clintthecrippler

LOL at WWE being sloppy about how transparent the "front row VIPs" are just being trotted out to the same row over and over for one match and the "look who is in attendance for Takeover" shots.

Looks like they just moved over the three events (Hardcore Heaven 95, N2R 95, and Cyberslam 96) that they had added during that ECW week they did a year ago from the Vault over to the PPV section, so nothing new to the Network added yet. Though keeping my fingers crossed that this means they're adding more ECW Home Video content, I'm not getting my hopes up too much.

I was aware that in '86 WWF initially brought in Polynesian wrestler Siva Afi as "Superfly Afi" (billed as "Snuka's cousin"), but had no idea that the grand debut of "Superfly Afi" was in Madison Square Garden before he had been on TV to educate folks about the gimmick. So when the word "Suuuuuuuuuuuuperfly" tumbled out of Howard Finkel's mouth, the MSG crowd exploded thinking that Snuka had come back. What follows is one of the great trainwreck debuts in the history of WWE: (1) The crowd exploding at the announcement of "Superfly" and drowning out the "Afi" part (2) the crowd slowly coming to the realization that this isn't Snuka (3) "We Want Snuka" chants as the match begins (4) Crowd just going apathetically quiet as the match progresses (5) the crowd loudly booing as Afi goes to the top rope because he's not Snuka (6) WWF's music department mistaking the "Shaft" theme as an appropriate entrance song for "Superfly". https://www.youtube.com/goGoLM4QPUs

I am actually genuinely curious about Orton vs Brock. Orton doesn't seem like the type of company man who would come back from injury just to put himself in a typical "Brock guzzles you and takes you to Suplex City" match.

I am loving that Ambrose is WWE Champion and am looking forward to the 3way Shield feud over the title. I would have preferred that Cena kick out and THEN get hit by another move for the 123 but overall loved the match, even though I know Cena is going to win all the rematches. Also (warning: tin foil hat time) I am legitimately curious if WWE went long and intentionally held off the WWE Title Match until after Game 7 of the NBA Finals were over, thinking that Network subscribers would switch over after the game ended so they could have maximum audience for a title change. It just seems like a random PPV to go long that it can't be a coincidence.

I sat down and watch the match yesterday. I was okay with the super-acrobatic sequence that seems to be the most common GIF getting passed around. It was a match-opening feeling-out-the-opponent sequence early on, and really is just a souped-up version of the '90s NJPW Juniors opening sequence of dueling armdrags, dueling dropkicks, and stand off. Yes, it's super-choreographed, but is it really that much more egregious than when superheavyweight matches start off with dueling shoulderblock spots to show how equally strong the competitors are? I do think some of the later overly-plotted flip sequences in the second half of the match were a little distracting, and I can't disagree with anyone that was turned off by the "Death Valley Driver into Reverse Frankensteiner" sequence - though I was more personally turned off by Ospreay selling a tornado DDT by doing a stumbling-but-still-on-my-feet sell outside the ring to set up a flip spot. But as someone who actually watched the match, I can attest that they did tell a story throughout the match. It was being shown that Ospreay was just as athletic as Ricochet, but for the first three-quarters of the match, Ricochet was always just one step ahead thanks to his experience as someone who has succeeded as an established junior in NJPW. And it was only when Ospreay finally put together a furious flurry of "boom-boom-boom" moves that he was able to overcome Ricochet and win the match. I'm still not fully on-board the Will Ospreay bandwagon yet. He is an amaizng athlete, but I have watched a few matches now and this was the first time I didn't walk away more impressed with his opponent (the other matches I watched so far were the ones against Marty Scurll from RPW High Stakes and Zack Sabre Jr from Evolve WM weekend). I think he showed more emotion here as the scrappy underdog to the more veteran/higher up the card Ricochet, which he should do that more often.

Keep one World Title and don't split up Ezno & Cass or The New Day for a goofy "he goes to Raw, he goes to Smackdown" and I'm on-board.

I spent a good 30 seconds trying to figure when the hell 2016 Dolph Ziggler traveled back in time to wrestle 2011 Dolph Ziggler. Because that does look like a move Dolph would try to execute on offense too.

I know I watched it in real time, and I know I've watched it on Youtube and on the Network since then, but Dan Severn in 1998 WWF is still something I had to ask myself "did that actually happen?"

