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garretta

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Everything posted by garretta

  1. garretta
    A nice curiosity for those who remember PG-13 fondly. Jamie's learned his lessons well from Bill, and Wolfie keeps up better than one might expect. Whoever the manager for Wolfie was should have gotten a shot in Memphis for his interference spots alone. I wonder if he could talk? The ring announcer sounded a bit like Corey Maclin at first, but it wouldn't have been him if this was an indie show. I loved the fan who screamed at least three times, "Jamie, kick his ass!" Also, this has to be one of the last times you can actually see tobacco smoke at a wrestling show; I think most of them went smoke-free not to long after this, if they hadn't already.
  2. garretta
    Too short to be a classic, but it's better in thirty seconds than that lousy movie was in almost five minutes.
  3. garretta
    The stuff about the ranch belongs in a WCW mini-movie. The stuff about beating Dundee and JYD is standard. Put it all together and it's only a slight step above dreck. There was only one decent line: Tommy's "You got the Great White Hope (Dundee) and the Great Black Hope (JYD). Well, after Monday night there ain't gonna be no hope for either of 'em!" The Hornet lives! I guess the King's magic facepaint did him no good, as he's a jobber already.
  4. garretta
    Oh, I see. Yeah, they're a hoot down there in Atlanta, GA!
  5. garretta
    First of all, can we stop having laughs at Bruno's expense here? I'm not sure he knew that Watts signed off on stuff like this, and even if he did, Watts was a friend and asked him to make an appearance for his (Watts') promotion. If he'd refused, that would have said a lot more about how bitter he was over the direction of the business than any of the shots he took at Vince (most of which were justified, considering what both Senior and Junior had tried to do to him and his family ever since his initial attempted blackballing back in 1961). What's worse, doing appearances for a promoter who occasionally produces crappy mini-movies or running a promotion that features a gibbering idiot loaded with steroids (Warrior) as its number two babyface? All of that said, this was truly awful. What was the matter with a face-to-face between Jake and Sting where Jake could have properly put over the stips of all (or almost all) of the matches on the wheel, especially the ones we didn't see too often by '92? Jake was the only one who appeared to know what he was doing in this setting; Sting seemed out of place, and the rest of it seemed like a bad dream a five year-old might have, if said five year-old went into biker bars. It's kind of surprising that Watts, who values wrestling as pure sport more than any other promoter of the modern era except possibly for Verne, would have okayed this. But did he, or was it okayed over his head by the Turner brass in an effort to try and out-Vince Vince? Whatever it was, whoever was behind it, it was a terrible mistake and a regrettable waste of perfectly good airtime. Twice.
  6. garretta
    So JYD was Dundee's partner of choice, eh? It makes sense, considering that his regular partner Lawler is busy with the Gilberts. JYD as the "great black hope"? In 1992? Not even close, Papa. If Snowman (or the threat of Snowman) was behind this, he ought to have at least picked someone younger to throw what little weight he had behind. If this was Papa's own doing, he's way more behind the times than any of us ever dreamed. Tommy's promo was right on point, but Budro's, as noted above, tended to be almost babyface-like, especially when he talked about his kids seeing his head busted open. Then again, faces sound like heels more and more often, so why shouldn't the reverse be true sometimes as well?
  7. garretta
    Nice to see Jackie again, but I thought that this chapter of the WWF thing would go a little further than it did after Jimmy's promo. Instead, we're getting a resumption of Lawler-Eddie, with Jeff and Doug as their respective partners. There's nothing wrong with that, certainly, but it seems like going back to basic grilled cheese sandwiches after giving the fans a taste of prime rib. We still haven't see any studio interviews with Lauren, which is a shame because I'd like to know how good (or bad) she is as a talker.
  8. garretta
    They still looked and sounded like the Bushwhackers to me, with their references to shaking hands and rubbing heads. We didn't get any licking, though, and thank goodness for that. I hope Luke and Butch decided to let loose and brawl a little with the Dogs, because by '92 the Bushwhackers were about half of what they were when they started in the WWF, and that wasn't much. If those were the guys who came to the MSC that night, we more than likely had a negative-star (or melted snowflake, if you prefer) bout, because the Dogs weren't exactly world class athletes either.
