Still leagues ahead of The Authority...
I know you guys get mad at me when I gleefully look forward to wrestlers' deaths, but will anyone really be upset when Sabu is found unresponsive in a Mobile, Alabama motel room?
I've watched the first half of UHF and I still haven't laughed. Things better get good soon or I'll have to have dealt with Victoria Jackson for 1 hour and 23 minutes without at least laughing at her being dumb as fuck.
Alright so I've finally made my way up to Wrestlemania 16! I once thought I could get through all the Raws and PPVs from 15 to 16 since they got put up on the Network but the secret about late 98 early 99 Raws is that they are not all that watchable for someone who wasn't there at the time. I checked on on some of the more notable Raws, like the Austin beer truck, the formal introduction of Shane O' Mac as a character, Shawn Michaels return and Mankind winning the belt but have just been sticking to the PPVs. There is only so much of D'Lo/PMS miscarriages, DX segments, the fucking Oddities, Ryan Shamrock a person can take.
I'm going to watch all the Wrestlemania lead up Raws, just to see the best that 1999 can throw at me.
Raw 299
February 15, 1999
I assume a lot of what you said is because they don't want the crowd to get bored watching it unfold on a screen rather than in the ring. Which I disagree with a ton, I think more backstage/pre-recorded stuff would be fine. Give the crowd a break, let them watch a big TV for a few minutes with the arena going quiet then BAM out comes some action to the ring. Big impact.I don't think them running arenas all the time is the cause of the sterile feeling. The problem is more that the shows have such a standardized pace to them, there is no sense of life whatsoever. When was the last time that, instead of having one guy cut a promo and then get attacked by whoever he's feuding with, they interrupted something else and showed a camera running up to a brawl in progress? Shit, you could have a whole feud where you only see the tail end of a fight that broke out in the back, with each wrestler giving their own account of what happened, and let the audience piece things together. That's not complicated, but it is potentially interesting and different storytelling. Why does every commercial break have to have a very obvious big spot leading into it? Why do so many matches have to go so long? Why isn't there any effort made to hide the staginess of the backstage segments? Why are there never any segments of the wrestlers out in the world? Why is it that you rarely ever get skits of supposed friends just shooting the shit in the back, like the APA sitting around and tossing back beers in their makeshift "office" back in the day? Why do we have to have those stupid promos where wrestlers stand against a black backdrop and spout unimportant bullshit at the camera so they have something to play during entrances? Why can't the shows ever start with something other than a 20-minute promo from whoever is in the main storyline at that moment? Why can't we ever have an ending other than one wrestler standing over another in the middle of the ring? One of the better Smackdown endings I remember was Damien Sandow coughing and sputtering on the beach after Cody had thrown his briefcase into the ocean, and Sandow foolishly had tried to go get it. Wasn't that snowed-in episode one of their biggest hits in years? Why can't we have more variations in tone and pacing like that? Why are those Michael Cole interviews rarely played on TV when they're usually so good?
I know WWE makes Raws with the idea that most people only watch it every few weeks, but fuck, it's not even like each show has a third of a week's worth of good stuff. I understand we're stuck with 3-hour Raws for at least a few more years, but if they would just change the pacing, it wouldn't be THAT bad. It's basically a kids' show, but more kids would like it if there were more happening on it.
Thanks for the write up, that was pretty entertaining!
I assume a lot of what you said is because they don't want the crowd to get bored watching it unfold on a screen rather than in the ring. Which I disagree with a ton, I think more backstage/pre-recorded stuff would be fine. Give the crowd a break, let them watch a big TV for a few minutes with the arena going quiet then BAM out comes some action to the ring. Big impact.
Oh wow, haven't seen Get Fuzzy in years, totally forgot about that webcomic.
You're dead inside, Data
Are you a robutt
It just makes me want to watch Pee Wee's Big Adventure or Naked Gun instead.
Get Fuzzy is a webcomic to you?
JR letting all his homophobia out during the commentary for Paul E/Cornette at GAB '89
Oh my God, I can't believe Harlem Heat worked their match against Buff & Norton(nWo) as heels because at the last years Sturgis show they were booed because you know... They're black. Apparently the crowd at Sturgis didn't get the memo from last years show because instead giving a "Bizarro World" reaction, they actually cheered the Harlem Heat.
Vince Russo had literally nothing at all to do with the death of WCW. WCW was a lost cause 6 months before he came in, ratings went UP when he showed up, and the decision to take WCW off TV was going to happen regardless of who was booking.
THIS. IS. PE-QUOD.
*clap, clap, clap clap clap*
Top tier PPV. And it was 1989. I'm sure everyone but Pat Patterson was homophobic in wrestling at the time.
Haha... awkward.
I mean, weren't the ratings similar to what they were when Nitro started? It was still getting respectable numbers if you ignored the crazy boom period and the WWF's ongoing success.
This man gets it. And DD is the WrassleGAF-endorsed buddy of choice, right, guys?
And to bring things full circle: Pee-wee's Big Adventure is not unlike The Great American Bash '89 in that it is top tier.
Buff could've been a star in the 'E.
Boogeyman should come back with a placenta eating gimmick if he ever shows up at Raw again.
If you ever want to feel creeped out or maybe you just want to vomit one day, refer back to that thread.
JR letting all his homophobia out during the commentary for Paul E/Cornette at GAB '89
That's good, can't imagine watching a show after something like that and wondering if the dude is alrightJust as an update from yesterday, Rob Lynch got let out of hospital, no neck or spine damage thankfully.
That's good, can't imagine watching a show after something like that and wondering if the dude is alright
I remember one part when he was managing Rick Rude (Rude vs Steamboat, IIRC), and when Rude takes off his robe, JR says 'this is the part Paul E likes the most'.
I know you could say it was a product of the times and all that, but I just think JR's a bigoted ass.
Also I just want to say we were right, Sunny. Fat Hoss Hero is the best Hero has ever been.
It's almost like being a not that big fat guy works a lot better in the indies and not in the WWE or something.Kevin.
Hero vs Tommy End? Where did this happen? On paper that sounds amazing.
I think it's happened a few times in various places, but that's End's PWG debut (I think Don't Sweat The Technique)
Man people in Denton are just....I see Boots has a new car:
RAW isn't entertaining?Amazing how much raw resembles nitro