Aug 10, 2021 21:57:44 GMT UT said:

Forgot to mention too that the last RAW (or second to last?) I watched was when the Headshrinkers beat the Quebecers for the titles. Fun angle , not a very good match but at least the year of the Headshrinkers comes into play. It's fun having Albano there with his connection to the OG's but I'm still not impressed much by them and always wonder what the hell happened to Sika after it was all said and done?

Kishi went on to have a great and steady career , Sika just vanished despite me not noticing a ton of difference in their talent.

You mean Samu?

Shut up 🤯 with your stupid know it all knowledge of the legendary Samoan dynasty.

Wasn't Samu essentially forced to retire because he couldn't cope with being forced to wear boots in the ring?

🤯, with the smug response. Just like a heel.

Aug 10, 2021 21:45:36 GMT UT said:

I'm going to get pissed time and time again though when they show cool happenings on Superstars and I miss them!

Seriously why don't they just go all the way with the episodes? There is legitimately nothing holding them back? I'm pretty sure no one is anticipating their big release aside from 🤯 , myself and Baker .

Bolded might be why they don't bother releasing those episodes. Let's face it. There can't be a huge audience for what was clearly a B Show during a so-called bad era.

There are cool Superstars moments right up to the end of their syndicated run imo. The final syndicated episode of Superstars in September '96 was tragic. Saddest tv moment this side of turning on Exosquad only to find some nonsense called Bananas in Pajamas.  I may have had something in my eye by the time that episode of Superstars was over. It was the end of an era as wrestling transitioned from away from being Saturday staple into a Monday night spectacle. Had that episode on tape for years. Actually still have it laying around somewhere. 

I attempted to get in on the Superstars party about 3 days ago. Naturally wanted to start in the middle of 1995. Alas, episodes were hard to find. So I went back to 1987. It was a post-WM 3 episode with not much going on. Feature match was Koko B. Ware vs. Jimmy Jack Funk. I only watched about the first 2/3. I guess the most exciting thing was seeing all those mustaches on the jobbers.

Aug 10, 2021 22:04:34 GMT 🤯 said:

Wasn't Samu essentially forced to retire because he couldn't cope with being forced to wear boots in the ring?

This is the story I choose to believe. 

I'm a #mustachioedjobber

The Jobs Report for...

SUPERSTARS | S07 E31 | 08/01/1992

International clown week, eh? Where's an early Doink debut when ya need it?

Kerry Davis & Ross Greenberg look decent enough in their opening contest loss to the Nasty Boys.

Iron Mike Sharpe sighting as he gives Bret a solid squash. Most noteworthy things are Mike is the most vocal JTTS to-date, and we get our first Helen Hart sighting with an insert promo from "Bret's Mom" re: Bret vs. Davey Boy.

Bill Pierce looks 40% more like Jean Claude Van Damme than RVD does. At least from the neck up. Pierce even almost gets a monkey flip. Honestly, I could see this dude being a great early tag team partner for RVD. Anyway... Martel looks like a stud in this squash. Meanwhile, Vince tries planting seeds Sherri might leave Shawn for Model at SummerSlam.

Take & Bear get the podium interview to explain the random pivot to wrestling Kamala instead of Zerk at SummerSlam.

Papa Shango, now with nothing to do thanks to random pre-Slam pivots, curses Tony Roy... whose ring gear looks as good as he doesn't from the neck up. Combine his build and gear with Bill Pierce from the neck up, and you've got an arguably better looking version of RVD. Anyway... This is a boring squash featuring no voodoo curses whatsoever. Poor Papa. What could've been.

During the SummerSlam Report we learn of another random pivot or two for the card. Instead of Bevs vs. LOD, Bevs are getting a tag title shot against NEW champs Disasters. And LOD will face Money Incorporated. Meanwhile, despite Bossman returning well enough in advance to sign a contract for a match against Nailz... Nailz will be facing Virgil.

Flex Armstrong & Richie Rich win the JTTS of the Week award for their unique look and excellent names. Flex is like a buff version of Jim Carrey's character from Me, Myself & Irene (maybe with a dash of Lance Storm salt and Perry Saturn pepper). Rich is a slim, trim Uncle Fester or eyebrow-less King Kong Bundy in a bright blue Bret-style leotard. Anyway, they're nothing more than LODfodder this week.

Fucking Rocco. TERRIFYING.

Razor vignette. I feel like he's had enough at this point, I'm surprised he doesn't debut at SummerSlam with a high profile squash.

So seen a first and last time jobber this week against Kwang.

Tony Outter. Thought it was a beefier Duane Gill at first so I looked him up and apparently this is his only match ever.

Already pissed, on the last episode of Superstars and they announced Luger/Jarrett next week on Superstars in a KOTR qualifier!

