"He's ambitiously stupid" - Why Scott Keith's new book is scary bad

[Bix]

BURNED.

[NintendoLogic]

It's actually pretty funny to see him repost his old rants and be all "Wow, was I a dumbass or what?" in the annotations. If I can change and you can change...

[rainmakerrtv]

It's hard to top the classic "Dean Rasmussen - Braying Jackass" sections of DVDVR.

[tigerpride]

Hey Scott, the other day I realized I was in attendance both when Owen nearly paralyzed Steve Austin (and broke his neck) at Summerslam 97 and when D-Lo did paralyze Droz a few years later at a Smackdown taping. This got me thinking, how come Owen’s career didn’t suffer to the same degree D-lo’s did in the aftermath? Was it because Steve (somewhat) recovered?

Also it seems to me that a wrestler – especially one of Owens skill and pedigree- doing a move so incorrectly as to break his opponent’s neck (if i remember right, Owen set Steve up for a tombstone, with Steve facing him, and then sat out in a standard piledriver motion, instead of kneeling for the tombstone, giving Steve nowhere to tuck his head and pretty much driving him headfirst into the mat) is a much bigger “sin” than just botching a move by dropping a guy the way D-Lo did. Hell, Miz is being jobbed out just for forgetting to catch a guy. So I guess the question is, how did Owen skate after he almost crippled the cash cow?

 

Well, Owen was a guy with an impeccable safety record before that, and Austin had already agreed to the piledriver. It wasn’t like Owen went out there and went into business for himself, he told Austin that he was doing the move like that. The thing is that with Austin, his neck was already in such bad shape that any little incident was going to be bad news. I don’t think anyone blamed Owen for it, because it was obvious that something would have happened to Austin anyway next time he took a piledriver.

 

 

Is that true?

[NintendoLogic]

PROTIP: If you're going to C/P something, put the C/P'ed portion in italics or quotation marks or something so they can be readily distinguished from your own words.

[Loss]

Hey Scott, the other day I realized I was in attendance both when Owen nearly paralyzed Steve Austin (and broke his neck) at Summerslam 97 and when D-Lo did paralyze Droz a few years later at a Smackdown taping. This got me thinking, how come Owen’s career didn’t suffer to the same degree D-lo’s did in the aftermath? Was it because Steve (somewhat) recovered?

Also it seems to me that a wrestler – especially one of Owens skill and pedigree- doing a move so incorrectly as to break his opponent’s neck (if i remember right, Owen set Steve up for a tombstone, with Steve facing him, and then sat out in a standard piledriver motion, instead of kneeling for the tombstone, giving Steve nowhere to tuck his head and pretty much driving him headfirst into the mat) is a much bigger “sin” than just botching a move by dropping a guy the way D-Lo did. Hell, Miz is being jobbed out just for forgetting to catch a guy. So I guess the question is, how did Owen skate after he almost crippled the cash cow?

 

Well, Owen was a guy with an impeccable safety record before that, and Austin had already agreed to the piledriver. It wasn’t like Owen went out there and went into business for himself, he told Austin that he was doing the move like that. The thing is that with Austin, his neck was already in such bad shape that any little incident was going to be bad news. I don’t think anyone blamed Owen for it, because it was obvious that something would have happened to Austin anyway next time he took a piledriver.

 

 

Is that true?

Yes, it's very wrong, as Austin did blame Owen. Even if the move was planned, he didn't execute it properly, and he never even apologized for it. It seems like I have always heard that Austin wasn't crazy about doing the spot anyway, as he remembered injuring Chono's neck in Japan with a similar move, but Owen assured him he'd be safe. Not sure if that part is accurate, but I do know Austin held it against Owen. He even mentioned it in a Rolling Stone article.

[kjh]

It is true however that Austin's neck was in pretty bad shape before taking Owen's tombstone piledriver, but it's a stretch to say that "it was obvious that something would have happened to Austin anyway next time he took a piledriver". From Torch Newsletter No. 443:

 

When Shawn Michaels slide-kicked Austin "by mistake" as part of the angle at the beginning of the May 26 Raw, Michaels caused damage to Austin's neck. Austin apparently felt a sharp pain after the impact of Michaels's move and his leg visibly buckled briefly afterward, but then he got by just fine and played a vital role in the excellent tag title match later that night, although he complained of grogginess backstage after the event.

 

The following Thursday, May 29, Austin saw a neurologist regarding the sharp pain in his neck. According to the WWF, the first diagnosis came back negative, with no sign of major damage. The MRI, however, revealed that Austin had what was described as "the neck of 60 year old" from all of the bumps he has taken in his career and perhaps recent chairshots. The injury, as the Michaels kick showed, has made him more susceptible to injury. Although he won't miss any action, it's expected to be a long-term concern for Austin, who may not be able to take as many hard bumps or chairshots to the head or neck as he has in the past. Since his early days in wrestling he has been known for taking really hard back-to-the-mat bumps.

 

Austin plans to get additional opinions from other doctors over the next couple of weeks to find out exactly how serious the progressive, apparently chronic condition actually is.

[Matt D]

I thought the story was that Austin had INSISTED to Owen that they do a normal pile driver and not the reverse sit out one.

[kjh]

Sort of. Austin insisted that he do a normal piledriver, but Owen assured him he could do the reverse sit out piledriver safely and Austin agreed to take the move, somewhat reluctantly.

[MikeCampbell]

What I'd read was that Austin wanted Owen to drop to his knees, but Owen insisted that he was sitting out with it. It's Owen, so Austin figures he's just ribbing him about it. Then they do the spot, and Owen really did sit out.

[Ditch]

I just can't imagine Owen doing a tombstone in the middle of the match.

[Gregor]

It's been a while since I watched it, but I think he does a tombstone in the middle of his WM X match with Bret.

