simonworden

8 hours ago, Fatty Facesitter said:

Recalling some memories with a friend today of past shows we've attended. We both attended WWE's first UK-based Raw taping in 2004 at the MEN. The opening dark match pitted Maven against the one and only Robbie Brookside. Presumably Regal got him his foot in the door for that - not sure if was some sort of tryout match for him or if he was just filling a slot for the evening. I don't remember much about it other than it was fairly short. 

 

Didn't know about that one. I know he was used on Raw in 2007 which I assume was through Regal. 

Reminded me of Raw/Smackdown in London in 2012. Can't remember which taping (Smackers I think) but in non televised matches we had Dean Ambrose pre shield who cut a pre match promo too and Cesaro. It was the same show he debuted in a segment but the match didn't air. 

A weird a disappoining TNA one from a few months prior in Wembley was after the taping the dark macth brawl had a 25 second Kurt Angle appearance. I think he did one move and fucked off backstage again didn't even pose for the crowd. 

12 hours ago, Fatty Facesitter said:

There’s nothing preventing it from a logistical perspective. He’s even been on a Main Event taping while these vignettes have been on. I’m guessing it’s Vince and his constant, nonsensical rewrites that keep preventing his actual re-debut. 

He’ll be released in the next wave of cuts post-Wrestlemania. If he makes it any further past that, good on him. 

Surely he's going to burst out at some point to Ernest Miller's theme and grace us with a dance routine. This has all the hallmarks of being the "Funkasaurus 2 - Bollywood Edition"

22 hours ago, air_raid said:

I’d say it’s far more likely to add some spice to the Rumble. Give Charlotte someone popular to throw out before she’s dumped by her eventual challenger.

I wouldn’t rule out Lynch entering and winning to set up champion vs champion.

If the do end up going Roman/Brock title Vs title I could see them wanting the symmetry for the women's match as well

45 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Or it could have been any match at all really?

Sounds like a dream rather than a memory. Savage defended the belt against Shawn in Sheffield in 1992 as per the UK Rampage tape and he and Flair never appeared on the same show in the city.

Getting back to things that actually happened….

10th Feb 2009 SmackDown in Fresno. Makes sense for him as he was working California indies that week and it’s another payday. How it works for them, who reached out to who, if there was a view to future dates, I’d love to know. Maybe it was just one of those “added value” deals for the fans that came. I’m not sure the company ever got away from wanting that feeling of “Anything can happen in the WWF/E!”

 

I don’t know if that holds up considering they gave Boss Man another run. He’d been an even bigger part of the late 80s/early 90s WWF and been treated as glorified job fodder by WCW in 96-98 far more recent to his rehire than Tenta, but they gave him a new look and storyline reason to be involved, and he was a featured act, still called “Big Boss Man” without an attempt to hide he was a star from a bygone era.

They’d used Earthquake in “The New Generation” without batting an eye, I’m not sure it’s much of a stretch to bring him back in 1998. The reinvention is straightforward. You give him new gear, still call him Earthquake to invoke any of that dread factor that’s still there for long term fans, and bring him up to date for the times. Have him cut out references to literal earthquakes in his promos and the theatrics before his finish and have him make it clear he’s a paid heavy here to take out Austin. The question used to be asked “What would we do if it was Hulk” and the answer was often “a new monster” so I think they could have done this with Stone Cold to give him a one month break from Undertaker and Kane or even just something else to worry about on Raw episodes.

Although to play devils advocate, the exact same story could have been done with “paid off super heavyweight terrorizes Austin” in 1998 with Vader who had far more upside and was already on the payroll, and they didn’t. So if they couldn’t see a point in Austin vs Vader maybe Austin vs Earthquake would be too much of a stretch.

I wouldn't say Bossman was in a true prominent position feuding against any real top stars though even with a repackage. He was definately A lower mid carder/ lackey for the most part. Quake could have fit in with that, perhaps coming in a few months before the corporation caused him to miss the chance to be an extra heavy against DX/Austin. 

This does make me reflect on how few big opponents Austin actually had in his 98-99 run.

14 hours ago, scratchdj said:

That doesn’t look like a regular WWE ring, as in the ropes look like cables rather than actual rope that WWE have always used. Could it have been possible for WWE to tour Japan and not take their own setup?

There were a few (sws?) Shows and other join ventures inthe 90s I think. Pritchardexplained that Japanese promoters always claimed you needed a local promoter to run shows (with some local talent) in Japan. They of course later found out it was easier without them. This meant that the set up was typically a Japanese style right with WWF turnbuckle pads. I used to have a Brett Hart shoot interview tape with some matches against Tiger Mask which had this set up. 

13 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

I always felt they missed a trick by not having Tenta come back in 98 as Earthquake. Imagine him managed by Vince v Austin, The Rock, Kane, Undertaker etc.

