Inspired by an RT fanfic idea, I have finally decided to join the PW podcast party. I've been booked for pduh 's show to talk WCW on March 26th and I want to get a little practice in before hitting the big time.

My intent is to focus on History of Wrestling since that's my bread and butter here on PW, but I may occasionally delve into non-wrestling topics if the mood takes me there. I was originally going to debut using the format RT came up with in his fanfic, and I probably will do that eventually, but for my first show I plan on taking YOUR questions.

Post any wrestling-related questions you would like me to cover right here in this very thread. If I don't get enough takers, I'll revert back to RT's original Baker's Dozen idea. No set date on my podcast debut, but I'm thinking it will probably be over the weekend, or early next week. 

Jan 7, 2021 1:24:21 GMT Baker said:

Inspired by an RT fanfic idea, I have finally decided to join the PW podcast party. I've been booked for pduh's show to talk WCW on March 26th and I want to get a little practice in before hitting the big time.

My intent is to focus on History of Wrestling since that's my bread and butter here on PW, but I may occasionally delve into non-wrestling topics if the mood takes me there. I was originally going to debut using the format RT came up with in his fanfic, and I probably will do that eventually, but for my first show I plan on taking YOUR questions.

Post any wrestling-related questions you would like me to cover right here in this very thread. If I don't get enough takers, I'll revert back to RT's original Baker's Dozen idea. No set date on my podcast debut, but I'm thinking it will probably be over the weekend, or early next week. 

In. Fucking. LOVE with this.

I'll be back with questions.

I HAVE CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY!

I'm just going to throw down some random questions off the top of my head. I won't hold you to my silly idea. I totally just made that up on the fly based on your username, although it is kind of neat for a themed podcast idea, if I do say so myself.

...

Your top 3 must-see matches from each decade (70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s)

I assume pduh is going to get you to talk about your earliest wrestling memories, what got you into it, first favourites, etc, but if you want to touch on that I'm all ears, and it's easy to fill some time talking about that stuff.

You have the power to have any two wrestlers, alive or dead, fight each other in their primes. Who do you choose?

What do you think is the biggest missed opportunity in wrestling history?

A little primer for your WCW talk: let's say WCW never folded and is still alive and well today. Who are their top stars? Are they still competitive with WWE or have they carved out an "indie" niche? Who are their champions?

Baker-man,

I like RT's.

Here's a Baker's Dozen of questions straight from the mind of 🤯:

1.) Favorite tag team to never win a tag title? Feel free to expand this across promotions as you see fit if you want to discuss several favorites.

2.) Keeping it on tag teams for a minute... Best odd couple/strange bedfellows tag team?

3.) Your best and worst team name/theme ideas for tags teams or Survivor Series teams that were and never were?

4.) Fake Diesel, Fake Razor... Who are the next two or three fakes you debut in late 1996 WWF to round out an entire Survivor Series team comprising fakes?

5.) What's the ideal match length for a singles match? A tag match?

6.) What's a kayfabe rule or regulation you'd love to see consistently strictly enforced in pro wrestling?

7.) Favorite referee?

8.) Best special guest referee?

9.) Trunks, shorts, tights, pants, or singlets?

10.) Greater NWA Champion: Slick Nick or Double J?

11.) Best mist color?

12.) Favorite colossal jostle?

13.) Give Kurt Angle a fourth I.

Netflix? Hulu? Hbomax? Disney positive sign?

Nah. Stick those PWadcasts into my veins.

Jan 7, 2021 12:32:12 GMT @ness said:

Netflix? Hulu? Hbomax? Disney positive sign?

Nah. Stick those PWadcasts into my veins.

How am I supposed to read that?

Pee Dubya Add Casts?

Or

Pee Wod Casts?

I'm looking forward to the Baker's dozen, pduh is a good host so I'll trust him to lead the conversation but if I do come up with any additional questions I'll be sure to jot them down. As it stands, I'm pretty sure you could bang out a two hour podcast on pi's questions alone.

- Tell us if you ever had any serious thinking of "getting in DIS BUSINESS" like a lot of fans do.

-Who is the best woman wrestler in the world?
-Name one wrestler who you think never won a world title deserve a world title reign?
-Favorite ring announcer?
-If you have a chance to interact with Vince KING KID McMahon what would you tell him(hint you have a chance now 😉.)
-Who is the greatest United State and Intercontinental Champion of all time?
-What is your dream match that never happen from each era?
-Favorite USWA & AWA feud?

Hate to burst your collective bubble but I don't think the solo podcasting game is gonna be for me. I'm too much of a perfectionist.

Downloaded the app a while back. Did a few trial runs. Just a few minutes here and there to get a feel for the thing. Didn't like the way any of it turned out. One time it was all this creepy heavy breathing. Another time there were too many umms and awkward pauses. And the pompous intro I tried out was too over the top even for me.

