Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

TheBigBoot

Members
  • Posts

    13
  • Joined

  • Last visited

1 Follower

TheBigBoot's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/14)

  1. So I just spent my spare time in the nine days since Euro 2016 ended catching up on the last 5 weeks of RAW SmackDown, TNA and boxing that was on TV and their respective PPVs. Ignore why anyone would want to do that but watching WWE' s TV there are a few things they seem to be hinting at with the Draft. Looking at the roster C.S. posted I realised how few of the current roster I actually care about but I'm cautiously optimistic. In general I thought the smaller rosters worked well tn the past, SmackDown and WWECW always seemed to make things work no matter how little star power they had on paper, although I expect tonight to be way closer to the 2002 (Original) and 2008 Drafts than 2004, 2007 and 2010 in that respect. I was a supporter of the original Brand Extension back in the day, even well into it's run when SmackDown had been depleted of most of it's stars, so I'm in favour although I hope the angle that closed last week's Raw was a shoot as far as the bit about having different presentation/production values goes. I managed to avoid all spoilers on social media (the hard bit), haven't kept up with any wrestling news this year (haven't even read forums since WM 32) so this is all speculation. People being separated: I could also see this and i'd be interested because there's one Uso who I think could be a good singles worker but I can't remember which one it is. That's the best thing I've read in ages. Totally agree about the Usos getting separated. Only half sure about them getting repackaged. I've thought the Usos would be split if they did a Draft since before it was announced (back when they were hyping Shane/Taker for control of RAW). Just seems such a WWE thing to do. I'm guessing one Uso gets totally repackaged and the other keeps a version of their current gimmick. One gets a push, the other stays about the same level they are at. Pure luck which one ends up benefiting from this. That said, seeing the teams listed as single picks makes me wonder how they get there storyline-wise. Makes me think the plan was to split them and then someone changed their mind. They've had both work decent length singles matches against top stars on SmackDown recently with Jimmy vs Styles and Jey vs Rollins so maybe that was a bit of a test for both. They even subtly teased a split in a Jey Uso/Seth Rollins promo where Seth joked about them always having family around and Jey emphasising he was alone that night. On the other side of subtlety there are a few things they've been pretty vocal about seemingly every show. The way they've built it, it seems a certainty Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are heading to different shows but I wonder if that's to swerve us and they end up on the same brand. Personally, I'd separate them. keep them apart until the Royal Royal. Then have them enter 1 and 2. Then keep them apart for another year for the 2018 Rumble. When they finally end up on the same Brand again in you have a storyline that feel a fresh but has been simmering in background for years. New Day I'll get into in a second. I'd rather they were kept together (for now) but at least if they do split them they could make it mean something. It's rare they have a three man act working the Freebird Rules gimmick and it's never happened before at the time of a Draft so I can see possibility there. There have been no hints of it on TV but this is the best chance they'll get to split The Dudleys without having to have them feud. Obviously a Bully Ray style solo run would give them a fresh heel they can use near the top of one brand. I could see Bubba getting a fun singles run and the return of Reverend D-Von as a little nod to the original 2002 Draft. Like the Usos I'm less sure now I see the team's being treated as a single "item". Not a "team" but they spent weeks hinting at Maryse/Miz being drafted to different shows. So I was expecting an angle where that happens but leads to a trade after weeks of complaining from both. Now that are listed together I'm guessing it isn't happening. I actually like the current dynamic of the Wyatts with the white sheep and black sheep as henchmen so I'd rather they left them alone and repackaged/pushed Rowan on the other brand. Interesting that the Lucha Dragons pulled a Deuce and Domino and split before [/] the Draft. Titles: I totally called the finish last night's WWE Title Match, expect most people did. Predictable double-pin is still better than just awarding one brand's champ with the Big Gold Belt, I guess. They've made such a big deal about how both women are people you can build a brand around that you have to imagine Charlotte and Sasha going to different shows. If that happens they could keep them apart until WrestleMania 33 or 34 then do a big Raw vs SmackDown match. I have no idea whatether that leads to two sets of Women's Titles or one defended across both shows. Miz and Rusev have to take their titles to different brands, surely. Finally, with the Tag straps I could see one of the New Day being drafted to different brand takes tag title with them (where they would either be allowed to choose or randomly given a new partner) setting up valid Tag Titles on both Brands since the other two would keep the originals on the other Brand. Draft Numbers: Interested to see what number Cena is drafted. I don't actually think it will be first. They have a good chance to create some simple storylines just based off the Draft gimmick itself. The other thing I've noticed is Booker T. and JBL mention is how someone would feel about getting drafted lower than they think they deserve to be so I expect someone to turn heel based on the number they were picked. If they are going to turn Reigns any time soon then that would be as good a way as anything: guy gets suspended, drops down order in Draft picks but thinks he should have been #1 Draft. The six NXT picks is interesting. Haven't watched the show since it left Sky Sports so I don't know his current character (or what his current work is like) but surely Samoa Joe has to be one of them so they can do that "Champ is Here" feud with Cena everyone wanted a decade ago. It would be an interesting twist on Cena's current gimmick (the last few years) of "the guy who has workrate matches against Indie darlings" to have him do it against someone he broke in with. Something I learned watching yesterday's RAW Pre-Showband is the Wild Card pic for someone who isn't regularly on the roster. After Stephanie' s line about there only being "one Game" last week I'm guessing Shane uses his Wild Card to pick Triple H to stick it to his sister and set up a match at SummerSlam (or Survivor Series if they can wait that long). I think Steph should pick The Rock. Overall this is the most interested I've been in a big WWE angle since... probably since the last Brand Split fizzled out.
  2. I already commented on the opener and was planning on doing the same for the rest of the card today but don't know if I feel up to it. Glad Taker and Reigns won. Small mercies and all that. The Mark in me was having nightmares about Shane joining Brock as the only man to beat Undertaker at WM. Probably was never on the cards but the way they kept hyping it as a Taker loss meaning his last match at "WrestleMania" not WWE had me worried Taker had decided the only person he could put over in his last WM was a McMahon andsomeone was going to intefer just instigate "change" and Taker would get revenge on them and Shane at SummerSlam/Survivor Series/HIAC. I get why some fans thought that could be used to shake up the product with a Brand Split or whatever but just the idea of Shane O' Mac beating Taker under any circumstances made me feel a bit nauseous. Reigns going over would have been the most predictable booking against any other opponent... In the other WrestleMania thread someone mentioned how long we are going to then hear about Hunter headlining the biggest card ever. Not sure I could have handled the years of him reminding us he went over as well (even if he then mobbed the belt tonight). Wins and losses may matter less than they once did but those two did to me. On the other hand, I'm annoyed Henry lost. The main thing that stood out to me was how long it seemed to last. Seven hours was way too much. The matches were just "there" other than Ryback looked very good (again) even if he was stuck on the pre-show (yet again), and I enjoyed both women's matches. The triple threat was positioned strongly on the card and did feel like a big deal. Need to rewatch the WWE Title Match some time. I hope Steph keeps her hair like that from now on.
