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garretta

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  1. garretta
    Warrior may not have been on the song, but he was definitely in the video, and rather prominently too. We get the only appearance on the set by the Headshrinkers in a short clip, and carrying the American flag (with his back to the camera) is none other than the Hulkster. Was this song even released in the U.S.? It seems kind of odd to be promoting it on a TV show aimed for a largely American audience if not. Considering that Davey Boy had just been fired and why, it's interesting that they not only aired the clips with him in them, but that Gene mentioned his name in the intro. Maybe they thought that he'd come back once he got some help for himself. Number four in the U.K.? Was that legit? If so, that has to be the highest a wrestling song or album had charted in years, if not ever. The various WWF albums released in the States were duds on the charts, and I can't think of any song from them that got airplay on a mainstream radio station (except possibly as a novelty to be laughed at). Having a future Hall of Famer like Wade Boggs introduce them adds at least some credibility to the athletic segments with Curt. If Vince had thought about it, he might have compiled a list of Curt's actual amateur athletic accomplishments to add even more credibility. Then again, if Curt had only made (for example) third team all-state as a high school wrestler, even Vince couldn't market him as perfect. This is one time when trick photography and a whole bunch of hot air were definitely the WWF's friends.
  2. garretta
    For the record, it's Carson-Newman College. Anyway, Magnum said that this piece seemed more effective to him that the one that they did on Tim Horner. That's because there was a lot more to hang their hat on with Tracy. Outside of his UWF tag title run with Brad Armstrong, what had Horner ever really done in wrestling? Everybody knew the Southern Boys/Young Pistols from their days in WCW, and Tracy's first promo talking about how he'd strayed from his Southern roots but was coming back to SMW to find them again is a whole lot more effective when it comes to making top babyfaces than showing someone doing a cover song in a recording studio, like they did with Horner. Not only is Tracy better than Horner, but they can push him without having to stray too far from wrestling and/or athletic accomplishments. It seems like he takes over the top babyface spot and feuds with Tony right off the bat. It'll be interesting to see what happens to Horner as a result. Does he settle into the two slot behind Tracy or does he get totally lost in the shuffle? Quite frankly, I'm not even sure that there's enough to work with to make him a credible number two face. He might be better off as a Memphis midcarder at this point.
  3. garretta
    Regardless of what was going on behind the scenes, it was a classy move to let Rude come out and cut a promo explaining (in kayfabe terms, at least) the situation at hand. I know a lot of promotions who would have simply said that Rude left because he was afraid of Simmons or because Vader beat him up in a parking lot or whatever other reason they thought they could get the fans to swallow, It's just a shame that Rude apparently never regained his momentum after he returned, because he was the best overall heel in the company this year, although Jake would have surpassed him if he'd stayed. Dustin as the next U.S. champion, huh? I guess I could see that, although he's still talked about as a youngster with a lot to learn on television. Steamer might have been a better choice, but what would they have done with the tag titles? JR's facial expressions almost ruined this. Under the circumstances, would it have been too much to ask for him not to do his usual "This is such heel bullshit" face? This injury was legit, even though they were trying their best to salvage what they could onscreen. Jesse should have just interviewed him one-on-one. I did like JR's reference to Jesse being mayor of Brooklyn Park, though. Interesting that they just so happened to use the date of the next Clash (1/23) as Rude's cutoff date to defend the US title rather than giving him the full thirty days. Jesse has a point, but it wouldn't have mattered, either in kayfabe or real life, since the best case for Rude at the time was a return at SuperBrawl in late February.
  4. garretta
    I like the idea here, actually, but did they have to do this on the podium? Couldn't we have just had a taped vignette and done an actual interview with someone who had a program to get over? Since we'd already had a big kerfuffle with Bret, Hall, Flair, and company the week before, maybe some hype for the Rumble, or Shawn talking about his match with Jannetty. Of course, we wouldn't have had Luke and Butch giving out Taker foam fingers, but somehow I think the world would have survived. Lawler's already into the joke book, and it would get worse from here. I wonder how he would have gotten over playing the babyface King of Memphis who actually wrestled more than occasionally (Bret feud notwithstanding) as opposed to the goofball heel announcer who was funny only to himself. If Vince insisted on putting Savage out to pasture, maybe Memphis Lawler could have been a good replacement. He wass just as old if not older, but he'd have been a lot fresher to the WWF audience at this point in time.
