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WWF: Hulkamania era (1984-`1992)

For some reason I didn't think Lawler was there until after WMIX. Don't remember how I first saw him but I do remember wondering why he was presented as a big deal and fucking with Bret.
 
Gert 2.0 said:
11 year old Gert, was very unhappy that we were going from a 2 hour show to 1 hour.
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I also was disappointed as I had always wanted to watch Prime Time but it started after my bedtime. I finally got to stay up to watch the episode on the Monday after Christmas and immediately they’re talking about replacing it with a new show. That other hour went to Saturday morning but obviously PTW had a certain gravitas that Mania lacked.
 
Prime Time had at least one, usually several, matches between people ya'd know the names of. The first couple years of Raw still had some jobbers so the trade of losing an hour for all 'star' matchups didn't quite compute.
 
Given the state of the roster it's probably pretty 1:1. I'm surprised they didn't do a dedicated Prime Time taping after they canceled their local TV deals with various arenas and killed off the house show content for PTW.

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I'm still intrigued what would have happened had Vince stuck to keeping RAW in the ball room for long term. The fans would have forced some booking changes for sure, depending on how many hours they'd tape at once.

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If they stay in the Manhattan Center, it changes the business but probably dooms the company. Shows are probably amazing but there's no way it translates to money in the way they need.
 
Valeyard said:
If they stay in the Manhattan Center, it changes the business but probably dooms the company. Shows are probably amazing but there's no way it translates to money in the way they need.
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Hogan must have hated the optics. I'm pretty sure his return was his only live RAW appearance. Everything else was pre tapes at the studio or beach
 
Awesome! Neat to see how much stage direction he needed for the crazy voice and mannerisms. The republican stuff will always be awful but some of Warrior's behavior can be understood better when we can see how much he was lied about. Had to be frustrating.
 
Warrior was a piece of shit but in a ton of ways was done dirty. He's like Ruby Ridge.
 
The Finkel clip seems like the wrestling office equivalent of the (closed) daycare video up here in Minnesota.
 
WWF @ West Palm Beach, FL – Auditorium – January 1, 1987 (4,600)
Jim Neidhart defeated Lanny Poffo
Raymond Rougeau fought Greg Valentine to a draw
King Kong Bundy defeated Hillbilly Jim
Mike Rotundo defeated Sika
Bob Orton Jr. defeated Cpl. Kirchner
Jacques Rougeau defeated Brutus Beefcake via disqualification
Blackjack Mulligan defeated Jimmy Jack Funk
Blackjack Mulligan won a $50,000 bunkhouse battle royal; participants included Jerry Brisco, King Kong Bundy, Jimmy Jack Funk, Hillbilly Jim, Jacques & Raymond Rougeau, Greg Valentine, Brutus Beefcake, Dick Slater, Scott McGhee, Mike Rotundo, Sika, Cpl. Kirchner, Bob Orton Jr., Mr. Fuji, Lanny Poffo, Jim Neidhart, & Bobby Heenan

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Jerry Brisco comes out of retirement. They should have used him vs the Funks in the south in late 85-into 86 to try and draw those NWA geeks
 
McMahon planned to have more (non-Wrestlemania) ppvs if Wrestling Classic had succeeded. It wasn't perfect but, rather than make adjustments, they decided to stick with WM until the end of 1987.

Maybe a Brisco reunion could've happened on one of those ppvs. Wrestling Classic was both a gimmick (the tournament) and a volley into a new market (Chicago, AWA). A Briscos vs Funks match could've been a strong uppercard match under a Hogan title defense in Texas, North Carolina, or Atlanta.

If the singles tourney had worked, maybe do a Crockett Cup style ppv before Jimmy Jr did it. Hart Foundation, Killer Bees, Bulldogs, Volkoff/Sheik, US Express, Funks, Briscos, Moondogs, etc.

I get the Big Event in Toronto being a glorified house show with so many questions about ppv in '86. Still not sure why they didn't broadcast Wrestlefest 88 though.
 
The WWFized version of the Briscos fascinates me. Good natured mechanics from Florida (see it's a double meaning because the body shop and technicians!) having solid but ultimately unappreciated-in-their-time matches only to vanish but still somehow appear in the "Land Of 1000 Dances" video.
 
WWF @ Turin, Italy – Palasport – April 7, 1989
WWF Women’s Champion Rockin Robin vs. Judy Martin
WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition vs. Andre the Giant & King Haku
The Warlord vs. Koko B. Ware
The Barbarian vs. the Blue Blazer
Mr. Perfect vs. Rick Martel
WWF IC Champion Rick Rude pinned Bret Hart

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Card is wild for post WM 5 Colossal Connection 6 months early....heel vs heel AWA World champs.....Bret vs Rude!.....owen vs barb could be a banger
 
There's absolutely a joke about MAGA and Iran somewhere but my mind is failing.
 
So after 6 years of waiting Vince signs the Road Warriors.... their epic debut? Just announced with the rest of the pack at the end of a Superstars as appearing in action next week.

This show also has a bit of a Mandela moment for me as Hogan announces via pretape he will not retire due to John Tenta's butt splashes. I remembered it being done on SNME as part of his in ring promo since they play the Hogan memorial bit before his promo
 
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