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The Reverend

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Posts posted by The Reverend

  1. 20 hours ago, Magnum Milano said:

    It's been a long time since I read it but I really enjoyed it when I did.  I don't know it I ever mentioned it, but I sent Jeanie a bunch of DVDs from her time in Dallas and WCW as she didn't have anything and she sent me a copy of the book as a thank you.

    spacer.png

    I was one of the authors of the book and Jeanie is a class act. Such a lovely lady and I was glad that she managed to survive the industry that almost dragged her under. 

  2. I think everyone may be reading a little too much into this. I'm not saying it's an impossibility, but Wrestlemania just generates far too much money for US cities. As we know they actively bid for it because of the amount of revenue it generates. I can't see London throwing that sort of money at it. 

    London has a large number of hotels, but nowhere near the amount that US cities have. I regularly travel to the US for work and I see new hotels being built all the time. It interested me as to why they were doing it, and a local councillor told me it's because unless these cities have bed-space, concerts and sports events will bypass them in favour of other cities who can provide for out of towners. A lot of the time these hotels are pretty much sitting empty, but when an event comes into town that's when they make their money. London just doesn't have the same type of set-up in accommodation. It would mean people having to take rooms miles out of the city. 

    Like I say, I don't think it's impossible, and in fact now it's more likely than ever because her whole time zone hang-up really isn't an issue, but I can't see that the finances and infrastructure in London would add up.

    And let's be honest, Sadiq is just trying to appeal to a new demographic - the NBA yes, already the MLB and NFL have had success on these shores, but he's just taken the biggest sports events in the US (and UK) and thrown them out there to make himself look hip and cool. The real key was mentioning the Superbowl - that piece of Americana is never going to be anywhere other than the US. 

    I think Trips response is just a bit of fun - plus it gets Wrestlemania and WWE trending.  

  3. Tito Santana as World Champion. Heard this from several sources including Pritchard and Tito himself. It was supposedly going to happen in late 1991 because Vince wanted to expand into the latin markets. 

    Utter bollocks if you ask me - they didn't add any extra latin stars in 1991 (or 1992 for that matter) and the only thing they did was make Tito more of a stereotype with the El Matador thing. 

    With the talent they had in late '91 (Hogan, Savage, Undertaker, Flair etc.) I can't see this ever would've happened. 

  4. One of the reasons may also be to do with the history of Memphis wrestling.

    In 1977 Memphis wrestling had a huge internal war with Nick Gulas and Jerry Jarrett, when Gulas insisted on pushing his useless son George as a top name. Jarrett broke away from Gulas, and Lawler went with him, creating the CWA and making the promotion on of the best. 

    I would think as it turned into such a huge battle because of the nepotism, Lawler probably didn't want to then look like he was doing the same. 

  5.  

    Warning - boring old man alert. I'm of an age and so my choices are somewhat vintage! 

     

    First WrestleMania watched?

    I think either 3 or 7. If 3 had been released by Silvervision by Spring '91 then it was that one, if not it was 7 borrowed off a mate at school.

    • Favourite WrestleMania?

    8. Height of my fandom, height of the wrestling boom in the country. Fairly shit matches, but Piper vs Hart and Savage vs Flair made up for it. All about the spectacle though really. The Hoosier Dome looked cool, all the big name and colourful characters in attendance plus all the little extras. LOD interview introducing (well to a new audience) Paul Ellering, Lex Luger popping up, Shawn Michaels first proper PPV match in his new persona, return of the Warrior etc. Like I said, mainly crap matches, but oh boy to go back and watch it through innocent eyes with all the excitement and hype. 

    • Have you ever been to WrestleMania?

    No - but I think I will (please bring it to the UK as I'm old and lazy) but I'm regularly in the US for work so would combine it. I think just the event though. All the Raw, HOF etc. may be overkill. I'll just settle for the buzz of the event itself.

    • Best/Worst WrestleMania matches

    Favourites - Warrior vs Hogan, Steamboat vs Savage, Hogan vs Savage, Hart vs Piper, Savage vs Warrior, Austin vs Hart, Triple H vs Sting. 

    Worst - too many to name

    • Best/Worst WrestleMania moments

    Savage winning the title at 4, Warrior at 6, Demolition winning at 6. 

    • Favourite WrestleMania theme and/or intro?

    Soft spot for 6. The stars in the galaxy etc. Vince sounding like a madman, drawings turn into Hogan and Warrior, big colour, that music hits and the classic logo flys in. Nostalgia! 

    • Favourite WrestleMania announcer call? ("The boyhood dream has come true" etc etc)

    The Irrepresible Force meets the Immovable object from Gorilla at 3.

  6. 6 hours ago, Vegeta said:

    I read your post really quickly in work and thought it said written by Simon and garfunkel 🤣

    I believe in the revised edition (illustrations of various on the front instead of the original lone Kendo Nagasaki cover) there's an additional chapter in which Simon Garfield attends the British Wrestlers Reunion (I think) but in it he mentions one of the board of the reunion, ex-British champion Wayne Bridges, who hosted the event for years at his pub (The Bridges - natch) in Kent.

