The Attitude Era Thread Vol 1

[Valeyard]

I wanna say that he was written out after the Corporation turned on him and didn't show up again until January when he booked Austin/Vince. Then he was at Wrestlemania and vanished until Smackdown. Then gone again until Judgment Day.

 

[strummer]

I swear I remember a segment in spring 99 with Austin and Shawn being buddy buddy and Shawn booking all the heels in unfair matches or something. I think he had Paul Bearer against Big Show or someone

 

[Valeyard]

That one night Cactus vs Mideon and Viscera happened fo no reason and Foley decided to take a nasty chair shot to impress Monica Seles who was in the crowd

 

[Fall of Epic]

He showed up at Wrestlemania that year to boot Vince from referring the main event.

 

[Valeyard]

Called him Jack Lalane like it was an insult

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I feel like the four year layoff was a blessing in disguise for Shawn. As a worker, I don’t see him fitting in well in ‘98-‘99 WWF and him quickly being surpassed by SCSA, The Rock, Undertaker and even probably Foley and Triple H would have poured gasoline on the fire RE: his substance issues.


And him awkwardly joining WCW as it nosedived would have been awkward as hell too. We should be glad we were spared the weird, forgotten HBK/Bret rematch for the US Title (where HBK is somehow the babyface )going on third to last at SuperBrawl.

 

[Valeyard]

I think he'd have been fine, actually. That said I don't know what sustained push happens because he's either in the Taker lifer column or in the Owen consistent shadow realm column after Austin's coronation. I can't tell if I believe he'd be cool feuding with HHH for the ic title or not, even if they're best friends.

He definitely ends up in WCW by 2000 anyway be it money making him jump or him getting himself fired. Goldberg probably kicks his head off instead which is a meme for years because lol sweet chin music.

 

[Fall of Epic]

Shawn would have been just fine if he still competed in '99 though I would imagine he loses a ton of his political power, gets frustrated, and takes his ball and goes home.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Putting on my fantasy booking hat, I just have a hard time imagining what WWF does with HBK if his layoff is six months instead of four years? Does he rejoin the babyface DX? Feud with them? Reignite the Austin feud? I just don’t know.

Even putting the injury aside, it felt like it was time for HBK to move on for a while in the Spring of ‘98. His schtick had gotten so outrageous, there wasn’t really anywhere to go with it except maybe the inevitability disappointing WCW run.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1663898371550068738

Bearer putting on the notoriously noxious Vader mask is more hardcore than anything Sabu ever did.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1664021609349259267

Vintage Prichard.

 

[Valeyard]

Putting on my fantasy booking hat, I just have a hard time imagining what WWF does with HBK if his layoff is six months instead of four years? Does he rejoin the babyface DX? Feud with them? Reignite the Austin feud? I just don’t know.

Even putting the injury aside, it felt like it was time for HBK to move on for a while in the Spring of ‘98. His schtick had gotten so outrageous, there wasn’t really anywhere to go with it except maybe the inevitability disappointing WCW run.

I'm not convinced the Duane Gill spot at Survivor Series wasn't at least briefly meant for Shawn's return. I know that was a rumor but it really does make sense and Gill is a perfect emergency swerve. Corporate heel Shawn lets Foley win and has room to spend the next few months with Austin while Rock and Foley do their thing. Probably get him and Foley or HHH at Wrestlemania in some stupid bullshit not too different than what happened anyway just with more Shawn.

But that layoff also is when Rock becomes a major player and he hates Shawn while being reasonably close to almost everyone else. Backstage changes dramatically without Shawn, like it did in reality, and the new guys with the pissed older guys aren't going to take his shit the same way. He jumps to WCW or is fired like Angle was for refusing to get better.

 

[Gert]

It was also pretty funny back then that they ran a mask vs. mask match with a guy who pretty much couldn’t lose because he was “disfigured” and a guy who pissed off the WWF by always taking his mask off and being forced to put it back on during matches when he would take it off.

 

[BruiserBrody]

I'm pretty sure I thought that was a work

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Episode 390: The End Of Ken Shamrock In The WWF - Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard

On this episode of Something To Wrestle, Bruce is BACK and ready to talk about Ken Shamrock's final couple of months in the WWF. Bruce and Conrad discuss the development and introduction of Ken's "sister" Ryan Shamrock. Who was she, where did she come from, and why did the storyline get more and...

pca.st

1999 Ken Shamrock seems like pretty thin gruel for a podcast topic. Which is probably why this episode is The Kurt Angle Show length.

 

[Valeyard]

Right before he left, maybe even month of, they had an edition of The Informer in the magazine where they ripped into him for saying he wouldn't let his kids watch the shows. Called him the World's Most Dangerous Zealot. I wanna know more about that.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1665814110968201216

Doink put on weight.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1667982551812644865

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1670810762795786248

Which one of us wrote for the magazines?

 

[Valeyard]

I promise one of us did. Maybe more.

Eric Szulczewski used to call her the Bitch Of The Baskervilles on 411 or Insidepulse or whatever. Just lept into my head after like 20 dormant years.

 

[crandamaniac]

It was also pretty funny back then that they ran a mask vs. mask match with a guy who pretty much couldn’t lose because he was “disfigured” and a guy who pissed off the WWF by always taking his mask off and being forced to put it back on during matches when he would take it off.

Same way they ran a first blood match with a guy who's covered head to toe I guess

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Same way they ran a first blood match with a guy who's covered head to toe I guess

But that was intentionally stupid, with the whole point being that Vince was stacking the deck against Austin to get the belt off of him.

 

[Valeyard]

Yeah I remember that being the point. That's one of those matches that isn't great or anything but the whole spectacle is why wrestling is fun.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Vince Russo's like a band that had one highly popular, weirdly influential album then just kept doing the same thing to diminishing returns and people wonder why they even liked them in the first place. Eventually, you just realize they had a great producer who knew how to bring out their strengths while minimizing the weaknesses.

The Quiet Riot of pro wrestling.

(@Laz shakes his head in resignation)

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Nah, that's a good comparison, because "Metal Health" is a great song/album and then...meh?

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Paul Shortino era is either when Dixie told Spike TV he wasn’t writing for them but he was or the time Vince had long hair and was clean shaven and looked like James Taylor if he was addicted to dairy instead of heroin.

 

[crandamaniac]

Thinking of Quiet Riot made me think of the story of William Regal choking out the lead singer. Kind of curious if Russo was ever attacked in any of his writing roles.

 

[Fall of Epic]

Regal is more of a Morrissey guy.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Thinking of Quiet Riot made me think of the story of William Regal choking out the lead singer. Kind of curious if Russo was ever attacked in any of his writing roles.

How the heck had I never heard about hungover (still drunk from the night before) Regal choking out morning zoo DJ Kevin Dubrow for besmirching the legacy of Slade?

Also it really IS amazing that no wrestler ever tried to be beat Vince Russo’s ass IRL afaik. Tbf, I don’t think Russo ever severely pissed off someone that was in a position where they would kick his ass. Was gimpy gorilla 49 year old Hulk Hogan really going to go after him? Any of the TNA guys would have gotten fired or at least severely reprimanded if they attacked him.

 

[crandamaniac]

Honestly, I didn't know about Dubrow getting choked out until today. I was really looking for the quote that Regal said to Dubrow about Quiet Riot and Slade, and ran across the rest of the story.