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Ask 411 Wrestling 05.22.13: Attitude Era, Backstage Attitude, Personal Attitude, More!
For far too long, I have laboured under a name that the suits gave me. No longer! Now, I will cast off the shackles of 411mania’s tyranny, and I will rename myself to herald this new era!
From my father, I will take his last name, and from my great grandfather, he who first came to this shore, I will take his first name. So welcome to the first ever Ask 411 Wrestling under the new guise of your host…
Mathew Sforcina.
Ah well. Can’t win them all.
Unless you’re banner. Banner can indeed win them all.
… Sure, let’s mix up the order, why not. Got a question for me? [email protected] is where you send it. You can also listen to me on Cheap Heat Radio, and maybe in future 411mania gaming podcasts as well, we’ll have to see. Oh, and I’ll be starting a blog soon for a side project I’ve been working on. Not wrestling related, creative writing related. Watch this space. Or not. Your life after all.
And finally, sadly due to circumstances out of my control (namely my internet going out just as I sat down to write this) this will be the (hopefully) last in this run of Total Opinion Weeks given that I can’t really research anything while I don’t have the internet. Unless it’s out still by this time tomorrow, in which case you won’t be reading this and so… Yeah.
Edit: Just as I got near the end, it came back on, so… Yay.
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Backtalking
Making up Questions: I never make up questions, at least in here. I have had to in Ask 411 Games once or twice, but not in here. Every question included is one that is asked.
Enough with the Opinion/Booking: Look, I’m not going to stop doing either if they are asked. If I only got fact based questions, I’d answer those exclusively. And believe me, I’m not a fan of doing these TOWs but sometimes I need the few hours it shaves off my time. However, you’ll notice that each and every time I do so, I make it quite clear what I’m doing, with the marking as such. I give you a warning up front, and I mark out fantasy booking with an end point for you to skip to if you don’t want to read it. Beyond walking away which isn’t on the cards for the immediate future, not much else I can do.
And hell, I think part of the problem is that I point out the TOWs. If I didn’t say anything, it would probably come off better, but it’s a gimmick now. But anyway, if you don’t like what I’m doing, I understand, I wish you well in your future endeavours and what have you. Because short of winning the lottery, I won’t be gaining any more free time, only losing it.
Your Turn, Smart Guy…
Who am I? My sole big leagues title win was a tag title, won from a team with a future WWE authority figure and then lost back to them a short while later. My partner from that reign would eventually turn on me to join a heel stable willingly, while my later turn to join a heel stable was somewhat less willingly. Although when I joined a later heel stable as a hired gun by turning on my (real life) best friend, that was totally willingly. My sole indy tag title reign came with a second generation star, although I’m not one. I’ve been a red blooded American man, a narcissistic man, a man claiming a dubious injury and a guy who referenced his wrestlecrap gimmick in an ironic way in ECW. Who am I?
Maravilloso has both the answer to mine, and this week’s really tough one.
Who am I? My sole big leagues title win was a tag title,
WCW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
won from a team with a future WWE authority figure
HARLEM HEAT (BOOKER T)
and then lost back to them a short while later. My partner from that reign would eventually turn on me to join a heel stable willingly,
BUFF BAGWELL (TO THE NWO)
while my later turn to join a heel stable was somewhat less willingly.
RAVEN’S FLOCK
Although when I joined a later heel stable as a hired gun by turning on my (real life) best friend,
ROB VAN DAM. JOINED THE NETWORK
that was totally willingly. My sole indy tag title reign came with a second generation star, although I’m not one.
ERIK WATTS, FOR THE TCW TAG BELTS
I’ve been a red blooded American man,
AMERICAN MALE
a narcissistic man,
AFTER THE FLOCK DISBANDED
a man claiming a dubious injury
BY AN ATTACK FROM RAVEN
and a guy who referenced his wrestlecrap gimmick in an ironic way in ECW. Who am I?
AS SOMEONE SAID BEFORE, SCOTTY RIGGS
And this week’s…
I am a retired Latin American wrestler. Although I’m Latino, I descend from European immigrants of a country which produces many great wrestlers at international tournaments. Long before The Rock, Manny Fernandez and Vader, I was already known as a “bull.” I was known to do many feats of strength that even guys like Mark Henry would possibly think twice before even attempting them. His catchphrase was popularized decades later by a legend who should be in the Hall of Fame. His finisher (used by many German-gimmicked wrestlers) was named after a Spanish word that means “hook.” Who am I?
