Monday Night Wars

[cabbageboy 0]

They actually largely stopped calling DQs for it anyway but it wasn't officially tossed as a rule until early 1998 if I'm not mistaken.

[shadylpete 0]

Was this the first RAW with DX's funny antics? (the whole shawn holding the title up to prevent slaughter's spit & hhh and hbk looking at each other repeatedly after bret wanted to kick their asses)

[MrRant 0]

One thing I'm not looking forward to on the upcoming Raw shows is all the editing. I'm not talking about the blurring of logos but the beeping out of langue and Austin's hand gestures being blurred. That is absolutely inexcuseable for what is a On Demand Service that caters to an older audience. You can't even say ass anymore on WWE television.

 

The part that bothers me the most is the WWF to WW_ editing of announcers etc. I can understand blurring the scratch logo which is fine but good Christ you would think they would be safe from the pandas when it comes to pre-lawsuit WWF.

[Enigma 0]

I don't even understand why the scratch logo has to be blurred but the other ones are just fine.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Don't quote me on this as fact, but I BELIEVE it's because the block logos were used when the Panda folks had a working agreement with Vince. The scratch logo was in use when the agreement expired and Vince didn't pay up.

[KingPK 0]

For some reason, Bret Hart calling someone a homo just sounds kind of odd.

 

This is actually a pretty contentious opening promo. You can sense that there's a bit more going on than just a wrestling angle.

 

EDIT: Goddamn, Shawn just won't shut up here!

Edited October 1, 2008 by KingPK

[Steviekick 0]

Don't quote me on this as fact, but I BELIEVE it's because the block logos were used when the Panda folks had a working agreement with Vince. The scratch logo was in use when the agreement expired and Vince didn't pay up.

 

That's pretty much what the problem was. The block logo stuff is retroactively permissible due to the agreement.

[cabbageboy 0]

I don't get why the blurring is necessary anyway, as in why did WWE ever allow that to happen? I get losing the rights to the name WWF but there's no way if I'm Vince I'd change my video library and make it unwatchable with blurred logos.

[shadylpete 0]

The ending of Nitro really annoyed me. They cut out what looked like a Henning vs. Benoit match and cut the clip so it starts with Flair running out.

[Kinetic 0]

I don't have 24/7, and I'm kind of glad that I don't. I get so depressed reading these threads and reminiscing about how great the product the was back them. Look at how many historical things are happening every week. Now we just get the same regurgitated crap every week.

 

Here here. My two big periods of wrestling fandom were from '90-'94 and then from '97-'02, and this period of WWF stuff in '97 and '98 is by far my favorite to look back on. There was just so much happening: the advent of the Attitude Era, the rise of Steve Austin, the fall of Bret Hart, the initial stages of McMahon's heel character, DX, The Rock, the Montreal stuff, Tyson at WM, the whole Taker-Foley Hell in the Cell spectacle, etc. Even dumb stuff like Kane seemed pretty riveting at the time. And with the WWF trailing and then pulling ahead of WCW (which I always hated) in the ratings, I had this feeling of having been on the right team the whole time. Though I continued to watch for another few years, I never cared as much about wrestling and was never as genuinely excited by it as I was by the WWF in '97 and '98.

[Diamonddust 0]

I don't have 24/7, and I'm kind of glad that I don't. I get so depressed reading these threads and reminiscing about how great the product the was back them. Look at how many historical things are happening every week. Now we just get the same regurgitated crap every week.

 

Here here. My two big periods of wrestling fandom were from '90-'94 and then from '97-'02, and this period of WWF stuff in '97 and '98 is by far my favorite to look back on. There was just so much happening: the advent of the Attitude Era, the rise of Steve Austin, the fall of Bret Hart, the initial stages of McMahon's heel character, DX, The Rock, the Montreal stuff, Tyson at WM, the whole Taker-Foley Hell in the Cell spectacle, etc. Even dumb stuff like Kane seemed pretty riveting at the time. And with the WWF trailing and then pulling ahead of WCW (which I always hated) in the ratings, I had this feeling of having been on the right team the whole time. Though I continued to watch for another few years, I never cared as much about wrestling and was never as genuinely excited by it as I was by the WWF in '97 and '98.

 

Agreed 100%. I was in high school from 1996-2000, basically the entire span of the full Monday Night War. It was an awesome time to be a wrestling fan.

[Enigma 0]

I was in 9th grade in 1998. It was really nuts seeing the same people that used to make fun of me for watching wrestling when we were kids come to school wearing DX and Austin shirts.

[Steviekick 0]

I was in 9th grade in 1998. It was really nuts seeing the same people that used to make fun of me for watching wrestling when we were kids come to school wearing DX and Austin shirts.

 

I was the same way. Although it kind of drove me to like WCW and ECW much more, just to be different.

