MikeCampbell

Just something I was pondering randomly. If Furnas and Lafon jumped to the WWF straight from All Japan in late '95 or early '96 would they have gotten over any better? I tend to think so based on the fact that there would have been some better teams to work with. The Body Donnas and New Rockers would probably have had good matches with them, especially with Candido, Prichard, and Snow all knowing Doug from SMW. And even bigger teams like the Godwins and Smoking Gunns would probably have been willing to bump for them, knowin that Doug was strong enough to pretty much put them where he wanted to. Another thing I was thinking about, would they have gotten over better in WCW if they went there instead of the WWF? That one, I'm not so sure about. Compared to teams like the Steiners, Harlem Heat, Faces of Fear, etc. they were basically cruiserweights. Hall and Nash would surely have squashed them like bugs. At best, I see them as little more than an obviously talented undercard tag team, having good matches with undercard teams like High Voltage, Gomez/Renegade, and make shift teams of Luchadores.

Would this be Vince Russo's first ever non-sensical swerve?

Don't forget the ref separating Nelson and Kongo from a clinch far too quickly.

I took it as a subtle reference to the months-long drama with Stacy Carter in 2001.

I'm pretty sure this is the best WWF match of the year, and definitely a strong contender for best of the decade. One magical night in Philly, the stars were alligned just right for them to pull this off. Their work flows perfectly, so that it never feels like they're just aping ECW's garbage brawls as a nod to being in Philly, or that they're actively trying to put on a "self concious epic." Shawn's segments working the hand and knee come off great because it feels spontaneous, rather than having Mick sets up some convuluted spot that backfires. The pendulum swings with both men able to take control at a moment's notice, and there are tons of smart touches like Shawn taking a corner bump and getting tied up rather than taking his usual pinball bump, and Mick is right there with the running elbow drop. Yes, the finish is stupid, there is no reason why Shawn couldn't have pinned Mick after the superkick into the chair. But, the body of the match is so great that the finish doesn't detract from it in the least. This is also the only time they could have put on a match like this. Shawn lost his smile and wound up hanging things up a year and a half later, while Foley gradually left his ability to work like this behind, in favor of taking increasingly big (and unnecessary) bumps.

I recently watched the full match on the Coliseum Video version, and I'm surprised at the lack of love for it. It's easily the best Smokin' Guns PPV match of the year, which has nothing to do with them, their matches since the heel turn have all been potential cures for insomnia. But, Owen and Davey solve that by hogging the match and just trotting out nice spot after nice spot, and Bart's selling when they shark on his leg is really good stuff.

Thread Killer already nailed it. Loss or Will may as well just close the topic now.

I think Buzz is right up there with Ole Anderson, for being wrestlers that nobody has anything nice to say about. I'll always remember Hawk in the Road Warriors shoot interview. "Buzz isn't as asshole anymore, he's dead."

He did have that run as WCW "International World Champion" in '93, with that fun Hiroshi Hase match in NJPW where he dropped it for a short spell.

He's always been a sentimental favorite, and watching his house show run with Warrior after 'Mania 5 has only made me appreciate him that much more.

Is this what you are talking about? Yeah, it was. Thanks.

The attendance was close to 10,000, but Dave says that there were lots of freebies.

It was actually a pretty good promo, not quite ECW Bubba, but better than he's done in years. He called Hogan and old bastard a few times, and called Brooke a stupid bitch. And bragged that he got one over on the Hogans. We actually heard a small 'stupid bitch' chant on TV. And said he was the president of Aces and Eights. I wanna know if Will brought a sign that said 'Buy Goodhelmet comps'

Sheik tells this story every chance he gets. It seems to pop up in every shoot he's done, and he even told it during his HOF induction speech.