Questions, Questions, Who’s Got The Questions?/My Damn Opinion
Jay starts us off with a comparison about the current Golden God Childs of the WWE.
Big fan. Quick question. Why do you believe that the WWE powers that be are so high on The Shield (allowing them to look strong against top competition), yet they made The Nexus out to be so weak? Now, I understand that many members of The Nexus went on to great things, but why did the WWE not make The Nexus as dangerous as The Shield, aside from the debut mugging of Cena on RAW? Thanks, and keep up the great work.
I don’t think there’s any one, solid, main reason. It’s not like all of Nexus took a whiz in Vince’s private washroom or something. Nothing substantial, more several little things. I think the fallout from the Nexus Riot, with Bryan having to be fired took a lot of wind out of the sails of those looking to push them strongly, given that the event caused them some bad publicly/corporate issues. Plus losing the unquestionably best wrestler of the lot didn’t help their chances.
Another issue was size, the Nexus was a bit too large for what they were doing. They weren’t out to take over the company, or at least that wasn’t the story they were telling, the Nexus wasn’t the nWo or the Alliance. And yet they had 7 guys, which is a bit too much for a stable, not enough for an army. (If a couple had been managers/valets/hangers on, that would have been fine.)
But I think the main reason was talent, or at least the perception of talent. See, the front office is high on all of The Shield. They have their clear favorite (he’d be the one with the singles belt) and their clear second choice (the one who delivers the brunt of their triple team finisher) but all 3 are thought of as talent with bright futures. The Nexus… Not so much. They had clear favourites, sure, but there wasn’t the same level of uniform trust. They weren’t sure about everyone in the Nexus. But they are sure about everyone in The Shield.
Or maybe it’s just that the writers have learnt from their mistakes this time around. And/or The Shield worked out with Triple H one week.
William asks about Bam Bam a bit.
I recently watched a Bam Bam Bigelow shoot where he shed some light on plans of him winning the WWE Championship in late 1987/early 1988. According to him, he was scheduled to turn on Hulk Hogan and win the belt, which would lead to a Hogan/Bigelow main event at WrestleMania IV. Bam Bam claimed that he told Vince his knee couldn’t handle it and he needed surgery ASAP. Vince didn’t take this news well, which may explain Bam Bam’s absence from the WWE from 1988-1993. There could be some validity to this claim as Hogan and Bam Bam had been teaming at big shows (Survivor Series 1987 where Bam Bam outlasted Hogan in the main event, against DiBiase & Virgil at MSG, and against DiBiase & Andre at the Boston Garden) and getting great reactions. So is there any truth to Bigelow’s claim? Was the Championship tournament at WrestleMania IV booked as a Plan B after Bigelow turned down the opportunity in order to fix his knee?
Well, as always with shoot interviews, I direct you to the “‘Yes, Prime Minster’ Law Of Shoot Interviews”.
Any statement in a wrestler’s shoot interview can represent one of six different levels of reality:
a. What happened.
b. What he believed happened.
c. What he would have liked to have happened.
d. What he wants to believe happened.
e. What he wants other people to believe happened.
f. What he wants other people to believe he believed happened.
And in this case, I suspect it’s C, maybe with a touch of E or B. I don’t know of any other source that claims this, it’s not something I’ve heard before. After all, he was only a year in, far too early to risk the World Title on him… The Hogan/Heel program always had the heel turn on Hulk but then not beat him, if Orndorff never got the title, why should Bam Bam? Perhaps Vince told him that to keep him happy, he does that, but I don’t know of any evidence or scuttlebutt that says this was on the cards.
Also, after WrestleMania XI, it seemed like Bam Bam was again headed for a nice run at the top of the cards. But then at the next pay-per-view, he wrestled a dark match. He then tagged with Diesel in the main event of King of the Ring and then disappeared from any relevant storylines and matches for the rest of his tenure with the WWE? He was pretty open in this shoot about his dislike of the Kliq, so my guess is they had something to do with his post-Mania plummet. Any insight into this?
This one is a bit more solid in terms of what is known, or rather, the scuttlebutt is more unified. See, Bam Bam at Wrestlemania XI, if this is your first exposure to wrestling (which, if it is, stop reading this and go watch Flair V Steamboat from 1989. All of them!), wrestled Laurence Taylor, a professional football player, in the main event. It’s regarded as the Flair/Steamboat of non-wrestlers wrestling matches, as it’s a pretty good match. But anyway, Bam Bam lost. And that was a big hit in credibility for a wrestler, to lose to a non-wrestler like that.
So, prior to them starting this off, there was some negotiation to do. Bam Bam only agreed to do the angle because he was promised that in return for jobbing in the main event of Wrestlemania to a non-wrestler that he’d get a big babyface push/run later in the year. Fair enough too.
But then the Clique came along.
Or at least, the story goes that they came along.
And they got into Vince’s ear that Bam Bam getting a push would be horrible for business. He lost to a football player! Who can take him seriously now? You shouldn’t push him. And Vince, so the story goes, had his ear turned to that, and so Bam Bam got screwed over.
That’s the ‘official’ scuttlebutt as to what happened. Bam Bam got promised a push, Clique ruined it, Bam Bam left soon after in disgust.
One more quick Bam Bam question. Do you think there’s any chance he gets into the Hall of Fame? I know they’re not inclined to induct too many deceased stars, but I’m really hoping it eventually happens. Especially with next year’s Mania coming from Jersey.
Looking forward to your response! Love the column!
… Yeah, old questions.
But yeah, Bam Bam will probably go in any some point, but it won’t be this coming year, since Paul Bearer and maybe Taker will be the only dead men inducted this year. It’ll probably happen at some point, but it’s hard to tell exactly when. WWE jumps around a bit with these sorts of things. At least they haven’t gotten to the “Match Inductions” idea yet.
So yeah, Bam Bam is as good a choice as any, and does probably deserve to be in there, but it won’t happen this coming induction, and so you can’t really guess when it’ll happen. Someday…
Apu is all over the shop. And it’s a big shop.
Questions questions questions I got A LOT of questions for you.
1. Has there ever been any legitimate heat on the Undertaker ?
Define legitimate. I mean, there have been people who haven’t liked Taker, and plenty of people who were up against him, but I think you mean has Taker ever been in the doghouse, has Taker ever been on Vince’s bad side, that sort of thing. And I don’t ever recall that happening. Or at least, not recently. Since the IWC rose up, and people started to really care about this sort of thing, Taker has had the respect of the boys and the office. Quite possibly he may have screwed up somehow early on, but there wasn’t a million rumor mills and opinion pieces to talk about how he was in the doghouse back then. So I would have to say no, and then await correction from some big blow up incident I’m forgetting in the comments.
2 Has the Undertaker ever botched his old school move? He’s been doing it for so many years you’d figure he’d actually legitimately botch it at least once. Has he?
… Someone needs to create a full database for Botchamania.
Anyway, I am sure he has at some point, I vaguely recall seeing it in a Botchamania where he sort of slipped when he jumped, but the thing about that move is, unlike most times when you’re up on the top rope, you have help to stay balanced, thanks to the other guy. Taker is able to balance so easily because, in part, he has support from the guy taking the move, he uses that grip to ensure he remains centered.
But yeah, I don’t see it being possible that he’s always hit it 100% fine every single time. However, it’s possible that his mess ups aren’t broadcast due to them only occurring at house shows. But yeah, there’s no memorable mess up that comes to mind.
3. What caused the chair shots to the head to be banned and when did it exactly come into effect? Was it the whole thing with C*ris B*noit ?
The banning of chair shots to the head was due in part to the Benoit incident, but it didn’t come in until early 2010, right when Linda was running for senate, which is the reason it came in. They claim publicly that it’s a safety issue, that they want to avoid concussions and what have you, that it’s a health thing, but if that was the case it would have come in earlier, at some point soon after Benoit. Not 3 years later.
Which is not to say that the banning is a bad thing, I’m all for the ban, most of the time. Just that the reasons it was brought in were cynical. But it’s still a good thing, regardless of why it is.
