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House Show/TV tapings random happenings


air_raid

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5 hours ago, Chili said:

. One Man Gang got a WWF tryout in 1998, same time they brought John Tenta. Imagine it, The One Man Golga. Could have been. 

I always felt they missed a trick by not having Tenta come back in 98 as Earthquake. Imagine him managed by Vince v Austin, The Rock, Kane, Undertaker etc.

Matches wouldnt have been great but it was the Attitude Era. Quake could work at a main event level and they could have got six months to a year out of him in marquee matches I reckon.

Anyway, back to the topic. CIMA wrestled Jamie Noble in a dark match in about 2008 which seems pretty random.

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14 hours ago, scratchdj said:

That doesn’t look like a regular WWE ring, as in the ropes look like cables rather than actual rope that WWE have always used. Could it have been possible for WWE to tour Japan and not take their own setup?

There were a few (sws?) Shows and other join ventures inthe 90s I think. Pritchardexplained that Japanese promoters always claimed you needed a local promoter to run shows (with some local talent) in Japan. They of course later found out it was easier without them. This meant that the set up was typically a Japanese style right with WWF turnbuckle pads. I used to have a Brett Hart shoot interview tape with some matches against Tiger Mask which had this set up. 

13 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

I always felt they missed a trick by not having Tenta come back in 98 as Earthquake. Imagine him managed by Vince v Austin, The Rock, Kane, Undertaker etc.

Matches wouldnt have been great but it was the Attitude Era. Quake could work at a main event level and they could have got six months to a year out of him in marquee matches I reckon.

Anyway, back to the topic. CIMA wrestled Jamie Noble in a dark match in about 2008 which seems pretty random.

Although Tenta was young in age relatively speaking he looked like an old man and had been a big part of the early 90s WWF and the early Hogan wcw which made him look ancient in 98 when everything was new and exciting. I doubt the WWF would have wanted to risk putting off its new fam Ase by running with someone from the golden years in a top spot. Apart from Taker and Xpac there wasn't really anyone from the early 90s in a money making position that was in a recognisable form. 

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16 hours ago, boshealecta said:

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?

Or it could have been any match at all really?

Sounds like a dream rather than a memory. Savage defended the belt against Shawn in Sheffield in 1992 as per the UK Rampage tape and he and Flair never appeared on the same show in the city.

Getting back to things that actually happened….

15 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

CIMA wrestled Jamie Noble in a dark match in about 2008 which seems pretty random.

10th Feb 2009 SmackDown in Fresno. Makes sense for him as he was working California indies that week and it’s another payday. How it works for them, who reached out to who, if there was a view to future dates, I’d love to know. Maybe it was just one of those “added value” deals for the fans that came. I’m not sure the company ever got away from wanting that feeling of “Anything can happen in the WWF/E!”

 

2 hours ago, simonworden said:

Although Tenta was young in age relatively speaking he looked like an old man and had been a big part of the early 90s WWF and the early Hogan wcw which made him look ancient in 98 when everything was new and exciting. I doubt the WWF would have wanted to risk putting off its new fam Ase by running with someone from the golden years in a top spot. Apart from Taker and Xpac there wasn't really anyone from the early 90s in a money making position that was in a recognisable form. 

I don’t know if that holds up considering they gave Boss Man another run. He’d been an even bigger part of the late 80s/early 90s WWF and been treated as glorified job fodder by WCW in 96-98 far more recent to his rehire than Tenta, but they gave him a new look and storyline reason to be involved, and he was a featured act, still called “Big Boss Man” without an attempt to hide he was a star from a bygone era.

They’d used Earthquake in “The New Generation” without batting an eye, I’m not sure it’s much of a stretch to bring him back in 1998. The reinvention is straightforward. You give him new gear, still call him Earthquake to invoke any of that dread factor that’s still there for long term fans, and bring him up to date for the times. Have him cut out references to literal earthquakes in his promos and the theatrics before his finish and have him make it clear he’s a paid heavy here to take out Austin. The question used to be asked “What would we do if it was Hulk” and the answer was often “a new monster” so I think they could have done this with Stone Cold to give him a one month break from Undertaker and Kane or even just something else to worry about on Raw episodes.

Although to play devils advocate, the exact same story could have been done with “paid off super heavyweight terrorizes Austin” in 1998 with Vader who had far more upside and was already on the payroll, and they didn’t. So if they couldn’t see a point in Austin vs Vader maybe Austin vs Earthquake would be too much of a stretch.

Edited by air_raid
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45 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Or it could have been any match at all really?

Sounds like a dream rather than a memory. Savage defended the belt against Shawn in Sheffield in 1992 as per the UK Rampage tape and he and Flair never appeared on the same show in the city.

Getting back to things that actually happened….

10th Feb 2009 SmackDown in Fresno. Makes sense for him as he was working California indies that week and it’s another payday. How it works for them, who reached out to who, if there was a view to future dates, I’d love to know. Maybe it was just one of those “added value” deals for the fans that came. I’m not sure the company ever got away from wanting that feeling of “Anything can happen in the WWF/E!”

