Spot a shitty house show

[MoistVaj]

A rather strange one from the WWF in 1994.

 

Valley Forge, PA 7 July 1994

Jim Powers beat Damien Demento

Mighty Doom beat Little Leopard

Sgt. Slaughter beat Pierre

Iron Mike Sharpe beat Glenn Osborne

Heidi Lee Morgan beat Rustee Thomas

Bob Backlund beat Greg Valentine

 

 

Fucking hell, I didn't even know Damien Demento was still with the company at that point! Unless it was a favour type deal, but I'd hardly imagine Damien Demento would be the first person you'd call when you desperately needed a spot filled on a card. That is an absolutely horrid show though, no doubt about it.

[Richie Freebird]

I can see plenty of reasons to see this show, I think this is a very harsh inclusion. Flair, Lugar, Hennig, Funk, Dustin, Jarrett, Booker...even Duggan & Finlay. It looks like a slightly better version of the WWA shows that were around in 2002 or so.

 

I went to this show and fully enjoyed it. The choice of which match went last was certainly wrong, but as you pointed out, there were a good list of names on the card. Bret Hart and Kevin Nash also appeared in non wrestling capacities.

 

If I remember rightly though, the tickets had a picture of Sting and Goldberg on; neither of whom appeared, which was a slight letdown to a teenaged Freebird.

[PunkStep]

The choice of which match went last was certainly wrong

Have the big promotions always had a habit of not putting on the biggest (or even one of the biggest) match last, when it comes to house shows and non-televised events? Royal Rumble 88 had a surprising tag team match to close the show- Young Stallions going over someone IIRC. And when I saw a WWE Smackdown show at Docklands Arena years ago, the main event was Rikishi & Tajiri VS Nunzio & Chuck Palumbo, or someone from FBI. Yet the undercard contained Brock Lesnar VS Big Show for the WWE title, Benoit VS Rhyno (I think), Los Guerreros VS WGTT, Rey Mysterio in a triple threat.

[patiirc]

The BrainBusters were awesome, but they ain't saving a show working with the Bushwhackers. And you do realise those Andre-Studd matches were so bad that once *Andre* fell asleep in the middle of one?

 

Id be happy with that. I don't care if they were so bad that Andre fell asleep, just to see cards like that in a smaller venue, would have been enough. Im not expecting the best of the best of the best and in an era where not all the best matches were always on free TV a card like that would have been a godsend, irrespective of the actual quality

 

FWIW I reckon the Bushwhackers vs The Brainbusters would have probably been very good.

[JNLister]

There've been quite a few reasons for doing the main event midway through the card including:

 

* Sets up the angle for a return bout, so you can sell tickets during the interval

 

* Main eventer needs to fly to another show

 

* Main eventer is allowed to get off early so he can catch a sensible flight

 

* Main eventer is allowed to get off early so he can avoid getting swamped by fans on the way out

 

* Main eventer goes on midway because his matches suck and it's better to end with some action

 

 

As for the Manchester show, the advertising was based around Sting, Nash, Hart and Goldberg, none of whom wrestled on the show. They never even addressed Goldberg's absence and a lot of people assumed he was coming out for a main event later on as "obviously" Marmalukes-Harris Boys wouldn't close the show.

 

Not only did they never do a crowd that big again, but they came back to the same venue eight months later and the crowd dropped from 16,000 sell-out to about 7,000. The March show did get a full-page Page 3 write up in the Manchester Evening News, but it was about the no-shows, not the wrestling. I think it made Watchdog as well.

[Richie Freebird]

Have the big promotions always had a habit of not putting on the biggest (or even one of the biggest) match last, when it comes to house shows and non-televised events?

 

I don

[PowerButchi]

Apart from the Mysterio tag this looks poor:

 

WCW @ Daytona Beach, FL - Ocean Center - April 14, 1999 (3,742 paid)

Jerry Flynn

Mike Enos

Hugh Morrus

Norman Smiley

Rick Steiner

Rey Mysterio Jr.

Chris Benoit

Randy Savage

Disco Inferno

 

Fuck you! That'd be well fun.

[ThePhenom]

Here's a couple of stinkers

 

WWF @ White Plains, NY - Westchester County Civic Center - July 8, 1995 (1,800)

Skip defeated Bob Holly

Jean Pierre Lafitte defeated Aldo Montoya

Adam Bomb defeated Hakushi

Savio Vega defeated King Mabel via disqualification

Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Doink the Clown

Bam Bam Bigelow defeated King Kong Bundy

 

WWE (Smackdown!) @ Frederick, MD - Grove Stadium - July 16, 2005 (1,800)

Booker T pinned Christian with the scissors kick

Super Crazy & Psychosis defeated Nunzio & Big Vito when Crazy pinned Nunzio with a moonsault off the middle rope

The Boogeyman defeated Doug Basham at around the 15-second mark; prior to the bout, it began raining, forcing a delay and eventual postponement of the show

 

(Even though that one was cut half way through because of the weather, I know I'd be pissed coming out of that dismal little show)

[PUNQ]

Going to a low-ki show like that could actually be a positive experience because you have NO expectations what-so-ever if you know the card. So anything good at all might be seen as a massive thumbs-up. And on such shows the lowcarders might actually be put in a situation where there is room to do something better then just a standard as more responsability is on their shoulders and there is no major acts needing their spotlight leaving it free'er for the small names to perform on their own will and preferance. And come on! Bigelow vs Bundy....WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO SEE THAT?! That's heavyweight wrestling! And a younger HHH against Doink, how can that NOT be fun!

