Ask 411 Wrestling 04.04.07: Lucha in the WWF, Pedro in the HOF, Austin in the Grocery Store and More!
Posted by Steve Cook on 04.04.2007
Including more match listings than you can shake a stick at!
It's time to Ask 411 Wrestling! I'm Steve Cook, and I am most likely the only 411 Wrestling writer that hasn't watched WrestleMania 23 yet. And yet they trust me to answer all of your questions. Figure that one out. This week we're going a bit back in the archives, as I found a bunch of questions from a few weeks ago that I hadn't gotten around to yet. There are 42 e-mails sitting in my in-box, so if your question doesn't appear this week, it could be appearing in the next couple of weeks.
Little piece of advice for you single guys out there...here are two things that you should never do in the presence of a woman that you have a thing for:
-Talk negatively about yourself way too much
-Sing along to "One Shining Moment"
And the sad thing is I wasn't even drunk at the time...let's get on with the column while I hang my head in shame.
Comments, Corrections and other C words
Regarding the "how do guys crotch themselves on the top rope without REALLY crotching themselves" question:
Csonka is half right. One way to do it is to try and aim your body slightly to one side or the other so that you land on your inner thigh, with the rope ending up right next to your jewels instead of right on them. However, that way often looks kinda fake, at it's not hard to tell that the guy avoided groinular contact. To get around that, some more hardcore guys will instead try to elevate their pelvis forward a bit and take the impact on their taint, that region betwixt your sack and butthole. If done correctly, this makes it look like you REALLY landed eggs-first on the rope or turnbuckle but without the week-long pain that would really result from such a crash landing. - Jingus 1
The two wrestlers are Shoji Nakamaki and Hiroshi Ono. Nakamaki is Lamanamanumi and Ono is Deadly Fred. Most of the matches are from the Iwa King of the Deathmatches tournament from '95. The famous tape with Cactus Jack and Terry Funk. There is also a good match with the Headhunters. It seems that there are two versions of the tape. The first time I saw the tape had different commentary on it than when I finally bought the tape. It's still by ICP though. I prefer the first edition. The tape is great for ICP fans, and fans of the deathmatches. I also have the whole tournament tape, so adding the ICP commentating was a treat. - Bradford
The Johnny Spade to Johnny Blaze to Johnny Nitro change was based on Nitro's OVW gimmick, which was basically that he was too finnicky to decide on one name (and to a lesser extent, gimmick) so he would change it on a weekly basis.
Chris Chetti wrestled on Hardcore Homecoming in 2005, teaming with Mikey Whipwreck against CW Anderson and Simon Diamond. I remember on commentary they mentioned he'd been inactive for some time before that. I'd assume he has been since too.
In response to the question about Zach Gowan and the 'two legs hit the floor' battle royal rule, you could technically make a case for his prosthetic counting as one and being on the ground to start. Or you could get REALLY morbid and note that his other leg is probably buried UNDER the ground somewhere. Either way, you could make an argument for two legs there. Truthfully, I wonder why some people are counted as eliminated when their backs hit the floor but their legs are still up in the air. Technically, if they could just lie there on their backs, with their legs off the ground, they'd still be legal. Not to mention nearly impossible for someone inside the ring to eliminate. Food for thought.
And truthfully, I don't think Raven got as harsh a shake in WWE as most say. He got a pretty decent push as the chickenshit hardcore champion in late 200/early 2001. While he was made to look like a cheating coward, he got a lot more screentime than some and won a lot of matches out of it. He didn't really get screwed over until he got lost in the shuffle during the Invasion, and really, he was far from the only one. They even gave him some fair play in 2002, giving him a position as a Heat announcer and sowing the seeds of a program with Austin before he left. That may have been Austin's doing though, as I know WWE were trying to keep him happy at that point (thus the Eddie feud as well) and it seems that after Austin bailed, Raven faded into obscurity before being released. - Brendan Thiane
Hey, on the question about Johnny Nitro, I'm pretty sure that the reason that he changed his name from Johnny Blaze to Johnny Spade was because Marvel Comics sent them a cease & desist (since they have their own character named Johnny Blaze, aka the original Ghost Rider). As for the change from Spade to Nitro, can't help you there. I guess they figured that, since the guy already had a reputation for changing his name, they could have him change it one more time as an ultimate ass-kissing maneuver on Bischoff. - Christopher Alden
The WORST blade job I have ever seen (seen many in my 20 yrs as a fan) comes from my all time favorite wrestler. There was a cage match in Boston in 1985 or 1986 between Roddy Piper and Bruno Sammartino. Early on in the match Piper gets rammed into the wire and starts furiously rubbing his forehead; standing in the middle of the ring, facing the camera. Worst blade job ever!
