The Muhammad Hassan Wrestling Thread

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I used to mark the hell out for the old SNME intro and promos. I loved the Honky Tonk Man one after he pushed Elizabeth down to blast Savage with the guitar - I'll never forget Jesse Ventura saying what Honky did "wasn't that badddddd".

[media]http://youtube.com/watch?v=NZJ24jZZKjo[/media]

Thanks for the birthday wishes, Matt.
 
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[quote name='JaytheGamefan']Karen's Angle debuts with a wacky porno video filter over everything (including photos), while Kaz acts emo and shit. Nothing about him addressing his "release", as TNA's advertised for days, yet. Maybe it'll be in part 2 - yes, Kaz's character is apparently interesting enough to warrant a multi-part interview.

According to DW, Matt Morgan made the jobber join his mile high club...okay... Great promo from the Guns - their best one yet in TNA, especially in the case of Sabin.[/QUOTE]

Have they ever done an interview segment that wasn't spread out over like 3 parts? They've done at least 2 separate such interviews with Sting.

And in case you didn't see it earlier in the thread, happy birthday, JJSP! I guess since you're at home, you're of the same school of thought as I am that birthdays aren't really worth going out and celebrating this far along in life. Mine's next Wednesday, and I'm just following my usual Wednesday routine of going to the gym and playing some video games. Maybe I'll have a few drinks while gaming.
 
I think they've always spread the interviews out over a few weeks, but that leads to them being spread too thin each week instead of just having one segment that focuses on the wrestler. When WWE did this in '97, they were used to make stars like Mankind, or launch big angles like Mr. McMahon. TNA's done a billion of these things, and the most significant thing they've brought to TNA TV is Goldust French kissing a rat. Yay, Taylor Wilde has just set TWO IMPACT ZONE RECORDS! I loved that Daivari promo - not fond of the new name, but the revamped gimmick is great so fa, as it turns the wrestling stereotype of a wrestling Arab-American on its ear. The Dutt "hospital" thing was stupid, but funny, while. Ray shaking his ass during his entrance was absolutely hilarious.
 
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Tenay: "ODB is gnawing on a turky leg!"
West: "And why wouldn't she?"

Random and hilarious.

But WHAT THE fuck, TNA? Velvet Sky is not only the most attractive, but probably the most talented of all your female wrestlers. So what do you do? Completely bury her. I guess it was supposed to put over Taylor, but it just made me want to hate her even though it wasn't her decision. Why wouldn't they have just done that third match and had taylor get the clean pin?

Also, good to see Daivari in TNA full time. I guess the WWE trademarked Daivari's name (although why couldn't he used his real name of Shawn daivari?) but Abdul Bashir has a nice ring to it.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']
And in case you didn't see it earlier in the thread, happy birthday, JJSP! I guess since you're at home, you're of the same school of thought as I am that birthdays aren't really worth going out and celebrating this far along in life. Mine's next Wednesday, and I'm just following my usual Wednesday routine of going to the gym and playing some video games. Maybe I'll have a few drinks while gaming.[/QUOTE]
I saw it, but for some reason my post was shortened - there were three videos instead of one and a thanks. :)

Pretty much spot-on with the birthday assumptions. I celebrated this morning with 5 hours of anthropology, lunch at Red Robin, returning two games to GS, and now I'm sitting on my ass. I'm off all day tomorrow, so the girlfriend and I are headed beachward for the day. I am picking up the PWG DVD set this weekend, but I probably won't get around to actually watching it because I've got an anthro presentation on Monday.

Screw you, summer classes.
 
Daivari just used the "Daivari" moniker in TNA, so it's not a case of WWE trademarking it. More likely, it's a case of TNA deciding to give a wrestler a new name that they've trademarked once they've signed, just like they did with Velvet Sky, Angelina Love, Awesome Kong, and Senshi before.

The stuff they did with Wilde didn't make me like her - she won with two fluke wins and a partner-caused DQ. WOW, WHAT A CHAMPION!
 
[quote name='Matt Young']
Also, good to see Daivari in TNA full time. I guess the WWE trademarked Daivari's name (although why couldn't he used his real name of Shawn daivari?) but Abdul Bashir has a nice ring to it.[/quote]

From that promo, it looks like TNA is gonna try to turn him into Muhammad Hassan 2.0.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']I seem to recall the very first SNME that was a year or so ago when it was first brought back to NBC, at the beginning I marked out like a kid because they had some generic "pulse" background stock music playing while the wrestlers introduced themselves and their feuds - all before the opening credits.[/QUOTE]Haha YES, that was great. It was also interesting to hear the commentators focusing more on the backstories of wrestlers... it's like they went out of their way to "introduce" characters for the audience they were getting with the different time slot.
 
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[quote name='JJSP']I used to mark the hell out for the old SNME intro and promos. I loved the Honky Tonk Man one after he pushed Elizabeth down to blast Savage with the guitar - I'll never forget Jesse Ventura saying what Honky did "wasn't that badddddd".[media]http://youtube.com/watch?v=NZJ24jZZKjo[/media][/QUOTE]What was that song in the intro? I assumed it was some WWF production music at first, but I could swear it was a song from some known '80s band.
 
That video package of Daivari gave me flashbacks of 2004/2005, except this guy went from Hassan's mouthpiece to a cruiserweight version of Hassan.

Edit: Purple Flames beat me to it.
 
Yet another far too busy show this week, with way too much going on for the first half hour or so, and nothing really being given the time needed to properly develop. The Kaz segment on Karen's Angle is a good example, as they continued to break these things up into multiple parts, and as a result, spread the story too thin - now if they recapped the videos every week, that wouldn't be so bad, but they usually just assume that everyone watching has no only seen the prior video(s), but that they remember every little thing mentioned in them. The Karen's Angle segment was every Tenay sitdown interview ever, only without a 50 year old making wacky faces, and with a nicer-looking set, and a weird porno-esque video filter put over everything from the interview itself to the photos featured in it.

They touched on some things that COULD be compelling (like Kaz looking to Bret as an inspiration), but as usual, didn't delve into the topics enough to make the segment compelling. When the WWF did these kinds of things a decade+ ago, they did that, and it helped cement things like the Mr. McMahon character - TNA's imitation of these videos is hurt by no one on the show having the credibility of a Jim Ross to make you believe that what's being said is true, by TNA playing horribly sappy music at odd times during them, and really just not doing enough to make them compelling.

