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Your favorite surprises/swerves/heel turns.


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Roddy Piper debut in WCW. Looking back it's not the best way they could have set up the feud, but the way it starts with the bagpipe music almost fading in and Rod taking his time a little to come out was brilliant. I remember actually shaking with excitement when I saw it because I wasn't as smart to what was going on. I knew people were going back and forth, but Piper always struck me as one of Vince's guys when he needed him.

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- Crush turning on Macho Man. Great feud but disappointing WrestleMania match (supposedly because HBK and Razor took up more time than they were supposed to - not that anyone is crying over that today, because the Ladder Match was an all-time classic)

 

 

I couldn't get anyone to touch this before:

 

Ok I came across this and it goes against everything I've always heard.

 

For those interested, according to the format sheets, this is what was supposed to happen at Wrestlemania that didn't. First off, it appears the problem wasn't that the matches early went long but that whomever put together the format greatly overestimated how much time they would have for the wrestling aspect of the show. Bret and Owen Hart went 2:00 long in the opener, but that was more than made up when Doink & Dink vs. Bam Bam & Luna went 2:30 short. Savage and Crush went 1:15 long, but again that was made up by the women's match being 3:00 short. Men on Mission vs. Quebecers went :45 under the original planning. Luger and Yokozuna were scheduled for a 25:00 segment (which means about a 23:30 match, which would have been unbearable since they only went 14:40 and that was almost all restholds). At this point they should have been 12 minutes under in time, but instead they were lagging. Earthquake & Bomb were scheduled for a 4:00 segment (or about a 2:30 match), but instead did :35. Ramon and Michaels went :17 long, so they were right on target, yet they had to cancel the 10-man, which was only given 6:00 so even if they had gone on, the plan was to rush through a 4:30 match. By the way, the segment with the heels arguing over who would be the captain was taped hours before the show started and was scheduled to be part of the show, it wasn't a last-minute excuse for not having the match. That was supposed to leave Bret and Yokozuna about 18:30 for their title match, and PTL (praise the Lord) they only had to go out their for 10:36. Who was the practical joker that formatted Yokozuna having to work 42:00 on one show? The only other changes from the plan is that the skit Jennie Garth wouldn't do was a planned deal with her, Rhonda Shear and Shawn Michaels. Burt Reynolds subbed for her and obviously the whole thing was changed.

Shawn and Razor only went :17 long?

 

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- Crush turning on Macho Man. Great feud but disappointing WrestleMania match (supposedly because HBK and Razor took up more time than they were supposed to - not that anyone is crying over that today, because the Ladder Match was an all-time classic)

 

 

I couldn't get anyone to touch this before:

 

Ok I came across this and it goes against everything I've always heard.

 

For those interested, according to the format sheets, this is what was supposed to happen at Wrestlemania that didn't. First off, it appears the problem wasn't that the matches early went long but that whomever put together the format greatly overestimated how much time they would have for the wrestling aspect of the show. Bret and Owen Hart went 2:00 long in the opener, but that was more than made up when Doink & Dink vs. Bam Bam & Luna went 2:30 short. Savage and Crush went 1:15 long, but again that was made up by the women's match being 3:00 short. Men on Mission vs. Quebecers went :45 under the original planning. Luger and Yokozuna were scheduled for a 25:00 segment (which means about a 23:30 match, which would have been unbearable since they only went 14:40 and that was almost all restholds). At this point they should have been 12 minutes under in time, but instead they were lagging. Earthquake & Bomb were scheduled for a 4:00 segment (or about a 2:30 match), but instead did :35. Ramon and Michaels went :17 long, so they were right on target, yet they had to cancel the 10-man, which was only given 6:00 so even if they had gone on, the plan was to rush through a 4:30 match. By the way, the segment with the heels arguing over who would be the captain was taped hours before the show started and was scheduled to be part of the show, it wasn't a last-minute excuse for not having the match. That was supposed to leave Bret and Yokozuna about 18:30 for their title match, and PTL (praise the Lord) they only had to go out their for 10:36. Who was the practical joker that formatted Yokozuna having to work 42:00 on one show? The only other changes from the plan is that the skit Jennie Garth wouldn't do was a planned deal with her, Rhonda Shear and Shawn Michaels. Burt Reynolds subbed for her and obviously the whole thing was changed.

Shawn and Razor only went :17 long?

 

 

 

Shawn himself said that Savage came up to him afterwards and told him it was a great match but that he was selfish from taking time from other people, didn't he?

