Classic Wrestling Thread (60s 70s 80s 90s 00s)

[Crows_United_FC]

People really need to stop using this phrase when its not applicable (which is the majority of the time its used).

How on earth is 'spoiling' (aka hyping or promoting) a debut something exclusive to 'these days'?

WWE never used to spoil returns, and if they did then I don't remember any! Remember Austins returns? They were never spoiled and he got MASSIVE pops! Remember Rock in 2003/04 when he came out and saved Eugune?? No one expected that. These days (yes, I will use that term) they spoiled Hogan's return, Batista's returns etc. Although it doesn't happen all the time (Rock returns as WM host, Shield debut) etc.. WWE are known to announce returns/debuts just to bump up ratings!

 

[NitroFan]

you said 'debut', not returns, and posted a video of a debut. and there is quite a difference between the two. vignettes or promos hyping someones debut have been around since forever.

but right off the top of my head i believe hhh's return at msg was announced.

as for these days, again off the top of my head (and being there live for the first three may have something to do with remembering them) lesnar in miami. rock and austin at mania 30 (a one time thing, but still). paige the night after. aj and jericho very recently. i dont believe any of those were announced. unannounced returns would greatly outnumber announced ones 'these days'.

 

[Crows_United_FC]

you said 'debut', not returns, and posted a video of a debut. and there is quite a difference between the two. vignettes or promos hyping someones debut have been around since forever.

but right off the top of my head i believe hhh's return at msg was announced.

as for these days, again off the top of my head (and being there live for the first three may have something to do with remembering them) lesnar in miami. rock and austin at mania 30 (a one time thing, but still). paige the night after. aj and jericho very recently. i dont believe any of those were announced. unannounced returns would greatly outnumber announced ones 'these days'.

Whist you are correct, it still doesn't make the announced returns seem any less annoying. I agree though, there have been plenty of unannounced returns in recent years, but I tend to focus more on the announced ones, since it annoys me! If I wanted a return spoiled, I'd go on a dirtsheet and read about it!

 

[Crows_United_FC]

Damn those lyrics get to me! Describes my feeling completely about that Attitude Era. People can call it "trashy TV" but I'll call it my childhood! The Era that made me the wrestling fan that I am today!

 

[Baird]

Street fights in 2014: Kendo sticks to the arm

Street fights in the Attitude Era: 13:15

 

[NotAMagpieBogan]

That set makes it look like one literally.

 

[james Dean]

Staying up until midnight on a Saturday night, then talking about it at school on Monday morning

Nostalgia to the max

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Love this. I respect camel more than Sergeant Slaughter and Hulk Hogan.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Kevin Nash cracks me up here.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Haha the fake Razor also there was a fake Diesel who was played by Kane.

As if Wrestling fans were stupid lol.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

The RAW is WAR intro use to always get me amped up for the show.

 

[LennyStarkiller]

Mae Young giving birth to a ****** hand!

 

[Partridge]

Just finished reading Bret Hart's book. Highly recommended and a fascinating insight into wrestling from the 70s to the 90s.

(my only complaint is the number of times he mentions one of his colleagues saying he's the "best worker in the business" or some such, this appears to have happened a lot and he's remembered every one of them)

To me, if you're a wrestling fan who has any liking at all for the '80s and '90s, you've got to have that book. That said, it seems that Hart had his sense of humour surgically removed, and pretending that he is the true role model for all fans is more than a little hypocritical given what he used to get up to.

Still an essential read however.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Gee this has certainly brought back some memories.
I've got a heap of ppv on vhs somewhere in a cupboard and I'm gonna have to go and hunt them down.
Apart from shoot interviews I don't really get into it much nowadays, but this has certainly brought back some memories of me marking out, especially over the triple tag team TLC matches.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Stu Hart was a tough bastard on Bret when he was training him to become a wrestler i guess it showed years later with his no nonsense wrestling style imo.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Yeah but he was boring.
It was always the same series of movies every time.
Plus he was crap on the mic
Was never world champ material.
All IMO of course
Still I wouldn't mind reading his book.
Read a lot of others and somehow have missed Brett's one

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Yeah but he was boring.
It was always the same series of movies every time.
Plus he was crap on the mic
Was never world champ material.
All IMO of course
Still I wouldn't mind reading his book.
Read a lot of others and somehow have missed Brett's one

My mate who was a wcw fan kept telling me "How can you watch Bret Hart he's boring" haha.

I agree he was crap on the mic Bret has admitted a few times in his interviews that he was now days i just find his insight of the wrestling business fascinating, but yeah like you i wouldn't mind reading his book too.

 

[PoppedCorn]

I'd look for it on uwt but my old p/word isn't working

 

[cmndstab]

Hart may have been junk on the mic for most of his career, but his heel/face run in 97 (heel in US, face in Canada) produced some of my favourite promos of all time.

You can tell just how good he got in that period when you consider he was promoing against Shawn Michaels and didn't get outshone.

