VWWE Universe

11 Search Results for "hurt"

• Cooper creates....a picture!

  • From: Jason_Cooper
  • Description:

    The highs, the lows and how I got here!

    14:28 pm Tuesday the 20th of December 1983 Oak park hospital Sacramento, that's where the roller coaster that is my life begun. First and only child of James and Eileen Cooper, Dad, C.E.O of Tratalic software inc, Mum a Nurse at the same hospital I was born, life was never a struggle for our family, I always had the best of everything, I was the never the boy who was bullied for the sneakers he was wearing or the pants he had on, when I was a kid all I had to do was point at something in a store and I had it there and then, though it was never my father who bought it for me, sure he paid for it but he was a busy man, he had a company to run he couldn’t waste time walking round toy stores when there was money to be made, so he said. I’m not going to sit here and diss the guy, I’ve had an amazing life and that’s most in part down to him, hell if it weren’t for my Father I wouldn’t be in this business today, My mother on the other hand was always there, I was her blue eyed boy, when I was born she never worked again, my father’s orders of course but she didn’t care, she was financially secure. She was the one who came to the ball games at junior high, who played soccer at the park, the greatest mother anyone could hope for. It was Friday July 30th 1990, a typical day, I went to school, last day before the weekend, in the middle of a lesson, my grandparents picked me up and took me home, they looked upset but didn’t say much on the drive back, I got home and Dad was there which was strange as he didn’t usually get back until 7 pm, he sat me down and told me that mum had died, he didn’t tell me the cause but I later found out she had a blood clot, I stayed with my grandparents for about a year after that, until one day Dad came to pick me up and take me home, he was a different man, he had appointed someone in his position to run the company. I always remember the day he sat me down, apologised for not being the father he could have been and promised me a fishing trip! He always made sure we had at least three a year, great times man.
    
    As I began high school in 94 I had been watching Wrestling for about a year, the Wrestling business was just becoming a global entertainment, Hulkamania was going strong and I had watched many episodes of it with the old man, The Rock’n’Wrestling connection on MTV! I was a huge Hogan fan and had all of the merchandise, when he left after the steroid drama I was distraught but I kept watching as I had fell in love with the show, every little boys dream at the time to be a wrestler and to fight beside Hulk Hogan against Ted DiBiase and Irwin R Schyster at Wrestlemania IX in Las Vegas, that was one hell of a show, hell I still walk past Shawn Michaels, Taker and Tatanka and remember watching them go at it all those years ago, it’s awesome to think I perform on the same card as them these days, the day I share the ring with any of them will be the day I know I’ve really made. Going through high school it’s all us boys really talked about, we used to get into so many arguments about who would win up and coming matches and who would kick who’s ass if put in a match, there was a kid at school by the name of Josh, man I hated this kid, we got into this argument one day about who would in a match between Taker and Shawn Michaels, this was around 97, it all got a bit personal and being the way kids are he took a shot at my Mother, man I pounded that guy so hard he was off school for two weeks, my dad had to come to the school to discuss what had happened and I got detention for about a month solid.
    
    After high school I got into American River College in Sacramento, taking a degree in Political Science, this is where my Wrestling career began really, Coach Paul branch was a tough guy to learn from but I owe him a hell of a lot, I went for six months undefeated on the freshman Wrestling team because of him and in my sophomore year I qualified for the State championships, I was the runner-up but my old man was so proud that he bought me my first car, A corvette woo! Although I enjoyed that style of wrestling I was always an adrenaline seeker, I used to watch guys like Rey Mysterio jr catch some serious air from a turnbuckle, the hardy boys flipping off ladders onto Edge and Christian, they’d say it set them free, flying through the air, a different high, we used to get a couple of guys together on the weekends and do some backyard matches, I was waiting for my match one day and thought I’d try some of these moves out, I was up against my good friend Brian, a stack of mats and a ladder is all we had but after that match I was hooked on the buzz of flying through the air and pulling off a big moonsault or a leg drop from a great height, it hurt like and you were sore as a you know what afterwards but the attention from the ladies made it all the more worth it. The last year of College I competed in the NCAA division but came second, as I left college I was seriously contemplating leaving my wrestling career behind and going a different direction, although I was good, I just couldn’t get to where I wanted to be and that’s the top! I had a long talk with my dad, I told him what I planned to do, he stood up walked over to me and slapped me across the face, “Don’t be so damn stupid son! Now you get out there and be the best damn wrestler you can be, make your mother proud!”
    
    Two months later I joined Supreme Pro Wrestling in my home town ( I know it’s like I’ve never been out of Sacramento) working with guys like Mike Rayne and Sir Samurai, they did one show a month and the fan base was crazy, we used to do St Peter’s hall a lot and my old man used to come and watch the shows and we’d go for a beer with the guys afterwards, sometimes it was the hospital first then the bar. It was with SPW that I perfected the Shooting star press which I use as my finishing manoeuvre to this day, I say perfected because I botched it more than a handful of times, almost broke my damn neck doing it, almost exactly like Brock Lesnar did against Kurt Angle and I busted a guy’s ribs up too. I also invested some money into the company and whenever I’m home or near it I always pop in to see how the guys are doing, it celebrated it’s nine year anniversary in April so we had a huge hardcore show on, I was in between TNA and FCW at the time so I went down and took part, man did I get busted up but it kicked ass! Anyway we had this show on in November of 2007, we went out did the match it went great, it was a great night all in all but it was to get even better, as I was leaving the hall, someone taps me on the shoulder, I turn around and stood behind me is Jerry Jarret, he offers me a try out for TNA and of course I accepted it without even thinking about it. I jumped in the car and tore up the road until I got to my Fathers, I told him what had happened, I’ll never forget the look on his face man, he stood up gave me a huge hug and told me he was proud of me and that mum would be too. A week later after a dark match on Impact I was signed to TNA. I left SPW a 3 time SPW champion and part owner and apart from my blood sweat and tears I left some amazing people and I’ve been left with some amazing memories.
    
    From then it’s been a whirlwind, back and forth, companies going bust, plans down the toilet, my life has been thrown around I once again contemplated leaving the business for good but luck struck a few months ago when I was resigned to FCW! I put my heart and soul into every match and it’s got me where I want to be and that’s on the flagship show of the greatest Wrestling company ever, as a small boy I dreamed of performing on TV, it may not be with Hulk Hogan but it is on WWE RAW! And I hope there’s kids out there dreaming to one day do what I’m doing and I hope they stick with it because there’s no better feeling than flying through the air in front of thousands of people in the arena and millions watching worldwide knowing that I’m not only making my parents proud but also myself. Cooper creates?
    
    Cooper is creating a dream!
    
    Peace!

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
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• Inglorious Bastards: The Histo

  • From: VWWE
  • Description:

    Inglorious Bastards: The History of the New World Order
    

    Many of WWE's newer fans, and even Superstars, will not know of the (in)glorious history of the New World Order within the business. While originally a WCW concept, the first instance of the nWo we shall deal with will be the one former in January of 2002 in the now defunct Fantasy Wrestling Championship (FWC).
    
    Shawn Michaels had recently comeback from a career ending back injury, persuaded by money, by his own admission, he joined the upstart FWC, reuniting with Razor Ramon and Diesel, better known as Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The trio would soon form the nWo and the FWC Championship around the waist of Michaels. Despite the accolades and plaudits Michaels received, he and many other Superstars were unhappy in FWC due to the booking flaws of the company.
    
    In March, he and the entire nWo defected to the then WWF.
    
    In a memorable month, the group invaded Madison Square Garden, declared war on the World Wrestling Federation and laid waste Superstars such as Silent Assassin, Kane, Hollywood Nitro and Steve Austin, spraying their familiar "nWo" logo on the backs of their enemies. Michaels in particular was noted for becoming the most hated man in the industry both on TV and backstage. The New World Order era not just a gimmick, they were for real. It wasn't to last however and after the WWF decided to turn Michaels face at WrestleMania 18, the nWo drifted apart, but significantly, all it's members left Skydome as a title holder, Michaels the Undisputed Champion and The Outsiders the World Tag Team Champions.
    
