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Post by driver1980 on Dec 16, 2023 10:12:46 GMT -5
I didn’t see this one for sale in the UK, so I wonder, was it a Columbia House release? ![](https://i.imgur.com/WSBRbmQ.jpg)
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 16, 2023 11:50:06 GMT -5
I didn’t see this one for sale in the UK, so I wonder, was it a Columbia House release? ![](https://i.imgur.com/WSBRbmQ.jpg) Don't know; but, I bet they didn't promote it heavily.
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Post by driver1980 on Dec 16, 2023 14:11:21 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 16, 2023 18:28:37 GMT -5
The Omni was actually part of a bigger Omni Complex, which included a luxury hotel and other amenities; but; its real claim to fame was as the home of the Atlanta Hawks, in the NBA (which also used to be broadcast of WTBS), as well as the Atlanta Flames NHL team. Running there was expensive and, more often than not, even big shows were money-losing ventures, for wrestling, especially later on.
Still, in the 80s, in the GCW days, you'd hear the round up of house shows, in places like Marietta, Beckley, WV, Michigan and Ohio and The Omni in Atlanta, which of course would be where titles would change. You'd get the footage of the finish, on tv, the next week (or two) and then then next part of the angle or the next feud, if it was the blowoff.
I've been to Atlanta, but was never down around that area (which is where CNN Center is)
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 16, 2023 18:34:09 GMT -5
Dutch Mantell doing better and will be leaving the hospital for a rehab facility, then home, once he has his strength back.
Update from James....
Good news there and a speedy recovery to the hairy one!
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Post by driver1980 on Dec 17, 2023 6:03:40 GMT -5
Art by Hal Haney: ![](https://i.imgur.com/rDzEGXw.jpg)
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Post by driver1980 on Dec 18, 2023 13:59:09 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 18, 2023 21:24:35 GMT -5
Yeah; but Londos kept ducking Milo of Croton, Ajax, and Herakles!
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Post by driver1980 on Dec 20, 2023 9:09:25 GMT -5
The Pontiac Silverdome needs no introduction: ![](https://i.imgur.com/zHeUaom.jpg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/m7iWOux.jpg) I managed to interview Hulk Hogan recently, I asked him about WM III. This is his reply: “ Brother, that was the biggest night of my career. 120,000 fans, dude. Highest PPV buyrate to this day. I’d wrestled extra days this year due to the time difference between Japan and the United States, but the energy kept my body going that night. I broke my neck that night, and my ankle was broken 2 minutes into the match, but I still got Andre up for that body slam. Even did a podcast about it the day after despite being exhausted, brother. Even the President sent me a letter that day, telling me Hulkamania was transcending American culture…”
Wrestling at Wembley Stadium years later was a highlight, but nothing comes close to the Pontiac Silverdome. I was turning down offers from record companies, Paramount, Universal, various networks, you name it. That led to me even considering an offer to run for president, but when the White House Chief of Staff called, I was working out, so I missed the call…”
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 20, 2023 18:01:37 GMT -5
The Silverdome history with the WWF illustrates what Cornette refers to as a Show That Needs a Stadium vs a Stadium That Needs a Show. Wrestlemania III was a Show In Need of a Stadium; it was going to sell out anywhere. Other shows there were Stadiums In Need of a Show, where they just needed something to bring in an audience and the show that was delivered could not bring the same audience again. Crockett had similar problems with the Great American Bash. They did great with a single stadium show; but, when they tried to do it as a tour of stadiums, they dropped a huge amount of money.
Sometimes, running the bigger venue was not sound business. The WWF ran MSG; but, it was extremely expensive to run and they didn't make nearly as much money as they did in other venues. It was the allure of running shows in the Garden, rather than it drew well for them (it did, in some periods, but less as time went on). GCW got locked into running the Omni; but had trouble drawing consistent crowds, over time. If they didn't have a hot show, they lost a lot of money and it was expensive enough that when they did have a hot show, they still didn't rake in huge money, after expenses. same with the Von Erichs and Texas Stadium and other promotions and similar venues.
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Post by driver1980 on Dec 21, 2023 5:40:33 GMT -5
Another one I don’t think got a UK release: ![](https://i.imgur.com/a8Vfb0U.jpg) Tatanka & The Steiner Brothers VS Doink & Money Inc? I need to see that. Seriously. The heel combination is a peculiar one. I like peculiar team-ups. Papa Shango and The Berzerker was a strange combination (they fought Ultimate Warrior and The Undertaker). Berzerker and Flair also teamed up (I forget their opponents, possibly Randy Savage and Hacksaw Jim Duggan). This is why I liked the Lethal Lottery concept in WCW. At what other time could you see Sting & Abdullah the Butcher VS Flyin’ Brian Pillman & Bobby Eaton? BRING BACK ODD/QUIRKY COMBINATIONS!
