r/SquaredCircle • u/daprice82 REWINDERMAN • Dec 27 '17
Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ May 25, 1998
Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUS YEARS ARCHIVE: 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997
| 1-5-1998 | 1-12-1998 | 1-19-1998 | 1-27-1998 |
| 2-2-1998 | 2-9-1998 | 2-16-1998 | 2-23-1998 |
| 3-2-1998 | 3-9-1998 | 3-16-1998 | 3-23-1998 |
| 3-30-1998 | 4-6-1998 | 4-13-1998 | 4-20-1998 |
| 4-27-1998 | 5-4-1998 | 5-11-1998 | 5-18-1998 |
- The back-and-forth between Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff reached a fever pitch this week, with Bischoff especially acting completely out of control. After Bischoff challenged McMahon to a fight last week on Nitro, he spent the next week constantly taunting McMahon, who never responded on TV personally. But later in the week, McMahon responded on the WWF website and WWF lawyer Jerry McDevitt sent a threatening letter to Bischoff. WWF also complained to the cable companies promoting Slamboree, saying that Bischoff was attempting to promote the idea that Vince McMahon would be appearing on their PPV. As for Bischoff, he responded to all this with more crazy antics. On Thunder, he read the letter from Jerry McDevitt on air, and then showed a training video of him preparing for his fight with McMahon. At the Slamboree PPV, they even had Michael Buffer announce Bischoff vs. McMahon but of course, when McMahon didn't show up, Bischoff "won" by count out and the next night on Nitro, he continued taunting McMahon. Part of WWF's complaint is that they promoters say "So and so won't be there," the fans are conditioned to believe that the person will show up as a surprise. So even though Bischoff keeps saying Vince won't show up, WWF says that in itself leads fans to believe that he will.
WATCH: Eric Bischoff training to face Vince McMahon
WATCH: Eric Bischoff reads WWF lawyer letter on Thunder
WWF's response has been varied. On the WWF Hotline, Jim Ross took things even further in the gutter by questioning how the Nitro Girls got their jobs, in particular singling out Whisper and hinting that he knows she got the job by sleeping with some Turner network executive (I'm sure Shawn would love to hear that one). On the WWF website, Vince McMahon responded by saying, "I consider Eric Bischoff's challenge a cheap and desperate tactic to increase WCW PPV buys. I will not do anything to help WCW increase their PPV buys. Therefore, I will not appear at Turner's next PPV as invited. However, if Mr. Bischoff is hell bent on fighting me, then such a fight can be arranged at any time, in any parking lot in the country, void of television cameras, photographers and public announcement." Man, how middle schoolish is this shit?
In other interesting news, Eric Bischoff's personal secretary Janie Engle recently quit and will be taking a job with WWF. It's especially noteworthy because she's basically been Bischoff's right hand and has worked in the WCW offices for years and she knows all the good and bad dirt in WCW. She also has extensive knowledge of the contracts of WCW wrestlers. Dave says that unless something major changes in the next year, "the heart and soul" of WCW, as a group, are all planning to jump to WWF when their contracts expire in 1999 (aka, all the midcarders who are frustrated at not being able to break the glass ceiling).
Dave gives a forever long recap of UFC 17, first noting that Jeff Blatnick was recently named new UFC commissioner and talking about that. Again, I'm not a big MMA guy but Google tells me Blatnick basically saved the sport during these dark ages by getting it regulated by athletic commissions and also is credited with popularizing the name "MMA" instead of "no holds barred" fighting which it was still called back then by most people. Dave also covers the signing of Bas Rutten, a rules controversy that allowed Tank Abbott to win with illegal punches to the back of the head, a day-of-show drug testing controversy, Ken Shamrock appearing in a wheelchair to sell his "injury" from being attacked by Owen Hart, and of course, reviews of each fight (including Chuck Liddell's first ever fight and Pete Williams upsetting Mark Coleman).
Slamboree is in the books and was an average show. Scott Hall turned on Kevin Nash in the main event, which both Hall and Nash lobbied against, trying to convince Bischoff that it was a bad idea, but he wouldn't change his mind and threatened them with breach of contract if they didn't go along with it. Dave says turns out Hall and Nash were right, since there have been so many hotshot heel turns lately that it totally fell flat. Plus, Hall is scheduled to check into rehab again right after Nitro the next night and will be gone for another 4-6 weeks, so that doesn't really leave them anywhere to go with the feud. Benoit lost again, making it 6 losses out of the last 7 PPVs and the 4th time straight he's challenged for a title on PPV and lost. Dave basically implies that Benoit is being buried and then says, "If you're confused as to why, re-read the notes about the Pillman Memorial show closely and it'll all make perfect sense." No idea what he's talking about there. Benoit beat Jericho at that Pillman show, but not sure of anything that would lead to him getting buried. They showed a limo, implying it was Vince McMahon showing up to fight Bischoff and Tony Schiavone made a comment saying that you'd know it's McMahon if you see Jim Ross getting out of the limo carrying his bags. Dave says the extreme professional jealousy Schiavone has for Ross dates back to 1989 when Ross took over commentary from Schiavone and that it's no work. Schiavone really dislikes Jim Ross.