    With the Monday Night Wars against FWC in full swing, WWE decided they needed to hit FWC where it hurt - in the ratings. Hell in a Cell - Steve Austin - the nWo, three knockout blows from which WWE figured FWC would never recover.. they were right.
    
    The summer of 2002 was the summer of the nWo. Forming in May, this second version of the nWo is considered the "nWo classic", the definitive and most successful version of the group.
    
    Since being in WWE Michaels had formed a backstage Kliq, a group of Superstars closely allied and working to advance their own careers and "have some fun" as HBK put it in a 2004 interview. The Kliq were loved and loathed alike, many seeing them as the saviors of the business, the ones taking the war to FWC, while others saw them as arrogant, obnoxious and holding good Superstars down. The Kliq consisted of Michaels, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Nightmare and Silent Assassin, the 5 men who would play a key role in what was to come.
    
    The nWo centered around three of the five members of the Kliq - Michaels, Hogan and Nightmare, with Urban-Wolf as the forth member and Shane McMahon in a management role. Triple H had been in the group for only a week but due to heat with the Kliq, was released from the company in the first sign of things to come.
    
    To feud with the nWo? Team WWE, led by Kliq member Steve Austin and later Silent Assassin.
    
    The havoc caused the first time around was nothing compared to the carnage this time, Steve Austin was stripped of the WWE Championship, Nightmare became WWE commissioner and split the brands, the nWo literally bought the company and fired Vince McMahon. HBK was awarded the WWE Championship and anybody who argued was beaten and abused. WWE was in the grip of an nWo dictatorship.
    
      A 5 on 5 elimination match for total control of WWE was arranged for SummerSlam 2002, but little know to the nWo, Shawn Michaels had become increasingly insecure about his own position within the group, Hulk Hogan having become Undisputed Champion several weeks before with Shawn struggling to get back into the title picture. Unknown to anybody, Michaels had a secret agenda and during the match betrayed the nWo to form D-Generation X with Silent Assassin, it was a tear from which the nWo Classics would not recover.
    
    Hulk Hogan immediately formed a new nWo with the returning Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, Nightmare being drafted to SmackDown and also leaving the group. While it looked like the nWo's time maybe over however, they received an unexpected boost as another consequence of the brand split - Eric Bischoff became General Manager of Raw. An nWo sympathizer since the WCW days, Bischoff brought Hogan to Raw and instantly made him World Heavyweight Champion.
    
    The nWo continued in much the same way it had, invading UWW at one point, ejecting Randy Savage from the company and creating all manner of havoc, but their power was broken - Nash and Hall were not Nightmare and Shawn Michaels. Hogan soon became disillusioned with the black and white and as America geared up for war with Iraq, Hogan's patriotic strings were pulled. In one memorable moment in early 2003, Hogan returned in the red and yellow, ready to do battle against the Iron Sheik and the Weapons of Mass Destruction tag team, finally headed to the main event of WrestleMania XIX against Steve Austin in the Icon vs Icon match. The nWo was dead.
    
    But as somebody once said, maybe everything that dies one day comes back... and it was certainly true for the nWo.
    
    With no competition, WWE's creative department became lax and by 2004 ratings had dropped like a stone. Coupled with a scandal concerning steroid and recreational drug use backstage at WWE events, WWE was in serious danger of being taken off the air. WWE decided that once again, the nWo were needed.
    
    At WrestleMania XX, Vince McMahon claimed that if the performers did not please him, he would kill WWE there and then. As he watched from a skybox at Madison Square Garden, it became ever increasingly obvious he was not happy, calling Evolution - Triple H, Batista, Ric Flair and Suffering, along with Goldberg into the skybox to watch the Main Event. As Hulk Hogan pinned Shawn Michaels, dethroning Showtime as World Champion in the process, it became clear this was no ordinary match. Eric Bischoff, X-Pac, Nash and Hall all came out - the nWo were not going to let the company die, Hulk Hogan proclaiming this was the "house that Hogan built", they were here to take what they could from the ailing company. Vince put his thumbs up, WWE lived and he accepted the challenge.
    
    The last nWo were more vicious than ever, throwing people through glass doors, belt whippings, not even interested in winning matches anymore - just taking all they could and making sure they remained on top as the likes of Evolution tried to save the company, tried to make new stars. The nWo died a few months later inside a Wargames match, the first and only such match on Raw. It would be the nWo versus Evolution, Silent Assassin and Goldberg. Suffering pinned Michaels, his future seemingly made, the nWo in crisis... but we never found out what happened next as the USA Network pulled the plug on Raw, taken off the air.
    
    And that would have been the end of the story, the final chapter ending on the last episode of the old Raw inside the cell.
    
    
    But the nWo... cannot die. Everytime WWE is in crisis, every time Hulk Hogan rears his head or Shawn Michaels hints at the past, the name is there, lurking in the background. One such moment was during the dark days of the New Generation war.
    
    The parallels are there for all to see, the upstart group led by Shane McMahon, trying to take over the WWE, even some of the same figures were present - Vince McMahon and Stone Cold leading Team WWE. But this time, McMahon had little success against his son and the New Generation, a group who's sole aim was to destroy the WWE Originals. McMahon became increasingly frustrated at the war he's fighting, ever more unhinged.
    
    Then one week he did the unthinkable - he signed a deal to reunite the original nWo, to ally Team WWE with the very men they fought such a bitter war against - a unified WWE and nWo to fight off the challenge of the New Generation.
    
    It never happened, Vince balked on the deal at the last moment... but was Vince as mad as he appears?
    
    The nWo made a career out of putting themselves over young stars, of beating down, holding down and throwing upstarts out of the company. Could it be that Vince saw this as an asset in fighting the New Generation? there can be no doubt that the nWo will stoop to tactics even Randy Orton, Suffering or Legacy would not even consider.
    
    
    The nWo were even rumored to be the power behind Eric Bischoffs half ownership just this year.... but now, we have the most interesting twist in the tale of the nWo for some time because with WWE's 2009 finincial crisis, the company was forced to sell a lot of it's trademarked names, logos and entities to rival organizations... and rumor has it one of those was the nWo.
    
    
    What would happen if the nWo were to invade TNA? would that company cumble under the weight and assault the nWo would inflict? or, like WWE, would the nWo build the company, would he lead TNA into a war with WWE that TNA could possibly win with the force of the balck and white behind it?
    
    Would buying the rights to the nWo be a smart move by Dixie Carter? possibly, but watch your back because the poison covered knife carried by Hogan, Michaels and the original Kliq will always be ready and waiting to strike...
  • Blog post
  • 4 months ago
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• BREAKING NEWS

  • From: TonyWellard
  • Description:

    The news latest is the WWE Raw superstar Mr. Kennedy has been released from WWE. There are reports going around saying that Mr. Kennedy hurt his wrist when Randy Orton RKO'd Kennedy on Raw. It is also rumored that Kennedy was released because there was an argument between Kennedy and Orton. It is said that there was no fighting.

    WWE have pulled Ric Flair from working in Ring of Honor where Ric was the ambassador. It might be that WWE are trying to sign Ric Flair on a non-wrestler full time. In a recent interview with Flair he said he has NOT retired from wrestling but WWE had retired him.

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
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• Raw: Draft Special Review

  • From: VWWE
  • Description:

    The WWE draft is something that's sharply divided opinion but like with most things, I always like to take an objective view, look at things from all sides and draw mixed conclusions, the Raw draft is now different.
    
    The opening segment really held little interest for me, we've seen this before and it seemed a little flat. With the monotone Batista and uber-serious Triple H, it really didn't have a spark of life, I'd have much rather gone in with Mysterio vs Borne as a longer opening match, build the crowd up and given them the first big draft of the evening. Not a good start to the Show.. but it wasn't REALLY a disaster, 6/10.
    
