Reznor

I saw a bit of that japanese show whilst flicking the channels tonight, and damn, it looked pitiful in such a tiny venue. It even made AAAs similar jaunt to Japan for Triplemania back in 2000 seem positively big-time.

 

But even at that, there was still one side with banked seating and a few hundred folks in it. So the camera and production folks at least had that side to focus on and try to at least create some sense of a decent, vibrant crowd. Or so you'd have thought anyway. Most of the time, they were happy to direct their shots towards walls and the barren entranceway, which only helped to emphasize the sparseness and bush-league feel of it all.

Imagine not liking books. Surely that's actually impossible. It just doesn't compute.

Not really, i'm halfway there; I've no interest in reading any sort of fiction, you couldn't pay me to endure my way through any novel. It's not something to boast about or to be embarrassed by. it's just the way it is.

 

And if it happened to be the case that I hated the specific areas of non-fiction which I do enjoy reading, i wouldn't worry about that for a second either.

I recently drove past the Sundome whilst on holiday in Florida this year and it was rather small compared to what I was expecting. Its based on a University campus off the motorway.

 

I would have said its capacity was no more than 7500 but according to Wikipedia its holds more than 10000.

 

Im a mark for wrestling arenas/stadiums so spotting the stadium that hosted Mania 24 and the arena in Orlando were Hogan beat Flair the 1st time in WCW was great.

 

You've just reminded me of this thread from a few years ago; http://ukff.com/topic/131258-wrestling-locations-on-google-maps/

 

Ok, it's not exactly seeing anything in person, but thanks to the greatness of streetview, it;s the next best thing, and I guess you'd probably have been into it. It never really took off as a thread, but it should have because It was a neat idea for a topic.

That makes a lot of sense, but it's still odd when you factor in the Luna interference (possibly the most blatant from any manager ever that went entirely unpunished), then the Bammer winning it with a Stun Gun, which I don't think I've ever seen before.

 

 

Odd, odd match.

They apparently did have a match on RAW a few months earlier, so maybe it was something coming out of that, like a favour, apology or whatever.

 

Bam Bam wasn't shy in giving jobbers plenty in squash matches though, possibly to his own detriment. II guess that's just how he was. I specifically remember a few matches from around that period, one of them against pre-Aldo montoya, where he let them do some moves and were given a couple of 2-count scares.

 

He also messed around with finishers back around 93-94, as in addition to that stun gun and his usual top rope headbutt, I also remember him finishing some squashes with a running jumping version of the headbutt, a senton, worlds strongest slam, and some weird million dollar dream facecrusher thingy to name but a few.

He's bloody awful for a 'superstar', and despite thinking he showed a bit of promise back in the days he was facing Morrison every week, he's now an automatic channel changer for me. I can't understand in any way the love he gets from his band of devotees.

 

To be honest, he deserves the Jack Evans treatment.

 

And yet if only he was a real jobber, like a 21st century Barry Hardy, he'd be great.

 

Still never understood why they did Mania 15 in such a relatively small venue, surely with them being absolutely on fire with all the mainstream attention they were getting they could've gone for a proper stadium show?

 

Bear in mind they usually have to book stadiums well over a year in advance, so they may not have realised how big things were going to get post-Tyson.

 

Still, you'd have to imagine they were making plans for WM2000 at some point during the time of Attitude popularity, yet they still never opted for somewhere with a decent capacity. It's hard to all make sense of.

 

Stadiums make such a big difference too. Take the Rumble 97 for instance; Ok, they lost a fortune, and had to practically beg people to take tickets off their hands - but the big time feel and visuals, added to the neat theme, all worked wonders, and made for a real memorable event which was great to look at, despite the wrestling being mostly a bit crap.

 

Shit, was that the only stadium PPV between Wembley and WM17?

Chessman, however, is a disappointment. Why's he wearing Kane's old 2002 costume? 