Also for the New Zealand fan asking about the Bushwhackers: Hopefully no Bushwhacker footage gets back to New Zealand, you'd want to move to Mongolia! The Whackers in WWF were horrible, BUT if you can get footage of their pre-WWF run, they were absolutely awesome! I saw some Calgary Stampede footage of these two and they were great wrestlers. At the time they were called The Kiwis, but also went by The Sheepherders. Hard nosed brawlers, who had bloody hardcore matches with all the top babyface teams and won lots of tag titles. I saw footage from Portland where Butch broke a bottle over his own head, during a feud with Roddy Piper and Rick Martel. They were respected as insanely hardcore, similar to Bruiser Brody or Abdullah. It's really too bad the WWF turned them into a pair of handicaps eating sardines and licking each other's heads. Terrible legacy for a great team. - Al Fucsko
"Speaking of rulebooks, I have heard about AJ Styles & CM Punk reading passages from the Official NWA Wrestling Rulebook while commentating on an IWA Mid-South show, but I have not seen the show or the official rulebook. If anybody has seen it, let me know."
I believe the show is the 8th Anniversary Show. IWA Mid-South became a member of the NWA in early 2004, eliminating their long held ECW-style rules of No DQs and no countouts. Facets of the NWA Rulebook were:
-Disqualifications for outside interference or use of weapons
-20 count on the outside
Basic stuff, but there are a few very strange rules , such as "The use of martial arts kicks, punches, and strikes is prohibited from NWA sanctioned matches, and are grounds for disqualification." Punk commented that this rule would eliminate 90% of the IWA roster's offense. - 411's John Gregory
Just to clarify: "Huracarrana" is the correct spelling for the flipping head scissors move or "Rana." It's formed of the wrestler who made the move popular, Huracán Ramírez. - Ariel
The question you had about... the difference between a Frankensteiner and a Hurracanrana
I always thought the term Frankensteiner only came about as it was a modified Hurracanrana used by Scott Steiner... doesn't really explain the "Frank" bit only the "steiner"...
On a side note, id love to see him try and pull that move off now days! - Paul Shaw
In Reguards to why wrestlers wear 2 pair of wrestling trunks (long and then short ones on top) it's so their opponents have something to grab onto when delivering a move that requires a lift (suplex etc.) so they don't rip their tights. Bret Hart did this also allot because i allways used to notice the lines on the side of his trunks not meeting up. - R0bVanCram
Was reading the ask 411, like I've been known to do, and I noticed that a certain name was noticeably left off your list of least over WWF/E champions: Bret Hart.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but during Bret's title regins didn't the WWF end up losing quite a bit of money? I know during the first reign where Flair was chasing him to get the belt back, Flair has commented in his book that they weren't drawing any crowds at all.
I know Bret has become the IWC's favorite in recent years, and I think it's well known my opinion of him (cough*worthless*cough).
That being said, from your objective opinion, wouldn't Bret be considered one of the least over champions, due to his inability to draw? - Penguin
I think the penguin might have an argument for Bret's first title reign, which kinda came out of left field. Bret was a former IC & tag champ, sure, but he'd never really been in world title contention and he won the title on a random house show in Saskatoon. And at that point, he wasn't exactly what people thought a WWF Champion looked like. As the years passed, Bret established himself as a top guy in the promotion, and he seemed to draw as well as anybody else would have with the WWF product being what it was in the mid-90s with the steroid & sex scandals and general lack of creativity coming from the writing staff at the time. Bret always did better in Canada and other foreign markets than he did in the U.S., and he had a good following among the youngsters and the women. If he was champ today, he'd probably be treated like John Cena is by the Internet. But the reason I didn't list him had to do with his appeal to children, women and foreigners, and the fact that only one of his title reigns lasted longer than 6 months...I find it a bit tough to determine "drawing power" for short title reigns. Nash & Backlund's were a lot longer, and Big Show didn't even main event when he was champion.
Despite our difference of opinion on Bret, I still ask the penguin for advice on some of your questions, so you may see him pop up occasionally in this column.
