Chili Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 I'm gonna be gutted when Jim Brunzell wraps up his last dates whenever they are. One of my favourite bits of these threads is seeing him pop up to lend a extra body and occasionally bag a few wins. Seems like he was the definition of a good hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 5, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 5, 2022 9 minutes ago, Chili said: I'm gonna be gutted when Jim Brunzell wraps up his last dates whenever they are. One of my favourite bits of these threads is seeing him pop up to lend a extra body and occasionally bag a few wins. Seems like he was the definition of a good hand. SHITE, Sorry man.................. go back and read Departures again for March 93. 😥 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Made it all to way to the post Wrestlemania IX Raw. Good on ya Jimmy Bee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshC Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 He had a wicked match with Michaels in early 93, if I remember right. Michaels gave him a lot for his standing at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshC Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 That Toxics Turtles try-out seems exactly the kind of thing kids would have INSISTED they saw for YEARS after, before the proof actually surfaced! 93 was quite the time, so much new stuff coming from all angles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 6, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 6, 2022 8 hours ago, AshC said: He had a wicked match with Michaels in early 93, if I remember right. Michaels gave him a lot for his standing at the time. Yes, taped late 92 for airing January 93. The very match that ignited my interest in how long Jim continued to get used. 8 hours ago, AshC said: That Toxics Turtles try-out seems exactly the kind of thing kids would have INSISTED they saw for YEARS after, before the proof actually surfaced! Not to spoil future posts but there are quite a few of those coming up, especially in the realms of "I saw X pin Y on a house show." The kind of result that might make you say "Bollocks did you" but all these years later... he did you know. And I don't just mean a Lex Luger losing to Bret when they're still unbeaten on TV, I mean like "AS IF that guy beat THAT Hall Of Famer/multi-time World champion" that would never ever in a million years happen or be alluded to on TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Showtime Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 (edited) Who were under the Toxic Turtle, erm, shells? Pretty impressed with Vince that he jumped on it in 1993, only a couple of years after the peak of the first 2 movies and the cartoon. The third movie out in 1993 seemed to do fairly acceptably at the box office but according to 10-year-old Showtime it was pish. Edited July 6, 2022 by Mr.Showtime Typo Power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 31 minutes ago, Mr.Showtime said: Who were under the Toxic Turtle, erm, shells? Pretty impressed with Vince that he jumped on it in 1993, only a couple of years after the peak of the first 2 movies and the cartoon. The third movie out in 1993 seemed to do fairly acceptably at the box office but according to 10-year-old Showtime it was pish. Duane 'Gillberg' Gill and Barry 'Not Their Dad' Hardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted July 6, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 6, 2022 I'm sure I read it was Duane and Hardy who really pushed for it and they let them do, rather than a Vince endorsed idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted July 6, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 6, 2022 yeah, Gill and Hardy used to bring the gear with them on the road - I assume they must have worked under those gimmicks on indies/smaller territory shows, but have never seen any record of it, so maybe they were really holding out hope for the big WWF run. Apparently Vince (or one of his underlings) was impressed how well they moved in such bulky costumes, and gave them a shot on the show. Hard to imagine it would have got very far before the lawyers stepped in. According to Cagematch they were called Tom and Terry Turtle. There was also Kowabunga The Ninja Turtle in Smoky Mountain and elsewhere, and at least three different sets of Lucha Libre Turtles, so some enterprising booker in the mid-90s could have put together an all-Turtles Survivor Series match and still had Turtles to spare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshC Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 Did they have Power Rangers wrestlers in the States? That seemed a common thing over here for a while. It was an easy gimmick I guess for the pop, chuck on a morphsuit and as long as you're in a good nick, you're sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 6, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 6, 2022 2 hours ago, Mr.Showtime said: Who were under the Toxic Turtle, erm, shells?  2 hours ago, Chili said: Duane 'Gillberg' Gill and Barry 'Not Their Dad' Hardy.  Who as mentioned, were also the masked Executioners that the Steiners were battering every night before they moved on to the Beverly Brothers.  