I still plan on going live with pduh to talk WCW on March 26th though.

I also still plan on answering all of your questions. Though maybe I'll just retitle this thread to "Baker Answers Your Questions" and write out my answers.

Jan 7, 2021 2:05:11 GMT RT said:

1. Your top 3 must-see matches from each decade (70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s)

2. I assume pduh is going to get you to talk about your earliest wrestling memories, what got you into it, first favourites, etc, but if you want to touch on that I'm all ears, and it's easy to fill some time talking about that stuff.

3. You have the power to have any two wrestlers, alive or dead, fight each other in their primes. Who do you choose?

4. What do you think is the biggest missed opportunity in wrestling history?

5. A little primer for your WCW talk: let's say WCW never folded and is still alive and well today. Who are their top stars? Are they still competitive with WWE or have they carved out an "indie" niche? Who are their champions?

1. Excellent first question. But I'm going to change it up a little simply because I've seen very little 70s wrestling, and none of it good or memorable. So I'll just go with pre-1980 for the first category. 

Pre-1980

1. Verne Gagne vs. Red Bastien- 1950s Chicago
lol That's all I have for pre-1980s wrestling. Definitely a big blind spot.

1980s

1. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat- Wrestle War 89
2. Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk- Great American Bash 89
3. Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee- Memphis- Loser Leaves Town Match 1983

1990s

1. Canadian Stampede 10 Man Tag Main Event
2. Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker- Badd Blood 97- Hell In A Cell
3. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin- Wrestlemania 13

2000s

1. Triple H vs. Cactus Jack- Royal Rumble 2000
2. Triple H vs. Steve Austin- No Way Out 2001
3. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit- Royal Rumble 2003

2010s

1. Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns- Raw October 2013
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano- New Japan 2011- IWGP Championship Match
3. Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada- G1 Climax 2018
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2. Hulk Hogan got me into it, albeit in a roundabout sort of way. I don't remember a time in my life when I not aware of Hulk Hogan's existence. He was huge in 80s kiddie culture. Right up there with Star Wars, He-Man, ALF, GI Joe, etc. Either my brother or I (maybe both?) had a Hulk Hogan shirt before we ever watched wrestling. Chances are my parents were all "young boys like Hulk Hogan!" while out shopping one day and bought us Hogan shirts so we were not condemned as weirdo outcasts. Pro wrestling was simply "that thing Hulk Hogan did." My friends, cousins, and older neighbor were big wrestling/Hogan fans before my brother and I got into it. I remember them breathlessly talking about Hogan and a few other wrestlers before we started watching.

The first match I can remember watching was the famous Hogan/Orndorff SNME cage match with a tie finish. I was instantly hooked....for life.

My brother and I spent the night and watched it at the house of our mutual best friend Matt Not the IRS fan. It was a really big deal. We probably took a nap during the day just so we could stay up late to watch the big match since that's the approach I took when I spent the night at my uncle's house in preparation for a wholesome evening of astronomical fun with telescopes. 

Anyway, that very first match is also when I first became a heel fan. Day One, baby! The crowd was so rude to Mr. Wonderful! Just booing him out of the building. I thought it was appalling, and felt sorry for the poor man. I got to thinking. "What did Mr. Wonderful ever do to them? What did Hulk Hogan ever do FOR me? I am going to root for Mr. Wonderful!"

And that is how I first became a heel fan. I remember feeling these feelings like it was yesterday. I was a contrarian by nature. I never liked going along with the rest of the crowd. I already liked the NFL teams the rest of my family and friends hated. It soon carried over to (WWF) wrestlers. My heel fandom quickly progressed from genuinely feeling sorry for poor Mr. Wonderful to a combination of playing devil's advocate and childish trolling. I soon worked myself into a shoot and spent the next decade hanging on the edge of my seat while watching all my favorite wrestling villains battle hero after hero in titanic struggles which were a matter of life and death to me. I also genuinely found the bad guys more entertaining in most cases. Years later I'd come across an interview from Flair or Cornette or Lawler or somebody like that where they said they preferred working heel because HEELS DO STUFF WHILE FACES REACT. That was a eureka moment. So true. Heels drive the plot in pro wrestling. Anyway, my dastardly wrestling heroes usually lost just as my favorite sports teams usually lost. It was a tough life for us heel fans. But I suppose it built character. 

My first favorites were the Hart Foundation. They beat the Bulldogs for the tag titles about a month after I started watching. This was an earth shattering moment to kiddie Baker. It sounds silly now, but I didn't even know titles COULD change hands! I thought the champions were champions....forever? I mean, their LJN figures came with the belts! So the Harts beating the Bulldogs was on par with the stupid Mets winning the World Series or the NY Giants winning the Super Bowl as far as I was concerned. Since the Hart Foundation were the act that pulled off this monumental feat, they became my first favorites.