  9. garretta
    The only notable part of this was that Landell attacked Dundee. Most Memphis fans remember the two of them making Lawler's life miserable in the summer of '86. At one point, they got so obnoxious that Lance and Dave refused to call their matches or interview them, so they took over the TV for at least a week. I know there was some kind of payoff to that, but I forget what it was at the moment. Anyway, I wonder if Buddy will mention it on interviews going forward. Neighbors getting knocked out was typical Memphis, and I'm used to it. But over two minutes with no hint of a save from any of the faces was a little too long. I'm guessing that Lawler and Jeff were too involved in their own stuff to worry much about Dundee, and I can't think of who else would have made the save for him.
  10. garretta
    I'm not even sure that the OX was teaming regularly by this point, AJ. It might have been a one-off for the Memphis audience. Tanaka had already been back to Memphis as himself to wrestle Embry, as we saw in '91. I think Diamond may have been doing jobs under his own name for Vince, but again I can't be sure. Fuji managed them during their WWF glory days (such as they were), but by now I think he was down to John Nord (The Berzerker) while waiting for Yoko to come in.
  11. garretta
    Great stuff, but just as with the singles there wasn't enough JCP. Only Rock 'n' Roll was represented by actual footage. Where were the Midnight Express, to name just one notable snub? It was interesting to see the Road Warriors with no face paint. This had to have been just after they debuted, Precious Paul sounded like he needed a cold shower in a hurry, but Gordon, as usual, takes things in stride. It's easy to make fun of Ole now, but he sounded like the toughest, meanest bastard who ever lived back in 1980. Even thirty-six years later, I kind of felt concern for Dusty once everyone started beating on him. You'd think they could have found out how to spell Brisco properly, especially since Jack was a former World champion. Maybe this was their way of taking a shot at Jerry, who was working for Vince by now.
  12. garretta
    I'll just echo what everyone else has said: this was a brilliant montage. I could have stood to see a little more JCP footage, though. The only two clips I could identify as JCP were Dusty's and Tully's. Even Jimmy Valiant's clip had Gordon on commentary, which meant It was most likely from Georgia. Teddy's clip was from Georgia, but Magnum's was from Mid-South, which had a short run on TBS in '85. Boyd Pierce's voice on commentary is the giveaway.
  13. garretta
    This didn't sound brilliant to me. It was more like Pillman couldn't get a shot at the belt, so he threw a hissy fit. This would have been more effective if Pillman had apologized later in the show or the following Saturday, then kicked the crutch out from under Brad and torn up his leg. This looked like a legit injury, though, so maybe he couldn't do that. Still, a turn by slapping a guy in the face? Maybe they should have held off until the turn could happen in the ring, as Pete suggested. I loved the Rich-Piper clip as the show went to break. This was when Piper wasn't wrestling yet in Georgia; in fact, I think it was the Rich feud that got him into the ring. I remember that he was neutral on commentary with Gordon at first, then slowly started favoring the heels. He was a million miles better on commentary there than he ever was for Vince.
  14. garretta
    This was fairly good for what it was. We got some nice mat wrestling from Dustin, a few wild bumps from Mick, and a non-finish that actually sets up another bout the following week instead of just being forgotten. Not too bad for only eight minutes. Interesting to hear Hayes as a heel again after the recent babyface run of the Freebirds. Did they ever turn him or did he just show up in the booth and start badmouthing people? He and JR work as well here as they ever did in the UWF, which is to say very well indeed. He's nowhere near Jesse's class, though. I thought JR's musings about the various names for the clothesline were hilarious. We need just a little more of that sort of thing from him at appropriate times. You know they were pushing Mick hard if they had Steamboat put him over. Too bad it never really amounted to much, at least not in WCW. Quite an eclectic cast for JR's radio show. Something tells me that Simmons and Mick weren't on at the same time, though. Looking forward to the rematch!
  15. garretta
    Bullet Bob stole the show here. Then again, he's the only one interviewed who still had practice cutting promos on any sort of regular basis, so it stands to reason. I liked the back and forth between Peanuthead and T-Bolt too. Andre had absolutely nothing to regret. Vince had no further use for him, so he was free to do as he pleased with what little time he had left. It shows you the kind of guy Vince is that he'd be so petty when he knew Andre was dying, or at least close to it. And, as an aside, who the hell cares if his gimmick's killed at this point, Shoe? He isn't going to be wrestling anymore in North America. Bruno was probably there more as a favor to his old friend Watts than anything else. Yes, he also wanted to stick it to Vince, but he could do that any old time. You can nitpick individual instances that make him look like a hypocrite all day long, but it's the overall WCW philosophy he supported, not every single man or gimmick on the roster. He had things he was opposed to back when he was champion, too. Nice to see Gordon. Do you think we might actually get him to call a match or two sometime in the future, guys? (Actually, I'm surprised he didn't call any on this card. I'd have loved to hear Gordon and Jesse call a match together.)
