Nope, I'm pretty sure I'm quite a bit aways from most of that stuff. I'm in Feb '97 with my viewing. Savage just joined the nWo, Giant just left and allied with Luger, and DDP just turned face. Jarrett just won his way into the Horsemen and Sullivan and Benoit are still killing each other. Souled Out just happened a month ago and things are going strong. Jericho's still a total babyface but I think he starts to whine within the next 3 or 4 months. But we're still a long ways away from the "beginning of the end" if my memory serves me correctly. I'm still looking forward to Jericho's heel turn, Horsemen vs nWo in WarGames, the Wolfpac, Benoit/Booker, and more. And that one memorable summer Nitro where WCW teased a big star debut only to tease Sable sitting in the crowd, debut Raven, and then spring Hennig out at the end. And Arn's gonna make me sad sometime soon after by announcing his retirement while Raven amuses me by collecting his Flock.
Since you're watching these, Lucky, maybe you can help answer a question. When DDP turned face and feuded against the NWO, did they ever make mention that he was Scott Hall and Kevin Nash's manager before?
I remember enjoying Raven's Flock, but did they ever interact with NWO? I don't remeber any kind of confrontation or alliance or even matches between Flock members and NWO members.
Yeah, DDP's history with the Outsiders was the major point of the angle. In the weeks leading up to the turn the Outsiders would start coming ringside to cheer him and then helped him win a few matches (seemingly without his knowledge). The announcers very quickly put together the history and DDP acknowledged that Nash was his first tag team partner and that he "brought Hall into" WCW way back then. And when Bischoff joins the nWo the announcers then reveal that he's next door neighbors with DDP. So the announcers are positive he's nWo and he's denying it or avoiding the question.
Outsiders confront him and officially offer the spot but DDP reveals that he's pissed it took them this long to ask considering they're old friends. The Outsiders kinda of hint around the fact that they couldn't bring him in earlier because of his connection to Bischoff but he should just get over it and be happy he's in. But DDP is arrogant and pissed so the Outsiders lay him out in a US Title match to get their point across about the benefits of being nWo. To which DDP says that he gets it and sometimes he's pretty dense and stubborn, but the nWo is strong and these are his buddies... and then he diamond cuts Hall. And then at Souled Out they offer him a 2nd chance and he does the "put on the shirt but then diamondcutter" spot again and runs away into the crowd.
A week or so ago they had a very cool segment I didn't really remember where DDP is wrestling a match when the Outsiders come out with lead pipes and block his way backstage. Then Sting and Savage show up on opposite sides of the crowd seemingly blocking those escapes too (and because noone knows where Sting and Savage stand DDP and the announcers have no idea if he's surrounded or if Sting and Savage are there to help or what.) He escapes and the next week DDP starts Nitro by plopping a chair down in the ring and saying "This is probably the dumbest thing I've ever done but I'm tired of running and if the nWo is gonna do something lets just do it now." But Sting and Savage show up instead and threaten him with the baseball bat and seemingly giving him that weird "test" they were giving guys like Luger, Giant, and the Steiners. DDP was just bad ass and rational and I remember how WCW managed to make him a star and make me love him in a matter of a month.
And its depressing how little companies seem to be able to pull something like that off.
Or don't do either. If you can't find an image you like at either than don't force it. Just give me something you like and which will look good on the board.
Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway, La DDParka is coming up for me, a personal favorite moment in the history of WCW.
This was, quite possibly, my favorite moment from the WCW/RAW wars era. I had to work and taped Nitro the night this happened, and I must've rewound/rewatched that few moments of the show about 10 times that night. So, so, SO well done, and while the concept fit Page's M.O. to a 't,' I had no idea that it could have happened.
Post by salmonjunkie on Apr 14, 2008 16:47:34 GMT -5
Ok, I do remember some of that. Ok, one thing I always thought was stupid was Savage turning and joing the NWO. Granted, I liked how he was in NWO, but I can't remember how they turned him in the first place, what the reasoning was behind his character. Especially since he was the guy who got fucked over when Hogan turned, he was the one guy with Sting finding out who was loyal, etc.
