Did that really happen?

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

*Double post*

Edited January 29, 2021 by RIDDUM_N_STYLE
stupid server

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

*triple post*

Edited January 29, 2021 by RIDDUM_N_STYLE
stupid server

[air_raid]

46 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said:

Was it only that long? I thought he’d been split from Ron Simmons for a year or so by that point.

The Acolytes were in the SmackDown tag belts 4way at Mania XX then were split on the next episode when Farooq dropped the fall in another unsuccessful challenge and got “fired” but Heyman kept Bradshaw leading him to plaintively cry “Come on, Ron!” as the latter walked away in disgust that his buddy wasn’t resigning in protest by his side. One week later he debuted the white hat, suit and JBL moniker and we were supposed to believe he was a star. It was total bullshit to tell me this perennial loser was in the main event just like that.

[Jazzy G]

39 minutes ago, Supremo said:

This match graphic made my head burst trying to figure out how and when it could have happened. I have absolutely no recollection of Boss Man being in WWE during or after the Invasion.

He might as well have been Big Bubba Rogers there.

[LaGoosh]

8 hours ago, The Cutting Edge said:

Ezekiel Jackson used the Brawl for all theme with added lyrics as his entrance song

With that look and that badass theme song I was sure that the big man was going to be a huge star. It's a real shame how fucking useless he was. They should have kept him as The Brian Kendrick's bodyguard really. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

9 hours ago, air_raid said:

The Acolytes were in the SmackDown tag belts 4way at Mania XX then were split on the next episode when Farooq dropped the fall in another unsuccessful challenge and got “fired” but Heyman kept Bradshaw leading him to plaintively cry “Come on, Ron!” as the latter walked away in disgust that his buddy wasn’t resigning in protest by his side. One week later he debuted the white hat, suit and JBL moniker and we were supposed to believe he was a star. It was total bullshit to tell me this perennial loser was in the main event just like that.

That’s exactly how I remember it (and how I felt about it) too. They did a U.K. tour in that time in between and the show I went to had him against mega hot new US Champion John Cena. It was in the middle of the show and nobody was buying him even at that level.

They did try him as a singles just after the first brand extension - I recall him teaming with Austin and facing Scott Hall - but that lasted a matter of weeks. Possibly the plane ride from hell put paid to it?

[LaGoosh]

He also had a boring singles run as Hardcore Champion at some point where he seemed to be doing a Southern wrassler type gimmick which was just never going to work in that time period. They eventually just put him back in the APA.

[tiger_rick]

I wasn't that against the JBL change and push because I was quite into his little trial run as a single on Raw. Was thinking about this as a thread last week because I liked Bubba Dudley in that original brand "extension" phase too. I'm a sucker.

I only really hated JBL when he won the belt. That was ridiculous. As a challenger for Eddie with the steam of the new gimmick and his good promos, it was fine. He was a million miles off being a World Champ though. It just dragged the belt down to his level. He grew into a good performer but was a million miles off what we'd seen as Champs for the previous decade. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

41 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

I wasn't that against the JBL change and push because I was quite into his little trial run as a single on Raw. Was thinking about this as a thread last week because I liked Bubba Dudley in that original brand "extension" phase too. I'm a sucker.

I only really hated JBL when he won the belt. That was ridiculous. As a challenger for Eddie with the steam of the new gimmick and his good promos, it was fine. He was a million miles off being a World Champ though. It just dragged the belt down to his level. He grew into a good performer but was a million miles off what we'd seen as Champs for the previous decade. 

I remember that Bubba Ray singles run, he was good in that role as Hardcore Champion for a few months until they seemed to give up and just team him with Spike until doing the D-Von reunion.

[BomberPat]

Boss Man as Booker T's bodyguard was hilarious. Checking Wiki, it say "Vince McMahon ordered him to be Booker T's enforcer", which I don't remember at all. 

He did a run-in on a Booker/Austin match, hit Austin with a chair and then adjusted his tie. His entrance video from then on was just that short clip on a loop. Big David Flair Energy.

https://youtu.be/UiVm5DVRarg

 

There was a rumour online at the time that they initially booked Stevie Ray to do a run-in on that match, but changed their mind at the 11th hour and just swapped in Boss Man and never came up with an explanation for why he would help Booker T.

[d-d-d-dAz]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKmSRikAm2H/?igshid=tglvvqhrc6oc

Absolutely no recollection of that. Can’t imagine Ricky flourishing in that role.

Edited January 30, 2021 by d-d-d-dAz

[WyattSheepMask]

42 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKmSRikAm2H/?igshid=tglvvqhrc6oc

Absolutely no recollection of that. Can’t imagine Ricky flourishing in that role.

I can remember Ricky hosting, but he’s a year out as that’s from 2009, during his first retirement 

[Supremo]

Always loved the story about this.

Jonah was supposedly only ever going to appear backstage, having pre-taped a load of segments weeks earlier, but so much of the show was re-written on the day itself that his pre-tapes no longer made any sense. In the end, he never appeared on the show despite having been advertised right up until the show started.

[Mr Kennedy]

Can’t find the official WWE.com link but back in July 2005, Lesnar and Vince met up at Titan Towers and obviously couldn’t come to an agreement. WWE.com reported on the meeting, which, at the time, I thought was very strange.
 

https://wrestlingfigs.com/wrestlingnews/brock-lesnar-vince-mcmahon-meeting-is-over/

Nunzio winning the cruiserweight title at a house show in Italy is another one which springs to mind.  

 

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Mr Kennedy

[Carbomb]

1 minute ago, Mr Kennedy said:

Can’t find the official WWE.com link but back in July 2005, Lesnar and Vince met up at Titan Towers and obviously couldn’t come to an agreement. 
 

https://wrestlingfigs.com/wrestlingnews/brock-lesnar-vince-mcmahon-meeting-is-over/

For me, it was the later meeting, the one that Lesnar effectively set up as a trap for McMahon, so he could get out of his ten-year no-compete clause, that was the sweet moment. He knew (or his advisors did) that McMahon would try humiliate and lowball him through sheer ego, and gave him enough rope to hang himself with.