Ken Shamrock is in Toronto, has done a couple media appearances and has made it a point to challenge Kurt Angle. The feeling is that Shamrock is just trying to create this angle himself and it is not believed that the WWF has anything in store for him at Wrestlemania, but since he is in town, he will be in attendance. Shamrock also stated that he'd like to work 1-2 shoot fights per year and work with the WWF in between.
I don't know about ou guys - but I've wondered what would've happened had Ken Shamrock stayed put in the WWF. Hey, I like the guy.
That would be awesome. Who is the master of the anklelock? I would love to see that match. The WWF would be stupid not to talk to shamrock about a deal.
I am the JOBBER TO THE STARS. You better remember that.
That'd a be sweet match. Angle has the skill, and whatever I've thought about Shamrock's charisma, he's a sound worker if he's got the right opponent. Good mat-based shoot-style match.
It'd a lot for both guys. . .there's a built-in feud, Shamrock gets instant rub off of someone at LEAST lower-main-event calibre and Angle can get his edge back (Remember when he was snapping this time last year?) and maybe springboard back into the main.
I'm still waiting for the big blowoff to the Jericho/Shamrock feud. (Which would have actually been a pretty good match had Shamrock not fricked up his neck). Curtis Hughs! The Shark Cage of Doom! That feud was fun.
Of course Jericho was able to proudly proclaim that he put Shamrock out of the WWF, until he (or the writers) forgot about it a few weeks later.
It just goes to show you how messed up things are in Titan Towers. This would be a much more desired match then Angle vs Kane. They have the damn guy in Canada ready and waiting. They could have also gave us either Curt vs Kurt or better yet Kurt and Curt for the tag straps. Because I'm betting on the tag match to pull worst match of the night. I hate to sound so negative.
I don't think Shamrock's exactly "ready." Knowing the WWF they'd send him to OVW for a few months at least.
If I were the WWF there is no way I'd let my wrestler's shoot fight 1-2 times a year. Why risk severe injury? Maybe if you could work the angles around the fight dates, but still that's a hassle and I wouldn't want to have to give a wrestler 1-2 months (more if they got hurt) of every once in a while. It takes away a lot of flexibility in terms of storytelling. You happen to catch a hot angle, and you have to cut it short.
And we saw just how successful shoot matches can be. Two words: Butter Bean.
Just how many people were hurt during the Brawl for All, anyway?
To top it off, the whole idea behind it was to get Dr. Death Steve Williams seen as a legit contender for his namesake.
"The best reason for committing loathsome & detestable acts -and let's face it, I am considerably something of an expert in the field - is purely for their own sake. Monetary gain is all very well, but it dilutes the tastes of wickedness to a lower level that is obtainable by anyone will an overdeveloped sense of avarice. True and baseless evil is as rare as the purest good - and we all know how rare THAT is." - Acheron Hades, THE EYRE AFFAIR by Jaspar Fforde
For those of us who aren't puro geeks, could you elaborate?
I've watched enough shootfighting to know that the participants, especially the caliber of Shamrock, are (usually) very good at recognizing when they're in an inescapable submission hold and tapping out rather than getting their wrist broken, or other really bad injuries. But there's still a lot of concussions and other pretty nasty stuff that happens, more than enough to give a sane promoter pause about letting his wrestlers participate.
My recollection is that the Brawl for All was at least a little worked. And I never bought the idea that it was to promote Steve Williams. I mean, how can you expect to predict the winner of a (mostly) shoot tournament? Plus freaking Dan Severen was entered in the tournament, and I can't imagine they actually expected Williams to beat him.
Well, Ken Shamrock was always supposed to come back to the WWF after he got the "shoot fighting" out of his system. I know that when he left Vince and Co were not too happy because they had some things planned fo him. So if he comes back, that would own. Shamrock/Angle, Benoit/Shamrock would be 2 matches I would LOVE to see.
January 4th 1999 - The day WCW injected itself with 10 gallons of Liquid Anthrax...AKA...The day Hogan "Defeated" Nash to win the WCW title in front of 40,000.
Not only is Shamrock not a great worker, as BigDaddyLoco stated, but he was also truly pathetic on the mike. I mean, people (unfairly) bash Chris Benoit for his mic skills, but Shamrock was in a league shared only by Jim Duggan.
“KNUCKLE UP! TOUGH GUY!”
I don't know about anyone else, but I figure that at least one-third of what makes a long-term program desirable has a lot to do with mic skills. And Shamrock is so far below Angle that he couldn't see him using the Hubble Space Telescope.