pantherwagner Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 Do you have any favourite oddities or rarities from WWF, WWE and WCW TV or house shows that you know from back in the day or that you have found killing time on youtube or at thehistoryofwwe.com? The well known (at least around here) Arn Anderson vs Tom Magee match from European TV would be a perfect example for this thread. Some rare stuff: - This is now on Dailymotion but Tenryu had a couple of matches that were shown on the European version of Superstars, one against a jobber called The White Shadow and other vs The Brooklyn Brawler. The latter would have been a fine SWS/WAR main event for a minor spot show in rural Japan. I still have those two matches in VHS tapes but only recently found out that they were European exclusives. - Another Tenryu rarity that I recently found on History of WWE is that in 1991 there was a house show in Hawaii (Aloha Stadium) with Flair vs Hogan where the opening matches were Tenryu beating Haku and Kerry defeating Kabuki. Interesting that they put both Japanese against opponents that they were very familiar with. - I also didn't know until recently that the three members of the Orient Express reunited for a few matches. There's one match on tape from the Summerslam Spectacular 91 where Sato, Tanaka and Kato wrestle Steamboat, Kerry and Davey Boy. It would be cool to have these pre-PPV "Spectaculars" on the WWE Network... - Hogan and Backlund teamed once in early 84 on All-Star vs. Tiger Chung Lee and Mr. Fuji. This can be easily found online. Hogan is trying too hard to show how much he likes Bob. Match starts with Lee, a Japanese-Korean, holding Mr. Fuji's Imperial Japan flag. I guess that's right there with JYD asking Killer Karl Kox for help against Ladd and Leroy Brown (I loved the "JYD logic" explanation from Digging in the Crates: well, this guy may not like me, but he sure HATES them). - Actually this is not WCW or WWF/E but for whatever reason Tatsumi Fujinami was in one of the first five or six ECW shows ever at the Original Sports Bar. Main eventing, no less! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxnj Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 Regal vs Goldust in coliseum https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5BcGx-7U1yQ Would be a pretty sweet venue for a WWE network special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 my all-time favorite example of the WWF's booking of short-term main-event heels: sika gets to headline a SNME vs. hogan in '87 (granted, as a replacement for kamala, but still). afterward he steadily drops down the card...culminating in a house show where he jobs clean to SD jones. i swear i'm not making this up - it used to be on youtube but appears to be gone from there now. it's not the prime time match between them, that one's a sika squash. i think it may have been a show in the west indies where they decided to book a "hometown" win... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 You know SD was kind of a bigger star than he's credited for. It's not that shocking to me that he'd get a win over Sika, even in 87. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 Looking down the record, and he actually got a few wins over Sika that year, as well as over Fuji, Tiger Jeet Singh, Frenchy Martin and Jimmy Jack Funk. What does surprise me though are that two of the wins over Sika took place in ... France and Italy. One in Paris one in Milan. Had no idea WWF toured Europe in 1987 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 The Tenryu squashes may have been originally intended to air domestically. At one point he was supposed to wrestle Lawler at WrestleMania 9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 10/23/87 Paris show actually did 12,000. And was taped for TV. Which means Jones vs. Sika is probably on tape somewhere. Main event was Harley Race vs. JYD with Andre as special guest ref. Looks like they sent a skeleton crew for that little mini tour in 87. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 Funk doc, the Paris match aired on Prime Time Wrestling on 1/18/88. I have that and can upload it if you really really want. Match goes 4 mins with Jones going over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 One of the all-time WTF results for me remains the '89 Survivor Series Showdown, where Big Boss Man did a pinfall job to Tito Santana. Santana wasn't a total job boy yet, but he'd already been left in the dust by Martel and Boss Man was still feuding with Dusty. It wasn't a clean job--Rhodes hit BBM with the nightstick and put Tito on top for the cover--but if I have things right, it was the very first time Boss Man had taken a pinfall on television. And it came to Tito Santana of all people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted October 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 Regal vs Goldust in coliseum https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5BcGx-7U1yQ Would be a pretty sweet venue for a WWE network special. For a second I thought you were talking about Rome, but I thought that would be impossible. Of course this is the Nimes one in the south of France, which is regularly used for concerts. I have been there, and I'm with you, it would make for a really cool Network special. I miss the WCW shows in different locations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted October 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 Funk doc, the Paris match aired on Prime Time Wrestling on 1/18/88. I have that and can upload it if you really really want. Match goes 4 mins with Jones going over. Parv, you should check The Best of WWF Vol. 16 video tape. It's the only one that WWE COD never broadcasted most likely because there is a New Japan match and an All Japan Women match. This is the line-up: Best of the WWF #16 (WF056) 09/13/85 Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Giant Machine 1980s Jumping Bomb Angels vs. Bull Nakano & Condor Saito 1980s Mr. Fuji vs. ??? 10/19/85 The Killer Bees vs. Mike Sharpe & Barry O 04/88 The Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules 04/88 Andre the Giant vs. Jim Duggan 1980s Several Outback Jack skits 10/23/87 Junkyard Dog vs. Harley Race (special referee Andre the Giant) 10/23/87 Jacques & Raymond Rougeau vs. Dino Bravo & Greg Valentine First two matches are from other promotions. Mr. Fuji's match is from somewhere in the Middle East. The 85 match is from the Puerto Rico rainstorm card that you may have already seen. The 1988 matches are from Italy and the 87 matches from Paris. It's a cool tape because they left the original commentary in all the different languages. If I remember correctly the matches from France had a ring skirt with a giant CANAL+ logo, so that was quite a different setting for the WWF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 Lawler vs. Tenryu not happening makes me so sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 yeah the SD/Sika match aired on Primetime in early 88. I had that episode on tape for years and years. Gorilla and Bobby did dubbed over commentary. IIRC you could still faintly hear the french announcers in the background Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricR Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 I was at the 1/15/12 WWE house show in Oakland where Primo & Epico win the tag titles off of Air Boom. I taped the match but got lazy and never uploaded it anywhere. As far as I know WWE showed next to no footage on TV, and I don't remember there being cameras there. So I have - somewhere - a copy of an unaired title change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 I always wondered if Owen Hart vs Kurt Angle from a couple weeks before Owen passed is floating around out there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 speaking of tito and weird results, i have to throw in the obligatory mention of his 1992 pinfall win over the undertaker. that one was in barcelona, so they were clearly going for some sort of local appeal with the matador thing. stuff like that is why i could actually buy him being considered for the world title that year - if they were planning to do more international tours, his gimmick would've gotten over in a number of places. another less obscure but funny one: bastion booger's first televised match was a clean job to virgil. in 1993. you know, the same year that virgil was doing jobs to blake beverly. also parv, i don't need you to upload the match but i'm glad it exists =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 He was actually still Strike Force Tito in Barcelona, which just makes it weirder. The Booger thing seemed like it was just a way to establish him as, "This guy isn't a total jobber, but don't hold your breath waiting for main events." Same thing they did with Koko B. Ware, teaming him up with Paul Roma to put over the Hart Foundation in his debut. Both guys lost but got heat afterward--Koko cleared the ring of the Harts, Booger went over Virgil next week. Incidentally one of Tito's very last matches in the company was putting Booger over on a house show, which had to be his lowest point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted October 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 It was in 1991 when Tito defeated Taker. I was there! Tito was pushed as the Spanish speaking star on that tour and it worked, though to be fair, wrestling was so hot back then that they would have drawn a gigantic number without him. Funny thing is that I was feeling hyper while leaving the stadium but A LOT of people were upset because they thought that they would be seeing Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior (who were never advertised). On the 2nd Barcelona tour (1993) Tito was El Matador and he didn't get nearly the reaction. Wrestling wasn't as popular and the bullfighter gimmick is a terrible fit for Barcelona (it would be like trying to get a