 

I guess it sounds a bit more interesting when you consider he's modelled on a violent rapist who went to the chamber, used to be referred to by the nickname  'the Red Light Assassin', and all the red is supposed to signify the victims blood    

 

There was actually a famous luchador with a sort of chess gimmick btw, went by the name Jaque Mate. They have all sorts down that way.

Full list of the 500:

 

 

1) Daniel Bryan

2) Randy Orton

3) John Cena

4) A.J. Styles

5) Kazuchika Okada

6) Bray Wyatt

7) Roman Reigns

8) Magnus

9) Adam Cole

10) Bully Ray

11) Hiroshi Tanahashi

12) Seth Rollins

13) Cesaro

14) Michael Elgin

15) Bobby Lashley

16) Batista

17) Shinsuke Nakamura

18) Dean Ambrose

19) Eric Young

20) El Terrible

21) Sheamus

22) Alberto Del Rio

23) Austin Aries

24) Big E

25) Jimmy Uso

26) Jey Uso

27) Kevin Steen

28) Kohei Suwama

29) Jeff Hardy

30) Prince Devitt

31) Samoa Joe

32) KENTA

33) The Big Show

34) Luke Harper

35) Jay Lethal

36) Bobby Roode

37) Bad News Barrett

38) Jay Briscoe

39) Adrian Neville

40) Gunner

41) Akebono

42) Kane

43) Chris Sabin

44) Sami Zayn

45) Eddie Edwards

46) James Storm

47) Matt Hardy

48) Kurt Angle

49) Davey Richards

50) Ethan Carter III

51) Ken Anderson

52) Satoshi Kojima

53) Ricochet

54) Dolph Ziggler

55) Chris Jericho

56) The Miz

57) Erick Rowan

58) Roderick Strong

59) Kofi Kingston

60) Rob Van Dam

61) Kyle O'Reilly

62) Johnny Gargano

63) Tetsuya Naito

64) Joe Doering

65) Rusev

66) Seiya Senada

67) Tommaso Ciampa

68) Rob Conway

69) Chris Hero

70) Karl Anderson

71) Mark Henry

72) Bobby Fish

73) Bo Dallas

74) Jack Swagger

75) Ryback

76) Nick Jackson

77) Takeshi Morishima

78) Christian

79) Texano Jr.

80) Matt Jackson

81) Christopher Daniels

82) Stardust

83) Yuji Nagata

84) Goldust

85) Robbie E

86) Kazarian

87) R-Truth

88) Matt Cross

89) Drew Gulak

90) Jun Akiyama

91) BxB Hulk

92) Curtis Axel

93) Matt Taven

94) A.R. Fox

95) Tyler Breeze

96) Mark Briscoe

97) Rey Escorpion

98) Doc Gallows

99) Kenny King

100) M.V.P.

 

101) Sin Cara

102) Damien Sandow

103) Michael Bennett

104) Rey Misterio Jr.

105) Jessie Godderz

106) Davey Boy Smith Jr.

107) Kota Ibushi

108) Hiroyoshi Tenzan

109) Abyss

110) Alex Shelley

111) Mephisto

112) Lance Archer

113) Tyson Kidd

114) Alex Koslov

115) Rhino

116) Yujiro Kushida

117) Rocky Romero

118) Bad Luck Fale

119) La Sombra

120) Adam Pearce

121) Yamato

122) Manik

123) Konnor

124) Brother Devon

125) Takao Omori

126) Diamante Azul

127) D.J. Zema Ion

128) Viktor

129) Tomohiro Ishii

130) Naomichi Marufuji

131) Go Shiozaki

132) Crazzy Steve

133) Rich Swann

134) MASADA

135) Low-Ki

136) Justin Gabriel

137) Corey Graves

138) Dragon Rojo

139) Luke Hawx

140) Colt Cabana

141) Masato Tanaka

142) Fandango

143) Bram

144) Adam Rose

145) Daisuke Sekimoto

146) Gedo

147) Volador Jr.

148) Jimmy Jacobs

149) Daga

150) Jado

151) Samuel Shaw

152) Jamin Olivencia

153) Zack Ryder

154) Naruki Doi

155) Blue Demon Jr.

