garretta
-
Posts
3562 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Everything posted by garretta
-
This was a terrible farewell for Kerry in Texas. I know it couldn't be helped that Borne had already bailed and that Kerry only had three days left in the promotion, but even so, this was a disappointing way to go out. Kerry and his fans definitely deserved better than this. Interesting that Devastation came out without Akbar. Of course, since Percy had no other proteges, I guess someone had to save him. Nice display of ring savvy on Percy's part when he bangs Kerry's injured hand off the turnbuckle, but it ultimately does him no good whatsoever. This wouldn't have been so bad if Kerry hadn't been leaving and could feud with Devastation, such as it was by then. As it was, this was just a waste of time.
-
This entire feud was as much about the groups (DWA vs. Horsemen) as it was about Sting and Flair. If they hadn't already lost a ton of time on Sting's reign and needed to get the belt on him NOW, this most likely would have been a WarGames match, which was a Bash PPV staple by then. It already feels like one, with both groups stationed at ringside. The thing that really stands out here is that the Horsemen are so far over the edge that they would have gladly smacked around Gordon Solie just to prove they could. In fact, I was actually expecting one of them to at least knock the glasses off of his face if not outright hit him in the jaw, which would have allowed Sting to make the save for him and push the heat for the match past the boiling point. Fortunately for Gordon, we didn't get that, but what's fortunate for him isn't so fortunate for us, as the whole segment turns on another "surprise" visit from El Gigante. As Loss said, Ole should have long since stopped being freaked out when he saw Gigante by now; then again, everyone sold mortal fear for Andre every time he appeared back in the day, so that's not a really big deal to me. In the end, there isn't any new ground broken, and this whole feud is now starting to feel a bit like Warrior/Rude; both are pretty well warmed over by now, and both need matches in a hurry before they totally peter out. Fortunately, the Bash isn't far away for Flair and Sting.
-
It almost sounds like Sid was going off on a soliloquy and got the wrapup sign instead, because we never did find out what was so funny. It certainly wasn't Ole, who admits to the latest Horseman crippling binge and vows that it will continue. I'm guessing that "Superheroes" was the babyface group's original name, but they changed it to "Dudes with Attitudes" to avoid copyright issues. Ole could have simply forgotten, although if that was the case they should have done a retake.
-
Maybe Luger fought off whoever it was with the pipe, and that's how he was able to walk to the ring. At any rate, this was a pretty standard promo until Rich's interruption. JYD never even got a chance to speak. Since Corny had mentioned on an earlier Louisville Slugger that Windham could slap around Luger "any day of the week", maybe they were trying to restart the Luger/Windham issue here and got sidetracked.
-
Arn doesn't yell or scream, but rather calmly promises that all the damage that the Horsemen will do from now on will be Sting's fault and no one else's. I don't know about the Stinger, but I'm definitely shaking in my boots! It seems like they're trying to push a Sting/Sid feud here, which would seem like a definite moneymaker to me. Oh, if Ole would have only kept his big mouth shut in front of Jim Herd. I'm guessing that maybe Dustin Rhodes was supposed to come in, but decided to join his dad for a while first. Don't worry, Arn, you'll find out more than you ever wanted to about him soon enough. Nice compliment that Arn paid JR in an era when heels very seldom complimented babyface announcers on camera (with the occasional exception of Gordon Solie).
-
What else would you expect from Flair, especially in under a minute? This is nothing new or different, which doesn't mean it's not great. I was kind of surprised he brought Ted Turner's name into it directly, but when the whims of one of the richest and most powerful tycoons in the world mean nothing to you, you're one seriously bad dude, and Flair gets that over superbly. How did we get from this to the Black Scorpion? .
-
I don't know how a thirty-second interview in which he says he hasn't changed paints Sting as something other than the top guy in the company or means that he's "running in place". Sure, we all know how things turned out, but taking that interview by itself and projecting WCW's future blunders onto it isn't fair. I'm guessing that Hansen's suspension sets up his return to Japan, as I'm pretty sure that there's a match between him and Misawa at the end of the month that made the set.