I don't think it's entirely the fault of the companies, Lucky. I think it has a lot to do with the charisma of the person invovled. When you take someone like DDP - a good talker, working a character that's not only natural to them but a character that people can relate to on some level who talks TO the fans instead of AT them, it makes a hell of a difference. I can only think of a few people who could have pulled off angle like Page did, and most of them had already developed their own rabid fanbases (80's Roberts, Raven, Arn Anderson, Dreamer and the like.) Plus he was a mid-card guy that no one ever thought much about. Apart from a decent feud with Eddie and a so bad it was funny angle with Evad Sullivan, most people didn't notice Page a whole lot. He was a generic cocky heel who had forgettable matches. I admit I was a mark for him even back in the days he looked lke a strung out Sammy Hagar, but most wrestling fans I talked to back then responded with an astounding "Who? Oh, that guy.". A lot of people knew he was there, even if they didn't care, and I think that little bit of recognition helped. He wasn't a hot new star, he wasn't a big steal from another company; he was a WCW guy that "stepped up", via slow character evolution and the introduction of fresh motivations.
But not through the use of a plot device, everyone knows that those are for tools.
And he was beatable. That to me was an important part. That alone was why I never found myself a Stone Cold fan. You knew every week would end with KickWhamStunnerFingerBeer. When it came to Page (and WCW as whole at that point in time) you never really knew who was getting the closing shot at the end of the night.
They did again with DDP with the Savage feud. What they could have just made a NWO guy targeting and WCW guy got amped up with the introduction of Kimberly and the playboy photos. It wasn't your typical wrestling feud about belts or respect or pride - It was about a guy defending his wife, and the fact that it happened to contain one of the best "new" talkers and one of the nuttiest intense guys in wrestling didn't hurt.
Of course, as I was typing this, it occurred to me that wrestling companies these days are so desperate to find the next big Austin/Rock/Goldberg that they really don't give anything the time to build or evolve before they decide it isn't working before they pull the plug. It's a shame that they think of those three guys, and not the following that people like Page, Dreamer, Eddie, Jericho and the like built over time.
Unrelated, but it's a shame you're going to miss Ernest Miller's heel turn. It happened on a Saturday Night, if I recall (making it one step above Brad Armstrong's heel turn on WCW Worldwide. Yes...WORLDWIDE), and featured The Cat explaining to Glacier that "we're karate guys, man! They don't give a damn about us!"
At least one guy in the company knew what the real world was like.
Got to the Wolfpac running the Steiners off the road. Weird that I have no memory of that at all. In fact this whole month or two is kind of foreign to me. I didn't remember Malenko vs Syxx despite me finding it cool that Dean and his dad apparently trained Syxx and they brought that into it. Don't really remember this stage of the Sullivan/Benoit feud. Prince Iaukea upsetting Regal for the TV title. Eddie and Jericho fighting over the US title and fighting together against Konnan and the Faces of Fear? This is stuff I'd enjoy and remember. Weird. Maybe RAW was doing some really cool stuff at this time.
Or maybe I had a life. Feb '97? I was 16. Nope, definitely no life.
It's funny that the only one of those I remember was Prince Iaukea winning the TV title. I was 10 at the time.
I do remember Piper locking himself in Alcatraz, though.
Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway, La DDParka is coming up for me, a personal favorite moment in the history of WCW.
This was, quite possibly, my favorite moment from the WCW/RAW wars era. I had to work and taped Nitro the night this happened, and I must've rewound/rewatched that few moments of the show about 10 times that night. So, so, SO well done, and while the concept fit Page's M.O. to a 't,' I had no idea that it could have happened.
...I have no idea what these guys are talking about.
Lucky, could you do me/us a favour? When you get a PPV that you think is really worth watching, could you let me/us know? I'd like to ctach up on a lot of old WCW from about 93-94 to 98-99, but I need to be careful with my ratio on PWT and XWT.