156) Kohei Sato

157) Biff Busick

158) A.C.H.

159) Fenix

160) B.J. Whitmer

161) CIMA

162) Matador Diego

163) Shinya Ishikawa

164) Matador Fernando

165) Takashi Sugiura

166) Knux

167) Kalisto

168) Harashima

169) The Great Khali

170) Mojo Rawley

171) El Mesias

172) Tigre Uno

173) The Romantic Touch

174) Katsuyori Shibata

175) Chuck Taylor

176) Jax Dane

177) Heath Slater

178) Cedric Alexander

179) Titan

180) Rockstar Spud

181) Monster Pain

182) Masakatsu Funaki

183) Kenny Omega

184) Matt Morgan

185) Xavier Woods

186) Togi Makabe

187) Bull Dempsey

188) Caprice Coleman

189) Carlito Colon

190) Kahagas

191) Hernandez

192) Jigsaw

193) C.J. Parker

194) Ryusuke Taguchi

195) SHINGO Takagi

196) Drew McIntyre

197) Taiji Ishimori

198) Christian York

199) Atsushi Kotoege

200) Trent Barreta

 

201) Chavo Guerrero Jr.

202) Papadon

203) T-Hawk

204) Stevie Richards

205) Steve Corino

206) Silas Young

207) Aiden English

208) Uhaa Nation

209) Minoru Suzuki

210) David Starr

211) Tiger Mask IV

212) Shelton Benjamin

213) Tadarius Thomas

214) Mohammed Yone

215) Simon Gotch

216) Scorpio Sky

217) Brodus Clay

218) J.T. Dunn

219) Akira Tozawa

220) Ryouji Sai

221) Ultimo Dragon

222) Jimmy Susumu

223) Kongo Kong

224) Marcus Anthony

225) Chris Masters

226) Apollo

227) Jeff Jarrett

228) Jinder Mahal

229) Ricky Reyes

230) Titus O'Neil

231) John Skyler

232) D-Lo Brown

233) Vordell Walker

234) Shane Hollister

235) Kenou

236) Jay Bradley

237) Hayato Fujita

238) Darin Corbin

239) Hajime Ohara

240) Mike Mondo

241) Darren Young

242) Ray Gonzalez

243) Rush

244) Jushin Liger

245) Mistico Nueva Era

246) Jesse Neal

247) Brian Meyers

248) Tony Nese

249) Pepper Parks

250) Yoshinobu Kanemaru

251) Paul London

252) Hirooki Goto

253) Tyson Dux

254) Masaaki Mochizuki

255) Joe E. Legend

256) Bill Collier

257) Sonjay Dutt

258) Matt Cage

259) Wes Brisco

260) Jesus DeLeon

261) Joey Ryan

262) V.S.K.

263) Dr. Wagner Jr.

264) Brian Kendrick

265) Cody Deaner

266) Jason Gory

267) Danny Havoc

268) Enzo Amore

269) Facade

270) Virus

271) BUSHI

272) Tye Dillinger

273) Jack Evans

274) Baron Corbin

275) Doug Williams

276) D.J. Hyde

277) Gran Akuma

278) R.J. Brewer

279) Homicide

280) Arik Cannon

281) Colin Cassady

282) Roy Knight

283) Player Uno

284) L.A. Par-K

285) Eddie Kingston

286) Chessman

287) Ethan H.D.

288) Icarus

289) Jason Jordan

290) Hanson

291) Stupefied

292) Zak Knight

293) Steve Anthony

294) Trevor Lee

295) Ryan Eagles

296) Asylum

297) T.N.T.

298) Colin Delaney

299) Matt Riviera

300) Tommy Dreamer

 

301) Matt Burns

302) Jocephus

303) Byron Wilcott

304) Robert Anthony

305) Caleb Konley

306) BLK JEEZ

307) Alex Colon

308) Raymond Rowe

309) Chris Angel

310) Zack Sabre Jr.