  3. If everyone was healthy/not suspended then based on who was/wasn't been featured on TV I'm pretty sure we'd have gotten Cesaro, Neville (he was even involved with Owens a bit) and maybe Titus instead of Ryder, Sin Cara and Stardust. Still... Wish they weren't so reliant on sticking a load of people in these multi-man spot matches. This one had some impressive highspots. Cara' s big dive to the floor was the best of them. Overall, I liked it better than it looked on paper. I think because unlike the last few MITB type matches there really were multiple realistic potential winners (I was expecting Mix). Polka dot ladder and surprise win made it for me. Just hope this is an actual attempt to turn the bad run of injuries into a push for someone new and Ryder doesn't just drop the belt back to Ownens tomorrow or something.
  4. I'm looking forward to tonight as well and I have no real idea why. It certainly isn't because they did such a good hype job. The build-up this year has been atrocious. We're over halfway through the 2010s and WM XXIV (shiw itself was a letdown) is the only one that had a decent build-up to more than 2-3 matches. Admittedly this year they were hamstrung by all those injuries but I still wish they'd built up a few more feuds underneath. Kept meaning to respond to this thread the past few months since it has been my only source of WM rumours, ideas, etc. outside my Twitter feed. Haven't posted here since that card I tried to fantasy book just before the Rumble happened. Looks like I was right about a couple of things (Reigns vs HHH, Emma and Godfather appearances, getting all the Divas on the pre-show, possibly Henry winning...) but WAY of on just about everything else. Ah, well at least some different people are getting a spot on the main show this year, even if it has been forced by injuries. I'd like to think some of them will get the chance to run with whatever momentum any of those guys get after tonight but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it. Hall of Fame was fun and I expect the show itself to be decent even though I have nothing to base that on and I have mixed feelings on the quality of WresteleManias. I liked WrestleMania 23 (2007) a lot. One of the best in fact. Certainly of recent years. 2005 was very good as well. 24 wasn't bad either - I liked the Flair retirement a lot as well, Mayweather/Show was well worked, one of Edge' s best non-gimmick matches, etc. but the ones since haven't been as good but 28 (despite the weak build) and XXX were still good shows for me and 25 was decent but not what it could have been with the roster at the time. I'm fairly hopeful for tonight. I think part of it is I don't really know what to expect whereas other than Brock breaking the Streak a couple of years ago and all the run-ins last year I think it was easy to visualise how most of the Big Matches would go down in recent years. There's a lot of stuff tonight where I'm not sure what's going to happen.
  5. Okay, so tonight's the night that things normally start to take shape. I felt like posting my predicted WrestleMania line up somewhere before the Rumble and this seems like a good place. I may be way off. I may have a few right. I've pretty much avoided spoilers/reading about wrestling in general outside of the odd thing on Twitter so far this year but I've watched every WWE TV show so this is based as much on who gets TV time as anything else. That and trying to get everyone they want to get a WrestleMania pay cheque on the card somewhere. WWE World Title Match Triple H © v Roman Reigns - Special Guest Texas Referees: 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin & 'Mr WrestleMania' Shawn Michaels The Undertaker v Kevin Owens (Special Appearance from The Rock) Brock Lesnar v Wyatt The League of Nations (Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura, Wade Barrett & Rusev) v The Balor Club (Finn Balor, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & AJ Styles) US Title Match: Alberto Del Rio v Randy Orton (presuming he's back) Intercontinental Title Match: Dean Ambrose v Corporate Dolph Ziggler Heel v Heel Generation Divas Title Match: Charlotte (w/ Ric Flair) v Stephanie McMahon (w/ Vince McMahon) Battle of the Generations Tag Team Title TLC Match: The Dudley Boyz (1990s) v JeriShow (2000s) v The Usos (2010s) The New Day (babyfaces) v The Wyatt Family (Strowman, Harper & Rowan) 3rd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (presented by 1st Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Winner Cesaro): Winner = Mark Henry (his retirement match): Participants include: Kane; Kevin Nash; The Miz (majority of build-up takes place on MizTV); Booker T.; Goldust; Rob Van Dam; Damien Sandow; Fernando; Diego; Titus O'Neil; Darren Young; Curtis Axel; Zack Ryder; Calisto; Connor; Viktor; Road Dogg; R-Truth; Torito; Heath Slater; Neville; Bo Dallas; Adam Rose; The Godfather; Tyler Breeze; Rhyno; Diamond Dallas Page; Jake Roberts; Damien Sandow; The Boogeyman & WrestleMania Weekend NXT Battle Royal Winner (whomever that may be) WrestleMania Kickoff Show (2 hours): Stardust vs Super Ryback (w/ Stephen Amell... or some other actor who plays a superhero) Divas Tag Team Tournament Semi Final Team Bella (Alicia Fox & Brie Bella w/ Nikki Bella) v Becky Lynch & Emma (turns heel on Becky) Divas Tag Team Tournament Semi Final: Team B.A.D. (Naomi & Tamina) v The Second Generation (Paige & Natalya) Divas Tag Team Tournament Final: Team Bella (Alicia Fox & Brie Bella w/ Nikki Bella) v The Second Generation (Paige & Natalya w/ Bret Hart)
  6. Some of these I didn't mind (Stacy with The Dudleys, Harvey and Sid) and I love the Varsity Club but can't disagree the others were all either horrible or pointless. Agreed. I don't mind Humperdink but him with Bigelow as faces just didn't click. Not surprisingly he always used to mention in interviews how much he hated that run. The real surprise to me was that WCW decided to repeat that pairing. Bearer and Vader was a bad one. Maybe if it had been Percy Pringle III but the Paul Bearer character that was only ever going to work with certain characters. Undertaker, Mankind, Kane. There's nothing supernatural or spooky about Vader. It just seemed like they stuck them together because Vader wears a (well, sort of) mask. Anyway, the answer is Jim Cornette and Mantaur for me. Similar to Vader and Bearer but in reverse. Cornette normally managed people who were a bit more "human". Tag team specialists like the Midnights, Bodies, Rock and Rolls, Owen and Davey. Or big bruisers like Murdoch, Yoko and Vader. At the time I thought he had potential as a midcard monster (the KotR Qualifier against Bob Holly was very good) but Mantaur would have been more suitable for Whippleman. Still wouldn't have got over in those days but the gimmick was more up Harvey's alley. Putting him with Cornette just seemed like a rib. In terms of one's that I just personally couldn't stand: Sabu, RVD and Bill Alfonso as babyfaces. In 1997 I thought Fonzie had already jumped the shark (intentional reference) as a character but as heels at least it made sense and I can see the logic behind it. As babyfaces I can't.
