JerryvonKramer

Reading around Blassie recently, it was mentioned that he was a bumper who worked from underneath in the Flair manner. With Stevens's West Coast connection, do you know how much of his style -- if anything -- he took from Blassie? Any thoughts?

Would very much like to hear listeners' thoughts on Backlund vs. Inoki for this one because Pete and I had quite the disagreement over it. http://placetobenation.com/titans-of-wrest...rch-april-1980/ Parv, Johnny, Pete and Kelly plow on through 1980. This episode is dedicated to James. On the docket: 03-24 ANDRE THE GIANT/PAT PATTERSON vs BOBBY DUNCUM/KEN PATERA MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 03-24 HULK HOGAN vs TITO SANTANA MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 04-12 BOB BACKLUND vs HULK HOGAN WWF TITLE PHILADELPHIA SPECTRUM 04-12 BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs LARRY ZBYSKO PHILADELPHIA SPECTRUM 04-12 TITO SANTANA/IVAN PUTSKI vs WILD SAMOANS TAG TITLE CHV CLIP PHILADELPHIA SPECTRUM 04-16 BOB BACKLUND vs ANTONIO INOKI WWF TITLE BAD MIAMI BEACH FL 04-80 SAMMARTINO, PATERA/WIZARD, BACKLUND, PATTERSON PROMOS WWF TV Plus: - Johnny pays tribute to the dearly departed James - Spotlight on Larry Zbysko -An epic bio for Classy Fred Blassie - A surreal, mind-bending review of Hogan vs. Backlund - And Parv, Pete and Kelly argue about the latest installment of Backlund vs. Inoki as yet again Johnny skips his homework The PWO-PTBN Podcast Network features great shows you can find right here at Place to Be Nation. By subscribing on iTunes or SoundCloud, you’ll have access to new episodes, bonus content, as well as a complete archive of: Where the Big Boys Play, Titans of Wrestling, Pro-Wrestling Super-Show, Good Will Wrestling, and Wrestling With the Past.

I laughed.

You're like a man desparately flailing about to find a counter-argument

I'm not very good at Microscope / youtube watching, that's where you, Matt and Martin rule. I host TWO podcasts and I'm not dead, so I'm doing alright with wrestling projects. Not to mention 80s projects and booking Ivan Koloff to two world titles! That's enough plates spinning for me. (*ahem* 1990 yearbook *ahem*)

Not to bring up old arguments Matt, but the overness of Virgil in 1991 is Exhibit A in my case for "why Ted was better than Bossman in WWF".

This will sound ridiculously completist, but try to start at "the beginning" with the first Starrcade (or even better Final Conflict -- there's a great set of videos on youtube giving you the full build). It's hard to get the emotional impact of Starrcade 93 if you haven't built up the relationship with Flair from 83. You could watch shows in a vacuum but they are going to hit home more if you have built up a context. If Starrcade 83 seems too far back (although honestly, the chunk of the best Crockett is 85-8 talk to goodhelmet for more ...), Clash 1 wouldn't be a bad time to jump in. That's when the major players for the next few years like Sting and Luger are coming to the fore. And you can get a feel for key teams like the Midnight Express and so on. From the moment Hogan comes in during 94 to the end, it's a very different promotion, so that would be another neat jumping in place. Although -- in my personal view -- everything before it is much more interesting.