311) Adam Page

312) Tim Donst

313) B-Boy

314) Lou Marconi

315) Shane Haste

316) Tim Storm

317) Psycho Clown

318) Sylvester Lefort

319) John McChesney

320) Devon Moore

321) Ricky Mandel

322) Mason Ryan

323) Corey Hollis

324) Jake Crist

325) Mikey Nicholls

326) Ruckus

327) N8 Mattson

328) Dave Crist

329) Necro Butcher

330) Jake O'Reilly

331) Negro Casas

332) Harlem Bravado

333) Steve Walters

334) La Mascara

335) Logan Shulo

336) Lancelot Bravado

337) Anthony Darko

338) Guerrero Maya Jr.

339) Ace Hawkins

340) Shane Strickland

341) Lucky tHURTeen

342) Sushi

343) Mascara Dorado

344) Phil Monahan

345) Chris Wylde

346) Joe Gacy

347) Chase Owens

348) Shocker

349) R.J. City

350) Adam Thornstowe

351) Q.T. Marshall

352) Jack Pollock

353) Jag Hartley Jackson

354) Steve Boz

355) Bad Bones

356) Azrieal

357) Kincaid

358) Ethan Page

359) Josef Von Schmidt

360) Luster The Legend

361) Gregory Iron

362) Brandon Espinosa

363) A.J. Istria

364) Gideon Malice

365) Kyle Sebastian

366) Bobby Shields

367) Josh Alexander

368) Mighty Ursus

369) Sylvan Grenier

370) Colin Cutler

371) Matt Tremont

372) Timothy Thatcher

373) Breaker Morant

374) Danny Duggan

375) Hakim Zane

376) Bobby Sharp

377) Hellcat

378) Chasyn Rance

379) Cheech

380) El Barbaro Cavernario

381) Joey Kaos

382) Dru Onyx

383) Averno

384) Chance Prophet

385) Houston Carson

386) Kao Storm

387) Marko Estrada

388) Lince Dorado

389) Greg Anthony

390) AHTU

391) Michael Barry

392) Zach Gowen

393) Aaron Epic

394) Lance Anoa'i

395) Mike Rollins

396) Dave Dutra

397) Ricky Martinez

398) Arik Royal

399) J.R. Kratos

400) Milo Beasley

 

401) Americos

402) Alex Vega

403) Rhett Giddins

404) Napalm Bomb

405) Li'l Cholo

406) Rob Sweet

407) Cloudy

408) Acid Jaz

409) Rik Luxury

410) Andrew Everett

411) Marshe Rockett

412) Kwan Chang

413) Matt Saigon

414) Willie Richardson

415) Robert D. Evans

416) Oliver Grimsley

417) Jeckles The Jester

418) Andrew Davis

419) Bux Belmar

420) Johnny Vandal

421) The D.B.A.

422) Willie Mack

423) Franky The Mobster

424) Nick Ando

425) Mike Bailey

426) Tommy Mack

427) Massive Damage

428) Matthieu St. Jacques

429) Joe Etell

430) Orlando Christopher

431) Brutal Bob Evans

432) Billy Blade

433) Sonny Scarboni

434) Thomas Dubois

435) Dylan Drake

436) Jay Freddie

437) Pat Guenette

438) Jack Gallow

439) Kaimana

440) Gabe Saint

441) Vinnie Scarboni

442) Shane Matthews

443) Ron Falco

444) Hornet

445) Johnny Goodtime

446) Alan Steel

447) Doyle Day

448) Chris Richards

449) Scott Parker

450) Mikael Judas

451) Chris Cruze

452) Johnny Yuma

453) Chris Cooper

454) Primo Scordino

455) Jeremy Prophet

456) Ashley Sixx

457) Joey Allen

458) Phil Atlas

459) Sexxy Eddie

460) Handsome J.F.

