Jul 8, 2021 20:31:06 GMT UT said:

I still like Adam Bomb, but the whole gimmick that looks like he sucks a cherry lollipop before he comes out is silly.

I've always wondered what Vince had planned with Adam Bomb. If anything at all.

What ever happened to the other Beverly Brother? It’s just Blake for the past few months jobbing in singles and random tags with Brawler.

UT inspired me to knock another episode out today during son's last nap of day...

Also, based on this episode, refining/rebranding my categories a bit.

SUPERSTARS | S07 E17 | 04/25/1992

Jobber to the Superstars: Ron Cumberledge
What a look! Good height, decent thing gear, impeccable build, with a haircut that makes him stand out as more contemporary than all the Superstars. Seriously, he looks like he time traveled back from the early 2000s. To stick with the love child theme, I'll go with Jason Jordan as the dad and Lance Storm ad the mom.

Match of the Week: The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. The Berzerker (w/ Mr. Fuji)
Technically not a match since the bell never rings, but man what mayhem! The sword stabbing gets all the love, but there's also a piledriver onto the concrete afterwards. Taker/Zerk so needed to be a feud culminating at SummerSlam '92. Zerk needed to be way more of a thing too. Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Brooklyn Brawler is runner-up this week, and the best actual match. Bulldog and the Beverlys were entertaining squashers as well.

Interview of the Week: Sid Justice
Sid gets the live arena interview with Mean Gene, and absolutely kills it. Similar to Taker/Zerk, Sid/Warrior absolutely needed to be a thing. Shame about the departures. For the insert promos, Repo Man and Skinner were surprisingly solid. I'm also enjoying Crush's stuff so far.

Other Random Thoughts:
Jake the Snake and Model Martel are at peace having brunch together over WrestleMania weekend one year removed from the latter trying to blind the former!?

Fuck yeah! Well Dunn!

Jul 8, 2021 21:28:34 GMT 🤯 said:

UT inspired me to knock another episode out today during son's last nap of day...

Also, based on this episode, refining/rebranding my categories a bit.

SUPERSTARS | S07 E17 | 04/25/1992

Jobber to the Superstars: Ron Cumberledge
What a look! Good height, decent thing gear, impeccable build, with a haircut that makes him stand out as more contemporary than all the Superstars. Seriously, he looks like he time traveled back from the early 2000s. To stick with the love child theme, I'll go with Jason Jordan as the dad and Lance Storm ad the mom.

Match of the Week: The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. The Berzerker (w/ Mr. Fuji)
Technically not a match since the bell never rings, but man what mayhem! The sword stabbing gets all the love, but there's also a piledriver onto the concrete afterwards. Taker/Zerk so needed to be a feud culminating at SummerSlam '92. Zerk needed to be way more of a thing too. Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Brooklyn Brawler is runner-up this week, and the best actual match. Bulldog and the Beverlys were entertaining squashers as well.

Interview of the Week: Sid Justice
Sid gets the live arena interview with Mean Gene, and absolutely kills it. Similar to Taker/Zerk, Sid/Warrior absolutely needed to be a thing. Shame about the departures. For the insert promos, Repo Man and Skinner were surprisingly solid. I'm also enjoying Crush's stuff so far.

Other Random Thoughts:
Jake the Snake and Model Martel are at peace having brunch together over WrestleMania weekend one year removed from the latter trying to blind the former!?

Are you enjoying it earnestly or ironically?

Skinner was also so bad it’s good type stuff.

PJ Walker bout to get squashed by Borga. Poor Aldo Montoya. Least he has hair here….

Jul 8, 2021 21:37:21 GMT UT said:

Jul 8, 2021 21:28:34 GMT 🤯 said:

UT inspired me to knock another episode out today during son's last nap of day...

Also, based on this episode, refining/rebranding my categories a bit.

SUPERSTARS | S07 E17 | 04/25/1992

Jobber to the Superstars: Ron Cumberledge
What a look! Good height, decent thing gear, impeccable build, with a haircut that makes him stand out as more contemporary than all the Superstars. Seriously, he looks like he time traveled back from the early 2000s. To stick with the love child theme, I'll go with Jason Jordan as the dad and Lance Storm ad the mom.

Match of the Week: The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. The Berzerker (w/ Mr. Fuji)
Technically not a match since the bell never rings, but man what mayhem! The sword stabbing gets all the love, but there's also a piledriver onto the concrete afterwards. Taker/Zerk so needed to be a feud culminating at SummerSlam '92. Zerk needed to be way more of a thing too. Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Brooklyn Brawler is runner-up this week, and the best actual match. Bulldog and the Beverlys were entertaining squashers as well.

