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3 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

I'm not so sure. Back in that time period it was pretty standard practice to throw a monster heel to the top of the card to sink or swim against the top babyfaces. As for the character itself, they were throwing any old mad shit at the walls back then - I don't think an undead zombie stood out particularly as a creative risk.

I agree with much of that but I didn't suggest it wasn't common, or indeed that it doesn't work. As air_raid said that is what happened with Undertaker and it's happened many times before and since. My interest lies in the long stretch between being brought in as convincing foil for Hogan and going on to have the career that he's had. If you're looking at it as being just one in a long line of monsters appearing there's little remarkable about it, or the character. When you look at the entire career of the individual, spanning from the "size of that ham hough" through to being the icing on a very satisfactory cake at Wrestlemania 40, that's where I think it's a bit more than business as usual. 

Supergran actress Gudrun Ure aged 98. She had a good run. 

The Undertaker will tell you that his run as the American Bad Ass allowed him to work differently than he had been able to up to that point. You could see why going from being ostensibly dead to a brawling, arse kicking biker would bring about a change of style, but he'd already lost some of the zombie like rigidity by that point. 

I think the Undertaker as a character is more of a risky proposition creatively than some people allow. Obviously his positioning helped but I don't think immediately catapulting a big guy to the top of the promotion and presenting him as impervious to most attacks is necessarily a guaranteed home run. Audiences were more easily manipulated back then, but you can't brainwash people, they'll either like it or they don't. When you look at how much effort the guy put into "protecting his gimmick" over the years, it speaks to a guy who's a little bit more than just lucky, and I've never had any reason to doubt his professionalism. There's also an element of that intangible, indescribable magic that brought the act to life and gave it legs over the years. Juxtapose how seriously the guy approached his work, then look at Paul Bearers face during some of the promos. This was some out-there hokey shit at times and I don't think you can easily manufacture something like that. I even find meaning in how it ended, in that father time caught up with the Undertaker before audiences got fed up with him. Sure, there were voices to the contrary, but for me it was more a case of "I wonder if Undertakers got one more Wrestlemania in him" than "give it up, Mark". 

When he first took that call from Vince he was in a better position than most are at that stage of their career, but there were no guarantees. 

I've no idea why, but I've always had a preference for straightforward acronyms that make the promotion seem like a psuedo governing body for an actual sport. WCW,  NJPW, WWF, NWA - this is what I want to see. 

41 minutes ago, MB1975 said:

notwithstanding the lack of financial knowledge here of course, (and inability to divulge financial details):

Do you mean lack of financial knowledge on your end or among users of the forum? 

Eurovision hasn't been a completely safe bet for puritanical family friendly fun for years. Thats not to say that I think they've ever crossed a line, but anyone watching in 2024 must be aware that there might be a touch of gaudy, titillating eurotrash, whether it be Dita Von Teese doing burlesque or enthusiastic Polish milkmaids. It's always existed in a bit of a vacuum, in that aside from the occasional song troubling the charts it is for the most part culturally irrelevant. Once the nights over, it's pretty much all forgotten about. 

The Israel situation is likely a combination of two things. They are extremely effective at getting their message out. If the county you lived in suddenly became independent and adopted a made up language, any Israeli spokesperson appearing on local TV would almost certainly be speaking that made up language, and they may even have a local accent. The other factor is that it's easy to underestimate how much support there actually is for Israel. It's not a silent majority, but it's big enough to not be insignificant. 

Edit - Adding the most underrated entry in the history of the competition. For reference. 

I'm adding this here under the "whatever else" banner. I'm a fairly recent convert to AEW. For various reasons, I just didn't have the time or energy to get on board with it when it started but having checked it out it's much better than some of the analysis and sentiment from some quarters would suggest. I still don't have heaps of time, but I want to keep up with the current product and catch up on some of the stuff I've missed as I gather there have been some real highlights, especially on PPV. I'd greatly appreciate answers to a couple of questions -

What TV is must see in terms of making sure I don't miss any exceptional matches? Are there any shows i can afford to skip? What should be the priority? 

Is there much value in watching TV from the past? Is there a run of shows that made for exceptional television, or any great matches that weren't on PPV. There's a lot I'm not going to see of course, but if there's anything that stands out, that would be great.

Finally, are there any PPVs that stand out? Any world class matches on an otherwise unassuming card? Are there any turkeys that are so bad there's no value in watching them? Watching them all isn't out of the question, and just now I'm leaning towards watching them in chronological order, but if a case can be made for an alternative I'd happy to hear it. 

One more thing actually, is the streaming service worth paying for? I think I'm right in saying that Dynamite is on ITV, with current Collision and Rampage shown on Triller. I think as well that you get older PPVS on the service? I don't mind paying for Wrestling even if there's an alternative, especially when a promotion could use any revenue it gets. Are there any alternatives to Triller?

Apologies for the "hatched out an egg yesterday, who's your favourite Wrestler" stuff but any steer on where to start and where to focus would be very much appreciated.