TNA did a nice job of having the Guns cut a somewhat serious promo for a change, although it was undermined by their silly Kabal-esque headgear and a wacky reference to Zach Morris and , they did at least treat the strap match as something important, which actually worked at making me want to see it more, so the promo succeeded. Then the Guns celebrated their newest push by jobbing. The match with Beer Money was incredibly contrived, with far too many tandem moves being done for my liking, but it at least didn't have a dull moment in it. Plenty of weird ones though, like Jackie somehow being locked in the row boat/star spot.

Matt Morgan's squash this week saw him debut a new neck snap over the top rope move that looked good, and he showed some fire. None of these squashes are really working at making him live up to all the things they said about him in the seemingly endless series of Rough Cut videos, but he did bust out yet another 'Taker specialty this week - the apron leg drop, which, like the Old School he used a couple of weeks ago, at least plays into the parts of the videos focusing on how agile he is. DW saying that Morgan made the jobber join his mile high club during his finisher was quite bizarre - just what was Morgan doing to the poor guy in the Hellevator?

The knockouts title matches were...something. Great, Taylor Wilde's broken TWO IMPACT ZONE RECORDS! So what? Why should anyone care about her character right now, and what exactly is her character? She's just a generic face right now, and is a huge step down from past knockouts champions. She didn't really come out any better after her three matches with Sky, and neither did either of the Beautiful People, so that whole thing just served to be a huge waste of TV time with little to show for it.

The main event was perfectly acceptable, it wasn't memorable to me aside from Ray dancing during his entrance, but nothing was really wrong with the match. It was just every table match ever, only with the ref not seeing seemingly half of the eliminations, and having so many of them occur with guys throwing themselves through tables, which is something they should've clarified beforehand, as tables match have been known to only have eliminations count when someone is purposely thrown through a table by someone else. Then again, since TNA didn't bother to state whether the strap match was a pinfall match or a "touch all 4 corners to win) match, I'm not shocked, just disappointed that TNA continued their trend of not adequately explaining the rules to a gimmick match.

Once again the world title program came off as secondary, with Joe and Booker only taking up a small part of the first hour of the show, and then the signing wasn't mentioned again until about 10 minutes before the show ended with Mike saying "WHEN WE COME BACK, THE CONTRACT SIGNING...", which I'd completely forgotten about, as the main event was over and they hadn't bothered to mention the signing during it.

Okay mic work during this segment, but I'm not a fan of this Sting angle - Sting turning heel was compelling in 1996 because of how it was done, this isn't being done anywhere near as well as that, and this whole angle is working so well that Booker T, the heel, is being cheered far more than either of the faces. Given how badly Joe's reign has bombed, I wouldn't mind seeing Booker win the six sides of steel TLC match (or whatever the hell it's going to end up being by the time the PPV actually happens), but since he's spending the month before the show with the belt, that won't be happening.

There was some enjoyable stuff on this show, like the excellent Daivari video, which did a good job of playing to the usual Arab-American wrestling stereotype gimmick while going far beyond that and showing that Daivari is very well-to-do thanks to his hard work in America. I'm not fond of the new TNA'd name for him, but at least they came up with a logical reason for it as opposed to just giving him a new new without any explanation.

The stuff with the Prince Justice League of Idiots was what it was - stupid, and full of piss and somewhat racist jokes. The one good thing I got out of this was Super Eric's outfit, which now looks professionally-made and makes this minor league gimmick look slightly less minor league. The stuff with Val and Sonjay was also wacky, but at least featured some comedy with JB pointing out logic flaws and Val yelling at him for not having a heart. None of this wanted to make me want to see Sonjay face Lethal or marry Val, but it was slightly amusing.

Quotes for the Now You See Him, Now You Don't edition of Impact -
Tenay - LOOK OUT, DEVINE INTERVENTION IS COMING!
DW - CORY CHAVIS JUST JOINED MATT MORGAN’S MILE HIGH CLUB!
Tenay - ODB IS GNAWING ON A TURKEY LEG!
DW - AND WHY WOULDN’T SHE!?
Tenay - FACE FULL OF TURKEY FOR ANGELINA LOVE!
DW - THAT HAS TO BE THE FIRST TIME I’VE EVER HEARD THAT EXPRESSION ON TNA!
DW - The key to a table match is to discombobulate your opponent so much that he doesn’t realize you’re slamming him into a table or putting him through one!

