C.S.

I had become a fan only a few months before - first the WWF and then WCW. This was the first "great" match I ever saw, and it cemented me as a fan for life. WCW eventually airing classic matches for a few weeks on (I think) Worldwide continued that along, and so did renting old WWF PPVs. The WCW Worldwide (?) stuff was peculiar to me at the time, because it was a complete Flair-fest - even though Flair was in the WWF at that time. Who knows why WCW did half the things they did, but in that case, I'm glad they did it. Michael Hayes was one of the hosts, and I remember him being adamant that they should air the best stuff, "even if those people are no longer in WCW."

No "mark" actually thought this when I was a kid. Me and my friends all strongly suspected Flair was winning, but the Piper "dare to dream" stuff right before the Rumble did sway me a bit. However, as soon as I saw Piper in the I-C Title match at the PPV, I knew right then and there he had no chance of winning the Rumble and it was going to be Flair's night. The WWF had always been incredibly predictable, and this Rumble - as awesome as it was (best Rumble ever IMO) - was no different in that regard. Agreed. It never made sense to me. Hogan looked like a spoiled, whiny bitch to me for doing that to Sid, even back then. It was such an odd piece of booking.

Tremendous debut angle for Nailz, but he peaked right then and there. Anyone remember him coming in for one shot as "The Convict" or "The Prisoner" (or something like that) to face Sting on a WCW PPV? What the hell was that about?

Yeah, Atlas is trying way too hard...poor guy. Duggan's friendship with Piper is a nice surprise, but Ol' Hacksaw really gets on my nerves otherwise. Maybe that will change as the show progresses. I hope so, because I always liked him as a character/personality.

My observations from Legends House (mostly Episode 2 but some Episode 1 as well): - Piper has demons. Nothing surprising there. But it was still sad and depressing to see last week. I was happy to see him bounce back this week. - Is it just me or does Hacksaw Duggan come across as the most unlikeable, irritating prick in the house? His argument with Tony Atlas the week before was ridiculous, and his obnoxious laugh makes my skin crawl. I'm surprised, because he always seemed like such a nice, genuine, humble guy. (This is "reality" TV, I know, I know...) - My heart honestly goes out to poor Tony Atlas. He just tries too hard. We all know people like that. Would I want to live with him? Probably not. But that's true of most of the people on Legends House (and most people in general). I'm glad he got a "win" at the end by cooking delicious chicken for everyone. (I can't believe how ridiculous that sentence sounds, LOL.) - Hillbilly Jim seems like the nicest guy in the world. Something has to give there. But when his inevitable outburst/conflict happens, I don't think it will change my general opinion of him. - The games and celebrity encounters seem really contrived, as Gene said. The show would be better without that crap. Still, some of the reactions to the whole polo deal were funny - especially Tony Atlas's when he thought they were getting on "them horses." Gene shouting "he took my gimmick!" was also amusing. - On that note, the Gary Busey encounter from last week is especially interesting, because the wrestlers are trapped in their gimmicks even on this show. They're all called - and call each other - by their wrestling names.

Exactly how I feel. There's a mustache craze sweeping the nation???

Not really. Flamingo was being pushed as the hot new heel in the Light Heavyweight division, whereas Hayes was already far past his expiry date by that point. He's a legend now in retrospect, but he wasn't really considered one then. Edit: D'OH! I misread Zbyszko as Hayes somehow. Yeah, weird match, but Larry had even less of a push by then. He was the 5th wheel of the Dangerous Alliance.

This is WWE's style. The first PPV challenger is always some lower-tier throwaway. Even Dude Love fell into that category. People would be bitching just as hard if Sheamus were given this spot. That would feel just as unimportant and predictable. I'm glad Orton didn't get it. That would have been the most boring option of all (not ring-wise, but story-wise). If you ask me, this is better than most because at least Kane and Bryan have a ton of actual history.

From the Torch: http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_77901.shtml I'd prefer full HOF shows, but this is certainly better than nothing.

I never got into him, but I'm not sure that's entirely his fault. I only saw his WWF gimmick, and he was treated literally like a jobber at times. (I don't mean the JTTS treatment where he was still a star - I mean Brooklyn Brawler/Jim Powers levels of jobberdom. He even teamed with no-name "preliminary wrestlers" on Superstars or Challenge a few times. Jim Brunzell was eventually put in the same position too.) As a kid, I knew Koko wasn't a "threat" so I had no reason to invest in him. I also thought his "High Energy" team with Owen was lame and bland - a pale imitation of The New Foundation (Owen and Anvil), which I absolutely loved at the time. When he was announced for the WWE HOF, I scratched my head and wondered why. In retrospect, I understand it more now.

What's the story there? Why would one botched movie derail a taping for an hour? Was there a bad injury? Anyway, I feel the same way you do about those teams, except I think I liked the Bevs more than most. I wonder why they never got a huge push. When they first came in, I remember Gorilla Monsoon really hyping them up in commentary.

I haven't watched the full Legends of WrestleMania panel yet - can't stand the format compared to the old Legends of Wrestling roundtables - but did Ted specifically mention the Japan match, or did he just mention *a* match, and then footage of the Japan match played? If so, Ted could have been referring to the better one, despite what the footage would indicate.