...I have no idea what these guys are talking about.
Heh. During a particularly heated segment of the Randy Savage/Diamond Dallas Page feud, Savage did everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in his power to stay away from Page for a very, very long time. Page got more and more pissed as time progressed, obviously.
Savage had a Nitro match against 'La Parka' one Monday night. La Parka got his ass handed to him for a bit, but when Savage went up for the elbow, La Parka rolled out of the way and proceeded to hit Savage with the Diamond Cutter. La Parka bolted through the crowd, removing the mask to reveal a smiling Page. The execution was marvelous.
Post by Attitude Adjuster on Apr 14, 2008 17:57:22 GMT -5
One of my last favorite moments was Bret Hart calling out Goldberg. He ranted and raved for minutes, then Goldberg spears Hart in the corner. They both fall slumped in the corner, then BRET gets up, pulls off his hockey jersey to expose a bullet proof vest (or maybe even steel armor). It was a classic setup that was not obvious.
RE: Glacier/Hayashi, it does make it to Nitro because I never watched the other shows. I may have been a fan, but not suicidal.
Sting is the dumbest man in wrestling. That's a well established fact. I'd personally find it offensive and out of character if Sting didn't volunteer to do the stupid thing. --Lucky Lopez
One of my last favorite moments was Bret Hart calling out Goldberg. He ranted and raved for minutes, then Goldberg spears Hart in the corner. They both fall slumped in the corner, then BRET gets up, pulls off his hockey jersey to expose a bullet proof vest (or maybe even steel armor). It was a classic setup that was not obvious.
I remember Hart getting quite the ovation for that stunt.
Riot, I will be sure to mention anything. Its basically why I started this thread because I'm watching this stuff and I see stuff I want to comment on so, why not do it to a wrestling board? And its worked out because I appear to have interested some people and they're reminding me of stuff to watch out for. But I'll keep on commenting as long as there's stuff worth commenting on and it seems like there's a chance anyone will care.
Right now most of the PPVs feel about the time and the surprises so I'm not sure I've watched any blow away shows. They all had the format that WCW PPVs had at this time. Wrestling heavy undercards and midcards with many of the people who would becomes the stars of wrestling like Benoit, Jericho, Eddie, Rey, and DDP (and excellent hands like Arn, Sullivan, Regal, Malenko, Konnan, Ultimo Dragon). Very story heavy upper cards with lots of surprises and "I can't believe this! We'll see you tomorrow!"
Of course, as I was typing this, it occurred to me that wrestling companies these days are so desperate to find the next big Austin/Rock/Goldberg that they really don't give anything the time to build or evolve before they decide it isn't working before they pull the plug. It's a shame that they think of those three guys, and not the following that people like Page, Dreamer, Eddie, Jericho and the like built over time.
I think that's what I meant. I wasn't really trying to make it a condemnation as much as an observation. Obviously DDP was very much right guy, right place, right time. Along with his skill and his established place in the midcard and character and an awesome finisher that was the height of cool... he also had the history with Hall and Nash. But it takes proper timing and management to make it work. And hell, DDP was buddies with all the right political players so its probably just a case of the guy advancing because of his friends being well worth it. Just makes me sad that we really don't get those star making things anymore. I mean, Hardy was almost there but WWE shuffled their feet and then Hardy screwed up. Cena happened but he wasn't quite the same thing. Joe made an immediate splash but TNA didn't capitalize on it.
But in a world of live TV we never seem to get these "HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS AWESOME!" moments any more and that was (as you said) a WCW midcarder and not some huge acquisition or debut. It was just a guy with a rich history and ready for a breakout getting a well crafted story and nailing it. But WWE keeps its midcard so weak and rushes anyone who seems to be breaking out... I mean, I've been complaining about this with Punk. A year in the company and he's got MitB and he could breakout. But WWE didn't spend that year developing history for the guy, making him a character that people could understand and who could do something that would surprise us but also work. When and if he takes the next big step I just can't see anything to it, because WWE just spent a year running the guy who was getting cheers out there so he could keep getting cheers. They couldn't be bothered with the meat and potatoes. But like I said, this wasn't a condemnation thing. TNA doesn't have crazy moments and as people have said one of WCW's cardinal sins was that they didn't even TRY to make new stars until they were already headed to the end. I'm not saying "Stupid WWE." I'm just saying "I wish we got cool stuff like that."
