|
Post by Mod City on Mar 15, 2011 23:02:00 GMT -5
I had a lot of fun watching the WWF in the days of the Hart Foundation, Strike Force, the Killer Bees, Brutus the Barber, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and all those from the mid-to-late 80s. I also remember the early Starcades and still have the original Survivor Series on VHS somewhere. Back in the 80s my dad took me to a big WWF show at the Arena in Sioux Falls, SD, and the place was packed, as I remember it. It was fine, but it was a "repeat" of a card I had seen on satellite not that long before. That was weird. I hated the WCW and the new style that came after that era. I don't know if it was just me or what. Just couldn't get into the 10 minute rants at the microphone in the middle of the ring and all that. And I could be remembering this wrong, but 25 years ago wrestlers seemed to wrestle a whole lot more. Now it seems like a whole lot more yelling and ambushing the other guys. The best show I ever saw, though, was at a small bar in a town of about 600 people in South Dakota just a few years ago. Old-schooler "Rock n Roll" Buck Zumhofe runs a little wrestling show out of Minnesota and tours the area on occasion. The bar billed it as "midget wrestling," and there were midgets, but there was a lot more, including an eight-man - one of which was at least 6-8 and 350 pounds - battle royal in a six-foot ring. I'm not kidding. It was a goofy fun time where the tiny audience was right in the middle of the action (it was held outside during the summer in the beer garden area). It was a blast. The quote of that show had to be from Buck, who served as both announcer and full-blown wrestling participant. At one point he threw down the microphone and entered the fray with the line - "Poke a midget in the eye? THAT'S NOT RIGHT!" That's my kind of wrestling
|
|
|
Post by Skyroniter on Mar 16, 2011 15:30:00 GMT -5
I like old style wrestling but there were allot of ten minute wrist locks. We don't have that kind of attention span these days.
|
|
|
Post by reaperg on Mar 20, 2011 9:20:47 GMT -5
Unfortunately, that's true. Once upon a time Johnny Valentine could work a wristlock for 20 minutes and have a live audience totally transfixed (or so I've heard, I was only four when his career ended in that plane crash). That's the beauty of wrestling, and it's something that gets lost with both today's younger audience and the non-fans: Every move, gesture, and facial expression should mean something to tell the in-ring story. I can enjoy a great promo, storyline, or spotfest as anyone else, but I love the mindset that goes into those old-school matches. It's a lot more complicated than simply "fake fighting."
And Mod, I trust you on that indy show. Some of the best wrestling is stuff that you won't see on WWE or TNA programming.
|
|
|
Post by Skyroniter on Mar 22, 2011 20:51:02 GMT -5
My dad took me to a wrestling show when I was a kid where I saw Johnny Valentine go to a 60 minute draw with Paul Jones from about the 5th row. A totally stiff match. One of my best memories.
|
|
|
Post by reaperg on Mar 27, 2011 9:05:26 GMT -5
I hate you. But in a good way.
|
|
|
Post by Frameous on Mar 27, 2011 16:16:13 GMT -5
My interest in wrasslin has always come and gone in phases. As a child of the 80s, I was a full blown Hulkamaniac. I attended a taping of Saturday Night's Main Event in '86 or '87. I got a hat with that old school logo on it and ate popcorn out of it. I couldn't have been more that three or four years old and I still have memories of it. Years later I went to a WCW show where Big Van Vader was facing off with Ron Simmons (I think). Cactus Jack, AKA Mick Foley was also on the card. After that, I attended the WWE Raw taping that happened right after Brian Pillman died.
Anyway, I was all about it from the rise of the WWE to the early '90s. Then got back into it with the rise of WCW Monday Nitro, and then played both sides of the Monday Night Wars until I once again grew tired of it in the early 2000s. Around this same time, for reasons I won't explain, I became involved in my local amateur wrestling scene, working and attending a handful of shows. I am talking about the real low end, nitty gritty productions held in local high school gyms, where the attendees most likely can't afford a ticket to a professional show, and you can smell the BO coming off the two clashing opponents. It afforded me the opportunity to construct and dismantle a squared circle and be in the locker room as the men prepared. It wasn't a particularly happy time in my past, but being a part of this was an odd highlight. The only name I can recall that anyone may know was Dan Burdick. Also, the person who linked me to this world attended Harley Race's school and knew the man well. He was also friendly with Mr. Perfect for a short time before his death. I remember being shocked at hearing he was a fan of the booger sugar.
About a year ago I sat down to watch The Self-destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. Not only was it funny as hell, but I found myself fascinated at the behind the scenes perspective. Seeing the likes of Bobby Heenan, Rick Flair, and Ted DiBiase speak openly about the mechanics and politics of wrestling really fired my interest in the history of the sport. Soon after, I purchased Jake The Snake Roberts: Pick Your Poison and Born to Controversy: The Roddy Piper Story and devoured them. I also caught that A&E doc on Hulk Hogan's recent troubles as well.
At that point it dawned on me how integral wresting has been in my life. At times it wasn't there, but it never really went away either. So I have currently taken an interest in it again, but only in its history. I don't watch any of the programming that's being made for today's audience.
|
|
|
Post by reaperg on Apr 3, 2011 8:33:18 GMT -5
WrestleMania XXVII is today. I was going to order it, but taking the cost into consideration, I'll wait for it to come out on DVD and save myself $30. Some thoughts:
U.S. Champion Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan: Big Bryan fan since his Ring of Honor days, but I don't see him regaining the belt only two weeks after losing it. I'm just glad he and the U.S. title are on the show at all.