[Kinetic 0]

Around the time of SummerSlam in '98, I remember seeing a big display of wrestling action figures at the public library in Manassas, Virginia. They were set up to simulate matches at that show: Triple H and the Rock on a ladder, Undertaker and Austin, etc. That was sort of a sign to me that the thing had reached critical mass. Nine months earlier, you couldn't buy an Austin t-shirt at the mall.

[King Kamala 0]

Honestly, I think '96 through '00 was kind of retribution for me sticking through with the product in '95. The last half of '97 and the first half of '98 in WWF were about as good as '95 was bad.

[Diamonddust 0]

I was in 9th grade in 1998. It was really nuts seeing the same people that used to make fun of me for watching wrestling when we were kids come to school wearing DX and Austin shirts.

 

At my school, it was always interesting to see how many wrestling shirts would be worn the night after a Nitro or Raw would come to Birmingham. It was very easy to tell the casual fan from the hardcore fan.

[Darth Pipes 0]

I was in my first year of college in 1998 when I started seeing people wearing NWO shirts and I was stunned. When I was in elementary school, wrestling was huge. It still had a following with some people by the time I got into Jr. High but wrestling was something you DID NOT talk about with the majority of the students. Then when I hit college, it's big again.

[cabbageboy 0]

I don't really recall how many people in grade school were wrestling fans, but I know I was watching in 1988-89. I went to HS during a dubious time to be a fan (1993-97), although I guess by the time senior year rolled around at least WCW was hot with the NWO.

 

Anyway, after seeing this Nitro it's far past time they stopped with this Benoit shit. It was so blatant and annoying that they could out the Benoit/Hennig match since they came back with Flair running to the ring and Benoit was being attacked by the NWO. Given how hot that Hennig/Flair angle started, how did WCW not make insane money off of it? Maybe if it had been 4 years earlier it would have with both guys as the top draws instead of upper midcard.

 

Raw really started getting insane during this period of time. Lots of Russo type shoot stuff on this show with Bret and Shawn flat out laying into each other on the mic, but the difference is these guys were feuding with each other and the shoot comments fit into a context.

[KingPK 0]

I've had this service about two months, about four Nitros worth, and I'm already sick of the NWO's dick-stroking promos. It doesn't even seem like they have any kind of structure; it's just a couple of them wandering out, saying how great they are and how much WCW sucks and then their music kicking in before they are even finished (as was the case for the Hall promo an episode or two ago).

[Enigma 0]

Did they keep in all the Pillman stuff on the 10/6 Raw, including the painfully awkward Melanie interview?

[KingPK 0]

Yes, and it is as uncomfortable as ever.

[Diamonddust 0]

I've had this service about two months, about four Nitros worth, and I'm already sick of the NWO's dick-stroking promos. It doesn't even seem like they have any kind of structure; it's just a couple of them wandering out, saying how great they are and how much WCW sucks and then their music kicking in before they are even finished (as was the case for the Hall promo an episode or two ago).

 

It's only October 1997... it gets far worse.

 

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah the Melanie Pillman part of Raw was something I skipped since I remember thinking it was awful to put her on the show in that painful situation. What's wild is that the rest of Raw was such a good show that it completely took my mind off Pillman dying.

[Enigma 0]

Yeah the Melanie Pillman part of Raw was something I skipped since I remember thinking it was awful to put her on the show in that painful situation. What's wild is that the rest of Raw was such a good show that it completely took my mind off Pillman dying.

 

Well, to be fair I doubt this had ever happened to Vince before and they didn't know how to handle this kind of stuff at the time.

[Brett Wolverton 0]

I don't think I ever realized this before, but the new RAW that's up, with the tribute/ten bell salute to Brian Pillman was held at Kemper Arena, where Owen Hart would die two years later.

 

It's also sad during the ten bell salute when at least three of the guys that are prominently featured on camera during it (Rick Rude, Owen Hart, & Road Warrior Hawk) have all passed on since.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Four. Don't forget the Bulldog.

[zappafrank 0]

So Kane showed up at Badd Blood, and then made his RAW debut the following night. Prior to that weekend, when was the last time the whole "Taker killed his family but wait no, Kane is still alive" angle actually had been mentioned on TV? Early, maybe mid-summer?

 

I ask b/c I wonder how many people were wondering who the hell Kane was, and then when his name/relation were mentioned, were like "Oh, yeah...I had forgotten about that." It seems like there was such a lag since the whole angle got a push that I wouldn't be surprised if fans didn't immediately recognize Kane's debut as such.

[zappafrank 0]

Also, I don't know if it's been mentioned, but on the 9/29/07 ep of RAW, 24/7 took out a feature on Ron Simmons. I noticed the show was shorter than normal, and reading an old review explains why.

 

Also, after that show, HBK kissed HHH on the lips. I know I've seen that footage somewhere. Do they show it some other time?

[Darth Pipes 0]

What was the feature on Simmons? About his football career?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Yeah, could you explain it a bit? With the recaps I read, Mr. Petrie was watching Nitro during a commercial and forgot to go back to Raw. It just notes "the segment they ran on Superstars".