Ok, I do remember some of that. Ok, one thing I always thought was stupid was Savage turning and joing the NWO. Granted, I liked how he was in NWO, but I can't remember how they turned him in the first place, what the reasoning was behind his character. Especially since he was the guy who got fucked over when Hogan turned, he was the one guy with Sting finding out who was loyal, etc.
I seriously JUST watched this so it isn't too developed yet, but basically? Savage was with Sting and the two seemed to be a bit at odds. Piper vs Hogan for the title at Superbrawl has Sting and Savage show up when the nWo does. But Sting backs off and tells Savage to but Savage goes and helps Hogan win. Next night Savage comes out and says nothing but Hogan and the Outsiders give him a "gift", Liz. So the clear suggestion is he joined for her and the basic reasons everyone joins. Money, power, etc. Savage had also said that he was blackballed by Bischoff so the announcers speculate that this was the only way he could get back into WCW. I do agree that its weird Savage joined considering he had been screwed but they had already crossed that bridge with the Giant. I mean, the Giant got the title taken from him weeks before he joined the nWo. Not to mention that he hated Hogan and his whole mission in WCW was to destroy him. In the end I kind of just accepted that people joined the nWo for the basic reasons. Money, power, women, advancement, fear, etc.
Or don't do either. If you can't find an image you like at either than don't force it. Just give me something you like and which will look good on the board.
Post by Moreofabreadguyanyway on Apr 14, 2008 20:49:14 GMT -5
I remember that whenever nWo was actively trying to recruit somebody of if someone just defected to the nWo, Heenan would always say that in addition to the money, power, etc., the nWo would offer movie deals. I'm still waiting on that Scott Norton-Vincent buddy action comedy.
Or don't do either. If you can't find an image you like at either than don't force it. Just give me something you like and which will look good on the board.
I secretly love Buff Bagwell. In the middle of a strap match with Scotty Riggs he stops, walks to the turnbuckle camera, and very calmly and matter of factly says "I swear to God, I love myself more than anyone I can think of. Its amazing." And then goes back to whipping Riggs. Its just so insane and perfect. Not only that he's truly amazed at how much he loves himself but that its something that occurs to him in the middle of a match and that he wishes to step aside to share.
Then later in the match he yells at the ref and shoves him, only for the ref to shove him back. The ref backs him into the corner where Buff drops down cowering in the corner and shoving his hands up. "Hold on! Hold on! I'M SORRY!" Ref walks away and Buff looks back up to the turnbuckle camera with a smile. "I'm really not."
And then he touches one of the turnbuckles with his butt. I really think I kind of love Buff Bagwell.
Uncensored '97 is a really good show. Malenko vs Eddie in a really good match (that someone told me to watch out for) that was a very big grudge that saw them both leaving their regular games. I really dig this feud that I apparently missed the first time. Ultimo Dragon vs Psicosis in a nice match that has Sonny Onoo pull out an awesome kick combination on Psicosis when I had no idea he could do that. Crappy Blood Runs Cold stuff but its funny to hear Kanyon lisp a NJ accent under the Mortis mask. The afore mention Buff silliness. A nice Iaukea vs Mysterio match. And the WCW (Giant, Luger, Steiners) vs nWo (Hogan, Savage, Outsiders) vs Team Piper (Piper, Benoit, Jarrett, Mongo) Royal Rumble type match that kinda blew but whatever. I like battle royals. Fun show beginning to end that I really enjoyed.
