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WWE Network... It's Here


goodhelmet

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Imagine if I described a wrestling show as follows:

 

~1 hour show (so 45 mins of actual time)

~first 25 mins are an angle recap including lengthy replays from the previous week with a super cheesy pre-taped video segment added for good measure

~on screen (and off-screen) authority figure shoehorning himself into a program with a top character and dominating the show
~a video package highlighting the career of said authority figure, aired twice on the same broadcast

~one advertised match that was a total bait-and-switch and didn't occur

~a second advertisted match that went all of a minute before becoming a total schmoz

~roughly three minutes total of actual bell-to-bell wrestling, two of which were a jobber squash

People would probably lose their minds if you presented that today, and yet the second episode of Mid-South they have up (forget the date, sorry) is exactly that. It was also a hell of a piece of business, so I'm not complaining. Taken in a vaccum it reads like every bad opening to Raw from the last 15 years, but because it was the exception and not the norm for MSW, it's fine. WWE could learn so much from all this archival footage if for no other reason than it shows a zillion different ways to approach TV without falling into a stale formula, to the point that what LOOKS like stale formula on paper isn't, provided it's mixed in on occassion and not the standard format.

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Bix made this note on twitter and it's something i've also said (and agree 100%): Yes, it'd be nice if they put these up in order, but it's really understandable why hand-picked episodes would center around WWE superstars before their run.

 

Hopefully this is a tipping point where they see a boost in viewership and go heavier then.

 

I can't get over these GWF Best of Comps from 92 - so random.

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Are the Stampede episodes posted so far stuff that aired on Classics on Demand, or is there footage that is completely new to the world since its original 1970s airing?

 

Khawk, where did "AWA Superstars" fit into the run of AWA TV? I was aware that "AWA Championship Wrestling" was the ESPN Program and "AWA All-Star Wrestling" was their syndicated show, but where does "AWA Superstars" fit? Was it a show for secondary syndicated markets, or something for Canadian TV perhaps?

 

Just fired up the Best of USWA Vol. 1 under the GWF banner, had no idea that Terry Gordy & Steve Williams dropped by USWA Dallas. Was this just a one-shot or did they have an actual run there?

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Bix made this note on twitter and it's something i've also said (and agree 100%): Yes, it'd be nice if they put these up in order, but it's really understandable why hand-picked episodes would center around WWE superstars before their run.

 

Hopefully this is a tipping point where they see a boost in viewership and go heavier then.

 

I can't get over these GWF Best of Comps from 92 - so random.

 

It's like reading page 217 of a book and then page 232 and then page 271. Maybe it's a fun page or hey, the page has a really nice turn of phrase or a character you recognize from page 1081 of the next book which you're familiar with already. But it's still not a very satisfying experience.

 

My main takeaways for the excitement for people that a lot of this is new to is mainly "You know all of 1984 Mid-South is on youtube now, right?"

 

I get the argument. I just think that the hundred of us are a drop in the bucket and it doesn't really matter one way or another what we do.

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Khawk, where did "AWA Superstars" fit into the run of AWA TV? I was aware that "AWA Championship Wrestling" was the ESPN Program and "AWA All-Star Wrestling" was their syndicated show, but where does "AWA Superstars" fit? Was it a show for secondary syndicated markets, or something for Canadian TV perhaps?

 

 

 

You know, Larry Nelson talked about what I think was this show in his book, and I remember thinking to myself at the time "I don't remember ever seeing that show", especially with how randomly weird it seemed to be in terms of presentation with Larry.

 

My guess is it was something syndicated in small doses, perhaps in the Minneapolis area so the "home" Base had some sort of different or local content, but that show, besides what Larry talked about in his book, is unfamiliar to me.Talked to one other big AWA guy that I know and he's never seen it either.

 

Would love to see a match/segment list if anyone wants to break it down when they watch it.

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Khawk, where did "AWA Superstars" fit into the run of AWA TV? I was aware that "AWA Championship Wrestling" was the ESPN Program and "AWA All-Star Wrestling" was their syndicated show, but where does "AWA Superstars" fit? Was it a show for secondary syndicated markets, or something for Canadian TV perhaps?

 

 

 

You know, Larry Nelson talked about what I think was this show in his book, and I remember thinking to myself at the time "I don't remember ever seeing that show", especially with how randomly weird it seemed to be in terms of presentation with Larry.

 

My guess is it was something syndicated in small doses, perhaps in the Minneapolis area so the "home" Base had some sort of different or local content, but that show, besides what Larry talked about in his book, is unfamiliar to me.Talked to one other big AWA guy that I know and he's never seen it either.

 

Would love to see a match/segment list if anyone wants to break it down when they watch it.

 

Very quickly, the AWA SUPERSTARS 02-28-88 one has:

"Day of Champions"

-Larry Nelson bitching about his chair and being generally amazing

-Greg Gagne vs Brian Knobbs

-Nelson interviewing Raschke with a great promo on Adnan.

-Nelson being goofy "I'm on now?!"

-Compliments of ESPN with Donna on commentary: Curt Hennig vs Kevin Kelly

-Nelson interviewing Zenk and Rice

-Rockers vs Adonis/Orton

-Nelson hyping having the AWA in your hometown and he tries to hype the main event for next week but they don't know what it'd be, plus general goofiness with a giant logo and card tricks.

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Yeah at first sight I thought he was drunk, and he may have been, but the show is goofy as fuck by design. Did Verne just not give a shit? Or was he even paying attention?

 

Rockers vs Orton and Adonis was a pretty good match. Rockers would were pretty good even if timing was off at times. Orton was tremendous and Adonis looked like absolute shit physically (his face looked rough) but bumped like a mofo. Orton was especially on fire at the end with the punches and elbows.

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Well ECW is already up and has been since the Network's inception. They definitely have Florida, because they aired some of that on the old On Demand service. You have to think they have Central States since that was bought out by Crockett (although what there is worth airing is beyond me). I'm not sure, but don't they own Georgia Championship Wrestling as well? Getting up a bunch of old Mid-Atlantic shows from before the WCW debut would be nice too, since they teased us with a few back in the old days.

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IIRC Nelson's book, he specifically said he goofed off with weird stuff on that show. I thought the name was an error on the network until these posts jogged my memory.

 

Began watching the next AWA Superstars episode. There's definitely a sense of "Verne left for the evening and we are unsupervised" feel to the wraparounds, as the next episode begins with Larry Nelson sitting on the floor with a woman named Kathleen (another Gagne daughter?) who is covering his face with Shamrock stickers because it's St. Patrick's Day.

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