House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[AshC]

Warrior vs Quake would probably have done alright after Mania 6, did they do any house shows at all?

[air_raid]

43 minutes ago, AshC said:

Warrior vs Quake would probably have done alright after Mania 6, did they do any house shows at all?

A few. But before Mania, not after. 

On 3/11/2022 at 6:07 AM, air_raid said:

February 1990

Ultimate Warrior vs Dino Bravo is still your Intercontinental title main event all over the country but 18th in Sheboygan MI he’s in with Earthquake at last. 25th there’s a loaded Charlotte/Landover double shot with Warrior & Jake vs Ted DiBiase & Akeem supported by Rhodes/Savage and the tag title match - although The Brain has to step in for Andre at the Capital Center. 26th in Worcester it’s a handicap match! Warrior beats Bravo & Quake by himself before he’s back with Dino 27th at a rescheduled Omaha show.

 

On 3/16/2022 at 6:54 AM, air_raid said:

March 1990

Ultimate Warrior is kept busy - he’s split between the Earthquake & Dino Bravo handicap match and a few of the tags with Jake Roberts against the Million Dollar Man & Akeem including a weak gate at Boston Garden on 17th. They start the month with Big Boss Man as their guest ref but that ends up being switched for Hillbilly Jim when Boss Man has to be deployed elsewhere (see below). 15th in Norfolk Jake doesn’t make it so Warrior beats the heels by himself. 19th at a half full MSG he puts the first clean pin on Mr Perfect televised anywhere. 22nd he’s with old foe Ravishing Rick Rude in Indianapolis and then in not the last Indiana/Michigan double shot you’ll read about this month, a short singles with Earthquake in Flint. 23/24 it’s the Jake tag again before he finishes a double on 25th LA then San Diego with Perfect again.

 

[AshC]

Ah, I thought as much, thanks for that!

Warrior/Quake would have been hot after the Hogan/Quake angle on Brother Love, but then the heat was in keeping Quake strong for Hogan's return.

You could have probably done it, but it would have needed the most delicate of booking to not hurt either the new champ or the big summer program.

Just had a thought about LOD coming in as heels against Warrior, I heard they were slated to start as heels. It's out there, but would have been fresh...

 

[wandshogun09]

4 hours ago, air_raid said:

This is very much an argument worth having. Having invested considerable time into a "monster of the month" formula that they relied upon with Hogan, the WWF audience at the time (families, largely) will have looked at Flair after the likes of Earthquake and Undertaker and thought "Pffft, the Hulk will murder this guy."

When I first started watching wrestling it must’ve been 1991/92 with the WCW Worldwide coverage on ITV. Of course Flair was gone at that point and I have a fairly clear memory of the first time I laid eyes on him. I was round a mate’s who had Sky and Flair was on there getting involved with Warrior and Savage. So I’m guessing it was sometime during the buildup to SummerSlam 92. He was in a suit and my first thought was honestly that he was some kind of baddie Jack Tunney figure. Not a wrestler. I thought he was just some old bloke. Which is crazy considering how long he wrestled after this and I later saw the shift he put in just months earlier at the Rumble and realised more what the fuss was all about. But that first impression, it looked like Roy Walker was trying his luck with two of my favourite Hasbros come to life. Ridiculous. I recall him having a back and forth with Warrior and/or Savage and bumping about a bit and that was it. Until my mate and his old man told me, I never would’ve believed he was a wrestler just looking at him, never mind a champion and top guy.

Thing is, I reckon I’d have bought into him if I’d got into WCW a year or so earlier and seen him there. WWF to me though, even back then I must’ve subconsciously had different expectations of what a top guy would look like. Savage being a small main eventer in that period never really occurred to me as a kid. I guess because of the ridiculous over the topness of him, the look, the colours, the voice etc. That he looked like he belonged on top in that era of giants is a testament to how incredible he was. 

[air_raid]

10 hours ago, AshC said:

Just had a thought about LOD coming in as heels against Warrior, I heard they were slated to start as heels. It's out there, but would have been fresh...

It would have been interesting but they’d have pissed away a load of t-shirt and kiddies shoulder pad spikes sales. To bring them in as heels you’d have to keep Demolition babyface and the shelf lives of both teams in mid 1990 were fairly obviously at opposite ends of the scale. They made the right call.

[DavidB6937]

I'm in the process of packing up to move house at the moment and I found a couple of different photo albums:

UK Rampage tour - think it was 91 or 92

Random photos my dad showed me of wrestlers at the airport around Summerslam time - he owned a photographic shop and he knew I was really into wrestling

I'll try and scan them in if they're of any interest, probably for this thread more than anything!