  5. garretta
    Before we talk about Bret and Shawn, I loved Kamala having a seizure in the coffin as Bruno rants and raves above him and Kim Chee (was it still Lombardi?) screams in his face. Nice ersatz Swahilli by Kim Chee as well. As for the bout, it was the best of the three we've seen on this set. Both men brought their A games; Shawn's was less than Bret's, but that was to be expected, considering that Shawn hadn't been a single for nearly as long. Shawn certainly acquitted Vince's decision to make him a singles star well, as he took it to Bret from start to finish. The one glaring mistake he made was not working over Bret's arm after Bret's shoulder hit the post early on; I don't know if he hadn't figured out how to do believable body part work yet or if Vince wanted a bout with more striking and fewer holds (which he didn't get anyway), but he should have destroyed that arm over the next ten or fifteen minutes. Still, most of his offense looked good, better than I expected. His bumps were a bit theatrical, but since it was his first pay-per-view main event, I'll forgive him for that. Sweet Chin Music would have finished the match if it had been his finisher at the time, but he used the teardrop suplex instead, which Bret was able to counter. I also loved the way he fed Bret the Sharpshooter; the only other submission hold I've seen a guy jump into off the ropes is the bearhug. Bret spent most of this match on the defensive, but he looked good while he was on offense, though not "excellent". I enjoyed the amateur-style sequence which opened things; it was a deliberate attempt to show the world that the era of five-minute matches followed by twenty minutes of posing was over. Bret's main job once that was over was to take whatever Shawn could throw at him and be resilient, which he was. He took major bumps on his shoulder, back, and chest in the same match, which I don't think a champion had done since Backlund, and was still spry twenty-five minutes into the match. It seems like they were experimenting with giving him his own "Hulk-Up", the sudden spring to his feet from the downed position, but much like pulling his singlet straps down Lawler-style, he didn't do it for long. I thought Bret's prematch promo was more from the heart (no pun intended) than Shawn's; it didn't have any snappy or memorable lines, but most of Bret's promos didn't. Both men had made the same talking points a thousand times going into the match (Shawn beating Davey, who'd beaten Bret; Bret being a wrestler and a fighting champion), so it all came down to delivery, and I liked Bret's better. By the way, Okerlund looked ill here; his liver must have been acting up. The commentary was barely passable. Heenan tried with strategy talk from time to time, but he got caught up in rooting for Shawn, which he really shouldn't have, considering that that meant no shots at Bret for his guys Flair and Hall. I liked his talking point about Bret "burning the belt at both ends", which he even converted Vince to by the end, and he was good at explaining how Bret should let Shawn come to him, since he didn't have to beat Shawn to retain the belt. But his attempts at humor fell flat, because Vince simply wouldn't play along with him, even for a moment. Had he never heard the "I'll have to ask you to leave" bit when Bobby used to do it with Gino? Here's a hint, Vinnie-Poo: He doesn't mean it, not in kayfabe and not in real life. Laugh it off and move on. Don't answer with an indignant "I have a job to do!" That kills the bit dead. Another example was the standard Heenan line for a wrestler who's on his last legs, "He's looking for the Answer Man." It didn't require a response, but Vince tried to make it sound like Bobby had some kind of gasoline fetish, then rambled on about turkey and stuffing. It's about time that Vince the clueless idiot who can't even tell when the referee counts to three retires to the turnip truck. You've been outed as the owner of the whole shebang, pal, and while I realize that you don't want to make a big deal of it on camera, you might at least act like someone who knows what the hell they're watching and has a sense of humor that's more than that of a six-year old. In other words, listen to how you used to call matches fifteen or so years ago and do your best to copy that. Sure, it's nothing more than a bad Howard Cosell imitation, but at least Cosell had a brain or two under his toupee when he was sober. You don't. If I had to lay money on who played Santa, I'd guess it was Percy (Paul Bearer) from the eyes, but I don't think the outfit was big enough for him. I liked the snow effect, and Heenan's closing line to Vince was a classic. I would think Bret's put Shawn away definitively for the moment, with three wins that have made tape over him this year. I can't wait to see what's next for these two guys. Line of the night goes to Heenan's closer which I mentioned above: "If you can ho, I can whoo!" Honorable mention goes to Heenan as well after Vince complains about a slow count by referee Earl Hebner: "Talk about someone (Vince) who wants to do it all!" Vince, of course, completely no-sells the fact that Bobby's talking about him and turns the subject to Bret.
  6. garretta
    I thought Shawn put on a decent enough show here, much better than he would a month later against Savage in Worcester. Marty, on the other hand, seemed either ring-rusty or just not ready to have a decent singles program. He seemed a step slow the whole match except for a few sequences here and there, and even then Shawn always outsmarted him, like he did when he reversed Marty's flying bodypress for the winning fall. I actually liked the reverse chinlock/front facelock spots, as they seemed to be a deliberate attempt by Shawn to slow down Marty so he wouldn't have the energy to do a number on Shawn the way he did at the start of the match. As was the case in his title win, they're showing Shawn as a man who sees his opportunities and takes advantage of them, even if it means wrestling rather dull matches. As long as the IC belt stays with him, that's all that matters. This bout actually felt like one they felt obligated to put on just to get it out of the way; Shawn would soon be the top heel in the company, and he'd progressed far beyond the likes of Marty Jannetty, wronged former partner or not. Once they'd gotten one good house around the loop (which wouldn't be due exclusively to this match), why keep running it? Actually, based on this match I'm kind of surprised that they went back to it as often as they did throughout '93. If I'd been running the WWF instead of Vince, Marty would have either been one step above the likes of Van Van Horne and Brian Costello on the jobber scale or off to WCW. I'm not even sure I would have wasted time trying to form a new tag team with him in it. Maybe I'll change my mind when I actually see the bouts from '93. Did Marty use the Rockers' music as his entrance theme here? From what little I could hear, his music sounded a bit like the NWO's theme from a few years later.