    Rey Mysterio vs Evan Bourne. Everybody loved Bourne... and he has potential.. but.... to be honest I'm not feeling it. In ring ability is no guarantee of success, ask Shelton Benjamin, Bourne will also need to learn mat psychology and gain personality, he's rather generic in terms of look and isn't what WWE usually go for. With no cruiserweight division, where does he really fit in? could you really see Evan Bourne as WWE Champion? ... match was too short to amount to much, Rey won, which at this stage of Bourne's career was the correct decision. First draft MVP.
    
    MVP to Raw was a call I made in the run up to the Show and makes absolute sense. MVP is WAY over on SmackDown and needs to be moved to the next level, moving to Raw will do that without pushing him up as far as the main events. Equally, if he'd been pushed to the main event on SmackDown instead of on Raw, in my honest opinion it would mean far less. Raw has the bigger audience and the bigger appeal, its a higher accolade to be in that position on the red brand. I'm eagerly looking forward to MVP on Raw, though its hard to say who he'll feud with. I'm sure Matt Hardy will be in the mix as will Cody and Ted, though who else? maybe one of the later draftees such as Miz or anybody from the supplemental draft.
    
    Kane vs Brian Kendrick went as expected and I fear management has lost a lot of faith in Kendrick. Kendrick is in the same boat as Evan Bourne, talented in the extreme, with an actual personality this time.. but his size and style just do not allow him a chance. Send him to ECW possibly where the smaller guys seems to at least get decent airtime. If I was WWE, id reinstigate the CW title on that brand, make it one of the draws of it. Anyway, squash, Raw gets another pick.
    
    Big Show to Raw. This is called also... well.. I said either Edge or Big Show, with Vickie being on Raw it was obvious. This does bring a few new feuds - Big Show vs HBK? id LOVE to see that, HBK having a history with bigger men.. (that sounds gay lol), Big Show vs Batista, Orton, Triple H again, a good move.
    
    Orton's segments with Vickie = all kinds of great. I like how Orton basically doesn't care whether people are faces or heels, very Steve Austin.... now turn him face and keep it the same.
    
    Divas match - blah.
    
    Melina to SD, this did surprise me as Melina is one of Raw's better divas and of course the champion, sad to see her go :( to be honest, I don't see the point of the swap but more on that later.
    
    Cena vs Swagger: If WWE had the balls, Swagger would have gone over and become a major star in one event, just imagine the reaction had he beaten Cena? WWE have done it before like when Shelton Benjamin beat Triple H and it wouldn't have hurt Cena. In the end Cena went over but Swagger was allowed a lot of decent offense and looked good here, he wasn't buried and that's something. Trust, Swagger will be a star. A lot of people mention his lisp as a drawback, I disagree, I think its an asset, it gives opponents and crowds something easy to mock and is hardly crippling, like having one leg or something. Jack Swagger will be World Champion on day, etch it in stone, remember it, write it down. Match of the night certainly... and we get two picks for Raw.
    
    Matt Hardy: I call this one too lol, yup, expected, good move for Matt and I expect him straight into the US mix after his blow off with Jeff at Backlash
    
    Triple H: there was NOTHING shocking about this, I called it long ago. It was treated as a big deal as it should have been... but cummon guys, he's been on Raw all year lol. What does perturb me is the fact that we're back to a very familiar line up of Batista-Triple H-Orton-Cena-Michaels on Raw, it does feel like we've been here before and I have to ask what feuds there possibly is in that? the drafting of somebody like the Undertaker would have freshened everything up... but anyway, now Raw has two world titles again. Gee... I wonder what happened last time we had that scenario *que up horrific images of CM Punk pinning Edge*
    
    Santino/Khali = all kinds of greatness, even if Khali can barely keep a straight face during any of it. I do think there's potential for comedy in Khali as witnessed at last years draft with the telephone and a few other times since, this is defo the route they should take with him.
    
    Khali wins another squash, really just so SD gets a pick... and thank fucking God its Punk. I don't watch SD as religiously as Raw and often DVR it so I can just skip past him now lol, though it probably means Punk will be world champion soon to get a title on the brand... ugh.
    
    Can I also say at this point that Michael Cole was at his absolute worst during this Show, excruciatingly painful.
    
    Miz vs Kofi was a decent match... Kofi wins... and Miz goes to Raw.
    
    I have issues with what happened afterward, after so long of teaming.. Miz just turning on Morrison like that made little sense at all, no build up. The two should have gone their separate ways amicably or have been drafted together. Miz on his own is not going to be a star but at least Morrison gets a chance to shine again. Maybe he'll move in the supplemental.
    
    Next was the battle royal... and as I always say... I hate battle royals. They just seem so 1980's, there's no psychology or technical skill involved and seems a piss poor way to decide anything. This was always coming down to Edge and Big Show which made sense... Edge won two picks for SmackDown - blah, if you like battle royals I guess this was fine.
    
    Kane to SmackDown, not one of my pre-Show picks but I called it as soon as Big Show went to Raw. He's a perfect replacement for Show in the big man role. Kane is really the new Chris Ben**t in the fact that he gets swapped in every draft.
    
    Chris Jericho: To be honest... im a little sad at that as Jericho was a highlight on Raw over the past year but now he's new opponents and scenarios and I'm already thinking The Undertaker vs Jericho, I'd really like them to save that for WrestleMania however. Jericho has a lot more opportunity now with the thinner main event picture over on the blue brand, a good move for him.
    
    Shelton Benjamin vs Christian was a good match but again, not really enough time to make it special. I like both these guys and was hoping Christian would move to Raw to get in that US mix... not to be. Christian wins ECW a pick... and its Kozlov.
    
    Kozlov suits ECW, he's been buried a little recently so in ECW he can rebuild his reputation, squash some of the chaff like DJ Gabriel and build his way up. I can see Swagger losing to Christian maybe, Christian to Kozlov and the Kozlov vs Dreamer at Extreme Rules, the underdog story for Dreamer, something like that anyway. Good move for Kozlov.
    
    CM Punk vs Matt Hardy: Decent match again, nothing offensive here as you'd expect... Jeff's run in was good and I got a sense that CM Punk may bring it up with Jeff on SmackDown. Punk desperately needs to turn heel, he's MADE to be a heel, he was awesome as a heel in ROH... so whys he a damn face ffs. Have him beat the shit out of Jeff on SD please WWE :) I expect to see TLC at Backlash as the blowoff, Jeff getting the win. Anyway, Matt wins by DQ, giving Raw the win... and....
    
    Maryse to Raw. Obvious but ugh. Frankly I cant stand Maryse and swapping her for Melina = no buys.
    
    Jericho's out next... followed by Dreamer... which means SmackDown will win lol... and sure enough, Dreamer got some offense which is some consolation, but Jericho wins... and.... Rey Mysterio to SmackDown. Another of my calls, it became a lock when MVP went to Raw. And to the person who said "That's not very likely Mick, he was drafted in 2008" ... fuck off :)
    
    Draft makes sense, Rey will re add the Hispanic audience to SmackDown and frankly, he should never have left in the first place.
    
    And that's your lot. What let it down was the fact that the last draft was not last on the show and wasn't a huge name this year so it wasn't as exciting. Had the last draft been Triple H and been the last act of the Show... that would probably have left the audience with a better taste from those who disliked it.
    
    Anyway, still the Legacy shenanigans to come... and whadda ya know, Legacy lose again.
    
    Cody and Ted losing is becoming a farce, are they serious henchmen or jobbers? as they never win a match, why is Orton hanging with them? just what exactly to Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase offer to Randy Orton? an no, beating up the Colons doesn't count. Rhodes and Dibiase need to get their heat back, they've lost match after match recently are have zero credibility to me at the moment.
    
    The Batista/Shane/Trips uneasy alliance is a nice and interesting aspect but I think Batista needs to directly address the fact he'll be defending Triple H's WWE title. Why not have Vickie add a stip whereby if Batista wins at Backlash... HE will become Champion?
    
    Anyway, Orton vs Triple H next week? well lets hope its better than WrestleMania.

