JoeDirt

MUCH better spoilers. The Angle/HBK segment sounds cool. I really hope MNM gets a spot on the main roster, they could really help the tag division.

You missed Booker vs. Heidenreich.

Agree 100%. Like we think he's cool because he drank a lot of beer. What a cool guy.

I wonder if the MNM match was dark or on Velocity.

It would be fitting that they'd sign Walters of all the guys on the indy scene, just because he has no charisma and hasn't gotten over whatsoever in ROH...just the type of guy Vince wants to bring in and mold. But yeah, using him against Masters was smart because the RAW babyface jobber roster is only so deep, and so maybe they're giving him a few wins before he runs through Val, Hurricane, Rosey, Rhyno, and maybe Tajiri or Regal.

I have a friend who works really small indy feds and he uses a cross armed diamond dust. I always liked the diamond dust as a move. And speaking of Billy Gunn stealing finishers, don't forget the Jackhammer, which he used as a transitional move basically. A few more...I'm surprised nobody has channeled Davey Boy and busted out a running powerslam as a finisher. Or Doink and his stump puller. Or what about Pete Gas's reverse full nelson slam called the GAS MASK~!?

IWA-MS 2/25/05 Valparaiso, IN: ----------------------------------- Strong-style showdown: B-Boy vs. Trevor Rhodes (formerly Stan Dupp) Danny Daniels vs. Eddie Kingston (Non-title) Brandon Thomaselli vs. Vito Thomaselli (Indiana State Title) Josh Abercrombie vs. Sal Thomaselli Trik Davis vs. "Double C" Claudio Castagnoli Chandler McClure vs. Shane Storm Emil Sitoci vs. Conrad Kennedy III Plus Brad Bradley, Superstar Steve, Eddie Venom, and more IWA-MS 2/26/05 Bloomington, IN: ----------------------------------- B-Boy vs. Eddie Kingston Winner of Brandon/Vito vs. Winner of Josh/Sal (Indiana State title match) Ian Rotten and Trik Davis vs. Chandler McClure and ??? "Double C" Claudio Castagnoli vs. Emil Sitoci Plus Silas Young, Hillbilly Jed, Shane Storm, Indiana Kidd, and more --Not the best looking cards on paper, but sometimes those end up being the best IWA shows. Besides, ROH has a ton of the talent booked for their double shot. Also, El Generico is added to the Simply the Best 6 JHW tournament, to go with M-Dogg 20, Jonny Storm, Jack Evans, and Matt Sydal. Added to the 4/8/05 show in Midlothian, IL is Chris Hero vs. Super Dragon!

True to an extent. But to say HHH's title reign has been booked anything like JBL's title reign just isn't true. Besides, HHH has already been established as a "strong" character through 10 title wins, many wins with the pedigree (you don't see him getting the annoying rollup using the tights wins that other heels like Edge and Christian ALWAYS win by), and the fact that he'll always be in the title picture. JBL has been booked to look like a cowardly idiot retaining just through dumb luck his entire title reign. It's like the difference between a heel title reign like Bret Hart in 1997 and Chris Jericho when he won the undisputed title. BIG difference there.

I'm surprised Masters hasn't used it yet. I'm sure he will sooner or later, along with a running forearm of doom and a rude reverse neckbreaker.

Who in the Sam Hell is Kevin Green? Kevin Greene was a football player. I thought Slamboree 1997 was okay, and the main event was some goofy fun that wasn't HORRIBLE as I expected it to be. As for me, I have ALWAYS loved Wrestlemania 9 even though so many others hate it. You have the coolest atmosphere of any WM ever, two great matches to start off the show, Razor over goofy ass Backlund in a fun squash, DOUBLE DOINKS~!, the horrible Giant Gonzalez match that's worth it for comedy value, and Luger/Perfect and Bret/Yoko matches that really aren't that bad. The ending to the show sucks, but what can ya do. I also agree with Uncensored 1999, which was mentioned earlier. I picked this up for really cheap a few years later and was surprised that it was actually a very fun show. I always liked WWF Ground Zero, simply for a great HBK/Taker match, a good Bret/Patriot match, and some fun stuff with Steve Austin. WCW Souled Out 1998 is a great show that nobody has ever seen...it's really hard to get a hold of. I've always loved Summerslam 1995. Great stuff with the ladder match, 123 Kid/Hakushi, Skip/Horowitz, and Bret trying to carry Kane/Isaac Yankem. Summerslam 1999 is a great show you don't usually hear too much about. I'll stop now before I go on all night.