4. Is it true that Pat Patterson and Brooklyn Brawler were gay lovers ? Has Pat being gay ever been brought up on tv ?
Patterson and Brawler being Very Special Friends has been rumoured and joked about and mentioned in passing in various places, but it’s nothing I can confirm or deny. I kinda doubt it in regards of them being an item for any length of time. But it doesn’t really matter either way. Their privates lives are both theirs and private, whatever they chose to do with their privates is their business.
As for it being mentioned, it has been slyly joked about, Ross would often talk about Patterson doing ‘Rear End Work’ at Brisco’s Body Shop during the Stooges run in the late 90’s, and in the occasional interview or what have you Rock or someone will talk about it, but it’s never been brought up straight out on WWE TV, to my knowledge. Unless you count that time he was in drag.
5. Why hasn’t RVD been told to change his character up ? Or at least become a heel ? He’s been so stale and boring for so many years now. After all he’s an employee.
Because the character he has is still over, has brand recognition and sells merch. I don’t think the character is/was an issue more than just how they were using him. RVD is one of those guys that you don’t really want to mess with since he’s over because of who he is, and so changing him is unlikely to end well.
Plus he’s one of those guys who doesn’t need wrestling, so if you piss him off too much he’ll just leave and not come back, so you can’t push him too much if you still want all that stoner friendly money coming in.
6. Back in WCW Goldberg had around 145 people escort him to the ring. I know it was meant to make him look like a big deal and his match a big event but in reality didn’t it just make him look like a big coward ? I mean do you really need cops to escort you to the ring to face Jerry Lynn ? Did they ever explain on TV why Goldberg had his ring walk out escorts ?
They weren’t there to protect him. They were there to protect YOU. Or at least, those around him. The idea was that Goldberg was just so intense and aggressive that WCW were worried that if he was left unattended, he might snap and beat someone up. After all, did you see what he does in the ring? Imagine if he was let loose in the building?
7. When Public Enemy first came to WCW they had a feud with the Nasty Boys. I couldn’t help but notice Nasty Boys seemed to be extremely stiff with Public Enemy. Was it because they’re assholes? Was it their way to initiate P.E ? Was it to show that P.E is not as tough as they think?? On the other hand P.E seemed not to be that stiff at all I guess not wanting to piss of Hogan’s buddies. So what was the reasoning there ?
The Nasty Boyz were pretty rough with everyone. They were hardly safe workers at the best of times. And I think that this was more as a way to try and get themselves over. Although they still had the table and the dancing, they couldn’t go all out like they did in ECW, they couldn’t brawl, so how else do you get over? You get your butt kicked. Plus, as ECW vets, surely they could take it, right?
WCW wasn’t where Public Enemy were unwelcome, they were just out of place. WWF, now THERE they weren’t welcome…
8. I remember something about Shane McMahon wanting to bring in New Jack to “stab” Cena in an angle or something ? Was that just b.s or was it actually anywhere close to happening ? I have a hard time imagining WWE being stupid enough to bring in that stupid lunatic New Jack in.
Thank you.
It was serious enough that New Jack got a tryout, he got to do some chain in the ring as a tryout. So there was some sort of possibility to it. Shane being behind it I’m not sure about, I know New Jack was big on the idea, given that it would make sense in terms of characterisation (I, for one, would believe New Jack stabbed someone) and he’d get a decent pay day out of it, so why not? I certainly see the logic from that standpoint.
But on the other hand, it IS New Jack. So maybe it’s for the best he didn’t get the nod.
And Wrestlemaniamania!
And this I will continue to support.
Katamari Damacy asks about WWE and tag teams. Hey, they existed when he asked!
After seeing the composition of the recent WWE Tag Tournament, it leads me to wonder a booking preference the WWE tends to have.
Why does the WWE constantly like to pair new partners together, even though one or both of the members used to belong to other teams, whose partners are also spinning their wheels in the midcard?
At least an ‘on and off’ team is seen as more credible to really any casual fan than random thrown together teams. Sandow/Rhodes I can understand from a booking perspective as there’s really no competition to Bryan/Kane, but how about the other guys spinning their wheels? It’s such a waste to build a team, split them up, have them spin their wheels, only to never team them again. At least if you bring up the team every now and then you can dust them off whenever you need an ‘established team’ for a tag match.