-
I love Arn here; he basically says that the Horsemen are only a unit because the NWA, and more specifically Sting, made them that way. Somehow, the idea of a Horsemen group formed through mutual greed and lust for power is even scarier than the traditional "family-first" model. This would also explain why they went out and got a monster like Sid, even though he doesn't fit the traditional Horseman mold. Speaking of Sid, he still wants Luger, and claims that he's not your ordinary blond-haired prima donna. I don't think that was supposed to be a shot at Flair, but if it was, even a veiled one, it only underscores the mercenary nature of the group, in that their hired muscle doesn't care one whit for the man he's been hired to protect and will only stand behind him until the money and glory run out, which they will if Flair doesn't cripple Sting and get the title back. I also enjoyed Corny constantly giving worried glances to Sid while Arn was talking. My line of the yearbook so far was when Corny told Arn that he'd be scared to stand across the ring from Sid if he were in the Dudes' shoes, to which Arn fired back, "You should be." This Horseman unit is really starting to grow on me. They don't live up to the originals, but they've carved out their own niche quite well, and have proven to me that while Tully or at least a Tully type is always a welcome addition, the Horsemen don't need to follow one specific template to be successful. Too bad that this is the last solid run for the group as a dominant force, at least according to most educated observers.
-
How far in advance was this taped? It had to be pretty far, because the Dudes being at ringside and Gigante being handcuffed to Ole aren't mentioned here. As for Sid, maybe he was at a softball game. The promo itself was average for the Horsemen, which is to say superb. Barry's back in the verbal groove, and Arn and Flair take the cake as usual. I loved Paul getting on his knees and kissing Flair's ring too. The only one who's a bit off here is Ole, but he's always overshadowed by Arn and Ric in situations like this. He's at his best one on one or when he's with a non-talker like Sid.
-
Jim.........er, Gene and Alfred try their best, but we easily could have had at least one more match in place of this stuff. The two top contenders were Duggan/Quake (which ended up being canceled) and Bossman/DiBiase (Bossman went over via pin). The Bossman/DiBiase match could have closed out that feud once and for all and allowed Teddy to move on to Dusty with a clean slate. There was also a mixed tag rematch from Mania VI, with Liz in Dusty and Sapphire's corner and Brother Love in Savage and Sherri's corner. (I bring that match up because it had been teased in several of the Royal Couple's visits to Brother Love.) Showing that match would have left no reason for the singles matches at SummerSlam, though, which would have meant no chance for Teddy to be revealed as Sapphire's benefactor. Dusty and Sapphire won via pinfall. These segments by themselves are corny and contrived, but no more so than most of the other vignettes you've ever seen on WWF TV. They would have been fine as filler for Prime Time or Spotlight. Knowing that they more than likely kept the blowoff to one of the hottest angles of the summer (Bossman/DiBiase) off of network television is what puts them into the waste of time category for me.
-
Rude's still shouting and Warrior's still inaudible. Hooray. If I had to choose which one of the two was the better promo here, I think I'd go with Mean Gene's chimp friend. There's just been too much talk and not enough action, even with the match from earlier in the show. The only thing I really liked was Sean Mooney trying to outscowl Jesse. Who is the crew wishing a happy birthday to in the closing graphic? The name given is (I think) ZiaTrickster. Who on earth would use a name like that, even as a nickname?
-
After the crap that was the buildup to Mania VI, it's nice to hear Hogan sound semi-human again. We get one of those confrontations-that-isn't, as Bravo and Quake come down to menace Hogan before Tugboat makes the save. Jesse's less virulently anti-Hogan than usual at first, merely pointing out that Hogan may be making a big mistake in returning, which isn't exactly a controversial viewpoint given the injuries he's recovering from. (Great sign from the fan, by the way.) Of course, he then decries Hogan's use of his weightlifting belt, so all's back to normal fairly quickly. There's just something jarring about sincere, semi-human Hogan against cartoonish Quake/Bravo/Hart. I'm not sure what they could have done to make it better, though. Frenchy Martin would have made it a million times worse with his "USA is not OK" horseshit, and Heenan couldn't manage every heel in the promotion. It's just that it seems like they have an opportunity to go grittier than usual here which they're not fully taking advantage of. Maybe it's Tugboat; maybe Hogan needed a more serious cornerman, like Jake or Piper, and maybe that's one of the reasons Bossman got stuck in at the last minute. Or maybe this whole thing would have felt more substantial if Jimmy wasn't such a joke as a manager by now. Regardless, I remember the SummerSlam match as being pretty good, so maybe that will make it all come out right.