  7. garretta
    I liked the fact that this was a relatively clean title switch, which seldom happens at this time for a heel. Yes, Shawn took the pad off the turnbuckle to set things up, but the actual move that led to the pinfall was clean. Shawn looked pretty good working Davey's back throughout the match, and they did a great job of setting Shawn up as a crafty opportunist type. The HBK character is really progressing well in general this year, and Shawn's perfect for it. Davey seemed to move well here, and it's a shame that this is it for him in this run. When he came back, even though he was more successful, I don't remember him being nearly this good athletically. He's not quite what he was during the Bulldogs' prime, but he can still get it done. The crowd was way too loud to be real here. It was so bad at times that I could barely hear Vince even at the top of his lungs, and that takes some doing. Speaking of whom, this was a typical performance from him, although I was pleasantly surprised to hear him utter the words "hiplock" and "short-arm scissors", especially the latter. But his screaming was just as intolerable as ever, and thank God Heenan was there to call him out on "ONE, TWO, THREE.....HE GOT HIM! YES HE DID, AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY DIFFERENTLY!", which he tried twice. Overall, though, the Brain disappointed me. It may have been in character for him not to know who Larry Bird was, but you'd think his real-life native Hoosier pride would shine through for even a brief moment. The "Hoosier/Who's Here?" bit was even worse, although that was mostly because Vince growled "Stop it!" rather than play along. Vince, if you're going to have a comedian in the booth (and that's what Heenan is, association with Flair and Hall aside), you either need to work with him or find someone other than Gino who will. It's not like you give a damn about the matches in the ring anyway, so play straight man for Bobby and be thankful you still have him, at least for now. I didn't really catch the jokes about President Bush due to the bad audio. Interestingly enough, Shawn wasn't supposed to challenge Bret at Survivor Series; according to Wikipedia, they wanted Jake Roberts to return and take that spot, but couldn't sign him. The Davey-Jacques match that was hyped here obviously never happened either, since Davey had been fired. Davey-Jacques was no loss, but as hot as Jake was in WCW before he left, I think he and Bret could have had a really good match. I might have even considered putting the belt on Jake if that's what it would have taken to bring him in, with the proviso that he gets one strike and one strike only as far as drugs and booze.
  8. garretta
    This match is better than the Royal Rumble, Loss? Not by a damn sight. In fact, I didn't like Flair here at all. I've seen the Flair house show routine back in the day, and if he's slipped this far, no wonder he was a joke just a few years later. How many rope leverage spots can one match have, for heaven's sake? After the first two, we cross the line from good heel work to complete laziness in my book. Maybe the WWF's house show schedule was getting to Flair like it had so many others, because he seemed to want to actually work as little as possible. Even his arguing spots really had no pizzazz to them, if movements and body language were any indication. When Bret was in control, there were a lot of callbacks to the title change, including Bret going for the figure four first. This time he actually got two spots with it, which was a bit strange but very good. In general, Bret looked much crisper than Flair did, although an overactive referee might have had something to do with that as well. This is most obvious when Flair climbed to the top so Bret could throw him off. Maybe Bret needed an extra moment to pop up, but for whatever reason the ref blocked Flair's way up there for so long that when Ric finally made the climb, his timing was noticeably off. The ref in question looked like Joey Marella from what I could tell, but Joey's too good of an official to be that blatantly noticeable. One Flair spot I liked that I haven't seen in a while was the multiple cover attempts, which he did on at least three or four different occasions. More wrestlers desperate to win a title should use that spot; it's better at getting that desperation across than most heel tactics. This was better than the Savage-Shawn match on the same card. but not nearly as good as the title change. I hope these two have one more classic in them before Flair leaves, but if this match is any indication of what they're doing on house shows at this time, the Boston Ironman match won't be it. It's definitely time for Flair to go back to Atlanta.
  9. garretta
    Who else would you have rather seen Simmons wrestle, DR? And Vader isn't an answer; he's already in the King of Cable finals. Doc was Watts' protégé and took the match at Starrcade to do Watts a favor when he (Watts) was in a bad spot; he could lose clean to Simmons and it wouldn't matter, since he almost exclusive to All-Japan by now. That said, you have a point about too many things going on at once; the Lethal Lottery should have been a tag team tournament on a separate pay-per-view, and Battlebowl (which, hype aside, was just a regular battle royal) should have been scrapped. If Sting-Vader plus two World singles title matches and a World tag team title match isn't enough to sell a card, that card (and the promotion running it) is in big, big trouble. The video was good for what it was, and everyone was a serious as they knew how to be (which wasn't very serious at all in Mero's case). At any rate, it's better than endless Survivor Series promos and the circumlocutions they use in order to shoehorn the word "survive" into every last one of them, whether it fits or not. Why did some guys know their partners (and, in at least one case, their opponents) while others didn't? It doesn't mean a whole lot in the end, I guess, but wouldn't it be more fair (in a kayfabe sense) for either everyone to know their partners or no one? Rude's promo on Simmons delivers, even though, as Pete said, Rude probably knew by now that he wouldn't be able to wrestle. As for Erik, think about this: Rude's injury may have saved us from one of the most egregious overpushes in wrestling history. Erik Watts, who hasn't even been on TV for three months, as a potential US heavyweight champion or (for all the fans knew at the time) World champion? Would the Cowboy really have had the guts to go through with something like that, even if Erik didn't end up with any belts? I don't believe that he was that poor of a businessman, but maybe he simply didn't care about WCW's long-term future and wanted to give his son a title or two before he was inevitably fired.
