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Post by commond on Jun 1, 2024 23:11:48 GMT -5
The AWA being a boring territory was a pretty standard opinion in fan circles during the era tape trading and rspw days. There are fans who are prepared to go back, revist things, and come back with new takes on territories, but a lot of people stick to the same ideas they've always had. I doubt Dutch has watched any AWA since the 1980s. It seems like he prefers a studio wrestling format to arena footage, and if that's the case then I can understand why the AWA wouldn't have been his cup of tea, but like any territory, the AWA had its share of good stuff. Didn't care for James slandering the WWWF. The late 70s had plenty of exciting bouts with the likes of Backlund, Sammartino and Superstar Billy Graham. That was a weak take. |
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 2, 2024 4:31:14 GMT -5
It is a weak take. I’ve seen some utterly captivating WWWF stuff.
I did enjoy what I saw of the AWA. Like World of Sport, it felt like the “most real” presentation of wrestling to me, making suspension of disbelief easy.
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 2, 2024 4:45:28 GMT -5
Mega Matches, eh? That’s a lot to live up to. This was the first WWF tape that my mum rented from Blockbuster for me, along with Survivor Series 1988:  Tito Santana starts the tape against Earthquake in an interesting contrast of styles bout. Sadly, the curse of non-finishes on Coliseum tapes strikes again! Earthquake is about to finish off Santana with the vertical splash - and then Tugboat comes out to stop him. Why? Why would a babyface do that? Earthquake was entitled to win the match with his legal finisher, right? Then various wrestlers from Jimmy Hart’s stable come out. Then Hacksaw comes out to even up the odds. What a mess. We deserved a proper finish. The Big Boss Man battles Bobby Heenan in a comedy-based match (Heenan had insulted the Boss Man’s mother). It was fun for what it was. Hacksaw Jim Duggan faces Sgt. Slaughter in an underwhelming bout which Slaughter wins by count out. The match of the tape is Bret Hart vs. Barbarian. It comes from the eternally atmospheric MSG. It’s a believable smaller wrestler vs savage big man bout, with Bret working logically to take down the big man. Bret wins via pinfall. Mind you, this had featured on another tape that I’d already reviewed, the 2nd Battle of the Superstars. The Bushwhackers take on Rhythm and Blues. As Honky and Valentine win via DQ after just four minutes, I’m sure you can guess what my view of this bout is. Hulk Hogan faces Dino Bravo in a reasonably entertaining bout. Hogan wins via pinfall. We get to visit the home of Hillbilly Jim in Kentucky. This is bizarre and not really appealing. Did I say Bret vs Barbarian was the match of the tape? It was, but a strong contender is Davey Boy Smith vs. Haku. Joined in progress, it’s an intense, hard-hitting bout which Davey wins via pinfall. Oh, Sean Mooney has been hosting this. His clothes and accessories get bigger throughout the video. Something to do with everything being so mega. No, me neither… Time for a profile of Randy Savage, featuring 2 of his matches. From MSG in late 1989, Macho King battles Hacksaw Jim Duggan in an unbelievably riveting match, where every move meant something. Great psychology here, and Hacksaw having to contend with Sherri’s constant interference. Savage gets the win via pinfall due to Sherri’s help. We end with Macho King vs. Ultimate Warrior in a steel cage match, shortly after Warrior lost the WWF Championship. This is an exciting clash, and you feel both men really want the victory. 80s/90s WWF psychology is underrated and underappreciated. Savage wins by escaping the cage. Warrior goes berserk, attacking Savage and numerous referees. For some bizarre random reason, the Nasty Boys enter to try and restrain Warrior. If anyone knows why the Nasty Boys had any reason to be out there (were they in a stable with Savage that I don’t know about?), write me a letter. Mega matches? I’d say so. The really good bouts - Bret/Barbarian, the 2 Savage matches, and Davey Boy/Haku - more than make up for the lesser bouts. This is a really good release. |
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Post by commond on Jun 2, 2024 5:45:33 GMT -5
It is a weak take. I’ve seen some utterly captivating WWWF stuff. I did enjoy what I saw of the AWA. Like World of Sport, it felt like the “most real” presentation of wrestling to me, making suspension of disbelief easy. Two things I've learned from watching wrestling: 1. If you watch anything for long enough, you'll get conditioned to it. 2. Almost everybody was good at some point. |
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 2, 2024 5:54:16 GMT -5
