OOOLD SCHOOOOL

[remlap]

John, how would closed-circuit have been distributed in those days, out to the cinemas for simulcast? As a television broadcast, or over phone lines, or what?

 

We really need Remlap here, but as best I can tell it was either straightforward relays of ordinary TV signals (albeit at a frequency you couldn't pick up at home) or via satellite. Apparently Coventry City showed an away game at Highfield Road once in the 1960s and stuck mirrors on the floodlights to redirect the signal into the middle of the pitch.

 

Yep spot on John either microwave relay or coax, and later satellite and fibre.

 

This is a great thread, didn't expect to see my name mentioned

[wandshogun09]

Top stuff, raid.

 

1996 is a year I remember really vividly for wrestling. Particularly the summer months. Of course the NWO stuff was a big part of that but in the WWF I was really invested in stuff like the Taker-Mankind feud, Paul Bearer going bad, Austin starting to take off and Vader coming after Shawn Michaels' belt. Then there was Ahmed Johnson who I was a big fan of. I was into his sometimes best mates act with Michaels and I was crushed when Ron Simmons in a blue helmet kicked his ribs in. I really bought into that life threatening assault at the time.

 

There was a lot of shit though. The Goon, Who, TL Hopper, The Executioner, The Sultan. The fucking Bushwhackers were still around. I quite enjoyed jailbird Crush though, smacking fans about and stuff, and thought Clarence Mason was good in the role as his crooked lawyer.

 

I think I'll watch KOTR '96 again soon. Aside from the obvious - Austin 3:16 arriving, the fantastic Shawn-Bulldog match, Ahmed kicking arse, a good Austin-Mero opener - a highlight for me from that show was the addition of Owen on commentary. I thought he was good fun in that role and I actually wish we'd got more of him at the desk. That whole business with the cast around that time was great as well I thought. Like the D'Lo chest protector stuff later, I'm a fan of heels using bogus injuries as a way to cheat.

 

The absence of Bret Hart was weird at the time I thought. From the time I'd gotten into wrestling, Bret was always a big part and presence on the shows and involved in a lot of the big stuff going on. I probably didn't realise how much until he was gone that 8 or 9 months. I think that might have been the first time actually, where I really started thinking about who might defect to the other company. Between the NWO thing, Hall and Nash just walking into Nitro, Luger doing similar the year before, more than ever it felt like anyone could pop up on the other show. And the longer Bret was gone the more I thought that. I remember really, 100%, absolutely believing that Bret was the third man for the Outsiders. My mate was convinced it would be Bam Bam Bigelow and we were actually arguing about it. Hogan's name never cropped up once.

[air_raid]

I remember really, 100%, absolutely believing that Bret was the third man for the Outsiders. My mate was convinced it would be Bam Bam Bigelow and we were actually arguing about it. Hogan's name never cropped up once.

 

I wish I'd have had speculations that were that interesting. I was convinced Luger was going to turn on Sting, and that he was the third man. I never trusted Lex.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I thought it was Luger as well. I think everyone did, because Lex was such a bastard and he was ex-WWF as well. Whoever had the idea to wipe him out of the match early and placing those seeds of "when is Lex going to do the turn" in everyones mind needs a medal.

 

I remember Power Slam at the time also said Mable, Jeff Jarrett and Shane Douglas were rumoured to be the third man. Goes to show the standards people had of WCW at the time post-nWo if they thought Mable was going to saunter down and drop the leg.

[wandshogun09]

I didn't consider Luger. Probably because I'd completely convinced myself it was Bret. Looking back though, Luger would have been logical. He'd been acting shifty for months teasing turning on Sting. He was always doing heelish stuff when Sting wasn't looking. And he'd walked out of the WWF and turned up on the first Nitro kind of like how Hall and Nash did. I suppose it would have fit in with the whole angle of WWF guys coming in to kill the opposition. Obviously it would never have had the same impact as Hogan did though.

 

Fuck, Shane Douglas or Mabel would have been such a monumental letdown.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Davey Boy Smith was going to be the fifth man, though. That much is true. They had to panic and think of someone else at the last minute (The Giant). But they were in talks with Davey Boy and thought he was in the bag.