Matches wouldnt have been great but it was the Attitude Era. Quake could work at a main event level and they could have got six months to a year out of him in marquee matches I reckon.

Anyway, back to the topic. CIMA wrestled Jamie Noble in a dark match in about 2008 which seems pretty random.

Although Tenta was young in age relatively speaking he looked like an old man and had been a big part of the early 90s WWF and the early Hogan wcw which made him look ancient in 98 when everything was new and exciting. I doubt the WWF would have wanted to risk putting off its new fam Ase by running with someone from the golden years in a top spot. Apart from Taker and Xpac there wasn't really anyone from the early 90s in a money making position that was in a recognisable form. 

The Hemel one doesn't bother me and I found it quite easy to drive around but that Swindon one scares me to death. 

Must have come up here before but I was just watching the start of the 92 Rumble and Bulldog is announced as from Leeds. Anyone able to shed some light on why that was?

3 hours ago, Kookoocachu said:

I had some lessons when I was 18 and got quite far with it, but unfortunately ran out of money. 
I didn’t pick it up again until I was 25 and I passed first time with no minors. I adore driving, yet in typical Islander fashion driving on motorways scares the shit out of me to the point where I’ve only ever driven around Southampton and Portsmouth when I venture off the island. I long for road trips, but a combination of fear and pain from my illness keeps putting me off.

Oddly, when I went to America I managed to drive around Santa Monica, Hollywood and Long Beach on short journeys and wasn’t scared at all.

I can understand why you'd be put off driving on the main land if the first thing you hit was Portsmouth or Southampton's roads especially right where the ferry port is as it can take you 30 mins to get back to your turning if you miss the one you intended for. Should have taken the Lymington ferry and had a nice drive in the forest to warm you up!

21 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

This thread actually brings up the memories of my first ever time learning to drive way back when I was 16. My parents bought me ten driving lessons as a birthday gift, and the instructor's idea of practicing the 'drive, slow down to a crawl, then drive off' technique was to have me drive past schools during the morning/afternoon rush and slow down past them so he could ogle the mums (or at least thats what I assume he was doing).

"Coooorrr! Look at that bit of kipper!" he'd hiss at me, before commanding that I quickly drive off. No wonder I didn't learn to drive for another decade.

Sounds shockingly like my first driving instructor. His name wasn't Mike was it? I'm sure more than one of them were creeps. This guy used to make comments about girls my age and possibly below especially in the summertime, always left me super uncomfortable. 

I took about 6 years (with a long break inside that) to pass and accumulated 6 fails. 2 as a 17 year old and then 4 in my final attempt. Some of those fails wind me up to this day. I never found gears to be a big problem it was more keeping my distance from the side of the road, in the end I realized that the cars I was learning in were just to big for me to get the hang of and my instructor was kind enough to dust off his old diesel Polo for my test even though we had been using his AA provided Focus. After that I only owned the tiniest cars I could find and it's only been through using hire cars when I'm back in England that I've become more comfortable with bigger vehicles. My preference is still to drive a glorified go kart though and if I moved back tomorrow I'd buy a Fiat 500 or Toyota IQ. 

Now I haven't owned a car for almost a decade and only sporadically driven but I relish any chance I get to drive a car as I spend most of my life on my scooter although hoping to purchase my first manual bike sometime this year if the financial gods are kind to me. 

How many women do they have in NXT even those not on TV? Could it end up like an All Start Wrestling rumble with trainees in kick pads and t-shirts filling up the numbers? Perhaps even a few masked executioners? Or would WWE stoop so low as to casually go past a number eg: 21->23 without even mentioning 22 didn't exist hoping their audience doesn't notice. 

Nick Khan sells WWE and somehow leaves Vince pennyless meaning he has to start doing a Conrad podcast and doing wrestling conventions. 

1 hour ago, Cannibal Man said:

someone's clearly forged the accounts to stop them remembering NXT UK is still a going concern

Im starting to think there isn't any paperwork. Perhaps Vince found a letter from HMRC and that's why he's pissed at Hunter. I'd love to watch him standing behind Bruce on a laptop trying to complete those tax return forms. 

18 hours ago, Accident Prone said:

How is everyone finding the gym recently? I've grown quite the dad bod (and not the flattering kind either) and I am absolutely disgusted with how I look, so I'm looking at hitting the GYMGROUP near my work, but obviously being in an enclosed environment with sweat particles flying everywhere doesn't sound safe at all. I'm also one of these twats who just can't work out and leave, I HAVE to shower straight afterwards which is another safety issue to contend with.

I'm triple-jabbed so as long as I socially distance myself whilst working out and showering (steady on!) I should be okay but I'm still not convinced. Am I over-thinking this?

