Old School Observations and Questions, 2024

[BruiserBrody]

For the same reason I have to go with WWF 90. Hogan vs Warrior, then the Hogan injury angle - sad music video - massive pop for his SNME return interview and ultimately the Summerslam match itself.
I've watched Summerslam 90 and SSeries 90 as much as any PPVs ever.

I have stated many times on here that DOOM freaked me the fuck out in 1990. As far as I can recall, I didn't get WCW on local TV in 89 so I never saw them masked.
WCW 90 also had months of the Black Scorpion as a Final Boss heel. I was into it as a kid though. I remember marking out watching the recap of the Horsemen beating Sting and Dick the Bruiser in the ring as JR hyperbolically called the action as the Steiners and others tried to save the day.
I am nostalgic for the Pat O Conner Starrcade tag team tournament build.
Even Sting vs Sid "Terror Rules the Ring" Halloween Havoc stuff gives me the tingles.

 

[Valeyard]

The only time I'd ever consider picking WCW over WWF for nostalgia is 1995 until the Giant joins the nWo.

 

[JN News]

I loved the Four Horsemen in WCW 95-96 until Brian Pillman left both the group as well as WCW. That's one of the reasons why I stopped liking Hogan. If it wasn't for people like him and Kevin Sullivan, Brian Pillman & Chris Benoit would've probably had a run as WCW World Tag Team Champions.

 

[snuffbox]

I'm also nostalgic with Survivor Series 1990. It's a great, easy to rewatch ppv. But Summerslam 90 feels like more of a missed opportunity for them. Many other happy memories from 1990 WWF for me, too: Hogan-Warrior, Demolition's last great year (I liked their last title win and the 3 man heel group), watching Prime Time regularly and getting in before they changed the Heenan/Monsoon format, and the first live show I have full memories of: a house show in La Crosse that featured DiBiase vs Dusty and LOD vs Demolition. My first show was the Superstars taping in 1988 that set up the first Summerslam main event but i have almost no memories of that.

But WCW had a little more for me that year. JYD's return. Babyface Horsemen and the heel turn on Sting. The underrated Wrestle War card. Doom, as mentioned above. A ton of great tag team matches. Z Man beating Arn Anderson for the TV title at the end of the year. Vader. El Gigante. Frankensteiner. The Gordon Solie commercial for Halloween Havoc running down the card. More good Clash stuff than SNME stuff, imo, even though Octoberfest is still my favorite overall. Stan Hansen. Pillman. And, before the payoff sucked, the Black Scorpion thing.

 

[strummer]

The Black Scorpion hooked me in as well. I was 11 and lived in a WWF territory but we were talking about the NWA in school just as much in late 1990. The Clash in Nov. 89 being in Troy was big as well as a kid in my class was at the show and we were all jealous

 

[strummer]

RIP Pete Sanchez according to Bill Apter. Sanchez was an enhancement talent for the wwf from the 60s all the way to 1992

And of course he wrestled Ric Flair at MSG in Flair's first match at the Garden

 

[alkeiper]

Co-worker actually pointed me to an obituary today that a former pro wrestler, Beauregarde, passed away. He was a name in Portland in his heyday. He was living out his retirement in my region. Came across an article from 2018 from this site.

Rock ‘n’ Wrestling: Beauregarde – CXF | Culture Crossfire | culturecrossfire.com

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

You wanna know whose work gets better and better the older I get? Stan fucking Hansen.

 

[Valeyard]

He's legit top five ever.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Yeah I love Stan to death. Just so great and he works well with everyone.

 

[snuffbox]

One of the great experiences of my life was meeting Stan Hansen and watching home movies of 1970s and early 80s Japan tours with him at the 2018 Thesz/Tragos HOF weekend. It's impossible to be embarrassed about liking pro wrestling after seeing the pure joy on that man's face while watching that stuff.

 

[JN News]

Is Manny Fernandez still wrestling?

 

[snuffbox]

God, I hope not.

 

[Hawk 34]

His most recent match was in 2022.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Ref Tommy Young getting broken in as a jobber in 75.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Conrad Thompson Reveals 2013 Emails With Ultimate Warrior, Warrior Wanted $90K For Hogan Belt | Fightful News

Conrad Thompson unveiled his dealings with Ultimate Warrior.

www.fightful.com

There is part of me that can't hate on Warrior trying to soak a money mark. If I'm sitting on millions, do I care if some dork wants to give me another 50K for a piece of my sports memorabilia?

 

[Epic for the Summer]

While the answer is highly like to be "lol no", I gotta ask anyway: Were there any notable alumni from Warrior University?

