Huh that was weird timing, and if it was from a different source I wouldn't believe it. I feel like the Warrior has died at least 5 times in my life. There aren't a lot of those 80's and early 90's superstars left. That lifestyle is tough.
I wasn't a big fan of his ring work, but he was always entertaining on the mike and definitely a huge part of what made the WWF so much larger than life in the 80s. We can all say with some certainty there will never be another guy like Warrior. RIP, and my condolences to his wife and young daughters.
This was a big shock but unfortunately its also not a big shock. He was really the bookend in on the age prior to the Attitude Era when you think of it. The larger than life characters the WWF had. RIP Warrior.
There was an interesting conversation that Shawn Micheals had with Jim Ross on this week's Ross Report. After the last commercial, they got to talking about the Undertaker Wrestlemania match. Shawn made an interesting remark about the Undertaker loss: the finish was finally decided 4 hours before the show started. He didn't go into details or even know what was behind it, but he gave a time. I was a little shocked by the timing; especially after hearing all the stories about how planned out Wrestlemanias are.
Slowly making my way through the first Starrcade when I get chances to sit down and watch it. Having very little experience with WCW (or in those days, NWA), it seemed like as good a place to start as any. It helps that at least half the card is made up of people Vince would steal away in the year or two following the event, so I recognize a lot of folks. :D
Really surprised how bloody this is, though! This one match early on ends with Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin just opening this kid up... really hard to watch. Bloodier than the Abdullah the Butcher / Carlos Colon match, even!
Hardest to watch, though, is young Tony Schiavone. Man, that guy was always a tool.
Gotta say, though, I dig Jimmy Valiant's "Charlie Brown from Outta Town" gimmick, though. He might be a fun CAW to make for WWE games (though you'd never be able to get the mask and beard combo right!).
I guess Daniel Bryan is going to be gone for a while with neck surgery (never good). Please let there be a King of the Ring tourney to determine who will be the WWE's new Champion King while DB is out for the next 6-8 months. That way after he loses the champ can be King and use that while he seeks revenge on the usurper.
Ring of Honor's iPPv last saturday is now up on their website, and the standout matches were the championship match with Cole and Steen, and the three way New Japan tag team atch, which was an amazing spotfest. I alos REALLY like the AJ Styles match, and the whole "bullet club" group of Americans in New Japan has a lot of promice. I may have to hunt for tapes.
Plus, we get the 2nd in the series tomorrow night, with New Japan vs RoH!
As for Danial Bryan, there is a good storyline in The Authroity stripping him of the title (30 days clause!) and that they never liked him as champion. Then, they can do him regaining the title and doing it BIG for SummerSlam if he's back by then.
The BIG news this week, though, is that WWE got their new TV deal, it wasn't as big as they said it woudl be, the stock has nosedived, and an investment firm is actually calling for the company to be sold or have management replaced. It won't happen, of course, but with stockholders gettign angry...will WWE respond? They are doing an emergency investor's call on Monday.
I'm hoping with the Battle Royal of the IC belt, the powers-that-be will make this title mean something again. I used to think the IC champ was always better than the world champ.
TMZ reported very late last night that TNA Impact’s deal on Spike TV will indeed be ending in October and it will not be renewed. The signs have been there for quite a long time, what with many of the bigger stars gone, including guys like AJ Styles, Kazarian and Christopher Daniels. The report on TMZ states that Spike announced it early so that TNA can shop for other deals, but…
When WWE was negotiating with Spike for a second deal back in the day, Spike announced they were pulling out of the negotiations, meaning WWE couldn’t put out there that they were in demand, and they had to take a bad deal at USA. Is anyone going to want to pick up TNA if Spike doesn’t want them, especially when they Spike’s highest rated show? Personally, I think they’re done. What other network would be interested? I could see Fox Sports maybe interested, but their last deal on Fox Sports had them paying for their airtime.
WWE was on the market from February to May and no one bothered to sign them away from USA, so if you don’t’ want #1, you certainly don’t’ want the far distant #2.
Do the fans care? TNA has trouble drawing 500 people for their house shows, and the Colt Cabana/Adam Cole Cage match for Steel Domain here in Minneapolis drew higher than that. Add to that Jarrett’s new promotion starting up in September/October, I could see Spike dropping them for Jarrett’s group.