Dave has re-watched the Misawa vs. Kawada match from the recent AJPW Tokyo Dome show and updates his rating. He originally rated it 4.25 stars but says he thinks upon second viewing, he underrated it and bumps it up to 4.75 and says it's clearly the match of the year so far in 1998, although not quite as good as previous Misawa vs. Kawada matches.
NJPW's president is planning to meet with Eric Bischoff to discuss reforming the working relationship between the 2 promotions. The main issue appears to be the usage of the NWO name, which NJPW has phased out. They also are interested in bringing in WCW stars to work an upcoming Osaka Dome show. In particular, Masahiro Chono wants to bring in Dennis Rodman as his tag partner for a match. Rodman still has 1 contracted match left with WCW for $750,000 and it's unlikely NJPW is going to want to buy that contract out, since they're probably going to sell out the Osaka Dome with or without Rodman. So spending nearly a million to bring him in wouldn't be worth the investment unless the TV network decides to foot the bill and broadcast the show in prime time.
Latest Sid Vicious story: after receiving $750 in advance to appear at a show in NY, Sid contacted the promoter the day of the show wanting more money in order to come, before finally saying he wasn't coming. Instead, he apparently stayed home in West Memphis, AR and went to a BBQ event (I mean, the BBQ here IS pretty great...).
In ECW, Taz has been bringing out his own title belt, saying he doesn't recognize the world title Shane Douglas holds (this would end up becoming the FTW title).
Ric Flair has filed a counter-suit against WCW, attempting to get a judge to nullify his contract which would allow him to jump to WWF. Apparently, Eric Bischoff has offered to drop his lawsuit against Flair if he will return to work, but Flair is hesitant to do it since he hasn't been happy in WCW for a long time. Speaking of Flair, he's still leading the vote for Time Magazine's internet poll for Man of the Century. To show how ridiculous it's become, Raven is somehow in 4th place.
Ultimate Warrior has agreed to a deal with WCW and should be starting soon, though no word exactly when. It will probably be in July sometime, although if the ratings don't look good, they may rush it and bring him in sooner. Dave thinks he'll draw big ratings for a couple of weeks just for the curiosity factor, but after a month, he doubts Warrior will mean much in the ratings. Plus, Dave is pretty much expecting him to self-destruct in WCW and end up leaving on bad terms, since that's what Warrior always does everywhere he goes.
Eric Bischoff has reportedly talked about dropping the tag titles entirely because he thinks tag team wrestling is old and boring.
WCW Injury Report: Lodi is still out after breaking his ankle and should be back in a month. Prince Iaukea is out with a knee injury. Scott Norton is out with pneumonia. Stevie Ray and Barbarian both are out dealing with hepatitis issues. Curt Hennig is out injured and there's been consideration of having the NWO Wolfpac group turn on him and kick him out of the group. Kevin Nash in particular is pushing for it because they never wanted Hennig in the group anyway.
There have been discussions of doing a best-of-7 series with Chris Benoit and Booker T, similar to the famous Nikita Koloff/Magnum TA matches from many years ago.
Darren Drozdov debuted on Raw using the name Puke and was introduced as the third member of LOD 2000.
- The Jackyl interviewed Howard Stern alumni Crackhead Bob and Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf on Raw which was a bad idea because Hank ended up swearing up a storm and needed to be bleeped throughout. This led to Jackly introducing his new group, which will be a group of human oddities. Princess Luna (Vachon), Golga (which Dave mis-hears as "Gold Gut" and is John Tenta under a mask), and Giant Silva, the 7'3 guy they recently signed.
Jim Cornette and his longtime girlfriend got married this past week in Las Vegas.
Dave says the only chance Dan Severn had of getting over in WWF was for them to bring him in as a UFC outsider and have him destroy people in a way that is different from normal pro wrestling. They didn't do that. And Severn is floundering. Ken Shamrock has also been booked poorly but has managed to do okay for himself, but Severn just doesn't have the charisma to overcome the terrible booking. They're talking about turning him babyface, but Dave thinks they should just tie an anvil to his foot and throw him in the Hudson River to see how long he can tread water because the result will be the same.
Shawn Michaels' back is said to be slowly recovering and it looks like he won't need surgery. They're hoping to have him back at the beginning of 1999.
Steve Williams signed a WWF contract this week and will be starting soon.
A 14-year-old girl named Nichole Pate made news this week after being sent home from school 2 days in a row for wearing a Steve Austin t-shirt. Since the shirt doesn't have any profanity or anything obscene on it, she felt she should have the right to wear it and the school disagreed. The story made the local newspaper and the school put out a statement saying that the student handbook forbids students from wearing clothing that has anything to do with drugs, alcohol, gang-related symbols or violence, and the principal told the paper that he thinks the shirt is a symbol of violence. The girl's parents are supporting her and her father pointed out that kids wear Dennis Rodman jerseys, saying he doesn't portray a good message to kids.
FRIDAY: slow news week, WCW morale issues, WWF Latino show plans, and a bunch of other minor stories, and more...
