I'm With You 24 Hours A Day...
I didn't check out ye olde Summerslam this year, because the money tree in my backyard was accidentally burned down in a brushfire caused by some discarded credit card bills I threw out my back window. Seems like Flair-Foley delivered, but I don't see the point of buying PPVs. There's already 3 shows a week on free TV of the same quality. The storylines are ok, but they're not interesting enough for me to shell out actual cash to see their conclusions... not that they conclude storylines at PPVs anymore. Not like the good ol' days...
Okay, that little old man rant was actually a not-so-clever segue into something I have fallen absolutely in LOVE with: WWE 24/7.
Don't get me wrong - Cheapo McGillicuddy over here didn't actually shell out whatever it costs to get access to WWE 24/7, but I did check out the free preview. Wow. I was in wrestling nerd heaven. Here's what I saw this weekend:
Monday Night Wars: This show is sort of a fun idea: it picks a Monday night in the late 90's and shows the RAW and Nitro from that night back to back. It's amazing how different RAW was pre-Austin era. Shawn Michaels was an unironic babyface while we were being "treated" to Faarooq (in the short-lived ridiculous gladiator helmet) vs. Savio Vega (not a bad worker, actually).
Over on Nitro, the Giant (a positively teenage-looking Big Show) had just joined the NWO. I remember it being a fairly exciting time, with chaos breaking out every week. I forgot what I hated about that era: the overdramatic Eric Bischoff doing commentary. When fake Sting turned on Lex Luger, Bischoff looked like his mother had just died. It was a bit much - took some of the fun out of it. Still - a good show.
Old School: On this show, they showed a card from Toronto in 1984 which featured Rene Goulet vs. jobber (ok, I fast-forwarded through this one), SD Jones vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine for the IC strap, Nikolai Volkoff vs. Rocky Johnson and the brand-spankin' new British Bulldogs vs. two jobbers. A few things from this show stuck out:
- None of the guys had entrance music. They just walked out in silence to the crowd's reaction and got introduced in the middle of the ring. In a way, the lack of music sort of brought the crowd into it more. The WWE has become like a slick Hollywood movie - wall to wall music. I bet a heel that came out to no music (perhaps Sylvester Terkay?) would be a nice chance for someone to get some old school heat.
- These jobbers were in TERRIBLE shape. They all lacked any sort of muscle tone whatsoever. Plus, they were OOOOOOLD. Like all 40+. It was a shocker, considering the muscle freaks we have today.
- The British Bulldogs completely revolutionized the WWF. With their speed, strength, agility, extraordinary moves - they looked like they were from a different planet than any of the other "athletes" in the WWF at the time. I think when we look at all the extraordinary acrobatic entertainers we have in American wrestling today, we can pretty easily draw a line straight back to Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid. They started it all.
SummerSlam 92: Quick aside joke from my childhood - After the inaugural SummerSlam 88, the next year's edition was called (shockingly) "SummerSlam 89." My little brother sees this on TV and gives me a disappointed face: "I was hoping it would be called SummerSlam 88 II." Not a bad joke for a 10-year old, no?
Okay, so this was the one at Wembley Stadium for 80,000 people. Talk about your big-card feel. It was electric. 24/7 didn't show the whole card, but it did show:
- LOD vs. Money Inc. (I'd forgotten how bad Hawk sold, but it was a ton of fun)
- a strangely overbooked Shawn Michaels vs. Rick "The Model" Martel match that I'd forgotten about with the big payoff being Sensational Sherri getting doused with a bucket of water for some (still unclear) reason
- the "main event" of Ultimate Warrior vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage with Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair in the corner. They were working a strange face vs. face program, but Savage managed to carry Warrior to a halfway decent match.
Sadly, the Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith match wasn't on there, but still - it was a great trip down memory lane.
