Dylan Waco Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 Delaney's was really good. I haven't listened to Necro yet or the Joe one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 Going back to a point Strummer made earlier in the thread, I think WCW genuinely wanted to get Meng over, especially since the bookers were huge fans of the story where he bit off the guy's nose. They tried to push him hard several times, but he never clicked as well as he did when teamed with Barbarian, and even that was never over huge. Meng was a perfectly acceptable wrestler, but I think never giving him a good manager hurt him, as I like Robert Fuller, but not in that role. Also, I don't know that this hurt him that much, but I really hated the Tongan Death Grip, mainly because of the way Meng applied it, and because usually, holds like that as finishers require an announcer to sell the nuance and explain how it's applied, which WCW announcers weren't really doing. WCW's JTTS heavyweights like Meng, Scott Norton and Jerry Flynn always felt like channel changers to me at the time. All of them should have had managers, and they probably should have done squashes on syndie TV and the weekend shows on TBS so that their Nitro matches seemed a little more interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 They never really did go full on face with the Faces of Fear against Hall and Nash, did they? They were in matches with them and the fans got behind them in that context, as one of the only real threats to the Outsiders, but they weren't really booked as monster faces. I wonder if that would have made a difference. Otherwise, I'm not sure who they could have put them with. Jim Mitchell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 There weren't really any managers around anymore by that time, which could probably be traced back a few years to the WWF and WCW starting to pull managers from house shows as a cost-cutting measure. If managers with a successful track record of drawing money had trouble working a full schedule, it would be even harder for new managers to break in I guess. There definitely weren't many options on the existing roster. I'm not a fan of Jim Mitchell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 We can certainly look at Heenan with Haku. The Islanders turned heel on the Can-Ams right after Mania III. I don't remember them doing much with Strike Force on TV, but they had to feud with them over that winter, no? Their big feud was with the Bulldogs which was centered around Matilda so it's not exactly a great example. I really love Heenan in the Race/Haku Royal Rumble match. It was good for what it was (especially given Race's physical limitations; he said in his book that Haku, as opposed to someone like Honky, was someone he respected and wanted to drop the crown to), but it also helped in the build towards Mania that year since a lot of the Main Event was centered around who Liz would side with, if anyone. They just didn't do anything with Haku after that. After Duggan, I really can't think of one meaningful feud he had with television support. He was a sidenote in the Piper vs Heenan Family and Bossman vs Heenan Family feuds. He had house show matches with Steamboat throughout 91 but they never built to them in any way. Even with Heenan, they just didn't utilize the guy except for as a gatekeeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 Delaney's was really good. I haven't listened to Necro yet or the Joe one.Delaney's was awesome. All of Colt's shows are worth listening to, but Delaney was particularly noteworthy since you just rarely get guys who recently worked in the WWE and are willing to be completely open about their experiences. He perfectly illustrated how that company is somehow incredibly chaotic yet orderly at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 Delaney's was really good. I haven't listened to Necro yet or the Joe one.Delaney's was awesome. All of Colt's shows are worth listening to, but Delaney was particularly noteworthy since you just rarely get guys who recently worked in the WWE and are willing to be completely open about their experiences. He perfectly illustrated how that company is somehow incredibly chaotic yet orderly at the same time. ^ This But there is an extra layer of greatness as they were both guys low on the totem pole talking about interacting with Shawn Michaels and trying to get freebies from the WWE office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Meng was actually one of my favorite wrestlers in WCW. Not just his Faces of Fear run either. I admit his Hardcore era was silly, moreso because of Normal Smiley than Meng, but it sort of turned Meng into a comedy character which went against how he was built-up for so long. I remember Meng even had Goldberg beat one time but let go of the Tongan Death Grip because the nWo was at ringside or something. I don't remember exactly as it was a long time ago. Meng owned though. I'll never forget there was a Lumberjack Strap match and Meng came out with a strap and was swinging it at camera men and shit. Bobby Heenan went off on commentary: "He can't even get to the ring without hitting people! Who would give this man a strap?" Haku/Meng has always been a big guilty pleasure of mine though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Meng and Sid were always my "instant clicks" over to the other channel in the Monday Night Wars era. I could sit through Mongo for morbid curiousity on how bad it would be. But Meng was a click. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 I liked Sid too! My channel-changers were people like Glacier, Prince Iukea, Norman Smiley, Kidman...a lot of the Thunder regulars. My biggest HAD to have been Alex Wright. I HATED that mother-fucker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Honestly, Finlay was too. He seemed like the spoiler for an actual Benoit push in '98 after the Best of 7 series, and he was always associated with heatless guys like Brian Knobs and Van Hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 My biggest HAD to have been Alex Wright. I HATED that mother-fucker.Same here. I don't even know why I hate that guy. There were probably dozens of others on the roster who were worse workers. But something about him made me instantly not want to watch his match, no matter who his opponent was. Konnan was a pretty big one too. I've rarely seen a shittier wrestler who was more over than him during the Wolfpack period. Entire arenas were going fucking crazy for this guy, and he could barely string together the simplest spots without botching half of them and then getting so blown up that he looked like he was having a heart attack. And that's on top of some of the most aggravating promos in the whole company, TOSS MY SALAD LOLLOLLOL. Sid, on the other hand... I