Questions!
My question has to do with the beautiful Missy Hyatt. Whatever happened to her?
I remember she dated Scott Steiner for a while. No?
And didn't she get involved in the hardcore porn business? She was hot WAY
before there was a Sunny! - Donny
Missy keeps herself busy these days by working some Northeast independent promotions and maintaining a website that may or may not have pornographic material. Fuck, I'm not buying a membership to find out. She wrote a book in 2001 that I checked out of my local library once...from what I remember, I don't recall her mentioning a relationship with Scott Steiner. But you can't rule it out because she did manage him and his brother Rick at one point. The book is a pretty interesting read, and I'd recommend checking it out.
In the early to mid 90's the WWF at the time struck a deal with a mexican promotion and brought in some mexican talent. I remember seeing Pierroth and Cibernetico getting a push, Mil Mascaras eliminating himself on a Royal Rumble, and a young Hector Garza. Any insight on how this came about, what was the WWF trying to accomplish and what was the fallout? Also whatever happened to Hector Garza? He really stood out during the whole X cup deal and seemed to be getting a push by being booked agianst Scott Hall in a pay per view. I heard something about steriods anything else? Is he now in AAA or CMLL? - Francisco
Lucha Libre became a pretty hot commodity in the mid-90s due to several reasons including an uprising of young talent that could work exciting matches, AAA promoting several sold out shows in the United States including the When Worlds Collide PPV that was co-promoted by WCW, increased coverage in wrestling magazines, and luchadores making their way to WCW's cruiserweight division. That and ECW's foray into "extreme lucha libre" got the WWF thinking that maybe they should do something with this. Considering how thin their roster was in early 1997 and that they weren't making a lot of money at the time, it seemed like a good idea to have the 1997 Royal Rumble feature quite a few luchadores coughthatcouldbetrickedintoworkingforlessmoneycough. It also helped that the show was being held in San Antonio, Texas, which isn't a far trip across the border. The 1997 Royal Rumble featured the following matches with Mexican talent not usually seen on WWF TV:
Free for All match: Venum and Perro Aguayo, Jr. defeated Maniaco and Mosco de la Merced (10:00)
Free for All match:Octagón, Blue Demon Jr., and Tinieblas Jr. defeated Heavy Metal, Abismo Negro, and Histeria (14:00)
Free for All match: Mascarita Sagrada and La Parkita defeated Mini Mankind and Mini Vader (4:29)
Héctor Garza, Perro Aguayo and El Canek defeated Jerry Estrada, Heavy Metal and Fuerza Guerrera (10:56)
Pierroth, Cibernetico, Mil Mascaras & Latin Lover all made appearances in the Royal Rumble match. WWF didn't have much for these guys to do after this show, and except for a few midget appearances, luchadores didn't appear in the WWF regularly until the inception of WWF Super Astros. Super Astros was a TV show that aired in foreign markets from 1998 to 1999 and featured Mexican wrestlers like El Hijo del Santo, Negro Casas and other AAA/CMLL wrestlers. The show was designed to compete with WCW's cruiserweight division, but WWF's lack of caring about it led to the project ending in September of 1999.
As for Hector Garza, he was on the verge of receiving a nice push in TNA when he got arrested in Houston with steroids that were legal in Mexico but illegal in the United States. He got deported and now wrestles in CMLL.
Any word on what Pedro Morales is up too these days? Is he dead? Here is a guy that dosnt get his just due and should be in the hall of fame. 1st latino champ, 1st latino ic champ, 1st triple crown winner. here is a segway to a nother question, who is the most accomplished latino wrestler ever? I would say Pedro Morales. Probably the most decorate and accomplished hispanic wrestler ever... including Eddie Guerreo, Carlos colon, and Mil Mascaras. - NYGroover82
Pedro is still alive, the last time he appeared in the wrestling business was as a Spanish announcer for the WWF. He did what was billed as his first ever autograph session on June 18, 2005 in New Jersey, headlining Wrestling Reunion 3. He currently resides in central New Jersey. Morales was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995.
Most accomplished Latino wrestler ever...I'd probably have to go with El Santo because there's just nobody on his level in lucha libre history.
1. What ever happen to that WWF/E Diva back in 99/00 called BB?
2. Someone keeps telling me that back in the day, there was a different Kane then there is now. I keep telling him it is the same Kane as of now. Which one is right?