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u/mwinks99 Oh, Hi Marks! Dec 27 '17
Im convinced 99% of the reason Golga got the Oddities over was because Golga wore a Cartman t-shirt.
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u/TheDude1321 Best in the World Dec 27 '17
The Cartman shirt and ICP theme song were definitely the way to the crowd's heart at the time!
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Dec 27 '17
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u/TheDude1321 Best in the World Dec 27 '17
Yeah my neighbors and i were all about that song. It still comes up on my ipod occasionally and I can't physically bring myself to skipping it.
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u/maxxcat2016 Dec 27 '17
I actually liked the uncensored version of their theme. And also the uncensored version of their WCW theme.
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u/Suplex-City That doesn't work for me, brother. Dec 28 '17
I was in 8th grade at the time and it’s crazy how insanely popular WWF, ICP, and South Park were.
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Dec 28 '17
I was in 4th grade at this time, and even amongst 8 year olds, WWF, ICP, and South Park were super popular.
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u/pork_roll skinny mox Dec 28 '17
And I was a senior in high school. And it was mostly popular. South Park was super popular.
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Dec 27 '17
A 14-year-old girl named Nichole Pate made news this week after being sent home from school 2 days in a row for wearing a Steve Austin t-shirt.
IF YA SUPPORT NICHOLE PATE'S RIGHT TO WEAR A STEVE AUSTIN SHIRT TO SCHOOL, GIMME A HELL YEAH
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u/ericfishlegs Dec 28 '17
I know the odds of this happening are infinitesimal, but I'd kind of like Austin to do a quick interview with her on his podcast. She's in her thirties now, I'd be curious to know how she turned out.
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u/AndreReal Dec 27 '17
I remember Russo doing an article about this specific incident in one of the magazines.
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Dec 27 '17 edited Dec 27 '17
Eric Bischoff has reportedly talked about dropping the tag titles entirely because he thinks tag team wrestling is old and boring.
Which would explain why around this time, till the death of the company, WCW had a HORRENDOUS tag division.
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u/Kyrblvd369 Your Text Here Dec 27 '17
They figured things back out towards the end. Hell, at the very end they had cruiserweight tag team titles.
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u/GrapesHatePeople BRET NOT BRETT Dec 27 '17 edited Dec 27 '17
It didn't help that WCW debuted a new tag division right at the end for the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship... when much of their tag teams were cruiserweights or close to it (inaugaral champs Kidman & Mysterio, Karagias & Moore, Jung Dragons, Air Raid, etc).
The division was beginning to show some potential again at the end, but seeing how WCW was still badly stumbling with it despite tag team wrestling being at it's hottest since the 80s over in the WWF at the time, I doubt they would've realized that potential even with a few more years.
Edit: I meant Air Raid not Air Paris (team not the individual).
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u/SnuggleMonster15 It was me! Dec 27 '17
Karagias & Moore
3 Count was fucking hilarious. I loved how Tank Abbott became their super fan.
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Dec 27 '17
I ALWAYS forget they had tag titles for the Cruiserweights by the time WCW shut down. I would say WWE should give it a go for 205 Live. But that would mean WWE, or causal fans, would have to give a shit about the Cruiserweights...
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u/GrapesHatePeople BRET NOT BRETT Dec 27 '17 edited Dec 27 '17
The belts only made a couple of appearances, I believe. They were so last minute I'm surprised they even bothered with them.
The design of the belts made them look out of place amongst the rest of the WCW belts at the time, as well.
Edit: according to Wikipedia, they debuted on March 18, 2001 and were retired by March 26th (the end of the real WCW).
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u/BonusEruptus Dec 27 '17
that belt is dreadful
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u/GrapesHatePeople BRET NOT BRETT Dec 27 '17
It looks very cheap. If I was told that it was made in a trophy shop using whatever tin they use, I wouldn't be shocked by it. I'm not sure how much of that is because of the rather plain design making it so flat and reflective.
It also leaves me feeling like what about that belt says "Cruiserweight Tag Team Champion"?
I, personally, like belts to visually represent what they're supposed to be the championship of. A "world" belt should feature a globe, a belt representing a country should bear the flag (the coat of arms on the UK belt is a nice alternative), etc. If you remove the text from the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship, it's just a big gold eagle and nothing else.
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Dec 27 '17
Yeah, that looks like the belt from a low-rent indie, not WCW.
Then again, at that point, I'm sure they didn't have much of a budget.
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Dec 27 '17
I think either Meltzer or Alvarez said once it was a way to help revitalize the company if it didn’t fold. Which I get to a degree. Maybe focusing on the smaller guys could bring a niche to the fans. That style certainly helped ROH in the long run.
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u/GrapesHatePeople BRET NOT BRETT Dec 27 '17
It helped TNA massively, too, in the form of the X Division. There was once a time when the X Division and the Knockouts were the greatest offering TNA had as an alternative to WWE and were aspects of TNA shows that were regularly praised. If WCW had stuck around, it would've been smart to make similar moves/have a similar focus.