This show was really really good, actually a contender for best episode of PTB ever, you guys are on a hot run at the moment. Will was fantastic on this episode, very incisive and brought up a lot of good points. But Scott and Justin have somehow managed to get the best stuff out of Scott Keith in over a decade. He was great on this show and funny! Him and Peddycord were actually my own "go to" guys back in the day -- I used to cross check Keith's WCW reviews with Peddycord's, so to hear them both on the same show is something. Thought Justin raised some really interesting points throughout and held things together in the chair. I do have a little tidbit regarding the Bagwell story that Keith brought up: it's actually a point raised by Meltzer back in 1990, but I assume the ruling never changed. Basically, in WWF the house rule was that no one acknowledges the camera or the existence of the camera ever. Think about it for a moment ... when did guys in WWF ever look down the barrel of the camera on the way to the ring? It was one of the things Vince always insisted on, he didn't like it. In WCW, they were allowed to play to the camera and it's easy to think of guys doing that every week on Nitro. I think Chad and I talked about this with Loss on a show before (my memory is shot so don't ask me which one). What I think happened in that moment at the Gorilla position is that the agent was reminding / telling Bagwell "do not mug for the camera". Not a change in the booking, but an enforcement of a house rule. Bagwell has spun that later as them trying to fuck him. I'm about 90% certain that's how it would have gone down and why.

Mid-South 2.6 The Fantastics & Hacksaw Duggan vs. Midnight Express & Jim Cornette (7/20/84) Cornette is wearing his white y-front outside of his black tights. You have to give it to him, he was absolutely fearless in front of those Texan crowds. Can't help but feel that the heels are out-gunned here. Eaton and Fulton to start. Paul Boesch is on commentary here for this Houston show. He explains that Cornette has been forced into signing this match. Probably a bit too much schtick in this match for my tastes. Corny, as you'd imagine, does a lot of hit and run stuff. Eventually the match settles down and Fulton is our FIP -- it took much too long for the match to get to this point though. Eaton works Fulton's arm. Lovely bodyslam. Misses a frog splash from the top. Hot tag to Duggan. Double noggin knocker. Cornette is dragged in. Ref has lost control of this one. Hercules Hernandez runs in and attacks Duggan. DQs all round. Took too long to get going and ended just as it did. ** Mid-South 2.7 The Fantastics vs. Midnight Express (OKC 8/9/84) Cornette is still in his ring gear here. It's great watching him jaw the fans as he walks down the aisle flanked by the Midnights with their theme playing in the background. Amazing! "Sharp-dressed man" is a hell of a theme tune too. This Oklahoma venue is awesomely dark and grimy looking. Bobby Eaton seems to be telling someone in the crowd to brush their teeth. Ha ha! Above the ring there's some metal covering -- what is that? A giant heater? A massive lighting rig? Weird. Rogers and Eaton start out here. Fantastics control in the early going tagging in and out. Rogers dominates Condrey with a series of shoulder barges, he backs up into the corner where Eaton and Cornette fan him. He stands back up and offers Rogers a handshake. Condrey is the best at this sort of shit. Eaton comes back in and the Fantastics work over his arm. MX can't get anything going here. Eventually Corny distracts the ref which allows Condrey to sneak in for some cheap double teaming. There's our transition. Rogers is our FIP and eats a sweet Condrey backbreaker. Eaton takes over with a series of Irish whips and elbows. Rogers has a hopespot punching Condrey in the breadbasket, but Eaton suckers Fulton into coming in distracting the ref. This allows some cool double teaming. MX have cut the ring in half now and no one does it better. Condrey is awesomly dickish winding up Fulton and I love it. Hammerlock takedown by Eaton. Condrey cuts off another hopespot with a running knee. Rogers is taking a pasting here. Russian legsweep by Condrey. Rogers gets an inside cradle on Eaton for 2. Just another hopespot as Eaton hits a big dropkick. Finally Rogers gets the hot tag to Fulton who unloads on the MX. Condrey wraps his hand in a chain of some sort but he and Eaton miss a double clotheline and the Fantastics sneak a pin on him. Great southern tag formula match -- although these two teams have better matches later. ****

They seemed to mix that up right through the 80s in Mid-South. Sometimes Watts switches between the two in the space of a few minutes.