  10. garretta
    I'm against the grain here, but I thought Savage looked pretty good. It wasn't that he did a whole lot, but what he did looked better than what Shawn did, which was nothing. Honestly, I think this might have been the basic house show bout that Savage worked with Honky back in the day, because that's who Shawn reminded me of more than anyone else. The only difference is that Wayne Ferris knew how to make stalling and begging a lot more interesting than Shawn does here. The only thing that looked decent here was Sweet Chin Music, and not only didn't that really mean much so early in Shawn's run, but how on earth can a superkick look bad? If nothing else, you stick your heel out and let your opponent run into it. I think that was Bret who chased Shawn back toward the ring and counted the three after the bell, not Jannetty. I didn't particularly like the double countout, but there wasn't much else to do except have Shawn get a pin on Savage, and I'm not sure Randy would have gone along with that at this point. Honestly, I wouldn't have bothered with the postmatch; I'd have just had Shawn take off and leave it at that, with Savage getting the countout win. He was never going to be a top contender for the IC belt (or any other WWF belt) ever again, so what would have been the difference? I'm fairly sure you can thank Slim Jims for Savage not turning heel again in '93; I don't think they would have wanted a heel representing their product. I know Randy joined the NWO in '96, but by then WCW was doing shoot stuff and otherwise acknowledging that what was going on was worked while it was going on, plus I don't think Randy was their only spokesman by then; his commercials may have already left the air for good, in fact. Anyone who can confirm that or tell me that I'm wrong, feel free to do so.
  11. garretta
    I could handle either the sick kid stuff or Horner stealing the belt by themselves. In fact, I like the idea of a babyface, especially one that's as vanilla as Horner usually is, doing something heelish in response to being screwed. But both at the same time? Tim's so desperate not to look bad in front of a sick kid that he steals the title instead of beating Tony for it fairly, and we're supposed to sympathize with him for it? What's the matter with Horner just saying, "You know, these SOBs (Tony and Ron) have tried to kill me twice on television and made my life totally miserable, and I'm through taking it. So I stole the belt, and now they're going to have to come through me to get it back, And so will you, Commissioner." Period. No babyface had ever stolen a belt, admitted it, and refused to give it back when called upon, so that would have been something fresh and exciting, provided that they didn't actually have Horner keep the belt for more than a week or two without relenting. But no, we get this sap instead. The kid looked out of it, which is hardly surprising considering what he'd been through, and I'll lay a dollar to a donut that he didn't know Tim Horner from Little Jack Horner, What's worse is that Horner's actually calling himself champion. Heels always sound pathetic when they do something like that, but faces sound a million times worse. And I get the feeling Bullet Bob's not exactly looking too hard for the belt, either, considering that he's practically adopted Horner as another son since he came to SMW. What I'd like to see next (even though I know we won't get it) is an answer promo from Tony: Horner and Bullet Bob have a week to return the belt. If they don't, then Ron's suing SMW on his behalf for the return of the belt plus Bullet Bob's job as commissioner. That would have gotten some action in a hurry, but like I just said, I don't think we saw anything close to that. Thankfully, we get a new top babyface in the next few weeks who can get over without cheap tricks like this. Let's just hope Tracey can undo the damage this crap (hopefully) did to the promotion's credibility. As for Horner, he should be dumped at the first opportunity, because he's beyond saving.
  12. garretta
    This interview spells out for those who don't already know that the Hulkamania era is (at least for the moment) over, and not just a new champion, but a new type of champion, is the order of the day in the WWF. Bret makes sure to say several times that he's the best wrestler in the WWF, and it sure seems at this time like Vince is truly ready to change the foundation of the WWF entirely. Of course, that plan goes up in flames a few months later, but that sad story is for another day. Bret's able to ptoject heartfelt humility here without being all "gee, golly, gosh" in the way that Backlund, the last WWF champ in this mold, was. He's more like Bruno without Bruno's strength and size, a blue-collar champion who will fight hard at all times and take on all comers because that's what he believes a champion should do. He pays respect to those who have gone before, but wants to forge his own legacy. This really is a refreshing change from the elevated volume and schtick of the previous champions the younger McMahon has given the public all the way back to the Iron Sheik. (Remember, he inherited Backlund from Senior.) I like the tease of anther match against Davey Boy, and it's a shame that we'll have to wait over three years for it, by which time Davey's physically shot in more ways than one. Hearing Bret compliment Shawn in the wake of what would happen between them five years later is a bit strange, but let's remember that neither one of them is where they would be at that time. Bret's closer than Shawn, since the HBK character isn't even close to firing on all cyllinders yet, although what we've seen so far is promising. Interesting that Vince mentions Hogan by name when he's still a few months from returning. I wonder what plans he had for Hogan at the time. I guess he was still clinging to the idea of Hogan as the Andre-like attraction who would draw fans in to see Bret defend the title. Vince really pushes the idea that Bret could make a mistake and lose at Survivor Series, which is another welcome change from the recent past. In the new WWF, even the purest of heroes, such as Bret, are still human and subject to mistakes like everyone else. Put another way, I don't think we'll hear Vince call Bret immortal any time soon.