Recently picked up a bunch of RAWs from 1996 that I have never seen, and here are some thoughts: Good stuff: Bret/HBK buildup: While the mutual babyface thing can be somewhat sickening at times, I liked the video promos they did to build up to WM12. Bret's were better by far, as he was great at playing the subtle heel who didn't want to lose his spot to Shawn, talking about how he realized Shawn had a lot of momentum on his side and how even Bret's son loved Shawn, but Bret wasn't ready to lose his title yet. Good stuff leading into the Ironman match. Goldust: Early Goldust was pretty good. Some of the stuff he does here makes you really uneasy at times. His promo with Piper leading to their Mania match was surprisingly good, with Piper asking "what's your major malfunction, fruitcake?" and Goldust getting on his knees (!) and crawling around Piper doing usual Goldust stuff. Goldust then smacks Piper, who drills him back, and says that he's going to make a man out of him. Some good stuff here with Goldust, maybe ahead of its time by a year or so. Diesel's last days: I was interested at how in the buildup to Diesel/Shawn at the April IYH, how Diesel did a promo threatening to not only destroy Shawn, but to "settle some business" with Vince at ringside. It seemed like an early nod to the "smart" fans who knew Diesel was leaving. Diesel as a heelish tweener was so much better than his lame babyface run. To me, this is almost the precursor that showed you the fans were willing to get behind a character like they would with Austin not too long after that. Several good matches: Bret vs. Tatanka, Bret vs. HHH, HBK vs. HHH, HBK vs. 123 Kid, Mero vs. 123 Kid, and Austin vs. Mero are all good solid wrestling matches that get a fair amount of time on RAW. HBK vs. Jannetty: I've never even heard of this match, but they face each other on the 7/1/96 episode of RAW in a non-title match that is really solid and what you'd expect from the two. Some really good nearfalls at the end of the match. I never had even heard of the match. Development of the Austin character: From his great interview to debut as the Ringmaster, to his look at Ted Dibiase when Dibiase says he'll leave forever if Austin loses to Savio in the strap match, to his post-KOTR victory stuff, watching Austin develop into what he became is cool to see. HBK/Bulldog/Diana interview: This was surprisingly really good, with Shawn telling Diana not to flatter herself, getting slapped, and then telling Davey that he knows who wears the pants in the family. Big brawl to close out a good segment. Bad stuff: So many lame gimmicks: Aldo Montoya. The Bodydonnas. Cloudy. Techno Team 2000. "Make a Difference" Fatu. The Godwins. The list goes on and on. Marc Mero: Don't get me wrong, the guy puts on great matches...but again, his gimmick here is so lame you can see why he wouldn't get cheered. I don't know why Vince thought Mero would get cheered for no other reason than having a hot woman next to him. Ultimate Warrior: His match with Isaac Yankem is just atrocious. It's funny how they showed clips of him beating Randy Savage at WM7 prior to his return. But yeah, Warrior wasn't too good here, but at least he didn't stick around long. Billionaire Ted skits: While funny for the first few times, these got old, mean, nasty, and malicious very quickly, and I could see them completely backfiriing on Vince. At the end, they were just horrible. Undertaker: It is clear here in early 1996 that Undertaker was in need of some freshening up of his character. No matter how lame you think the stuff with Kane was in 1997, you have to admit that it did wonders for Taker's career. Shawn as babyface champ: His post WM-interview just doesn't work. Maybe it's because it's just weird to hear him talking about how "Bret Hart, to me you'll ALWAYS be a champion." and give a sappy babyface promo. Again, his character became SO much better in late 1996/and post losing his smile when he got the heelish edge. Whether Russo deserves the credit for that, I don't know. Tag team division: What a dud. The Godwins, Bodydonnas, Smoking Gunns, New Rockers...teams that none of the fans give a shit about, or have a reason to give a shit about. The Godwins are supposed to be cheered...why? Again, another time when gimmicks are supposed to be cheered or booed just for the hell of it, and not for anything deeper than that. Well, that's it for now, thanks for reading my rambling thoughts.

Remember when jobber matches used to always be over in a minute or two? It's weird they now give them 5-6 minutes.

Good idea with the muscle buster. Black Hole Slam is kind of like Bossman's old slam. They come off the ropes, and he grabs them into a swinging uranage type slam thing.