1 minute ago, Devon Malcolm said:

@Big Benny HG's coverage of the shows he goes to are a constant Twitter highlight. Great fun to read.

I'm definely making sure I keep track of this from now on. That video was tremendous. It managed to capture the vibe and spirit of what the show was actually like in a way that others just dont. I could vividly imagine being there. Brilliant work Benny. 

I like that someone papered over the window on the red door. It helped add to the anticipation of who was about to walk through it. 

13 hours ago, Chili said:

Bruno Sammartino told some story about an angle he did getting injured and apparently the Mafia or some lower ranking lads visited him and offered to fuck the person up (maybe Stan Hansen) and he kayfabed them saying to not and let him handle it in the ring.

I mean it's a nice story and I know Bruno was loved but... Umm.

I think I'd buy that as well. I've seen a version of a similar story told by and involving Freddie Blassie, it may well be the incident in question actually. I would imagine that given the territory and the era, Wrestling fans of Italian descent would have been quite well represented at shows. Bruno was indeed loved and there's a reason he had the run that he did. He's also said to have taken the whole kayfabe thing pretty seriously, and I could imagine old Freddie getting people quite worked up. 

Despicable conduct aside, what's a pork cheese? 

On 3/21/2024 at 12:33 AM, SuperBacon said:

Going through one of my "twee indie that I like to listen to at midnight" and this is currently favourite. 

Just a beautiful gentle, pretty album. Their album Late Developers from last year is well worth checking out as well.

You've likely checked it out already, but if you enjoyed this album I'd recommend Tigermilk. I wouldn't normally use this word to describe an album but it's just bliss. I also really like the description of "gentle" and I'd say it applies to both albums. Late Developers reminded me of Dear Catastrophe Waitress, just in terms of the boldness of some of the songs compared to their more mellow stuff. Really pleased that nearly 3 decades on theyre still releasing music regularly, and their gigs are just the nicest gathering of people, aside from me obviously. 

I'll admit that I'd never heard of Champion Wrestler, and I'm into old Wrestling games. I'm surprised as I watched a couple of videos and it looks decent, good pace and fluidity, and the presentation looks great. Do we know if it got a console release at the time? 

Back then, the Acclaim games are the ones I remember most but not for the right reasons. As Flips touched on, they had some truly lamentable efforts. Long before the likes of In Your House and Warzone, they were stinking up consoles with games like "Wrestlemania" and "Steel Cage Challenge". There were some real turkeys. Just look at the state of this - 

I'd have happily swapped this shit for Champion Wrestler. I know it's the NES, but it's amazing they're both 1989 games. 

I think he's upset that Will Ospreay is his boy now. In Meltzerville the 20s belong to Ospreay, and poor Kennys not having it. 

1 hour ago, FLips said:

Excited to play it, it looks like the N64 Aki games which is exactly what I wanted.

That's a good observation actually. I never realised this before but the developer of wCw vrs The World was "The Man Breeze". In 1997 they began developing under the AKI banner, so it is the same firm. 

I'm really tempted to get a slice of that cartridge action. I've got NES in the loft with a boatload of games, but there were a few I didn't get that I wouldn't mind playing on the original console. You'd struggle to tell the difference unless you were looking, even the texture of the plastic looks spot on. 

wCw vrs The World has for me, the best introduction reel of any Wrestling game I've played and at the time it was something else. "The world" consists of stars from AJPW, NJPW, UWF, FMW and Michinoku, among others. I think I'm right in saying they all had their proper names in the Japanese version but when it was released in the west, they were changed due to licensing. Working out who's who is was entertaining but some of them are pretty impossible. There is a list on the games wiki page with all the details though. Obviously it looks pretty ropey now, but in the mid 90s this was a bit of lesser known gem. Any game that features Sabu, Bruiser Brody and Taka Michinoku has to be worth a look at least. 

2 minutes ago, FLips said:

@Carbomb (or anyone else really) are there any good wrestling games outside of Smackdown 1 and 2 on the PS1?

I’m looking more in the spirit of No Mercy/Fire Pro or something unique than I am the awful Acclaim games.

Japanese exclusives are fine, my PS1 should play them.

WCW vrs the World was always my favourite. It's one of the earlier PS1 Wrestling titles, and gameplay wise it's not as good as games that came later in the consoles era, but it's definitely a different type of game and the roster is a lot of fun. As well as WCW talent there are some semi fictional characters but based on actual wrestlers (in the same way as Pro Evo had teams like "Man Red")

Weird, but worth checking out. 

There was a dickhead (who I really liked) who sat across from me in the office I worked in who couldn't help himself and always wanted to get into good natured verbal jousts, invariably in front of an audience. Even he would admit that almost all of the time he came off second best because he was witless and a twit, but he kept asking for it and always came back for more punishment. On one occasion I arrived at the office and he didnt jump in to the usual two footed tackle. He was busy working away and when he saw me he was quite polite. I can't remember what I said but it was along the lines of "finally given up" or something to that effect. Quick as a flash he said "save your breath mate, you'll need it for blowing up your girlfriend later". 