461) Tony Carbonie

462) Brandon Thurston

463) Mike Posey

464) Josh Hess

465) Steve Stasiak

466) The Stro

467) Blackjack Phoenix

468) Chief Attakultakulla

469) Peter Avalon

470) Joey Knight

471) Jaimy Coxxx

472) Rip Impact

473) Chrisifix

474) Josh Movado

475) Jimi The Hippie

476) Greg Excellent

477) Robin Knightwing

478) Jaxon Jarvis

479) Brandon Scott

480) Cheeseburger

481) Kevin Bennett

482) Dalton Castle

483) Broseph Joe Brody

484) Silent Warrior

485) Chip Stetson

486) Tim Zbyszko

487) Kenny Doll

488) Chris LaPlante

489) Jeff Cobb

490) Johnny Adams

491) Barry Hardy

492) Diafullah Dobashi

493) Marc Hauss

494) Kratos

495) Chris Perish

496) Mr. Juice

497) Nathan Avery

498) Wolf Danger

499) Dickie Bronson

500) Grado

 

 

So, the usual shite then.

 

Not that these things demand to be taken too seriously, but the compilers should stick to what they know, instead of randomly shoehorning in token names from elsewhere for no other reason than to maintain the pretence that it's a genuine & informed international list.

I too have often wondered where the nearest person keeping DWA would be, though i'm only 20 minutes away from London Zoo myself, but you never know what your neighbours might have and how often you've walked by a cobra or two. If I ever were to own a DWA, I'd love an Albino Diamondback rattler, or a Gaboon Viper (you don't realise how huge they are until you see someone handle one). Is there a strange or unusual pet thread on here come to think of it?

Aye, the Gaboons are stunning. Same with the Rhinos and all the mongrel types in between. Absolutely terrifying though. Normally so lazy and docile, but apparently they're just a mass of muscle, are about the fastest strikers of all, and are obviously loaded fangs & glands like motherf*ckers. From what I've read, I couldn't imagine how much it would suck to get nipped by one of those, or one if its cousins like the Puff Adder. I'm sure I remember Jake handling a Gaboon in an 80s promo, i'd imagine they'd have been de-fanged as well as obviously de-venomised.

 

Not so sure about the albinos though, I think if I had a Western Diamondback, i'd prefer just an ordinary one with their awesome iconic look and pattern. I do love the little common cobra albinos you regularly see though, as artificial looking as they are.

 

As much as I love them, vipers tend to send a shiver down my spine, they usually look evil as hell. So If I could imgine myself as being fully trained and wanting to keep hots, i'd probably go for a cobra first and foremost; the ordinary little spectacled ones look as cool as any imo. Or one of those colourful asian coral snake species. Pointless fact of the day, did you know that Nicholas Cage keeps (or kept) cobras?

 

Some of those weird and wonderful less well known viper and pit vipers would be tempting though, like the little bush vipers with all their spikes, or the eyelash vipers of South & Central America.

 

So, any UKFFers have any deadly snake tales or close-calls from either living or holidaying in some of these far flung exotic places?

I have a corn snake, its almost 4ft now, and I'm looking at getting a royal python fairly soonish. And whilst I love the venomous species, I'd never even consider getting the training and license to keep one, the risk is just far too great. There are several pet shops across the UK that have venomous species, and theres a few that offer training. One I know of is Wrigglies, here's their facebook page if you fancy handling something that could kill you You'd be surprised at the amount of people that keep venomous reptiles. But also there are plenty of anaconda keepers and the like, infact you can pick up a young anaconda for £90 an under, and no you don't need a license either, though most sellers will vet you themselves. There are a few other common kept species, like the Hognose snake which many people have, and is even considered a beginner snake. It has very tiny fangs and venom akin to a wasp sting or a little worse. But i am allergic to stings so would probably have a very bad reaction if those cute buggers ever had a nip. Another common kept snake requiring no license is the False Water Cobra. It's not actually a cobra, but it does puff its neck out like a cobra, and also carries venom, but not potent enough to be considered dangerous to humans, but again if like me you are allergic, then you'd steer well clear.

