2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

Awesome.
They'd also end the induction ceremony at 10:05 p.m.

Never realized, until watching Wrestlemania V the other night, that Schiavone was with WWE for a spell. Did not remember that at all.

 

IT'S THE GREATEST NIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR SPORT!

On the topic of Sting, I think he'll go in eventually for a few reasons despite having never spent significant time in WWE:

1. The WWE Hall wants to be THE hall of fame.
2. I read that the purchase of WCW included its hall of fame list and any trademarks, intellectual property, etc.
3. The E will eventually buy TNA's Hall of Fame, of which Sting was the first inductee. And no one knows this because no one watches TNA.

Yeah, eventually all of those I mentioned I think will get in (even Schivone. He was such a mainstay I honestly don't see how he can't be a minor inductee in years to come), but no harm in a little fantasy booking.

 

Don't forget ...

BRAVES BASEBALL IS NEXT!

 

WCW Starrcade 1998
The only two things to note are that Kevin Nash booked himself to end Goldberg's streak and win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and that Eric Bischoff and Ric Flair would start a nasty feud that would play out for the next few months, as Flair beat Bischoff to become the "president" of WCW.

If you don't recall, Scott Hall had attempted to reconcile with former partner Nash in months prior, and this story line came to a head at the expense of Goldberg. Hall came out dressed as security and used a stun stick on Goldberg. One sloppy jackknife powerbomb later, and the streak died.

(More memorably, a few weeks later Nash would drop the belt to a returning Hollywood Hogan in the infamous Fingerpoke of Doom match, which many mark as the beginning of the end of WCW. Hogan, Nash, Hall, and other A-listers would reform the nWo into two factions working together. The Wolfpac, the black/red/white was the A-team, while the B-team was plain old black/white.

Now, because these Nitros are missing from the WWE Network right now, I'm missing crucial plot points to this reformation of the nWo, if they even exist. Was Hogan, Hall, and Nash working everyone by splitting the nWo and having an eight-month fake feud? It would explain why guys like Konnan and Sting didn't see it coming and were excommunicated from the group. Really, if this wasn't the story then the split-then-reform made absolutely no damn sense.)

Anyway, again, the cruiserweights shined, particularly in the opening bout. Billy Kidman defended his Cruiserweight title in a triple threat with Rey Mysterio Jr. and Juventud. So what, right? Actually, this is one of the better triple threats you'll find. Instead of one man being thrown to the outside or taken out so the majority of the match is varying combinations of one-on-one action, this trio found unique ways to perform offensive and defensive move sets on two opponents at once. No way they called this stuff in the ring, it's too complicated. Doesn't take away from the fun of watching a great cruiserweight match.

The rest of the card is mediocre.

WCW Souled Out 1999
This show is notable for the general sense of unease as you watch a bunch of roided-up, oiled-up men strap a half-naked David Flair with a leather belt as father Ric can only watch helplessly as he's handcuffed to the ring ropes. I dunno, if that's the sort of thing you're into ...

While Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels created the ladder match, Scott Hall and Goldberg shat upon its legacy in the first (and likely only) stun stick/ladder match. Facing Hall a month after Starrcade was a revenge match for Goldberg on his way to regain the world title. Naturally, the thrill is the chase and not the kill ... but Goldberg never got there. This would be the start of a chase story line that didn't have a pay off. Goldberg never won the world title again (unless you count that match with Sting the following October, which was then thrown out as "unsanctioned" thus Goldberg never won the title). No, instead the title was put on the Hogan/Flair story as there was only so much mileage WCW could get out of Flair/Bischoff matches.

Other matches of note:
- Again, Kidman shines in a cruiserweight title defense.
- Jericho defeats Saturn in a loser-wears-a-dress match.
- Norman Smiley does the Big Wiggle to Chavo Jr. Oh, don't remember the Big Wiggle? It's a move in which Norman goes doggy style on Chavo while spanking his ass. I shit you not.
- Lex Luger vs. Konnan starts with a great promo from K-Dawg/K-Dogg/K-Whogivesashit that features this line .. see sig below.
- Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Wrath, aka Goldberg Lite.

 

I do remember him in WWF, mostly because at first, they would have him do ringside interviews, during the actual match, which annoyed me because it would screw up the flow of the match.

I also read an interview he gave a while back, in which he blamed Bischoff for making him say that the show was the greatest one ever. It wasn't his idea to say it.

 

If ever there was a time where the E should have allowed blood, they should have done it when Trips smashed the chair against Bryan's head on the post. That just cried out for some blood.

Also, they should have had Brie come down and have Stef order her away or she'd fire both her and her sister. Then have Brie cry as Trips continues the beat down.

 

I'm gonna have to watch the RAW Replay on the Network. I had to work last night.

 

It's evil Tony Schiavone with the beard. He's now in radio outside Atlanta, doing play-by-play for the Gwinnett Braves and working wit the UGA radio crews.

 

In the early 2000s, after WCW went under, I remember hearing Schiavone doing early-morning news and traffic updates on WSB in Atlanta. It was a bit jarring. I still get that same feeling occasionally when I hear Jonathan Coachman doing his ESPN Radio show.

 

It seems like Hogan and Nash just "patched things up" and the original black/white vs wolf pack feud wasn't a "work." Hogan was coming back after his "presidential run" and pseudo-retirement I think. Who the heck knows with WCW

 

Various bits of news read on various sites:

- Coincidence: With all of our Shiavone talk, one report said he's been at WWE headquarters to do interviews for documentaries, probably for the Monday Night War show for the Network. A recent interview said he would have went to WWE if the WCW brand had succeeded, but it didn't. He likely would have quit by now because his voice is too shot from years of screaming. Too bad.

- WM30 starts with a two-hour pre-show. Then four hours of show. Plus the full HoF broadcast the night before. I'm guessing by next year, the Network will air all kinds of live stuff from Axxess for WM week.

 

I'm disappointed that the E isn't offering recent Raw Replays. I missed Raw on Monday and I was hoping the show would've been on the Network by now.

Other than that, I have no complaints as I watch WM XXV