cawthon777

Why make another Austin or Rock? It's been done. Make someone new. More times than not, I believe the WWE has shown that they know that their success depends on creating new stars, not carbon copies of those who came before. The Luger / Hogan comparison might be true but I think that was a learning experience for Vince.

I've read it. It's interesting but whether or not it's 100% legit is debatable.

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I wasn't a huge fan of the ladder match. Sure, Benoit and Jericho are two of my faves but I feel they put on better bouts when no gimmicks are included. I think it hinders their performance more than it helps. Personally, I was always a big fan of the Fall Brawl 96 match. Jericho had just shown up in WCW a few weeks prior, Benoit was red-hot, and the crowd was uber pro-Horsemen. A very entertaining "Before They Were Superstars" kinda match. I've always wanted to see the J-Cup bout. Maybe someone will put it on Kazaa at some point.

The night after Final Four during Raw it was announced that the Undertaker was getting the title shot at whomever was champ at WrestleMania. Bret even cut a promo backstage on defending the title against Taker. Bret vs. Austin wasn't announced until a week later.

Jericho is talented enough so that he can go either way. If the option is to turn Jericho or Triple H face, the logical choice is Jericho. His face turn by far did not "bomb". It may have been more memorable had he eventually beaten Triple H in their feud but that's hardly Jericho's fault. And I wouldn't get too worked up just because he worked 2 house shows as a face against Flair. Put anyone in the ring with Flair and that man will inadvertantly come out of the match as a face. The WWE had to rearrange the show a bit since Booker T and Val Venis, who were both scheduled to appear, couldn't show. Tommy Dreamer worked the same shows as a heel against Storm. Does that mean he's turning heel?

I didn't see him as a credible main event star even when he held the title.

Yep.

From a SK post on RSPW, so take it for what it's worth... One of the most famous pre-show booking changes came before Wrestlemania X in 1994. The main event was the WWF champion defending the WWF title twice in the same evening -- once with Lex Luger against champion Yokozuna and then whoever was champion after that match defending against Bret Hart later in the evening. Due to Yoko's size and lack of stamina, the only booking that made sense was Luger going over Yokozuna for the title and then going on to defend it against Bret Hart in the main event. BUT, Luger and some friends went to a local bar the night before the show and got decently drunk. Unfortunately for them, a reporter for a New York paper was there as well, and Luger proceeded to brag about how he was scheduled to beat Yokozuna and finally get the WWF title. The article was published in the paper the morning of the show, trumpeting Luger's own admittance of the ending, and as a result the show was changed so that Luger lost by DQ and Yoko went on to lose the title to Bret Hart in the main event, which didn't affect things too much because Hart was getting the belt either way. Credence is lended to this story by reports from fans at TV tapings leading up to WMX, where the WWF would have Luger "steal" the title from Yokozuna and come out introduced as the "WWF World champion" (to annoy Jim Cornette, as the storyline went) in order to judge the pop Luger received as champion. Guess it wasn't good enough.

I had heard the same. The only thing I can come up with to perhaps disprove that is Luger showed up a TV taping (maybe the 2/22 show in Bethlehem but I don't know for sure) with the heavyweight title and was announced as the champion prior to a tag match pitting he and Tatanka against Yoko and Kwang. If Vince didn't want the "cat getting out of the bag" in regards to WrestleMania, it seems odd he would put Luger in front of several thousand people (and wrestling mag reporters / photographers, no doubt) with the title belt but at the same time punish him for being unprofessional to that degree.

The Kid was out with an injury, sustained when he took a bump out of the ring at the MSG Rumble. Kamala was going to be brought back for a one-shot, he hadn't been on TV since about June of 93. I think that was the TV debut for both Kwang and Bob Holly. There had been promos by both men for a few weeks prior to the PPV but no indication was made that they would be on the show. Kwang's promos had me questioning whether or not the WWF had signed the Great Muta.

