What "Old School" aspect do you miss?

[Guest nl5xsk1]

I remember RnR Express matches, or Minnesota Wrecking Crew matches, used to get like 10 minutes on the old NWA Saturday Night Show, and they would just be facing two jobbers. Now, a Main Event on Raw might not get 10 minutes ... THAT's what I miss, longer matches with a flow.

[Guest gangsteruwa]

Everything I miss, basically has been said already, but I'll state it anyway.

 

Storylines that had to do with honor, a title, and/or actual wrestling.

 

Small, "intimate" shows put on infront of 2,000 to 3,000 people, that were televised. It was just a better feeling.

 

Fans that actually cared about wrestling, and not promos. It seems that "fans" now only pop for intros, catch phrases, and big spots.

 

When there were barely any signs in the audience.

 

Treating wrestling as a sport, and not purely as entertainment. The fact that Vince McMahon goes out and says "This isn't a sport, it's entertainment," basically is a slap in the face to all the wrestlers.

 

Everyone on the card being able to shine in their own way, and not having to adopt to a specific style.

 

Finally, RIOTS. It's amazing that wrestling could spark that much emotion into people, to cause a riot. Blind hatred for a heel. Wanting save the face. That is amazing.

 

Most of the things I miss are going on elsewhere. The problem is I have to pay 20 dollars per tape for it, wait god knows how long for it to arrive, and deal with a very shady individual with the initials RF.

[Guest TheyCallMeMark]

I wish it was like it was waaaay back... No retarded ass skits or interviews or shit at all. Feuds that were man v. man, only for the sake of the title, or honour or recognization. Not this "Dude you stole my girlfriend who was actually a man and then interupted my fight for my non-title intercontinental match that would have positioned me as first choice to tag against the number one contenders then maybe have a shot at the tag titles at the PPV IN SIX DAYS! SUNDAY! CALL YOUR LOCAL PPV PROVIDER!"

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

Another thing I miss is the Survivor Series matches. I can understand wanting the WWE Title defended, but the rest of the show should be Survivor Series Matches. Without them Survivor Series is just another PPV. At least Summerslam has name value.

[Guest wwF1587]

I miss good commentators.

 

I miss the atmosphere and excitement of a pay per view... ya know when you thought it was going to be something important and special... now they come out all the time and mean nothing.

 

I miss long term buildup... not this two week or one week crap.

 

Good storylines. Intelligent Booking. When old character build up meant something.

 

The feeling of competition on Monday... when you couldnt wait to see what would happen on both shows... see how they would counter each other.

 

I miss RAW bein taped...and then Nitro announcing their results.

 

Excitting main events... main events that would blow the roof of the house even if the mid card sucked.

 

You just never know how good you have it all... till its gone

[Guest PhillyDogg]

Also I remeber when there was only about 3 wrestlers who turned face/heel once a year and it was interesting to see the new face wrestling a heel. In 94 just Diesel and Adam Bomb turned face and Bob Backlaud and Tatanka turned heel.

[Guest the pinjockey]

I miss logical title shots.

 

How often do you see where someone will be fighting someone else for a title at a ppv, but to tune up they defend their IC title against the likes of Jeff Hardy? Why does he get a shot, why isnt the other buy pissed about him getting a shot?

[Guest MillenniumMan831]

I miss the end of SuperStars/Challenge when they would take the last minute or two to hype next week's show.

 

Vince would go, "Next week on WWF SuperStars, The Ultimate Warrior will join us, as will The Bushwhackers. But what's gonna happen when King Haku will be in singles action? Plus, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine takes on Koko B Ware and The SummerSlam Reprt with Mene Gene Okerlund. All that and more NEXT WEEK on WWF SuperStars!!!"

 

Oh yeah, those were the days.

[Guest Army Eye]

Can I just say 'all of it'? No? ok, I miss:

 

- Actually having a face PBP guy and a HEEL color guy. What was so bad about that?

 

- The PPV command centers

 

- Saturday Night's Main Event (no show could ever be this good again)

 

- Only having 4-5 PPVs

 

- When actual PUSHES were given, as opposed to just two guys trading a dozen wins back and forth so nobody gets elevated and nobody's feelings are hurt.

 

- When a newcomer would get a push instead of starting out as a jobber (only hosses get this priviledge now)

 

- When only HEELS would cheat. When only HEELS would do run-ins. And they wonder why so many heels have trouble getting heat?

 

- Kayfabe. Things were much better when there was some kayfabe

 

- Heel managers not named McMahon

 

- The IC title

 

- Most of all I miss WCW.

