WWE 24/7 Discussion Thread - January 2008

[cabbageboy 0]

Flair hasn't been on the last couple of NWA shows. Was he touring overseas or something during that period of time? On vacation?

[bob_barron 0]

Finally saw the ending of the 5/12 RAW....am I the only one who is already bored with Bret? He just cuts the same long winded 20 minute promo every week, and always seems to trip over his words.

 

But what do I know, I'm just a dirty stinking rotten hyena

[cabbageboy 0]

I agree. First off, at the time I was a Bret fan and didn't really want to boo him, particularly when they were begging me to cheer a guy I found to be a sociopath (Austin). Pardon me for not wanting to cheer a guy who broke into a man's house on national TV! And yes, Bret's promos became quite repetitive since it's the same shit about how the USA sucks and is violent, etc. The problem is that he wasn't really FEUDING with anyone during this period since he was hurt, so there's no coherent match to build to with these rants. If it was "The USA sucks, Austin is a terrible role model, and I'm going to kick his ass this Sunday on PPV" then it might have some context. But at this point Bret never has another 1 on 1 match with Austin and no match with HBK either on the immediate horizon (Montreal was still another 6 months).

 

Oh, and for what it's worth UT was in fact on the All Americans at Survivor Series 1993 with Luger and Co. to defend the USA against the evil foreign fanatics. Take that, Bret.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Actually they should be announcing Bret vs HBK for KOTR soon, then it's cancellation due to their backstage fight.

[Aero 0]

I never noticed it at the time, but Bret's promo at the beginning of the 5/12 Raw is the exact same promo he does at KOTR the next month ("I trust these men to pump my heart with their blood..." etc).

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

From today's WO update:

 

--For those who have WWE 24/7, on the TBS show from February 15, 1986, they have Tully Blanchard vs. a huge fat guy in trunks called Ray Traylor, who of course later became Big Bossman and Big Bubba Rogers (as well as The Guardian Angel and other names more forgettable). There is a story behind this match. Traylor really was a prison guard from Marietta, GA, at the time who had virtually no wrestling training and was used as a job guy. When Dusty Rhodes saw how big the guy was and how smooth he went up for "little" Tully's slingshot suplex, he figured he could do something with him. So that was the match that not only got him the job, but the Bubba Rogers gimmick.

 

[Guest]

The PYBO and Roundtable are up, out here.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Anybody who either has the Ladder DVD or watched it on 24/7, what do you think of the 3Count-v-Jung Dragons-v-Knoble/Karagias Ladder match? We've had a ton of ladder matches in the last 8 years, especially in the WWF in '01 (Rumble had Benoit/Jericho, Mania had TLC II, a SmackDown in May or so had TLC III, and there were a few during the InVasion angle, most notably Edge/Christian at SurSer) and in TNA in '02/'03 before they came up with Ultimate X, but this one...this one has had spots that I actually haven't seen before, and it's a little over 7 years old. Setting up the ladders like a scaffold between one ladder and the middle rope (and Karagias subsequently hitting a powerslam on Hayashi, who attempted a springboard clothesline while Karagias was standing on that ladder-scaffold) was genius, as was making a ladder a scaffold between two set up ladders on one side, and one larger set-up ladder on the other. And then Moore hitting a skin-the-cat headscissors on Yang off of that...shit. I really think that the feud between 3Count and the Jung Dragons, and all the feuds it mutated into, really helped bring the Cruiserweight division back in late 2000 WCW. The finish to the match was anti-climactic, but ultimately the right decision to do to put over both Helms and Moore, which would then lead to Helms' face-turn during the build-up to the Cruiserweight title match against Chavo at Sin, and cementing him as the top Cruiser upon being booted out of 3Count by Moore in favor of getting Karagias back. If WWE were smart, in order to show up the X-Division, THIS is how they'd book the Cruiserweight division on SmackDown.

[Diamonddust 0]

The PYBO and Roundtable are up, out here.

 

The Roundtable is pretty good, although doing a show about wrestling territories and not having Jerry Lawler on the panel is kind of ridiculous. As much as I like Taz, he brings very little to discussions like these. Patterson does the most talking, though, and Hayes has a pretty funny story about the night Tommy Rich beat Harley Race for the NWA Title.

[cabbageboy 0]

Bah I don't seem to have the Legends show. What section should it be listed under, just the Legends place?