It is a weak take. I’ve seen some utterly captivating WWWF stuff. I did enjoy what I saw of the AWA. Like World of Sport, it felt like the “most real” presentation of wrestling to me, making suspension of disbelief easy. Two things I've learned from watching wrestling: 1. If you watch anything for long enough, you'll get conditioned to it. 2. Almost everybody was good at some point. Good points. I’d also add, and maybe comics is a good analogy, that there’s good and bad in all wrestling (for the most part). 1980s WWF is a good example. If a person didn’t care for big man brawls, and Hulkamania held no interest for them, technical bouts featuring the likes of Ricky Steamboat, Tito Santana and Bret Hart might hold some appeal. Or, if technical bouts were definitely not your thing, and you much preferred heavyweight superheroes, then Hogan/Bundy was your thing! The only style I don’t much care for is hardcore, although some, such as Raven, brought a believability and psychology to it. I’m not sure I ever met a scaffold match I liked, but for the most part, I like a lot of styles and gimmicks. I feel James saying 70s WWWF is awful is akin to someone saying, “70s Marvel is awful.” Too simplistic. Because while I, personally, can point to 70s Marvel stories I do not care for, I can equally point to a lot of 70s Marvel stories I do care for. Or, it seems as simplistic as when someone says, “There weren’t any good Bronze Age Superman stories.” What, not one? That’s hard to accept. |
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 2, 2024 6:31:41 GMT -5
Found a copy of "Tombstone: The History Of The Undertaker" from 2005 for cheap. Was watching the match between Taker and Yoko at Rumble 94 (which I thought was great, even if it was a little nutty at the end with Taker's resurrection) and I had a thought about it earlier this morning. I'm kind of surprised that Jim Johnston didn't try and make Yoko's theme a cover of Alphaville's Big In Japan
Also, did they ever really say what the urn that Paul Bearer carries contains?
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 2, 2024 7:08:00 GMT -5
Found a copy of "Tombstone: The History Of The Undertaker" from 2005 for cheap. Was watching the match between Taker and Yoko at Rumble 94 (which I thought was great, even if it was a little nutty at the end with Taker's resurrection) and I had a thought about it earlier this morning. I'm kind of surprised that Jim Johnston didn't try and make Yoko's theme a cover of Alphaville's Big In Japan Also, did they ever really say what the urn that Paul Bearer carries contains? My friend, there are some things mankind was not meant to know, so we’d be best not thinking about the eerie powers that the urn contains, although seeing Kama once stole it, and melted it down to use as jewellery, perhaps it’s not too sinister.  Also, there were so many Undertaker tapes and DVDs released, some of which duplicated content. Frustrating! |
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 2, 2024 7:20:19 GMT -5
My friend, there are some things mankind was not meant to know, so we’d be best not thinking about the eerie powers that the urn contains, although seeing Kama once stole it, and melted it down to use as jewellery, perhaps it’s not too sinister. Also, there were so many Undertaker tapes and DVDs released, some of which duplicated content. Frustrating! Well, we did have that green gas come out of the urn and undertakers coffin at the Rumble... And yeah, I agree about the excess amount of Taker tapes and DVDs with the same content. We had like four come into work. Tombstone looked good though, it gives a narration, vingnettes, interviews, and highlights between the big matches. I think my favorite thing about it though was that it came with a small card tucked in the case that had a listing of all the upcoming pay-per-views for 05 and 06 |
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 2, 2024 7:24:42 GMT -5
My friend, there are some things mankind was not meant to know, so we’d be best not thinking about the eerie powers that the urn contains, although seeing Kama once stole it, and melted it down to use as jewellery, perhaps it’s not too sinister. Also, there were so many Undertaker tapes and DVDs released, some of which duplicated content. Frustrating! Well, we did have that green gas come out of the urn and undertakers coffin at the Rumble... And yeah, I agree about the excess amount of Taker tapes and DVDs with the same content. We had like four come into work. Tombstone looked good though, it gives a narration, vingnettes, interviews, and highlights between the big matches. I think my favorite thing about it though was that it came with a small card tucked in the case that had a listing of all the upcoming pay-per-views for 05 and 06 The recycling of content irked me. So many Hogan tapes had Hogan/Andre from WM III. Fine, it was an iconic match, but as a kid, I was like, “Please, give me some Saturday Night’s Main Event content, or something - anything - that hasn’t yet been released on tape.” There was even a Bret Hart tape where *every* match had been featured on other tapes. |
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 2, 2024 7:37:54 GMT -5
The recycling of content irked me. So many Hogan tapes had Hogan/Andre from WM III. Fine, it was an iconic match, but as a kid, I was like, “Please, give me some Saturday Night’s Main Event content, or something - anything - that hasn’t yet been released on tape.” There was even a Bret Hart tape where *every* match had been featured on other tapes. Well, there's a sucker born every minute I suppose  . I'm also rather tired of seeing the formation of the NWO at Bash At The Beach and the Montreal Screwjob that seemingly always has to be brought up on home video releases. Like I get it, it was a pivotal moment in history. It's the same with video gaming YouTubers making absolutely sure that you know that Super Mario Bros 2 was a localization of Doki Doki Panic |
