House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[air_raid]

2 minutes ago, thicko said:

Bret was told, in November 1991, that  he would be dropping the title to Shaun in 9 months time? Was this part of a long term plan for Shaun from splitting The Rockers? Or am I misunderstanding? 

Yes, on December 3rd 1991 Bret was told (he says) by Vince that he’d drop the belt shortly to The Mountie, win it back from Roddy Piper at Mania VIII, then drop it to Shawn at SummerSlam.

[AshC]

Anyone know much about these paid shows they did in Dubai (?) in late 1996?

King of the Ring show, Royal Rumble show, tag matches show...  quite different.

[LEGIT]

I've read in numerous places Sin Cara wrestled Dean Malenko in a dark match in 2007, before his debut. I just find it hard to believe this happened, as far I know there's no footage or even pics of this match, considering Dean's reputation and the fact he was long retired, you'd think there would be something out there.

[air_raid]

 

9 hours ago, AshC said:

Anyone know much about these paid shows they did in Dubai (?) in late 1996?

King of the Ring show, Royal Rumble show, tag matches show...  quite different.

Not much beyond the bare bones results from the usual sources.

 

WWF @ Dubai, United Arab Emirates - SportsClub Outdoor Stadium - November 29, 1996
Aldo Montoya & Barry Horowitz vs. TL Hopper & Justin Bradshaw
Barry Windham & Rocky Maivia vs. Crush & Farooq
WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs. Henry & Phinneas Godwinn
WWF World Champion Psycho Sid & Bob Holly vs. Vader & Steve Austin
Bret Hart & the Undertaker vs. Mankind & the Executioner

WWF @ Dubai, United Arab Emirates - SportsClub Outdoor Stadium - November 30, 1996
Included several Survivor Series style elimination matches

WWF @ Dubai, United Arab Emirates - SportsClub Outdoor Stadium - December 1, 1996
Bret Hart won a 20-man battle royal; other participants included: Aldo Montoya, Barry Horowitz, TL Hopper, Justin Bradshaw, Barry Windham, Rocky Maivia, Crush, Farooq, WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith, Henry & Phinneas Godwinn, WWF World Champion Psycho Sid, Bob Holly, Vader, Steve Austin, the Undertaker, Mankind, & the Executioner

Middle East Cup Tournament - Dubai, United Arab Emirates - December 2, 1996
Quarter Finals:
Bret Hart pinned WWF Tag Team Champion Davey Boy Smith
Farooq fought Vader to a double count-out
The Undertaker defeated Mankind
Steve Austin defeated WWF Tag Team Champion Owen Hart
Semi Finals: Steve Austin defeated the Undertaker via disqualification when Undertaker was caught using a chair that Austin had originally brought into the ring
Finals: Bret Hart pinned Steve Austin with a cradle after Austin was distracted by Davey Boy Smith at ringside; after the bout, Owen Hart pulled Smith away from the ring after Austin returned and gave Bret the Stone Cold Stunner

Tag matches on the first night said to have been specifically booked as the talent was suffering massively from jet lag, and the “battle royal” referred to was contested under Rumble rules according to at least one podcast I heard from someone who was working there - probably Prichard.

 

I  got some more handheld stuff for your consideration, from the WWF tour of Japan from 1994. I try and limit my Bret bias but… well, these are two Bret title defences.

8th May in Nagoya, he wrestles Bam Bam Bigelow. Usually Bret and Bam Bam had the same match with the same finish (Victory Roll). They did it at MSG, they did it on their Coliseum match, they did it in Barcelona (see Brets DVD) and they did it at King of the Ring (plus the extra Luna instigated false finish). Here, they do something different. If you’d like, stop reading and watch it now, and I’ll summarise underneath for those that won’t be bothered to watch.

 

 

The end comes for Bam Bam when he goes for his moonsault(!) - this is always a superb jeopardy spot for a super heavyweight, 100% it’s over if he connects. When he misses Bret applies the Sharpshooter for the submission win, something he never usually achieved on TV against big monsters like Bigelow, Vader, Yokozuna etc, so I found it interesting to see.

And from the night before, a match you may have heard happened but not seen, against Macho Man. You can probably guess what kind of sequence they did for the finish but - come on, it’s Bret Hart vs Randy Savage for the WWF title in 1994. If you don’t mind handhelds you simply must watch these two wrestling each other in the WWF for probably the only time on tape after Bret went into singles, when Savage was still brilliant and Bret was in his prime.