[Guest Downhome]

Can I just say 'all of it'? No? ok, I miss:

 

- Actually having a face PBP guy and a HEEL color guy. What was so bad about that?

 

- The PPV command centers

 

- Saturday Night's Main Event (no show could ever be this good again)

 

- Only having 4-5 PPVs

 

- When actual PUSHES were given, as opposed to just two guys trading a dozen wins back and forth so nobody gets elevated and nobody's feelings are hurt.

 

- When a newcomer would get a push instead of starting out as a jobber (only hosses get this priviledge now)

 

- When only HEELS would cheat. When only HEELS would do run-ins. And they wonder why so many heels have trouble getting heat?

 

- Kayfabe. Things were much better when there was some kayfabe

 

- Heel managers not named McMahon

 

- The IC title

 

- Most of all I miss WCW.

You have a lot of great points. I also miss the days of a heel color guy. I'll never forget the days of Gorillia or someone saying "he's got a chair, he hit him with the chair!" and then Bobby Heenan or someone going "are you crazy, he was just trying to offer him a seat!". We really need heelish color guys who are ALWAYS for the heels, or almost always.

 

You make one HELL of a point about faces and heels cheating, very good thinking there.

[Guest MillenniumMan831]

Or Heenan going, "What's going on, my monitor keeps flickering."

[Guest Downhome]

Or Heenan going, "What's going on, my monitor keeps flickering."

Oh man, we could go on and on all day about The Brain! I used to LOVE when Bobby would say something crazy, and Gorilla would simply reply with...

 

..."Will you stop?"

 

I bet he said that to Bobby thousands of times, lol.

[Guest Eagan469]

If you listen to Heenan and Okerland's color at Wrestlemania X-7, you catch funny things they said that you wouldn't have caught the first time.

 

Okerland: Yes, a great man, John Tent..

Heenan: AH!

 

still, even with Brain interrupting it sounded like "John Tenta" which amused the hell out of me

[Guest MillenniumMan831]

Or when Monsoon would go on a tirade at Heenan and he would respond with, "You talkin' to me?"

[Guest PhillyDogg]

Or when the first half of 93 when Heenan would always say good things about Luger and say its no big deal that Luger wrestles with a steel plated forearm, but when Luger turned face, Heenan would say "That's not fair, he has steel plates in that arm".

[Guest MillenniumMan831]

Yeah, it was especially funny at KOTR93 when Luger was told to put on an armpad and Heenan thought it was a tragedy "to cover up his beautiful forearm."

[Guest chirs3]

If the IC Title can be considered "Old School", then that's my pick.

[Guest papacita]

Time-limit draws! When was the last time we saw a time-limit draw in WWF/E????

[Guest MillenniumMan831]

My favorite time limit draw is STILL Bulldogs vs. Fabulous Rougeaus at SummerSlam 1988.

[Guest Dangerous A]

I miss commentators who could tell the story of a match and clean finishes.

[Guest Jack Tunney]

I miss when the Undertaker would come out and Bobby Heenan would yell,"I dropped my pen!" and act as if he were hiding under the table.

 

I miss when a guy had a title for so long it's like the belt became part of him. (like Mr. Perfect and Shawn Michaels' IC title runs)

 

I miss most anything before May 2001.It all started to slowly go downhill from there.

[Guest Jack Tunney]

I also miss the days when the DDT was a leathal finishing move. In fact, I dont really like when wrestlers kick out of finishing moves.

[Guest bravesfan]

It all starts with the announcers.

 

Success requires the formula to be:

--face announcer, doing PBP

--heel commentator, doing color

 

Since 1989, this tried and true formula worked with:

Monsoon/Ventura,

Monsoon/Heenan

Ross/Lawler, circa 1997

Ross/Heyman

 

Little things, such as....

 

--Their in-match bickering never detracted from the ring work, because they were bickering ABOUT the match. Monsoon never went onto a tangent about Randy Savage attacking Hulk Hogan, unless it tied in with the match going on in the ring at the same time.

 

--In the past, Heenan or Ventura would gripe about how Hogan resembled a arrogant prick, and it worked. Of course, no one BUT Heenan & Ventura noticed that flaw in Hogan's gimmick, which is what made it so great.

 

--The face announcers stuck up for the faces, and the heel commentators stuck up for the heels. Dastardly actions by either wrestler, and the announcers found some way to excuse his actions.