-
To see someone of Jimmy Snuka's caliber treated like a subhuman, even at this stage of his career, is disgusting. I'm not saying he needed to be pushed, but Vince should have at least portrayed the man as a human being. He deserved that much. As for the LOD, this wasn't too far from their standard interview. Everyone who was anyone had to visit Brother Love eventually, so that wasn't a problem for me. Neither were the references to the Harts as their good friends, as it set up their interference in the title match at SummerSlam. The one thing I hated was Vince's quip about how they must have been taking their Hulk Hogan vitamins. It's like no babyface could exist, even in 1990, without the Hulkamania seal of approval. It's true that Dusty did the same thing in JCP, but at least you could count on him to interact with most of the other faces at some point, which made it seem a little more natural. I don't think Hogan and the LOD ever crossed paths in a major American match during their time together in the WWF, and they certainly weren't on close to the same track at this time, so why even mention Hogan or his vitamins here? There were other ways to get Hawk and Animal across as monsters. Still, not a bad introductory segment.
-
They missed a bit of an opportunity here, like they often did: Slick managed Herc right after he arrived in '86, but of course that was never mentioned. A simple "Welcome home, brutha!" from the Slickster would have sufficed. I'm aware of the story that says it was Power and Glory who were supposed to beat the Harts instead of the Nasties. It seems a bit far-fetched, because the Nasties win was booked so well, and they had the added advantage of Jimmy Hart (the Foundation's former manager) as their manager. That doesn't mean it couldn't have happened that way, just that the pieces don't fit together quite as well as what happened in real life. We'll see what Herc and Roma did to earn Vince's confidence as the yearbook rolls on.
-
Rude and Heenan are trying desperately to keep the same old themes alive, and it's only because Bobby is so superior on the mic that it sounds remotely interesting. As I said in a previous Rude interview thread, a barking, scowling Rick Rude is a horrible fit for the character that's already been established over the last two and a half years, and even Rude seems to know that, because he's back to the hip swiveling at the end of this very interview. It's a little late to save this feud, though. I think this segment was misdated; it should have been 7/21. I don't think there were ever two full-length Brother Love segments in the same show, and the LOD are his guests on 7/28.
-
Volkoff's the target solely because he's Russian; the totem pole has nothing whatsoever to do with it. I'm not liking these as much as I thought I would; there's too much over-the-top screaming, even for a wacky drill sergeant. I thought that stuff didn't really take off until the turncoat angle. I'm not suggesting calm, cool articulation by any means, but Slaughter's capable of calming things down to a dull roar and still getting his point across, especially this early on. If this character hadn't suddenly turned "relevant" due to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, he'd most likely have burned out the fans inside of six months. Then again, Flair made JCP/WCW fans' ears bleed needlessly from 1985-2001 and he still became legendary, so what do I know? Maybe I'm projecting because of what Slaughter was turned into.
-
Even as a mark, I hated the overdone puns and belabored references we'd get to whatever theme Vince decided on for SNME. A few clever allusions would have done the trick in most cases, but clever and subtle wasn't Vince's style then and still isn't now. Hopefully the creativity in the ring makes up for the lack of same in the writers' room.
-
Screaming psycho Rude doesn't really fit. He's much better off as the sleazy, oily ladies' man he was before, long hair and all. To be honest, they could have just scrapped the vignettes, played the same "he beat you once, he'll beat you again" card, left Rude's character totally alone, and gotten the same result. I liked the vignettes as much as anyone, but they simply don't translate into normal podium interviews. Heenan saves things as usual, particularly with his insistence on Mean Gene calling Rude "the next WWF champion". It's interesting that they're actually acknowledging house shows in this feud; maybe they knew they'd let things lay a little too long and wanted to make sure that fans still cared about these two by teasing a possible non-televised title change.
-
He was a little different here, but not much. He was still talking about the poison running through his veins, etc. He's still weird enough that it's really hard to get behind him. I don't know how much more normal he could have gotten without becoming a different character altogether, though, so it's really hard to fault him for playing what he was given as well as he could. It was the character he was given and the lack of a truly hot challenger (the Rude angle was started too soon and was already getting boring, and Hogan/Quake was more compelling regardless) that really did him in. Heenan was gold here as usual, even covering for Okerlund after Gino harped on him for not mentioning that in order to win the cage match, someone had to reach the floor. He also correctly states that Warrior never mentioned leaving SummerSlam as champion, then tries to play it up as a lack of confidence on Warrior's part. Talk about a master psychologist!
