AndiRush

I'd pay reasonable money for a Rick Martel Arrogance cologne. 

I seen something the other day about Barbados offering 2 year remote worker visas for Brits wanting out due to covid. 

UPDATE

Scrap that, complete lies from myself, it was Bermuda offering the visas. Here's the link

https://www.gotobermuda.com/workfrombermuda?gclid=CjwKCAjwwab7BRBAEiwAapqpTDIX4cWrZBicTz4I41SkqFsdJV7YJudzrtyXzcdUlmi052VHwz6WuxoCHVEQAvD_BwE

Back to the noughts for me Clive!

Pringles Ridges were great along with the original Walkers Snax in the crisp shaped packet, not the ones they've currently got on sale which are terrible.

7 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

Michael Lonsdale, probably best known as Bond Villain Hugo Drax in Moonraker has died. A brilliant actor whose work often goes under the radar. If you haven’t seen Of Gods And Men, get on it. 

One of my favourite movies of all time is The Day of the Jackal starring Lonsdale as the detective Claude Lebel hunting down the Jackal. I think it's his best English speaking role as he plays it without the usual high drama that on-screen detectives of that era would have to ham up. Also as mentioned, his short part in Ronin was magnified by his presence alone. 

I think the idea to micromanage has always been there but due to financials and other things, it was more of a slow boil than an instant change.

You could say his developmental system of 1998 (DSW, HWA, UWA) was the first hint of trying to micromanage, in this case up and coming talent.

I'd say Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara leaving for WCW was the noticeable starting point. I got the feeling that Vince didn't like the idea of solely relying on one person to deliver the goods when it came to the in-ring product, so he spread the load so if one person leaves, the majority remains in place. I doubled down on this mindset when around 2003 they shifted from their formula of promoting the company off the back of a top star (Hogan, Austin, Rock) and shifted towards promoting the brand rather than a single wrestler. From that period onwards slight changes are made here and there to slowly introduce more micromanagement of the company.

I don't think there will be a 10th wonder of the world in wrestling. Unless some 10ft tall Prometheus looking bloke turned up on Raw, I just don't see anything being that special to justify the moniker these days.

21 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Cliffhanger (nefarious means)

Technique from London's Burning and Henry Lee Lucas, together at last. Can't believe how bad Renny Harlin turned out after turning out action crackers like this for a few years in the 90s. WE NEED INSULIN.

The plane transfer stunt still holds up 27 years on.

Renny Harlin sadly was the victim of his Geena Davies double bill (Cutthroat Island and Long Kiss Goodnight) bombing at the box office and his preference for 'big action'. After CI bombed and LKG failed to live up to expectation, Hollywood wouldn't offer Harlin the big budget scripts that get the best out of him, thus the man was fucked really. 

Homeland - Started off brilliantly and I genuinely thought it would probably peak around series 5 or 6 with Brody being assassinated after working his way up the political ladder to become President. When it started to slowly become the Claire Danes show in series 2 and then fully in series 3, I switched off through sheer boredom. Same thing with Tom Quinn in Spooks, never the same after he left, though it was brilliant until his departure.

4 minutes ago, JakeRobertsParoleOfficer said:

Unlikely... Vince goes out of business, leaving wcw as the big one!! 

It's 1998 and all the kids are wearing WCW Tex Slazenger T-Shirts with "Outlaw 3:16" on the front.

Jim Hellwig...What have you done?

12 hours ago, JakeRobertsParoleOfficer said:

Do we know why Vince was so keen to retire Savage in 93/94??

He was only 41, could still work like a bastard and was only a year or so removed from his last world title reign?? 

With the exiting of Hogan (for good in 93), piper (92), Warrior (92), Savage (94), Flair (93) he was seriously down in star power come end of 94 (regardless of match quality). 

 

 

I think the simplest explanation is personal preference and Vince's 'gut instinct'. You see it in football all the time, managers wake up one day and decide that the person in question just isn't the same player anymore and wants rid. Doesn't mean the manager is right, some go on and prove them wrong elsewhere, but it's hard for those players to convince stubborn managers they still have something to offer. 

In Randy's case, 1992 wasn't the easiest year for him with the divorce and all that, maybe Randy was burnt out from that and Vince interpreted it as 'he's past it' rather than scratching the surface to see the man was emotionally done in after a divorce and probably needed a few months to get his head straight.

The Warrior not getting sacked and sticking around timeline is one which definitely would've changed the course of wrestling as we know it.

I've just typed a few paragraphs before I posted this and my mind is completely blown when you weigh up the permutations of this scenario. Who wouldn't have been signed? Who would've been released? Who gets relegated or stuck in the mid-card role and never reaches their full potential as we know it in this world? Does the wage bill cripple the company as they head into the mid-90s and poor gates? Who leaves for WCW/ECW and do they (promotion/wrestler) grow earlier as a result? Or do they vanish into obscurity?