They were supplanted a few months later by the sublime Honkytonk Man when he upended Steamboat for the IC Title in a gloriously shady way on par with the Hart Foundation beating Bulldogs with an assist from Danny Davis. I liked the Hart Foundation. But I LOVED HTM. Literally became a childhood Elvis fan and took guitar lessons just because of The Greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. I may have shed a tear or two when he lost the title to stupid Warrior. Oh, and since HTM & the Hart Foundation were both under the tutelage of Jimmy Hart, I was always a Hart > Heenan guy. Don't get me wrong. The Brain was great. But the Mouth of the South was even greater. Hart's men delivered while Heenan's tended to choke. Meaning Jimmy Hart was the better "coach" as far as I was concerned. Hart was Bill Belichick. Heenan was Marty Schottenheimer. 

Other early favorites from just my first year as a fan included Andre, Ted Dibiase, "Dangerous" Danny Davis, King Harley Race, King Kong Bundy, and Randy Savage until he became a jerk who started beefing with Honk. A real rogues gallery right there. I discovered NWA, UWF, and GLOW a few weeks after I started watching WWF. My NWA guys were the Midnight Express, New Breed, and Barry Windham; while I liked Dr. Death Steve Williams in UWF, and Mt. Fiji in GLOW. I was far more likely to root for fan favorites outside of WWF. 
==================
3. 80s Ric Flair as Mr. McMahon's Corporate Champ vs. Attitude Era Stone Cold Steve Austin would have been $$$$$$$$$$$$.
==================
4. The botched Invasion angle is the first thing that comes to mind. WWF vs. WCW was the thing every wrestling fan wanted to see for years. It should have been this epic 2 year war. WWF burned through it in 4 months. Terrible.
==================
5. Gonna have to pass on this one. I find this question impossible to answer. Any answer I gave would be total b.s. Wrestling has changed so much since WCW went out of business. 

Jan 7, 2021 3:33:58 GMT 🤯 said:

1.) Favorite tag team to never win a tag title? Feel free to expand this across promotions as you see fit if you want to discuss several favorites.

2.) Keeping it on tag teams for a minute... Best odd couple/strange bedfellows tag team?

3.) Your best and worst team name/theme ideas for tags teams or Survivor Series teams that were and never were?

4.) Fake Diesel, Fake Razor... Who are the next two or three fakes you debut in late 1996 WWF to round out an entire Survivor Series team comprising fakes?

5.) What's the ideal match length for a singles match? A tag match?

6.) What's a kayfabe rule or regulation you'd love to see consistently strictly enforced in pro wrestling?

7.) Favorite referee?

8.) Best special guest referee?

9.) Trunks, shorts, tights, pants, or singlets?

10.) Greater NWA Champion: Slick Nick or Double J?

11.) Best mist color?

12.) Favorite colossal jostle?

13.) Give Kurt Angle a fourth I.

1. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers! I love the Brainbusters and all, but can you imagine the Rougeaux being the ones to finally dethrone Demolition? Those smarmy pricks would have played it up for all it was worth. It would have been glorious. They'd have basked in the nuclear heel heat. Like a Honkytonk Man in tag team form.
NWA- New Breed!
WCW- Fire & Ice! Though The Texicans probably had a better window of opportunity. Then again, so did the New Rockers in WWF.
ECW- Nova & Meanie- Would have been better than the stupid FBI or Candido & Storm which ran waaaay too long.
AWF- Texas Hangmen
ROH- Ring Crew Express- This one still bothers me. They would have been more over and a better choice than like half the early ROH tag champs. 
==================
2. BookDust all the way. Lasted way longer than Rock & Sock. Were a much better team. Had better matches. Skits were just as good, if not better. Can't even think of another odd couple team in the same ballpark as those two. EDIT: New Jack & Shark Boy were also pretty cool.
==================
3. lol I feel like this was a softball question because you have to already know the answer- Double A Arn Anderson & Double J Jeff Jarrett= DOUBLE TROUBLE!  Other options include Scott Norton + Bradshaw= HOSS POWER and Lord Steven Regal + Jacques Rougeau= DASTARDLY CUSTOMERS. No Survivor Series names come to mind atm. Maybe I'll come back for that one later.
==================
4. Fake 123 Kid= Steve Corino and Fake Double J= Road Dogg Jesse James. They were in line for a HUGE short term push in my Rebooking The New Generation fanfic. Remind one day and I'll finally spill the beans on those plans since I doubt I will ever revisit that ancient project.
==================
5. Hard question to answer. It varies depending on the circumstances. TV matches should be shorter than PPV matches. Midcard shorter than main event. Star vs. jobber shorter than star vs. star. Idk. 5-8 minutes for a competitive tv match. 8-10 for a tv main event. Double that on PPV.
==================
6. Nothing really jumps out as a colossal bother. We'll go with....more enforcement of the legal man in tag matches.
==================
7. Danny Davis! j/k Can't go wrong with Earl "The Pearl" Hebner. Remember when he was the #2 babyface in WWF for a few weeks in 2000? I also liked old school NWA ref Tommy Young. Nick Patrick had the smoothest count. Go watch a Nick Patrick officiated match. His count is a thing of beauty. Smooth as silk. He also had a perfect heel voice. Very deep. Very gruff.
==================
8. Oof. This will require some thought. 95% of them suck. They either hog the spotlight or are shockingly bad at something we all take for granted. You'd think wrestlers would pick up some referee skillz through osmosis but it must be harder than it looks. I've seen a ton of legends shit the bed as special guest referees. Umm....well, it's a tricky role. The special guest ref has to find a balance between reminding fans that they, A Star, are there, while also not overshadowing the action in the ring. I guess Ken Shamrock was less terrible than most? Also remember Ricky Steamboat being alright during a few early 2000s special guest ref appearances. 
==================
9. I like RTs questions better. Again, it largely depends on the wrestler. I lean towards tights but trunks work best for 'narcissistic' characters like a Val Venis or Lex Luger, while a singlet works best for 'wrestlers' like Angle and the Steiners.
One thing I hate is wrestlers wrestling in street clothes. Unless it's a Street Fight or Come As You Are Match get some proper gear, ya hacks. Cena's attire was terrible. Ditto for like 75% of ECW. And don't even get me started on the early 2000s indie trend of wrestling in shiny black trash bag looking pants. 
==================
10. Slick Nick all the way. JJ was a guy who carried the NWA Title. Slick Nick IS the NWA Championship. Granted, I avoid most modern wrestling like the plague, but Slick Nick is the best World Champion I've seen since mid 2000s JBL. Aldis makes the NWA Championship seem like the most important thing in the world. Remind me later if you want to hear a somewhat anti-Jarrett rant I've been sleeping on for a while.
==================
11. These questions....lol. Green, I guess. It's the most common mist color. It's the first mist color I ever saw courtesy of Killer Khan. And Vince McMahon never put over any other mist color as hard as he put over the grrrrrrrrreen spuuuuuutum of Killer Khan.  
Rant: Back in the early 2000s I started to worry that I thought entirely too much about professional wrestling. Then I discovered mist enthusiasts. These lonely scholars developed all sorts of theories relating to mist color. It went something like Green=Temporary Blindness. Red=Temporary Paralysis. Yellow= Something. Black=Permanent Blindness. I felt a lot better about myself after encountering those people. Yeah, I devoted a lot of thought to men in tights pretending to fight, but at least I never came up with any silly mist theories.
==================
12. I take back everything I wrote pertaining to your earlier questions because this is easily the best question yet. First we have to define Colossal Jostle. There's definitely a difference between a Colossal Jostle and your run of the mill Hoss Fight. But just what is a Colossal Jostle? Both participants over 350 pounds? 400? Let's work this out, stream of consciousness style...

Yoko/Kamala had a good beginning, but quickly petered out. Yoko/Mabel had a neat post-match, but the match itself kinda sucked. Big Daddy/Loch Ness was a great spectacle, but a DUD of a match. Confession Time: I couldn't even make it through the Andre/Bundy OG Colossal Jostle Andre/Studd was also a tough watch. Does Bossman qualify as Colossal? Vader/Bossman is good....but overrated. Giant/Tenta? Nah. Giant/Ness. Aha! That might be our winner. Short and sweet. Served its purpose of getting The Giant over as a badass monster. Wait... Giant/Norton! Potential winner. Norton was sometimes billed at 360 pounds.

You know what sucks? The realization that as much as I love the idea of a Colossal Jostle, most of them suck. Not gonna lie. This might be worse than discovering Al Snow was never good. Still feels like I'm forgetting something big (hehe). Help me out, PW. Got any good Colossal Jostles?
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13. Industri...ousness. Yes. Industriousness. lol. We'll go with that. I wasn't even sure it was a real word. But Angle fits the definitions of "working energetically and devotedly; hard-working; diligent. Obsolete: Skillful"

RT's questions were so boilerplate cliché.

I had to go with something way more random.

And then I arbitrarily decided to squeeze out 13 questions... Without realizing how difficult that would be. Also wanted to mix in some questions that could be one word answers to potentially give your podcast a varied rhythm.

Then I caveat that all by excusing myself and blaming the questions on a sleep deprived brain. LOL

To get your written answers is a blissful happy accident indeed. Now I'm just dying to know more about where Rebooking the New Generation could've gone post WrestleMania XII and even more so... Baker-man has an anti-Double J tirade!?!?

Jan 21, 2021 4:55:15 GMT Baker said:

Can't go wrong with Earl "The Pearl" Hebner.