don't even know why I liked that guy, but I always did. He was maddeningly inconsistent; sometimes he'd have a perfectly decent match with a mediocre opponent, but other times he looked like the worst muscle-bound stiff to ever walk the aisle. I once got to commentate a Sid match live, and oh dear fucking lord it was terrible (though admittedly a lot of that was due to his opponent, a nearly immobile Bobby Eaton). But somehow, I always kept marking for Sid. Even if last week he and a Harris brother had gone out there and had the worst goddamn match I'd ever seen, this week I still grinned slightly when his music hit. It wasn't even for ironic "let's see how bad he is THIS time" reasons, there was just some intangible about him which made me like him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Alex Wright got to a point in the ring in 1997 where he was really, really good. The dancing also generated AMAZING heat when he turned heel, regardless of whether or not it was the right kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Flair-Foley tonight. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Wright was arguably the best guy in the company in 95. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Flair-Foley tonight. Thoughts? I don't hate myself enough to watch it. Having just read Foley's new book, he's really too sad a figure to invest even five minutes in at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Liska Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Flair-Foley tonight. Thoughts? They actually moved around all right, better than I expected, but it was still sad. Foley took a big bump off the stage through a table, with concrete beneath instead of any padding. That looked incredibly painful for a guy that I'm sure has to deal with pain on a daily basis. Flair rolled through thumbtacks several times and splashed Foley through a table. So on one hand the match was worked at a higher level than I expected, but really, it was too sad to enjoy. Nobody cares about the tacks and barbed wire in TNA since Abyss has killed the gimmicks, so seeing them put their bodies through that for nothing was bad. I remember watching The Wrestler and thinking the Necro Butcher/Randy the Ram scene seemed out of place since you don't usually see 80's stars working those types of matches on indies, but here it was with Flair, right down to the small crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Liska Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Flair-Foley tonight. Thoughts? I don't hate myself enough to watch it. Having just read Foley's new book, he's really too sad a figure to invest even five minutes in at this point. Is the book that bad? I was thinking about grabbing it since I enjoyed the first two so much and I've got a long plane ride ahead of me, but I can't pull the trigger after Hardcore Diaries and his blog posts. Is it mostly about his volunteer work, platonic crushes, and talking about how bad WWE is and great TNA is? Because I couldn't take that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Alex Wright got to a point in the ring in 1997 where he was really, really good. The dancing also generated AMAZING heat when he turned heel, regardless of whether or not it was the right kind.Yea I remember watching some Nitros from 97 when I had WWE 24/7 and Alex Wright would sometimes get the most heel heat out of anyone except Hogan. I kind of thought he was a big missed opportunity as a TV champ or something different in the cruiserweight division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Yeah... terrible match. Really pathetic. Looks like TNA has another Big Surprise on the PPV. These haven't gone very well in the past. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 I was watching Clash of Champions 8 last night, and I couldn't believe the babyface pop that Lex Luger got for his match against Tommy Rich. Especially coming off the Steamboat feud. Did he do anything especially dickish or heelish after the Steamboat turn leading up to the babyface turn the next year? I seem to have a memory of Flair and Sting each receiving some sort of trophy, which Luger breaks (as is the norm in wrestling) but I may have the wrong time frame in mind. Edit: Nevermind, it was actually Clash 9 where he did that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 My biggest HAD to have been Alex Wright. I HATED that mother-fucker.Same here. I don't even know why I hate that guy. There were probably dozens of others on the roster who were worse workers. But something about him made me instantly not want to watch his match, no matter who his opponent was. Konnan was a pretty big one too. I've rarely seen a shittier wrestler who was more over than him during the Wolfpack period. Entire arenas were going fucking crazy for this guy, and he could barely string together the simplest spots without botching half of them and then getting so blown up that he looked like he was having a heart attack. And that's on top of some of the most aggravating promos in the whole company, TOSS MY SALAD LOLLOLLOL. Sid, on the other hand... I don't even know why I liked that guy, but I always did. He was maddeningly inconsistent; sometimes he'd have a perfectly decent match with a mediocre opponent, but other times he looked like the worst muscle-bound stiff to ever walk the aisle. I once got to commentate a Sid match live, and oh dear fucking lord it was terrible (though admittedly a lot of that was due to his opponent, a nearly immobile Bobby Eaton). But somehow, I always kept marking for Sid. Even if last week he and a Harris brother had gone out there and had the worst goddamn match I'd ever seen, this week I still grinned slightly when his music hit. It wasn't even for ironic "let's see how bad he is THIS time" reasons, there was just some intangible about him which made me like him. I think Sid may be one of the best examples of charisma in wrestling. I mean, other than Hogan, has anyone ever gotten by on it to a bigger level? Warrior, I guess. Other than that, I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 It's easy to see why he got over so quickly in '89. He and Spivey were almost Goldberg-like in their dominance. It didn't hurt that they were killing acts that the fans weren't especially fond of, such as the Ding Dongs and Dynamic Dudes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Ariel Helwani just posted on Twitter that Paul Heyman is officially done with pro wrestling after he has signed a deal with EA Sports to do stuff for their MMA game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 After all the pimping of Heyman doing Something Big, that's all there is? He's working on a MMA video game? For fuck's sake... John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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