2012 Pro Wrestling Thread

Brain fart regarding his WWE match at WM25

Sorry about that guys. I know all to well about his matches in WCW, unfortunately.

 

Piper wrestled a lot in WWF/E after WM III; he beat The Mountie for the IC title at the 1992 Royal Rumble before dropping the strap to Bret Hart at WM VIII. Hell, he won the tag titles with Ric Flair over the Spirit Squad back in 2006.

 

Piper also came back in the WWF a couple of years later. He had that run with the IC belt where he lost it to Bret at WM8, that weird match he had with Bad News Brown where he painted himself half-black, and was Flair's first WWF opponent to set himself up with Hogan.

Not to mention, he also holds a win over Miz on Raw.

Further proof that a "retirement match" is never that. Unless you're Michaels, and time will tell about that.

 

Well, don't I feel like an idiot for forgetting all of this

Hopefully, my next review won't be so bad

I just wanted to take this time to thank you guys for reading my reviews. They're fairly long and I didn't think people would actually take the time to read them. More on the way soon.

 

I have a hard time believing HBK won't be suiting up for one last bout against his buddy HHH when it comes time for Hunter to hang them up for good.

Then again, HBK did go out like an icon so, unless he has Flair-like money problems, maybe he really is done.

 

Piper was also supposed to fight the Birds of War (formerly the Pigeon Boys) in a 3-on-1 charity match in Philly, but was arrested for unpaid parking tickets shortly before the bout.

 

I think HBK really is done. The fact he's been out for two full years now, and has really only come back to play a part in a four-year Wrestlemania storyarc that he and the Undertaker started, tells me he's probably not hurting for money or craving the spotlight.
Barring the Flair-like financial meltdown you mentioned, the only time I could see him returning to the ring is at Wrestlemania 29. Say he does something as special guest referee this year that costs Triple H the match, right when he's on the verge of victory. Both Taker and HHH spend another year knowing Taker didn't win clean, and it continues to haunt them. HHH plays up the jealousy angle with HBK, and Taker keeps wondering if he's still got it. Both guys are pissed at HBK for robbing them of closure. So at WM 29, we get a triple threat match between the three of them to finally conclude this five-year long story.
That scenario allows him the chance to truly end his career against two of the all-time greats, gives him one last match with HHH, and keeps his final match against Taker (which I believe he's said was one reason he didn't want to come back after WM 26, was so he wouldn't insult Taker). Plus it's plausible and would really be damned impressive to see WWE play that sort of long game with a story involving three of its biggest stars.

 

Nice, nice pull. Well done. I liked the run-in by the Trash Man to save the day during the replacement match.

 

As much as I loathe seeing Trips in the ring -- and Taker, though to a lesser extent -- these days, I would mark out for this match.

 

In an effort to brush up on my general knowledge of professional wrestling history, I carved out a little free time every few days for the last two weeks and read about every WrestleMania (including the first of Gehrig’s excellent posts). I had seen the first 10 Manias years ago, and I watched some matches again, like the WrestleMania III classic between Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage that inspired at least a generation of future wrestlers to think about how they work and perform. I watched others, like Shawn Michaels’ overtime ironman win over Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII, for the first time. It has definitely been a lot of fun.

I also plotted some numbers and charted a ridiculous amount of WrestleMania information and statistics. The first spreadsheet breaks down every match in WrestleMania history -- all 290 of them, including dark matches -- by time to chart the progression of the style of match, the structure of the show, the various championships that were at stake. (Fun Fact No. 1: Exactly a dozen championships have been on the line over the years, if you count the Women’s Championship and the Divas Championship as one belt, each of the previously unique tag team championships as one belt, and include the Million Dollar Championship. Fun Fact No. 2: The WWF/E Championship has been up for grabs every spring since WrestleMania II, but was not the last match on the card at WrestleManias VIII, XI, XX, XXI, XXIV and XXVI.) Sort of fun to see the history of the show broken down into little color-coded boxes.

The second spreadsheet lists every wrestler who has ever appeared in a WrestleMania match -- this excludes managers and valets who never participated, lumberjacks, commentators, those sorts of things -- and breaks down their performance by first appearance, last appearance, overall record, record in championship matches, total match time and average match time. I produced a similar spreadsheet charting the Royal Rumble’s history, though I think only one person here asked for a copy (Thanks, JRoyal). Guess not many of us here are numbers geeks.

Anyway, if you’d like either or both spreadsheets, just let me know. In the meantime, a short WrestleMania trivia quiz culled from all those numbers. If anybody actually takes a stab at the questions, I’ll post the answers Sunday night. Ten points for every correct answer.

1. Including celebrities, how many wrestlers have appeared in at least one WrestleMania match: 283, 383, or 483?

2. The Undertaker holds the WrestleMania record with 19 wins -- against exactly zero losses, of course. What two wrestlers -- who never wrestled each other at Mania -- are tied for a distant second, with eight wins each?

3. What wrestler is second behind the Undertaker with 17 WrestleMania matches -- and first with 11 losses in the industry’s marquee event? And for two bonus points each, what four other wrestlers each have eight Mania losses?

4. Of the 22 wrestlers who had a match at the first WrestleMania (and, yes, Mr. T, we’re no fool, so we’re including you), only three appeared in each of the first seven WrestleManias: Hulk Hogan, and what two other wrestlers?

5. Three wrestlers have performed at three or more WrestleManias and have never wrestled a non-championship match (that includes everything from the WWE Championship down to the old European belt). For three points each, name them.

6. Who wrestled eight times at WrestleMania, with a record of 3-4-1, but never participated in any sort of championship match?

7. Last championship question: He lost all five of his championship matches at WrestleMania over a seven-year stretch. In an odd twist, he won all three of his non-championship matches.

8. Not including the Undertaker, seven wrestlers have two or more WrestleMania wins without a loss. For two points each, how many can you name?

9. The Undertaker has defeated 18 different men at WrestleMania -- four of whom have lost a Mania match only to the Dead Man. How many can you name? (Three points each.)

10. You might call any of these four wrestlers -- three of them still active with the WWE on and off camera, though none of them are likely on the card this year -- the anti-Undertaker: They’re all winless in six or more WrestleMania matches. (Three points each.)

115 points: To be The Man, you’ve got to beat The Man -- and you are The Man (or Woman). Woo!
91-114 points: Gimme a Hell Yeah!
61-90 points: Have a ways to go still to be the Best in the World.
31-60 points: Better say your prayers and take your vitamins, little Hulkster!
0-30 points: This quiz laid the smackdown on your candy ass -- jabroni.

 

1. I'll guess 383.

2. Bret Hart and ... Cena?

3. I'll say Bret again. And bonus guys: Tito Santana, Trips, HBK, and Edge.

4. Santana and Valentine.

5. RVD, Benoit and Batista.

6. I'll guess Jake Roberts.

7. I'll say Trips.

8. Hall, Nash, Moolah (?), Lita, and that's all I can think of.

9. Kane, Snuka, Giant Gonzalez, Big Bossman

10. Vince, Regal, Christian and that's all I can think of.

Excellent questions, and super hard. I'll be interested in finding the answers.

 

Baron, I'll DM you the answers now, but I'll hold off posting them here until Monday, just to give some of the non-weekenders/Raw folks a shot.