WWE Vault Appreciation Thread

[Browser Brady]

On 5/26/2025 at 6:53 PM, davertfnewman said:

Just to show a. how loaded with talent WCW was, but also b. how they wasted talent by doing nothing with them, they had a guy like Hector Garza on the books who looked and wrestled like the greatest Mexican babyface ever without wearing a mask and they did nothing with him.

Don’t forget that Latin culture was big in the mainstream around 98/99/2000.
The time was right for a breakout latin star.

[Magnum Milano]

On 5/26/2025 at 6:53 PM, davertfnewman said:

Just to show a. how loaded with talent WCW was, but also b. how they wasted talent by doing nothing with them, they had a guy like Hector Garza on the books who looked and wrestled like the greatest Mexican babyface ever without wearing a mask and they did nothing with him.

They also had Hayabusa under contract, albeit for a very short time (something like 30 days) and he ended up never wrestling a match in the company.

[Chili]

I mean they tried an entire pilot show aimed purely at that market remember. Not sure why this absolutely died on it's arse. They clearly put more effort in than the WWF did was Super Astros.

 

 

[Browser Brady]

Granted they shouldn’t have unmasked him but regardless Rey’s urban look in 1999 i thought was great, as in he looked cool/fashionable at a time where there was little cool or fashionable about WCW.

 

 

Edited May 28, 2025 by Browser Brady

[JNLister]

Well worth bookmarking this Google Sheet list of all the content on the Vault channel from MissPeacockery on X and BlueSky : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kwc6VJiUA1GG7lChjXym72TMeGm2BmT86m98qGVzG_0/edit?gid=606681719#gid=606681719

[Merzbow]

Not the Vault but the Spanish WWE channel, they're also doing a streaming video right now showing a bunch of Astros matches never streamed elsewhere so hopefully they get put up permanently, too.

 

[tiger_rick]

This popped up yesterday. The first two seem to be real gems. HBK v Goldust from a House Show. Seems to be outside, there's a big wheel in the background. Jeff Jarrett v Bulddog, also from a non-TV show. Both have no commentary. From there, they're a bit less "forgotten". Bret v Shawn from the original Colliseum video ladder match, an Eddie & Tajiri match off a PPV and then some WCW Yung Dragons and 3 Count fun.

 

[The Dart]

The Goldust vs. Shawn Michaels match is from Toronto, it would seem, specifically this show

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWF_Xperience

Edited June 3, 2025 by The Dart

[WyattSheepMask]

18 minutes ago, The Dart said:

The Goldust vs. Shawn Michaels match is from Toronto, it would seem, specifically this show

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWF_Xperience

HBK and Goldust worked the houses & dark matches quite a bit after Summerslam through to the end of Shawn’s first run. While he wasn’t full blown “won’t lay down for anybody” Shawn by this point, he obviously didn’t see Dustin as a threat to his spot. They weren’t ever face or heel at the same time when they were still putting the effort in on Goldust before the TAFKAG gimmick

Edited June 3, 2025 by WyattSheepMask

[The Reverend]

I wonder if any of the dark matches from the UK shows exist in the vault? I know there were was a Finlay match at the first London show in 1989, and I believe there was a 6-man (possibly) at the Battle Royal at the Albert Hall show in '91. 

[wandshogun09]

Regal wrestled on the Royal Albert Hall show in 91 as well didn’t he? 

[BomberPat]

4 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Regal wrestled on the Royal Albert Hall show in 91 as well didn’t he? 

Yes, vs. Brian Maxine, and at the Docklands Arena show that year it was Regal, Dave Taylor & Tony St. Clair vs. Drew McDonald, Chic Cullen, and Johnny South. Some other UK shows had variations of that match with Danny Boy Collins on the babyface side and Skull Murphy on the heel team, and Sheffield in '92 got a Danny Boy Collins/Alan Kilby singles match.

The 1989 dark Docklands Arena dark match is the real head-scratcher - Fit Finlay, Rollerball Rocco & Skull Murphy vs. Al Perez, Dale Wolfe & Tim Horner; Perez was on house shows for years but never seemed to make TV, while Dale/Dusty Wolfe and Tim Horner were just perennial jobbers. Makes you wonder why they bothered flying them in the first place.

My understanding is either that there were tax exemptions on live entertainment if it featured British talent, or it was more the other direction, that there were specific restrictions on live entertainment that didn't feature British talent, so the WWF either put the British guys on in the dark match to tick the box and save some cash, or they were required to do so in order to run in the UK. Not sure what the specific law would have been, but there were similar things in radio and live music earlier in the 20th century - you couldn't play live on the BBC unless a certain percentage of the band were British, which led to a lot of American acts performing with orchestras or string sections just to up the number of Brits on the line-up. I think that was a musician's union issue, though, rather than tax or legal, so maybe something similar was at play when it came to WWF shows.

[JNLister]

It'

15 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Yes, vs. Brian Maxine, and at the Docklands Arena show that year it was Regal, Dave Taylor & Tony St. Clair vs. Drew McDonald, Chic Cullen, and Johnny South. Some other UK shows had variations of that match with Danny Boy Collins on the babyface side and Skull Murphy on the heel team, and Sheffield in '92 got a Danny Boy Collins/Alan Kilby singles match.

The 1989 dark Docklands Arena dark match is the real head-scratcher - Fit Finlay, Rollerball Rocco & Skull Murphy vs. Al Perez, Dale Wolfe & Tim Horner; Perez was on house shows for years but never seemed to make TV, while Dale/Dusty Wolfe and Tim Horner were just perennial jobbers. Makes you wonder why they bothered flying them in the first place.

My understanding is either that there were tax exemptions on live entertainment if it featured British talent, or it was more the other direction, that there were specific restrictions on live entertainment that didn't feature British talent, so the WWF either put the British guys on in the dark match to tick the box and save some cash, or they were required to do so in order to run in the UK. Not sure what the specific law would have been, but there were similar things in radio and live music earlier in the 20th century - you couldn't play live on the BBC unless a certain percentage of the band were British, which led to a lot of American acts performing with orchestras or string sections just to up the number of Brits on the line-up. I think that was a musician's union issue, though, rather than tax or legal, so maybe something similar was at play when it came to WWF shows.

It was to do with the working visas. For the initial tours they got sports visas, which were easier to get, but had a rule that you had to allow some British competitors into your "tournament". For wrestling, they just interpreted the entire show as being the tournament so had to have some British people on the show, which they did in the mildest way possible, namely appearing in dark matches against nobody of importance. After 1991 they switched to using entertainment visas which didn't have that restriction. (I don't know if the Royal Albert Hall show in 1991 was under the old system or if it was just a case of combining having a dark match with giving Regal a tryout.)

[gmoney]

I'd love to see the Regal v Maxine match. By Regal's own admission he was working very snug to try make a good impression. Later apparently someone said to him something along the lines of "ah yes, I remember you. You were the one beating the shit out of that poor old man."

[Chili]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

Regal wrestled on the Royal Albert Hall show in 91 as well didn’t he? 

I'm taking a punt most PPV dark matches were filmed like on TV to test the cameras, which is why I want all the golden era dark match shit posted. I know there isn't much of a market to see Paul Roma Vs Brooklyn Brawler at Wrestlemania VI, but that's the shit I really want to see. Give me Jerry Sags Vs Sam Houston at the 1991 Royal Rumble you MAGA cowards.