I once wore an "I Broke Wahoo's Leg" t-shirt to the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, and I had people asking me about "the band on your shirt" all weekend long.

I loved that DX Public Workout segment. Overall it was a giant waste of time for the most part - especially after Shawn Michaels says screw it 30 seconds im and walks away after getting beaned right in the face by an object thrown by a fan - but it was fun watching Hunter keep the crowd worked up to where they still seemed like they wanted to legit kill DX.

The big screen was also keeping a suplex count during the Brock vs Ambrose match. Every time Ambrose got suplexed, the number would flash big on the screen.

I just started a project where I am attempting to watch the entire year of 1986 Worldwide and World Championship Wrestling concurrently. First week of 86 the events of Worldwide are definitely taking place before the TBS show, as Tully slaps Baby Doll on Worldwide and then on TBS David and Tony are talking about the horrific incident that occurred. Just from that sample it seems that Worldwide was designed to be aired before the TBS show. I can tell you growing up in 86 that's at least how it was in my market. I also wouldn't be surprised if down the road amidst Crockett expansion chaos and Jim Herd messiness that the attention to this detail simply wasn't a priority.

If that Lanza vs Piper match surfaces would that be the earliest Piper on tape?

I'd love to see an Anthony Bourdain-style travel show starring Brock. Except every episode ends begins with Brock giving an F-5 to his local guide and immediately going to the airport and back to Minnesota.

I believe WWE themselves posted it online when they were doing their "WWE Classics" deal on WWE.com for a while.

Given the copious notes the announcers have, why not prompt them to clear the monitors off-camera before the spot? You mean like a couple of weeks ago when Byron Saxton passed a blood capsule to Roman Reigns off camera but cell phone video of him doing that was all over the Internet moments after the show was over?

Reading about Onita and the exploding ring matches were what initially made me start seeking out FMW tapes around 97-98 - and were some of the first Japanese tapes I ever got once I discovered the tape trading community, but once I got my first tapes and satiated my curosity, Hayabusa was the guy bringing me back and causing me to seek out more FMW. I am almost as nostalgic for FMW as I am ECW, and the FMW holds up better, and Hayabusa is a big reason for that.

Bart's story is that the FOX Network had reached out to WCW about turning them into a bona fide prime-time sitcom but Ric Flair killed it because he was worried about being upstaged by the Desperados. This was during the same interview where he claimed that the Undertaker gimmick was originally meant for him, and that he was in Japan on the tour where David Von Erich died, and his body rotted in the hotel room with no ventilation for two weeks before it was taken back to Dallas. His shoot interview is legendary for being the king of bullshit shoot interviews. And on the topic of Hogan-Andre, I've always gotten a kick out of how we give Hogan shit for his exaggerations, but Andre's billed height of 7-foot-5, 525 pounds always gets a free pass. Not to mention Vince's positioning of the Wrestlemania III match as the first time Andre had ever been beaten, the first time Hogan and Andre ever met, and the first time Andre had been bodyslammed.

I am pulling for New Day vs Y2AJ myself from the actual in-ring stuff they have been doing.

Dear WWE: If four fans dressed like legends are all it takes to distract from the in-ring product you are putting, the problem is YOUR product.

7-foot tall hillbilly character that bounced around Texas promotions from time-to-time, was also in World Class and a couple other promotions under the name T. John Tibbedeux.

I had a dream last night where WWE ended up shooting an angle where the Undertaker's Wrestlemania match this year would be against Mike Tyson. And then I realized how excited I actually would be if they went for that. Tyson's at a stage in his life and such a fan of wrestling he may actually be up for doing the job and taking the tombstone also. It would also keep Taker from having to work a match where he's take a bunch of bumps since that's not what fans would expect from such a match.

Yes, it happened. And of course, after Patterson grabbed her boobs he shaked his hands in an "eww, that was gross" manner and Lawler even made a crack about how he doesn't think Patterson liked that. I'm pretty forgiving of most Attitude Era stuff, but that was uncomfortable to watch even when I was in my early 20s and in the prime demographic for Attitude Era WWF product.

I once went to an indie show that had a fake Doink AND a fake La Parka. Luckily the show was headlined by real Haku, so in the end the night was still a win, but when I can tell the guy in the La Parka costume is just a white guy from Wisconsin even when he is fully obscured from head to toe, that is some serious BULLshit.