 

Bret, Diesel, Razor, Dibiase, The 123 Kid and the Bulldog as a group would have been so mind blowing at the time. Especially considering how much TV time was devoted to those 6 just a few months earlier in the WWF. They were the faces of the New Generation. That really would have got everyone talking in regards to an invasion angle. And if Bret would have gone (which in hindsight he really should have), Smith would have probably joined him in 96 as well. And this was before Bulldog blew his knee out and was pilled up like a zombie. He was still great. And it was before Bret became unmotivated. And maybe Owen wouldn't have signed that long term contract and would have joined up with them as well. There are so many "imagine if ..." things from that period. "Imagine if Austin wrestled Bulldog like was planned at WrestleMania 13", "Imagine if it was Bret vs Austin at Mania 14 with no Tyson" and all sorts of shit that would have just changed wrestling history. "Imagine if there was no Smackdown? Russo wouldn't have left" etc.

 

EDIT:

In a weird coincidence, the Wrestling Observer put up their back issue and its from the same period. How strange:

As for the identity of the third party in the 7/7 main event, it's really a secret. Lex Luger, which was the original plan, I can't see happening because it would be almost an exact duplicate of the Steve McMichael angle and it's too soon to do it again. It could still happen but I don't think it will. Bischoff, Hall and Nash were discussing names this past week with Mabel as the top candidate, Crush being considered for a brief period and then dismissed. All agreed Bret Hart would be the best candidate and WCW even floated the idea it would be Hart on its hotline over the weekend (you'd think after the lawsuit they'd refrain from doing that crap) but Hart has turned down every offer thrown his way. Supposedly Bischoff has in the past few days told Hall and Nash to trust him on this one, but admitted that if they bring someone other than Hart in, and it isn't going to be Hart, that it will come across as a letdown. It also could be another WCW wrestler turning on the company.

 

FUCKING CRUSH! Why did they pass on that? We'd have all been reading the Death of WWF book if the big man hit Savage with the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

[air_raid]

I remember Power Slam at the time also said Mable, Jeff Jarrett and Shane Douglas were rumoured to be the third man. Goes to show the standards people had of WCW at the time post-nWo if they thought Mable was going to saunter down and drop the leg.

 

Why, I just happen to have some of those old PS lying around.

 

PS24 (June 96)

Eventually, a third "WWF wrestler" will link arms with Hall and Nash to rumble with the "elite powers in WCW", in a program which should continue until the end of the year. No confirmation is available on whom the third man will be, but it is believed to be Lex Luger."

 

The post-Bash ish (26) covers Hogan's turn in detail but only mentions his (non-kayfabe) reasons for doing it and doesn't allude to the previous speculation which probably came in issue 25, which I don't have.

 

I do however have the issue of Wrestling World which was just about to go to press when the Bash went down. There is a four-page article about "who is the third man" where they liken Nash attacking Bischoff to when Dr D slapped John Stossel or Buddy Austin hit Gordon Solie. It's mostly them going on about Luger being a mercenary, going where the money is, and being untrustworthy from his dealings with the Horsemen and Jimmy Hart, and the very minor possibility that Savage might turn instead.

 

There is however a rather embarrassing strip down the middle that reads "STOP THE PRESSES! IT'S THE HULKSTER!!!" Check out the nonsense (and major inaccuracies in the actual description of the finish) in this :

 

The world of professional wrestling is so unpredictable. It often even confounds the experts! As we all know by now, Hulk Hogan revealed himself to be the third man in dramatic fashion. He came to the ring during the Bash at the Beach's main event and attacked former ally Sting. Hulk then pinned the Stinger at 17:50 to seal the victory for the Outsiders!

 

Had the Hulkster planned this sinister turn ever since coming to WCW in 1994? "If he did, he makes Benedict Arnold look like a Boy Scout," says Jerry Prater, who investigated this conspiracy for Wrestling World.

 

But was Hogan just a "back-up" third man? Remember, Luger was knocked out early in the fracas by a misdirected Stinger Splash. Could there have been more than one "third man?" And what about "Macho Man" Randy Savage?