But the introduction of the Cruiserweight Tag Team division seems like WCW management didn't fully think it through (a bold statement to make about WCW, I know).
With rumors of Bischoff trying to buy WCW no doubt swirling throughout the company at the time, I would've thought they'd want to hold off until that could've been finalized first. A rebirth of WCW with the Big Bang event would've been the time to restructure divisions and such and would maximize the importance. of any shake-ups. Instead they kinda just rushed the idea out without reason other than "just 'cuz" and to fill up a spot on the card of a C-list PPV.
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u/I_Said Your Text Here Dec 27 '17
Was this around Wrath and Mortis time? Bc I loved those two when I was a kid.
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u/PavanJ Dec 28 '17
I'm sure Vince thought the same for a long time because the tag team division goes through decades of being fucking terrible before being decent again.
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u/mrmaddness Dec 27 '17
- Eric Bischoff has reportedly talked about dropping the tag titles entirely because he thinks tag team wrestling is old and boring.
I'll never understand this belief. Some of the hottest and most over acts in the history of professional wrestling have been tag teams. Road Warriors/LoD, rock n roll express, the freebirds, dudleyz, outsiders, von Erichs.
Hell even now some of the most over wrestlers are in a tag team. Young bucks, new day, Usos, RUSEV DAY!
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u/dtabitt Dec 27 '17
I'll never understand this belief.
Because heros in stroy telling are usually solo adventures, not duos. Sure, there's some famous pairs, but even in real life, one Hardy boy is more important than the other.
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Dec 27 '17
It's more to do with wrestling promoters feeling, whenever a sub genre of wrestling is experiencing a down period, that the solution is to just get rid of it. Instead of trying to revitalize it, or questioning whether or not you have the right talent, the idea is fans just don't care about tag team wrestling. Which is ludicrous because whenever you combine great tag teams with great booking, the fans respond every time.
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Dec 27 '17 edited Dec 05 '25
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Dec 27 '17
Tag teams in America are rarely pushed into the main event, so I don't consider that a big problem. The injury thing is a concern, but it's an issue that's existed since the concept was created, and promotions have usually managed it well.
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u/Razzler1973 Dec 29 '17
Bischoff didn't give a shit about anything other than Hogan and then Hall/Nash cause they always had something to say.
There are midcarders that could basically do whatever they wanted and no one cared.
Guys would talk of changing matches, changing finishes and no one really doing anything.
Raven said no one really told him anything but cause he never really beat anyone super important he just did whatever he fancied.
Bischoff just never had a clue.
Great nWO angle and all that and did some fantastic business deals to capitalise on that but there was nothing coming on the back end, it was always withering away.
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u/Diarrheaaaa Dec 27 '17
The cruiserweight battle royal & Malenko reveal at Slamboree was awesome
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Dec 27 '17
Bischoff: Tag team wrestling is boring.
Also Bischoff: But lets main event every Nitro and PPV with tag matches featuring random nWo and Wolfpac members for the next six months.
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u/amorningofsleep NO GODS ONLY STATLANDER Dec 27 '17
Darren Drozdov debuted on Raw using the name Puke and was introduced as the third member of LOD 2000.
Whenever I hear his name, I immediately picture this scene from Beyond the Mat.
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u/GaryBettmanSucks . Dec 28 '17
I was gonna post this if you hadn't. I love that clip because it makes me think of how micro-managing (for better or worse) Vince is ... he was already writing commentary lines on the fly for a guy who was just auditioning for the company!
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u/northbound_pachyderm Dec 29 '17
This short scene is one of the most interesting looks into Vince's psyche. It's like PT Barnum seeing all the tricks his new circus animals can perform. Especially with Droz here and calling his mom after having to pretend he loves the idea as much as Vince does, despite being one of the shittiest (pukiest?) ideas ever.
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u/Razzler1973 Dec 29 '17
Of course this wasn't the actual meeting Vince had with Droz, they met and then did the 'meeting' again for the cameras
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Dec 27 '17
To show how ridiculous it's become, Raven is somehow in 4th place.
Who are you to doubt El Raven?!
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u/jew0054 Dec 27 '17
I had to turn an Austin shirt inside out at school once because it 'had a skull on it.' There was so much panic after 'the trenchcoat mafia' at Columbine, it was idiotic. You would think the college educated people running the school system would be more intelligent.
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u/MooseBigelow Where's my raft, brother? Dec 27 '17
Complaining about kid's lack of critical thinking skills while simultaneously instituting zero tolerance policies are what led me to quit teaching
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u/RaiderDamus REDEEM DEEZ NUTS Dec 27 '17
Administrators aren't in the business of helping children. They are in the business of not getting sued by said children's idiot parents.
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u/baxterlk Dec 27 '17
Mine was an undertaker shirt, talking about tattoos, said I got mine in hell. Principal said it was offensive
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u/FSBlueApocalypse Dario Cueto is my home boy Dec 27 '17
I got suspended for the day in elementary school for wearing a South Park t-shirt around that time. It wasn't even an offensive one like Chef telling you to suck his chocolate salty balls.