 

[air_raid]

36 minutes ago, LEGIT said:

I've read in numerous places Sin Cara wrestled Dean Malenko in a dark match in 2007, before his debut. I just find it hard to believe this happened, as far I know there's no footage or even pics of this match, considering Dean's reputation and the fact he was long retired, you'd think there would be something out there.

Sorry for the double post but - here’s what I can piece together. He had a tryout before any fans were there, so the only photos or video will be company owned. Some sites mention Mistico/Sin Cara as “beating” Malenko, some that he merely wrestled both Malenko and Jamie Noble without a stated winner. I think the truth is either going to be that he just got in the ring and ran through some holds/sequences with the pair of them, or worked a short match with Deano with Noble observing or there to count pins. Weird to try out without being able to gauge a crowd, I’m assuming it was just to see if he was likely able to adapt to the grappling given they work the other side in Mexico?

[LEGIT]

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

Sorry for the double post but - here’s what I can piece together. He had a tryout before any fans were there, so the only photos or video will be company owned. Some sites mention Mistico/Sin Cara as “beating” Malenko, some that he merely wrestled both Malenko and Jamie Noble without a stated winner. I think the truth is either going to be that he just got in the ring and ran through some holds/sequences with the pair of them, or worked a short match with Deano with Noble observing or there to count pins. Weird to try out without being able to gauge a crowd, I’m assuming it was just to see if he was likely able to adapt to the grappling given they work the other side in Mexico?

Thanks for the info, I think you're right.

Likewise I remember reading about the Nasty Boys having a dark match in 2007. That is one I would love to see not only for the sheer randomness, but the claim that they spoiled the chance for themselves by roughing up Dave Taylor and Galloway during the match.

It just seems weird, they'd never cameoed in WWE before or since. As far as I'm aware this would've been the first they'd teamed since WCW, as it was before Hulk's Australia tour. I liked the Nasties, but I can't get the thought process of WWE giving them a chance in 2007, given their reputation and years of inactivity. 

[Chili]

26 minutes ago, LEGIT said:

Thanks for the info, I think you're right.

Likewise I remember reading about the Nasty Boys having a dark match in 2007. That is one I would love to see not only for the sheer randomness, but the claim that they spoiled the chance for themselves by roughing up Dave Taylor and Galloway during the match.

It just seems weird, they'd never cameoed in WWE before or since. As far as I'm aware this would've been the first they'd teamed since WCW, as it was before Hulk's Australia tour. I liked the Nasties, but I can't get the thought process of WWE giving them a chance in 2007, given their reputation and years of inactivity. 

Sometimes it's a favour, sometimes it's a local thing. Sometimes names you'd think might be washed up get an indie rep for some hard work or as Terry Funk always said 'Vince is nice sometimes'. One Man Gang got a WWF tryout in 1998, same time they brought John Tenta. Imagine it, The One Man Golga. Could have been. 

[BomberPat]

11 minutes ago, Chili said:

Sometimes it's a favour, sometimes it's a local thing. Sometimes names you'd think might be washed up get an indie rep for some hard work or as Terry Funk always said 'Vince is nice sometimes'. One Man Gang got a WWF tryout in 1998, same time they brought John Tenta. Imagine it, The One Man Golga. Could have been. 

Tenta had a dark match in 2001, even. It was designed to get his trainee over, but still a bit of weirdness.

What you have to bear in mind is that some of these guys weren't as old as you'd think - I did a breakdown of the Gimmick Battle Royal from Wrestlemania 17 a while back, and it's mad how many of the people in it feel like complete relics even though some of them were still in their 30s.

In 1998, One Man Gang would have been 38, and was working some matches for ECW, and only two years removed from his last WCW run. He was the same age as Steve Williams, who came in that year, and younger than Vader. It feels like he was a throwback to an earlier age, but it's really more indicative of how quickly wrestling was changing in the late '90s - would Gang coming in have been that much weirder than Boss Man? 

[WyattSheepMask]

56 minutes ago, LEGIT said:

Thanks for the info, I think you're right.

Likewise I remember reading about the Nasty Boys having a dark match in 2007. That is one I would love to see not only for the sheer randomness, but the claim that they spoiled the chance for themselves by roughing up Dave Taylor and Galloway during the match.

It just seems weird, they'd never cameoed in WWE before or since. As far as I'm aware this would've been the first they'd teamed since WCW, as it was before Hulk's Australia tour. I liked the Nasties, but I can't get the thought process of WWE giving them a chance in 2007, given their reputation and years of inactivity. 