  16. garretta
    This might be the best-produced video package WCW ever had. An excellent mix of Ron's football and wrestling careers. In that moment, you truly believed that he was the greatest athlete in the world, which was exactly the point. Great quote from Arn, by the way; it's nice to see how much Ron's peers respected him. Good grief, no wonder an old, washed-up Ali was still considered the greatest heavyweight in the world in the late seventies and early eighties; look at his contemporaries. I pity Flair for actually having to sell verbally for Shavers, and if he had to take a punch I hope he demanded a percentage of the gate in return.
  17. garretta
    This felt like the first match in a long program, not a match that aired three weeks after a supercard. Actually, I'm intrigued to see their match at Fire on the Mountain to see what they can do when given a proper amount of time and a reason to truly work hard. One sign that this match meant nothing in the grand scheme of things was that Bob and Dutch spent most of their time talking about the Fultons-Bodies main event the following week. My line of the segment was Dutch saying that Bullet Bob and the Fultons might just as well put duck costumes on the Bodies and Corny, then declare duck season. The man continues to impress as an analyst, an interviewer, and a storyteller in the booth, although he and Bob Caudle seemed to be a bit out of sorts with each other here. Caudle works best when he keeps things on an even keel, not when he tries to stick up for the faces in order to cancel out Dutch sticking up for the heels. Keep that in mind for future reference, Corny. I liked Fuller trash-talking the fan who tried to shake his hand. He must have been from Memphis! When did Golden start going by "Gorgeous" Jimmy? I've never heard of him being referred to that way before. Maybe Dutch just gave him the nickname for the hell of it.
  18. garretta
    The best part of the segment was the old interview with Lawler, Sam Bass, Plowboy, and Dave "Herb Tarlek" Brown. Actually, Herb's suits were a bit louder, but Dave and actor Frank Bonner (who played Herb on WKRP in Cincinnati) could have passed for family at the time of the footage. On another note, Lawler mentions a title match against Tommy Rich. If memory serves, Sam Bass was killed in 1976. Tommy was in his early twenties when he beat Harley Race for the NWA belt in '81, so he must have still been a teenager here. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. As for the present-day stuff, talk about an anticlimax. If someone was going to get their heads shaved, I would have preferred it to be one of the Dogs, beard and all. They cut less of Fifi's hair than they did Lawler's back in '87, and that was just a buzzcut. This was a summer trim, nothing more. Even Adonis got more cut at Mania III, and he had Ed Leslie cutting him, not a supposed professional hair stylist. I get that they wanted to show Fifi refusing the cut, but they could have gotten more of her hair before she balked. This feud may have been the only tag feud to start with tornado matches and end with an (almost) regular tag match. The Dogs worked well together, and I actually hope to see more of that kind of teamwork when we see them again, Lawler and Jeff completely whiffed on a hot tag; they didn't seem quite used to working regular tag matches (and why would they be, having worked tornado matches with the Dogs for the past six months?) I'll be glad never to hear Corey and Richard going back-and-forth again. Okerlund and Heenan they ain't, particularly Corey. Once and for all, was Fifi a man or a woman? She looked like a well-muscled woman, but it was hard to tell since we couldn't see her face.
  19. garretta
    Was Jimmy with them, AJ? Was Fuji? Paul Diamond a big guy in the wrestler sense? Leave it to Corey. If he hadn't sounded so much like a young black version of Lance, Papa would never have hired him.
