One thing I used to do when there were two national feds was randomly tape stuff that aired on their various shows. With the WWE being so depressing lately, I thought I'd watch this and just ramble about what I see.
1. WOOHOO! I stick in the tape, and the first thing that greets my eyes is LA PARKA! Yeeha! These all from mid 1999, since the first thing the announcers are discussing is the Junkyard Invitational. He's against Spyder, in one of the few ever-aired featuring the former LWO bodyguard. The announcers hype EDDY vs. Blitzkrieg for later, so I hope that's on this tape. La Parka can do no wrong. He dances about 15 seconds in, so I'm happy. Spyder does very little, aside from a plancha to the floor. What was this guy's character in the land of lucha? Butthead Schiavone wasn't doing commentary, so we don't get to hear Parka's finisher called a flying body attack. Tenay's "twisting corkscrew" isn't much better though.
2. Yeeha! the Blitzkrieg vs Eddy match is on the tape. Eddy has the coolest "Fuck you too" walk ever. He is wearing his hair in an almost rat-tail, instead of his always cool mullet. More chain wrestling than high spots in this before Eddy decides he's going to be a total asshole and pound the hell out of Blitz. Eddy's ruling it, and Tenay & Hudson talk about the friggin' Insane Clown Posse and the equally idiotic Dennis Rodman. Nobody is better at showing total disdain for the fans that Eddy at this point. A few highspots near the end, and I decide I need to find the tape that has Blitz's debut against Rey Jr (Feb 99) to get my fill of a spotfest. Ender is the brainbuster/frog splash combo. I really, really miss WCW Saturday Night, when they'd do a show in a town that would rarely if ever have the big 2 visit, and the crowd would be jacked to see the undercard guys.
3. Alright. What the hell is Horace doing on this tape? OK. He'll get squashed by Booker T. The question I have, looking back, is "Did Booker T make a silk purse out of this sow's ear?" The answer is 'Nope'. It's still better than the feud with Big T, Stevie Ray and whatever moniker Clarence Mason was using.
4. A D-Lo Brown squash from Shotgun. The guy he's facing is Doug Basham, who I believe is yet another current WWE developmental guy. It couldn't be based on this match, since Basham does a Gaydaesque screw-up of a headscissors. Damn. Even in a jobber match Brown is getting mega-pops. The comical selling of a top-rope rana is also getting Basham no brownie points from this corner. But D-Lo busting out a Texas Cloverleaf does. Sky-high. Low Down. FWIW, the colour commentator on this one was Terry Taylor.
5. Another jobber match. Chaz is a kid from Jersey whose having fun in polka dot boxers and with Marianna as his (not yet smacked around) valet. This seems a peculiar choice, but I then realize the squashee is Tracy Smothers. A cool spot sees Smothers on the apron, and Chaz springboard clothesline him to the outside. Marianna wasn't too bad at taunting Tracy. Boy, that domestic violence angle sure was a career maker, no?
For some strange reason, I have the music video "Elvis is Everywhere" by Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper between these matches.
"Elvis is in your jeans!" "Michael J. Fox has no Elvis in him" "Elvis is in Joan Rivers! But he's trying to get out, man!" "You know whats going on in that Bermuda Triangle? Down in the Bermuda Triangle? Elvis needs boats!" "Why do you think they call it evolution anyway? It's really Elvislution!"
6. Val Venis vs Joey Abs. This is from the Heat before Fully Loaded 1999. There's a "SABLE IS A SKANK" sign in the crowd. I'm guessing she was on her way to direct-to-video cinema by this point, since there is no effort made not to show the sign. I love watching Val sell the DDT by moving right to the top of his head. There's now a "SABO SUCKS" sign. What did Buffalo have against the former Cincinatti Red? Test arrives to take out Rodney & Pete Gas, while Val gets 3 with a BLUE THUNDER BOMB!
7. More WCW Saturday Night EDDY! Adrian Byrd gets squashed, but there's a graphic on my screen advertising a Severe Thunderstorm warning, and the reception is fucked. Blurry Eddy is better than perfect reception for a Bradshaw match.
8. Test squashes Lou Marconi. Marconi bumps better than anybody ever should for Test, who was in "I look like Kevin Nash" mode at this point.