  7. Yes. That rumour definitely spread to England because I remember him being the most common pick May even have been hinted at in one of the magazines back then because I heard it a lot. Either that or it was just as simple as him and Paul Orndorff who was also rumoured, being the known big name American wrestlers who weren't in WWF or WCW at the time. Also (and this may have been specific to the people I knew) the Heenan Family was down to three members at that point) - two of whom were not exactly World Title Contenders - and it seemed to us like The Brain needed to get someone to replace Rick Rude and Andre. The other common one was Brutus Beefcake who was out after his parasailing accident that summer. I also heard Andre in the egg but I actually think that could have worked. Someone who was that established may have been able to get away with it. I do remember him being one of the names we discussed as Ted DiBiase' s 'Mystery Partner'. Speaking of which from what I've seen online over the years it seems a lot of people expected the two surprises to be the same person. I haven't watched any of the build up since the time so I'm going on memory here but I thought WWF built them up as different entities. At least I always presumed they would be. Between the two big surprises, trying to work out the various possible combinations for the Grand Finale Match and wanting to see LOD and Demolition finally go at it I'm not sure I've looked forward to a PPV as much since. Not the event itself which was a bit disappointing but the anticipation for it. Whereas I would normally tape the Big Shows for people, my friend who I'd later go to SummerSlam 92 with even stayed over to watch that Survivor Series when it was shown on Sky Movies (he only had Sky One which everyone in the area had) which wasn't something that happened often (having people stay over specifically for a wrestling event, not having friends stay over in general) because we were convinced it was going to be a big deal. I always say WrestleMania VI (and later on SummerSlam 92) were the most discussed events in the build-up to them in my years as a fan but really Survivor Series 1990 is right up there in terms of people I knew speculating on it. Which was everyone. My friends and I talked about wrestling every single day. None of were "smart fans" but a few of us were wrestling obsessives. In particular, that period between SummerSlam 89 and Royal Rumble 91 was just a constant stream learning about wrestling, discovering new wrestlers, making predictions on upcoming shows. The ones I remember were... Inside the Egg: Bundy, Beefcake, Orndorff, Andre, Lex Luger, Ric Flair (yeah right), Kamala, Sid, Big Van Vader, Giant Haystacks (okay that was one person), The British Bulldogs (no idea where that came from but on TV they actually hinted it might be a tag team to challenge for the tag straps against The Hart Foundation), the SST, someone doing a dinosaur gimmick OR a brand new wrestler (could have been Mean Mark but could have been someone else... don't even think I really heard him mentioned) called The Eggman or a new tag team (again could have involved Taker or not) known as The Eggmen. Don't remember The Red Rooster even being talked about which is surprising given that it was an egg. Not sure how we missed that one. The booking idea above would have made more sense than the suggestions we did come up with. I barely knew who half of them were (well I knew the names) yet we all knew The Rooster. Mystery Partner: Andre, Savage (the most common one since he was left off the card), Zeus (he teamed with Ted the year before), Luger, Bad News Brown, Bundy, Orndorff and Dustin Rhodes. Although looking back twenty five years (doesn't feel it) later a Father versus Son feud may have been a bit too edgy/uncomfortable for the time. Even at the time it was obvious to me some of those were never going to happen. Personally, my I remember my friends and I thought Dustin might replace Koko Ware on the night. That was due as much to all the replacements the previous year as WWF' s booking but it seemed like something that would happen. Still a bit surprised it didn't.
  8. I might be alone on this but I really liked Morton and Tommy Rich the Times they teamed up (face and heel). The Halloween Havoc match where the Midnights were leaving felt like a different variation on a familiar story. I don't doubt he could have been a great tag team worker with someone else (although I actually find Gibson a bit underrated). It's an interesting point though, being able to have good chemistry with different partners. For a modern guy who could team with/compliment anyone Christian always struck me as a natural tag team wrestler. He was (is?) a great bumper but he was also good at stifling, selling, facial expressions, and had an ability to connect with the crowd. Plus he was the kind of guy who would never steal the spotlight from his partner and seemed interested in getting the team over. Some of it depends on if you rate Edge and Christian's matches but I thought he was the highlight of them especially the big stunt-fests. When I think back on those matches I think of two things: Jeff Hardy’s dives and Christian’s bumping. The same in "regular" matches really. I'd have to see more of their ‘High Impact’/'The Suicide Blondes’ work to know for certain but everything I've heard is he was a natural and certainly by the time they got to WWF I think he was the better of the two (three if you count Gangrel when they formed The Brood). Obviously he was positioned as #2 in E&C and #3 in The Brood but he was always the workhorse of the team(s) and the one taking most of the umps. I love Matt Hardy as a worker, especially in 2005-08, but it's close between him, Christian and Bubba as far as who held all those matches together. Like Matt he was more than happy to do the setting things up and keeping things moving then sit back and watch his partner shine in the big spots. In some ways he was the least important of The UnAmericans since Storm (and later William Regal) was portrayed as the leader of the group and Test was the muscle, yet it was Christian who carried the group bumping for guys like Hulk Hogan. The partnership with Y2J was similar in that he was clearly positioned as the ‘lesser’ of the two, acting almost Jericho’s henchman in his feud with Shawn Michaels, but in-ring I felt he was the better of the two. He was certainly the more consistent when you look at that period. Both those teams had good to great matches against Goldust and Booker T. In both cases a lot of it was due to how much chemistry Christian had with them. Even in mixed tags with Trish, 'Trishtian’, as they were known, were a really solid team in the few matches they had together. The Jericho match had pretty good heel psychology. Again he was portrayed as the lesser partner to Stratus but most of the work was him. And those were just the pushed teams he was part of. The on-again off-again team with Test was a perfectly acceptable Big Man/small man unit where he worked to emphasise his partner's strengths. The team with Tyson Tomko was a partnership that first looked like it would devalue him. Instead, what started off as an odd partnership with a stereotypical 2000s-style green monster heel, developed into another success due to Christian’s charisma (bringing out the best in Tomko) and the chemistry that developed between the them both in and out of the that carried through to TNA. Those Raw six man tags in early 2005 were great and a lot of that was how Christian played off his partners. Just one of those teams that shouldn't have worked but did and I think a lot of it is due to how experienced Christian was as a tag team worker. Some good work with Styles, Dreamer and Rhyno as well. Christian doesn't have the catalogue of great tag matches most of the others did but he was very effective at what he did do. A lot of that on it's own but from 1998-2008ish it's a pretty good resume considering tag team wrestling was mostly dead in that era. Basically I thought he was the perfect guy to highlight both his partner AND their opponents which is what a good tag team wrestler should do. On the other side of the fence, when you needed someone who had good matches with different tag partners but was strong on offense Terry Gordy (who was mentioned but not in detail) was pretty great. Not sure how much of the WON Tag Team of the Year with Snuka was taped but the tiny bit I've seen looked like fun. Those of you who watched it at the time will know but it seemed like they were a good fit. Same with the team with Killer Khan. Anyway enough about Gordy teams I wish I'd watched and onto ones I have... I thought all three Freebirds were great tag team workers (Roberts in the original Hollywood Blondes is another team I'd like to see and I even liked the Hayes/Garvin version of the Freebirds) but Gordy is the one I've seen in the most tag team matches with other partners and enjoyed be it as junior partner to Hansen or the veteran with Williams. Even washed-group shell of himself sticking him in a team with Tommy Dreamer wasn't the worst idea (again only seen the one match but they teamed several times in 96) in the role of legend. Even within the Freebirds the teams of Gordy and Hayes and Gordy and Roberts had completely different dynamics. Throw in the MAC and that's three really cool partnerships with three totally different types of tag team partner. My first thoughts (Morton, Eaton, Anderson, Steamboat, Dustin, Windham) have already been written about but I'd put those two up there somewhere.