 

I don’t know if that holds up considering they gave Boss Man another run. He’d been an even bigger part of the late 80s/early 90s WWF and been treated as glorified job fodder by WCW in 96-98 far more recent to his rehire than Tenta, but they gave him a new look and storyline reason to be involved, and he was a featured act, still called “Big Boss Man” without an attempt to hide he was a star from a bygone era.

They’d used Earthquake in “The New Generation” without batting an eye, I’m not sure it’s much of a stretch to bring him back in 1998. The reinvention is straightforward. You give him new gear, still call him Earthquake to invoke any of that dread factor that’s still there for long term fans, and bring him up to date for the times. Have him cut out references to literal earthquakes in his promos and the theatrics before his finish and have him make it clear he’s a paid heavy here to take out Austin. The question used to be asked “What would we do if it was Hulk” and the answer was often “a new monster” so I think they could have done this with Stone Cold to give him a one month break from Undertaker and Kane or even just something else to worry about on Raw episodes.

Although to play devils advocate, the exact same story could have been done with “paid off super heavyweight terrorizes Austin” in 1998 with Vader who had far more upside and was already on the payroll, and they didn’t. So if they couldn’t see a point in Austin vs Vader maybe Austin vs Earthquake would be too much of a stretch.

I wouldn't say Bossman was in a true prominent position feuding against any real top stars though even with a repackage. He was definately A lower mid carder/ lackey for the most part. Quake could have fit in with that, perhaps coming in a few months before the corporation caused him to miss the chance to be an extra heavy against DX/Austin. 

This does make me reflect on how few big opponents Austin actually had in his 98-99 run.

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18 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

I always felt they missed a trick by not having Tenta come back in 98 as Earthquake. Imagine him managed by Vince v Austin, The Rock, Kane, Undertaker etc.

Matches wouldnt have been great but it was the Attitude Era. Quake could work at a main event level and they could have got six months to a year out of him in marquee matches I reckon.

The major problem with Tenta then though was that he was no longer that huge, mobile bulk. He'd slimmed down and looked really quite odd with this new physique. He lost that imposing size, and the solid mass, he once had, and his leotards were almost hanging off him. He probably still would have been able to work, but he wouldn't have come across as this monster, just a weirdly out of shape flabby bloke.

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I had a gander of that Tenta 2001 match on Youtube, which Ill share if people want to see.

 

I know Tenta is the poster boy for 'Wrestlers in the 90s looking far older than what they are', but its still worth pointing out that he was only 38 here. Considering he was thought of as a has-been half a decade earlier, thats still madness to me.  Theres also a million comparissons you can do which baffle the mind. Hes the same age here as Kenny Omega is now. People like Matt Sydal and Shawn Spears are around this age too. When he was doing his Golga stuff, he was the same age as Moxley, Cody, Penta, Matt Jackson, Orange Cassidy, the list goes on.

Edited by Dai
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This is off topic from the random house shows, but on topic to 80s wrestlers looking older than they were.   I just started watching some 1998 Raw and the Rock 'n' Roll Express come back and even though the commentary isn't as explicit about it as they were with Backlund in 1992, they were obviously presented as a couple of old fogies from the past, and Gibson was just 39 and Morton was 41.

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15 hours ago, air_raid said:

Sounds like a dream rather than a memory. Savage defended the belt against Shawn in Sheffield in 1992 as per the UK Rampage tape and he and Flair never appeared on the same show in the city.

The European Rampage Again Tour (Sheffield) is a House show produced by the World Wrestling Federation on September 28, 1992 at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England.
 

 

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Re: ages of wrestlers. Comparisons to modern healthy living, workouts and conditioning notwithstanding (AJ Styles is 44 today), mileage has always varied. Michael Hayes was washed up by his early 30s and retired by 35, Ric Flair had his best in-ring year of his career (1989) at the age of 40. Plus, presentation and perception is everything. In 1996 Jake the Snake was pronounced past it at the age of 41 by the WWF, but then Bret Hart turned 40 mere days before Canadian Stampede, one month before they put the belt on him again.


Back to house shows!

A totally random question occurred when I was thinking about this fantastic example of what I made the thread for ;

On 1/8/2022 at 8:38 PM, Fatty Facesitter said:

For years I've been looking for photos/footage of the house show rematch that took place between The Rock and Brock Lesnar in 2003.

Mulling over limited dates runs over the years, I asked myself the question - did Goldberg go on the road in 2003-04? Turns out he did a few house shows in 2003!

 20th July in San Jose, against Triple H for the belt. Finish - pinfall after a low blow, run ins from Orton and the Nature Boy.

7th September in Chattanooga, against HHH again which barely goes a minute before Flair interferes prompting an impromptu tag match of Goldberg & Maven (really) against HHH & Flair, Flair doing the honours to the Jackhammer.

12th September in Nashville, a tag without the pretence of a title match, Goldberg & Maven vs Triple H & Orton, Goldy pins Randy.

