WWE Vault Appreciation Thread

[Chico Torres]

1 hour ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Couple of oddities in this video.

The opening match against Rip Rogers, he's a babyface! I don't remember him being a babyface at any point in WCW.

Then at 14:42 he busts out a sunset flip for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

10/10.

“The Hustler got blasted in the face by an elephant helmet” is a phrase that would require context in any other setting,

[davertfnewman]

About Vader as a face... it seems like until he became a regular in 1992 that they didn't have a clear idea of what to do with him beyond the Stan Hansen match. When Ron Simmons turned face, there was an occasion where he brought him out as a partner in one of those odd, thrown-together WCW matches.

[tiger_rick]

They upped Wrestlefest '95. I only made it through the opening match before bed but it had such odd commentary. Stan Lane and Gorilla calling Undertaker vs. Jean Pierre Lafitte. Firstly, I've heard the commentators drown out the ring announcer a million times but this was so poorly produced, it was the other way around. Lane and Gorilla both waffled through the ring intros but you couldn't hear a word. Gorilla spoke about Pierre hating Americans, which seems very odd but this match pre-dated the pirate gimmick. Gorilla also made a big deal of Taker ending Pierre's undefeated streak after the match but this was only his second match in that gimmick, he hadn't been on TV yet and he'd jobbed in his other matches in 1995 under his real name. Usual baffling Gorilla nonsense. Man, I love him.

History of WWE says Pierre was a sub for Shawn Michaels so I presume that would have been planned for the tape because there's no sign that Shawn & Taker was a programme around that time. Oddly, a month later, they were tag partners in some main events with Shawn subbing for Diesel. Also, the night after the Taker/Lafitte match was taped the crowd in Glen Falls were denied a Bret v Shawn match, getting Bret v Hakushi instead - a decent sub! 

On anti-Americans, I only saw the beginning of the next match on the tape but the tag team of Yoko, Owen & Hakushi generated some great "USA, USA" chants for their opponents, Canadian Bret Hart, Puerto Rican Savio Vega and (kayfabe) Cuban Razor Ramon. I love it when that happens.

[Dai]

I started my day today by watching the HBK/Pritchard match from this upload, which is a tonne of fun. Hot take I know, but HBK is just so good. Everything he does is effortless and perfect, even in a bog standard match like this. Throw in some over the top camp selling from Corny, and it was a great way to start the day.

[Devon Malcolm]

Started watching Superbrawl II last night.

Obviously starts with a Liger vs. Pillman classic, a match that I can watch at any time and have a great time with it.

Then an incredible drop-off to the Taylor Made Man vs Marcus Alexander Bagwell. The crowd hated Bagwell, so much so that they were cheering quite a bit for TERRY TAYLOR. It's actually not too bad a match but what a bizarre mix of quality you got on WCW PPVs at this time.

Ron Simmons vs Cactus Jack is a nice short fight and lots of fun, as I remembered.

Then you're back down to Tom Zenk and Van Hammer (RIP) vs Vinnie Vegas and Richard Morton. It's mesmerising how shit Nash was at this time. There's a great spot where Van Hammer tries to do a leapfrog on Vegas and the latter just doesn't duck at all and just runs headlong into Hammer's cock and balls. Morton does some quality bumping but this goes 12 minutes and it feels like 12 months.

Watching the rest tonight.

[wandshogun09]

Love that show. One of my first VHS tapes as a kid and I watched it relentlessly. Those matches were cut from the tape for time constraints though so I never saw the shitness of Vinnie Vegas. The VHS version was just all killer, no filler. Think it went straight from the Liger vs Pillman opener to Windham/Rhodes vs Austin/Zbyszko, which was great too. Don’t think I saw the full show with those missing matches included until years later when the Network started. 

[Chili]

5 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

Love that show. One of my first VHS tapes as a kid and I watched it relentlessly. Those matches were cut from the tape for time constraints though so I never saw the shitness of Vinnie Vegas. The VHS version was just all killer, no filler. Think it went straight from the Liger vs Pillman opener to Windham/Rhodes vs Austin/Zbyszko, which was great too. Don’t think I saw the full show with those missing matches included until years later when the Network started. 

Yeah the VHS of this and Bash 90 were my first WCW exposure and they didn't fuck about with keeping the good stuff. Though they keep a Terry Taylor promo in and I couldn't figure out what happened to the Bagwell match.

[Chico Torres]

Such a good show that the much praised opener is in my opinion the fourth best match on the show after Austin/Larry vs Windham/Rhodes, Rude vs Steamboat and Steiners vs Arn and Bobby. Peak Dangerous Alliance era.

[Statto]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

Think it went straight from the Liger vs Pillman opener to Windham/Rhodes vs Austin/Zbyszko, which was great too. 

It did, but bizarrely left in Bischoff & Schiavone's link/"punditry" bit up on the stage telling us Taylor vs Bagwell was next, and Taylor's interview about it with Missy Hyatt backstage. Then the match just never happened.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, they did that a couple of times. The Halloween Havoc 91 tape had a brief clip of Missy Hyatt interviewing a sweaty Bobby Eaton with a pumpkin under his arm, which baffled me as a kid because he wasn’t even wrestling on the tape. Wasn’t until years later I learned they cut matches from the video releases and Eaton’s match with Terry Taylor (him again) was one of them in this case. 

[mim731]

14 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Yeah, they did that a couple of times. The Halloween Havoc 91 tape had a brief clip of Missy Hyatt interviewing a sweaty Bobby Eaton with a pumpkin under his arm, which baffled me as a kid because he wasn’t even wrestling on the tape. Wasn’t until years later I learned they cut matches from the video releases and Eaton’s match with Terry Taylor (him again) was one of them in this case. 

There was also a bit on the Havoc '91 tape with Jim Ross congratulating Pillman on winning the Light heavyweight title, and no such match on the VHS, which confused the shit out of me as a kid. 

Edited April 29 by mim731
Spelling (not witchcraft)

[Chico Torres]

Our vault guy has really been digging in the crates as he give us this battle of the fatties from Puerto Rico as a pre-Yoko Yoko takes on an obese hillbilly in an arena where the crowd is always on the verge of a riot and armed guards are present. This is the very definition of professional wrestling.

 

[BomberPat]

I fucking love Solomon Grundy. Just the perfect fat lad wrestler. Can't wait to watch that.

[tiger_rick]

Meant to share that last night after watching it. It's one of their most baffling uploads. Yoko stalling, eventually making it into the ring and then begging off and offering a handshake like prime Ric Flair is a sight to behold. As is the masked manager. Someone should bring that back.

[Chico Torres]

Sadly I haven’t had enough Solomon Grundy in my life thus far but I do remember him appearing on those “Best of USWA” tapes you would always see at less reputable video rental shops in the 90s.

Whats better than a Solomon Grundy? The Brothers Grundy! In Mexico (where Solomon was a huge star) he was briefly joined by his brother Aaron Grundy, who is none other than our Norman the Lunatic/Bastion Booger