Well Dooley, here's that O'Connor match from 1978: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOEfnNhB6vM 1:42 in while he's in the figure four he gives us a woo. Judge for yourself how orgasmic it is though. In addition, after the match he gets into a bit of a scuffle with DiBiase and calls his old man a "nothing". He's clearly more the Nature Boy we know and love. In that clip with Rip Hawk, he still seems to be channeling Dusty Rhodes to me. What I find quite interesting about this is that at some point in 82 or 83 in the lead in to Starrcade 83, Flair seems to flip his character again and becomes the babyface "Minnesota Flair". I'm interested to know how often he used that version of the character before then. Watching the NWA shows from 83 on, it felt like Slick Ric doesn't debut properly until late 84/5. Even at Starrcade 84 he's not as stylin' and profilin' as we're used to. That's why that 78 match struck me so much because there's the character seemingly fully formed.

Mean Gene for HoF!

This thread is going to be very dull if we just list standard guys who are mentioned time and again with no reasons given - PWO is better than that. Jake Roberts The Rock Steve Austin See, it's boring. At least say why. For example, Jake's promos in those feuds with DiBiase and Savage in WWF almost carried those storylines. They were dark and sort of complex for the time, and show him working at both his peak as a babyface (overness and character-wise) and as a heel in the space of 2 years. Some of the best promos ever during that run. I'll throw out some more unusual names: Bruno Sammartino - don't double take, his promos have been blow-away GREAT during the Larry feud of 1980, some of the best I've ever seen. Bruno is entirely at one with his character and it lends these promos great authenticity. But aside from that, his technique of starting quietly and then erupting in anger is very effective. Totally different style of promo from what most of us are used to, but I honestly think Bruno was one of the best promos ever. Dick Murdoch - almost like a prototype Steve Austin in the way he ran his mouth, he was a terrific heel and was tremendous at coming up with spur-of-the-moment put downs and lines to rile the audience. Underrated on the mic in that his name isn't often mentioned in threads like this one. Jim Cornette - we all know Cornette is a great promo, but I'm specifically saying here, Cornette AS A BABYFACE in that 89-90 MX run in NWA. He was amazing during that time cutting these awesome fired-up babyface promos on Heyman, consistently getting over the importance of the matches, his team and their opponents. He's great during that run.

I saw a match of him doing it in 1978 recently vs. Pat o'Conner. In fact, I was struck by just how much like mid-80s Flair he was in that match.

Out of interest Kris, what do you think the key difference between Flair and Race was in the way they worked as champs? I've seen quite a lot of Race at this point and sometimes he gets his ass kicked a lot more than Flair does -- if anything, at least to me, he seems ... "bitchier". Flair usually has some key moments of offense that makes him look good. You watch something like that Race vs. David von Erich match I mentioned and Race more or less gets his ass handed to him. That's not the only match either. What was it about Flair that made him "new"? Was it more his look and character and promos than in the ring?

I considered putting Slater on the original list, but wanted to leave a few guys for others to pick out. If the shortlist went 10 guys deep, I reckon his name would have been on it.

I know Pak Song and Ivan Koloff are at least two of them. I have a feeling Ox Baker might have been around some as well.

Was Fritz tight with Barnett or not really? How much sway would he have had in 1981?

David was getting a monster push in St. Louis in 80-81. Harley put him over very strong in that handicap match where he blades for the Iron Claw. It's early for him, but at least in St. Louis, David got more or less the same push that Ted got in 78-79.