 

[Super Leather]

Co-worker actually pointed me to an obituary today that a former pro wrestler, Beauregarde, passed away. He was a name in Portland in his heyday. He was living out his retirement in my region. Came across an article from 2018 from this site.

Rock ‘n’ Wrestling: Beauregarde – CXF | Culture Crossfire | culturecrossfire.com

That's my article that was published in PORK magazine in 2015. Not sure how much Beauregarde footage actually exists, but I did find two silent clips in black & white on YouTube. Grainy as hell and shot with a Super 8 camera, but I'll take it if that's all we can get.

Beauregarde vs. Sandy Barr is less than two minutes long, so enjoy the mat wrestling and don't expect much more than that. Kinda cool to see Sandy Barr in the ring too. I don't think I've ever seen him in a match aside from refereeing. Filmed at the Vernonia High School gym in Vernonia, OR.

From Clatskanie, OR. in March of 1968. Almost five minutes of clipped footage and you actually get a better idea of what kind of chickenshit heel Beauregarde must have been back in the day. He cheats relentlessly, but begs off and sells on the comebacks, and takes a good bump to the concrete floor. I laughed when I saw him grab a foreign object from underneath the ring, considering the complaints about how many weapons and such are hidden under there these days. They did it in 1968 too, folks!

 

[Valeyard]

Were there any real plans for Ahmed's heel run after Canadian Stampede? I can't see him get the belt but was it a Taker feud in the summer and then a face turn in the fall?

 

[BruiserBrody]

Were there any real plans for Ahmed's heel run after Canadian Stampede? I can't see him get the belt but was it a Taker feud in the summer and then a face turn in the fall?

Russo was booking, so it depends what was on Jerry Springer that weekend.

Ahmed coming back like 3 separate times and getting hurt each time right away was surreal even watching it weekly live.

I think they pretty much gave up on him when he blew his knee out right after the heel turn.

 

[Epic for the Summer]

Writing was on the wall for him when he got injured before the Taker match. That was his last shot being a top guy. He was gone 6 months later.

 

[Valeyard]

Oh I'm speaking if he didn't get hurt. There's nowhere really for him to go but back to the void with Faarooq.

It's such bullshit how Faarooq's big break as a singles worker in the WWF is literally one feud with a wreckless glass-man.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Do we know what the plan was for Ahmed vs Shawn on RAW? If a summer of Vader stiffing him had pissed Shawn off, carrying Ahmed on live TV may have plunged him into the soma zone

 

[Valeyard]

Shawn could've done it, though. 1996 Shawn is a GOAT. A bigger risk is Ahmed injuring him.

 

[Brocklock]

Shawn could've easily got a **** match ping ponging for Ahmed. Ahmed has more impressive offense than Sid, and that Shawn/Sid match is really good.

 

[Valeyard]

But Sid is safer than Ahmed, too. I see Ahmed fucking up and hurting Shawn, which is either major and hobbles business or minor and Shawn erupts in an all time tantrum. Sid is just Sid.

 

[Epic for the Summer]

Was Tyson being announced as the ref for WM 14 (not the outside enforcer) some sort of Mandela Effect? I believe they announced at the Rumble that he would ref the main event but changed it to him being the enforcer after he joined DX. I mean, he wound up counting the fall anyway so it's not like it mattered.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Was Tyson being announced as the ref for WM 14 (not the outside enforcer) some sort of Mandela Effect? I believe they announced at the Rumble that he would ref the main event but changed it to him being the enforcer after he joined DX. I mean, he wound up counting the fall anyway so it's not like it mattered.

In January, Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble match[14] while Shawn Michaels retained his WWF Championship, all while Mike Tyson looked on from the director's box.[10] The following night on Raw Is War, Vince McMahon was set to reveal that Tyson would be the special guest referee for WrestleMania's main event; however, Austin appeared and gave the finger to Tyson, offering him a fight and proclaiming the wrestling ring to be his, not Tyson's. Austin and Tyson then engaged in a massive brawl that garnered headlines all around the world.[15] At the ensuing press conference, McMahon officially announced that due to the explosive situation, Tyson's role was being changed to that of ring enforcer.

 

[Valeyard]

I was so pumped for Tyson/Austin that the Shawn match never felt as important as it should've been. I love that match but man, just as a fan, that whole thing was so snakebit as a main event as far as enthusiasm.

 

[Epic for the Summer]

I'm still impressed Shawn put up a performance like that with a fucked up back (and after being threatened by Taker).