50 minutes ago, gmoney said: I'm sure I read it was Duane and Hardy who really pushed for it and they let them do, rather than a Vince endorsed idea.  16 minutes ago, BomberPat said: yeah, Gill and Hardy used to bring the gear with them on the road - I assume they must have worked under those gimmicks on indies/smaller territory shows, but have never seen any record of it, so maybe they were really holding out hope for the big WWF run. Apparently Vince (or one of his underlings) was impressed how well they moved in such bulky costumes, and gave them a shot on the show. Hard to imagine it would have got very far before the lawyers stepped in. They did absolutely work the Turtle gimmick on the indies, enabling them each to wrestle twice a night. The "Toxic Turtles" name was however a Prichard touch. Vince apparently pissed himself laughing watching it.... before deciding they'd never do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 7, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) April 1993 There are no domestic house shows in April, so this will be brief. Like the last match at Mania IX, Lulz. The early month European tour basically looks like this for half of it, unless you went to (ugh) the UK Rampage in Sheffield - Mr Perfect vs Lex Luger, Yokozuna vs Hacksaw Duggan, Crush vs Doink, The Nasty Boys vs Headshrinkers, Shawn Michaels vs Bob Backlund for the Intercontinental belt, and Typhoon and Kamala respectively squashing Damien Demento and Kimchee. Shockingly the silver lining for Sheffield is that after the cameras stop rolling Yoko gets in the ring and LOSES BY PINFALL to Hacksaw via Mania IX salt backfire. A second crew picks up half way through which has Bret Hart vs Bam Bam Bigelow for the gold, The Steiner Brothers vs Money Inc non-title, The Undertaker vs Giant Gonzalez, Tatanka vs Papa Shango, Bushwhackers vs Beverly Brothers, Virgil vs Terry Taylor and El Matador vs Doink - here, Steve Keirn is doing the gimmick so the Clown can be in two places at once, not for the first time. Nearer the month end, that crew minus Gonzalez stays over and the other crew minus Yoko go home, so some big cities get Undertaker vs Yoko including Barcelona and Milan - where two of the Bret/Bam Bam matches ended up on DVD. They stay in the desert post Mania for TV tapings in Phoenix and Tucson - the Mad Monk does dark squashes before his eventual TV debut as Friar Ferguson, and in Phoenix he attacks Typhoon after the latter does a squash, but that never airs. He'll be far more famous as Bastion Booger. Also, Lightning Kid swaps wins with Louie Spicolli, and in Phoenix the Smoking Gunns debut dark under their old names of Brett Colt and Kip Winchester, which are decent pun names I guess. New feuds are up and running in the other dark matches - Bret Hart vs Lex Luger, Money Inc vs Steiners and Shawn Michaels vs Mr Perfect, teasing a title switch with a couple of Dusty finishes. Taker works Gonzalez in Phoenix and Yoko in Tucson. A few days later at the Raw taping in Poughkeepsie Taker works another DQ with Gonzalez and Bret goes over Razor Ramon. 26th at the Manhattan Centre, Perfect works HBK before the show AND Yoko after it - neither has a finish. Other fun note - in Paris, Frank Anderson (who later ends up in WCW) wins a squash for international Superstars. Departure - the Nasty Boys record TV matches that will air in May, but finish up on the European tour. 18th in Nuremburg is their last date. Here's  one of those Shawn and Perfect title switch teases. Here's our Mania IX dark match ;  Edited March 19 by air_raid you're never going to see this, Bacon, so I don't know why I'm bothering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted July 7, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 7, 2022 1 hour ago, air_raid said: Mr Perfect vs Lex Luger, Yokozuna vs Hacksaw Duggan, Crush vs Doink, The Nasty Boys vs Headshrinkers, Shawn Michaels vs Bob Backlund for the Intercontinental belt, and Typhoon and Kamala respectively squashing Damien Demento and Kimchee. My first ever live WWF show was indeed exactly this. Went to Birmingham on an organised coach trip from Norwich which took about a million years to get there and even longer to get back, going via every conceivable town & city in between the two. Dad picked me & mum up in Norwich (we lived about half an hour away from the city at the time) at what must have been 2 or 3 in the morning, if not later. He was not a happy man. My other abiding memory was talking to another kid on the bus who had only ever seen one wrestling show before in his life in any capacity - Wrestlemania IV on video. Had never watched another minute of professional wresting, live or televised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 7, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Statto said: My first ever live WWF show was indeed exactly this. Went to Birmingham on an organised coach trip from Norwich which took about a million years to get there and even longer to get back, going via every conceivable town & city in between the two. Be grateful you got that card, and not the shite in Sheffield that ended up on tape, with Lombardi doing Brawler instead of Kimchee, Sags having a night off in favour of two Headshrinker singles matches and Duggan doing double duty including the dark match which went 3 minutes. My first live show will surface when we get to March 1994, but I didnt get as far as Brum.... "glamourous" Telford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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