cawthon777

I like RVD and I like how hot the crowd is for him against Kane, but I would have preferred to see Kane vs. Shane at Summer Slam rather than Rob. If the booking is logical, whomever Kane faces at the PPV is going to be killed in as brutal a fashion as possible to put Kane in line for a world title shot. I think Shane could pull that off and make what should be, on paper, a shit match into something memorable and entertaining. I don't see how Shane could pull off any high risk suicidal moves against Eric and have the same crowd reaction than if it were Kane.

I would recommend getting the whole show, if possible. It includes a GOLDEN Steve Austin interview from WWF Studios... paraphrasing... "Do you know where the greatest wrestling talent sat on the plane as I flew up here? Seat 38c. Do you know where seat 38c is? It's right next to the airplane outhouse. Do you know what the greatest wrestling talent had for lunch today? A ham sandwich in a brown paper bag." (Blah Blah ... badmouths Bret ... talks trash about Vince, etc) Vince: "Why are you so ... why are you so bitter??" Austin: "You treat me like a dog and expect me to smile? You remind me of a jackass."

I'm sure the Rockers' feud would have been a lot more memorable had Marty not left the company every few months. That could have been a great match for WrestleMania VIII. - Rockers break up in January; Marty leaves - Marty comes back in October; feuds with HBK until the Rumble; Marty leaves - Marty shows up unannounced on Raw in May; beats HBK for IC title; drops it back 3 weeks later; PWI's MOTY was his match with HBK that July on Raw But it was too little too late since, by that time, the rivalry was dead and Marty quickly fell into JTTS status. ...And on a side note, I don't see what the big deal is about the July match-up. From the few house show bouts I've seen of the two on video, the 2nd Raw match was one of the least exciting bouts they had in comparison. Of course it's been 10 years since I've seen it so maybe my memory is off.

They tagged with each other in 92, they didn't face each other. The SNME and Japan matches are the only two I've ever come across. Would be surprised to hear of others.

Hmm, my info came from PWI too...

Chuck Austin, actually. Chad Austin was an ECW jobber in the mid 90's. It was actually Chris. WWF @ Tampa, FL - SunDome - December 11, 1990 WWF Superstars taping: The Rockers defeated Chris Austin & the Genius when Jannetty pinned Austin with the Rocker Dropper; Austin prepared for the move incorrectly, resulting in a broken neck; Austin sued the WWF in a highly publicized case in the mid 1990s According to HBK's shoot, Marty had a talent for burning bridges which is probably why he didn't go further in his WWF career. For example (and again, this is according to Shawn), instead of coming to Vince with a problem and trying to work it out - Marty would blow up and talk about leaving the company. Both of them were into drugs and alcohol back then.

It was UK exclusive. I don't know if there was anything new on the tape - just one or two matches from each guy. I believe HBK vs. Bulldog from One Night Only was featured.

It wouldn't surprise me. During the Kid's first year (he kept up the arial attacks until 96 but 93-94 was when he most relied on it), he regularly missed more than he hit when it came to those high flying moves. His size was such that it didn't take much for an opponent to cause some damage - case in point the injury sustained during his elimination from the MSG Rumble in 94 which resulted in him missing the PPV a week later. I'm sure the neck injury sustained in 95 had something to do with his change in style, as well as when he reaggravated it in 97.

I'm not the biggest Goldberg fan but he SHOULD take the title at Summer Slam simply because he's the only person on the Raw roster who hasn't had his credibility squashed by Triple H. And personally I think it's crap that the one-on-one was scraped for the Elimination Chamber where every pinfall prior to the finish won't mean a thing. If Triple H is hurt then make the match short ... hell, have Goldie pull a Warrior and kill Triple H in less than 30 seconds (just don't close the PPV with that match). Curt Hennig and Shawn Michaels have both worked memorable matches when they were in no condition to do so. If Trip REALLY wanted to be like Flair then he would do the same. As far as all the challengers over Triple H's reign, I don't regard any of them as "sucking". Rob Van Dam was booked properly but it was fairly obvious that Trip would retain the title since he was awarded it just weeks earlier. What it did do, at least in my mind, is present RVD as a world title contender to the fans - which I saw as buildup to an eventual title win. The Kane outcome was obvious from the start. The Elimination Chamber should have gone to RVD or Booker, IMO. Putting the belt on Michaels was a true sign of desperation for the company. Steiner should never have recieved a PPV rematch - that feud should have been killed at the Rumble and left for dead. Much like the rest of you, I agree that Booker should have taken the title at WrestleMania - pick your reason why. Just for those who are interested, this previous WrestleMania was only the 3rd time in the past 16 years when the world title didn't change hands. Triple H was responsible for two of those three outcomes, the other being Nash. I've been saying for months that Chris Benoit should be brought over to Raw and take the title ... but after a month or two, his career would be in the same position RVD's is today. Regarding promos, Jericho is head and shoulders above Triple H so if you're deciding world champions based on that then Y2J is your man (he's also got Triple H beat on ringwork). Booker T isn't over? Watch Raw sometime. Yeah, okay, so his overly long feud with Christian didn't help matters but Booker is easily one of the top guys on the roster.

