Christian is awesome on the mic and great in the ring too – a rare thing. Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, and Hurricane are also good at everything in that regard, and I think the Rock was too. I was a huge mark for Edge and Christian when they were comedy heels who did their “five-second poses” while insulting every city they were in, played their theme song on kazoos, and talked about things “reeking of awesomeness.” Christian really came into his own when he split from Edge, got his bombastic “Christian! Christian! At last you’re on your own!” theme song, and cut his hair. He and Jericho had a terrific run as partners and buddies (“Vitamin C”), and then bitter rivals. He is a great heel, but you can’t help but like the guy at the same time.
Damn, I miss Christian’s theme song!
“Chris-TIAN! Chris-TIAN! At LAST - you’re ON - your OWN!”
That just ruled.
I started watching wrestling back in the Bob Backlund days. I stopped somewhere around freshman year of college (1989), but then started watching again in the late 90s and I haven’t watched since Vince bought WCW(which will always be NWA to me) and consolidated the monopoly. Well, that plus I was so sick of Steve Austin. Sick to tears. Lose already…you’ve got to do the J-O-B sometimes. And despite popular opinion, I though Austin sucked on the mike.
Regardless of what people think, at times wrestling is superb entertainment. Hell, we still refer to one of my buddies as King Kong Bundy all these years later. For that matter, some of those guys still call me Rougeau (after Jean and Jacques and my red hair). Occasionally somebody will flash the ol’ Four Horseman symbol.
Nothing, but nothing beat Jesse Ventura on the mike. Despite a lot of great mike guys since, The Body was the best announcer ever. Ahh, back in the days when Vinnie Mac was a face announcer wearing a powder blue tux. How far we’ve come from the halcyon days of yore.
Oh wow, that was a low point. I don’t think we heard from the Big Bossman after that.
Speaking of low points, Eddie messing with Rey’s kids…the secret…the homoeroticism that’s been going on ever since they started the tag team…it’s just too creepy for me to think about.
Batista showing up was a non-event for me. The guy’s certainly a physical specimin, but damned if he can get out a full sentence without looking like a fool. I am taking a liking to Hassan though.
The thing that could potentially make Hassan (again, I mostly followed Raw via the WWF’s site) interesting is that he’s an American himself. That and it’s kind of funny that the manager can’t speak English but the wrestler can. If they handle it well, there’s an actual story in there.
He was in the news about a year ago. He died.
And, if anyone’s interested, here’s another board–however, it is mainly a kayfabe board. They don’t care much for discussion past the late 1980s or so.
http://superstarbillygraham.net/forum/index.php?ict_kf_=a348c85bbae7cf1ff5b8e006cf1181d1
Isn’t Hassan like, Italian-American?
My roommate and I always joke that he’s probably Latino or Italian in real life.
I didn’t think much of professional wrestling until I read Mick Foley’s autobiography. Who would have thought a wrestler could write a 500+ page book worth reading?
There’s a website somewhere with the worst of wrestling history. Can’t remember what it is, though. I do remember, though, that they thought Doink was a pretty good wrestler.
http://www.wrestlecrap.com . Great website!
And Foley’s book was fascinating and well-written. He’s also written another book about the wrestling industry, several children’s books, and a novel since then.
Not only that, but a wrestler that has had his brains scrambled so many times too.
[Bearer] I’m alllllllllllllllllllllll alone [/Bearer]
Good stuff. 
Ahh, the good old WWF days…
My fave was the underrated and obscure Leaping Lanny Poffo. He was a skinny guy who would take down his opponents with flashy leaps from the ropes and handsprings. He disappeared for a time, but came back all bulked up as “The Poet” and would taunt his opponents Vogon-style with bad verse. It wasn’t the same, though. Leaping Lanny forever!
The best “interview” segments were always done by Roddy Piper, though. No one has ever been able to taunt and rant like Roddy.
Some of my other favorites:
The British Bulldogs
Coco B Ware
George Steele
Greg “The Hammer” Valentine
Superfly Jimmy Snuka
Rocky Johnson
Also (embarrassed to admit), I once had Big John Stud and Iron Sheik action dolls.
Leaping Lanny is Macho Man Randy Savage’s brother, did you know?
And they’re not dolls, they’re action figures! :smack:
I loved it when the Fink would announce Leaping Lanny as “The Poet Laureate of the WWF.” That, and that his poems were taped to the inside of frisbees.
Piper’s Pit was a great segment. The best one I remember was Roddy taunting Jimmy Snuka like crazy.
Don’t forget the coconut heard 'round the world!
I think the segment I remember most vividly is the HBK/ Mart Jannety piece in the barbershop. I remember Shawn superkicking him like it was yesterday.
Some of my favorite moments:
Savage vs. Steamboat at Wrestlemania.
Roddy Piper in Georgia Championship Wrestling against Tommy Rich and “Bullet” Bob Armstrong.
Shane Douglas grabbing Pit Bull #2 by the halo and throwing him to the ground.
Rob Van Dam’s first cross ring leap.
Jimmy Snuka off the top of the cage (unlike Mick, I wasn’t at the Garden, but back then MSG Network televised Garden matches and I saw that).
New Jack leaps off the balcony at the Madhouse of Extreme - common except that I was just over arms-length away.
The Body was a good color man, but for play-by-play, no one (and the Rock means NO ONE) matches Gordon Solie.
I see your Gordon Solie, and raise you one Joey Styles.
(I almost suggested “Fat Tony” Schiavone. Heh.)