At least I don’t have to listen to this nerdy little neckbeards do the ring announcing anymore.

It’s remarkable they let Earthquake beat Yoko on Raw in a sumo match considering that’s Yokos “background” and namesake. I know Quake was a legit badass in the sport but just seems weird considering their placements on the card.

Also now on the Raw tilt , must say how much I love Vince and Macho together week in and week out. It’s so clear how much adoration Vince had for Randy and all his craziness. Their chemistry is great even if Mach isn’t the greatest pure color guy.

Aug 11, 2021 12:14:15 GMT 🤯 said:

Flex Armstrong & Richie Rich win the JTTS of the Week award for their unique look and excellent names. Flex is like a buff version of Jim Carrey's character from Me, Myself & Irene (maybe with a dash of Lance Storm salt and Perry Saturn pepper).

Flex Armstrong is indeed an excellent name. So nice there's been at least 3 Flex Armstrongs in wrestling (don't believe Cagematch).
When my brother was living in Hagerstown a few years ago he saw a flyer hyping a local wrestling show featuring Flex Armstrong. He excitedly texted me the news only for me to burst his bubble by saying it couldn't have been the same guy occasionally mentioned in PWI all those years ago.

Aug 11, 2021 17:44:20 GMT UT said:

Already pissed, on the last episode of Superstars and they announced Luger/Jarrett next week on Superstars in a KOTR qualifier!

What a Cock tease! Leaving you hanging on Double J vs. Flexy Lexy is downright criminal. It's a memorable match too! Not going to explain why, but here it is if anyone is interested...

The Jobs Report for...

SUPERSTARS | S07 E32 | 08/08/1992

We open with an interesting format, with Warrior running out for a podium interview to start. And what a beautifully airbrushed outfit! Mean Gene stands in front of Warrior to protect him from an interrupting Ric Flair. Flair informs Warrior Savage has cut a deal to have Perfect in his corner at SummerSlam. But then Warrior tells Warrior to join the bidding war. What an interesting spin to put on a face vs. face buildup. What a hot open!

The hotness continues with Razor Ramon making his in-ring debut against a jobber whose entrance Vince & Perfect jabbered over. Jobber has a decent look and looks familiar. Ah, Paul Van Dale. Never mind. Rings zero bells. Anyway... Great debut squash for Razor. I'd have bought him as an instant title contender.

Then a sit-down with Stu & Helen.

I guess this format change entails not revealing the names of the jobbers anymore. I recognize Dublin Destroyer. But not his partner against the Disasters. If this keeps up, it might be the end of the Jobs Report.

Ross Greenberg, looking like Jungle Jim, is Kamala's jobber fodder in the wake of Mooney's Event Center update.

And just like that, I've lost steam...

The Trashman cometh to RAW!

And against Barry!

That was actually really good!

Matt Hardy V.0 in the lime green and white tights against Nikolai! Awesome!

Aug 12, 2021 12:37:45 GMT 🤯 said:

The Jobs Report for...

SUPERSTARS | S07 E32 | 08/08/1992

We open with an interesting format, with Warrior running out for a podium interview to start. And what a beautifully airbrushed outfit! Mean Gene stands in front of Warrior to protect him from an interrupting Ric Flair. Flair informs Warrior Savage has cut a deal to have Perfect in his corner at SummerSlam. But then Warrior tells Warrior to join the bidding war. What an interesting spin to put on a face vs. face buildup. What a hot open!

The hotness continues with Razor Ramon making his in-ring debut against a jobber whose entrance Vince & Perfect jabbered over. Jobber has a decent look and looks familiar. Ah, Paul Van Dale. Never mind. Rings zero bells. Anyway... Great debut squash for Razor. I'd have bought him as an instant title contender.

Then a sit-down with Stu & Helen.

I guess this format change entails not revealing the names of the jobbers anymore. I recognize Dublin Destroyer. But not his partner against the Disasters. If this keeps up, it might be the end of the Jobs Report.

Ross Greenberg, looking like Jungle Jim, is Kamala's jobber fodder in the wake of Mooney's Event Center update.

And just like that, I've lost steam...

I gave up too soon. Resuming just in time for the HUGE announcement that former Demolition partners Crush and Repo Man will IMPLODE at SummerSlam.

Then we're back to in-ring action where we learn thanks to insert promo that Tatanka will be facing Zerk at SummerSlam. This SummerSlam is certainly not the SummerSlam I ever thought I'd see, Vince... Considering all the last minute pivots!

Oh, by the way, Bulldog squashed Iron Mike. I like the connectivity of having Bret and Bulldog squash the same job legend in back-to-back weeks.

The following week cements the format change to opening with a hot segment instead of commentary and the intro video. This week it's Boss Man making his in-ring return to face Skinner in a match of the week contender.