Earl Hebner was shite.

I don't care how much Austin liked working with him or his definitive slow 3-count. It was shit. Completely telegraphed the finish of the match. SummerSlam 1998 being particularly egregious.



He would also telegraph the nearfalls by kicking out of his own counts. This made him look like a prize fool at No Way Out 2001 when he fucked up the finish.



I know wrestling is theatrical and you need to play to the cheap seats and the stories of the matches are what matters most and it shouldn't be just about the drama of whether this is the decisive pinfall. None of that means that Hebner's counting wasn't terrible though.

Plus, he just always sounded thick as mince whenever he spoke. In kayfabe, it felt like "why are we trusting our championship matches to this simpleton?"

Baby Earl sucks.

Jan 21, 2021 4:55:15 GMT Baker said:

I guess Ken Shamrock was less terrible than most?

He did a fantastic job of being unmemorable in the role, which was to the betterment of the match. His presence added that little bit of credibility and he got his post-match spot. I never actually think about him when I think about this match, which is quite remarkable for a guest ref.

Jan 21, 2021 4:55:15 GMT Baker said:

Back in the early 2000s I started to worry that I thought entirely too much about professional wrestling. Then I discovered mist enthusiasts. These lonely scholars developed all sorts of theories relating to mist color. It went something like Green=Temporary Blindness. Red=Temporary Paralysis. Yellow= Something. Black=Permanent Blindness. I felt a lot better about myself after encountering those people. Yeah, I devoted a lot of thought to men in tights pretending to fight, but at least I never came up with any silly mist theories.

This is the correct level of thought that should go into the mist! They should have different effects!

I liked 🤯 's questions. The 4th I was particularly inspired.

---------------------------------

I can't think of any good questions right now. So as a filler, tell me (and show me!) your favourite attire for Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage and Yokozuna.

Feel like a shit on Earl thread deserves to come of this.

A) Its May 2001 Baker, WCW finds a new financial backer and stays alive. Which young lion/mid card act do you push to the main event and how long before they win the big gold belt?

Book away..

B) ECW survives bankruptcy, but its roster is depleted by WWF and WCW raids.. who's on your top 10 wish list from the independents to sign?

My personal under the radar ref pick is Brian "Mark Curtis" Hildebrand. He was a hoot to watch and was theatrical as hell. Plus his deep voice >>>>>> Nick Patrick.

Want to clarify a few things before moving on.

I was definitely too hard on 🤯's questions. They were interesting questions! I was just annoyed at not having good answers for many of them. A lot of that stuff I had never thought of before. 

Jan 21, 2021 3:23:37 GMT Baker said:

Other early favorites from just my first year as a fan included Ted Dibiase

Technically true but I want to make it clear that I was NOT a fan of early Ted Dibiase. The Ted Dibiase of the vignettes was probably the biggest jerk in all of wrestling. I may have been a heel fan but I was no monster! Although once he started beefing with Hogan..... That's when I came around on the Million Dollar Man.

RT's "early favorites" question was perfect for the Baker's Dozen podcast idea that RT actually came up with in the first place. The first few episodes of my theoretical podcast were going to be devoted to answering these questions. Then I was going to do the Baker's Dozen gimmick starting off with my favorite wrestlers of 1987. I haven't given up on the idea of doing my own podcast. I could still see it happening if my appearance on Pduh's show is well received.

Jan 21, 2021 4:55:15 GMT Baker said:

NWA- New Breed!
Can't go wrong with Earl "The Pearl" Hebner.

Upon further review The Skyscrapers are a better choice for NWA Tag Champs. New Breed can be US Tag Champs.

I figured Earl would be the most boring, cliche, uncontroversial answer of them all. I forgot Strobe hates Earl. He's the first ref that comes to mind for me. Well, him and Danny Davis, but Davis only for the heel gimmick. 

Jan 12, 2021 23:58:33 GMT @ness said:

- Tell us if you ever had any serious thinking of "getting in DIS BUSINESS" like a lot of fans do.

Short Answer: Yes
Long answer calls for a lengthy storytime that I'm not in the mood to tell right now. So I'll come back to elaborate on this some other time. All questions in this thread will be answered in time. pduh is up next. 

Jan 13, 2021 3:47:29 GMT pduh said:

1- Who is the best woman wrestler in the world?
2- Name one wrestler who you think never won a world title deserve a world title reign?
3- Favorite ring announcer?
4- If you have a chance to interact with Vince KING KID McMahon what would you tell him(hint you have a chance now 😉.)
5- Who is the greatest United State
5b- and Intercontinental Champion of all time?
6- What is your dream match that never happen from each era?
7- Favorite USWA
7b- & AWA feud?

1. I see what you did there. Very sneaky. Very clever. pduh protecting his spot as the PW Podcast King by starting his potential competition off on the wrong foot with a dreaded modern wrestling question. 

