cawthon777

I KNEW IT! *gives myself a cookie*

Because it's not really that great of a match. PWI was on crack for ranking it so high. It's July 1993. Shawn's in a feud with Perfect. Jannetty is going nowhere fast. Wonder what the outcome is going to be? After a foot on the rope gets the match continued, Marty misses a crossbody, crashes to the arena floor, is rolled back in the ring by Diesel ... easy 1-2-3. I sure don't recall being impressed with the match at the time, at least not compared to their previous TV matches (and, from what I've seen, their house show matches were much better anyway).

I didn't know. Who did he face?

This is my first time posting in this folder. I used to be pretty hardcore into comics when I was 9 through about 13. Still have a few boxes full back at the house (including X-Men #4 with the first appearance of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants). Anyway, I saw 'The Punisher' last night and was inspired enough to write up this little article for my college paper. I'm a regular columnist and needed an idea for the last edition of the semester. Just thought I'd share and get some feedback if possible. It can only be 800 words max so keep that in mind if you have any suggestions to add. The article is untitled at this point. Thanks, Graham The other day while out for a drive, with the windows down, sun in my face, and Filter’s “Take a Picture” booming on the CD player, I pondered what to write about this week. Should I propose my idea for no holds barred politics in which two candidates enter the electrified cage of death and only one leaves alive? Should I confess my undying love for Marisa Tomei? Or, better yet, should I use this space to bring attention to Chung Yi, the decrepit one-eyed cat from Whittier, Alaska who went missing during my trip to the foul-smelling fishing town last summer? As I sat in the car and heard the opening chords of Seether & Amy Lee’s collaboration, “Broken”, it suddenly dawned on me. Comic books. Yes, you heard me. Comic books. The song, which is featured in the recent film adaptation of “The Punisher”, is a moving and powerful look into the tortured mind of Frank Castle, a former FBI agent whose family is gunned down as payback for a undercover bust, thus forcing him to lead the life of a vigilante. After seeing the film during its opening weekend, I left the theater reminded as to why I was a comic book fan so many years ago. Though my comic purchases have been few and far between over the past 10 years, I was once a loyal follower of Stan Lee’s Marvel Universe, which featured the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Punisher, the Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, and so many others. With a staff of writers and artists including Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Erik Larson, Frank Miller, and Chris Claremont, I quickly found myself addicted to the rich storytelling and character development found on page after page. While often gifted with superhuman abilities, each character had their own mental anguish or regret that fueled their righteous behavior, thus making their job never quite complete. For Castle, one of the few without actual superpowers, it was the brutal slaying of his family, for which he feels at fault. For Peter Parker it was the loss of his Uncle Ben, whose death came at the hands of a criminal that a bitter Spider-Man allowed to escape only hours earlier. Several of these same characters were feared and hated by a public that didn’t understand them, despite their regular feats of heroism. Many considered the X-Men to be freaks of nature and too dangerous to be allowed to survive. Over time, the plotline to their adventures paralleled that of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Professor Xavier playing the role of the peace-loving Martin Luther King while Magneto could be likened to Malcom X, a man prepared to gain dominance for his people by any means necessary. The recent surge in comic book popularity, due largely in part to a series of successful big budget films beginning with the initial X-Men release in 2000, is evidence enough that good storytelling is good storytelling, regardless of if it comes from Ernest Hemmingway, John Steinbeck, or Stan Lee. While they may not be the literature that is studied on college campuses, comic books and comic book characters have unquestionably become a vital part of American and world pop culture over the past century. They speak to themes we can all understand and appreciate by disguising them in the form of easily accessible entertainment. With great power comes great responsibility. If you want peace, prepare for war. We fear what we do not understand. And while I may never get into my old hobby as I once did, I’m glad to see that Hollywood is warming up to the idea of comic book films and thus reaching a whole new generation of fans who can enjoy the stories and characters as I once did. In closing, as this is my final article of the semester, I bid you farewell until the fall. Whether you’re spending the next few months on the beach, working 9 to 5 in the hellhole known as retail, or have an internship lined up with an adult film company, enjoy your summer. Come back to campus darker, richer, and more sexually experienced than when you left. Do it, peer pressure!

Technically, there was no WCW in 1989.

Not on TV but Bret did dominate a house show feud with Luger which continued until early July (a few days after the USS Intrepid bodyslam). Luger got a few wins over Bret via the forearm but Bret won the vast majority of bouts.

Time for answers... 1. Scott Hall 2. Backlund/Race, Superstar/Race, Backlund/Flair 3. Roddy Piper 4. Kneedrop off the top after a belt shot 5. Bret Hart 6. The Blondes' towel and one of the championship belts 7. Sting, Flair, Vader 8. w/ Arn vs. Austin & Pillman at the Clash of the Champions 9. They all made their debut on the Brother Love Show 10. Muraco, Orton, & Adonis

Benoit first came to WCW in 1993, making his singles debut at January's Clash of the Champions. Stuck around until the fall, after a short-lived tag team pairing with Bobby Eaton. Then he returned in the fall of 1995 after his stint in ECW. He did work one show for WCW in 92, during the NWA Tag Team Championship Tournament. The first night of the event drew, IIRC, 100,000 people and the second topped it with 150,000. I don't think you could really call the Koreans wrestling fans, though. I believe they were pretty much forced to go by the communist government. I don't think the country had seen much wrestling prior to this ... certainly not enough that a show in Korea could draw those kind of numbers.