And Harlem Heat vs Public Enemy in a fun Texas Tornado match that has Sherri beating PE with trash can lids. Dusty Rhodes and Bobby Heenan are the greatest announce team in history. I don't care what anyone says. Listening to the two of them go back and forth while Schiavonne tries to moderate and has to just laugh half the time is awesome. During the Texas Tornado match PE hits Booker with a trash can and as he drops Dusty just starts laughing. And Heenan starts laughing. And the next 30 seconds is just the announce team laughing hysterically at the absurdity of cookie sheets and trash cans and toilet seats and Sherri and unable to stop.
"I USED TO DO THAT WITH MY LITTLE BRUTHA!"
"What's them music things dat you hit?" "Cymbals." "Yeah! He cymbaled his butt!" "It wasn't his butt, it was his head." "I know, but its one of dem expression things." "I know."
Schiavonne incorrectly calls a pie pan a pizza pan and Dusty and Brain mock him mercilessly for his clear flaws as a cook.
"He hit him with a woman's handbag." "Well, the average woman's handbag weighs 75 lbs." "Dat's true!"
Really, the Heat vs PE match is just awesome for the announcers, who actually get to a point of the match where THEY sound tired. Plus I like both teams.
Or don't do either. If you can't find an image you like at either than don't force it. Just give me something you like and which will look good on the board.
I secretly love Buff Bagwell. In the middle of a strap match with Scotty Riggs he stops, walks to the turnbuckle camera, and very calmly and matter of factly says "I swear to God, I love myself more than anyone I can think of. Its amazing." And then goes back to whipping Riggs. Its just so insane and perfect. Not only that he's truly amazed at how much he loves himself but that its something that occurs to him in the middle of a match and that he wishes to step aside to share.
Then later in the match he yells at the ref and shoves him, only for the ref to shove him back. The ref backs him into the corner where Buff drops down cowering in the corner and shoving his hands up. "Hold on! Hold on! I'M SORRY!" Ref walks away and Buff looks back up to the turnbuckle camera with a smile. "I'm really not."
This is why for a short time in '97 and '98, Buff Bagwell was my favorite wrestler.
And Harlem Heat vs Public Enemy in a fun Texas Tornado match that has Sherri beating PE with trash can lids. Dusty Rhodes and Bobby Heenan are the greatest announce team in history. I don't care what anyone says. Listening to the two of them go back and forth while Schiavonne tries to moderate and has to just laugh half the time is awesome. During the Texas Tornado match PE hits Booker with a trash can and as he drops Dusty just starts laughing.
I believe Dusty said "He laid his ol' tired ass out!" and then just starts laughing uncontrollably. Don't ask me why I remember this, and yes, the commentary for that one was beyond epic.
Oh, and Sting coming down at the end of Uncensored was markout city. I was cheering for the bad guys, and even I thought Sting kicking everyone's ass - including Hogan's - was totally awesome. Crowd pop was INSANE.
He also apologized to the fans for saying "ass." Yeah, its just insane. In the year and a half of WCW I've been watching I love when I get to a PPV because Heenan and Dusty are always insane and seemingly drunk during them (and the one Hog Wild PPV where Heenan was CLEARLY drunk). But they just lose it EVERY time there's one of these crazy Public Enemy brawls or a woman starts hitting a man and they just lose all control during this match.
I really always liked Bagwell. He and 2 Cold Scorpio were one of my first favorite teams. I liked Stars and Stripes for some reason. He lost me a bit for American Males but then when he turned into Buff he was just awesome for awhile. And Vicious and Delicious was something I liked. But he seemed to max out on the roids and kill any ring ability he had and then yeah, he just seemed to get up as high as he was ever gonna get and stop trying. But man, for awhile there "Buff" was what he was born to do.
Or don't do either. If you can't find an image you like at either than don't force it. Just give me something you like and which will look good on the board.
This Comcast WWE 24/7 is kinda pissing me off. I just got it 3 weeks ago and I figured they would show a new weeks worth of shows every week. Instead, what is it, updated once a month? I think I'm going to drop this.
And WCW PPV'S from 1990 are brutal.