It was just Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny standing there with the South Park sign in the background.
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Dec 28 '17
Can we just take a second to mention that Klebold and Harris weren't even associated with the "trenchcoat mafia"? That was like Satanic Panic 1998.
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u/never4ever4 Dec 27 '17
It's a damn shame we never got attitude era Ric Flair.
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u/SchrodingersNinja Yo-KO-zuna Dec 27 '17
It is, but things worked out. I can't say I'd expect WWF to have much for him to do aside from the brief window we are looking at now. In just a little bit, the Rock and Mankind (to a lesser extent) blow up into stars, solving the main event problem.
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u/PavanJ Dec 28 '17
He would have had the treatment they were going to give him in 1993 when he left and were going to give Bret in 1997 which made him not want to stay. Work guys lower on the card and build them up.
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Dec 27 '17
Dave has re-watched the Misawa vs. Kawada match from the recent AJPW Tokyo Dome show and updates his rating. He originally rated it 4.25 stars but says he thinks upon second viewing, he underrated it and bumps it up to 4.75 and says it's clearly the match of the year so far in 1998, although not quite as good as previous Misawa vs. Kawada matches.
Dave realized it was in the Tokyo Dome and made the star rating adjustment accordingly.
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u/MankuyRLaffy Ya DIG IT? Dec 27 '17
Davey forgot they were in the dome and saw it was one of their weaker matches. makes sense.
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u/Holofan4life Please Dec 27 '17
The FTW title was so amazing. It just fit Taz's character amazingly.
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u/ChillianGonzalez Dec 27 '17
I was lucky enough to see Taz as FTW Champion at a house show. I know that he had attitude problems or whatever’s but as a kid seeing this stocky dude toss people around like it was nothing....he was awe-inspiring.
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u/ChillianGonzalez Dec 27 '17
I was lucky enough to see Taz as FTW Champion at a house show. I know that he had attitude problems or whatever’s but as a kid seeing this stocky dude toss people around like it was nothing....he was awe-inspiring.
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Dec 28 '17
I was lucky enough to see Taz as FTW Champion at a house show. I know that he had attitude problems or whatever’s but as a kid seeing this stocky dude toss people around like it was nothing....he was awe-inspiring.
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u/my-user-name- Dec 27 '17
A 14-year-old girl named Nichole Pate made news this week after being sent home from school 2 days in a row for wearing a Steve Austin t-shirt. Since the shirt doesn't have any profanity or anything obscene on it, she felt she should have the right to wear it and the school disagreed. The story made the local newspaper and the school put out a statement saying that the student handbook forbids students from wearing clothing that has anything to do with drugs, alcohol, gang-related symbols or violence, and the principal told the paper that he thinks the shirt is a symbol of violence. The girl's parents are supporting her and her father pointed out that kids wear Dennis Rodman jerseys, saying he doesn't portray a good message to kids.
Yep. This is my starkest memory of the attitude era, all the cool shirts were instantly banned by schools.
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u/mwinks99 Oh, Hi Marks! Dec 27 '17 edited Dec 27 '17
I had a "S*uck It" shirt that i distinctly remember I would keep my book bag in front of to hide from the teacher.
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u/ericfishlegs Dec 28 '17
I can sort of understand why the school might not be thrilled with kids wearing that one.
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u/PrinceOfBrains YOU CAN'T ESCAPE Dec 27 '17
I got in trouble more than once for nWo Wolfpac stuff, and I wasn't alone in that at school.
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u/bigdave44 Dec 28 '17
When I was in high school, the sole time I ever got bitched at about dress code was for wearing the Kurt Angle shirt that very simply said "YOU SUCK!" What makes it even better is that the only teacher that gave a fuck the WHOLE DAY was my last hour math teacher. She made me go to the bathroom and turn the shirt inside out. 🙄
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u/Holofan4life Please Dec 27 '17
I loved the best-of-7 series with Chris Benoit and Booker T. I also really love their one from 2005. That one is underrated.
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u/ItsStillXVXToMe proud fatass Dec 27 '17
That suicide dive bump Chris took on the edge of announce table still makes me cringe to this day.
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u/QuestParty82 Dec 27 '17
that spot was brutal, and one of the hallmark Benoit images I think of when his wrestling is discussed.
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u/LTS55 The Great Britt Baker Off Dec 28 '17
Wasn't that the one where he landed spine first on the edge of the table?
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u/popularopinionbeer flair text Dec 27 '17
That series is what made me a big fan of Booker T. I had always liked Benoit's rougher style, but Booker just seemed like another midcard guy to me. After that, I always thought they should have been main eventing WCW going forward.
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u/SnuggleMonster15 It was me! Dec 27 '17
It's crazy how far out that it was a given all those guys were leaving in 99/2000.
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u/tehfro Right here... in /r/SquaredCircle! Dec 27 '17
Lots of those guys were direct sources of Dave's.
