air_raid

TIL Moose is still a thing. Is he still shit?

Come to think of it, maybe Crockett wouldn’t have ended up with a vastly greater level of success than they did if Vince Jr hadn’t bought and pushed on the (W)WWF as he did. Ultimately JCP was a very successful competitor for several years but ultimately where they fucked themselves and ended needing to sell to Turner was spending money without keeping an eye on if they had banked it yet. When the people running the gaffe have that in them, it’s destined to fail regardless of what the competition are doing. Yes, Vince went shit or bust on WrestleMania and gambled everything on rolling two sixes. But he knew what he was gambling, as opposed to Crockett, Barnett and the lads all riding in their private limos to Chicago to whoop it up at the massive gate they’ve drawn, blissfully unaware it doesn’t cover half what they’ve spent this week. I’m sticking with the AWA, brother. Although they’d inevitably crash and burn too when the Hulk refuses to drop the belt to Greg Gagne.

This phrase makes me think they need to get her a tag team partner. And some pigeons. Just kidding, I’d never advocate for a Beautiful People knock off unless Little Miss Bliss was back on the active roster.

Some of the most “big time” feeling effects they managed in the early years of my fandom where the custom spotlights and mat hologram effects they did when they were actually on the floor for gate receipts and arena attendance - Bret had hearts flying through the darkness, Razor had umm razors, and a wonderfully smug image of the King of Harts cast as a playing card was projected onto the mat when he was in the ring, and it looked great even though they were in a little conference hall of a holiday resort in Bushkill. So, I’m not that convinced the effectiveness of the production/presentation is any indicator as to where the business is when I think the show looked better under Diesel than it did under Hogan. Re : big tron. I’m not arsed, I think a smaller video wall with the wrestlers video playing that you only see for half the time the camera follows them to the ring is fine. The people there can see what’s happening in the ring and on telly it’s on telly, you don’t need a whopping great starship bridge windscreen sat there just because Vince and Co liked it. Re : augmented reality - bin it. Big logos look OK like Cody’s but most of the time it’s giant inflatable Romans or whoever had those stupid birds, and it looks awful. Really expensive effects that look like they’re for kids who ultimately aren’t going to care that much either way.

Sorry for the (partial) necro bump but I’m not sure I want it getting back to Tony that the Dynamite thread is getting more attention than Mania. Even now. 😉 The Headshrinkers were part of the famed 9 goon pile on too. Long game revenge confirmed.

Someone dissing house shows? We can’t be friends. It’s easy to slant Solos record to suit either argument. “Only Randy Orton has pinned him on TV in 2024” and “He hasn’t won a match since Crown Jewel” are both true. When you only ever have shmozz finishes, how do we know if you’re any good or not?

The casting out of Jimmy also surely points towards an eventual Usos reconciliation and long game, Roman & Usos vs Bloodline black n white.

No. A four month spell in 2016 in WWE is the only time they were working in the same place and AJ and Stardust did not cross paths at that time.

If anyone fancies getting their “good in Japan” trope ready, he was good in a tag where the whole was definitely greater than the sum of its parts - like Gallows & Anderson, really - and while reports of some of his singles matches being decent weren’t complete lies, they were similar to the best of Bernard/Tensai. You knew you’d watched a decent match but where the other guy had far more to do with it turning out that way.

Gotta do something while Roman and Rock are away. Cody vs AJ will at least sound more like a main than Priest vs Jey.

It was a perfect storm. Hogan catching on like he did in the North East strongholds was a factor, getting to swipe the AWAs best non wrestlers to improve their overall presentation was a factor, getting MTV, Mr T and Cyndi Lauper involved was impossible to overstate as a factor, and of course getting a gigantic audience to be able to view WrestleMania on CCTV when cards of that magnitude usually were only seen by people who bought a ticket. I think Crockett would have got there eventually but maybe not as quickly - WrestleMania was watched by an estimated 1 million viewers at CCTV venues where as only 30,000 or so braved the inclement weather in the South to watch Starrcade 83. I think not enough credit goes to Mania II and III to really pushing them on as THE players in traditional home PPV in wrestling ; it’s easy to overlook that “The Wrestling Classic” - the first of five planned “WrestleVision” PPVs - flopped on PPV (probably because Hogan vs Piper for the belt was only announced two weeks prior) causing the rest to get cancelled, and Mania II essentially saved PPV as a big platform for the WWF as the first Mania on PPV by drumming up big interest in three of their biggest markets, getting celebrities back in, heavily promoting the main events and putting $5 million in the chest. Mania III is obviously remembered for two iconic matches, a passing of the torch from Andre to Hogan in front of the world, and a huge live gate. But the timing often gets overlooked - it was a cracking bit of “strike while the irons hot” after Mania II and was such a massive success that by the time JCP did their first proper PPV, StarrCade 87, they were already playing catch up. The WWF and Crockett had the same ideas, the WWF just did them better, on occasion quicker, and they had Thunderlips and Clubber Lang. And how fitting is it that with those two personalities did Jr take it further than Sr ever would have dared to.