 

"One thing is for sure," says Prater, "this doesn't necessarily mean you can trust Lex Luger."

 

It seems you can't trust anybody in the wacky world of professional wrestling these days. The saga continues....

 

Jerry Prat more like.

[air_raid]

Yeah, it's been long enough. My highlights of '96 continues. I'll take it up to the Raw before SummerSlam (and the Bikini Beach Blast-Off) for now.

 

** Vince cracks me up the way he uses words like fisticuffs, slugfest and donnybrook. His 95-96 references to the King of the Ring "award winner" not so much - that makes it sound more like a Slammy than a gruelling tournament.

 

** The angle they filmed where Bulldog attacked Shawn on the beach in Kuwait (they said) and threw him into the sea was brilliant, because it was so out of the box. Occasionally doing stuff outside the normal environment can really keep the TV interesting. It's also worth noting during this time I actually found myself attracted to Diana, and instead of thinking "no way did Shawn harass anyone" I was actually thinking "can't say I blame him."

 

** Bulldog and Vader have a reasonably lengthy match with the Godwinns on Raw which oddly serves to make Henry look hard as nails. He takes a savage beating from Vader during which he sells like a champ and actually kicks out of a Vaderbomb to the back. He later catches Vader off an avalanche - as Ahmed did at International Incident - and pounds him with a powerslam, by which points the fans are well into it. However, all the good work is undone when Phineas tags in and IS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY pinned by Davey Boy. Oh well.

 

** Ahmed cuts a trademark unintelligible promo prior to the main event of International Incident that is noteable for him accidentally calling Dok Hendrix "Mike." That's quite funny. It's only watching these shows that I remember my less-enlightened best mate would refer to Johnson as Ahmed Ashed. Terrible. This is probably an appropriate time to mention that Ahmed managed to make #5 in the 1996 PWI 500. Imagine that.

 

** Owen is amazing whenever he appears in his "casual" attire, managing to look a complete dork in his bumbags and backwards caps.

 

** Stone Cold commentates on the Mero vs Goon match where he gives the following, brilliant, quote :

"You know how you once had that thing where the wrestler rode a little bus all over the country, shaking hands, and kissing babies? You should have a Stone Cold Express, where I get out in every town and kick everyone's ass. At least that wouldn't suck."

 

** I imagine most people forget Crush using the Full Nelson when he first came back. The Masterlock, it wasn't.

 

** I refuse to write anything about 1996 WWF without mentioning Sunny. Even coming out with the cake not entirely washed out of her hair for the Gunns vs Shawn & Ahmed match on Raw (at the peak of her "Texas matching two piece" run), she turns me into a useless wreck. Not just at the time when I was a hormone-crazed teenager, but now. I don't think another female has had such an effect on my dick in the entire history OF my dick. Speaking of that match, at the end when Farooq comes out to attack Ahmed, King says "he sort of looks like Ron Simmons, but he's bigger than Ron Simmons." Well, he was certainly packing a huge behind at the time, I'll give him that. There you go, from my dick to Ron Simmons' arse in two sentences.

 

** Upon a rewatch, I still love every one of Sid's matches. His return to Raw against would-be JBL (with would-be Coulter in his corner, of course) is particularly noteworthy for the frenzied crowd reaction. I think everybody loved Sid whether they admitted it or not. He battles to a brief non-finish with Bradshaw then smashes him with a powerbomb which always looked great on bigger guys. Dirty Dutch takes one too, what a pro.

 

** Lawler takes the piss out of Vince saying "open hand" when Taker is punching Austin by quipping "open leg" when Austin kicks Undertaker in the balls. Very sharp, King. Those were the days.

 

** The battle royal interests me not because of any of the action but because of a couple of the interactions between people in respects to what side of the fence everyone is on - Bradshaw, a heel, tries to toss Goldust, a fellow heel - and why wouldn't he? It's every man for himself with an individual prize. Conversely, Savio Vega saves Sid from being tossed by Owen, then later saves Ahmed from being tossed by Goldust - making him look really fucking dumb. Good to see usual battle royal logic applies with respecting current feuds with Taker and Mankind going out together, then Goldust tossing Mero. Speaking of Mero, Sable looks lovely again here. It's very possible that while Sunny is my (ahem) favourite, I'd definitely bring curly-haired Sable home to mama's for a lovely lamb lunch.