I think I've figured something out: the reason why jdw and I keep on clashing in seemingly every thread. It's probably not the reason I've had in mind for the past few months (that he's a complete tool), it's something else. We see the world in two entirely different ways. Look at our disagreements and the pattern is clear: Where I see a change in style between Race and previous champs, he sees no change Where I see Vince changing the way wrestling is presented on tv, he sees no change Where I see Star Wars kickstarting movie franchises and merchandising, he sees, once again, no change ("there were always blockbusters") Where I see the internet exacerbating generational and cultural gaps, he argues that all generational gaps have worked in the same way since the 1920s Argument after argument after argument, I see change, he sees no change. Even in the bitter Mid-South row, I argued the economic circumstances changed in the area and had an impact, he effectively argued in a way that entirely negated the possibility of that impact jdw's view of the world -- no mater what he says -- is that it is essentially static. You may get "events" but the essential nature of things stays the same like the shadows in Plato's Cave. That's some deep-rooted core belief he seems to have. For him, time and again, if he can point to precedent or something from the past that bears some resemblance to what comes after, it is enough to confirm his thesis that "yes, things have more or less stayed the same". My view of the world is entirely different. ------------------- My main concern is that I seem unable to post on this forum at the moment without getting bogged down in one of these disputes. People think he's trolling me. I don't think he is. I just think he might be the one person on earth who sees virtually everything in a way that is diametrically opposed to the way I see it. So first, apologies jdw for some of the abuse I've sent your way. And second, apologies once again because I'm going to put you on ignore again and forever. If people quote you picking apart one of my posts, I'm going to have to try to ignore it. You've done a great job of making this place very difficult for me to post on. I resent the fact that all that happens now is that I say something, you make 15 posts in reply and everyone rolls their eyes. I resent the fact that it's "oh it's JvK and jdw at it again" as if I in some way want this infernal crap to happen. I resent the fact I've been pulled into perhaps the most boring, frustrating and downright tedious feud since the internet began. I hope to fuck this is the end of it now.

Nevermind.