Interview of the Week: Sid Justice
Sid gets the live arena interview with Mean Gene, and absolutely kills it. Similar to Taker/Zerk, Sid/Warrior absolutely needed to be a thing. Shame about the departures. For the insert promos, Repo Man and Skinner were surprisingly solid. I'm also enjoying Crush's stuff so far.

Other Random Thoughts:
Jake the Snake and Model Martel are at peace having brunch together over WrestleMania weekend one year removed from the latter trying to blind the former!?

Are you enjoying it earnestly or ironically?

Skinner was also so bad it’s good type stuff.

Earnestly. I'm trying to view with an open mind, remember context, temper for nostalgia, and appreciate as if I were a kid. I'm guessing we'll prove to be a case of different strokes for different folks on some guys, angles, matches, etc.

I do wholeheartedly agree with you though that early Owen on promos is TERRIBLE.

Jul 8, 2021 21:19:43 GMT UT said:

What ever happened to the other Beverly Brother? It’s just Blake for the past few months jobbing in singles and random tags with Brawler.

Beau aka Wayne Bloom left and semi-retired from wrestling.  They reunited in WCW a little later, but they were pretty much done.  Their AWA stuff is pretty green and AWA-ish, but it's the best they ever were.  Glorified jobbers...had a gimmick to beat the regular guy, but got stomped by everyone else.

Lex Luger belonged on this show.  He was always a tease in WWF, but they never took him too seriously.  NWA/WCW was the only place he was really a main event guy and even then he got over on his look, because he's so stiff (in movement, not hard hitting). If you could combine Barry and Lex you'd have a real total package.  Wrestling came so easy to Barry he didn't care half the time and he never worked out. Lex looked great, but would trip over his feet walking to the ring.

Jul 8, 2021 22:19:33 GMT @ck said:

Jul 8, 2021 21:19:43 GMT UT said:

What ever happened to the other Beverly Brother? It’s just Blake for the past few months jobbing in singles and random tags with Brawler.

Beau aka Wayne Bloom left and semi-retired from wrestling.  They reunited in WCW a little later, but they were pretty much done.  Their AWA stuff is pretty green and AWA-ish, but it's the best they ever were.  Glorified jobbers...had a gimmick to beat the regular guy, but got stomped by everyone else.

Lex Luger belonged on this show.  He was always a tease in WWF, but they never took him too seriously.  NWA/WCW was the only place he was really a main event guy and even then he got over on his look, because he's so stiff (in movement, not hard hitting). If you could combine Barry and Lex you'd have a real total package.  Wrestling came so easy to Barry he didn't care half the time and he never worked out. Lex looked great, but would trip over his feet walking to the ring.

Who is/was clunkier: Luger or Cena?

I think Luger and by a lot. Cena moves well. Luger and Nikita were both very clunky, but Nikita stayed in great shape, but got more streamlined and fluid as he gained experience. Luger just stayed plodding. Barry moved great for a big man. At his biggest Barry was pushing 280 and still moved like a much smaller man.

Jul 8, 2021 16:32:36 GMT Big Pete said:

This is my new favourite thread on PW.

Seconded.

Jul 8, 2021 14:16:36 GMT UT said:

That would have been a more fun gimmick for Repo Man. Have you gotten to the Bulldog angle yet? It's crazy how many attempted murders happened in a WWF ring at the time.

I'm intrigued. Bulldog/Repo is an attempted murder angle even I don't remember.

Barry Darsow wanted the Repo Man character to become a...massive babyface! For the longest time I had no idea how that would have worked. But now I suppose he would have tried reclaiming babyface property stolen by the heels? Model steals a feather from Tatanka's sacred headdress to complete his latest ensemble- Repo Man to the rescue! Kama & Ted DiBiase steal Undertaker's urn- enter Repo Man! That dastardly pirate Jean Pierre Lafitte steals Bret's jacket- Repo Man to save the day! Meh. Never would have worked.

Also, I remember watching a 20/20 or 60 Minutes segment on real life Repo Men right before the Repo Man character became a thing and I've always been convinced Vince or somebody else in power came up with the gimmick on the spot while watching that segment.

Jul 8, 2021 21:30:54 GMT UT said:

Fuck yeah! Well Dunn!

Love this just because I never thought I'd ever see somebody get excited about Well Dunn.  

Which is weird because I wouldn’t call Luger a bad athlete. I just don’t think he wanted to really apply himself the best he could.

Jul 9, 2021 1:02:26 GMT Baker said:

Jul 8, 2021 16:32:36 GMT Big Pete said:

This is my new favourite thread on PW.

Seconded.

Jul 8, 2021 14:16:36 GMT UT said:

That would have been a more fun gimmick for Repo Man. Have you gotten to the Bulldog angle yet? It's crazy how many attempted murders happened in a WWF ring at the time.