 

Now we're stuck with Tazz and Lawler, who both are too "gray" to be successful. Lawler does as much verbal blowing for Scott Steiner as he does for Triple H, which makes it all the more confusing to fans. Tazz is great, and he would work wonders on a 3-man announcing crew, but instead is playing the same role as his partner, Michael Cole.

 

Ross/Heyman in the later part of last year, for me especially, took me back to the early 90's. They made every match mean something. Heyman bitched non-stop about how the Rock trash-talked his opponents, yet JR loved every minute of it. It's all about the LITTLE THINGS...

[Guest kane3212321]

You know what got me though about Ross/Heyman in 2001 was that they talked alot about match psych. Listening to them discuss types of pinfalls and how the Rock should cover Jericho was just amazing that they were actually into the match instead of running off on a tangent.

[Guest The Superstar]

Yeah, Ross/Heyman was great, the only BAD thing about Heyman was his cliches. At a PPV, he would always give the date. "REMEMBER THIS DATE. SEPTEMBER 23, 2001, WWF UNFORGIVEN, WHERE STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN FINALLY SHUTS JR UP" and he also always did the "ONE SECOND AWAY!"

 

On the other hand, one of the best examples of their work was at Summerslam 2001 after Angle was screwed out of the title. JR kept going on about how Angle was screwed, and Heyman is like "You know, there's going to be a new show on TNN, called Excess. It's going to be a really great show, with special guest Triple H!" and JR would say "you make me sick"

[Guest EternallyLazy]

I miss...

 

- being a little kid. Before I was an "insider", I was undeniably (to myself at least) the biggest Hulkamaniac on the face of the planet. I remember watching him wrestle jobbers to the stars, and actually being on the edge of my seat... knowing that most likely he would win, but being worried that he wouldn't.

 

- the innocence that the programming at one time possessed.

 

- the banter between Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan. "Will you stop!"

 

- wrestler themes that weren't used to sell albums for generic and untalented nu-metal bastard bands

 

- My mother buying me a different Apter wrestling magazine every week, and giving it to me whenever she would pick me up from school

 

- Saturday Night Main Event

 

- The OLD NWA and it's "southern charm"

 

- Realistic sport like commentary teams like Jim Ross and Gordon Solie... especially the days when Jim Ross didn't have to scream at the wrestlers who obviously can't hear them anyway. "You tell me why! You son of a bitch... WHY?!?" - Jim Ross circa 2001

 

- "This is ineed the NWA! Athleticism at it's finest! Here, we wrestle... we don't have anyone coming out here to Rock and Roll music and posing!" - Jim Ross circa 1989

 

- Gimmick matches that weren't played out. I miss marking out over the words "steel cage" and being truly excited about it.

 

- The days when a tag team breaking up was a really big deal (shawn/Marty)

 

- World Class Championship Wrestling... the Von Erichs, Freebirds, Skandar Akbar

 

- Playing with my little wrestling figures... getting in trouble and getting them taken away from me for a month, and in that month, hyping an imaginary pay per view in my head to be played out in full whenever I got the figures back

[Guest Downhome]

- wrestler themes that weren't used to sell albums for generic and untalented nu-metal bastard bands

I really wish they would go back to the days of simple themes without words. Back in the day (not THAT long ago mind you), you could hear the first second of the song and know INSTANTLY who it's coming out. Sure it's like this today to an extent, but NOTHING like it used to be. Sometimes I don't even think of the wrestler along with their theme song now, and every fan should be able to.

 

Who didn't think of greatness of excellence when Bret's theme sounded out? Who didn't think of Hogan when his music blared? Who didn't think of the evil that was Jake the Snake when his awesome as hell theme would blast? I really miss this also, very much so.

[Guest MillenniumMan831]

Or when the glass shattered, you knew what that meant . . . REPO MAN time!!!

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

I agree with the theme music issue, which is why my favourite themes are Kurt Angle's and Brock Lesnar's. You know immediately who it is that's coming out. Eddy Guerrero's isn't bad either.

[Guest The Czech Republic]

- Realistic sport like commentary teams like Jim Ross and Gordon Solie... especially the days when Jim Ross didn't have to scream at the wrestlers who obviously can't hear them anyway. "You tell me why! You son of a bitch... WHY?!?" - Jim Ross circa 2001

This, to me, stood out among all the points on your very good list. I can't stand all the "Damn you straight to hail! Wah Austin, WAH?" that Ross has been lowered to. I don't remember him rambling on about the Oklahoma Sooners or hosses when he was alongside Bob Caudle or Gordon Solie.