  9. Don't piledrive Road Warrior Hawk. You'll only make him angry. Don't DDT Rikishi. Unless you really want to get superkicked. If Johnny Saint rolls up in a ball... ignore him - even when he sticks his hand out to wave at you - and wait for the round to end. You are wrestling Rey Mysterio but can't seem to find a way to finish him off. Don't try a Die Hard/Splash Mountain move. If you are in a Battle Royal it might be a good idea not to go for a powerbomb, especially when you are anywhere near the ropes.
  10. I'll check this out later. This was from the Lance Russell Appreciation Show, right? Saw it was happening and some pictures on facebook but glad someone taped it. The last time I followed the Independents, back when Funk was apparently the biggest Indie draw, Funk vs Lawler was my favourite Indie feud in 2003-04 and their 2003 matches where they took their show on the road to various promotions were some of the best worked I saw that year (when I was watching a lot more promotions than now). Helped that I was also watching old Memphis at the time (their '81 No DQ is still my favourite Lawler match) but there was something impressive to me about the two Old Masters, older, slower and less mobile havingchemistry they still have all that time later. A lot of matches like that are pure nostalgia but in the case of these two they still made me feel the hatred. I don't remember any of the 2004 matches being taped (other than highlights of the Macklin tag they showed on TWC) but it did lead to some great promos (particularly from Terry) that made me want to see them fight more than anyone else at the time. Admittedly that was a while ago but there's something cool to me about the fact Jerry Lawler and Terry Funk are still having fun brawling (and getting praised for doing it well) in 2015.
  11. At least they had a valid excuse back then, not that Benoit was something they wanted to ever bring up of course, but I can definitely see them panicking and switching a bunch of titles. I can also see that making no difference. My predictions... Pre-Show: Neville & Luchadores vs. Stardust and the Ascension - No point in them creating a new faction (The Cosmic Wasteland) or extending the Stardust/Neville feud if they don't put Cody over here. It has had by far the best build-up of any match on the card with Xavier on the trombone, the 'Save the Tables' campaign and New Day on commentary and promos. For their part, since the Dudleys came back Bubba has been running into people very fast.Reminds me a bit of post-comeback JBL in 2008. I see New Day keeping the belts since they just won them back. Dudleys will definitely hover another title run at some point though. SO expect a post-match table spot to setup a Tables Match at HIAC or TLC (if they can make it last that long). Survivors doesn't need a Tag Title match, can be a teams elimination match. Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler - If Rollins turns face (and I think he will) anytime soon he'll need and it makes sense to build Rusev back up. Wyatt Family vs. Ambrose, Reigns and Mystery Partner - Partner turns on Shield and joins the Wyatts. Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella - I had a feeling Charlotte wasn't going to get the belt on Monday but expect her to tonight. Kevin Owens vs. Ryback - Owens winning his last feud with Cesaro seemed to be to set this up. Shame Ryback' s run wasn't what it could have been. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena - Cena beats Rollins in the opener and we get a WrestleMania X situations Seth doesn't need two belts. Cena restarts the US Open tomorrow on RAW. Seth Rollins vs. Sting (w/ Shemaus cash in) - Sting does the job again, Rollins makes up for his loss earlier but Sheamus cashes in setting up Seth's face turn.
  12. I can get the overall point about Styles being a better overall candidate but Career vs Career does Styles really have a better drawing record than Double A? In the category they are in (well Ran would theoretically be in again). I can see someone preferring Styles as a worker, even if I disagree, or rating him on influence for helping to popularize the early-00s Indie style but in terms purely of drawing power are his contributions to the NJPW brand the last couple of years a bigger draw than Anderson's career overall? And if so how much does that count for considering Styles is in the US category (like Saito in reverse). Not saying someone's work outside their category is completely irrelevant but the way it's laid out surely it should be a little bonus at best not the main argument for that person's drawing ability. I can understand taking into account the whole body of a wrestler's output when judging on work but in terms of drawing power then how they drew in the category they are in has to be more important than how they drew in other regions otherwise why split things up geographically. Like if you enjoyed Rocco as Black Tiger that's great but you would hope his case as a draw was being judged more on the Marty Jones and Kendo Nagasaki feuds. Considering Styles is in the "I followed Modern US/Canada" category there's no obligation that anyone has to take it into account at all. I find it difficult to believe that Styles outdrew Anderson in the States. In terms of live attendance he certainly didn't. In terms of TV ratings then even as late as 2000 those Flair/Anderson segments were some of WCW' s highest ratings at the time. So it would have to be based purely on PPV buys and merchandise sales. Hard to tell without them releasing the figures but AFAIK TNA' s biggest PPV draws were Angle, Joe, Hardy and Sting (first proper PPV appearance). Going back a bit didn't Raven' s first appearance supposedly pop the weekly PPV rating as well? Can't remember all the details on that one. Hogan, Flair and Hardy for popping a TV rating as well when they jumped as well. Still the thought of anyone being considered "a draw" due to being a draw for TNA seems a stretch but I can see how it could be used as a little bonus for someone like Angle (who is in) or the others who have been or will be on the ballot. The difference is ALL of their HOF candidacies (even Joe) in terms of drawing were more or less made before they joined TNA something Styles (no fault of his) doesn't have. I suppose you can give Styles, Raven, Jarrett and AMW credit for keeping things ticking along (before, and after, they got iMPACT! off the ground) for as long as they did but I'm not sure they brought in any new fans in any significant numbers. The X Division was one of TNA' s unique selling points of which he was one of the poster boys (with Lynn, Low Ki, Daniels... later on Joe) but that seems like such a niche of a niche. He Daniels and Joe did show that style could be featuring in a main event spot but that seems more a case for influence than drawing power. ROH has already been covered but I was under the impression the draws were Joe, Bryan and Punk at the peak of their DVD sales/cultural relevancy/International touring power/whatever. Arn Anderson was part of the top heel stable (that he named in one of his regional promos) in a highly successful product in JCP of 1985-87. He was never the main draw or even close to it but I can't see how he wasn't 'a draw' to some degree. Those weekly promos of his helped draw in fans as much/more than AJ did. Even if the argument is he was the least of the original Horsemen he was still an important part if the puzzle and had a clearly defined role as 'the Enforcer'. Arn was part of two very successful tag teams at a time when tag teams were heavily featured across the board in all the major promotions far more so than the X Division. In the context of it's time, Rock N Rolls vs Andersons at StarrCade was abigger deal than anything Styles was involved in Stateside. I would say the first War Games was as well. In terms of influence, Double A's role as the first man out there has to count for something in terms of getting over (arguably) the greatest gimmick match of all time. You can't really compare Styles contributions to getting over Ultimate X, Six Sides of Steel (that would be more a case for AMW than AJ anyway) or King of the Mountain because it's not like those concepts a) drew anything of any significance; are imitated on as widespread a level as War Games was and is. Even TNA' s signature 'feud ending match' is a War Games ripoff. Obviously that's more a case for Dusty Rhodes than it is for Anderson but I'm not saying he should be in the HOF for it, just that his contributions to getting over a match which turned out to be a pretty good draw are another feather in his cap that Styles doesn't have. Right now AJ looks more like a guy with decade plus as one of the top guys in a Worst Promotion of All Time contender and a hot year as an international draw for a successful one. Wheareas Arn was more a (very important) f machines which had mixed results but peaked in the case of Crockett when he was a featured 'part'. In both cases the failures of the companies they worked for had very little to do with them and you could argue they both did everything expected of them but if Styles gets credit simply for being in the main event more often doesn't he also deserve more of the blame?