Yeah, I know of those ones being pretty popular among enthusiasts. I think the hognose can look a bit fat-cobra-ish with the hood too. If i was serious about keeping something and wanted to get a mildly venomous but not DWA species, the Mangrove Snakes look like big, mean looking buggers with their lovely black/yellow colours. They look spectacular.  I think even if you don't suffer from allergies like yourself, some of those back fanged species  can still do some harm to you, but only if you were nuts and let them latch on and chew away for a minute or two (outwith the obvious few that genuinely are deadly)

 

I think it would be cool to see all the addresses where venomous snakes are kept, to see what's closest, if they're kept anywhere you frequently pass etc. Likewise with all those medical research facilities. I'd guess you could get the info about private owners from an FOI, not that i'd be that keen to go to those lengths.

I don't have a clue what you just said Reznor but it made me lol.

At this moment, I'm feeling paranoid; at least i hope it's just paranoia...... 

 

Venomous snakes are stupendiously interesting to me, which is way it makes no sense I'm so fucking scared.

Yes. yes. They are. I'd shit myself if I was next to one, but from the safety of the telly or a book, they're the most interesting feckers imaginable. I at least feel less strange now

Snakes however, while fascinating me, make my arsehole go 5p-50p.

That reminds me, is anyone here really into snakes, as in the ones that can make you dead? Like folk with a DWA licence to keep them, have pals or know of other folks who do, or are similar to me in just being into them from a distance

 

I'm totally fascinated by venomous snakes; love reading about them when I get the chance, and watching any documentary I can find. Whenever I see any TV footage of foreign rural lands, one of my first thoughts is usually what types of snakes can you find around there. As a kid, I used to even rent out some utterly shit B-Movie, 'Rattlers', whenever my usual Commando or Beverly Hills Cop were taken.

 

I always meant to ask, as it can't be all that common an interest but it wouldn't surprise me if there's one or two UKFFers like myself or who would know such folk, what with that whole wrestling-rock-snakes connection thing... like rabbits and tennis.

I loved the wrestling channel, it introduced me to NOAH, TNA, ROH, CZW as well as all the class tit bits they would show like Memphis.

Absolutely. Even if you wouldn't pay to buy the stuff (although with NOAH, I had been up until around 2002), it was great to see all the diversity that was out there, and finally get to see feds you had mostly just read and heard about.

 

Not being so exposed to it, i didn't even have the kind of venom towards US indies that I do today. I think I even sat through a Whole CZW flipfest supershow, the one with Sonjay Dutt against the boring lad who done the backbreakers. And even today and despite my 'prejudices', I still really like the MLW show from the Hammerstein that I taped. The MLW and 3PW stuff tended to sound better on paper than it did in the ring, but it was still all good. The advert montages were a bit repetitive, mind. They made me almost sick of the sight of AJ Styles and the lass who caved in the students face in that dojo documentary.

 

TV in 2004 was fantastic thanks to the wrestling channel. You had the stuff you were into, which you made a point of tuning in for, but just as good was the ability to switch it on if you were bored and usually find something to keep you amused.

 

Cheers for the lucha reply the other day too, Herbie. Interesting stuff, and so typically CMLL, it raised a smile.

I loved The Wrestling Channel at the start, one of the main reasons being that I got to see fairly recent CMLL in perfect quality. Things were different back then regarding Lucha TV; CMLL coverage was crap with only one hour per week, all us fans had to anxiously wait for Alfredo's quarterly (or longer) listings to even find out what made air. Then there was the cost of getting a hold of it. TWC changed lthat, and it was awesome. Sadly it only lasted about 3 months, but I guess no one was really into it, so you can't argue with that. 

 

It started at a cool time also, when CMLL was quite hot, with the Park/Shocker vs Guerreros feud and title match, as well as a few undercard matches being picked for airing over the main or semi, sometimes involving the Volador/Safari/Felino trio and their Mexican National trios titles. There was a decent little Tarzan Boy v Atlantis singles match on one of the earlier episodes too I remember, Perrito was battling the Capos, the Guapos were feuding and Super Crazy was having one of his frequent spells there. Unfortunately, so was Vampiro.