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 2, 2024 7:43:31 GMT -5
The recycling of content irked me. So many Hogan tapes had Hogan/Andre from WM III. Fine, it was an iconic match, but as a kid, I was like, “Please, give me some Saturday Night’s Main Event content, or something - anything - that hasn’t yet been released on tape.” There was even a Bret Hart tape where *every* match had been featured on other tapes. Well, there's a sucker born every minute I suppose . I'm also rather tired of seeing the formation of the NWO at Bash At The Beach and the Montreal Screwjob that seemingly always has to be brought up on home video releases. Like I get it, it was a pivotal moment in history. It's the same with video gaming YouTubers making absolutely sure that you know that Super Mario Bros 2 was a localization of Doki Doki Panic Back in the day, my view was that, as a niche form of entertainment, wrestling fans were already going to know about or own content, so why recycle it? I had WM III on videotape, so yet another tape featuring Hogan/Andre was tedious. The late 90s saw Best of Raw tapes - and some Bret Hart tapes. It seemed the Bret/Austin feud/angles got most of the focus. Fine, but there was SO MUCH ELSE they could have used. There was also, from 1992 to 1996, Year in Review tapes. They just recycled a lot of stuff already on the PPV video releases. They could and should have focused on matches - it wasn’t all squash matches - from WWF Mania, Raw, etc. It just felt so lazy. |
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 3, 2024 7:13:43 GMT -5
As I’m gonna switch to watching some other stuff this week, I thought I’d get in one more old Coliseum tape to revisit. So I chose Hulkamania Forever:  I was a Hulk Hogan fan. You know that. So a Hogan tape was a godsend back in the day. And this one was 2 hours (previous tapes were 1 hour). So how was it? We begin with Hogan vs. Randy Savage from London, England. Very atmospheric, this was a good start to the tape, although I maintain that the best Hogan/Savage match took place in Paris, France, circa 1989. Hogan battles The Genius in a comedy match where the Genius plays for time by dancing and attempting to play with Hogan’s head. Oh, Hogan loses by count-out. The WM VI match featuring Hogan/Warrior is next. It seemed logical to include this match on the tape. It’s a great match which lived up to my every expectation, but it was already on the WM VI tape. And would be shown on other tapes. As a kid, I wanted to see the matches which were not yet available, such as the many Hogan/Piper matches. Next up, Hogan vs. Earthquake from April 1990. Hogan wins via DQ. It’s a good bout (‘Quake was always believable). It’s followed by footage of ‘Quake’s attack on Hogan on The Brother Love Show. Then it’s time for Hogan/Earthquake from SummerSlam ‘90. This is heated, and I remember rooting for Hogan. It’s just a shame we got another inconclusive ending (Hogan wins via count out). I understand Hogan got some pinfall victories at house shows. He should have got a pinfall victory here. Oh, and is it me or was this presented as the true main event of that PPV, whose main event was supposed to be Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude in a cage? We then see Hogan talk about Suburban Commando. I guess in an era before YouTube, it was useful for all those anticipating the film. The penultimate match is Hogan vs. Ted DiBiase from late 1989. It’s clipped. Really, it’s not a match, it’s a glorified angle that merely sets up Zeus’ dominance - and the forthcoming Survivor Series ‘89. At least it ends with a pinfall by Hogan. The final match of the tape, and my match of the tape, sees Hulk Hogan and Tugboat vs. Earthquake and Dino Bravo. It’s not that it’s a technical classic or anything (it isn’t). It’s just that the fans seem very into it, and crowd atmosphere helps. Also, it felt like all four guys were into the feud - and if that is the case here, effort helps! Hogan pins Bravo to get the win for his team. Despite featuring a match already available elsewhere, the good bouts on this tape do outweigh the negatives. I just wish Coliseum Video had been more ambitious back then. I don’t think we even saw a Hogan/Piper singles bout until the advent of DVD (tag matches featuring those two were no doubt featured on some tapes). As the years progressed, the recycling of matches got worse. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 3, 2024 8:04:11 GMT -5
Found a copy of "Tombstone: The History Of The Undertaker" from 2005 for cheap. Was watching the match between Taker and Yoko at Rumble 94 (which I thought was great, even if it was a little nutty at the end with Taker's resurrection) and I had a thought about it earlier this morning. I'm kind of surprised that Jim Johnston didn't try and make Yoko's theme a cover of Alphaville's Big In JapanAlso, did they ever really say what the urn that Paul Bearer carries contains? That's brilliant. I think the WWE should go into their archives and retroactively change Yoko's entrance music in all the old videos. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 3, 2024 8:10:00 GMT -5