[Snitsky's back acne]

22 hours ago, air_raid said:

This is very much an argument worth having. Having invested considerable time into a "monster of the month" formula that they relied upon with Hogan, the WWF audience at the time (families, largely) will have looked at Flair after the likes of Earthquake and Undertaker and thought "Pffft, the Hulk will murder this guy." They could buy wrestler vs wrestler for the Intercontinental title but not on top. Probably another reason why Warrior tanked (on top of not being personable) - you had him fighting Perfect, Rick Rude and Savage, none of them posed a physical threat to him. He'd spent 12 months with Andre and Earthquake, he wasn't getting pinned by Mr Perfect. Who'd just got beat by Beefpiece, let's not forget.

I remember just getting into wrestling in 1991 and wondering why this old guy (Flair) was being taken seriously. He just looked like a skinny (in comparison) old guy and nowhere near the 'comic-book-come-to-life' character like Hulk, Warrior, LOD, Bulldog and others that drew me to WWF in the first place.

[HarmonicGenerator]

5 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

I'm in the process of packing up to move house at the moment and I found a couple of different photo albums:

UK Rampage tour - think it was 91 or 92

Random photos my dad showed me of wrestlers at the airport around Summerslam time - he owned a photographic shop and he knew I was really into wrestling

I'll try and scan them in if they're of any interest, probably for this thread more than anything!

They are definitely of interest!

[AshC]

Just stuck this on, real good quality for a 30+ years old handheld - the crowd is HOT for the opener!

[air_raid]

September 1992

It’s all change ; we have a new Intercontinental champ and by the time house shows start again, a new WWF Champion too. If you can’t remember who that is, you’re not being fair to Flair. Also LOD are finished as Hawk didn't make it back from London.

Ric Flair VS The Undertaker for the belt is a house show feud you’d be forgiven you didn’t know happened, usually supported by the Randy Savage vs Razor Ramon grudge match and Razor interferes in the mains for a DQ. Bret Hart vs Papa Shango also happens on Flairs run plus Natural Disasters vs Beverly Brothers for the tag titles but crowds are poor ; 3000 at the Montreal Forum and only 9000 at MSG. In Richfield on the 12th we have the Nature Boy vs Macho Man in a cage with Taker vs Papa Shango and Bret losing to Razor instead, on Survivor Series on sale day. 13/14 in Johnstown PA and Wheeling Savage vs Ramon is the draw as Taker and Flair are in transit to Tokyo for a WAR show.

Ultimate Warrior vs Kamala is the other main event loop, supported by British Bulldog vs Repo Man for the Intercontinental belt (OK), Big Boss Man vs Nailz, Tatanka vs The Model and they’re already running Nasty Boys vs Money Inc even though Knobbs and Sags haven’t turned on TV yet - Jimmy Hart will run back and forth between the corners depending on who's winning. 5000 in Tacoma is as good as it gets, fewer than that (4600) come to LA Sports. 14th in Sacramento Boss Man and Nailz are in a cage as well and fewer than 3000 turn up.

Mid month there's a shuffle and our title match becomes Ric Flair vs Ultimate Warrior in Miami 18th and a double shot of the Palace (in front of a meagre 2600) and Indiannapolis, and Duluth MN on 20th, with Davey Boy vs The Mountie! and Bret Hart vs Kamala supporting. In Philadelphia (7500 paid), Milwaukee and Chicago (2500 only!!) its Macho Man vs Razor on top supported by Undertaker vs Shango, Boss Man vs Nailz and now the Disasters are working rematches with Money Inc.

Post TVs half the crew are off on a European tour, so in Omaha, Green Bay, Tampa and Fort Myers there's a reprise of Warrior vs Kamala, with Boss Man vs Nailz, Bulldog vs Shawn, Tatanka vs Mountie and its meant to be Undertaker vs Razor but Taker's taken a knock so its Razor vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan instead. In Europe, its Ric Flair vs Randy Savage in Sheffield and Berlin, and Flair vs Hitman in Kiel and at the NEC, the corresponding babyface supporting against Papa Shango. Randomly in Stuttgart its Flair vs El Matador, Bret wrestles The Model, Randy with Ted DiBiase. As always, business abroad is healthier than at home.

One exception to these main events - 18th in Mobile after the re-jig Savage and Razor are in Miami with Flair and Warrior so as a one off Undertaker vs Kamala tops a 6 match card with Boss Man vs Nailz and Smithers vs Repo underneath.

Thats the main event and key feuds covered - what does the rest of the card look like?