28th September in Peoria, IL, Goldberg and Maven beat Orton & Flair (Jackhammer on Orton).

11th October at The Norfolk Scope, Bill and HBK beat Flair and Orton when Goldberg pins Orton. That doesn’t even go on last as for some reason a tables match of Booker, Shane and all three Dudleys vs Chris Jericho, Christian and La Resistance did. Yes, Shane used to do house shows!

12th in Wheeling, WV get the same except Spike and Grenier aren’t in the “main event,” it’s 4 on 4.

17th in Manchester, NH, Goldberg and Booker T beat Orton and Flair (Orton pinned by ‘berg again). 18th in Providence, the same.

21st November in Detroit, Goldberg and Booker beat Hunter, Orton and Batista in a handicap match, Orton pinned. 22nd in Tacoma, the same.

28th in Vegas and 29th in San Francisco he’s beating Kane by DQ when Evolution run in. Gotta protect Kane, I guess. No such luck December 12th at MSG where an expectedly loaded card is closed by Goldberg pinning Kane after a spear but no Jackhammer.

There was also a title match dark match with Hunter after the 28th July Raw (DQ when Orton runs in).

More fun - with Kevin Nash not having to fight Hunter in San Jose, he was moved to a mixed six-person with Scotty Steiner and Trish against Test, Stevie Richards and Victoria, and the finish was a Jacknife on Test! I bet that was a sight!

On the subject of Hunter, 29th August the Raw roster go to Memphis, and HBK tags with hometown hero Jerry Lawler to fight HHH and Flair. Being Memphis, Hunter lost to a Lawler fistdrop.

There are also a couple of bizarre bookings of Evolution on the southern states loop in September. 12th in Knoxville was HHH vs Orton vs Flair for the title (Hunter pins Flair) and 14th in Asheville, HHH with Orton in his corner defends against Flair with Arn Anderson in his corner.

Incidentally, going to Raw house shows in 2003 was a massive gamble. When Hunter wasn’t injured he had long runs defending against Steiner or Nash and due to his injuries and Goldberg’s schedule the star power was so lacking that main events were often La Res against RVD & Kane or the Dudleys early in the year, then later RVD vs Kane or Shane vs Kane in cage matches, and late in the year even some heel vs heel Kane vs Batista main events. The vast majority of these didn’t even have a Shawn Michaels match to save them. Rough.

4 hours ago, boshealecta said:

The European Rampage Again Tour (Sheffield) is a House show produced by the World Wrestling Federation on September 28, 1992 at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England.
 

Well, shut my mouth. Never even occurred to me they toured again later in the year but with domestic business struggling and European business still booming, why wouldn’t they. Your clean finish to Flair/Savage was the “Savage/Steamboat Mania 3” finish with Savage heavily selling the leg so struggling with a bodyslam, they did that finish a lot on domestic house shows too, when Savage wasn’t getting a shit kicking from Razor. Divorce AND getting pinned every night on the road, I bet Randy was dying to see the end of 1992.

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Wrestlemania revenge tour 2005, Dublin.

This is night 2 in Dublin and everyone is in house show mode, all high 5s and shall I's. Out comes the brand new champ John Cena, then he gets attacked by JBL and angle before the big show makes the save to set up a tag team match (playa).  All very paint by numbers, except that after taking a shot with the ring steps, Cena blades and ends up pissing blood, which caused a lot of confusion as Cena had never bled on TV at that point.

 

Looking back, it was probably a trial blade job before the I quit match with JBL, but a lot of small children were left traumatized that night.

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@poetofthedeed

Thanks for that! One upvote really isn’t enough for that tidbit, absolutely fascinating to hear Cena gigged a gusher on “just a house show.” Can we not 100% rule out that it was accidental hardway or did a report confirm him doing the deed? Wouldn’t dismiss the trial idea off hand… “Bleed in front of the Irish, they won’t complain.”

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12 minutes ago, air_raid said:

@poetofthedeed

Thanks for that! One upvote really isn’t enough for that tidbit, absolutely fascinating to hear Cena gigged a gusher on “just a house show.” Can we not 100% rule out that it was accidental hardway or did a report confirm him doing the deed? Wouldn’t dismiss the trial idea off hand… “Bleed in front of the Irish, they won’t complain.”

 

Actually just remembered that it was a chair shot that opened him, then the steps.

 

Honestly I can't tell you 100% it wasn't accidental, but the sequence was pretty much replicated step for step in the I quit match (chair shot, Cena feeds up bloody, stairs to the head) and that's what convinced me it was planned.

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Not on the same level as some of the gold that's been uncovered in this thread, more a daft anecdote of breaking kayfabe: a couple of days before the Plane Ride from Hell I was at a house show in Glasgow where the Undertaker did that goofy Flair spot where you walk forward dazed, then cartoonishly belly flop forward. Not sure if he was doing that at all the house shows or just randomly that night? It was funny. It was a multi-man main event in which Flair was also involved.  

Edited by IronSheik
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