 

 

 

--PUNQ--

[ClassicsGuy]

WCW @ Manchester, England - Evening News Arena - March 12, 2000 (16,318; sell out)

Norman Smiley defeated Brian Knobbs

The Wall defeated David Flair

WCW TV Champion Jim Duggan defeated Fit Finlay

Curt Hennig & Vampiro defeated Ric Flair & Lex Luger

Terry Funk defeated Dustin Rhodes

Booker T defeated WCW US Champion Jeff Jarrett via disqualification

WCW Tag Team Champions Big Vito & Johnny the Bull defeated Ron & Don Harris

 

Look at that attendance figure - great, a sellout. Look at that card - awful! I was there. One of the worst U.S. promotion house shows in the England ever. Crowd were booing after that awful main event. I went over to the curtain where one of the WCW road agents, Terry Taylor was stood and was yelling to him about what a waste of money it was. He just shrugged his shoulders and went to the back. Looking back, I can now laugh, but at the time I was angry at how poor the show had been.

 

The moral to the story is that WCW returned to Manchester just 8 months later, for a tv taping:

 

WCW @ Manchester, England - Evening News Arena - November 12, 2000 (7,001)

Thunder - 11/15/00:

Reno pinned Big Vito

WCW Hardcore Champion Crowbar pinned Bam Bam Bigelow in a hardcore match

Kwee Wee defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Billy Kidman, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Lash Laroux, and Elix Skipper in an elimination match; stipulations stated the winner would become the #1 contender to the WCW Cruiserweight Title

WCW World Champion Booker T pinned WCW US Champion Lance Storm

Kevin Nash defeated WCW Cruiserweight Champion Mike Sanders via disqualification in a non-title match

Alex Wright & Disco Inferno defeated Ernest Miller & Konnan

Bill Goldberg pinned Buff Bagwell

Lethal Lottery Finals: Sting pinned Scott Steiner

Worldwide - 12/2/00: The Wall defeated Ian Harrison

 

Crowd was less than half of what they'd drawn just 8 months earlier.

 

WCW effectively killed Manchester as a city for them - not that it mattered, as they no longer existed 5 months after this.

[adam7398]

I went over to the curtain where one of the WCW road agents, Terry Taylor was stood and was yelling to him about what a waste of money it was. He just shrugged his shoulders and went to the back. Looking back, I can now laugh, but at the time I was angry at how poor the show had been.

 

Did you used to have like an angelfire website where you reviewed wrestling shows that you had been to over the years?

 

It's just that thing about Terry Taylor reminds of something I read on some site a few years ago.

[Dean Ayass]

There've been quite a few reasons for doing the main event midway through the card including:

 

* Sets up the angle for a return bout, so you can sell tickets during the interval

 

* Main eventer needs to fly to another show

 

* Main eventer is allowed to get off early so he can catch a sensible flight

 

* Main eventer is allowed to get off early so he can avoid getting swamped by fans on the way out

 

* Main eventer goes on midway because his matches suck and it's better to end with some action

 

 

As for the Manchester show, the advertising was based around Sting, Nash, Hart and Goldberg, none of whom wrestled on the show. They never even addressed Goldberg's absence and a lot of people assumed he was coming out for a main event later on as "obviously" Marmalukes-Harris Boys wouldn't close the show.

 

Not only did they never do a crowd that big again, but they came back to the same venue eight months later and the crowd dropped from 16,000 sell-out to about 7,000. The March show did get a full-page Page 3 write up in the Manchester Evening News, but it was about the no-shows, not the wrestling. I think it made Watchdog as well.

 

Not to mention that it guarantees that every fan can see the main event. I've worked on countless UK shows which have overrun and people have missed the main event to catch the last train/bus home. Plus the fans can be burnt out if you don't construct the card properly. The American way of almost listing the show from top drawing match down and then working the order of the matches bottom up has always baffled me. If you have to have the main event on last, put a comedy match on before to let the crowd catch their breath, or better still, stick the main event on before the interval.

[JNLister]

Oh, of course I forgot:

 

Main eventer sticks around during the interval to sell Polaroid/aautographs.

[Vipes]

Behold gentlemen, the card WWF put on the day of my birth:

 

WWF @ Grand Rapids, MI - Stadium Arena - February 22, 1990 (4,000)

Paul Roma defeated Conquistador #1

Tito Santana defeated Akeem via disqualification

Earthquake pinned Ron Garvin

WWF Tag Team Champions Andre the Giant & Haku defeated Demolition via count-out

The Brooklyn Brawler pinned Tom Stone

Black Bart pinned Jim Evans

WWF IC Champion The Ultimate Warrior pinned Dino Bravo after less than 30 seconds

[Doctor Whos Next]

I was at the WCW birmingham show in 2000. The wrestling itself wasn't up to much, though it was nice seeing Flair and Hennig in a singles. Aside from that personal highlights included the poor kiddies on the coach who were expecting to see the Rock and Kane, the glass bottle that camewithin three inches of Killling Ric Flair and the pro WWF lady intent on heckling all the ex WWF stars on the roster, including referring to Terry Funk as "Chainsaw."

 

Sadly, things took a grimmer term when Bret made a surprise appearance to thank the fans for the suppport they'd given him in the year following Ownen's death. Our bus companion started heckling abuse at brett to the extent that he never really cared about Owen when he left for WCW. The same company ran coaches to the WWF shows and speaking from experience, they sold their allocations for their events in seconds. I think her elderly Dad/Man friend tried to get her WWF tix, failed, and got her 'some' tickets. Unfortunately, she was a rabid WWF mark and WWF only mark.

 

I think those house shows were symptomatic of WCWs problems at the time. The company didn't have much of a vision at the top, as the folks in charge seemed to change fortnightly. So without a clear vision, Tel Taylor and Jonnny Ace just muddled through