UKFF Questions Thread v3

[JNLister]

On 5/23/2025 at 9:42 AM, BomberPat said:

Thanks @Tamura!

To unpick it from a blog that touches on it amongst a lot of other stuff - the guy who was effectively mayor of Mexico City for decades had very strict ideas on moral reform, and thought Lucha Libre was a bad influence on children, and encouraged antisocial behaviour among the lower classes, so it was banned from airing on television from around the mid-1950s. 

The ban was lifted around 1986, and then TV (which had been largely state owned) was deregulated in the early '90s, which probably made a bigger impact than the ban itself being removed, in terms of setting the stage for Konnan and AAA to recover.

Heavy metal music was similarly banned for a long time, which is the usual explanation for why Vampiro was such an instant hit in Mexico - they had simply never seen anyone who looked like him before.

Piece from the Observer in 1991 that's loosely related:

[quote]

Several meeting will be held this week to avert a full-scale strike of the wrestlers and referees union in Mexico.

As reported here two weeks ago, Manny Guzman, who is the press liaison of the syndicate (union) of the wrestlers and referees threatened to call a strike protesting the EMLL’s signing of a deal with Televisa, the largest network in Mexico, to run a weekly two-hour show from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. every Sunday (the same show that appears in the United States on the Galavision network). It should be noted that Sunday at 5 p.m. has been considered the traditional best time of the week to draw a family audience to live wrestling shows, so the free television show would go head-to-head with dozens of shows around the country, which the wrestlers union feels will eventually kill the live houses. Because there are so many shows on Sundays throughout the day, particularly in the Mexico City metro area, many wrestlers double-shots on Sundays and some even do triple-shots, so it’s the wrestlers’ biggest paying day of the week. Guzman, who has been a staunch opponent of televising pro wrestling, citing the results in the United States which have caused a major decrease in the number of wrestlers able to make a full-time living as wrestlers (although it should be noted that the results in the U.S. have been fewer wrestlers than ever working full-time, those who are on top in today’s climate are also earning more money than wrestlers have ever earned before). It’s freely admitted that some wrestlers would make more money than ever with television exposure, but Guzman believes it’ll end up limiting the amount of live shows that can be run profitably and inevitably, 75 percent of the wrestlers would be out of jobs.

Thanks to Steve Sims, who was on vacation in Mexico City over the weekend, for the details in this issue.

Guzman ordered the wrestlers not to report for any EMLL show that was taped for television purposes. However, a temporary truce was reached to allow the biggest show of the year, on 9/6 at Arena Mexico in Mexico City, to take place and the show was broadcast the following Sunday in Mexico City. Guzman then said that if the following week’s card was taped and aired in Mexico City on television, then he would call for a strike. The show was taped on 9/13, and Guzman then ordered all wrestlers not to report for work for any cards on Sunday, 9/15. Not one wrestler crossed picket lines and more than 70 shows around Mexico had to be canceled, for a loss of between $230,000 and $328,000 in estimated revenue.

It should be noted that the wrestlers aren’t striking with the idea that the promoters are their enemy in this fight. They are considering the idea of weekly prime time television as the enemy, thus in their eyes, Televisa is the enemy and not the promoters. It should also be noted that Televisa paid the wrestlers who appeared on the Galavision tapings extra, although not enough extra to cause a serious level of cut-throating to get work on the Friday night shows. When the show began airing in Mexico City, those Televisa payments were dropped because they network believed that the local exposure the wrestlers gained would be more valuable than the small amount extra they were used to getting paid for their television matches.

Antonio Pena, one of the heads of the EMLL and considered the one pushing hardest for the weekly television exposure, changed the starting times of the EMLL live shows to not compete with the television show. The weekly cards that traditionally started at either 5 or 6 p.m. were moved, some to a noon start, one to a 2 p.m. and others to 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. The rival UWA didn’t move the starting times of its Sunday shows, so they had two major cards in the area going head-to-head with the free television of the Friday night card.