  13. First things, first: This is a long post. Summing up almost thirty years of wrestling fandom isn't easy. Hopefully some of you find it interesting. Cheapshot recommended this forum to me a couple of New Year's Eve's ago and said I'd be great here so please send any complaints to him. :-) I finally signed up in early 2014 and since then he's (politely) reminded me about posting here. So I thought it was about time I introduced myself. My real name is Carl, I'm old enough to know better but still too young to care, I'm another poster from the UK (I've moved house approx every five years of my life but this is going to be long enough and only a couple are relevant to how I ended up here) and I have been watching wrestling since I was knee-high to a grasshopper (around seven or eight years old). I don't recall when I saw my first wrestling match but I know I had seen wrestling several times before I really became a fan (no great Shawn Michaels 'Boyhood Dream' story here). As far back as I can remember wrestling was always around. Having cable television since 1982, it was inevitable Id find wrestling. The biggest surprise retrospectively is how long it took me to get into it. I've read this entire thread and I'm actually a bit envious of people (including half this thread) with a really cool story of seeing this one memorable angle/match and getting hooked. Especially those whose first memories of wrestling date back to the time they were in the 2-4 age group (it's not like I don't remember other stuff from back then but no wrestling unfortunately). I'm told I did watch World of Sport when I was that age but I don't remember it. Now and again I'd catch my Dad watching and have no idea what was going on. I understood Danger Mouse, James Bond, Knight Rider, The Dukes of Hazzard, Godzilla, He-Man, Transformers, Tiswas, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Jerry Lewis films, The A-Team, Fraggle Rock and Stingray just fine but when someone mentioned King Kong Bundy or Bob Orton Jr., I was clueless. It was just one of those things that was on TV (like a lot of sports) but I can't even point to a specific 'event' like I can with watching Alex Higgins play snooker, the 1986 World Cup from Mexico in football (soccer), the 1988 Olympics in athletics, or later Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno and Chris Eubank vs Nigel Benn (initial fights, not the rematches) in boxing (nor is it somethimg I got into entierly through family, like cricket, or friends, like rugby). As a young child, I can remember catching glimpses of the odd match on TV (it could have been WWF, NWA, WoS, etc. or even boxing although I didn't really take it in). I enjoyed Hogan's Rockin' Wrestling on Saturday mornings on Sky Channel (the precursor to Sky One), knew the names Mick McManus, Big Daddy, Dynamite Kid, Fit Finlay and Hulk Hogan and had a few friends who already watched and talked about wrestling but it took a while for me to get into it myself. I got into the rasslin' through a combination of family, location and friends. Family: Back in the pre-television era my Great Grandfather, a successful boxer, boxing (and horse) trainer and referee (including for fights at the Royal Albert Hall which back then was probably the British equivalent of MSG), had one of the few gyms in his area with a ring which meant wrestlers would go their to train and practice their moves. To toughen the boxers he was training up, he would occasionally stick them in the ring with the wrestlers. Both his sons (my Great Uncles) successful boxers in their own rights - sparred with the wrestlers at various points and attended cards back in the 30s. One of them, although not a fan of World of Sport wrestling, would listen to NWA matches on the radio in the USA, Caribbean and Australia and even attended a few matches, whilst serving in the navy and merchant navy. He seemed to prefer the international stuff. Unusually, my Grandmother (their sister) wasn't a big fan. Prior to my wrestling fandom she did once take me on holiday to Wales where I saw Reslo on TV (something I thought I'd imagined) and would occasionally talk to me about Jim Breaks whenever she watched WWF with me. I didn't know who she was talking about until years later. By then one of her best friends had moved to Detroit which came in handy when I did become a fan (story for another time). My Dad was a fan of the old British scene and as a teenager attended shows at halls and nightclubs (like in Hull - it was something you did before you went out (clubbing) - collected the programmes/magazines and has the memories of Doctor Death brawling out into the crowd. At fifteen, his first lads holidays with his mates to Scarborough (Victorian seaside resort) included taking in the obligatory wrestling shows at the seafront. His two maiden Aunts were hardcore fans in the sense that they were wrestling mad with encyclopedic knowledge of wrestlers, holds and moves. I regret never being able to discuss wrestling with them because from all accounts one of them was even more obsessed with this than I am. Auntie Annie, a stereotypical matron (could have come straight out of any Carry On series) would grab Saturday afternoon visitors in a vice-grip and physically arm pin them, forcing them to sit and watch World of Sport as my Mum (who had never seen or heard of wrestling before she moved to England) found out the hard way upon meeting her for the first time. Location: Despite that location was the key factor in me becoming a fan. In 1982 I moved from Hemel Hempstead to Milton Keynes (new town in the middle of England), where the local council banned TV aerials and all houses were pre-fitted with cable. As a result everyone had to pay an annual subscription (around £20) just to receive regular TV channels, the plus side being the entire town received Sky Channel (the precursor to Sky One) as part of this (no cable box required). As a result, the American style of wrestling gained popularity in the area before the rest of the country. I believe that is one of the reasons that when the WWF's British Boom Period happened in the early 90s they based the Squared Circle (WWF's UK merchandise distributor during that time, who also organised autograph sessions with people like The Undertaker who I met the week of SummerSlam '92) in MK. My family did pay for a cable box which gave us access to around eight other channels. All seemed to show some form of wrestling particularly ScreenSport which was home to All Star (UK), AWA, JCP, Stampede and others at various points in the 80s. The cable system also meant Milton Keynes received IIRC three ITV regions, which came in handy for WCW later on since they would sometimes show different episodes of WorldWide on different regional channels. So I was still able to get WCW right up until ITV ditched it (different regions stopped showing it at different times) in 1995. I still don't know exactly when WWF first started being broadcast here (British based fans over forty with cable access will know best). Dad claims it was on from the time we moved there but I've never seen it 'officially' confirmed. Part of the confusion, is that at the time he was European CEO of an American multi-national which meant trips to the States where he would watch wrestling on TV. All I know is that I wasn't watching it and that my parents used to watch WWF whilst my Mum was pregnant with my little sister (born November '86). I also know the things my parents told me about American wrestling when I did get into it years later (Cyndi Lauper being in WWF, Mr T and Hillbilly Jim running out of the audience) which I had no way of researching at the time to confirm (and frankly had no idea what they were on about), all turned out to be true. To this day my Dad will drop references to mid-Eighties WWF or Crockett angles into conversation then act shocked that I haven't seen them. Two of my Dad's friends, both of whom looked big enough to be in the WWF, would talk about American wrestling whenever they came home from the pub and try to convince me they were wrestlers. They certainly looked the part (one of their sons played rugby for England youth team). Keep in mind this was before I was even a wrestling fan. For years I used to attend weekend Arts & Crafts courses in the