MikeCampbell

Backlund was pretty much the end of the WWF's 20 year tradition at that point, a longtime babyface champion to appeal to an ethnic demographic. Just like Bruno and Pedro before him (Superstar was the first heel to get an extended run with the strap). To determine who, if not Bob, you really have to first determine what the criteria was for choosing Bob. Was VJM looking for that Jack Brisco type of champion, or just to appeal to another ethnic group (IE the white boys). Assuming it's the former, then he's definitely not going to find them in his territory. So he's got to find someone who fits the bill, is willing to make the move, and prove they can get over with the Northeast fans before the title change. Because, let's face it, I don't think he's going to magically select, say, Dory Funk, jr, and tell him "You start on this date, and you're going to beat Superstar in Feb." and then find out the hard way that the fans in MSG, The Spectrum, the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, etc. don't give a flying shit about him. It seems more likely that it's the latter, and VJM never had a big shortage of ethnic names on his roster to choose from. Putski, Strongbow, Garea, Arion, Bellomo, etc. He could have slotted any of them in Bob's place. Do I think they'd have gotten over better than Bob (wait a sec, Bob wasn't over, just ask Larry!)? Probably not. Do I think that PWO would be discussing great MSG Title matches like Ken Patera vs. Ivan Putski? Probably not. But, I don't exactly seen a ton of pimping for Pedro Morales matches either.

If Magnum had avoided the car wreck, and stayed healthy throughout the year, the first Clash seems like a likely time to make the big title change. Magnum beats Nikita at Starrcade '86 for the US Title and defends it for the first half of '87, dropping it to Lex in the cage instead of Nikita. Magnum takes Nikita's place in the War Games matches. Magnum has to go through the Horsemen to get to Flair, which he does at Starrcade, only for Flair to retain with some kind of screw job. It culminates with Flair vs. Magnum, live on TBS, with Dillon in the cage, opposite WrestleMania.

I caught Mick's stand up act tonight, and it was a fairly entertaining 90 or so minutes. He doesn't really shed any new light on anything that most people on this forum wouldn't already know. He rehashes some of the more famous stories from his book (namely the DDP cookies in the bed story). But it's Mick, so it's still fun to hear again. The really good line was talking about the Hulk Hogan sex tape, and describing it as Hogan getting winded but doing the famous Hogan comeback and then getting the crowd to start singing along to 'Real American.' Afterwards, he did a meet and greet and took fan questions. The All Japan uber mark in me asked about working Jumbo in the '91 Carnival. He was actually very complimentary towards Jumbo, saying that he was great to work with, despite Mick suffering the rib injury. He also said that he finds that Jumbo is terribly under appreciated, and that Dave is crazy for saying that he was lazy.

I like Nintendo Logic's list, save one. I'd drop the 3/1/03 NOAH match for the 1/20/97 Triple Crown match. I'd also toss on either Midnights/Fantastics from the first Clash or Midnights/Southern Boys from the 1990 GAB.

I was watching the Kayfabe Commentaries 1994 Timeline with Waltman, and they bring up the headdress angle actually. All that comes out of it is Sean and Sean chuckling about the 'Lumbee' Indian tribe and then moving on. The Knuckeball Schwartz talk is a riot though. Vince: I think he's a backstop. Lawler: Is he a pitcher or catcher?

The match I've wanted to see forever, that I asked to include on the old PWO DVD club set at some point. The Ding Dong's debut with Cornette on commentary!

Somebody else was right too, JVK.

Something to add to the Hogan thread!

Starrcade was a Crockett show through and through. Seven of the eight matches featured JCP mainstays. The only one that strikes me as being an exception was Abdullah vs. Carlos, and Abby was like Brody in that he never stayed in one place for too long, so he may very well have been in the midst of a run with Crockett. Therefore, by definition, no, it wouldn't have worked if it was held in Atlanta. I don't know if it HAD to be in Greensboro (I'd assume that was the largest building they ran) but it had to be in the heart of the territory.

Wahoo also took part in the Tatanka headdress angle with IRS in '94 or so.