  13. garretta
    This might be me getting a bit tired of seeing Rude, but this was a shorter version of the Rude-Sting match that would take place at the Clash eleven days later. The same lower back spots, the same midsection spots, the same top rope spots from Rude, everything. Barry looked a little more at home applying power moves like the bearhug than Sting did; other than that there was almost no difference until the finish. Speaking of which, they were kind of damned no matter what here. Barry had to lose so he and Dustin could defend the tag titles at the Clash, but Rude couldn't beat him clean because he still had to have at least some momentum. Rude couldn't lose clean either, at least not to Barry; if they'd wanted Rude to lose in order to set up a future program, it couldn't be to someone who'd be a fellow heel in a matter of just a few days. So they split the difference and we got the rather cheap finish we saw. Jake was first-rate on commentary here. It isn't a surprise to me, because he actually called some matches for Prime Time back in 1987. Consider this for a broadcast trio: Jake, Lanny Poffo, and Don Muraco. They really didn't have defined roles, and the matches they called were easily forgettable, but Jake was as smooth there as he was here. He showed great insight into strategy and psychology, and what I liked most was that he never screamed and seldom showed outright bias, although he cheered for fellow heel Rude. Only at the finish when he and JR got into a dispute over the meaning of the word "grab" was it obvious which side of the fence he was on. (Incidentally, he was right; Rude didn't grab the ropes, he just hung am arm over them and let leverage do the rest. JR came off as a hair-splitting whiner in the exchange.) I liked the cold look in Jake's eyes when JR asked him about the Sting-Pillman match which was upcoming.. The only thing he wanted in regard to Sting was to beat his brains out, which he was supposed to get a chance to do at the Omni on Thanksgiving night. By the way, a freshly-turned Barry subbed for Jake in the street fight which was hyped. It was Vader, Cactus Jack, Rude and Windham against Stung, Ron Simmons, Van Hammer, and Dustin Rhodes, who was subbing for Nikita Koloff. Sting pinned Cactus to win the match. A rules nitpick I just thought of: Medusa was allowed to accompany Rude to the ring in this match, but not the semifinal against Sting. Watts explained that managers and seconds were barred from ringside in the King of Cable tournament, so why was Medusa allowed to stay in this match? Was it an oversight or mistake, or did Watts just want a pop for pushing Race around at the Clash?
  14. garretta
    I knew there was no finish going in, so that didn't bother me much. What did bother me more and more and more as time went on is that the wrestlers wrestled like they knew there wasn't going to be a finish. There was no sense of urgency, no drive for either man to actually try to win the match. There were lots and lots of submission attempts, and Rude sold his ribs particularly well, but they just seemed content to try to hurt each other rather than win, which would have let me know even if I didn't already that there wasn't supposed to be a winner. That all being said, I saw absolutely nothing wrong with Jesse constantly talking about the judges. They needed to get a new concept over quickly, since there weren't any judges in the first round from what we saw. I suppose they could have just ignored it like they did at the first Clash with Sting and Flair, but there was a ton of hype about the judges beforehand then. I would have made it even a little more authentic by actually giving the judges' "scores" at the end, like they do in boxing matches that go the distance. I notice that they had Zbyszko vote for Rude, which was surprising given how Larry was booted out of the DA. It just hit me that Rude made out pretty well; if he'd beaten Sting, he wouldn't be able to wrestle Simmons for the World title at Starrcade. Sometimes, the sweetest victories are the ones you don't get. Not to nitpick over something that ultimately didn't matter, but why couldn't Watts have been one of the judges? After all, who better to be impartial than the man who signs both wrestlers checks? I liked Jesse saying that Rude's hip swivels would score points with the judges. Take a look at those three, Bod. Zbyszko I'll give you just for laughs, but what makes you think a couple of old fossils like Matsuda and Ole would care one damn bit about bumping and grinding? They've probably neither seen it nor done it in the last fifty years! Line of the Night goes to Jesse: "What makes you think you can trust those three (the judges)?" Talk about the former pot calling the kettles black! I hope we can see these two go at it in a match where the whole point isn't to spotlight a new way to determine a winner. I think these two have at least one more pay-per-view quality classic in them.
  15. garretta
    They really sold Dustin the underdog here, as his only sustained offense came right at the beginning of the match, when Vader was dealing with Race being barred from ringside and the aftereffects of Sting's attack. Once Vader got his bearings, this really wasn't competitive. The good thing is that Dustin didn't try to throw Vader around like some of his other smaller opponents did. This was a ground-based match except for Vader's finisher. and that's the kind of match where Vader really shines. Yes, the 360 bump off the clothesline was unbelievable, especially on the concrete. Harley had a point about Vader having to compete right after Sting attacked him, but Watts didn't want to hear it after some of the stuff Vader had done to Sting earlier. It's a bit odd that Watts would want to be seen as condoning vigilante justice as the top lawmaker in WCW, but it fits his tough-guy persona very well. Where he comes from, people don't wait for commissioners and executive vice presidents to give them justice; they go out and make their own. Hayes was very good here, although his comments about Barry's turn are nothing more than boilerplate heel stuff. With great potential color guys like Arn and Hayes in the fold, it's strange that JR hasn't had a regular color guy all year. It took me a while to realize that the Thursday mentioned in the commentary referred to Thanksgiving and the Omni house show. I though there was an extra Clash or pay-per-view scheduled that no one remembered to talk about. I liked Harley bitching at JR to stop the match on account of Vader being injured by Sting. The only place where the announcer has that power even occasionally is Memphis, and that's if Eddie Marlin and Guy Coffey aren't available. I'm looking forward to Sting-Rude to see how they used the three ringside judges. It seems to me that having former DA member Zbyszko and former Rhodes family deadly enemy Ole judge a Dustin match is more than a bit unfair, but the concept wasn't my idea.