WWF @ Lake Placid, NY - June 16, 1997 Raw is War: Steve Austin defeated Brian Pillman via disqualification when Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Davey Boy Smith - who were all handcuffed to seperate ring posts - escaped and attacked Austin; after the bout, Mankind, Goldust, and Ken Shamrock made the save; Austin and Shamrock began brawling until the Legion of Doom seperated the two men and Goldust suggested all five men team up to face the Hart Foundation at Canadian Stampede

It was in reference to The Godfather. I think he was kinda saying, if the nWo wanted to try to intimidate him - it wasn't going to work.

Title or no title, that's probably a safe bet as to what might have happened with the Warrior. The two actually had a short series of matches before Warrior left.

He does make a point. It takes him 3/4s of the promo to get to it, but once he does it's not bad.

Correct, they all made their debut on the Brother Love Show.

3. Tully Blanchard 9. Triple H 10. Jim Ross

Cool stuff. I just figured from the way she was used late in the match, she was with Sting.

All correct. IIRC, it was Sting's valet - not Rude's. And although they showed footage of it on WCW TV, I don't recall any explanation given as to who she was. Looked a bit like Fifi though.

Very very close. But Dibiase didn't introduce Paul Bearer - someone else did. See if that clue helps at all.

New questions since the last 10 were answered on the previous page. 1. Who hit Jeff Jarrett with their finisher, thus costing Jarrett a match against Diamond Dallas Page in the US title tournament? 2. Name 3 WWF vs. NWA world title unification bouts that took place. 3. What future WWF and, later, WCW main eventer did Bob Backlund once defend his WWF title against during a tour of California? Clue: Compare the WWF talent of the mid 80s to the WCW talent of the mid 90s and look for the top names. 4. What was the finish to the Sting / Rude International World Title match held in Japan? 5. What future legend did then-WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan once team with during a tour of Japan? Clue: While the mystery man was not yet in the WWF, he would become a mainstay in the company for over a decade. There's a reason I'm not saying where the wrestler comes from; it would be too obvious. 6. What two foreign objects were instrumental in the Hollywood Blondes winning the belts from Steamboat & Douglas? 7. Name 3 WCW main eventers from the early to mid 90s that lost to Antonio Inoki during that same timeframe. 8. What was Ric Flair's first match back in WCW in 1993? 9. What do these three things have in common? Stone Cold Steve Austin, Paul Bearer, and the Million $ Belt. It sounds a little difficult but look at the early history of all three and it shouldn't be too hard. 10. Who attacked Roddy Piper upon Piper's return to the WWF in 1986? Multiple names.

My records show them facing each other seven times during September and October 1992, before Warrior walked out. And while two of the seven matches took place at TV tapings, nothing ever appeared on CHV. I believe there is fan cam footage of one of their bouts, don't recall the city. All the finishes were cop-out DQs or count-outs so I wouldn't expect the match to be anything earth-shattering. Flair gets knocked around the ring until either Perfect interferes to save the belt or the champion walks out of the match.

I've never seen WWE DVDs at my local Wal-Mart. The last time I was there, No Way Out was on VHS but they were practically hidden in the electronics section.

He did indeed, for his TV debut no less. And it was all downhill from there. Remember when he beat Rey in that abortion of a match a few months back and earned a Cruiseweight title shot against Tajiri? Did he ever get the shot? I'm leaning towards a no ... or it was so forgettable I blocked it from memory.

Sorry, I feel obligated to respond... Hey buddy, get it right... Flair won his 2nd WWF Title days after Summer Slam, not WM. The Landover taping was the day after Hershey so my apologies if I mixed the two up.

Contender, sure. But at that point, Dustin was less than no more than 2 years in the company and was pretty much portrayed as a rookie through that whole time, US title runs included. They had a solid match at the November 94 Clash of the Champions but, by that time, Dustin's push had already fallen by the wayside.

#1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are correct. Damn, and I thought they were somewhat difficult. Since you got all but two, I'll give the answers. #2 was Jushin Liger on "The Main Event" with the winner earning a match with Dean Malenko for the following night's Nitro. #5 was Roddy Piper.

Here's some trivia... 1. What was Chris Benoit's initial finisher in WCW? Used in both his 93 and 95 stints. 2. Who did Eddie Guerrero compete against in his first televised WCW match and what were the stipulations? 3. During Bret Hart's first WWF World Title run his large number of title defenses was highly emphasized on TV. Name 3 challengers Bret faced on TV between winning the title and Survivor Series 92. 4. Why did Ted Dibiase interfere in the Perfect / Von Erich match in which Perfect regained the IC title? 5. Who was the first man Ric Flair main evented MSG against? 6. During what match, held at the Baltimore Arena, did Jake Roberts make his WCW debut by interfering in the post-match brawl? 7. Who did the Rockers face in their last TV match as a team? 8. Name two men that have beaten Sting for championship gold in Japan. 9. What major face vs. face match headlined the WWF's May 1994 tour of Japan? 10. Who did Cactus Jack have to face in the fall of 1993 as a "stepping stone" to Big Van Vader?