Tenay - WE OPEN IMPACT WITH THE TNA WORLD CHAMPION, SAMOA JOE MAKING HIS ENTRANCE THROUGH THE CROWD - THAT SYMBOLIZES HIS BOND WITH THE FANS!
DW - YOU CAN’T HELP BUT NOTICE THAT HE’S WALKING INTO THE RING WITH NASH INTO THE SIX SIDES OF STEEL! WHAT’S GOING ON!? WE’LL FIND OUT LATER!
Joe - Fans, Booker T, I come here with a proposition. Let’s throw out the refs, the rules, and Booker T, at Hard Justice, it’s you and me in the six sides of steel…! (Booker comes out)
Booker - I can’t believe you, man. I’m sitting in the back, minding my own business, sitting on the SO-FA with my lovely wife, sipping on some of the best champagne because you know Booker T only gets THE BEST, and here you are flapping your fat ass gums, talking about me, talking ‘bout Hard Justice! Last time I saw you, you was scaring the hell out of my wife! My daddy told me that when a man does that, it shows how scared he really is. Tell ‘em Kev! You want me at Hard Justice, I used to be a drum major, so let’s add some more instruments to this party - how about tables, how ‘bout ladders, how ‘bout chairs!? I’ll have a contract ready, will you be ready to sign it? Joe, be very afraid of the dark!
DW - BE VERY AFRAID OF THE DARK, DOES THAT MEAN WE’LL SEE STING TONIGHT!?
Tenay - TO THE BACK WITH AJ STYLES, RHINO, AND CHRISTIAN CAGE!
Styles - I’ve been hearing about this turn for 2 weeks, and Sting’s one of the reasons I got into this business. I don’t know why he beat up Joe…
Cage - If we see Sting, he’s the FIRST guy we’ll put through a table! This isn’t about wrestling, AJ!
Tenay - THAT PYRO GETS ERIC YOUNG EVERY TIME, BUT HE’S STILL IN DENIAL ABOUT THE ALTER EGO SUPERHERO, SUPER ERIC!
DW - Of course, last week, Super Eric connected with the Prince Justice Brotherhood, and they found themselves on the wrong end of a Beer Money beating!
DW - CONSEC CREED HITS THE CREED-DT! HE’S JUST GOT THAT IT FACTOR!
Tenay - Tonight, the Guns are going to accept the challenge of Beer Money in a strap match!
Tenay - LOOK OUT, DEVINE INTERVENTION IS COMING!
Tenay - OH LOOK AT THIS, JIMMY RAVE’S ATTACKING CREED AFTER THE MATCH!
Tenay - HERE COMES ABYSS! WE’VE SEEN THIS PATTERN DEVELOP WHENEVER SOMEONE IS IN PERIL! (Abyss does pyro pose and waits for his pyro to fire, then helps Creed)
BRD - You know something, JB, you have a pretty mouth. There is no Santa Claus, OJ is innocent, and Sting is with us! He’s a scumbag like me, Devon, and the biggest scumbag of all, Kurt Angle!
Devon - My brother may not have a lot of credibility, but I don’t lie - TONIGHT, STING WILL SHOW UP TONIGHT! STAY DOWN!
Angle - SHUT UP! AJ, there are no heroes in this world, only bad guys, like me and my new best friends. When I put you through that table, all I’m gonna think about is you being in my bed with my wife!
DW - CORY CHAVIS JUST JOINED MATT MORGAN’S MILE HIGH CLUB!
Sabin - Beer Money - you’ve got a team name that sounds like a direct-to-DVD movie starring Zach Morris.
Shelley - We are from Detroit, known as the murder city. Tonight, we have just one objective - point and shoot. We are the greatest tag team in pro wrestling - period.
Curry Man - Rauren, I’m on rookout.
Shark Boy - We need to come up with a catchphrase - something like shell yeah.
Super Eric - AMPHIBIAN, SPICE MAN, WE NEED TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING! I’ve got it - we come in peace, they leave in pieces!
Curry Man - We come in piss.
Shark Boy - Peace, not piss.
Curry Man - Yes, piss, piss.
DW - THEY PUT PULLED THE ROPE WHERE IT’LL REALLY GIVE ‘EM A ROPE BURN IF YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN!
(as Roode chokes Sabin with the strap)DW - OH YOU CAN HEAR SABIN STRUGGLING TO BREATHE!
DW - ALEX SHELLEY’S GETTING IT FROM BOTH GUYS AND THERE’S THAT LOUD THUD SOUND!
(after losing in 5 seconds)Sky - I WASN’T READY - I DIDN’T HEAR A BELL!
Tenay - SHE’S FULL OF EXCUSES! YOU TALK ABOUT REVISING HISTORY!? SHE JUST BEAT HER IN A NEW IMPACT ZONE RECORD - FIVE SECONDS!
Penzer - YET ANOTHER NEW IMPACT ZONE RECORD - 2 FALLS IN 25 SECONDS!
Love - WE SHOULD BE KNOCKOUTS CHAMPION, NOT YOU!
Tenay - HOW DO YOU FIGURE!? YOU JUST GOT BEAT TWICE IN 25 SECONDS!!
Tenay - BOY, YOU JUST GOTTA LOVE THIS NEVER SAY DIE ATTITUDE OF TAYLOR WILDE!
Tenay - UH OH, HERE COMES THE BROWN PAPER BAG INTO PLAY!
Tenay - ODB IS GNAWING ON A TURKEY LEG!
DW - AND WHY WOULDN’T SHE!?
Tenay - FACE FULL OF TURKEY FOR ANGELINA LOVE!
DW - THAT HAS TO BE THE FIRST TIME I’VE EVER HEARD THAT EXPRESSION ON TNA!
Teney - Formerly known as Daivari, he’s now asked us to call him by his royal Arabic name - Sheik Bashir Abdul!
DW - Earlier, JB checked on the condition of the Guru at…the hospital?
Dutt - Val, Lethal was like a savage train, and my head was the first stop.
Val - Sonjay, you’re delusional.
Dutt - Val, I’ve been in a coma for 3 days, and I’ve been thinking about you the entire time, Val.
JB - How can he thinking about you if he’s in a coma?
Val - HAVE SOME COMPASSION!
DW - The key to a table match is to discombobulate your opponent so much that he doesn’t realize you’re slamming him into a table or putting him through one!
Tenay - At Victory Road, Samoa Joe CROSSED THE LINE!
Booker - I see I got my wife here with me, and that you have your…
Tenay - BOY YOU CAN TELL BY THE LOOK ON NASH’S FACE “DON’T EVEN GO THERE, BOOKER!” (crowd chants Booker T loudly)
Booker - You can’t beat me, Joe. This contract has a few stipulations, Joe. I’ve added just a few instruments to his party - tables, ladders, chairs, anything to mess you up, man! So I’m gonna sign this contract, Joe, but first, I want you to axe your little buddy to get his punk ass outta here!
DW - I’ve never heard Nash called little buddy, let alone a punk ass!
Joe - LOOK AT ME, PUNK! Since I want the man carrying my belt to be comfortable, I’ll send Nash to the back…if you send your wench to the back.
Booker - What? You scared of her? Fine, I’ll send her to the back. Now, if you want to do the same, go right ahead, Joe.
Joe - I would, but I heard your wife’s not a good kisser.
Tenay - ADVANTAGE, SAMOA JOE! AND NASH AGREES! (crowd chants Booker’s name louder, leading to a dueling Joe-Booker chant)
(Sting’s theme hits)Tenay - HE’S HERE! HE’S HERE! STING’S DOWN! WHY STING WHY!?

Screens -






Booker T belongs to the city...


...he belongs to the night...






STING IS NOT THE BAT-A-MAN!

More screens -










What the fuck is a six sides of steel TLC match?











 
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I just realized that today is July 24th. What a coincidence that he's repackaged exactly three years after GAB '05.
 
Damn, it really has been 3 years hasn't it?

Seems like just yesterday I watched Taker "murder" him live in person :p

Buffalo needs more PPVs. I mean we had the reputation of being one of the bigger wrestling markets, but WWE always shits on us.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']I'm more imaging announcer-era Vince McMahon voice saying something like "TA-NIIIIGHT!!!!! in the annual Royal Rumble, 30 SOOPERSTARS compete...including - Duke the DOMPSTER Droese, The BarBARRRIAN, EARTHQUAKE!, Doug Gilbert, and THE OOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLTIMATE WARRRRRRRIOR!"[/QUOTE]
Yessir...every wrestler had 29 of something for the other competitors - Tugboat had 29 life preservers, Earthquake had 29 aftershocks, Undertaker had 29 caskets, etc.