9. Papi Chulo! Funaki! And the Hardy Boyz in a match where Jeff doesn't look someone who just lurched out of the $2.00 rave being held in the basement of the local church. What else could a guy ask for? Jeff tope con hilos Funaki about a minute in, and I'm loving every second of this. Then they turn to the announcer's table, and thus remind me that this was during the Michael Hayes as the Hardyz manager phase. Since the folks at here, or somewhere else, were doing the hanky thing with Jeff recently, I'll point out that Papi is wearing a paisley bandana in the middle rear of his tights. Jeff does the swanton to no fanfare. Kevin Kelly tries to put over Hayes as comparable to a demented tennis coach. Papi is the tecnico in peril throughout. Sho, after the hot tag does an inverted Splash Mountain. Planchas for both Hardyz from Essaki. Jeff debuts the barricade run into a clothesline, and wins with a top-rope Roll of the Dice. Nothing more than a spotfest, but funner than a game of Don't Whiz on the Electric Fence.
10. Jeff Jarrett vs. D-Lo Brown. Title for Title. It's from RAW, so Lawler is in full puppy mode. Jeff goes for some cheap heat by walking out. Cripes. I forgot how bad Jerry Lawler used to be when it came to making comments about breasts as opposed to the match. Every time I think. "I'll turn off the mute", I'm greeted with Jerry making puppy jokes. So, of course Debra has to remove her jacket when the ref is down to show off her plastic surgeon's work. Following a beltshot, in which D-Lo ignores Debra and beltshots Jarrett for 3 and both belts. I also forgot how creepy Debra looked even back then. When did she make the move from bitchy, whiny valet to half-melted wax museum statue anyhow?
11. Chris Benoit! DDP! It's from Nitro. The two trade Saliva (n. the band that played WMx18) shots ealy. Great cheap heat. I wouldn't call this a straight-forward match , but I wouldn't call this an all-out brawl either. It's a happy medium between the two. Benoit does the rolling suplexes, but stops between the two to try for a pin. A little something I'd like to see return to the repertoire. Urunage by DDP, again something I'm surprised to see as I look back. Benoit wins after reversing a roll-up, and Post-match Triad beatdown follows.
12. Vampiro and Psychosis from Worldwide. Worldwide was another fun show with Saturday Night randomness. Three minutes or so of lucha spots, combined with Tenay talking about how Vamp is the darling of wcw.com and WCW Live, complete with hyperbole about how people buy computers in order to hear whatever Vamp has to say on WCW Live. Hopefully, those folks were rounded up by roaming death squads for the sake of the gene pool. Vampiro wins with the Spike.
13. Joey Abs vs. Johnny Paradise. Probably the only squash match ever won by any member of the Posse. Joey wins with a pumphandle slam to build the Posse/Shane vs. Test for the love of Stephy feud.
14. From RAW, it's a tag title match with the Acolytes taking on Kane & X-Pac. This from the 6-month period in 1999 when Kane actually felt like working. I've always wondered how many people with signs refering to past bad gimmicks of wrestlers were actually watching WWF at the time. Anyhow, it's OK, but memorable because the tag titles change hands, going to Kanepac from the future APA. Later on the show, the millennium countdown would end, but the rule I had about these tapes was "no Sports Entertainment segments", so that's elsewhere.
15. Little Jeannie vs. Mona. Jeannie demands that the referee open the ropes for her. I mark for the tear-away gown, and so should you. A nice mat segment from the women. It's weird to hear the announcers put Mona over as beautiful considering the nonsense angle on RAW. Jeannie has more Lawler joke material at this time anyhow.The crowd really seems into this, and Jeannie is incredible in bitch mode. But this quickly becomes a Mona squash, and she wins with a strange pinning combo that I don't know the name of, mainly because I'm relying on Schiavone to provide it.
Brandi Alexander runs in post-match. Three decent wrestlers to start off the women's division, and nothing came of it. OF course, we waited a couple months later and got Madusa with barbecue sauce all over her vile, veiny hooters.
16. Chris Benoit beats David Flair to win the US Title. I can't imagine why we haven't seen David wrestle regularly on RAW.
17. Back to WCW SN. Harlem Heat vs. Disirderly Conduct. DC were the 90's version of the Mulkeys, with the same number of victories (1, DC's coming against the Armstrongs) and without any of the lovable loserness. At least the right brother came out of HH with the push.
18. Key, Droz, & Prince Albert vs. Cody Hawk, Brett Keene & Anthony McMurtry. Hey! It's Key's only WWF match. He had a strange look on his face constantly, and a running inverted splash mountain as his finisher. Terry Taylor puts the move over, but Key was never seen again after this. I'm surprised that nobody has ripped of that move in WWE-land.