grounds of the local Manor and the artists who taugt the various six to thirteen week (did everything from pottery to tie-dye) courses were inevitably big wrestling fans. Thinking back, I knew more adult fans than kids up until the second half of the 80s. Very few seemed to stick around for the actual boom period. Friends: Wrestling was ALWAYS fairly popular at school. Everyone knew Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks whether they liked wrestling or not. As far as I remember, I never saw Daddy wrestle on TV, but I certainly saw him appear on other shows as a guest. I'd wear my Rocky III backpack (before I'd seen the film) and people would start talking about this Hulk Hogan bloke. I'd recognise the name but not really understand. Eight of my nine best friends as a youngster were wrestling fans before I was some of World of Sport, some Crockett, all of them WWF. When I did start watching a couple of year's later I would pester them with questions about stuff (it was hard to find magazines and no official videos were available here yet). I still remember being Jim Brunzell in a playground Battle Royal before I knew what either of those things meant. Around the same time, on a family holiday to Ireland (where I believe cable was also popular) I wanted to talk Masters of the Universe. All the Irish kids wanted to talk about was WWF. A friend of mine, whom my Mum used to look after after school, had been watching for years when I became a proper fan, despite the fact she was a year younger than me. When I started watching she would tell me about what was going on in the other Federations (mostly AWA, GLOW, NWA). She was the first person to introduce me to World Class and Stampede. Around 1986-87 there seemed to be an explosion of interest in the American wrestling amongst the younger crowd and a lot of my friends would talk about it at school. Funnily enough, despite it being on Sky Channel for years, that also coincided with WWF being shown on ITV's World of Sport (which seems to be the go-to for the moment that got a lot of British fans into WWF). It certainly was the time I first started to pay attention and notice/recognise some of the wrestlers (Finlay, Savage, Hogan, The Bulldogs, Kamala). The first time I remember a specific event/match (as opposed to just the wrestling) being the talk of the playground WrestleMania III was the event, Savage/Steamer the match. So whilst I had had some wrestling exposure likely since birth my first actual memories would be catching WWF circa late '87-early '88 on an occasional basis along with bits and bobs of AWA (IIRC Thursday and Friday) and World of Sport (Saturday), which only gave me the impression WWF was the Big League and everything else was a bit second rate. I didn't realise that both were on death's doorstep; another reason I regret not getting into wrestling earlier since even two years prior they were producing some good stuff. I saw most of the build-up to WrestleMania IV but never watched the show itself. I've mentioned this a lot of times elsewhere but it was hearing that Randy Savage had won the title that peaked my interest (Savage, Finlay, Dynamite and Bret Hart were the ones who interested me most in my pre-fan days). Nothing against Hogan, Daddy or Haystacks but I wouldn't have gotten into wrestling if it wasn't for the faster-paced style. Still, I don't really count that as part of my fandom and I didn't actually follow the storylines in any real sense. It was still just something that was 'on' the TV but wasn't a fan of yet (like rugby or athletics). Becoming a fan: And as mentioned above, I would watch Hogan's Rockin' Wrestling through which I became a fan of The Junkyard Dog without actually seeing him work (Fun Fact: In 1992 the cartoon would be repeated over here on ITV to cash in on the British Boom Period) but wrestling itself really wasn't something I was interested in. Until one day in 1988, I watched an episode of WWFs Saturday Nights Main Event with my Dad. A fortnight later I joined him to watch wrestling again and that was it. Ive been addicted ever since. The first PPV (all free over here at this point) I was allowed to stay up for was the Second Annual Survivor Series (1988) shown over here some time in January 1989 (yes we were really THAT far behind). Other than times I was on holiday, I caught every WWF PPV from then up to the one where Bret Hart wrestled The Patriot. I've also watched most of the ones since. The first one I recorded myself/kept to rewatch was WrestleMania V and from then on I would tape all the big shows (PPV, SNME, UK shows, TV specials, etc.) until 1993 when I recorded over almost all of them with films (another regret). The first I remember being broadcast live was Royal Rumble 1990, shortly followed by WrestleMania VI. I'm the opposite of those who started out on WWF and then expanded their tastes as they discovered other promotions existed in the sense that before I was a fan I'd watch anything. Once I became one, the World Wrestling Federation was the first Federation I followed... well, other than GLOW, which I used to watch on Lifestyle while my Mum was making Sunday lunch after Church, but maybe I shouldnt mention that. After I was safely tucked-up in bed my dad apparently watched about sixteen billion other federations and kept telling me about the other Federation with Ric Claire and Telly Blanchard (as I thought they were called). Dont let this put you off but my first real hero was Brutus Beefcake. Funnily enough, my hairdresser at the time (another adult WWF fan) was also obsessed with 'The Barber'. Most internet posters seem to have grown up as heel OR babyface fans. I was a fan of good guys like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, The Blue Blazer; cool bad guys such as Andre (again I was a fan from the cartoon), Ted DiBiase, Fit Finlay, King Haku, Rick Rude and Mr. Perfect (after he started wearing the singlet/got entrance music); and tag teams like The British Bulldogs, Islanders, Demolition, Powers of Pain and, particularly, Rockers. The latter two were the first big new 'acts' I saw début and followed from then on. FWIW I was always more of a Jannetty fan than a Michaels one. It was the combination of storytelling, larger than life characters, cool moves, quick one-liners (Ventura and McMahon on Superstars, Bobby Heenan promos, etc.), and bright colours that got me hooked. I remember being particularly fascinated by the logos that were used for each wrestler when they appeared on SNME and spent way too much time trying to replicate them, even designing my own graphics for the wrestlers who didn't have one (or at least one that I'd seen). Speaking of which, another early wrestling preoccupation of mine was drawing pictures of wrestlers and even making clothes for my M.U.S.C.L.E figures. Eventually I was able to create tiny replica outfits of the entire 1990 WWF roster. At this point I should add that in general, prior to 1990 (when Silvervision started selling WWF VHS) and the release of Hasbros (IIRC the following January) it was next to impossible to find merchandise in the UK. Although (story for another time) I was able to get both AWA and WWF figures, wrestling merchandise wasn't mainstream until the 1990s. A good friend of mine, Mike, attended the second of WWF's 1989 two-nighter (Birmingham which was set up during the London show on Sky) and we gave him some money to buy some merchandise but I was told they had sold out of everything. He did bring me back a poster (Hogan also featuring The Rockers, Koko B. Ware, etc.) which apparently were left on all the seats. Becoming a wrestling fanatic: If Hogan-era WWF was the company responsible for making me a fan, it was WCW and the Apter mags that kept me one. NWA/WCW was always something of a mystery to me (despite one of my first wrestling memories was seeing Jim Cornette and I believe the Garvins on ScreenSport) until they they showed some 1989/90 NWA/WCW on ITV (featuring 'Mean Mark' after he'd already debuted in WWF as The Undertaker). From then on I watched WCW whenever I could (and at times it was difficult: you'd have to leave a blank tape in overnight and hope it recorded WorldWide)... right up until some guy called Russo stuck the belt on himself in 2000. I was so pleased when WCW started