Doug Gilbert has my favorite Royal Rumble entrance ever. Vince is exploding on the mic "WHO IS GOING TO BE NEXT??!!" or whatever...then some generic hick music starts up, out walks this pasty-looking nobody, and Hennig on commentary says "...who's that?"

I seem to recall the very first SNME that was a year or so ago when it was first brought back to NBC, at the beginning I marked out like a kid because they had some generic "pulse" background stock music playing while the wrestlers introduced themselves and their feuds - all before the opening credits.
Click to expand...

I was at that one in person (Bradshaw ripping on Detroit's mayor and getting boisterously cheered was one of my favorite live event moments ever) and I was depressed to see no one in my vicinity got those promos...with little kids it was understandable, but even the older fans just kind of shrugged at it. That was pretty awesome though, I just wish they had the personalized backgrounds for each wrestler like they used to.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']Haha YES, that was great. It was also interesting to hear the commentators focusing more on the backstories of wrestlers... it's like they went out of their way to "introduce" characters for the audience they were getting with the different time slot.[/QUOTE]

That's exactly what they were doing.

And shame on you for not knowing Animotion offhand. Really makes me feel ancient.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']I just wish they had the personalized backgrounds for each wrestler like they used to.[/QUOTE]

YES! YES! A THOUSAND TIMES YES!

Like Bret Hart's with the lil' cute wraparound sunglasses, or Hacksaw's with the 2x4...YEAH!

Hell, I wish they just did background interviews and pretapes more often. In-ring promos and interviews take far too long, are far too cliche in this day and age, are no longer exciting, and are just dead in the water, man. Both shows start off on Monday and Thursday with 15-20 minute segments that simply lead to the main event of the night or the PPV feud for the next 3-4 weeks. That can be done in 60-120 seconds much more effectively. I hate modern wrestling promos.
 
Is Maffew really only doing 50 episodes of Botchamania?

*cries*

They need to export the Toronto fans into the Hammerstein Ballroom. Just imagine the fun that would ensue with that mix of fans.

Guess the theme! Kid Kash, Billy Kidman, and Sabu. Time's up! The answer? Spot-monkeys! Wee!
 
[quote name='lmz00']Just out of curiosity, how old are you people?[/QUOTE]

I knew that would come up once SNME memories started flowin'.

I'm 29.

[quote name='mykevermin']Like Bret Hart's with the lil' cute wraparound sunglasses, or Hacksaw's with the 2x4...YEAH![/QUOTE]

Here's a few I tracked down before I got tired of taking screencaps...


Ok, we've got a Mexican guy...let's throw up a sun with a sombrero on it. Then we sit back and profit.
142a9gw.jpg


His name is "Hulkamania?"
11lgztd.jpg


Looks like an awesome band
2m7c8ps.jpg


More than one person/team in the promo = GENERIC BACKDROP FOR YOU
13zbfd5.jpg


No wrap-around shades for the lesser half of the team? Just write the guy's name in pink!
25ozxux.jpg


And this has nothing to do with anything, but it rules:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Ho2f0Z5YA
 
SD was way better than I expected tonight - it started off great with the MVP-Jeff Hardy segment, with Jeff once again stating that the fans love him for being honest while still never stating why he was suspended, and Jeff bringing up that MVP of all people should also appreciate being given a second chance. It was a good move that allowed Jeff to show that he can be good in the mic, while also allowing MVP, one of the best talkers in the company, to carry the segment.

The R-Truth video was fantastic - in about a minute, they concisely established his character as having a tough upbringing, who has seen everything from drug use to murder, as a man who made mistakes that resulted in jail time, and as someone who is doing his best now to atone for his past mistakes. They did more to establish his character in a single minute-long vignette than TNA did over the course of over half a decade, and if they want to, they can use the prison term to explain why Killings hasn't been in WWE in so long (if they choose to acknowledge his past time in the company). I loved this thing, and don't mind the R-Truth name after watching it, as it seems to tie into his past on the streets and also ties into his catchphrase.

Shelton was made to look like a major star tonight - it's a shame they didn't build him up this well right before he won title, had they done that, perhaps fans would've given a shit when he won it, but they at least gave it an honest effort tonight. I liked J.R. stating that 11 Hall of Famers held the same belt as Shelton, and stating that only a "handful" of guys won the IC and U.S. belts was more impressive-sounding than the "21 guys have held the IC and U.S. titles" line that was used on the PPV. The pre-match promo was perfectly fine, and didn't expose Shelton's weaknesses on the mic that have shown from time to time since he started this "gold standard" push.

The battle royal was fairly short, but wasn't bad - the crowd went absolutely ballistic when Jeff got rid of Show, but it really seemed like they made a big mistake by having Khali win as the crowd simply didn't care about him winning after getting so excited when Jeff got rid of Show and hit the swanton on Khali. Khali won, and the crowd just deflated.

Despite that, I think they did about as good a job as could be expected in rebuilding Khali tonight - he triumphed over some of SD's biggest stars and HHH coming out after the win made this match seem at least somewhat important, even though they don't have any chemistry together. Their match could be be horrible, but it's been shown that Khali can be carried to acceptable-to-good matches by guys like Cena, Finlay, and HBK, so HHH certainly should be able to do the same with him at the PPV, and with this being one of the biggest PPVs of the year (well, theoretically), I expect HHH to have his working boots on for this one.

After last week's slight mis-step with Kozlov showing weakness against Show, they did a good job also rebuilding him against Richards, whose health woes and past with Kozlov they played off to build interest in the match, while also stating that he issued this challenge specifically to Kozlov after being trounced by him in the past. I found this to be interesting, as it could be used to have guys from Raw come to SD specifically to challenge the Moscow Mauler and allow him to face stiffer competition as he stated in the J.R.-translated post-match promo. This was a short, but very effective match on a few levels.

Similarly, Kendrick's pre-match promo and match further established his character. THE Brian Kendrick is an arrogant punk with backup that he thinks he needs because he's a mega-star - it's a classic heel character and he's playing it well. He's also showing himself to be better on the mic as a singles star than I expected, and while the match itself wasn't very special, it was worth watching to see J.R. and Foley tie his in-ring actions in with his character and hear J.R. state that he re-watched SmackDown just to see who Kendrick reminded him of - his late friend, Brian Pillman, with Foley reiterating that Kendrick does have a bit of the Loose Cannon in him. I enjoyed hearing Pillman's name brought up in 2008, and it's certainly a more attainable goal to have him try to live up to Pillman's accomplishment's than HBK's, which they seemed to be building to last week. Yet another very effective match, and the pre-match promo was good, and had some unintentional comedy with him mentioning his big man ZEKE, which reminded me of the episode of Fresh Prince with Uncle Phil being called Zeke by his mother when he was ashamed of his past as a farmer.

