Letters from Kayfabe

[cheapshot]

I want you guys to work Virgil references into every episode the same way Vince Russo worked Jeff Jarrett into every issue of WWF Magazine.

 

It odd, it's like we always end up back at Virgil and we don't plan it! He's our unofficial LFK mascot.

[The Chief]

 

I want you guys to work Virgil references into every episode the same way Vince Russo worked Jeff Jarrett into every issue of WWF Magazine.

 

It odd, it's like we always end up back at Virgil and we don't plan it! He's our unofficial LFK mascot.

 

 

It's funny, I can tell the Virgil drops aren't intentional yet somehow, everything ties back to Virgil. Six degrees of separation: Virgil. Every topic. Ever.

 

EDIT: WWF Magazine request: I apologize because I sold all of my issues so I can't give you the exact month, but there's an issue in the Fall of 1991 that goes extremely in-depth reviewing a Virgil vs. Kato match. I swear to god this thing was at least 3 or 4 pages. Maybe another listener can help pinpoint it?

[BigBadMick]

Thanks for doing my request lads.

 

One thing that always struck me was that DiBiase could have done with music much early than he ended up getting that song.

[JRH]

How about an episode discussing the "darker and edgier" direction WWF was heading in in 1991 (The Iraqi Slaughter angle, Taker trying to kill Warrior, Everything involving Jake Roberts, etc)? A Prime Time wrestling retrospective could also be a good idea for an episode (heck, you even use the prime time theme as the theme of your show).

[Ricky Jackson]

 

 

 

 

I want you guys to work Virgil references into every episode the same way Vince Russo worked Jeff Jarrett into every issue of WWF Magazine.

It odd, it's like we always end up back at Virgil and we don't plan it! He's our unofficial LFK mascot.

It's funny, I can tell the Virgil drops aren't intentional yet somehow, everything ties back to Virgil. Six degrees of separation: Virgil. Every topic. Ever.

 

EDIT: WWF Magazine request: I apologize because I sold all of my issues so I can't give you the exact month, but there's an issue in the Fall of 1991 that goes extremely in-depth reviewing a Virgil vs. Kato match. I swear to god this thing was at least 3 or 4 pages. Maybe another listener can help pinpoint it?

Just giving the public what it wants, Virgil 24-7-365 baby

[JerryvonKramer]

Episode 8:

 

http://placetobenation.com/letters-from-kayfabe-8/

 

 

Allan and Parv dip back into the sack for more little-known moments from the WWF's past.

 

1. The Mailbag: Mr. Hughes not on PPV in 1993 / Rita Marie, female ref / The Big Red X

2. The Event Center with JT Rozzero: The debut of Action Zone in October 1994

3. The Long Topic: Higher than pure jobbers, but not quite JTTS

4. WWF Magazine corner: Jim Neidhart attacked by the Beverley Brothers

 

To write in to the mailbag, tweet @allan_cheapshot or @JerryvonK

 

Follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS1QYjCSmymjjG2Mh0hXUh51ygH1-lvUJ

 

Grab the mag: https://www.sendspace.com/file/2uvus2

[Phil Austin]

3. Possibly a mention or two of Virgil....

[DeanColes1987]

Mr. Hughes is a guy I think Bret could have got a decent 10 minute match out of on TV, loved his backdrop bump which was awesome.

 

The Tunney Rumble 92 dark match deal was an attempt to get him cheered later which failed miserably.

 

I always associate the babyface JTTS with Crank It Up, if you never got to use it then you were pure jobber, heel JTTS was more difficult as you only really had Brawler and Sharpe as long term guys with Horowitz being a guy who'd pop in and out, a lot of guys whose tag partner left became one like Boris Zhukov in 89,Smash,Kato and Blake Beverly

 

If liz taking her dress of in 88 was a 15 here then Sherri 4 years later is an 18+

[Bigelow34]

I never understood why they didn't run Undertaker vs. Mr. Hughes at SS93. If you watch that summer of TV they are solely focused on that match and Gonzalez barely pops up week to week.

 

Also, I saw Savage vs. Hughes in the summer of 93 during the tent tour at the Warwick Musical Theater:

 

WWF @ Warwick, RI - July 18, 1993
Phil Apollo defeated Iron Mike Sharpe
Adam Bomb defeated Tito Santana
Kamala defeated Papa Shango
Tatanka fought Bam Bam Bigelow to a double count-out
Doink the Clown defeated Marty Jannetty
Mr. Hughes defeated Randy Savage

[soup23]

Haven't listened but if Chadley's favorite wrestler is Mr. Hughes this week that is actually the closest to the truth LFK has gotten so far.