3. I was waching a old WCW tape, and there was this guy called Zman or something like that. It seems to me they was pushing this guy hard. Who was this guy? - Cody
1. BB, real name Kathy Dingman, was fired by the WWF for having an affair with Hardcore Holly, who eventually got divorced and married another woman. She later appeared in WCW for a cup of coffee and stuck around long enough in TNA to lose the "Miss TNA" title to Alan Funk. And you think TNA's booking makes no sense now. She currently lives in Alabama.
2. Glen Jacobs has been Kane since October 1997. Before that he was known by such great names as Unabomb, Isaac Yankem D.D.S., and Fake Diesel.
3. Tom "Z-Man" Zenk got his first break in wrestling as one half of the Can-Am Connection in the WWF in 1986-87. After leaving the promotion in 1987 due to a contract dispute and Zenk's belief that tag team partner Rick Martel wasn't looking out for his best interests, Zenk went to the AWA and challenged for Larry Zbyszko's AWA title until he joined WCW in late 1989. He lasted 4 years in WCW, where his most notable accomplishments included winning the U.S. tag team titles with Brian Pillman and winning the "WCW's Sexiest Man" contest. He left WCW in early 1993 and retired from wrestling in 1996. He resurfaced in 1999 with some very interesting Internet columns and interviews that expressed a very negative view about pro wrestling and garnered him a lot of attention until WWE threatened to sue Zenk for alleging in his columns that Vince & Stephanie McMahon had an incestuous relationship.
I remember watching an episode of Raw( think it was in the year 2000 maybe) Anyways Booker T was in this grocery store, talking with Vince. He thought he saw Stone Cold walk by and went after and attacked him, but it turned out to be someone else. At this point Stone Cold comes up behind him, opens a beer, and proceeds to be the living hell out of him all over the store, and then lays him out on one of the registers. This got me thinking 4 things.
1. What led to this feud
2. What was the name of this grocery store they fought in
3. Did the owner know about this before hand
4. Did Vince get in trouble for this taking place - DarkNightwolf101
1. After losing his job due to the Alliance's defeat at Survivor Series 2001, Booker came back to the WWF by joining up with the Big Bossman and serving as Vince McMahon's goon in a feud with Steve Austin.
2. I do not recall that information at this time, and haven't seen any information on it. I can tell you that the supermarket fight took place on a December 2001 episode of Smackdown, and Ric Flair & Vince McMahon watched it air on a video screen from the owner's box in the arena. Neither man was on the scene.
3. I can't imagine the WWF would have their wrestlers fight in a grocery store and mess stuff up without clearing it with somebody first. That'd just be stupid.
First off, could you please give the results and dates of two tournaments
held in the original ECW?
The TV Title tournament in 2000 (after RVD got injured.)
The Tag Team title tournament in August/September in 2000.
Next I would like to know why Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair haven't got along
in recent times?
The final question is who was the person created the Money In The Bank
concept? (Not kayfabe btw.) - Nathan from Melbourne, Australia
1. The TV Title Tournament was held from March 4 - March 12, 2000 and had the following matches:
First Round: Rhino beat Spike Dudley, The Sandman defeated Yoshihiro Tajiri, Little Guido defeated Kid Kash, Super Crazy defeated CW Anderson
Semi-Finals: Rhino beat Sandman by forfeit, Super Crazy beat Little Guido
Finals: Super Crazy defeated Rhino
The tag title tournament was held on August 25, 2000 and had the following matches:
First Round: EZ Money and Julio Dinero defeated Joey Matthews and Christian York, Danny Doring and Amish Roadkill defeated Da Baldies, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger defeated Chris Chetti and Nova, Mikey Whipwreck and Yoshihiro Tajiri defeated Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke, Justin Credible and Rhino defeated The Sandman and Chilly Willy, Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lynn defeated Rob Van Dam and Kid Kash
Semi-Finals: Mikey Whipwreck and Yoshihiro Tajiri defeated EZ Money and Julio Dinero, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger defeated Danny Doring and Amish Roadkill, Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lynn defeated Justin Creidble and Rhino
Finals: Mikey Whipwreck and Yoshihiro Tajiri defeated Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger, and Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lynn
2. Back in the day, Flair & Dusty locked horns too many times to count over the creative direction of Jim Crockett Promotions and later WCW. Mainly, Dusty wanted Flair to put people over like Lex Luger & Rick Steiner while Flair thought they weren't worthy and wanted to wrestle people he thought were. They had different ideas of what worked and what didn't. I think they get along reasonably well these days though.