The whole show-closing thing with Edge sucking up to Vickie, only to be scorned by his wife, who revealed what seemingly everyone in the building wanted to hear - that she'd reinstated the Undertaker, and that he'll face Edge in a Cell - given how much Foley added to Edge's match with 'Taker at Backlash just by stating that 'Taker was showing signs of the same vicious man who brutalized him, I expect great things from Foley on commentary during the Cell match, which became one of the most legendary matches in history based on the horrific things 'Taker did to Foley.

The big reveal here was a case of something being aided greatly by being predictable, as it was easy to tell what was going to happen as Edge continued to stick his foot in his mouth with each passing sentence, and it just made the payoff even greater, as he was constantly flustered verbally and appeared to be scared half to death when she revealed that 'Taker was back. This all ruled, and was made even better when Vickie cackled with glee at her announcement. Very enjoyable show that did a good job of building up Summerslam, which is happening in a mere three weeks. Yikes.

Quotes -
(on set)MVP - Don’t act like it’s not luxurious ‘cuz you know it is! I may not be a Pimp Named Slickback, but my guest tonight is a controversial one - his name makes men and women scream like little kids. Some call him the charismatic enigma, but you all know him as Jeff Hardy!
J.R. - I think charismatic enigma is a good description for the ULTIMATE THRILL SEEKER!
MVP - First things first, Jeff, let me welcome you to SmackDown! And let me welcome you to the VIP Lounge ‘cuz I know they’re not doing something like this on Raw - welcome to the big leagues, brotha. Tonight, you’ll be in the block party of the summer battle royal, with Kennedy, Umaga, and the Big Show for an opportunity to face HHH at Summerslam. Unfortunately for you, the odds-on favorite is yours truly. Woo!
Hardy - You, the odds-on favorite? I haven’t seen you win a match since you lost the U.S. title to my brother.
MVP - Hey, this has to be a huge year for you - you’re on the cover of this month’s WWE Magazine AND you’re in the VIP Lounge with me! You are known for many things - being a risk taker, making death-defying risks, some have resulted in big successes, and some have resulted in huge failures.
Hardy - Listen man, I had a 60 day suspension, and I think people appreciate that I was honest!
MVP - And you also lost your IC title, and you also had your house, well, not really your house, but your trailer, burned down. How was that?
Hardy - Very traumatic, you always hear about it, but never expect it to happen to you.
MVP - What we need to talk about are your risk-taking behaviors, and I can tell that you’re wrestling with some guilt - your behavior cost you the life of your homie, your dog, what’s his name?
Hardy - Jack.
MVP - You feel responsible for his death because it’s YOUR fault.
Hardy - So not only are you a jerk, you’re a psychiatrist?
MVP - Nah brah, but I can tell that you are RUINING YOUR CAREER with your behavior, Jeffrey! YOU ARE RECKLESS, and you are a detriment to everyone around you! It’s because of that that you will never, EVER BE WWE CHAMPION! I don’t believe that “I will never be suspended again”.
Hardy - I won’t be, I’LL BE RELEASED!
MVP - Fine, if you throw your career away, it’ll be your fault. You’re a grown man and you need to accept responsibility for your actions! This whole thing has to be burning inside you.
Hardy - I’m thankful for a second chance, and if anyone should be thankful for a second chance, IT’S YOU! You’re right, this is burning inside…(he hits MVP with the mic)
Shelton - Last Sunday, I did exactly what I said I was gonna do - because last Sunday, I hit the MOTHERLODE when I liberated the U.S. title from Matt Hardy. So now, not only am I THE gold standard in the WWE, I am also the United States…THE NEW UNITED STATES CHAMPION! And like I said time and time and time again - THERE AIN’T NO STOPPIN’ ME NOW!
J.R. - 11 WWE Hall of Famers have held U.S. gold, and Shelton’s one of a handful of athletes to hold both the IC and U.S. titles.
Foley - Shelton got a great spark to reignite his career on Sunday!
Foley - Shelton’s mean streak has been shown even against me! He yelled at me because he didn’t want to be compared to anymore washed up baseball players, because he is THE GOLD STANDARD.
J.R. - Wrestling Shelton is about as dangerous as going out shooting with the vice president! Either way, you’re liable to be taken down hard!
J.R. - Let’s see if the biscuits and gravy train can roll on here on SmackDown!
J.R. - Festus is tipping the ole’ toledos, as Mean Gene would say, at over 300 pounds.
J.R. - A very unrefined catch as catch can specialist is Festus.
J.R. - HAIL TO THE BARBECUE, FESTUS HAS WON!
J.R. - Mick, you know Stevie Richards better than I do, but I do admire Stevie for his courage and for making this challenge in his hometown!
J.R. - Kozlov is undefeated, and that’s quite an accomplishment in this organization.
Foley - We’ve talked about how sambo allows for Kozlov to pick which discipline he wants to, and now he’s got the Fujiwara armbar, using the Japanese influence - this could be a submission move!
J.R. - It is a submission move, in fact…
Foley - Kozlov has been bred for destruction!
J.R. - There’s a one count, and how many times have we reacted with jubilation when that happens against Kozlov?
J.R. - We are still awaiting the arrival of our GM, Vickie Guerrero, making her first appearance after being speared by her husband Edge at he Great American Bash.
J.R. - Kennedy could win this battle royal and not only get a shot at HHH at Summerslam, but also give fans from Green Bay something to talk about aside from Brett Favre.
Kennedy - EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT I’M FROM GREEN BAY, BUT TONIGHT I GET TO PROVE WHY I AM THE BIGGEST BLOCKBUSTER OF THE SUMMER RIGHT HERE IN THE CITY OF LOVE! I AM MISTER!!! MISTER!!!! MISTER!!!! KENNEDDDYYYY!
J.R. - NOW YOU’VE GOT SOME BIG MEAT ON THE HOOK - THE BIG SHOW AND THE GREAT KHALI GOING AT IT! HEADBUTTS!
(after Show is eliminated)Foley- AND THEN THERE WERE TWO, J.R.!
J.R. - I think there’s three!
Foley - Right you are, Jeff Hardy’s still in!
J.R. -JEFF HARDY HAS ELIMINATED THE BIG SHOW! I DON’T BELIEVE MY EYES! (crowd goes wild) CAN JEFF HARDY LIVE THE DREAM!? SWANTON BOMB!!!
Foley - THERE’S A BUZZ IN THE AIR IN PHILADELPHIA, THE FANS CERTAINLY HOPE SO, J.R.!
(as HHH paces around the ring)J.R. - No matter what angle the Game looks at Khali, he’ll still be seven foot two and over 400 pounds!
Killings - This is where I grew up (the ghetto), with drugs, violence, and even murder. I took what I thought was the easy route, and I paid for my mistakes (I went to prison). Now, I’m responsible for my decisions - and that’s the truth!
J.R. - For the first time in 52 years, the WWE created a new women’s championship - comparable to the women’s title, the divas title!
J.R. - Malyse…
Foley - There ya go…
J.R. - I’m getting it.
Foley - I know a little something about wearing the same ring attire week after week - I’ve been wearing red and black flannel for 27 years.
J.R. - Is that dry cleanable? Nonetheless…
Foley - Malyse is a nasty, naughty girl - she reminds me of every girl who ever did me wrong in high school.
Foley - While we were gossiping about Christy Brinkley, Michelle McCool locked in the heel hook!
(after Bam talks with Edge)J.R. - It’s the old saying - telephone, telegraph, tell a wrestler.
J.R. - Last week, I said Kendrick reminded me of someone I couldn’t put my finger on - I rewatched the show, and found that he reminds me of the late Brian Pillman.
Foley - Yes, he does have a bit of the Loose Cannon in him.
Kendrick - I don’t know if you people realize how privileged you all are! You’re witnessing the smartest, most well-trained wrestler in all of WWE! You can tell your kids and grandkids that you got to see THE Brian Kendrick. I looked around to find the biggest, baddest brother around - EZEKIAL! If any of you are delusional enough to try and touch greatness, you’ll have to deal with MY MAN ZEKE!
J.R. - You know, Mick, I think you might be right about him?.
Foley - What? That he’s a jerk?
J.R. - Yes, as it turns out, just because someone sprints to the ring it doesn’t mean he’s a nice guy.
Foley - Did he announce himself as THE Brian Kendrick?
J.R. - I believe you’re right. There’s Ezekial. Mr. Ezekial.
Foley - I wonder if it’s anything like THE TAZZ on ECW?
J.R. - I’ve been told that that move (the Sliced Bread number 2) is called THE Kendrick.
Edge - I wanted to apologize to my wife, Victoria, publicly. My baby, Vickie. I didn’t just to apologize in public, I wanted to apologize face-to-face. Vickie, please come out here. (fans boo, Vickie comes out, Edge kneels in front of her in the ring) Vickie, please here me out - I know that what I did was horrible. I mean, it was really, really horrible! I understand if you can’t find it in your heart to forgive me, but please just hear me out, what that video didn’t show was how many times I tried to say no! (fans boo loudly) Vickie, she was so aggressive! She just kept coming onto me! She wouldn’t take no for an answer! No means no, but she wouldn’t listen! I know the question that’s running through your head - Why didn’t I just leave? I wanted to hammer out, to iron out the wedding plans! I knew how important the wedding was to you. AND ME! Because nothing means more to me than your happiness! (fans boo loudly) Nothing means more to me than your love. And Vickie, I won’t live without your love. I CAN’T live without your love! (Edge stares longingly into her eyes)
Vickie - Baby, I understand… I do understand… (they hug, Edge shows a sign of great relief on his face) BUT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT HELL HATH NO FURY OVER A WOMAN SCORNED! When I was really, really, really mad at you, I did something that you might not like… (Edge looks to be scared shitless)
Edge - Okay, okay, I understand that… Look, what did you do?…
Vickie - I reinstated the Undertaker! (fans go crazy, Edge looks terrified)
Edge - Uh…ahh…UMM…. HMMM… (crowd chants Und-er-tak-er!) Okay… Okay… Okay… All right…I uh…you’re a business woman, this is a business…that’s good business… uh boy… besides, we can go on our honeymoon, and then the Undertaker and HHH can destroy each other! We’ll come back from the honeymoon, we’ll pick the bones, and I’ll take back my WWE Championship!
Vickie - That sounds great and all, but baby, I already set up an opponent to face the Undertaker at Summerslam…
Edge - Uhmm., okay, who?
Vickie - YOU!
Edge - Baby, you can’t mean that. You don’t mean that.
Vickie - Oh, baby, I do mean it, and it will be Hell. IN A CELL! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