Shawn Michaels works Virgil before the shuffle, Tatanka before the European tour then Bulldog during it. Virgil moves neatly onto losing to The Model before the European tour on which he either loses to Martel or beats The Genius. El Matador trades wins with Mountie early, with Repo mid month, then in Europe does whichever match Virgil doesn't, with the same results. Crush is supposed to be with Berzerker before the mid month shuffle but thats barely started when Nord gets hurt so its perennial job guy Bob Bradley for an extended period. Post shuffle Crush starts tagging with Animal to reprise the feud LOD had been having with the Beverly Brothers, although that's fairly cursed (see subs) domestically though they do contest a few in Europe. High Energy have the random pairing of Skinner & Barry Horowitz early month, the Nasty Boys mid month, then when both Nastys hit the bench, they work the domestic shows during the European tour against Double Trouble who have come up far more often than I expected. The Bushwhackers don't work any domestic dates but through Europe they beat Skinner & Kato every night. Month end, Repo Man works various wins with either Killer Stallion, Jim Powers or Jim Brunzell. Powers previously had earned a decent run of wins over Brooklyn Brawler.

Subs - 3rd in Allentown Davey Boy and Tatanka swap opponents for a one off of Bulldog vs The Model and Tatanka with Repo Man. In Omaha Davey Boy works one more match with Mountie before moving to Shawn, and Tatanka misses it so Shawn works a one off with our old friend Jim Brunzell. In Montreal there's Typhoon vs Blake Beverly due to unclarified absence of either Quake or Beau. Beau misses a few other shows leading to some Crush/Animal vs Blake/Brooklyn Brawler tags and even stupider, Animal, Crush & Paul Ellering vs Blake, Brawler and The Genius. In Mobile, between his run of jobs to Shawn and then one with The Model, Virgil gets a one off win over Skinner. Same night Jim Powers gets a win over Kato which he repeats in Indianapolis but he loses to Skinner at the Palace. In Tampa, Sags makes the show without Knobbs so he's rewarded with a win over Repo Man. Those Johnstown/Wheeling anomalies I mentioned also have the Disasters defending against Double Trouble. Stuttgart is totally random compared to the rest of the cards on the tour. As well as what I covered in the main events, IRS is with Virgil, the Bushwhackers go over The Genius & Kato and the Natural Disasters' title defence is over Papa Shango & Skinner (ugh).

TV happenings - Kokina aka Yokozuna works his first dark match in Hershey. Jim Powers beats Bob Bradley for international Superstars! Comet Kid tapes TV squashes and actually beats Skinner dark at the Capital Center. Also for international Superstars, Bulldog does a TV defence against Papa Shango with the same bullshit DQ sparking stick finish he did with everyone, plus the first Tatanka/Shawn match (double count-out), the Flair/Undertaker title match that made Coliseum tapes, and dark, the Bret/Razor match I’ve referred to before where Savage runs in for the DQ. Do I need to make it explicit that Flair beats Macho Man for the WWF title in Hershey?? Those of us privileged to own the 1992 Year In Review tape have seen it. What a belter of a tape that is.

Late month TVs in Manitoba have "Comet Kid" binned in favour of "Max Moon," taping the Undertaker vs Nailz confrontation that will air late October but lead to ultimately nothing, and a couple of dark matches of note in Brandon with Davey Boy defending against Kamala and Bret getting his win back from Razor. Matt Borne beats enhancement guy Bill Jordan in Winnipeg then loses to Crush in Brandon - they'll have plenty of matches in 93, of course. Winnipeg has the first matches back taped for Terry Taylor, beating Jim Brunzell and Jim Powers for episodes of Prime Time - and what an auspicious return it is against Brunzell, needing to get his foot on the ropes to save himself from the fall after a DROPKICK. Final note from Brandon, a guy I can find nothing out about called Brad Holman wrestles Barry Horowitz - HOROWITZ WINS! HOROWITZ WINS! HOROWITZ WINS!

Here's Providence, from the run of Flair vs Taker with Savage vs Razor and Bret vs Shango underneath

 

 

[air_raid]

It's too much fun to keep these in for long so every time I finish a draft, I'll post another month thats waiting.

October 1992
BOY, are we in for a transition here. Business is circling the drain (MANY cards are getting cancelled again) but there's a WWF title change, and I think it's excellent. There's a million comings and goings, the Intercontinental and tag belts change hands too, and you simply cant keep track of what's happening. The roster from SummerSlam to WrestleMania probably changes more than any year since SummerSlam started.