 

The battle royal itself drags a little when it's down to Ahmed & Sid vs Austin & Goldust until those loveable rogues Owen & Smithers come down to cause Sid's tossing. Austin turning on Goldust via a kick in the balls is pretty funny, and there are some boos when Austin gets tossed. The final visual of Goldy and Johnson going over together and Ahmed dangling upside down victorious is very cool and unique in terms of battle royals that I remember. Ahmed's post match interview does the bizarre job of making the live crowd think they want Vader to win against HBK so he wrestles him for the belt instead of his buddy Shawn. Obviously Vader was not slated to win the title, so it makes me wonder what they'd have done with the Shawn/Ahmed match as they didn't know when the battle royal was filmed that Ahmed was seriously hurt.

 

** I really don't care for Vince repeating "Sunny, Sable and Marlena have all been invited" in regards to the Bikini Beach Blast-Off, because I find him implying "lads, you'll definitely be able to wank over this one" really unsettling. OK, it's accurate, but still, I don't care for the implication.

 

** Speaking of Sunny, her verbal abuse of Skip during Farooq's debut match is brutal as she coos "come on Skippy" to her former charge. I feel so bad for Skip here. First the jezebel leaves him and Zip (LOL, fucking ZIP) for a pair of pig farmers just to follow the gold, and now he's effectively being cuckolded by a huge black bloke. Farooq doesn't help by shouting "you don't know how to treat a lady, do ya?" In the ring, he looks beastly, with a better looking SOS than Scott Hall ever did, and a Dominator that draws an audible gasp from the live crowd. Pity it was all downhill from here, I don't ever recall thereafter ever taking "Asad" seriously in that hat.

 

** "If Owen Hart were to be victorious tonight (against WWF Champion Shawn Michaels, six days before SummerSlam) it wouldn't shock anyone." Pull the other one, Vince. The post-match attack from Vader utterly convinces me that Shawn's fucked, and Vader's going to murder him on Sunday. Fuck the Fin Martins retconning that Shawn's "superman comeback" at International Incident killed any doubt that HBK would retain - I was convinced that Michaels had no chance against the Mastodon.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

** I imagine most people forget Crush using the Full Nelson when he first came back. The Masterlock, it wasn't.

What a waste of time. If you have the positioning to use a Full Nelson, why didn't he just go for the Head Crush instead? Unless he planned to use both? Imagine that? Hooking both the arms and THEN crushing the opponents head? Why didn't any road agent think of that? No wonder they weren't drawing in 96, with nobody coming up with ideas like that.

[air_raid]

Might as well go up to Mind Games today.

 

Bikini Beach Blast-Off/Free-For-All special, in bullets :

• Pettingill manages to look a right pervert telling Sunny "I don't think you'd want it back" re : her bikini top. You sick little monkey. Also, I doubt anyone noticed at the time but Sable is sporting some impressive abs. Ripped to shreds.
  
• Austin has a three minute match with Yoko where 'Zuna again displays good crowd working skills, before the finish which embarrasses him for being a fat blob.
  
• Thankfully we get rewarded for watching Yoko sweat for a few minutes with the sight of Sunny with dental floss up her ass crack.
  
• I'm glad I didn't see this prior to the PPV on Sky Sports, because Paul Bearer's weird interview gave away totally that he was going to turn.
  
• The pool is surrounded by JTTS and enhancement talent. Who can you spot? Yes, you can.
  
• In Shawn's interview about the Vader match he seems incredibly pensive, which is another great job by the company in making me think this was going to be different from his previous defences - his goose might just be cooked.
  

 

Onto SummerSlam :

• Billy Gunn looks incredibly wired on his way to the tag title match. I worry he's under the influence of something. He also seems to be furious at the end of the match that they just won. My tape seems a bit damaged at the end of the match, no idea why. Guess I must have watched the Gunns' celebration a few times. For some reason.
  