With the caveat that I barely watch any modern wrestling, have seen maybe 7 COVID Era matches at most, and only watched NWA regularly in the 5 years prior to COVID, I am going with an NWA talent in Thunder Rosa. She was the darling of the NWA fanbase. She had a cool look with the facepaint and at least some semblance of a gimmick (though she never did much with it). She also had a sort of Low Ki thing going on where she was this undersized ass kicker who could believably go toe to toe with much bigger opponents like Allysin Kay. Had flash. Hit hard. Admittedly a lousy heel, but who isn't these days? I think she is in AEW now? I wish her the best in her present endeavors.

Honorable Mentions to Lacey Evans for being the best possible WOW wrestler and Bianca Belair for her cool 1996 Jeff Gaylord wrestling figure league offense. Both of these things may sound like insults but are actually huge compliments coming from me. Lacey is a Baker kind of wrestler who wouldn't be out of place in the aforementioned WOW, or even New Generation WWF, while Bianca strikes me as a total package and somebody I would push to the moon. 
================
2. My heart says Owen (see what I did there?). My inner fan fic writer leans towards Goldust or even Mr. Wonderful. But my brain is going with Ted Dibiase. The window of opportunity was there in 1988. He was also rumored to be in line for a World Title 3 times during an era when World Titles rarely changed hands. I've heard Vince Sr. considered Dibiase for WWWF Champ in the late 70s before ultimately going with Backlund. Dibiase was also under consideration to be NWA Champ at some point in the 80s. Guessing this is when they went with Flair the first time? And of course there was the memorable saga with Hogan/Andre/Savage before and after Wrestlemania IV. 
================
3. Howard Finkel is obviously a legend and would be a fine choice here. Pat Patterson had the single greatest ring announcing performance of all time at Over The Edge 98. But my answer is late 80s-early 90s WCW ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta. GMC handling the introductions never fails to get me hyped. Ideally I'd have GMC handle the bulk of ring announcer duties while The Fink would show up for title changes to do his "and NEEEEWWWW ___ Champion" schtick. 
================
4. "Thank You!" As if it would be anything else. Vince's WWF was such a huge part of my life for such a very long time. I can't even imagine growing up without WWF. I can imagine life without the NFL, Orioles, or my favorite musical act, tv show, and movie. But things would have been soooo much different without my beloved WWF.

Anyway, after thanking him for providing me with years decades of entertainment, I would then try talking him into selling out to Disney or Fox or whoever. Take that money and run if they want to (over)pay because the business is dying and it ain't coming back. Secure lifetime spots for his family and Dunn or whoever if that's what they want. Then take that cold hard cash and enjoy a well deserved retirement.
================
5a. Lex Luger!!! I am rarely married to any one choice. Heck, just look at the answers I've given so far. It's almost always "could be this person, or it could be that person." Very wishy washy. But Lex Luger is so far above the rest of the field that it took me a full minute just to come up with a halfway decent runner up. Luger owned US Title throughout the late 80s-early 90s, holding it for something like 27 out of 29 months. And that is why he is a full 880 fathoms above his nearest competition in this field.

5b. Honkytonk Man! Duh. He is the Greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time, after all. It's only been his gimmick for the past 30 years. As far as I'm concerned HTM wrote the book on being a wimpy, undeserving heel champ. You always felt like he could lose to literally anybody, including the jobbers. Won and lost the title in memorable fashion while having memorable feuds with Savage & Beefcake along the way. Held the title for a 15 months- a record that has stood for a whopping 32 years. Was a heat magnet who drew money. What's not to like?

Honorable Mention to Razor Ramon. There have been a lot of great IC Champs (far more than US Champs) but Razor is the other main guy I associate with the IC Title. For two and a half years the IC Title was Razor's world. During that stretch the belt was always held by Razor or the guy he was feuding with at the time.
================
6. Similar to an earlier RT question but asked differently. So I am going to provide different answers.

Golden Age: Hogan vs. Flair- No brainer. Mr. WWF vs. Mr. NWA. Good Guy vs. Bad Guy. Hero of the children vs. hero of the rasslin fans and the smarky 1%. 

New Generation: Bret vs. Sting- Sting/Taker wasn't really a thing yet. Bret/Sting was the dream match that was talked about on playgrounds all across America. WWF's longest tenured star vs. WCW's longest tenured star. Good Guy vs. Good Guy. Sharpshooter vs. Scorpion.
HM to Vader/Giant and Michaels/Giant. Both were personal dream matches in 1996. The former destined to be the GOAT Colossal Jostle while the latter would be my choice to main event the ultimate WWF vs. WCW interpromotional dream card.

Attitude Era: Austin vs. Goldberg- Another no brainer. WWF vs. WCW. Fan favorite vs. fan favorite. Surly bald badass vs. jacked bald badass.