-
I think this version of Slaughter could have gotten as much heat as the one we all knew and despised. You could still have built him up as an eventual challenger for Hogan, who would be on a personal mission to "get Sarge's head right". He'd go through guys like Volkoff and Duggan, just as he really did. He might not have gotten the title, but that whole thing with Warrior was a horrible idea anyway. I even think Hogan/Right Wing Slaughter could have main evented Mania VII if they'd wanted it to badly enough. The only difference would be Heenan in Sarge's corner instead of Adnan. (I've always been a Heenan fan, but as we get toward the end of the Hulkamania era in the WWF, if you give me a heel to challenge Hogan and ask me to give him a manager, my answer will inevitably be Heenan over anyone else around, even if the fit's not the best. No one else has any credibility left with me right now except Sherri, and she's off by herself with Savage.) At any rate, if Sarge had stayed this way, I'd have had no problem with him whatsoever (though he could have screamed just a little less). Unfortunately, he didn't. We'll be discussing this ad infinitum over the next two years, so I'll leave it there for now.
-
I couldn't even hear Warrior half the time, and I had my DVD player cranked up about as high as it could go. The man just continues to stumble, and it's no wonder why Hogan/Quake feels like the main event even with a World title match in a cage. You almost wonder why they didn't have Rude pull the upset here, then set up a Hogan match for Mania. Of course, Rude was gone by then, so maybe that wouldn't have worked so well after all. Quake's promo was actually semi-normal for once, which was good, but Bravo could never talk for beans as a heel, so why did they keep trying with him on the mic? That's what Jimmy was supposedly there for, even if his own promo ability had gone almost totally in the tank by then. As I see more of him, I'm beginning to wonder if he was badly used in the WWF or if having Lawler to play off of in Memphis gives him a reputation for being good on the mic that he really doesn't deserve. Wonder when we'll start hearing from Curt? Even if he didn't know his opponent yet, you'd think he would have at least cut a generic promo by now.
-
Yeah, you'd think they'd have mentioned Warrior/Rude first, then Hogan/Quake. It just goes to show that, champion or not, Warrior wasn't the man on top anymore, if he ever had been. I wonder who would have taken Beefcake's place against Hennig if Kerry hadn't come in. They really had no one else set up to challenge Curt, though they could have always rushed someone into contention somehow, I suppose. Standard stuff from the Harts and the Demos.
-
I don't think I've ever seen Hogan like this before in a promo. Shoe has it right; he started as Terry Bollea and morphed into the Hulkster before our eyes. By the end it was the same old stuff, but that same old stuff felt right, organic in a way it never had before and wouldn't again. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that Vince let Hogan cut a promo that was so real, because this makes Quake's obviously (badly) scripted claptrap about tremors and Richter scales and his bouncing up and down during interviews like he's an actual earthquake come to life look even more juvenile than it is. The SummerSlam match has now become a real man fighting a cartoon character, and the outcome can't possibly be in doubt. Just tremendous, and you wonder how Hogan ever allowed himself to lose his magic touch, which he undoubtedly did during his WCW days. What did Fred Ottman do to go from Hogan's next big buddy to almost nothing in no time flat? Bossman worked as well as Tugboat would have in Hogan's corner, but it's rare that you see a big change like that in a pay-per-view main event, even with a cornerman, after so much hype. Also, does anyone think that Beefcake would have taken that slot once the decision was made to remove Tugboat if he hadn't been hurt?
-
The kid was a lot more subdued than the football coach was. At least you could buy that Bossman's "bullying" caused him pain. The real treat, though, is Teddy's reaction to being in Cobb County. I like the part where he sniffed the air and observed, "Must be a pig farm nearby". I agree that it was about time for the feud to progress to a nationally televised match of some sort. Why we never got one I'm still not sure.
-
The Demos had to be officially turned heel someway, and this was as good as any. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that it was Neidhart who was going to get the big singles push once the Harts eventually broke up. He did most of the talking for the team, had the kind of outlandish personality Vince loves, and was Vince's ideal size, if not exactly a muscleman. I don't think he'd have been a long-term champion like Bret turned out to be- in fact, he probably wouldn't have ended up WWF champion at all- but who would have thought in 1990 that Bret would have the career he turned out to have as a single? Ax would have made a great manager for the Demos if he hadn't left/been fired after he got sick. At any rate, he'd have been better than Fuji, who was circling the drain by '91 and needed to hang it up. (Yes, he'd be revitalized by managing Yokozuna, but we didn't know that then.)