19. A Steve Blackman squash. That seems to be a suitable way to end this trip to the not distant past.
"'Cause life is like a mop, and sometimes life gets full of dirt and crud and bugs and hairballs and stuff. Well, you, you gotta clean it out! You gotta put it in here and rinse it off and start all over again. And sometimes life sticks to the floor so bad that a mop is not good enough, a mop isn't good enough. You gotta get down there with a, with a toothbrush ya know! You gotta scrub, you gotta get it all off, you gotta really try to get it all off. And if that doesn't work, you can't give up! You gotta stand right up, run to the window and say: "Hey! The floors are dirty as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore!!" - Stanley Spadowski
I really, really enjoyed watching Benoit's long-awaited WCW push in 1999.
Blitzkreig ruled freakin' all. Where the hell did he go, anyway? He'd turn WWE's Cruiserweight division or NWA-TNA's X-Division upside-down.
As much of a bad-ass heel as today's Eddie Guerrero is, he was much more so in WCW. His character was a real asshole, a guy whom everybody wanted to see lose. LOL...
Benoit winning the U.S. Title from David Flair is still one of my personal favorite mark-out moments. Say what you want to about how horrible Flair was in the ring at the time (and he was horrible), but his U.S. Title reign built up a lot of heat because he was the cocky kid who kept getting cheap victories over fan-favorites. When Benoit finally beat him, I was exultant.
“And each and every one of you, when you see me, you will not put your eyes directly on me-- you will look to the ground and you will refer to me as 'Lord Master.'”
Kevin Nash, January 17, 2000
Two-Time, Two-Time Randomly Selected Weiner of the Day, 5/27/02 and 7/3/02
Just a rumor, but I heard Blitzkrieg is now a computer programmer. Given the choice between being an overworked, underpushed cruiserweight who'll never get his due respect and a computer nerd, I'd go the same route.
"All born equal unless you're Canadian Then halfway through decay like Uranium You define what's death-defying Get the most out of life or at the least die trying Are you Evil Knievel jumping a train? Or running with scissors like Frasier Crane? Have really good times doing really bad things ‘Cause the show ain't over ‘til the fat lady sings Like Elton John with his candle in the wind It's hard to blow out a flame as big as him But we've all got to Wang Chung with the Grim Reaper Whether you're Einstein whether you're Beaker Death is certain so it's definitely worth flirtin' Don't expect a bright light no just curtains Life is like a penis most people don't know it But most people suck so they usually blow it"
From "Take The Long Way Home", by The Bloodhound Gang
I think I'll watch my old WWF PPV tapes next week, just because I can. I'll definately watch the last three Royal Rumbles...No Way Out (swank Cell Match) and WrestleMania, just because I can. Just because the current product blows, doesn't make the past any less cool.
"That's what the Internet is for, slandering others anonymously" Banky Edwards (Jason Lee), Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
DC were the 90's version of the Mulkeys, with the same number of victories (1, DC's coming against the Armstrongs) and without any of the lovable loserness.
They won TWO matches! They got a clean victory over the Armstrongs as well and celebrated like they'd won the Superbowl.
Disorderly Conduct was awesome. Those guys were bump machines for their opponents and served to make anyone look good. I miss teams like that.
Blitzkrieg has chronic problems in his wrists, and makes more money as a programmer than as a wrestler. He considered making a comeback in the company he started with (Revolution Pro in California), but his wrist wouldn't hold up. He cut a promo instead. Later that evening I saw him unmasked, which was bizarre. If you wanna see his promo, it's on the Revolution Pro "Brutality" tape, which has a great Super Dragon-v-Excalibur match on it, I believe (I can't remember if that was the proper main, but all the main events for RevPro in April 2001 were phenomenal)
I've got shit loads of tapes because a few years ago i decided to start taping shows. i now feel like randomly digging into the bin and watching one. hell, most of them aren't even labeled. I'll watch one today and let you know what i found.
"My parents said I could be anything, so I became an ASSHOLE!"
Originally posted by HomerJFong8. Test squashes Lou Marconi. Marconi bumps better than anybody ever should for Test, who was in "I look like Kevin Nash" mode at this point
When has Test ever left the "I look like Kevin Nash mode?"
I'm gonna get me an oversized guitar, gain 40 pounds, and become the next D!
How about the time that Jackie Gayda and Trish Stratus had the worst match in the history of the women's division? (and that's saying something, people!)