I'm intrigued. Bulldog/Repo is an attempted murder angle even I don't remember.

Barry Darsow wanted the Repo Man character to become a...massive babyface! For the longest time I had no idea how that would have worked. But now I suppose he would have tried reclaiming babyface property stolen by the heels? Model steals a feather from Tatanka's sacred headdress to complete his latest ensemble- Repo Man to the rescue! Kama & Ted DiBiase steal Undertaker's urn- enter Repo Man! That dastardly pirate Jean Pierre Lafitte steals Bret's jacket- Repo Man to save the day! Meh. Never would have worked.

Also, I remember watching a 20/20 or 60 Minutes segment on real life Repo Men right before the Repo Man character became a thing and I've always been convinced Vince or somebody else in power came up with the gimmick on the spot while watching that segment.

Jul 8, 2021 21:30:54 GMT UT said:

Fuck yeah! Well Dunn!

Love this just because I never thought I'd ever see somebody get excited about Well Dunn.  

He strangles him for a long ass time over the top rope with his tow rope. Normally I’d just chalk it was to not attempted murder level and it just being pro wrestling but he held it for an abnormally long time.

Jul 9, 2021 1:04:30 GMT UT said:

Which is weird because I wouldn’t call Luger a bad athlete. I just don’t think he wanted to really apply himself the best he could.

Not at all, obviously you don't look the way he looked if he's not an athlete.  The way I've looked at it over the years between Luger and Windham is...Lex was lazy in the ring, but not in the gym and Barry is the complete opposite of that...natural wrestler, but never cared about his look, because he was naturally tall and had a decent body (most of the time).  Arn always said if Barry worked out he would've been that much better, but he just didn't care.  When Lex was into it he could have a decent match, but he needed a Flair or Steamboat...someone that worked for him.  To me it always looked like Lex was trying to remember what came next, just a little unsure.  Though in 1989 he was about as good as he was ever going to get, that was his big year, but he had a lot of help.

Jul 9, 2021 1:27:07 GMT @ck said:

Jul 9, 2021 1:04:30 GMT UT said:

Which is weird because I wouldn’t call Luger a bad athlete. I just don’t think he wanted to really apply himself the best he could.

Not at all, obviously you don't look the way he looked if he's not an athlete.  The way I've looked at it over the years between Luger and Windham is...Lex was lazy in the ring, but not in the gym and Barry is the complete opposite of that...natural wrestler, but never cared about his look, because he was naturally tall and had a decent body (most of the time).  Arn always said if Barry worked out he would've been that much better, but he just didn't care.  When Lex was into it he could have a decent match, but he needed a Flair or Steamboat...someone that worked for him.  To me it always looked like Lex was trying to remember what came next, just a little unsure.  Though in 1989 he was about as good as he was ever going to get, that was his big year, but he had a lot of help.

Plus he was technically a professional football player for a fraction of a second. And for the elite Packers.

Even making it that far shows he had to be somewhat agile and have the feet for it - but like you said … he just didn’t care.

Wasn’t Luger the guy who proclaimed he never wanted to be the top guy because of the pressure?

^Yep.

Luger also didn't WANT to apply himself or have that pressure though, right? Considering he never liked or was a fan of pro wrestling? It just so happened to suit him as an alternative career after football flamed out due to injury?

Speaking of Flexy Lexy, I'm surprised how little love he's getting two episodes in on these WBF Body Stars in-program ads. I always thought he was the star and focal point of the WBF while either waiting out his non-compete or recovering from his motorcycle accident. But he seems awfully downplayed?

Jul 9, 2021 2:08:09 GMT 🤯 said:

Luger also didn't WANT to apply himself or have that pressure though, right? Considering he never liked or was a fan of pro wrestling? It just so happened to suit him as an alternative career after football flamed out due to injury?

Speaking of Flexy Lexy, I'm surprised how little love he's getting two episodes in on these WBF Body Stars in-program ads. I always thought he was the star and focal point of the WBF while either waiting out his non-compete or recovering from his motorcycle accident. But he seems awfully downplayed?

He was a special guest or something right?

Don’t worry brother , Luger is about to be the focal point in due time. Five introspective interviews!

Jimmy Super Murderer Snuka on RAW tonight!

So thinking about it , my watchability rankings through Superstars and RAW this far:

Most Watchable:
- Bret Hart
- Jerry Lawler
- Doink
- Razor
- Yoko
- HBK/Diesel

Least Watchable
- Tatanka
- Tito Santana (he’s still around!!!)
- IRS
- Rocker #2
- Hacksaw

There’s a lot more watchable , I still enjoy most of the rest of the roster but those are standouts. Borga , Luger , Nasties , Kid , Quebecers , Steiners just to name a few more I enjoy.