R-Truth promo screens -










The "IWC" reaction to Khali getting a WWE Title shot at Summerslam.


Edge absolutely terrified at the idea of facing 'Taker, while Vickie cackles with glee.














Hawkins next to "this guy sucks" and "don't care" signs - perfect timing
 
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I'm expecting Khali and HHH to be more of a trainwreck than HHH/Steiner. Good God.

I really liked Benjamin and Kendrick. I hope they keep getting pushed.
 
The U.S. belt didn't appear to be any different than it was at the PPV - all they've done with that one was repaint it over time, as it's multi-colored paint scheme is very prone to chipping. However, they could've made it bigger and I just didn't notice - that happened with the undisputed/WWE Title belt, which looked worlds better when they increased its size.
 
FWIW, I'm 26. I've got a TON of old SNME's on VHS taped off of the TV (if the tapes have held up for 20 years) back home in Ohio. I know for a fact I've got the one with Andre "winning" the title from Hulk with the Hiptoss Of Doom, as well as the one where they split up The Megapowers.
 
29. Although I don't have as many SNME memories as most of you. I didn't really start watching wrestling on a regular basis until the early 90s with the Saturday morning shows (?) of Superstars and WWF Challenge (I think those were the names). Once RAW debuted that became my main show. I didn't pay much attention to WCW until I was out of high school and could stay up to catch the Nitro replay after RAW.
 
My first memory as a pro-wrestling fan was back when I lived in Hawaii Kai and my dad ordered and watched WrestleMania V (1989). That was the beginning of a lifelong enthusiasm. I would watch WCW and the, then, WWF, and went to a show that came to Hawaii in the first couple years in the 1990s. In fact, up until a few years ago, I had the same foam Undertaker urn I bought so very long ago. Unfortunately, it compacted and tore. Ugh. I still have my Bret Hart sunglasses, though! The rubber is disintegrating, and leaves a black trail where ever I put it. In high school, I started following the Independents and Japan. The first Independent match I saw was Christopher Daniels versus the Suicide Kid from All Pro Wrestling. I even paid a visit to Ultimate Pro Wrestling a year later, while visiting relatives in California, and considered becoming a pro-wrestler (like all fans do). Fortunately, I chose more academic pursuits. It has been quite a journey as a fan.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']I knew that would come up once SNME memories started flowin'.
Looks like an awesome band
2m7c8ps.jpg
[/quote]

The reason I started watching WWF. Right there.