Joe Steel looks like the lovechild of Joe Dirt and Ace Steel.

Entrance aisle interactions are such an underrated way to start and/or build a feud.

McNeany & Seavey might just be the skeeviest jobber names yet.

Aug 13, 2021 12:31:51 GMT 🤯 said:

Entrance aisle interactions are such an underrated way to start and/or build a feud.

100%.

Just a simple smirk or shoulder bump and you’re off to the races!

Aug 5, 2021 12:46:07 GMT 🤯 said:

Based on these Superstars episodes up to this point, I would've expected the SummerSlam 1992 card to look like this (with me adding the gimmicks only because I can never leave well enough alone):

Feather on a Pole Match: Tatanka vs. Rick Martel

Tow Rope Match: The British Bulldog vs. Repo Man

Frankie on a Pole Match: High Energy vs. The Nasty Boys (w/ Jimmy Hart)

Shock Stick on a Pole Match: Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Mountie (w/ Jimmy Hart)

Behind Bars Match: Big Boss Man vs. Nailz

Rocco on a Pole Match: The Legion of Doom (w/ Paul Ellering) vs. The Beverly Brothers (w/ The Genius)

Sword on a Pole Match: The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. The Berzerker (w/ Mr. Fuji)

IC Title Ladder Match: Bret Hart (c) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Sensational Sherri)

No Gimmicks Needed Tag Title Match: Money Incorporated (c) (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. The Natural Disasters

Voodoo Curse Match: The Ultimate Warrior vs. Papa Shango

Elizabeth's Dignity on a Pole World Title Match: Randy Savage (c) vs. Ric Flair (w/ Mr. Perfect)

The same 11 matches that I had here.

I agree that the Razor vignettes were overdone. Could've easily done a Razor semi-squash on the show, possibly over Chico, who was done so quickly after his El Matador repackaging. Doesn't need to have an angle, but you could have some promos with Tito saying Razor is promoting bad stereotypes of latinos and Razor says he's a real man unlike Santana.

Kamala could have done with a semi-squash over a name too. He was facing Tornado up until early August. Kerry was a mess at this time, but if you could've got him on the show, he would've been perfect for Kamala to put out injured to make him a threat to Taker.

Crush could squash Skinner (who was worthless at this point), who he was facing on the house shows around this time, as well.

Aug 8, 2021 1:21:54 GMT Baker said:

These recent 🤯 posts have me wondering why they made such a hard left turn on the road to Summerslam '92. It's not something I would have noticed as a kid. Only story I've heard is the original plan was to run Summerslam in the Washington DC area with Bret/HBK for the IC Title. The move to Wembley would have affected that match, and a theoretical Bulldog/Repo bout, but that doesn't explain the drastic shakeup in the rest of the card. Only other theory I've got is maybe all those natural matchups PI mentioned had been running for months on the house show circuit and therefore would have already been seen by many of the diehard fans?

I think it is just that nothing was drawing and Vince eventually went "fuck it" and just changed everything up.

On one hand, there was no real need to change anything beyond what moving to Bret/Bulldog impacted. But the last mention of Liz was in late May and she was gone, so losing the crux of the feud hurt. Therefore, I can understand the pivot to Warrior getting involved, especially with how badly people were reacting to the Shango voodoo stuff.

As I said in the Rebook thread linked above, Slaughter/Mountie doesn't work as well outside of the States, so that may have influenced that being removed.

Still no need to not run Taker/Berz, Bossman/Nailz and to switch up the tag matches.

Aug 8, 2021 1:21:54 GMT Baker said:

I didn't remember Sarge being around this late in the game. Also drawing a blank on his feud with my man The Mountie. The way I always "remembered" it is Sarge's WWF career wrapped up soon after his face turn.

Mountie came out and sat ringside for the May Flair/Slaughter match and used a new, bigger, more powerful shock stick on him and Slaughter did a stretcher job. After they dropped Mountie/Slaughter just before SummerSlam, Slaughter became a "law and order" official but that never really went anywhere.

Strobe, I love you, but your card has zero poles.

Diana Hart Smith is pretty damn good looking.

Has Kamala always had a beard!?

Instead of bothering with any curses or black magic, Papa Shango just resorts to clubbing his JTTS victim with his voodoo wand. Feels indicative of how much we've given up on him.

Then things get briefly interesting as Papa Shango starts attacking referees. Until Bret Hart comes to the rescue, as the face of law and order in the WWF... because, who's Big Boss Man?

Bruce Hart is offputtingly creepy.

Richie Rich, as a Mini Bundy, is terrifyingly creepy.

And so weird they're building to Papa Shango vs. Bret before Bret vs. Bulldog goes down.