There goes my next planned threads for the Beverly Brothers, the Natural Disasters, and the Quebecers. I'm kidding...I think. Dennis Knight and Mark Canterbury had three very different gimmicks in two federations and were around for the majority of the '90s. I think it's a worthwhile discussion. Not everyone can be "the best ever," and I think The Microscope would get boring if that's all we discussed. With that said, I thought Tex and Shanghai were a fun midcard heel team and Southern Justice at least had potential, but I'll admit I was never a fan of the pig farmer Godwinns gimmick.

I won't say one person's life meant more than another, but the fact is, Warrior as a wrestler did mean more to WWE TV programming than Viscera. That can't really be disputed. Also, with Warrior appearing at the HOF, WM, and Raw, he's basically being treated the same way an active talent would. He wasn't on the roster, but he died a day after appearing on a string of shows, so for all intents and purposes, it's more or less the same situation. Active talents who pass away have always gotten more of a tribute than people who haven't been there in years. Obviously, with the Network, they have more time to create specials, etc. now. I think the same thing would have been done for Owen and Eddy if the Network had been around back then.

Am I the only one who hates the Legends of WrestleMania format? Empty comments, followed by clip, more empty comments, another clip, rinse and repeat. The older Legends of Wrestling roundtables had a much looser format and were far more interesting.

In all fairness, there's probably still money to be made with traditional PPV. Whether ROH makes any of it is another story entirely...

I noticed that last night too, and it's about time. I'm very happy.

Was that a fair assessment, in everyone's opinion? I don't remember him being anything special. But the "worst"? I don't know about that. ESPN wouldn't hire crap, would they? Considering how bad WWE announcing is, I wonder if Grisham was held back by the "talk about everything except the match" style, being yelled at from the headset, etc.

Is Renee a lifelong wrestling fan? That may determine her decision to stay or go.

I tried watching it last night. Kept kicking me off (Roku). Hope that's fixed by now.

adds more fuel to the fire that the whole thing wasn't the plan from the start. Don't know why he would schedule the wedding for the Friday after Mania if he knew he was getting such a huge title push On the Bryan Network special, Brie (I think) mentioned it was because post-Mania is the only period they have "time off."

My bad. I thought you meant a LoW show about Andre. My confusion came from hearing that a couple of episodes were put up and taken down very quickly. Hopefully Old School will eventually be fully searchable. LoW wasn't until recently.

But if he did that, people would rake him over hot coals for "burying" young talent. Major Catch-22 with a side of BBQ.

Because Andre was taken down for some reason.

I almost feel like this needs two separate topics in a way, because Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce in WCW were so different from The Godwinns in the WWF (and later Southern Justice, but they weren't really around long enough in that role). I realize this team pre-dates their debut in WCW, but I'm going to start with their time there because that's where I first saw them. Nostalgia may be fueling my opinions, but I remember Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce being a really fun midcard heel team during the era of WCW Saturday Night. Particularly memorable, for me, was their "crazy" (at the time) match against The Vegas Connection - DDP and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash). Shanghai Pierce was masked at first, then lost the mask in an angle, but I can't recall the particulars. I always found it strange that one of the members of the team had a mask and the other didn't, but it was cool too. As a kid, Tex Slazenger seemed like the "leader" of the team to me. This is a point I'm bringing up for a reason and will come back to again in a minute. For whatever reason, Tex and Shanghai never won gold in WCW despite being one of the more "over" teams on the roster. I wasn't nearly as enamored with The Godwinns in the WWF, even though they were the same wrestlers. Chalk it up to the gimmick, I guess. Of course, Henry O. Godwinn (Shanghai Pierce) was a WWF singles wrestler at first. His most (in)famous feud was with Triple H in a "Hog Pen Match" at one of the In Your House PPVs. At some point, Tex Slazenger appeared as a jobber for at least one match on Superstars or one of those shows (maybe under his real name Dennis Knight, but I can't remember). Eventually, Tex debuted as the dim-witted Phineas I. Godwinn and reformed his team with the former Shanghai, Henry O. Godwinn. With Tex and Shanghai, Tex was the clear "leader" IMO. The opposite was true with the Godwinns. By virtue of having more WWF experience, Henry (Shanghai) seemed to "take the lead" this time around. Maybe because of that, or the gimmick itself, this incarnation of the team never really worked for me the way Tex and Shanghai did. Later on, they became Southern Justice under their real names, Mark Canterbury and Dennis Knight. That version of the team seemed cool as hell, but it didn't last long enough for anyone to really be able to judge it. If I recall correctly, Knight suffered a career-ending injury after taking a botched Doomsday Device from the LOD. Not sure if that is how the injury really happened or if that was just the storyline explanation. Either way, that spelled the end for Mark Canterbury's career. (Or did Canterbury come back for at least a short spelll to feud with LOD? I seem to recall that, but I may be confusing it with some other angle.) Knight continued for a few more years as a lower card singles wrestler - Mideon, Naked Mideon, etc. Overall, I'd call this team a mixed bag, but I blame it more on the silliness of their WWF gimmick than anything the wrestlers themselves did. Dennis Knight and Mark Canterbury were pretty solid and effective together in the ring, I thought. What did everyone else here think of their various teams and gimmicks?