jdw, I must admit I don't really understand how you can say there's no distinction between Race and Thesz or Brisco or even Dory. In fact, I recall last time we discussed this you wanted to try to bitch me out as thinking of "NWA champ style" as being essentially Flair and said ... let me pull up the exact wording: What I thought of as "NWA-champ style" then, as now, is essentially the way Flair worked as champ. But the way Flair worked as champ seems to me to be a carbon copy of the way Race worked as champ. Namely: the face eats up a lot of the match on top, he makes the face look strong, and then sneaks out with a cheap win or even a non-finish. Harley did this routinely, as did Flair. Here you are in another thread talking about "NWA Champ style" with ostensibly something similar in mind: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?show...p;#entry5563532 Are you suggesting that the likes of O'Connor, Dory Jr and Brisco all did this schtick of begging off and bitching out for most of their matches? Are you suggesting that the view we get from St. Louis is not right? Are you suggesting that Johnson and Oliver got it wrong when they listed Thesz, Brisco and Dory Jr in their top 20 faces rather than in their top 20 heels? (8, 12 and 19 respectively by the way) This is Thesz vs. Wild Bill Longson, let's watch it together. - He's hardly booed out of the building is he, he's signing autographs and being cheered. - It's mentioned that Longson is not one to quibble about rules. He was sort of cheered too though, but is basically our heel here. Sure enough though, the ref spots some hairpulling by him. - Thesz goes into a head scissors, all very clean mat-based stuff so far from him. - Couple of nasty headlock takeovers by Longson now, Thesz struggles but doesn't reach for the hair. Must say, excellent headlock. This ref is a stickler though: breaks it because Longson was using a fist in Thesz's face. They've done a good job of establishing Longson as the more "rough and tumble" of the two competitors. - Ref starts complaining about fists being used, first by Longson, and then -- in a neat little paypack spot -- by Thesz. - Thesz takes the first fall and it's pretty obvious he's the face at this point. Not really seeing any evidence of Thesz working like Race or Flair at this point. Not even a tiny bit. - Series of collar and elbow tie ups here with clean breaks designed to wind-up Longson and make him lose his temper, good tactics by Thesz which are working. - The emphasis in this match has consistently been on Thesz's quickness and his superior technical ability. - Some classic heel rope-pulling cheating spots from Longson now. - Slugfest breaks out, though note Thesz answers punches with forearms. Longson bails. Piledriver wins the second fall for Longson. - Series of dropkicks gets Thesz a quick third fall. Pure babyface performance against a heel in Texas. This is fun, let's look at some more. Thesz vs. Don Leo Jonathan - Weird intros here as both men seem to get quite a muted reaction, you can make out boos for both, but on balance seems Jonathan is the heel - Awesome, Pinkie George is sitting in the front row! Gets a shout out from the commentator - Pretty massive reverse chinlock / headlock from Don Leo to start, near wrenches Thesz's head off his neck - Thesz answers with a hammerlock, Don Leo tries to escape but can't - Commentator: "I'm not so sure now whether that's Pinkie George or not, I don't believe it is. Matter of fact, I'm certain it isn't" - ha, ha, awesome! - Don Leo gets a good shot on the ribs to break which riles Thesz into threatening those south paw jabs of his - Series of headlock take overs by Jonathan now, commentator admonishes him for asking the ref to ask for submission "You stick to your wrestling boy", ha ha - Cleanish break now but Thesz does something sneaky, he slaps Jonathan quickly before backing up a bit, that'll get you mad. This is just in the category of "wily ring general" in my book. - Head scissors now by Thesz. Jonathan is complaining to the ref and once again the commentator admonishes him: "not a thing wrong there, Don, he's just got a head scissors on you, that's all". I like this fair-minded yet authoritative commentator. - Jonathan snaps out of the head scissors really quickly, but Thesz is right there with him -- great little spot. Thesz gets the head scissors on again and Jonathan screams out in pain and frustration -- AWESOME - Jonathan tries to headstand out of the head scissors. Thesz is having none of it. He flips out eventually and tries to take Thesz over with the headlock -- no cigar. - Thesz misses a dropkick, Jonathan does a little "hulk up" thing (not a HULK UP, just a little flex of the muscles to show his size), Thesz goes into a headlock. - Now, as he walks forward out of the ropes he jabs Jonathan in the head with his elbow, and then shows a clean pair of hands to the ref -- again, wily rather than really heelish. And even then the commentator is calling it a fair move "What's the matter boy?", he says. Clearly, we the viewer, are not meant to think there's been any great infraction of the rules there, crowd doesn't boo either. - Back into the headlock and Jonathan breaks with an Irish whip, Thesz grabs the ropes and quickly comes back in a guarded stance: this is a spot to show what a great and smart wrestler Thesz is -- this guy is the best in the game, it'll take more than that! - Thesz takes it back down to mat where he gives Jonathan "a few cauliflowers" - Jonathan tries to escape with a few knees in the turnbuckle. Knee lift, double axehandle. Into a headlock by Don Leo now and then a scrappy sequence in the ropes including a Thesz press. - Jonathan hits a powerslam and then a big bodyslam. Nonetheless, two dropkicks is enough to win Thesz the first fall. - Second fall and Jonathan is bouncing off the ropes to do this headlock slam thing onto his knee, quite cool. Does it four or five times. - It's not enough though because Thesz hits a belly to back suplex which is enough for 1, 2, 3. Again, Thesz worked this like he's "best wrestler in the world". Neither of these two matches bear even the slightest passing resemblance to any Harley or Flair matches I've ever seen. Ever. In short, what the hell are you on about here? I don't mean that in a nasty way, but in a genuine "WTF?!" way.