to release official VHS over here (albeit in edited form) in 1992 and between that, WorldWide moving to a Saturday afternoon spot (also in '92) and the Dangerous Alliance storyline it overtook WWF as my favourite company. But I still loved WWF and celebrated my birthday in 1992 with a wrestling-themed fancy dress party and watching of the previous night's WrestleMania VIII. I have no idea when they first became available over here but it was just before the Summer holidays in 1989 a friend lent me a US wrestling magazine (covering the early part of the year Warrior/Rude, Midnights/Midnights, Mega-Powers/Twin Towers, etc.). When I went back to school that September all the cool kids took them into school to discuss the latest goings on in promotions I had no idea about. Swapping wrestling mags to read at lunchtime was a common occurrence but I could never seem to find them when I looked at the newsagents. That Christmas, Santa left a copy of Main Event in my stocking and my wrestling addiction progressed to the next level. One of the reasons I became such a hardcore fan was that despite being a good student overall my parents worried I didn't read enough and so, when they discovered I liked reading wrestling magazines, encouraged the habit (little did they know...) Through the magazines I became a fan of The Road Warriors, Lex Luger, The Great Muta, Jerry Lawler, Eric Embry, Tony Anthony, and Jeff Jarrett long before I had actually seen them wrestle. Not saying I was smart to the business but when Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors, Kerry Von Erich, Ric Flair, Sid Justice and even Genichiro Tenryu, The Destruction Crew and Buddy Rose debuted in the WWF I knew who they were. Like Superstar Sleeze earlier in this thread, I was fascinated by the history of the sport and reading about these wild and colourful characters led me to seek out more of the wrestling that was on TV: WCW, USWA, re-runs of old World Class, etc. both on TV and the aforementioned VHS. When the British Boom Period came in the early 90s it was incredible to watch the number of wrestling videos expand, from the original three Silvervision released in 1990 to allocating Wrestling Videos' their own section in all the major video shops as everyone from CWA (Otto Wanz version) to UWF (Abrams version) had videos on display in mainstream shops in the UK market... And equally depressing to watch it shrink to a shelf when said Boom ended two years later. It got to the extent that the last series of Hasbro (Green Cards) weren't even released over here. Still, the early 90s were a great time to be a fan and I used to like spending my pocket money on them as a kid. About twenty years later I tried buying all the non-WWF/WCW I was missing on eBay. I believe Cheapshot, who recommended I start posting here, has compiled a complete list of those now. The other bonus of the British Boom Period was increased WWF tours. In October 1991, I attended my first live event: Battle Royal at the Albert Hall (sitting up in the gods with my poorly younger brother and reluctant mother). Since then I have seen several WWF, WCW, WWE and British cards in the flesh (including SummerSlam 92 with my brother, dad and best friend at the time Sean). I think the best matches I saw in person are Regal vs Sting (WCW, NEC Birmingham, 1994) and Chris Benoit/Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio/Edge (WWE SmackDown!, Sheffield Arena, 2002). AFAIK neither made tape. From late 1992 WWF, WCW and (with no more World of Sport as an alternative) wrestling in general's popularity went into a long decline becoming less relevant as each year passed onwards went. Other than that briefest of moments when UWFi was mainstream, wrestling was pretty uncool until the late 90s. Even then for as many fans who'd 'outgrown' the wrestling as got back into it, just as many didn't. I never stopped watching. If anything the fact that it was mostly a solitary hobby at that point led to me becoming a hardcore fan (I'm not sure I'd have gotten into newsletters/tape traders if all my friends had still been into it). Becoming a hardcore fan: I discovered the world of tape-trading (and later newsletters) through Superstars of Wrestling (the predecessor to PowerSlam) in 1993. I knew about tape-trading culture from dance music but never knew it existed in pro wrestling. I had always wanted to see some Japanese stuff after seeing Muta/Liger in WCW, hearing about Sammy Lee from World of Sport fans and reading about people like Hansen, Tsuruta, etc. in PWI but didn't know how to access it. I FINALLY decided to send off for (PowerSlam writer) Rob Butcher's catalogue after a year or so of seeing them advertised in SOW and then PowerSlam. The monthly 'Best of' comps (along with PS photo coverage) made getting into Japan easy since I got a taste of the various styles. Originally, I was primarily interested in the Juniors like Benoit and Liger but the more I watched the more I found myself more impressed by the AJPW and, to a lesser extent, NJPW heavyweights. Through those magazines, newsletters and tapes I also got into ECW (which along with Michinoku Pro, FMW and the big Joshi shows was constantly hyped by PS) and Lucha Libre which is something I followed on and off for the next two decades but still don't feel particularly knowledgeable about or qualified to talk about. Like a lot of people my first introduction was mid-90s AAA. Around the same time, EuroSport started showing NJPW 'Ring Warriors' on a Friday night - which temporarily got my Dad, who'd given up in 1990, back into watching wrestling with me (It's exactly like old British wrestling) on a Friday night. He became a big Hase and Fujinami fan. In Autumn 1995 Sky Sports (finally) started showing Raw (before that we had to make do with the edited matches on Mania) on the same night and, ever since then, Friday has been my Wrestling Night. Even when I've been at my busiest, or didn't have time to watch TV in general, I would always end the week by kicking back and watching whatever show was on Fridays (which for the past decade has meant SmackDown!). At weekends my brother would record WCW Worldwide, after reruns of Airwolff and The Fall Guy, from ITV (when Hogan joined Turner in '94 ITV added Thunder in Paradise to the line-up) on one tape and the feature matches from WWF's Sky shows on another while I was playing cricket at villages around Northamptonshire. As my tastes expanded I compiled an extensive library of relevant books (including some good old ones), magazines, newsletters (still have crates full of Pro Wrestling Torch and Wrestling Lariat from the 90s), programmes, posters, and videos/DVDs dating from the 1920s to the present, incorporating a good variety of promotions from different times and locations including: AAA, AJW, AJPW, All-Star, Arsion, AWA, CMLL, CWA (Austria/Germany), CWF, CZW, ECW, FMW, FWA, GAEA, GCW, Global, ICW, IWA (Einhorn), IWA: Japan, IWA: Puerto Rico, IWCCW, IWRG, JCP, Joint Promotions (World of Sport), JWA, JWP, LDN, LPWA, Memphis, Mid-South/UWF, MLW, MPW, NJPW, NOAH, OMEGA, OVW, Promo Azteca, Reslo, South Eastern, South Western, SMW, SWS, TNA, TWA, USWA, UWA , UWF, UWFi, WAR, WCCW, WCW, W*ING, WWC, (W)WWF/E, XPW and Zero-One in multiple different languages and formats (VHS, VCD, DVD, Blu-ray) to the extent my house is starting to resemble Castle Cornette. Despite that I haven't seen close to as much as some of you. I haven't seen Portland, 80s shoot-style and never really got into (or followed them at all post-2003) 00s-present Indies, although I do like a lot of the talent that came out of that scene. I temporarily gave up collecting tapes towards the end of the 90s, mainly due to time constraints but I also wasn't a huge fan of the direction Japan (or ECW) had taken in the late 90s (compared to just a few years earlier) but more importantly a lot of the guys who were my reasons for getting into Japan/ECW/AAA (Foley, Raven, Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, Psychosis, Mysterio, Scorpio, Sandman, Bigelow, TAKA, Togo, etc.) in the first place and even those who weren't my favourites but I thought had potential (Jericho, Saturn, etc.) had migrated to the US Big Two. Other companies I followed had gone bust (SMW, USWA, UWFi) and at that point I knew I would