Wrestling

Do you mean the match-ups or the behind closed doors thing?

I dont know who half of them are.

Anyone on here watch the event? :smiley:

Awful PPV and awful angle.

Hogan, Nash, Hall, Steiner, Goldberg, Sting all left out of the angle.

To me, for that angle to work you needed the stalwarts of later WCW. You needed Steiner, Booker T, Goldberg, Sting and DDP on the same team to face team WWF.

nWo could have been introduced a little later on because the reality is that none of them could have offered much given Hall’s alcoholism, Nash’s chronic injury problems and Hogan’s part time nature.

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Bruce Pritchard and Eric Bischoff have talked extensively about this on their podcasts. They weren’t left out, they were still under guaranteed contracts with Time Warner so they all (rightfully) sat them out.

They could have waited a year/18 months to do this angle but would anyone have cared? I’m not so sure they would have. That’s a year down the line where multiple WCW people have held multiple WWF titles. Think they had to go with it then or never, no matter how crap it turned out to be.

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Who was the biggest star, from wcw, they had during the angle? Booker?

Oh I’m definitely aware of this. It was just a shit way to run the angle though because all you did was bring a bunch of mid cards WCW guys and then you had to even move Austin over (who despite his WCW past, was a firm WWF guy) to give them some credibility.

I think they should have run WCW as a separate promotion rather than go down the brand split route they ended up going down. I know that was considered at the time but almost immediately veto’d following the poor reception Bagwell-Booker T got and the fact Vince was obsessed with burying WCW guys.

They brought Steiner in and used him as a face (which he is not) and buried him by putting him in the ring with the 2003 version of HHH (who had a beat up body and was struggling with injuries himself). Steiner had nerve damage in his foot so he needed to work with guys who could mask the deficiencies in his performances. He could have been a monster heel for WWF as he still had a few years to give.

Booker T got buried too despite some success. He had everything to be a main event star in the WWF but they always seemed too hesitant to give him the real run at the top he deserved.

Goldberg, buried. nWo angle, buried. Sting, lost his Mania debut to HHH for no reason. Steiner, buried. DDP, buried.

They just buried all the top WCW guys to satisfy Vince’s ego.

2001/02 had every chance to be two of the greatest years in wrestling history but they’re utter failures for the direction after WreslteMania X7 (probably the best Mania ever).

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Booker and DDP but they totally buried DDP with the weird stalker angle.

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Remember that pop he got when it was revealed? They really dropped the ball with him.

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Yep. Big time.

They dropped the ball with a lot of these guys. The pop Steiner got in 2002 when he returned at Survivor Series has to be up there with any pop around that time.

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“gimme the fcking mic" :grin:

Unsurprisingly edited out of reruns

Haha yeah.

I loved Steiner from 98-01 I think he was every inch a believable monster heel. I think if you could combine the Big Poppa Pump gimmick with his ring work in the early to mid 90s you’re looking at one of the most complete wrestlers ever.

He doesn’t get enough props but he’s one of the greatest in ring performers ever. The way he totally reinvented himself in 98 when his body started breaking down isn’t given enough credit either.

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Steiner was the man in the early 90’s, some of those Steiner brother matches in NJPW are worth checking out. His promo’s around the late 90’s are worth Hall of Fame entrance alone.

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Was watching Eddie Guerrero WWE DVD last night, damn what a performer. Some his WCW cruiserweight stuff is fantastic, especially his stuff with Rey Mysterio (Halloween Havoc match is the best match they ever had together).

Also watched Rey Mysterio first WWE DVD, excellent stuff as well.

Did anyone watch the Dark Side of the Ring documentary on Chris Benoit. Damn one of most downbeat things you ever see. Damn Benoit really fell hard once Eddie died.

Legendary

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Currently reading a wrestling book

I know Michaels had a terrible reputation around the time, but the last line in this paragraph about events after Brian Pillmans death…

Madness

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They were both pricks, man.

HHH (who remains a big nosed prick) and HBK (who’s taken a dramatic turn-the-other-cheek Christian u-turn to almost absolve himself of his past misdemeanours)

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The very next page goes into detail about Vinny Mac getting Pillmans widow on Raw for an interview, less than 24 hours after news of his death, with questions lined up designed to absolve WWF of any blame for his death. Nuts.

Typical Vinnie.

It’s very difficult to like that man.

Look under a dictionary definition of “unscrupulous” and you’ll see Vinnie’s name

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It was a darker time in wrestling that’s for sure. I look at 96-99 being the three greatest years in the history of the industry but the deaths in the 90s were crazy and Vince was so desperate to avoid negative PR he’d often do anything to absolve himself off the blame.

I guess one of the major reasons the industry has moved away from the larger than life physiques and bigger guys is because of the shit those guys have to put in their body to maintain that physique whilst also being on the road 300 days a year.

It’s not just the steroids either is the prescription drugs, the alcohol, the work schedule.

Pro wrestling is a dark industry - that goes without saying. It’s changed so much in the last decade and a half even if the product has suffered because of it.

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