As I’m gonna switch to watching some other stuff this week, I thought I’d get in one more old Coliseum tape to revisit. So I chose Hulkamania Forever: I was a Hulk Hogan fan. You know that. So a Hogan tape was a godsend back in the day. And this one was 2 hours (previous tapes were 1 hour). So how was it? We begin with Hogan vs. Randy Savage from London, England. Very atmospheric, this was a good start to the tape, although I maintain that the best Hogan/Savage match took place in Paris, France, circa 1989. Hogan battles The Genius in a comedy match where the Genius plays for time by dancing and attempting to play with Hogan’s head. Oh, Hogan loses by count-out. The WM VI match featuring Hogan/Warrior is next. It seemed logical to include this match on the tape. It’s a great match which lived up to my every expectation, but it was already on the WM VI tape. And would be shown on other tapes. As a kid, I wanted to see the matches which were not yet available, such as the many Hogan/Piper matches. Next up, Hogan vs. Earthquake from April 1990. Hogan wins via DQ. It’s a good bout (‘Quake was always believable). It’s followed by footage of ‘Quake’s attack on Hogan on The Brother Love Show. Then it’s time for Hogan/Earthquake from SummerSlam ‘90. This is heated, and I remember rooting for Hogan. It’s just a shame we got another inconclusive ending (Hogan wins via count out). I understand Hogan got some pinfall victories at house shows. He should have got a pinfall victory here. Oh, and is it me or was this presented as the true main event of that PPV, whose main event was supposed to be Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude in a cage? We then see Hogan talk about Suburban Commando. I guess in an era before YouTube, it was useful for all those anticipating the film. The penultimate match is Hogan vs. Ted DiBiase from late 1989. It’s clipped. Really, it’s not a match, it’s a glorified angle that merely sets up Zeus’ dominance - and the forthcoming Survivor Series ‘89. At least it ends with a pinfall by Hogan. The final match of the tape, and my match of the tape, sees Hulk Hogan and Tugboat vs. Earthquake and Dino Bravo. It’s not that it’s a technical classic or anything (it isn’t). It’s just that the fans seem very into it, and crowd atmosphere helps. Also, it felt like all four guys were into the feud - and if that is the case here, effort helps! Hogan pins Bravo to get the win for his team. Despite featuring a match already available elsewhere, the good bouts on this tape do outweigh the negatives. I just wish Coliseum Video had been more ambitious back then. I don’t think we even saw a Hogan/Piper singles bout until the advent of DVD (tag matches featuring those two were no doubt featured on some tapes). As the years progressed, the recycling of matches got worse. Is that Genius match the one where Mr. Perfect interfered? I love that match. I'm a big Genius fan and it's always fun to see Hogan lose (though I liked him well enough back in the day) though I'm shocked that they included that on this tape. I agree that Hogan/Earthquake was treated as the main event at Summerslam '90/ That's Hogan's ego for you. I'm shocked that there's not more Hogan/Piper content on these old tapes. What were they thinking? |
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 3, 2024 8:20:49 GMT -5
Yep, Mr. Perfect showed up and interfered.  Yeah, I’m gonna travel back in time and speak to a WWF/Coliseum Video person. It got on my nerves. Some argued that there was a limited pot of matches to feature due to the squash match nature of the era, but that’s not entirely accurate. A Hogan tape could have given us a Hogan/Piper solo match. Or the match he had with Terry Funk on SNME. For years, I could only see photos and read about such matches. Oh, and instead of “recycling” WM III’s Hogan/Andre bout, Coliseum Video could have given us UK fans the Hogan/Andre Shea Stadium match (which did make it to DVD in 2002, which is when I saw it). Thing is, effort was made with the advent of DVD. A 2002 Hogan DVD release featured, among other bouts, Hogan/DiBiase from 1979, Hogan/Big John Studd from Puerto Rico, etc. Good to see them finally, but why not feature those during the videotape era? I did write letters (which were never published) about this. What seemed doubly lazy was how most fans would have been buying a lot of the tapes anyway. Who’d have been buying Hogan tapes? Hogan fans! What good was yet another “recycling” of Hogan/Andre from WM III when chances are us fans *already* owned that match, especially if we had the WM III tape? I’ll get to the Razor Ramon tape (1994) in due course. That was solid, but, again, it featured Shawn/Razor from WM X (which for those of us who already owned the WM X tape was useless) and Ramon/IRS from Royal Rumble ‘94 (which…well, you get the picture, my friend). Thing is, tapes weren’t cheap, and once I was old enough, I had to pay for them myself. £14.99 for a tape which recycles matches did piss me off at times.  |
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. I'm also rather tired of seeing the formation of the NWO at Bash At The Beach and the Montreal Screwjob that seemingly always has to be brought up on home video releases. Like I get it, it was a pivotal moment in history. It's the same with video gaming YouTubers making absolutely sure that you know that Super Mario Bros 2 was a localization of Doki Doki Panic