3. I'm really not sure...for kayfabe purposes it was Chris Jericho, but I'm not sure that he was actually the one that came up with it.
I have been trying for a long time to find a transcript of Shawn
Michaels' "Lost my smile" speech from the 2-13-97 RAW. Maybe you'd
have better luck? - Cactus James Rate
Penguin says:
It's amazing that I know this, but when DVDS first came out I was into Easter Eggs. Anyways on his "From the Vault" dvd, put in disk 2 and go to the extras menu. Go down to "Photo Gallery". Even though it looks like there is nothing to the left, you can actually click over there and play the speech. Cool huh?
"Sweet & Sour" Steve Cook says:
is that what he said?
Penguin says:
I called shawn and asked him.
Penguin says:
And that was word for word what he said.
"Sweet & Sour" Steve Cook says:
awesome
To actually answer your question, I haven't been able to find a transcript. Readers?
1) Was that real money that Trump dropped on the crowd during that episode of RAW?
Yes...apparently they dropped over two million dollars during the angle. Doesn't that sort of thing just make you hate life?
2) Right before you watch any WWE show you see a brief video outlining the history of WWE including Hogan talking, Flair profiling, HBK's ladder jump against Razor Ramon, Undertaker saying Rest in Peace, JR screaming and other stuff. The very first thing you see is an old black and white match and the announcer(possibly vince senior) saying "Yes sir we got a good show for you tonight" My question is do you know who those 2 wrestlers are and any idea when that match could be from? - STING12346
Not too sure on this one...Penguin thinks it was from the old Wrestling At The Chase show on KPLR in St. Louis. But he doesn't know for sure, so we'll open it up to the public.
Do you think wwe will ever use the triple cage wcw used in ready to rumble? What about Mr.Wrestling 2 in the wwe hall of fame? - RJEVH01
I don't really see WWE using the triple cage for a couple of reasons...the cage would cost a lot of money to make and they generally don't like using match ideas from WCW. They still haven't done a War Games...I don't see that happening either, but that's probably more likely than bringing back the triple cage.
Mr. Wrestling 2 was a good draw in the Southeast and a good worker, but I don't really see him as WWE HOF material...unless they release a DVD about Georgia Championship Wrestling and need to induct somebody from there.
First, Back when the original n.W.o. was around, I remember an episode of Nitro that ended with a big W.C.W. vs. n. W. o. brawl, where several wrestlers joined, including Big Bubba, Wallstreet, and Scott Norton. I remember another guy who had wrestled for W.C.W. earlier in the night also seemingly fighting alongside the n.W.o.. When me and my friend talked about it the next day, we both counted him as a new member of the n.W.o., but couldn't come up with his name. After that episode we never saw him again. I remember him looking like a slimmed down version of Lex Luger. Any ideas?
I can't say for sure, but Marcus "Buff" Bagwell joined right around the same time that Bubba, Wallstreet & Norton did, so you may be thinking about him.
Second, I've just recently started to learn about Japanes wrestling, and I was wondering who is considered their biggest star, their "Hulk Hogan". Also, who is the biggest star right now. - Johnny Wilde
I don't know all that much about how the Japanese rate their wrestling legends, but I think they consider Antonio Inoki to be the top star of all time. It would have to be either him, Rikidōzan or Giant Baba. Right now, purely judging on results it's most likely either Keiji Mutoh or Mitsuharu Misawa, as both these men have been around for a long time and still compete at a top level.
1. Does Chet Coppock have any affiliation with WWE? I remember he was the ring announcer for the Chicago portion of WM 2 and did commentary with Gorilla Monsoon on Radio WWF during WM 10. I was just curious to know if he is affiliated with WWE or if he's just a friend of the company.
2. What was the reason for having back-to-back Wrestlemanias at Trump Plaza? Did they make a two year deal with Trump or was Trump so impressed after WM 4 that he made them an offer they couldn't refuse? - Ryan Bissell
1. Coppock has no official affiliation with WWE, he is just a wrestling fan that has worked with them in the past.
2. The best offer WWF received for WrestleMania V was from Donald Trump and Trump Plaza...they wanted to move it around more, but the offer was too good to pass up.
which steamboat match do you think was better...the
one with Savage in wrestlemania III or the overall
series with Flair in 1989? - Jones
As great as the Steamboat vs. Savage match was, I would easily take Flair & Steamboat's matches from the Clash of the Champions & WrestleWar 89 over them, and could make an argument for Chi-Town Rumble as well. The 2 out of 3 falls Clash match is my favorite match of all time, so I may be a little biased. But as a general policy, I tend to take a series of great things over one great thing.