TNA, if this is the end, lasted much, much longer than they should have. They were building a strong fanbase, and were a hot promotion until they made a series of stupid mistakes like:
• Bringing in Russo to run creative • Paying big money for Hogan, Bischoff and crew and attempting a new Monday Night War • Stupid start/stop booking of their stars like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Daniels, and their other home grown stars in favor of WWE castoffs and has beens. • Bringing in Russo AGAIN to run creative • Cost Cutting after Hogan and Bischoff were given stupid money • Having Bischoff as the man who worked with the network to keep things smoothly running. The guy is a jerk, and he’s the one who will be the guy who works with the suits? • The name. TNA is funny when you are 13, not when you are running a major business • Going on the road for live shows when you can’t sell house shows • Not nailing Hogan down while under contract in a way that he would mention the show on his talk show appearances, so that he can’t appear in WWE video games and the like. If you’re paying the guy so that you get exposure, shouldn’t he give you that exposure? • Firing Jim Cornette as booker when he was the man who made the show hot and got the best ratings in company history…and they fired him for Vince Frellin’ Russo!
I hate that. TNA has been pretty great since EY Eric Young became champ then MVP/Lashley/Kenny King trio came to be. Lashley is great champ too. He's such an amazing heel champ.
I've absolutely loved the northeast tour and the NYC shows.
It seemed like they were starting to turn the corner, even if they lost two of my favorite wrestlers in AJ Styles and Daniels.
Has anyone other than me been keeping up with TNA post-depatures a few months ago?
Also Jim Ross has a pretty good interview with AJ Styles (last week's episode). I love AJ Styles.
edit: I quit watching TNA during the Hogan Era. It really seemed a little like they were trying to be WCW. I grew up on NWA/WCW (I had cable so I also watched WWF but I'm from the great state of GA and those were my wrestlers), but IMPACT! at the time was like the bad weeks of Nitro with really great young talent.
Now they are going for a little more ECW style and have cut way back on the promos (which was a real problem post the departure of half the roster). It seems exciting again.
I was listening to Steve Austin talk with Kamala and cracked up when I heard him talk about going back home to Mississippi and meeting an older lady he grew up with. She asked James Harris (Kamala) if he still was wrestling; then warned him not to go to Memphis because they had a giant fella named Kamala that will chop and kick him into the ground. James told her he would stay away.
Just watched wrestlemania 30 (again) on dvd. Maybe not the best card ever, but just an enjoyable show from beginning to end. The only real dud was the women's match.
Just recently got back into TNA and WWE. While both have been decent,I still prefer my local indys. I am lucky I live in an area with 3 great indies in driving distance. During WWE's recent swing through mid-MS and southern LA ,lots of the local guys ended up working as part of Adam Rose's crew.
I recently declared "WWE Bankruptcy" I was running about 5 months behind on their weekly TV, although I've watched the PPVs on The Network, but I'd gotten in to the dregs and wasn't motivated to watching the weekly TV any more. Cleared almost 50 of my DVR space.
TNA has improved a LOT since their New York shows, and I'm watching again after giving up in October of last year...guess getting rid of Russo once and for all has really helped. His comments bitching about the show having too much wrestling and not enough ":stories" (i.e. backstage stupidity, 20 minute promos and endless Angelina Love) shows me exactly why he should have been fired back when he had a midget whacking off in a trash can on an early TNA show and called it "Brilliant Television!": I hope they get to stay on Spike, but the rumor mill is saying they will probably end up on WGN...which even fewer people watch.
ROH has been consistently entertaining...love that show almost as much as I loved ECW for very different reasons.
Haven't made it to my local indys, partly because of my work schedule and partly because their booking makes Verne Gagne seem innovative. Dull boring matches where the booker puts himself over at the end of every show... Meh.
WWE is getting better, and with the title off the table, I think they are thinking more about building feuds than “When does John get the title back.” RVD said in a recent interview that the in-ring work in WWE is better than it’s ever been, and I agree with him.
They have a lot of great workers, and if they just keep building the new guys and not have Raw be “John Cena and his midcard buddies” it can be exciting. I REALLY liked Hell in a Cell, and I’m looking forward the Survivor Series.