  16. garretta
    This was too short to really get into much, but if I was Fuller and Golden looking for who the insider was giving them trouble, I'd look no further than the fat twerp with the glasses and tennis racquet. I like the idea of the Studs ignoring Bob and treating Dutch, their supposed good friend, like a hired hand. There's a ruthlessness about that which even Corny can't match. Dutch seems to be slightly concerned for his well-being as the Studs leave, which only adds to the mix, even if we already know that there won't be a turn. It's interesting that Rock 'n' Roll haven't commented on any of this yet. Then again, why should they lift a finger? They're the champions, and their two top contenders are threatening to tear each other apart. They're just sitting back, watching how things play out, and waiting to see who survives, if anyone.
  17. garretta
    Ron tried to be almost too articulate here, and ended up sounding like he was talking around the issues at hand. He needed to be in promo mode to be effective verbally: short answers, delivered with conviction and volume. He doesn't come off as dumb by any means, but he's not in Rude's class as a talker. If I'd been in Watts' shoes, I would have made just how Rude got the x-rays part of the hype for the match. I'm not quite sure of the details, but I would have played up the idea that Simmons had been betrayed because someone he'd trusted (in this case, his doctor) fell under Rude and Medusa's influence. Could it happen again? Even if nothing ends up happening, you have the idea of Rude not only getting a win over Simmons in the ring, but being inside his head. As it is, Ron pretty much no-sold the shoulder injury as a possible factor in the match, which made the whole x-ray angle pointless. I would have loved to have seen Simmons-Orndorff in a program instead of just one throwaway match. Paul still had plenty left in the tank as a potential challenger, although I completely understand using Rude, who was totally on fire at this point. I think the hat Simmons was wearing might have been a policeman's cap.
  18. garretta
    I agree with El-P about the Implication that Medusa seduced Simmons' doctor, but the "favor" could just as easily have been money. Not likely, but possible. After seeing the clip where Rude pinned Simmons, I can't wait to see the whole bout. I agree with Rude about a controversial win being better than a loss, especially when you've waited as long as Rude has for a pay-per-view shot at the World title, (To Loss's point, I think they mean that Rude hasn't received a nationally televised shot at the World title, free or pay.) It would have been better for Rude if Simmons' injury had been to his neck, which is tailor made for the Rude Awakening. Now Rude has to use arm-based offense against Simmons, which is hardly impossible for him but isn't exactly in his wheelhouse either. Rude looks older and more weatherbeaten without the mustache. I wonder what possessed him to shave it off. I missed the faces that Medusa was making at the camera, but as good-looking as she is they can't be that bad. Rude-Vader would have been something to see, especially giver that Rude and Race have been associating more and more in the past few months. I wonder who the face would have been.
  19. garretta
    The bologna is flowing thick and fast between these guys here. Even Stan shines, which he hasn't done often on the mic in SMW. Before I put this on, I wondered which side would act like the faces, and I was shocked to see that it was the Studs. Not that I think they're turning for a second, but it was still hilarious to hear Robert talk about not wanting to make Bullet Bob mad at them. I also loved Corny's reaction to Dutch (and most likely Shoo Baby) being in the Studs' corner. Between the handicap match with Rock 'n' Roll and being counteracted by Dutch against the Studs, Corny's being neutralized at every turn. Are Stan and Dr. Tom enough of a team on their own to take care of business on two different and equally dangerous fronts? We're about ready to find out! I thought it was funny at first that Dr. Tom went along with Stan and Corny's talk about national exposure, but then I remembered that USWA Texas was on ESPN, so that means that he's been on nationally just like them, although not for as long.
  20. garretta
    A classic Corny promo. I doubt that he meant anything sexual in his closing line, but you can never tell for sure. That's what makes him a master on the mic. I like the tension between the Bodies and the Studs. The thing that makes it even more interesting is that there's no chance of either team turning because both of them hate Ricky and Robert, who are as beloved as ever. The fans can sit back, watch the heels destroy each other, and root for Rock 'n' Roll to take care of what's left. I'm looking forward to the potential promo battle between two quintessential Southern bullshit artists in Fuller and Corny. Corny doing the old "I'm not a wrestler!" routine is pretty rich after how much we've seen him in the ring lately. It's still effective for now, but he has to watch his physical involvement for it to remain so in the future.