[Diamonddust 0]

Bah I don't seem to have the Legends show. What section should it be listed under, just the Legends place?

 

Yeah, the roundtable is always under the legends category.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Watching the TNT show on 24/7. Thank god David Shultz slapped John Stossel and got himself blackballed, because his Memphis-style cheap heat is really tiresome.

[Guest]

Anybody who either has the Ladder DVD or watched it on 24/7, what do you think of the 3Count-v-Jung Dragons-v-Knoble/Karagias Ladder match? We've had a ton of ladder matches in the last 8 years, especially in the WWF in '01 (Rumble had Benoit/Jericho, Mania had TLC II, a SmackDown in May or so had TLC III, and there were a few during the InVasion angle, most notably Edge/Christian at SurSer) and in TNA in '02/'03 before they came up with Ultimate X, but this one...this one has had spots that I actually haven't seen before, and it's a little over 7 years old. Setting up the ladders like a scaffold between one ladder and the middle rope (and Karagias subsequently hitting a powerslam on Hayashi, who attempted a springboard clothesline while Karagias was standing on that ladder-scaffold) was genius, as was making a ladder a scaffold between two set up ladders on one side, and one larger set-up ladder on the other. And then Moore hitting a skin-the-cat headscissors on Yang off of that...shit. I really think that the feud between 3Count and the Jung Dragons, and all the feuds it mutated into, really helped bring the Cruiserweight division back in late 2000 WCW. The finish to the match was anti-climactic, but ultimately the right decision to do to put over both Helms and Moore, which would then lead to Helms' face-turn during the build-up to the Cruiserweight title match against Chavo at Sin, and cementing him as the top Cruiser upon being booted out of 3Count by Moore in favor of getting Karagias back. If WWE were smart, in order to show up the X-Division, THIS is how they'd book the Cruiserweight division on SmackDown.

I liked the spots in the match, but I was sorta bothered by the crowd reaction to the whole thing. There were people in the crowd picking their noses (not literally, but that's how excited they were by the match), so I was given the impression that nobody at the time thought it meant much. Ultimately though, the match pretty much embodied WCW 2000. Too much going on, and not enough people caring.

 

My favorite spot in the match was Yang's Sky Twister Press off the ladder. That was awesome. It's my favorite aerial move, and to do it from that height (or lack thereof) was cool. As far as spotfests go, it was great, outside of the screwy finish that was inevitable from the beginning. The 3 Count fake-out when everyone else went for the ladders was hilarious.

[Darth Pipes 0]

The PYBO and Roundtable are up, out here.

 

The Roundtable is pretty good, although doing a show about wrestling territories and not having Jerry Lawler on the panel is kind of ridiculous. As much as I like Taz, he brings very little to discussions like these. Patterson does the most talking, though, and Hayes has a pretty funny story about the night Tommy Rich beat Harley Race for the NWA Title.

 

Dusty Rhodes and Mike Graham would have been perfect for this topic too. They should have replaced Foley and Taz here.

 

David Schultz sounds exactly like Larry the Cable Guy. Find his weird promos to be pretty damn funny. Anyone ever see that one where he talks about Hulk Hogan and San Francisco?

[cabbageboy 0]

Oh god, that promo is hilarious. He does nothing but rant about how everyone is gay in SF and that the town is right up Hogan's alley. Mean Gene flat out lost it during that interview and was visibly cracking up on camera.

 

Was the new TNT and Legends show part of the typical Wed. update or was this added later than that?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Legends show was a later update (I guess). As usual it's not available here so I downloaded it.

 

"Sure, if you fail as an evil dentist you can maybe come back as something else..."

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

My Black Saturday recap for WO.com

 

What a shameless self promoter I am.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I sure loved it . . . and I'm not just sayin that since you quoted me

 

But that did remind me how much Brian Blair's promo sucked. "I'm happy to be here, golly gee what great competition here in the World Wrestling Federation . . ." You could tell Gene knew he was dyin out there.

 

Also, I must say I was peeved to see McMahon overdub the great Dick Graham's commentary during the Studd/Bobo match.

[zappafrank 0]

Where exactly did this RAW PYBO come from? I remember the poll for Dec (Starrcade '92, IYH: DX, Armageddon '04), and I know there currently is a poll for 3 different Rumbles, but I don't recall any poll which included the Dec '03 RAW.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I didn't get the TNT show or the Roundtable. Super.