16 minutes ago, air_raid said:

This was definitely not the plan. The Ultimate Maniacs vs Flair & Razor was planned with a future Flair vs Warrior televised title match in mind. Plans weren’t made for Flair to lose the belt to Bret (or anyone else) until Flair got hurt wrestling Warrior on a house show and needed an indeterminate amount of time off (and he ended up back in the ring way too soon and didn’t feel right for six months) so they had to get the belt off him and they decided Bret was the best way to go in a crisis. Bret and Shawn would have wrestled with no belts at stake in the middle of the card if Flair hadn’t got hurt and Warrior & Smithers hadn’t got themselves sacked.

The deviation point for the Summerslam '92 timeline would be the last week of May 1992 where the switch from Washington DC to London was announced. The Mega Maniacs weren't a team at this point with Savage feuding with Flair and Warrior feuding with Papa Shango. So from that deviation point, it could go anywhere and plans at that point wouldn't have included Razor Ramon as he hadn't even debuted on TV at that point. Though thanks for the info the Flair dropping the title due to injury, never knew that.

Whatever it is it won't be anything too dissimilar to what we've seen on Earth in the past or present. The Universe is made of the same building blocks so bacteria or microorganisms wouldn't be that much of a shock. If anything it'll be a sign of what a dying Earth will look like.

2 hours ago, Cod Eye said:

I just wish they would fuck off with the live streaming, and just catch them and take them to the police. Everybody is happy then(except the perv). I suppose the hunters wouldn't get their "likes" and "retweets" that they crave though...

I've seen a few of these and they come across as a shit Brass Eye episode by chasing them down and getting all their shit in for the camera. I often wonder if they actually care about protecting kids to be honest.

On 11/25/2018 at 4:16 PM, JakeRobertsParoleOfficer said:

This boom also massively boosted the domestic scene here (often to the exploitation of the punter by All 'We'll Advertise an American star and then say at the event that their was an issue' Star) 

 

Strange one to quantify this statement. The early 90s boom didn't massively boost the domestic scene at all, in fact it crippled it to the point of near extinction by making it look outdated in comparison. The Crabtrees went under in 1995, Brian Dixon quit around 1996/1997. Hammerlock brought over Adam Bomb and Jim Neidhart between 1995-1997 and done OK business with them but not the kind of business that would follow a few years later.

The era itself did pay dividends later on during the Attitude era boom, which saw a marked increase in wrestling fans in the UK. This in turn led many British promoters to run 'Wrestlemania UK' style tours featuring former WWF wrestlers from the late 80s/early 90s boom (Honkey Tonk Man, Jake Roberts, Earthquake, Yokozuna, Greg Valentine, Bushwhackers, Marty Jannetty etc.). So in one sense the wrestlers of that era did boost the scene massively but the boom itself had the reverse effect.

On 11/24/2018 at 2:52 PM, Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz said:

What if Summerslam 1992 emanated from Washington DC instead of Wembley? 

Would England eventually still receive a big PPV if the WWF had not of ventured over here when they did? 

Would the landscape of the WWF change with the original rumoured matches, Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, Warrior vs. Shango etc. or would it have just been the same. 

 

.Q1. Summerslam 1992 Card (Washington DC option)

Dark Match: Duggan & Bushwhackers Vs The Mountie & The Nasty Boys

Dark Match: Crush Vs Skinner

1 Tatanka Vs Rick Martel

2 Legion of Doom Vs Money Inc.

3 Bret Hart Vs Shawn Michaels (WWF IC Title)

4 British Bulldog Vs Repo Man

5 The Undertaker Vs Kamala (Casket Match)

5 The Natural Disasters Vs The Beverley Brothers (WWF Tag Title)

6 The Ultimate Warrior Vs Papa Shango

7 Nailz Vs Virgil

8 Randy Savage Vs Ric Flair (WWF Title)

.Q2. Based on my own memories from the time, I think Summerslam'92 was definitely a 'now or never' moment for the UK's chances of a WWF 'Big 4' PPV. The writing was on the wall two weeks prior to the event with the launch of the Premier League, which Sky had the TV rights to. Sky's main focus from 16th August 1992 was flogging the Premier League and the WWF was relegated in terms of editorial and on-screen promotion after that.

I'd also say that bubble burst amongst the 10-16 age group that very summer. It's hard to convey it in 2020, but like memes today, trends came and went in an instant back then. One minute Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are hot and the next they're not, very disposable times in regards to trends back then (but isn't every era like that?). I think the WWF would still have toured and received the same numbers they did in our real timeline, but I don't think we'd have ever seen a UK Big 4 PPV if it hadn't taken place in 1992.

.Q3. I don't think much would've changed to be honest. Ric Flair might've been tempted to stay slightly longer if the plan was to drop the title to Bret Hart at Survivor Series, but even then, I think he'd still be out of the door by February 1993. With the others, Legion of Doom would've still departed just not in the same circumstances. Davey Boy and Warrior would've been sacked as nothing here would've changed that course. I think Davey would've been built up to face Shawn at Survivor Series, though he'd obviously not appear. Tatanka might've gained more popularity with a victory over Martel on the big stage earlier than their belated, pick-up-where-you-left-off Survivor Series outing. Boss Man and Nailz feud could've gained more momentum with a post match Big Boss Man return here. 

Overall besides a few programmes getting off the ground earlier or being resolved earlier, I don't see much change come January 1993 through sheer circumstances of the people involved.