  21. garretta
    I'm on Dustin's side here. Sure, you go for the win if you can get it, but after the injured guy kicks out, you don't keep going for the injured area the way Barry did. That's what led to the turn, not Dustin refusing to go for the win. The one mistake they made was having Dustin slap Barry first, which completely confused the issue. But they cleaned it up after the match with one of the most brutal heel turns I've ever seen. Usually you get a few slaps, or maybe the newly turned heel hits his finisher to cement the turn. But Barry goes nuts on Dustin, the refs, and tops it off by attacking Douglas and Steamboat. For a second, I thought he'd take a shot at Jesse, who wasted no time getting out of the way. The crowning touch would have been one more reverse atomic drop to Steamboat on the concrete, but I guess they didn't want to do a lasting injury angle that would have in essence negated the title change. What we got was plenty good enough. Jesse foretold all of this with his constant reminders that even title matches between friends can get heated, and JR, dedicated babyface announcer that he is, refused to even take the possibility into account. Even though I knew the turn was coming, Dustin going along with Barry's subtle heel work against Douglas and adding some of his own threw just a bit of doubt into my mind. After seeing that, it's interesting to ponder whether Dustin might have been okay with Barry going after Douglas, that the main reason he objected to Barry's tactics was that he was using them against Steamboat, Dustin's former partner. That would have given the angle a bit more intrigue, but given that the plan was for Barry to go back to singles as a heel and presumably feud with Dustin, I can see why they wanted to make the turn and the actions of both guys more black and white. I don't agree that the belly-to-belly was a weak finisher for Douglas, at least not here. When it's used as a surprise move to knock the wind out of an opponent, it's about as effective a finisher as there is. Unfortunately, no one had used it in that way since Magnum, and the only other time I recall it being used as a finisher since Magnum's accident wasn't even in Crockett/WCW: Harley Race beat the Junkyard Dog with it at Mania III in their "loser bows to the winner" match. I'd like to have seen the verbal confrontation between the two teams leading up to the bout to see if there were hints dropped about Barry's turn. JR seemed to be planting the seed on the very night Barry and Dustin won the belts, so it wouldn't be surprising to me if there was some "cultivating" being done in the leadup to this bout. I'll also be interested to see Barry's King of Cable match with Rude; I wouldn't think that they'd be talking much about a match that was still eleven days away in the limited time they had, but you never know. I'm surprised that we don't appear to hear from Dusty at some point or other, unless he did a promo that didn't make either this set or the '93 set. I wonder if that was his idea or if Watts didn't want him on camera, and if it's the latter, why that stopped him; he could have gone back to Vince in a hearbeat and taken Dustin with him if Dustin had wanted to go. I'm not saying that he should have gotten in the ring, but a promo or two might have added some more fuel to the fire.
  22. garretta
    I'm kind of in the middle here. The work was high quality, of course, but there was no electricity here, and Doc and Bamm Bamm are the reason why, although it's not really their fault. Watts made one mistake with these two: he assumed that because they got over with very little to no verbal skills in Japan (mostly because of the language barrier), they could do the same here in the U.S. He was wrong; even though Barry and Dustin got the hell beaten of them here, very few in the audience cared. That's because there was no reason for the fans to dislike Doc and Bamm Bamm. They're big and they're tough, but we have no idea what motivates them, what's in their hearts. Even if they're just supposed to kick butt because that's their job, we don't know that because we weren't told. You've got Michael Hayes on your roster doing practically nothing; make him the MVC's American spokesman and have him do what he used to do when Bamm Bamm was a Freebird, which is put him and Doc over as five hundred and eighty pounds of rompin', stompin' graveyard destruction direct from the Land of the Rising Sun. Have him cut promos on Dustin and Barry, Arn and Bobby, and all the other teams in WCW. Make these two dislikable so that the fans can get behind the American teams (particularly Dustin and Barry) and root for them to send Doc and Gordy back to Japan in bodybags. You can even have him join in a six-man occasionally if you like, provided he can move a little better than he did the last time we saw him. As it was, no one really got behind the challengers, so what we had was a televised exhibition, only with the belts on the line. I could have stood for a little less endless pounding on Barry in particular; without crowd involvement, long face-in-peril sequences are excruciating. This was very reminiscent of the tag from Halloween Havoc with Austin taking Bamm Bamm's place; I'm guessing that this was the MVC's default match structure, and I say I'm guessing because it's not as readily apparent in their Japanese matches. Arn was a treat to listen to on commentary; he delved into strategy, put across the effects of various holds and maneuvers, and generally walked a straight line, staying almost completely impartial, although he admitted early on that he'd have loved for himself and Bobby Eaton to be in Dustin and Barry's shoes. The one time he showed his heel bias was when Dustin came in to make a save for Barry. JR called it brilliant, and Arn rightly pointed out that if he'd done it for Bobby, JR would have called it illegal and condemned him for it. It was nice to hear the Horsemen acknowledged by name; the deal to bring Flair home must have already been in the works. I also liked Arn putting Barry over so much as a tag team partner, and he had some kind words for Dustin too. The finish was patently illegal, of course, but we weren't supposed to notice that, I guess. JR did go a bit overboard saying that it was Dustin's bulldog that won the belts for himself and Barry, as if Barry's supeprplex that Doc had to save Bamm Bamm from had nothing to do with it. Of course, Barry was a jerk for continuing to hold all four belts himself as if they were his property alone. In other words, the seeds of Barry's heel turn have been effectively planted. Line of the Night goes to Arn, after Bamm Bamm blasts Dustin with a lariat: "You can pick up his head right out here (by the broadcast table)." I guess the NWA belts weren't around for too much longer after this, because I don't recall hearing that Austin and Pillman were booked as the Unified World champions, although I'm guessing that Douglas and Steamboat were, at least at first.
  23. garretta
    If you're going to run a dream match segment, it should be something that fans would normally have to pay for, complete with definitive finish. It's a promotion's way of saying, "Thank you for supporting us, and as a reward, we're going to give you something you wouldn't ordinarily get on TV." That means a title changes hands, a feud ends once and for all, a face gets final and lasting revenge on a heel, or whatever else. Simply running any match with two main eventers isn't enough under the circumstances. You can run any match you want to on TV if you know you're not going to give the fans a finish; hell, Vince could have run Hogan-Andre as a main event on Superstars the month before Mania III if all that was going to happen was a Heenan run-in for a DQ. If a promotion isn't willing to sacrifice some money as a gesture of goodwill to the fans (and thus make more money when they run other matches and angles at house shows in the future), then it shouldn't run a contest like this. That may be why most promotions didn't.