  20. garretta
    This is some of the wildest action I've ever seen between five guys. I'd even put It over Lawler/Jeff-Moondogs because there's a definite issue involved (Jackie's knee being injured) instead of guys brawling just because that's what they do. Yes, Corny's way too involved, and he's taking far too many shots without being permanently put out of action, but as I've said before, he felt that he had to be the focal point of all the feuds he was in so someone who'd be around to stay could take the heat and the beatings. But no one can take two or three beatings in a show if the first one sends them to the hospital. Chalk one up for the realities of business over kayfabe. I find it more egregious within real reality (as opposed to kayfabe reality) that Stan could be involved in segments like this and still insist that no one go after his headgear and toupee. Think about it: if the Fultons knew that they'd busted Stan's eardrum and were in the fight of their lives, outnumbered three to two with one of the three carrying a tennis racquet, wouldn't they go for Stan's ear to hurt him, get him out of action, and even the odds? That should have been the first thing Bobby or Jackie did.......except, of course, if they were warned by Corny not to do it beforehand, lest Stan quit and ruin not only their feud, but the upcoming Rock 'n' Roll-Bodies feud that was going to be the promotion's in-ring centerpiece. I guess they figured that the fans wouldn't know the difference because they'd be so hepped up to see the brawl, but to a pair of eyes looking from twenty-four years in the future, this has to be one of the most ludicrous things I've seen in a sport where ludicrous is an everyday occurrence. For God's sake, Stan, either get in there and work the way we know you can or get the hell out and go sell real estate or play tiddlywinks or whatever else you want to do. You're ruining a perfectly good feud with your vanity. I loved Phil Rainey calling both the parking lot brawl and the street fight. I don't know which slip of his I liked better: his constant references to Bobby Fulton as "Robert" (as in Robert Fuller) or him saying that one of the guys (I forget who) was Irish whipped into the belt buckle. Ah, the greatness of territorial announcing. I hope Corny gave him a raise for announcing above and beyond the call of duty!
  21. garretta
    Yay! The real Jimmy Hart is back! Where have you been, Colonel, and who's the fugitive from the nuthouse who's tried to look and talk like you for the past seven years? This is the kind of promo that Jimmy's always been capable of, and it's a shame that Heenan got in front of him on the pecking order, because once that happened any hope of competence on the mic from Jimmy was gone. Apparently, there can only be one top manager in Junior's world at any one time (though his dad did pretty well with three almost-equals for over a decade). Tthe only thing that's WWF about this promo is the green screen Jimmy's standing in front of. Everything else could have been done at the WMC studios, and I kind of wish it had been. The only thing missing here is an actual person or persons behind Jimmy's challenge. Couldn't he have brought Money, Inc. to the MSC and actually had a match with Lawler and Jeff? I think that would have been better than just sending in what turned out to be a random promo. Hell, I'd have settled for Koko coming back in as a heel and challenging the King at Jimmy's behest. Bret-Jeff would have been interesting too, but with Bret having to worry about main eventing SummerSlam I can see why that was dropped as soon as it began. The actual promos were nothing exactly new if you know your Memphis wrestling history, but they were a nice refresher course since the Lawler-Hart feud has laid dormant since before Mania 1. Jeff really didn't need to be there, as it turned out, although I liked the fact that Jimmy has known him long enough and well enough to call him Jeffrey. Marlin came out to prevent a full-blown promotional war, most likely because he didn't want the fans to get ideas of unification matches and the like too soon. As of right now, this is nothing more than the resumption of the age-old Lawler-Hart feud. Thank heaven, it would turn into much more, though not for a little while.
  22. garretta
    Each of these guys brings their own special insanity to a series of promo clips. If you'd asked me as a mark which one I believed based on what they decided to show, I'd have to give it to Savage based on the phantom punch. It's kind of interesting that they gave Savage the one true piece of evidence that could turn the tide in either direction. Looking back twenty-four years, of course, I know that neither man sold out, but if I was living in the moment, I would have expected Flair and Curt to come out with Warrior, which would have made more sense: Use Warrior to beat Savage within an inch of his life, regardless of whether he takes the title or not. If Savage survives, you have an easy time taking the title from a weakened, exhausted champion. If Warrior beats Savage for the title, you simply turn on him, beat him to a pulp, then take the belt the first chance you get, which you know will be soon since Warrior will be looking for revenge. It almost makes me wish that Vince had booked it that way. Little did we know that Flair would get the belt back anyway just a few days later. Interesting that they didn't actually show any of the match footage of the two of them against the Nasties, just a couple of brief argument spots. You'd think that they'd have run some miscommunication spots within the match itself to tease dissension, like they did with every other tag team in trouble. The beatdown at the end took care of business quite nicely, though.