Also it’s really weird how Raw used to be laid out. They open up with the biggest matches (and by that I mean Tatanka/Martel) and close with nothing or jobber matches a lot. Totally flipped script to what we’ve become accustomed to.

Today I learned that Abe “Knuckleball” Schwartz once went by MVP.

Let me just pack that away for future drafts with an MVP vs MVP feud.

I have forgotten that Well Dunn worked in the WWF.

Baker - Borga just got color in a squash match. Is this the only time the squasher gets busted open?

Jul 9, 2021 2:08:09 GMT 🤯 said:

Luger also didn't WANT to apply himself or have that pressure though, right? 

Speaking of Flexy Lexy, I'm surprised how little love he's getting two episodes in on these WBF Body Stars in-program ads. I always thought he was the star and focal point of the WBF while either waiting out his non-compete or recovering from his motorcycle accident. But he seems awfully downplayed?

Yep to the bolded. Lex just wanted to get paid. And get paid he did! Lex got a lot of cushy contracts because he was the first wrestler to have an agent. Having an agent is another one of those things Luger did that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Flexy Lexy did at least show up for work. On his podcast JJ mentioned Luger was the one big star who would actually bother to show up at house shows in dying day WCW. By all accounts Luger was just your basic punch clock employee. He'd show up to do his job but was never one to go the extra mile. 

How hard did they push the WBF? It's weird because I don't remember that in real time at all. I swear I didn't know it existed until reading about it in (I think) the 1996 PWI Almanac. Yet the ICOPRO hype is forever embedded in my brain. Was the WBF as heavily pushed as ICOPRO and I just blocked it out like it was a boring Foo Fighters song or what?

Jul 9, 2021 19:50:50 GMT UT said:

Baker - Borga just got color in a squash match. Is this the only time the squasher gets busted open?

It's entirely possible.

I dug your 1993 WWF power rankings. You know I love seeing The King near the top along with Borga & the 'becers getting honorable mentions.

The King and Bret are just a whole different level of workers on the entire roster. I don’t think anyone on the roster even comes close at this point. Shawn will obviously get there in due time but even he’s awkward at times this early on.

A few things. It’s incredible that Razor never got a title run , watching his booking and push - Vince clearly loves him and he was really good. Like on that level below Hart and Lawler good at working the crowd and he was also extremely over. Yeah though dude was so protected , good in the ring and had good size. Was his substance abuse already an issue with trusting him?

Also weird I’ve made it this far in my viewing and still have no opinion on Men on a Mission.

Jul 10, 2021 2:27:16 GMT UT said:

A few things. It’s incredible that Razor never got a title run , watching his booking and push - Vince clearly loves him and he was really good. Like on that level below Hart and Lawler good at working the crowd and he was also extremely over. Yeah though dude was so protected , good in the ring and had good size. Was his substance abuse already an issue with trusting him?

It's always a possibility but I never heard any stories about Razor having major substance abuse issues this early on. Could be another case like Luger where he never wanted to be the top guy. Hall is on record in shoots saying he never cared about championships. He just wanted to get paid. There's one pretty famous Hall clip where he shoots on Bret for being a mark who cared more about winning fake titles than he did about money.

The spot where the guy on the apron gets shot into the ring by the guy in the ring yanking on the rope just doesn’t get used enough anymore. I think they use it in every match during this time though.

Also this jobber as Virgils teammate is my new favorite.

Jul 10, 2021 2:36:39 GMT Baker said:

Jul 10, 2021 2:27:16 GMT UT said:

A few things. It’s incredible that Razor never got a title run , watching his booking and push - Vince clearly loves him and he was really good. Like on that level below Hart and Lawler good at working the crowd and he was also extremely over. Yeah though dude was so protected , good in the ring and had good size. Was his substance abuse already an issue with trusting him?

It's always a possibility but I never heard any stories about Razor having major substance abuse issues this early on. Could be another case like Luger where he never wanted to be the top guy. Hall is on record in shoots saying he never cared about championships. He just wanted to get paid. There's one pretty famous Hall clip where he shoots on Bret for being a mark who cared more about winning fake titles than he did about money.

That makes sense too I guess , I think he cared a little more about the business than Luger though because by most accounts he had a great mind for it. Then again it makes sense he was looking for money angles.

Still though , especially at this time in the WWF - the champion makes the most money. He kind of contradicts himself in that regard.


And I’m not someone who thinks everyone should get a title run , it’s just weird considering he was clearly a giant star in Vinces eyes.

UT who was Virgil's teammate?