  24. garretta
    I didn't care for this at all. First, if this was really a dream match voted on by the fans, they deserve to see some sort of definitive finish. If I'd suggested a match like this and it had been picked, and I'd waited all week to watch it, I wouldn't have wanted to see a rather unimaginative DQ. I can understand not wanting Rock 'n' Roll or the Bodies lose clean before Thanksgiving Thunder, but couldn't one of the babyfaces have pinned Corny? Why shouldn't he be the designated loser when he's in the match and one is called for? What could he possibly be protecting himself for? Is he going to book himself as SMW champion or what? Second, if we can't have a good finish, could we at least see the match in full? This isn't just another TV main event; this is (ostensibly) a match asked for by the fans. Even if it really isn't, you're presenting it as such, and no one's any the wiser. So why clip it so drastically? If it's a long match, rearrange the rest of your show so it can be seen in its entirety. The more I see of SMW, the less I like Corny the booker, particularly since he's made a living in the last few years attacking other promotions for being too violent, not catering to the fans, bot following through on stips, and a hundred other things, most of which he does just as flagrantly as McMahon or Heyman or Russo. He's not really any more old-school than any other promoter is, he's just longer-winded and more of a showman. By the way, Ricky was the one eliminated because the Bodies and Corny had already messed up Robert's hand. This way, each member of Rock 'n' Roll would have a (hopefully) serious injury heading into Thanksgiving Thunder. Also, Curtis disqualified Corny for possessing the racquet in the ring, not necessarily because he'd used it (although he had). I'd rather have had Curtis see the racquet being used, though. Anybody have any idea what Corny blinded Ricky with? The can it came in was an aerosol, like the ether can, but it couldn't have been that. I wonder if Rock 'n' Roll will bother to sell their injuries throughout the Thanksgiving Thunder series; Robert certainly didn't sell his bad hand in this match, but the Bodies didn't work on it either, which was a major booking oversight.
  25. garretta
    This match wasn't just hurt by poor booking; it was killed by it. It was plain as day when we started getting time limit calls past twenty minutes that this was going to a draw. Maybe that was the original finish with Gordy in the match, and maybe it wasn't. In any case, why not just let it go? Why not one, but two false finishes, complete with bell? What did they accomplish? Nothing, that's what. This match was wrestled like a draw regardless. It was almost like someone came backstage at the twenty-minute mark and said, "Hey, the crowd is dead and the boys are moving like they're in quicksand. We need to do something", and that finish was the something. The Philly crowd crapped all over it, and rightfully so; I'm not sure who they would have rather seen win, but it's a sure bet that they wanted somebody to win. As for the match itself, the four individual matchups were good, but the teamwork was lacking on both sides. One was understandable, the other wasn't. Even though both Dustin and Barry had to play FIP, they could have done it in a way that showed that they knew they were in a tag match. This may be the one match where I was looking for more false tags, or at least hotter ones. Austin and Doc looked good for a team that was together for the first time anywhere, but as Jesse pointed out several times, they weren't anywhere close to having their teamwork together on a championship level. I suspect that Austin was subbed in because of his past singles history with both Dustin and Barry, but this may have been a good spot for a veteran tag wrestler like Arn to help Doc out and make things look a bit more fluid, even if it meant cancelling another match or changing the card around. JR mentioned the dissension between Dustin and Barry prior to the match, but the issue was shelved and not brought up again, I guess because Austin subbing for Gordy complicated matters enough. I was looking forward to seeing that storyline play out, or at least be mentioned more than once in passing. JR and Jesse weren't at their best as a team, mostly because the match dragged on so long that Jesse fell back into his bad WWF habit of making smart remarks and expecting JR to play along when he should have known better by now. JR actually got off a couple of good zingers, especially the one about how working with Jesse gives him a pain in the neck so bad that he has to see a chiropractor. You can tell that Jesse legitimately respects JR because he doesn't reply; had that been Vince or Schiavone Jesse would have been off and running about sissies who know nothing about athletics (although he once tried to intimate that JR played croquet, which even my rather imaginative mind's eye simply can't picture). I also liked Jesse wondering why Randy Anderson doesn't want to be called Pee Wee, unfortunately, JR chose to no-sell that question. On the wrestling side, I loved JR telling the story about how Doc got his nickname, and Jesse admitting that he and Adrian Adonis didn't always get along outside the ring when they were the East-West Connection, although I've always heard that they were close friends when push came to shove. As I said earlier, Jesse was the one who spotted the deficiencies in Austin and Doc's teamwork, and he had a point about the false finishes; they really should stand, at least more often than they do, if only because they way they're overturned looks sloppy more often than not. I agree with Phil about Doc's football spots with Dustin early in the match. I also love his nickname for the team. It's not quite as graphic as Miracle Violence Connection, but for a team that only happened once that we know of, it fits as well as any other. Line of the Night: Jesse: Why won't you talk about your guys (Oklahoma) getting hammered by Kansas (in football) yesterday? JR: Because it's not relevant to this match. (After a pause) I'm also a sore loser. One quick word about the prematch promo: When Doc is the main spokesman for your team even though Austin's by far the better speaker, something's dreadfully wrong somewhere.
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