I may have mentioned, two Tuesdays before Mania I accidentally got into a “debate” on Twatter with some maroon off my reply to a post asking if she “deserved” to be added to Ripley vs Lynch (with one Raw left to build). My stance was it didn’t make sense to detract from the biggest women’s match they’ve had for years by diluting it with ANY third party at short notice. He told me I was “gaslighting” and that Ripley vs Lynch was nowhere near as big as Lynch vs Belair or Charlotte vs Ripley had been. So…. even better that it didn’t get muddled so close to the show, then? Fruitcake.

Which is a further link to “the rarified air of Jericho.” Like the drains have gone again.

The AWA could, and very nearly did, shoot off into the lead with exactly the same method - putting the title on Hulk Hogan and never looking back, brother.

Road Dogg there continuing a noble tradition of being given the jump mechanism despite never going to the top rope. Along with, fittingly enough, Repo Man.

Well, to be 100% accurate, it’s something we’re said to not do. So it’s more like the thing we’re least likely to do, after use the toilet properly.

TIL I learned Will is no longer with Bea/Blair. This is where you tell me it’s been years, right?

On the one hand, jel that you have Dusty and whichever Bushwhacker I don't have. The cards said different to the originals so I could say Luke or Butch and either would be right but at the same time wrong. Only the other hand, I have Adam Bomb, Billy Gunn and white Yoko, so swings and roundabouts. To match completely to the listings, you need a second Tatanka too. LOL.

If we subscribed to that, the Raw thread would be a quarter as many pages as it is!

Unfortunately dressing AoP like that will always make me think "Poundland Shield." In those photos he looks like Adam Cole found a better vitamin shop.

