening "Very early", but Martel has worked up a sweat so still could be missing a few minutes, but what we get is really really good and very enjoyable Flair vs Nikita Bash 85 was a really good clipped match (the heat was really good)..but now in full I third the AWA Talk, so many great matches clipped up and what we see is amazing

I would LOVE if you extended this a little longer as I am finally getting into watching these in a quicker manner....

HIm as the money was a GREAT idea...and a mouth piece..until dumb ass Eric's ego got involved and he had to insert himself in..

Man, Could you imagine HOW good an Southern style feud between the Horsemen and NWO could have been if booked right and kept to a 4 on 4 or 4 on 5 type deal...that promo right there could have kicked off an AMAZING run between them,....but was not to be... Man, talk about a HUGE Missed opportunity.....Benoit / Arn / Flair / Mongo at first, then Mongo gets kicked out for being a "weak link" and they get a new guy in....against the NWO of Hogan / Hall / Nash / and then Luger turns....have Sting on the outside involved as well... Salivating... Funny that Hogan or the NWO dont come out to help Brutus, Hogan's "best friend" and Brutus still shows up at Hog Wild with a cake BEGGING to be NWO....man, he was booked like a bitch...

Holy shit Lawler, shut the fuck up....we get it, you have a chain in your pants and you hide it....its old and its fuckin dumb how many times you do it... I never understood why Lawler was thought as one of the best EVER as this was the Lawler I first saw when I became a fan...the Memphis 80's stuff has changed my opinion, but FUCK he was dull as shit and boring as fuck in Texas....

OK, I will check some of those out….keep reading on different sites about "this match was the biggest of their feud….etc. etc.. etc.." about a bunch of different guys in the 90's…..was curious what else was in those feuds...

I absolutely dont like Randy Orton and think of him like some on here negatively think of Bruiser Brody....just awful, boring and makes me not wanna watch wrestling if he's being featured...that being said.. His match vs. John Cena at Summerslam 2007 is a match that deserves more praise than it gets...I need to defend my point better, so I am gonna watch it again the next day or so and go over it....its really the ONLY Orton singles match (mind you I havent seen the Christian stuff, so..) that I thought was AMAZING.. I LOVED it....

Is this the match that took the lineage of the NWA Title to the Omaha / LA / Montreal lineages of the title?

Been searching the web for some detailed write-ups on the biggest feuds of CMLL (EMLL) / AAA / or other defunct federations (UWA) of the 70 / 80 / 90 / 2000 / 2000+? Anyone know of any good places to look or read about them? Or does anyone care to start detailing some of the biggest feuds here?