• Great line from Vince on Sid : "Is he talking to his demons, talking to himself, talking to the fans....?" His match with Bulldog, I think, is really enjoyable. It doesn't outstay it's welcome and both men get their stuff in and execute well. Davey wasn't even hurt much by the loss as he and Owen are shortly off to save the tag belts from Gunns/Godwinns monotony.
  
• "Fat kid with bowl haircut going mental" seems to go mental for Mark Henry. One of four things is going on : (1) He watched the Olympics and loved Mark Henry, (2) He's a time traveler from now and loves Mark Henry, (3) He knows he's on camera, (4) He's just like that. I'm probably going to go for..... 4.
  
• When Lawler throws a fan's drink at Jake, Henry's main concern (on commentary) is "What's the fan supposed to do for drinking now?" Bless you, Mark.
  
• I'm not going to touch on the Boiler Room Brawl much because honestly, I find it really boring. I appreciate the creativity but the lack of much crowd noise or commentary kind of kill it for me. It's good to see the Undertaker showing vulnerability and selling like he's actually in pain because once you show that he can be hurt, it makes his overcoming adversity in the end rewarding as opposed to predictable, as Taker's feuds largely had been in the past.
  
• Shawn's match with Vader is really rewarding other than the stop/start at the end. When the ref bump happens after the two fake endings, the exasperated groan that comes out of the crowd suggests they're thinking "fucking hell, this is getting daft." I don't know what they were going for with that ending, with Vader twice passing up a star in the win column (and probable right to a rematch) and ending up with a decisive pinfall defeat (and never getting his rematch) - at the time I thought it made Vader look arrogant and stupid. In hindsight it may be that it was giving Vader a storyline reason to eventually break away from Cornette, as it was Cornette who twice threw away that win and then never managed to secure Vader his rematch, despite Vader beating Shawn handily in the tag match on Raw right before Buried Alive.
  

 

 

** JR forgets himself and says "Scorpion Deathlock" when Owen has Bulldog in the Sharpshooter. He corrects himself shortly afterwards. During the same match, Sunny effectively instigates the match that cost her the tag team title by shouting that Bulldog tried to look up her dress and throwing a drink in his face. Nah, you'd have had a case with the Excellence Of Sexecution, but the faithful 'dog was happily married to that precious little budding tulip, to quote Clarence Mason. Who of course, went on to pilfer Owen and Davey's contracts from Cornette right before said tag team title victory. They really should have made something about Cornette wanting to get revenge on Mason for that. They even managed guys on the same Survivors team just two months later, for fuck's sake.

 

** Things really go surreal during the run of JR promising to bring back Razor Ramon and Diesel as Monsoon appears to categorically deny that "Scott Hall OR Kevin Nash" are coming back, mentioning rival feds' wrestlers by name. Of course, JR had only ever mentioned "Razor Ramon and Diesel" to this point.

 

Which brings me to Mind Games.

 

• It's really funny listening to Vince describe ECW as a "local" fed who are "attempting to make a name for themselves at the expense of the World Wrestling Federation." Shame that Sandman gobbing his beer at Savio led to nothing really, the Puerto Rican jobber could have done with a caning. He certainly didn't need to beat Bradshaw here at this particular stage in both of their careers.
  
• Cornette coming down to Vader's music for his match with Jose just underlines for me how conspicuous by his absence from the card that Vader is. Talk about failing to strike while the iron's hot. I realize with only two hours to play with they could afford to leave some talent off the In Your House shows, but Christ.
  
• Owen makes me laugh by excitedly exclaiming "He's got me instead of Bret!" when he comes out to talk to Brian Pillman. Hope the possibility of seeing Bret wasn't a tipping point for anyone to buy the PPV when Pillman announced he was bringing Hitman to the show, since they left it until the week before for Bret to correct him. Cheap. Owen's generally hilarious here and coupled with he and Smithers defacing Sunny's poster made me think they were bordering on a babyface turn.
  
• More "Vince playing the dumb fuck" :
  JR : "It looks like Billy's a little closer to Sunny (than Bart)."
  Vince : "I'm not so sure about that."
  Well, one has his arm around her sauntering to the ring, while the other waits in the ring barking at his brother to get to the ring. Use your eyes, Vince.
  