Ruthless Aggression: Undertaker vs. Sting- This was everybody's dream match for what felt like a decade. WWF vs. WCW. Dark vs. Dark. Etc.

2010s: Tanahashi vs. Brock- I just think this would be a really cool match.
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7. Love this question! Just wish I had better answers. For as much as I write about these two promotions, I have actually not seen a ton from either one.

7a. I was fascinated by an Apter Mag article I read in July '96 chronicling the decades long Lawler/Dundee feud and making it seem like the greatest thing ever.  A few years later through the magic of VHS I would discover it kind of was. But the bulk of their legendary feud occurred not in USWA, but USWA's predecessor, CWA. Lawler vs. McMahon/WWF is probably the "right" answer here. The birth of the Mr. McMahon character seems to USWA's lasting claim to fame. But I've seen very little of that stuff. Austin/Adams was a hot feud in the Texas branch of USWA, but again, I've seen very little from that feud. So I'm going with... 

Lawler/Eddie Gilbert. They'd resurrect their forever feud about every other year. And this is one I actually have seen a fair amount of. The story behind it is as old as human history. Lawler is the reigning king getting up there in years. Gilbert is the impatient heir apparent looking to dethrone the old king so he can finally claim the crown for himself. And one time Eddie Gilbert ran Jerry Lawler over with a car! Eat your heart out, Mick. The King is hardcore.

7b. The "right" answer is probably Verne/Bock. But old men trading sleepers was never my thing. So I've seen very little from that feud. Hogan/Bock, Hennig/Bock, and Rockers vs. Rose & Somers are other AWA feuds that get a lot of love. But again I've seen very little of that stuff. So I'm going really off the wall this time with...

Zbyszko vs. Jake "The Milkman" Milliman. LOL this barely qualifies as a feud. They never had a match while they were "feuding." But this is the AWA "rivalry" that stands out the most in my mind from watching the promotion as a kid. 

The Story: AWA split their roster up into 3 teams for a longterm storyline where the winning team would receive *Dr. Evil voice* ONE MILLION DOLLARS. AWA Champ Larry Zbyszko was one of the team captains. He got stuck with the hapless Milkman, who was the biggest jabroni in the promotion. Zbyszko, irate at being stuck with this loser, would constantly berate the poor jobber. But then a funny thing happened. The Milkman started winning matches! In fact, it was The Milkman who prevailed in the final Team Challenge Series match, winning ONE MILLION DOLLARS for Larry Zbyszko and his team. It was great. The way I remember it, Milkman got really over as a lovable loser underdog. In a perfect world Verne would have went out in a blaze of glory by having Milkman upset Larry Legend to be the final AWA Champion. I would have been all in. In fact, Milkman is the only AWA guy I would have accepted beating Larry Legend. Milkmania totally should have been a thing.

If that's too vague to qualify as a feud, I'll go with Milkman/Col. DeBeers, which was basically the dying day AWA version of Horowitz vs. Skip. 

Jan 21, 2021 20:51:02 GMT Strobe said:

I can't think of any good questions right now. So as a filler, tell me (and show me!) your favourite attire for Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage and Yokozuna.

Going with a rarely seen Yoko look.

Bret looked best when doubling down on the pink.

80s Savage looking resplendent. LJN nailed this one. Harkening back to 🤯 "trunks or tights" question, Savage definitely looked best in trunks. His outfit changes at Wrestlemania IV is a high point in the annals of wrestling fashion.

Unfortunately, his outfit game went off the rails as the 80s morphed into the 90s and only got worse from there. Savage didn't look right in tights. And what was the deal with the cowboy hats? There was nothing "cowboy" about Randy Savage. 

Shawn's outfit game was all over the place. The Rockers attire was largely terrible but at least it fit the time. Then he had solid in ring gear from 92-98 highlighted by the most stylish boots in wrestling during the mid 90s. But those positives are largely offset by the garish gear he wore to the ring. Then he sported some truly hideous tights during his 2000s comeback.

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Jan 21, 2021 4:55:15 GMT Baker said:

Jan 7, 2021 3:33:58 GMT 🤯 said:

7.) Favorite referee?

7. Danny Davis! j/k Can't go wrong with Earl "The Pearl" Hebner. Remember when he was the #2 babyface in WWF for a few weeks in 2000? I also liked old school NWA ref Tommy Young. Nick Patrick had the smoothest count. Go watch a Nick Patrick officiated match. His count is a thing of beauty. Smooth as silk. He also had a perfect heel voice. Very deep. Very gruff.

Jan 22, 2021 2:02:03 GMT Shootist said:

My personal under the radar ref pick is Brian "Mark Curtis" Hildebrand. He was a hoot to watch and was theatrical as hell. Plus his deep voice >>>>>> Nick Patrick.