Ryder/Santino -> Ryder/Hawkins those Edge guys
Rhodes/Sandow -> Rhodes/Dibiase Legacy
Kidd/Gabriel -> Slater/Gabriel; Kidd/Smith (had they not fired him for no reason)
They were resisting putting TWGTT back together for YEARS after they split, same with the Dudleyz, same with Edge/Christian, same with Miz/Morrison, same with Otunga/Joe Hennig.
They also forsake established indy teams like Kings of Wrestling, Punk and Cabana (I mean having Cabana instead of Luke Gallows would have changed absolutely nothing about the SES arc)
So why do they do it? It’s not like one guy is just far beyond the other guy, they’re both in the midcard spinning their wheels, I hope it’s not some arbitrary thing, so where’s the logic in constantly creating new teams?
WWE hopes that they’ll find a team that works, so that they can then split them up and make money off one or both of them later on.
…
I wish that was a Chandler moment. But outside the occasional period where Vince supposedly is in a tag team kinda mood, the WWE seems to be focused solely on finding main event singles talent. But if they have nothing for someone in the singles division, they’ll toss him in with someone else into a tag team to give them something to do, since that’s the lower down, less important thing. If it was possible they’d toss them into the Divas division I’m sure.
But yeah, they toss them into a tag team, and then maybe they’ll catch fire. And if they do, bully! Ride that for a bit, and then you split them up just as they get into the groove, and then one will get heat for breaking up the team and thus you now have a singles guy with heat to push.
OK, that’s a little cynical, but it’s basically the logic, as a rule. They keep trying different combinations hoping to find one that really works.
Julian has an old stand by question.
What are some of the biggest pops in history? I know Hogan beating the iron sheik at MSG got a historic pop. what are some other times that the crowds reaction to something was totally insane?
This has come up a few times, let’s see if I remember the generally agreed upon list right…
Austin interferes to give Mick Foley his first ever World Title.
Canadian Stampede 10 Man tag
Rock V Hogan 1
Austin returns Backlash 2000
Warrior beats Honky
Goldberg Beats Hogan
ECW One Night Stand 2, Cena Loses
Money In The Bank 2011, Punk Wins.
I forget any?
Robby wants to talk politics.
Hey Matthew,
I have a question about wrestler’s holding each other back. During the “Attiude Era” DVD they talk about how it was rather cutthroat back then in terms of superstars stabbing each other in the back for position. I’ve heard RVD say Jericho was a guy who would keep people back, there’s definitely a reputation with Hogan or Kevin Nash playing similar games, and now there’s more and more wrestlers coming out and saying Cena is someone who keeps fresh talent from getting pushed. Basically you hear that unless you become best friends with them or bow down to them in the locker room, these types of guys can end your career. I’m sure there’s a lot of rumor here, but how bad is it really nowadays compared to then?
Thanks,
There’s always been politics in wrestling, on every level. Always has been, always will be. It might get a little better, but it’ll never vanish totally. But is it better now than it was in the old days?
I think it’s not better or worse, just different. The business has changed, and the boys have changed. There’s less macho BS, less comparing Rat Notches than in the past, you’re a lot less likely to get buried because you don’t drink to excess. It’s now mostly business. It’s about what you do in the ring, for the most part. And that’s good… And bad.
Because a large part of the problem with the locker room in the WWE at least is due to money, and the bloody WWE Contract system. WWE pushes for contracts with small downside guarantees but large cuts of merch sales. But the problem is, only applies to YOUR merch.
See, in the old days, when a babyface would sell merch, he’d get his share of the money, and then he’d given the heel he was working with a cut, since the heel was helping him get over and thus the heel helped him sell the merch, so it was right he got a cut. After all, heels didn’t have merch.
But today? You have to have merch. Only way to make money. So every heel wants to be a ‘cool heel’, which is one of the biggest problems plaguing the business today. Everyone wants to be popular, so everyone is out there looking after themselves. Why make your opponent look good? You might lose a T-shirt sale that way.
