WWE Vault Appreciation Thread

[Chris B]

2 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Art, theatre, film, wrestling, comedy - I don't think any form of performance should shy away from making people uncomfortable.

Including the performers?

[Snitsky's back acne]

2 hours ago, Chris B said:

Including the performers?

How do you mean?

[boshealecta]

Not the actual Vault but just watching WCW Uncensored as it popped up on the WCW YouTube channel. I’d heard how bad the whole Alliance to End Hulkamania was and the Tower of Doom and read and seen clips but thought I’d check it out in full. 
 

It reminded me how much WWE always changes narratives for their documentaries. I saw that the date of this “Tower of Doom” was 1996. I’d always thought that nWo and WCW capitalised because WWF was still focussed on Doink the Clown and cartoon characters and that’s why they did so well. But by 1996 WWF was already shedding that image. It was all about Shawn, Sid, Taker, Vader and Mankind. It was WCW still in the past. Doesn’t change the fact that nWo turned their fortunes around but nothing to do with WWF still being set in the cartoonish past. 

Edited August 26, 2025 by boshealecta

[gmoney]

Nitro from early 96 is a still a way better show than Raw though. It's brighter, more fun, much more varied roster. You're braced for a Godwins match at any point with Raw. 

[air_raid]

On 8/25/2025 at 7:01 PM, Chili said:

A great match but with the circumstances behind it especially with Davey's dying sister in attendance and all the political stuff behind it, I don't really like revisiting the ending. I find it all genuinely rather sad and uncomfortable, but that's very much just me. The match itself is a brilliant bit of business.

 

On 8/25/2025 at 7:10 PM, Snitsky's back acne said:

I think that's what makes it all the more impactful. It was incredibly uncomfortable. 

 

On 8/26/2025 at 10:33 AM, gmoney said:

Art should make one uncomfortable, don't you agree?

 

On 8/26/2025 at 10:35 AM, Snitsky's back acne said:

Art, theatre, film, wrestling, comedy - I don't think any form of performance should shy away from making people uncomfortable.

 

On 8/26/2025 at 10:51 AM, gmoney said:

It's a horrible finish, especially as they were never going to pay it off even if Davey stuck around and Shawn didn't get injured.  There's no way they'd have got Michael's to return the favour. Heated, memorable, yes. But ultimately the wrong move and genuinely nasty and sad when you know the background. 

 

On 8/26/2025 at 12:54 PM, Chris B said:

Including the performers?

 

22 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

How do you mean?

I think the core of the argument here is Smithers being told he was going over, henceforth dedicating the match to Tracy, then having it yanked back from him for cynical/logical (depending on your perspective) business reasons, meaning he’d dedicated a match to his cancer-stricken sister that he’s then lost. I’m still in shock ol’ David Boy went along with it.

Just imagine though. Regardless of how Montreal ended, someone was losing the big belt to Austin at Mania, imagine HBK going into the Nynex (later MEN, now AO) up here in Mancunia and Bulldog avenging the loss? They’d have had to put it on PPV, as originally planned.

[Snitsky's back acne]

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

 

Just imagine though. Regardless of how Montreal ended, someone was losing the big belt to Austin at Mania, imagine HBK going into the Nynex (later MEN, now AO) up here in Mancunia and Bulldog avenging the loss? They’d have had to put it on PPV, as originally planned.

Yeah I think a rematch in Manchester would have been an easy sell out and blown the roof off.

 

[wandshogun09]

It would’ve been but I don’t think Shawn was ever gonna let Bulldog get that win back. Even if he’d gone into One Night Only agreeing to return the favour in a rematch in Manchester, when push came to shove he’d have either came up with some reason why he should go over again (and Vince would’ve went along with it because he was madly in love with the boy toy) or he’d have just came up with an injury to avoid looking at the lights for Bizarre Davey.

Come to think of it, in all the matches they had between 92 and 97, did Bulldog ever get a win over Shawn? 

[Chili]

Not a chance Shawn Michaels was dropping that European belt clean, and Bulldog would have got his win back with a DQ win over Triple H or something.

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

Come to think of it, in all the matches they had between 92 and 97, did Bulldog ever get a win over Shawn? 

There was at least one DQ win in 92 down to Sherri that made it to Coliseum, though Davey was largely working Taker, then The Model, then Repo Man before winning the ICT and summarily dropping it to HBK.

Thereafter… not that I recall. Late 95 would be your best bet but, not that I recall.

[digforvictory]

17 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

It would’ve been but I don’t think Shawn was ever gonna let Bulldog get that win back. Even if he’d gone into One Night Only agreeing to return the favour in a rematch in Manchester, when push came to shove he’d have either came up with some reason why he should go over again (and Vince would’ve went along with it because he was madly in love with the boy toy) or he’d have just came up with an injury to avoid looking at the lights for Bizarre Davey.

Come to think of it, in all the matches they had between 92 and 97, did Bulldog ever get a win over Shawn? 

Michaels seemed to particularly have it out for Bulldog. One of the most one sided rivalries ever. 

He took the IC title, the tag team titles and the European title off him , eliminated him in the 95 and 96  rumbles and also successfully defended the WWF title against him. 

[Merzbow]

Earlier on Bulldog was a legitimate rival to becoming a top guy, there's many reasons why it'd never have happened but it always felt like Shawn took that rivalry personally.

I'd imagine he could politic against him in a way he couldn't with Bret who was already above him in those days.

Edited August 28, 2025 by Merzbow

[BomberPat]

it's funny, because for a while Bulldog was maybe the only one in the Hart camp that was still on good terms with The Kliq and even went out drinking with them sometimes, and One Night Only is probably what fucked that.

[TheScarlettChad]

Davey tried to save him from the Marines in Syracuse didn't he? 

[davertfnewman]

Davey, Shawn and Waltman were the three out when the fight with the marine happened. Davey got stuck in the car and was scratched near his eye when someone went for it.

[JoeManco7]

I like to think of it as more of Shawn Michaels feeling safe working with the British Bulldog and that he could trust him to make Shawn look good by them having a great match before Davey usually does the job without objecting.

Shawn and Davey must have been as much of 'friends' as people can be in the wrestling business, because when they were out on the piss with Sean Waltman in Syracuse that night in 1995 and 'the marine platoon squad' attacked Shawn, Davey after he eventually got out of the car did help fight them off.