The office erupted into howls of laughter, including both of us. The bastard had got me, and I had nothing. Sometimes you've just got to accept you've had your arse skelped and laugh too. 

7 hours ago, FLips said:

Not much to see with this one though. There aren't many options to choose from and the racing isn't that responsive. There was one particular corner where I slammed into it every single time because the turning was so wide and slow. Not really sure what the aim of the game is either as there's a lot less emphasis on the destruction than I thought there would be. Like Cool Boarders 4 the winner is whoever finishes first and so the destruction was a pointless addition as it makes more sense to avoid everyone.

In the first PS1 Destruction Derby (Raw was last in a three game series) there were four modes. Time Trial, which is a solo time trial, Stock Car racing, which is a straight race with no points awarded for damaging other cars and a mode called "Wreckin Racing" where you got points for winning races and for damaging other cars. There was also a mode where cars competed in a big circle and the aim was just to cause as much destruction as you could. This was by far the most fun mode. I gather Raw was very similar to the previous two games only with a different focus on realism, physics and better presentation. I really liked DD at the time but I never played any of the modes that didn't involve carnage and mayhem. As you say, I didn't get the point. It sounds like this demo featured the least enjoyable mode in the game, which is an interesting choice. 

That was a fun write up though, brought back a few memories and got me looking up videos of long forgotten games. Some great titles in among the recent purchase, Populous the beginning is pick of the bunch for me. Sunk a good many hours into that. 

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

My parents went to Norway a few years ago, and my dad came back grumbling that the aurora borealis is just a big con, because you couldn't see anything and that it didn't look anything like the pictures, unless you used a camera.

I have to admit I felt a little bit short changed the first time I seen it as well. Tonight was cool though. People I know out in the Scottish countryside and in the hills got some great images. 

If ticket sales are indeed slower than expected then I think the extent to which pricing has had an impact can't be understated. Even when taking into account other factors like too many shows, location and sentiment towards the product, I think ticket sales would have been swift had pricing been close to reasonable. I know the plural of anecdote isn't data, but I know a large number of people who to all intents and purposes were going to the event prior to tickets going on sale. Schedules had been cleared, plans had been arranged and the main worry people had was availability of tickets. Once people went onto Ticketmaster and had a look at the cost, the game was up. For many families with a couple of kids it wasn't a case of not being able to justify the prices, they simply weren't able to cover the cost of tickets even if they wanted to. 

I don't think they'll be able to pull the same trick twice. The main selling point of this experience is the "once in a lifetime" nature of it for Scottish fans. That sounds slightly hyperbolic but it's true. I've been watching this guff since the 80s and having a big event here is something I've always wanted to see, but never thought I would. England were getting events in the 90s so it's hard to convey why this matters, but this is our Summerslam 92, and it's looking likely we'll have a Scotsman in the Main Event. As a piece of history, it was impossible for me to say no to this. If there was another televised WWE event up here, and if the prices are anything close to what they are for this one, even as a lone diehard I'd be more likely to stay at home than attend. I can't speak for France, but I'm fairly certain that once this historic first is out the way, they won't be able to get away with those prices. 

That was quite a wild ride. Reading a review of a wrestling show that took place 9 years ago in front of 30 punters at a working men's club wasn't the Friday night activity I would have chosen, but it's what I got. 

I was disappointed that there weren't any pictures of Mr Bowler on the thread so obviously I went looking. I had to see him. Among others, I found this on a local news article. It's absolutely perfect -

45 minutes ago, King Coconut said:

New member treasure hunt! What does he mean when he says "no chinese"? Can you find out?

I mean if this isn't a trap for new posters to make an arse of themselves then anyone attempting to answer this question is almost certainly going to end up with their trousers round their ankles anyway but fuck it, paying your dues and all that. 

From what I've been able to gather it involves a chap that goes by the name of Bowler and a promotion called LPW. If anyone would care to fill in the blanks that would be great. 

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

What's far worse than the prices is that there are people who are paying them.

I definitely feel ill at ease having bought tickets. The idea that I've played some part in incentivising this kind of practice is definitely something I'm mindful of. I was fortunate enough at that point in time to be able to afford tickets, but I'm really disappointed that lots of fans I know have just been priced out of attending, its quite sickening really. 

I wouldn't like to think I'm actually worse than the bastards though. I think there's an element of them taking advantage of people who perhaps see this as a once in a lifetime event. 

I really like the conversation approach you outlined above, and the element of rock/paper/scissors. I'm definitely guilty of becoming absorbed in what I'm doing, and I'm really looking forward to putting these approaches into action. Are there any other fighting games that would be a good fit for "King of the local arcade, Glass Joe of online gaming" types? I've tried the most recent KOF and I really enjoyed it initially, but the motivation to improve waned significantly once I reached the "fork". 

Same. Being new here there's a lot I haven't seen, but that is brilliant.