I watched WSX tonite on it's 5 epsiode final marathon and have a few questions for you, they're more opinion based than trivia based. First off has there ever been a worse announce team in professional wrestling than those two boobs? Good god i muted the tv so i could at least enjoy the wrestling, which i was impressed with by the way, very innovative even though being a spot fest. My other question is, do you think some of those little guys will ever make it to the big time. MDogg20, Jack Evans, Matt Sydel and the Human Tornedo were just awsome. the final aired match between Evans and the Tornedo was at least honorable mention for top matches of the year - Eric
The announcers were pretty horrendous...but WSX did have several guys that I can see making it to the big time. One of them already has, as Colt "Matt Classic" Cabana has been signed to a WWE developmental contract. All the guys you mention are solid, out of the crop I think that Jack Evans has to be the top choice to make it in either WWE or TNA with his insane flippity floppity style. Matt Sydal is a guy that's been getting better every time that I've seen him wrestle, and he seems to be getting better at the personality aspect as well. Those would be my top two picks along with Lizzy Valentine and Lacey, who both could also make it big someday.
why is the Great American Bash '89 so great, could you list matches and star
ratings??
Here's a list of the matches with star ratings provided by Scott Keith because I don't do star ratings and I haven't seen the show.
Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey (w/Teddy Long) won a Two-Ring King of the Hill Battle Royal, also involving: Eddie Gilbert, Terry Gordy, Scott Hall, Bill Irwin, Brian Pillman, Ranger Ross, Mike Rotunda, Ron Simmons, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner and Kevin Sullivan (not rated)
Brian Pillman defeated Bill Irwin (*1/2)
The Skyscrapers beat The Dynamic Dudes (1/2*)
Jim Cornette beat Paul E. Dangerously (not rated)
Steiner Brothers beat Varsity Club (***1/4)
Sting beat Great Muta (****)
Ricky Steamboat beat Lex Luger by DQ (****1/2)
War Games: Stan Lane, Bobby Eaton, Steve Williams, Hawk & Animal beat Michael Hayes, Jimmy Garvin, Terry Gordy, Samu & Fatu (****)
Ric Flair beat Terry Funk (****1/4)
I have not personally seen the show, but there's a lot of snowflakes going on at the end of the card.
why is the antonio inoki guy considered so good?
Ryan Mancuso's induction of Inoki into the 411 Wrestling Hall of Fame does a much better job of answering this question than I could.
what did the austin vs brett hart at WM get as far as the MUTA LEVEL, Austin was
puring blood, and i know its not a .9, so what did it get? - Justin
SK doesn't say, and I've never rated blood before. Maybe JD Dunn does that sort of thing, but ratings aren't really mu cup of tea.
Hi, my question pertains to championships. What is the Television championship supposed to represent? - YANKJ1
When the Television Title was created, it was meant to represent the best wrestler on television. The wrestler would defend the title on TV every week in 15 minute time limit matches, which meant something back when you never saw any kind of title matches on television. That was the idea behind the title, once the other titles started getting defended on TV weekly it kinda lost its meaning.
With all three brands being featured on every PPV back, do you think the WWE will bring back the King of the Ring PPV event? - Joel
I think they might keep doing the tournament on TV leading up to a PPV showing the finals like they did last year, since the whole King Booker thing has worked very well. I don't think they'll bring back the one-night tournament because it didn't show to be any bigger a draw than the other shows outside the big four.
Why did the WWF/E do the 5:00 PPV intermissions in the 80s and early 90s and
why were they discontinued? - Wayne Maye
My best guess at this is that they had to change the tape they were recording on. I only guess this because when I was on jury duty we had to take a break when the tape stopped rolling and they switched to another one, and tapes were a lot shorter back in the 1980's. I actually like shows with intermissions a lot better than shows without them, since it gives you a chance to go get some food and merchandise, and am surprised they don't do that at some of their longer shows. Although I guess you could just go get a drink during a crappy match and you wouldn't miss much. But I'm just a geek that likes to see all the matches that I pay to see, so what do I know?
