goodhelmet

I think the expectations of the cage hurt the opinions of this. Ignore the cage and focus on the match and this was really fucking fun. Great fire sections from Sting early and Dustin later. Solid FIP from Pillman. Austin was a bumping machine adn had two great bumps using the cage. Clean finish with Pillman getting the pin after getting his ass beat all match. I really liked this match.

We did a huge disservice by making this finish only. Just watched the complete match and it was really fun leading to the bad finish. Vader does a fucking Flair Flip in the corner. He does a moonsault where Flair rolls out of the way, Vader lands on his feet (or close to it) and smashes Flair in the corner. Really should have included the entire thing since the ending doesn't come off as bad with the match as a whole.

I know he used to give Tony Schiavone big kisses in 1986-87.

No, it is Charles and I talking about HBK.

We have one show finished. Going to try and get more done during the holidays.

Going to do a PlacetoBe podcast round table discussing this show so psyched to revisit this.

Well there goes Xavier Woods.. new Jobber to the Stars.

Lawler put people over every other week. Dutch Mantell was not a been there, done that guy. When Lawler returned, they popped a huge house with the Bill and Buddy feud. Lawler allowed Rich and Idol to cut his hair the next year. When he turned heel, he jobbed to Kig Cobra, Snowman, etc. Lawler stayed on top because he was the best guy for the role. Lawler may have vetoed jobs to certain guys but what faces were ready to take over and were already over? Give me some names of guys you think could take over. You brought up Fargo passing the torch. Who was at Lawlers level the way Lawler was at Fargo's level? Te only one I can think of is Jeff Jarrett who also happened to be the co-owners son. Plus, Lawler was a heel for most of the 70s. He was in a tag team with Dundee for most of his face turns and he was a compelling ace. It wasn't like Fargo gave him the magical top face role.

I lived in Memphis during that time period. The fans hated Jeff Jarrett. They resented having him pushed down their throat every week . . Jeff could have never replaced Lawler . I was always amazed that Jerry Jarrett pushed Jeff so hard and so fast given his feeling about George Gulas. I say one time about Lawler , he paid his dues. King and Joe Hose would get the crap beat out of them by The Interns every Saturday for months. This was in 1970 , two years before the Lawler , White and Bass trio took the top spot. Jeff Jarrett was placed in a main event feud with Bill Dundee / Landel right out of the gate. . Nice to have you on board Mark. I brought up Jarrett as someone who had a reason to stay (Daddy) and who was a good wrestler. Horrendous interview. Everyone else was passing through. I didn't even mention the payoffs which means anyone who had another place to go was going to go.

I always thought of it as one of those things wrestlers do that goes over the head of 99.7% of the audience that really had no effect on anybody outside of Brian Pillman. Sort of like Hulk Hogan burning a copy of the Observer.

One of the biggest moments in history?

Good luck. Even 1994 was a chore to get through with the exception of Cactus and some of the more famous things that happened.

From a purely selfish standpoint, I would like to see Bryan vs. Punk or something cool like that. I don't think we will get it though.

I took the Memphis-Lawler talk away from the network and moved it to the Memphis thread.

This wasn't the problem at all. Lawler always being around had nothing to do with why they aren't around today. Lawler never stepping aside to help create a new star hurt Memphis bad. Lawler left in 1986 for 3 months. Business went into the tank. I am curious how business fared in 1980 when he was injured. I really don't know. As far as the 1990s, who do you think was going to step in for Lawler? At the time, Jeff Jarrett was great in the ring, horrible interview. Brian Christopher was good. Don't know if he could carry a territory on his own the way Lawler could. They were only getting 1000-2000 fans a week in the 90s, sometimes only 5-600 people even with WWF stars coming in. There was nobody in Memphis who could have risen in Memphis to even sustain the mediocre business the way they were doing. Also, early 90s Memphis was an early training ground for people WWF wanted to go to TV. The minute they get their experience in Memphis, they were going to be called up. Nobody else was going to be a mainstay. They were either not up to Lawler's level or they were passing through. If Lawler leaves and is exclusive to the WWF in 1993, the USWA doesn't lose their TV in 1997. They lose it in 1993. Lawler was also not a guy who was afraid to put people over. Hell, he gave Snowman the belt like 2 weeks into their feud. HE gave it up to King Cobra. He gave it to nearly everybody. This isn't Flair refusing to lose to Lex Luger. Lawler was willing to dance with anyone who wanted to dance. He was also content on being in the 2nd or 3rd feud from the top when it called for it.

This wasn't the problem at all. Lawler always being around had nothing to do with why they aren't around today.

I really want to emphasize the right hand that connected with Lawler's face that Eric mentioned above. Holy shit was that one of the greatest facial expressions ever. Also, I would argue with Phil that for 1974, that was a perfectly acceptable finish. I didn't love it either but it does not detract from the match.

Bob Backlund or Steve Austin Bob Backlund or Bret Hart Bob Backlund or Jumbo Tsurta Bob Backlund or Tully Blanchard Bob Backlund or Kurt Angle Bob Backlund or Harley Race Bob Backlund or Scott Hall Bob Backlund or William Regal Bob Backlund or Triple H The others, I am still incomplete on.

By the time they signed the Briscoes, let them sit in developmental for 2 years and debut on TV, it is possible one or more of the Wyatts would be released, in a different gimmick or turned babyface.

If they go the streaming route, this is going to be a huge letdown from a fantasy program director standpoint.

Conversely Jim Cornette thinks Lawler is the best of all time Yeah, Cornette is a smart man... at least in this instance he nailed it correctly.