WWE 24/7 is, in a word, completely awesome. I wasted maybe 6 hours just yesterday watching this crap. And so - there's no way in hell I'm buying the service. With the pure volume of wrestling 24/7 offers, I can't see ever leaving the house. Which means I'd have to quit my job and wouldn't be able to afford WWE 24/7 anymore. So you can see the ironic mobius strip of a conundrum this wonderful new invention places me in.
Okay, that little old man rant was actually a not-so-clever segue into something I have fallen absolutely in LOVE with: WWE 24/7.
Don't get me wrong - Cheapo McGillicuddy over here didn't actually shell out whatever it costs to get access to WWE 24/7, but I did check out the free preview. Wow. I was in wrestling nerd heaven. Here's what I saw this weekend:
Monday Night Wars: This show is sort of a fun idea: it picks a Monday night in the late 90's and shows the RAW and Nitro from that night back to back. It's amazing how different RAW was pre-Austin era. Shawn Michaels was an unironic babyface while we were being "treated" to Faarooq (in the short-lived ridiculous gladiator helmet) vs. Savio Vega (not a bad worker, actually).
Over on Nitro, the Giant (a positively teenage-looking Big Show) had just joined the NWO. I remember it being a fairly exciting time, with chaos breaking out every week. I forgot what I hated about that era: the overdramatic Eric Bischoff doing commentary. When fake Sting turned on Lex Luger, Bischoff looked like his mother had just died. It was a bit much - took some of the fun out of it. Still - a good show.
Old School: On this show, they showed a card from Toronto in 1984 which featured Rene Goulet vs. jobber (ok, I fast-forwarded through this one), SD Jones vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine for the IC strap, Nikolai Volkoff vs. Rocky Johnson and the brand-spankin' new British Bulldogs vs. two jobbers. A few things from this show stuck out:
- None of the guys had entrance music. They just walked out in silence to the crowd's reaction and got introduced in the middle of the ring. In a way, the lack of music sort of brought the crowd into it more. The WWE has become like a slick Hollywood movie - wall to wall music. I bet a heel that came out to no music (perhaps Sylvester Terkay?) would be a nice chance for someone to get some old school heat.
- These jobbers were in TERRIBLE shape. They all lacked any sort of muscle tone whatsoever. Plus, they were OOOOOOLD. Like all 40+. It was a shocker, considering the muscle freaks we have today.
- The British Bulldogs completely revolutionized the WWF. With their speed, strength, agility, extraordinary moves - they looked like they were from a different planet than any of the other "athletes" in the WWF at the time. I think when we look at all the extraordinary acrobatic entertainers we have in American wrestling today, we can pretty easily draw a line straight back to Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid. They started it all.
SummerSlam 92: Quick aside joke from my childhood - After the inaugural SummerSlam 88, the next year's edition was called (shockingly) "SummerSlam 89." My little brother sees this on TV and gives me a disappointed face: "I was hoping it would be called SummerSlam 88 II." Not a bad joke for a 10-year old, no?
Okay, so this was the one at Wembley Stadium for 80,000 people. Talk about your big-card feel. It was electric. 24/7 didn't show the whole card, but it did show:
- LOD vs. Money Inc. (I'd forgotten how bad Hawk sold, but it was a ton of fun)
- a strangely overbooked Shawn Michaels vs. Rick "The Model" Martel match that I'd forgotten about with the big payoff being Sensational Sherri getting doused with a bucket of water for some (still unclear) reason
- the "main event" of Ultimate Warrior vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage with Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair in the corner. They were working a strange face vs. face program, but Savage managed to carry Warrior to a halfway decent match.
Sadly, the Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith match wasn't on there, but still - it was a great trip down memory lane.
WWE 24/7 is, in a word, completely awesome. I wasted maybe 6 hours just yesterday watching this crap. And so - there's no way in hell I'm buying the service. With the pure volume of wrestling 24/7 offers, I can't see ever leaving the house. Which means I'd have to quit my job and wouldn't be able to afford WWE 24/7 anymore. So you can see the ironic mobius strip of a conundrum this wonderful new invention places me in.
posted by BJ Boston at 5:55 PM
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