And then you add in the problem of guys being brainwashed into thinking that WWE is the be all end all, that they have to make it there since it’s all there is. They have to stay loyal, stay in, because if they left, they’d be broke, surely.
It all creates a different atmosphere, one where you’re less likely to go out of your way to bury a guy, but then also a lot less likely to work with him to get him over. It’s a recipe for a locker room that is more friendly, but less cooperative. So it’s not really better or worse. Just different.
Of course, the old school guys in positions of power still have to be treated with respect, same with the main eventers, since they could probably bury you if they wanted. Hell, Hunter’s the boss pretty much, so that’s a given for him…
Speaking of the past and the present, here’s Nightwolf with some questions…
Hi, got a couple of question for you. I always appreciate you answering my questions.
1. Which wrestlers on todays roster would do well in the attitude era? When I think of attitude era, I think of The birth of Austin 3:16 til he left the WWE in 2001. When John Cena debuted, that was known as the Ruthless Aggression era. My picks would be John Cena( when he 1st debuted), Randy Orton( Viper gimmick), CM Punk, Wade Barrett, and Ryback.
OK, so we’re going with just the current WWE roster? All right. I’d agree with most of your choices, Cena would work with his rapper gimmick, sure (I assume that’s who you mean. He debuted with a bland no-gimmick gimmick first off), Orton would be OK, Punk would be fine in almost any era, Barrett… Eh, I suppose. He doesn’t have the right charisma though. And Ryback, I guess.
As for my other picks, I’ll go off the wall for the first one and say The Great Khali. Seriously, in the Attitude era, his limitations would be much better hidden, since the other guys could just hit him with chairs a bit and then he’d chop them and that would be no different from punch-kick-Stunner.
Another off the wall pick would be The Bella Twins. The twin gimmick is always useful, but Russo would push them to the moon, albeit with a “They’re lesbian lovers” angle, and/or just rip off Dreamer/Beulah/Kimona with them and… Venis?
Daniel Bryan would be good, but only if he came in at 2000, near the end, during the Angle/Benoit/Jericho/Regal/etc period where there was a sudden influx of great wrestlers, he’d be able to trade off on those guys all year long and be awesome at it. Hell, toss in Malenko and that’s a Smackdown Six I’d never tire of seeing in any combination. When Dean Malenko is your weak link, that’s a pretty awesome team.
Ziggler would burn brightly before his bumping all the time in hardcore matches would lead him to retire after 6 months.
Damien Sandow would actually work well, his gimmick would make him a great short run Austin foil, or at least he would make a great centrepiece for RTC.
And as always, believe in The Shield. Even if they’d have to either be aligned with or feud with Big Bossman first off.
Perhaps the comments section will have more suggestions.
2. Which wrestlers on todays roster would make perfect members of the 4 horsemen?
Well we sorta touched on this a couple weeks ago. But let’s see… Dolph is the first and best choice, since he’s a ladies man, a great heel, can go and fits in with the ideal. He’s pretty much the sole ‘perfect’ choice.
Rhodes Scholars would be pretty good, as they can talk and work, and both can adjust their gimmicks slightly to fit the Horsemen ideal.
Miz is close, he’d be the fourth, the rookie of the team, but his arrogance and his charisma and talent would be enough to last, sure.
Ambrose would be a nice counterpoint to a Brian Pillman type, he’s very similar to Arn Anderson actually, in terms of promo, he simply lays out how he’s gonna win, he’d be a good straight man to Miz’s exuberance, for example.
And finally, Paul Heyman managing the Horsemen would be… Interesting. But good. Same with AJ being the classy, upmarket Horsemen valet with a crazy streak just under the surface. Forget tossing in her shoe, she’d grab a chair and clobber Sting a few times.
3. Speaking of the 4 Horsemen, don’t you find it ironic that Evolution was almost an exact mirror image on the 4 horsemen? I mean you had Batista, who like Arn Anderson was the enforcer of the group. You had Randy Orton who like Barry Windham was the most gifted athlete in the horsemen. You had Triple H, who was the Tully Blanchard of the group, and you had Ric Flair, who was well Ric Flair
It’s not Ironic. That’s what they were aiming for. Evolution was Hunter wanting to live out his fantasy of being in the Horsemen. I’m sorry, I mean, Evolution was Hunter updating the Horsemen for a modern age, that’s right. Irony would be if Hunter sat down and intended to make an anti-Horsemen and came up with what we got. The fact that Evolution was almost a direct copy was the plan all along.
