1234-5678 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2005 Whose brilliant idea was it to switch Billy Gunn to the Hardcore Division and Road Dogg to the IC Title hunt? To me, both guys looked out of place fighting for these titles (especially Gunn wrestling hardcore style). Road Dogg did a great job with the Hardcore title, why move him? Why move Gunn? Anyone know? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2005 At a guess, Russo. It's the kind of thing that makes no sense at all that he loves to do just for the sake of doing it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooneyTune Report post Posted March 25, 2005 Vince Russo. I don't know why, but he loved fucking around with angles and title contenders. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
strummer 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2005 I always saw it as a form of punishment for Gunn, but I don't know if that was the case, since he was getting the uber push by June Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUTT 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2005 Russo just liked to surprise people. I always thought it was dumb, because Road Dogg and Gunn were both pretty heavily involved in the angles which led to their originally scheduled Wrestlemania matches, and then all of a sudden they switched places. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2005 That was one of Russo's many faults; his obsession with surprising people with something they didn't see coming. While a logical surprise can be nice from time to time, Russo was never able or willing to grasp the concept that a surprise that has no rhyme or reason to happen is pointless, and that while people didn't see it coming, they didn't see it coming because it made no sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cawthon777 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 It's stuff like that which totally turned me off of wrestling for a large portion of 1999. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbondrage99 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 I tell ya, that Vince Russo....pure brilliance. I mean The Road Dogg was one of the guys who really got the hardcore title to become a serious title...well before that 24/7 rule came around. While Gunn was right in thick with the IC title divison with his fued with Shamrock. Yup....Vince Russo is so brilliant it must go over everyones heads. Heres another question. Why would Vince McMahon let this blunder happen? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooneyTune Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Vince Russo cared about trying to give the midcarders something to do, which is where he was used as booker for the majority of his run in WWF. I don't know how he got some of the stuff to happen under McMahons watch, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 I don't know how he got some of the stuff to happen under McMahons watch, though. He and McMahon have the same fondness for toilet humor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Thrashist Report post Posted March 26, 2005 It made absolutely no sense. Gunn was heavily involved with the other IC contenders, and Road Dogg was carving out a niche as a hardcore wrestler. I too recall hearing something about it being punishment for Gunn as if the Rumble loss wasn't enough, but I'm not too sure about that. As illogical as Russo was almost all of the time, I must say he did a decent job of turning an amazingly crappy midcard roster of WWF in '98 and at least giving them something to do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve J. Rogers 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Just to add, "Anything Can Happen" is great in real, non scripted, sports, but pro wrestling, since the start of the TV age, is more of a drama show (or "reality" TV if you will) and as is the case with dramas, people watching want what is expected 99% of the time. Nothing wrong with shaking things up, but when it gets too much for no other reason than shaking things up, then it gets confusing and harder to enjoy because you have to keep up with all these changes. Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooneyTune Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Vince Russo shook it up so much in 1999 I can barely remember anything significant. Exactly how many times did Big Show/Paul Wight (seems to be changing every week) turn in 1999 under Russos watch? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve J. Rogers 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 It made absolutely no sense. Gunn was heavily involved with the other IC contenders, and Road Dogg was carving out a niche as a hardcore wrestler. I too recall hearing something about it being punishment for Gunn as if the Rumble loss wasn't enough, but I'm not too sure about that. As illogical as Russo was almost all of the time, I must say he did a decent job of turning an amazingly crappy midcard roster of WWF in '98 and at least giving them something to do. I've heard rumors about Gunn pulling a Luger and bragging that he was to win the IC belt, I doubt the switch was part of that punishment, though the IC title lineage took a severe dip that year after Road Dogg won the belt. Wasn't untill Jericho entered the fray that Fall that it was "respected" again Don't forget this was also the summer that saw Edge win the title in Canada (I think he was subbing for Jarrett's original SummerSlam opponent who went on the shelf) the last house show before SummerSlam and then lost it back to Jarrett on the PPV Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Gunn's losing to Shamrock at the Rumble wasn't a punishment. but the finish was. Originally, he was to lose via outside interference, but it got changed to him losing clean via submission. Edge beat Jarrett for the IC Title because Ken Shamrock, ironically, had transportation problems, so they gave Edge the win because he was losing to Jarrett the next day at the PPV anyway. And it was Fully Loaded, not Summerslam. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooneyTune Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Edge won it the night before Fully Loaded '99 (or somewhere in the neighborhood of a few days before). Also Luger never bragged about anything, so Billy Gunn pulled a Billy Gunn... fucking up out of nowhere when he was being pushed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve J. Rogers 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Gunn's losing to Shamrock at the Rumble wasn't a punishment. but the finish was. Originally, he was to lose via outside interference, but it got changed to him losing clean via submission. Edge beat Jarrett for the IC Title because Ken Shamrock, ironically, had transportation problems, so they gave Edge the win because he was losing to Jarrett the next day at the PPV anyway. And it was Fully Loaded, not Summerslam. Huh, thanks. Shows you how many crazy things were going on that year. I can't even get the story straight! Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MillenniumMan831 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 That era reminds me of a Kurt Angle quote after he won the WWF Championship and started listing all his accomplishments over the past year: "I became the first ever EuroContinental Champion . . . . . well, actually D-Lo Brown was the first ever EuroContinental Champion, but he doesn't count!" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest bissionary Report post Posted March 26, 2005 I seem to remember Gunn and Road Dogg switching matches because Road Dog was addicted to pain killers and they didn't want him in Hardcore matches because of his problems with drugs so they decided it would be easy to just put Billy in Road Dog's spot and vice versa. But I could be wrong. Anyone else remember this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ravenbomb 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 That era reminds me of a Kurt Angle quote after he won the WWF Championship and started listing all his accomplishments over the past year: "I became the first ever EuroContinental Champion . . . . . well, actually D-Lo Brown was the first ever EuroContinental Champion, but he doesn't count!" That was great Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbondrage99 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 That era reminds me of a Kurt Angle quote after he won the WWF Championship and started listing all his accomplishments over the past year: "I became the first ever EuroContinental Champion . . . . . well, actually D-Lo Brown was the first ever EuroContinental Champion, but he doesn't count!" That was great And as Kurt would say...Its True. Oh its damn true! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooneyTune Report post Posted March 26, 2005 I seem to remember Gunn and Road Dogg switching matches because Road Dog was addicted to pain killers and they didn't want him in Hardcore matches because of his problems with drugs so they decided it would be easy to just put Billy in Road Dog's spot and vice versa. But I could be wrong. Anyone else remember this? why would it matter and why give him a title that was much more important if he had a problem? Usually people like that get sent home to recover or fired. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbondrage99 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Wasnt Road Dogg fired for drug problems afterwards anyways? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooneyTune Report post Posted March 26, 2005 He was fired in December 2000 because of something like that, when the straw that broke the camels back was him showing up for a match he was in on Smackdown where he was visibly "out of it". This also ended up kinda screwing over K-Kwik, since he and RD were teaming up at the time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jericholic82 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 doggs drug problems is what led wwf to strip him of the hc title prior to st valentines day massacre. A few weks later he was back, but of course he won the ic belt then billy won the hc belt. confusing everyone of course. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 He was fired in December 2000 because of something like that, when the straw that broke the camels back was him showing up for a match he was in on Smackdown where he was visibly "out of it". This also ended up kinda screwing over K-Kwik, since he and RD were teaming up at the time. It was a tag match for Jakked right at the end of 2000. He was indefinitely suspended to deal with the drug issues, as well as a personal situation, and was then formally let go a short while after that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianGuitarist 0 Report post Posted March 27, 2005 Edge won it the night before Fully Loaded '99 (or somewhere in the neighborhood of a few days before). Also Luger never bragged about anything, so Billy Gunn pulled a Billy Gunn... fucking up out of nowhere when he was being pushed. Yep. Night before. Saturday in Toronto, Fully Loaded was Sunday in Buffalo. Edge got the IC title in Toronto, but I thought he lost it back to JJ on Raw, not at Fully Loaded. Stop me if I'm wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MillenniumMan831 0 Report post Posted March 27, 2005 He lost it right back at Fully Loaded in the opener. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest LooneyTune Report post Posted March 27, 2005 IIRC, Gangrel interfered in the match, which must've really been a low blow, because Gangrel was hardly used as anything other than a JTTS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jericholic82 0 Report post Posted March 28, 2005 IIRC, Gangrel interfered in the match, which must've really been a low blow, because Gangrel was hardly used as anything other than a JTTS. Edge had just left the brood, so he was feuding with gangrel. and Edge wa snothing more than a mid carder at this point, slowlt transitioning into a midcard tag wrestler Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