[DeanColes1987]

Interesting quote from the September 13 Observer

 

"IRS, who was planning on having one month off, was put back on the road replacing Mr. Hughes, who is serving a six week suspension. Adam Bomb replaced Hughes originally, but Bomb was booked in tag matches with Bam Bam Bigelow against Steiners at the next run of house shows, so he couldn't replace Hughes in the singles matches against Razor Ramon, which is the role IRS will take"

 

Makes IRS going over Kid at Summerslam even weirder, the guy about to feud for the IC Title gets beat by a guy with no feud upcoming.

[JerryvonKramer]

I always associate the babyface JTTS with Crank It Up, if you never got to use it then you were pure jobber, heel JTTS was more difficult as you only really had Brawler and Sharpe as long term guys with Horowitz being a guy who'd pop in and out, a lot of guys whose tag partner left became one like Boris Zhukov in 89,Smash,Kato and Blake Beverly

I think the lineage on the heel side would go something like:

 

late 70s / earl 80s: Johnny Rodz / Baron Scicluna

 

83-6: Rene Goulet / Tiger Chung Lee

 

87-early 90s: Brawler / Iron Mike Sharpe

 

I feel like those guys were the "gate keepers" to jobberdom. Baron was slighty above Rodz, Lee was slightly above Goulet, and Sharpe was slightly above Brawler. But from these guys the next rung is actual jobbers.

 

There are two "tells" in the same way you're talking about the babyface JTTS getting the "crank it up":

 

1. Heat sequence. As in they'll get one.

 

2. Getting heat back after "competitive matches" on arena shows, specifically MSG / Boston / Philly / Meadowlands. So let's say Iron Mike Sharpe drops a fall to a low level non-pushed guy like Sifi Avi, he'll probably get his heat back.

[DeanColes1987]

 

I always associate the babyface JTTS with Crank It Up, if you never got to use it then you were pure jobber, heel JTTS was more difficult as you only really had Brawler and Sharpe as long term guys with Horowitz being a guy who'd pop in and out, a lot of guys whose tag partner left became one like Boris Zhukov in 89,Smash,Kato and Blake Beverly

There are two "tells" in the same way you're talking about the babyface JTTS getting the "crank it up":

 

1. Heat sequence. As in they'll get one.

 

2. Getting heat back after "competitive matches" on arena shows, specifically MSG / Boston / Philly / Meadowlands. So let's say Iron Mike Sharpe drops a fall to a low level non-pushed guy like Sifi Avi, he'll probably get his heat back.

 

 

In 92/93 it's much easier to tell because there's the Virgil/Tito test, beat them and I'd say your at worst a midcarder but if you lost the match you were a JTTS or about to leave the company

[The Chief]

Just wrestling talk, no BS, in and out in an hour. I love this show.

 

Thanks for tackling my question! In 1991 I remember the first house show I ever attended had a Brooklyn Brawler vs. Chris Walker match where they both came out to entrance music. Eight year old me had no clue what was happening and began to question reality.

 

You chaps from across the pond wouldn't be familiar with this, but the Red X was all over Canadian WWF TV. I live in New York and we used to get syndicated WWF on CKWS (Canadian) television. The syndicated show we got was months behind. I remember still getting Allied Powers squashes in 1996. Anyways, whenever something violent was happening they would either freeze frame or put up the Red X. They were VERY sensitive about violence. Blood, chairs, and any type of weapon was always censored. My friends would refer to it as wussy wrestling, no offense to you Canadians.

[DeanColes1987]

Few ideas for topics

 

Did any angles ever happen in the 11 year run of All American Wrestling?

 

Your opinions on patriotism angles and use of US Celebs? Being from the UK they always bored or confused me as a kid until the 97 Bret stuff, when they said Lawrence Taylor was a football star I looked through my USA 94 sticker book and was so confused that he wasn't in it, were they lying to me?

 

How long did it take to wonder if a wrestler had left? Seeing guys taken out of the opening for Superstars/Challenge was the only clue I had at the time(or showing up in WCW)

 

WWF production in 94, they started turning down the lights for everyone's entrances and were using buildings for RAW where you could actually see the walls, I hated it so much back then

 

How many WWF shows you would watch in your average week? My 94 would look like

 

Saturday - 12:00pm Mania, Sky One
Saturday - 05:00pm Superstars, Sky One
Sunday - 12:00pm Challenge, Sky One
Sunday - 05:00pm All American Wrestling/Action Zone, Sky One

 

We had no RAW until 95 so had a version of Mania that was all RAW highlights

 

[cheapshot]

Few ideas for topics

 

Did any angles ever happen in the 11 year run of All American Wrestling?