Also, I bought and taped Lockdown Sunday and when I got home to watch it, it was nowhere to be found. And I was eating Pho when I remembered the replay. Damn this Comcast.
Is it so hard to imagine? Is it so hard to believe? Something so outrageous, something so far-fetched, well how 'bout Adam and Eve?
The 24/7 cycles some lesser stuff weekly but the big stuff every 2-4 weeks, I think. WWE.com used to have a nice and easy TV grid that showed the turnovers from week to week for the next month or so, but I don't see it anymore. I don't have the service and I just kind of kept track of it to decide if I wanted it. The impression I've gotten is that WWE surprisingly slowed down the turnover, repackaged their categories to have less, and overall made less content per month for the subscriber. Which certainly seems believable. But I only get that from the little attention I paid to 2nd and 3rd hand info.
Or don't do either. If you can't find an image you like at either than don't force it. Just give me something you like and which will look good on the board.
WWE surprisingly slowed down the turnover, repackaged their categories to have less, and overall made less content per month for the subscriber.
The new packages are actually broader and have more content (instead of one for just ECW it has all old TV shows, instead of just people in the hall is has any "legends"). Content turnaround does seem slowed, but I don't see much less.
It's worth it for the price.
The worst thing about 24/7 is the pick your big one where people invariably vote for the worst piece of dreck offered.
Post by Outback Frito Pendejo on Apr 16, 2008 9:19:01 GMT -5
"Marcus Alexander" Bagwell, Scott Steiner, and (to a lesser degree) Davy Boy Smith are 3 guys who so overshot (pun intended) the mark with roids. Bagwell made the nice transition from young vanilla face to cocky heel, then lost so much mobility. He was able to talk well from the beginning, but just seemed to fade as a character after a while.
Yeah, I know this place pretty good. I went to law school here.[My5:]
I remembered one NWO vs Ric Flair moment that happened sometime during 1997 or 1998. The NWO somehow hijacked Flair's limo and drove him out to some field in the middle of the night and then proceeded to beat the shit out of him pipes and ball bats. The funky thing about it was that they filmed the whole thing using night-vision cameras, including one on a helicopter. It think they used it as a lead-up to either Ric temporarily leaving WCW over a contract issue during his backstage problems with Bischoff or for him to rehab an injury. Regardless to me it looked cooler than shit to see Hall, Nash, Hogan, and the rest beat Ric up in that negative-effect from night-vision equipment. I put it down as one of the truly cool NWO moments, almost up there with the time Hall and Nash were stalking the Steiners in traffic and ended up running them off the road and making their car roll-over. WCW sure had the kevorka working for them back in the good ol' days.
EDIT to add: Found it on Y-Tube. I was wrong about the night-vision stuff. All they did use was a helicopter searchlight. Scott Hall was missing as well, presumably due to an injury or the beginning of his alcohol problems. Either way it was still kinda cool. Enjoy:
SuperBrawl IX (if the description is correct) would be 1999, which is when the ridiculous was going off the charts. That's the same year Scott Steiner sic'd dogs on Sting at Bash at the Beach or Great American Bash or Bash something.
That's also around the same time Al Greene, whilst teaming with Brian Knobbs and Fit Finlay, became The Dog. A full on dog. Drinking from the toilet, hanging out car windows. That's unrelated, but both painful and funny to remember.
If you don't remember, the dog character was killed off when Knobbs decided to drive him into a field and leave him there, which the camera crew filmed but did nothing about.
Post by Attitude Adjuster on Apr 25, 2008 15:14:42 GMT -5
Ewww, we're getting to the really bad point of WCW now. I think Pinata on a Pole is only a few months away. I really wish I could find a video of that. The whole thing, from the setup to the match (including the Pinata falling down mid-match) was beyond bowling shoe ugly. In fact, it made bowling shoes look like Ms. Universe.