 

As that's just a pointless reminisce, I guess I should ask a question; the shows were practically the same as what aired on Televisa in Mexico, so how did I end up seeing at least one show which i'm almost certain never aired over there? I definitely remember a Coliseo opener with The junior Brazos (now La Mascara and Psycho Clown) against Ramstein and Reyes Veloz, as well as a Pierroth v Universo 2000 Hair match. I think there was another match with Volador (an undercarder at the time) teaming alongside more established guys like Rayo de Jalisco or Atlantis (which wasn't too common)

 

I've always wondered what was up with that, as exclusive CMLL content was always pretty exciting to us back then, no matter if it was good or not, because there was so much being missed every week. Only 2 matches (and maybe highlights of a third) were shown per week when there were two whole shows (10-12 matches) being recorded, so we always lived in hope that archives were being kept of the stuff that didn;t air. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, other than a series, 'Sin Limite', which emerged on some local LA channel the following year showing an extra few matches (and which, coincidentally were recorded from around the same timeframe as TWC), 

 

It's been that long since i had watched that PPV so it seemed like they were all half hour matches. Either way i have no plans to watch it again. When i feel like watching back to back Rumble events i always skip this one. Boring on every level.

 

 

It's understandable with that match alright, it would've felt like it. That whole Taker v Corporation feud never had one single minute of entertainment. it was one of the worst extended feuds/angles they've ever done and it lasted around two-thirds of a year! Fortunately, it was practuically done by the time we actually got RAW over here

All four matches on the 95 Rumble card lasted almost 30 mins each. Did people really want to see Taker Vs IRS last that long?

 

Taker/IRS didn't even last for half of that time. It wouldn't even have taken that long for the whole segment itself. It was shite, but it was relatively quick. The other three matches (of which only Bret/Diesel went anywhere near half an hour) were great and easily redeemed the show imo, in addition to Pam and the LT angle.

 

The rumble match itself was crap, but I had no probs with any of those gimmick wrestlers mentioned above being in it. They were all big, new, made for decent eliminations, and were perfect fodder for that kind of match. I'd also have thrown Man Mountain Rock in for those same reasons instead of just playing guitar. Take out some of the pointless tag teams like Bushwhackers and Well Dunn, make it more star studded by replacing with some of those bigger names who already had a match (and Hakushi), create or continue some stories/ feuds, and you wouldnt have been a million miles off a good rumble match.

 

Mania XI indeed, was utter horseshit though. Probably the worst from all the years I followed. I just read an article the other night about Zebekiahs Wrestlemania weekend that year in which he thought it was a pretty decent show. I figured he'd be a good read with lots of funny and interesting tales, but surprisingly he was pretty boring.

I can think of a lot of other words i'd use before 'spectacular'
 
Fuxake 

Did Jake the Snake ever wear these yellow tights?

I've definitely never saw them and I try to check out as much Jake the Snake as I can. He did have that same design in green, blue, maroon, and (i think) white though, so it wouldn't have surprised me if he had some other variations that were rarely used (especially considering most shows weren't filmed).

 

It's neat seeing wrestlers with rare and cool new attires or colour schemes. That should probably concern me slightly. My most recent surprise finding was the other day when I saw El Matador rocking all-gold tights after thinking he only had light green, dark green and black variations.

 

The facial detail on that Jake fig is tremendous btw.

 

----

 

I just caught a glimpse of the WON HOF ballot this year with Warrior and Sting nominated. Why aren't they already in?

 

I'm watching RAW from 1995, and the build up to SummerSlam. Shawn vs. Sid had been announced for the card, with a bit of build-up, but it's obviously suddenly changed to Shawn/Razor with zero build-up. What was the script there?

 

Someone looked at the card and realised that on paper it looked like a total stinker, so they changed it so there'd be at least one good match on the card.

 

I wonder who was planned to face Razor originally?

 

You'd have thought they'd at least have given Sid something to do also, like a match v Bam Bam or something. There were tonnes of guys left off that show.

