Paid Members garynysmon Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 Yeah, you're absolutely right. 1996 is much more risque than how I remember at the time as a 12 year old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) Yeah, you're absolutely right. 1996 is much more risque than how I remember at the time as a 12 year old. Â 1996 was also the year they used Sunny to get as many horny teenage boys wanking watching the product as possible. My tape of SummerSlam 96 is incredibly grainy in parts during the Bikini Beach Blast-Off, and it's not because Austin vs Yokozuna is a match I keep having to go back to. Edited February 15, 2015 by air_raid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) I just got done with WWF Superstars from 1996. This was a company who had no idea what it wanted to be. Shawn Michaels matches were excellent, but the feuds leading into the PPVs just had no appeal whatsoever. At one point, Vince on commentary was justifying a loss to Vader as "has Shawn Michaels gruelling schedule got the better of him?" What? Then there's all these character jobbers like Neidhart in a yellow mask and Tracy Smothers wearing green trunks. Its like a shit version of 1997 and 1995 mixed together. They tried to give the promotion an edge while sticking to the same cartoony format we knew of the WWF. Â There's this episode of Raw from 1997 I watched (where Michaels said the "Sunny Days" line) where its just stunning to see the state Michaels is in. He's talking like he's under water. He's so strung out on muscle relaxers, its like its not the same bloke as the usual cocky excitable Shawn we usually see in 1997. Its amazing to think they just let him go out there in that state. He was working spots with Austin as well, which is really dangerous. Like watching 2010 era Jeff Hardy. "You ... cant ... go ... ten ... minutes ... in ... any ... situation ... if ... you ... know ... what ... I ...mean." Some great moments with Shawn and Bret, though. If they could have just done business together, they could have done so much business when the Austin era hit in 98. There's this great tension when they are in the ring together. Like you feel as if one of them is going to go off script at any moment. Its a shame they couldnt channel their hatred into a proper feud, instead of going off to do other things like they did loads in 97. So much potential there. Edited February 15, 2015 by IANdrewDiceClay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 At one point, Vince on commentary was justifying a loss to Vader as "has Shawn Michaels gruelling schedule got the better of him?" What? Â Would this be the loss where Shawn was pinned by Vader in a tag match of Shawn/Jose vs Vader/Cornette on a Raw? Which they could have used to play into the build for another Shawn/Vader PPV title match... except that wasn't on the horizon, and indeed never happened, which rendered it extremely pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members garynysmon Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 I've been wondering if giving WWF Superstars in 1996 is worth a go too as from watching Raw, it does seem like a lot of the angles are exclusive to Superstars. I suppose that's understandable as Raw is just an hour long, and half of it is filled with the cringeworthy Billionaire Ted skits. I'm amazed WCW didn't sue for some of them as its so libelous at times. Ian, were those skits on Superstars too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) ECW did the same for Rude, with top heel and reigning heavyweight champ Shane Douglas having to act shit-scared of Ravishing Rick, despite him being retired for years at the time, not all that long before Rude resurfaced in the WWF. Which in turn was not all that long before he managed to appear on telly for ECW, the WWF and WCW all within a couple of days of each other.  It's a shame he raided Jake Robert's jumper drawer while in ECW. It sort of took the edge off. Edited February 15, 2015 by gmoney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) I cant believe some of the stuff I'm seeing. It didnt seem to bad at the time, because naivity of youth and getting caught up in the changes of the WWF, but I've seen Goldust with a billiard ball in his mouth, Shawn Michaels in his boxer shorts slapping his cock and balls in the ring, Jerry Lawler say the words "flaming fag" and "queer", Brian Pillman doing those videos with Terri Runnels which weren't even Carry On Camping levels of wink-wink. They were so fucking vile, its amazing they got away with it. There was all kinds of racist stuff wrote on the walls of the Nations locker room. At least in 1998, the tranny stuff had a bit of a smile to it. This is just pure vulgar. They really went for it in 1997. Â I still wonder how Road Dogg walked to the ring ranting about "Steers and Queers" during his entrance at Survivor Series 1997 and not be fired for it. Totally different time. Edited February 15, 2015 by bAzTNM#1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 Â Ian, were those skits on Superstars too? Yeah. Only repeats of them, though. Â Â Â I still wonder how Road Dogg walked to the ring ranting about "Steers and Queers" during his entrance at Survivor Series 1997 and not be fired for it. Totally different time. Â He also called the Headbangers "Butt-bangers." They were no way near as homophobic in the entrance rants following this, so Road Dogg must have been told to tone it down. He just said whatever he wanted in the first few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Quagmire Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 The WWE being what it was in 1996 & 97 was probably more down to trying to get back to beating WCW in the Monday night wars. The rather controversial elements was worth throwing on and a lot of it managed to stick even if ratings were not yet to spike. The slightly more grittier, smash mouthed, amplified extension of the real wrestlers persona's product worked and it's quite clear that Steve Austin and The Rock wouldn't have been as big as they were without those seeds having been planted. Without that era, I reckon the WWF would have folded before the decade was out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Â At one point, Vince on commentary