rather spend my money on going out with my friends. When Butcher stopped trading I moved over to Glen Radford. Funnily (or not) the most I bought off either of them was in their closing down sales (1997 and 2003 respectively) where I picked up quite a few of their master copies. Internet wrestling history: Online, I've always been TheBigBoot. The name originated from an idea I had for a newsletter way back in 1995 (everyone else seemed to write one back then, and almost everything seemed to be named after a move 'Suckerpunch', 'Moonsault', 'PowerSlam', etc.) A few years later I used the same name as the title for an unpublished book I have been continually writing and revising for the past century (don't hold your breath on that one). I became an Internet fan through necessity. Even though I used it to look up ECW PPV results at my Dad's office in '97, I didnt really have regular access to the Internet until I went to University and no longer had the time or money to spend on bootlegs and dirtsheets. I even didn't have a TV in my first year. I certainly didn't have cable/satellite. Even PowerSlam became difficult to get hold of. With no chance to watch my weekly Raw and Nitro I started visiting the news sites to keep up-to-date with what was going on. I spent hours in the computer room reading all the major rasslin sites but never really bothered with forums (although I did enjoy the Sports Entertainment vs pro wrestling fan debates that seemed to occupy much of the web in 1999) partly because I (incorrectly in some cases) associated them with the generic smark opinions mentioned elsewhere in this thread and partly because I worried how much time I'd end up spending if I started posting. There were some exceptions. The first forums I read semi-regularly were Wrestling Classics, DVDVR (the site more than the board) and Kayfabe Memories all of which I found whilst searching for information on the old territories. Learnt a lot from all of them but I didn't really start posting on forums until 2003 when I joined the UKFF (which I had been reading since the previous year, thanks to mentions in PowerSlam). As for why I chose that as the first forum I think it's because it was one of the few places I saw where posters were talking up Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler as 2003 MOTY or Goldust as a top five WWE worker and not having those points laughed at. At the time there was a bit of a divide between the posters who liked BritWres, US Indies, and (then) current Japan versus the posters who liked what I would call traditional pro wrestling but also a lot of posters who watched everything which led to some interesting discussions. On UKFF I noticed lots of people mentioning Real In Memphis, followed the links in ChrisJ's signature and joined there exactly (to the day) one month later. Thanks to the latter I discovered I could watch episodes of Memphis through Jerry Lawler's website. By this point, I had already started getting back into the Observer and tape-collecting. This time with a focus on the past (I did also get back into Japan with the AJPW vs NJPW feud and NOAH but other than a few big matches here and there haven't followed it properly for a decade now, or at all since Misawa died). Silvervision's massive 2002 tape sale necessitated by WWE's name-change and eBay allowed me to fill lots of gaps in official WWF/WCW/etc. releases that I could never have afforded at the time. Then around 2003-04 a lot of traders were converting to DVD (or giving up all together like Radford) meaning was I able to fill in a lot of 'blanks' and pick up the master tapes of a lot of the shows I had never gotten round to getting back in the day. I still have unwatched VHS from that period. Throw in weekly WWE (Raw, SmackDown!, Heat... Velocity when I remembered), WCW Classics on Sky Sports, going to All-Star shows with my then-girlfriend whenever they were nearby, and (due to having moved to an area with satellite) finally getting to see Reslo on S4C Digidol. I 2002-04 was watching (and reading about) more wrestling than at any time since the mid-90s. Then The Wrestling Channel launched in April 2004. Even ignoring the programming I had no interest in there was World of Sport, CMLL, NOAH, GAEA, NJPW, NJPW Classics, Classic Memphis, current Memphis, and probably more I'm forgetting. Keep in mind, at the same time I was posting detailed Raw reviews on UKFF and writing lengthy essays arguing for Randy Savage and Chris Benoit as potential Top 25 material (and that The Big Show deserved serious consideration for such a list) for a 144½ Greatest Wrestlers of All Time list over at RIM. I got burnt out. I ended up stopping posting for a while and limiting my wrestling viewing to the stuff I enjoyed most: WWE (more so SmackDown and later WECW), Memphis (orignally for the veterans but ended up staying for Kevin White and Derrick King), and World of Sport. Later on I followed (and enjoyed) TNA from around the time 3D jumped up until they rehired Vince Russo, made iMPACT! two hours and it moved from TWC to Bravo in the UK. I later replaced it with IWA: Puerto Rico's Impacto Total English. For the next year or so I only posted sporadically. Since then I've divided my 'wrestling time' between either reading about/watching a lot of wrestling or writing about/posting on wrestling. I'm impressed by those of you who can do both. For most of the late 00s I leaned towards writing/posting. In 2007 I was asked to write for wrestling101.com (now Cult of Whatever) and since that November have written DVD reviews, obituaries, blogs, and an ongoing series of articles Now That's What I Call Wrestling. I still write the occasional piece for them, normally around WrestleMania. When I started writing for them I also joined their talkwrestlingonline forum but haven't used it much. My last article was a fifty page, eleven-parter on the Best WrestleMania Opening Matches of all time: http://www.wrestling101.com/home/2013/04/thebigboots-top-ten-wrestlemania-opening-matches-of-all-time/ So my posting presence has been limited to a few places. If you know me it is probably from one of those or Twitter (@TheBigBoot). Since 2011, I've been concentrating more on watching. Around 2009, I realised I had accumulated hundreds of unwatched DVDs. Two years (and more DVDs) later, having previously resigned myself to the fact that I'd always have a load of unwatched footage I decided to make an effort to watch all the unwatched DVDs I bought during that 2005-11 period (mostly stuff from the 70s to 2005). Real life has prevented me from watching as many as I'd like but, as probably only Cheapshot knows, I've spent most my wrestling time for the past three or four years making my way through said collection and tweeting about them. I also thought it would be a challenge to see if I could get my opinions across in 140 characters. ;-) In addition, I'm still a fan and watch as much of Raw, SmackDown, and whatever British matches show up on WrestleTalk on TV as I have time for. In September 2013, I started watching TNA again (and stayed mostly because of the chemistry between Rockstar Spud and EC3 on Spin Cycle) - Xplosion (through which I've caught a lot of their hyped matches I missed) and PPVs only (don't have time for Impact). Right now Challenge are showing old TNA PPVs every Wednesday for the past month (Slammiversary 2006 this week). Frankly, that is more than enough current wrestling to keep me going. I do have WWE Network which is great for PPVs but other than that haven't had the time to watch as much of it as I'd like. Maybe if/when TNA finishes. I actually discovered PWO (and the WON recaps) around a few years ago whilst searching for a story from an old Observer. That would have been around 2007/08 (other than the couple I was posting at, since 2009 I haven't really made time to read wrestling forums, or wrestling sites in general, at all) but I had forgotten about it since then. Since Cheapshot's recommendation I have been lurking at times and impressed by the variety of posters and quality of discussion. It's unlikely I will become a regular poster any time soon but I thought I should finally introduce myself and will try to chip in now and then when I have something to contribute. Congrats if you read all this.
×
×
  • Create New...