This past Wednesday night, the union had a meeting, and on Thursday morning the announcement was made that the union and the board would be at Arena Coliseo on Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. If Televisa officials didn’t deliver a signed agreement to stop showing the Friday night cards on free television on Sundays by 6 p.m., a formal strike would begin. The strike would be limited to the wrestlers and referees boycotting only the EMLL shows at Arena Coliseo and Arena Mexico on Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Guzman said if the entire issue wasn’t resolved in one week (9/27), then he would call a total strike of all wrestlers and referees from every card in the country from that day forward.

The EMLL reacted in two ways. First, the company scheduled a meeting with promoter Francisco “Paco” Alonso, the ultimate boss of the company, and the 200 wrestlers that work for EMLL at 10 a.m. on Monday. At that time, the wrestlers will tell Alonso that they believe Pena’s actions in supporting Televisa and moving the traditional cards to new times of the day will hurt the wrestlers and they are going to try and convince Alonso to side with them on this issue. Second, EMLL added two shows, a Thursday noon card and a Friday night card for Arena Pista Revlucion in Mexico City.

Guzman and Televisa didn’t settle their differences on Friday night, so the EMLL’s major card of the week at Arena Coliseo was canceled with no refunds offered at the gate due to the labor problems. In front of the building there were more than 200 people, mainly wrestlers and office boys, blocking the entrance. There were about 1,000 fans that gathered around for two hours to watch them. Nothing much really happened. There were no speeches, no marching and no picket signs. Almost everyone blocking the building, however, with the exception of Los Brazos, Pierroth Jr. and Pirata Morgan (the latter two were scheduled to work the card), were the UWA wrestlers.

All was then quiet until Sunday. The EMLL card at Arena Coliseo, traditionally held at 5 p.m., then moved to Noon, was canceled because of the limited strike. The union then scheduled a meeting for Tuesday at 10 a.m., basically in response to the EMLL Monday morning meeting. The UWA wrestlers then scheduled an emergency meeting for 11 p.m. Sunday night to discuss further battle plans.

The strike made front page news in many of the regular daily newspapers, including those papers that normally don’t cover pro wrestling.[/quote]

[hallicks]

When Bret mended fences with WWE in the late 2000’s, how much was his Lloyds of London payout a barrier to him doing more in-ring work, or was him having had a stroke the bigger (obvious) roadblock? Was there a possibility or an appetite there for him to come in and have a bit more of a run, or did they do all they wanted to do?

[SuperBacon]

1 hour ago, hallicks said:

When Bret mended fences with WWE in the late 2000’s, how much was his Lloyds of London payout a barrier to him doing more in-ring work, or was him having had a stroke the bigger (obvious) roadblock? Was there a possibility or an appetite there for him to come in and have a bit more of a run, or did they do all they wanted to do?

Didn't he do a load of house shows as well?

He also said recently on that Helwani interview (which is great) that he'd even like to write a second book which would be all about that period and beyond.

I wasn't really watching then, so any recommendations of that run would be very well received.

[Merzbow]

1 minute ago, SuperBacon said:

so any recommendations of that run

Honestly, it's tough to recommend anything from then. The whole "feud" with Vince was god awful and the less said about the match at 'Mania the better.

[SuperBacon]

19 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Honestly, it's tough to recommend anything from then. The whole "feud" with Vince was god awful and the less said about the match at 'Mania the better.

Thought there night be some Raw bits, promos etc

[gmoney]

There's a very decent contract signing angle as I recall. To be honest, I thought the feud with Vince wasn't too bad, but the match is woefully misjudged.