SEPTEMBER 19 Let's throw some more shit at the wall. Except this time, let's make him King. MAIN EVENTS - SMACKDOWN That tour we started last month rolls through Santiago and Buenos Aires 5th/6th with Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton and then Kofi vs Daniel Bryan 20th-22nd in Quezon City (Philippines), Shanghai and Honolulu. Then they're off for a well-earned rest. Butlins for everyone, I assume. THE CARDS Still Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe in the Americas and Bayley vs Charlotte for the belt, Aleister Black vs Sami Zayn and Ember Moon vs Zelina Vega are on both shows plus Asuka & Kairi Sane vs Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville - three womens matches out of 7/8 is very progressive. In Asia Reigns beats Zayn, we add The Revival vs Big E & Xavier Woods for the tag belts, Shinsuke Nakamura vs Mustafa Ali for the ICT, Kevin Owens vs Andrade and Chad Gable vs EC3 ; Bayley vs Charlotte is non-stop. VARIATIONS Santiago get Apollo Crews vs Andrade. In Buenos Aires Andrade is off so Zayn loses to Crews as well and Asuka vs Mandy to a DQ precedes the tag. Quezon City has Carmella vs Mandy, in Shanghai Carmella & Xia Li beat Fire & Desire, in Honolulu it's Mella vs Sonya. MAIN EVENTS - RAW 1st in White Plains Braun Strowman vs Baron Corbin no DQ is back on, 6th in St John the champ Seth Rollins is back for another depressing streetfight with the Baron. After a break, Seth starts up with The Fiend 20th/21st in Calgary and Edmonton to a DQ finish (ugh). 27th/28th in El Paso and Prescott Valley ZA Strowman vs AJ Styles for AJs US title goes to a DQ then Strowman & Viking Raiders beat AJ, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson - not names I expected to see on last again. 29th in Tucson Rollins vs Fiend continues, still with a DQ. THE CARDS The only match common to both White Plains and St John is Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs Natalya & Dana Brooke for the tag titles. Cedric Alexander vs Mojo Rawley in White Plains and Ricochet vs Cesaro (repeats in Tucson) in St John both continue into Alberta where Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks is underway (and returns in Tucson), Bliss & Cross beat Brooke & Tamina, Nattie now beats Lacey Evans (also repeats in Tucson), there's Braun Strowman vs Robert Roode and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs Viking Raiders vs Kalisto & Lince Dorado. 27th/28th we have Banks vs Evans vs Natalya, King Corbin vs Ricochet, Alexander vs Cesaro and through month end Raiders vs Club 2 on 2 and an 8-man opener of Dorado/Kalisto/Sin Cara/Titus O'Neil vs EC3, Eric Young, Drew Gulak and Tony Nese. VARIATIONS Wrapping in White Plains are The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler, Raiders vs The Revival vs Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder and Ricochet beating both Good Brothers in back to back singles. Unique to St John are the last of Lynch vs Evans, Cedric beating Roode one last time, O'Neil vs Rawley and Revival vs Club vs Hawkins & Ryder. Finally Tucson is the only city that sees Corbin vs Alexander and a streetfight of Roman Reigns vs Erick Rowan. MAIN EVENTS - NXT 5th in Lakeland - is this the worst NXT main ever? - Street Profits vs Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake vs Rinku Singh & Saurav Gurjar vs Chase Parker & Matt Martel. 6th in Tampa it’s Kushida & Jordan Myles vs Raul Mendoza & Angel Garza vs Dorian Mak & Riddick Moss, 7th in Gainesville Kushida beats Roderick Strong on last. 13th in Cocoa it's again Velveteen Dream vs Strong for the NAT, 19th in Daytona Beach there's a hard-hitting sounding Blake, Cutler & Jaxson Ryker vs Walter, Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner. Next night in Jacksonville the Sons recover against Rik Bugez & the Profits which was probably a little gentler, then 21st in Melbourne Rod defends his new belt against Kushida. Month end they’re back exploring Missouri - 27th in Independence it’s Pete Dunne & the Profits beating Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish, setting up next night in Lake Charles with Strong vs Dunne for the NAT. B shows - as the rest of the crew head to Missouri, 26th in St Petersburg it's Tyler Breeze, Fandango & Rik Bugez vs Jaxson Ryker, Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake. 27th in Seminole, even though Cutler's wrestled a tag underneath, on last is him vs Dango vs Fabian Aichner vs Rinku Singh. 28th in Fort Pierce said tag goes on last ; Cutler & Blake vs "Ever-Rise" - Chase Parker & Matt Martel (a/k/a Angelo Parker & Matt Menard). THE REPEATS Io Shirai vs Mia Yim recurs in Daytona Beach, St Petersburg and Fort Pierce. Tyler Breeze vs Shane Thorne repeats in Lakeland and Cocoa. Keith Lee vs Ridge Holland, Matt Riddle vs Dominik Dijakovic, Damien Priest vs Bronson Reed and Thorne vs Denzel Dejournette all happen both nights in MO. Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake vs Ever-Rise repeats the last two shows in Florida as you read above. RANDOM OTHERS OF NOTE Lakeland - Priest vs Angel Garza, Rhea Ripley vs Marina Shafir, Raul Mendoza vs Cameron Grimes, and Mia & Jessi Kamea vs Deonna Purrazzo & Chelsea Green. Tampa - Riddle vs Kona Reeves, Keith vs Thorne, Breeze vs Roderick Strong, Tegan Nox vs Taynara Conti, Xia Li & Monique Jenkins vs Vanessa Borne & Aliyah, all three Forgotten Sons vs Babatunde Aiyegbusi, Reed & (Big) Boa. Gainesville - Riddle vs Bobby Fish, Priest vs Boa, Lacey Lane vs Chelsea. Cocoa - Priest vs Reeves, Kushida vs Killian Dain, Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel vs Reed & Danny Burch, Bianca Belair vs Jessamyn Duke, Kamea & Nox vs Deonna & Chelsea. Daytona - Kassius Ohno vs Burch in a "British Rounds Match" I assume for their own fun, Street Profits vs Dorian Mak & Riddick Moss, Belair vs Borne, Reed vs Austin Theory, Grimes vs Tehuti Miles (Ashante Adonis). Jacksonville - Priest vs Miles, Kay Lee Ray vs Taynara for the UK title, Kushida vs Thorne, Burch & Oney Lorcan vs Aichner & Barthel, Io vs Reina Gonzalez. Melbourne - Garza vs Mendoza, Lee & Myles vs "the Outliers," Reed vs Dain (ouch), Rhea Ripley & Reina vs Shayna Baszler & Marina Shafir, Borne/Green/Purrazzo vs Nox/Kamea/Jenkins. St Petersburg - Ohno vs Babatunde, Burch vs Aichner, Theory vs Miles, Green & Purrazzo vs Kamea & Santana Garrett. Independence - Belair vs Conti, Candice LeRae/Rhea/Reina vs Baszler/Shafir/Duke after a DQ in Shayna vs Candice for the belt. Seminole - Ohno vs Mansoor, Theory vs Isiah Scott, Io vs Santana, Nox & Dakota Kai (Fly Kicks reunited) vs Chelsea & Deonna. Lake Charles - Kyle O’Reilly & Fish vs Profits, Candice vs Taynara, Belair/Rhea/Reina vs Baszler/Shafir/Duke. Finally in Fort Pierce, Garza vs Theory and Chelsea vs Catalina Garcia - who will get another look as Katrina Cortez in 2021 but is better known today as a regular in CMLL as simply "Catalina." TVs 1st they tape NXT:UK in Cardiff with the usual mix of the talented and the below-marginal, Dunne vs Aichner sounds a good dark main but I bet they were knackered after 14 TV matches. 3rd SmackDown in Norfolk they open with the endless Heavy Machinery vs Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas but the night finishes with 205 Live instead of a dark main - wow. Also Rowan reveals he's behind the attacks on Reigns and divorces himself violently from Danny Bry. 9th Raw they're at MSG (12,500) where Steve Austin officiates the contract signing for Rollins vs Strowman at the PPV and for Main Event they tape R-Truth swapping the 24/7 title with Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics - LOL. Next night only 7000 come to the Garden for SmackDown - Ali beats Buddy Murphy dark, on the show proper for some reason Gable beats Shane McMahon in a 2/3 falls semi-final of the King of the Ring ref'd by KO, then dark The Fiend beats the B team in a handicap match. 15th its Clash Of The Champions - tag champions Rollins & Strowman lose the tag belts to Ziggler & Roode on first then wrestle for the U belt last, inbetween the first Lynch vs Banks match goes to a DQ, Luke Harper returns to assist Rowan against Reigns and Revival win the SmackDown tag belts from New Day. Next night on Raw in Knoxville Corbin wins King of the Ring over Gable in his latest reinvention and in a fun if random ending, Rollins vs Rusev sees the champ get attacked by Ziggler, Roode, Styles, Gallows & Anderson, then when Kane ("the mayor," LOL) makes the save, he's overwhelmed by The Fiend. Next night in Atlanta Black beats future lieutenant Murphy before SmackDown, Machinery vs B-Team finally graduates to the show proper, and Bayley vs Charlotte resumes its status as regular dark main. Wednesday night at Full Sail NXT starts going out live - Garza vs Mendoza and Priest vs Reeves both go down just for the live crowd before it airs and Strong wins the NAT from Dream. 23rd Raw at the Chase Center in LA, The Fabulous Truth explodes over the 24/7 title and dark, the Horsewomen collide as Charlotte & Lynch beat Bayley & Sasha. Next night in the same building Crews vs Murphy opens, Bryan loses to Rowan on TV when Harper interferes, and between SmackDown and 205 Reigns beats Zayn. 25th before NXT Theory beats Holland and there's another look at Garrett, losing to Gonzalez. Finally 30th Raw, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair both show up to set the table for their pointless team vs team match at the blood money show, and Rollins vs Rusev goes to a no finish again when Bobby Lashley distracts Rusev by revealing that Lana is now HIS "main squeeze" (because reasons) allowing Rollins to get attacked by The Fiend again. NON TITLE WHINING Beaten on TV this month : Bliss & Cross (Womens Tag Team Champions) by Fire & Desire, AGAIN by Banks & Bayley DEPARTURES None that I caught. Bants!

However, I do love the menfolk doing their best "I'm scary, me" faces but Scarlett is simply unable to contain her "happy to be here" in that one photo.

I imagine @Matthew could sort you out with a bus route for that.

Fond memories of the “Submission Sorority” debacle. Of course, these days they give the talent names like Kayden Carter and Lola Vice - it’s almost like they WANT to misdirect us to Brazzers.

Or Akeburaba. Which is so close to Akihabara, it makes me smile.