Early month we're still drawing big Deutschmarks - its Ric Flair vs Randy Savage in Munich, and Flair vs Bret Hart in Aschaffenburg and Frankfurt with Papa Shango filling in the blank with the other babyface.

Domestically there's a big trios match combining feuds, which we've discussed here recently - Ultimate Warrior, The Undertaker & Big Boss Man VS Razor Ramon, Kamala & Nailz. They only draw 6700 to the Meadowlands on 1st with the Intercontinental title underneath, then do Springfield MA afternoon and Boston Garden evening on 3rd to only 5800. Baltimore on 4th gets only 2200. On 2nd they try and run 2 domestic shows a night again while half the big names are in Europe. It's Warrior vs Kamala (with Bulldog vs Shawn) in Scranton and Undertaker vs Razor and Boss Man vs Nailz in Poughkeepsie.

When everyone's home, we're supposed to go back to Ric Flair vs Ultimate Warrior but 8th in Phoenix, Flair takes the injury which will change the direction, though he battles on through 9th in Houston in front of only 3000. 10th at LA Sports we get a much improved 7300 for Flair vs Hart with big support from Macho Man vs Razor (AND the tag titles), then the same two matches top Red Deer, Alberta on 11th which is the last show before the big two days of tapings in Saskatchewan where Bret takes home the gold. Flair forces himself back into the ring with Jim 16th at Nassau Coliseum (8500) but of course our title match that night as well as 14th in Hamilton and 15th in Charlottetown is the Hitman.... vs Nailz?? Flair drops back to the bench immediately afterwards and Bret vs Nailz gets 5000 to the Spectrum and also takes place in Hartford, then 23rd in Pittsburgh (5300) and 24th at the Rosemont (4200) he's in with Papa Shango who had been his regular feud before TVs, 25th In Peoria its The Model, and post TVs its Shango for the rest of the month, Flair still injured.

Randy Savage vs Razor Ramon is our main event 8th-25th in Des Moines, St Louis (just 4000), San Diego, Reno, at the Cow Palace (3300), in Anchorage, Pittsburgh (5300), at the Capital Center and Columbia MO.

10th in Yakima and 11th in Medicine Hat (Alberta) we've got proper B shows when they've sacrificed Razor/Savage to support Flair/Bret with Taker injured and Warrior off ; Boss Man vs Nailz and Bulldog vs Kamala are the top matches although Medicine Hat does at least get Natural Disasters vs Money Inc for the tag belts too.

So.... who worked who? Jesus Christ. I don't know if I should bother seperating "subs" out of this mess.

When Flair is out, Ultimate Warrior works with Kamala who he's had a run with anyway, and a few matches with Ted DiBiase getting rare singles outings. Bret Hart has a regular opponent in Papa Shango before (and to be fair, after) he gets into the main events as detailed above. British Bulldog works many Intercontinental title defences with Shawn Michaels then moves onto Kamala. On a few nights where Smith works Kamala, HBK is beating El Matador. Tito otherwise gets a few wins over Brooklyn Brawler then a few from Skinner. Tatanka spends half his month with The Mountie! then half with Repo Man. Big Boss Man is with Nailz every month early month and late month, sometimes in a cage, though mid month he has a run with Kamala. Crush does a short run with Shango subbing in for Taker, then a short run with Mountie, then a short run with Repo. Hacksaw Jim Duggan gets a few more bookings than he has for months, inheriting Mountie from Tatanka. Virgil spends a week doing jobs for Repo then goes back to beating Skinner.

Natural Disasters vs Money Inc for the tag belts goes on all month although Typhoon seems to be hurt as there is a fair few of Earthquake VS IRS one on one. Animal & Crush are supposed to work Double Trouble early month but Crush is hurt so Animal works it as a handicap match (and wins) then does a few nights beating Papa Shango before HE gets hurt, and thats the end of this run for him. The Beverly Brothers split their month between beating the Bushwhackers and trading wins with High Energy. There are some injuries to both Nasty Boys, they barely wrestle all month.

Terry Taylor is back on the road getting a near-nightly win over Jim Powers. After Europe, Max Moon does half a month of beating Barry Horowitz then graduates to Brooklyn Brawler. Jeff Jarrett works five house shows against Horowitz, Iron Mike Sharpe or Mondo Kleen (who will be repackaged as Damien Demento at TVs). The last few nights of the month, Lance Cassidy (a/k/a Steve Armstrong) is on the road beating Skinner. 