So, back to the original reason I stared this topic. Does anyone think that if Sheik went through with it, that the WWF was toast? I think they'd have been hurt in the short term, because there really wasn't anyone else who could have spearheaded things like Hogan. Snuka's problems were well known, and they hadn't yet signed JYD or Steamboat. Perhaps they go back to Backlund in the short term, or they speed up the Slaugher babyface turn. But, if Sheik is gone, who does that leave Sarge to defend the US against? Mr. Fuji and Tiger Chun Li? Maybe Backlund transitions to Paul Orndorff or Superstar, who can then put over Hogan when he heals up?

A million guys came and went, that was the way the territories worked. Verne had no issue with that, it was Vince's having his guys jump at the last second and screw over Verne that was the issue he had.

Greg says it is. The same guy claimed that he and Verne bumped into Dana White in 1992 and told him about doing shoot matches and thus the UFC is born. Not that Sheik is the fountain of cred, but, given the choice, I'll take Sheik's word over Greg's.

Let's say that Sheiky, out of loyalty to Verne, went ahead and broke Hogan's leg and took the WWF title to Minnesota? Is the WWF's expansion dead in the water, or does Vince forge on using Snuka, JYD, Steamboat, Backlund, or someone else and everythings turns out AOK?

I'd hope so, Okada is a minor cultural phenomenon and Tatsu was half a decade into barely rising above scrote-washing level when he signed. I'd pretty much quit following NJPW around that time. When exactly did Yoshi sign with the 'E? I remember Yamamoto left in 2007 for a "learning excursion" when Hirooki Goto's megapush started up.

Not you, Mini Bennett made that particular remark.

Because accomplishments in other countries mean so much to the WWE . . . How about that huge Sin Cara push? Did they just forget they signed Averno? Remember Kenzo Suzki? How about Tensai? Giant Bernard got a huge push right out the gate when he jumped to NJ in 2006, extended tag title reigns with both Tomko and Anderson. He and Anderson set the defense record for the IWGP Tag Titles and unified them with the GHC Tag Titles. At what point did Tensai ever have anything remote close to the rocket up the ass? What makes Okada any different? Guys like Mysterio, Tajiri, and Del Rio aren't the rule, they're the exception. Tajiri and Mysterio had already been established in the US thru WCW and ECW before going to the 'E, while Del Rio had the right pedigree and character.

Because both were New Japan wrestlers who the WWE showed interest in. Yamamoto made the move, and his career has been pretty much dormant ever since. Hence: If Okada was considering it, he should ask Yamamoto how his career is going. It's actually not that complicated if you think about it.

Like I told a friend on facebook who mentioned this. Ask Naofumi "Yoshi Tatsu" Yamamoto how his career is going. . . . .

I'm impressed, it only took him ten years to admit that. Meltzter shot that down in like 2002, and it still wound up in one of his books, even after it was pointed out to him.

Quickie thoughts: My friend and I both thought that the opener sucked, even before the botch. It seemed like Show was bumping too early for Del Rio's shots, and some of their stuff barely made contact. Cesaro/Miz was lots of fun, and I liked the booking, although I'd have preferred to see Cesaro cheap shot Miz. Chamber was probably best of the night. Like I said before, they need to find something important to do with Henry now, before he cools down. The fact that he still got on ovation after laying the other three out speaks volumes for him. If Henry couldn't win, then I'll take Swagger. It was a surprise that nobody saw coming, but they can make it work, with Mantell cutting promos on ADR and Ricardo. Did anyone else notice that Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback didn't really get much of a reaction? That comes from having to follow Mark Henry . This was fun too, although it took some time to warm up. Once again, surprise booking, with Shield pulling it out, and I'm surprised to see Ryback eat the pin, I figured it'd be Sheamus. Doph/Kofi was fun for what it was, and they've worked together 1,000 times, so it's to be expected. The Biggie beatdown seemed to take forever. Diva's Title match: Can't say I cared one way or another. WWE Title match: Not bad, but not up to the level of the EC or the six man. The booking has me thinking that Punk is getting inserted at 'Mania to make it a 3-way.