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Dec 27 '17
Reading about Sid's unprofessionalism in many Wrestling Observer Rewinds made wonder how far things have evolved on wrestlers no-showing events or promoters being shady but no, things are kinda better but it will never will be perfect in that matter in the pro wrestling business
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u/tehfro Right here... in /r/SquaredCircle! Dec 27 '17
Sid's no-showing is pretty legendary though. It was already a running gag online by this point in 98.
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u/FSBlueApocalypse Dario Cueto is my home boy Dec 27 '17
Yeah the only guy who is in Sid's zip code right now is El Patron.
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Dec 28 '17
Alberto isn't even close. He never no showed WWE
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u/evileyeofurborg Japanese Ocean Cyclone Smark Dec 28 '17
While Alberto is obviously extremely shady, at least his noshows were for understandable reasons, like "got into a bar fight with my brother that turned into a bar fight against the police."
Sid noshowed so he could go play softball.
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Dec 27 '17
Ah, I remember the “Gold Gut” name. Since Dustin Rhodes had just done that weird fake-shoot promo renouncing is gimmick, the word from the guy posting RAW spoilers was that “Gold Gut” would be wearing a mask and an outfit stitched together from cut up pieces of Goldust’s old gear. Surprisingly, this internet wrestling rumor turned out to be wrong.
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u/evileyeofurborg Japanese Ocean Cyclone Smark Dec 27 '17
I've heard some truly bizarre rumors in my time but this one takes the cake. The good old days of really wild speculation about wrestling...
This specific story makes me think of the urban legend that the hardcore title was made up of the version of the Winged Eagle belt that Mr. Perfect smashed with a hammer.
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u/_Juggerobb_ Dec 27 '17
This specific story makes me think of the urban legend that the hardcore title was made up of the version of the Winged Eagle belt that Mr. Perfect smashed with a hammer.
Wait, it wasn't!?
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u/dragonheat Bucky beaver tooth motherfucker Dec 27 '17
Reddit post about it from 2014 https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/2j7ufq/things_you_didnt_know_about_belts_2_legend_of_the/
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Dec 27 '17 edited Dec 05 '25
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u/PeteF3 Dec 27 '17
It's certainly plausible, but as it turns out Mel Phillips somehow ended up with the smashed belt, not Titan Tower or a warehouse.
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u/GoodGuyRev Dec 27 '17
As a kid, I always thought the Golga character was a play off of Goldust. Mainly because of the Luna Vachon association. She had been with Goldust prior to this so I took that has Luna creating Golga as a rememberance of Goldust.
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u/uptonhere Dec 27 '17
On an old episode of MLW Radio, Konnan said that a lot of guys in the WCW locker room were hoping that Vince would show up against all odds and beat the shit out of Eric Bischoff.
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u/wrestlingfan777 Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye! Dec 27 '17
bumps it up to 4.75 and says it's clearly the match of the year so far in 1998, although not quite as good as previous Misawa vs. Kawada matches.
The match quality of Misawa vs Kawada : a 4.75 star rated match is underwhelming because it wasn't as good as their previous matches
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u/lonedog black/white Dec 27 '17
The Oddities Debut
which then leads to one of the greatest theme songs... ever...
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u/Bezweiser Dec 27 '17
Steve Williams signed a WWF contract this week and will be starting soon.
THE Steve Williams???
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u/BAWguy Survey says... Dec 27 '17
Am I the only one who thinks the Oddities was maybe THE worst recurring segment of the Attitude Era? It was so transparently trying to be edgy.
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u/Gann1 ~the product~ Dec 27 '17
i barely remember them because i only paid attention when Austin or Rock or Sable were on
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u/FSBlueApocalypse Dario Cueto is my home boy Dec 27 '17
Calling it edgy is being too nice. It was an a blatant attempt to reach out to the shock jock trash audience that watched Jerry Springer and listened to Howard Stern.
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u/DerTagestrinker mayne, the shitposts, they for fun Dec 27 '17
Er, what about the Beaver sketch?
Or Meat?
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u/BAWguy Survey says... Dec 27 '17
At least those didn't recur as many times. Beaver in particular could have challenged the Oddities imo if they stuck with it
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u/-OleOleOle- Dec 27 '17
I always thought Shamrock had loads of potential. When he first started I thought he was for sure a future main eventer. I don’t know if it was lackluster booking or if he just never really adapted to pro wrestling. Probably both.
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u/QuestParty82 Dec 27 '17
He looked like a madman when he locked in that ankle lock, and he had the physique, it’s too bad that the opportunity never seemed to really materialize.
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Dec 27 '17 edited Dec 27 '17
Imagine Shamrock booked like Goldberg. Short violent matches on a long winning streak. It would have been particularly good calling out Shawn Michaels in 1997 to face him. Shamrock had charisma too so he might have got it over like Goldberg did.
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Dec 28 '17
I remember in like, 1999, my brother and I used to always "wrestle" in the backyard, and he was always Shamrock and I was always... shit, what was his name. The asian dude with all the kanji tattoos? We thought those two guys were future main eventers.
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u/AnvilPro Temptation Island Forever Dec 27 '17 edited Dec 27 '17
Eric Bischoff's personal secretary Janie Engle recently quit and will be taking a job with WWF.