That was right around the buildup to WMV. I think the first SNME I saw was the one where Elizabeth was injured and Savage went bonkers, assaulting Hogan in the medic area of the arena.

High fuckin' drama, man. The MegaPowers ASPLODE!
 
I'm 25 and have been watching wrestling for as long as I can remember. My earliest memory was a match with the Hart Foundation. I don't remember who their opponents were, but once I saw that it caught my interest, and it just snowbaled from there.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']The reason I started watching WWF. Right there.[/QUOTE]

The reason I started watching I can't pinpoint exactly, but I know the one-two punch of seeing the Steamboat-Savage feud play out (flipping out when Steamboat came back on a SNME) and Wrestlemania III being announced as in my area/attending the event as my "birthday present" pretty much sealed it. After that I ordered WMIV as my first PPV and I bought every PPV up until around In Your House 4 when there just got to be too many of them.

So Demolition wasn't the reason I started watching, but they WERE the reason I stuck with it. Watching WM4 as a little kid with this girl I **SECRETLY LIKED** hooked me; she was obviously cheering for Strike Force while I was all about Demolition, and of course they won. It annoyed the hell out of me years later when I realized their run was finally coming to an end (with Hawk & Animal coming in and when they lost the belts to the Hart Foundation). I was actually starting to lose interest since I saw they were getting pushed aside in favor of the Road Warriors...until Undertaker showed up later that year and pulled me back in.

Always thought at the time it was a huge missed opportunity to not have Undertaker teaming with Demolition for the brief period where they were all in the company. Looking back now it may not be the best idea since 'Taker was obviously best as a single, but whatever. Oh well.



Probably not heading to RoH tonight, I'm pretty tired from working today.
 
My earliest wrestling memories were Mankind in an I quit match, McMahon training to fight Stone Cold, and I think Kane in a ladder match. But those were all highlights from the old RAW recap show, as I either couldn't stay up or was too dumb to watch it. I have a TON of memories from the SD era, though. I think I remember watching since around the first episode. Didn't have cable at the time, so I was so happy.

I remember a friend told me he went to a SD show when I was 7 or 8, and his ticket said Tuesday. I totally couldn't believe that he went on Tuesday.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']The reason I started watching I can't pinpoint exactly, but I know the one-two punch of seeing the Steamboat-Savage feud play out (flipping out when Steamboat came back on a SNME) and Wrestlemania III being announced as in my area/attending the event as my "birthday present" pretty much sealed it. After that I ordered WMIV as my first PPV and I bought every PPV up until around In Your House 4 when there just got to be too many of them.

So Demolition wasn't the reason I started watching, but they WERE the reason I stuck with it. Watching WM4 as a little kid with this girl I **SECRETLY LIKED** hooked me; she was obviously cheering for Strike Force while I was all about Demolition, and of course they won. It annoyed the hell out of me years later when I realized their run was finally coming to an end (with Hawk & Animal coming in and when they lost the belts to the Hart Foundation). I was actually starting to lose interest since I saw they were getting pushed aside in favor of the Road Warriors...until Undertaker showed up later that year and pulled me back in.

Always thought at the time it was a huge missed opportunity to not have Undertaker teaming with Demolition for the brief period where they were all in the company. Looking back now it may not be the best idea since 'Taker was obviously best as a single, but whatever. Oh well.



Probably not heading to RoH tonight, I'm pretty tired from working today.[/quote]


Oh, who knows what might have happened if the Undertaker teamed with Demolition...

*Wayne's World flashback sounds*

March 24, 1991: At WrestleMania 7, instead of facing Jimmy Snuka alone, the Undertaker teams with Demolition and loses to the team of Snuka and the Rockers.

August 30, 1993: During their SummerSlam match, the Undertaker loses to Giant Gonzalez which results in Harvey Wippleman melting the urn.

September 2, 1993: After losing to Giant Gonzalez, the Undertaker is repackaged as the Patriot, fires Paul Bearer during RAW, and enters a feud with Ludvig Borga.

On January 22, 1994, the Patriot (Undertaker) defeats Ludvig Borga at the Royal Rumble. Borga is detained by U.S. officials and exported out of the country.

May 29, 1995: Due to legal issues with Marvel over the name "the Patriot", the Undertaker is repackaged as a rapping NBA player, named, "Sir Dunksalot." The RAW audience seems confused.

On June 25, 1995 at King of the Ring, Sir Dunksalot, after a month-long feud with Men on a Mission, loses to King Mabel in the finals.

June 26, 1995: WWF wishes luck in Sir Dunksalot's future endeavors.

September 4, 1995: Sir Dunksalot shows up at the debut WCW Monday Nitro as the Undertaker and defeats Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight title.

1995 - 1996: The Undertaker racks up an undefeated win streak.

May 27, 1996: Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, the Outsiders, appear on Monday Nitro. Hall says his, now famous, "You want a war?" speech.

On July 7, 1996 at Bash at the Beach, the Outsiders and Hulk Hogan assault the Undertaker, Sting, and Randy Savage. The nWo is formed.

1997 - 2000: The Undertaker continues establishing a legendary career, including feuding with another win streak phenom, Bill Goldberg. The Undertaker ends Bill Goldberg's streak. In addition, the Jay Leno/Karl Malone angle, Fingerpoke of Doom, nWo sub-factions, David Arquette angle, and nWo 2000 never happens.

January 12, 2001: FCC stops AOL from merging with Time Warner.

March 26, 2001 - Present: WCW and WWE continue their lifelong war.


If only the Undertaker had teamed with Demolition... :whistle2:(

... ;) ... :whistle2:( :whistle2:(
 
[quote name='chasemurata']On June 25, 1995 at King of the Ring, Sir Dunksalot, after a month-long feud with Men on a Mission, loses to King Mabel in the finals.[/QUOTE]

Sweet. That's two rounds further than he got in *this* reality!