  23. garretta
    I guess we've heard enough from Savage, Warrior, Flair and Curt for a while. I see that Kamala's going by "Ugandan Giant" again now that Andre's gone. You could barely hear Bruno over his awful wailing. During his first run he didn't do it much, so when he did it was scary. Now it's just ear-splittingly annoying. Give that animal a tranquilizer, Kim Chee! Nice to know that Bloom finally let Enos talk a little bit. How is being privileged/spoiled enough of a gimmick to get someone a tag team tile match? I don't remember these guys being too effective as the Beverlys. It was nice to see Lanny, even if he didn't say a lot, As for the Disasters, they're both really good here, and it's nice to hear Phoon talk without too many silly references to boats or that ridiculous honk. I wish Martel-Michaels had made the set just so I could see what kind of a match can possibly be built around two guys who are trying not to hit each other in the face. Sherri looked witchy and sounded loopy. Anyone know what Gene meant with his crack about the Republican National Convention? Diana was actually better than Bret or Davey here, over-the-top or not. If all we were going to get was the standard promo from these guys, why bring up that they're brothers-in-law? In other words, they should have sold the family feud angle more instead of letting a novice like Diana do it. Either that or put the family stuff in the background and emphasize Davey the hometown hero, although that may have turned Bret full-fledged heel, at least until SummerSlam. I guess Neidhart was on the outs for some reason, because this is the only Hart family feud angle that he wasn't a major part of.
  24. garretta
    Most of shat I had to say has already been said, so let me just add that I liked Dutch playing it semi-straight while still kissing Bullet Bob's butt at the same time. He wasn't overly smarmy or sarcastic like most other heel interviewers would be, but you still knew he was a heel from his words on previous shows. Bullet Bob was great in a similar way; he answered the questions put to him in the way a commissioner should, although he knew perfectly well that Dutch was really speaking for himself and his friends. He was definitely Corny's voice in the rant at the end, but they had to give fans a reason to attend what I think everyone involved knew were inferior shows. Maybe we're not glitzy and professional-looking, but at least we're cheap and give you wrestlers you can believe in, some of them from your own hometowns! A man like Bullet Bob, who's already a hero and legend in the Knoxville area, is the perfect person to do a sales job like this, even if it's (sadly) destined not to work for long. Dutch really should lay off the cheap cigars and invest in some good old Texas chewing tobacky; it'll grow hair on his chest to match the hair on his face!
  25. garretta
    Maybe at the time this was hot stuff. If so, it doesn't hold up well. The drawing was okay, although I would have preferred some type of quickie battle royal or other type of competition. (Incidentally, that would have also eliminated Watts' paranoia about someone discovering how the drawing was worked.) I liked the interview afterward too, as Simmons acts like someone who won the World title after waking up in the morning as not even a top contender is supposed to act: overwhelmed, but still ready to do what he has to do to defend what is now his. This may be the best promo he's delivered so far, although it's admittedly a pretty small sample size. The match doesn't thrill me at all. Either have Simmons go toe-to-toe with Vader from the start or work the underdog babyface routine, but don't split it down the middle. What do I mean? Simply that there's no way in hell someone whom Vader outweighs by two hundred pounds should take the equivalent of three full splashes (including a sitdown off of a failed sunset flip) and still be able to lift Vader at will and with ease. Hogan doing it to Bundy was bad enough, but the weight difference was about fifty (kayfabe) pounds less, plus Hogan was presented by Vince as superhuman. Simmons certainly wasn't here, yet this normal man did things that normal men shouldn't do unless a family member is trapped underneath a car or has a gun at their head, and without a bit of pain or exhaustion afterward. Sorry, Cowboy, this little buckaroo ain't buyin', and Ron Simmons ain't the next JYD either, not nationally and not regionally. He can't talk like JYD, he can't work a crowd like JYD, and people are being told to care about him in place of the man they really want to cheer and have as their champion (Sting). Simmons is a good uppercard babyface and may be someone you want around to diversify the roster a bit for as long as he can work well, but he's not champion material under these circumstances or any others. Plus, how do you rebuild Vader after this? You trashed his (legitimate) excuse and had him thrown around by a man half his size. How are we supposed to buy him as a threat to anyone when he returns in a few months? I'll have to check out the Jake attack on Sting. By the way, shouldn't that have been enough to get him into the drawing? The celebration looked nice, but since I didn't really buy the match before it, the emotion was lost on me. Honestly, what should have happened is Sting retaining at the Bash, then the Jake attack here, only instead of the drawing have Vader beat Sting, which would have made the Jake feud even hotter than it was in real life. As for Simmons.......well, not much. I'll say it flat-out: if Simmons had been white or if the promoter had been anyone but Watts, he wouldn't have sniffed the belt that night; it probably would have been Windham, assuming the same scenario unfolded.
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