Sting is the dumbest man in wrestling. That's a well established fact. I'd personally find it offensive and out of character if Sting didn't volunteer to do the stupid thing. --Lucky Lopez
Worse than the Pinata on the Pole match to me was when WCW got Jushin Liger in to defend the IWGP Jr Title but Russo being the idiot he is booked him against Juvie in a Tequila Bottle on a Pole match. Juvi won the title but New Japan was so annoyed that they ignored it and took the belt back. I think. Boy Russo hated Mexicans.
Or don't do either. If you can't find an image you like at either than don't force it. Just give me something you like and which will look good on the board.
Its weird watching old wrestling sometimes. I mentioned it in the great Owen Hart Debates. 15 years ago Owen hit enziguris and I thought it was the most awesome thing. Now they're common transition moves. I'm watching Great American Bash '97 and it opens with Ultimo Dragon vs Psicosis. Psicosis hits a suicide dive over the top rope. Actually pretty unspectacular compared to what we've become accustomed to. I've taken to reading DDT Digest recaps of the shows just to get some context for stuff and its kind of cool. So the writer says about the dive "I've never seen that before." Really? Wow. Its weird to realize that when for the next 10 years it would be such a regular move that it would almost become common. And that 11 years later guys like Undertaker and Hernandez would be doing it.
BTW, this PPV had Mongo vs Kevin Greene and Hogan/Rodman vs Luger/Giant. Last PPV had Mongo vs Reggie White and Greene/Flair/Piper vs the Wolfpac. I had forgotten how many fucking celebrities WCW shoved into matches. And just knowing that Malone and fucking Jay Leno are yet to come in this era makes me sad. Not to mention that remembering Leno means remembering 30 minute segments where Bischoff held his own talk show. Pretty sure I'm FFing through those.
You know what I never noticed? Mike Tenay shows up in the booth during matches with Japanese or Mexican wrestlers to add insight on them and the style. We all remember that as it what made him famous and allowed him to become the pain he is now. Madusa vs Akira Hokotu brings Lee Marshall into the booth. Really? And then I remember that he showed up the last couple of Nitros during the random women's match they had. Huh. And holy shit, I just remembered he was the damn WOW announcer. Wow. Lee Marshall = Expert in Women's Wrestling? Really? That's a trivia note I wouldn't have come up with. And bless him, Madusa's career is on the line and she loses the match. And there's NO emotion or gravitas to it because its Madusa and a Women's Title that 90% of WCW fans probably didn't even know existed because it existed in Japan. But Lee tries his hardest to convince us of what a tragedy we're watching.
And strangely they do an angle after the match where Madusa's knee is badly hurt and Mean Gene comes to the ring. He interviews the trainer about the knee injury saying "Wendy Richter injured this knee 8 years ago and this reminds me of that, how bad is it?" The trainer ignores him. "Well, maybe it doesn't matter because as a result of this match her career his over. Its toast!" Crowd is chanting "Leave her alone." Gene keeps getting in her face asking for a comment and she shoves him at which point Schiavonne is telling Gene to let it go. Okerland was an asshole.
Match was actually pretty damn good as Madusa hurt her knee a good 10 minutes before the match ended. She was either tougher than damn near any man I've ever seen in the ring or was a better seller than damn near any man I've ever seen in the ring.
Also, I recently discussed this with Dev and a couple of other guys that there was a "New Four Horsemen" story that WCW never went with but was always rumored. I thought it was to be led by Jarrett after he left them and include Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Alex Wright or Prince Iaukea. But reading these reports it seems like the idea predated JJ's split from the Horsemen and the group was going to be led by Benoit. And watching Nitro you can see Benoit distancing himself from the Horseman, objecting to Arn's relationship with Sullivan, and having interesting interactions with the likes of Malenko and Steven Regal. From what I can read the "New Four Horsemen" were gonna be Benoit, Malenko, Regal, and someone else. Huh. That would have been awesome. I'm still going to believe that there were TWO "New Horsemen" ideas. One lead by Benoit breaking away as a result of the Sullivan stuff and one led by JJ breaking away as a result of the Mongo/Debra stuff.
Or don't do either. If you can't find an image you like at either than don't force it. Just give me something you like and which will look good on the board.