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Wow, interesting stuff with the Meltzer report. Whether he's right or wrong, Savage obviously believed that Shawn was selfish and went over. Not exactly a stretch considering HBK's personality at the time. Plus, I refuse to believe Macho/Crush was supposed to be that short. Makes no sense to me. It felt rushed, even then.

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- Crush turning on Macho Man. Great feud but disappointing WrestleMania match (supposedly because HBK and Razor took up more time than they were supposed to - not that anyone is crying over that today, because the Ladder Match was an all-time classic)

 

 

I couldn't get anyone to touch this before:

 

Ok I came across this and it goes against everything I've always heard.

 

For those interested, according to the format sheets, this is what was supposed to happen at Wrestlemania that didn't. First off, it appears the problem wasn't that the matches early went long but that whomever put together the format greatly overestimated how much time they would have for the wrestling aspect of the show. Bret and Owen Hart went 2:00 long in the opener, but that was more than made up when Doink & Dink vs. Bam Bam & Luna went 2:30 short. Savage and Crush went 1:15 long, but again that was made up by the women's match being 3:00 short. Men on Mission vs. Quebecers went :45 under the original planning. Luger and Yokozuna were scheduled for a 25:00 segment (which means about a 23:30 match, which would have been unbearable since they only went 14:40 and that was almost all restholds). At this point they should have been 12 minutes under in time, but instead they were lagging. Earthquake & Bomb were scheduled for a 4:00 segment (or about a 2:30 match), but instead did :35. Ramon and Michaels went :17 long, so they were right on target, yet they had to cancel the 10-man, which was only given 6:00 so even if they had gone on, the plan was to rush through a 4:30 match. By the way, the segment with the heels arguing over who would be the captain was taped hours before the show started and was scheduled to be part of the show, it wasn't a last-minute excuse for not having the match. That was supposed to leave Bret and Yokozuna about 18:30 for their title match, and PTL (praise the Lord) they only had to go out their for 10:36. Who was the practical joker that formatted Yokozuna having to work 42:00 on one show? The only other changes from the plan is that the skit Jennie Garth wouldn't do was a planned deal with her, Rhonda Shear and Shawn Michaels. Burt Reynolds subbed for her and obviously the whole thing was changed.

Shawn and Razor only went :17 long?

 

 

 

I thought you were just making a joke out of the wording making it seem like the ladder match only lasted 17 seconds in total. That's why I didn't respond before.

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With a Meltzer-written article, it's definitely always a possibility.

 

Personally, if I was Shawn, I'd be a lot less worried about Macho Man and a lot more worried about the Headshrinkers.

 

Apparently Bob Holly talks about Savage yelling at Shawn & Razor in his book as well. Holly was to have been in the 10 man tag that got scuttled.

 

Savage had the clout to give two of the bigger stars a dressing-down for being selfish. The Headshrinkers wouldn't have.

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I always felt Macho/Crush could have used a better,longer match. Savage always brought out his best for the big ppvs so you know he could have had a memorable match with Crush. Anyway, 10 surprises/heel turns I liked:

 

10. Summerslam 88:

 

Brutus Beefcake is unable to wrestle because he was taken out by Ron Bass so The Honkytonk Man has no one to defend the ic title against. He grabs the mic and puts out an open challenge to anyone in the dressing room. The music hits and the Warrior flies down the ring and 30 seconds later we have one of the all time great moments in wwf history and one of the best squash matches I have seen.

 

This was significant because it was a lengthy title reign for Honky and he was extremely over as a heel. It is also a great example of how to get a new babyface over. Before this match, Warrior was wrestling 10 minute horror shows against Hercules. Now he could carry the rocket on his ass to wrestlemania 6.

 

9. Wrestlemania 8

 

With a double main event and a hot Savage/Flair match, Hogan/Sid was closing the show. With Hogans popularity declining and the match ending in a dq finish, it was a good thing Vince had a surprise up his sleeve. Papa Shango ran down to interfere to and helped Sid double team Hogan. Then the music hit and making the save was the return of Ultimate Warrior. The fans popped huge instantly forgetting the lackluster match they just watched and prabably the rest of the card as well. The Warrior would only stick around 6 months before leaving again but as stated, this was a great send home happy type moment.

 

More Later.

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Savage had the clout to give two of the bigger stars a dressing-down for being selfish. The Headshrinkers wouldn't have.

 

I guess this wasn't a thing until at least 95, no?

 

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I don't know the historical origins/timeline of BSK. But while Taker would've had the clout to tell of HBK/Razor, Fatu still wouldn't have. It'd be like Savio going after Bret and Lawler for going too long or something. Savage was a legend-in-residence and respected in the room. Fatu, while strong & intimidating, was much farther down the pecking order.

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