April - Week 1 Solie: Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Jim Barnett and Georgia Championship Wrestling, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you, the President of the National Wrestling Alliance ... he's flown here especially from Kansas City ... Bob Geigel! Geigel: Gordon, thank you for that kind introduction. I am here to address a very serious situation that has been felt across the NWA. The actions of the group of Russian wrestlers here in Georgia -- that is the group known as "the KGB", the team of Hammer and Sickle, and The Russian Bear -- have shaken professional wrestling in this country to its foundations. We all watched with horror as Tommy Rich was sent to hospital that night and we all wish him a full recovery soon. But beyond that, we are talking about a criminal matter. No one has seen or heard from Ivan Koloff in almost 6 weeks now. While he was a controversial character and not exactly a fan favourite, this is a man with a family. This is a man who has given over 20 years of his life to professional wrestling in this country. And he's gone. Kidnapped in broad daylight by this ... this villainous group representing the Soviet Union. Solie: Our thoughts are still with him, wherever he may be. Geigel: The NWA board has decided that matters cannot continue as they have been. In addition to their other crimes, this group has been running roughshod over this territory and its stars using heinous tactics and cowardly strength in numbers. This cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. As a result, from TODAY, as of NOW, each and every member of the Russian faction must defend their right to be in the NWA on EVERY edition of Georgia Championship Wrestling here on WTBS. Should a member lose, they leave the NWA -- not just Georgia, the entire NWA around world. This great sport has no place for men of their like. None. As Geigel is speaking, all six Russians walk down to the ring. Solie looks affronted that they would dare come to ring while the NWA President is talking. Markoff steps into the ring. He gestures to Solie for a mic and Solie complies. Markoff: Now listen, American. Hot-dog-eating pig that you are ... [solie is appalled] ... This is a most grave injustice, typical of US imperialist attempts at global hegemony. But ... [he sniggers] this is America and I have ... ha, ha ... ha, ha, ha ... how do you capitalists say? Rights. Gregori, Gregori, ha ha ha, bring that bit of paper here. Read it for these fat sweating Americans! Wiskoski: Ahem ... ahem ... may we have quiet please. [crowd boos] Ahem ... aheam ... ALL YOU FAT AMERICANS SHUT UP! [louder booing] Malenko: Quiet for the comrade please! [booing even louder] Markoff: Just read it Gregori, these people are too stupid to know their own laws. Wiskoski: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Markoff: Read it again Gregori and louder, so the NWA Imperialist puppet president can hear once more. Wiskoski: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Geigel: What is this? What are you saying to me? Markoff: It is the 8th Amendment of your pathetic and laughable "Bill of Rights", you idiot. What makes you think you have the right to impose this sanction on us? Do you think the KGB does not understand the law? Geigel: The NWA board have full power to make whatever sanctions we choose for professional wrestling! Markoff: Your terms are not fair Mr. Geigel, they are most unfair. I have access to the best lawyers in Moscow. Should we call them? You must compromise. You must listen to our terms. Geigel: Terms? What do you want? Markoff: Let us say that we accept your ruling, that if we are to lose a match, then we leave the NWA. In return, if we WIN a match, then 1. the loser must leave Georgia Championship Wrestling and 2. we do not have to wrestle the following week. This is only fair -- Professor Malenko and I are not getting any younger and making us wrestle at this top level week after week is against our human rights! Geigel: Very well, on behalf of the NWA board, I accept these terms, but make it known that I do so only because I have full faith in the talent here to beat each of you at the first time of asking. [The KGB and the other Russians go back to the locker room] Solie: And now, Jim Barnett will announce the first matches to be contested under this new ruling. Jim Barnett: Under the NWA's new directive, the following matches will take place this week: Gregori Wiskoski will take on The Masked Superstar! Boris Malenko will face off against The One Man Gang! The Russian Bear will be vying for a place in the NWA against Destruction, Inc. in a handicap match! Hammer and Sickle go up against the team of B. Brian Blair and Bobby Fulton, in that match BOTH men on the losing side will leave either the NWA or Georgia Championship Wrestling And finally, Kolenko Markoff will be taking on Johnny Rich, who will be looking to avenge the injury of his brother! ----------- Gregori Wiskoski (w/ Kolenko Markoff) vs The Masked Superstar Masked Superstar dominates Wiskoski for most of the match. Before long, Markoff is interfering. The ref spots him and sends him out to the back. Superstar dominates again but soon enough Malenko comes out from under the ring where he's been hiding and slaps Wiskoski. The ref thinks about DQing him, but doesn't. Superstar clobbers Wiskoski who falls into Malenko. As Malenko tumbles to the mat he grabs the leg of the ref who trips over. Malenko now rolls out of the ring and drags the ref out with him. A second ref comes to the ring now, as does Jim Barnett who looks infuriated. Superstar has Wiskoski isolated and the second ref is now in position. Superstar hits a neckbreaker and Wiskoski is out. He covers. The crowd count with the ref. ONE, TWO, THREE! Ding ding ding. Markoff storms out. Malenko is up and looks devasted, he remonstrates with the ref. Markoff gets in Barnett's face. It's all too late, Wiskoski is history! Ring announcer: Gregori Wiskoski must now leave the NWA! Solie is clearly animated as we go to a commercial break. The crowd is electric. Boris Malenko vs The One Man Gang! Malenko comes to the ring alone. He looks visibly shaken. One Man Gang charges him and guzzles him. He bails. And the ref counts to 9. He gets back in to break it, then immediately bails again. Ref counts to 9. Repeat. Crowd ... and OMG are getting restless. Gang goes outside to chase him. Just as he does, Hammer and Sickle run out and sucker One Man Gang with a chair. Ref doesn't see this because Malenko slides back in and gets in his face. Hammer and Sickle run back out as Gang is out cold outside the ring. Ref counts him out and Malenko picks up the cheapest of wins. Ring announcer: The One Man Gang must now leave Georgia Championship Wrestling! The Russian Bear vs. Destruction, Inc (Arn Anderson and Matt Borne) Destruction, Inc start out tentative against the man mountain. The Bear is able to isolate Borne and and squashes him in the corner. He goes for a cover and Arn is forced to come in and break it. This happens two or three times. Eventually, The Russian Bear snaps and decks Arn on the apron sending him crashing out into the railings. While he's out, he splashes Borne again for the 3 count. Ring announcer: Arn Anderson and Matt Borne must now leave Georgia Championship Wrestling! Hammer and Sickle vs. B. Brian Blair and Bobby Fulton Faces eat up a lot of this match on top, but ultimate Sickle gets the pin with his feet on the ropes. Ring announcer: B. Brian Blair and Bobby Fulton must now leave Georgia Championship Wrestling! Kolenko Markoff (w/ The Russian Bear, Boris Malenko and Hammer and Sickle) vs. Johnny Rich Markoff brings the whole crew to the ring with him. He enters first. As Rich is announced, the Russians won't let him get into the ring. This is some ultimate "kings of mountain" here as they cut off any possible angle for Rich to enter. In short, the match can't start. Soon enough Ole Anderson, Dick Murdoch and Larry Zybysko all hit the ring and a pier 6 brawl erupts ending what was surely one of the most event-filled episodes of GCW of all time.

