Oh, man. I have so many great memories. Steel cage matches, lumberjack matches, etc. To me, WCCW from 82-85 was the best pro wrestling ever done. Maybe because it was a local thing here, but man it just had a vibe to it. It was exciting. The Von Erich/Freebird feud was really fun. The Freebirds made such a great foe for the hometown Von Erichs. The weird angle was that we all wanted to like the Freebirds, but they were the enemies of our heros so it made the whole thing really passionate between the wrestlers and the fans.
Just before I got into it my cousin told me about "the rassles" at Will Rodgers. He had cable and I got to see Georgia on TBS, San Antonio, Houston, Watts Mid South, WWWF(USA channel) besides the newly renamed World Class(had been Big Time). But it had a LOT to do with presentation. Bill Mercer had a lot to do with it. Multiple close up cameras. The three Von Erich boys ALL becoming legitimate world title contenders. The Freebirds sent it into the stratosphere. I was there when Hayes, Gordy, and David beat Sharpe, Sharpe, and Steele for the 6 man belts. David gave up his belt immediately for Buddy. That's why it was such a shock when Terry and Hayes turned on Kerry later that night. The Cage door. OMG. That HURT! There was no other way but to take it. I always wanted to see a NWA title change in person and of course I missed being there for Kerrys win, that actually happened when Ronnie Garvin beat Flair for the belt here in Detroit. I wanted to ring announce an NWA championship title match and I did that with Steve Corino.
I watched WCCW from afar (it got some play on midday ESPN) and saw a ton of the '84ish era... amazing stuff and even though it was out of this little shed, it always felt like a huge event on TV - really cool to eavesdrop on some memories from folks who were actually there...
Absolutely. Their TV presentation was groundbreaking. Christmas '82. Man, I wish I had been there. Legendary night. I also wish I had been at Texas Stadium to see Kerry take the title from Flair. To this day I get goosebumps watching the end of that match. Takes me right back to 6th grade! You've done announcing work? That is awesome, man.
Pretty cool Halloween themed fight on Raw last night with pumpkin wearing, tombstone smashing, and pie throwing. Also, Braun Strowman emerged from a garbage truck after The Miz and some other heels previously threw him into a garbage truck and tried to compact him. Braun proceeded to punish The Miz for the previous garbage truck incident.
Nothing could have made me happier than Tex2Badd on my television last night. I'm fearful those two won't ever really get used properly, though.
It's a sin... but if you follow him on Instagram the fact that Anderson has a set schedule, a guaranteed contract and most importantly can spend a lot of time with his family seems to make it all worth it to him.
To share a recent quote I heard from the American Dragon... 80% chance he will wrestle again (100% according to Brie) and 20% chance he will wrestle in a WWE ring.
They bum rushed him into retirement. Brian is more than good enough to work around his noggin safely.
This is from a conversation he had at WWE night at a NJ Devil's hockey game (Busted Open Radio on Sirius XM)... He's only coming back on his terms... he said he won't do anything stupid and if he is not 100% medically cleared he will not get back in a ring (due to his family)... he also said he will not work a full time (200+ shows a year) WWE schedule if he does return (due to his family).
Surprised no one has mentioned the Jericho/Omega match scheduled for Wrestle Kingdom 12 (fixed... I put 10 for some reason). Will be weird to see Jericho work beyond the parameters set by the WWE... wonder if he even can after all of these years. Wasn't Jericho one of the dudes in the WWE that was fined a quarter mil for blading? Him and Batista, I think?
I spent the late 90's and early 2000's GLUED to the TV anytime RAW and SmackDown! were on. I will never forget seeing Mankind get thrown from the top of the "Hell in a Cell" straight through the ring by Triple H! (And The Undertaker too) I thought he was friggin' DEAD both times! Or how Stone Cold (my favorite wrestler) would always be screwing $--t up for Vince, and beating the ever-loving bejeebus outta him. Haha.. Classic! I even remember the time when Big Show and Brock Lesnar BROKE THE RING! I'll never forget, that was the first time I screamed "HOLY F--K!" at the TV out loud, in total shock and disbelief as to what I was seeing... And of course my Dad was watching too, and had obviously heard me. He wasn't too happy... I was around ten at the time (2003.) Another "Holy sheet" moment for me, was when Kane apparently "buried" The Undertaker alive in a mound of dirt back at Survivor Series 2003. I know it's all scripted now. But back then, I thought everything was real dammit! I remember this was all back when it was still called WWF. And when SmackDown! aired on UPN. And when there was no PC BS to be found. It was a sea of total awesome! Those were the good ol' days. A hallmark period of my life really. I get goosebumps looking back on those days, and I'll never forget them. (I get a rush of adrenaline hearing the old SmackDown and RAW themes from that era.) My God.... How much things have changed since then. (And not for the better either.) A lot of the stuff that happened in the Attitude Era really shocked you, and made you excited for the next week. Damn, time flies! R.I.P Attitude Era... You were a crucial part of my childhood. And simply... AWESOME! Thank God for eBay. I've bought all the old PPVs on DVD from that era, and can relive them anytime I please! So the good ol' days are never really dead after all! "IF YA SA-MEEEEEEEEELLALAALALALAAAAOOOOOWWW!! WHAT THE RANGER.... IS COOKIN!" *Takes off sunglasses and raises one eyebrow*
HHH threw mankind off a cell too? I don't remember that. I remember undertaker throwing mankind off the top and then the same match throwing him through the top with a chokeslam
He backdropped him from on the top of the cage and Foley fell through a gimmicked part of the cell onto a gimmicked part of the ring. It was MUCH safer than the previous time.
Yes it was at the No Way Out PPV in 2000. Though as jimbutsu just pointed out, it was planned to happen this time around. When The Undertaker did it the first time, it just... Well, happened!
Funny how they thought link fencing would hold for a hurtling near 300 pound man. It was such a cluster****. Undertaker was working with a broken ankle. The chair followed Mick down smashing him in the mouth. Terry Funk was there unannounced acting as Mick's second. And getting choke slammed out of his sneakers while he gave Jack time to recover. The match is classic because so much went wrong.
His tooth got knocked out and was in his nostril. He had a gash in his lip that he was sticking his tongue through.
Mania III location imploded... Or NOT hahaha! Many memories of the Silverdome as a kid. Mostly saw the Pistons there. Saw WM3. Last time I was there was 1989 for The Who.
From the CBC Radio's Day 6 with Brent Bambury: How an abandoned suitcase in Hamilton found its way to a wrestling hall of fame.
Enjoyed reading the World Class memories here. I was a kid in the midwest so I got to see it on KDNL channel 30 from St. Louis. Years ago, when I got online regularly and found wrestling message boards I used the name Sportatorium Roach. Why? Because I read someone saying that instead of wrestling, the only thing left at the Sportatorium were rats and roaches. Remembering my love for World Class I had a name.