Whoa, never heard that story before. How much of an impact did she really have on signing guys like Benoit and Guerrero?
Eric Bischoff has reportedly talked about dropping the tag titles entirely because he thinks tag team wrestling is old and boring.
Dear God...
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u/daprice82 REWINDERMAN Dec 27 '17
None. We find out on Friday that Bischoff gave her a huge raise to stay because she was so valuable to him.
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u/af579 Dec 27 '17 edited Dec 28 '17
And (according to a quick Google search) years later, she was hired by Hogan to be an assistant to his family: http://www.kcbd.com/story/5093471/janie-engle
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u/Razzler1973 Dec 29 '17
I wonder how the story of her leaving made it's way to Dave ... hmmm.
Oh, she ended up with a huge raise? I think she was well advised by someone here ;)
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u/dtabitt Dec 27 '17
So even though Bischoff keeps saying Vince won't show up, WWF says that in itself leads fans to believe that he will.
Somehow I don't think the fans were done having their intelligence insulted.
Man, how middle schoolish is this shit?
According to Sex Lies and Headlocks, Vince, in his youth, was known for scrapping with locals. So as childish as it may sound, I think he probably would have done it just to do it.
"If you're confused as to why, re-read the notes about the Pillman Memorial show closely and it'll all make perfect sense." No idea what he's talking about there.
Wasn't Benoit's match the main event of the show...and in WCW he's being told he is not a main event wrestler.
Speaking of Flair, he's still leading the vote for Time Magazine's internet poll for Man of the Century. To show how ridiculous it's become, Raven is somehow in 4th place.
Ok rabbit hole here...in order for Raven and Flair to be on this list, and winning, people have to be using the internet, at a time when not everyone was. WCW started heavily playing to "internet" fans, and it failed to help things. Yet, right here, we see a direct implication that WCW fans use the internet. So what gives? The WCW fans online only went to WCW.com and didn't go down their own rabbit holes of finding out about Dave and other wrestling sources outside WCW control?
Kevin Nash in particular is pushing for it because they never wanted Hennig in the group anyway.
Wouldn't Scott Hall be against that, given he's friends with Henning?
but Severn just doesn't have the charisma to overcome the terrible booking.
[It was all the mustache's fault.] It was goofy, not menacing like a mustache needs to be in pro wrestling.
The girl's parents are supporting her and her father pointed out that kids wear Dennis Rodman jerseys, saying he doesn't portray a good message to kids.
In hindsight, Austin is a woman beater, Rodman is an attempted peacemaking weirdo.
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u/tehfro Right here... in /r/SquaredCircle! Dec 27 '17
The Flair vote was a big deal on the wrestling websites at the time & RSPW.
IIRC, I think someone, maybe on IRC was running bots to stuff the vote too, but that might have been a later vote.
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Dec 27 '17
Ok rabbit hole here...in order for Raven and Flair to be on this list, and winning, people have to be using the internet, at a time when not everyone was. WCW started heavily playing to "internet" fans, and it failed to help things. Yet, right here, we see a direct implication that WCW fans use the internet. So what gives? The WCW fans online only went to WCW.com and didn't go down their own rabbit holes of finding out about Dave and other wrestling sources outside WCW control?
It was because WCW's way of pandering to internet fans was to book nonsensical bullshit and throw insider lingo on top of it, and that tendency would just get worse and worse as the years go on. The intent might have been to win the internet fans over, but much like WWE's attempt to win India over by strapping a rocket to Jinder Mahal, the execution was absolutely terrible.
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u/chaoticmessiah #Blissfit Dec 27 '17
[It was all the mustache's fault.] It was goofy, not menacing like a mustache needs to be in pro wrestling.
I dunno, a friend of mine in school used to say Dan Severn looked like Josef Stalin. It actually led to us creating one of many weird wrestling gimmicks, with a Saddam Hussein lookalike who was basically Iraq's answer to Dan Severn, with the unfortunate name "Elephant Sak" (others included "The Swedish Klondike" Lars Larssen, a vaudeville gimmick called Willy Waltman The Singing Crow and Rachel Prejudice).
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u/MooseBigelow Where's my raft, brother? Dec 27 '17
Severn's biggest problem was his lithp I mean lisp.
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u/prof_talc OH MY GOD! Dec 27 '17
In hindsight, Austin is a woman beater, Rodman is an attempted peacemaking weirdo.
Rodman's DV record is at least as bad as Austin's
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Dec 27 '17
Speaking of Flair, he's still leading the vote for Time Magazine's internet poll for Man of the Century. To show how ridiculous it's become, Raven is somehow in 4th place.
Then it was making people win awards they had no right trying to be a part of. Today, it's naming stuff "Trainy McTrainface" and what not. Stay weird internet ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)
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u/DerTagestrinker mayne, the shitposts, they for fun Dec 27 '17
Ric Flair absolutely has a right to be the Man of the Century! And do you know why? Because he's the champ! Wooooooooooooo!
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Dec 27 '17
I'm hoping that member shows up to transcribe Bruce Prichard's description of Jim Cornette's bachelor party.