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 22, 2023 13:15:48 GMT -5
I finished watching Survivor Series 1992
The Ultimate Warrior and British Bulldog were fired shortly before this. Warrior was supposed to be in the “Main Event” teaming with Randy Savage against Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. He was replaced with Mr Perfect. Bulldog was supposed to defend his Intercontinental title against the Mountie, but instead he dropped it before Survivor Series to Shawn Michaels. The Mountie also wound up quitting either a little before or after Survivor Series.
Vince McMahon and bobby Heenan on commentary.
The Headshrinkers (new arrivals to the WWF) take on High Energy in the opener. The Headshrinkers win, in a pretty decent opening match.
Next is the Big Boss Man vs. Nailz I the first ever nightstick match, where the nightstick is atop a pole on one corner of the ring, and whoever can climb to th pole and get the nightstick is allowed to use it. This started as a feud when released ex-con Nailz wanted revenge for alleged abuses by Bossman while in the Big House, and he snuck attacked him after a Bossman match and beat him to within an inch of his life with his own nightstick. A good start to the feud, but it dragged on waaay too long before we finally got this match between them. Anyway, on to the match. This was an absolutely awful match. Nailz never did to anything in the ring other than choke, and this was no different. The only saving grace is that this match didn’t go on too long. Also, the nightstick hardly played a role in the match.
Next up is Tatanka vs. Rick Martel. This was an okay match. Nothing great, but not terrible. Tatanka does not really do much for me, frankly. Nothing too exciting or interesting in his matches. This match at times seemed to be a backdrop for the antics of the clown (the as yet unnamed Doink) who was in the aisle, at times amusing and at times annoying the crowd. He seemed to get as much attention as the match itself.
Next match is Mr. Perfect and Randy Savage vs. Razor Ramon and Ric Flair. This was billed as the main event, or co-main event, yet it’s in the middle of the program. I thought it interesting that everybody got their own entrance music here except for Razor Ramon, who came out to Flair’s music. I’m not sure of the reason for that. Bobby Heenan was great here, at his biased best. Apparently, Savage and Perfect have never met in the ring before, or at least that’s what they said here. Surprising. Also, I guess Razor and Perfect were tag team Partners in AWA. Anyway, this was a pretty good match overall, though the lame finish (Savage and Perfect win via DQ) downgrades it a bit.
Next is Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Virgil. This was basically a squash match, and I’ll let you guess who got squashed.
Next is our only traditional Survivor Series match, WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc & The Beverley Brothers (w/ Jimmy Hart and The Genius) vs. The Natural Disasters and The Nasty Boys.
The Nasty Boys were the sole survivors in this match. This was a decent match. Nothing special, but fairly fun.
Next was the Undertaker (w. Paul Bearer) vs. Kamala (w. Harvey Whippleman & Kim Chee), in a Coffin Match. Frankly, this match stunk. The Undertaker won, of course, and literally nailed Kamala’s coffin shut. At one point, Kamala hit the Undertaker with a chair, which the referee must have seen, but no DQ? Maybe the rules included no DQ, but they never mentioned that. The highlight of this match was during the entrances, they showed a couple dressed as the Undertaker and Paul Bearer. The woman was the Undertaker and the man was a rather convincing Paul Bearer. That was aweseome.
Finally, we get Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels for Hart’s WWF championship belt We get Vince shilling Icopro. Sigh. At least the WBF is history by this point. I could be mistaken, but I think Bret Hart was the second person to have held all three belts (WWF championship, Intercontinental, and tag team) after Pedro Morales. And he will actually go on to have all each of those three titles multiple times.
Bret Hart wins the match with the Sharpshooter and retains his title. This was a very good match, but it did drag at times with a lot of long rest holds.
I’ll point out that once again, when they talk about Shawn Michaels being able to win both belts, the again ignore the fact that the Ultimate Warrior did win the WWF championship while holding the Intercontinental championship and thus did, until Jack Tunney made him vacate the Intercontinental belt, hold both belts simultaneously.
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Post by driver1980 on Dec 22, 2023 13:50:55 GMT -5
You already know how pissed off I was back in 1992 when the WWF did away with elimination matches, one bout aside. And it just got worse at times, such as them doing the same in 1998, and not even bothering with elimination matches in recent years. You’d think that WWE would want each PPV to have a different flavour. And as for today, War Games is an overrated concept (I hate how the match doesn’t even really begin until all participants are in the bout, at which point pinfalls and submissions become legal).