ROH is my favorite show most weeks…yeah, they mess up a move here and there, but you get some great action and the stories are all logical.
I was really surprised at how much I liked Lucha Underground. If you have the El Ray network, give it a try! It’s only an hour, has an interesting setup and a lot of really good workers. TNA…well, they have two shows left in the can, then they run out the year with a lot of clip shows. It really feels like the end to me.
Is Sting getting some kind of big push? For whatever reason the local stores have gotten a crap load of Sting t-shirts, hats, hoodies, coffee mugs and what not. I haven't seen this much Sting product since the mid/late 90's. They don't even have this much product for Cena and any other two wrestlers combined.
Is Sting getting some kind of big push? For whatever reason the local stores have gotten a crap load of Sting t-shirts, hats, hoodies, coffee mugs and what not. I haven't seen this much Sting product since the mid/late 90's. They don't even have this much product for Cena and any other two wrestlers combined.
There are rumors that he will be taking on Undertaker at WrestleMania.
Is Sting getting some kind of big push? For whatever reason the local stores have gotten a crap load of Sting t-shirts, hats, hoodies, coffee mugs and what not. I haven't seen this much Sting product since the mid/late 90's. They don't even have this much product for Cena and any other two wrestlers combined.
There are rumors that he will be taking on Undertaker at WrestleMania.
Interesting if true, I would have figured after his loss to Lesnar that Undertaker would probably be retiring soon or at least taking a long break.
Is Sting getting some kind of big push? For whatever reason the local stores have gotten a crap load of Sting t-shirts, hats, hoodies, coffee mugs and what not. I haven't seen this much Sting product since the mid/late 90's. They don't even have this much product for Cena and any other two wrestlers combined.
WWE just got their hands on his licensing, so they are going to serve what they see as an underserved market. And yes, the rumors are that it's him and Taker next year.
I'm really glad Sting is working with the WWE; Sting is special. He's got no ties to the WWE/WWF ever, but they own the footage to a majority of his career. I'm excited about it.
As some of you may have noted my favorite wrestler is Ric Flair; he's been my favorite for as long as I can remember (blame my Dad). I've always wanted to meet Sting just to tell him how much I loved his heel run in the NWA/WCW (his career). His feud with Flair and the Horsemen is wrestling.
Speaking of the Horsemen and NWA greatness Jim Ross did two podcasts recently that were trips down memory lane one with Magnum TA and one with JJ Dillon. It's sad that I remember more about wrestling and comics than I do about elementry school.
Comments
http://www.wwe.com/inside/ultimate-warrior-passes-away-26223975
Really surprised how bloody this is, though! This one match early on ends with Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin just opening this kid up... really hard to watch. Bloodier than the Abdullah the Butcher / Carlos Colon match, even!
Hardest to watch, though, is young Tony Schiavone. Man, that guy was always a tool.
Gotta say, though, I dig Jimmy Valiant's "Charlie Brown from Outta Town" gimmick, though. He might be a fun CAW to make for WWE games (though you'd never be able to get the mask and beard combo right!).
More later, but if you like pro wrasslin', you should get this show. The main event of Steen vs Cole was worth the $15 on its own!
Plus, we get the 2nd in the series tomorrow night, with New Japan vs RoH!
As for Danial Bryan, there is a good storyline in The Authroity stripping him of the title (30 days clause!) and that they never liked him as champion. Then, they can do him regaining the title and doing it BIG for SummerSlam if he's back by then.
The BIG news this week, though, is that WWE got their new TV deal, it wasn't as big as they said it woudl be, the stock has nosedived, and an investment firm is actually calling for the company to be sold or have management replaced. It won't happen, of course, but with stockholders gettign angry...will WWE respond? They are doing an emergency investor's call on Monday.
When WWE was negotiating with Spike for a second deal back in the day, Spike announced they were pulling out of the negotiations, meaning WWE couldn’t put out there that they were in demand, and they had to take a bad deal at USA. Is anyone going to want to pick up TNA if Spike doesn’t want them, especially when they Spike’s highest rated show? Personally, I think they’re done. What other network would be interested? I could see Fox Sports maybe interested, but their last deal on Fox Sports had them paying for their airtime.
WWE was on the market from February to May and no one bothered to sign them away from USA, so if you don’t’ want #1, you certainly don’t’ want the far distant #2.
