Darth Pipes

Flair/Savage was the usual goodness out of the two. Kind of a weird match. Methodical, with the two moving around all over the pace. Plus way too much of Flair's ass. But they had a good chemistry and were convincing in their hatred of one another. Watching the Hogan/Giant match, I can see why Hogan decided to turn heel. The crowd response to his introduction was as dead as I've ever heard it for pre-heel Hogan. Nice to see Big Show when he was in phenominal shape.

Just saw the Race/Bundy match and it was indeed a fun brawl. Harley slammed him too, just like he slammed Andre. The picture of that is in his book. Though he promised Andre he wouldn't say anything. But that was in 1978 I think.

I was disappointed by the Harley Race HOF profile too but you have to remember, his cage match with Flair is probably the highest profile match of his that is actually on tape in its entirely. They showed footage of his World title victory over Terry Funk, which was great. But that was probably the only one of his title victories that actually has significant video footage of it taken. I know bits and pieces of his first victory and his seventh against Flair exist but Race's prime was in an era when guys worked their best matches during house shows were nobody was taping them. Flair has often said that his best matches with Steamboat were in front of 300 people and no cameras. With all the video libraries the WWE has bought, more and more of Harley's stuff is thankfully getting released. But a lot of his best stuff is probably lost forever because no one taped any of it.

Jimmy Garvin's great. His promos are ones that I really look forward to. He plays the classic heel. Talks a big game (and he really ran down Wahoo) and then turning into a chicken**** when he gets what he asked for. Still love the bit where he said that Magnum's mother would probably kick Magnum out of the house if she found out he was a dancer in San Francisco. If you want to watch Jim Cornette unleashed, go to youtube and type "Jim Cornette Dairy Queen Massacre." If you want to know what Cornette would have said to Baby Doll if television rules let him.

Short but sweet today. The Big Bubba bit was pretty damn cool. Dusty would use that angle more than eight years later with Meng. Dusty definitely looked like a bitch with Magnum rushing to his aid with a pair of shovels. Other notes... 1) Jim Cornette gets the politically incorrect line of the night. "Last week, a man broke into Baby Doll's apartment. She yelled "Rape!" and he yelled back "No!"" 2) 24/7 forgot to edit out the number that you can call to get Great American Bash tickets. 3) Magnum is still whining like a bitch about being stripped and refusing to admit it was his stupidity that led to it. 4) Flair's match leads to a confrontation with Hawk and a classic Horsemen beatdown. Whoooo!!!

Today's update is full of Flair greatness! Whoooo!

Showdown at Shea? Sweet!

Rest in peace, Killer Kowalski. You will be missed.

Have a seat, Mr. Morton...

Heheh. I don't know. I imagine if the date did happen, it consisted of the girl with Morton while Gibson sat creepily in the corner not saying anything.

I always remember with Prime Time was that during this era, Saturday morning was the big time for the WWF. Matches on Prime Time, many of which came from arena shows, were never acknowledged.

You know, watching the newest Prime Time made me realize something. Not only was Prime Time a place to recap matches and angles, it was also a place to shill any and every WWF product imaginable. Calenders, dolls, toys, video tapes, music, even ice cream bars. Along with their great banter, Monsoon and Heenan were practically in the home shopping business. I'm surprised Vince never made them wear WWF t-shirts either. I can't remember when they started but I'm looking forward to some of the Prime Time's where Monsoon and Heenan hit the road.

Dusty wanted Baby Doll? I can see why she chose Sam Houston... A few other things about this episode...cool segment with Magnum blasting Ivan in the belt. Also, all the Rock N Roll Express related contests. They said that if you wanted the rules, you can request them via letter. Reminded me how things have changed. These contests always required a self-posted envelope. Miss Rock N Roll Express...that's a creepy contest though.

Got to love the bizarre world of wrestling. The silliest things get you heat. One other thing I forgot to mention but this show features the return of Krusher Krusnov (Barry Darsow). He blames his knee injury on the Road Warriors distracting him. We get footage of his TBS match with Sam Houston several months earlier and we see him jump off the top ropes and legitimately not being able to move his leg. I don't think they showed that clip when the match originally aired in 86 because it's clear he couldn't do anything. The Road Warriors are nowhere to be found and don't come out till the end to cost him the match. Really poor editing job done here by the NWA.

While not as good as last week's show, this week's was pretty good. MVP was the greatness that is Ole Anderson. He looks good in a squash match where both him and Arn are getting a lot of cheers. We get to see footage of a Horseman beatdown on the Rock N Roll Express and Dusty. We should be seeing more of those now. Then Ole proceeds to cut another great promo. He doesn't scream, he doesn't curse but he gets the job done. Cornette calls Baby Doll a big fat pig right to her face and continues to entertain. The Midnight Express gets a tougher match than usual against Sam Houston and Denny Brown. Cornette makes some crack that Baby Doll should marry Sam Houston, which she did a year or so later. Apparently, that's what got her on the outs with Dusty and the NWA. Don't know the full story there.

I had that they didn't want the Ventura, the governor of the state, to give the title to a bad guy so Mankind won it. I think Austin played some politics too and didn't want to drop it to HHH. That's how Foley got into there. This also marked the end of any legitimacy Jesse Ventura had as a politician. He claimed he wanted to clean up the corruption of politics but the only thing he cared about while in office was making himself more money. He confirmed his status as McMahon's whore with this show.

I think Heenan said one wrestler passed all exams "written and oral."

That is funny. On the WCCW DVD, they have a clip of Michael Hayes referring to Kerry Von Erich in 1985 (while cutting a TV promo) as a steroid freak.

That's not promising. Watching The Barbarian wrestling five-minute plus squashes is brutal enough.

Gorilla getting a standing ovation was one of my favorite Wrestlemania moments. That's an example of the fans really coming through and showing appreciation to Gorilla for all that he did for the business.

Over the Edge was a crappy card although that might have been due to everyone being rattled over what happened to Owen. Backlash 99 featured a pretty good Boiler Room Brawl match with Foley and Big Show. A lot of bumps involving glass and Foley leaving bloody handprints into the floor.

That would be the one. I don't remember it being on that show but I do remember JR taking a shot at Tony.

JR would take a shot at Schivonne either on that week's Raw show or the next, telling the audience he wasn't going to walk off and start crying.

St. Valentine's Day Massacre was a good, fun card. You had the long-awaited match between Austin and McMahon. It was in a cage and played out like it should. Austin kicking the **** out of Vince. You had Vince taking a monster bump and the Big Show debuting. Rock/Mankind was a great addition into their tremendous series of matches. Even Holly/Snow was a pretty good hardcore title match. WMXV was a nightmare of bad Russo booking. Only things of note were the title match and HHH's heel turn. I remember Backlash being quite good.

Just watched TNT and Savage was hysterical. His reactions to everything were great and I forgot how cracked out his interviews used to be. There's even an acknowledgement of Savage's baseball career. I beleve he played in the minor league before wrestling. Savage alone was enough for that show but it began with a terrific Jake Roberts interview and footage of his ongoing feud with Ricky Steamboat. Rotundo (who looks like he should be murdering couples in their hotel room) and Spivey were indeed the great void.