UKFF Questions Thread v3

[BomberPat]

I'm pretty sure it was just putting over how dangerous Cactus was. There were times that the WWF had flirted with the idea of doing an exploding ring deathmatch - they had talked to Onita in '97/'98 about it, had a working relationship with FMW, and there was apparently talk of Funk and Foley doing one in '98 - but there's no way they were going to be going that hard in 2000, when Foley was already heading towards his "retirement".

[Jesse]

I think a key difference is it's not showing that to hype up the type of match it is, like a "This is what you'll see" but very specifically as a "This is the guy that's now in the match" with the character switch and stuff. They're not setting up an expectation of *explosion* "You'll see this" but instead an expectation of *guy exploding* "You'll see the guy that was crazy enough to do this and keep going"

[air_raid]

30 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

a working relationship with FMW

Any excuse to get the little shorts on.

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

14 hours ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

I thought they were saving her for when they do Wrestlemania in Mexico. 

Will you be serious 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

5 hours ago, RIDDUM_N_STYLE said:

Will you be serious 

Seems unlikely. 

[Merzbow]

Still one of the biggest "What If?" moments for me personally, Onita coming in to help with Funk vs Cactus at WrestleMania was often talked about.

WWF's relationships with Japanese companies is always a curious thing, after breaking from NJPW you'd think they'd partner with the next biggest fed but it was always smaller ones like Michinoku Pro or the I'll fated Tenryu project SWS and then his follow up WAR.

Edited April 11, 2025 by Merzbow

[Statto]

It's maybe worth noting that Foley's first book had come out a few months prior to that package being produced (and been an unexpected massive hit) so a good chunk of the audience would have recently become more familiar with Mick's Japanese deathmatch exploits via that. 

[air_raid]

10 minutes ago, Statto said:

It's maybe worth noting that Foley's first book had come out a few months prior to that package being produced (and been an unexpected massive hit) so a good chunk of the audience would have recently become more familiar with Mick's Japanese deathmatch exploits via that. 

If his third had been as successful as his first, it's likely an Evening Gown match pitting Foley vs Melina would have been a feature match on PPV.

[gmoney]

On 4/11/2025 at 8:50 AM, Merzbow said:

Still one of the biggest "What If?" moments for me personally, Onita coming in to help with Funk vs Cactus at WrestleMania was often talked about.

WWF's relationships with Japanese companies is always a curious thing, after breaking from NJPW you'd think they'd partner with the next biggest fed but it was always smaller ones like Michinoku Pro or the I'll fated Tenryu project SWS and then his follow up WAR.

They did negotiate with All Japan for a while though I think? It was about 97 as I recall, they wanted to do something with Kobashi maybe? 

[wandshogun09]

7 minutes ago, gmoney said:

They did negotiate with All Japan for a while though I think? It was about 97 as I recall, they wanted to do something with Kobashi maybe? 

That rings true because when they brought The Patriot in for a spell in 97 they used footage of some of his All Japan matches in the video packages. The Kobashi thing rings a bell now you mention it as well but not sure where I heard it. 

Edited April 12, 2025 by wandshogun09

[Lorne Malvo]

There was a wrestler in NXT in I want to say around 2017/18 who had a rocker gimmick. One of his moves was an abdominal stretch where he would then play air guitar on his opponents torso.

Does anybody remember who I'm on about or have I made it up?

Cheers.

[Supremo]

Working my way through 1996 WWF pay per views as background viewing whilst I work, what was the deal with the finish for the main event at In Your House Mind Games? Wasn’t there a report of Vince changing the finish during the match? What was the original finish going to be?

[RedTwoster]

22 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

There was a wrestler in NXT in I want to say around 2017/18 who had a rocker gimmick. One of his moves was an abdominal stretch where he would then play air guitar on his opponents torso.

Does anybody remember who I'm on about or have I made it up?

Cheers.

Was it Eric Bugenhagen, who would be rechristened Rick Boogs on the main roster?

 

[Lorne Malvo]

10 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

Was it Eric Bugenhagen, who would be rechristened Rick Boogs on the main roster?

Yes! Many thanks.

[air_raid]

14 hours ago, Supremo said:

Working my way through 1996 WWF pay per views as background viewing whilst I work, what was the deal with the finish for the main event at In Your House Mind Games? Wasn’t there a report of Vince changing the finish during the match? What was the original finish going to be?

In Mick's first book or in either his or Shawn's various interviews about the match/podcast appearances (Mick discussed the match with E&C, for instance) it's never come up that the finish wasn't what was decided from the outset ; and I assume a self-historian like Foley would have mentioned it. It was going to be a DQ because Shawn wasn't losing the title but they couldn't put a clean loss on Mankind while he was still expected to main event with Taker all over the country, and at the next PPV. Mick says he wished they could had a real finish and that the fuck finish detracts from the match overall, but he's never suggested a clean pin was on the cards.