  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
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• WrestleMania Memories

  • From: VWWE
  • Description:

    As I take a (well deserved) break from writing Raw, I thought I'd blog on WWE matters and what else could I possibly talk about other than WrestleMania?
    
    I'm going to do two pieces, one on my personal memories of WrestleMania (that's this one), and secondly, my predictions and hopes for this years event.
    
    In the beginning... Vince created WrestleMania.
    
    WrestleMania at the beginning really wasn't seen as "the Superbowl of professional wrestling", it really wasn't as grand as all that. The NWA had already promoted their Starrcade supercards and WWE had produced Showdown at Shea, make no mistake, WrestleMania was the answer to Starrcade.
    
    Vince McMahon is the kind of man, much like myself lol, who has to do everything bigger, better and badder than the opposition. Vince will have looked at Starrcade and thought - how can we blow that out of the water. At this time Vince was at the forefront of new innovation and technology, something WWE is NOT in 2009. Vince looked at cable and MTV in particular, he looked at the 1980's political landscape and gave us Hogan, Volkoff etc... he looked to pay-per-view.
    
    PPV was the single invention that changed wrestling forever, talking it out of local arenas and barns and into the front room, the revenue allowed companies to suddenly become major TV players and increase production values and wages tenfold. People like Hulk Hogan became mainstream celebrities, all from this one event. Vince apparently figuratively stakes the family jewels on this being a success... and it was. The celebrity endorsement brought in new fans and exposure and WrestleMania, in one night, made the WWF the hottest thing in America, burying the NWA in the process.
    
    My first WrestleMania was apparently WrestleMania III though I remember nothing of it. My father was allegedly something of a fan in the 1980's and literally everybody watched WrestleMania 3, I was allowed to stay up for it. Even though I don't remember it, maybe it left a subconscious memory that led me to VWWE some 15 years later lol. What follows next is my own memories of the events I saw live at the time. Many of these I, in truth, haven't watched fully again since then, so I'm just remembering off the top of my head what I can (I nearly forgot the ladder match at WM16 for one lol, so sorry if I miss anything really important out)
    
    My first actual memory of a WrestleMania is WrestleMania IX at Caesars Palace with those absurd toga costumes. All I remember remembering is how much Hulk Hogan sucked and at that time I'd wished Bret Hart had left with the title lol. In truth I probably still believe that, Hulk Hogan winning the title at WM9 being the moment Hogan Jumped the Shark in the WWF, it was one of the most shameful power plays ever seen. Bret should have left WM9 as champion and although it didn't hurt his career, it could easily have done.
    
    WrestleMania X I remember a lot more, by this point I was watching the WWF regularly with the likes of Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon etc being my favorites (even Bret Hart). WrestleMania X is still one of my favorite PPV's and one of the best ever WrestleMania's with Owen Hart going over Bret and the infamous Ladder Match. This was imo the PPV where the New Generation really came into their own. The main event, like last year and next year was forgettable however - Bret vs Yokozuna and I don't think imo that WrestleMania had really reached its "Superbowl" status yet and wouldn't for a long time.
    
    WrestleMania XI and the involvement of Lawrence Taylor I remember, funnily it's really only the celebrities I remembered from this PPV, Pamala Anderson of course being there with Jenny McCarthy. I didn't remember a thing about any of the matches which says everything about the quality of the show. This was a PPV where they tried to mask the lameness of the card with the celebs. Did it work? nope.
    
    WrestleMania 12 was the Ironman match and of course the Warrior vs Helmsley, losing in 12 seconds which is hilarious now... but I was pissed back then. Not for Helmsley who I hated but if there was one person I hated more it was the Warrior. I was a total New Generation freak at the time and ANYBODY who I saw as being from the 80's I hated - Hogan, Warrior, Slaughter. An Ultimate Warrior return filled me with dread, luckily it didn't last. I haven't seen the Ironman match in ages but it's always been one of my favorite matches.. yet thinking back to it, I really think HBK has had better matches since. Id certainly rather watch his Flair match or Jericho matches. Maybe I've just forgotten how great it was, I'll have to rewatch sometime.
    
    WrestleMania 13 came at a time I was becoming exasperated, for want of another word, with the WWF. I'd been watching WCW a lot in the latter half of 1996 and it was on fire, the WWF was in transition but mostly lame and WrestleMania 13 didn't buck the trend. I remember little of it and haven't seen it since first broadcast I don't think. I really had little interest in it. The only match that stands out is Bret Hart vs Steve Austin... and i'm gunna leave my thoughts on that for my 1997 history blogs lol.
    
    What a difference a year made... WrestleMania 14 and it could have been a whole different company. This was the "official" start of attitude with Tyson, Austin and Michaels being so memorable. Throughout that match it really felt like the end of an era but HBK was in such visible pain its still amazing they had the match they did. The final punch by Tyson and the 3:16 T-Shirt over the face were absolute perfect. There was much more to this PPV though, the DX Band murdering America the Beautiful was perfect for this era, LOD and Sunny was great, the dumpster match... great PPV and at this point, my favorite of them all.
    
    A year later and the WWF was now trouncing WCW... but in my own opinion, WrestleMania 15 wasn't as memorable as the year befores and all that stands out is the very poor Hell in a Cell match and the main event. The HIAC really was a snooze fest from a feud undeserving of the stipulation, it seemed tacked on and there simply to build on the reputation of the Taker/Mankind HIAC. The main event however was, like last year, genuinely the best two guys in the company and the hottest acts in wrestling. The right result with Austin again being champion led to the main event for the second year in a row being particularly memorable.
    
    WrestleMania 2000, XVI, 16, whatever you call it... it was shoite. Possibly the biggest disappointment in WrestleMania history for me, WrestleMania 16 should have been so much more. With the roster they had, the total domination... they decided for some reason to simply stick as many people as they could on the card. I'm struggling to remember much about the event, its another I haven't seen in a long time despite buying the DVD a few weeks back. Ice T I remember of course and there was the Angle/Benoit/Jericho match that was very good but could have been more. Plans I've always presumed originally featured the Undertaker who'd been scheduled to return at the 2000 Royal Rumble but in the end they had the four way that was excellent all told. Mick Foley's return however was lame and he should never have been in the match. Mick's career ending so close to WrestleMania was a perfect tragic ending to a career, it told a story. Coming back for this one match ruined that and would only have worked had Mick won the title for the fairytale ending. In the end we broke with tradition and Triple H won when many were expecting the Rock to do so. The ONLY great thing on the show as the triple threat ladder match, that's all that saved this card from being a disaster. That alone and the fact that all the matches, while not stellar, were good ranks it over WM15. Not my favorite event though....
    
    But the next one was.
    
    WrestleMania 17 from the Houston Astrodome was simply the greatest night in the history of wrestling, I'll not hear otherwise. This show was the final act in the attitude era, the last hurrah before the onset of a dark period. From top to bottom the card was utter quality. I remember watching this one live with some mates from college as everybody was still into wrestling at this point, something unthinkable just a year later. This night for me personally was the peak of wrestling's popularity even though ratings had already started to fall, but in terms of quality, passion from the fans, productions, talent, everything on this night was aligned.
    
    We had the TLC match, the gimmick battle royal, that awesome Limp Bizkit theme song, Undertaker and Triple H, the great garage brawl with Kane, Show and Raven, Angle and Benoit.
    
    McMahon vs McMahon for me at the time was just absolutely brilliant, it had been built perfectly with Shane buying WCW and on the night it was amazing storytelling with Linda rising up and kicking Vince in the balls, Shane going coast to coast - it was a fine start to the Alliance feud that sadly never lived up to these heights.
    