I have nothing but respect for Mr. Perfect making the best of a bad situation. His emergency babyface turn made sense in a certain sort of way, but while any card is subject to change, the issues at stake were between the Ultimate Maniacs and Flair/Ramon. If I order a steak, it’d be frustrating if the kitchen staff came out after 10 minutes and said, “Sorry, we’ve cooked you a fish.” I like fish, but my mind was on the steak. People wanted to see Warrior and Savage battle Flair and Ramon. Perfect’s emergency babyface turn did make sense, but there’s a slight contrivance to it. He executed it well, and it led to some great feuds for him, but it was frustrating not to see Warrior there. And on top of all that, it ended in a DQ.
(Had it been possible, and I’d been in charge, I’d have paid Hulk Hogan to come back. It could have been billed as “The Mega Powers Return” and the history between Hogan and Flair could have added something to the bout)
The undercard is pretty underwhelming. The elimination bout irked me because of the rule that you had to leave once your partner got pinned. So it was just a glorified eight-man tag match, then?
I have zero interest in pole matches, I’d have rather seen Big Boss Man and Nailz have a regular bout.
The main event was great, but I believe there are far better Bret/Shawn bouts out there, some of them TV contests. And as you say, the WWF ignored the fact that Warrior held both bouts simultaneously.
I respect that this was a period of turmoil with so many exits, but for me, this is one of the worst WWF PPVs of that era.
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Post by driver1980 on Dec 22, 2023 13:55:22 GMT -5
By the way, I have to laugh at how the WWF Magazine report from the time referred to Savage’s “original partner” rather than the name we all knew: Ultimate Warrior. The WWF was really in a bubble at times, eh? ![](https://i.imgur.com/Z0uYLdn.jpg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/prEf7mh.jpg)
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 22, 2023 19:16:40 GMT -5
You already know how pissed off I was back in 1992 when the WWF did away with elimination matches, one bout aside. And it just got worse at times, such as them doing the same in 1998, and not even bothering with elimination matches in recent years. You’d think that WWE would want each PPV to have a different flavour. And as for today, War Games is an overrated concept (I hate how the match doesn’t even really begin until all participants are in the bout, at which point pinfalls and submissions become legal). I have nothing but respect for Mr. Perfect making the best of a bad situation. His emergency babyface turn made sense in a certain sort of way, but while any card is subject to change, the issues at stake were between the Ultimate Maniacs and Flair/Ramon. If I order a steak, it’d be frustrating if the kitchen staff came out after 10 minutes and said, “Sorry, we’ve cooked you a fish.” I like fish, but my mind was on the steak. People wanted to see Warrior and Savage battle Flair and Ramon. Perfect’s emergency babyface turn did make sense, but there’s a slight contrivance to it. He executed it well, and it led to some great feuds for him, but it was frustrating not to see Warrior there. And on top of all that, it ended in a DQ. (Had it been possible, and I’d been in charge, I’d have paid Hulk Hogan to come back. It could have been billed as “The Mega Powers Return” and the history between Hogan and Flair could have added something to the bout) The undercard is pretty underwhelming. The elimination bout irked me because of the rule that you had to leave once your partner got pinned. So it was just a glorified eight-man tag match, then? I have zero interest in pole matches, I’d have rather seen Big Boss Man and Nailz have a regular bout. The main event was great, but I believe there are far better Bret/Shawn bouts out there, some of them TV contests. And as you say, the WWF ignored the fact that Warrior held both bouts simultaneously. I respect that this was a period of turmoil with so many exits, but for me, this is one of the worst WWF PPVs of that era. Yeah, the Survivor Series didn't really feel like a Survivor Series. I prefer Mr. Perfect as a heel, but he was also really good as a face and probably should have gotten a bigger push. While you're right that people who'd paid for a main event with the Ultimate Warrior would be right to feel cheated, personally I consider replacing Warrior with Perfect to be a HUGE upgrade, so no complaints from me. But yeah, bringing Hogan back for a Mega Powers reunion would have been great and I'm sure would have made more money. I agree that the rule in the elimination bout that once your partner got eliminated you also had to leave was pretty dumb. That almost turns an 8 man tag team match into a de facto 4 team tag team match, which isn't really very special. Maybe they did it to cut down on time. I'm generally not a fan of gimmick matches of any flavor. The pole match didn't bother me as much as some of them, though. Frankly, I like the coffin match idea even less. At least with the coffin match rules presented in this PPV. Yeah, I also agree that this isn't the best Bret/Shawn bout. Perhaps they were still getting used to working with each other at this point. Yup, definitely a time of turmoil for the WWF here.
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