SuperBacon Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 8 minutes ago, Merzbow said: Ken Shamrock This would be excellent. Love to see him snap one last time and start suplexing loads of refs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 23 Paid Members Share Posted January 23 I'd love to see Shamrock in the Rumble, and given that he's started working with them on merch, it's the most likely it's been in forever. I'm not convinced that WWE medical would ever clear him, though, and think he's probably back in the mix for a Hall of Fame induction if anything. I expect we see Naomi/Trinity in the Women's Rumble, and maybe Matt Cardona in the men's. I also think there might be a completely out of left-field entrant (think Takao Omori in 1996) just for the new regime to put their stamp on it not being the Vince McMahon show any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Wasn't that the same year as ancient looking Dory Funk Jr turned up? Not even Terry who would rather do Japanese death matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Alan Grant Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 15 minutes ago, BomberPat said: I also think there might be a completely out of left-field entrant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 23 Paid Members Share Posted January 23 25 minutes ago, BomberPat said: (think Takao Omori in 1996) 13 minutes ago, Merzbow said: Wasn't that the same year as ancient looking Dory Funk Jr turned up? Not even Terry who would rather do Japanese death matches. Yes. Fabulously random Rumble also including the Headhunters ("Squat Team"), Doug Gilbert, a returning Jake Roberts and Tatanka (after not much break that one admittedly), Vader's debut... and it could have been even wackier. Sabu agreed to work it until Paul E talked him out of it, and they were trying their best to secure Warrior in time. I have a memory of them actually announcing Warrior on a Sunday afternoon episode of Action Zone but it could be a fake memory/confused with a fair few episodes of The Ross Report where JR actually touched on rumours, so he may just have been saying "rumours are that the WWF are negotiating with the Ultimate Warrior" - but equally on the other hand Jim was the kind of nutter that if they used his name before an agreement was actually in place, he'd have put the kibosh on coming back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 23 Paid Members Share Posted January 23 7 minutes ago, air_raid said: Yes. Fabulously random Rumble also including the Headhunters ("Squat Team"), Doug Gilbert, a returning Jake Roberts and Tatanka (after not much break that one admittedly), Vader's debut... and it could have been even wackier. Sabu agreed to work it until Paul E talked him out of it, and they were trying their best to secure Warrior in time. I'd love to know how much truth there is to the story of Sabu being the original idea for The Sultan gimmick, given the timing of him potentially doing the Rumble, and then Rikishi being given that gimmick in August. A lot of it does seem really plausible - Sabu's already got the mock-Middle Eastern look, so you can see how they look at him and get to genie trousers and Iron Sheik boots, and the whole "he wears a mask and doesn't speak because he had his tongue cut out" thing scans with a guy who at the time never spoke, and had done the Hannibal Lecter mask gimmick early in his ECW run. Sabu's side of the story was always that he turned them down when he found out they were going to put him with The Iron Sheik as his manager, because he refused to work with him out of respect for his uncle. I've written about it elsewhere, but the '96 Rumble has a really odd place in my wrestling fandom. I must have seen highlights of it when I was a kid, towards the end of my first run of being a wrestling fan, because there's no way I saw the whole show, I'd only ever catch the B-shows and highlight shows on Sky when nobody else was watching the TV. For years I had a really distinct memory of there being a Rumble or Battle Royal where two identical twin Sumo wrestlers entered, and one was walking to the ring as the other was eliminated - they met in the middle, and both turned around and entered the ring, running roughshod on everybody, and the referees couldn't do anything about it because they couldn't tell them apart and didn't know which one was legal. I remembered that vividly for years, until I tried to figure out what the match was, and realised it didn't exist, never happened. The best I can figure is that my childhood brain half-remembered it as Yokozuna and the Squat Team being in the ring at the same time, the bit when both Squat Team members hit the ring, and just mashed it up all in my head, because the Squat Team collectively last all of a couple of minutes in this match, yet it felt like a massive stretch when I remembered it. Memory's a weird thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 23 Paid Members Share Posted January 23 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: I'd love to know how much truth there is to the story of Sabu being the original idea for The Sultan gimmick, given the timing of him potentially doing the Rumble, and then Rikishi being given that gimmick in August. A lot of it does seem really plausible - Sabu's already got the mock-Middle Eastern look, so you can see how they look at him and get to genie trousers and Iron Sheik boots, and the whole "he wears a mask and doesn't speak because he had his tongue cut out" thing scans with a guy who at the time never spoke, and had done the Hannibal Lecter mask gimmick early in his ECW run. Sabu's side of the story was always that he turned them down when he found out they were going to put him with The Iron Sheik as his manager, because he refused to work with him out of respect for his uncle. Prichard's version is that trips to Japan being off the table is the reason he turned it down... which is plausible, as it was a source of a falling out with the Steiners at the same time, them being told it wasn't an issue until it became an issue, and them throwing their toys out of the pram costing them getting the belts back and their Mania X payday. A real shame.... The Steiner Brothers winning the WWF tag titles at Madison Square Garden would have been very cool indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Version1.0 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Tye Dillenger at 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Surely Hogan is entering after that video last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 No way is he able to get over the top rope, he'd have to win it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 23 Paid Members Share Posted January 23 18 minutes ago, The King of Old School said: Surely Hogan is entering after that video last night. Surely Hulk Hogan going for one last shot at glory and entering the Royal Rumble gets more build than a throwaway comment 5 days prior? It was bants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaitoRyo Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 I don't have anything to add to the Rumble discussion, but seeing Bossman's name did help me come up with this shit joke: Not only was Ray Traylor a corrections officer in real life, he also portrayed one in professional wrestling! Talk about a Bossman's holiday... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 (edited) 32 minutes ago, air_raid said: Surely Hulk Hogan going for one last shot at glory and entering the Royal Rumble gets more build than a throwaway comment 5 days prior? It was bants. Oh, good job you pointed that out. Edited January 23 by The King of Old School Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 51 minutes ago, Merzbow said: No way is he able to get over the top rope, he'd have to win it. Even better, Roman vs Hogan would be huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Seeing The Bossman joke still going, after over 20 years and on a different forum, bring a tear to my eye.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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