Paid Members air_raid Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 18 hours ago, Merzbow said: Around 5 months or so, so not long but it's just so weird to have that name which is obviously a NOI reference while wearing it. Basically anyone who might look like they could be from somewhere else got given an exotic name. Tony Norris had to be “Ahmed,” Ron had to be “Farooq.” I can kind of understand in the case of, for instance, my favourite Fin Tony Halme being given the name Ludvig to sound more Finnish, but “make the black guys sound foreign” was fucking weird. Could have been worse for Ahmed, as JR loves to recall, Bill Watts wanted him to be called Buck. Fun “fake nationality” memory - I alluded to “pretend Japanese hero” Yokozuna in my house show thread but in the early months of him being on TV he was actually announced as being from “the Polynesian islands” which was partially true, in terms of ancestry. Although it’s probably not best to dwell on what the WWF/WWE do with hometown announcements since for a while at the same time they announced Jericho as being from Manhasset, New York (where he was born) and Benoit as being from Atlanta (where he was living) because… they didn’t want either to be Canadian?? Because Canada was heel again?? Because….. I dunno, La Resistance??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 1 hour ago, air_raid said: Benoit as being from Atlanta (where he was living… …and offing his family, and dying). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Tommy! Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 Benoit was announced as "now residing in atlanta, Georgia" which was weird because no one else was announced like that. On hometowns, and leading nicely into my question, if I remember right Johnson said in a shoot "I've never been to Pearl River mississippi, I don't even know if there is a Pearl River mississippi". Anywho, is there any truth to the story he worked as a lion tamer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Pearl River, Mississippi is a real place, there’s also a Pearl River in Louisiana about 200 miles away. Id love for that Lion Tamer story to be true, especially if Ahmed used his massive plank instead of the traditional wooden chair and whip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 23 minutes ago, Tommy! said: Anywho, is there any truth to the story he worked as a lion tamer? Well, HE tells it, so it would need someone to refute it and it’s a pretty batshit thing to make up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Tommy! Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 5 minutes ago, air_raid said: Well, HE tells it, so it would need someone to refute it and it’s a pretty batshit thing to make up. Wrestling is full of batshit made up nonsense, like Hogan working 400 days a year because he can curve spacetime flying to Japan. Call me cynical but it's rare I believe anything a wrestler says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 2 hours ago, Tommy! said: Benoit was announced as "now residing in atlanta, Georgia" which was weird because no one else was announced like that.  I used to like when DiBiase would be announced by Fink as “making his summer residence in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts” and stuff like that. Even as a kid I thought this wanker has a different home for each season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 DiBiase's "summer residence" billing was a great addition to the gimmick. Benoit was billed as "now residing in" because they were at the height of post-9/11 jingoism, and wanted all of their babyfaces to be billed from US hometowns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 Even Christian was called as being from Tampa, Florida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 24 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: I used to like when DiBiase would be announced by Fink as “making his summer residence in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts” and stuff like that. Even as a kid I thought this wanker has a different home for each season. I loved it. I had access to sticker albums and trading cards long before I watched the actual wrestling and being a child had no idea what “From : seasonal residences” meant. Then I watched a Mania and heard he was making his spring residence in Palm Beach, Florida, and I understood. I also recall from Coliseum that winter was the Netherlands Antilles, but if you can name all four off the top of your head you’re a bigger nerd than me. Also of note from 90s WWF merch, something actually listed Taker as from “Death Valley, CA” - that’s right, this pale chaps from the fuckin desert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 Didn't they do the "seasonal residences" thing with Tyler Breeze as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 They did, but they had him have his all over the world IIRC. Like he was jetting back & forth from Europe to appear at Full Sail every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 19 hours ago, BomberPat said: DiBiase's "summer residence" billing was a great addition to the gimmick. Benoit was billed as "now residing in" because they were at the height of post-9/11 jingoism, and wanted all of their babyfaces to be billed from US hometowns. This was also the time Vince had the big idea to make "Hirohito" (Kenzo Suzuki) the top heel on the Raw side and thought it would be less effective to have him against Benoit if he was promoted as Canadian. Then it became a Vince thing and nobody was safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted January 31, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 31, 2022 Those Hirohito vignettes were some uncomfortable viewing. Mind you Kenzo Suzuki in the ring wasn't much better. We did get that weird remix/mash up of his and Renee Dupree/La Resistance's theme when they were tagging, though. https://youtu.be/NemXfX1U84Q  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 I can't remember where now, but I remember Kenzo & Dupree being called the Bronzed Frogs or something like that as a tag nickname. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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