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Re: The Wrestling thread
I watched Vader vs HBK at Summer Slam last night, it was a good match, but you can tell Vader is very uncomfortable about working too stiffly with him (which Vader did) and was throwing fluff punches at him. Also, Michaels totally breaks kayfabe on a missed spot--he was going for the Macho Man elbow off the ropes but weirdly landed on his feet instead-- so he starts berating Vader as he's lying on the mat and kicking him in the head on a LIVE PPV. There was also a weird botched ending where Vader was supposed to kick out of Sweet Chin Music but didn't, so the ref jumps up after counting three and says he only counted two. It was so odd I had to look this up, so I found two shoot interviews, one with Vader and another with Bruce Prichard, who said that HBK got Vader buried for this, ending a planned storyline for Vader to win the title later on and enter a feud with both HBK and Bret Hart. Vader said it was an honest mistake, insinuates that HBK continuously threatened him that if he worked stiff with him he'd have him fired (it shows!). Apparently, HBK mercilessly bullied him backstage, even making him breakdown at a house show. If you watch the match you can totally see HBK has rattled him mentally, and Shawn doesn't even try to sell that he's in the ring with a "monster."
After that, Sid got Vader's spot. I don't see HBK pulling that shit with Sid.
This is all correct...shawn made vader a pussy. Seemingly on purpose, Vader was sabotaged by back stage politics before he even got there...
They did this to a lot of people. There is no way Vader could have succeeded in that environment. I'll bet her regretted leaving WCW.
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Re: The Wrestling thread
KEVIN GREENE, NFL HOF and WCW wrestler died today at 58 years old
Re: The Wrestling thread
Greene was only in the WCW for a couple of shows, and he was an awful wrestler and dropped really quickly.
Dark Side of the Ring is fantastic, and the big reason I'm going back and watching these matches on Youtube. The Benoit and Von Erich episodes are excellent.
Re: The Wrestling thread
misterID wrote:I watched Vader vs HBK at Summer Slam last night, it was a good match, but you can tell Vader is very uncomfortable about working too stiffly with him (which Vader did) and was throwing fluff punches at him. Also, Michaels totally breaks kayfabe on a missed spot--he was going for the Macho Man elbow off the ropes but weirdly landed on his feet instead-- so he starts berating Vader as he's lying on the mat and kicking him in the head on a LIVE PPV. There was also a weird botched ending where Vader was supposed to kick out of Sweet Chin Music but didn't, so the ref jumps up after counting three and says he only counted two. It was so odd I had to look this up, so I found two shoot interviews, one with Vader and another with Bruce Prichard, who said that HBK got Vader buried for this, ending a planned storyline for Vader to win the title later on and enter a feud with both HBK and Bret Hart. Vader said it was an honest mistake, insinuates that HBK continuously threatened him that if he worked stiff with him he'd have him fired (it shows!). Apparently, HBK mercilessly bullied him backstage, even making him breakdown at a house show. If you watch the match you can totally see HBK has rattled him mentally, and Shawn doesn't even try to sell that he's in the ring with a "monster."
After that, Sid got Vader's spot. I don't see HBK pulling that shit with Sid.
This is all correct...shawn made vader a pussy. Seemingly on purpose, Vader was sabotaged by back stage politics before he even got there...
They did this to a lot of people. There is no way Vader could have succeeded in that environment. I'll bet her regretted leaving WCW.
He kind of had to leave WCW because of the fight with Orndorf. He's was facing major fines and a pay cut so he went to the WWF. They just screwed up his run. When he debuted in the NWA it was incredible, and he had a killer feud with Sting.
Re: The Wrestling thread
You guys might like this (especially Mitch and James) it's a great retrospective of HBK that gives a good backstory of his rise back stage. And yeah, Hitman vs HBK in 1992 was fantastic. And I forgot Marty Jannety wore a GN'R shirt on his big return. 
Re: The Wrestling thread
I wasn't watching WWF in 92 because I don't remember their 92 feud.
I thought I started watching both WWF and WCW again in summer 92 but it must have been a bit later for WWF.
They're not ready for primetime at that point. HBK needs more experience. Bret isn't used to being a singles star either. I always thought he should've got a huge singles push right after they teased the turn with Bad News Brown at WM 4.
You gotta give credit to HBK though....his rise as a major star was unlikely. No one watching in the 80s could've predicted he would be a star of the 90s. He didn't give up.
His natural trajectory should've been similar to when NWA had the rock N Roll Express split off into singles. The HBK of that duo...Ricky Morton....got an early shot at Flair and then nosedived down the card.
Morton had crazy charisma and mass female appeal as well. He just wasn't able to translate that into a successful singles career.
Re: The Wrestling thread
Last night I watched the Von Erichs episode of Dark Side of the Ring.
It sucked. It's serviceable for young/casual wrestling fans who don't know about them.
I'm wondering if the story can even be properly told in such a format. It warrants a deep dive.
They glossed over too many areas. Kevin's participation was great and basically a requirement but it's a double edge sword...he can't/won't be completely honest. He's getting better than he used to be...but I want the story warts and all.
The chapter on Mike's sudden and quick downfall is covered in the span of a few minutes. That's not good enough. It was THE sign that the family was not what they were shown as on TV...and fans started abandoning them in droves.
The family had blurred the lines between kayfabe and reality and they should've pushed this dysfunction.
The Von Erichs story always deserved to be a movie.