was justifying a loss to Vader as "has Shawn Michaels gruelling schedule got the better of him?" What? Â Would this be the loss where Shawn was pinned by Vader in a tag match of Shawn/Jose vs Vader/Cornette on a Raw? Which they could have used to play into the build for another Shawn/Vader PPV title match... except that wasn't on the horizon, and indeed never happened, which rendered it extremely pointless. Â Yeah, it was that one. That episode of Livewire where Russo is having a go at McMahon and Cornette and shooting by calling Dok Hendrix Michael Hayes, occasionally they stop going on about Jim Ross' heel turn and dip into other angles. One of them is a promo video on whether Shawn Michaels, the most charismatic WWF champion ever, has been working too hard. At that point, surely Michaels vs Vader at Survivor Series (or the October PPV) was the plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) I think Vader was meant to win it at MSG. Then have Vader vs Bret at the next PPV, like Sid did. Which is funny, because Bret did wrestle Vader and lost on Raw around that time as well. So Vader did beat Shawn and Bret, just without a title win. Vader beat Undertaker as well, if I'm not mistaken. Vader beat everyone and didn't move positions on card. He was just Vader. Vader was in that "well, he's fucked" spot in the final four in February. He was the one you knew had zero chance. Poor Vader. Â The TV looked to be leading to a Austin vs Bulldog match at WrestleMania as well, as sad as that sounds. A week before Shawn gave up the belt they set up Shawn vs Bret in the Skydome on Raw, so Austin probably had the Bulldog (who he kept attacking for some reason). Â If things had went the way they were supposed to, Austin might have been the European Champion at WrestleMania 13, instead of having that star making match. Edited February 15, 2015 by IANdrewDiceClay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 I think Vader was meant to win it at MSG. Then have Vader vs Bret at the next PPV, like Sid did. Yeah, the December PPV being called 'It's Time' would add weight to the theory that Vader was probably supposed to win the title at Survivor Series. Â Speaking of Survivor Series 96, Sid clearly screaming 'FUCK YOU', twice, after twatting Jose Lothario with a camera came as a bit of a shock when I first saw it. Sky bleeped it at the time but it was obvious what he was saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) Sid was incredible during that period of time, particularly Survivor Series 96. Completely believable with his crazy hard man gimmick. Â 1997 is a crazy year, looking back. They spent the second half of the year getting a bloke ready for the top spot who could barely do matches thanks to a badly injured neck. Madness, given the way they do things now. Edited February 15, 2015 by ColinBollocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) I think Vader was meant to win it at MSG. Then have Vader vs Bret at the next PPV, like Sid did. Which is funny, because Bret did wrestle Vader and lost on Raw around that time as well. So Vader did beat Shawn and Bret, just without a title win. Vader beat Undertaker as well, if I'm not mistaken. Vader beat everyone and didn't move positions on card. He was just Vader. Vader was in that "well, he's fucked" spot in the final four in February. He was the one you knew had zero chance. Poor Vader. Â Yeah, sounds about right. They must have known about Vader's shoulder being ropey (hence him doing relatively little in his Survivors eliminator) ahead of time enough for Sid to win the contenders' match at Buried Alive... although strangely, It's Time was still called It's Time. Maybe they'd already paid for the graphics or something, we all know how hard up they were for money after cutting Bret's deal, right? And yeah, you're not mistaken. Vader beat the Undertaker at the Rumble, no less. He looked fat and knackered though. He put a shift in at Final Four though. Â The TV looked to be leading to a Austin vs Bulldog match at WrestleMania as well, as sad as that sounds. A week before Shawn gave up the belt they set up Shawn vs Bret in the Skydome on Raw, so Austin probably had the Bulldog (who he kept attacking for some reason). Â The reason stems from the Bret/Owen match 8 days after Survivors where Austin interfered on Hitman and then Owen and him were all set to Pillmanize Bret's leg, and Smithers stopped it for reasons unknown, so Austin clobbered Davey Boy with a chair. I think they were going with the "Davey wants to be Bret's mate again" story to facilitate a full on Bulldog face turn ahead of the European title win (to capitalize on the European popularity and planned UK only PPVs built around Davey) and for the eventual Austin match to which you refer. Wonder who Owen would have wrestled at Mania? Â Quite possibly the most oft-discussed "what if this happened?" Mania I can think of. Of course, the Bret/Shawn match was scheduled from the moment they knew they were getting Bret back, but it's mental to think that Vince was considering Shawn losing the belt to Sid so soon after winning it, and Taker/Sid being the title match instead of the highly-anticipated Michaels/Hart rematch. Guess it kind of links to the theory that you can have two massive matches for the price of one if you have your biggest singles match AND a World title match, which has been so prevalent in the last ten years or so of Manias, especially thinking 25, 26 and 28. Â Â 1997 is a crazy year, looking back. They spent the second half of the year getting a bloke ready for the top spot who could barely do matches thanks to a badly injured neck. Madness, given the way they do things now. Â He didn't need to do much though, did he? Punch people, give Stunners, win. The man that gets the people to make the most noise is the best worker, brother. Edited February 15, 2015 by air_raid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted February 15, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 His neck was a bit of a time bomb, though. Quite the risk to invest all that time, given how fucked he was. Pretty incredible Austin lasted a couple of years before getting surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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