• JR : "I really believe that Owen Hart is the most technically sound athlete in this match-up. I think he's the quickest athlete as well. Owen Hart could be the big difference in this contest."
  Vince : "I would suggest it would be Davey Boy, with those exact same attributes."
  You're having a mare, McMahon.
  
• Sunny makes me chuckle underneath the chatter of the announce team by shouting "Oh, you get away from me, you (inaudible) no-good lawyer!" at Clarence Mason, then manages a first class strop when the Gunns lose the straps to the Harts. Yes, she was scorching hot, but she was also brilliant at being a pain in the arse. I wish she'd have had more of a managerial career.
  
• I always forget that after Mizark's debut squashing of the King, he's attacked by the New Rockers and of all people, Hunter, all of whom he handles with ease.
  
• Bulldog to Dok : "Did you like that picture of Sunny? That was Owen." Of course it was, the scamp.
  
• During the Shawn v Mankind match, there are several spots I think are superb. Mankind hurling himself from the ring when he sees the superkick coming is fabulous. Shawn trying to do the "fake-out reverse crossbody" and Mankind just walking off instead of following him into the corner. Mankind countering a snap mare attempt with a bodyscissors takedown - just good wrestling - before trying to apply the Mandible Claw. Shawn jumping full weight onto Mankind under the mats, slamming his head off the floor and suplexing his legs onto the steps all look brutal but perhaps necessarily so in terms of telling the match's story. Michaels blocking a punch with a chair, taking Mankind's leg with it, then hitting his hand as it rested on the apron, could have looked contrived, but didn't. The match ends with two well-planned and well-executed stunts and while usually I find non-finishes in title matches unsatisfactory it's actually fitting for a match as chaotic as this. Shawn didn't get the three-count, but he survived.
  

 

Good shit, Mind Games.

[Professor Paul's Bin]

I was watching the 08.04.1997 episode of Nitro which is the 100th episode. DiBiase aligns himself with The Steiners for them to win the tag team straps at Road Wild during the promo DiBiase says "We will take the World Wrestling.." And nearly blurts out the F word. He quickly changes the part of the promo like a pro and doesn't ruin the promo.

[EdgarTheSlouch]

What was interesting about Mind Games is that the WWF Superstars aired the same day was part live from the arena promos/part taped squash matches. On that show, Savio got squashed by Vader. So in essence Vega had 3 matches in the course of like 6 hours. Not KOTR standard, but he was still getting a moderately large push up until the end of 96.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Great contributions from air_raid in this thread recently. Cracking stuff. He should get his arse down south and contrasted it with how WCW did in 96 next. That would be fun.

[air_raid]

I'm thoroughly prepared to do that. I've actually finished watching '96 WWF, even if I haven't posted all the thoughts yet.

[air_raid]

Might as well bang out some more thoughts.

 

** Farooq breaks out a middle rope Samoan Drop in his match with Marc Mero in the final of the Intercontinental tournament, which is also noteable for a fabulously smarky "we love rest holds" sign in the front row and Sable looking great in the red dress. Farooq nearly ruins the end by kind of kicking out of the Wild Thing. At the end, Mero loses all manner of cool points by first thanking Jesus Christ, and then by referring to Sable as his "lover." Ewww. But he gets some back by the fact Mr Perfect's standing next to him.

 

** I won't touch on JR's awesome speech just prior to unveiling Fake Razor, because if you're a fan of the time period, you've heard it, but here are the best bits of the amazing interplay between JR and Gorilla Monsoon, where Monsoon pins the blame on JR for "hoodwinking" the fans into buying that the genuine articles were coming back. Sadly it's completely futile because it doesn't matter whose mouth the words came out of, it's all still the WWF feeding it's viewers some bullshit. Furthermore its got to be some of the most counter-productive dialogue ever heard on WWF TV - the constant usage of the names of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash only serve to underline that they aren't on this channel and that the imposters are inferior. This has the effect on the viewer of thinking "shit, I wish they were on the show" while they have to watch a cruddy Savio vs Fake Razor match, and I imagine for plenty, reminding them that if they fancied seeing Hall & Nash, that they could, on the competition.