That top half of the bracket in '95 was fucked up. You could have had Undertaker vs. Kama (which would have played into their feud), Undertaker vs. Michaels - probably too much of a dream match at the time to give away in the middle of a tournament, but still a viable choice, or Michaels vs. Mabel, which would have been a good big man vs. little man match. Instead, 'Taker lost, and Michaels and Kama had a draw so Mabel just walked into the finals against Savio Vega and won in a boring squash as the crowd chanted for ECW. Terrible booking.
 
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Huh. I started watching wrestling about 27 years ago, with the Memphis weeklies. Saturday morning, 10:30 - 12:00 on channel 5, live in the studio. Saturday night, 10:30 - 11:30, on Chanel 7 out of Jackson, TN, they'd play the matches from Monday night's show at the Mid-South coliseum.

I actually didn't watch WWF until 1997 -- I tried beforehand, they just looked too cartoon-y for some reason. I'd watch NWA whenever I could, which wasn't often (didn't have cable for the longest time).
 
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Burrito, how old are you?

I've been watching since at least 1990, so 18 years. The first PPV (or show, period) I remember watching was WrestleMania VI. Sadly, I never watched WCW until 1997, so I missed all sorts of great stuff.
 
I used to love catching Clash Of The Champions on TBS. Pretty much my only exposure to WCW at the time, but it was awesome to see guys like Sting, Luger, Flair, and The Steiners back in the day.

I thought Muta was a fucking god.
 
Hmm, I think the first thing that caught my eye was the Rock. Dude was cutting some funny promos at the time. Then I started getting into the whole Corporation angle and the night Mankind won the WWF title, I was freaking HOOKED.

At that point I started switching back between WCW & WWF.
 
I just turned 27. Nice to see a similar age bracket represented here... the Mortal Kombat forum that I frequent had me feeling old.

I remember hating wrestling as a very young child; basically just because I hated anything that wasn't a cartoon. I'd be watching all my cartoons on saturday morning, until my Dad put on WWF Superstars and ruined my cartoony bliss. Finally one day I just sat down and watched wrestling with him, and I was hooked right away. The first angle I can concretely recall was the SNME where Hogan lost the title. My cousin and I were really pissed and we were trying to think of ways we could steal the belt and give it back to Hogan.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']I just turned 27. Nice to see a similar age bracket represented here... the Mortal Kombat forum that I frequent had me feeling old.

I remember hating wrestling as a very young child; basically just because I hated anything that wasn't a cartoon. I'd be watching all my cartoons on saturday morning, until my Dad put on WWF Superstars and ruined my cartoony bliss. Finally one day I just sat down and watched wrestling with him, and I was hooked right away. The first angle I can concretely recall was the SNME where Hogan lost the title. My cousin and I were really pissed and we were trying to think of ways we could steal the belt and give it back to Hogan.[/quote]

So, Mr. Uppa, how exactly did you break into pro-wrestling?

*sits down, crosses legs*

Tell us a story, Mr. Uppa. :wave:
 
[quote name='BustaUppa'] The first angle I can concretely recall was the SNME where Hogan lost the title.[/quote]
Did you concretely recall that it was on The Main Event and not SNME? :lol:

I'm just fucking with you. It has probably already come up in the past, but who did you train with? It's pretty awesome that you actually went through with it, I know that shit is rough. I was very close to going to Al Snow's school back when he still ran it around '95...he gave it to someone else before I graduated from high school though, and it shut down soon after. Started persuing other stuff at that point.
 
[quote name='chasemurata']So, Mr. Uppa, how exactly did you break into pro-wrestling?

*sits down, crosses legs*

Tell us a story, Mr. Uppa. :wave:[/quote]

seconded.. as someone said before me:

tell us a story grampa busta
 
Busta should've shared his story in the topic dedicated to him. But in this case, I suggest saving it for the next one, since we're a few posts away. I may as well just make it now...
 
[quote name='chasemurata']So, Mr. Uppa, how exactly did you break into pro-wrestling?

*sits down, crosses legs*

Tell us a story, Mr. Uppa. :wave:[/QUOTE]

[quote name='KaneRobot']Did you concretely recall that it was on The Main Event and not SNME? :lol:

I'm just fucking with you. It has probably already come up in the past, but who did you train with? It's pretty awesome that you actually went through with it, I know that shit is rough. I was very close to going to Al Snow's school back when he still ran it around '95...he gave it to someone else before I graduated from high school though, and it shut down soon after. Started persuing other stuff at that point.[/QUOTE]That part about how you "started pursuing other stuff" really resonates with me, because that's pretty much where I was at before I trained. In high school I was obsessed with wrestling, and I had all these pipe dreams of starting a backyard-like promotion as a "club" in college, or something. Not surprisingly, the demands of college and realities of on-campus socializing sidetracked me from ever going anywhere with that. And then "Tough Enough" came on and I started getting ideas again, but I never got around to actually doing anything.

By the time I was out of college, my mind was generally settling into "reality mode," in more ways then one. I had my "real job," I was saving money, and I assumed that I'd never formally get involved in pro-wrestling. And I was fine with that. Being "just a fan" was fun.

Cue my cousin, a guy named Bobby Riedel, who does agent work for a lot of indy wrestlers (including a number of ex-WWE guys). He had become client and mentor to a talented young worker named Johnny Ova. When the two of them met "Demolition Blast" through mutual involvement in a church, they decided to start a new wrestling school.

Once they got ahold of a ring, Bobby invited me to come down one night and check the place out. I got to go in the ring and casually hit the ropes for a bit. It was fun! Hey, running the ropes in an actual ring was more than I thought I'd ever do.

As the time to officially launch the school drew near, Bobby asked if I'd like to join. The school, at this point, would be taking students on a volunteer basis. I thought about it. I thought about it some more. Then I kinda slapped myself and realized that there was no good reason for me to be THINKING about this - of course I would join! I mean, would I honestly be able live with myself if I had a chance to VOLUNTEER for a wrestling school and I didn't give it a shot???

So a few months later things were finally set in motion, and I began my weekly training sessions at the school. My body was about to go through hell!

So that's how I "broke in." My story is not typical of the indy scene at all. I lucked into a situation where I had a chance to just "try out" the business as a natural extension of my passionate fan-dom.

EDIT:[quote name='Matt Young']Busta should've shared his story in the topic dedicated to him. But in this case, I suggest saving it for the next one, since we're a few posts away. I may as well just make it now...[/QUOTE]hahaha whoops... a couple more posts went through while I was typing this. I suppose I could always re-post with the multi-quotes once the new thread starts, if there are no objections. Then I can follow up later with and old blog I wrote during my first few weeks of training!
 
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