    The match of the evening however was Austin vs The Rock and frankly, this was one of the best built matches of all time. Austin and The Roc in the run up to this contest put in some of their finest ever performances, from Austin's NEED to be champion to the Rocks quest to actually win the belt from Kurt Angle, it was all brilliant and on the night they gave us one of the greatest WrestleMania main events ever. I loved them stealing each others finishers lol, you never seen that these days.... but the finish was what always made this special. I knew very little of backstage happenings at this point so it was a complete shock, Austin turning heel was the greatest swerve of all time, that image of Austin shaking hands with McMahon was one of the great pictures in wrestling history, played perfectly by JR and Paul Heyman. As much as I'd loved King, this event wouldn't have been quite as good without Heyman imo. It was a perfect end to a perfect show. The greatest WrestleMania of em all.
    
    For me, WrestleMania 17 was the moment that WrestleMania became WWE's answer to the Superbowl. Unlike other recent Manias, the crowd was huge, over 70,000, I cant remember the exact number. Every match on the card was fantastically built and a huge collision, the performances were off the chat as was the production. WrestleMania 17 heralded a new dawn for WrestleMania.
    
    WrestleMania 18 the year after was the first of the VWWE era, for many of our younger members, that must seem an age ago lol. The problem with WrestleMania 18 is that it followed 17 and could never live up to the previous years event despite the fact that WWE followed exactly the same formula almost. There was the big arena and crowd, the massive set, a live band... the problem? the matches.
    
    I'm as big a Chris Jericho fan as anybody but the decision to put the belt on Jericho at Vengeance in December 2001 was one of the biggest mistakes in WWE history. Following what happened at WrestleMania 17, the logical and poetic finale to the year 2001 was The Rock vs Steve Austin for the Undisputed Championship with The Rock winning and avenging his loss at WM17, possibly going on to WM18 to face Triple H. However... WWE threw us a swerve and had Jericho win and the had him hook up with Stephanie McMahon. In just a year WWE had gone from some of the greatest TV ever seen... to shoite. Jericho was a poor champion, a weak champion.. and there was never any doubt in anybodys mind that Triple H would roll over him at WM. That said, Triple H's return at the Rumble had been awesome.. but the whole fake pregnancy? not so. And Steph really looks a slut at this point as a side note lol.
    
    Steve Austin was completely wasted on this show and I've never understood why. From being the biggest draw in wrestling just 6 months previously, Austin was reduced to facing Scott Hall (no disrespect to him) in an undercard match... why? Personally, I'd have gone for - Nash and Hall challenge for the tag titles, Hogan faces The Rock, Austin faces Triple H, Undertaker faces Ric Flair. THAT would have been a challenger to WrestleMania 17.
    
    But the show wasn't a complete disaster, The Rock and Hulk Hogan was as well built as Austin/Rock had been the year previously. Who can forget "Yes.... or no?", one of the great promos of the decade? the match was absolutely electric, a magnificent example of psychology and working a crowd. This was the final answer to the idiots who believe that the likes of American Dragon have what it takes to be stars. These two men held the crowd in their palm and, frankly, out of an average match in the ring, gave us an ICONIC match through the manipulation of the crowd and the audience. The told a story and THAT is what this business is all about.
    
    Often forgotten on the card tragically is the Undertaker vs Ric Flair. Another fantastically built match, I LOVED this heel Undertaker, demanding respect and taking it if he didn't get it. Taker was awesome in the run up to this match with his beat down of David Flair for example. The match is a great street fight, another example of great storytelling but in truth, also the best actual match on the card. I MARKED for the run-in of Arn Anderson in the match, that was a WrestleMania moment for me.
    
    The main event as I mentioned... was crap. The crowd burned themselves out with Hogan/Rock which should have main evented, but besides that.. it just wasn't a good match. I never believed Jericho stood a change and frankly... his ring attire was vile. This match really marked a MASSIVE downturn in the quality of the main events in WWE for about the next six months. We had the atrocious Triple H/Hogan and Hogan/Undertaker in the moths that followed and ratings plummeted.
    
    Over all.. a letdown of a WrestleMania, but maybe not as bad as many people remember.
    
    WrestleMania XIX the year later was a return to form and a big improvement all round. WWE once again were following that formula of the past two events - big arena, live music, even Limp Bizkit returned this time.
    
    Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio started us off if I remember and it was a great opening match, Limp Bizkit played Taker to the ring.. Fred Durst looking an absolute midget next to Taker.
    
    This was the first WWE branded PPV and the first with the two titles. The WWE Championship match was poorly and offensively built with a vaguely racist Angle built around Triple H and Booker T which I thought was beneath Triple H and Ric Flair and even if they'd gone there, Booker T had to win the blow off... which of course he didn't. This match really held little interest for me or anybody else as I remember, there were three other matches on the card of prime importance - Michaels vs Jericho, Lesnar vs Angle and Hogan vs McMahon.
    
    There was always a sense in the early days of HBK's return, as far up to this match at WM19 that we should expect too much from him, his back could give out at any moment and going into the event, although we expected a good match, we didn't think it'd be a classic as this was. This was the moment we realized "Michaels is truly back" The ending where Jericho kicked him in the balls was great storytelling again and really got Jericho over as a heel at that point.
    
    Lesnar vs Angle was a match where Lesnar had to step up, it was make or break for him. Luckily he and Angle had a great match but what everybody talks about is that final moment where Lesnar was supposed to win with the Shooting Star Press and botched it. There was complete shock both in chat and the arena, a moment of silence where the whole world thought "he's dead". Luckily he wasn't and recovered enough, Angle has the intelligence to work a finish on the fly and all was well, but that was nearly the worst possible moment in WrestleMania history.
    
    The big match promoted here however was McMahon vs Hogan, twenty years in the making. In one way, it would have been cool had they held this off to WM20 but as it was this was built fantastically with a lot of great promos from both Hogan and McMahon on who was really responsible for the success of WrestleMania. In WWE, few people really are as good at this type of street fight as Vince McMahon, he's really pretty much mastered it over the years. The ladder and bloody Vince with the pipe were both great moments but the return of Roddy Piper was just brilliant. Very similarly booked to Undertaker vs Flair the year before in many ways.
    
    One year later and the WWE was really up shit creek. Raw had been poor, SmackDown had descended into shit central and VWWE was closed nearly, my own interest in WWE was dwindling a little, one of the few saving graces WrestleMania XX on the horizon from the iconic Madison Square Garden.... but WWE really dropped the ball here. WrestleMania 20 should have been the greatest card of all time, yet like at WrestleMania 16 WWE decided to simply cram the card with as many people as possible. There were a few saving graces going in - Evolution vs Rock/Sock, Angle vs Eddie, The Triple Threat and Christian vs Jericho.
    
    Christian vs Chris Jericho had been one of WWE's better booked programs going into the event with Christian playing the Creepy Little Bastard to perfection, perving after Trish Stratus. It was an excellent match with a great swerve finish with Trish turning on Jericho... and watch this space for VWWE ripping that Angle off soon enough :)
    
    The Rock and Sock Connection vs Evolution was a match that let me down on a lot of levels and I know many in VWWE were angry about the match and in particular by the performance of The Rock and Mick Foley that was just not up to standard. A lot of backlash went against The Rock after this in some quarters while Mick salvaged a lot with his excellent match against Orton at Backlash. However, watching iMPACT this week and Mick's words about WrestleMania... fuck him. And talking of TNA wastes... Kurt Angle. In seriousness, Angle and Eddie were on top of their games at this point, it was the height of both men's careers and after the euphoria of Eddie Guerrero winning the title at No Way Out, I think a lot was expected of this match... and for me... it failed to deliver. The match was excellent and certainly one of the best on the card... but it wasn't quite the 5 star match we were expecting and it was something of a letdown as well. After 5 hours almost, I was tired and exhausted by the main event but what happened next certainly kept me awake.
    
    The triple threat WAS a 5/5 star match. I remember the early talk in the locker was about how awesome Triple H's combination of white boots and black trunks was... which gives you an idea how "Queer Eye" Sam was back in those days lol. The match was another masterclass and an answer to the critics who'd been out in force for Triple H for well over a year. What happened after the match however is something that has changed since then. When Eddie came out to congratulate Chris Benoit in 2004, it was a poetic finale to the show, the two friends who were like brothers after all these years, champions together at last. Now it's a symbol of tragedy, the two friends locked together by a fateful future. What was once the most joyous end to a WrestleMania, is now the saddest.
    