NASCAR driver gimmick over in New York or Los Angeles). He was supposed to wrestle Bigelow and Hart would wrestle Razor Ramon, but for whatever reason Razor didn't come so it was changed to Tito vs Doink and Bret vs Bigelow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 Wrestling wasn't as popular and the bullfighter gimmick is a terrible fit for Barcelona (it would be like trying to get a NASCAR driver gimmick over in New York or Los Angeles). thanks for correcting my silliness earlier itt~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landy1987 Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 I've found so many random and obscure stuff over the years of WWF stuff and put online. Someone mentioned the Tenryu WWF matches from 93, the Arn Anderson vs Tom Magee match. I even found the Andre the Giant vs Bret Hart match from Italy that WWE took from my Youtube page and put on one of Bret's DVDs a few years ago because I guess they don't have their own copy? Other stuff like Undertaker's WWF Title defense against Bulldog in 1991 which only aired in France and several cool matches from the WWF 96 tour in Kuwait. I could go on and on... I even recently came across that full Paris show from 1987 someone mentioned, which has Nikolai Volkoff jobbing to Outback Jack on it also, I guess I should upload that one soon as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted November 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I've found so many random and obscure stuff over the years of WWF stuff and put online. Someone mentioned the Tenryu WWF matches from 93, the Arn Anderson vs Tom Magee match. I even found the Andre the Giant vs Bret Hart match from Italy that WWE took from my Youtube page and put on one of Bret's DVDs a few years ago because I guess they don't have their own copy? Other stuff like Undertaker's WWF Title defense against Bulldog in 1991 which only aired in France and several cool matches from the WWF 96 tour in Kuwait. I could go on and on... I even recently came across that full Paris show from 1987 someone mentioned, which has Nikolai Volkoff jobbing to Outback Jack on it also, I guess I should upload that one soon as well. Your channels are tremendous - looking forward to those uploads. I had no idea about that Undertaker title defense. The WWE Network should hire people like you and the dude that runs Monsoon Classic to collect all kinds of cool/weird/forgotten stuff from their library. Bix's theory is that the WWE has got all of that stuff but that the international tapes probably haven't been digitised and/or catalogued... though I'd have imagined that they'd have a method to easily locate stuff like Andre vs Hart if they were really looking for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I've found so many random and obscure stuff over the years of WWF stuff and put online. Someone mentioned the Tenryu WWF matches from 93, the Arn Anderson vs Tom Magee match. I even found the Andre the Giant vs Bret Hart match from Italy that WWE took from my Youtube page and put on one of Bret's DVDs a few years ago because I guess they don't have their own copy? Other stuff like Undertaker's WWF Title defense against Bulldog in 1991 which only aired in France and several cool matches from the WWF 96 tour in Kuwait. I could go on and on... I even recently came across that full Paris show from 1987 someone mentioned, which has Nikolai Volkoff jobbing to Outback Jack on it also, I guess I should upload that one soon as well. channel name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted November 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I've found so many random and obscure stuff over the years of WWF stuff and put online. Someone mentioned the Tenryu WWF matches from 93, the Arn Anderson vs Tom Magee match. I even found the Andre the Giant vs Bret Hart match from Italy that WWE took from my Youtube page and put on one of Bret's DVDs a few years ago because I guess they don't have their own copy? Other stuff like Undertaker's WWF Title defense against Bulldog in 1991 which only aired in France and several cool matches from the WWF 96 tour in Kuwait. I could go on and on... I even recently came across that full Paris show from 1987 someone mentioned, which has Nikolai Volkoff jobbing to Outback Jack on it also, I guess I should upload that one soon as well. channel name? rland1987 on Dailymotion Richard Land on youtube Tons of great rare footage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Yeah, he's been a great source for Tag Teams Back Again lately. Also, speaking of great sources for WWF footage, TSteck160's account has been reactivated at Dailymotion. Tons of cool stuff on his channel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landy1987 Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Outback Jack vs Nikolai Volkoff in Paris: https://youtu.be/XjnNF9cnYNo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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