Do the fans care? TNA has trouble drawing 500 people for their house shows, and the Colt Cabana/Adam Cole Cage match for Steel Domain here in Minneapolis drew higher than that. Add to that Jarrett’s new promotion starting up in September/October, I could see Spike dropping them for Jarrett’s group.
TNA, if this is the end, lasted much, much longer than they should have. They were building a strong fanbase, and were a hot promotion until they made a series of stupid mistakes like:
• Bringing in Russo to run creative
• Paying big money for Hogan, Bischoff and crew and attempting a new Monday Night War
• Stupid start/stop booking of their stars like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Daniels, and their other home grown stars in favor of WWE castoffs and has beens.
• Bringing in Russo AGAIN to run creative
• Cost Cutting after Hogan and Bischoff were given stupid money
• Having Bischoff as the man who worked with the network to keep things smoothly running. The guy is a jerk, and he’s the one who will be the guy who works with the suits?
• The name. TNA is funny when you are 13, not when you are running a major business
• Going on the road for live shows when you can’t sell house shows
• Not nailing Hogan down while under contract in a way that he would mention the show on his talk show appearances, so that he can’t appear in WWE video games and the like. If you’re paying the guy so that you get exposure, shouldn’t he give you that exposure?
• Firing Jim Cornette as booker when he was the man who made the show hot and got the best ratings in company history…and they fired him for Vince Frellin’ Russo!
I've absolutely loved the northeast tour and the NYC shows.
It seemed like they were starting to turn the corner, even if they lost two of my favorite wrestlers in AJ Styles and Daniels.
Also Jim Ross has a pretty good interview with AJ Styles (last week's episode). I love AJ Styles.
edit: I quit watching TNA during the Hogan Era. It really seemed a little like they were trying to be WCW. I grew up on NWA/WCW (I had cable so I also watched WWF but I'm from the great state of GA and those were my wrestlers), but IMPACT! at the time was like the bad weeks of Nitro with really great young talent.
Now they are going for a little more ECW style and have cut way back on the promos (which was a real problem post the departure of half the roster). It seems exciting again.
I love kayfabe.
TNA has improved a LOT since their New York shows, and I'm watching again after giving up in October of last year...guess getting rid of Russo once and for all has really helped. His comments bitching about the show having too much wrestling and not enough ":stories" (i.e. backstage stupidity, 20 minute promos and endless Angelina Love) shows me exactly why he should have been fired back when he had a midget whacking off in a trash can on an early TNA show and called it "Brilliant Television!": I hope they get to stay on Spike, but the rumor mill is saying they will probably end up on WGN...which even fewer people watch.
ROH has been consistently entertaining...love that show almost as much as I loved ECW for very different reasons.
Haven't made it to my local indys, partly because of my work schedule and partly because their booking makes Verne Gagne seem innovative. Dull boring matches where the booker puts himself over at the end of every show... Meh.
Where are you at, Dub?
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=56972
Wow.
That said, they're starting to do some cool things. It's very, very hit and miss.
I also caught that RoH has a Sunday show on MyNetwork, which I caught one ep of. There was one botched move, but otherwise not bad.
They have a lot of great workers, and if they just keep building the new guys and not have Raw be “John Cena and his midcard buddies” it can be exciting. I REALLY liked Hell in a Cell, and I’m looking forward the Survivor Series.
ROH is my favorite show most weeks…yeah, they mess up a move here and there, but you get some great action and the stories are all logical.
I was really surprised at how much I liked Lucha Underground. If you have the El Ray network, give it a try! It’s only an hour, has an interesting setup and a lot of really good workers.
TNA…well, they have two shows left in the can, then they run out the year with a lot of clip shows. It really feels like the end to me.
As some of you may have noted my favorite wrestler is Ric Flair; he's been my favorite for as long as I can remember (blame my Dad). I've always wanted to meet Sting just to tell him how much I loved his heel run in the NWA/WCW (his career). His feud with Flair and the Horsemen is wrestling.
Speaking of the Horsemen and NWA greatness Jim Ross did two podcasts recently that were trips down memory lane one with Magnum TA and one with JJ Dillon. It's sad that I remember more about wrestling and comics than I do about elementry school.