    WrestleMania 21 had a theme - Hollywood, despite not actually being held in Hollywood. The commercials for this WrestleMania were probably the best thing about it with the "You lookin a me" one actually helping to build up Batista's character at the time I think. My personnel favorite was Austin's Gladiator one, being a big fan of that film but the Braveheart one with Flair falling off the donkey was hilarious. The event itself really marked the beginning of a new generation in WWE with Randy Orton, John Cena and Batista all in prominent singles matches for the first time.
    
    The build before the show was all about Batista, it had been going on for about six months and was the best turn WWE probably ever did. It was so subtle and Batista and Triple H played it to perfection, each week Tista got a little bit further away from Evolution. When he finally turned and powerbombed Triple H through that table, a viewing audience cheered in unison. It really seemed that Batista was the next big thing at this point, everybody was behind him. Unfortunately after his 3-0 winning streak over Triple H he got sent to SmackDown and was found out very quickly, he never reached these heights again which says a lot about Triple H's fantastic ability and is the final word to people who believe Helmsley wont do what's right for the business.
    
    Batista's victory was met with a massive response.. but on the undercard, Cena's wasn't. At this time Cena was over as a face, not to Batista's level at that time but certainly over. His win over JBL was more expected I think, the program was nowhere near as good, the crowd were bored of JBL as champion, the match was atrocious for a World title match at WrestleMania and Cole completely, as usual, failed to get the moment and its significance across. The Cena era started with a whimper.
    
    Elsewhere on the card Undertaker downed Randy Orton in a great match that's started their excellent feud and Shawn Michaels faced Kurt Angle in the match of the night, Shawn against stealing the show. To be honest though, I cant remember off the top of my head who won here, I'm pretty certain it was Angle but I wouldn't bet on it. I could go and look it up on Wiki... but I'll leave it lol.
    
    WrestleMania 21 marked a move back away from the big arenas that had made WrestleMania's 17 to 19 so great, 20 being excepted due to it being MSG and WrestleMania 21 to me always seems far smaller and less grand than many other manias, even WrestleMania 22 which was at just a small arena.
    
    WrestleMania 22 marked WWE with the Cena era in full swing and again, this isn't one of my favorite WrestleMania's. The Edge vs Mick Foley match was the highlight and an excellent match as Mick always manages in that environment, nothing less was expected. There were some great touches with the barbed wire, fire and Lita and it probably stole the show. However, there was some crap here too - the Boogeyman's involvement, Undertaker being landed with Mark Henry, Rey Mysterio winning the World title. Cena vs Triple H was excellent and I remember everybody was rooting for Triple H, having turned on Cena in the proceeding year... yet Cena won. Shawn Michaels vs Vince McMahon was another excellent match.. yet with two street fights on the card, it may have been overbooking in retrospect. Though the elbow off the ladder onto the trash canned Vince = WrestleMania moment. At the time I was caught in the atmosphere of WrestleMania and the good points outweighed the bad... but in retrospect, this was an average WrestleMania I'm sad to now say. The theme song rawked though, it was also the first web era WrestleMania for VWWE.
    
    WrestleMania 23 felt somewhat different to WrestleMania 22 to me, it was nearer WrestleMania's 17 -19 in terms of scale. WWE went back to the big arenas for it and the build up was brilliant. I've always put over the three months of Raw prior to WrestleMania 23 as some of the best Raw's ever and I still think that. With Cena, Orton, Edge and Michaels, the four of them gave us great match after great match in the build to Mania that year, coupling that with The Donald and you already had a great lineup and in truth, I was a little disappointed when Orton and Edge were put in the MITB as I thought they deserved to be in singles action after their awesome performances.
    
    Undertaker vs Batista was again, very well built on SmackDown.. even if nobody believed for a moment Batista stood a chance. Undertaker winning the title was an added bonus. Much of the build however surrounded that hair vs hair match. The less said about Bobby Lashley the better but the match was decent enough, an enjoyable clusterfuck and the crowd got what they wanted with Vince being shaved, a nice added epilogue to the McMahon/Austin feud.
    
    Much like WrestleMania 22 the main event featured John Cena, as a face, squaring off against a man who most people wanted to beat him, this time Shawn Michaels. Original plan seemed to be Triple H vs John Cena again but Helmsley of course got injured. This was really the best opportunity WWE had to put the belt on Michaels at a time most fans believed he deserved it, a lot of people thought he'd win... but no. Excellent match however and the trend of great main events continued. WrestleMania 23 was overall an excellent PPV... the feel and format of which WWE's again followed last year at WrestleMania 24 and again tonight for WrestleMania 25.
    
    WrestleMania 24 is probably my favorite WrestleMania since WrestleMania 17. The outdoors nature gave it a unique look and the set looked absolutely awesome as well. Those great images of the pyro,  a lot of the entrances couldn't have been done indoors. A decent opener from Finlay and JBL, nothing spectacular but it warmed the crowd up. The MITB, which I haven't mentioned at all this blog, was fucking amazing. Remember that Morrison bump? and Kennedy with the Green Bay Plunge to Hornswoggle? Batista vs Umaga = passable and Kane defeating Chavo, while disrespectful possibly to Chavo... was funny as hell.
    
    But now it was down to serious business - namely Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels. When thinking of my favorite match of all time... I can't think of anything better than this. Is it either mans best match? no. Was it the best ACTUAL wrestling match of 2008? no. Was it probably the best wrestling match of the decade? oh yes. This was about spectacle, about that storytelling and that psychology. That image of Ric Flair getting up, begging Michaels to finish it and Shawn telling Ric he loved him before pulling the trigger was THEE most memorable moment in the history of WrestleMania for me personally. For most its probably Hogan slamming Andre or some huge moment... this was so different. Subtle almost, quiet.. but just as emotional. It was the death of a career and an era, Michaels and Flair told the perfect story, the perfect ending to a perfect career and no true wrestling fan can have watched that without a mix of emotions. Delight that Flair had gone out in such style, sadness that it was all over and so much more. A rollercoaster and in my humble opinion, the greatest 30 minutes in WrestleMania history and why these two men are and were peerless in this industry.
    
    The Triple Threat was excellent and somewhat unexpected as I think many believed Orton would lose the title, The Undertaker and Edge giving us a hell of a main event, definitely deserving of the spot after Taker got bumped last year, winning the title for the second year in a row.
    
    Like WrestleMania 23, much of the hype and advertising centered on the celebrity involvement - this year being Floyd Mayweather Jnr. I'd always been a fan of Floyd, getting even bigger when he beat the crap out of the annoying Ricky Hatton. Mayweather and Big Show were excellent in the run up to the event I thought, building it like they would a boxing contest. Celebrities either "get" it.. or they don't, Pete Rose for example "got it" as did Kevin Federline and Mike Tyson all those years ago, while other celebrities remain aloof backstage and believe they're above the business. Mayweather luckily "got it" and was said to be very willing to learn and very sociable. Mayweather totally performed above my expectations and his match may actually be my favorite celebrity match of them all.
    
    So... there ya go, my memories of WrestleMania. I expect WrestleMania 25 will follow the format of the past two years and I think we've seen that already - big arena, big set, celebrity, big matches, well built. The event is fitting into a predefined template almost and now at the 25th anniversary, is truly... the Superbowl of Wrestling.

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• WWF History: January 6, 1997

  • From: VWWE
  • Description:

    Welcome to the first of a new series of regular blogs looking at the history of WWE and Monday Night Raw. These blogs won't be VWWE connected, though i may make reference to angles we stole etc lol, they will instead simply be my reviews, thoughts, opinions and knowledge on all things WWF.
    
    Starting on January 6, 1997, i will review every episode of Raw and the PPVs in order, giving those thoughts and a retrospective look at the product, how it compares to today. I'll go through the entire attitude era, from the start of 1997 and the debut of Raw is War two months later up to WrestleMania 17 and Stone Colds heel turn, possibly taking in the alliance afterward. Maybe right up to the debut of VWWE and the onset of the WWE down period... those two events entire coincidental, i can assure you.
    