[Darth Pipes 0]

I didn't get the TNT show or the Roundtable. Super.

 

I found Roundtable on the second page of the Legends section.

 

Finally got a chance to watch it and thought it was really good. Got to see all kinds of cool clips from the various territories. Patterson was excellent here and Michael Hayes was good, although I found his constant interruptions to be annoying. Foley and Taz, when they actually spoke, provided a good counterpoint for the guys who really missed out on the territories but they probably should have been replaced by guys who really lived the territory days like Rhodes, Graham, and Lawler.

 

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Anyone but Graham. He singlehandedly ruined one of the roundtable shows w/ his constant interruptions which led to nothing insightful.

[Guest Nitro 24/7]

Where exactly did this RAW PYBO come from? I remember the poll for Dec (Starrcade '92, IYH: DX, Armageddon '04), and I know there currently is a poll for 3 different Rumbles, but I don't recall any poll which included the Dec '03 RAW.

 

 

Starrcade 92 won the PYBO to be shown in the month of December but the actual poll was decided during November.

 

During the month of December the PYBO poll was 3 episodes of Monday Night Raw to pick from with the winning episode to be shown in January and the Dec 2003 Raw was the winner.

 

Right now if you go on WWE.com you will see that the January PYBO poll is for 3 Royal Rumble events to vote for , with the winning event to be shown next month. (February)

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The poll was Dec. 03, Raw from MSG in '97, and the Razor/Kid episode in 1993.

[Diamonddust 0]

I didn't get the TNT show or the Roundtable. Super.

 

I found Roundtable on the second page of the Legends section.

 

Finally got a chance to watch it and thought it was really good. Got to see all kinds of cool clips from the various territories. Patterson was excellent here and Michael Hayes was good, although I found his constant interruptions to be annoying. Foley and Taz, when they actually spoke, provided a good counterpoint for the guys who really missed out on the territories but they probably should have been replaced by guys who really lived the territory days like Rhodes, Graham, and Lawler.

 

I actually didn't have a problem with Foley since he worked World Class, Continental, and Memphis. Taz somewhat justified his position by saying ECW was the last territory, which in a way it was... still... Lawler would have been great on the panel. You know it would have lead to him and Hayes getting into it over some slight Hayes thought Lawler did back in the day.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah I finally got the Legends show updated and watched it tonight. Taz had no real point being there and Lawler needed to be there but since Foley hated Memphis and Hayes probably felt the same maybe they felt Lawler wasn't a wise choice. I don't think personally that territories really died out until about 10 years ago when the USWA went under. After that it really was just WWF, WCW, and ECW....with ECW really trying to not be a territory at that point but instead a national promotion.

 

The Black Saturday show is interesting because it's one reason why WWE can say Raw is the longest running SE/wrestling program. George Championship Wrestling ran on TBS from 1972 to 1984 when Vince bought the slot. Then Crockett's NWA/WCW show was on from 1985-88, then Turner bought out Crockett and it was Turner's WCW from roughly 1988-2001. In other words there was no one time when TBS' wrestling program ran as long as Raw's 1993-current run, since while there was usually some wrestling program on TBS it wasn't the same promotion.

[Bix 0]

Plenty of shows ran longer. Wrestling at the Chase ran 24 years.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

In prime time on a national network though?

[10 Pounds 0]

It's always interesting to see Young Heel Hogan at the beginning of the 80's because he wrestles the same big brute style as he did in Rocky III. Just look at the beginning of the match with Tito Santana : jumps behind his back at the bell, use the same moveset as he did on Stallone and, when Tito was down, he looked at the crowd and yelled "There's your champ right here !". Seriously, I almost expected to see Paulie break a wooden chair on his back which he wouldn't have sold.

 

Much more interesting than the Hulk-up, finger-pointing, three punches, big boot, legdrop routine.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Worth noting, courtesy of the "10 Years Ago in the WON" articles on WO.com:

 

Best Promotion: New Japan Pro Wrestling. Runner up: All Japan Pro Wrestling.

 

(For the record, WCW finished 3rd, ECW was 4th, WWF was 5th).

 

And here this whole time I thought the smarks loved The Fed, all wondering how Nitro kept winning each week, concluding Turner had used his money to rig the ratings. Actually, now that I think about it, that doesn't sound "smart" at all. Either way, funny to think considering how often the comments in here are about how poor Nitro has been in 1997 compared to Raw.