I love Chris Hero's Hangman's Clutch. Like an STF, but with more of a cravat hold on the neck. Cool stuff. Stretch plum is another good submission. Low Ki's dragon clutch looks great, though I don't know if a lot of guys would want to take it because it looks painful to be in. It would be cool to see someone start using a superplex for a finisher again. Cross armbreaker/jujigatame is another great submission. There are so many good submissions out there and they give Chris Masters the friggin' full nelson. Cobra clutch leg sweep is kinda cool, or just the cobra clutch is general. Have Slaughter pass the move on to somebody. Chandler McClure, a midwest indy guy does a move called the Touchdown which could work. It's sort of like Bubba Ray's Bubba Bomb except with the guy facing him and not away from him, and he hooks something other than a full nelson but I can't quite remember what. I was always surprised during the Russo days that a cruiserweight didn't use a small package as a finisher, and then they could make jokes about him having a "small package". Someone should bring back the Texas Cloverleaf. Also, what about Luger's Torture Rack? Indy guy Roderick Strong does some awesome backbreakers that could be used. Half nelson into a backbreaker, powerbomb into a backbreaker, over the shoulder (like A-Train used to do), etc. I'm surprised someone hasn't stolen Abyss' Black Hole Slam. Nobody is currently using an inverted DDT, or an Implant one like Goldust's Curtain Call. And finally, what about the HEART PUNCH???

The funny thing about Heenan's is that he apologized to Bischoff and Eric didn't even know that he had dropped the F-Bomb live on the air. The Bret Hart one doesn't really count since it was completely planned. But that's a great segment.

I really hope MNM gets on one of the main rosters. They're so damn good.

Apparently this is the guy: Dennis Rader, age 59.

Was Tatanka's winning streak a myth? Looking over Cawthon's site, it looks like he lost several house show matches to Rick Martel in the summer of 1992.

This isn't really an old school question, but is there any particular reason why Greg Valentine was so crazy over with the fans at Wrestlemania 20? Also, who are some guys who will NEVER make it to the WWE HOF because of personal issues with Vince or others? Savage, possibly?

Anyone know what MNM's entrance music is? EDIT: Nevermind, it's "Superstar" by Saliva.

The title says it all...if you can hook me up with a good deal, just give me a PM or something. I'd also be interested if you have WCW Nitros and Thunders for the same time period. Thanks!

Watching some old RAWs from 1996, the night after Survivor Series 1996 Sunny introduces the NOD. Farooq comes out with Clarence Mason and of course the two rappers (PG-13, right?) leading the way. Was there any setup to this, or did Farooq just all of a sudden go from helmet wearing weirdo do NOD leader? How long did Sunny have anything to do with the NOD? When did D'Lo, Crush, Savio, and all the other members join? Was the gimmick Vince Russo's idea? This was around the time he was getting a lot more creative power in the WWF, and the gimmick sort of seems Russo-esque.

Hello Dave, I have a question, you've probably heard it before but I hoped you could still answer: What is the truth behind Hogan winning the title at Wrestlemania 9? Was the original plan to have Bret beat Yoko then face Hogan at Summerslam, but Hogan said Bret was too small? Thanks, Ray Smith. DM: A funny story. I don't think anyone knew Hogan was winning the title ahead of time, and it may have been a last minute plan. I do know that as of the day before the show, Hart didn't even know he was losing to Yokozuna, and considered it kind of unprofessional, because he did assume he was, to not be at least told ahead of time. Hart and I were not friends by any means at the time, but I do know he contacted a mutual friend to find out if I knew what the finish was, and this was the day before the show. I assumed Yokozuna was winning, but also didn't know for sure. After Hogan won, the idea was for Hart to beat Hogan for the title, to firmly establish Hart as the new big star, at SummerSlam 1993. Hogan didn't want to lose to Hart, and quit the company, but agreed to drop it to big Yokozuna instead of small Hart at King of the Ring, and then after fulfilling house show commitments, quit. Hogan was already working for New Japan and WWF at the same time, which led to some issues when Hogan did an interview in Japan on the New Japan TV show, saying that the IWGP title was a much bigger deal than the WWF title, because anyone could win the WWF title, but you have to be a great wrestler to hold the IWGP belt. You can imagine Vince McMahon and all of the WWF's reaction to that. Hogan soothed their feelings by saying he never said it and was misquoted. Only problem was, it was not a print interview but an interview shown on the New Japan show, but I don't think anyone in WWF ever saw the tape so they believed Hogan.

People are more interested in storylines and such as opposed to wrestling, I guess! And it WAS the climax of all that build. You know WWE is gonna take notice of that rating.

Velocity: 1) Spike Dudley vs. Paul London 2) Rene Dupree vs. Scotty 2 Hotty 3) Holly/Haas vs. Mike Kruel and Fred Sampson 4) Booker T vs. Kenzo Suzuki Smackdown: 1) Eddie/Rey vs. Bashams 2) Kurt Angle vs. Matt Martel (Angle Invitational) 3) Chavo vs. Funaki 4) Undertaker vs. Jindrak/Reigns 5) JBL/Orlando vs. Cena/Big Show