Interesting you mentioned Galloway/McIntyre there (I forget which was using on his first run), as he was part of the house show run that Ricky Steamboat had shortly after Wrestlemania 25 and Backlash.

Starting in June, Steamboat was beating Sheamus (who was only about 3 weeks away from debuting on ECW) and McIntyre up until early August, and also split wins with Jericho in Tokyo (Jericho won) and Greenville (Steamboat winning) along the way

Edited January 15, 2022 by WyattSheepMask

[Chili]

For the record I absolutely love that John Tenta 2001 dark match. The crowd love him and the Earthquake splash gets a proper pop. Should have put him in the 2002 Rumble. 

[wandshogun09]

3 hours ago, air_raid said:

WWF World Champion Psycho Sid & Bob Holly vs. Vader & Steve Austin

How random that Bob Holly was thrown into this match in late 96. If I remember right he’d barely even been on TV for a good chunk of that year as well.

On Stinko Malenko, wasn’t there some talk of him wrestling Benoit on either the first or second ECW One Night Stands at one point? 

[WyattSheepMask]

1 minute ago, wandshogun09 said:

 

On Stinko Malenko, wasn’t there some talk of him wrestling Benoit on either the first or second ECW One Night Stands at one point? 

That would’ve been the second one as they apparently wanted to an Eddie Guerrero Tribute.Memorial match. Presumably it got nixed as the second ONS was more of a launching pad for the new ECW show and they needed to give Tommy Dreamer 18 minutes 

[Chili]

4 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said:

That would’ve been the second one as they apparently wanted to an Eddie Guerrero Tribute.Memorial match. Presumably it got nixed as the second ONS was more of a launching pad for the new ECW show and they needed to give Tommy Dreamer 18 minutes 

Benoit took personal time off after Judgment Day 2006 (it was related to stuff that happened the following year apparently). He returned in October. 

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, LEGIT said:

Likewise I remember reading about the Nasty Boys having a dark match in 2007. That is one I would love to see not only for the sheer randomness, but the claim that they spoiled the chance for themselves by roughing up Dave Taylor and Galloway during the match.

The bigger issue on that one was that they screwed up with their timings, not just in the ring but taking an eternity to get to the ring and get the match started, meaning the entire of the rest of the evenings taping ran behind schedule meaning when they had what they needed for SmackDown in the can, they only had 5 minutes to change the ring aprons and get everything ready for ECW which (preposterously) aired live at the time. It basically left management with the feeling that the pair weren’t worth bothering with. Which they weren’t.

1 hour ago, LEGIT said:

I liked the Nasties, but I can't get the thought process of WWE giving them a chance in 2007, given their reputation and years of inactivity. 

It’s still nowhere near as dumb as TNA programming the Dudleys, 10 years past their best, against the Nastys, 20 years past their best, for the tag belts on a PPV in 2010. The alternative product giving you the Nasty Boys in 2010 was far worse “Vinces rest home” than those 1993 Worldwides on ITV could have dreamed of being.

1 hour ago, Chili said:

Sometimes it's a favour, sometimes it's a local thing. Sometimes names you'd think might be washed up get an indie rep for some hard work or as Terry Funk always said 'Vince is nice sometimes'. One Man Gang got a WWF tryout in 1998, same time they brought John Tenta. Imagine it, The One Man Golga. Could have been. 

Vince and JR both have soft spots for giving guys “one more run” against their better judgment, out of Jim’s own mouth.

I remember reading about the Gangs tryout in the post-Starrcade issue of Power Slam. Around the same time they also have tryouts to Vito, Steve Corino, The Headhunters (yet again) and…. Paul Roma. Can you imagine???

While I’m hovering around November/December 97, dark mains from a few tapings throw up some interesting stuff. Roanoke on 25/11 got a triangle tag match of Austin & Dude Love vs LOD vs Farooq & The Rock, and a couple of shows got Austin, Taker, Cactus & Chainsaw/Funk vs all four of The Nation. If you think that sounds like fun Coliseum-style throwaway nonsense but with Attitude Era names, one got onto an Unreleased DVD, so here it is.

 

[boshealecta]

I’m probably remembering it wrong as I was a kid. But I seem to have this memory of seeing a house show in Sheffield which was in 1992. Flair was champ and he faced Savage. Savage went for the elbow, Flair got his foot up and then pinned him clean. I remember being shocked that there was no shenanigans. 
 

Or then again it could have been Earthquake against IRS. Or a Beverley?