Bret Hart's biggest problem is that he always took himself so damn seriously, in a business which is by it's very nature not real. It's kind of upsetting to watch his documentary which covers a lot of the 97 angle and see how much he was either upset by the storyline, or by fan reactions to it. It's one thing to be pissed off at the Montreal screwjob, I get that. But pissed off because fans cheered for Austin over you, or because Shaun Michaels is going to "steal your heat"? Come on.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Hart may have been junk on the mic for most of his career, but his heel/face run in 97 (heel in US, face in Canada) produced some of my favourite promos of all time.

You can tell just how good he got in that period when you consider he was promoing against Shawn Michaels and didn't get outshone.

Bret Hart's biggest problem is that he always took himself so damn seriously, in a business which is by it's very nature not real. It's kind of upsetting to watch his documentary which covers a lot of the 97 angle and see how much he was either upset by the storyline, or by fan reactions to it. It's one thing to be pissed off at the Montreal screwjob, I get that. But pissed off because fans cheered for Austin over you, or because Shaun Michaels is going to "steal your heat"? Come on.

Doesn't Bret Hart have a reputation of being a sourpuss?

Whenever there's a Bret Hart Shoot, he always seems to bristle at the mere mention of the Screwjob.

He didn't make peace with Vince until years later which solidified his reputation as a sourpuss.

 

[cmndstab]

Yeah, a huge sourpuss. Again though, that's mainly because he takes himself so damn seriously. He seems to (or at least seemed to back in the day) treat pro wrestling like it's a real sport, and like him losing a match is a real-life failing. His documentary also showed he's paranoid as hell, always convinced everyone's out to stab him in the back. He couldn't separate himself from his character properly, getting offended when he was asked to portray certain thoughts or react in certain ways as though it was a slight on him. It's easy to tell he grew up in the wrestling business because it permeated into every part of his being to the point that he completely lived his wrestling persona.

I don't really think it was his responsibility to make peace with Vince, though. It's not like Vince ever accepted any kind of responsibility for what happened. I doubt he even ever apologised. I'm glad Bret was able to eventually move on for his own sake, but it's not as though it was unreasonable for him to be pissed off at it. The sad thing is that one betrayal probably solidified all of his years of baseless paranoia.

 

[Lensen]

He seems to (or at least seemed to back in the day) treat pro wrestling like it's a real sport, and like him losing a match is a real-life failing.

i get that you're referring to this in a real-life sense and agree it wasn't particularly healthy for him to do so, but at least the same mindset flowed through to his character which made everything seem more big-time. i'd be happy if a few more current day types shared his mindset TBH

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Hart may have been junk on the mic for most of his career, but his heel/face run in 97 (heel in US, face in Canada) produced some of my favourite promos of all time.

You can tell just how good he got in that period when you consider he was promoing against Shawn Michaels and didn't get outshone.

Bret Hart's biggest problem is that he always took himself so damn seriously, in a business which is by it's very nature not real. It's kind of upsetting to watch his documentary which covers a lot of the 97 angle and see how much he was either upset by the storyline, or by fan reactions to it. It's one thing to be pissed off at the Montreal screwjob, I get that. But pissed off because fans cheered for Austin over you, or because Shaun Michaels is going to "steal your heat"? Come on.

Yeah true

I guess it was hard for him to separate wrestling from real life considering that's all he knew how to do since he was a young boy.

 

[Partridge]

Bret Hart's biggest problem is that he always took himself so damn seriously, in a business which is by it's very nature not real. It's kind of upsetting to watch his documentary which covers a lot of the 97 angle and see how much he was either upset by the storyline, or by fan reactions to it. It's one thing to be pissed off at the Montreal screwjob, I get that. But pissed off because fans cheered for Austin over you, or because Shaun Michaels is going to "steal your heat"? Come on.

Even just the screwjob. He was leaving the company. Rule number one in wrestling promotions, if you're the champ and you're leaving, you drop the title on your way out. End of story. Hart should be thankful he wasn't in an earlier era, otherwise the promoter would have 'accidentally' put in a Lou Thesz or Danny Hodge against him and said "you know how you said you're not doing a job, I'm about to humiliate you if you don't."

 

[cmndstab]

To be fair, those same promoters from earlier companies wouldn't have put up with Shawn Michaels' bullshit either and then there wouldn't have been any problem (at least, if we're to take Hart at his word).

Michaels had been refusing to do jobs to various people for months before Montreal ever happened. I'm not 100% up on the rumour file but wasn't Vader supposed to win a world title off him at one point, and Michaels flat out refused not only to drop the strap, but even to work with him at all? Pretty much killed Vader's career.

I can see why Hart figured he wasn't going to do Michaels any favours, as much as it wasn't well handled.

I think one of the real issues was that Hart had "creative control" written into his contract as a way to make sure he wouldn't get screwed when he left. It's clear Vince assumed creative control meant that Hart could complain if they tried to turn him into the next Gobbledygooker, whereas Hart thought it meant he could literally refuse to lose the belt and just leave it vacant as he left. Neither were ever going to happen.