Diamonddust

It might not be a contendership tournament, but something that might could be used for that is the old Gauntlet system WCW used to run on their weekend programs - A wrestler had to win a match on The Power Hour, World Championship Wrestling, and The Main Event. It could be done today with Raw, ECW, and Smackdown. Doubt it would ever be brought back, but it was interesting idea.

I think you just answered your own question.

The Raws we're getting on 24/7 show an interesting point in the WWE's history. Regardless what they were doing, they were going to get their asses handed to them by Nitro. Nitro and WCW had built up so much momentum that it really didn't matter how good a show was on the other channel. Like the previous poster said, they did see money in Austin at this point, and that's what led to the double turn at Wrestlemania. I honestly think Vince was thinking for the future instead of the present with Austin. He basically had a year where not a lot of people were watching him, and it allowed for the Hart Foundation/Austin/Canada vs. USA angle, which let Austin do a lot of stuff to further develop the character. It didn't produce in terms of ratings, but it generated MONSTER heat at its peak and the Raws were generally a lot better than Nitro. It also let him determine whether or not wrestling crowds were ready to cheer a guy who acted like a total heel in Austin. They did, however, throw some face characteristics on him - namely refusing to quit in the I Quit match at Wrestlemania, which produced the standing ovation and Austin chant at the end of the match. The plan for WM14 was Austin/Hart where the Austin era would officially begin, but we all know how that turned out. Anyways, as a result of what they were doing, they slowly started chipping away at the massive Nitro machine. WCW rested on their laurels and botched the Sting/Hogan feud in the end, and right at that time... you had the WWE building Wrestlemania 14 with the Austin/Michaels/Mike Tyson hype. The fact that a guy named Rocky Maivia was allowed to get over as a heel didn't hurt things in long run either.

Damn, I wish I had seen this event.

Flair lacing into Crockett was great... as was the 6 man match that featured 3 of the 4 soon to be Horsemen.

The shorties sound pretty good... can't wait to see J-Tex reform with Buzz Sawyer and Muta. The stuff on the Samoans should be entertaining as well. The NWA shows should put us extremely close to the formation of the Horsemen as well. I wonder if Tully Blanchard hiring J.J. Dillon as his manager happened in December of '85 or January of '86. I can't remember.

I hope the episode gets loaded soon... I can't wait to see that Bret/Sid cage match again.

Molly was one of my favorites... especially when she first started teaming with Hardcore and Crash.

Wouldn't have done anything against the NWO. The only real big name at the time was Vader since he was a former World Champion. On the flip side, Hall and Nash were two huge stars in the WWF, which helped establish the invader/outsider angle even more.

Going off of that, what NWA/Crockett talent do you think would have gotten over in the WWF at the time? -Flair would have been one of the key prizes for Vince -With Sting in the company, what becomes of The Ultimate Warrior? Does Vince do the usual thing and have Warrior remain in his push since he was Vince's "creation"? -What about Sid Vicious? It would be interesting to have seen him in a position like this. -What of Lex Luger? Does Steamboat go back? Interesting threads to play with here...

Here's one (My apologies if it's been posted before): What if Turner doesn't buy-out Crockett?

I think Borga would have probably been made a top-flight heel like they were grooming him to be. He had the look and size for that role. Whether he would have had staying power is a different question.

That's what I picked. I'll take any opportunity to see the NWA in 1989. I've said it before, and I'll say it again... After that PPV, I find it stunning that they blew off Flair/Funk at Clash of Champions that next month instead of a mega-fight at Starrcade in Atlanta that year (They opted for the Iron Man tournament to set up Sting as the next contender). I understand setting up Sting, but he could have had an equally important match on that card (One against Luger or another one against Muta where he went over) to set him up as Flair's #1 contender.

Where as I've never been just a huge Undertaker fan, I've always been entertained by the character. The whole presentation worked for me - the music, the lighting, the ring attire (Well, when he was dressing like an old fashioned Undertaker), the body bag, etc. I'll also give him credit for being one of the more mobile big men in the business and willing to bust out some high risk moves for a man his size. Still, I prefer the early Undertaker to the one today, although his stretch from '97 to around '99 was pretty entertaining (The feud with Shawn Michaels that gave us Hell in the Cell 1, and the feud with Austin in '98).

Agreed. He was just such a natural playing that character.

Is that the Flair/Perfect loser leaves match?

Acting as if Snitsky hadn't been a part of Raw before.

It wasn't so much the heel turn. It was the buildup towards Kerry Von Erich challenging for the world title, finally getting his fair shot, and losing it due to interference. The feud afterward set the territory on fire. It's more of a historic moment in wrestling. Again, note that Hayes at the end references Fritz Von Erich after things get heated between him and Kevin. It's one of those things where you have to read between the lines. He is referring to the booking. That and the fact if a person looked at the Von Erichs wrong... they'd get heel heat. The Von Erichs could sacrifice small children in the Sportatorium, and they would still be wildly over as faces.

Not sure if it counts, but the best promo I've ever seen cut against a woman was Paul E's rant against Medusa at Halloween Havoc '92. The bile he was throwing at her was off the charts, and the crowd's reaction when she finally nails him is awesome. Watching Vader and Harley Race just casually walk away while Paul E is getting his ass kicked is pretty funny as well. Still, I think the promos Sherri did in her WWF(E) run with Savage, DiBiase, and Michaels were quite effective in getting heat for her wrestler.

Yeah... you forgot Nathan Jones.

Was it 2003 or 2002 when they "merged" the titles meaning they basically only had the World Titles and Tag-Team Titles?

Ticked off the wrong people, and now he's a stand-up comedian. I recall reading where he didn't go up and introduce himself to Triple H or something like that (It was when Triple H was injured), so he was subsequently buried. He was apparently being groomed for some good things. Reminds me of a similar situation with Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire. They didn't introduce themselves to the Undertaker, and any hope of a push was immediately killed-off. I believe once of them was later quoted as saying something about being in awe of the Undertaker, and they didn't feel they were deserving of his attention, and didn't want to bug him. So, Old Man Calloway took it as rudeness on their part. Interesting you brought that up... I live in Birmingham, and in July of 2001... Smackdown was taped in Birmingham. It was the first show after ECW joined in on the Invasion angle, which happened in Atlanta. Anyways, the whole roster was at both shows. Well, my friend had to go to the airport the day after the Smackdown taping. He told me he saw this huge guy waiting for a plane, and he immediately recognized him as the Undertaker. He then said he saw Palumbo go up and talk to him, and if I remember correctly, Palumbo basically told Taker that he didn't have a chance to say hello the night before for what ever reason.

Ticked off the wrong people, and now he's a stand-up comedian. I recall reading where he didn't go up and introduce himself to Triple H or something like that (It was when Triple H was injured), so he was subsequently buried. He was apparently being groomed for some good things.

Even though the WWE(F) was full of cartoon characters at the time of his debut, The Undertaker was so drastically different. I used to have the tape of the Survivor Series when he debuted. The crowd didn't know what to make of him, yet it was kind of like "Holy hell... who is this monster?" type of reaction. Mark was WAY into the character at the start, and again, I think he got over because it was just something different beyond the typical character that was being presented. Taker's abilities in the ring for a man his size also contributed to him getting over (Specifically - walking the top rope) You also have to throw in the presentation - The funeral march theme, the lighting effects, the costume, the urn, etc. - It added to the whole package of "The Dead Man". Paul Bearer didn't hurt his chances either.

While it wouldn't have had as big of an impact (WCW star jumping ship to WWE instead of the other way around), they probably would have put someone else in the spot since The Outlaws were already being groomed to be part of DX as well.