I'd like the thread to go another way if we could -- the other variants of this involved people just stomping on various ideas. Maybe we could get all of that out of the system and then entertain the what ifs? And how they might have got to it. That's probably more "fun".

Apologies if your man is not a in a position to answer all of these, but here goes: - How much of an eye did Vince keep on content for the VHS releases? Watching them, I always had the impression they were "under the radar". - What were the revenues on the tapes like? How important a revenue stream were they for the WWF? - Why were Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes entrusted to front the VHS coverage? How much autonomy were they given? - Did you personally work with Mooney / Hayes / Monsoon / Pettingall? - Did the workers get any bonuses for appearing on the tapes? For example, did Bret get any extras for the bonus feature on Smack Em Whack Em? - Did Vince go back and dub over footage on some of the early releases? For example, the commentary on the Bruno vs. Larry match on Best of WWF Vol. 1 seems to be mid-80s Vince. Is this the case and any ideas on why? - What was the exact relationship between the WWF and Coliseum? Who were Evart Enterprises? What did your contract say on it? Who did you answer to? What was the chain of command? - What were the circumstances of Coliseum closing in 97? - Out of all the non-PPV non-wrestler-centric (e.g. Hogan VHSs) releases, for example, Brains Behind the Brawns, Hottest Matches, Supertape 2, and so on, what was the best selling release? UK centric: - Why was the "Best of" series and "Macho Madness" never released in the UK? - What was the name of the absolutely awesome music at the start of the UK Silver Vision releases? Who wrote it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFgj7gFtqZw - Why oh why was Summerslam 88 a 15-certificate in the UK? Purely because of Liz's dress?