I'd disagree. First impressions are key and for a lot of people it'll be the first they've seen of Kenta. He could have a great hard hitting series with Tanaka for a month or two and it'd be a good, simple and effective way to build him up on NXT. During that time you can start getting other aspects of his character over too before he moves on.

If you need to kick some poor bugger half to death to get over to begin with, it would demonstrate that you don't have much else about you. If he has talent, he won't need to resort to such extremism.

 

If he has other skills and aspects to his character which are of value to the WWE, then they don't need to start him off by shipping in crazy folk to take a beating. Let him show off those 'other aspects' right from his very first appearance instead of wasting time with some extra-violent introduction which is unsustainable, disingenuous, misrepresentative, and misleading to those fans who initially buy in to him because of those violent showcases you'd like to see.

 

It's a bit moot to be honest though. In this day and age, you're not likely to get over to any great degree by physical, in-ring stuff anyway. Adrian Neville's finding that out the hard way. He's going to need to show some sort of character and personality to make most fans care. The number of fans who take to him based purely on a hard hitting physical style will be insignificant.

They should bring in Masato Tanaka for a bit to feud with Kenta and put him over. He'd take Kenta's strikes for fun.

What would be the point of that though? Whatever Kenta's act becomes, it's going to have to be sustainable.

 

Having him kick lumps out of a few handpicked folk willing to take it isn't something he's going to be able to do night after night if he makes the main roster - so unless he's amazingly deceptive and find a way to kick light whilst still looking stiff (which is the only way it should be, anyway), there'd be no sense nor value in defining him with such a gimmick/attribute in NXT.

Always struck me as odd that Vince DiCola did fuck all after scoring Rocky 4 and Transformers: The Movie. Absolutely nothing. Nothing was released.

Just caught a glimpse of that playlist of yours - I also gave Restless Natives a play earlier today, which must be quite a fair coincidence!

 

Such a good tune too (& soundtrack) and not something you see mention of every day. Gotta love that scene with the chase through Edinburgh and up north

That WWE animated sketch show is alright, I liked the Adam Bomb bit best.

 

What was the script with the Harts singles spells in '89 anyway, were they thinking of splitting them up permanently or something?

I think the Hart Foundation were basically a temporary tag team that were forever on the verge of going solo but managed to stay together for years because someone always got cold feet. In Bret's book he makes it sound like they were constantly testing/being promised singles runs.

 

Everyday's a school day. Wouldn't have imagined that, but I guess they were such an odd couple with their own distinct traits that it makes sense.

 

So glad they never went with it until after WM7 though, as they were a class team and i'd have missed them completely. I'd struggle to separate them and the LOD as my fave babyface team after the Rockers.

 

Cheers.

The Anvil was a fantastic, larger than life character. Well underrated and by no means the weak link of the team. You had to admire the way he unashamedly rocked that beer gut with not a single fuck given.

 

What was the script with the Harts singles spells in '89 anyway, were they thinking of splitting them up permanently or something?

There's going to be a time in the next ten or fifteen years or so when the 1990's catches up with a lot of wrestlers. No way is there going to be a happy ending.

Absolutely, it's going to be grim, in no small part due to the more is more philosophy from the Attitude era onwards to the present, where about 4 matches worth of bumps are now condensed into one.

 

I got a bit of a shock at my first house show about 3 years too, when I was expecting economical old school type matches, but found that even those were basically hard hitting modern TV matches. Good entertainment for sure, but totally unsustainable if you're doing a hundred or more of those shots every year on top of the gruelling TV schedule and the expectations which come from that

 

I feel sorry for Foley and all, but he's an idiot, because about 99% of those chairshots and bumps onto concrete, off stages and entrance ramps, onto guardrails and whatnot were practically meaningless. All through his career, it's like he's had some sort of masochistic perversion where he just had to needlessly go someway to crippling himself week after week.

 

It almost certainly wouldn't have been the stunts like HIAC that you could argue were a worthwhile gamble for career benefit which fucked him up - it'll have been the accumulation of all those hundreds of pointless and forgettable matches over time on TV and minor PPVs that's done the worst of the damage