[goodhelmet]

Hey Scott, the other day I realized I was in attendance both when Owen nearly paralyzed Steve Austin (and broke his neck) at Summerslam 97 and when D-Lo did paralyze Droz a few years later at a Smackdown taping. This got me thinking, how come Owen’s career didn’t suffer to the same degree D-lo’s did in the aftermath? Was it because Steve (somewhat) recovered?

Also it seems to me that a wrestler – especially one of Owens skill and pedigree- doing a move so incorrectly as to break his opponent’s neck (if i remember right, Owen set Steve up for a tombstone, with Steve facing him, and then sat out in a standard piledriver motion, instead of kneeling for the tombstone, giving Steve nowhere to tuck his head and pretty much driving him headfirst into the mat) is a much bigger “sin” than just botching a move by dropping a guy the way D-Lo did. Hell, Miz is being jobbed out just for forgetting to catch a guy. So I guess the question is, how did Owen skate after he almost crippled the cash cow?

 

Well, Owen was a guy with an impeccable safety record before that, and Austin had already agreed to the piledriver. It wasn’t like Owen went out there and went into business for himself, he told Austin that he was doing the move like that. The thing is that with Austin, his neck was already in such bad shape that any little incident was going to be bad news. I don’t think anyone blamed Owen for it, because it was obvious that something would have happened to Austin anyway next time he took a piledriver.

 

 

Is that true?

Yes, it's very wrong, as Austin did blame Owen. Even if the move was planned, he didn't execute it properly, and he never even apologized for it. It seems like I have always heard that Austin wasn't crazy about doing the spot anyway, as he remembered injuring Chono's neck in Japan with a similar move, but Owen assured him he'd be safe. Not sure if that part is accurate, but I do know Austin held it against Owen. He even mentioned it in a Rolling Stone article.

 

It was also mentioned in a TV Guide interview when TV guide was running 4 different wrestlers on the cover that week.

[Jingus]

It seems like I have always heard that Austin wasn't crazy about doing the spot anyway, as he remembered injuring Chono's neck in Japan with a similar move, but Owen assured him he'd be safe.

Not just similar, but the exact same identical move. Check it out: here's Chono's injury, and here's Austin's.

 

 

Sort of. Austin insisted that he do a normal piledriver, but Owen assured him he could do the reverse sit out piledriver safely and Austin agreed to take the move, somewhat reluctantly.

That's the correct version, iirc. After all, there's plenty of guys who use a move kinda similar to that and do so safely; it's not so different from a Michinoku or Rikishi driver. Which makes it really weird that a perfect ring general like Owen Hart would botch the move in such a "dude, there's no way this could possibly end well" fashion.

[jdw]

The other thing that's strange is that Austin clearly had to recall the Chono injury and just should have stuck to his Guns:

 

"I don't want to do this spot. Sorry."

 

I know it's Owen, and Owen had the track record of being ultra safe. But Austin had an easy out if he was truly worried:

 

"Look... I've done it before, and something bad happened. Just don't want to be in that spot where something could go wrong."

 

Not really blaming Austin for that, but if he was as concerned as he's said since (and I have no reason to doubt him), he just should have stuck to those guns.

 

John

[MikeCampbell]

http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/columns/...-Cold-Truth.htm

 

As the story goes, Owen and Steve had agreed on the tombstone piledriver spot in the match to wow the crowd with a sudden reversal. Austin says he was adamant about insisting Owen drop to his knees with the move, but Owen just smiled and said “No, I drop on my ass.” Austin repeated his insistence, and Owen gave the same response. Austin, figuring Owen was just ribbing him, went on his way until the match.

[adamsie]

To be honest i don't get why they were doing that spot in the first place since i'm sure the Undertaker would've been pissed that Owen used his move if he dropped to his knees.

[MikeCampbell]

http://www.rspwfaq.net/2012/04/texas-tornado.html

No, if anything they had smaller plans for him due to the missing foot and "demons". He was just a guy with a good look by that point and lucked into the IC title push.

So Kerry "lucked" into the IC Title, which he won only a few weeks after his TV debut.

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

Well, the Summerslam match was supposed to be Beefcake-Perfect, so he did get the title due to Beefcake's accident.

[NintendoLogic]

It was supposed to be Beefcake at Summerslam, but his face got destroyed in a parasailing accident. And wasn't the missing foot not widely known until after Kerry's death?

[Ricky Jackson]

It came off during a match in Vegas for the AWA in 88. I'm assuming pretty much everyone on the inside probably knew about it by 90.

[MikeCampbell]

I'm assuming pretty much everyone on the inside probably knew about it by 90.

I would think so too. There's a story about Kerry's foot and the WWF trying to use it to get Kerry kicked off the Superclash PPV in one of the '88 WONs that Loss recapped.

[flyonthewall2983]

In looking back at his IC title reign, it was nice of them to do it but his downward spiral on the roster took effect pretty quickly after he lost the belt. What was strange about it was that it seemed like they were teasing a feud with Dibiase next, but once it was done nothing came of it and Ted went on to finish his run with Dusty and begin that long angle with Virgil.

 

I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did in the company, especially in the light of all the controversy that was erupting in '91 with the steroid scandal. In Bret's book, he said Kerry as early as the middle of his run with the IC belt, was talking about suicide and "joining his brothers".

[Matt D]

They feuded from January to March, all the way to Mania, actually. A lot of the later matches had Virgil in Kerry's corner.

[flyonthewall2983]

Ah. I wasn't following that far back, otherwise I might have not said it didn't go anywhere. In a sense, it still didn't have that big blow-off match, because it played second fiddle to the Ted/Virgil program. Rightly so, it was a perfect example of how WWE did angles right back then.