    January 6, 1997 then. Lets set the scene. The Monday Night Wars are in full swing and WCW is destroying the WWF in the ratings, the nWo that was formed last year in 1996 is the hottest thing the business has seen since Hulkamania, a poor WWF product has however started to slowly improve. An unknown writer by the name of Vince Russo is working hand in hand with Vince McMahon, influenced by WCWs styles and that of the adult ECW, to also make the product adult and darker in tone. As we start off, i expect to see an odd mix of attitude and mid-90s wrestlecrap, a product not quite there yet.
    
    I also have the January 6, 1997 episode of Monday Nitro in my collection so i MAY review that also :D get both sides of the tale. Outside wrestling, Bill Clinton is President and John Major is the British Prime Minister still, Jerry McGuire, Scream and Mars Attacks were in the top 10 grossing movies the weekend just gone and your number one songs? the UK was still obsessed with the Spice Girls, 2 become 1 being their number one while Stateside.... it was Toni Braxton and Unbreak My Heart. The X-Files is probably the biggest show on TV, Seinfeld, Friends and Frasier make up a trio of classic comedy still on the air and the Nintendo 64 had just been launched.
    
    Good times :D on with the show
    
    TV-PG!!!!!! that'll soon change. I loved that "for over fifty years" intro too.
    
    We start off with a quick pre-credits promo by Vader, you don't see anything like that any more, either in terms of the Vader style or the placement on the show. Vader i've always said was one of the biggest wastes of talent ever by the WWF, as a hell he had NO peers. He was one of those rare heels that was scary and imposing without having a gimmick like the Undertaker or Kane or being a psychopath like Sid. When he got in that ring you genuinely felt that he could and would hurt his opponent, no matter how much you knew about the business. Unrivaled power and skill as well, should be a WWE Hall of Famer some day... if Vince can admit he fucked up with him in the WWF lol. Bret Hart vs Vader is our main event apparently and HBK will be at ringside.
    
    Brief recap of Shotgun Saturday Night. This show was really where attitude was born. WWE were allowed to get away with things they couldn't at that point on Raw, we have Mankind i think it is laying out Ahmed Johnson with a chair, Ahmed giving on of the Nation the Pearl River Plunge on a car and Marlena exposing herself. You DEFINITELY don't see any of that on Raw any more lol.
    
    As we enter the arena, Owen Hart is on the way to the ring with his Slammys, no pyro. The production values compared to today are poor, its dark and grimy... but i kinda like that, it looks like a wrestling arena and not a TV studio and set as it does too often these days. Mankinds out next and this will be a familiar phrase in these blogs.. you don't see anything like this any more either and that's a sad thing. The original Mankind in the brown attire with his Ode to Freud theme was a stunning piece of characterization before he became the clown he did in 1999. This mentally disturbed Foley was a brilliant heel, the vignettes in 1996 with him in the basement with the rat were brilliant and he was a multi-layed character. In one way you felt sorry for him, in another hated his actions. This character really was the first of the attitude characters.
    
    Note: Vince really sucked on commentary lol
    
    The rulebook is certainly not in effect like today here, Mankind sent onto the exposed railings... those things must have hurt, Owen hitting him with a belt and the Referee (i like its Jimmy Korderas) doesnt bat an eyelid. Seeing that ECW influence there. King is brilliant here, complete heel, joking about Mexican food blocking Jose Lotharios arteries after he'd done a heart attack angle. Jose being HBKs mentor and occasional manager in these days btw. Nice Enzuguri by Owen.. into the barrier by Foley.... hit with a plastic tray and up goes an ECW chant by a single fan lol
    
    Commercials... Freddie Blassie advertising Full Metal: The Album
    
    Owen counters the Mandible Claw.. but cant escape the Piledriver - Mankind wins. A decent opener which showed what both men are about, Owens athleticism and Foleys hardcore nature. 
    
    HBK is backstage, with hair and as much fashion sense as always. Shawn was talking to the wrong camera for half the promo. These things happened in the days when everything wasn't scripted and a lot pre-recorded i guess. Standard promo, building up Shawn's feud with Sycho Sid.
    
    Shotgun Saturday Night Recap 2.... THE FLYING NUNS!!!!! The sisters of love lol, watch this space in VWWE, i love it.
    
    Here's Kane as the Fake Diesel... and the Fake Razor. This is the wrestlecap i spoke of. Whatever gave the WWF the impression this would work i dunno.... and here's the Honky Tonk Man, looking for a protege. After Mankind, this really shows the battle backstage between the Russo camp who wanted that adult modern style and those wanting to keep the mid-90s style. The fakes will face Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon. I'm fast forwarding this, no doubt this is the point that the nation switched to Nitro. 16 minutes in... i'll check that Nitro episode later, see what was on.
    
    Commercials, Royal Rumble commercial... comes to you live from San Antonio, HBK will face Sycho Sid for his WWF Championship and Ahmed Johnson will face Faarooq.
    
    The match is still going on... back to the fast forward. 26 minutes in and it's over. I really cant believe they gave that 10 minutes of a one hour show as Raw was at this point.
    
    Here's Bret, randomly stood backstage. That's all.
    
    More Shotgun Saturday Night recaps, Marlena (Terri Runnels) exposing herself to The Sultan (Rikishi) and the crowd to give Goldust the win. A good amount of this show has already been spent recapping SSN, too much imo. People who'd already seen the show... must surely have flicked straight to Nitro, not wanting to see what they watched just two days ago once more?
    
    Back to Bret. Anti-HBK promo... an apt way to start 1997... cut off by Sycho Sids music, looks pissed, leaves.
    
    Commercials and we're now half way through the show. My thoughts.... um. As i thought it'd be, its half way between heaven and hell, the attitude era is hinted at in Mankind but the mid-90s wrestlecrap is still here and the booking, when faced with Nitro.. i have to question. The tag match was 10 minutes too long and there's too many recaps of Shotgun Saturday. But on with the show....
    
    Heeeeeeeeeres Sid. We're back to the attitude here, the fans are clearly cheering Sid despite the fact he's supposed to be an evil heel. Sid is the reigning WWE Champion, will face HBK at the Rumble as noted earlier. JR is in the ring for an interview. Sid shouts and does the "constipated smile" he does quite often. Sid seems to be a cliche of what many people thing of when they thing "wrestler" - big, dumb, shouts a lot lol. For some reason they didn't turn Sids music off during the whole interview. What Sid said seemed to make little sense but it sounded impressive and that's good enough for both me and the crowd. He is the master and the ruler of the World.
    
    OH.. OH.. OH... SHAWN... here comes HBK... in a robe and sunglasses.... Shawn proceeds to climb on the announce desk and in a stripper fashion remove his robe. Sid is amused. If you people think Jeff Hardy is gay... you really need to see this lol. Sid is actually waving at HBK from the ring... Sid leaves and HBK is unfastening his belt and pants as we go to commercials....
    
    Commercial for the Superstar Line... y'know.. the same thing that the WWF ran down WCW for running lol
    
    Back live and here comes Bret Hart o a big reaction, HBK is on commentary, we cant see whether he's sans-pants or not. Earl Hebner is the Referee... heh
    
    IT'S TIME... IT'S TIME... IT'S VADER TIME!!!!!
    
    Vince is talking about Attitude, Shawn references losing his smile as now we get a recap from Superstars yesterday.... Undertaker Tombstones Jim Cornette... fantastic, cant believe that wasn't saved for Raw. Vince calls JR the best play-by-play man in the business.... so whys he not on Raw FFS? lol
    
    Vader into the steps early, follows with the ringpost and we're just informed that Vader will be facing the Undertaker at the Rumble. Apparently Bret has been saying we was screwed out of the WWF Championship..... this really is such an apt start to the year isn't it? :D
    
    Stone Cold is backstage and is watching the match.... commercials. Rewind to Shotgun again on the return, Ahmed Johnson with the Pearl River Plunge on the car.
    