After reading Mick Foley's latest book, the Hardcore Diaries, Foley mentions Vince's reluctance to use Terry Funk. He says that Funk was supposed to be at a WWF PPV, but just left a note backstage for Vince saying (and I'm paraphrasing here) "one of my horses is sick, I have to go."
Do you know which PPV this was? I was thinking perhaps a Royal Rumble or something where Funk may have been one of the surprise participants, but I am not sure. - Aaron Cushman
I'm not really sure when this happened...I thought that maybe it happened when Funk left the WWF in 1987, but there weren't very many PPVs back then. Once I read the book myself, maybe I'll have a better idea...
I stumped Ari with this so I figured I'd pass it along. Back in the early 90s when you had Monsoon/Heenan announcing, you would always hear them talk about the mysticism of the Undertaker's urn. I was wondering, what exactly was suppose to be in the urn? I know it was probably ashes, but did they ever reveal why it gave him "power"? This was something that fascinated me watching old manias, rumbles, etc because it seemed like it was never really revealed. - Paul
I thought that it was supposed to be the ashes of his dead parents, but then when they started opening it up and weird stuff came out of it and lights started coming out of it, it got kinda tricky. And then when Kane brought their parents' corpses to an episode of Raw, it shot my theory all to hell. So my answer.....the ashes of Jimmy Hoffa.
Why not?
I hate to bother yah again but I want your info on some stuff. What ever happened to the Godfather & Ahmed Johnson. I grew up in wrestling watching these guys and Ahmed disappeared into thin air and Godfather made one appearence in the last 3 years and since then, poof. - John Bryant
We've discussed Ahmed at some length in previous columns, so I'll refer you to the archives. As for the Godfather, he is currently serving as the general manager of the Cheetah's strip club in Las Vegas. Simply put, he's living the gimmick.
I remember a couple years back on Smackdown, I think it was around the
Royal Rumble that Chris Benoit won, Benoit had a match against someone it
wasn't an amazing match but one moment always sticks with me. Earlier in
the match Benoit had been cut around his right eye. It wasn't a blade job
just a regular cut, and it wasn't that big. Anyways Benoit was getting
ready to do the flying headbutt and he did his regular throat slash. But
when he did the slash and scrunched his face up blood just poured out of
his eye area. It looked so cool, and I have never seen it again. Can you
find me that match or just a clip of that. It was one of the most intense
things I have seen in wrestling and I would like to see it again and again.
It may be hard to find but if you could that would be great. - Adam Radomske
I remember the incident that you're talking about, but the time it took place escapes me, and I couldn't find any footage of it. Readers?
Finally, JLAJRC has three questions...
1.) On WWE 24/7, they have something called "WWE Old School," which are basically house cards that they filmed that aired on assorted channels backed then. Do you know if the WWE still does this, because things with Rock, Autin, etc. will eventually be considered "old school"? Also, do you know if other promotions (WCW, ECW, AWA, etc.) also did this and if the WWE would show those, too?
I don't think WWE tapes their house shows anymore and hasn't for quite awhile...not sure if other promotions did or not. ECW had some old "fan cam" footage of shows that weren't taped for TV, but I believe that Rob Feinstein still owns the rights to most of that.
2.) Not too long ago, they showed an old Colliseum Video on WWE 24/7 called "World Tour 92" which features a match from Japan between Jim Duggen and some Japanese wrestler. It's basically a squatch match for Duggen until the Japanese wrestler hits a move and pins Duggen. The announcer makes an funny excuse saying Duggen doesn't count in Japanese, but why would you squash a popular wrestler like Duggen against someone who never wrestled for the WWF then or ever again. Was it simply to give a Japanese wrestler a win in Japan over an American type a thing? Why film it too?
Well, I can see why they'd have Duggan put a Japanese wrestler over in Japan. That makes sense. Now, why they'd book it that way to make both guys look dumb and put it on tape...that's a good question. I blame the weed the booking team was smoking.
3.) Exactly how much was the "Million Dollar Belt" really worth? Does Dibiase still have it? Did it use real or fake diamonds?
The Million Dollar Belt was worth $145,000 according to multiple interviews with Dibase. It used real diamonds, and currently sits in a safe inside Titan Towers.
And that's all for this week...send your e-mails to scook411@hotmail.com, and I'll see you all next week! Thanks for reading!