The Corre (Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, tag champs Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater, & Ezekiel Jackson) vs. Kane, the Big Show, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston: Replacing Vladimir Kozlov with Kingston was a smart move, since Kofi's a great athlete and deserves to be on the card rather than the plodding Ukranian. Sucks that the aforementioned titles aren't being defended. I predict a win for the face team.
John Morrison, Trish Stratus & Snooki vs. Dolph Ziggler, Michelle McCool & Layla El: Snooki? SNOOKI!? Ugh. Look on the bright side: She can't be worse than the Situation at the Donald Trump roast. Trish will have to work extra hard to carry the ladies. I'd rather see Morrison and Ziggler in a singles match.
Rey Misterio vs. Cody Rhodes: I'm sorry, it's hard for me to care about this one. The buildup hasn't excited me, and they're two great workers who could do better.
Randy Orton vs. CM Punk: On the other hand, this feud has been built up quite well. These two master psychologists should have the sleeper match of the night.
Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole: WHY!? To give Lawler, a star for 40 years, his first WrestleMania match. Fair enough. But by making Cole the most awful heel announcer ever? Please end the pain. PLEASE let Lawler use the piledriver, give Cole a couple weeks off, and let him come back as the tolerable play-by-play man he used to be.
The Undertaker vs. Triple-H: UT has gone 18-0 at WM, given his ego it should be 19-0 after tonight. Once upon a time we said the same about HHH, but somewhere along the way Vince's son-in-law came to understand the importance of putting people over. Should be a brutal match.
World champion Edge vs. Alberto del Rio: Alberto has everything going for him -- in-ring skill, an easy-to-hate character, good mike skills, a legit wrestling background (represented Mexico in the 2000 Olympics), and heritage (son of Dos Caras and nephew of Mil Mascaras). The only thing he lacks is tenure, he's only been in the WWE for less than a year. He shouldn't yet, but he'll be the new World champion tonight.
WWE Champion the Miz vs. John Cena: The company's two most marketable personalities, one face, one heel. Who would've thought the Miz would get anywhere in the business? His hard work deserves respect, but despite his recent beatdowns of Cena, he still looks like a paper champion with few credible wins. Cena, meanwhile, has been more preoccupied with his verbal duels with the Rock, which have been entertaining as hell. The buildup has been great, but Miz and Cena aren't the greatest workers in the company. Cena will regain the belt.
I really would love to go to a WrestleMania weekend -- the actual card, the Hall of Fame ceremony, the Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA shows that come to town to get in on the fun (and give attendees some really great wrestling). One of these days.
|
|
|
Post by reaperg on Apr 10, 2011 8:54:57 GMT -5
Well, from what I've heard, I may have to skip the DVD as well. Please, Vince, more wrestling, less "entertainment."
Anyway, the Cauliflower Alley Club is next week. Despite my being stuck at work those days, let's see how many legends I can hobnob with at the evening events.
|
|
|
Post by reaperg on Jul 3, 2011 9:46:41 GMT -5
Thank you, CM Punk for the greatest rant in wrestling in over a decade. No idea where he or the storyline will go from here, but it was a thing of beauty to behold:
And the fact that I was there didn't hurt.
|
|
|
Post by Skyroniter on Jul 3, 2011 9:53:18 GMT -5
I've read a bit about CM's rant. Thanks for the video link. I'll check it out.
|
|
|
Post by reaperg on Jul 18, 2011 10:16:35 GMT -5
Punk wins! Only God and Vince McMahon know what will happen next. Tonight's RAW is a must-see.
|
|
|
Post by GProopdog on Jul 18, 2011 22:54:36 GMT -5
To my understanding, Punk already signed a new deal with the WWE (or so I've heard on a few wrestling sites anyway). So the whole thing is a moot point anyway.
|
|
|
Post by reaperg on Jul 19, 2011 10:21:41 GMT -5
I don't doubt he'll be back at some point. I just know that working for the WWE can be a real grind and Punk may just want to rest a bit. But if he shows up in Ring of Honor again, I sure will be happy.
|
|
|
Post by GProopdog on Jul 22, 2011 15:06:26 GMT -5
One thing I notice when going on 411mania.com (where I get my wrestling news), is just the sheer number of annoying trolls on it. Trolls who are anti TNA and anti WWE. I swear, just about every news story degenerates into this:
"DUR, I HATE TEH TNA! IT SUX! LOLZ!" "DUR, I HATE TEH WWE! IT SUX! LOLZ!"
It gets to a point where I more read the unintentionally hilarious troll wars over the actual news stories.
|
|
|
Post by HighPriestXeno on Jul 22, 2011 20:23:03 GMT -5
I was never happier to see:
"On February 2, 2010, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that ECW would be going off the air and would be replaced with a new weekly program in its slot in what McMahon announced as "the next evolution of WWE; the next evolution of television history." It was later announced that the show would air its final episode on February 16, 2010. On the February 9, 2010 episode of ECW, the new show's name was announced as WWE NXT. With the ECW brand disbanded, the ECW roster became free agents."
It was awful and had no place on the Syfi Channel.
|
|