    Apparently ol' Wayne didn't much like the original book (protecting Kayfabe long after its demise) and wants a word with who he refers to Garfield as 'Simon Garfunkel' 

  7. May not have been too talented in real life, but I bet that he was top-end in more than just my figure fed. That Hasbro figure of his was out-fucking-standing. Probably one of the best sculpts. 

  8. News coming in that the greatest Million Dollar champion of all time, Virgil has passed away.

    A strange character in the wrestling world, but a man who deserves his place in the history books just because he was so unique.

  9. 19 hours ago, TibBo said:

    I hate how you barely ever seen hasbro/galoob figures at carboots now, and when you do the seller thinks they are worth 15 quid despite the fact their dog has been chewing on them for 20 years. 

    Never had much luck in charity shops for wrestling stuff

    I was thinking this last year when I did a couple of car boot sales last year. Crazy thing is, that I always forget, is that Hasbros and Galoobs are nearing 35 years old!!! Mad to think that seeing people coming along with 1970's Action Men on those antique shows on TV, that give it another 15-20 years and someone will pop up on the Antiques Roadshow showing off their mint Repo Man Hasbro.

  10. Although not formally named as yet, the buzz on social media is that the shooter in this tragic story overnight is none other than former wrestler Billy Jack Haynes: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.koin.com/news/portland/shelter-in-place-in-lents-neighborhood-during-shooting-investigation/amp/

    Not surprising unfortunately due to Billy Jack having become more and more volatile in the last few years.

  11. I do wonder if this cross to Netflix and the demise of the Network may be linked to the horrendous allegations about Vince. By eradicating the history of the Vince era, they're free to run with a new era which is free of Vince's involvement. 

    Sound dramatic? Well yes, we all know you can't just re-write history (although it doesn't mean people don't try - the WWE certainly has. Look at Benoit and even Hogan during his wilderness days after his racist views).

    They know that history is there and isn't really going away, but it doesn't mean you have to publicise it or make it accesible via your official channels. And let's be honest, how many fans (particularly young fans) are going to be complaining they can't see Wrestlemania 2? They could still show clips, have the occasional PPV from the archives, but I think this will be the perfect chance to draw a line between the eras. After all if more comes out, or Vince does time then there's so much they'd need to re-edit, re-commentate etc. The BBC did with TOTP and Savile, but that was removing the links - to do it with WWF/E programming would be near impossible. Imagine 97/98 without Vince? It's easier just to consign it to the dustbin of history.

  12. Not wanting to put a downer on things - but where does the archive sit in the heart of the WWE? There are certain things which are now questionable, there's certain music rights which are troublesome and did the Superstars name situation ever get fixed?

    It's just for a lot of us dinosaurs (me included) we'd just want to watch the archive, not the new stuff - but we're probably in the minority. Shocking as it seems there's a whole generation out there who would probably be bored shitless watching Royal Rumble '92 - where us few would watch it on repeat.

    With less new uploads of older material on the network, coupled with the demise of the home video market for the WWE could it be that they're looking to put the past well and truly behind them and close down the archive.

    After all then they control the narrative and the history. Let's face it - new fans are where the money is (plus they're not complaining it isn't the attitude era anymore) and I doubt they're bothered about the legacy of the product, so will it be that the archive will be dropkicked into the cupboard? 

    Saves money, saves time and saves potential problems. It doesn't mean they can't still use clips and matches here and there - but full episodes of Primetime wrestling and Saturday Night's Main Event? That could be a thing of the past. May be worth hanging onto those DVDRs! 

  13. The battle for the UK continues between AEW and WWE, before both companies over egg the pudding leading to poorer numbers than expected and then both abandoning the country for the forseeable future and instead focusing on mainland Europe.

  14. 7 hours ago, Chili said:

    It's a real waste of talent isn't it. They had her take over WWF Mania and had her rename it The Sunny Show for a week and you can see why she owned 1996. A ridiculous amount of charm, sex appeal and charisma. It's insane how quickly it all took a turn.

    I honestly thought at this time she had real potential to become a massive crossover star. She would've been perfect for one of those mid-90s comedy films that got put out at a rate of knots, or as a sitcom star. So sad, as had it happened her life would've been far happier I'm sure.

  15. So ol' Tammy is up in court today and potentially looking at 26 years: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fox35orlando.com/news/tammy-sytch-wwe-star-to-be-sentenced-for-deadly-florida-dui-crash.amp

    What a fucking life - the car crash is an analogy of her very existence. 

    Her life would be far-fetched if it were a Hollywood movie script. 

    So, do you feel sorry for her? Her own fault - or just another victim of the toxic world of wrestling. To be fair I'm just surprised she's not dead.

  16. Comedian Rob Beckett took his WWF Hasbros on 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown.

    Dear old Kenneth Williams wrote in his infamous diaries "16/5/64 We motored down to Brighton. All clientele dreadful but the hotel is good. In the evening we went to a wrestling match. It was obviously rigged"

    No pulling the wool over Kenny's eyes.

     

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