Holy Grail

[WyattSheepMask]

1 minute ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Apologies but how can I see this? Is it on the Network?

Original Specials section

[Snitsky's back acne]

1 minute ago, WyattSheepMask said:

Original Specials section

Ah, I was looking in totally the wrong place. Cheers. 

 

[Maikeru]

Seems the reason there was full production and commentary for the bout was that it was intended to air in the UK on WoS! : 

 

[BigJag]

ITV did show some WWF matches in the WOS Saturday afternoon slot. I don't believe that this match was ever shown on WOS. The WWF specials had the regular WOS openings and exits with theWWF programming in between. Actually, I think they changed up the openings a little. Added some shots of WWF footage. Altered the music. It happened once or twice. A special American showcase, for the fans.

[Truth]

On 5/14/2019 at 5:03 PM, JNLister said:

The Observer report from the week of the match:

 

Tom Magee was green, but no wonder why Vince McMahon thought he had found his next Hulk Hogan. He had a fantastic body (6'4", 265 lbs ripped), strength (powerlifter, world' strongest man competitor) and was an excellent gymnast. It is true that he never improved, but how much wrestling did he really do? On Cagematch, 120 matches are listed over a long period (1985-1990), and it seems like he had long breaks from wrestling over those years. As I have heard mostly negative things about his wrestling, I have always been surprised by how well he actually does those things he actually can do. Arn Anderson carried him to a decent looking match, and by the looks of the clips that WWE posted, Ted DiBiase too. There is nothing wrong about being carried. It is actually the experienced wrestlers' job to see and understand how they can make the most of a match with a "green" opponent. Had the WWE had their developmental territories or the WWE Performance at the time, the story of Tom Magee could have been different if he really wanted it.

 

However, reading the Wrestling Observer report above, we learn more about the person Tom Magee:

Quote

... those in Calgary don't have kind words for his willingness to learn and was considered an ego case.

 

So at the end of the day, Tom Magee is most likely the reason why Tom Magee never made it to the top.

Edited May 16, 2019 by Truth

[SaitoRyo]

Bit surprised by all of the 'this is underwhelming' responses I'm seeing online. 

I think some people were expecting something like Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid, because it had been build up so much. The match is proper fascinating and you can totally see why Vince would have been all over Magee. Fair fucks to Bret for going above and beyond to make him look good, too, because other wrestlers in that position might not have been so kind. 

You have to imagine how mindblowing it would be to see a big, jacked-up guy doing backflips off the top in '86, a good three years before Muta arrived in WCW. 

[Jazzy G]

Imagine if they'd had the performance centre back then? He looked good, had some unbelievable agility. He could have been money. I bet the Perfect & DiBiase matches were pretty good as well.

Edited May 16, 2019 by jazzygeofferz

[wandshogun09]

Here’s the Tom Magee vs Arn Anderson match. Not in English sadly but better than nothing;

 

[JakeRobertsParoleOfficer]

Gotta love abit of AA

What's scary is that they were both 28 at the time. 

Arn always looked 50! 

 

 

[seph]

On 5/16/2019 at 8:52 AM, Truth said:

So at the end of the day, Tom Magee is most likely the reason why Tom Magee never made it to the top.

 

[Jazzy G]

On 5/17/2019 at 1:59 PM, JakeRobertsParoleOfficer said:

Gotta love abit of AA

What's scary is that they were both 28 at the time. 

Arn always looked 50! 

 

 

The upside of s it that Uncle Arn's aged much better than Tom Magee has.

That was a great little match. I could watch Arn all day.

[Maikeru]

On 5/16/2019 at 5:01 PM, jazzygeofferz said:

Imagine if they'd had the performance centre back then? He looked good, had some unbelievable agility. He could have been money. I bet the Perfect & DiBiase matches were pretty good as well.

I dunno. He had one of the best trainers in the business and a fair amount of time and matches to try and improve. He was good at other things (powerlifting, martial arts etc), but just didn't take to wrestling / pretend fighting for whatever reason. Like many things in life, it comes naturally to some people whilst others really struggle to get the hang of it. 

[Maikeru]

What do you think Tom Magee meant by "Whether I'm performing in front of a hundred thousand fans or walking down the street with just a few people, the one constant in that it's still my own experience of life"? 

I do often wonder why people crave fame and fortune so much. I can't think of any megastars that are super happy. Sure, it beats poverty, but has a tendancy to throw one's life way out of balance to the point where normal every day things just don't do it for you any longer (hence why so many celebrities go off the rails). To use a wrestling analogy, it's how so many fans grew tired of a product they once enjoyed during the hotshotting era of the late 90s. 

[Truth]

12 hours ago, Maikeru said:

I dunno. He had one of the best trainers in the business and a fair amount of time and matches to try and improve. He was good at other things (powerlifting, martial arts etc), but just didn't take to wrestling / pretend fighting for whatever reason. Like many things in life, it comes naturally to some people whilst others really struggle to get the hang of it. 

I think it is safe to say that his heart was not into pro-wrestling. This sentence from the Wrestling Observer report supports that this is the case: "those in Calgary don't have kind words for his willingness to learn". Willingness to learn is the key to improve.

That said, if I had watched that Arn Anderson vs Tom Magee match on TV in the late-1980s, I would have enjoyed it more than some of the other matches that were on WWF's weekly shows back then.

Edited May 21, 2019 by Truth