 

Have a read :

 

JR : "A great athlete by any name is a great athlete. That's the bottom line."

Monsoon : "But it is not Kevin Nash or Scott Hall, is it?"

JR : "Are you telling me this man Mr Monsoon, is not an outstanding athlete?"

Monsoon : "All I'm saying (is) that this man is not Scott Hall!"

 

Monsoon : "I can't wait to see Diesel!"

JR : "A lot of us have already seen Diesel!"

Monsoon : "Well.... I haven't seen him! Maybe somebody that's using his name, but certainly not Kevin Nash!"

 

Best of all, when Monsoon gets riled up about Kevin Kelly using the names, Kelly reacts like a frightened girl.

 

Monsoon : "You call him whatever you like, that's not Kevin Nash!"

Monsoon : "Why are you calling them Razor Ramon and Diesel?"

Kelly : "It's the names I've been given Mr Monsoon, I don't know what to do!"

 

Amazing, isn't it?

 

** Obligatory brilliant line from The King : "I'd like to show Shawn Michaels a hammerlock... with a real hammer."

 

** Vader and Stone Cold double team Shawn after his match with Austin. Savio Vega comes in for a potential save, and Austin Stuns him instantly. Literally, Savio clambers through the ropes and gets Stunned. That's hilarious. "Fuck off, jobber." Shawn stays in serious trouble until Sid turns up.

 

** Austin's match with Hunter at Buried Allive is notable for the first PPV use of the theme he's best associated with, and a good example of Austin's high octane brawling style as he effectively works as the face in this heel v heel match, and gets good cheers for it. He really comes across as a player in this match, which needs attributing to Hunter too, as they have a really spirited match with zero build which I think works much better than the scheduled Austin vs Savio match with ALMOST zero build would have. During the match King gets in a good dig asking the prickly JR if it bothers him when Vince goes "one, two, HE GOT... no he didn't." Good call, King.

 

** The whole deal regarding Mr Perfect's teased comeback is fucking awful timing on the heels of the Razor/Diesel debacle and the retracted promise of Bret for Mind Games as it's more shameless bait and switch. It actually makes me angry watching not only the build for his match with Hunter that never happened but him getting in the faces of Austin and later Goldust, none of which led to anything. While we're hovering around the subject, It's really awkward watching JR talk about him bringing Bret Hart to Fort Wayne for Raw. I remember thinking "Yeah, but will it really be Bret Hart, or some new goon dressed like him??" Ross' credible is up shit creek here, after all.

 

** During Harts/Gunns, Owen gets Billy Gunn in a headscissors for about one second, but still has time to stick his arm up and shout "WHOOOO!" God bless you, Slammy Award Winning Owen Hart. What a fantastic entertainer he was. Between him and Smithers working pseudo-face again, and repeated shots of Sunny watching backstage in a tiny dress, it's a very enoyable match for me.

 

** The little hype video for Survivor Series that airs at Buried Alive actually featuring images of the Hitman must have given away that he was coming back, despite Bret and Vince both insisting ever since that Vinny didn't know what Bret was going to say live on Raw the next night about staying or leaving.

 

** I bet it was pretty frustrating for some fans that the build between Sid and Vader centered around who had the better powerbomb and each man promising to powerbomb the other, and then the match didn't feature one. Personally due to the dimensions of both, I didn't expect one at the time, but I bet some people did.

 

** The "exposing" of Jeff Jarrett comes off every bit as cheap as it was. This was a really weird few weeks of TV for that kind of stuff. Those segments actually serve in my eyes as free publicity for Jarrett, who had just debuted on Nitro. The company is on a terrible run here of making their audience think about talent that work for the competition, and making promises they renege on. The background of Brian/Jesse/Roadie's military background is actually interesting however and adds a human touch to his character - he could have gotten over if they hadn't made him prance to the ring singing With My Baby Tonight, which was about as far from "cool" to wrestling fans as you can imagine in late '96.

 

 

One final update to come on '96 WWF with brief looks at certain parts of Survivors, It's Time and one of my favourite Raw interview segments of all time.