 

Your opinions on patriotism angles and use of US Celebs? Being from the UK they always bored or confused me as a kid until the 97 Bret stuff, when they said Lawrence Taylor was a football star I looked through my USA 94 sticker book and was so confused that he wasn't in it, were they lying to me?

 

How long did it take to wonder if a wrestler had left? Seeing guys taken out of the opening for Superstars/Challenge was the only clue I had at the time(or showing up in WCW)

 

WWF production in 94, they started turning down the lights for everyone's entrances and were using buildings for RAW where you could actually see the walls, I hated it so much back then

 

How many WWF shows you would watch in your average week? My 94 would look like

 

Saturday - 12:00pm Mania, Sky One

Saturday - 05:00pm Superstars, Sky One

Sunday - 12:00pm Challenge, Sky One

Sunday - 05:00pm All American Wrestling/Action Zone, Sky One

 

We had no RAW until 95 so had a version of Mania that was all RAW highlights

 

 

The first Raw that Sky Sports showed was from September 95, and featured a Sid v Shawn main event (which, famously, was one of the spoilers given away by Bishoff during Nitro's early days). It may or may not have been broadcast on a Thursday evening, before settling into a Friday tea-time time slot.

 

iirc Until about mid 1994, Mania was first shown on Sky One on Friday evenings, then repeated the next day at around mid day.

[DeanColes1987]

Am I crazy or did we have a short period where we were a week behind on the tv? Want to say it was late 96/Early 97

 

Edit: We did, never knew it got to an 18 day delay for RAW at one point

 

http://www.wrestlingforum.com/classic-wrestling/633200-question-old-school-wwf-e-fans-uk-circa-96-97-sky-sports-centric.html

Edited October 28, 2016 by DeanColes1987

[JerryvonKramer]

Episode 9:

 

http://placetobenation.com/letters-from-kayfabe-9/

 

 

Allan and Parv return for another week of cheesy fun.

 

1. The Mailbag: The changing faces of Lord Al on commentary / WWF in Japan 90-1 / Big Bully Busick

2. The Event Center with JT Rozzero: Bret Hart vs. The Mountie on Superstars

3. The Long Topic: The Presidential Decisions of Jack Tunney, Part 1: 1984-90

4. WWF Magazine corner: 1987 Man or Woman of the Year

 

To write in to the mailbag, tweet @allan_cheapshot or @JerryvonK

 

Grab the mag: https://www.sendspace.com/file/rbid3g

[DeanColes1987]

I could listen to Parv burying Jack Tunney for hours.

 

Dear old Jack did seem to thaw in his treatment of Ted in 94, he let him Manage, Commentate, bring in a fake Undertaker and Co Host All American

[JRH]

Thanks for answering my question!

[JerryvonKramer]

Episode 10:

 

http://placetobenation.com/letters-from-kayfabe-10/

 

 

Allan and Parv take another dip into the bulging sack.

 

1. The Mailbag: Battle Kat / Phantasio / Tom Magee

2. The Event Center with JT Rozzero: The fan John from the crowd takes Dino Bravos strength test

3. The Long Topic: The many best buddies of Hulk Hogan

4. WWF Magazine corner: Battle Kat Personality Profile

 

To write in to the mailbag, tweet @allan_cheapshot or @JerryvonK

 

[JRH]

Thinking of this, I cant remember many "best buddies" of Hogan in WCW (pre-NWO of course) aside from Savage and Dave Sullivan. Hogan and Sting had kind of an alliance, but it was never that concrete, and i cant think of any other faces he teamed with. Then came the NWO, but that was a different thing altogether.

[DeanColes1987]

Thinking of this, I cant remember many "best buddies" of Hogan in WCW (pre-NWO of course) aside from Savage and Dave Sullivan. Hogan and Sting had kind of an alliance, but it was never that concrete, and i cant think of any other faces he teamed with. Then came the NWO, but that was a different thing altogether.

He had his "Friend to the end" Bruti there until he "Butchered that Friendship"

[BigBadMick]

I love the discussion part of the long topic lately. Two pundits taking an amusingly serious approach to a wacky world.

[WingedEagle]

What makes this show great for me is I grew up on WWF wrestling in the back end of the 80s so its an awesome return trip to a time when I truly lived and died with babyfaces & heels, as well as looking back at some things a bit earlier that I missed out on.