I had heard that Bret was in talks with WCW, which would explain the title change (and having a fever isn't much of a reason to drop the belt to begin with). Although, the only reason the belt was ever put on Piper was so he could drop it back to Bret.

Let's not compare Triple H to Flair. Flair is considered a god by many because he makes his competition look good. How good was Booker T looking at WrestleMania when he played dead for 30 seconds before being pinned? When Flair defended the title, the fans were witnessed to a match in which the outcome was not overly obvious. Nuff said.

A lead-in, yes - but don't give away Smackdown time. Start the Mullets at 10pm.

The real story here is that UPN is wanting to cut time out of its highest rated show in order to debut what will prove to be one of the worst television series of all time. If UPN thinks that the average wrestling fan is going to watch this show ... or that they can relate to the show at all ... wow ... TV execs are morons.

I haven't seen any myself but Sid fought the Undertaker on almost a daily basis from his WWF debut until he sustained his injury in late 91 (the early bouts were scheduled for Warrior vs. Taker but Warrior took off right after Summer Slam so Sid filled in). It's pretty easy to say that any one of those many battles had a ton more heat behind them than their WrestleMania XIII match, which ranks right up there with LT vs. Bigelow as the most underwhelming ending to any WrestleMania ever. Sid - the unstoppable hugely popular newcomer - vs. the Undertaker - who was undefeated on TV and easily kicked the snot out of everyone he faced. Hell ... I actually want to watch that right now ...

Vader was set to take the belt at Survivor Series but injured his ankle (???) just prior to Buried Alive, thus allowing Sid to get the match instead. I believe it was just 6 days prior to Buried Alive that Vader pinned HBK once again in a tag match also involving Cornette and Lothario.

I heard booing but always assumed it was directed at Hogan rather than Sid. *Sid points to a sign in the crowd that reads "Hulk Who?"* *I fall out of my chair laughing* From my understanding, Hogan / Flair was planned as the main event for WrestleMania more than 6 months in advance but was changed FAR earlier than what you would assume from watching WWF TV. It's fairly obvious that the entire press conference was just a way to create more heat for Hogan vs. Sid. And if it's true that Sid was to have faced the Undertaker at Mania, which makes sense, then he would have continued on as a face - thus the confrontation with Hogan at the Rumble may never have happened.

It started at the 92 Rumble when Sid, making his return to the ring after being out of action for several months due to injury, dumped Hogan out of the ring. A lot of the people in the crowd were big Sid fans so he recieved an arguably larger ovation after the match during the brief altercation between the two. Then it was Hogan who was chosen to face Flair during the press conference. Since Sid was the last man eliminated from the Rumble it was easy to see why he was pissed. All that came to a head at SNME when Sid walked out of the match, leaving Hogan alone in the ring against Flair and the Undertaker. It was after that match that Hogan "requested" to face Sid at WrestleMania rather than fight Flair for the world title. There's been talk that Hogan had Sid turn heel because he was threatened by how popular Justice was getting.

The match was built properly, IMO. Vader pinned Shawn at the previous IYH and followed that up by kicking his ass on Raw a few weeks later. He pinned Shawn again on Raw in a tag match that October ... which led to him getting beat by Sid at Buried Alive. Similar to his cage match with Hogan the previous July, I expected Vader to rip the competition's head off ... not job to a weak moonsault press from a guy weighing all of 230lbs.

The 'Blurry' video was fan-made and about half of the footage came directly from the 'Lonely Road of Faith' vid. Both are equally solid.

I would be very surprised if the DVD contained no extras. Give it time and I'm sure some will be announced - even if they're crap.

This is probably mostly kayfabe but the story went that Bruno trained Zbyzsko. Zbyzsko's heel turn in 1980 was a lot like Owen's in 94 - he felt held down by his mentor and all that frustration came to a head when he had a match with Bruno on TV. The bout was full of reversals and mat wrestling until Larry felt like Bruno was embarrasing him and thus took a chair to Bruno's head. The two fought non-stop from April to August, culminating with the Shea Stadium steel cage match that served as at least one of Bruno's 'retirement' matches.

The Samoan Swat Team used the theme song from Halloween. Terry Funk used a fantastic song during his stint in 89. I don't recall the name but it was from an old Spaghetti Western from the 60s.

I buy old issues off eBay, mostly for research purposes. There's not a big market so my chances of turning around and selling them to make some money back aren't too high.

He lost to a HALF Boston Crab?!! WTF Bret losing to a half crab actually made sense at the time. During the 10/18/99 Sting-Bret match, Luger hit Bret's leg with a baseball bat. Sting applied the Scorpion Deathlock, and Bret tapped out. At Halloween Havoc, Luger worked on Bret's injured leg, which is why Bret tapped out to a half crab. Bret continued to sell the injury throughout the world title tournament. The day after Havoc, I saw him face Goldberg in the first round and - at least from the way Bret was limping - it was one of his biggest wins, IMO (outside interference or not).

The only reason for the Inoki title win was to help make a name for New Japan, much as Giant Baba's NWA title win gained recognition for All Japan. Back in 93, Bagwell & Scorpio held the tag titles for 20 days (albeit they continued to lose to the Nasty Boys in house shows during that time) yet their win was not televised until the day before Halloween Havoc when they dropped them back to the Nastys. I've always found that hilarious.