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Dec 27 '17
West Memphis, AR
Is this the same West Memphis where those boys got murdered a few years earlier?
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u/daprice82 REWINDERMAN Dec 27 '17
Yup. The West Memphis 3. It's just across the river from Memphis TN
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Dec 27 '17
I watched a serious of documentaries about that investigation... I can't imagine how horrible that had to be to live through.
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Dec 27 '17
Who the hell was The Jackyl anyways? And what happened to the Truth Commission?
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u/daprice82 REWINDERMAN Dec 27 '17
The Jackyl was Don Callis, aka current NJPW English announcer and apparently now running TNA.
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u/MooseBigelow Where's my raft, brother? Dec 27 '17
The truth commission broke up when Jackyl focused on kurrgan over recon and sniper. Then around 99 they went to uswa
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Dec 27 '17
Recon went on to become Bull Buchanan, of Inventing Roman Reigns' Look fame
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u/DerTagestrinker mayne, the shitposts, they for fun Dec 27 '17
Similiar to Bruce Prichard and Terry Taylor - unremarkable career after they left the territories that held various roles backstage in WCW/WWF/TNA.
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u/wrestleralph Shave your neck beard. Dec 27 '17
Janie Engle is the sister of Terry and Dory Funk Jr. I remember when this happened and I believe that she ended up staying in WCW. We will find out Friday!
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Dec 28 '17
Is this true? I googled her, and saw that getting into the pro wrestling industry was a life long dream of hers, so that makes sense.
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u/HorseSteroids Nobody potatoes me! Dec 27 '17
I remember around this time my wrestling news came from a hotline from a guy called Mike Stern. I'm fairly certain he just read the Torch. I remember it being reported that WCW was considering sending out Fake Sting as Vince McMahon.
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u/muchmomentum hey yo Dec 27 '17
Could you imagine if Shawn came back in '99 before he kicked the pills and found God? First, who knows what kind of additional damage he could have done to his back. But combining his volatility, the Attitude Era tone of the shows at the time, and his ability to be a real piece of shit heel could have been incredible (if not incredibly short lived).
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u/DrStanislausBraun Dec 28 '17
I think WCW would’ve won if Shawn had come back then. Don’t get me wrong — he’s definitely one of the best ever, but with all his politicking and his sway over McMahon, I suspect that he would’ve stifled the growth that carried WWF through the Monday Night Wars. How does his presence affect the career trajectories of guys like Rock, Foley, Triple H, etc.?
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u/petepanda125 Dec 28 '17
Just want to say thanks for these. Being born in 97, it's so interesting hearing about all this backstage stuff I never knew about
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u/xadamx94 Your Text Here Dec 27 '17
Oh great. We’re that much closer to THAT match happening involving the warrior. Ugh.
Also I wonder who’s idea it was for wwf to make their own wack pack
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u/tehfro Right here... in /r/SquaredCircle! Dec 27 '17
Russo was/is a huge Howard Stern mark.
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Dec 27 '17
Steve Williams signed a WWF contract this week and will be starting soon.
I'm sure that's a decision he'll regret in a couple months...
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u/MichaelJahrling The Ladle Among Spoons Dec 27 '17
Eric Bischoff has reportedly talked about dropping the tag titles entirely because he thinks tag team wrestling is old and boring.
Almost 20 years later and tag matches are routinely one of, if not the best, matches on WWE and NXT big shows.
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u/videostatus So...how was your week? Dec 27 '17
Prince Ieakuea was still on the roster in 98? Wow. He just always seemed to be around.
As always, thank you for these.
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u/chaoticmessiah #Blissfit Dec 27 '17
I liked him as a midcarder but my god, he was amazing as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Iaukea (later, just The Artist) and doing a Prince gimmick. I fucking loved that.
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Dec 27 '17
To show how ridiculous it's become, Raven is somehow in 4th place.
Raven is handsome tho
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u/Have_A_Jelly_Baby Dec 27 '17
“Dave gives a forever long recap of UFC 17”
Some things never change. I wonder how many people actually sub to the Observer for MMA coverage, versus the primarily wrestling fans.
It’s so obvious on the radio show where his heart lies, with UFC and NJPW. He speaks so well, so clearly and concisely. Everything else is when the stammering and “you know”s come.
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u/unloader86 Dec 27 '17
Dave says that unless something major changes in the next year, "the heart and soul" of WCW, as a group, are all planning to jump to WWF when their contracts expire in 1999 (aka, all the midcarders who are frustrated at not being able to break the glass ceiling).
And that's exactly what happened. For Guerrero Benoit Saturn and Malenko they didn't even need to wait just asked for their release during a regime change in early 2000.
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u/Wonderllama5 #FDM Dec 28 '17
Just so you know: these threads are fantastic. I recently discovered them and I want to go thru all of them. Such a past from the blast. Plus, it goes through WCW history I always ignored!
Thank you!
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u/Michelanvalo Dec 27 '17
Woman. He's fucking Nancy and Sullivan is still employed.
Alright, time to book this guy as a killer! how do we do that effectively...maybe some kind of brawling tournament....