    Back live Vader has ten command of this match.... FROG SPLASH... Jesus lol, Vader + Frog Splash are two terms which really should not go together ever. The athleticism and power of Vader were off the chart as was his ability, he could have seriously injured Bret with that but as far as i'm aware, he never hurt anybody except one young man in Germany i believe it was, Mick Foley telling the tale of how he wept when this guys neck was broken and what a gentle giant Vader was.
    
    Few shoot comments from HBK on Bret being no angel on commentary... Bret gets the Knees up on the Vader Bomb. Shawn says it's "The same all the time" as Bret goes into his Five Moves of Doom lol, Austins still watching and doesn't look impressed.
    
    Sid comes out and for no reason at all pulls a cameraman backstage. Austins out now, Stunners Bret. Quite why Sid kidnapped a cameraman isn't clear.
    
    Vader Bomb - one.. two... three, Vader wins. Good match while it lasted, bit of a clusterfuck ending, could seriously have gone on longer if the show hadn't had that tag match or so many recaps.
    
    Backstage we get answers, Sid is strangling Jose Lothario's son. Shawn dashes backstage (wearing pants), Joses son is powerbombed on a very unrigged table. Commercial Break.
    
    Back again and Aldo Montoya (complete with jockstrap on his face) is making up the numbers in a small crowd, HBK tending to Pete Lothario. And thats all, thats your show.
    
    Overall.. a mixed bag. There's signs os what the show will become with HBK/Sid and Mankind but also the old wrestlecrap of the mid-90s like the fake Razor and Diesel. Some of the booking was shocking such as that tag match which i'm sure turned off a huge number, there were also too many recaps for my liking. The star power in some cases, like with Austin, no Undertaker either, was slightly wasted but that maybe understandable considering the one hour format. Over all i can't however give this opening Raw of 1997 anything more than 5 out of 10.
    
    Stay tuned this weekend and i'll review the next episode which i believe is the last one before the Royal Rumble 1997.

  • Blog post
  • 8 months ago
  • Views: 43
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• MickieJames

  • Views: 763
  • Since: 8 months ago

• Michael Shane: No Line on the

  • From: VWWE
  • Description:

    Hey, Michael Shane here, public enemy number two according to the PTC.
    
    This is one of those times i really haven't any one particular thing to say but feel the need to blog anyway. As it currently is I'm here in Tampa with everybody else as we get set for a live event tonight.. a house show as they used to be known.
    
    I'm feeling pretty under the weather to be honest as a few of the boys seem to have been over the past few days.... maybe it was something i ate. Jeff Hardy looks into my screen and tries to write "HAHA" but it's very probably true, when you're stuck in a car in the Florida heat with The Big Show, Suffering and CM Punk like i was yesterday, show filling the car with a mixture of the vile smell of McDonalds and methane gas.... you're bound to catch something.
    
    Anyway, the show must go on and although I'll be "selling" my injuries on TV and not having another match on Raw till No Way Out, I'll still be on all the house shows, giving the fans what they came to see - me lol. My opponent tonight will be none other than Punk, the man who i pretty much made my name against 7 years ago in Ring of Honor. We've both come a long way since those days and its a great pleasure to get back in the ring with him. As an added little bonus a certain Samoan TNA star has made the short trip up from Orlando and will be in the front row.... I'd best watch that guy, he's still sulking about what happened at Genesis.
    
    The long trip down here though gave me a chance to listen to the new album by U2. Any longtime Michael Shane fans will probably know of my love for the band which is why i was a little disappointed on first listen of No Line on the Horizon. I think with all the hype that the band had given the album, i was expecting classic U2 and another Joshua Tree when after one listen i was convinced this was another Zooropa and nothing but a disaster.... however... this is one of those albums that NEEDs a second, third and fourth listen because every time i listen to it, it seems to get better and better. Don't get me wrong, this is far from being the Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby or even as good as All The You Cant Leave Behind or How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, but this IS classic U2. There's no real standout track, no big epic song like Beautiful Day but personally, i think there's a lot to be said for the title track - No Line on the Horizon which kicks off a fine opening trio of songs, following it with Magnificent and Moment of Surrender. I love Unknown Caller as well even though it's a very different sound to what you usually expect from U2 i think. A worthy 8/10 or two and three quarters of a thumb up.
    
    I hope it's true about us trying to get U2 for WrestleMania 25 as I'd just mark the fuck out for that. And if they made a second appearance for us... surely U2 would be a dead cert for the Hall of Fame? lol
    
    Last and certainly least i really need to address something that i read online this week. I had the great misfortune to read on WWE.com that L Brent Bozell, the leader (Fuhrer) of the Parents Television Council had issued complains to the company and advertisers concerning the angle between Suffering/The Gathering and myself at the Royal Rumble. His claim being that the angle was violent, unnecessary and a step beyond the bounds of decency. That children and those of a sensitive nature could be hurt by what they saw. You know the deal.
    
    Idiot.
    
    Mr Bozell unfortunately is from the section of our society who are arrogant enough to believe that they can dictate to the rest of us what is and what is not morally acceptable. The kind of people who believe that our minds need to be controlled by religion and dreams of sweet salvation or we'll all descend into barbarism. In short, Mr Bozell is a religious nut.  
    
    Ignoring the fact that religion kills hundreds of thousands around the world every year, i continue...
    
    I firmly believe that the biggest threat to the United States in 2009 is not the threat posed by outside forces such as those of Islamic extremism or Communist China, rather the biggest threat to the peace, security and democracy that all out forefathers fought and died for is from within out own borders. For too long not the religious right, a group to which this man belongs, has been gaining a foothold in public life. The Presidency of George W Bush, who for the record i believe at heart to have been a good man, however allowed individuals like Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin to so nearly ascend to the highest position in the land. When individuals such as these, Rush Limburgh and Bozell are allowed to actively encourage the curtailing of our freedoms and repeal of civil rights, what hope can we possibly have of extending democracy outside our own borders?
    
    The right to freedom of expression, what this company engages in EVERY week, is one that is written in our constitution and one for which i would proudly defend to my death. I believe that the people of this great nation want to stand as free citizens, free to choose what is morally acceptable for them themselves without people like the PTC telling them they are wrong. In the case of children watching... quite frankly we were on PPV with a TV-14 rating, it is not our responsibility to act as a guardian. Its the parents responsibility to make sure that their children are not watching something unsuitable.
    
    WWE is an art form, but its a violent one. Blood, sweat and tears are shed every week, bones are broken, egos run rampant. Its not always pretty. Why should this company tone down its product and be forced to talk down to an adult audience simply because a small number of people complain or because parents cannot take responsibility for their product? WWE is adult entertainment and i would suggest to anybody that is offended by the Royal Rumble that they stop watching because having spoken to Vince McMahon, he has no intention of toning down his product and rightly so.
    
    Well, rant over. Think i'm getting roid rage? lol
    
    Anyway, here's Punk, better dash, he'll need every spot laying out as usual :)
    
    Laters peeps
    
    Oh and PS....
    
    Fuck you Vince Russo, you're a disgrace to my city and my profession.

  • Audio blog post
  • 8 months ago
  • Views: 49
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• Headbutt owns kid

  • From: Sergio_Griffon
  • Description:

    This is my mate owning a kid from our school- believe it or not, in the same year as us lol!

    We only did it cos he's a Liverpool fan ;)

  • 9 months ago
  • Views: 22
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• Headcrush

  • From: Sergio_Griffon
  • Description:

    It was HIS idea. He was adamant that we did it so we did it- hard. He threw up the painkillers lol.

    School is ridiculously boring nowdays haha

  • 9 months ago
  • Views: 17
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• Crap Backflip

  • From: Sergio_Griffon
  • Description:

    Believe it or not, this was a painful impact. I can do better but i've never even attempted a standing backflip onto solid ground so I shit myself lol

  • 9 months ago
  • Views: 9
  • Not yet rated