The only Demolition match I've ever come across on Kazaa was WrestleMania VI.

Does anyone have any info regarding matches taped for TNT - for instance show line-ups, locations, date when the match was taped, or even air dates? The same info for the early years of Prime Time Wrestling would also be greatly appreciated. I've been able to post a great deal of detailed results when it comes to syndies like Superstars or Challenge but, prior to 86, I don't have much to go on. I would also be interested in any info on the Canadian TV tapings if possible. I believe I only have one set of taping results from right around the time of WrestleMania 2. Thanks for any help you can provide. Graham

I believe it was against Rick Steiner at MSG 7 days before. Could be wrong.

Matches won't be announced until the day of the show. There might be one put together the week before but other than that nothing. I try to post upcoming lineups when possible on my site - usually referencing the website of the arena in question - but that's not of much use in this scenario.

Try RSPW. You'll have to play around with the search engine but they have detailed wrestling reports dating back to early 1990. That's where I got a good percentage of my house show results. http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&grou...t.pro-wrestling

They're pretty good friends from what I've heard, especially after watching HBK's RF shoot. Austin and Michaels are just two guys that expect a lot out of themselves and when they don't deliver up to their expectations it irks them. That's all. And when it comes to being a top tier superstar, that's a great trait to have.

6 days before WrestleMania and they give that away with a clean finish? ... eh ... Just another reason I wasn't a big fan of 1999 as a whole.

I never saw it as crap. Okay, so it's not Bret vs. Bulldog but what is? It's a miracle in itself that Michaels could work the match. Hell, a few weeks earlier on Raw he was given a cortezone (I believe) shot in the back after hitting a simple superkick on Ahmed Johnson while on the stage. He was in that much pain. Keeping that in mind, I think the bout came off well. The emotion was there, the crowd was hot, and the place exploded when Austin won. Yeah, everyone knew Austin was winning the title but it was still amazing to watch it actually happen and I think Michaels gave him the best rub he possibly could that night.

They have the FBI taking on Matt, Shannon, and Zach in a 6-man tag at a house show I'm going to in just over a week. Whether or not we get the match or not, depending on Zach's situation, it's pretty obvious a face turn is in the works for Hardy.

And I wonder why...

Things change all the time.

It looks better than the other UK show... WWE (Smackdown!) @ Manchester, England - Evening News Arena - October 12, 2003 (matinee) Billy Gunn & Jamie Knoble vs. Doug & Danny Basham Matt Hardy vs. Albert The Acolytes vs. WWE Smackdown! Tag Team Champions Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Billy Kidman Torrie Wilson vs. Nidia vs. Sable vs. Dawn Marie (bikini contest; John Cena as guest MC) Tajiri vs. WWE US Champion Eddie Guerrero Chris Benoit vs. Rhyno (submission match) WWE Smackdown! World Champion Kurt Angle & the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar & the Big Show

Eddie vs. Malenko has only been on PPV twice - Uncensored 97 and Starrcade 97. Without a doubt, the title for most overused PPV pairing goes to the Rock vs. Triple H... Survivor Series 96 IYH: Final Four Fully Loaded 98 Summer Slam 98 Over the Edge 99 Fully Loaded 99 Unforgiven 99 Survivor Series 99 WrestleMania 00 Backlash 00 Insurrextion 00 Judgment Day 00 King of the Ring 00 Summer Slam 00 Armageddon 00 ...and although it wasn't a PPV, you could probably add Global Warning to that mix.

I believe the plan was... Taker over Yoko at the Royal Rumble Borga over Taker shortly thereafter Luger over Borga at WrestleMania Obviously that was changed due to Taker's bad back and him needing time off. Borga's nagging injuries, which kept him off 2 back-to-back PPVs, killed off his character and he was never seen in the WWF again. The WWE has a show in Findland pretty soon. I wonder if Borga might end up in attendence.

I think Vince is aware of the internet wrestling community...not that they matter to him.