[tiger_rick]

14 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Maybe not the right thread because this question is rhetorical really but how much of a slap in the face must it have been for Randy Savage to be told he’s gonna be phased out in favour a younger roster in 1993/94, to then have to be stuck at the commentary table as Roddy Piper and Jerry Lawler went on last at King Of The Ring 94? Savage was 41/42 in 1994. Barely older than Piper and a few years younger than Lawler. I know it’s been brought up on here before but I was just thinking about it again and it baffles me. Savage proved in WCW that he still had plenty left in the tank right up to about 98 when the knees went. Such a waste. 

I'm fascinated by the use of Savage from 92 onwards and not just because he's one of my absolute favourites. There's some merit in phasing him out given the important metrics from late 91 to mid 92 are absolutely not in his favour. The Jake feud drew surprisingly poor and the Flair stuff was on fumes - but all of that is against a backdrop of the company tanking. To phase Savage out almost completely instead of cooling him off, turning him heel, building him as a special attraction and a main-event heel who the new guys have to best to prove themselves is such a missed opportunity when you consider not only his work in WCW, as mentioned, but that in the last couple of years he was phased down, they headlined with Hogan, Lawler, Piper and Backlund.

He should have disappeared after Mania 8, got back in shape, come back bitter and twisted about Elizabeth, about Bret surpassing him, about being the last real star in pro-wrestling (because WWF was the only show in town, obvs) and spent the next couple of years getting Bret and Shawn to his level before turning back face and becoming a guy who got heels ready to main event. Everything would have been better from 93-97 with a motivated Savage working hard.   

[Sphinx]

I've been ill the last couple of days - sleeping all day, achey, sick, no appetite etc. - and it got me to thinking how many times wrestlers are ill and go out anyway and wrestle, and that to me it's impressive there's not many examples (that I know of) of wrestlers throwing up during a match. I wonder how many matches there are that have been shat on without us knowing someone in the match was ill.

Anyone know of any high profile matches where someone was ill in the match (excluding concussions that happened during the match)?

I think I remember Sabu was sick one time under the ring?

[gmoney]

Isn't Shane Douglas renowned for being sick during matches? 

[air_raid]

2 hours ago, hallicks said:

When Bret mended fences with WWE in the late 2000’s, how much was his Lloyds of London payout a barrier to him doing more in-ring work, or was him having had a stroke the bigger (obvious) roadblock?

He was allowed to work but not bump. Anything that could have caused him a chance of head trauma.

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

I wasn't really watching then, so any recommendations of that run would be very well received.

The whole match isn’t up but you can see him do the pendulum backbreaker then middle rope elbow here ;

And seal the Nexus downfall here ;

 

[JNLister]

6 hours ago, Sphinx said:

I've been ill the last couple of days - sleeping all day, achey, sick, no appetite etc. - and it got me to thinking how many times wrestlers are ill and go out anyway and wrestle, and that to me it's impressive there's not many examples (that I know of) of wrestlers throwing up during a match. I wonder how many matches there are that have been shat on without us knowing someone in the match was ill.

Anyone know of any high profile matches where someone was ill in the match (excluding concussions that happened during the match)?

I think I remember Sabu was sick one time under the ring?

Shawn Michaels had flu at the 1997 Rumble.

Randy Savage had a staph infection at WrestleMania V which is why he had one elbow heavily bandaged,

[air_raid]

Bret wrestled SummerSlam 93 with flu and 94 with Strep A.

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Austin had a staph elbow as well iirc for the matches with Kane at KOTR 98 and next night on Raw

[simonworden]

A lot of details have been forgotten here but I'm sure there is a recorded incident from WCW where wrestlers are hiding under the ring, one of them has to take a shit and another vomits over it. I want to say Paul Wight is the one doing the shitting and Hennig vomiting. It's in someone's book. 

Spud/Drake Maverick once vomited all over the floor Infront of me during a tlc match when he was ill and got belted in the stomach with a ladder.

 

[tiger_rick]

15 hours ago, air_raid said:

Bret wrestled SummerSlam 93 with flu and 94 with Strep A.

And Bret lost the IC Title with a temperature of 104......