I loved them though that family was severely f***ked up.
I loved the Sunshine / Precious feud.
Quick Terry Taylor story… about 1981-ish, I was in Atlanta GA to go to the Omni for some ‘rasslin’ and driving down the highway, lookes across and Terry Taylor was in the car in the next lane! :eek: I waved, he waved back & smiled and that was that.
Duggan won in '88, the very first Royal Rumble. It wasn’t PPV, it was just a special on USA, and the rumble match itself only had 20 men that year.
The things I remember most about the event would be the woman in the audience taunting Rick Rude in his match against Ricky Steamboat by shouting “RUDY RUDY RUDY” into a megaphone, and Jesse Ventura helping Dino Bravo cheat to set a weightlifting record.
As for favorite wrestler, I don’t really have one or two specific guys anymore. Back when I started watching, Brutus The Barber Beefcake was my guy, then later on when I discovered hardcore and indy, Sabu was THE GUY.
On the tag team front, no one will ever outdo Demolition in my eyes, at least the Demolition from the era after Darsow took over as Smash up until right before they brought in Crush. No one ever dominated a competitive WWF tag team division the way those guys did. I also really liked the Steiner Brothers.
There are guys I like these days, Punk, Ziggler, Bryan, Ryder, Styles, Shelley, and of course Jericho but none that really stand out as my guy.
And tag divisions are such a joke these days, it’s not even worth trying to think up a favorite team.
On the top of my shitlist, without a doubt Randy Orton. I’d probably rather watch a Bob Holly match, and I did NOT like Bob Holly one bit. But at least Holly was never quite shoved down our throats the way Orton has been.
As for the old school jobbers, or ham & eggers, I was always quite fond of Iron Mike Sharpe. Whether it was his suspicious arm protector, or the way he was constantly yelling things during the match, he was always fun to watch getting beat. Dusty Wolfe was another memorable one, I found it quite amusing when Dusty Rhodes came into the company and he was suddenly Dale Wolfe instead of having two Dustys in the company.
No love for Hawk and Animal?
I remember Rowdy Roddy smashing Superfly with a coconut on “Piper’s Pit.” I hated him like green beans after that.
Joe
No love for Stone Cold Steve Austin…some of the greatest bits in wrestling…like making Vince McMahon pee his pants in the ring.
Shockmaster: The Greatest Wrestling Intro Ever
Razor Ramon and Tatanka. A mention for two names that probably won’t be appearing here otherwise. I think I only liked them because they were on the first time I saw wrestling on TV. That said, I’m unable to look back with any fondness upon the time I spent watching wrestling as a kid.
I can’t believe it took that long to mention Sabu! He could get sloppy, but when he was on the mark, his matches were awesome. I loved ECW from 1996-1999 or 2000. When I started watching the infomercial was when I started watching Raw less and less. Why get a copy during the Attitude Era when I could get the real thing from ECF’NW?
I actually had tickets to an ECW show in 2001. I looked at the card and decided not to go. They went out of business that night. I have 3 unused tickets to the last ever show. My teenage brother is big into WWE and its lore, so on that anniversary of its death this year, I gave him one of those tickets.
Haven’t watched it for a long, long time, but I liked the funny ones. George “The Animal” Steele used to come out, stun his opponent with a blow to the head or something, and then get distracted and start eating the turnbuckle.
The Iron Sheik, after the Iran hostage crisis when it was fashionable to hate Iranians, would grab the mike and yell, “USA, hawk, ptooie!” Always good for a laugh to watch the yokels in the audience get outraged.
And for a while they had a lady wrestling tag team called the Housewives. They would come out in bathrobes and curlers, and hit their opponents with frying pans and rolling pins. A uncannily accurate preview of my married life.
Sharpe got a small push in Mid South. Held the Louisiana Heavyweight Title, and the Brass Knucks title. Had a feud with Bruiser Bob Sweetan that included a series of matches that could only be won by use of the piledriver.
You’d have to see it to believe it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf9FVoozgBA&feature=related
I always love that.
How the heck were they planning to keep that helmet on in the ring?
The Housewives have to be the most fabulous women’s tag team of all time. That was riot! Two women dressed in housecoats, curlers, cold cream smeared on their faces, carrying a bucket and mop in the ring, then yelling “slut” and “whore” at their opponents. One of the greatest gimmicks ever!
That’s awesome!
Joe
Watch this video to see a roundtable discussion about The Shockmaster. The Shockmaster Debut - YouTube
The DX Shockmaster is pretty good too. The Shockmaster v2.0 - YouTube
My new sig:
“Until then…AAAAAHAHAHAAA”
Not a wrestler either, but I love Jim Cornette. His ranting is classic - I want MSNBC to hire him. (Language not safe for work).
I met Joe Laurinaitis (Animal) in the Minneapolis airport. He was on the same flight as me and it was delayed several hours. We talked for a while, mostly about Ohio State football (his son, James, had just played his final game for the Buckeyes), but I did not get a picture. I didn’t want to gush about being a wrestling fan and everything. He was a very nice, though.
The Road Warriors (aka LOD) had a great act. But Joe’s brother, John Laryngitis is annoying as all get out.