Spring Optical Pavilion Cartilage Face asks about a word. And it’s not The Bird, funnily enough.
I have a question about DX’s use of the one word “sphincter” during the attitude era. What was the reason for constantly using it, and do you think they were just a couple of uneducated wrestlers that didn’t know what the word actually meant? Obviously they were referring to the anal sphincter, but looking back on it…they used the word completely out of context on just about every occasion.
I’m fairly sure that they knew what the word meant. But I am also fairly sure that they knew that sphincter is one of those words that is inherently funny. It’s one of those words that is sorta dirty but not really that makes young boys (and those people with the mindset of young boys) giggle. Like kumquat or shuttlecock or titmouse or any other word that sounds like a dirty word but technically isn’t.
I would guess, since I can’t get on youtube, that they must have used it right once or twice, in place of a ruder word, but for the most part it was just that they were acting like a couple of teenage boys playing the roles of a couple of teenage boys, so they would toss in silly rude-ish words because it amused them. Or maybe Russo has some sort of fetish we don’t know about.
memphis b-rad asks about the midcard guys.
the wrestling community spends so much time rehashing the same names: hogan, rock, austin, flair, etc… i’ve always had a spot in my heart for the mid card, the guys who could always get a pop/heat, work a solid match & make anyone look good. 3 of my favorites are big bossman, val venis & d-lo brown. so my 2 questions are:
1. who are some of your favorite mid card wrestlers?
Well, how do you define midcard? I mean, take a guy like Raven. I love Raven, his work in ECW is some of the best work ever, really smart guy, talented, big fan. He’s not perfect, sure, but he’s up there. Now, in WWE and WCW? Yep, midcard, fine. But he was a, hell, THE main eventer in ECW, and he skirted with the main event in TNA, hell, was World Champ for a bit (even though he should have won it off Jarrett back in the weekly PPV days). Does he count as a midcard guy?
Well, I’ll try and pick guys without a world title reign, that should narrow it down a bit (although, due to how I define that, it removed Rick Martel, Curt Hennig and Rob Conway, guys I’d probably include if I didn’t). So, let’s see…
Stevie Richards is a guy I’ve always had a big soft spot for, and not just because of him and Victoria, although that is a huge part of it, that’s still one of my favorite double acts in all of wrestling history. His work with RTC I actually liked since he was very good at it, even if the gimmick itself was one dimensional and the tools he was given weren’t great.
As much crap as she’s been given, and the disaster of what she’s become, I did like the Chyna run, honestly. It was totally different, and you can argue about if she deserved it, or if it was a good idea or whatever, but I did find it interesting so… Yeah. Call it a guilty pleasure, that one.
Brad Armstrong is a cliché choice I know, but he is a guy that I always loved watching, so I have to pick him.
La Parka is another guy I always loved.
Although my all time favourite midcard wrestler was Norman Smiley. He was never going to main event, sure, but dammit, he was just a guy I always wanted to see on the card, be it dancing, screaming or even, as he was so rarely allowed to do, go out there and work.
There is one other guy though, but that leads into the next question…
2. what mid card guys do you think had the potential to be main eventers but missed out because they never got the opportunity, got injured or were held down by backstage politics?
Thanks
Ladies and Gentlemen who know my opinions, say it with me.
William Bloody Regal. Regal not being World Champ is the biggest missed prospect of all time, in my book. He could work, talk, had charisma, selling, heat, the lot. But sadly, it was not to be, and unlikely to occur now. His run as GM/King of the Ring seemed destined for the title, but then we all know what happened there.
Stevie Richards is another guy I bang on a bit about, given that for better or worse, RTC was HATED at the time. He could, maybe, have gotten a shot there.
Owen Hart, although it’s a cliché, was a guy who you could aruge was a main eventer, and yet wasn’t. But he could have been champ, easy.
And although it’s possible it might still happen, but Colt Cabana for sure.
But that’s just my opinion. What about you guys? What do you think? Let me know below, and next week we’re back to normal. I swear.
Probably.
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