I'll do Europe separately - its a big card in Munich then two nights where its been shuffled. E.g. The Model vs El Matador and Virgil vs The Genius on 1st then two nights of Rick and Tito slumming it. Tag teams are mixed too - the regular feuds of Natural Disasters vs Money Inc and Animal & Crush vs the Beverly Brothers, plus Bushwhackers vs Kato & Skinner in Munich, then two nights of Disasters vs Beverlys, Money Inc vs Bushwhackers and Animal & Crush vs Kato & Skinner. 

Interesting subs or one offs - those B shows on 2nd are so thin that High Energy are split up for singles - in Scranton Koko goes over Nasty Boy Knobbs, in Poughkeepsie Owen pins Barry. Though he makes the one match with Razor and the 6-man series, Undertaker is usually on the bench but 8th in Phoenix he does wrestle Kamala once. 18th in Anchorage, Tito finally avenges his defeat at SummerSlam to Shango. 23rd in Pittsburgh Boss Man misses so Nailz has to do a pinfall job to Bob Backlund. How the hell did a nerd like Bobby escape Nailz?? Same night in Denver, Tatanka does a one off with The Model and The Genius works his occasional singles match, putting over Max Moon. 24th at the Rosemont and 25th in Peoria Smithers is missing it so Shawn does a job to Tatanka with the same finish they'll recycle for TV in 93 where his suplex is a smooth reversal into a sunset flip. 31st in Evansville Crush works Kamala, in for Davey Boy. Terry Taylor doesnt waste much time getting back to jobbing - 10th in Yakima he's looking at the lights for Max, 23rd in Pittsburgh and 25th in Columbia MO its Virgil. Those last two shows mentioned there are rare wins for Jim Powers over Horowitz. 

At Saskatoon TVs, as well as Bret famously taking home the WWF title, there's an untelevised Ultimate Maniacs vs Money Inc match where Money Inc are announced as tag team champions despite the switch not happening yet which makes you think this might have been used for TV in the original plan. You've also got 14/11 Superstars taping of Davey Boy vs Repo Man which is Bulldogs TV swansong, and the big angle of the return of Marty Jannetty in the angle where Sherri takes the mirror over the head, plus Marty tapes some matches. In Regina you've got the taping of Money Inc winning the tag belts back plus the Bret/Warrior v Shango/Kamala tag from Unreleased where Warrior does literally nothing except tag in for the finish, plus for 15/11 Challenge a lesser known rarity for the hardcores, Shawn Michaels vs Big Boss Man. You've also got dark matches and TV debut in the can for Yokozuna, the debut of Damian Demento and the first appearances in the crowd taped of Doink.

26th in Springfield IL Bret pins The Mountie! with a German suplex in a WWF title match they never use, and that's promptly it for popular Jacques, he just walks out afterwards. Also dark - here's Bam Bam Bigelow! He does a rather ignominious DQ loss to Virgil then beats a jobber. You've also got Bob Backlund making a save on The Model beating up his jobber after the bell and a (brief) Warrior vs Nailz match on top of the Survivor Series Showdown taping. 27th in Terre Haute is pretty eventful too, you've got the SNME where Shawn relieves Smithers of the Intercontinental title and Bret defends against Papa Shango, Bret puts another title defence in the can beating Virgil for Superstars plus another Warrior/Nailz match. 28th in Louisville you've got the Model jobbing to regional hero Jeff Jarrett and Davey Boy taping wins that will never air over Barry Horowitz and Berzerker, plus an unaired Nailz pinfall win over Boss Man (presumably to get him ready for the Undertaker feud that never happens) and Bret vs Kamala from the belt which makes Coliseum plus ANOTHER Warrior vs Nailz match. Don't worry Jim, I'm sure November will be kinder.....

Here's the Bam Bam vs Virgil match ;

 

 

And here's a fascinating look at that show in Charlottetown from the local news. Its on Prince Edward Island... not just Canada, but an ISLAND in Canada. That's remote.

 

Edited October 13, 2023 by air_raid

[Chili]

Is that the same taping they had Jimmy Garvin doing an untaped one off where his soundbyte ended up in the Wrestlemania Album? 

[air_raid]

12 hours ago, Chili said:

Is that the same taping they had Jimmy Garvin doing an untaped one off where his soundbyte ended up in the Wrestlemania Album? 

October 26th In Springfield, yes. Are you ready for the Survivor Series indeed.

[Loki]

We never got Flair v Taker on tv or PPV did we?  I can only assume it was awful.

 What a mess the WWF was at this point.  It’s clear they needed Hogan back

[The King of Old School]

23 minutes ago, Loki said:

We never got Flair v Taker on tv or PPV did we?  I can only assume it was awful.

 What a mess the WWF was at this point.  It’s clear they needed Hogan back

We did, but it was 10 years later!