 

I'm not in the UK but I've gone straight back to the gym. The thing for me was making sure I went to a big professional one so forked out a bit more for a chain gym which is usually half empty. They have cleaners constantly disinfecting too which is reassuring. So if you do choose to use a gym id look for these things. 

That said if you have the space I'd consider forking out for a bit of equipment for home workouts such as some adjustable dumbbells up to a weight you think you might use and some resistance bands, ideally the type that are just one long cable which you can use clips.on the ends to attach different handles and accessories or bunch them together. A good set usually has at least one door loop thing to put behind a closed door adding a lot of versatility. 

During our last lockdown that's all I had and an exercise step as a bench. I actually found it worked relatively well once I got creative and found I trained myself to get a better mind-muslce connection rather than just lifting heavy. 

16 hours ago, CavemanLynn said:

Sting to be revealed as his kayfabe dad, and weeks winding up his sour-faced emo stepbrother Darby Allin. Darbhausen.

Anything other than this will be a disappointment for me now.

How's the app/site these days? One of the deciding factors in my cancellation of the nerwork was half the time having what I was watching constantly buffering. Always hoped they'd add a download function to allow binge watching on flights etc 

Call me paranoid but the Reigns Covid incident seems a little convenient. It's like they've just heard the Rock tell them for the 100th time he isn't going to do Mania and it finally sunk in so they need to prolong the feud.  

1 hour ago, Chris B said:

It makes more sense if you think about the last time he reacted weirdly to criticism - when he was asked about the all-women NWA show and clearly lumped it in with the criticism of how women have been booked on AEW.

Now, a woman is criticising the booking of people of colour - so he talks about the non-white wrestlers, but also makes clear there's been a prominent women's match. Two, erm, birds, one stone.

It probably wasn't a good idea to promote a match featuring 4 blonde white girls in a reply to a tweet about racial diversity either. 

4, 10, 11, 19, 21, 

For me a big issue withthis grey area or let's just call it crap booking era has been a lack of happy endings/ the happy endings being shat on immediately. 

One thing I like about AEW is how they've had numerous clear happy endings to story lines over the last coupe of years that make you feel satisfied as a fan. 

All the rematches and Brock Lesnar belt time has caused that to not be the case in wwe for a long time. Countless times the wrong person has won a match or the feud just fizzled out which creates those shades of grey as the supposed heros never truly win or take a step up. Even Big E that big charismatic bastard deserved a proper chase and a bit of a win streak flattening douche bag heels non stop. But no he won through the mitb fluke, jobbed to Roman at survivors and will likely lose to Lashley so he can win the rumble /chamber and then get Drew'd at mania. The. Because people have lost faith in him he'll be back to the 3rd wheel in the New Day by Summerslam 2022

I'd hazzard a guess that she might have been fatigued with being in the USA with limited travel available with wwe's schedule and Covid making that even more challenging. Doesn't matte who you are or what you do, eventually you start to feel fucking isolated and if you work for a shit bag employer that's only going to make it worse

Got a nice big bottle of Jameson's and a locally produced Apricot brandy to keep me going apart from that somnsmelly cologne stuff,clothes and a new belt so I don't have to wear my tacky Armani/ Chanel mixed up knock off Buckle anymore. Worst looking belt I've ever had yet the best buckle so it will make a reappearance once this new one breaks. 

22 minutes ago, Chris B said:

Since they went down the international route last time, they could do it again but to debut someone. 

While I think Hangman should win this feud, Okada or Tanahashi could be good calls if Danielson wins. Actually, Danielson doing something dodgy and Tanahashi standing up to him could be a great mini-feud starter if Danielson loses. 

That said, Jericho would be the most obvious shout, and it would make for a logical next step for Hangman. 

Probably too early on but would be a great way to have Moxley return as he could be there just as a judge and then snap on a winning hangman post match ala Funk.

5 hours ago, Mr_Danger said:

A new bloke in work wears his hi vis vest over his hi vis jacket. Not sure why he reminds me of this place…..

When he wears his replica belts to work it will be clearer. 

2 hours ago, Supremo said:

I hope it’s nothing serious. I’ve been enjoying his social media this week. There’s a beautiful tragedy to him seemingly touring the country to specifically take photographs of the areas surrounding local Wetherspoons.

Im a genuine Jericho fan (recent political views aside) and hope he is ok. From what a friend who used to work on the Fozzy tours tells me it's a lot of terrible greasy spoons, beer and curries. Does DDP do chickin tikka rehab?

6 minutes ago, Supremo said:

With her tag match against Ronda, Stephanie McMahon has stolen the show at Wrestlemania and had more match of the year candidates than Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro combined.

I can think of more matches with Stephanie as wrestler that I've enjoyed than I can Ziggler or Cesaro right now let alone non wrestling segments.