I'll bite the bullet and go there: If not Benoit, then who?

Now that I've got a little more time on my hands, I'll expand upon my idea on page 2. I think Lawler would have been a great choice. He could win it on a Monday night at the Mid South Coliseum to a huge ovation, they could even run some kind of stipulation like if Lawler loses he doesn't get another shot for X amount of days, or Flair's title versus Lawler's career. Lawler tours as NWA Champion for five months, his interviews alone would make people despise him. Plus, he was still a big name from the Andy Kaufman incident on Letterman. Plus, he goes back to Memphis once a month or so and cuts an "It's good to be home" promo, and defends the title against dastardly heels like Austin Idol. Lawler's piledriver can even be used to run the same broken neck angle that JCP ran with Flair, Orton, and Slater.

What about Lawler?

Loss is the next Ted DiBiase, he'll proove that EVERYBODY'S got a price!

UT submitted Ambrose a few weeks back, and Cena pinned Rollins as part of the six man elimination match. Reigns hasn't dropped any falls other than by DQ. I was thinking that they'd let Hell No retain at the PPV with Bryan submitting Reigns just to get it out of the way, so they'd each have dropped a fall.

The Tom Prichard/Dirth White Boy feud in '88 had some awesome stuff, probably the most well known is the Dirty White Girl black eye angle.

He's probably best known in the US for the corckscrew plancha that he busted out in every WCW mutliman match, or the fluke win over Scott Hall, that Hall got right back the next week. The first time I saw his work in CMLL, I was floored by how great a rudo he was.

My quickie thoughts: Jericho vs. Fandango: Pretty much non-descript. When the guys and I were summing up what was good and what wasn't, I had to ask what the opener was, because I'd already forgotten about it. Kofi vs. Ambrose: Kofi relied a bit too much on the head kicks, but the match was solid and the finish was flawless. Sheamus vs. Henry: The strap looked like a giant ace bandage. They worked in some good ideas for teasing the end. But he thought the actual finish was stupid. The ref should have called it when Mark picked him up for the WSS. Del Rio vs. Swagger: Good match, goofy finish with the reversal. Way to kill off Swagger by jobbing him two PPVs in a row. Hell No vs. Shield: Non-stop action, this was exactly what it needed to be. Reigns yelling "You tried to break my arm, I'm gonna break your face!" was priceless. Orton vs. Big Show: Some good spots, and a good finish, but I just don't care about either of these two right now. Cena vs. Ryback. Ryback's Ultimate Warrior stuff was funny. They paced this really well, although Ryback went overboard on overselling stuff to milk the count. Ryback was on his feet, while they were still putting Cena on the gurney. Ryback should be champion. Cage Match: HHH's new gear is hideous! This seemed like a typical HHH wankfest, except for Brock selling his knee really well. The right person went over. I'm hoping that this winds up meaning something down the line, like Rock getting the 'Rumble title shot due to beating Cena at 'Mania. Heyman cuts a promo saying Brock is rehabbing his knee at home, and he's now in line for a title shot at Summerslam or Survivor Series. I'll be surprised if Ryback doesn't find some way to make a pun for the name of the next PPV, seeing as Ryback and Payback are so similar looking.

Good promo by Heyman. Madusa's promo sucked, but it got the crowd worked up. The fire breathing was pointless.

I'm amazed that no indy feds have stolen this angle yet. There's usually at least a few of those obnoxious types at every show.

Glad to see that Brian's chain didn't leave any scars or bruises on Tom's face. This was the usual great stuff from Cornette.

This was very short, but it's more than enough to get Embry's point across.

Brian Christopher shows just how much he really is his father's son. The reversal of the decision makes sense, but I don't see how Eddie's presence warrants holding the title up.

This wasn't even stupid in a funny way. This was just stupid.

Serious question for those who were attending live events back in these days: Did Martel's arrogance actually emit any sort of scent, or just water? This was amusing thanks to Martel, between his comments about the smell and his being such a dick to spray Tatanka while he's blinded.