WOW ref Josh Milton also deserved a mention here. He was a cult hero among WOW fans....all 12 of us. They lovingly referring to him as "Ref Hardy" because of his big bumps. He is truly the Mick Foley of referees when it comes to taking crazy bumps. Nearly every episode saw this guy go above and beyond the call of duty. Here is a small example of his work timestamped for your convenience...







Unfortunately, I just discovered Josh Milton became a firefighter in the Seattle area following the demise of WOW and would sadly commit suicide in December 2015. He left behind a wife and son at only 36 years old. ringthedamnbell.wordpress.com/2019/02/25/wrestling-with-sin-212/

No love for Bret's jizz splatter look!?

I'm opposite on Macho Man. Loved what he evolved into, and thought his trunks days were so Plain Jane for such a colorful character.

But do agree on Shawn's motocross boots being the best in the business until he hung em up in 1998.

Jan 24, 2021 11:25:54 GMT 🤯 said:

No love for Bret's jizz splatter look!?

I'm opposite on Macho Man. Loved what he evolved into, and thought his trunks days were so Plain Jane for such a colorful character.

But do agree on Shawn's motocross boots being the best in the business until he hung em up in 1998.

Bret's paint splattered look would actually be my choice as well, lol.



Like Baker I have an attachment to Macho's classic LJN look but his walking Slim Jim look was also a guilty pleasure. I am also in agreement with Bake on Yokozuna's white and black look, he didn't wear it enough.

I didn't like Shawn's blue attire during his 90's run. I mostly preferred his 1992-94 look.

I think Baker has it right with Savage. Mania III is his best look. The pink tights with the yellow boots.

My favourite Yoko was his TV debut attire. I wish he'd picked that as his standard.

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I also wish Yoko hadn't been so lazy after a few months and continued to mix it up. I assume it was his laziness and not a misguided attempt to be consistent with his action figure, because bizarrely neither of his figures back in the day used the red tights and black mawashi combo.

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{Spoiler}

Bret's best for me was the all pink from spring 1993, including Mania IX. Much prefer it to Mania VIII. Quite amazing the different just changing the vest border from black to white, having the four hearts be in a line rather than grouped 2 and 2, and changing them from black to white makes.

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Shawn Michaels is a toss-up for me. Mania XII (nice shot of the boots in the pic below), Mania XIV and DX IYH. I could rank them in any order on any given day.

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{Spoiler}

Pink tights. What the hell is that all about? This ain't no ballet class. Sunglasses and sparklers... what a load of crap!

I thought right after I posted I actually liked Yoko's red and white best. In any event the red and black did get tiresome after those early months of having at least some wardrobe changes.

For Shawn Michaels, if I had to pick it would be this PWI photo shoot from 1993:

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{Spoiler}

Good call by Strobe on Yoko's red and white. I forgot about that one. Like it a lot. Agree with you guys that Yoko should have switched it up more. His usual red and black was a case of familiarity breeding boredom.

I'm switching my Michaels choice to the one Shootist posted. Those are some quality tights. Don't care for the DX gear Strobe posted though.

Nor am I a fan of Bret's paint splatter look. That would rank close to the bottom of Bret attires for me. Well, at least from when he decided to stop being boring and adopt the pink & black color scheme on.

Here's a neat site I came across yesterday which chronicles the fashion of Bret, Shawn, and a few others. crazytights.ovh/

Jan 25, 2021 4:43:37 GMT Baker said:

Good call by Strobe on Yoko's red and white. I forgot about that one. Like it a lot. Agree with you guys that Yoko should have switched it up more. His usual red and black was a case of familiarity breeding boredom.

I'm switching my Michaels choice to the one Shootist posted. Those are some quality tights. Don't care for the DX gear Strobe posted though.

Nor am I a fan of Bret's paint splatter look. That would rank close to the bottom of Bret attires for me. Well, at least from when he decided to stop being boring and adopt the pink & black color scheme on.

Here's a neat site I came across yesterday which chronicles the fashion of Bret, Shawn, and a few others. crazytights.ovh/

Of course I immediately went to the RVD section since he had a unique singlet for every match he wrestled it seemed. This guy did pretty well attempting to chronicle this mountain of a task.

I understand why everyone has an attachment for some variation of the pink and black look of Bret Hart, but the black and blue (with the black stripe) from WM2 looked so fucking sharp that Danny Doring clearly stole it, that dude is so dastardly. My favorite pink and black look was generally pink top, black pants, liked the cleaner simpler look of the early singles wrestling days,* but even as it got gaudier, I was still into it, like the maximalist effort of the tights in the two classic Austin encounters at Survivor Series and Wrestlemania.


*

SPOILER: Click to show

The early cleaner look

Agree that Savage is a trunks guy, not a tights guy.

Disagree about every choice for best Michaels attire because there's no such thing as even a good Michaels attire.

This is undisputedly Bret's greatest look ever: